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 12: The Ultimate Sacrifice

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The group decided to head out to Flanoir, where Garr had last been spotted. Since Dymlos had temporarily broken its link to Kaziro, it told the others all about what happened while Stahn was under the control of Kaziro.

They quickly encountered Garr, northeast of Meltokio. Lloyd was startled at the sudden appearance of the Swordian master.

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"It's been a while," Stahn said casually. "What's been happening lately?"

"Oh, plenty, if you get my drift," Garr replied. "Just one more note: You might want to watch your back, because you never know when it's gonna get stabbed."

Stahn's eyes widened. "You mean...?"

'We've been betrayed,' Chaltier said suddenly. 'I knew it all along. I knew there was something wrong with Igtenos...'

"The little earth render is right," Garr said, smirking. "You guys could never trust me... you worthless bastards."

"You were the other one," Stahn said, drawing Dymlos. "You... you were the other Swordian that was possessed by Kaziro..."

"Think again." A new voice spoke up from behind them, completely unexpectedly. "What Atwight didn't tell you is that only one of the Swordians chose the wrong path."

"The wrong path, huh?" Stahn turned to face the new voice. "Evidently you're getting your paths mixed up, because you are the ones that have taken the wrong path."

"Who's that?" Lloyd asked, turning in the direction Stahn was facing.

"Another one of our acquaintances," Stahn replied. "That's Philia. Never expected she'd follow the path of Kaziro..."

"That can't be true..." Lloyd's eyes widened. "That means... Chaltier was the only one that wasn't..."

The one named Philia stepped forward. "How naive... you can't even recognize your own mistake. Now you'll forever live on with that knowledge haunting you."

"This can't be true..." Judas suddenly fell back, holding his head. "No... this can't be true... traitors... and I'm one as well..."

"It's incredible you've acknowledged the fact that you're a traitor," Garr said. "Now, I think you should die by my blade."

"No..." Judas suddenly launched forward, drawing both swords. "Everyone, stand back! Don't question my judgment, just do it!"

Judas began shining with the black light of an agitated aura as the others slowly stepped back. They didn't know what to expect, nor did they know why; but as Judas said, they did not question his judgment.

"Mazewara dareshi inochi ni..."

Chaltier's blade suddenly lit up with a magnificent, glimmering aura, and it exuded a long, triangular blade of mana.

"...ima motarasaren setsuna no kiseki!-"

Judas launched himself forward, performing three slashes, followed by a thrust and then an upward slash, and he launched himself backward after the final slash.

"Toki wo kete..."

The blade of mana changed to a brilliant, shining purple.

"...koko ni yuugou seshi mirai he no taidou!-"

Judas flung himself at his target again, performing two slashes, followed by a thrust, then a cross cut with both swords.

"-GISHOU KEN!"

Chaltier's blade, shining with a blinding white light, was brought down on the opponent, and the mask shattered, though Judas appeared to be too infuriated to even notice.

"Boku wa... kako wo tachikiru..."

Judas fell back once again, Chaltier's blade glimmering with that eerie red aura. He then launched himself forward, performing that same upward slash as before, with the same pillar of blood-red light...

"MAJIN-RENGOKU-SATSU!"

...and with more force than ever before, he performed the technique that he had once sworn never to use again. The blades of red and white mana encircled the once-masked swordsman, drilling into his foe with untold force. And this time, instead of merely disturbing the mana of the foe's body, they sliced deep into the target's skin, essentially shredding it from the inside out.

By the time Judas had fallen back from the recoil, Garr was a bloodied mess. Barely alive, the master of Igtenos attempted to stand up, only to fall back down.

"Heh... it seems you've done better than I thought..." Garr sighed, not bothering to save his last breaths. "You... you can now say... Judas... you've killed... the master... of a Swordian..." He coughed. "Just one more thing... Kaziro is south of Flanoir... near the Temple of Ice... he relocated from the Tower..."

"You've got to save him, Rutee," Lloyd said. "You... can use healing magic, right?"

"I'm sorry," Rutee said sorrowfully. "There is... nothing more I can do for him. He's... gone. Sad to say, but... he's really not coming back."

"It's really a shame..." Garr managed to utter. "Stahn... take Igtenos... give it to Mithos... he deserves it..."

"As you wish," Stahn said, stepping forward. "And... I'm sorry we had to kill you."

Garr shook his head. "It's alright... my life was a lie anyhow... I wish I was in... as high a position... as I once was... as you are now... but here I am... fallen by the blade of the demon..."

And with that, Igtenos' master breathed his last. The Swordian cried out, sounding almost as if it were in pain.

"There's no time for a proper burial, though," Judas said, turning to face Philia. "We still have one more nuisance to deal with."

"And you sure as hell won't get away with this," Philia stated, drawing Clemente. "Majin-Rengoku-Satsu I can understand, but killing a faithful companion? You're just as much of a traitor as your namesake."

"And that's where you're wrong," Judas said. "I did it for the sake of all good. You... kill for no reason."

"I don't think you'll be getting anywhere, though," Philia said. "Thunder Blade!"

Judas looked up just in time to see a sword of lightning fall from the sky, and his mana was disturbed as the sword fell directly upon him and sent a massive electric current coursing through the ground. He fell back quickly, unable to withstand another attack.

"Kyle, you've got to do something!" Loni rushed forward, weapon drawn.

"Yeah, I know!" Kyle managed to pick himself up, quickly drawing his weapon. Before he even got halfway to his target, he performed Double Demon Fang, which was enough to knock back Philia.

