Me: And here's Part Eleven!

To Understand: Part Eleven

Rescued and Trapped

By Harmony283

Good Reviews:

Hiranieas-Yup seven minutes two times...if you think you can get a lower time then go for it! And no Mithos is NOT going to die. So do NOT worry! I'm actually planning on this to have a happy ending (of course it has to have one if it's going to have a coughsequelcough). And yes, Pronyma will die…at some point…

Nady-Kun-Ah well, I can't say that all the lines in the last chapter were actually correct cuz I don't really remember them either…but yeah! Zelos is a nice guy despite some…things…he does! Oh yes and about the spandex I didn't want to say just a 'knight in shining armor' which I think is personally used way too much…and then I came across that strip and was like 'hey this is funny maybe I could put knight in shining "spandex" instead!' but I'm glad it cracked you up…I'm not good at writing humor so…yeah! Here's the next chapter

Me: Oy, okay I'm updating a little fast now…

Feral: And whose fault is that?

Me: Um, well, the ideas just keep flowing and the reviewers keep on reviewing (and that's a good thing)!

Feral: So it's your fault?

Me: …uh…just do the disclaimer like you're supposed to.

Feral: Harmony283 does not own Tales of Symphonia or any of its squeezable huggable characters. Though she does, in fact, own me and the Plot…so yeah…

Me: Okay that's good.

Feral: And again, thank you. But I'm going to just have to ask: Am I in this chapter?

Authors Note: Yes Feral, you are. Now anyway…this chapter has where everyone gets caught in those traps (though I'm not too sure I have them in the right order). Oh yes, and I wonder exactly what happened to Genis…you should find that out in this chapter…

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Genis' POV

"Oww…wha--?"

I blinked and sat up, confused.

"Where am I now?"

Great, first I'm trapped in that mirror world with Feral and now I'm in a…library. But then again Feral did say that I had been taken to Venheim…so this must be a room somewhere in there.

I looked around, Pronyma didn't seem to be here at the moment, so I might as well see what type of books are here.

I stood up and gasped, pain shot through my limbs, causing me to fall back onto the ground.

What was going on?

'Look in the mirror!'

"Why--?"

I turned to look at the only mirror in the room. It was a full length mirror with some type of language carved around the border.

Then I saw my reflection in the mirror…

I…was covered in blood.

My clothes, or rather what was left of them, were soaked practically through. My wings had somehow come out during all this, and instead of the crystalline blue they were blood red from an obvious wound on my back.

Did Pronyma do this?

'I'm sure she probably did. But don't worry, I think she knew Mithos was coming and left.'

"Really? That's great--"

Then the door to the room was smashed through.

"Dammit, Pronyma…she got away…"

It was Mithos and he looked extremely angry. His eyes then fell on me, and he gasped, all the anger that had once been displayed on it vanished completely.

He rushed forward and bent down to me, trying hard not to touch my wounds, "Are you…what…happened?"

"I-I don't know!" I choked on a sob, which was quickly covered as Mithos kissed me for the second time.

When he pulled away I flinched, his stare was now on the wings that were present on my back.

Great, now he was going to ask how I got them.

And it wasn't like I could explain it.

"You…have wings?"

I nodded my head, "Y-Yeah…"

"When?"

"I…" I felt something wet trail down the side of my face and knew that I was crying.

Mithos' eyes softened as he saw this. He brought a hand up, wiping off the tear with a single finger before cupping the side of my face in the palm of the said hand. He then moved and kissed the other tear away (A/N: I think I read this in a fan-fic somewhere…I don't remember who wrote it though…).

"I-I…they hurt…"

"What hurts?"

"My…wings…I think Pro-Pronyma…did something…"

Mithos cursed slightly under his breath before pulling me, rather awkwardly, onto his lap.

"Do you…remember anything that she did?" He asked as I nuzzled my face into his chest. He had done this before.

Holding me, I mean.

He did it all the time whenever we were alone at Altessas.

I sighed softly, and saw him faintly smile before my eyes lidded and I fell into a rather peaceful sleep.

