Disclaimer: Still dont own Tales of Symphonia. Still think its obvious.
Tales of Symphonia
Rise of Niflheim
Chapter 2: The Scorned
Sheena had expected Origin to know about Syn and what he was if he was truly a Summon Spirit, even a demonic one. But she could feel Origin's hostility towards Syn, or Erebus rather. However, right now she wanted to know about the Seal on her hand.
"Origin! I have a question of thee! A Seal has been placed upon my hand, and I wish to know more of it!" Origins looked to Sheena's hand, and noticed the Seal Syn had placed on her. He looked back to Syn, his eyes glowing dangerously.
"It is a Curse Seal. One that can only be performed and removed by Erebus, the Demon Fox of Chaos." Syn smiled at at mention of 'himself.' Both he and Erebus were enjoying Origin's outright hatred for them and his inability to do anything about it. Still looking of at Syn, Origin continued.
"Its purpose seems to be to keep you from attacking him...with Summon Spirits or otherwise. The only way any of the Summon Spirits you currently hold a pact with could attack him is if they broke their pacts with you. Demon Fox! Why did you do this?" Origin was obviously very upset with Syn right now. And Syn was still enjoying it, fueling the anger of the King of Summon Spirits. Most would think that unhealthy...but he didn't care.
"Its very simple...even you cannot be so blind that you have not noticed what has been happening in Meltokio. Don't you feel it? The aura that city now gives off? You know exactly what it is..." Origin's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Syn was talking about, he just didn't want to believe it. That aura started a nightmare for him and the other summon spirits that lasted 1,000 years. With perhaps the exception of Shadow.
"It cannot be...Neblheim has returned?" Syn merely nodded. Beside him, and image began to form, that of the Demonic Summon Spirit of Chaos. The Demon Fox Erebus. He was quite large, his back standing just over Syn's head. Sheena gasped at the site of the beast, caught off guard by his sudden appearance and frightful look. Erebus stared Squarely at Origin.
"Neblheim came and attempted to take over the mind of my Avatar, thinking to control me through him. He instead broke the Seal that kept me imprisoned. He still wants me to destroy him for my 'betrayal' 7,000 years ago. Because I would not pledge my loyalty and fight for him he lost the war with the Angels. Right now not you or any other being on this planet can tell this girl how to seal or destroy him. Face it Origin, you need me my help." Origin grunted angrily in response.
"And you need ours. You have not been known for your trustworthiness Erebus...you and your avatar have done many terrible things in the past." Sheena listened with great interest to the conversation. The outcome of this would truly determine how much faith she would place in both Erebus and his Avatar. Both of them knew it too.
"While it is true I have done a great amount of wrongs to Symphonia in the past, I am willing to help save it now. If this land is overtaken by Neblheim then my existence will end, and you and the other Summon Spirits will whither or become slaves to a power greater than yours. You know this. And although you have no reason to trust me, I did have time to think while I was imprisoned for all those years...I noticed that although my Avatar and I could cause much chaos and destruction, the chaos was present in the world in large amounts even without my presence. The races of this world are always engulfed in chaos, whether it be violent or peaceful it is ever present. With this realization I was able to feed off that chaos, growing stronger through it that I had when I helped cause it." Origin laughed in response.
"You expect me to believe that coming from you? If you had not acted the way you had during the Great Karhlan War, I might have believed you...but you were responsible for the death of millions, Erebus, millions! No...I will not trust you. If you want trust, you will have to earn it. The other Summon Spirits agree. There was not much we could do at the time of the war because of how much mana it took from us just to keep the planet from withering completely, but we have no such problem now. If we must, all of us will break our pacts with Sheena and destroy you." Erebus laughed at Origin's tough talk, though it came out more like a growl. This time it was Syn that spoke up.
"Origin...if you make the mistake of coming after us, we will kill each and every one of you and destroy the Mana Tree. If you will not help us stop Neblheim then there will be no hope for this land, and we will be damned if we let Neflheim gain the power of the Mana Tree." Origin smirked.
"You are both already damned. The fox for his creation and you boy for becoming his vessel. The tree is different this time around, it has a guardian. And I imagine even Neblheim would have trouble defeating her. Erebus' ears perked up at this.
