Ok, here is a huge chapter, not as big as the last one, but still, huge. I included a boatload of plot moving devices in this chapter, and it looks like one of those leaning towers that is about to fall over, that is how stuffed it is.
Pit: All happy and humming.
Inri: Unhappy and scowling. "Idiot."
Pit: Looks hurt. "What did I do? I did save the plot, didn't I?"
Inri: "Yes, you saved the plot... and exploded cheese on everything else, including me!"
Pit: "How did I know it was going to explode. I thought that when I jumped into the canyon to save it, I would be the one to get hurt."
Inri: "Yeah, and instead, the cheese exploded and sent you flying out. Only the cheese that followed you didn't land on you, it landed on me! I've still got cheese in my hair, my ears, my-"
Ok, stop right there. Go... go take a shower or something.
Inri: Stalks off gumbling.
Pit: "At least Sierra left happy. She apparently liked to have cheese dumped on to her... but I couldn't understand a word she said, something about her hands and eating the cheese in latin."
Ugh... On with the story...
"I do not own Tales of Symphonia!" – I.K.A. Valian
"Steward?" Lloyd followed Esileif's gaze and found himself facing Gaar. "You, what are you doing here? Haven't you done enough damage already!" Gaar nervously shifted his gaze between the arrow pointed at him and the red clad swordsman staring at him.
"Lloyd," shouted Sheena, "something isn't…" she grabbed her head, trembling. "Something isn't right here. Why… Aaahhh!" Sheena fell to the floor and writhed around.
"Sheena!" shouted Lloyd.
Raine ran to Sheena's side and tried to hold her still. Realization lit Raine's face. "Wait, I know this, this is-Aaahhh!" Raine fell to the floor beside Sheena and started to writhe in pain.
"Professor!" Lloyd and Gaar both shouted at the same time.
"Genis," shouted Lloyd, "what's wrong with the Professor and Sheena. Genis! Genis, say something! Genis!!" Genis continued to stare forward unmoving.
"Fool! Genis Sage has been under my control ever since the Steward repelled my brethren's attack. His is a weak mind, easily controlled, much like yourself, Lloyd Irving! Hahahahahaha!" Lloyd looked back and forth between the demonic Esileif and the catatonic Genis. Then Lloyd growled.
"Your wrong," shouted Lloyd, "Genis is much stronger than you!"
"Hahaha, don't make me laugh! He is weak, just like the rest of you. You practically convinced yourselves that the Steward was a traitor. I merely had to implant the idea and it festered into fruition on its own. Lloyd, you were the one who said the Steward was a coward for not even showing up to explain himself. It was all too easy." The demonic Esileif shrugged grandly.
Lloyd clenched his fist. "So it wasn't Gaar who put the curse on Genis, it wasn't Gaar who was responsible for the Desians and all the suffering on Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, it was you!" Lloyd pointed at the demonic Esileif who was slowly approaching, arrow still trained on Gaar. Genis followed behind the small girl, dragging his feet along the ground with long, slow scrapes.
"Ha!" barked the demon. "It isn't me who poisons your pitiful worlds. And it was indeed the Steward who cursed Genis Sage. At least, that is what my master tells me."
Lloyd turned slowly toward Gaar and asked slowly, "Gaar, is that true?"
"I… I don't remember…" Gaar's shoulders sagged.
Lloyd shook his head and said, "What am I supposed to believe?"
"Hahahaha," the demon cackled loudly. "Enough of this charade, I have no more need for you pitiful fools," the demonic Esileif voiced. The demon swung Esileif's head to the side and Genis was sent flying from the second floor to land in a heap next to the Raine and Sheena. "It's time to die, Steward. Die, for the sake of my master!"
Lloyd drew his swords and prepared to fight. The demonic Esileif smiled again and let go of the arrow's end. The black arrow left the bow and sped through the air at near super-sonic speeds, and then it pinged off of Kratos' Guardian. The demon narrowed Esileif's eyes. "You! You've been a thorn in my side since the day I arrived in this despicable place!" spat the demon.
