I suspect at least one person will want my head on a platter by the end of this chapter, so I will spend the time between now and the next chapter in an underground bunker, which is hopefully angry mob-proof.

Hopefully I won't lose too many readers, the story's just started to get good. T.T

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, its characters, plot line, or locations.

Chapter IV: The Lies

To lie is to steal the truth.

-The Scriptures of Martel

A fourteen-year-old Lloyd looked up when he heard a quiet knock on his bedroom door. It was a sound he had learned to recognize.

"Yeah?"

The door opened, and a tall man with red eyes and auburn hair stepped in.

"Lloyd, I need to talk to you," Kratos said. He was carrying something under his left arm.

"Okay."

Kratos sat down on Lloyd's bed, and Lloyd turned in his desk chair to face him. "What's that?" Lloyd asked curiously, pointing to the thing Kratos was carrying.

Kratos held out the object – which Lloyd now realized was a book. Lloyd took it, wondering what this was about. Was Kratos going to tell him he thought Lloyd could do better in school? Was Kratos planning on tutoring Lloyd? Kratos seemed to notice the slightly nervous, suspicious glance Lloyd gave the book.

"This book is important," Kratos explained. "I need you to keep it safe, and never show it to anyone."

Lloyd looked down at the book. He lifted the cover and looked at one of the pages. The type was so tiny! How could anyone read something like this? He didn't recognize the characters either. Was it in a foreign language?

"What is it?" Lloyd asked. "What does it say?"

"It's important," Kratos repeated.

Lloyd looked up, ready to point out that this didn't answer his question, when he saw the pained expression on his father's face.

"...Dad, is something wrong?"

Kratos paused, debating what to tell Lloyd. "I need to leave again soon," he said.

This wasn't unusual for Lloyd to hear. Sometimes Kratos would leave Lloyd with Dirk for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Kratos was reluctant to explain where he went, and never revealed any specifics. There had been more than one fight about this, and it had been an issue they never resolved. But still, Kratos would sometimes leave to go on whatever mysterious missions he had, and Lloyd would be left behind, and left in the dark. By now it had become normal, even routine.

Something was different this time. Something in Kratos' voice, an uncertainty Lloyd had never heard before. It worried him.

"...When do you think you'll get back?" Lloyd asked. It was a standard question, one he always asked when Kratos said he was leaving.

"In two weeks," Kratos replied. "No more."

"Okay..."

"There is something else," Kratos added, "That I have to give to you."

Kratos slowly removed something from around his neck, and held out his hand, waiting. Lloyd reached over and gingerly took the object. Lloyd looked down at what Kratos had given him, unsure what to think.

"Dad..."

It was a gold-colored locket on a thin delicate chain. Lloyd didn't need to open it; Kratos had shown him the small picture inside many times before. Lloyd knew the kind of value the locket had to Kratos. After all, it was all he had left to remind him of Lloyd's mother... of Anna.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Lloyd was scared now. He knew something bad had happened, or would happen, but he didn't know what. "Where are you going? What's wrong?"

Kratos said nothing, his head tilted slightly to his messy auburn hair hid his eyes. Without a word, he stood up.

"Wait a minute, are you leaving now?"

Kratos nodded, "I need to go as soon as possible."

"But – " Lloyd stared.

"No, Lloyd," Kratos cut in. "I cannot stay."

"But – " Lloyd tried again.

Kratos shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry. That's the way it has to be."

Lloyd turned his eyes away to stare down at his feet. He had a terrible feeling that, this time, Kratos wouldn't come back. He jerked in surprise when he felt Kratos wrap his arms around him in an awkward hug.

"I want you to remember, Lloyd," Kratos whispered. "I will always love you. You're my son, and nothing will ever change that."

Kratos released Lloyd, who didn't move, as if he had turned to stone.

"Farewell, Lloyd."

He turned to leave.

"Goodbye... Dad..."

Kratos stopped, listening to the echoes of his son's words inside his head. He was grateful Lloyd could not see his face. Then he continued walking without looking back.

Lloyd wordlessly followed Kratos down the stairs, watched as the older man lifted a pack onto his shoulder, and watched as his father left the house.

Lloyd stood at the doorway and watched Kratos walk down the dirt path leading into the forest until he was lost in the trees. As Lloyd lost sight of Kratos, his grip on the locket tightened.

That was the last time he ever saw his father.

-∞-

Lloyd and the others were allowed to keep their weapons as they were 'escorted' to the hidden base, which was tucked away in a hidden in the towering cliffs.

Yuan led the way, obviously following a path he had taken many times before. Lloyd and the others stayed huddled close together, uncertain of their fate. Yuan had assured them that if they complied with Yuan and the 'Desians', then they would not be harmed. This didn't mean Yuan would keep to his word, after all, he had already proven himself to be a traitor.

