Insaneiac: Well ladies and gentlemen; this is what you have been waiting for. Just the chapter names will cause a panic. Hope you are all prepared for what's to come. Enjoy the chapter. Oh, language gets just a tad bit higher rated for this. Nothing too major, but enough to draw some attention unless noted.
Disclaimer: My magic 8 ball says "keep dreaming." Incase you missed that, I still don't own Tales of Symphonia
Chapter 8: The Awakening, Part I
Although it held no blade's hilt, Lloyd's hand was still held out in front of him as if he did. His swords littered the floor, far enough from his reach that the blue eyed devil would be upon him before he could get his swords back. His short sword was, afar as he knew, still imbedded in the shoulder of his former best friend Genis. Lloyd himself was a tired and miserable wreck, his body wracked with pains of the physical and emotional variations, and his entire being feeling almost completely drained of energy. And standing no more than a few feet away from him was the incarnation of hatred and the very heart of darkness himself.
"Lloyd, you look tired." Mithos mocked with false sympathy, watching Lloyd's eyes narrow viciously. The swordsman said absolutely nothing in return, opting instead to attempt and charge the fallen hero. Arm whipped back, Lloyd threw the hardest punch he could, only to have it plucked in mid flight by Mithos. Before Lloyd could do anything to counter the actions of Mithos, Mithos hurled Lloyd across the room powerfully, sending him slamming into a wall. The sound of the impact was enough to shatter glass, had there been any in the room. Lloyd's rag doll body slid to the ground, a remarkably full impression left at where his being had met wall. Lloyd could barely lift his head to find where Mithos had gone when he felt a hand grab his hair and pull back, forcing Lloyd to look into the sapphire orbs of evil incarnate.
"Go to hell…Mithos." Lloyd growled. Mithos smirked in response, releasing Lloyd's hair and letting his head fall back down. He breathed very slowly before attempting to force himself to his feet, using the wall behind him as a guide. "How…are you still-" Lloyd choked out, lifting his head to stare at the blonde little half-elf, sitting on the bed as if nothing had happened.
"Alive? I'm not too sure about it myself little brother."
"What did you call me?" Lloyd growled, eyeing his swords longingly. 'If I could just…get…one of them.'
"Well, the more I think about, the more of a father Kratos felt like to me. And since he is your father, that would practically make us brothers." Mithos explained, a demonic little grin resting on his face as he watched Lloyd's expression go sour. "And besides, you and I are so alike, it just feels right. Wouldn't you agree little brother?"
"Don't… you EVER call me your brother! You and I are completely different." Lloyd yelled, swiping the air in front of him with his hand. His response was found in the relentlessly dark laughter that could only belong to Mithos. "What's so funny?"
"You are brother. I mean, who do you think you are telling me what to do?" Mithos laughed some more as he watched Lloyd's reaction. Then, when Lloyd made a dash for his swords, Mithos leapt off the bed and stopped Lloyd in mid-flight, Mithos' feet catching the back of Lloyd's head and driving it into the ground. The swords were still too far in front of him to reach, and just as he was about to start crawling towards the nearest blade, he felt Mithos' hand press into the back of his head, pinning it to the ground.
"GET OFF ME!" Lloyd screamed, swinging his arms wildly. He felt a hand wrapped vengefully around his left wrist, and soon he had a knee pinning his arm to his back and a hand pushing his head into the ground. Lloyd, the eternal swordsman of Symphonia, unifier of the worlds, pinned to the ground by a boy who looked no older than Genis. While Lloyd knew better than that, the image of what it must look like was killing him from the inside. Still with one hand free, he could try and reach the blade. He knew Mithos was keeping that hand free on purpose, just to demonstrate that any idea of salvation was out of reach for the swordsman.
"Poor little Lloyd. Life's not doing you any favors, is it?" Mithos taunted, chuckling as he heard Lloyd growl. Despite his overwhelming anger and his blinding want to rip Mithos' head from his shoulders, Lloyd couldn't do anything. He was completely and utterly at the end of his line, and now was pinned to the ground by someone who should, by all accounts, be dead. "Your best friends turn on you, hurting you. It feels like the world is caving around you. Worst of all…" Mithos began, before bringing his head right beside Lloyd's, his mouth hovering beside Lloyd's right ear. "…your little ninja is gone."
