Me: This chapter is really long.
Genis: Yeah it is.
Me: I thought I was doing this on my own.
Genis: I finished particng magicand thought I'd help.
Me: Thank you!
Genis: No problem. She owns nothing.
When we got to Colette's house, I thought it looked really cute. I mean the garden out front and everything. I really wanted to draw it, but I couldn't, because sadly, I didn't have my sketch pad.
We were sitting around the table discussing the Regeneration Journey. It didn't take long for the discussion to move to who will be going on the Journey with Colette. I was starting to get nervous at this point. I wasn't sure if they would allow me or not.
They were just about to finish when Colette spoke up.
"Um, excuse me," Colette said.
"Chosen, what is it?" the mayor asked.
"Well, I just wanted to ask if Sarah could come along," Colette replied. I looked up at Colette surprised.
"Colette?" I asked.
"We're friends now, right?"
"Y-yeah," I smiled.
"Why would you want to take this girl with you?" the mayor asked stiffly.
"Because she's my friend, and people have been saying she's too young to travel on her own. But she's been trying to find her brother. So I thought that if she comes with us than she won't have to be alone and she can might be able to find her brother while traveling with us," Colette explained.
"Chosen, are you sure?" the mayor asked. He looked like he really didn't want me to come.
"Yes," She replied.
There was a pause. It looked like everyone knew that the mayor absolutely did not want me to go. We were all waiting to see if his want for me not to go was strong enough to want to go against the chosen's wishes.
"Alright, fine," the mayor said. He cracked, he couldn't go against the chosen.
I looked around and saw that nobody was about to object. Well, Kratos might have wanted to but I couldn't tell.
'Wow, this is way too easy. Something has got to be up. There's no way that it would be this easy to join Colette on the Regeneration Journey. Or, maybe it is. I'm gonna stop before I give myself a headache thinking about this,' I thought.
"Sarah, would it be okay with you to travel with Colette?" Phaidra asked.
"Of course it would be," I replied, smiling.
"That settles it then, we shall entrust the protection of the Chosen to Kratos, Raine, and Sarah," The mayor announced.
"I have no objections," Kratos said.
'I was sure he'd say something about me coming along,' I thought.
"Thank you so much for your help earlier!" Colette chirped, looking towards the door.
I turned around and saw Lloyd and Genis had walked in.
"Oh, your back! Thank you for your assistance earlier! Please accept this small thanks," Phaidra said and handed them the collector's book.
"Thank you" Genis said.
"Thanks Phaidra. Say, were you talking about the world regeneration journey just now?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes," She answered.
"Wow! I want to go to! I wanna see Colette regenerate the world!"
"If Raine is going, I want to go too!" Genis said determinedly.
"No, you'll only get in the way," Kratos said.
'Well, that's one way to shoot 'em down,' I thought.
"Wh…what?!" Lloyd gaped.
"The battles at the chapel were nothing compared to what awaits us. Children need to stay home," Kratos explained.
"Then how come Sarah get's to go?!" Lloyd asked.
'That… sounded like an insult,' I thought.
"Because she has experience in traveling," Kratos said.
'Is that why he didn't say anything? Oh well, it works,' I thought.
"Kratos is absolutely right. Now then, we still have things to discuss. You two should go on home," The mayor said.
Lloyd glared at Kratos then stormed out slightly embarrassed. Genis tailed behind. Colette rushed out after them and I followed behind.
"Please wait!" Colette called after them.
Colette was going to run up to them but she lost her balance and fell. I helped her up and she dusted herself off.
"I'm sorry," Colette said.
"It's not like it's your fault," Lloyd replied.
"Oh yeah… I'm sorry," Colette said. I sighed but then reminded myself that I also slightly had that problem of over apologizing.
"Listen! Ah, never mind," Lloyd sighed.
"Oh yeah, happy birthday, Colette!" Genis said.
Lloyd looked puzzled at this. He really needs to get a calendar and mark the dates.
"I bake you some cookies. If I knew you were leaving tomorrow, I would have made something a little more special, but…" Genius trailed.
"No, no, I love your cookie! Thank you very much!" Colette said as Genis handed her the cookies.
"So what about you, Lloyd? You promised to make her a necklace, right?" Genis asked.
"…Uh…heh…" Lloyd said nervously, trying to think up an excuse.
"…Don't tell me you forgot," Genis said, disappointedly
"…Uh, It's…it's almost done. Uh, I'll give it to you… tomorrow, before you leave. I swear!" Lloyd said.
