DISCLAIMER
I DO NOT, I REPEAT, NOT OWN SONIC, ED, EDD N' EDDY OR TALES OF SYMPHONIA
EVERYTHING YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS PURE FANFICTION AND ISN'T TRUE
IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED TALES OF SYMPHONIA, THERE ARE SPOILERS
Now on with the show!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They walked to the Palmacoasta House of Salvation to rest. They talked to the priest about the Spiritua Statue.
"You say you…want the Spiritua Statue?" the grand priest said.
"I know it's a brazen request. But it's for the world regeneration." Lloyd said. "Please father." Colette said.
"If the Chosen asks, we will of course not hesitate to lend our aid." the grand priest said as he commanded another priest to bring it over.
"M…my most humble apologies!" the priest said. The whole group was puzzled. "What the heck do you mean by saying sorry?" Eddy asked.
"This Spiritua Statue is actually a fake I had placed here." the priest said. "If that was fake, where is the real one?" Double D asked. At this time, Nazz left the room.
"I lost the real Spiritua Statue during the pilgrimage a year ago." the priest said.
"The pilgrimage is the Church of Martel's spiritual training journey, right? Why would you take the statue along with you?" Lloyd asked.
"The halo on the head of the Spiritua Statue is made of diamond. We always take it with us when we go out on pilgrimages in order to protect it from theives." the grand priest explained.
"On the trip last year, I followed that custom as usual and brought the Spiritua Statue with me to Thoda Island. But there, I accidentally dropped it into the geyser." the priest explained.
"Geez, how stupid are you guys for bringing it to a place like that?" Eddy asked, being rude.
"I am terribly sorry. I was so moved upon seeing the geyser for the first time… By the time I realized it, the statue had fallen onto the rocks on the other side of the geyser. Desperate, I paid a visit to a dwarf who lives in Iselia and had him make something just like it." the priest said.
"Oh, that'd be Dirk." Genis said. "Wow! Dirk sounds like a great person!" Cream commented.
"At any rate, I don't think that Koton will believe that statue is real despite being well built." Double D said. "Why don't we get the real one?" Colette said.
"Y…you want to go all the way to Thoda Island? And on top of that, the rocky area is on the other side of the geyser, correct?" Raine asked.
"Knowing that the geyser contains boiling water, it's very dangerous to go walk and get it." Sonic said. "I've heard that the eruption cycle of the Thoda Island geyser is quite short." Kratos explained.
"If that's true, how about we let Double D, Genis and Cream seal it with ice magic?" Lloyd asked. "Lloyd, that's a brilliant idea!" Double D said. "Okay! Leave it to us!" Genis said. At this time, Nazz came in.
"Guys! Chocolat's been taken to the Palmacoasta Ranch! We have to go there so Neil can give us the details." Nazz said. They all looked surprised and ran to the ranch. Upon arrival, they met Neil at the entrance.
"Chosen One, please wait." Neil said. "We've heard Chocolat's been kidnapped by those big bad Desians!" Cream cried.
"Yes. I wish to speak with you regarding that. Please, come this way…" Neil said as they headed for a hiding spot. They could tell he doesn't have good news.
"I would like you all to just go ahead and leave the Palmacosta region." Neil said. "Why the heck should we leave here if people with money are trapped in that prison?" Eddy asked rudely pointing to the ranch.
Then, a soldier came in the scene. "Assistant-Governor Neil! It has been reports that a boy in blue with a round object surrounding his mouth is taken to the ranch." the soldier said. The description was familiar to Double D and Nazz.
"Jimmy!" Double D and Nazz shouted. "Who?" Cream asked. "Jimmy's one of our friends! The Desians must've taken him for interrogation to find me, Eddy or Nazz." Double D said.
"That is why you must leave." Neil said.
"If we leave, what will happen to Chocolat?" Colette asked. "And poor Jimmy?" Nazz asked.
"Yeah! We're supposed to work in conjunction with the Palmacosta army to save Chocolat, right?" Genis asked. Neil shook his head.
"So it's a trap!" Kratos said. "Of the several possibilities, it looks like the worst one came true." Raine said sadly. "So kidnapping Chocolat and Jimmy was simply something to lure is into." Double D said.
"Kratos, Double D and Professor! What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked.