When Lloyd heard Mithos mention Sheena's disappearance, he began to try and toss the half-elf off again. And just like before, Lloyd failed miserably. "Get off of me!" Lloyd shouted, only getting angrier when he felt the hand pressing his head to the ground ruffle his hair, like a big brother would do to a younger sibling.
"People you thought you could trust are all turning against you now. And it hurts, doesn't it?" Mithos continued, pulling his head away from Lloyd.
Lloyd gave another attempt at tossing off Mithos and failing again before he finally stopped. "If you are here just to rub this in then go ahead. I don't care anymore." Lloyd muttered. As he watched the floor that his head was pressed against, he could see dots of water begin to show up.
"Little brother…you wound me." Mithos mocked, pulling back viciously on Lloyd's hair. A scream of pain exited itself from his lips as his head was wrenched up. Moments later, he felt the knee remove itself from his back and free his arm again. Mithos came into sight in front of him, his other hand grabbing Lloyd's chin. "That was how I fell Lloyd. No, you don't deserve the easy way out. You deserve to watch the world hunt you down. The great hero of Symphonia, hunted down by the people he saved. In all honesty, little brother…I want to watch you fail. I want to watch as your dreams to create a world without prejudice or needless sacrifices shatter like glass. I want to watch as you fail the people around you, damning them to death." Mithos taunted, watching Lloyd's face contort in a mix of agony and hatred. "More than any of that, I want to see you fall from grace. And when you do…when the entire world has reduced itself to the same state it was before, I'll be there to help you pick up the pieces of your little delusions, and start anew. And just like it happened with the Great Hero Mithos, you'll turn back on your path, and join me on my path."
When Lloyd tried to defend himself, he was horrified to find that nothing came out. Not a word or a murmur could escape his mouth. When a sound finally did find it's way to the silent room, Lloyd was mortified to hear a choked sob instead of a speech defending his path in life. Moments later the hand released Lloyd's hair, and let his head drop back to the floor. The agony of defeat is a pure agony, and it doesn't get much worse than admitting a defeat on both the physical and mental levels.
'If that is all it takes to detour you from your ideals, then Symphonia should have been doomed. You are not Mithos Yggdrasill, you are Lloyd Irving.' Lloyd glanced around to find the source of the foreign voice, but could not. Yet the words and, more importantly, the voice fed him. He could feel the defiance rekindle itself and boil anew.
"I'm not going to fail." Lloyd growled, pushing up onto his knees, glaring at the blonde half-elf defiantly. "Just because you did doesn't mean I will." Mithos watched Lloyd seemingly emotionlessly, a whisper of a smirk present on his childlike face.
"Believe me Lloyd. This pathetic world needs a villain to function right. These inferior beings cannot exist in harmony and peace." Mithos replied, seething disdain at the mention of harmony and peace. "Oh just you wait little brother, this entire world will turn on you. Every man and woman will curse your name and every child shall flee at the mention of it."
Lloyd took a testing step forward, making sure his body hadn't shattered like glass yet. When he found he could move with ease, he walked over to Mithos and glared down at him. "I'm not related to you. I will not become you. And I definitely will not believe you."
"I suppose you still think you'll succeed in this fruitless plot of yours. To unify the world and it's races. Bring humans, elves, and the beings stuck in between into a world of acceptance." Mithos remarked, waving his hands in the air. "Such a pretty little fantasy your life must be Lloyd."
"It's only a fantasy to the lazy and the weak that desert the path they set in life for a short cut." Lloyd replied, locking glares with Mithos. He winced as Mithos pushed past him and made his way to the door to the room.
