Third Chapter is up. This chapter is quite longer than the other two and also reveals the main villain in a substory. This story also starts off during a dream sequence that Lloyd is having. W/out further ado. DISCLAIMER: I dont own Tales of Symphonia.


They were in the Tower of Salvation chasing after Mithos and Colette. Lloyd and Sheena both entered a small room with a bridge gaping a chasm.

"Whoa", Lloyd exclaimed as a tree above the bridge shot out its branches and attacked the bridge. "This thing wont let us through."

"Hang on! This thing looks like leftovers from earlier."

"You mean… one of the Giant Tree's…"

"Yep, no doubt about it. Just stand back and leave this to me!" Sheena planted her feet firm into the ground. "Disciple of everlasting ice! Hammer of godly thunder! Servant of Mother Earth. Envoy from the dark abyss!" Suddenly, four summon spirits were beside her. "I command thee! Gatherest before me and unleash thine power!" The spirits added power to Sheena then disappeared.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Lloyd was startled by the sudden appearance of the otherworldly beings.

"My impression of the Mana Cannon. Well, it wont be nearly as powerful, but it should be enough to take care of this thing. Lloyd, when I give the signal, run underneath it. Got it?"

"Alright, but what about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." She pressed her hands together. "Get ready, here we go!" Sheena unleashed her "mana cannon" which although small in size, had incredible magnitude. "Now!" As she shouted, Lloyd ran to the other side of the bridge. Giving it her full power, she gave a final blast of mana and the tree swiftly fell onto the bridge, causing it to collapse.

"Sheena, are you ok?" Lloyd was looking for a way Sheena could get to the other side but the shrunken bridge had been the only way.

"…Yeah, I'm alright."

"That was amazing!"

"Phew. Just don't ask me to do it again, ok? Phew. That drained all my mana, I'm going to rest for just a-" The branches of the tree shot up and latched themselves to Sheena's leg. "Ahh!" She started to panic. The tree then pulled her and Sheena barely had time to catch the ledge before being pulled over.

"Sheena! Hang on, I'll…" Sheena's sporadic laughing interrupted his sentence. "Wh…what's wrong with you? Why are you laughing?"

"No, I was just remembering the time when we first met. It looks like I have a strong affinity for falling into holes." She was hiding the doubt of her survival in her voice.

"Just hang on. I'll be right there."

"Don't worry about me. Just hurry up and go rescue Colette."

"This is not the time to be acting tough!" Lloyd was starting to dread the situation.

"I'm not acting. It's just like the last time when I climbed up from the bottom of that pit and I took you on. And this time… I won't miss the main event."

"You better be telling the truth."

"Of course! You better leave me a piece of the action!"

"…Ok, I'll be waiting for you, you got that?" He turned and ran up the spiral pathway looking back one last time to see Sheena let go of the ledge and fall into the pit.

Lloyd woke up in a cold sweat. He had that dream again and could feel that his face was moist. He'd been crying in his sleep. Probably thrashing too as the sheets were all strewn about the place. He glanced over at Sheena's bed noticing that she hadn't been woken up by his frenzied nightmare. "I need a little fresh air", he calmly thought and headed out the door.

Lloyd headed out towards the wharf where there was a small boardwalk. He walked along it until he reached the end, witnessing the idyllic sea before him. The air was crisp and the ocean mist was quite refreshing. He took a long breath inward and exhaled. He had so much on his mind lately and his recent feelings for Sheena didn't help things. They only muddled his thoughts and stressed him out. He leaned on the railing. "I really need a break from it all" he sighed. He knew that that was out of the question thought. "It's about time I head back, anyway."

He turned around with his head looking at his feet. He continued to walk forward and almost into Sheena. Looking up, "Sheena, what are you doing out this early?"

She shrugged. "I should ask you the same." She grabbed her arm and slightly bit her lip. "I heard you getting up pretty early and decided to follow…" her voice trailing off.

"Don't worry about it." He scratched the back of his head, smiling. "Thanks for the concern, though." She also smiled along with him. "We should probably get back to pay for the room."

"Nope. I already paid for it and grabbed all our supplies." She slightly lifted up her shirt revealing a few bags filled with miscellaneous items crucial to their journey.