"A guardian you say? Interesting...that was something those foolish elves never thought to incorporate into the first Great Tree. Perhaps I will go meet this guardian one day...But for now, business. We will grudgingly accept your conditions. We will help each other out of necessity. However, or position is steadfast: attack us unprovoked and you will suffer." Origin nodded grimly. He disliked Erebus with the core of his being, as did many other summon spirits. His actions during the Karhlan War were despicable at best. But at the same time the Fox was right, they needed each other out of necessity. And if Erebus had indeed changed as he stated, then perhaps...no, the Demonic Summon Spirit could never change. It was not in his nature. Origin looked to Sheena, nodded in approval, then vanished. Being out of site he conveyed his thoughts to her.
Be careful Sheena. Erebus and his avatar are not to be trusted outright. It must be earned. I, along with the other Summon Spirits, shall keep careful watch on him. If we sense anything amiss we shall do what we can do aid you. Sheena nodded in her mind.
Thank you, Origin.' Erebus' image disappeared along with that of Origin's. He had never really been there anyway, merely a projection of his image through Syn. He didn't like Origin. He was always so high and mighty and righteous. But at the same time, both he and Syn could see the King of Summon Spirits point. They had never been trustworthy...but then again, no one had ever tried to trust them. Thinking about it, Erebus thought that he was very trustworthy. Ever since he and Syn had come to share the same body, he had always upheld his end of the pact. But then again, Syn did as well...but that could only mean that he too was trustworthy, couldn't it? After all, the few times that the two of them had made promise or given another a reason to put faith them (or fear them) they always went through with it. Finally deciding to put these thoughts aside, Erebus turned back to the matters at hand, most of which Syn had begun taking care of.
Syn scanned Sheena's face carefully, looking for a sign of what she might be thinking. But he wasn't that good at reading expressions that didn't have something to do with anger or fear. Those were usually the only two expressions people had around him, even if they were his allies. Giving up, he decided to break the silence.
"So, will you trust me?" Sheena looked in thought for a moment.
"Not yet...I will help you, but as Origin said, you will have to earn trust. I don't know what you did during the Karhlan War, but Origin is willing to give you chance out of mutual need...if you want anything more, whether for you or Erebus, you will have to earn it." Syn let out a string of cusses in his head. He was not used to having to 'earn' things. Usually if he wanted it he could just take it. But there was never really anything he ever wanted anyway. He already had everything he needed...didnt he? Shaking the thought away, he returned to the conversation.
"Fine...we will try to earn your trust. In the process perhaps you will also earn ours...a mutual trust would do well if we are to be allies. Earned or otherwise." Sheena had to agree with Syn on at least that. If she had not been able to trust her previous companions she didn't know where she would be now. Also, in a way, she could see a bit of her in Syn in how his adventure was starting off. Untrusted by all for previous actions. Though her actions were mostly likely nothing compared to what he had done...
"Thats good. I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now...nothing more. Also, right now you are the leader of our little group of three. So you need to decide what we should do. Though I would assume that if you want the help of my friends we will be going to find them." It took Syn a minute before he realized who the third 'person' was. He and Erebus had been together so long he didn't think anything of it at times. After 7,000 years you grow accustomed to some things.
"Yes...that would be good. I, however, do not know where your friends are. You will have to lead the way to find them. I will also let you explain the situation to them and the part I play in it. Once we have them all, or as many as we can get that are alive, then we can do something about you making a pact with one of the Angelic Summon Spirits." Sheena did not like how he referred to them finding her friends. At the same time, however, it did give her a sense of urgency to get going.
"Alright...we can leave now and be in Iselia in 20 minutes by Rheaird. We should be able to find Lloyd and Colette there." Syn nodded and Sheena began to lead the way to the Rheaird. It was only when she got to it that she realized she only had one. The group had each kept a Rheaird for themselves, but they were not so common that she would have an easy time obtaining another. Sheena slowly turned to face Syn, feeling uneasy at the thought of them riding so close together. Not only because he was a guy, but also because he was a 7,000 year old half demonic being. Syn, who was getting impatient at her delaying them, eyed her.
"I thought you wanted to leave? Why are we procrastinating? Time is of the essence, and I'm sure y our friends would like to know why they are being attacked every five minutes." Those words kicked Sheena into gear. Finally mounting the Rheaird she waiting for Syn to board. Syn quirked an eyebrow at her as she motioned for him to join her.
"You only have one?" Sheena sighed and was about to say something rude to Syn in response, but he boarded the craft before she got the chance. Also, to her great relief, he didn't sit to close to her or make too much physical contact. Revving up the Rheaird, Sheena flew low over Mizuho and called out one of the Vice-Chiefs, who she instructed to fortify and take care of the village until she returned. With that taken care of, the pair flew towards Iselia.