"Then I would get myself to Iselia and fast little brother." Mithos stated, rolling his head along his shoulder and looking back at Lloyd. "That is where your little dove is being held. And if you listen to anything I've said, believe me on this. Losing someone like her, someone that special to you…it will kill you inside. She is to you what my sister was to me. Maybe not in all the same ways, but she was the single most special person to me in life. You don't survive that loss, not in one piece at least." Gripping the knob of the door, Mithos whipped it open, extending a hand to the hallway. "And like I said, you don't get to fall that easily."
Lloyd turned towards his swords, picking them from off the ground and sheathing them away. Slowly, he turned to face Mithos, making eye contact with the demonic little angel. No words were spared between the two. Lloyd wanted nothing more than to stab Mithos over and over again, make sure he was dead this time. True, he had been reluctant to kill him at Derris-Kharlan, hoping against hope that he would see the error of his ways. But as he had said himself, he would continue to choose his path through life. Even though it only brought suffering, betrayal and death, he would choose it freely. Now all he wanted to do was end Mithos, and this time for good.
"What are you waiting for? Do you want her to die?"
"Shut up." Lloyd growled, running to the door. Mithos backed away as the eternal swordsman reached the open door, smirking as Lloyd stopped just outside of the door. "I don't know how you are alive or why you are helping me save her." He turned his head to look back at Mithos, only angered further by his smirk "After I save her though, I'm going to finish this"
And with that, Lloyd charged out of the room, leaving a very pleased Mithos standing inside the empty room. His attention turned back to Kuchinawa as a smile crossed his face. Slowly, he brought out the flower Lloyd had went to gain, and looked at it, admiring what it represented to him. This was not a cure for some horrible disease…this was a key. A key that was now missing a few petals, but nonetheless it was a key. Glancing past the flower and at the corpse of Kuchinawa, Mithos admired his handy work. It didn't take much effort to stab a sword into someone, but it really did make all the difference. Mithos could have snapped his neck just as easily as he ran him through, but at least this way it looked like one of Lloyd's former comrades had done the thoughtless deed.
"That's right. Go my cage. Go and open your door."
------ Colette's Secret Place (Real) ------
For the second day in a row, Sheena found herself sitting alone at the place Colette had shown her, staring down at the village. Try as she might, and she tried real hard, she always seemed to end up coming here. She just could not understand what this place had that could draw her to it, other than a breathtaking view. She sat on a log that was no doubt moved there by Lloyd way back when and watched the people go about their business. Her mind shifted uncomfortably to the last month that Lloyd and herself had spent, and what it represented to her. She knew it would end soon, either by the two accomplishing their goal, or by Sheena's other promise. Eventually, Sheena would take over for her Grandpa as the Chief of Mizuho and regretfully depart from Lloyd's company. She had no doubt that Lloyd would not stop endlessly roaming the planet until he was sure every single exsphere was destroyed, so she wanted to enjoy whatever time they had left together.
Leave it to Yuan to go and screw that up. Yet the more she let her lamentations of Lloyd's absence gestate in her head, the more bored she began to feel. And along with that boredom came a newfound anger at both Yuan and Lloyd. Yuan at the fact that this was pretty much all his fault and Lloyd in letting her get to the point where she could not entertain herself without him.
"Stupid Renegades…Stupid Yuan…Stupid Lloyd…" Sheena grumbled miserably, kicking a rock off the cliff.
"Uh oh…trouble in paradise." A voice called from above. Sheena's head whipped upwards to see Zelos floating none too far above her, staring directly down her dress. "Well, your paradise maybe. Right now I'm in Heaven." Just the goofy smile plastered on the idiot chosen's face was enough to tip her over the edge. Slipping her foot underneath a rather large stone, she whipped it into the air, driving the chunk of earth right in between Zelos' eyes. What she did not count on was Zelos dropping out of flight and landing with a thud on top of her. Even worse for her, Zelos had managed to stay conscious enough to continue not only breathing, but talking as well. "Now this is more like it."
"Zelos…get off of me or I SWEAR I'll make it so you'll never have children." Sheena uttered in a deathly violent tone. Approximately three seconds later, which Sheena believed to be the amount of time it takes an idiotic pervert chosen to process the threat to his manhood inside his head, Zelos leapt off Sheena. A handful of seconds later, Sheena was back on her feet, and Zelos had just clued into the fact that his head was sporting a rather large bulge in between his eyes.
