Kira: (swings round on huge, evil villain chair, stroking a cat) Hello, Mez. I've been expecting you.

Mez10000: I should hope so, it is my 'fic. What's with the evil villain style?

Kira: I have hidden mini-Yuan in a fireproof, teleport proof location. You cannot make me do your disclaimers any more!

Mez10000: Guess what? I was going to give you your holiday after this one disclaimer, but I guess you'll just have to miss out on a Caribbean cruise…

Kira: Mez10000 does not own Tales of Symphonia, Namco does. She owns, Nia, Cyclone and her other character which might be mentioned this chapter. Now, can I have the holiday? (says without breathing)

Mez10000: Fine, I guess I'll have to threaten some other muse…

I was flying, and for once I was relying on a machine. It was actually pretty scary, because a living thing you can always trust to want to stay alive, but a machine, if it ran out of fuel, wouldn't care. Even worse, though, is the fact that I knew we were going to crash!

'Cyclone?'

'What?'

'You're going to help me, right? When we fall? It's either you, or turning into a bird.'

'I don't see why you're trying to hide most of your powers.'

'Knowledge is power. Once, someone had a lot of knowledge about me. Enough said.'

Cyclone looked through my memories. 'Ouch, that must hurt.'

I sighed. 'I haven't told my own family about these powers, about the fact that I'm gone for weeks and months and then, when I'm back, it's only been a couple of seconds.'

Cyclone was about to say something, when the Rheaird gave an unsettling shudder.

"Uh, oh!" I whispered under my breath.

'Don't worry, I'm here to help.' Cyclone reassured me.

I scanned the horizon for the mountain that we were supposed to crash on. The problem is, they all looked very similar from my point of view!

The Rheaird started to dive and I started to panic. How ironic would it be if I were killed from flying? Cyclone swooped out from nowhere and controlled my fall, although he had very little power over wind in his current form. I too, tried to help, by using what little power I had over the wind, and by turning into the lightest bird I could be, without being too vulnerable.

I was a peregrine falcon. My bird form was used to hurtling downward at great speeds, as peregrines hunt by swooping down as fast as they can on their prey. I couldn't remember exactly how fast they could dive, but I knew that the peregrine wasn't worried, so I shouldn't be.

The final crash came. It wasn't as bad as I had expected. In fact, the only thing damaged with everyone was the Rheairds, which was a minor miracle.

"Is everyone alright?" Sheena asked.

"Nothing broken," I replied.

Nobody was badly injured, so they decided a good spot to chat about where to go next would be here. I wasn't complaining, it was a nice, high mountain, with a good, strong wind blowing. After a while, they seemed to be talking about anything and everything when I heard about the Tower being in both worlds.

'Could they get to the point any slower?'

'You need to be more patient. Sooner or later you're going to miss something important."

'But I already know what they're going to say!'

'Okay then, you can tell me what's going to happen.'

'We're going to go to Meltokio, deliver a letter for Sheena to the King, almost getting Colette killed, then we're gong to go to Syback, but not before acquiring two new team mates, Zelos and Presea and…Wait, how far do I have to go? Are you even listening to me?'

'Huh? Um, yeah, of course I'm listening. When are they going to sleep?'

'Well, um, I guess…Alright, I don't know that!'

'Now do you see why you have to listen?'

I sighed. 'Yeah, I guess so.'

I started to listen, just as Lloyd said, "Let's get going!"

'I can see why Kratos' favourite saying is, "Humph!"'

'Well, when life gives you lemons…'

'Yeah, make lemonade. But what do you do when life gives you 'special high intensity training'?

'Huh?'

'Don't worry about it.'

I was bored. I was talking to a voice in my head and I was on alert for any monsters that wanted to attack me. In other words, a normal day at school!

I wondered who I could talk to. Sheena was leaving soon, for a while, anyway.

"Hi, Sheena. Um, got anything interesting to talk about?"

"Most of the others are really curious about what Tethe'alla is like. This might seem like an odd question, but why aren't you that interested?"

"Well, I've travelled around a bit, so, I just adapt, instead of asking questions."

"Isn't there anything you want to know?"

"What money do you use?"

"The same gald as Sylvarant."

"It's interesting, that two worlds that barely know of the existence of each other, have the same currency."

"I never really thought of it like that."

"Here's another question. Which world would you say is warmest, on average?"

"Can't you feel for yourself?"

"I want another, different opinion."

"It's close, but I'd have to say that Sylvarant is slightly warmer."

"Maybe it's because of Efreet's influence."

"Yeah, maybe. You know with Cyclone? Is he like Corrine? Does he hear what you're thinking?"

"Yeah, he does. It's a little annoying sometimes, but I love him really."

"It was really weird at first, with me and Corrine. But after a while, you just can't imagine what you'd do without them."

"Cyclone saved my life."

'And you gave me mine.' Cyclone butted in.

"What?"

'You gave me my life as a dragon. We're even.'

"Alright, I guess we are even."

"That's one thing you need to get used to. Switching from normal conversation, to thought conversations." Sheena told me.