"Kratos!"
"Lloyd, let us defeat this demon." Lloyd was in the middle of nodding when he stopped, and then turned and stared at Kratos.
"Kratos… you… you have wings." Lloyd stared in awe at Kratos spectacularly elegant blue wings.
"Concentrate on the enemy," Kratos shouted. He lunged forward and chopped another arrow in half. Lloyd scowled and struck out at the possessed little girl. The very fast and agile little girl giggled cutely every time one of the swordsmen attempted to land a strike on her.
"I'm not going to do any good up here," Gaar murmured. He glanced around the room and spotted the others still writhing on the floor, even Genis had begun to writhe. "I have to find a way to help the others." Gaar looked back at the battle and saw the demon jumping from one of the swordsmen's' head to the other. Every time she jumped she would shoot an arrow and, more often than not, it would graze if not out right go straight through a part of Kratos or Lloyd. "I can't heal like the Professor," said Gaar as he jogged down the steps, "I need to revive her first."
Gaar ran down the steps and skidded to a halt next to the writhing mass of bodies. When he tried to touch Raine's arm, a spark of electricity snapped out and zapped his finger. The force of the spark sent Gaar flying backwards.
"Hahaha," laughed the demon. Lloyd ran up to and stopped just in next to the little girl.
"Sword Rain: Alpha!" he shouted and started jabbing his sword faster and faster at the possessed girl's back.
The demon reached around with a one hand, which had a glowing black energy crackling around it, and stopped each and every one of the blows with her pinky finger. "I see you found the side effects of my Death Curse, Steward. No one will be able to help them now. Hahahaha-Aaaaahhh!" Kratos had come up from the other side and with a blade glowing white with focused angelic energy, slammed the broad side of his sword into the side of the girl head. She flew into the wall as if shot from a cannon. Gaar's bow clattered to the ground on the other side of the writhing victims of the Death Curse.
"Whoa, Kratos, that was awesome," elated Lloyd. "How did you do that?"
"Lloyd, this is not the time!"
White sparks of light jumped across the girl's body and the demon grunted. He slowly stood Esileif's body up and glared at Kratos. "For that, you will die a horrible and painful death, angel," growled the demon. "And I will take great pleasure in eating your still-beating heart."
The girl pulled a jagged and rusted knife from somewhere within her clothing and jumped at Kratos with such speed her body almost seemed to disappear. Kratos barely brought his sword up in time to block the attack. Each strike was faster and more vicious than the one before it.
Lloyd backed up against the wall and watched Kratos and the small girl less than half his size trade blows. The action was so quick that Lloyd wasn't sure they were actually moving as much as just standing there, grunting, and twisting around a whole lot.
The two combatants broke apart. Kratos was breathing harder than normal, the demon, regularly.
"Haha," the demon taunted. "Finding it hard to keep up angel?"
"I'm just getting warmed up." With that Kratos flew into the air.
"Oh, you can't escape from me that easily." Black and purple energy swirled around the girl's small figure and she slowly lifted higher and higher into the air until she was level with Kratos. "Time for some more fun, eh? Hahahaa!"
The demonic Esileif shot toward Kratos. He dodged to the right and grabbed onto the wall. Then, looking around and finding his target, pushed off with his feet at speeds so fast he did disappear. The demon did a mid-air back flip just as Kratos' sword swung through the space the girl's neck had just occupied. Then the demon shot off higher into the air and Kratos shot after her.
Suddenly the demon turned around and shot back toward Kratos. When they passed each other, a loud clang echoed through the tower as their blades crashed. They seemed to bounce off of each other, trading blows in quick succession. The clash of their blades produced a rapid beat that would make a rapper cry in delight.
After a final mighty clash of their weapons, Kratos shot downward from the air battle. He curled up into a ball and neatly spun through the air to land on both feet. The demon however crashed into the floor head first.
