Disclaimer: Don't own Tales of Symphonia or anything related to it. Except my fanfic...
Authors Note:
I would like to thank those of you that reviewed my fic thus far. I have redone the format in the manner suggested, I hope it makes the story more comprehensive and easier to read.
Tales of Symphonia
Rise of Neflheim
Chapter 3: The First Encounter
The 20 minutes spent aboard the Rheaird was uneventful. Sheena was busy piloting, though she was glad that Syn never tried anything. She had been worried he might, after all, she had yet to learn of his good qualities. That assuming he had any. Syn, meanwhile, had been observing the land below. It had been a long time since he had flown over the land. Let alone like this. He was kind of surprised at how he enjoyed it though. Never before had he really cared for anything like this, but being imprisoned in darkness for thousands of years can change your perspective on things. As the village of Iselia came into view, Sheena noticed some commotion near the front gate. She identified two of the figures immediately, Lloyd and Collette. It was obvious that they were under attack and, from the looks of it, almost more than they could handle. The pair was outnumbered 20 to 2. Already there were corpses of enemy soldiers laying on the ground. The village itself looked deserted. It seemed like Lloyd and Collette were holding off the soldiers in order to protect the village as the villagers made there escape.
Sheena moved to land her Rheaird, but as she flew over the fray Syn jumped off craft, landing on a few enemy soldiers below. Sheena winced as she saw two of of the soldiers fall over, several gashes already ripped through their armor. This action took all those down below by surprise, including Lloyd and Collette, who promptly looked up and noticed her Rheaird, waved, then got back into the fight as more soldiers fell upon them. Sheena quickly landed her craft just inside the village then moved to join the others. By this time, the enemies were much fewer in number. Whereas Lloyd and Collette were having trouble before, they were having a much easier time now. Most of the soldiers had shifted concentration from the pair to Syn, who was whirling away his foes with very impressive speed. For a moment, all Sheena could do was watch as he ripped through the enemy soldiers with intense speed and precision. What had previously been 20 soldiers was now 11. Sheena was snapped out of this trance by a charging enemy, who she quickly subdued.
Syn was concentrating intently on the battle he was now in, enjoying the feeling of chaos that flowed through the battle as everyone acted on instinct and quick wits rather than a thought out plan. He also enjoyed the feeling of his katar's slicing through the enemy. Four had decided to rush him now, one on each side of him using halberds. Quickly, he finished off the soldier in front of him, then back-flipped over the soldier that charged him from behind, using one hand to balance on the man's shoulder while the other bit deeply into his neck. Landing on his feet while the man crumbled to his knees, he lept upon the attacker to his right, jabbing one katar through his heart while the other sliced across the neck of one companion and parried the hit of another. Freeing his blade from the Knights heart, he quickly finished the fourth knight. By this time, the three of his allies managed to finish off the rest of the enemies and he had nothing left to kill. Syn quickly sheathed his blades, and turned to face Sheena, Lloyd, and Colette. The blond and the swordsman looked confused by his presence, looking a bit tense but not attacking him.
"Lloyd, Colette! Are you guys alright?" Sheena called out as she came rushing up beside them. The pair turned to look at her, obviously relieved by her presence.
"Sheena! Hey...you've come at a strange time, these guys showed up and tried to kill us...I mean, we save the world and they try to kill us..." Lloyd's expression turned sad at that thought. He hadn't expected something like this, not after all he had done to help people.
"Lloyd, its not what you think...we have to talk. Something bad has happened and we need to get the group back together. The details are kind of lengthy..." And so Sheena gave the story Syn had explained to her. All in its entirety. Though Lloyd somehow got confused through parts of it and Colette seemed to have taken the information in a different way than explained to her, the basic point was gotten across. After the explanation was done, Lloyd looked over to Syn, who had been leaning against the gate to Iselia as Sheena talked, and examined him closely.
"So...your an type Summon Spirit, huh? Wow...that must be cool!" Lloyd was obviously interested in Syn at the moment. Sheena's story sparking his interest in his new ally. Syn grunted in response, not really wanting to talk to anyone. They should have already started moving for others of the group. Also, he already didn't like Lloyd or Colette. The swordsman seemed slow from the get go, and the girl acted like a ditz. He sincerely hoped the rest of the group was not like these two. Lloyd had started frowning from Syn's lack of response. He had wanted to know more about Sheena's mysterious companion. Syn, however, was not in the mood to sit and be questioned.
