Aaahh… happy comments make me feel all warm inside! Thanks a lot to those who reviewed, they really help me out. Well, on with the show!

SUSPENSE LOVERS UNITE!

Vocalsama: yeah, you do have a weird sense of humor. Oh well, as long as you like the story, I'm happy. Thanks for the review!
Melody of Shadow: got it right that time. You don't like Kraine? I think it makes the most sense: they both age slower than others, they're both really smart, etc., etc. glad I was able to make you laugh.
Yamato795: thank you so much for pointing that out to me! As soon as I saw that, I changed It right away. Sorry if I confused you; regal was originally going to be with them, but then I changed the way it went. That aside, thanks for reviewing and approving my story!

D.D.Z.: wow, thanks for putting my story on your favorites! That made me feel real good. Hope you saw what I wrote for your story.

GoldenSunGeek: Actually, this isn't my first fic. I interrupted my other story when I thought this one up (sorry "Through the Years" fans!) I wasn't actually going to have the bad guy be that violent, but it seemed to fit well with what I plan to do with this.

JACCO: Gee, thanks.

RavenGhost: …Toodles? Oh well, thanks for reviewing. I'm tryin to put a little action into each chapter, but no guarantees. Since I didn't put it in with the good guys part, I had to put it somewhere, and it works well there.

ATTENTION! The unveiling of the villain is finally here! The villain is…HA! Syke! You'll have to read to find out who he is. I'm not gonna tell you right here. (please don't hate me)

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does. Lucky!

When Zelos woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of steel clashing on steel. He listened for a moment, half asleep, and not quite sure what the yells and clanging meant. Then, remembering the soldiers that attacked him, he rushed to the tent-flap , sword drawn, ready to do battle with the soldiers.

When he finally extricated himself from the tent, it was to find Lloyd and Kratos engaged in a sparring match on the other side of the fire. They were well into it, with Kratos occasionally yelling advise to Lloyd. Their swords whistled through the air as they ducked, lunged, and parried each other's blows.

Realizing they were not in danger, Zelos rubbed his eyes and went to get some supplies for breakfast.

"You're skills have greatly improved," Kratos said, over a breakfast of scrambled eggs. Lloyd looked up from his dish, his mouth full of food. "With some more training, you'll be as good as me in no time." Lloyd swallowed the eggs in his mouth and smiled, the look of pride evident on his face.

Zelos laughed. "Hehe, but you'll never be good enough to beat me! I'm the great Zelos Wilder! No one can beat me!" Lloyd shot him a glare.

Kratos also looked at Zelos, his eyebrows raised. "is that so? Would you like to test that theory?" Zelos, ever the optimist, jumped up with sword drawn.

It was over in less than a minute. Zelos found himself pinned to the ground with Kratos' sword at his throat. Kratos smiled and helped him up. "Looks like you need more training, chosen."

As they packed up their supplies to continue their journey, Kratos had a quick word with them. "keep your weapons close. We might run into something that doesn't like talking things out." They both nodded and continued packing, glancing around at the outskirts of the campsite all the while.

As they traveled through the close-growing trees, they looked left and right over their shoulders. Every now and then, they would stop and listen, just to make sure that no one was following them.

After a while, in which nothing eventful happened, the younger element of the group relaxed. Lloyd started humming an old traveling song from Iselia, while Zelos daydreamed about pretty ladies. Only Kratos stayed alert, peering through the trees ahead, alongside, and behind.

Around midday, the stopped in a large clearing for lunch. While Lloyd and Zelos argued over who would cook what, Kratos scanned the outskirts of the clearing for anything suspicious. Zelos watched him while Lloyd heated up some ham.

"Is he always like that?" he asked Lloyd, indicating Kratos. Lloyd looked up at Zelos, then at his father. "Yeah. He said that when he was trying to stop the Kharlan war, there were bandits and thieves everywhere. You couldn't go for a day without being ambushed by them. So, he somehow trained himself to be always on the lookout for people lying in ambush."

Zelos thought about this for a second, then a thought came to his mind. "If that's so, then how come he didn't see those thugs that attacked us?"

"Because I couldn't sense their presence."

Zelos nearly jumped out of his skin as Kratos answered from behind him. They looked over at him, still scanning the tree line for enemies, as ha continued. "Normal thieves and bandits are too noisy to not be detected, but those soldiers weren't. That means that they either knew what they were doing, or could use dark magics that hid themselves."

He scowled. "Personally, I'm hoping the former holds truth in this situation. If they can use magic, then we'll have to be extra careful should we have to-"

He stopped dead in mid-sentence, squinting at something through the trees. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide, and he yelled out, "Get down! Now!" Lloyd and Zelos dropped, just in time.

