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 9: The Fourth Seal: Keraunophobia

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The group proceeded to head north and east, stopping once in Asgard and once in Luin with the passing of days. After an extended period of time, they finally reached the seal, which lay north of the Tower of Mana.

They passed through the temple rather slowly; through dark rooms illuminated only by the flash of lightning and traps that made those in the Temple of Lightning look tame, it was a treacherous path which would've stopped any ordinary traveler in their tracks.

After the dangerous journey, which they barely survived (at least according to Lloyd), they came upon the seal room, which had panels of metal covering the walls and currents running through the very core of the room. The altar in the middle of the room was surrounded by a brilliant purple force field, and floating above the seal was a crystalline sphere with the chakram in the center. The group moved slowly away from the altar, as they all felt a peculiar energy radiating from it.

And that's when the entire room exploded in a blinding flash.

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"Whoa! What the hell was that?" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I think the seal guardian's attacking," Raine said as calmly as she could. "We'd better be careful."

Do you have a deathwish? a voice echoed in their heads. Only those completely immune to the powers of lightning can defeat me, after all.

"We seek to release the seal," Kratos said, drawing his sword. "We shall take you on regardless of your power."

Very well, the voice said. You will be Nebilim's next victims.

The entire room began to glow with an eerie purple glow, which eventually converged in front of the seal and took the form of a massive creature.

It had a brilliant blue body, streaked with yellow. Its shape was like that of a cheetah, with a sleek, long-legged body ending in a whiplike tail. It wore a crest of blades that were colored red like fire, and the curved blades traced down its back, fading into green as they crossed its tail and ended in a single sharp scythelike projection at the end of its tail. Its claws were equally long and sharp, and were colored like solid steel. From the joints on its legs sprouted curving scythes that pointed at the ground. Its two ears were large and pointed, with crimson horns behind each one. There were also long-feathered, purple wings of mana sprouting from its back, which waved ever so lightly, casting a light breeze upon the group.

"I am Keraunis," the creature said, its deep and intimidating voice echoing through the room. "Those who have a desire to defeat me will not live to see tomorrow!"

The group barely had time to draw their weapons before Keraunis fell upon them. It moved almost as fast as the lightning it summoned forth, and it seemed immune to most of the attacks.

Once Lloyd finally had time to recover, he prepared to launch a full-fledged assault upon the beast of lightning.

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As Lloyd loosed Demonic Chaos and Zelos used Grave Blade, Keraunis merely leaped to the side and summoned forth Cardinal Strike. Then, it leaped forward, preparing to attack Lloyd... only to be cut off by Kratos' Eruption spell. Keraunis flinched for a brief second, and then prepared to attack Kratos.

"I think I've figured out its strategy," Lloyd said. "It attacks the one who last attacked it."

"That means a Unison Attack would be best," Abyssion said. "But I don't think we can use one now..."

"I've got it covered," Sheena said. "We can take this bad boy down."

Genis cast Spread at the same time Colette used Pow Hammer; Keraunis couldn't decide who to go after next, and finally settled on both, loosing an Indignation Judgment. Then, after releasing the massive attack, it turned to Raine and struck her down with its tail, poisoning her.

Raine managed to cast Purify, which removed the offending ailment. As she was doing so, Abyssion started casting a spell of his own, one that seemed unfamiliar to them all.

"Come forth in torrents and destroy this evil foe! I summon forth the power of the ocean itself! Storm Surge!"

Immediately the room filled with water, which continued to rise and tore at Keraunis with mighty waves. The wind blown across the surface of the water contributed mightily to the damage, and it seemed almost as if a hurricane had formed right above the temple. After a time, the surge subsided, and the water drained into the earth, seemingly disappearing completely from sight.

Keraunis was damaged, but it could still fight. And fight it did; taking advantage of Abyssion's brief lapse of concentration, it leaped forward and struck him with one of its claws. Then, it channeled lightning through the claw, and ended up giving him a shock he wouldn't soon forget.

After shaking Abyssion off of its claw, Keraunis turned to Genis, swinging its tail at him. The half-elf dodged and loosed a quick Fire Ball at Keraunis, who took the blow as if it was nothing. Keraunis then brought its foot down on the ground in front of Genis and loosed a Lightning Strike attack, which knocked back and dazed the half-elf.

Keraunis wasn't done yet. It then proceeded to turn to Kratos, using its wings to leap into the air and deliver a massive blow to the seraph. Kratos staggered backwards, seemingly having difficulty staying on his feet, and then managed to right himself using his wings. However, he quickly realized it was futile to attack Keraunis in its current position, and backed off.

Then, the seal guardian turned to Zelos... and with one mighty swing of its paw, it knocked him out cleanly.

That was the last straw. As soon as Sheena saw Zelos go down, she started radiating the black aura of anger. Thinking quickly, she decided to do something not quite expected by the others of the group.

"I call upon the Maiden of the Mist! I summon thee... Come, Undine!"

The Summon Spirit appeared in a brilliant flash of light, hovering before Sheena. Then, the entire floor of the room seemed to erupt in a number of Spread attacks, which launched one after the other, causing severe damage to Keraunis. At the same time, the waters of healing fell upon the group, aiding everyone who hadn't already fallen.

As Undine disappeared, Keraunis turned to Sheena and prepared to attack her. However, it was cut off by Abyssion, who had been restored by the summon and was now attacking viciously with Hell Pyre and Hurricane Thrust.

