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 9: Betrayal of Light and Planning

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"So basically what you're saying is, there are five Swordians, each with a different element, and they are controlled by five people who were chosen by the Swordians themselves." Zelos nodded. "But at the same time, you need access to Aionis to be able to wield them. How exactly does this work?"

"It's believed that the Aionis items are chosen by the Swordians as well," Judas replied. "The Aionis I bear is in the form of a bracelet that I usually only wear in battle. It allows me to control mana freely as well as wield the Swordian Chaltier."

"And you're also saying that two of the Swordians have betrayed their masters," Zelos said. "But Niflheim was sealed two years ago! How could something like this have happened? Doesn't make any sense to me."

"I ask the same questions," Judas said. "I've never been able to answer any of them. Let's just hope that Niflheim really was sealed forever..." He closed his eyes. "I think it would be best to attempt to take out Atwight first. There's only one problem with that..."

"We might have to kill Rutee," Lloyd said. "Such a thing would... not be in our best interest."

"So, the great Emilio Katrea is afraid to take on his big sister," Zelos said. "Sounds pretty pathetic to me. But what can I say? Go for it. If you kill her, so be it. She's dead and gone, who cares?"

This immediately brought up an aura of pure anger from Kyle and Loni. At the same time, the two exclaimed, "How can you be so heartless?"

"Relax, you two," Zelos said. "She's not gonna die. I can tell. Just take care of Atwight first, and then everything'll be okay."

"So we have to attack Atwight," Kyle said. "Sounds easy enough to me. Defeating it might end up being the hard part."

"Who's going with?" Loni asked.

Judas stood up. "I'm going for sure. I have to protect Rutee... make sure she doesn't die. It'll be a tough fight, so I advise we take along Kyle, Loni and Lloyd. Zelos would probably be of some assistance, and we'll need someone to take care of our injuries, so let's take Raine along as well."

"If Lloyd's going, I'm going too," Colette said. "You'll take me along, right?"

"Of course we will," Judas said. "Just... be careful, okay? I don't want any more casualties if we can help it."

"So, let's get going," Zelos said. "We don't want to waste any of our precious time, now do we?"

'Take me along,' the voice of the Swordian Chaltier said. 'You don't want us to-'

Judas sighed. "Yes, yes, I know, I know. Just give me a break, okay? Either that or figure out how to talk to people besides myself."

'I already know how to,' Chaltier said. 'I just choose not to, because I think it's silly.'

"Talking open is silly?" Judas rolled his eyes. "Everybody thinks I'm crazy enough because I'm talking to you all the time. And I was wondering how Lloyd was able to hear Atwight's voice..."

"Actually, I can hear Chaltier's too," Lloyd said. "It's probably the connection with the Eternal Sword."

"That's probable," Judas said. "The Eternal Sword is known to do some very strange things sometimes."

Suddenly, a new voice spoke up from outside. "Hey, you guys. You think you could let me in? I have something to tell you."

"Reala!" Kyle immediately stood up and ran over to the door, opening it. "Good to see you again! I was so worried about you..."

"There's no need to be worried about me," the girl standing outside said. "Just... you look after yourself, okay?"

"Oh, Reala..." Kyle practically melted into her arms. "I'm sorry for leaving you here..."

Loni grinned. "Looks like Kyle's finally getting to see his girlfriend again. I must admit, it's been a long time since those two saw each other."

Lloyd looked up. "...Oh, I didn't know about her. Kinda funny, since I've known Kyle all this time..."

"It's okay," Kyle said. "Not everyone knows about Reala..."

The girl named Reala nodded. "Yes, I understand. It's nice to meet you guys."

As Reala stepped in, Lloyd could finally take in her appearance. She was a small, slender girl, with pale skin and short brown hair that was tied on either side in the front by small, spherical items, two on the left and one on the right. Her dress was rather revealing on top and led down to an almost knee-length skirt that covered most of her lower body, pink in color with a long and thin red ribbon. She had pale bluish-white leggings that reached up to her knees, and small, bright red shoes.

Even to Lloyd, she was truly an exquisite sight. She was beautiful beyond all comprehension to Zelos, who managed to catch a glimpse of her.

"Leave her be, Lloyd," Loni said. "She's already taken." He winked.

"Yes, yes, I know, I know," Lloyd muttered. "Besides, I'm with Colette, right? And she's too young for me."

"Settle down, boys," Reala said. "I'm fine with you, just so long as you don't try to make any moves on me. I've had that happen more than once in my time..."

"There's only one person you'll have to worry about," Lloyd said, glancing at Zelos. "He's quite flirtatious most of the time."

"I've dealt with the flirtatious type before," Reala said. "Don't worry about me. If I can handle Loni, I can probably handle that guy."

"Yeah, Loni's probably worse," Lloyd said. "But at least he could acknowledge the fact that you're already with somebody..."

Zelos rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'm not that bad..."

"Then why are you always flirting with Colette?" Genis crossed his arms.

"It's not flirting!" Zelos retorted. "It's just friendly conversation!"

Genis rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say..."

"Kyle will have to introduce you all later," Reala said. "For now, though, I'd like to tell you something. The Desians have been betrayed again."

"Again?" Lloyd perked up. "What happened this time?"

"An Iubaris escaped," Reala replied. "Its name is Kiseki. They believe that it had a Cruxis Crystal attached to it with a Key Crest. I got information about this by infiltrating what once was the Asgard human ranch."

"Asgard human ranch, huh," Lloyd said. "Well, hopefully we can come across this 'Kiseki' sometime soon..."

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Author's Note: Yes, I know this chapter is a bit short. But there are some important notes I have to make.

In addition to the standard techs which can be seen in Tales of Symphonia, some of the characters will have their own techniques from Tales of Destiny 2. Hi-ougis aside, Kyle will have the Souhajin line of techniques (Souhajin/Garen Souhajin/Retsushou Souhajin), Loni will have Raijinshou (Thunderstrike in this fic), Reala will have Instant Nova, and Judas will have Senretsukokousen (which is essentially a reversed Sword Rain: Alpha). The characters will also have all their hi-ougis (except Reala, since hers are summons).

Keep all this in mind in case I decide to write a sequel.

Also, as a side note, Reala doesn't have her famous pendant in this fic. Instead, she has a Cruxis Crystal. Just so you know. ;)