"Really? I'm so happy! As soon as I find out when we're leaving, I'll go to your house to let you know," Colette chirped.
"Isn't it going to be dangerous?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm the Chosen, remember? I'll be fine. See you later, then." Colette said and went back inside.
"Hey Lloyd, can you wait for me. My sword's blade is broken and Colette said that your dad might be able to fix it," I said.
"Sure, I'll wait," Lloyd said with a smile.
"Thanks," I replied and walked back inside. When I walked back in everyone was ready to continue the discussion.
"Excuse me, but is the rest of the discussion something I need to stay to hear?" I asked.
"No, but why?" Colette asked.
"I have something to check on and I need to ask Dirk about fixing my sword's blade," I replied.
"Oh, then it's okay if you leave. It's not very important, just the time we're leaving," Colette said.
"Okay, then I'll take my leave," I said and walked out.
Lloyd and Genis were waiting for me out side.
"Hey guys, the rest of the discussion isn't too important," I said.
"Cool, is that your sword, wrapped up in the cloth?" Lloyd asked.
"Yeah, I wrapped it up so I wouldn't lose the pieces," I replied.
"We're going to stop by Genis' house first, so that he could pick some stuff up."
"Okay, I'll meet you at the entrance because I have to pick up supplies at one of the shops."
"Alright, see ya!"
I waved and walked over to the shops. I stopped in the item shop first.
"Hey it's you again! I heard you went to the Martel Temple and helped the chosen," The shop owner said.
'Oh yeah, I came in here before the oracle,' I thought.
"Yeah, I helped Colette. I'm also going on the Journey of Regeneration with her," I replied.
"Really? Never expected the mayor to let a traveler go with her."
"It was at Colette's request."
"I see, that amazing."
I nodded and picked up a back pack. I walked up to the counter and set it down.
"I'd also like five apple gels and five orange gels. How much will all of this be?" I asked.
The man nodded and took out the gels.
After paying for the items I put the gels in the bag and left to another shop. I bought food for the journey, making sure to buy enough food for Sammy. I packed all the I bought into the bag then headed for the entrance.
When I got there I saw Lloyd being tackled by Noishe. I covered my mouth to keep myself from laughing.
"Noishe get off!" Lloyd laughed as he pushed the protozoan off.
"Hey guys!" I greeted as I walked over to them, smiling.
"Hey Sarah! This is my dog Noishe!" Lloyd said. I looked over at Noishe and saw that he was as big as Sammy.
"Hi Noishe," I said.
I put my hand out to Noishe and he sniffed it. He then went up to me and licked my face. I laughed slightly and wiped my face.
"That's weird, Noishe doesn't usually like strangers," Lloyd said as he walked over.
"Huh, Really?" I asked. Then something clicked in my mind. It was true, but I had never met Noishe.
'Shouldn't he have run off? This is weird,' I thought.
"Anyways, let's go. I'm sure Dad can fix your sword," Lloyd said.
I nodded and we walked out of the village with Noishe and Genis following behind. I stopped a few steps out of the gate.
"Huh? Is something wrong?" Lloyd asked.
I turned around to the fence and saw that Sammy wasn't there anymore.
"Where's Sammy?" I asked.
"Who?"
Just then, I was pounced on by the over grown dog that is Sammy. She just sat on my stomach looking very triumphant.
"Ha-ha, very funny Sammy. Now get off, your too heavy!" I said.
Sammy got off and I got up. I then turned to Genis and Lloyd.
"This is my dog and traveling companion Sammy," I introduced.
"Looks like your not alone in that category Lloyd," Genis said.
"What's that suppose to mean!" Lloyd asked.
"It means we both have over grown, weird dogs Lloyd." I replied.
"Are you sure Sammy's not a wolf?" Genis asked.
"Positive."
We then continued walking and I strapped the bag I bought to Sammy's back.
"So how long have you had Sammy?" Lloyd asked.
"Since I was 13. My aunt got her for me when she heard that I was leaving home to travel. Back then Sammy was just a puppy," I replied.
"Does she bite?" Genis asked.
"Are you an enemy?" I asked.
"Of course not!" Genis shouted.
"Then there's your answer," I replied.
Genis went up to Sammy and when he was close enough, Sammy licked his face.
"Ew!" Genis shouted.
"That's just a sign that she trust you, Genis, so get over it," I said.
"So, how good are your sword skills?" Lloyd asked.
