AN: Here's ch. 2. Hope you enjoy. Thanks to the reviewers, keep them coming.
Disclaimer: I own this story, I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Chapter 2: The Shades of Blood and Time
The sky was gray, and he didn't care. Rain was falling, and he didn't care. His best friend stood next to him in silence and the woman he loved was crying on his shoulder, and he didn't care. The only things that Lloyd cared about were the two people who were being buried. His father, Kratos, and Raine had passed from this world and into the next, with a bullet in each of them.
Regal was conducting the funeral rights; he did just about anything for people who couldn't afford professional work. In this case, even with all the money he and his father had saved put in with what little his friends could spare, Lloyd couldn't give them both a proper burial in a cemetery and with an actual priest. He offered the money to Regal to do the ceremony, but he said he'd do it for free.
"It's the least I could do for those two," he had said. "They were almost as regular as you Lloyd. I owe it to them."
Regal spoke the words he'd spoken many times before. It was often a weekly occurrence, sometimes twice. Death was all too common in the city. You'd hear about it nearly everyday but it never hit you, that is until it happened to someone you cared about. Then you understood the pain, the grief, and the sorrow that people had to go through.
When the ceremony was completed and all had been said, Lloyd, Zelos, and Regal piled shovels full of dirt down onto the caskets of the dead. Each scoop of earth that Lloyd picked up felt heavier than the last. It wasn't hard work, he'd helped at funerals by digging and burying graves many times before, that had been his job as the gravedigger. No this was a weight he created for himself. It was as if he was saying goodbye over and over again. It was hearing those gunshots over and over in his mind. It was stepping outside of the laughter and joy in the diner, to find his father and future stepmother dead on the street over and over. It was pressing down on him, pushing him harder and harder.
As he finished patting down the last of the earth, Lloyd's legs gave out. He fell down to his knees and cried. He cried for what could have been a few moments, or long hours, it didn't make any difference to him, and it mattered less when he fell asleep, the tears still streaming forth.
…Sometime later…
Lloyd walked pass the graves on his way to work that day. He'd done his grieving and had nearly come to terms with the empty places in his heart, and now he was going back to work. But he wasn't going back to digging graves; that was behind him. Someone had to work the crane, and he had been apprenticed to Raine, the previous crane operator. It was his duty now to keep hope in the hearts of the wretched people of the city. And the crane was the very symbol of hope.
He thought it to be odd, that a city should find hope in a crane, a machine that lifted scraps of metal and other pieces of debris, would give hope to an entire city. But then he remembered the city's location in the world and it made some sense. The city had been founded by chance alone. Centuries ago, sailors and their under orders of the ruler of a foreign country called Welgaia were out charting the seas. This was the first time Welgaia had sent a crew of sailors on such an unusual mission, they had normally been content trading with the people of Hiemdal which was only a few days south of them across the sea. But with time there had to come change, so they sent a crew to explore the rest of the world, if there was any left. And there most certainly was.
They hadn't been two days out when the entire ship rocked and turned hard west. When they got up on deck they realized what had happened. They had been caught in an incredibly strong current. Today these currents were called "jet currents," and were considered to be the fastest way to nearly anywhere. But the ship's crew never knew this. All they knew was that they were at the mercy of the waters. When the current finally let them go at a fierce turn, they had come across a strange new land. The ground was fertile and the water was fresh. There were cliffs surrounding the land save for three small openings. Two in the water on the jet currents, one going in and the other outward were separated by a large pinnacle in between, and a rather treacherous looking path that had been made by time. As they continued to explore the beautiful cove, they decided a name for it. They called it "Salvation," for it had saved them from the mighty currents.
And so when they returned by luck and a well-timed break-off from the outgoing jet current, the sailors told their king of the land they had discovered. Shortly thereafter, a colony was setup there. The colony was also called Salvation, after the location. As the years passed, Salvation became a prosperous city, with a reputation as the city where all roads went.
But with the years, a problem came to the great city. Various forms of debris ranging from the hulls of sunken galleons, to small metal cans were being swept up by the jet currents. Some things passed through the lake harmlessly, staying in the jet current. Others were so big that they would get stuck in between the cliffs and the center pinnacle. Theories claimed that if enough debris were to get blocked in the passage, the only useable waterway into the city would be cutoff. From this problem was born the crane. The giant piece of machinery had taken years to complete and upon its completion the mayor of the time gave a great speech. One of the more famous portions of the speech went, "So long as this great crane stands and is able to run, our city shall not lose hope!" And so it became that the "Great Crane of Salvation" came to be the hope of the people, falling into the dark depths of the lake, and rising up into the light, victorious in its battle against the scrap that threatened block the way into the city.
But it wasn't always the only source of hope. For many years after, the people looked to the crane for hope, but also to other things. Their leaders gave them hope, the money they made working gave them hope. They found hope no matter what they were doing. But then, on a very normal day, with blue skies and a gentle wind, Max Varhley came to Salvation. When he arrived he was already a wealthy business tycoon and had a vast fortune that rivaled even the Bryant family's absurd wealth. But Varhley wanted more, and he took it. He bought out the entire city in his first decade in the city. By his eleventh year, he officially owned his own little country. It was not a part of any nation, not anymore. Varhley bought every right, deed, and business in the city, even the ground beneath it. People wondered how even a man as rich as he could possibly buy an entire city, but what they didn't know was that Varhley had connections.
He was not just a businessman out to find a profit, he also had very deep connections to several mafias. In some circles it was whispered that he was even the boss of some of these organizations. Varhley used these contacts, in conjunction with his various legal companies, to gain enough money and then some to buy the entire city of Salvation.
This was all fine and good for the people at first. What did they care if they had a new landlord? Then came the pay cuts. They were outrageous! It became so that if your salary had two digits, you were considered well off. The taxes went down a great deal also and for that people were relieved, but it still cost them a horrible amount of their meager livings.
That was all twenty years ago now. Things had changed over time, as they always did, but only for the worse. People became desperate, some went to trying to save money for passage on the ships that came to port nearly everyday, but they were being foolish. They still needed to live and they could barely afford to save one gald per pay period. They would never get out. Most people and especially the younger ones, who only knew life with Varhley in power, turned to the streets. These people were the ones who caused grief for people, almost as much as Varhley had. They stole weapons where they could, and then turned them on the people of Salvation, which by this point was simply called "The City." A place this terrible didn't deserve such a beautiful name.
Many other things had changed too, not just the people. Shortly after the pay cuts, Varhley closed down the police station, then he reopened it as a casino. Everything was rigged and whenever anyone went there, with hopes of winning enough money to find a better life, they would walk out with nothing left but their shattered dreams. Occasionally someone would actually manage to score big, but they always disappeared shortly afterwards. Other services such as the hospital were forced to raise the prices on even the most basic forms of aid. Varhley had placed the entire city in a death grip.
By now that was common knowledge to people, and by now Lloyd was already halfway through his first workday. He sat around in the chair and waited for something to happen. He decided that his next big purchase would have to be a book, or something that could make the hours go by a little quicker.
Then came, the BEEP BEEP BEEP that came to life whenever something was spending too much time at the entrance gap. And so, with a few pulls on the levers and the flip of a switch, it began. SPLASH… CREEEK…THUMP… CLICK CLICK CLICK… VRRRRRRRRRRRM… THUMP… CRASH!
AN: Well, I guess that's the back-story. In the next chapter I'll get the wheels turning so to speak. But, before you leave and go do something else, would you be so kind as to review? As always I accept all praise and criticism. See you later at: A Good Change or Just A Change. Laters!