Disclaimer: I (still) do not own the characters of Tales of Symphonia, however much I wish to do so.
Warning: Yes, this fic will contain some more questionable stuff. That's why it's rated 'R'. So if you don't like mentions of sex or slightly offensive language, you're not old enough, or your parents would get you in trouble and kick you off of fanfiction forever if they found this, DO NOT CONTINUE. Thanks... Heh... I'm such a hypocrite.
Pairings: Sheelos, etc.
I have officially gotten writer's block. I can't seem to write more than two sentences at a time, and then I sneeze because of my allergies, and then I can't concentrate anymore. I can't even announce it'll be on hiatus 'cause I've been not updating for so long... eeeuuuughhh... I just want to finish!
starr: Thankyouthankyouthankyou!! I spent about two weeks working on the draft... whereas on some chapters I didn't even give it a second glance... Ahem! But seriously, thank you. I love reading your reviews; they're so genuine!
Lifedeath: Ah, thank you for reviewing! First time, I see. I shall read your fanfiction as soon as I have spare time... ::kills people who created standardized testing::
Rin: Oh, don't worry about last chapter. This was the one that mattered anyway. Hehe, "mushy sweet fluffy stuff and all"... Hehe, you make me smile! Yeah, I know what you mean; I got all confused and writers'-block-y when I realized that what happens next has to happen...
jellybeanz225: Okay, you can rent him for extended periods of time, but only because Botta is deceased at the moment. But Raine will put her arts to good use in time, I assure you! And then Botta will come and steal Yuan, and... ::ahem:: Okay. Yeah, I'm updating...
CruxisJudgment: Yay! You liked the fluff! I'm so happy! It was definitely one of my favorite chapters. It's gonna be hard to write this one, though...
Lady Kumiko: If I'm allowed late updates, you're allowed late reviews! I agree on OOC-ness. Characters should never be put through that kind of hell. But sometimes the character of the characters can be bent by what happens behind the scenes...
AmaDono: ::runs from whip:: Agh! ::ahem:: Thank you very much for reading! I'm glad you liked it enough to put it in your faves.
potter29vo: Oh, don't worry about the review. I'm honestly just thankful you read it! Happy ending? We'll see. Originality? It's difficult with such a story in the game; I'm trying to remain as faithful to the line of action as I can without going into too much detail over things that don't contribute to the story. I know it started out as just behind the scenes, but some lines of conversation in major parts adds to Sheena's thought pattern about Z-Lo... but now I'm rambling.
Shadow Destiny: Gotcha on that updating... I'm really trying! Thanks for reviewing!
sirhcnotilih: Yay! I got 5/5! That'll raise my algebra grade for sure! ... I think...?
SoulPoet: I'm honored to be your favorite! And actually, random things do inspire me...
HunnyBabe: Thanks for reviewing! Heh, you noticed the spooning line? That makes me happy : )
blazingflame: Okay, okay, I'll continue!
whitetiger: Thankoo vewy much! : )
Tarauka-Sosuro: Oh, you've figured me out, heh heh! Actually, I guess that's sort of a coincidence. I don't mean to not get anywhere; it's just that that's the way things happened... I have the characters speak the stuff in my head and it just turns out that way. Although, they will get somewhere soon. And I am going to be doing a fic about Zelos shortly. And there will be some more adult stuff because of the 'getting somewhere'... ASIDE from that, thank you very much for your review. I always appreciate latecomers!
We all knew this had to come sooner or later. I really hate to do it... They got so far!
--Trickssi
Chapter Ten: Regression
'Sheena—
This is a symbol of my trust. Hang on to it for me, okay? I don't have a right to ask for your forgiveness, but I still want you to forgive me anyway. I... don't deserve you.
—Zelos
PS—Don't tell the others.
PPS—Yes, they are, and yes, I was. But not anymore.'