Keraunis merely flicked off the half-elven swordsman as if he were a lone feather.

"This thing is ridiculously powerful," Lloyd said, panting. "Is there any way to defeat it?"

His answer came in the most unexpected form; they heard a high-pitched voice call out the name of the spell Absolute, and Keraunis was taken by the explosion of ice and frost.

Zelos, with the aid of a Life Bottle, managed to rise, and looked up at the doorway with a confused expression, which soon faded to one of worry.

In the doorway of the seal room stood Seles Wilder, who seemed rather ticked off at the fact that Zelos had been brought down by Keraunis.

"Seles," Zelos said, turning to his half-sister. "I thought you were too sickly to aid us in fighting."

"Those days are long gone," Seles said with a smirk. "And I have someone to thank for it, too."

"There's only one person I know that could possibly possess abilities like that," Abyssion said as he got up. "And that person is..."

"Leviathan Reterian," Seles said, finishing for Abyssion. "I hope you've all heard of him by now."

"Levi!" Abyssion exclaimed. "I hope he's alright! It must've taken a lot out of him to help you!"

"We don't really have any time to worry about that right now," Zelos said. "We have to finish off the seal guardian first."

"That should be fairly simple," Lloyd said, observing Keraunis. "That attack took a lot out of it. I'll take care of it myself."

Indeed, the Eternal Swordsman finished off Keraunis quite easily; calling upon the power that only a few seraphim could use, he cast the spell Angel Feathers, which had previously seemed fairly exclusive to Colette. The missiles of mana were more than enough to take out Keraunis, practically hacking it to pieces.

As the remnants of the seal guardian evaporated into the cool air of the seal room, Lloyd dusted himself off nonchalantly.

Abyssion watched the seal break, and as he did so, he muttered, "Levi, you idiot..."

Kratos heard Abyssion and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing," Abyssion replied, looking down. "I'm just... worried about Levi..."

"What's your relation to Levi?" Lloyd asked, glancing at Abyssion.

"I'll explain later," Abyssion replied. "For now... let us leave."

The Evil Eye, which sat above the altar, broke out of its hold and floated to the front as the force field fell. Colette took it, stowing it away for later use.

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The group decided to set up camp just outside the temple, and everyone decided to sit around the campfire for a while.

"I apologize for not introducing myself more fully," Abyssion said suddenly, startling everyone.

"What do you mean by that?" Lloyd asked.

"My name is Abyssion Reterian," Abyssion replied. "Leviathan... is my brother. I told him never to leave Flanoir... I guess he didn't listen to me."

"You sound like you've lived a rough life," Lloyd said. "Do tell me, why exactly did he have to leave Flanoir?"

"You saw Seles enter the temple," Abyssion said. "She's capable of using powerful offensive magic due to the Exsphere. She's also part elf, as her mother was a half-elf. It is known amongst our people that a few of the children of half-elves are born with a peculiar disorder that makes them more susceptible to disease. However, it can be cured with the right knowledge... Levi has the ability to cure this disorder, but it must be done in the Holy Ground of Kharlan, otherwise the spell won't work."

"The Holy Ground of Kharlan is where the Tower of Salvation resides," Kratos said. "And obviously, Flanoir is nowhere near the Tower of Salvation. Therefore, you're saying Leviathan decided to head out to the Tower of Salvation to cure Seles?"

"Precisely," Abyssion replied. "Though I'm unsure as to how he got there... most likely, however, he took a Rheaird. I told him never to leave Flanoir, though... it was too dangerous for him to exit the city."

"Does he wear a crystal shard as well?" Lloyd asked.

"Rarely," Abyssion replied. "He does have a crystal shard, but he almost never uses it. I'd been thinking of giving it to another group, but he insisted on holding onto it."

"Why such sentiments?" Kratos asked, his curiosity piqued.

"It's a memento," Abyssion replied. "The crystal shard once belonged to our father... Levi feels lucky he still possesses the crystal."

"Why did Leviathan leave Flanoir to help Seles?" Zelos asked.

"I could ask the same," Abyssion said. "I wish I knew. I strictly forbid Levi to leave Flanoir under any circumstances."

"You think we should go to Flanoir?" Zelos asked. "He's probably gone back by now."

"It sounds like a good idea to me," Lloyd said.

"It will be difficult to get there," Abyssion said. "I suppose if we got our hands on a few Rheairds of our own... but there's one problem. Not all of us have crystal shards... and I doubt anyone around here would want to part with crystal shards, seeing as they're such precious items."

"There is a way," Kratos said. "We could go to Vinheim. Mithos knows of a way we could get to Flanoir."

"Alright, then," Abyssion said. "That means our next destination is the Tower of Salvation. We can start tomorrow."

"Why Vinheim?" Lloyd asked, turning to Kratos.

"It should become fairly obvious once we get there," Kratos replied. "However, you won't have to undergo the test."

"I won't have to undergo the test?" Lloyd questioned, confused.

"Trust me, you won't," Kratos said. "And... to be perfectly honest, I'm glad you don't." He shuddered.

Lloyd simply sat in contemplation for the rest of the conversation, wondering what exactly Kratos was thinking.

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Author's Note: Abyssion's brother is introduced! And Seles returns! Mithos knows the path to Flanoir, but what is it?

Find out whenever the heck I can get rid of this doggone writer's block. -.-

Oh, sorry about the long wait. I just got randomly inspired.