Rising Shadow: A Fanfic by Gyppy

Summary: The Dark Lord Nebilim is spreading the fog of death through the land; a swordsman by the name of Abyssion goes out to find out how to stop this miasma, and also to avenge the death of his parents.

Along the way, he stumbles upon the Eternal Swordsman, Lloyd, and his group, and they work together to help defeat Nebilim and restore peace and tranquility to the land.

Author's Note: This is in an Author's Universe, which means that the storyline has nothing to do with the storyline of the game. There may be a bit of out-of-characterness, and lastly, this is a crossover fic (the concept of miasma is from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles). There may be a few Original Characters, which are characters the author came up with to put in the fanfic.

Also, there will be some hints at pairings in this fic: the most notable will be LloydxColette, and there'll also be sprinklings of ZelosxSheena, GenisxPresea and, later on, maybe a little KratosxRaine. I won't spoil the rest for you.

There'll be plenty of game spoilers in this fic, however, it is in an Author's Universe, so much of the spoiler content will have to do with relations and such.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Namco, Final Fantasy or Squaresoft/Square-Enix. All I own is this storyline, this story and my pathetic, writer's-block-afflicted mind.

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Chapter 1: Cruxis and the Eternal Swordsman

Third-Person P.O.V.

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Abyssion had never seen the Eternal Swordsman; he had always assumed he would never see the famed hero of yore, seeing as few from Flanoir ever got to see such famous people. Abyssion had always thought life in Flanoir was boring, but his views were soon going to change.

His first run-in with the Eternal Swordsman occurred in Meltokio.

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"WHOA! Watch where you're going!"

Abyssion had been stopped in his tracks by a teenage boy wearing red; the magic swordsman had not been paying attention to what was going on, and he somehow ended up colliding with the human.

Quickly, Abyssion looked up, taking in the features of the human. There were two belts around his waist; each one held a scabbard, and the hilts of two very peculiar swords were protruding from those scabbards.

"My greatest apologies," Abyssion said, looking into the human's eyes. "What is your name?"

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine," the human replied.

I think I've heard that line somewhere before... Abyssion thought.

"My name is Abyssion," the magic swordsman said. "You're quite the clever young boy, I see."

"I'm Lloyd," the human said. "Lloyd Irving... or rather," he glanced at another human standing beside him. "Lloyd Aurion."

"Lloyd..." Abyssion said quietly to himself as his mind drifted off. Could that be...

"And now, I have a question I'd like to ask you," the human who called himself Lloyd said, snapping Abyssion out of his trance. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm with the Flanoir group," Abyssion replied. "I'm second in command, so to speak. What is your occupation?"

"Second in command in Team Flanoir," Lloyd said to himself quietly; then, he turned to Abyssion. "I'm just... wandering around, y'know?"

"Those swords..." Abyssion said, his gaze shifting. "Are they the Flamberge... and the Vorpal Sword?"

"You sure know a lot about swords," Lloyd said with a chuckle. "Yep, they are..." he gestured to a ring of Aionis he was wearing. "...and they're also the Eternal Sword."

"So you're the Eternal Swordsman..." Abyssion said in awe. "I'm pleased to meet you, Sir Lloyd."

"Whoa, quit it with the formalities," Lloyd said, blushing slightly. "You seemed like an ordinary traveler at first too. But somehow I feel you're not normal..." his tone changed. "...you're radiating a peculiar aura..."

"Oh, yeah, that," Abyssion said. "I'm wearing an Exsphere, and it seems this one contains the soul of a servant of Nebilim. I've been wanting to get rid of it, but I've never brought myself to do it."

"A servant of Nebilim..." Lloyd said, his tone changing to one of anger. "That... that bastard killed my mother... in cold blood..."

"So your mother was killed by Nebilim as well," Abyssion said. "However, as it seems, you still have your father... I have neither. All I have left is a sickly brother living in Flanoir."