"Owww….Why did you do that?" Zelos whined, rubbing his forehead weakly.
"Maybe it has something to do with your wandering eyes." Sheena growled through clenched teeth.
"They weren't wandering though…I knew exactly where they were." Zelos shot back, a smug grin on his face.
"There are lots of rocks here Zelos, and I am not prone to missing." Sheena threatened, watching Zelos' grin wipe itself from existence. Pleased with her handy work, Sheena let a smile slip onto her face. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching children…as scary a thought as that is."
"Oh hush my voluptuous beauty. It's lunch time anyways. Colette agreed to watch them so I could come and make sure my hunny is feeling happy! And besides that, I'm a great teacher. Many children look up to me. I've even got a fan-club that threatens to grow larger than Raine's." Zelos bragged, waving his handing in front of him as he mentioned his accomplishments.
"And just how many of those members are of the fairer sex?" Sheena quipped, chuckling as Zelos gave her an incredulous stare. "Life sure seems to be going well for you then. Do you even visit Meltokio anymore?" Sheena questioned, seemingly out of the blue. Zelos blinked in confusion before regaining himself.
"Seles has Meltokio covered for me. I get letters from Sebastian time to time, and of course tons upon tons of fan-mail from my darling hunnies." Zelos held back a burst of laughter as he watched Sheena roll her eyes at him. "Sometimes I get a letter from Hilda, begging me to come back." He wasn't sure if the look that crawled its way into Sheena's eyes was one of disbelief that royalty was begging his return, or if she wasn't buying what Zelos was selling.
"Why don't you? You had everything there." Sheena inquired, confused. She just could not understand why Zelos would give up being the loved and filthy rich Casanova that he was and become a simple, if not narcissistic and vain, school teacher in a seemingly backwater town. He had power, wealth, fame and just about as much action as any high class man could fathom, and then some. "What made you give up the high life?" It annoyed her when she saw Zelos flash that knowing smile, the one that made the recipient of such a face feel like a naive little child.
"That's simple. Because I wanted to. I mean, in Meltokio…and Tethe'alla for that matter, everyone knew me as the chosen or former chosen. I mean, I was an automatic center of lust for all the fine women. Yet here…people know me as Zelos Wilder." He replied, walking towards the edge of the cliff, and glancing down at the village. A warm smile slipped onto his face as he watched the quiet and quaint little town and it's people going about and doing their task. "There's no real mention of my being the chosen here. I'm not excused for doing something wrong, or excused from doing work." For a moment in her life, Sheena felt as though she was not talking to Zelos. It was as though she had left a three-year old brat and returned to find a matured young man. However…
"That's not all of it is it?" Sheena continued dryly, knowing full well what was coming.
"Well, add in the fact that Raine is a smokin hottie, and my little angel Colette…what more could a guy need? Aside from a little bit of Ninja booty." Zelos lit up when he heard footsteps, watching Sheena walk up beside him. When Sheena did absolutely nothing to the swordsman, he sighed in relief and stared down at the village with her.
"Keep dreaming Zelos." She chimed quickly, before pushing him off the cliff. She grinned as the former chosen tumbled towards the ground, sprouting his wings just soon enough to cushion his landing, though not by much. She waited for the clear sound of a thump before turning around and walking away, ignoring the agitated cries of the now grounded Zelos. "Stupid Zelos." Sheena added, chuckling to herself as she made her way back to the actual village.