Lloyd and the others stared up in awe at the base as they approached the structure. They had never seen anything like this before! At least not this close. Any sort of magi-technology was extremely rare in Sylvarant, because of all the mana it consumed.

As they were led inside, about three-quarters of their 'escort' broke off to head to some other part of the base – besides, how were they going to escape while they were in the middle of a fully occupied military base? This particular question was one that was preying on Raine, if something went wrong here, they wouldn't be able to get out, or call for help.

Lloyd and the others were eventually herded into a large office, with bookshelves on two walls, a desk, and a large painting. The entire office was lavishly decorated, with a soft carpet underneath their feet.

Yuan dismissed the 'escort' with a wave. Lloyd and the others stood close together in the middle of the room, as Yuan stood by the desk, wearing an unfamiliar aura of authority.

Raine, deciding that a responsible adult needed to handle this situation, asked, "What do you want with us, Yuan?"

"Your cooperation," he said simply.

"Why should we cooperate with Desians?" Raine asked coldly.

Yuan frowned. He seemed to almost take offense at this.

"We are not Desians," Yuan explained. "But we disguise ourselves as Desians to hide our activities here. We are the Renegades, an organization dedicated to destroying the Desians, and overthrowing Cruxis."

"Why Cruxis?" Colette said suddenly. She had been silent up until then but now she sounded utterly perplexed. "They're the angels of the Goddess Martel! The Desians are evil, but why Cruxis?"

"I know this will be especially difficult for you to accept, Chosen," Yuan said, "But Cruxis is not what the Church of Martel say they are. Cruxis founded the Church as a propaganda machine, though I'm sure the vast majority of those working with or in the church do not know this. I'm sure they, and this includes you, Chosen, believe they are following the instructions of a divine being. And I believe you will be needing this."

Yuan took something off his desk and tossed it at Colette, who caught it for all of a second before dropping it in surprise.

"Oops... I'm sorry."

Yuan sighed. "It isn't fragile, so don't apologize."

Colette picked up the object, and stared at it, curious.

"...What is it?"

Lloyd leaned over to get a better look, and recognized the object. "That's a Key Crest!"

"Colette's Cruxis Crystal requires a Key Crest, otherwise it will devour her soul." Yuan said, "What is referred to by the Church of Martel as the 'angel transformation' is really the parasitic effect of the Crystal. With a Key Crest, the Chosen will not experience any of the harmful effects of the Crystal."

"But... isn't the Crystal supposed to help Colette break the seals?" Genis asked with a small frown.

Yuan shook his head, "A Cruxis Crystal is an altered form of an Exsphere. While it is equipped without a Key Crest, it will make its host, in this case, the Chosen, sick." When Genis and the others still seemed doubtful, he added, "Remember what she was like after releasing the fire seal? She didn't eat anything that night because she couldn't. If we continued the journey, without this little interruption, then she would have gradually lost the ability to sleep, feel or speak. Then at the Tower she would lose her heart and memory, and, in essence, dying.

"Even better," Yuan continued. "The Chosen knew all of this before the journey started, and she knew the journey of regeneration would inevitably end with her death. Isn't that right, Chosen?"

Colette hung her head as the others turned their attention to her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, her long blonde hair hiding her face.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lloyd demanded, shocked and horrified, "Why would you have to die to save the world? That isn't fair!"

"But if that meant saving the world, then that's okay!" Colette was trembling now. She couldn't bear to look up and see the hurt in his eyes. "Because I'm the Chosen and that's what I was born to do!"

The Chosen system truly was warped, Yuan reflected. Preparing children to go to their doom, like cattle for a slaughterhouse. Except the cattle were never fed lies about how going to the slaughterhouse was a moral obligation.

"Chosen, what you were 'born to do' is a lie," Yuan said, with less harshness than the other had expected of him. "I know this is hard for you to understand. Cruxis is not the happy little band of angels the Scriptures of Martel describe. They're plotters and manipulators who will use any means to achieve their goals. They aren't concerned with something like morality. They may be angels, but they aren't on your side, Chosen."

"But how can Cruxis be evil?" Colette persisted quietly, looking up at Yuan. "They're angels!"

"In a sense," Yuan conceded. "Cruxis are an organization of mostly half-elves that have turned themselves into angels using objects similar to Exspheres called Cruxis Crystals."

"That's not true!" Colette said, already on the brink of tears.

"I can prove it," Yuan said calmly. "As Genis and Raine have likely already figured out, I am a half-elf."

Lloyd and Colette turned to Genis and Raine, who were uncomfortable under the scrutiny of their friends.

"As elves, they can sense a person's mana," Yuan cut in, before any accusations could be made, "Perhaps they were nervous about bringing up the topic of my race, as the trust we had was, at best, fragile."