"Looks like I've won this round," taunted Kratos. "Care for another?"
She growled as she stood up, jumped back at Kratos, and two went at it again.
Gaar slowly sat up, grimaced, and rubbed his head. He glanced up to the second floor and watched Kratos fighting Esileif, then he looked back at the others. "Another curse, huh… Why wasn't I affected by it?"
Gaar glanced again at the fighting angel and demon and then back at the three in front of him. "Maybe it has something to do with me being this Steward thing. Perhaps if I cast some kind of healing spell, it will counter act this curse. But what spell, I don't know any healing… oh wait, I know that one spell…"
Gaar stood and thought for a few seconds, the clings and clangs from the second level continued relentlessly. Then Gaar shrugged and said, "I've got to try. Even if I get the headaches again, I need to save these guys."
Gaar put his hands together and his features scrunched up in concentration. The air around Gaar started to spin and swirl, the glowing stone in his pocket grew intensely bright. The swirling air took on a light blue hue and began concentrating itself onto Gaar's outline.
Kratos was slowly being pushed back. Dark Mana began swirling about the demonic girl and every strike now shot a bit of that darkness at Kratos. Kratos locked blades with the little seven year old girl. The girl grinned and the demon's eyes lit up in joy. Kratos' feet started to slide backwards.
"Now you die angel!" The demon let go of the knife with one of the girl's hands and reached into her clothing. She slowly pulled it out to reveal a vial of a bubbling dark liquid. "This is a sample of my bile, angel, it will utterly destroy you, body and soul. Hahahahaaaa!"
Just as the girl was about to toss it at Kratos' feet, a sword appeared through her gut. Lloyd swung his other sword around and sliced into the little girl's side. Instead of blood pouring forth from the gaping wounds, a dark liquid that burned into the floor did instead. The liquid ate through Lloyd's swords and he fell backwards holding only a pair of sword hilts.
"Heh… Looks like the boy did it for me, Haaahahahaha!" Kratos' eyes grew wider and wider as the liquid got closer and closer to him. The smelly, burning, sulfuric liquid pooled just next to his boot. The smell made his nostrils flare and his eyes water. His throat burned and his hair started to smoke. His skin steamed. Kratos was started coughing and the demon laughed louder.
"Almighty Regenerator!"
A bright white light filled the entire room. The intensity of it rivaled a rather large nuclear explosion at ground zero. The air in the room moved like the hounds of hell were chasing them, and the ground underneath the Tower of Salvation shook.
Lloyd held his arm over his eyes. Kratos leaped back and did the same. The demon screamed in high pitches too high for any mortal vocal cords. The bodies of Genis, Raine, and Sheena snapped and zapped loudly as the light interacted with the evil Mana of the Death Curse. Finally the sparking stopped and dispersed in an explosion of sparks, all of which was drowned out by the intensity of the bright white light.
Just as suddenly as the light exploded on the scene, it was swallowed up into Gaar's body. His body glowed bright red for several minutes as he floated in the air. Then he slowly drifted to the ground. When his skin stopped glowing he slumped to the ground. The stone in his pocket lost its light. Kratos was no longer smoking. The dark black liquid was no where to be found. The wounds Lloyd had inflicted on the girl were completely healed. Lloyd's swords were whole once again. The three who were under the effects of the Death Curse slowly came to. They shook their heads and stood up.
"Wh-where am I?" Genis shook his head and rubbed his face. When he opened his eyes, they nearly popped out of his head. "What happened to my hands?" He looked over himself. "H-how did I get so big?"
"Genis!" shouted Lloyd.
"Genis!" Raine jumped to her feet and pulled the teenager next to her into a tight embrace. "Don't you ever disappear like that again, you hear me!" Genis, turning blue, nodded slowly. He attempted get out of Raine's death hug of doom when she suddenly let him go and straightened her clothes out. She coughed into her hand. "Okay, we can catch up later, right now, we must… wait, what happened here." Raine surveyed the circular room and the destruction therein. She looked at Colette floating above, Remiel dead on the ground, and Kratos' wings.
