Crystal Feathers: A Fanfic by Gyppy

Timeline: Based 2 years after 'To Kill An Angel'

Summary: After Niflheim was sealed, Lloyd thought the evils of the world to be dead. The group split up, expecting peace and quiet to reign around the world.

However, they were all in for a big surprise. Two years after Niflheim was sealed, the rising shadow that once concealed the world began to rise again... and now, Lloyd and the others must go on a journey to uncover the cause of the Rising Shadow and seal it away forever.

Pairings: LloydxColette and ZelosxSheena primarily, with some MithosxOC, YggdrasillxPronyma and GenisxPresea. There will also be hints at SelesxOC, YuanxMartel and KratosxRaine.

Author's Note: For the sake of keeping true to the storyline of Rising Shadow, there will be (as probably expected) very few hints at KxR. This is primarily to avoid offending all those random purists out there. I know that most of the purists will end up hating this story because of a few other pairings, but KxR seems to be the most hated of them.

As you all probably know, I'm a big fan of KxR. It's an official pairing in this storyline, though it will be rather rare. This fanfic will mostly focus on the action, though there will be some fluff inserted here and there.

This fanfic is based two years after 'To Kill An Angel', four years after 'Rising Shadow'. Therefore, Lloyd is 21, Colette is 20, Zelos is 26, Sheena is 23, Genis is 16, Presea is 16, Raine is 27, Abyssion is 27, Leviathan is 20, Seles is 18, Allurya is 8, Mithos is 16 and Karina is 15.

I might introduce more Tales of Destiny 2 characters later on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Destiny/Tales of Destiny 2, Namco, Final Fantasy or Squaresoft/Square-Enix.

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Chapter 8: Longing for Family

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The dimensional shift was a long and arduous journey for the two lone companions. Their ally had long since separated from their group, and now Judas and Lloyd were fighting alone.

However, they managed to escape the dimensional shift, and that is when Lloyd demanded that Judas explain himself.

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"Say, Judas." Lloyd looked up from the ground, glancing at the younger swordsman. "That Rutee is your sister, right? Why did she attack you?"

"I suppose it would be pointless to keep such information secret," Judas said, closing his eyes. "It wasn't Rutee that attacked me. It was Atwight controlling Rutee."

"What is this Atwight, anyway?" Lloyd asked.

"It's a sword," Judas replied. "Or rather, a Swordian. One of five Swordians... living swords that can communicate only with their masters and with those others who wield Swordians. The Swordians were forged from Aionis, which you would probably know of quite well, being the Eternal Swordsman that you are."

"Tell me more about these 'Swordians' of yours," Lloyd said.

"It's a really long story," Judas said. "There are five Swordians. Dymlos of fire, Atwight of water, Chaltier of earth, Clemente of lightning, and Igtenos of wind. The wielder of Dymlos is Stahn Aileron, the wielder of Atwight is Rutee Katrea, the wielder of Clemente is Philia Philis, and the wielder of Igtenos is Garr Kelvin."

"And... who's the wielder of Chaltier?" Lloyd asked.

Judas placed a hand on his chest. "Me. I chose not to bring along the Swordian, in case it went insane like Dymlos and Atwight did." He opened his eyes. "It's strange, because Dymlos and Atwight were the only Swordians affected. I was afraid Chaltier would be possessed by the same force, so I left it in my home in Iselia."

"Do the Swordians... have souls?" Lloyd seemed awed.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Judas replied. "Atwight and Dymlos were most likely possessed by some unseen force. I'd be willing to bet Dymlos is near Meltokio... the other location of the dark mana signature. And there's probably another dimensional shift there as well."

"She... Rutee... called you Emilio," Lloyd said. "I thought your name was Judas!"

"That... is only an alias." Judas glanced uneasily at Lloyd, his eyes seemingly filled with something resembling sorrow. "In years long past, I was called Emilio Katrea, the younger brother of Rutee Katrea. However, that name never did fit easily with me... it was eventually changed to Leon Magnus, partially to prevent being known as Rutee's sibling."

"Why did you abandon her?" Lloyd asked.

"That was around the time Atwight started acting funny," Judas replied. "She started to act a little off too, so I figured it would be best to see if I could handle myself alone. That failed as well, however..." his tone darkened. "...and I forgot Leon as well, to become the nameless, masked warrior I am now. The name Judas was given to me by Kyle Dunamis, the son of Stahn Aileron and my sister."

"So... what happened to them?" Lloyd seemed even more intrigued by this tale than before. "I mean, both Stahn and Rutee are possessed by their Swordians, so..."

"Both of them also underwent Cruxis Crystal treatment," Judas replied. "They're still stuck at their respective ages... and it's been a long time since I've seen Rutee. Kyle wasn't even alive when I killed Marian."

"How did you know of Kyle's existence, then?" Lloyd asked.

"By his older brother," Judas replied. "Loni Dunamis. He told me all about how the relationship between Stahn and Rutee had only deepened since his birth. And he also brought news of Kyle... such a smart kid for his age." He smiled ever so slightly. "Even at the age of eleven he was starting to wield the halberd... and he's only become more proficient with it over the years. The Exsphere he has certainly fits his profession."

"So there's Kyle and Loni," Lloyd said. "Could they possibly have been affected by the Swordians?"

"Very unlikely," Judas replied. "The Swordians usually only affect their masters. However, since Kyle was supposed to inherit Dymlos, he may have ended up possessed by it, if Stahn had chosen the wrong time to hand it over. Loni should've inherited Atwight, but he's about as skilled with a sword as a lame chipmunk."

Lloyd snickered. "Hey, tell me to remember that one. It could come in handy later on."