As a half-elf himself, Yuan should have learned that the Sages were also half-elves. Yet he had chosen to preserve their cover as elves. As Raine and Yuan looked at each other, there was a silent understanding. Even though they did not see eye-to-eye on anything else, they each understood what it was like to live in a word that rejected their kind.

"Is that true, Professor?" Lloyd asked. "Is Yuan really a half-elf?"

Raine, reluctantly, nodded. Both she and Genis saw the slightly nervous glance Lloyd gave Yuan.

"So, we have established that I am a half-elf," Yuan said. "Any questions so far?" he added, with a certain amount of sarcasm. When no one said anything, he continued, "Before the Renegades, I was a member of Cruxis. As such, I was given a Crystal, similar to the Chosen's."

Yuan lowered the collar of his shirt and exposed a small, blue, diamond shaped gem sitting on his collarbone. Around it was what Lloyd recognized as a Key Crest.

"This," Yuan said, "Is a Cruxis Crystal. And I..." A bright light shined from Yuan's back, and there formed two luminescent wings. "...Am what may be loosely referred to as an angel."

Lloyd and the others could only stare in amazement.

Yuan had wings!

Yuan seemed to be enjoying himself with their reactions. He flapped his wings for effect, before continuing, "I came to realize that Yggdrasill's vision of the world was wrong. I created the Renegades as an underground organization to ruin the Desians from within, and then to bring down Cruxis itself.

"I was sent by Yggdrasill to guide the Chosen on her journey to the Tower of Salvation. Yggdrasill always sends an angel to protect the Chosen as he or she completes the journey of regeneration. He has no idea that I am affiliated with the Renegades.

"Our original intention was to simply kill the Chosen, to send my men disguised as Desians to kill her, and thus prevent her from completing the ritual of regeneration."

"So it was your men who attacked the Martel Temple?" Raine asked.

"Correct," Yuan confirmed. She was a keen one... "However, complications arose, and there was a change of plan."

"If your intention was to stop the Chosen," started Raine, "Why did you let us go to the fire seal, and not bring us directly here the first time we came to the desert?"

"Because you would not believe me if I hadn't," Yuan answered. "Now that you know what the angel transformation will do to Colette, I am sure that, Lloyd at least, will be more willing to listen."

"Why me?" asked Lloyd nervously, "What's so special about me?"

Yuan crossed his arms, "Because I made a promise to your father, that I would make sure no harm came to you. My men would not have distinguished between you and the Chosen at the temple in Iselia. If I had not stepped in, you would have died."

Lloyd did not comprehend this last sentence, because he was too busy focusing on the significance of the first.

"Dad...? You knew my Dad?"

Yuan nodded grimly. "Kratos used to be one of us, and an old friend of mine."

"'One of us'...?" Lloyd was bewildered. "Dad was one of you?"

Yuan nodded again. "I found him and convinced him to join the Renegades after he and your mother were... separated."

"Then, do you know what happened to him?" Lloyd asked, hope building up inside of him.

"...Yes, I know what happened," Yuan said, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

Lloyd's hope vanished.

Yuan sighed, and looked sincerely remorseful when he spoke next.

"I'm sorry Lloyd, but Kratos is dead."

The world stopped turning. Lloyd had considered that his father might be dead, but he didn't want to believe it...

"D... dead...?" Lloyd echoed, his voice almost cracking.

Yuan closed his eyes. "He was killed."

"By who?!" Lloyd shouted. "Tell me!"

"A man named Yggdrasill killed him," Yuan explained, "Yggdrasill is the leader of Cruxis."

"But Cruxis are the angels!" protested Colette. "Why would the angels want to hurt Lloyd's dad?"

Yuan frowned. "Have I not already made myself clear on that point?" he asked, a certain amount of frustration in his voice. "I realize this is hard for you, to accept that what you have believed in all your life is false, but Cruxis are not angels, or gods, or anything of that sort."

Colette gave Yuan a defiant glare, but soon lost her courage, and stared back down at her feet, silent.

Yuan returned his attention to Lloyd. "Did you know your father was an angel, just as I am?"

"Um..." Lloyd saw the others gape at him, and he didn't like the attention. He looked back at Yuan, and nodded once. "I knew Dad was an angel," Lloyd murmured. "I saw his wings."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Genis asked, sounding almost hurt.

"Dad told me to never tell anyone else," Lloyd muttered, staring down at his feet. "Because that would put us in danger. But all he ever said was that he had enemies. He never told me anything else."

"Those enemies would be Cruxis," Yuan said with a slight nod. "He used to be a member of Cruxis, just as I was. Also like me, he realized that what Yggdrasill dreamed for was not peace. He left the home of Cruxis on Derris-Kharlan for Sylvarant, where he hoped to never be found. There, he met a woman named Anna... your mother. After an accident, which separated your mother and father, Cruxis came to believe he was dead, which was probably why they never found you. Kratos managed to maintain the illusion, until he became careless, and Cruxis discovered that he was still alive.