The summoner stared quizzically at the note which had been placed in her hand before she had arisen. What could possibly be meant by the script she would have to find out later. She was lonely of company and clothing, and she had to put this crystal-thing somewhere. Martel, it was cold again. Swiftly she gathered her apparel and adjusted it about herself, tying the bow lastly. The fabric gathered around the exact spot where Zelos's arm had been the night before, yet somehow nothing was as warm, she noticed.
The orb. What to do with it. And what was it exactly. His Cruxis Crystal? It couldn't be... perhaps his Exsphere before that? Something that glowed rather vociferously, at the very least. Sheena couldn't think of where to put it; it was his trust, not to be lost.
Now, to breakfast. Down the rickety wooden stairs—had they been this loud last night, or had Sheena just been deaf to it? Ah, there were the other three at the table in the corner, up and dressed for hours, probably. How long had she been asleep? This was another one of those nights where she got a decent amount of sleep; she noticed the last time had been the night before the Tower of Salvation. Were all her good nights Zelos-induced? She suppressed a blush from arising as she made her way to the table.
"Oh Sheena, you're up!" Colette chirped.
"Took you long enough," Lloyd added. His plate was still brimming with various breakfast delicacies, which would probably end up going to waste since he was obviously too anxious to stomach them.
Sheena rolled her eyes. "Oh, I just overslept a little, Lloyd. Cruxis will be there no matter how long it takes me to wake up," she said, slightly harshly. She did find it rather annoying when he got in one of these heroic moods, as if he almost didn't deserve it, as if he hadn't experienced enough to be knighted by an adventure. Especially in the morning.
"Grr! But we have to make the first move! If we wait too long they'll attack us, and especially at a time like this when we have our guard down!"
"My little snow bunny has a point. I'm sure that Yggdrasill needs his beauty sleep, and he probably won't wake up until we get there, and even then he has to do his hair," Zelos commented. "No rush." He flashed his eyes to Sheena's, conveying that there was still a bond between them.
Thanks...
"W-well, I guess I've held everyone up enough. Let me grab some toast and we'll get going," Sheena spoke in the silence that followed the verbal fracas.
"Finally gonna raid Cruxis, huh, Lloyd," Zelos said, staying firmly in the chair. It was clear he had something to say; as for the subject matter, she couldn't begin to guess.
"Yeah. No going back now," the boy replied. "Except, the only problem is that I can't wield that Eternal Sword."
Colette placed her hand on his shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry. There has to be a way," she calmed even before Lloyd could get angered by the roadblock. It then occurred to Sheena that it was a good thing Lloyd wasn't a woman; he had mood swings frequently as it was.
"There is a way a human can wield the Sword," Zelos jumped in, matter-of-factly.
"Then how? We'll need to accommodate Lloyd quickly," proved Sheena. She had grabbed a piece of toast and proceeded to slather it with Colette's strawberry jelly. Perhaps that would remove the burnt taste. Of course, perhaps whichever way she ate it it would still be burnt toast. She gave a sigh and took a bite. Crispy.
"Back when I was young at the Research Academy, I was injected with elven blood. So, if Lloyd can't do it, at least I'll be able to."
"Wow. I didn't know you could be injected with elf blood," Lloyd said.
"Neither did I," Sheena said. She set down her toast in an absentminded fashion. "Does Tethe'alla really have that kind of technology?"
Zelos was leaning back in the chair. "'Course it does," he replied. "That's why I can use the healing arts." There was something untruthful in his tone, though it went unnoticed by the younger teens. It seemed too simple, and yet all too complicated; how could that blood be circuited through his system all this time if he'd had the shot years ago? And how could just an elf's blood allow one to wield a sword which was controlled by half-elves?
"Zelos, if—"
"Don't worry, Lloyd can be injected too," he finished, answering the unasked. It soothed Colette at the very least.
"Then it's settled. All we have to do now is meet with the others and go to that tower!" Lloyd sprang from his spot at the table, leaving the chair to clatter to the ground as he rushed to the door.
"Lloyd, wait!" Colette called after him. She followed, but not before picking up her bag.
"Kids," Zelos muttered. He shifted and began to leave his chair.
