"Washtubs…hmm…"
That has got to be the most well thought-out, descriptive, and character-developing line in all of Tales of Symphonia.
One important note, I took some liberties with the Temple of Water for simplicity's sake, minimizing the monsters and traps and making it more maze-like. Don't kill me! *cringes in fear*
Again, it took me awhile to get out, but here it is at last. I'm quite pleased with it overall, so enjoy!
….
Thoda was the kind of little village that had a constant population of about one hundred people, and then there were the travelers. Thoda Island was the closest thing to a tourist trap that Sylvarant had to offer, and being near the largest city in all of the world only helped. Or, rather, it being formerly near the largest city in the world.
Lloyd and the rest of the Regeneration Group had gone south after they had destroyed the Ranch and, like many of the other refugees from Palmacosta, found food and beds at Thoda's tiny inn. It had been over a week since the tragedy and most of those who had been outside the city had set off toward Asgard to try to restart their lives or get in contact with family and the inn had emptied out once again. The five of them, at one point forced to squeeze into two tiny rooms were able to get a third for Colette's private use and the Sages and Lloyd and Kratos each shared with their respective family members.
Lloyd had honestly been surprised when, even days after the destruction of the Ranch, no one had asked about the suspicious dialogue between Myrrh and Lloyd. Yet the others acted as if nothing strange had happened. Or perhaps it was because the idea that they had single-handedly taken down the Ranch was a strange enough concept, Lloyd's involvement with another Grand Cardinal was almost trivial by comparison.
To Lloyd, however, Kilia—Myrrh—was as disturbing a realization as they came. And she was still out there; while her Ranch had been destroyed, Lloyd didn't bother to optimistically hope that she had still been in the Ranch at the time of its destruction. She hadn't been.
However, there were more pressing matters at hand, such as the immediate pressing of the second seal. After they had been at Thoda for almost three days, and Raine had nearly healed all of their wounds, Kratos had announced that he had secured them "boats" to Thoda Island the next day. When this statement was met with confused and blank looks, Kratos growled, "If you recall, the Spiritua Statue was supposed to have been dropped there."
Oh. Lloyd could have smacked himself; he had been worried that he would have to invent some reason for them to go to the Island and "accidently" discover the seal. Here Kratos had done it for him. When Raine and Genis both looked dubious, Lloyd jumped to his feet, "Fun! I've always wanted to see the geysers!"
"I wasn't aware that you know what a geyser was until a week ago Lloyd."
"Shut up Genis!" Lloyd snapped back, playing along. The old banter, the comfort of friends, it was…nice.
Thus it was that Kratos awoke the group at ungodly hours the next morning. Perhaps the only one able to rise graciously was Raine for, while she looked green at the thought of having to sail again, the prize that awaited them on the island was, for the moment, worth the pain.
That was, until they reached the water.
"…washtubs? Seriously?" Lloyd dropped his mouth open in shock with his friends as they discovered their new mode of transportation.
"Washtubs…hmm…" Lloyd could hear the distaste in Kratos' voice as he viewed the crafts.
"That has got to be the weirdest way to sail ever," Genis grumbled.
"I am not getting in those things." Raine was adamant and looked ready to maim anyone who tried to force her to move.
"Oh, but Professor, it looks like it's going to be so fun!" The ever-optimistic Colette seemed the only one who wanted to climb into the risky "boats".
"Come on, Sis." Genis reached out and grabbed Raine hand at which she admitted a barely suppressed shriek.
"I am not getting in that thing!" Raine repeated, this time louder and more hysterical. Around him, Kratos and Colette were already moving, climbing into one of the washtubs, apparently going to share. Raine and Genis continued to argue, but Lloyd ignored them, instead calling to Noishe.
"Come on Noishe, here boy. Let's get in the washtub!" Noishe looked dubiously down at the boat, apparently as against sailing in one as Raine. He whined to express his dislike. "I know it sucks, but get in anyway. You'll get yourself into trouble if you stay over here." Oh, and he had to keep Sheena out of the Temple, there was that too.
He pushed Noishe's backside, trying to force him into the boat, but the Protozoan refused to budge, whining loudly. Finally, Lloyd won, giving Noishe one last shove as he tumbled into the washtub, landing feet-first as the tub rocked dangerously from side-to-side, threatening to dump the large dog into the sea. Noishe's claws scratched as he shuffled around to glare up at Lloyd.
