Me: Before I get any complaints, this chapter will be short and it's meant to be short, okay? Kira's sulked off somewhere, leaving me to do the disclaimer. You've heard right? I don't own Tales of Symphonia or Namco. I am trying my best. Actually, Bandai and Namco are merging! So now it'll be even harder…(throws night-vision goggles, suction cups, etc. in to a convenient bin)

It began to rain in the early evening. Knowing my luck, it wouldn't be long before a full on storm hit us. I changed the morphanic material into some waterproof fake skins. At least I was dry.

Lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a crack of thunder.

'I knew it was going to become a storm. Just for me!' I said mentally, as everyone apart from Stephen and I were asleep.

Actually, Colette was awake, because she was a soulless angel right now and the rest of the group kept waking up every odd hour.

'The world doesn't do things just to spite you.' Cyclone tried to get me to see sense.

'How else do you explain a storm hitting, just on the day that we have no tree cover or we're not staying indoors!'

'I can't get through to you, can I?'

'Nope, Nia's really stubborn when it comes to points like this.' Stephen joined our conversation.

'Shut up, Shellymonk.'

'Shellymonk?' Izarax asked.

'It was so funny! Stephen had been swimming in the water as a turtle, but when he came out of the water, he wanted to be a monkey. He tried to change forms straight from turtle to monkey, and he panicked! He ended up as this weird monkey with a shell!'

'Now everyone calls me that to annoy me, but only Nia knows where it comes from.' Stephen was glaring at me.

Silence seemed to devour every noise: the rain falling, the thunder cracking, even the wind's whistle. I was unnerved by the eerie, ominous silence. I couldn't see anything, but I had a strong feeling something was wrong.

'Do you sense something weird?' I asked.

'I don't…I don't think so.'

'Maybe it's just me paranoid but I could've sworn…' Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something moving.

I threw weak fire at the movement in the shadows to illuminate the area. I saw…

I was about to scream, to wake up the group, but my voice had been cut off from either fear or magical powers. 'Stephen, wake everyone up. Naois is here.'

I surrounded Naois with a ring of fire, desperately hoping it would buy some time. However, it was still raining and the fire was impossible to keep going for more than three seconds. It was just enough though, to wake the whole group.

"So this is Naois, huh?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, be careful. A fight may be unavoidable." Both Stephen and I were wary, knowing what she was capable of.

"A fight? She hasn't even got a weapon!" Zelos remarked.

"Don't give her ideas! She's strong enough without one!"

Naois broke up our chat.

"Children, why do you speak of fighting?" She softened her voice to sound quiet and fragile.

"Because we shall not let you harm our friends."

"Why would I hurt them?" Naois was manipulating the group, lying to them.

I was stuck for what to say, which was of course, the whole purpose of the lie.

"You are the real deceiver, sabotaging your so called friends."

"No, they would never do that! You're lying." Lloyd, normally dull-witted, was always first to stand up for his friends.

"It may interest you to know that they have been talking to someone. I didn't catch the name, but he was tall, dressed in purple and had two turquoise wings." Naois smiled, knowing her information would seriously impact the group.

"No, that's not true…is it?" Lloyd asked, not accused.

Although I wanted to protest and say it wasn't true, my eyes betrayed the truth.

"Why?" Raine's voice was layered with hurt.

"I…can't say."

"Why not? What could possibly be so bad that you have to lie about it?"

"I promised him something, and before you ask, I can't say what it was. It wasn't anything to do with sabotaging the journey, I promise."

"And how can we be sure that you're telling the truth?"

"You can't. Believe me or not as you will." I noticed that Naois had disappeared and the rain was getting lighter.

"We need to leave soon, Nia. Is it worth trying to explain and then accidentally letting something slip?" Stephen warned.

"What could you accidentally let slip?" Raine's eye's were narrow.

I had a choice of answers for that one. There was:

Could reveal who Lloyd's father is,

Could reveal who Yggdrasil is,

Could say who Zelos is working for,

Could reveal that I'm not exactly 'local',

Could say exactly what would happen at the mountain top, right down to the last, Colette tripping detail.

I just said, "Nothing," In a fake, cheery voice.

Stopping my mouth from destroying Symphonia just got a whole lot harder.

That was a titchy chapter for me. (I'm so ashamed, #sob#)

I'm giving silent reviewers one last chance and then I'm naming and shaming them. And yes I do know who you are.

Please review. Pretty please? With one of those tasty cherries on top? And I appologise in advance for the delay in the next chapter, I'm struggling with some writers block.