"Frankly, I say it should've been the other way around," Judas said. "Kyle probably would be able to handle Atwight a lot better than Dymlos, and Loni shouldn't have any trouble swinging around a bastard sword."

"What could've caused Atwight and Dymlos to be possessed in the first place?" Lloyd asked.

"There's most likely only one thing that could've done such a thing," Judas replied. "The power of Nebilim himself... but didn't you say you sealed Niflheim?"

"Yes, we did," Lloyd said. "We killed Nebilim and sealed Niflheim... and we destroyed the Devil's Arms as well."

"There must be some other force at work," Judas said, closing his eyes. "Probably the lingering power of Niflheim somehow managed to sneak its way into the Swordians, which might explain why Chaltier and the others weren't possessed. Nebilim probably started with Dymlos and Atwight, and wasn't able to possess any others before Niflheim's sealing."

"In that case, we're going to have to do something about that," Lloyd said. "We should probably start with Atwight, since-"

"Hold on a minute," Judas interrupted. "Dymlos is the stronger of the two, which means we should go after it first."

"Not a good idea," Lloyd said. "You'd be targeting a Swordian that's evidently very powerful and unlikely to cooperate... not to mention the fact that Stahn, being the wielder of Dymlos, will probably also be unlikely to cooperate. Let's go after Atwight first... then maybe we can free Rutee."

"You have a point," Judas said. "Since Atwight and Dymlos are elemental opposites, maybe we can free Atwight from its possession and use that to our advantage against Dymlos. It all makes sense now... I never even thought of that before."

"Well, looks like we just have to tell the others now," Lloyd said. "That shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Yeah, we just have to go back," Judas said. "They're probably at Sybak by now. Maybe we can hitch a ride on Kaze-Tenshi?"

"Probably," Lloyd said. "But I wouldn't even need to..." he called forth his wings. "...I can fly straight there."

"...That's what I meant," Judas muttered. "But if you so insist... yeah, all we need to do now is find the stupid Iapyx."

I don't think that should be too hard, a voice suddenly said from behind them.

Judas practically jumped at the voice. "The hell? Where have you been?"

I've been following you practically all this time, the voice said. You should probably turn around if you want to see me, you idiots.

"You little bastard..." Judas muttered, turning to face Kaze-Tenshi. "You've been hiding all this time? Urgh... try not to hide around me, okay?"

I'll try to remember that, Kaze-Tenshi said. It's about time you noticed me, though.

"So, I guess this means off to Sybak," Lloyd said, smirking. "C'mon, let's get rolling!"

"Yes, off to Sybak," Judas said, sighing. "Some days I wish I had wings..."

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"Well, look at what we have here," Zelos said, peering out the door. "A Judas and a Lloyd. Not to mention... an Iapyx."

"An Iapyx?" Genis stepped out and looked around. "Yep, you're right. That's an Iapyx. Wonder what it's doing here."

I'm here to help you guys, the Iapyx said. Don't worry, I won't bite.

However, the introduction was cut short by the appearance of Kyle and Loni. Kyle set eyes on Judas and was immediately attached to him.

"Judas!" The blond boy was full of enthusiasm. "It's been forever! How are you?"

"It'd help if you got off me," Judas muttered, gently shoving Kyle off. "Some things are definitely amiss out there."

"And we have one hell of a long story to tell you, Zelos," Lloyd said. "Though I think it would be best if you gave those two some time to get acquainted."

"Heck, why would we need to get acquainted?" Kyle grinned at Lloyd. "We already know each other!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Lloyd said. "You're Kyle, right?"

"Yep, that's me," Kyle said. "I'm the great Kyle Dunamis, the descendant of the two greatest Swordian masters in the world!"

"So, Mask-man." Loni walked up to Judas and looked down at him. "You find any hot chicks while you were out?"

Judas turned slightly green. "Um, well, not really... unless you consider my sister a 'hot chick'..."

"...Oh." Loni sweatdropped. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize you'd encounter her out there. Did you finally manage to get her to snap out of it?"

"No," Judas said. "Atwight's still all loony. I hope she snaps out of it as well."

This drew a confused glance from Lloyd. "Swordians have genders?"

"Not really," Judas said. "We just refer to them as 'he' or 'she' to keep from getting mixed up."

"...Oh," Lloyd said. "Well then, I guess we should get to work."

"Sure thing," Zelos said. "Tell us your story, and then we can get settled in to plans."

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Author's Note: Here are a few interesting things to note about some of the stuff in this fanfic.

1. In Tales of Destiny 2, there was a 'nameless swordsman' (using Chaltier I might add) that appeared out of nowhere and basically saved Kyle's butt. After finding out that this mysterious masked soldier had no name, Kyle decided to call him 'Judas', and from there Judas became the badass swordsman we all know today.

2. There are around eighteen years between Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2. Kyle is fifteen years old, and Loni is twenty-three years old.

3. Kyle and Loni are actually completely unrelated in Tales of Destiny 2. The reason they have the same last name is because they were both raised together at the Dunamis orphanage (who Rutee, Kyle's mother, just happened to be the head of). However, they are very close to one another, and so I decided to make them actual siblings in this storyline.

4. Stahn is dead in Tales of Destiny 2. I believe he was killed by Barbatos before the game begun.

5. Yes, this is how Loni actually acts in Tales of Destiny 2. He's a complete pervert (worse than Zelos), and he tends to have a rather amusing personality. I think he's bi in ToD2, which would explain why he constantly makes unnecessary comments about various people (including Judas, which is rather disturbing).

Well, that pretty much sums up my comments about this chapter, other than the fact that it took me so long to write it. I have Baten Kaitos, which will probably explain everything to those of you who have played it. :\