"Alright, then. We should head out as quickly as possible." He turned towards the EC and jumped aboard. "I'll drive." He disappeared into the cabin and appeared a few minutes later. He also happened to notice Sheena summoning Undine. "Oh yeah we need Undine to move the boat." He'd forgotten. The engine could be heard showing that Undine had started the boat. Sheena dropped her hands towards her waist and exhaled. "You coming aboard?" He stretched out his hand for her to grab.

Sheena was somewhat surprised with this random act of kindness. She shook her head at the gesture. "N, no thanks, I can do it myself."

"Nonsense." He grabbed her hand and pulled her aboard the ship with one quick motion. He started to laugh.

"Thanks, but I really didn't need your help." She crossed her arms and turned her head away. "That was nice of him." Her thoughts were a lot more truthful than what she often said.

"I know, story of my life…" He gave a sarcastic sigh. Sheena gave a quite chuckle and elbowed him in the chest. "Well", he said rubbing where she hit him, "We should get going."

"Aye, Aye captain." Lloyd could tell she was having trouble controlling her laughter. He turned and looked back at the port just as the ship started to make its way out of the port. The EC was on its way to Palmacosta.

They had been traveling across the ocean for hours and found themselves quite bored. They couldn't seem to find anything to occupy their time with. Sheena was looking over the edge and enjoying the company of a few dolphins and Lloyd was checking over their equipment. Abruptly, the boat slowed down and started to lightly vibrate. The dolphins swam away and Lloyd left the cabin to see what was going on. As he opened the door, he saw three small squid launch into the air. Sheena pulled out her cards and prepared for combat as Lloyd followed suit.

Sheena ran forward unleashing Cyclone Seal. This ripped the first squid into small pieces and threw the remains overboard. The two others started shooting poisonous ink at her but she easily jumped over the toxic sludge. Lloyd saw that they were distracted and ran into the fray. He jumped to the left of one of them and built up mana in his arms and chest. "Beast!" he screamed as he rammed into the squid, sending it into the railing. It was instantly felled and the lifeless corpse fell into a heap on the deck.

The last one was a bit more resourceful. It sprayed the floor beneath its feet causing Sheena to slip as she rushed over to it. She started falling towards the end of the deck. She grabbed a railing pole and spun around throwing herself into the last squid. It went flying towards Lloyd who stuck his blade out and ran it through. He flicked the body into the sea and sheathed his blades. He looked over at Sheena but another tremor, this one almost three times the degree, started to shake the boat. He prepared for another boarding but this time, two large tentacles shot up and latched themselves around the port side of the boat.

"This is going to be trouble", he thought. "Cut the damn things off", Lloyd screamed as he threw himself towards the front, delivering a swift Fierce Demon Fang. Sheena nodded and pulled out a few kunais. She threw them but it seemed to have little effect. Lloyd was also having trouble damaging the monstrosity.

"Lloyd!" she screamed trying her best to get his attention. "Get away from that thing. I am going to try summoning Volt." Sheena clasped her hands together and started to gather mana. Lloyd flew into a full retreat and gave himself a Pineapple gel. He instantaneously felt the medicine restore his mana. He felt revitalized.

"Sheena, you almost done yet?!" He glanced over at her and again at the front of the ship. The arms started to pull themselves up further. The fiend, Lloyd knew as a Kraken, was soon exposed. "Now Sheena!"

She threw her hand out into the air. "Hammer of godly thunder! I can upon thee, Volt!" A spherical figure composed of violet energy materialized, changing the sky around them from clear blue to an ominous gray. Lightning started charging around Volt and then it unleashed the pure electric mana into the Kraken. The thing was instantly fried and there was no chance that it had survived the apocalyptic attack. Volt soon dissipated into the air and the sky returned to its normal color. Exhausted and depleted, the two both collapsed.

MEANWHILE…

A small group of elves had recently heard of an enormous supply of power emanating from the Temple of Darkness near Meltokio. The elder thought they could harness it and use it to help rebuild Heimdall. He assigned an elf named Elyandis as leader of an expedition to gather the power and return with it. Elyandis was a strong believer in altruism and gladly accepted the task.

The group reached the temple equipped with a blue candle. They ventured downward towards the deepest level, easily defeating anything that dared to challenge them. The finally reached the antechamber and Elyandis noticed a single blade lying on the floor of the room. He could feel it held incredible mana and decided to grab it. As soon as he touched it, the blue candle burnt out. A cacophony of screams followed by malevolent laughter filled the room.

