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 14: Kaziro, the Dark Lord
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Using Garr's words as guidance, the group headed out to the Temple of Ice, where Kaziro was believed to be located. What they encountered when they reached their destination was more than slightly startling.
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Before Lloyd stood the same cloaked figure that had been encountered in Vinheim not too long ago. Judas was audibly growling, teeth bared, like an angered wolf, and Kyle was glaring indignantly at the one named Kaziro.
"So it was you all along," Kratos said. "You were the one who attacked us in Vinheim. You were the one who's behind the Swordians' possession."
"So, I see you've figured it out," the cloaked figure said. "I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself. Some of you already know me, ne?"
"Kaziro," Judas hissed. "If you desire to continue your life, you must surrender. Now."
"I don't take empty threats," Kaziro said, smirking. "As a matter of fact, the last time I encountered you, it was you who was reeling."
"We're not alone this time," Loni said. "This time, you're going down, no matter what you say. You're the one who's making empty threats."
"I seem to recall it was the Eternal Swordsman who killed Nebilim," Kaziro said. "Well, in that case, I'll just have to kill him after I eradicate you guys."
"How are you supposed to know who the Eternal Swordsman is?" Kyle questioned. "For all you care, it could be any of us."
"That means I'm going to have to kill you all," Kaziro said, his smirk growing wider. "I'll just have to do it one-by-one."
Everyone drew their weapons, as Lloyd stated, "We're not gonna lose to the likes of you!"
Kaziro responded with a Chaos Pulse, which knocked back Lloyd and Kyle. Lloyd seemed to be particularly affected by it, and everyone seemed to be wondering why.
However, they would have little time for wondering. Kaziro fired off Bloody Lance, which targeted Loni, forcing him to fall back.
"You can't defeat me," Kaziro said. "You might as well just give up now."
"We're not giving up," Kratos said, launching himself forward. "And if you believe we will, face your death!"
Kaziro was suddenly knocked back by Fierce Demon Fang, then thrown into the air and struck by Hell Pyre. Kratos landed on the ground, completely unscathed by his chain of attacks.
"Oh, who ever said I was going to face my death?" Kaziro said, standing up again. "I mean, after all, you guys have long deserved death for your treacherous acts!"
He punctuated this statement with a Dark Sphere, which struck Kyle and Loni at the same time, throwing them backwards. Kyle collided with Reala, sending her flying into a mountain.
"Gah!" Loni screamed, charging forward. "You're not gonna get me next time!"
Kaziro put up a Force Field just in time to feel Loni's Thunderstrike tear through his body, then was knocked back by Hurricane Thrust followed by Infinite Destruction. Loni then fell back, and in the blink of an eye had cast Prism Sword, which caused Kaziro to flinch.
"You bastards!" Kaziro shouted. "You're not getting away with this!"
Loni was suddenly struck by a blast of dark energy, which Kaziro called Shadow Laser. He was then caught up in a massive hole of pure shadow, which Kaziro called Negative Gate.
Judas, however, was not going to stand for it. He quickly responded by launching a spell that no one had seen before.
"Stalactite Rain!"
In a reverse impression of Stalagmite, several large spears of rock fell from the sky, most of them connecting with Kaziro. Then, an earthquake occurred, which threw Kaziro into the air and dropped him straight into a Grave spell.
Then, Judas found himself being thrown back by a Shadow Laser followed by Negative Gate. Kaziro chuckled evilly as he watched the young swordsman flounder on the ground for several seconds after the attack.
"At least try and be a little more creative with your spells," Kyle said. "I mean, after all, at least we have variety in our diets!"
Kaziro was suddenly struck by Flame Lance, which had evidently come from the recovering Kyle. An Eruption quickly followed, then Air Thrust.
The dark lord then smirked. Calling upon energy that seemed not even to exist in the dimension of Symphonia, he loosed an enhanced Shadow Laser, then Chaos Pulse, and finally a third, much more mysterious spell.
Two massive dimensional holes, with one floating above the targeted point and the other a distance away beneath it, appeared, launching rays of dark energy towards the targets within range. The attack finished with an explosion of dark energy, which sent the targets flying.
And it just so happened to be that the entire group was targeted by this Execution attack.
Once Loni recovered, he signaled to Kyle to attack. Kyle got up soon after, and then started his own technique.
A circle of fire appeared beneath Kyle, floating up to his sword and encircling it. Then Kyle launched himself forward.
"ZUUPA!-"
Kyle let his sword impale Kaziro as it charged with even more fire energy.
"-MESSHOUGEKI!"