"You realize that as we wait here your other companions are in danger, right? The more we sit here the greater the likelihood of them being killed or captured. Lloyd and Colette's little run in should be proof of that. This town was busted up pretty bad in their search for you." Syn's words spoke true to his allies. They could not afford to sit around. The group quickly decided that they should find Regal and Presea in Altiamira by swinging SW, then head to were Raine and Genis were in the newly founded town of Mithrim, which was located South of Altiamira and in between the Toize Valley Mine and the SE Abby. Syn waited a small distance from the group as they made these decisions. He was not comfortable around others, having spent 7,000 years with no companion other than Erebus. For him, however, that was enough. The talking finally subdued as it was decided that Syn and Sheena would go on ahead to Altiamira, with Lloyd and Colette catching up once they let the villagers of Iselia know it was safe for them to return. Boarding the craft along with Sheena, the two sped off in the opposite direction of Lloyd and Colette.
The ride to Altiamira was spent for the most part in silence. Sheena was wasn't comfortable enough around him to start a conversation up and he wasn't the talkative type, so it all worked out. Their relationship was strictly business anyway. Once this was over he would disappear for a century or so.
'Eternal life can be a pain sometimes...I wonder why humans always seem to search for it so much?' Syn sighed silently. He had eternal life, and though he had great power he had already taken his revenge long ago. Official, his pact with Erebus had been fulfilled long ago, but they had never parted. He thought about it sometimes...why they never just released each other. But he knew the answer more or less...just as he had no where to go, neither did Erebus. Being a Demonic Summon Spirit he had no temple on this world...no 'home.' And he could not wonder alone through this world. If Erebus was ever released into the world, the Summon Spirit would perish. Syn and Erebus had spent so much time together that they had bonded in many ways. Syn thought of Erebus as his best and only friend, and Erebus saw him as something just as important if not more, and though they never discussed it they knew it was there. Thinking more about his unique relationship with the Summon Spirit, he suddenly became very thankful for the fact that though he and Erebus could share each others thoughts, at the same time they could have private ones of their own if they chose to. Syn suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he felt the Rheaird descending. They were now landing in front of Altiamira. Syn jumped off quickly and waited for Sheena to put up craft.
"Alright...Regal and Presea should be here. In the Lezareno headquarters building. Hope they are alright..." Sheena said in a concerned tone. After seeing how Lloyd was attacked she wanted to get their group together as quickly as possible. She lead the way through Altiamira quickly, with Syn behind her. Syn merely just followed her, not thinking too much of the area and not liking the host of people that inhabited the resort city. As they got in the elevator however, he started to feel uneasy.
The elevator had reached the Presidents floor by this time, the doors swinging open to reveal Regals office, him standing and talking to what looked like an aid. On seeming them however, he motioned the aid away, who left via the second elevator.
"Sheena, what a surprise to see you. Come, sit down. What brings you here? And who is your friend?" Regal asked in what seemed like pleasant surprise. Sheena looked glad to see that her friend was ok, but noticed that Presea wasn't around. Syn on the other hand had started feeling that things were not right.
Syn! This Regal is already possessed by Neblheim, we must leave immediately! Syn cursed under his breath. If this was going to go the way he felt it was going to go then they were in a trap.
"Regal! I-" Sheena's response to Regal was cut short as Syn grabbed her and pulled her into the elevator. Quickly, he whispered what was happening into her ear.
"Regal is gone. His mind has already been overtaken by Neblheim. His condition is the same as that of Zelos. We must get out of here before Neblheim himself shows up." Syn hit the button on the elevator, expecting to go back down. That, however was not what happened. It did not move.
"Sheena, is something wrong? Why would you want to leave so soon? After all, you just got here." Regal smiled as he finished his sentence. Sheena was confused, and she didn't see anything different about Regal. Then she noted his eyes. They seemed...wrong. Just looking at them gave her fright. Syn quickly searched for a quick way out, the only one being the window. Regal was standing in the way of it however. It was then that he noticed Sheena had started shaking. Looking down at her he saw that she had her eyes locked on Regals. He cursed to himself and began shaking her.