The blue candle relit itself illuminating the room. The remaining elves looked around noticing the staggering pile of corpses in the room with Elyandis standing in the middle of them. He held Soul Eater, the forbidden Devil Arm, stained with fresh blood. His eyes had a soulless, glazed-over look and he held a wicked smirk. He kneeled and threw the blade into the ground. It stuck and eight forbidden weapons flew up from the surrounding abyss. He stood up and turned to the remaining party. The weapons flew to the other and each grasped the cursed tools. "They seem to understand." The leaded smiled viciously and started walking up the stairs out. The cursed group left the temple and decided to head back towards Heimdall, each with an expression of pure evil on their faces. (END of Substory)

Lloyd and Sheena awoke as the boat softly collided with something. They looked up and noticed the remains of the once biggest port in Sylvarant. They had finally reached Palmacosta.

"About time", Lloyd said groggily. He got up and helped Sheena to her feet. She brushed herself off and jumped off the boat. Lloyd followed her and they both walked into the seaside bazaar. "Wow, they have come quite a way in rebuilding the city." He was amazed. They had the residential and commercial areas up but the government and educational areas were making slow progress and submerged in at least 10 feet of water.

"I am going to reserve us a room at the inn," Sheena informed him. "What are you going to do?"

Lloyd thought for a second. "I think I am going to look for Genis and Raine. They informed me that they would be here for a while."

"Ok, sounds good. I'll meet back up with you in a little bit." She headed in the opposite direction and gave Lloyd a wave. He returned it and decided to walk over to the residential area first.

Lloyd arrived in the district and the first thing he noticed was how crowded it was. Many people were busy helping others rebuild houses and small shops. Others were walking around vending items to people. "How am I going to find them now?" He groaned and walked into the crowd.

Raine was healing a small woman who had been found under a collapsed building. Genis told her he was going out to attempt to help by evaporating the water in flooded regions with his magic. She let him go and returned to healing the wounded survivors. Everyday, more came in requesting medical attention. "This is the line of work I wanted to be in when I became a healer." She exhaled and finished curing the women. She stood up and decided to let her sleep. She turned and noticed a familiar face.

"Professor Raine!" There was a voice she hadn't heard in a while. It was one of a good friend who hadn't been around in a while. It was that of a young teenager who had traveled with them for a large majority of time a few weeks ago. She turned to face Lloyd, one of her closest friends.

"Hey, Professor. Long time no see." Lloyd wore a very wide smile. He noticed that he a grown around her height as of late, too. He was genuinely pleased and couldn't wait to sit down and catch up on old times.

"Lloyd… It's great to see you." She was almost to the point of tears. After Genis and her decided to travel the world to rid it of racial segregation and negative feelings, they hardly had time to see anybody, friend or not. "Hey, sorry but I don't feel like talking here." She pointed towards the wounded, sleeping woman.

"Alright, I understand." They both headed off towards a place they could easily sit and catch up. They both decided that it would be best to go to the local wine shop. They also found a nice table to sit that was located outside the shop.

They sat down and instantly ordered a Palma potion. Almost as soon as they ordered, they both engaged in a conversation. They spoke of old times, what they were doing at the moment, and what they planned to do. Lloyd and Raine spent a few hours there and after the conversation they were both caught up.

"In any case, Genis should be around here somewhere", Raine said as their conversation started to die down.

"It's ok. I can wait for him." Sheena then walked around the corner. She also seemed to be startled and looked confused. "Hey Sheena!" She turned at the sound of his voice.

"Lloyd. Oh…" she stopped and noticed Raine. "Raine!" She ran over to the half-elf and gave her a long embrace. "How long has it been?"

"Too long, I must have lost track." She smiled as she looked at Sheena. "Wow Sheena, you are looking more beautiful than when we last talked." Sheena instantly blushed at hearing this.

"Thanks. You look good too." Sheena looked over Raine's shoulder and noticed a short half-elf wearing a blue-gray cloak. "Hey Lloyd, look." She pointed over to what she saw. Lloyd's eyes immediately became wider.

"Genis! Hey Genis, over here!" Lloyd stood up and started waving his hands rapidly. The half-elf looked towards the shop and noticed the human wearing his trademark red. His arms abruptly dropped to his sides and his mouth opened. As soon as he could grasp the situation, he ran over as fast as his little legs would carry him.