"Hold it, Chosen. I wasn't going to ask you about Lloyd," Sheena demanded. The redhead sighed, reseating himself.
"I—know, Sheena," he said dumbly. He ran his hand through his hair tensely.
"They... really don't have that kind of technology in Tethe'alla, do they?" she asked a little softer than before.
Zelos shook his head lightly. "Probably not. But I can still wield the Eternal Sword bec..." She stared at him with her head tilted. "No, no... Never mind. Don't read into it."
'You conniving bastard, what have you got up your sleeve? How can you hide something from me after everything we've been through!' Sheena's mind screamed with hateful insults. What meant that stupid orb he had given her? He was supposed to trust her with everything, wasn't he? "I won't," she replied simply. 'Stupid, stupid!'
"I do trust you."
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The jolt of seeing those corpses in coffins circling grotesquely beneath them made her forget the menacing laugh that the Chosen had released there some time ago. The Tower of Salvation was never a pleasant place in her mind, and this only amplified her fears. Suddenly, she watched Zelos dash to the front of the group.
"Leave this to me," he said in his overconfident tone. And then the corpses didn't seem too bad...
"Leave it to you? What are you gonna do?" Sheena questioned sharply. Her stomach turned; the glint was in his eyes. It sickened her. He was going to do something horrible. Something horrible, horrible... But what was that past the blinding lie? The old adage of the eyes being the window to the soul... His soul was crying out to her, screaming itself hoarse.
I trust you.
...No, I don't. Not with...
No, I have to trust you! Don't do something stupid!
"I figured something like this might happen so I prepared a little something the last time we were here. Colette, come here for a second."
Don't do it.
She did.
"Good work, Chosen. Now bring her to me," Pronyma's chilling voice sang as she appeared in a circle of green light.
"Sure thing," replied the redhead.
Sickly chills ran down Sheena's back as she heard the words escaping Zelos's mouth. It had to have been a dream, a mind lapse. It was just her fears playing out in front of her as an illusion, like what happened with Volt, yes, yes a dream. Because if Zelos was truly crossing the line, he would be leaving her, he would not trust her anymore. It then occurred to her that his trust was the only sort that mattered... and that her left side throbbed beneath the pressure of her obi.
"Zelos," she called blindly, not even knowing quite what to say. He seemed to respond. "Just what the hell are you doing?"
The assassin could hear the broken and hostile breath of each individual member of the group. Her equilibrium swooned; listing, she attempted to keep her balance. No fainting. No weakness. Blurred vision of Colette engulfed helplessly by a circle of light. The angel was lost for words to the point where she wouldn't attempt escape.
"Oh, shut up!" spat Zelos in a vitriolic tone. "I'm just putting myself on the winning side. What you're trying to do is a lost effort. What's the big deal if I just make myself stronger? Colette wanted to be a sacrifice, anyway."
What's the big deal.
What's the big deal?! Sheena still did not want to believe this was actually happening, actually resounding in her ears. The big deal... Aside from her, what about their mission to reunite the two worlds? Was he abandoning the cause for which she so vehemently fought? This had turned more than personal. This was close to—treason!
Still, as criminal as it was, she longed for him to not be causing this problem; for everything to just turn out all right, and calm, and...
"I can't believe you! You were always a pervert but I never doubted that you were a good person when it came down to it!" she shouted with tears brimming in her eyes. The conversation had gone on without her, fleeting words of beginning and Renegades and—she didn't care anymore.
Zelos's eyes pierced her as he spoke: "Why thank you, my sweet, voluptuous hunny; but Mithos promised he would release me from my fate as the Chosen."
Anger boiled beneath Sheena's flesh: anger fermented and twisted from her former pity upon herself. However, her hand was stayed from grabbing her cards. Something still held her to her words from the night before. Well, I don't hate you.
I don't hate you.
"Come along, Chosen One. We don't have much time if Martel is to be revived," Pronyma ordered. Zelos followed, smirking haughtily as the circles transported the three out of sight. Colette was kidnapped again, but for the first time... Zelos was gone.
