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.

Thank you for the review(s).

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.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Chapter 3: Fallen Angels

Abyssion's P.O.V.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Gaoracchia Forest was dead. And no, I don't mean dead as in the way it was normally... I mean dead. There was no sign of life anywhere... even the vast overhanging trees had died, shriveling up in the deathgrip of the miasma.

But something seemed off about this place. There were no monsters... all that remained were the bloodied remnants of a handful of travelers and random monster corpses. And the forest seemed to radiate some kind of evil aura... almost as if we were around the Devil's Arms themselves.

We progressed through the forest, using the shard of a crystal to keep the miasma at bay. There had been some various plants blocking the way, but they had all been burned away by some sort of mysterious hellfire. I would look to my left and to my right, but nowhere could I find any trace of life. Even the undead had been fought back and sent back to the earth from which they came, and the vegetation had all died out due to either some sort of creature wreaking havoc or the unusually powerful grip of the miasma.

Suddenly, we were interrupted from our slow progress by a banshee-like shriek, immediately followed by the voice of some sort of demonic creature.

"Come forth, young ones... come forth, so that you may be devoured by the darkness."

I hesitantly stepped forward, seeking any sign of life. And when I rose my head to look at the creature that had spoke, I discovered that grotesque is too mild a word to describe it.

This hellish being seemed to be composed of the decomposing remnants of a dead ogre. However, it had the head of some sort of demonic beast, with two horns jutting from the back of its skull and a long, pointed, drake-like snout. It glared at me with vicious red eyes, which caused me to involuntarily step back, not wishing to endure the pain of watching this creature's gaze.

"I do not wish to fight with such pathetic creatures as you," the creature said in its hellish voice. "I desire only to destroy that crystal shard that you carry. That way... you will be consumed by the darkness, and you will become one of us."

"I would think that I'd be smart enough not to submit to the likes of you," Kratos said from the back. "Creatures such as yourself have no place in this world."

It was then that I noticed the wings protruding from the creature's back; they, like Mithos' angel swordians' wings, were jet black, but unlike the wings of pure angels, they seemed to be decomposing, with feathers falling out left and right. Bloodied flesh was visible between the feathers.

"It is a fallen angel," I said, glancing back at the others. "We have to defeat it somehow, or it'll take us by force."

"Gotcha," Lloyd said, jumping forward. "Let's see if we can handle this."

"I will not resist battle if it is what you desire," the creature said, drawing two massive, twisted swords. "But be aware that you will never defeat me!"

abc

Third-Person P.O.V.

abc

Abyssion leaped back just in time to avoid one of the foe's massive blades; he countered with a Demon Fang, and then jumped over the creature's head and struck it in the back with a Sonic Thrust.

Lloyd, meanwhile, had taken up attacking it from the side, and would send the occasional Sword Rain or Sonic Thrust at it.

As Genis loosed an Air Thrust attack, Colette unleashed a Torrential Para Ball; both attacks struck true, leaving the opponent dazed. Kratos took this opportunity to run in and strike with a Hurricane Thrust, immediately followed by Fierce Demon Fang.

Zelos then proceeded to cast Grave, which took the opponent completely by surprise; he then rushed in and used Hell Pyre, followed by Lightning Blade.

It was then that the fallen angel prepared its attack.

First, a circle of dark mana surrounding the creature exploded outward, knocking back the members of the group. Then, the creature launched into a horizontal version of Tempest, whirling its two swords around in a massive circle. Once its opponents had been knocked back and the attack had struck true, the creature proceeded to cast Dark Sphere on Raine, which knocked her even further back and out of the crystal's aura.

Once everyone had finally regained their composture, they began quietly discussing a change of plans. Kratos and Abyssion took to attacking the left side of the beast, while Lloyd and Zelos attacked the left side of the foe. Presea attacked the creature head-on, and Colette attacked from behind. Genis and Raine stuck to pelting the foe with magic. However, in the midst of all the confusion, they had lost track of Sheena.

Then, everything stopped.

Presea was using Mass Devastation, Kratos was using Light Spear Cannon, Abyssion was using Fierce Demon Fang, Lloyd was using Sword Rain: Alpha, Zelos was using Super Sonic Thrust, Colette was using Ray Satellite, Genis was using Flame Lance, and Raine was using Photon.

Then, out of nowhere, Sheena came, summoning the Summon Spirit of Light, Luna, and her companion, Aska. The two Summon Spirits began pummeling the foe with light attacks, which severely drained its power and forced it to fall back.

The attacks of the other members of the group struck true, knocking the opponent down and out.

"That was certainly unexpected," Lloyd commented, glancing at the ninja/summoner.

"I aim to please," Sheena said, fanning herself with her cards.

"That was a rough battle," Raine said, dusting herself off. "I never expected it to be this difficult."

"But then Sheena came in and saved us all," Colette said, waving her wings happily. Then, she turned to the summoner. "Thanks for saving us again!"

"Ah, it was nothing," Sheena said. "It's just a matter of knowing when to attack and what to attack with."

"Score one for the Great-Chested Sheena," Zelos said, grinning. "And all of her voluptuous companions."

The females of the group glared at Zelos while the males sweatdropped.

"That's the last time I want to hear him calling me voluptuous," Lloyd muttered, shaking his head. "At least it sounds somewhat normal when he says it to a female."

"I wasn't referring to you!" Zelos complained.

Kratos sighed in annoyance. "Shall we get going?"

"Ah, whatever," Sheena said. "You're always rushing things... pushing us along to finish the quest and all. It's not like we don't have another three weeks to complete it in."

"Nevertheless, it is imperative that we find Remiel as soon as possible," Kratos said. "Then, we must finish our other quest - the one to find and destroy Nebilim before he can find and destroy us."

"Yeah, you have a point," Lloyd said. "Well, let's get going. We still have all of Gaoracchia Forest to handle." Then, he sighed. "I hate having to say this damned place's name..."

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Author's Note: In case you're wondering, Abyssion is carrying the crystal shard, and he wears it as a pendant on his necklace.

Abyssion knows all the techs that Kratos and Zelos learn, with the inclusion of a few third-level techs.