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Mithos' POV

I smiled at the now slumbering boy in my arms. I was so glad that he was safe. And yet I was so angry that Pronyma did this to him.

That and the fact that she ran away.

I sighed softly shifting slightly so that I could stand up easier without disturbing Genis from his obviously much needed sleep.

I stood up slowly and began to walk towards the door…

When Genis suddenly stirred.

For a second I thought he was going to wake up but instead he snuggles closer and…

Purrs…like a cat.

I smirked, he was so…cute…great, don't think about him in that Katz suit! Don't! Bad Mithos bad!

Now I was even wondering where that horrible little fetish came from.

Hmm…

Wait! This isn't time to be thinking about that! Genis is hurt and I have to go to the Great Seed Chamber to make sure all the preparations are complete!

But if I took Genis with me…and Zelos was there, whom is now more than just 'friends' with Lloyd, he might think that I did something.

Which I certainly did not.

Once outside that room I carefully extended my wings before teleporting back to my chamber in the Tower of Salvation.

At least here he would be reasonably okay.

I placed him down on the bed, trying my best not to ruffle his already tattered looking angel wings.

Which brought back the question of how he got them.

I knew for certain that I didn't give them to him, and neither did Zelos, Kratos, or Yuan.

Besides, why would he even have them? I mean, he has a regular exsphere…

…right?

I glance absentmindedly down at his hand, unfortunately it was still bandaged from yesterday…when he apparently broke a mirror.

I had questions about that too.

But I would feel sorry for waking the boy.

But…I needed to know!

And even now I had to wonder why it was important. He could just tell me after this is all over and done with.

But then again, one of us, most likely me from the way things are looking, may die. And that wouldn't solve a thing.

It would just leave us with more questions.

Questions that would never be answered.

I gave one last sad glance to Genis before turning and walking out of the room.

I quickly changed into my older form and teleported to the Great Seed Chamber.

…And was pleasantly surprised to see that Kratos was there.

Good.

"Ah--Yggdrasill…I just placed her in the machine…it will take some time…"

"It's fine. We have time to spare. Where is Zelos?"

"He said he was going to go recheck the traps…to make sure they worked sufficiently.

"I…see…"

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Zelos' POV

Gods, Kratos must be really dense.

I mean I practically told him that I was going to go save everyone from those traps and he still let me go.

Well, it wasn't really that surprising. He is, after all, Lloyds father…

And they had to have at least some family resemblance, right?

Right.

Now here I was waiting in the control room to see if they had triggered any traps yet.

And thankfully they hadn't.

But I knew that, by now, Yggdrasill was probably back from wherever he ran off to.

It made me wonder exactly where 'wherever' was.

Ever since this morning I had a suspicion about him and Genis.

It wasn't like him to just 'visit' a friend.

Or save one for that matter.

One part of my brain was screaming that Genis could very well be on his side, but if he was then why did Pronyma capture him? And what did she mean by 'I know something you don't'?

I groaned softly, leaning back in my chair, "Well I guess I have time to think about it…"

I glanced once more at the different screens before wrapping myself in my thoughts.

Yggdrasill, from what I learned from Kratos and Yuan, never cared so much about another person. So it was really strange that he'd go and protect Genis when he did when we came here, to the Tower of Salvation in Tethe'alla for the first time.

And of course the very fact that Yggdrasill showed up in his child form last night unnerved me. He obviously knew Genis was the night guard.

Which made me wonder what they had been talking about.

Raine really didn't give much info on it. She may be beautiful…but she sure was secretive. Not that I could say anything about that. I was too.

"Hnn…now what could Pro--" I blinked and jumped up when I saw the muscle man, Regal, fighting off angels in the first room.

So he's the first to go down, eh? Well, I'm sure he can hold his own so he isn't a major saver.

Okay then…next they were going to the tree room. Sheena would probably take care of that room in a jiffy.

But that left me to wonder if she needed immediate saving or not.

"Hmm, I wonder…will my precious lil' hunny need saving?" I smirked, leaning back in the chair once more to watch.