"LLOYD!" He ran up and jumped on to Lloyd. "Lloyd, you're back. I can't believe it, you're back." As soon as he let go, he started a tirade of questions. "Where have you been? Is Colette with you? Have you seen Sheena? What about Presea? Are you staying long? Are you here to help us?" The questions kept going.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Slow down, Genis. You're quite excited I take it." He was smiling and waiting for Genis to catch his breath. "First", as he pointed over to Sheena. "That should answer one of your questions." Genis smiled and ran over to Sheena.

"Hey Sheena." He gave a traditional bow and smiled. "When did you and Lloyd start traveling together?" "I wondered what happened to Colette."

"We started traveling together a few days after our battle between Mithos. We've been inseparable since." She beamed while looked over to Lloyd. He nodded as Genis looked over at him.

"Well, Genis. We've got quite a bit of catching up to do." He was about to sit down at the table again.

"Hey Lloyd, can we go out for a little while. I want to get into the swing of how things use to be." Lloyd gave a slight confused look.

"Sure, why not. Hey Sheena, I will meet with you guys in a little bit, ok."

"Alright Lloyd, try not to be out for too long." She than went back to her conversation with Raine.

"Yeah!" Genis was incredibly excited and ran out towards the wilderness beyond Palmacosta. He couldn't believe that Lloyd was back. "My best friend, Lloyd, is back. It's almost like old times. Too bad Colette wasn't there." He would remember to ask him about that after they caught up.

"Hey, wait up." Lloyd then dashed out after him. Raine glanced over as they left and shook her head. Sheena laughed and they decided to walk around while talking.

Outside, they both decided to show each other how good they had gotten in their absences. Lloyd showed Genis a few new skills he learned and how much stronger he had gotten by practicing on a few wolves. They were torn to pieces within seconds thanks to Alpha Tempest and Demonic Flare, two skills that Lloyd had recently developed himself. Genis hadn't learned any new skills but had learned to combine his advanced spells together. He knew how to combine Indignation and Cyclone creating spells with chaotic effects. He had also improved Meteor Storm so that it was three times more accurate and deadly. Lloyd was more than impressed.

" Hey Lloyd. I was wondering something." His voice was kind of sheepish as he asked the question. "Would you be ok if I decided to come along with you on your journey?"

"Yeah, but aren't you and Raine doing something similar for half-elves?" He had been wondering how their excursions had been going.

"Yeah but Raine said it would be ok if came along. She is going to continue along after Palmacosta is rebuilt."

"Yeah, I would be fine with that." He nodded and could tell that Genis was pleased. "I have to ask Sheena, though." "I am sure that she'll be ok if he does."

"Thanks Lloyd!" He couldn't hold his excitement any longer. He started jumping and dancing around the place. The two decided to play out for a while longer, and eventually got around to talking. "Hey Lloyd, I have been wondering… Where is Colette?"

"Colette…I haven't thought of her in a while. I'd been too preoccupied with Sheena lately." He didn't have a good answer for Genis. "I don't know. I haven't been in contact were her lately." He shrugged as he told him.

"Odd. Colette used to be so close to Lloyd, too. Maybe she lost interest after seeing Lloyd and Sheena together." "Oh." He started fidgeting where he sat. "Say Lloyd, do you love Sheena?"

"What?!" The question came out of nowhere. "Uh, uhmm, I don't really have an answer…" Lloyd's face was starting to flush. Genis started to snicker. "Why do you ask?!" He felt quite embarrassed.

" No reason." It was almost obvious that Lloyd had strong feelings for her. "Don't worry, Lloyd. I wont say a thing." Lloyd just turned away from him.

"Nevermind that." He looked up at the sun. It was almost completely gone. "We should probably head back. I am sure Raine is wondering where you are." Lloyd started walking towards Palmacosta.

"Yeah, and Sheena about you." At that second, Lloyd walked over and hit him on the head. "Ouchhhhh, what was that about?"

"Shut it, Genis." "Wow, this is like old times." At any rate, thanks for spending the day with me, Genis. It was a blast."

"Yup." They both were about at town. "Lloyd." He turned to look at his friend. "I am really glad that you can to town." He smiled. "Also I want to thank you for allowing me to tag along."

"Yeah, you're my best friends. I would never say no to a request like that anyway." They just about passed the inn he was staying at. "Wait, where are you guys staying at?"

Genis pointed at Marble's item shop. "We're staying there."

"Hey, I was going to ask you if you had seen Chocolat around?" Genis suddenly looked at the ground.

"Oh. She left town after the Great Seed destroying the town and killed her mother. Why do you ask?" His tone had become solemn.