"Your father deliberately defied Yggdrasill by running away with your mother. He abandoned Yggdrasill's cause, a cause he had served with great loyalty until then. Cruxis discovered and captured Kratos three years ago. He was brought to Yggdrasill, who demanded to know why Kratos had run away. When Kratos would not speak, Yggdrasill killed him in a fit of rage."

"I've heard enough," Lloyd said woodenly, looking at his feet.

"Kratos wasn't even given a proper burial," Yuan continued, ignoring Lloyd. "Instead, his body was dumped in the middle of a forest near the Tower of Salvation, and left there for the crows to pick at – "

"I said, that's enough!" Lloyd shouted, as if hoping if he shouted loudly enough he would drown out Yuan and his words.

Inside, Yuan was grinning. Good. He wanted Lloyd to hate Yggdrasill with all his heart, with every single part of his being. That would make it so easy to convince Lloyd to kill Yggdrasill...

...And yet...

"I apologize if this disturbs you," said Yuan. "I thought you would want to know what became of your father. He was a good man."

Lloyd kept his eyes cast down to the floor. He didn't say anything. He was afraid if he opened his mouth he would break down into tears. Colette gently put a hand on his shoulder, which he didn't shrug off.

"Kratos is only one of many victims of Yggdrasill," Yuan continued. "He has sacrificed, and will continue to sacrifice as many people as it takes for him to achieve his goal. The numbers don't matter, it doesn't matter if women and children are included. The only way to end it is to kill him."

"Do you have a plan?" Raine asked, "And how does it involve us?"

"We will continue to journey of regeneration, as if none of this has occurred," Yuan explained, "The Chosen will keep the Key Crest, except when we break a seal, so Remiel and Cruxis will suspect nothing. When the time comes to go to the Tower of Salvation, that is when we will act. I have already ensured that Yggdrasill himself will be there – Colette is the most promising Chosen in years, he wants to be there when she becomes a soulless puppet. When he is there, and when his guard is lowered, that is when we will kill him."

"That is hardly foolproof," Raine observed.

"I suppose you have a better one in your pocket?" Yuan said dryly. "Simply handing the Chosen over to Cruxis will not solve the basic problem. Even if the Chosen is what Yggdrasill needs, there is no guarantee he will fix the worlds. Unless he is stopped, nothing will ever change."

"What if we don't want to assist you with your plan?" Raine asked with an eyebrow arched.

"I will."

Everyone turned to Lloyd, who had spoken. There was an air of determination about him; he had made his choice, and nothing would steer him away from it. "I'll help you," Lloyd vowed. "So that Colette doesn't have to sacrifice herself, and to avenge my dad!"

"If Lloyd's going, then I'll go too!" Genis piped up loyally, but with a little nervousness in his voice.

"Genis, I don't think that's a good idea," argued Raine. "There is no guarantee this Yggdrasill will not suspect something of this nature. If Yggdrasill is as Yuan describes him, then it would be dangerous to cross him."

"But we can save Colette, and save the world this way!" Genis persisted. "I want to help Lloyd!"

"...Thanks, Genis," said Lloyd, trying to smile.

"I want to help Lloyd, too," Colette admitted shyly.

"Colette..." Raine sounded defeated. When the children turned to her with pleading faces, she knew she had lost. Yuan remained expressionless, waiting patiently for her response. She sighed, "Someone must take care of the children..."

"It's settled then."

Yuan folded his wings; he had made his point. "We will leave the base in an hour." He turned his attention to the Sages. "Before we set out again, Raine and Genis, I will give you both exspheres from our storehouse."

"But Exspheres are used by Desians!" Genis objected. Lloyd looked down at his left hand, where his own exsphere rested, feeling uncomfortable.

"Though this may be repulsive to you," Yuan said. "Exspheres will greatly boost your powers and will make the journey, as well as its end, easier." Just as long as they never find out how Exspheres are made... "The Chosen and I have our Crystals, and Lloyd already has an Exsphere, so unless you want to fall behind, I would suggest you accept one."

Genis didn't say anything else. Yuan had a point.

Two Renegades walked into the office and saluted Yuan. Yuan nodded to them. "Genis and Raine, these men will take you to our Exsphere repository, where they will give you exspheres and key crests. Chosen, go with them."

Raine and Genis, with reluctance, followed the two soldiers out of Yuan's office, Colette following close behind.

As Lloyd made to follow his friends, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait."

Lloyd turned to look back at Yuan, whose hand rested on his shoulder.

"Shouldn't I go with the others?" Lloyd asked, mildly confused.

Yuan shook his head. "You already have an Exsphere, and there is something more important that I think you will want to see."

Lloyd blinked. "Huh? What?"

"Lloyd, do you want to see your mother?"