"You're dead," the glare said.
"Good boy, Noshy," Lloyd cooed teasingly down at him, "When we get to the island, we'll have some lunch, 'kay?" Noishe plastered his green ears against his head and growled up at Lloyd. The boy sighed and looked up to see how his friends were doing. Kratos and Colette were already safely in their boat and, by the look Kratos was wearing, more than ready to be off. Raine and Genis, on the other hand, were far from ready.
Raine was putting up a better fight than even Noishe had, and Genis was hardly an opponent for her. Lloyd watched with amusement for a moment, debating whether to interfere or not. Raine had pulled out her staff and had already attempted several smacks to various parts of Genis' body. The younger half-elf had dared to dodge her swings and was beginning to feel real terror, if Lloyd was any judge of his old friend's facial features.
Finally, Lloyd took pity on him. He slipped behind Raine and grabbed her staff from behind, pulling it out of her hands. He was dead if this didn't work. "Trade you, Genis. You take Noishe and I'll make sure Raine gets across."
"Excuse me?" hissed Raine, furious at being compared to Noishe. Genis shot him a thankful look and scurried away to take care of Noishe. Raine rounded on Lloyd, glaring daggers. "If you think for one moment—" Lloyd didn't let her finish her sentence; instead he picked her up, one arm behind her back, the other under her legs and carried her bridal-style toward the washtub. In one hand he still held her staff away from her grasping hands.
"Come on Professor, it won't be that long a ride." Lloyd grinned down at her and hopped into the washtub. It shook and bobbed in the water and Raine shrieked, but she was in. Here, he set her down and then stood back up to grab the paddle from the dock. When he looked back down, Raine slapped him. Hard.
"Lloyd Irving you are in so much trouble!"
Lloyd blinked back "Ow! Professor, what was that for?" He rubbed his cheek with the hand not carrying the paddle. "Ow…"
"It was for dragging me into this!"
"What was I supposed to do?" He tried not to let his voice carry, but he could see that the others were all still focused on them. Kratos, however, had started to guide the washtub that he shared with Colette away from the dock and toward the open water. "Come on, let's just go…"
Raine looked mutinous, but Lloyd was already pushing them away, out into the water and away from the dock. Unless Raine wanted to swim back, perhaps the only option worse than making their way across in the makeshift boats, she was trapped. Lloyd sighed and began the long, slow way toward Thoda Island.
…
Thoda was a small island; all that was there was the geyser and the tourist attractions. Kratos led the way up to the viewing platform where a tour guide was leaned back against the rail, the rest of the island completely empty. No one was in the mood to go on a pilgrimage…or they were dead.
"Hello!" The girl's eyes sparkled when she saw them approaching. "Would you like a tour—?"
"We will show ourselves around, thank you." Kratos coolly blew her off. Her face fell and she muttered an apology, sliding back against the rail.
"So…" Genis looked around at the small viewing area, "We're looking for the Spiritua statue…which is supposed to be in the geyser…"
"Yup."
"So, when we find it what are we going to do to get it? The geyser shoots boiling water."
"You can just cast a spell to stop the water from coming up and I'll go down and get it." Lloyd shrugged, "No problem."
"Absolutely not," Kratos growled. "You will not be risking your life in this foolish scheme."
"Oh, then you fly over and get it." Lloyd rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Then he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know Kratos had wings.
Kratos only sighed and Genis started to laugh. "Kratos, I didn't know you had wings!" Genis chuckled scornfully. They were taking Lloyd's words as a sarcastic joke, even Kratos; Lloyd could breathe again.
"Unless anyone's got a better idea, I'll just jump down and get it; it'll take, like, thirty seconds."
As it was, Lloyd won out. With his friends watching anxiously, Genis cast Icicle over the geysers' openings below and Lloyd scaled the cliff down to the hot, steamy ice bottom. Through the steam, Lloyd could just make out the shape of the Spiritua statue.
How'd it get over there? The Priest would have had to throw the freaking thing… Lloyd thought to himself as he gracelessly raced across the ice, his feet slipping as he moved.