------ Iselia (Dream) ------
For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last twenty four hours, Lloyd's wings blew away the loose dirt and dust at the place he chose to land, some meters from the entrance into Iselia. Landing on the floor gently, Lloyd's wings faded from existence again, leaving the boy planted on his knee and panting heavily. He was tired, he was in an awful amount of pain, he was beyond feeling drained of energy, and he was at his wits end. Someone that was supposed to have been dead was very much alive and kicking, how his former friends had found them was enough to boil him alive, and even though he truly did not like the man, his former friends had killed Kuchinawa, a person who despite his hatred of both Lloyd and Sheena, agreed to help them. But like a full circle, Lloyd had found himself back where all the pain began. This time he would enter the village prepared to do a deed that horrified him. He would march in there, swords drawn and battle ready, and do whatever he needed to. For Sheena's sake, Lloyd needed to be ready to do what he considered an unthinkable act and an unforgivable crime.
But nonetheless, he was prepared to do whatever was necessary. Grunting as he took the first step, fatigue clawing at his will to try and coerce him into just standing and letting himself slip into a state of rest, Lloyd began to march towards Iselia. Slowly, he pulled his swords out of his sheathes, spinning each blade around in his hand before letting his arms and blades rest at his sides. Unbeknownst to him, his exsphere was a pulsing shade of velvet. Even if he had seen it, it probably would have caused very little change in Lloyd's attitude. His eyes were firmly set on the gateway to Iselia and what he knew it would represent.
This time there would be no crowd of people happy to see him return.
"Hold on Sheena…I'm coming for you."
------ Renegades Base ------
"Try adjusting the variations of test twelve so that it measures for echoes of extreme conditions within the sphere itself." Yuan muttered, a hand resting agitatedly on his forehead. For the past three hours, he and his lovely guest had spent their lives and attentions focusing on the task of finding out what Lloyd's exsphere was. Together, they had ran through more than sixty variations of tests and observations, and only found out that it was getting stronger and stronger. Yuan had noticed a handful of moments ago that Lloyd's exsphere had become a deep shade of velvet, something that visibly alarmed both the half-elves.
"…Nothing." Raine muttered in response as the test showed up negative. Not wanting to give Yuan another chance to order her, Raine started another test. She watched the hibernation chamber, and more importantly, Lloyd carefully as the test ran it's course. "Yuan…Lloyd's sweating."
Confused by the news, Yuan turned to look the subject, spotting his perspiration. More importantly, he saw Lloyd's face contorted into a far more determined one. Walking over to a specific console, Yuan entered in a few commands that changed the information on the screen.
"He's…" Yuan began, confused by the information he was reading. "He's experiencing severe mental fatigue…and judging by the emotional ratios…"
"He's prepared himself to battle something." Raine muttered, as she heard the screen beep in response to the completion of the test. Turning to it, her face lit up as she finally found a definitive result. "YUAN!" Raine called out, not waiting for a response. "This test! It came up with a result…do you know something called an 'Aeon Jewel'?" Raine inquired. She had been aware of Yuan's footsteps a handful of moments ago, just after calling his name. When she heard them stop after relaying the results, and then nothing following, she turned to face him. "Yua-" Raine began, before witnessing his face.
Yuan just stood there, eyes opened as wide as she had even seen them. The color had drained from his face completely, leaving him as though he had seen a ghost. His hands were beginning to tremble furiously, as though he had just seen Death himself claim another loved one. But what truly disturbed and worried Raine was the immaculate and total horror that rested with his blue eyes. The fact that she had never seen Yuan so completely petrified not withstanding, those eyes disturbed her.
"Yu-Yuan?"
"Mithos…" Yuan began, his fist tightening to the point where he was digging his fingernails through the fabric of his clothing and into his palm. "…you son of a bitch. What have you done you foolish little child?" Despite his intense words, Yuan's voice was as quaky as his hands. Raine had absolutely no clue what was going on, nor what could be so horrible that it actually brought Yuan to the point of falling apart.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Raine…" Yuan muttered, forcing his voice to straighten out. "We've all been played by Mithos. You, myself…everyone." Yuan forced out, before turning quickly to the communications screen. "Symphonia is in even worse trouble than it was when Mithos was alive. Oh Martel no…" Yuan muttered panicked, wiping his brow. Raine had never seen Yuan lose his cool so badly before. It was enough to cause her to panic. If it was enough to reduce Yuan to this state, than Raine absolutely knew how bad it had to be. "Kratos needs to know this…At the very least he needs to be able to say goodbye to his son, should it come to that."