"They suck. I don't know how to use a sword," I replied.
"Then why do you have it with you?" Genis asked.
"Because my dad bought me this sword when I was twelve. It's not really meant for fighting, it's more of a good luck charm," I answered.
"Must be really special then," Lloyd said.
"Yeah, it's one of the most important things to me, along with my pendant," I replied, pointing to the small, sliver rimed blue gem.
"It looks really nice. Why is that important to you?" Lloyd asked.
"Because my mom gave it to me when I was twelve," I answered.
"Your lucky," Lloyd said.
"Huh? Why?" I asked.
"Because you have both your parents and brothers and other family that cares about you," Lloyd said.
"My parents are dead, and so are Lloyd's," Genis said.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"What are you apologizing for, it's not like you could have done anything," Lloyd replied.
"Sorry," I said.
"Quite apologizing," Lloyd said.
"So-," I cut myself off before I continued.
There was a pause, then Lloyd and Genis started laughing.
"W-what's so funny?!" I asked.
"You reminded us of Colette," Genis answered.
They finally stopped laughing and we continued on.
After a while of silence, Noishe started to whine.
"Huh? Hey, Noishe, what wrong?" Lloyd asked.
We were all puzzled by this until I remember that Noishe didn't like monsters.
"Ah, that's right. Noishe doesn't like this place," Genis said
"He'll never go near places like this that have lot's of monsters. Even though you hardly ever see monsters bigger than him," Lloyd said.
Noishe whined again and ran off. Sammy followed behind.
"Sammy!" called after her.
"Ah, he ran off again. Fine, do what you want, Noishe," Lloyd said.
"This is really weird, Sammy's never run off before," I said.
We got to the split in the road that lead to the human ranch and Lloyd's house.
'Oh crap, I didn't realize it until now but I just roped myself into the human ranch part. Ah crap, you've got to be kidding me, why didn't I remember 'till now?!' I yelled at myself in my head.
"Here's my stop," Genis said and turned towards the human ranch.
"At the Desian human ranch? Doesn't going there violate the non-aggression treaty?" Lloyd asked.
"The Desians already attacked the temple!" Genis argued.
"Alright, but I'm worried about you going alone, so I'm going with you," Lloyd replied.
I sighed and said, "I'll go too."
"Are you sure?" Genis asked.
"Yeah, they can't really do anything because I don't live here. I'm just worried about you two getting in trouble," I replied.
"Okay, thanks you guys," Genis said.
"No problem," Lloyd and I said in unison.
We walked up to the left of the human ranch. We stayed low so the Desians wouldn't see us. We got to a wired fence and stopped. Genis looked through the fence then smiled.
"Marble!" He called, making sure to keep his voice low.
The old woman turned around towards us and walked over. She had a kind looking face.
"Genis! Are those your friends?" She asked, looking at Lloyd and I.
"Yeah, I'm Lloyd."
"My name's Sarah," I greeted.
"I'm pleased to meet both of you," She replied, smiling.
"Marble, did you see it? There was an oracle!" Genis cheered.
"Yes I did. I saw the tower of Salvation. Now the Chosen's journey of regeneration can finally begin. I hope it is successful this time," Marble said.
"The last Chosen failed, right?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes. I heard the Chosen was killed by Desians during the journey," Marble answered.
"I wonder if Colette will be all right?" Genis said.
"Let us pray to Martel. May she guide the chosen on a safe journey," Marble said.
"Hey Sarah, since your going on the journey with Colette, you'll make sure she's safe, right?" Lloyd asked.
"Of course," I replied.
"…Hey grams-" Lloyd started.
"Her name's Marble!" Genis corrected.
The exsphere on Marbles right hand briefly glowed.
"…Marble. Isn't that an Exsphere?" Lloyd asked.
"Oh, is that what this is called? They placed it on me shortly after I came here," Marble explained.
"Yeah, that's defiantly an Exsphere. But there's no Key Crest on it. An Exsphere with out a Key Crest is dangerous," Lloyd said.
"What's a Key Crest? And how is it dangerous?" Genis asked.
"Attaching an Exsphere directly to your skin supposedly makes you sick. But ironically, it's useless unless you attach it directly to four skin. So in order to prevent it from making you sick, you carve a spell into a special ore and use that as a mount for the Exsphere. That's the Key Crest," Lloyd explained.
"You're very knowledgeable," Marble commented.