"Raine," shouted Sheena. The healer spun on her heel and stared coldly at the object of Sheena's attention. "It's… It's Gaar. He's unconscious." She knelt over the boy's body and felt the side of his neck. "He's still alive, but barely."
Raine's eyes turned to menacing slits. She pulled out her staff, scowled, put the staff back, pulled out a rather large hammer, and started to approach Gaar. Genis grabbed Raine's hand and stopped her. "Rain," he exclaimed, "stop Raine!" Raine turned around and quickly swung her hammer at Genis' head, which he just barely dodged.
"Why would you protect him, he's the one that cursed you!" Raine almost seemed to capture the power of the wind in her explosive outburst.
Genis stared and then looked down. "It… it wasn't like that. Gaar wa-"
"Aaaaaahhhh!" Everyone looked at the demonic Esileif. She had been once again slammed into the wall, this time by Gaar's spell. "What… what did the Steward do to me? My… my power, it's gone, all gone, all my precious power is gone. The Steward," the demon flung Esileif's pointer at Gaar, "he… he stole it… all of it, he stole my power… I'll… I'll rip out his heart," the demon growled, "I'll grind his bones to dust, I'll devour his soul, I'll… I'll kill you all!" The demon charged Esileif forward, but she was tripped and fell on her face. Lloyd pulled his foot back, looking innocent to the world.
"Esileif, what's gotten into you," said Genis. He walked toward the downed girl and picked her up, but she pushed him back wards and hit him in the face. The result was a very light slap. "Esileif, snap out of it, don't let that thing control you." Genis grabbed the girl's shoulders and shook her lightly. For a moment the demon's vertical eyes changed into normal green hued human irises, but they immediately changed back.
"Damn you, Steward!" panted the demon. "Damn you all! I'm too… too weak now. Damn…" the girl swayed back and forth. "Damn…" The girl's eyes changed back to normal and she fell into Genis' outstretched arms, out cold.
"Poor girl," said Raine. "I wonder how she got that way."
"It must have happened after Gaar was possessed by the demon." Genis stood up with Esileif in his arms.
Lloyd's eyebrows shot up. "Gaar was possessed by that thing as well?"
"I don't think it was the same demon. Gaar's demon didn't speak the way this one did. It was definitely more intelligent as well." Genis walked slowly toward the prone Gaar.
"Then I assume it was when Gaar was possessed by this other demon that the curse was cast upon you." Kratos walked around the room, walking slowly up to the dead husk that was Remiel. He had not been saved from the demon's bile, and half his arm was missing. Kratos kicked the dead angel before he went, "Hmph," and slowly wandered toward the stairway.
"That's right Kratos," replied Genis. "When he was under the control of the demon, Gaar nearly destroyed an entire town, but I stopped him with the help of several humans. In response, the demon inside of Gaar cast a curse on all of us. Most of the humans around me died instantly, and that is when I blacked out. Everything after that is a big, hazy blur." Genis laid the girl down next to Gaar. "Only Gaar would be able to tell you what happened after that. Where are we, anyway?"
"Genis," said Sheena. "This is the Tower of Salvation. Colette has just become an angel." Genis looked shocked, and then looked up at the floating Colette. She floated in mid air, a serene outward look, and her emotionless red pupils stared out into space.
"I…" Genis croaked. "I don't even remember how we got back to Sylvarant."
Raine stared down at Gaar and then slowly, reluctantly put away the hammer. "Gaar isn't our enemy then. I suppose that is a relief of sorts." She turned to Genis and then quickly turned away.
Lloyd shook his head and said, "He was never a traitor, we were being manipulated by the demon inside of this girl… err… what's her name again Genis?"