Of course it was no surprise when I saw Lloyd leading the group. That was technically his job and it always has been.

He looked so serious, which was good since there really wasn't any time to goof off…

And there they were, standing in front of the weird tree thing.

And just like the idiot he is, Lloyd walked forward.

And of course was attacked by a tree limb.

The adorable idiot.

Sheena says something to him and he stands back.

Now she's summoning the Summon Spirits from Sylvarant.

Ah, this must be her version of the mana Canon.

My what a smart hunny.

I watched as she readied the mana cannon and shot it at the tree like monster, which promptly stopped it from shoot its branches down to the pathway below it. She said something to Lloyd, who soon ran under the tree followed by everyone who was still there.

Everyone ran towards the teleporter, but Lloyd stopped and turned around, that's when the bridge broke.

And Sheena collapsed to the ground.

After a brief conversation with Lloyd he turned to leave.

Then it happened.

The supposedly dead remain of the crazy Great Tree shot out a branch, grabbing her ankle.

Lloyd seemed shocked at this, and so was I. She must have used up most of her energy if she couldn't dodge that!

And now she was being dragged into the pit. But she seemed to be holding on…

Then Lloyd turned and ran out of the room. I assumed she promised him that she'd be okay. And if there was one thing I ever learned from Sheena is that she never lied.

Now then the next place they should be going to is that control room with the…

Weird floor.

It seems like Pronyma really liked making people fall.

"Hmm, so Raine's most likely next since I doubt Lloyd and Presea know how to work equipment like that…hmm…well, the floor doesn't give way immediately. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Just like I suspected, every time a door opened, a floor panel fell.

After three tries, all the doors were open and the very platform Raine was standing on started shaking. But it wouldn't fall immediately…

Lloyd ran through after listening to something she had to say--heh, even now the Professor still loves to give speeches--he ran through the door followed by Presea.

Now the next room had a similar feature.

The only difference was the door that had to be open was the one leading them into the room.

And of course, Presea would open it.

I mean, she's the only one small enough to fit through that hole.

…And I was right again. When the duo arrived at the entrance to that room, the door was locked. Presea seemed to suggest something--and at times like this I really wished this thing had speakers so I could actually hear what was going on--and soon Lloyd hefted her up to the small entrance, letting her crawl through to the other side.

I switched screens and saw that Presea was now typing on a strange looking machine, obviously trying to find the switch that opened the door.

She did, after a while, and the door opened. But the thing about this room though, was that once the front door was open, a sliding door would close on the other end--the end that led to the teleporter in the next room.

Now what were they going to do?

Presea seemed to notice the sliding door falling rather quickly and ran towards it, only to me stopped by yet another limb remain from earlier. It tried to pull her into a nearby crack in the wall, but before it did, she managed to use her ax to stop the door from moving any closer to the floor.

Ah my smart little rosebud.

Lloyd entered the room a few seconds later and obviously tried to get Presea loose…of which she, like the rest, refused.

Lloyd didn't complain much this time, all he did was run and dive under the door, breaking the ax as he reached the other side.

Ah, poor kid. All his friends protected him and he doesn't even know why.

I got up slowly from the chair I had been sitting in and stretched.

Now it was time for me to go and play 'hero'.

Then I remembered.

Wasn't there supposed to be another trap?

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Lloyds POV

I…couldn't believe it.

Here I am, crouched down behind some rubble, trying my best to avoid being seen by some angels floating around, thinking over the events that had just transpired.

My friends…every single one of them…they risked their lives all so I could get here.

All so that I could save Colette, fight Yggdrasill, and find Genis.

But…why?

Didn't they want to stand by me and fight as well?

I was so confused.

I saw an opening and ran forward towards the teleporter before any monsters could chase after me, and warped to the next, and hopefully final, room.

Oh wait—there's a teleporter at the other end of the room. Maybe that'll lead me to the main room.

But isn't this a little too easy?

…Oh well, I guess whoever set those traps thought I'd be done for all ready.

