Disclaimer: I'm starting to get tired of coming up with creative ways to say this thing. I DON"T OWN TALES OF SYMPHONIA! Are you vultures happy now!

A/N: Time to continue the story. Now, as you all know, we left just as Presea was about to destroy Iselia. Will Lloyd and the gang go peacefully? Or will they fight till the city is destroyed? Well, you're gonna have to wait a teensy bit longer to find out.

First, I want to thank everyone that reviewed, despite the fact I won't be thanking you all personally. I am far too lazy to do that, and I need space to write the story. So, thanks anyways!

Read, enjoy, and review! In that order!

Chapter 4: The Heimdall Castle

"We are here to take with us the Governor-General of Luin, along with his wife, to see the Half-Elf Emperor."

"And if I don't agree to come with you?" Lloyd asked. Presea shrugged.

"Then we will destroy Iselia."

As Lloyd stood there, he stared at the sight before him. Surely she did not believe she could destroy the town with only fifty Desian soldiers? But, no that wasn't what she was planning. He knew that if they didn't cooperate, it would be Mizuho all over again. Presea would simply use her magic to destroy the town.

However, Lloyd was sure he could take her, especially with Sheena's help. Together the group could surely stop this oncoming force. And he and Sheena could take Presea easily. Lloyd turned to face Sheena.

The Mizuho woman was busy staring at Presea with rage. Memories of her home town were flooding back, and the anger was being directed square at Presea. And it had every right to be. Lloyd looked over to Kuchinawa then.

The red ninja was much like Sheena. Gone was the cool composure of a ninja, replaced with blind rage. Kuchinawa had lost his home to this girl, and he was determined to have vengeance for it.

Lloyd saw that the rest of the group was much different. Regal was staring with awe at Presea. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Here was his sister-in-law, a girl he had looked after for over ten years. And she was prepared to strike down an entire village with a simple order.

Lloyd saw that Zelos was also different. He appeared frustrated, angry at himself for not being armed. It looked like he was restraining every muscle in his body from leaping at PResea right then and there.

And Colette looked scared of course. But not for herself. She was afraid of what would happen to the townspeople if Presea attacked. And she was afraid for Presea if Lloyd chose to attack. She knew how strong they both were. Surely they would destroy themselves?

"No," Lloyd finally answered. "You will leave this town at once. I refuse to negotiate with terrorists. The Half-Elf Emperor can come see me himself, unless he be lame or lazy."

"Very well," Presea sais simply, as if she had been expecting the answer. "It would seem your answer reflects your poor judgement. You have been warned." Turning, Presea looked behind her, smiling. "Master?"

Lloyd and the others gasped as a figure steeped out from behind Presea. The figure was slightly taller than Presea herself, about 6'. The figure was dressed from head to two in a black uniform, with red armor on his hands, feet, and chest. Behind him flowed a long, purple cape. A hood was attached to the cape, and the figure currently wore it like this, with the hood hiding his face. The purple hood was so expertly made that no one could see the face behind it. The only thing that could be seen were two glowing purple eyes.

Lloyd realized with a start that this was the Half-Elf Emperor standing before him! He terrorist he had been hunting down now stood only yards in front of him. The six friends all stared intently at the Emperor, waiting for him to make his move.

"Is your decision final?" the Emperor boomed. His deep voice roared throughout the village, making several children run or cry. But it didn't frighten the six of them.

"Yes, I demand you leave this area at once! We will settle this elsewhere!" Lloyd cried back. The Emperor began to laugh as he heard the Governor-General speak. It was one of those maniacal laughs, the kind that send shivers down your spine.

"My dear Governor," the Emperor laughed. "You never had a choice in the matter!"

And, as the Emperor finished his words, he raised his hand into the air. He began to chant a spell wildly, and Sheena's eyes widened.

"Lloyd!" she cried. "I recognize that spell! It was a spell Genis used to use!"

"What spell was it?" Lloyd asked over the deafening roar of the spell. Sheena thought about it hard, trying to remember.

"It was...It was...oh no..." Sheena muttered as she remembered the spell. This was going to get messy. "Everyone brace for impact!"

"Why! What's happening?" Zelos shouted. Suddenly, his question was answered as the Emperor finished his spell.

"METEOR STORM!"

"Shit!" Lloyd cried. He ran over and took Sheena's hand as the first of the meteors rained down from the heavens. The six friends all ran to take cover, frantically yelling at the townspeople to take cover. The six ran under the school, still yelling at the citizens.