"Honestly Lloyd…" Genis sighed and shook his head. "Her name is Esileif, Ey-si-leaf." Genis shook his head and Lloyd sheepishly rubbed his own. "And what about Colette, what happens to her now?"
"What happens now is we find a way to save Colette."
"But Lloyd, Colette's the Chosen, isn't this part of becoming an angel and saving the world, the goddess, and all the other stuff?"
"No Genis, Cruxis and the Goddess are a sham. Colette is just going to become some kind of sacrifice for the angels. I won't let that happen." Lloyd walked in front of Colette. "Colette, come back to us! I'm going to restore you back to your normal self! I promise!"
Colette makes no response whatsoever.
"Colette… have you really forgotten me?"
"You're wasting your time, Lloyd," said Kratos from the second floor. "Not only did she lose her memory, but she has lost the soul to listen to your words. Now, Colette is merely a puppet standing before death's door."
"Kratos," said Genis. "You helped to defeat the demon right?"
"Yes," Kratos nodded, "what's your point?"
"Well, you are an angel too. Doesn't that make you the enemy then? So then why did you help us?"
"Yeah," agreed Lloyd, "if you're an angel, you're with Cruxis, and that makes you our enemy. So why…"
"It matters not," answered Kratos quickly. "All that matters now is Chosen. She is now ready for the final stages of the regeneration process. Her body will be presented to Martel in Derris-Kharlan."
"What are you saying Kratos?" Lloyd unsheathed a sword.
"The Chosen desired the regeneration of the world and chose this path herself," continued Kratos. He crossed his arms impatiently. "By the summoning of the Chosen to Derris-Kharlan, the seal will be broken and the regeneration complete."
"We won't let you take Colette," shouted Lloyd.
"It is what you wanted a well. We will take the Chosen as the new body for Martel."
"We?" asked Lloyd, "Kratos, who exactly are you?"
"I am of Cruxis," Kratos flapped his blue wings for effect, "the organization that guides this world. I am one of the Four Seraphim, sent forth to watch over the Chosen."
"So," Genis realized, "even though Kratos helped to defeat the demon, he is still our enemy."
"You deceived us!" accused Sheena.
"Deceived?" Kratos raised an eyebrow. "If the Chosen merges with Martel, she will awaken, and the world will be saved. Is that not what you wanted?"
"Once her body is taken by the Goddess Martel, Colette will truly die," stated Raine.
"No," replied Kratos. "She will be reborn as Martel."
"Dammit!" shouted Lloyd. He unsheathed his other sword and took a defensive stance between Kratos and Colette. "We won't let you do that! Colette is our friend!" Kratos shook his head and unsheathed his sword. He jumped down in front of Lloyd, who shouted, "Demon Fang!" and sent a wave of energy across the ground. It slammed into Kratos and knocked him down.
Kratos tried to stand up, but settled for a kneeling position. "Fighting that demon… took more out of me than I first thought," he said. Lloyd was about to sheath his swords when a ball of light descended from above. Everyone shielded their eyes. When the light had faded and they moved their arms out of the way, a new angel floated before them. His long blond hair parted only to let through a pair of multicolored wings. Kratos, still kneeling, lowered his head and said respectfully, "Lord Yggdrasill."
Genis' mouth fell in shock. "Who's that?" he asked.
Sheena was just as confused. "Another angel?" she exclaimed. The angel floated down to just above and in front of Lloyd and asked, "Are you Lloyd?"
Lloyd scoffed at the angel. "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine!" he challenged defiantly.
"Haha," the angel laughed insultingly, "people need not introduce themselves to a dog."
"What did you say!" shouted Lloyd.
"Fine!" said the now annoyed angel. "I shall tell you my name, wretched human. I am Yggdrasill. Leader of Cruxis" he paused and smirked. "And the Desians."
He gave Lloyd a menacing glare and then shot forward and sunk his fist into Lloyd's gut. Lloyd eyes nearly popped out of his head and he fell to the ground holding his abdomen as he tried to breathe again.