I run forward, then suddenly, right when I reached an intersection, translucent bubble like walls appeared, blocking off every passageway one by one.

…This really was too easy.

Dammit! How was I supposed to get anywhere now?

"Go, DEMON FANG!" I cried out, slashing at the ground, creating a shock wave, which momentarily caused there to be an opening in the odd wall. Unfortunately it sealed back up.

"Argh! Stupid trap! This one wasn't nearly as hard as the rest…and…and everyone's counting on me dammit!"

Like screaming would do any good right now.

These walls obviously didn't have ears.

But that wasn't really important, now was it?

I mean, I have to get out of here, but how?

"Lloyd!"

I blinked, "Wha—?" That had sounded like Zelos' voice.

But…he was a traitor…I shouldn't let this get to me, but…

"Lloyd! Ah—good, have you been stuck there long?"

Yup that was Zelos' voice, but where was—oh…

Zelos appeared as if from thin air, though I knew he had come in through the warp ring, and stood in front of me, on the other side of the wall, with a worried smile on his face.

"No I haven't been stuck here…long…but, what are you doing here?"

He flinched, "Oh, ouch, hunny, that really hurt. And here I thought you'd be oh so happy that I was comin' to save ya!" He smiled, though it was fake and I could tell that I had hurt him with what I had said.

"But why? You work for Cruxis now, don't you?"

"Shyeah, about that," Zelos shifted his weight between his feet and gave me a cocky grin, "I quit!"

"You what?"

"I quit! The only reason I joined in the first place was cuz Yggdrasill said he could remove the title of Chosen from me, but after I betrayed you guys I thought it over and decided that you're more important than any old title." He smiled this time, walking towards the translucent wall. He grabbed his sword and swung it viciously, causing a rift that just kept on growing.

"Eh? Hey! When I tried to attack it a few seconds ago it just closed back up!"

"It's like a bubble."

"What?"

"You can't pop a bubble on the inside now can you?"

I thought about it…well, technically no, since you can't get inside a bubble but…what a weird analogy.

"Um, I guess you can't…but—" I was cut off.

Zelos had pulled me into an extremely tight embrace.

"Ack—Zelos I can't breath!"

He immediately let go and grinned again, "Heh, sorry bud. Look, I think you might want to hurry it up a bit don't cha think? I mean, Yggdrasill is probably already in that…place…so yeah, you'll want to hurry it up and save Colette."

I nodded my head, "Yeah I should. What are you going to do though?"

"What else is there to do? I'm going to go save your friends from their…situations. I'll bring them all to ya when I get them, m'kay?" He blew me a kiss before running off in the opposite direction.

I sighed and shook my head. He really was an idiot.

But I loved him anyway.

I turned to face the warp ring on the floor, walking forward hurriedly.

I arrived in a room that was different from the rest. There was a green tiled floor walkway leading across to the other side of the room. Since it seemed like the only pathway there I walked towards it.

One step on the green tiles though, and they fell.

"Aww crap, it looks like it's a one-way road from here on out…well, here it goes!" I jumped over the small gap, and started running while arrows started shooting at me from the sides.

Meraculously I made it all the way to the other side without harm.

Only to step on a particular tile and have something shooting out from a nearby wall and aim at my chest.

Crap.

The impact, and the shock, made me fall to my knees, but only for a few minutes.

When I got up I realized that it was...

A knife.

But that's strange. If it had hit me dead on I would've been dead, or at least severally wounded.

And yet, I was fine.

I removed the knife from my clothes, and then pulled out whatever was underneath it.

It was…

Zelos' Cruxis Crystal.

"You…saved me…Zelos…"

I smiled, "Thank you…"

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Me: And that's the end of Part Eleven!

Feral: Yes it is. But I wonder…what happened to Genis?

Me: You mean besides getting attacked by Pronyma? Well, you'll just have to find out…

Feral: But you said you'd find out in the Authors Note in the beginning…

Me: Ah, you're right! Oh well, things change…well, as always I hope you like the chapter and please R&R!