"But it looks like Marble's Exsphere doesn't have a mount at all," Genis said.
"Something you should expect from a human ranch. Human ranches never give their prisoners Key Crests," I explained.
"How do you know that?" Lloyd asked.
"There's a lot of stuff to pick up when traveling," I replied.
"So you know about Exsphere and Key Crests?" He asked.
"Of course. I have an Exsphere and Key Crest after all," I said, unzipping my vest just enough to show the Exsphere and Key Crest.
"Lloyd, can you do something about Marble's Exsphere?" Genis asked.
"If the charm was the only thing needed, I could carve one myself, but there's nothing I can do without the inhibitor ore that acts as a mount," Lloyd said.
"There has to be something you can do, Lloyd!" Genis responded.
"It's not as easy as you think. Key Crest are dwarven technology," Lloyd defended.
"Your dad's a dwarf! Please ask him for help, Lloyd!" Genis asked.
"Fine, fine. I'll ask him," Lloyd gave in.
"Alright! That's why I like you, Lloyd," Genis said happily.
"Please don't trouble yourself," Marble said, not wanting to cause anyone any trouble.
"Hey, old had! What the hell are you doin' over there?!" one of the Desians shouted.
"Oh, no! The Desians! Run away, you three! Hurry!" Marble urged.
"But who knows what they might do to you," Lloyd said.
"We know that, but what can we do? If the Desians find out we're here, they'll just think about what they'll do to Marble and the people of the village!" Genis said.
"That's right. You must go," Marble said.
"I'm sorry, grams!" Lloyd said.
"Sorry!" Genis said.
"I'm so sorry," I said.
All three of us hid in the bushes to wait for the Desians to leave. We heard the entire conversation the Desians had about Marble. After they left to take her to the back we came out of hiding.
"Oh, this doesn't look good. They're taking her to the back," Lloyd said.
"But what can we do?" Genis asked.
"There's gotta be something we can do. Let's find higher ground where we can see what's going on in there," Lloyd said.
"I saw a cliff ledge on our way in here. We should be able to use that," I said and led them over to the cliff ledge.
When we got there, it was an easy jump for Lloyd and I, even though I kept loosing my balance and almost falling. We had to help Genis up an we finally got to higher ground.
Marble was continuously getting whipped by the Desians.
"She's…" Genis trailed.
"…We've gotta save her!" Lloyd said.
"I agree!" I replied nodding my head.
"But how?!" Genis asked.
"You attack the Desians from here with magic," Lloyd said.
"What?! Aren't we going to get in trouble?!" Genis asked.
"We don't have a choice! Afterwards, Sarah will help you down and you two will hide among the bushes and make your way back to the village. I'll act as a decoy," Lloyd said.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better if I was the decoy? I mean, I'm leaving tomorrow," I said.
"No, I don't want you getting hurt," Lloyd said. I nodded my head understanding.
'Wow, no one's ever said something like that to me. I'm usually the one in Lloyd's place,' I thought.
"But that'll put you in danger!" Genis cried.
"Don't worry, I'll head down the cliff so they don't see my face, then I'll run in the opposite direction from the village," Lloyd explained.
Genis thought about to for a brief moment.
"…Okay!" Genis agreed.
"Be careful, Lloyd," I said.
Genis took out his kendama and launched three fireballs at the Desians. Each fireball hit it's mark.
"What the?!" Shouted one of the Desians.
Lloyd jumped from the ledge and got the Desians attention.
I grabbed Genis and jumped down the ledges. I then let Genis go and we hid in the bushes. We waited for Lloyd to take the Desians away from our hiding spot so that we could sneak out behind their backs. Right when the Desians passed us, Genis and I started to sneak out. Right before we were going to get away, Genis tripped and fell.
"Owww…" He moaned.
"What was that?"
'Crap!" I thought.
I quickly took out my weapon and unsheathed it. I ran out while motioning Genis to run. The Desians looked surprised when I came out. I took the chance to slice one of the Desians from the base of the neck to the waist at the other side.
Lloyd came up and took out the other Desian. Then we both took out the last one. We took this chance to get the hell out of there.
Lloyd jumped off the cliff and I had no other option other than to jump as well. I made sure to land on different ledges on my way down so I wouldn't hurt myself. We finally got to the bottom and landed.
As soon as I landed, I collapsed to my knees. I sat there to try and catch my breath.
"Sarah, are you okay?" Lloyd asked.
"Remind me to never jump off a cliff again," I said, still trying to catch my breath.