"No reason, I was just wondering if she was around. I thought I would be cool if we could also catch up. I haven't seen her in a while." "Oh well, I pretty sure that she is too shocked to really be in any mood to talk." "Ok, then I will see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. I believe that Raine has something she wants to ask you, too." Genis decided that that would be his final comment and dashed off to the shop waving. Lloyd scratched his chin. He hadn't been asked to do something like this in a while. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

He entered the inn and was suddenly blindsided by the desk woman. "Mr. Irving? Your room is one the second floor and to the left." She pointed up the staircase. He nodded to her as he ascended the stairs. Slowly, he opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was a small pile of clothes on the floor. Sheena's ninja garb to be specific. The second thing was Sheena, herself, and she was wearing nothing. "Ahh, um, sorry to intrude on you. I guess…I should have knocked on the door." He was turning red as he stared at her curvaceous body.

"It's ok." She quickly grabbed a night top and slipped it on along with a nightgown. Her face was red too. "So how was Genis?"

"Fine." He still felt awkward and this could be heard in his voice. He quickly skimmed over what they did and asked her the same question.

"My day was great. Raine showed me around town. They're making a lot of progress too. We also went shopping and I bought this outfit." She pulled out a slim, lavender kimono that was meticulously crafted and adorned with small, brilliant gems.

"That's gorgeous. You should try it on tomorrow." Lloyd could already picture her wearing it out with him. He liked what he imagined.

She simile and thanked Lloyd for the compliment. "I am getting a lot more comfortable around him, which is good." She also hinted that she would consider wearing it. Raine wanted to see what she looked like too because she was considering one also.

Lloyd yawned and slowly took off his jacket. He set it on the only chair in the room and quickly looked around. Something seemed of kilter to him. "There is only one bed in this room…" Instantly, he offered that he would sleep on the floor.

"No, nonsense. I can give you enough room." She lied down and did indeed leave enough room for him.

He looked over at her and shrugged. He said on the edge and slowly moved under the covers. He was quite comfortable and tired, leading him to fall asleep faster. As soon as he was asleep, Sheena wrapped her arms around him and slowly drifted off herself.

They both woke up refreshed. Lloyd even made a comment saying that that was one of the best sleeps he had ever had. Sheena just smiled when she heard this. She also decided to try out her new dress. Lloyd was speechless when he saw her. Sheena told him that he just made her day. They both went down to the lobby to pay and after they did, they headed over to Marble's. As soon as both of them entered the shop, a small mysterious figure casually walked up to the shop window, ducked down out of sight, and pressed his ear against the window.

As the two entered, they saw the two half-elves sitting around a small table enjoying Genis's delicious coffee. The both smiled as they grabbed seats and sat themselves down.

"So, lets get straight to the point. Regal has informed me that Sybak has developed a mechanical device that can lift incredibly heavy things. It also can pump water and supply power to a small radius. This would be incredibly useful to our progress and they have given us the green light to use it. However, it is unfinished and needs a few things from various parts of the world. That is where you three come in."

"Us three?" Sheena looked over at Genis. "He's coming along?"

"Yeah, I hope that's ok. He's my best friend and I said he could come." He hoped to Martel that she would say yes.

"I guess it would be ok." "As long as he doesn't get in my way, in battle or in my romantic notions." Lloyd let out a silent breath. Genis made a silent cheer.

"Sorry to ask you guys to help us but we have little options." She looked around at the three in front of her. She could tell by the look on their faces that they would easily do it.

"Yeah. If you recall, that was one of the reasons I came over." Lloyd got up.

"Dwarven Vow #1: Let's all work-" he was instantly cut off by Genis.

"Spare me the Dwarven Vows, please." The other two nodded their heads in agreement.

He heavily sighed. "Whatever."

As the friends all shared a laugh, the enigma outside recorded all he heard and sent along a letter to his leader about what he learned. He stood up and his hand started glowing an ember red. Laughing, he shot three large fireballs towards a fish stand, which instantly erupted in flames causing the other stands to lightly ignite. Hearing the commotion, the three ran outside while Raine looked out the window to see what would happen.


Phew. That was a little long. The Kraken was also kinda a throw to Golden Sun (the Kraken battle when crossing the sea). Also the villain is an OC but a few of his minions are in the game. The next chapter is going to be focused on a battle and a little shorter. Anyway please R&R. Thank you. -G.Ampersand