"Hurry!" he heard one of his friends shout and he tried to heed their warning, hoping that his luck didn't fail him and the geyser didn't melt the ice before he got back to safety. He grabbed a hold of the Spiritua statue and had the distinct feeling that it was hot, but beyond simply not being able to feel it, Lloyd's mind was simply too busy to worry about the heat that wasn't hurting him.
There was a rumbling behind him and Lloyd leapt for the wall. With the help of Kratos grabbing at the back of his shirt, Lloyd was able to scramble back up the cliff side. Behind him, the geyser erupted. Lloyd almost laughed, after effects of all the adrenaline pulsing through him, but he was silenced by Kratos' angry glare.
"Well…that was exciting," he said lamely, the remains of his humor tugging the corners of his lips upward into a small smile.
"And you even got the statue!" Colette clapped and then reached out to take the statue from Lloyd so he could sit up, but as soon as she had it in her hands; she dropped it with a small yelp of pain. "Wow! It's so hot!" Then, in rather classic Colette fashion, she stumbled in her haste to pick it up again and fell backwards against the cliff side. Sand and small rocks rained down on the party and Kratos darted to pull Colette out of immediate danger. The falling stone revealed a small stand on which was an Oracle Stone.
"…as usual, Colette's clumsiness has managed to open new doors for us," Raine half-laughed, half-sighed. "If I am not mistaken, it seems that she's discovered another Seal. With luck, perhaps we will not need Koton and his book."
"This is so cool!" Genis looked positively ecstatic; it was, Lloyd figured, over the idea that they may not have to see Koton again. "Colette, put your hand on it and let's see what happens!"
Lloyd's eyes, along with both Raine's and Kratos, watched Colette with worry. Fear flashed through her blue eyes, but it was quickly replaced with determination and when she met the eyes of her friends, she beamed and nodded. "Of course! Let's go!" She reached out and rested her hand against the Oracle Stone.
Across the geyser's pit, on the far side of the wall of rock that surrounded it, several large rocks broke away from the wall and tumbled down to the sandy floor beneath. Stairs, made presumably of mana, though Lloyd was hardly an expert, appeared, leading to the mouth of the Seal of Water.
"…cave," Lloyd pointed when no one else seemed inclined to say anything.
Kratos, Genis, and Raine all sighed but Colette's big blue eyes were fixed on the entrance, "…come on guys, let's go." She led the way up the stairs, closely followed by Raine and Kratos. Genis and Lloyd came up at the rear and Genis looked up at Lloyd.
As Lloyd started up the stairs, he turned to look back down at Noishe, "You coming or standing guard out here?"
The "dog" gave him a reproachful look and sat down where he was.
"Suit yourself." Lloyd smiled down at his dog.
"So, the last seal was in the desert and it was fire, you think this one'll be water?" Genis pulled him from the conversation with his dog.
"What? Well, something tells me it's not Volt's Temple," Lloyd rolled his eyes.
"…what are you talking about Lloyd?" Genis looked blankly up at Lloyd. "What do you mean "Volt"?"
Kratos was listening, Lloyd was suddenly very sure of that, but this time, he had an easy cover. "Volt, you know, the Summon Spirit? Haven't you heard all the old stories about Spirits? And half the constellations are named after them."
"Oh those, you and your stupid superstitious stories, that's all just a bunch of old wives' tales."
"…oh, shut up Genis," Lloyd snapped back. He dearly wanted to tell Genis all the bad news about his beliefs, but wisely held his tongue for once.
The Temple of Water was vast. Where the Temple of Fire had been enormous and breathtaking, the Temple of Water was its opposite in every way. They path they walked on was a walkway overlooking what amounted to the Temple's antechamber; the cavern's ceiling was still high over their heads, supported by a series of pillars. It felt cold and wet, and as Lloyd exhaled the cool mist around his mouth blew away, only to be replaced and swept away as he walked.
Moisture was everywhere and the stone steps were slippery with condensed water on hard, cold stone. As he pictured Colette slipping on these stairs, he glanced ahead to see that Kratos' mind had already wandered to that point and the man was practically holding Colette's hand as they descended.
The rest of the hall was more cave: dark, water-covered rocks and a sandy floor. Their footsteps made echoing crunching noises that echoed around the chamber, no doubt summoning every monster to them.