Kaziro was thrown off the sword by a gigantic explosion, which sent him flying quite a distance before he fell back.
"Nice one, Kyle," Lloyd commented.
"You little brat!" Kaziro screeched, running forward again. "Take this!"
Kyle was thrown off by Dark Sphere, then Bloody Lance, and finally Shadow Laser. However, Judas got in the way of the third spell, absorbing it for Kyle.
Then, a new voice was heard.
"You guys, watch out for yourselves! This guy means business!"
Loni, recognizing the voice, looked in the direction it was coming from, when suddenly Kaziro was knocked back by an Absolute. Lloyd seemed grateful for the assistance, even if he didn't know where it came from.
Kyle evidently recognized the voice as well. "Nanaly! Where have you been?"
A girl with long red hair, tied back on either side, and purple eyes stepped out from seemingly nowhere, evidently obscured by the snow. She was clothed very lightly, though she was also wearing a heavy overcoat. A bow was mounted on her back, as well as a quiver of arrows. She appeared to be around nineteen years old. Her first reaction to Loni was to wink at him.
"Ah, yes, Nanaly Fletch," Loni said, grinning. "Always there on time to save her poor boyfriend's butt."
The girl named Nanaly glared at Loni. "I'm not your girlfriend!"
"Could've fooled me," Loni said, smirking.
"Enough chat," Kyle said. "It's time to bring this guy down!"
"Hey, Judas!" Nanaly called. "If you're listening, try using the Majin-Rengoku-Satsu!"
"Yes, fighting fire with fire," Judas said, nodding. "It always worked in the past."
"I'm afraid that won't do," Kaziro said. "I've handled your Majin-Rengoku-Satsu before. It can't be that difficult, can it?"
"The mask has always hindered my power," Judas said, turning to face Kaziro. "For longer than I can remember, I have been holding back. Now that the mask is broken, there will be no more holding back. I'm going all out... no matter how dangerous it is."
And then, Judas prepared for his final attack, one that he hoped would be enough to take down Kaziro.
"Mazewara dareshi inochi ni... ima motarasaren setsuna no kiseki! Toki wo kete... koko ni yuugou seshi mirai he no taidou! Gishou ken! Boku wa... kako wo tachikiru... Majin-Rengoku-Satsu!"
Judas fell back, the attack having done more to him than he could recall ever experiencing before. However, he quickly ran forward, and finished off Kaziro with his Senretsu-Kokousen.
"Very nice," Kaziro said. "I'll see you again sometime... but this time, I suppose I should join forces with you... remember, my stranglehold on Dymlos is broken, so Stahn... please continue to use that Swordian with just as much proficiency as ever before."
And with that, Kaziro disappeared, fading into a dimension outside Symphonia's.
"Wonder what he meant," Lloyd said. "He says he's joining forces with us, but why would he suddenly decide to do that after just one Majin-Rengoku-Satsu...?"
"Perhaps it was the will of Nebilim," Kratos said. "Nebilim's will holds someone long after his death, and Kaziro happened to be an apprentice of Nebilim's... an heir to his throne, shall we say."
"So it was actually the will of Nebilim that was broken by Majin-Rengoku-Satsu..." Lloyd seemed awed by this knowledge. "That's amazing..."
"Yep," Nanaly said. "Nebilim was the one who held Kaziro all along. And I wouldn't be too surprised if he was also the one who possessed Igtenos and the others."
"I'm sticking with Nanaly," Loni said, grinning.
"You would," Kyle muttered disgustedly.
"Who is this Nanaly chick anyhow?" Zelos asked, turning to Loni. "She's kinda hot, whoever she is."
"That's my girlfriend you're hitting on," Loni growled.
Nanaly scowled. "And for the last friggin' time, I'm not your stinking girlfriend!"
"Oh, so she's the big guy's girlfriend," Zelos said. "Well, in that case, I think I'll leave her alone. Besides, I've got my voluptuous Sheena on my side, don't I?"
Sheena grinned, much to the surprise of the others. "And don't you forget about it!"
"Okay..." Judas stepped slowly away from the others. "I am just going to leave now..."
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Author's Note: I've always thought LonixNanaly made a lot of sense, since Loni is supposed to be the Zelos type and Nanaly is the Sheena type, and of course I'm a big Sheelos fanatic.
I love Execution. Of course, I love Divine Saber even more, but Harold isn't in this fanfic, so...
Remember, this isn't the end of the fanfic. There's still the epilogue to go... expect a stunning conclusion to the romance that has been going on for the entire Rising Shadow series!