"Ah, I see," Lloyd said, lowering his head. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't realize your situation..." then, he raised his head again. "If the others of the Flanoir band are willing to help protect the city, would you be willing to join us?"

"I won't be returning to Flanoir for a while," Abyssion replied. "I'll gladly join your group. Thank you, Lloyd."

"Then, I suppose we should introduce ourselves," another human of the band said, stepping forward. "I am Kratos Aurion... Lloyd's father."

"I'm Genis," a white-haired half-elf boy said. "And this," he gestured to another half-elf, "is Raine, my sister."

"Pleased to meet you," the one known as Raine said, bowing.

"I am Presea," a pink-haired human girl said. "Presea Combatir. Thank you for your assistance."

"I'm The Great Zelos Wilder," a tall, red-haired human male said, stepping forward. "And this is my voluptuous hunny, Sheena Fujibayashi." He gestured to a human female with black hair.

Abyssion chuckled at the title Zelos gave himself, while Sheena smacked the opposing redhead.

"I'm Colette Brunel," a teenage human female said, stepping forward and next to Lloyd. "And I... whoops!" she tripped.

The others in the group stared at her and sweatdropped.

"She's a bit clumsy," Lloyd said. "Don't worry about it."

As Colette got back up, she said, "I'm sorry about that..."

Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"She also apologizes," Genis said. "She apologizes for tripping, she apologizes for saying things, she apologizes for apologizing... she apologizes for everything."

"Yeah, you're right," Colette said, glancing at Genis. "I'm sorry."

Genis rolled his eyes, following Lloyd's example.

It was then that Kratos noted the absence of a member of their group. "Where's Regal?"

"Ah, he probably just ran off somewhere," Zelos replied. "Who knows what that guy's up to anymore."

"Thank you," Abyssion said. "I will do my best to aid you in your quest... whether it be to simply protect a city, or to destroy Nebilim himself."

"All right," Lloyd said, smiling. "Welcome to the group, Abyssion!"

"We should get going," Kratos commented.

"Tower of Salvation, right?" Lloyd said, turning to face Kratos.

"It's good that you remember some things," Kratos said, smiling.

"Hold on a minute," Abyssion said. "Isn't the Tower of Salvation the gateway to Derris-Kharlan? Why would you need to go there?"

"Mithos is on Derris-Kharlan," Lloyd replied, turning. "Mithos is the leader of Cruxis. We've been meaning to form a treaty of sorts with him for some time."

"The leader of Cruxis..." Abyssion repeated slowly. "I thought Cruxis was the organization composed entirely of angels that watch over the world and protect it from harm." His tone changed. "They've been slacking off lately..."

"You're right about the angels part," Lloyd said. "However, they don't protect the world, they're basically just a little clan that live on Derris-Kharlan. Sometimes they're called for their services in war, but only certain people can summon their aid... only great heroes or angels."

"I know you're a great hero," Abyssion said. "None of the others look that special, though. Will they be allowed into Castle Vinheim for your sake?"

"Yes," Lloyd replied. "Well, of course, not all of us are normal. If you'll notice, some of us have Cruxis Crystals..." he summoned forth his wings. "...and thus are angels ourselves. It isn't that difficult to comprehend."

Abyssion looked shocked. "I didn't know you were angels as well..."

"Not all of us," Lloyd said. "Just myself, Kratos, Zelos and Colette. The rest of us just have normal Exspheres."

"And you say you're going to form a treaty with the leader of Cruxis," Abyssion said. "Will I be allowed in as well?"

"I doubt it," Kratos replied. "However, I can probably get you in. I was once of Cruxis..."

"Thank you," Abyssion stated, bowing. "I am in your debt."

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Author's Note: My biggest beef with Cruxis was the fact that their members are so cool (I'm not talking about the Desians, blech), yet they were the baddies in the game. However, this time those totally awesome Angel Swordians are going to be working on MY side!

(SMACK)

...okay, maybe I'm a little TOO cheery.