Silence.
"Damn that Zelos!" Lloyd cursed audibly. He stomped his foot into the ground. Raine glanced around nervously.
"It looks like we have no time for that," the professor warned. She pointed out the Cruxis guardians descending upon them as Lloyd drew his swords, ready for battle.
"I—can't, I—... damn him... damn him," muttered Sheena. Not being able to move, Sheena could only utter filtered, robotic sentences as she shook with anger.
"Sit this one out," Raine suggested.
Sheena watched inactively. Her mind was too plagued with questions to connect images. Too plagued. She glanced to the right; at the vision of Orochi, her mind suddenly snapped into place. Orochi had been a constant since before the mess of a situation she was in now, and a familiar face was certainly comforting.
"We're too late," Orochi thought aloud.
"O-orochi, what are you doing here?" Sheena asked urgently.
"We were sent by z—... sent to rescue Colette," the man replied. "It seems we're too late, but it's nice to know you're all right."
Sheena smiled insincerely. "Thanks, but there's an issue on our hands right now. We have got to find Colette before she becomes the host body!" And find Zelos...
"No need," Orochi replied. "Look at the transporters. They appear to still be functioning. Perhaps following her would be the quickest way to Derris Kharlan."
Raine nodded. "It appears as such. Let's give it a try before we're too late." The rest of the group filed into the circle behind her.
"Orochi," Sheena called quickly. "Who was it that sent you?" The ninja in blue could only shake his head as the circle enveloped them in a green light and sent them on their way.
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"What is this place?" Genis questioned. "There's vines everywhere. It looks like there's no way to go..."
Sheena darted her glance across the walls, over the intricate patterns on their panels and the weaving root-like branches. There it was again, that indescribable lump in her throat that made her want to implode, explode, screech until her voice went hoarse and she collapsed... No. She couldn't collapse, not now, not so close. Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd, Lloyd. World, world, world... Oh, but her world had already fallen in.
Damn traitor... Damn traitor. Oh Martel, what was she going to do? She couldn't kid herself any more. She was a sap. She trusted him. She trusted him and there he was, disposing of that trust as if it were rubbish. The entire time he'd been working for Cruxis and she hadn't figured it out. The entire time! She began to think of him as a distraction now, in the place of a traitor. A distraction suited him better. Before he joined the merry Martel-saviors she would have been able to pinpoint every member of Cruxis by inhaling. He clouded her judgment is all. Not a sap. Not a trust-breaker.
However, as these titles flashed back and forth across her mind, she stood awkwardly still and silent beside the warp while the others worked fervently to uncover a door, a knob, anything. Not even this observation could motivate her, however. She simply stood, a shadow in the midst of chaos.
"We trusted Zelos, and he—he just—" Lloyd began to mumble. He grabbed a clump of roots and tore it from the wall. "Dammit!"
"Yes, it is unfortunate that he misled us to believe he was our friend," added Regal.
"He had his reasons," Raine said, "but we must keep moving. We must find a clue to Colette's location before it's too late."
Lloyd growled. "I know, but he was my friend! Grrrr!!" In an act of pure testosterone-generated violence, he fired his Ring at the wall. In the fiery fury, a large root became charred enough to fall to the ground to reveal a passageway.
"Lloyd, you did it!" Genis praised. Raine corralled the group into the corridor, pulling Sheena in the right direction in a desperate gesture.
"I know what you're thinking, but we must hurry," she advised the summoner.
Sheena still had a glazed-over look about her as they drifted to a door, a room, a chamber. The chamber was filled with robot-like angels awaiting attackers. Sheena didn't really care. The others allowed her to stand silently as they fought. Not that time for composure would help in any way. She would still be scarred.
Regal, a foot away; sprinting, kicking, nearly falling. Angels wordlessly mouthing something. Angels being defeated. Raine casting spells. Genis also. Angels...
Cruxis. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor!
Too many angels, must leave, must leave Regal... Light and hands...