Yggdrasill moved onto Genis next, picking him up and throwing him into the air. On his trip back to the ground, Yggdrasill flipped backwards and kicked Genis in the head. The silver haired elf fell to the ground unconscious.
Raine attempted to cast a healing spell, but Yggdrasill chanted and cast his own spell faster. "Ray!" he shouted. A large ball of light formed above the unaware healer and after spraying the ground around her with multiple beams of destructive Light Mana, it shot one directly down on top of her head. When the light cleared, she was out cold.
Sheena was now surrounded by a large, glowing rune circle. "I Call Upon The Maiden Of The Mist!" she shouted, her voice echoing through out the tower, and seemingly through space-time as well. "I Summon You! Come, Undine!"
Yggdrasill froze mid-step and a large blue rune circle formed, centered on the angel. Water Mana surged and Undine formed in front of Yggdrasill. She was not happy. Holding up her hand, Undine disappeared and was replaced with a water spout that held enough power to cut through solid steel as a red hot knife would cut through butter. The spout carried the angel high into the air.
Sheena collapsed onto her knees, exhausted and breathing heavily. Yggdrasill appeared behind her suddenly and with a sharp jab to the back of her neck, she fell limply to the ground. Lloyd, since recovered, jumped at Yggdrasill and attempted to stab him in the face. Yggdrasill side stepped the lunge and punched Lloyd in the face hard enough to send him skidding across the floor. Yggdrasill then leaped high into the air and landed on the second floor, where Kratos had slowly maneuvered himself during the very one sided battle.
Lloyd stood up, rubbing his bleeding nose and glared at Yggdrasill, who smiled cruelly held out his hand. A very strong powerful and oppressive presence filled the air, and a sword appeared in front of Yggdrasill. A sword that burst with power and glowed purple. At its appearance, the mighty blade gave off a shockwave that sped through the air and knocked Lloyd backwards into a pillar. The pillar, once solid stone, cracked in half and fell into the dark abyss that was the bottom of the Tower of Salvation.
"Kratos," said the victorious angel, "I trust you have no objections." Without giving Kratos time to respond, he turned back to the barely conscious Lloyd and said, "Farewell." He held out his hand toward the space where the sword was, but the sword was no longer there. "What!" shouted Yggdrasill.
"Hehehehee….." a raspy, half dead voice laughed. "I've done it, I've completed my masters wish… Hehehehe." Kratos' eyes narrowed, and Yggdrasill growled in annoyance. "I've sent the prize with the last of my life force… the Eternal Blade… now… rests… with my master. He… is… un..sto….pable…"
"Fool," grunted Kratos. "That blade is Pact-bound to Lord Yggdrasill. Only he is capable of the simple act of grasping it."
"His master will realize that eventually," said Yggdrasill nonchalantly. "Kratos, take the Chos- Where is Martel's new body." There was no one besides the two angels left in the room. A note fluttered to the floor in front of Kratos.
He bent down and picked the note up. "It reads, 'Sorry, but we cannot allow the revival of Martel. Signed, the Renegades.'"
Yggdrasill scowled. "…Renegades…as irritating as ever. Still, it is of little consequence. Kratos, let us leave."
"As you wish…" the blue winged angel bowed. Yggdrasill flashed and was once again a ball of light. The ball rose higher into the tower until it disappeared. Kratos looked back down at the note in thought. "Hmm… Saved by the Renegades." He crumpled the piece of paper and threw it away. He looked out beyond the room and murmured, "Don't die, Lloyd."
Inri: "Ahh, I feel better now." Sparkles in cleanessness.
Pit: Reaches out and pulls a glob of cheese off of Inri's eyes brow. "I think you missed a spot."
Inri: Vein pops out and left eye twitches. "I'm going to kill you."
Pit: Swallows audibly.
If you liked this chapter, leave a review. If you don't, well... then I can't reveal things about the plot to you in my responses to your reviews. So it is a good thing to review. And thank you in advance.