Their going was surprisingly fast, despite the fact that they were more often than not attacked by the bizarre air-breathing fish that littered the Temple. They passed through many more caves and chambers, some created with man's hands, but most were already stunning caves. It had been dark in the antechamber, but the chambers that followed were lit from something overhead so high up that Lloyd couldn't see it.
The group's feet walked along thing stone walkways, slippery with condensed water, pools of perfectly clear liquid washed up against the walkway, sometimes even washing over the stone. In the water swum brightly colored fish, red and purple and blue, all mixing and swimming serenely together. In many places, the walkway had been almost completely washed away and they had to jump small gaps in the stone. On one such jump, Colette was practically carried over by Kratos, but when it was Genis' turn to take the leap, he stumbled and nearly fell into the water, only to be grabbed by Lloyd. His boots dipped into the water and instantly a dozen fish were biting at it with razor-sharp teeth.
Lloyd pulled his friend from harm's way and got them both across the gap with a panted "Let's not do that again." The others all agreed.
This temple was more a maze than a trap or trick and with Kratos deftly helping Colette lead the way, they were soon deep into the bowels of the Temple. There was a long moment of staring at the warp pad that sat before them. From his memories, Lloyd recalled that this was the pad that would take them to the altar where Colette would become more of an angel and lose another part of her humanity.
They stepped through.
The room that they entered into was much darker than the rest of the Temple, and it was only because of an eerie yellow-green glow from behind the waterfall some yards in front of them that he was even able to see the blurry outlines of his friends.
"You have reached the second Seal," whispered a voice from everywhere and nowhere. "Prepare yourselves for battle." Was it just Lloyd, or did that voice sound strangely like Undine's…?
"Hellooo…" whispered a voice from behind them and Lloyd, along with the blurry shapes of his friends, rounded to find themselves face-to-face with three half-women, half-fish monsters—Sirens. "Aren't we a pretty one?" cooed the monster closest to Lloyd. From experience, Lloyd knew the thing would try to put him off his guard, so he attacked.
The creature had not been anticipating this move and Lloyd's swords, both swinging with as much force as Lloyd dared put behind them with his friends in the room, hit and took a large chunk of flesh from its arm. It screamed and lashed out at Lloyd; much to Lloyd's horror, he had been slow to pull himself back together and was not as prepared for defense as he should have been and felt the monster's slippery fingers close around the breast of his shirt. Lloyd was tossed across the small room and was forced to grab hold of a pillar to stop himself from skidding into the water.
Through the haze of darkness, he could see his friends finally starting to act. Kratos' sword was out and he was lashing out at the middle creature, the largest of the monsters. Colette and Genis were both tag-teaming trying to take down the third Siren and Raine was trying to separate herself from the battle so as to heal, but Lloyd's Siren was stopping her.
Lloyd grunted and raced forward, propelling himself onto his feet, swords posed to strike. The monster loomed over her, but Lloyd was fast, and as the Siren moved to slash at Raine, Lloyd was on top of it. He lashed out, slamming his sword against its chest and sending it flying backwards, away from Raine. The Professor gasped a hurried word of thanks, but Lloyd blew past her, charging again at the monster.
Even when his monster moved to guard against him, Lloyd's momentum combined with his angelic strength broke through her guard easily and a moment later he was standing over the broken body of the monster. Her empty white eyes glaring at him even in death.
He moved with every intention to help Genis and Colette, but Kratos and his monster moved into his path and he struck out at in by instinct. His sword left bloody slices on its scaly side, but did no more than that. The scales on this one acted as a shield against even Kratos and Lloyd's attacks. The creature let out a bitter, screeching laugh and in one swift movement caught Kratos' sword and slammed its other arm against the man's stomach, sending him stumbling several feet away.
It snapped Kratos' sword in two.
Still laughing, she—it—turn on Lloyd. "Iss the little boy afraid?" it chortled, "Come ssso far only to fail here…" There was magic behind the words, because a wave of panic made Lloyd's eyes slip out of focus.
"I-I…I'm not afraid of you." He tried to focus, but the fear was building behind his eyes and he could feel the pressure against his skull as a headache built. He was being flung through the air again and felt his head collide with stone. He gasped for air as it was pushed from his lungs. The world spun around him and threatened to slip to black.
