Before I begin, I would once again like to thank those who have reviewed my story. Thank you to Leppers, starry, Dragonwings, Crystal Adept and Weener. It's worth writing these chapters just to hear feedback from you guys. Thank you very much and please keep the reviews coming.
And also, I was going to wait until tomorrow to update this, but since today, July 13, is the two-year anniversary of when Tales of Symphonia was released in the US, I thought it was only proper that I update it on its birthday. Here's to two years of one of the greatest games of all time!
-------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- ------------------
When he finally fell asleep, Lloyd slept soundly through the night. His mind slowly slipped into a subconscious state where all his worries temporarily left him. He should have enjoyed that feeling, because that was the last time for a while he'd be able to sleep that calmly.
Lloyd snapped awake a few hours later to golden sunlight pouring into his bedroom. He groaned a little bit, and then dragged himself off the small mattress. He made his way down the creaking stairs, only to find Kratos was standing inside the house waiting for him.
"Come. Let's go," Kratos calmly said. He turned his back on Lloyd and started walking out the door.
"Ugh…I wish he'd stop doing that," Lloyd complained after seeing Kratos walk away from him before he had the chance to say anything.
Lloyd ran after Kratos outside and saw Kratos was once again waiting for him, this time, by the small bridge that people would cross to get into Dirk's yard.
"Wait!" Lloyd yelled. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to get as much information about those islands as we can. If we can do that, then maybe we'll figure out how to get to that crystal before Stromm does," Kratos coolly answered.
"That's great and all, but who would have any information?"
"Do you need to ask? We're going to Sybak. They're bound to have some information of those islands on record."
"I guess it's the best lead we've got," Lloyd admitted. "All right, it's off to Sybak then!"
Kratos smirked at how energized Lloyd was and how he knew it wouldn't last long. Lloyd began walking away, but Kratos stayed for a few moments.
Kratos turned his attention to the gravestone where his wife, Anna, was buried. His eyes filled with sorrow, and one would be able to see all the emotions that were probably flowing within him.
"Kratos!" Lloyd yelled when he was a fair distance from him, "let's go!"
Lloyd noticed how Kratos was staring at the tombstone, but for some reason, it looked like his gaze now drifted to the left of the tombstone, where there was nothing except dirt and some open space.
Kratos snapped awake when Lloyd called him and proceeded to follow his son out of Dirk's yard. Lloyd turned around and excitedly started walking forwards, but after just taking a few steps after him, Kratos stopped. Under his breath, Kratos uttered the words, "Don't die, Lloyd."
A while later, the two of them were walking into Sybak. They immediately headed for the research academy and planned on looking through the archives all day if they had to. This was turning into a serious matter, and any knowledge within that academy about those statues could prove to be the only thing stopping Stromm from destroying Tiberia.
As they walked into the academy and started tearing through book after book looking for any clue about the island, a familiar face appeared before them.
"Oh, hello," said a feminine voice from behind.
Lloyd and Kratos turned around and were greeted by a woman with dark blue hair tied into a ponytail and a thin structure. It was Cesara, the woman who the group had met when they were searching for information about Tiberia or Stromm. "I wasn't expecting to see you two again. Is there something I can help you with?"
Lloyd was about to speak up, but Kratos started talking before him. "I thank you for your care, but we can manage it fine."
Cesara looked very surprised at this remark and managed to squeak out, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Kratos plainly answered, trying to sound as polite as possible without his voice changing at all.
Cesara quickly nodded her head, and then walked out of the room, constantly looking back at Kratos and Lloyd as they persisted in doing their research.
The hours dragged on, and the two were getting more and more frustrated with the lack of information there seemed to be about the statues on the islands. After a long while, there were books poured all over the floor, some shut and some opened up to random pages.
"This isn't working!" Lloyd complained. "Why can't we find anything?"
"Lloyd, calm down," Kratos coolly commanded. "We're bound to find something sooner or later. Until then, the most we can do is keep looking for any information that might help."
After hearing this, Lloyd groaned and pulled out a book in a manner that looked like he had just about given up. But when he opened part of it up, his eyes widened and he suddenly looked excited.
"Kratos! I think I found something!"
Gaining interest, Kratos gently placed the book he was looking through down on the floor and walked over to Lloyd. "What is it, Lloyd?"
"It says here that we need the power of the summon spirits to activate the statues and to get the island to rise!" Lloyd yelled. "We could just have Sheena help us out!"
"But how would we know what statues were supposed to be activated by what summon spirits?" Kratos asked curiously. "Does the book say?"
Lloyd looked exhausted after that remark as he realized the book said nothing about it. But once again, he suddenly looked revitalized and anxious.
"When Colette and I got stuck on that island and we saw one of the statues, there was a symbol of a flame on it!"
"Do you supposed that means we'd need Efreet's power to activate it?" Kratos asked.
"Yeah!" Lloyd yelled excitedly.
"Very well," Kratos said. "Then it's off to Mizuho."
The duo walked out of the academy and started their long walk to the ancient city of Mizuho. They walked in and were surrounded by people wearing long cloaks and houses that seemed made of relatively weak material.
"Where do you think Sheena is?" Lloyd asked.
"Preparing to become Mizuho's successor, I would presume," Kratos calmly answered as he continued searching for their former companion again.
After the two continued walking for a while, they saw someone very familiar standing by the side and observing a few people doing work. She had hair tied in the back and was wearing purple clothes with a large bow behind her. Some would consider it a mystery how none of the Mizuho men seemed to be all over her.
"Sheena!" Lloyd yelled excitedly.
The person froze up like they had been shot with a stun-gun and slowly turned around. Indeed it was Sheena, and she was very excited to see two of her former companions.
"Lloyd! And…Kratos?" she asked, a bit confused about what he was doing there.