"Sheena, don't look directly into his eyes. Now that he has been possessed staring at him like that is like staring into the eyes of Neblheim himself. Something no human should should do for too long." His actions helped break Sheena out of her trance, but she still looked shaken. Regal, however, was none too happy with Syn.
"Stupid Avatar...why could you not have made things easy? If you had just let the girl stay as she was for a few more minutes her soul would have been susceptible to me..." Regal growled.
"Sheena, we must leave. Right now I am certain that Neblheim is on his way, and I cannot harm him. You by yourself will not be able to do much. We must neutralize Regal quickly." Syn knew their time was short. If Neblheim showed up with her being the only one that had a hope of hurting him then they would be doomed. Sheena needed at least some time to summon, and he could not hurt Neblheim. He managed to get a nod from Sheena, and it was all he needed. He quickly charged at Regal, hoping to end the fight quickly. He was about to connect with the first attack when Regal suddenly spun around and hit him square in the chest, sending him flying into the farthest wall. His impact made a huge crack in the wall and he could feel several of his bones break from the force of the impact. He landed on his knees, using his hands to support himself.
"Syn!" Sheena gasped as he flew into the wall. Quickly, she moved to his side, concerned for him. Though she still didn't trust him he was her ally and did not want to see him hurt in battle.
Neblheim has amplified this ones powers...a normal human could not have done this to us. Erebus' voice echoed through his head. Syn smirked, it had been a long time since anyone had shown this kind of power to him. But he did not have the time to relish a fight with someone like this. He and Sheena needed to leave before Neblheim came...and he could feel the Demon coming. Syn quickly got up, as he did he could hear as his bones snapped back into place, healing almost instantly from Erebus' power.
"I'm alright Summoner...but we must fight now." Syn readied his weapons once more, as did Sheena. She did not really want to fight Regal however, memories of their time together coming back to her.
"Regal...why are you doing this? You must stop! Don't let your mind fall prey to Neblheim!" Sheena pleaded. She hoped that maybe, somewhere Regal could hear her. That he might be able to resist Neblheim and regain control of his body as Colette had when her had been taken over by Mithos. Regal, however, only laughed at her.
"Foolish girl...his mind, body, and soul already belong to me. As soon will yours. None of you are safe from me. Not even you, Erebus...just because you hide inside your Avatar does not make you safe from me. I would have destroyed you when I first found you had I known that your stupid Avatar would not be able to control you." Regals eyes had now changed to a glowing, yellowish color. His body now began to give off a visible Aura of darkness as his body began to transform.
Syn! Neblheim is going to use Regal as his vessel. We must take advantage of this and leave before he is fully transformed. We both know our chances if he completes this transformation. Erebus stressed these words. Syn knew exactly what would happen if Neblheim finished transforming Regal into a vessel. He, Erebus, and Sheena would be screwed. Taking not time, he grabbed Sheena and ran for the window. Sheena, who was taking by surprise, yelled out just before they smashed through the window and fell towards the ground. Syn landed on the ground easily, though Sheena was obviously not happy about jumping through a window and falling four stories to the ground.
"You bastard! You scared the crap out of me!" Sheena was squirming in his arms, but he was much stronger than her and kept his grip.
"We have no time. Neblheim is using Regal's body to make himself a physical form. That means that he is elsewhere...but dealing with something transforming into his vessel is almost as bad as dealing with him in person. We must get to the Rheaird and leave now." Syn starting running back the way they had come, towards the Rheaird.
"Wait! What about Presea? She wasn't with Regal...whats happened to her?" Sheena shouted at him.
"She is either dead, captured, or elsewhere...the most likely event is that she is dead. Neblheim is not fond of taking hostages." Syn's response did not help to comfort Sheena, but it did silence her. As they reached the gates of Altiamira, Syn noticed Lloyd and Colette. He cursed their timing. On seeing him, they Lloyd waved and called out, running up to them.