I was puzzled, until I realised what she meant. "I'm sorry, I guess I spoke with Cyclone aloud, didn't I?"

"Yeah. It's best not to do that, because people start saying you're crazy. I know from experience."

"Thanks. Do you think it's going to be easy to cure Colette?"

"Wow, you sure can be random sometimes. I don't know. It really depends on what the cure is. I mean, if it's something impossible like having Colette eat Aionis then of course it'll be hard. But then again, it might just be a certain word, or something, that will cure her."

I looked at the sky, and wished I had a watch. "Do you think it's time we should be setting up camp? The sky looks darker."

"I don't know. Umm, everyone? When are we going to set up camp?" Sheena asked the rest of the group.

"We should certainly get a fire going before dark. We need the protection." Raine explained.

"Well, we're at the foot of the mountain now. Why don't we set up camp here?" I suggested.

"Sure, fine by me." I noticed that once Lloyd had spoken, the rest of the group had settled.

"I'm cooking cream stew tonight. I'll need a good fire for cooking on." Genis informed us.

"Cyclone and I can get firewood. Sheena too if she wants to." I offered.

"Thanks. We should try looking slightly east of here, there's a forest." Sheena said.

"Be careful. If you need any help…" Lloyd started.

"Lloyd, there's me, Sheena, Cyclone and Corrine. I think we'll be fine, and if we aren't, well, I'll think of something."

Sheena and I set off into the forest. The setting sun had bathed everything in a golden light.

"I like this time of day. Everything feels quieter and more peaceful." Sheena explained.

"I have mixed feelings when I see the sun set. It's a massive fireball, so I'm sad to see it go, but nighttime is always better for practicing my powers. …Before in the village I used to live in, no one knew I was a half-elf. To keep it secret, I practised at night." My words echoed the truth, after all, would you want to be cast out for being different?

"I know what you mean. When I started summoning, people started looking at me differently. Apparently, you need elven blood to use natural mana in any way. But I haven't got any other benefits from it. I can't sense mana, or use spells or anything!" Sheena picked up a dry branch of dead wood off the floor.

"I think that depending on how much elven blood you have, you can have different things. I can see …mana signatures…I think that'd be the right word. They're like…coloured outlines. For example, your mana signature is quite thin and green. Green symbolizes being trustworthy and compassionate."

"Wow, have you memorised what each colour means?"

I looked down at my hand. "No, I hadn't. The last part just…came out of no-where." My aura was red, obviously thicker than Sheena's, but it shimmered slightly.

"What colour is your mana signature?"

"Red. It means…passionate, power, leadership…that can't be right. It just isn't me. The weird thing is, these answers only pop into my head as I'm saying them."

"Maybe you just think of yourself differently than your mana signature does. Like, passionate, for instance. Remember when the unicorn died, or when Kratos betrayed us? And power…well, your command over fire, most people would call that a power. Hmm, leadership…all leadership is, is making the right decisions, and you managed to survive in the Renegade base, didn't you?"

"When you think about it like that, it almost makes sense. Almost. Thanks. Anyway, I think we need a bit more wood, don't you?"

So far we had collected a twig. Later, we returned to base camp with a big armful of sticks and other deadwood that was dry enough for the fire. As 'the-girl-with-fire-powers' I felt it was my duty to get the fire going. I started a small pile of the smallest twigs and set them alight. My fire tended to be very hardy and before long, I was feeding the bigger sticks, until soon, we had a fire worthy to cook on.

I stuck my hands in the fire, to help recharge myself. I was aware of myself aching everywhere, and wondered why. It was a stupid question, seeing as I'd fought three angels, during which, I'd been hit by Photon twice, Grave once and Ray once! Not to mention that these people's idea of a 'short walk' was a fifteen-mile hike!

"So," Sheena said, as she sat down next to me, "what do everyone else's mana signatures look like?"

"Lloyd's is red, but a lot thinner than mine. Red stands for leadership, passion and power. Colette's was blue; it stands for devoted and calm. Now, it's just grey, empty. Genis' is yellow, that's intellectual and enthusiastic, and Raine's has a tint of yellow, but is mainly indigo. Indigo represents healing."

"That's amazing. Maybe it's your elven blood telling you what each colour stands for."

"Maybe. I'm trying to think what Kratos' colour was. It was yellow, but tainted somehow. I just shrugged it off before. Yellow, but negative is overly critical and untruthful. Kratos was being very critical of Lloyd's skills wasn't he? And he didn't tell us the truth either."

"This could be some elven way of finding out who's a friend of not."

"It could be, but I'm going to get to know you guys without the mana signatures. It's a bit of fun, but you can't base a big decision on it."

Sheena suddenly said, "Do you think food's ready? I'm starving!"

"I don't know. You go and find out. After all, I won't eat any."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't eat or drink anything. I also can't touch water without being hurt. Don't worry, I'm used to it."

Dinner passed with very little bother, and it wasn't long before the sun had set, and everyone was going to bed.

Normally, darkness gave me a thrill unparallel to anything else I could think of. But today, I felt tired. I wanted nothing more than to lie down and fall asleep.

