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 (sometimes a little more than hints ;) ): 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.

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Chapter 6: The Second Seal: Tsunami of Death

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The group headed northeast and across the ocean again to Lake Umacy; there, Sheena summoned Undine to carry them to the temple's entrance. The temple was sealed by a barrier that only Undine could carry them across. Once they were inside the temple, they continued on rather uneventfully.

The seal room appeared to be a quiet and peaceful cavern; however, the cavern was lined with Exspheres, all of which contained tortured souls that had been living in isolation for millenia. As the group approached the altar, they could see the cursed blade, encased in its crystal shell, floating above the seal.

A voice was heard echoing through the cavern... this one wasn't in their heads, but rather it resonated through the air with no known source.

"You weak humans who wish to defeat me," the voice said. "You lack the strength to defeat me, the servant of Nebilim. You may as well give up right here."

"A servant of Nebilim is no match for us," Lloyd said defiantly. "You may be strong, but you aren't stronger than us!"

"Very well," the voice said. "Then I shall challenge you. If you defeat me, the seal will be released and you may possess this sword. If I defeat you... you will become the same as those lifeless beings that line the cavern wall."

Lloyd shuddered at those last words. "We can't lose this fight... if we do, we'll become just like those countless other lives that were lost to Nebilim. We can't... we won't give up!"

The cavern began to shake violently, and the water around the seal began to rise. It converged into a massive sphere above the seal, then floated down to the Soul Eater, and finally in front of the group. Then, the sphere began to solidify, and it slowly melted into a most terrifying beast; it had a canine shape much like Fenrir, but several times larger and much more dangerous looking. Its three eyes, one on either side of its head and one in the middle of its forehead, glowed with an empty blue light, and both sides of its head were lined with sharp, curved horns that reached beyond its snout. Down its back was a row of spikes, and its tail ended in a steel-coated point. Its claws were sharp and curved, looking like the scythes of death itself. From its back rose two wings of pure water, which waved back and forth, creating peculiar breezes in the room.

On either side of the beast was a skeletal angel, much like the ones at the first seal, but with burning blue eyes instead of red.

"Celsius will kill Nebilim by herself if she sees this guy," Sheena commented. "I mean, seriously, it looks so much like Fenrir it could be an upgraded seraph version."

"Except Fenrir has four eyes," Lloyd said. "This thing has three."

"The seal guardian's name is Aryvani," Abyssion said. "It's accompanied by two ocean angels. It would be best to take down the angels first, then defeat Aryvani."

"This might be a tough battle," Kratos said. "Its power is immense... just looking at it is enough to intimidate me. Especially that third eye..."

"We have to try," Lloyd said, drawing his swords. "If we don't, we'll never have a chance at defeating Nebilim!"

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"Kratos! Look out!"

The seraph was able to dodge an aptly-placed Spread attack narrowly due to Lloyd's warning; however, he was soon overtaken by an ocean angel, which he fought off with some difficulty.

At the same time, Zelos took out the other ocean angel with a Sonic Thrust; he then turned to helping Kratos, and knocked back the ocean angel with a Super Sonic Thrust.

Using her wings to increase her speed at the most crucial time, Colette managed to dodge an Aqua Laser; however, she was not prepared for the Spread attack that immediately followed. As she was launched into the air, she wondered how this dog-creature could cast spells so fast.

The remaining ocean angel turned to attack Sheena, and she prepared to knock it back with Pyre Seal; however, the angel dodged the attack, and quickly cut a gaping hole in Sheena's side.

Zelos noticed the attack on Sheena and quickly cast a Healing Stream spell; as the circle of earth magic restored Sheena to her former form, Presea happened to step into the circle, and was treated as well.

Genis cast Thunder Blade, followed by Thunder Arrow; however, he was knocked back by an Aqua Laser before he could cast anything else. At that moment, he started radiating the dark aura of anger, seemingly glowing with shadow... and he began to summon forth the mana for a new spell.

As a massive circle of lightning magic appeared beneath Aryvani, the mage's voice echoed through the cavern, "I'll show you your powerlessness!"

As everyone turned to gaze in awe at Genis, several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, each striking their target dead-on.

