Oh my gosh, we have a fight scene in this chapter. Yay!
Chapter Seven: First Seal/First Angel
"This is Polycarbonate, a material used to absorb magic during the ancient war. Oh feel the smooth surface, it's wondrous!"
'Not again…' Lloyd watched in a mix of annoyance and disbelief at the half-elves' sudden fascination with the stone slab guarding the entrance to the seal of fire. He looked at Genis who was beat red and something told him it was not from the heat. "Does she always get like this?"
He groaned, "And I was trying so hard to hide it too." The Professor examined a small block of stone that was next to the Polycarbonate, much like an archeologist identifying it as possibly a part of the magic seal. Seemingly convinced, and rightfully so, that it had properties to detect the Chosen of Mana, she had Colette place her hand on the stone. Unsurprisingly the slab slid open revealing a staircase and the group of four climbed down the stairs.
The inside was like an underground temple. The walls appeared to be made of a similar material that the door was, but that could have been because they were black with ash. Lloyd looked around the place and saw that some pillars and even parts of the walls had had collapsed. The whole temple looked like it had been in ruin for centuries. "Ugh, it's hot." He heard Genis complain, the boy also had a disgusted look on his face. "And that smell, ugh."
"Given Efreets Mana, I wouldn't be surprised if this place was becoming an underground volcano." The Professor informed him while studying the blackened walls.
"Then there would be lava here right?" The blonde chosen asked.
"Most likely, so we should be cautious. Along with lava there could be monsters around here."
"Since it's a seal, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw monsters." Lloyd spoke up, "And something tells me they'll be aligned with fire." He looked around the three way path they walked towards and looked down the one on his left. "Let's go down there." He started going down, Genis and Raine giving him weird looks. He looked back at them and shrugged, "Better than standing around doing nothing."
Having no other ideas the three followed, their footsteps attracted nearby monsters which they managed to fend off with moderate difficulty. Lloyd hated the idea that he had to hold back since if he didn't need to the journey through the area would be so much easier. They entered through an opening in the temple like structure's wall to find themselves in a room that he guessed was very hot from the steam rising from the openings in the floor. The remaining parts of the floor looked like they could lead to the seal, but there were large gaps between them and they weren't all on the same level.
"Is the seal supposed to be up there?" Colette asked.
"Looks that way." Lloyd said walking around the area looking at the walls and ceiling for some kind of clue. Having studied the seals in both worlds, he knew there was some kind of puzzle they would have to solve. The problem was finding the puzzle and then figuring out how to solve it. He looked over and noticed that there was something hanging – or carved – into one of the red walls. It looked like one of those candle stands you'd see in the Church of Martel. There was a small amount of mana coming from it. "Colette, you still have the sorcerers ring right?"
"Yeah, why?" She asked him walking over to him.
"Think you can use it on that?"
"Sure." The blonde girl walked over and held the hand that had the ring on it to the orange stand. When she used it the small ball stayed in the holder. A noise was heard as one of the platforms near them rose up in the air. "Wow!"
"Amazing." He heard the Raine say, "The pillars are reacting to the fire from the sorcerers ring, perhaps because of the mana in the area." Lloyd started walking in the other direction as the professor wondered if there were anymore of candle stands in the temple. He already knew the answer, they just needed to find them.
The group exited the hallway going through the others paths to light the candle holders using the sorcerers ring. Any monsters that ambushed them Lloyd and Genis managed to fend off with Raine healing when necessary. Except the monster which they thought was a treasure chest; the Fake.
"Gee Lloyd, and I thought you could protect us from anything."
"Shut up, Genis…" The smaller boy seemed eternally amused that there was a monster that the 'mercenary' in front of him couldn't fight, much to Lloyds displeasure. 'If I could use magic I would have fried the thing in one hit.'
The four continued navigating through the remaining parts of the temple, Lloyd keeping his thought to himself until the group reached warp point that they used to get to the top of the temple. The three looked around, aside from changes in coloring and size it reminded them a little of the Martel Temple. Raine had mentioned that the place seemed also to be composed of magitechnology; Lloyd himself wasn't sure if what she said was true but he could tell that there was a lot of mana in the area.
As they got closer the mana became visible welling up glowing a bright red color. The mana formed into a small red ball that exploded in a magnificent blinding light. When the light faded in it's place was a large red monster, much like one a four legged dinosaur with a flaming mane and spikes protruding form it's body.
"What is that?" Colette cried out obviously frightened by the sight of the creature.
"The guardian of this seal?" Raine guessed, "I suppose we have to defeat it in order for Colette to unlock the first seal, stay on guard." The half elf held her staff firmly in her arms as Colette stayed behind her. Lloyd took out his sword and looked at Genis.
"You know the basic water and ice spells right?" The boy gave a nervous nod, "Good, then while I distract it you hit it with those spells."
"What? Lloyd that's dangerous."
"Yeah I know," Lloyd told him taking his swords out and having a confident smirk on his face. Fights weren't very fun without a little danger. The angel swordsman ran at the creature which roared the spikes on its head flying off and into the air. He stopped and jumped away quickly before they could hit him going around the monster and striking its side with his sword. The monster let out a roar and swung its tail hitting Lloyd in the stomach and knocking him a few feet across the room.
'Ugh, this might be harder than I thought.' The guardian was stronger than he expected and he couldn't fight harder until they got further on their journey. He pushed himself back up to his feet as the monster released another barrage of spikes at him. He blocked most of them then dodged around the others to bring another strike to the monsters head. It recoiled back then slammed the side of its head into Lloyd's side. The boy slid on the ground before hitting the wall.