"You two! Quickly, we must leave. There is no time to explain, but we must. Now!" Not waiting for their response, Syn started for the Rheairds with Lloyd and Colette in tow. Just as he reached them however, he saw Regal, or what had once been Regal, swoop down from the skies at him. Syn only just managed to hit the ground before he was cut down by a large pole-axe. Sheena once more yelled in surprise as Syn landed on top of her. He quickly got up and brought his katars out. He also noticed that Colette and Lloyd where also in a battle stance. Perhaps with the two of them they could defeat Neblheim's vessel. Turning back to the possessed human, who was now hovering in the air before them he noticed how the transformation had turned out. Regal was now clad in black armor with elaborate demonic runes covering all its pieces. The armor itself looked as it could be deadly itself, having many blades adorning several of the pieces. He had no helmet though, and his face still showed a resemblance to his former self, but much had changed on him as well. His hair was now dark black and his eyes still glowed with the eerie yellow light. From his back also protruded a pair of black and leathery, dragon like wings. 'Regal' smiled and we twirled his black pole-axe, which was adorned much like his armor. The axe-head holding many spikes so it could also be used as a spear and was engraved with many runes of the same demonic script beheld on his armor.
"Ah...more Heroes of Symphonia. I should thank you, Avatar of Erebus. You have brought me not only the summoner, but two of those I wish to kill as well. And here I thought I would have to spend more time before they were either all dead or had their minds taken over by me." Regal laughed evilly as he finished his words. It was about this time that Lloyd finally recognized just who was standing before them.
"R-Regal? Is that you...whats going on?" Lloyd asked in a confused tone. He wanted to know why his former friend was before them as he was.
"Fool...I am not longer Regal. I am Neblheim, Lord of Demons! And soon to be the ruler of this world once more. And not you, the summoner, or that traitorous fox and his avatar will be able to stop me." Neblheim smirked and looked directly at Syn.
"But then again...you cant stop to begin with, can you Avatar of Erebus? You cant harm me, can you? I, however...I can harm you." Neblheim quickly dove towards Syn, slashing he axe as he tried to cleave him in half. Syn was only just able to roll out the way, but not before being nicked by the blade. Neblheim had very quick reflexes though, and turned around and fired a blast of dark energy that hit Syn squarely before he could recover from his roll. The blast sent him flaying back, landing on the ground hard a couple of feet away. Sheena, who was now very close to the Demon, rolled away from him and began casting a spell to imbue Colette, Lloyd, and her with weapons of Light property. Neblheim, who noticed her beginning her cast, rushed at her to keep from casting or summoning anything, but Lloyd stepped in between him and his target. The demon swung his pole-axe down hard, which Lloyd managed to block head on, though the force from the blow was almost enough to force him to his knees. Using all his strength, Lloyd slashed his blades out, pushing Neblheim back from his attack. By this time both Sheena and Colette, who had been casting Holy Judgment, finish their spells. All at the same time Colette, Sheens, and Lloyd's weapons glow with holy light and as their bodies are engulfed in a bluish glow with beams of bright light raining down from the heaveans upon Neblheim. The Lord of Demons had not expected such an attack and howled in pain as he was struck.
"Damn you! But such attacks will not save you! And think about this, if you kill my current form you also kill your friend! Do you really want that? Pledge your allegiance to me, and I swear I shall not hurt your friends. Surely you don't want them all to die a slow, painful death." The group of three hesitated for a moment. Neblheim's words about them killing Regal causing them to remember just who they were fighting. By this time Syn had managed to get up, though he could feel himself injured. Normally he would recover quickly from such attacks, but Neblheim didn't just hurt Syn's body with his attacks, but also Erebus. Since he drew his power from the Summon Spirit and held him inside his body, Neblheim was able to essential strike at his very soul.
"Don't...Don't listen to him. He will kill you in the end. His words are nothing but lies. If you want to save your friend then try to Seal hirrrlf!" Syn was never able to finish his sentence. Neblheim, who did not want anyone to know how they might be able to defeat him quickly set about to silence Syn. Moving swiftly, the demon slammed spiked part of his pole-axe into Syn, then used the blade to lift and throw Syn's body into one of the Rheairds. The force of Syn's body impacting into the Rheaird caused to slide back quite a ways, leaving a bloody dent from where his body impacted.
"Fool...you should have remained silent. Suffer, Erebus...suffer in silence until I am done with your friends." Lloyd and the others rushed to where Syn had fallen, Lloyd placing himself between Syn and Neblheim.
"Syn! Neblheim, you bastard!" Lloyd had now lost all hesitance Neblheim had placed in him on mention that he was fighting Regal's body. Sheena and Colette had bent over Syn, checking to see his condition and if they could do anything to help him.