And as a massive blade of lightning fell from the sky and struck the center of the circle, Genis cried out, "Indignation Judgment!"

The blade of lightning exploded, dealing massive damage to Aryvani; the blast also reached and knocked out the remaining ocean angel, and as the circle faded, Aryvani seemed to be down as well. However, the seal guardian would not give up that easily; it rose again and cast Tidal Wave, knocking back the entire group.

"That was quite a powerful attack," Abyssion commented. "However, it would be best not to use much more of your mana. I can tell you used a lot in that attack."

"Yeah, I know," Genis said. "But if it's necessary, I'll pull something else out of space or something."

Abyssion started casting Ice Tornado at the same time Genis started casting Freeze Lancer; when the two attacks struck Aryvani, it was temporarily frozen, unable to move. Zelos took this opportunity and cast Eruption, dealing major damage to the opponent.

"We just have to hold on a little longer," Lloyd said. "If we can finish this thing off... the seal will be history and we'll be one step closer to fighting Nebilim."

At the mention of Nebilim's name, Abyssion suddenly perked up; he charged forward, raising his sword into the air, and brought it down with intense force on Aryvani. Channeling lightning mana through the blade, he electrocuted Aryvani and knocked it back.

Aryvani responded by loosing a massive stream of scalding-hot water at Abyssion; the swordsman could not avoid the attack, and fell back, holding his left arm.

"It's too dangerous," Kratos said. "Unless we do something, it'll defeat us."

"No!" Lloyd shouted. "We can't let it defeat us!"

"Then don't," a voice said from somewhere behind them.

Lloyd turned just in time to see the form of Yggdrasill falling to the ground and summoning mana; the attack known as Death Eater then struck Aryvani, forcing a large amount of strength out of it.

"Just remember, Lloyd," the seraph said as he rose. "With the power of light on your side, you will never lose to such inferior beings as these seal guardians."

"Thanks for the help, Yggdrasill," Lloyd said. "But we really didn't need it. We probably could've handled Aryvani on our own."

"Don't underestimate the power of Nebilim's minions," Yggdrasill said, turning his gaze to Aryvani. "You must defeat your foe and put an end to the seal bonding the Soul Eater to Nebilim." Then, he turned his cold blue eyes back to Lloyd. "Remember, you carry a Cruxis Crystal as well. Your father and your two friends aren't the only ones bearing angelic abilities."

"Ah, that's right," Lloyd said, turning around. "Well then, I'm gonna see if this really works."

"Wait a minute," Zelos said. "You're going to try and control mana?"

"Just watch me," Lloyd said as he closed his eyes. "I'll put an end to this creature once and for all!"

Sure enough, Lloyd started glowing with the aura of mana; the feathers signifying an angelic spell rose about him, disappearing soon after they appeared. The light around him twisted and warped, and he silently began saying an incantation.

"Divine One, cast your purifying light upon this corrupt soul!"

Then, Lloyd opened his eyes and loosed the spell.

"Judgment!"

Everyone, with the exception of Yggdrasill, began watching Lloyd in awe as the beams of judgment fell from the sky. And somehow, by some peculiar means, the Eternal Swordsman managed to focus the beams to some extent, and a devastating number of them struck Aryvani.

After the last beam had fallen and the light mana had faded, the seal guardian fell at last, dissolving into the humid air of the cavern. And at the same time, the protective case surrounding the Soul Eater shattered, and the sword floated down in front of the altar. Kratos took it and put it away, knowing it would come in handy later.

And with the release of the Soul Eater, the seal was broken.

"Two down, five more to go," Lloyd said. "I'm counting on you all!"

"I shall take my leave as well," Yggdrasill said. "I must return to Cruxis... there is something unusual about the castle. I'll let you exit the cavern first."

With that, the group left the temple, Yggdrasill in tow. Once they had reached dry ground again, they set up camp, allowing Yggdrasill to return to the Tower of Salvation.

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Author's Note: WOOHOO! I figured since Lloyd had wings, he was able to use Judgment... so there it is. By the way, I made up my own incantation since he never uses it in the game :P

Aryvani is just a random name I came up with. And don't ask why it looks like Fenrir.

I promise there'll be more angel swordians and possibly more fluff in the next chapter. Ah, yes, more angel swordians. :P