Literally thousands of fireballs went whooshing by overhead. They came from all directions, landing on the opposite side of the clearing from which they came, causing a wall of fire to encircle the entire clearing.

When the overhead firestorm finally stopped, Lloyd, Kratos and Zelos sprang up, ready for combat. About a hundred mages had passed through the firestorm as if it were water, completely blocking off escape on all sides. They all had the same black robes on, with the same red patterns embroidered on them as the soldiers from a few days ago.

"Well, it seems my worst fears were just confirmed," Kratos said, never taking his eyes off the surrounding mages. They were closing in, decreasing both the distance they were from their targets and the time it would take to react to a spell.

Suddenly, the mages in front of them parted, and a tall man walked in between the parted ranks. He seemed no different from the others, but all three heroes could sense a much more powerful mana emanating from him. He walked forward until he was only a few yards away, then stood there, his face unreadable do to the hood he wore on his head.

After a few moments, in which no one had said anything, Lloyd grew impatient. Walking up to the tall hooded man, he looked right into is face and yelled, "Who the hell are you! If you're the one that sent those soldiers after us, you'll soon regret it!"

The man stayed silent, regarding Lloyd and the others. He seemed to just be standing there, but Kratos suddenly sensed the upwelling of mana emanating from him. Realizing what the spell would be, he shouted at Lloyd, "Look out! He's going to cast-"

"JUDGEMENT!" yelled the hooded man, raising his hands to the sky. The entire clearing suddenly darkened, and bright beams of light shot down from the heavens, coming down on the three trapped by the mages.

Lloyd and Kratos managed to dodge the beams, but Zelos was directly hit by one, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious. Kratos looked over at him as Lloyd began administering first aid, then looked towards the tall man. "How is it that you know angelic powers!" he asked, his voice calm, as it normally was.

The man walked forward until he was directly in front of Kratos. He was silent for a moment, then reached into his robe. He pulled out a magnificent sword, embossed with blue and gold designs across the hilt and crosspiece. The blade, which looked as if it could make a clean slice through solid steel, was jet black.

Kratos stared at the blade, eyes wide with shock. He himself had once owned that sword, but the blade hadn't been black then. It had been his until he inherited the Flamberge from his grandfather. He had then given the sword to-

"It… It can't be…" he stammered, still eyeing the blade. The hooded man lifted the blade until it was pointed at Kratos' throat. "oh, it is…" he said, his voice full of malice, as he withdrew the hood from his head. Kratos gasped, taking a step backward.

"What's wrong?" said Mithos Yggdrassil, his eyes glittering with insane joy, "surprised to see your old pupil alive?" laughing, he released the cloak from around his neck and let it slide to the ground.

He was wearing the wide sleeved shirt and pants he wore the last time Kratos had seen him, except that they weren't white. Now, his outfit was almost entirely black with dark red trimming. Around his neck, he wore a reddish-black stone embedded in gold, hung from a gold chain.

"it's been nearly two years, hasn't it?" he asked, almost conversationally, "too long. I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing you again. But now…" he raised his hand again, and a ball of black mana formed around it. "…Now that I've escaped the very flames of hell, I can finally achieve what I've been yearning to do all this time… AND KILL THOSE WHO KILLED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

The ball of mana shot forth, straight at Kratos. He dodged to the left, but didn't move quite fast enough. Pain lanced through his entire being as his arm was hit by the mana. In severe pain, Kratos fell to the ground, clutching his arm where it had been hit.

"DAD!" Lloyd charged Mithos, swords drawn, ready to kill Mithos again. As he swung his swords straight at Mithos' head, Mithos lifted his sword and deflected both Flamberge and Vorpal. Lloyd swung them the other way, only to find them blocked again. Furious, he leapt into the air, performing his "rising falcon" move.

Before he could connect, however, he was shot down by another ball of mana. He fell to the ground, his teeth clenched with pain. Mithos stood over him, his sword held aloft, ready to swing down on top of the defenseless youth in front of him.

"How fitting, isn't it Lloyd?" he said. "The son of Kratos, being killed by one he thought dead. I can't think of any better way. Farewell, Lloyd. Give my regards to your mother!"

He brought the sword crashing down, directed right at Lloyd's head!

I am so sorry to have to do this to you all, but I couldn't resist! The tension had built up so much that I wanted it to spill over into the next chapter.

Anyway, you all finally know who the villain is, and if you couldn't figure it out, you need to have your brain looked at. I'll get the next chapter out ASAP, so don't be too mad at me. Please review, they make my day!