"St-stop...defeat...Neblheim...now...you must..." Syn choked out. Neblheim attack had struck him in the chest, breaking or cracking a few of his ribs while also inflicting a nasty flesh wound that had pierced one of his lungs. Blood was flowing freely from the wound, with a little also coming from his nose and mouth. Colette and Sheena both tried to silence him as they applied different gels in order to try and help the wound. Neblheim laughed on noticing their attempts to help Erebus and his Avatar.
"Don't waste your time on that one. Common healing items wont work on him, my weapon is specially imbued to to maximize damage potential and curse wounds i inflict. Not only that, but the Avatar is not hurt quite so much as Erebus is...each would I deal to his Avatar is like me dealing a wound to that wretched Summon Spirit himself." Neblheim laughed evilly. What he failed to notice was that Lloyd was now glowing. The grip he had on his weapons had tightened, and it wasn't long before his wings unfolded. This caused Neblheim to stop laughing.
"You bastard...not only do you take over the minds of my friends, but you use them to attack us...then you severely injure another of my friends. You sick bastard...I will not let you hurt anyone else!" With a cry, Lloyd flew straight at Neblheim, his weapons ready to strike. The demon was only just able to bring his pole-axe up to block Lloyd's flurry of hits. Lloyd's strikes were quick, precise, and held a lot of force behind them. Each one of his strikes caused Neblheim to move back a step as sparks erupted from every hit he blocked.
"What-What is this? A Seraphim? I thought only the two so called "Chosen" had angelic powers! And they were not true Seraphim!" Neblheim shouted in confusion and anger. Lloyd struck another blow, this time causing Neblheim to slide back from its force.
"Then you thought wrong." Lloyd responded calmly. Lloyd then slapped the two swords he had been using to attack Neblheim, his Material Blades, and called upon the Eternal Sword.
"Eternal Sword! Banish this demon from my friends body! Seal his power!" Lloyd called out. The Eternal Sword began to glow as it got ready to perform what was asked of it. Neblheim cursed as he saw the blade materialize.
"Curse you! You have not defeated me, do you hear me? You may be able to save your friend today, but he will never awaken! I will make sure of it!" Neblheim's body began to glow in a black and purplish light just as the Eternal Sword shot him with a blue light. With a howl, Neblheim fell to the ground, his body changing back into the form of Regal. Quickly, Lloyd rushed over to Regal's side, and on seeing his being alive and unconscious moved back to where Syn was with Colette and Sheena. The two girls had managed to bandage him up somewhat, tearing pieces of their clothing off in order to do so. Syn looked up to Lloyd, being still conscious even though in much pain.
"Why...didnt...you just...do that...from...the...begining?" Syn question between struggled gasps for breath.
"Well...I cant control the Eternal Sword all that well yet. I've yet to get it to come to me by my own will. It usually shows up when it is needed, like now. But right now isn't the time to talk about this, your hurt pretty bad. We need to get you back to Altiamira with Regal and see what we can do to help you. Do you think we will be able to move you?" Lloyd's concern for Syn made him feel weak. He hated the way everyone was trying to help him. Even if he was injured, the Avatar of the Demonic Summon Spirit of Chaos should not have to be helped by anyone. That also brought another thought to his mind, Erebus had not spoken to him since he had been hit the second time around.
'Erebus...are you alright?' Syn was worried for his only friend, even if he was a Demonic Summon Spirit that used his body for a vessel. It took a moment, but Erebus did answer him back.
Yes...I am...alright. You should not be asking me this. You are the one bleeding by the gallons. I...am afraid I cannot heal us right now...Neblheim's weapons manged to hurt us both pretty bad...its all I can do to keep us alive and you conscious. And I am unsure how much longer I can keep you conscious. I think we will be ok though...I am suffering from an after effect of being struck by Neblheim's weapon's...once it wears off I will be able to fully restore us. It may take a day or so, however. Syn managed to grin and let out a laugh in his head. It would have caused too much pain to laugh out loud.
'Curse Neblheim...the only being we are unable to harm...how ironic that he is able to hurt us while we cannot damage him...' That was Syn's last thought as he drifted away in the land of unconsciousness. The last thing he recalled was Sheena saying something to him before her and everyone else turned into a blur and disappeared into darkness.