'What does he want now?' I thought. I'd realised that my other half was trying to contact me.

'There's only one way to find out. Go on, go to 'sleep'. I'll watch over you.' Cyclone persuaded.

I lay down on the earth near the fire and closed my eyes.

I was in the black room again, with only a silhouette to tell me of another's presence. Before I could speak, he asked me, "Where are you? I said two days, and guess what? It's been two days!"

"Am I supposed to be intimidated by that? Any way, we're in Tethe'alla, just as I said. Where are you?"

"You're in Tethe'alla? Great, I'll see you tomorrow." He broke the connection.

'Gee, can't he for once tell me where he is? This really bugs me.'

'I sense you're a little angry. Anyway, you were only asleep a minute, so you have a couple of hours to kill.'

'How much is a couple?'

'Um, ten?'

'Okay, that's it. I need to fly!' I changed to a bird form, and used my anger to change the morphanic material. It always worked better with emotion, for some reason.

I took off, using the wind as a guide. Something swooped behind me. I tried not to panic, chances were it was Cyclone. Besides, I was a Long-eared owl, nothing on earth preys on them. Then I had to remind myself that I wasn't on Earth.

I dived down, the whatever-it-was followed. I tried every manoeuvre possible as an owl. The whatever-it-was was still behind me.

Clutching at straws, I called out, "Cyclone?"

"Wrong."

I was grabbed from behind, half-expecting talons sinking into my flesh. Instead I was grabbed by hands, human hands. I looked behind, using that very handy three hundred and sixty degree turnable neck of an owl. I was shocked by what I saw.

"Kratos!"

Kratos said nothing. He held my right wing with one hand, stretching it out. His thumb was tight on my wing, applying constant pressure. He landed expertly on the ground.

"Kratos, what are you doing? Why?…" I was really confused. Kratos was treating me like an enemy, and he hadn't said a word. Silently I called to Cyclone for help.

Cyclone swooped out of nowhere (Must ask him how he does that!) and grabbed Kratos' arms. Which didn't really help. I was being held, by the wings, by Kratos and Kratos was being held by Cyclone. All we needed was someone else to grab on to Cyclone…

Assuring myself that now was not the best time for my weird humour, I summoned fire, which made Kratos let go of me.

"Somehow, I'm assuming this isn't just a friendly hello on your way back from work?"

"Humph." We've all seen Kratos in a hostage situation; he's not the world's biggest talker.

"You know what? I can sense something unusual about you, Kratos. You like the dark. You feel the same craving I do, the temptation to use your power. Except you need the night. Darkness is a concealer, it hides the truth. Any knowledge about you is power, so you don't want to give them any knowledge, or it could turn on you."

Then, suddenly, I realised why he had come.

"And I know too much. Any thing about you could be used to harm you, that's why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, I checked the Desian databases. You've never even set foot in a Desian ranch."

"Um…I was extremely good at infiltrating it?"

"You said you had to get out fighting. One way or another, you lied, and I want to know why."

"Why are you concerned anyway? Oh, right, Lloyd. Should've guessed, stupid question."

"Nia, why did you lie?" Kratos voice could somehow command attention, even being held hostage by a dragon!

"I guess I really can't lie forever. You're just too smart. Cyclone, let him go. I don't think he'll hurt me until he gets an answer." Cyclone released him. Kratos withdrew his wings, as a signal that he wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm from a different world. I lied because the truth would tear this world apart. I know every single secret, everybody's story."

"How do you know about all this, if you are from a different world, which I still don't quite believe?"

"I never travel before I've done market research."

"Please, not the riddles."

"You've got to understand, my world is far more technologically advanced than this world is."

"You mean it has better magitechnology?"

"Yes, but we drop the 'magi'. Anyway, using this technology we can see into different worlds."

"And transport into them? How many people should I expect from your world?"

"That isn't a technology, travelling between worlds. We don't have any kind of Rheairds. It's my own power, shared with one other."

"Who's the 'one other'?"

"My other half. He commands water and earth. Two opposite people, me and him. It's actually a miracle that we're both not evil. Although, what is good and evil? I-"

"I don't feel up for a long lecture on good, evil and how thin the line is."

"Okay. This is probably a better definition. As a person, good and evil doesn't exist. There's only you, the people who are on your side and the people who are against you."

"I would hate for you to be a person who isn't on my side."

"Then I won't be. I mean, I'm on your side."

"But what is your purpose for being here, in this world?"

"Hmm…it's hard to say exactly why, but I can tell you that I won't hurt your son. I'm here to help."

"And I'm supposed to just take your word for it?"

"You could watch everything I do, but I seriously doubt you have that much free time."

"I'll let you go. I…trust you. But know this. If you intentionally hurt Lloyd…"

"Don't worry, I'll expect the death penalty. Something similar to what you did to Kvar?"

"Humph." With that, Kratos flew off.

I made my way back to camp, and waited for the sun to rise.

Me: Okay, a little shorter than normal, but most of the chapters are going to be around a day from now on. Because Kira's on holiday (snigger) I've asked around, to borrow some muses. Expect mayhem!