------ Iselia (Dream) ------
Lloyd stepped into the village, raising his sword arms into battle positions. The town was completely silent, not a person to be seen or a sound to be heard. It was as if no one existed within the village. In the center of the town was something Lloyd had seen only once before. It was a stage, though no where near large enough for a troupe or a band. On that stage was a pillar of wood the stuck out vertically from it, and on top of that pillar was a horizontal pillar of wood. Dangling from the overhanging timber, directly over the center of the stage was a long piece of rope fashioned into a noose. The very structure was enough to tear into Lloyd's soul.
He remembered Raine talking about it once in a class. The device had given Lloyd nightmares at the time, but he never forgot what it was and what it was meant to do. It was called a gallows. Magnius almost hung Chocolat from one, and now the people of Iselia were about to do the same.
"NOW!" He heard from somewhere. Before Lloyd could do anything, a blast of ice slammed into him, tossing him hard into a tree. His swords dropped to the ground as his body met the tree with an ugly thud. Without any warning, chains were whipped around him, securing his body to the base of the tree before he could even blink. He felt rough rope wrapped themselves tightly around his wrists, yanking his arms into the air. When the yanking stop, Lloyd tried to pull them free, only to find the ropes around his wrist firmly secured to the branches above him. He tossed his head side to side until he felt another chain wrap itself around his forehead and secure it to the tree, forcing him to look forward. Everything was happening so blindingly fast that Lloyd couldn't do anything at all to try and free himself before it was too late. In what had seemed like only a heartbeat, Lloyd was firmly bound to the tree, incapable of any real movement.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Lloyd screamed, desperately trying to free himself in any method he could. He yelled and roared like a ferocious animal as his tried to remove himself from his sudden bonds, but found he could do nothing of the sort. He poured all of his will, energy, and attention into the fruitless task of freeing himself, only to be met with defeat. It was about then that he noticed two very horrifying things happening on and near the stage. On the stage itself was Raine, watching Lloyd intently, while beside Raine was a bound and blindfolded Sheena. Lloyd's body went rigid at the sight of her on her knees, hands bound behind her and her eyes blinded to the world. The one thing Lloyd noticed was that Sheena seemed to be conscious, which meant she either miraculously cured herself of the disease, or someone else had cured her before taking her away. Or after taking her away, it really didn't matter at all.
"Lloyd…glad you could join us." Raine yelled, as the townspeople gathered around the gallows. Among them were a bandaged Genis, Presea, and Colette; while on the stage were Raine, Zelos, and the bound Sheena, who seemed to come alive when Lloyd's name left Raine's lips. Her head began to swing around, desperately and futilely attempting to find Lloyd through the black fabric that stole her sight from her.
"Lloyd? LLOYD!" Sheena yelled, only to be met with a blunt shot from Raine's staff. As Sheena fell over on her side, groaning in pain, Lloyd's anger tripled in strength.
"DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH SHEENA LIKE THAT!" Lloyd screamed, trying harder than ever to free himself. Try as he might though, the bonds would not break. He was completely and utterly helpless. Only a handful of horribly taunting meters ahead of him was Sheena, being abused by the very people he once considered his closest allies. The feeling that the inability to do anything to help Sheena left him with tore at his heart like a voracious dragon.
"As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted…welcome Lloyd." Raine began, nodding to Zelos. The former chosen of Tethe'alla picked the weeping Sheena off of the ground callously, and slipped the noose around her neck, smiling at Lloyd all the while. The sight sent Lloyd into a furious panic, now fully aware of what was about to happen. His body declined into a horrified trembling, the color flushed from his face and his eyes seething the very horror that was gripping at his soul. And there was not a thing he could do at all.
"To the execution of Sheena Fujibayashi."
A/N: HA-HAH! Now that is a cliffhanger. Oh yes, I can see it now. The entire world that reads this is going to come after me. I'm as dead as a man who snitched out a mob boss. HA-HAH…body in a wood chipper. That's my future.
