Disclaimer: Check your game. Is Corrine a real summon spirit? No? Then I obviously don't own Tales of Symphonia...>>...


Zelos walked through the seal room, remembering the last time the group had been there. They had been tired and annoyed at skating all around the ice, trying to find a way to the other side. Then, they found out the door wouldn't open unless the statues were faced a certain way. And so, they had kept turning the statues in hope that it one of the combinations would work. Finally, after an hour of trying, Colette then tripped and accidentally hit one of the pillars so that it turned a full 180 degrees, making the door open. Lloyd and Sheena had been so excited at finally opening the door that they had forgotten to heal themselves before battling Celsius.

He remembered Celsius' opening line of "Show me your power." He remembered Sheena's determined look on her face, her muttered response, "You betcha." She was truly beautiful, never giving until the end. And even when she lost, she kept training and training, until she was finally able to defeat Celsius and earn her pact.

Now, here he was, one year later. He traced the wall with his hand, feeling the cold ice. He wondered how Sheena was and if she was still with Yuan. It had been a large surprise to everyone when they had announced that they were a couple (Well, it was more like Sheena talking while Yuan remained in the background saying nothing, an annoyed look on his face). Lloyd had blown up, being the foster overprotective brother that he was to Sheena, and claimed that he didn't trust Yuan. Everyone else however, had congratulated Sheena (Even Raine did, even though Zelos knew she had a small attraction to Yuan). Raine and Zelos had both saw the obvious adoration that the two had for each other.

And so, Raine went on a journey to find and study ruins, leaving Genis with Lloyd and Dirk (Though Zelos had heard from letters from his friends that Kratos had recently joined Raine on her journey and that the two were getting along quite well). Zelos followed in her footsteps, leaving a note to Sebastian that he was going on a soul-searching journey and probably wouldn't come back for a few months. And here he was, revisiting the Temple of Ice.

Deciding to rest after walking and skating for so long, he leaned against the ice wall. Unfortunately, he didn't know that there was a secret switch hidden in it.

CLAMP!

The entrance to the room had disappeared, a thick smooth wall of ice having covered it completely. Zelos immediately ran up to it, pounding and yelling at it in hope that maybe it would budge. Being so preoccupied in hitting the wall, he didn't notice the mystic sparkle behind him nor the bored ice spirit who appeared, watching him. He continued to attack the wall, until a voice interrupted him.

"Foolish mortal. Hitting a wall of ice does not make it disappear."

Zelos jumped and let a girlish scream, the sound echoing off the walls. Turning around, he faced the ice spirit. She looked at him in an uninterested fashion, as if she had seen this several times. Floating in midair as if sitting on an invisible chair, she leaned her face on her hand as she watched him.

"So? Are you here for the crystals or the Celsius Tear?" Celsius asked. Zelos looked at her in a confused way.

"Crystals? There are crystals here?" Zelos asked. Celsius stared at him as if he was an idiot.

"You do have eyes, do you not?" She said, gesturing to the wall behind her. Zelos' gaze followed the direction of her hand and stared at the wall. Sure enough, he was able to see that the wall had a special luster, as if there were crystals buried beneath the ice. His eyes moved back and forth from the crystals to Celsius.

"Well...you don't suppose I could..."

"Don't even think about taking one." Celsius said, correctly reading his thoughts.

Zelos sighed dejectedly and once again leaned against the wall, careful not to hit another switch. As Celsius watched him, she realized something.

"You...you are an acquaintance of my master, are you not? Why are you here?" Celsius asked. Zelos contemplated his answers.

One, he could say the truth and that he was on a journey around the world and somehow ended up here. Or two, he could make up a lie and charm his way into convincing Celsius into letting him go and maybe even let him keep a crystal.

Zelos opted for his second choice and put on a suave smile.

"I came here to see you, my ultra cool beauty!" He said charmingly. For a moment, Celsius stared, too shocked to say anything. Her face began to take on a dark shade of cerulean as her eye started to twitch. For a moment there was silence. It was the calm before the storm.

Celsius' face then changed completely, a smile on her face.

"Your ultra cool beauty, you call me..." Celsius said, her voice way flowing like honey. "How...sweet..."

Zelos recognized the evil sparkle in Celsius eye. He had seen it on Sheena and Raine all too many times. He knew what was coming.

He was dead.

SMACK!

Zelos flew across the room and hit the wall. His face had gained a large red hand mark, the area burning from the force of Celsius' hand. Unlike Sheena's slaps though, the part that hit Zelos had formed a thin layer of ice.

"Hmph. That should teach you."

And with a familiar sparkle, Celsius disappeared.

Zelos looked at the spot Celsius had been, before starting to chuckle. It had been a while since that had happened to him. For some reason, Celsius' reaction had reminded him of Sheena. Plus, Celsius had looked really cute when she was mad.

Zelos smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being stuck in the room.