As they yelled, meteor after meteor rained down upon them. Each time one struck, there was a huge explosion and a building would quickly catch on fire. Sometimes it would hit the ground and leave a huge burning crater. Hundreds of the flaming rock rained down, striking and burning everything in their path.

It was horrible. People were running around, screaming their heads off. Meteor after meteor struck, explosions occasionally muffling the death cries. There was blood everywhere, as buildings weren't eh only things the meteors struck. No, there were people.

Sheena and Lloyd watched in horror as a small child ran out of his burning house. The child was screaming and crying, running out onto the streets. The six watched in desperation as a giant meteor hurtled right toward the child. Quickly, a woman appeared out of nowhere and flung the child to safety. But it was too late for her.

The six looked away as the meteor struck the woman, reducing her to ashes. Her screams could be heard throughout the village.

"That's it!" Lloyd cried. "We have to do something, this can't go on!"

"Right," Sheena cried back over the roar of the meteors. "Let's go get him!"

The two quickly jumped up, and drew their weapons. The two ran out from their shelter and began to run towards the Emperor and Presea. Both enemies were staring at the village, Presea was once again emotionless. And they couldn't even tell what emotion the Emperor wore, due to his hood.

"Wait!" Kuchinawa cried. The red ninja ran out as well, following the other two.

Lloyd heard another meteor approaching, and looked up to see two speeding towards him. Thinking fast, Lloyd swung his Ice Blade, freezing the closest one. He jumped out of the way as the giant snowball crashed to the ground, shattering in every direction. At the same time, he crossed his blades in an x-fashion. Crying out an attack he made up, a purple X sped out of his blades, breaking the newt meteor into four pieces.

As Lloyd did this, Sheena had three meteors to take care off. Seeing the closest one, She cried "Cyclone Seal!" The Cyclone Seal wrapped itself around the incoming meteor, and pushed it backward, exploding into another meteor. Two meteors down with one attack. However, Sheena wasn't quick enough to stop the last from hitting her.

Fortunately, Lloyd was. "Raising Falcon!" he cried, striking the meteor in mid-air. The two looked back to see Kuchinawa dodging meteors left and right. He expertly kicked and dodged, sending meteor after meteor spinning out of control.

Finally, the red ninja caught up with them. The three sped forward together, dodging meteor after meteor as they ran towards their target. As they approached, they actually saw the Half-Elf Emperor take a step back. The sight of three warriors speeding towards you can do that. But he was the Emperor! What did he have to worry about?

"Presea," he said calmly. "Capture them, I want all three."

"Very well, Master," Presea responded. As she took a step forward, she raised her hand. The three didn't stop approaching. They probably should have.

"Gravity Well!" cried Presea. Suddenly, all three were over taken by darkness. The swirling vortex that was the gravity well sucked them into its depths. As darkness and pain twisted around them, all three of the warriors were knocked unconscious.

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Lloyd woke with a start. He was in what looked like a cell. The walls and floor were all made out of purple stone. He noticed that there were about a dozen Desians standing guard outside his cell. Looking around, Lloyd realized his friends weren't with him.

Standing up, all the Desians tensed up. Confused, Lloyd looked down. He was still armed! Whoever locked him in this cell was dumb enough to let him keep his weapons! That would prove to be a mistake.

"Wakey wakey, inferior being," the closest Desian taunted. "What're you gonna do, cut the bars down? Hahahahaha!"

"Well, I wasn't going to , but thanks for the idea," Lloyd thanked him. Picking up his Material Blades, he crossed them again. The Desians watched with shock as the blades glowed purple. Suddenly, an X-shaped blast burst from the blades, striking the bars. The bars of th cell exploded, as did the two Desians stupidly standing in front of them. Walking out of the cell, Lloyd gave the Desians an evil grin. Slashing his Blades left and right, he quickly struck down all the Desians but one.

"Now," he said, picking the last Desian up by his collar. "Where am I?"

"You are in...the Heimdall Castle," the Desian sputtered. "All hail the Half-Elf Emperor!"

"Right..." Lloyd said. "Now, where are my friends? Both are Mizuho, one female and one male."

"I...don't know..." the Desian choked out. "I was only assigned to guard...this cell. All hail the Half-Elf Emperor!"

"I'm gonna have to ask you stop saying that," Lloyd said. "Now, one last question. Answer it correctly and I'll let you live. Understood?" The Desian nodded frantically. "Good, now where is the Emperor?"