Kratos very briefly explained how he got back down onto Asliea by the teleporter he and Yuan made and how it works. But right after that, he began talking about the situation at hand and how she could be of assistance to them.
"So, let me get this straight…" Sheena started, making sure she knew what she was getting herself into. "There's this giant island that's underwater except for three parts, and those three parts could be considered islands themselves? And there's this great power somewhere on that island and a guy wants to use it to destroy a world called Tiberia?"
"That's right," Kratos said, confirming everything the former ninja just said. "Would you be willing to lend us your aid for this?"
"Of course!" Sheena said happily. "Anything for you guys."
"All right! Thanks, Sheena!" Lloyd yelled excitedly, looking like he was ready to start jumping into the air.
Kratos and Sheena didn't say anything as they watched Lloyd light up. While Lloyd was still excitedly celebrating Sheena helping them and possibly stopping Stromm from saving the world, Kratos turned to Sheena.
"Do you still have that E.C. boat? It may be of some use to us to get to that island," Kratos said.
"Sure do," Sheena said happily.
In no time, the three of them were out on the ocean in the boat and were looking for one of the islands. Unfortunately, Lloyd couldn't remember where they were, mostly due to the fact they were chased off their course by the pirates when they were trying to get to Flanoir. Plus, it was really a storm that washed them upon the island, so they had no control of where they were going. The result of not knowing where to go came to the trio having to just spend hours driving around on the water, looking for any weird islands.
At long last, Lloyd spotted something in the distance. It was a small mass of land sticking out in a random spot in the ocean. Obviously, it was an island, but was it one of the small islands that made up the larger one?
The group parked their boat onto the pearl-white sand of the beach and they all hopped off. Around them were literally thousands of trees that made up a small forest. No one knew what kind of animals could have lurked in that forest, and they honestly didn't care right now.
"So, where are these statues, anyway?" Sheena asked as they trudged through the deep and thick patches of trees, looking for one of them.
"We don't know," Lloyd said, turning his head to Sheena behind him but still walking forward. "But all we can do is keep looking."
As he finished saying this, Lloyd turned his head back in front of him, and the first thing that happened because of that was Lloyd smashing his face into something solid. "Ow!"
Lloyd walked back and clutched his nose, which received the most impact. "Man, what did I run into?"
"I dunno," Sheena said. "Looks like something tall and wooden…wait, is this one of those statues?"
"So it would seem," Kratos said quietly.
In front of them was a giant wooden pole with the same kind of runes and mysterious symbols on it. On the front of the pole was a symbol of a lightning bolt.
"That must mean Volt," Kratos deduced. "Sheena, if you will…"
Sheena nodded her head, and then walked over to the front of the pole. Then, in a voice full of determination and conviction, she screamed, "Hammer of godly thunder, I summon thee! Come, Volt!"
There was a bright flash of lights, and soon appeared a ball of electricity that Sheena knew all too well. "Volt, fire your power at that statue!"
Staying as quiet as ever, Volt fired a long stream of electricity at the wooden pole, just as Sheena commanded. The pole started lighting up, and it was easy to see that Volt firing his power at it was doing something.
"It looks like it's working!" Lloyd said excitedly. "Come on, Sheena, let's head to the other two!"
"Got it!" the former ninja said.
Lloyd, Kratos and Sheena started running back to the shore and hopped in their boat. They started sailing away from the island and off to sea. Luckily, they were able to figure out where the other two islands were in close proximity, due to the fact they were all part of the same island.
"Envoy from the dark abyss, I summon thee!" Sheena yelled when they reached the second one. Shadow, the summon spirit of darkness, appeared before them and started firing his mana at the statue on that island.
The group ran back to the shore of the second island and prepared to head for the third and final island until something ambushed them. A giant brown, furry looking monster with sharp claws on its hand and feet and red eyes jumped out at them, looking like it was ready to rip them to shreds.
"Oh, no," Lloyd said. "Not another one!"
"You've fought these before?" Kratos asked.
"Yeah. When Colette and I got stuck on that other island, a monster just like this one attacked us!"
"You two, head for the boat and get to the third island!" Kratos commanded, drawing his sword. "I'll take this one!"
"You sure?" Lloyd asked.
"I'll be fine. Just go."
"All right. Come on, Sheena!"
The two teenagers started running through the rest of the jungle and back out to their boat. Lloyd started driving it away, but as he started steering it away from the island, the question once again popped into his head that had surfaced the first time he met one of those monsters. What the heck was it, anyway?
After a short while, Kratos abruptly appeared and was flying over them. Lloyd stopped the boat so Kratos could float down onto their tiny boat. In no time, the trio was on the last island.
As Lloyd remembered, the symbol on the pole was of fire. Sheena summoned Efreet and ordered him to fire his mana at the pole.
Efreet obeyed, and like the two others, the wooden pole started glowing. As soon as that happened, a loud rumbling sound was heard.
"What's going on?" Lloyd asked as he started shaking violently with the ground under him.
"I don't know!" Sheena said.
"The island is rising," Kratos said calmly, causing Lloyd and Sheena to stare at him.
Then, as predicted, the ground underneath them started rising. The island looked like it was literally being lifted off the ground. The rumbling got louder; the sand started flying in the air and the trees were shaking.
After a few moments, the island had risen several feet. Now the trio could see the entire island in one solid piece, and it stretched further than the eye could see.
"Whoa," Lloyd said when he realized just how big the entire island was. "You mean to tell me we've got to look for one rock on this entire place?"
"Yes," Kratos said. "So let's start looking."
Lloyd, Kratos and Sheena were about to start looking for that one rock on the whole giant island before Sheena pointed something out. She was looking at something in the horizon, but she looked a little worried.
"Guys, it looks like we've got trouble," she said uneasily as she looked at something on the water.