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 13: The Sixth Seal: Eternal Blizzard

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The group headed to Flanoir again; however, this time, it was to release one of the seven seals that guarded the Tower of Destruction. The temple's entrance was relatively easy to find; the snow around it had been melted away, and a small structure was placed in the center.

They headed through the temple, which seemed rather boring. The seal room was a cavern dug deep in the solid rock of the earth, with the interior of the cavern lined with thin sheets of ice. The altar itself stood near the back of the seal room, sealed by the thin sheet of mana that made up all seals. Above the altar, the Heart of Chaos floated, encased in a crystalline sphere much like the other Devil's Arms.

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Lloyd walked up to the altar and drew the Vorpal Sword, placing its tip on the seal itself. To the surprise of everyone around, the seal was not protected by a force field; the sword reacted to the seal, and there was an explosion that flung Lloyd back.

"Yeah, that was pretty," Zelos muttered. "But where the hell is the seal guardian? I mean, shouldn't he appear by now?"

He got his answer when, quite suddenly, the ice in the cavern began to melt, flowing down to the floor. There, it converged into a ball of ice that floated above the altar. The sphere floated slowly over to the front, and eventually shattered to reveal the seal guardian.

To the surprise of the entire group, the seal guardian was a humanoid; it was female in appearance, with a figure closely resembling that of Celsius. Its eyes glowed a malicious red, and its long, elf-like ears poked out from a mass of shoulder-length, jet-black hair. Its skin was pale blue, much like Celsius; however, it bore no peculiar markings. It was clothed quite simply, with a short sleeveless shirt and a knee-length skirt, both of which were black. It wore a green headband.

However, the most notable feature about the seal guardian was its hands and feet. Its hands had long, sharp claws of ice attached to them, and its feet were like talons, with long and bony toes equipped with sharp icicle claws. Behind it, there were wings of ice, much like those of Siberion.

"You wish to break the seal," the creature said in a soft, feminine voice. "However, I fear you will do no such thing. Lord Nebilim has been expecting you... that's why he sent me. For five thousand long, lonely years, he has expected your coming... and I have been guarding this seal for as long as my natural life." She smirked, crossing her arms. "You can just call me Yvanna."

Kratos glared at the seal guardian, his eyes seemingly alight with fire. "You dared to choose such a horrid name for yourself... you've made a mockery of all things living."

"Ah, yes, I remember you," the creature known as Yvanna said. "I named myself after that pathetic woman Lord Nebilim killed fourteen years ago. Up until then... I didn't have a name. So fortunate of me to have encountered you, the former Seraph of Cruxis who put his life on the line for a pathetic, inferior being."

"I do not think that was a wise decision," Abyssion said. "Insulting Anna is the last thing you want to do around Kratos."

"What do I care?" Yvanna said, her smirk growing. "I'm taking you all down... and then I'm killing that pathetic Summon Spirit who thinks she can interfere with Nebilim's plans!"

As everyone drew their weapons, Yvanna's claws began gleaming with an unearthly light. Her face twisted into one of pure evil as she prepared her onslaught.

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Lloyd jumped into the air and swooped down, stabbing Yvanna with the attack known as Rising Falcon. The seal guardian quickly whirled around and fired her claws at him, which struck hard enough to send him flying into the wall. Yvanna quickly restored her claws, turning to aim them at Kratos, who was brought down as well.

Zelos performed Hell Pyre, followed almost immediately by Hurricane Thrust. However, Yvanna was too quick for him, and sent him flying into the far wall. Then, she turned to Abyssion, who was charging a spell. Seeing no other way to interrupt him from his concentration, she cast a spell of her own, Freeze Lancer. Abyssion was forced to break his spell to use Guardian in order to avoid being knocked back.

Presea rushed over and used Endless Infliction, followed by Mass Devastation. Yvanna quickly turned to attack the axwoman, but Presea was too fast; she used her wings to float above Yvanna and cast Judgment Ray on the seal guardian.

Genis cast Raging Mist around Yvanna; the seal guardian turned to face the half-elven spellcaster, and prepared to impale him on one of her claws. However, Presea interrupted the foe by using Beast, blowing her away.

Sheena and Colette attacked Yvanna in unison, with Sheena using her Mirage Seal Pinion and Colette using Triple Ray Satellite. The attack was enough to knock back Yvanna, but the seal guardian eventually caught the two female fighters, blasting them away with some form of ice attack.

Kratos managed to recover from Yvanna's previous attack, and in a fit of rage, he rushed forward and delivered a Sonic Thrust, followed by Lightning Blade, then Super Lightning Blade. The attack was enough to daze Yvanna, giving Kratos time to cast Eruption.

Raine attempted to cast Photon, but was interrupted from the attack by Yvanna's Dark Sphere. Seeing this, Genis decided to cast Flame Lance, but was also interrupted by a Dark Sphere a mere second later.

Abyssion finally managed to get himself in gear again, and used Demonic Circle, immediately followed by Sonic Thrust. This angered Yvanna, who turned to knock the sword out of his hands; however, the dark seraph somersaulted over Yvanna and used Super Sonic Thrust right in her back.