"It was a mystery that the Desians would simply leave a city with an army alone." Kratos said.
"Yes, exactly. Choosing not to crush the seeds of rebellion must mean they are not a threat… They are left alone simply because they have no real power, or perhaps, because they are in fact beneficial…" Raine said. "I don't get it." Cream said being confused.
"To put in simply, the Desians are just using the Palmacoasta miltia will get the Colette into a trap when we'd least expect it." Double D explained.
"It is as you say. Dorr is working with the Desians to lead the Chosen into a trap." Neil explained. "Why would he do such a thing?" Genis and Cream asked in unison.
"He didn't used to be like this… He always thought of the well-being of the people of the city. Even five years ago, when he lost his wife, Clara, he swore to fight against the Desians." Neil said. "But still..." Nazz said.
"I don't know. At any rate, entering the ranch now will put the Chosen in danger. Leave Chocolat and Jimmy to me and please, go on your way. Please regenerate the world as soon as possible." Neil said.
"Indeed. It would be best to abandon the situation here for world regeneration." Kratos said. "No! It's not right to ignore this!" Colette and Cream said at the same time.
"Colette's right. If we leave things as they are now, Palmacosta may be destroyed just like Iselia. You think so, too, don't you, Lloyd!" Genis asked.
"Yes, what you say is true. But I still wish to side with Eddward and Kratos. If you don't want to see cities destroyed, you should avoid contact with the Desians." Raine said.
"Even if I agree with Professor Sage, I can't just abandon people like that." Double D said.
"Whoa sockhead! Since when do you talk all tough when you're supposed to be a wimp?" Eddy asked, being surprised.
"I set aside being catious for the sake of the world and all the people." Double D said.
"No, that's not right. Regenerating the world and saving the people in front of us are not exclusive of each other. That's what I think." Colette said.
"If that is how you feel, Colette, then we do not have any right to stop you. The only one who has the right to make decisions on this journey is you, the Chosen One. Is that all right with you, Lloyd?" Raine asked.
"That was my intention from the beginning. Remember what I said? I'm going to destroy them all." Lloyd said. "Spoken like a true man." Double D said.
"Now, then, we have two courses we can take. The first one is to go on ahead and infiltrate the ranch and rescue Chocolat and the other captives. Now that things have come to this, if we leave the ranch alone, it will surely result in a second Iselia. Our second option is to confirm Door's true motives. If he has planned a trap, then he knows the layout of the ranch well. …Let's let him talk for a bit." Raine explained the plan. Double D came up with something better.
"Or, we can split in two groups of five and one group will go back to Palmacoasta and the other group will go inside the ranch. I already came up with the groups." Double D explained as he got out a notepad.
"Brilliant idea!" Raine said. "Thank you. Now, the people that willinfiltrate the ranch are me, Lloyd, Colette, Sonic and Cream. That means Professor Sage, Kratos, Eddy, Genis and Nazz will go back to Palmacoasta to confirm Dorr's motives." Double D explained.
"Why do I get to do the boring stuff? I want to use my sword because swordsmen attract chicks!" Eddy asked. "Not to worry. After confirming Dorr's motives, come back to the ranch and meet us inside. We should be deeper in the ranch in time for all of us to beat Magnius." Double D said.
"Please allow me to aid you." Neil said. "If it's your duty to rescue the people, you're welcome to come with us." Double D said.
"Thank you! I promise I won't get in the way. Also, be aware that once you've gone inside, you won't be able to leave until we're done." Neil said.
"We're all in this together..." Nazz sung. But Double D cut her off.
"Nazz, please no musical numbers! Especially from High School Musical!" Double D said. "Why?" Nazz asked.
"Because it's not in the script!" Eddy said holding up a script.
"That's right. We have to keep the plot intact." Double D said.
"Now's not the time to argue. We'll commence the plan now." Raine said as her group left the ranch. "We'll barge in from the front door, so it's best that we're prepared for anything." Double D said as his group started to run to the ranch.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Splitting into two groups in the Palmacoasta ranch (the part where you choose the path to infiltrate the ranch or to go back to Palmacoasta) didn't happen in the game. I decided to put that in because there's a large group of characters right now and it's good to make even groups. And if you liked the characters breaking the fourth wall, I did that again. Next chapter will sure have more action.
In the mean time, PLEASE REVIEW NICELY!