"Sorry about that," He said.
"Don't worry, it was the only way out of there anyways," I replied and got up.
Genis then caught up to us.
"Lloyd, Sarah! I'm sorry! Because of me they saw your faces!" Genis said.
"Don't worry about it," Lloyd said.
"But…" Genis trailed.
"We took out the ones that saw our faces and the rest of them are still up on the cliff. As long as we hurry up and get out of here, they'll never know," Lloyd said.
"…O…Okay," Genis said, uncertainly.
"Just do my homework for me, okay?" Lloyd asked, trying to cheer him up.
"…Okay"
"All right then, I'm gonna take Sarah to see Dad about fixing her sword. You should head back to the village," Lloyd said.
"Lloyd, Sarah, thanks for helping Marble," Genis said.
"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Lloyd said.
"You don't have to thank me Genis, I barely did anything," I replied.
"Yes you did, you distracted the Desians from me," Genis said.
"I guess, but we really shouldn't be discussing this right now. We've gotta leave before the Desians come after us," I reminded.
"Right," Genis said then left towards the village.
"C'mon, let's go," Lloyd said.
"Right."
We continued on to Lloyd's house and got there soon. It looked really nice. The plants were very well kept. And the little steam just made the house look better. I noticed that Noishe and Sammy were here already. I looked over to my left and saw Anna's grave.
"I'm home, Mom," I heard Lloyd say to himself.
"Lloyd, last time I checked, Noishe went in the opposite direction of your house," I said.
"Yeah I know, its weird how he does that," Lloyd replied.
"Maybe he has this secret short cut he goes through," I said, randomly.
Lloyd laughed slightly at that. "Are you always able to make a joke out of something?"
"No…maybe…I don't know," I said, thinking it over.
"C'mon, let's go see if Dad can fix your sword," Lloyd said.
"Okay," I replied.
Lloyd led me inside and I looked around curiously from my spot.
"Welcome back. And who is this?" Dirk asked.
"Hi Dad, this is my friend," Lloyd said.
"My name's Sarah. It's nice to meet you," I said.
"I'm Dirk, Lloyd's Dad," He said.
"I heard that you were a good craftsman, so I was wondering if you could fix my sword," I said and took my sword off my belt.
"Well, let's see the damage," Dirk replied.
I handed him my sword and he took it over to the table and unwrapped it. He examined it for a while before turning to me.
"This should be an easy fix, but the metal the blade is made out of can be broken easily. It shouldn't be used for fightin'," He said.
"I know, it's mostly just a good luck charm. My dad bought it for me when I was twelve, but he's not really one to take notice in different metals," I said.
"I see. I fix it as soon as I can," Dirk replied.
"Thank you. Excuse me, I have to check on Sammy, my dog," I said.
He nodded and I exited outside to check on Sammy.
Sammy was laying down in the grass sleeping.
"Sammy, wake up you lazy dog," I said.
As soon as I said that, I was pounced on again by Sammy. Again, She was sitting on my stomach looking very triumphant.
"You think this is a game, don't you?" I asked from my position on the ground.
Sammy started wagging her tail faster like she was saying "yes."
"What the… stop wagging your tail if you understand me," I said, experimenting on whether or not she understands me.
Sammy stopped wagging her tail.
"Wait, since when can you understand what I'm saying?" I asked.
Sammy started whining like she was explaining. When she stopped I was able to understand her.
"So, your saying when we woke up in the forest is when this all started?" I asked.
Sammy started wagging her tail.
"Okay, before we continue this, would you mind getting off?" I asked.
Sammy got off my stomach and sat down on the grass. I stood up and dusted myself off.
"So, why did you run off back in the forest?" I asked.
Again, Sammy whined and I could understand.
"Because you didn't want to run into any monsters? Alright, I can live with that. Hey, are you really a dog?" I asked.
Sammy whined again.
"Okay, just making sure," I replied.
Me: I was remembering all my past stories and noticed something.
Genis: What is it?
Me: My fourth chapter is always the longest.
Genis: Really?
Me: Yeah I know it's weird.
Genis: Why is it always longest?
Me: I don't know.
Genis: Review, this took her few days because she kept getting distracted.
Me: Oh yeah, something that I've been meaning to ask. Has anyone who's played Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of The New World ever noticed that somewhere near the end they say something like "Thank God" instead of something like "Thank Goddess"? If you have and know what mean then let me know because I want to see how many people caught that.