It was then that Yvanna decided to really attack the group.

"Dark Lord Nebilim, lend me the freezing chill of the dark abyss below! I summon forth the power of the eternal blizzard! Absolute Zero!"

The entire room was filled with an intense cold that nearly froze everyone solid with its sheer intensity. Then, the ice was shattered, and the chill faded from the air almost completely.

"Whoa, that was a really cheesy attack," Zelos commented. "Couldn't you think of something a little more... y'know... cool?"

Yvanna responded by impaling him on one of her ice claws.

"Guess you're not too fond of puns, huh?" Zelos said calmly. "Well, I have a special little treat for you..." he stuck out his sword and managed to touch the tip of it to Yvanna's skin. "Flame Sword!"

The blade of the sword started glowing red-hot, filling with fire mana. Then, suddenly, the sword seemed to explode, blasting Yvanna off of Zelos and allowing him to right himself.

"That hurt," Zelos said annoyedly. "I don't think you should do that too often..."

Raine had nothing to do but cast First Aid on him; this was enough to close the gaping hole in his midsection (which had barely missed impaling a few vital organs), but he was still left with the pain, much to his chagrin.

"Yvanna is a bloodthirsty monster," Kratos said as he slowly backed away. "We have to be careful if we have any hope of surviving-"

He was cut off by a most unexpected voice.

"AGARAZIUM!"

A magic circle appeared beneath Yvanna, and a pillar of prismatic light launched her into the air, sending her flying into the wall of the seal room.

Yvanna looked at the doorway, and by one simple glance, her worst suspicions had come true.

"Pronyma," the seal guardian said. "What in Niflheim are you doing here? And why did you just attack me?"

Indeed, the half-elf of the group Lloyd opposed was standing in the doorway, floating a mere inch above the ground. She held a battle staff of sorts, and glared vehemently at Yvanna.

"Nebilim is a fool," Pronyma stated simply. "He always wanted to take over this world... but he failed to realize that it is futile to take over this world with Mithos in charge!"

"You traitor!" the seal guardian shouted, launching herself forward on her crystalline wings. "You deceived Lord Nebilim! You always fought for us... but in the end, you betray us!"

"I really wish to see you defeat me," Pronyma said, smirking. "After all, I have the one thing you don't have."

Pronyma cast Dark Sphere on Yvanna, stopping the seal guardian right in her tracks.

Much to Lloyd's surprise, two angel swordians flew into the room and attacked Yvanna.

"Stand back for now," Pronyma called to the group of seraphim. "I'll handle her!"

As Lloyd quickly found out, Pronyma handled things quite well; Yvanna had fallen in a matter of mere minutes, having been swarmed relentlessly by the angel swordians.

The group stepped up to the seal and watched it break; the Heart of Chaos was taken by Raine, who pocketed it for later use.

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Since it was getting late, the group decided to head back to Flanoir, Pronyma in tow. As they returned, they decided to converse.

"Pronyma, what led you to betray Nebilim?" Lloyd asked, looking at the half-elf female.

"Nebilim is a fool," Pronyma replied. "He's a demon, born in Symphonia and raised in Niflheim. He thinks he can take over this world, but he was unaware of the fact that seraphim are much more powerful than demons."

"So you're siding with the strongest," Zelos said. "Sounds like something I'd do."

"I also know Yggdrasill," Pronyma said. "He was a friend of mine for quite a while before I joined the Desians. I tried to persuade the other Desian leaders into leaving Nebilim behind, but they were just too stubborn." She glared at the ground. "Fools..."

"Well, if you knew Yggdrasill, why did you join the Desians in the first place?" Zelos asked. "I mean, if you believed in Nebilim's ideals in the first place, why are you calling him a fool now?"

"I was led blindingly by Nebilim," Pronyma replied after a brief silence. "He promised to give me a high position in exchange for the lives of seraphim. I originally agreed to it, since I once thought I was indeed a superior being... but Yggdrasill was what brought me back to reality." She sighed. "I cannot avoid Cruxis... and I would much rather be with them than with the Desians. Mithos is a much kinder leader than Nebilim... Nebilim merely has a thirst for blood. He does not intend to end the attack on half-elves."

"I don't particularly like you, but I guess I can trust you," Lloyd said. "That was a little too close for comfort."

"You saved our sorry butts back there," Zelos stated.

"I was only doing my job," Pronyma said, smiling. "I was defending you for Yggdrasill's sake. There's no reason whatsoever to ignore you in time of need."

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Author's Note: I bet this was an unexpected plot twist. I'm not a big fan of Pronyma, but on the other hand, I actively support PronymaxYggdrasill (ya don't see that every day, do ya?). Besides, some of Pronyma's techs are really cool.

The quest to break the seven seals is almost over... did ya notice? Huh? Huh? ...alright, I'll shut up.

As a side note, my favorite (sorta) of the Desian Grand Cardinals is Forcystus. However, he doesn't have someone he's incessantly glued to in the game, so I couldn't have him betray Nebilim.