"Icicle!" Genis released his spell, small ice spikes rising up around the fire based monster. The monster retaliated by releasing a barrage of fire at the small boy. He quickly ran out of the way; Raine grabbed Colette's shirt to pull the girl out of the way of the continuing attack. She looked at her then at Lloyd who was getting back up again ready to take the monster on. Even from the other side of the room she could tell he was hurt from being thrown around. From the spikes on the monsters head, she guessed that its skull was harder than the average monsters.
"Icicle!" Genis cast another ice spell on the monster and Lloyd used the opportunity to jump onto the creature's tail then to its back. Spinning both swords in his hands he thrust them into the monsters back. The beast let out a loud cry as it starting moving around wildly.
"Don't like that, huh?" Lloyd taunted the monster hanging onto the swords as the monster flailed around. The boy smirked as the monster squirmed, before realizing that its body had tiny flames in it. His eyes widened and he pulled out one of the swords. The monsters body erupted in flames and it shook knocking the boy off of it. He landed hard on the ground and slowly tried to stand up. He might not have been able to feel pain but his body wouldn't respond like he wanted it to.
"Lloyd!" The boy heard Colette's voice and saw a white colored chakram fly across the room and hit the guardian beast in the head. The monster looked at her before getting hit by a water spell from Genis. Lloyd picked up the sword he managed to save from the fiery inferno and got away from the monster before its tail could hit him again.
"Lloyd, are you alright?" Colette asked as she and Raine came over to check on his condition.
"Yeah, thanks." Hearing his response the blonde chosen smiled and ran to help her friend. Lloyd looked back at the monster with a sour look as Raine used first aid on his wounds. One, maybe two powerful Ice Tornado spells would rip through that guardian in seconds, shame the spell was to advanced for Genis at the moment. They needed to take a more different approach, he couldn't keep cutting into the monsters skin, it was too tough. And he now only had one sword; cutting it's effectiveness in half. He watched as Genis used another ice spell on the monster then move out of the way to dodge a large fireball and Colette threw another one of her chakrams at the monsters horns cutting them off, only for them to grow back rapidly. She tried again and got the same results crying how it wasn't working. They couldn't keep this up and he knew it, he guessed Raine did to.
"Lloyd," The professor started, "I think I have an idea on how to stop that thing."
"Yeah, go ahead." He was out of any that might work.
As Raine told Lloyd her idea, Genis and Colette continued to fend the monster off. The clumsy girl was surprisingly less clumsy in the heat of battle by still much slower than her friend. The chakram she through from a distance hit the monsters sided where Lloyd had cut it earlier making it roar out as the fresh wound was irritated. "Colette, get back." Genis commanded her as he prepared another spell releasing it when she was out of the way. "Aqua Edge!" Small bits of water that looked like round blue saws surrounded Genis and then went right at the monster hitting him in the face and eyes. Though water was one of its weaknesses it only seemed to make the monster angrier.
"It's not working!" Colette cried out as the monster seemed unharmed by Genis' attack. She had been scared before when the monster first appeared, now she felt absolutely terrified. If she couldn't' even stop this monster than what good of a chosen would she be? She felt someone's hand grab her shoulder; she looked up and saw it was Lloyd.
"I've got an idea." He told her, "But I need Genis, stall that thing for me will you?"
She gave a slow nod and ran behind the monster using her chakram to hit its tail. The monster turned around as she ran to catch her flying weapon and through the other one clumsily missing as she stumbled a bit to grab the first one. As she regained her footing she could see Lloyd shouting something to Genis but couldn't understand what. She caught the next chakram and took a few steps backward as the guardian stared her down. Its black eyes flashed red for a moment as flames began forming in its mouth.
"Stalagmite!"Colette's eyes widened as brown colored mana appeared underneath the monster before turning into brown rocks that forced their way upward. The guardian was caught off guard and toppled over as the rocks rapidly went upward. She then saw Lloyd running toward the monster using the opportunity to attack the monster. He thrust his blade through its neck; the guardian gave a final cry before finally collapsing and disintegrating into red mana. Lloyd took a few breaths to relax and sheathed the sword before looking at the others. He had a large smile on his face.
"Well that wasn't so hard."
Genis looked like he was about to faint, whether it was from using too much mana or Lloyd's comment, no one was sure.
With the monster gone Colette was free to offer her prays to the altar. When she finished Remiel appeared again before her; the smug smile made Lloyd scowl.
"Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well." He spoke, a small bit of smugness slipping into his supposed to be sincere tone.
"Thank you…father." The blonde's voice shook as she called Remiel her father.
"The guardian of the seal has fallen and the first seal has been released. Efreet should awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis, I shall grant you the power of the angels."
"Thank you my lord." The blonde girl closed her eyes bowing her head as mana flowed around her entering her body. Her whole body glowed before pink energy began to flow from her back turning into a pair of pink angel wings. Genis and Raine stared in awe; Lloyd gave a small smirk. One seal had been released, only three more to go.
End Chapter Seven
College and Princess Tutu do not make good inspiration for Tales of Symphonia. Also if I got/get some terminology wrong as the story goes on it's because I haven't had the time to begin a new play though, I'm sort of going by some stuff that I see in Youtube playthroughs, the OVAs, and from my own memory. Only a month until Dawn of the New World and Sonic Unleashed :).
This is the first fight scene I've written June, so if it's sloppy I'll try and get my work back up to par. Also I know Lloyd might seem weaker than expected, but he's supposed to be holding back. Plus, my favorite character's tend to get beat up the most (except Prince Zuko on Avatar…who I tend to maul with slapstick humor). I'll make him beat the water guardian to a pulp, I must take revenge on it .