Stahn quickly turned to face Philia, and cast Eruption. However, Philia picked herself up, and cast Spread, sending Stahn flying into the air.

Seeing this, Rutee cast Aqua Laser. Philia blocked the attack with Force Field, then retaliated with Spark Wave. Rutee was forced to fall back, the intense blow dealing more damage than she expected.

Philia was suddenly caught off-guard by a Destruction attack from Loni. However, she quickly turned and retaliated by loosing Flame Lance, which was enough to send Loni flying. He landed painfully on top of Reala, who had come along for the trip.

Kyle, infuriated, launched into one of his own techniques.

"Light of the moon, I call upon your power!-"

For less than a second, Kyle charged his attack, then leaped forward and performed a slash, followed by three thrusts, aimed in a vertical line from bottom to top. He then leaped into the air, the sky turning to night and the moon shining brightly against his blackened silhouette.

"SOURYUU-"

Kyle came crashing down, his sword contacting the ground.

"-METSUGAZAN!"

Four pillars of light encircled his target, rising high into the blackened sky. After just a few strikes with the whirling light mana, a fifth, brilliant blue pillar exploded out of the ground, reaching into the sky.

Kyle jumped back, the earth still bearing the mark of his sword. The sky turned to day again, the sun shining as if nothing had ever happened.

"You little brat..." Philia rushed forward, slashing blindly with her sword. "I'll make you pay for this!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a magnificent explosion of light occurred, and Mithos appeared in a flurry of angelic feathers. Judas turned for a brief second, his eyes falling on the leader of Cruxis.

"Something's obviously been going on here," Mithos said. "It's been a while since I saw you guys. How are you all doing?"

Mithos turned to face Garr's body, and seeing Igtenos, he quickly floated over to it and picked up the Swordian. Igtenos seemed displeased at this act, but made no move against Mithos.

"Use it again, Judas," the angelic swordsman called out. "I know you're tired, but you've got to do it! And please... try not to kill your target this time!"

Judas nodded, and turned to face Philia. Calling forth the last of his strength, he performed his Shining Blade, then Shadow Strike, and finally Majin-Rengoku-Satsu, all the while praying that his attack wouldn't kill Philia.

However, as soon as the recoil of the attack faded, Judas suddenly felt a new strength roaring through his body. He leaped into the air, and the Cruxis Crystal he bore glimmered with a magnificent red light.

Everyone looked up just in time to see magnificent sapphire wings explode from the swordsman's back, wings bearing long and thin feathers, and sparkling with brilliant white and blue light.

Philia, who had managed to pull through Judas' attack, glanced up at the newborn angel. Clemente seemed quite pleased with the transformation.

Judas descended, his own surprise overtaking him. He quickly sheathed his swords, and felt behind himself in disbelief, almost as if the wings weren't even there.

"Yep, they're there," Kyle said, grinning. "You're an angel. Congratulations, Judas."

"I can't believe it..." Judas still seemed shocked, his breathing slowing to a crawl. "It's... it's almost as if... I really have been reborn... and Marian..." his breathing quickened. "...oh, Marian!"

Sure enough, the translucent form of Marian projected itself before Judas. She appeared to be several years older than him, bearing the body of a full-grown woman, rather than simply a young teenager. She had long black hair and similarly colored eyes, though those eyes seemed to be gentle and almost sparkled with life despite the spirit form.

"The hell...?" Lloyd looked confused as he gazed upon Marian's form.

"She's awful old for you," Zelos remarked. "You should've at least picked a slightly younger girl."

"Don't worry about it," Loni said. "A lot of people commented on his relationship with her all those years ago."

"It's all about the love, right?" Kyle grinned.

"Well, I suppose," Zelos said. "But still..."

Judas, however, seemed to be preoccupied. "...Marian... you've returned...!"

"Yes, I know." Marian's voice was almost musical, delicate and magnificent against the soft wind. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Seventeen years, give or take a month?"

"Marian... I thought I'd never see your face again..." Judas' eyes turned wet, filling with tears of joy. "...but here you are... returned at last...!"

Marian's form floated forward, embracing Judas. "Yes... and I'm never going to leave you, ever again."

Zelos grinned. "It may be weird, but I must admit, they look pretty damn cute together."

"You're right, Zelos," Mithos commented. "They certainly look good together..."

"I just think it's so cool," Lloyd said. "I mean, they're together again, they're both alive... it's just so amazing!"

"Well, Judas," Kyle said, his grin widening. "It looks like you won't be looking for a girlfriend anymore."

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Author's Note: Alright, I have a few comments to make on this chapter.

I sure hope I got the incantation for Giren Shoureizan (Shining Blade and Shadow Strike in this fic) right. And yep, Souryuu Metsugazan is Kyle's coolest tech. Period.

Garr dies, big deal. He was pretty useless anyhow. (he makes an appearance in Tales of Symphonia in the Meltokio Coliseum, so those of you who have fought the 'Tales Trio' will know who he is)

I'm not exactly fond of Philia, and I've only seen Marian's face. So... you should probably look it up.

I read somewhere that Marian is, like, eight years older than Leon, but I always found it touching that Leon would do anything for Marian. I mean, he betrayed Stahn and the others for her sake... (at least I think, I've never played Tales of Destiny)

This fanfic probably would've had a JudasxChelsea pairing if it weren't for Marian's return.

And yep, Judas is an angel... quite ironic if you ask me.