He focused on the numb feel of his sword in his hand. There was only one now, and he wondered vaguely where the other one was. The sounds of his friends in battle still echoed around him, but he couldn't seem to remember exactly what was going on…
"Lloyd!" Colette. Colette was shouting for him, her voice was high and panicked and so close to his ear… No, she was across the room, but he was hearing it with angelic ears. "Help us!"
He forced his eyes open and made himself sit up and found that the monstrous Siren was looming over him. "Lloyd, please help us!" This time it was Raine's voice. He'd been tricked.
Mana gathered at his fingertips and Lloyd, his mind still scattered from the fall, reached out and shoved it away, light gathered at his hands and his one, simple, stumbled movement sent the Siren across the room. Kratos, who had been trying to come to Lloyd's aid, was forced to dodge the monster as it smashed against the far wall of the Temple. It crumpled and fell back into the depths.
Colette, Genis, and Raine had defeated the other monster themselves and they had managed to beat the Seal's guardian. Lloyd smiled slightly and slumped to his knees. His friends moved quickly to his side, Raine already trying to heal him from across the room while Kratos helped him to sit up properly.
"Lloyd? Lloyd are you okay?" Genis looked afraid for his friend. "You're bleeding all over the place."
"It's that his head is bleeding. He isn't too badly hurt…" Raine muttered as she healed, "The head just bleeds more than any other part of the body…" Her hands were shaking as she healed him, despite her own diagnosis.
Lloyd attempted a small grin to Colette and Genis, but it only served to worry Genis more. Colette, on the other hand, smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes. There was something haunting her.
"The Guardian has been defeated; Chosen, offer your prayers at the altar…" Remiel's voice reverberated around the small chamber.
Colette's wide blue eyes tore away from Lloyd and she turned and approached the altar, her feet almost silent. "…O Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the Earth, grant me thy strength to do your good works…"
Remiel descended from above and he and Colette spoke, but as much as Lloyd wanted to listen, his mind was weak and wandering. He was still very weak from the injuries, despite the fact that Raine had used most of her energy to heal him. Kratos helped hoist Lloyd to his feet and they turned with Genis to listen to the end of Remiel's blessing on Colette.
"Go to the North, where the wind blows and the dead walk, there offer your prayers. Until then, my beloved daughter Colette…" With light and mana, Remiel vanished and Colette turned back to her friends, her wings still out and smiled: it lit her face, but Lloyd could see a shadow behind her eyes.
"Come on, we have to get Lloyd out of here, somewhere where he can rest." She looked so worried about him.
"No, no. I'm okay, I can walk by myself. Let's get out of here and we can all rest. Come on." Although his head was still spinning, and it felt as if he hadn't gotten his breath back, and he was very plainly limping, he still lead the way out of the room.
…
The group made their way out of the Temple without further mischief, the monsters that had made their initial going difficult had fled after the Seal had been released and it did not take them much time to leave. Reaching the outside, they found it to be night—they had been underground much longer than they had thought.
The tour guide had already left, but their washtubs were still floating by the wooden dock. With no one in the mood to try to wrestle Raine into one of the boats, they set up camp for the night there, on the island.
It was late, but Kratos and Genis, for once too tired to bicker, banded together to make them something to eat.
"Lloyd," Colette murmured from behind the angel, "can we talk?"
Lloyd twisted around to see her; Colette was wrapped loosely in a blanket over her white dress. She had taken her holy robes off, leaving only the thin dress to cover her figure; she looked frightfully thin and frail. "Course, Colette. What's up?"
"In private…" Her large blue eyes flickered to Kratos, then the Sages. "Please."
Lloyd nodded and rose, "Are you sure you're okay away from the fire?"
Panic sparked in her eyes and they once again moved, this time to focus on the flames. The red-orange fire reflected in her eyes and she swallowed. "…yes Lloyd, I'll be alright. I don't think it'll take long…"
She led the way, walking slowly so as, Lloyd realized, not to stumble on fallen twigs. They walked far, not speaking until Lloyd, even with his angelic vision, could no longer see the fire or hear the murmurs of his friends back at camp. They were very far out.
"Colette, what's going on?" Lloyd's hand rested on his sword and his ears strained for the sound of approaching monsters.
His friend's next words, however, snapped him from his distractions. "You're an angel."
….
I feel so alive again! And evil. Gods how I love cliff-hangers. Little is better than leaving an audience gaping at the computer screen.
R&R for a faster next chapter!
~Yoshi