Stairwell. Stairs, running down them as fast as she could. And then, a massive root of the Great Tree blocking the path across. Great Tree. Mana Cannon. Mana.
Life.
She had to save Lloyd's life; who knew what that tree could do if he tried to cross? Its hostile boughs were capable of murder and god knows what else. The Mana Cannon had been the only way to destroy the Great Tree, and only with great amounts of mana on hand. How much mana had she had to burn, anyway?
It then occurred to her that Zelos might have been useful after all.
"Hold on, Lloyd. This is a root of the Great Tree," Sheena explained. "There's only one way we can decimate it. I just need to summon the Spirits of Tethe'alla."
"But we don't have that much mana!" protested the boy. The summoner shook her head.
"Trust me on this," she said. "Disciple of Everlasting Ice! Hammer of Godly Lightning! Servant of Mother Earth! Envoy from the Dark Abyss! I command thee to lend me your power!" With her call, the Summon Spirits of Tethe'alla appeared to service her. Their respective influences were channeled into her body.
"She could get killed!" yelled Presea, watching her intent. "Chance of survival is .2 percent with her current mana levels."
Raine grabbed the young girl's shoulder to comfort her. "No, I doubt she'll die. Her mana is pure even though there seems to be little of it. Pure mana is more powerful than any level of regular or tainted mana any person holds. She'll live." Presea could not shake her ill feelings.
As Sheena's mana fused with the Summon Spirits', a beam of light was expelled from her hands which lay waste to the root for a short time. "Go, Lloyd, everyone! It won't last long."
"What was that?" Lloyd asked, fascinated.
"My version of the Mana Cannon. Now, just go! I'll follow behind you," she advised. Catching her breath, she attempted to come up to to the group. As she ran across the giant root began to re-grow; its heavy limb swung down upon the bridge behind her. A piece of the root fell with the bridge, but not before clinging to Sheena's ankle. She grasped the edge of the pit with one hand. "Agh!"
"Sheena!" called Lloyd. "Come on, I'll help you up!"
Closing her eyes, Sheena took as big a breath as her overpowered muscles would allow. "No. You've got to keep going."
"We can't just leave you behind!"
"Go ahead, I'll catch up. I promise. Just... save me a piece of the action, okay? I want to help you in some way," she said.
"You've already helped, and now it's my turn to help you," Lloyd offered.
"No," Sheena demanded in a tone more resolute than she had expected. "Save Colette." In that moment, Lloyd's eyes flashed with fear for his friend, but he knew he had to obey. And he began to walk away. Colette...
A memory flooded back to Sheena of when she had stood on the maintenance door as the clumsy Chosen of Sylvarant tripped and unlocked it. And here she was again, in another hole, except... this one was a little bigger. She began to laugh.
"What's wrong with you?" Lloyd asked urgently. "You can't let yourself be in danger and laugh about it!"
"No, I was just thinking of the first time I met you guys... I guess I have an affinity for falling into holes!" she chuckled. "But this one's just bigger..."
"You dork. You'll come out fine and..." Sheena could not discern the end of his sentence as the blood suddenly rushed to her head. This seemed to be it. She was weakening. Lloyd had gone with the others when the swoon temporarily lifted.
"I really should be more ladylike and let him save me," she mumbled to herself. "But that's not my style, now, is it? But my style seems to be the kind that betrays you and leaves you to die..."
And then it happened. Her fingers loosened so that she could not hold her weight anymore. Thinking quickly of her ninja techniques, she pushed off of the wall and into the center of the pit. She was falling... That falling feeling... Loosing her consciousness, or losing her mind? She couldn't tell...
'...Good luck, Lloyd...'
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You know, it's been about a month since I've started this chapter. It gave me hell. I finished another run of ToS in the time that it took me to write this... go figure. But it's good for research, and I assure you you'll have something to read for the holiday break.
--Trickssi
PS—As always, R&R! Tell me what you want to happen next... Of course, I probably won't appease you, but that's because I'm omnipotent! Bwahaha!