"All hail the..." the Desian never finished his sentence as Lloyd slit his throat. Frustrated, Lloyd looked around the hall. Heimdall Castle? There wasn't a Castle in Heimdall...

Lloyd hit himself for being so stupid. Duh! He was in Old Heimdall, the abandoned city of the elves. This was where Orochi had suspected the Emperor might be. And he was right, too. It seems that the Emperor had built a castle on the ruins of the last city. Ans it seemed that this was the base for his Desian troops.

As Lloyd wandered the hallways, he was forced to hide several times. Groups of Desians marched by the hallways every few minutes on patrol. The castle was huge! The large purple structure was so confusing, he couldn't tell where he had or hadn't been.

Just when Lloyd thought he would never find his way, a familiar face showed up.

"Hello, Lloyd," Presea said, sneaking up behind him. Turning around, Lloyd was struck across the fac by the blunt of her axe. Standing up, Lloyd saw that Presea was standing over him. Her pink hair was draped over her shoulders, ans she stared at Lloyd with her usual emotionless eyes.

"Welcome to the Heimdall Castle," she whispered. Slashing her axe, she caught Lloyd off-guard and he fell onto his back. As he fell, he felt two four Desians take his arms, two on each arm. His weapons were removed and he was tied up.

"I don't know how you retrieved your weapons," Presea said. "But, it matters not. You have company to attend to." The woman actually gave off a little giggle as she said this, making Lloyd cock an eyebrow. Maybe there was still chance for Presea...

While Presea lead the way, the Desians pulled Lloyd with them. Lloyd refused to struggle, so he let his body hang limp. This made it harder for the Desians to carry him. Lloyd loved wearing out his enemies.

"Here we are," Presea said. Lloyd looked around and gasped. The Castle...looked exactly like Mithos'!

The door they stood before was identical to the one they had defeated the Dark Dragon at eleven years ago. Lloyd looked around to see the rest of the castle was also an exact duplicate of the Derris-Kharlan Castle. What was going on?

"Your new ruler awaits," Presea said, unlocking the door. "Leave now," she commanded the Desians. Leaving, they dropped Lloyd unceremoniously on the ground with a thump. Presea picked him up by the collar and preceded to drag him, as she did with the Sacred Wood so many years ago.

AS Lloyd was dragged into the room, the doors slammed close behind him, locking again. Lloyd looked around to see that once again, the room looked exactly the one that he had defeated Mithos in. This entire castle was exactly like the Derris-Kharlan Castle.

"Enjoying the familiar scenery, Lloyd?" Lloyd looked up to see the Half-Elf Emperor standing before him.

"Yeah, I love copycat designers," Lloyd muttered. He was answered by a swift kick in the face. Grunting, he realized that Presea had kicked him.

"Now now, dear Presea, that wasn't very nice," the Emperor said. "We want out distinguished guest to feel welcome, don't we?"

"Yes Master, sorry Master."

"It's quite all right," the Emperor said.

"Why...me?" Lloyd asked, wondering what the Emperor wanted with him.

"Why many reasons, of course," The Emperor said. "The first being that you are the Governor-General of Luin." Lloyd was expecting that. "But the more important reason is that you were my friend. Operative word being 'were'."

"What!" Lloyd cried. "I was never friends with a terrorist! You're lying!"

"I'm afraid not, Lloyd," the Emperor replied. "Besides, that's what they said," he said, pointing at another person. Lloyd realized that both Sheena and Kuchinawa were also in the room, but they were both unconscious.

"Monster, what did you do to them!" Lloyd cried.

"Nothing but knock them out when they refused to accept the truth," the Emperor said, grinning slightly. Not that Lloyd could see.

"What truth? Who are you?" Lloyd asked. The Emperor laughed.

"The answer to both question, my dear friend," The Emperor said. "Is the same!"

A/N: Now, it is time to leave you guys with another cliffie! Don't you love em? Who is the dreaded Half-Elf Emperor? Well, we find out next time! Although, I'm pretty sure absolutely EVERYONE has figured it out (coughProloguecough)

Remember to read my other story, "Lousy Impostors!". I'm gonna discontinue it if no one else reviews. You people are the ones that said you would like the story, and now you don't even read it! I feel like crying...

Till, next time: Chapter 5: The Half-Elf Emperor!

Oh yeah, and review. PLEASE REVIEW!

PEACE OUT!