Hey I'm back. Sorry for the long wait but I've had a hell of a lot of stuff going on. Anyway here's the next chapter.

Oh and I realised I haven't actually had a disclaimer in any of my stories so here it is:

I do not own any characters in Tales of Symphonia, they belong to Namco.

Raine, Regal, Zelos, Colette, Genis, and Presea were walking away from Altessa's place. They had just discovered what was causing Colette's ailment, and were on their way to Meltokio in order to use its library to help find a cure.

"Hey, Raine." Asked Genis, "Why don't we go see how Sheena's doing? We're basically going right past Mizuho."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Colette cheerfully, "I'd bet they'd love to see us."

"Well…I don't know." Stuttered Raine, she glanced at Regal who was staring at her blankly, "We need to cure Colette's illness as soon as possible, we may not have the time…"

"Oh come on, Raine." Said Zelos, "You make it sound like we want to have a vacation. All we want is to see how they're doing. Although a vacation sounds really nice about now." He inputted as an afterthought.

"It would also be an opportunity to re-stock on supplies and rest up." Stated Presea, "We have had little opportunity to do so since our return to Tethe'Alla."

"I don't know" replied Raine, "We could always rest and re-stock in Meltokio."

"Raine." Said Regal, in a stern voice. "Enough is enough. Tell them."

Everyone stared at Raine and Regal, who seem to be having a staring contest between them. What were they talking about? Finally, with what seemed like great effort, Raine sighed.

"Oh, very well." She turned to the group. "Everyone, I'm afraid I have some very bad news." But before anyone could answer, the sound of fluttering wings filled the air to see…

"Yuan!" cried Genis, "What are you…SHEENA!" Yuan had appeared, carrying Sheena, who was wide eyed and seemed scared out of her wits.

"Yuan, what the hell did you want with her!?" yelled Zelos ferociously.

"Why, I am merely returning her to her friends as I was ordered to." He replied simply. "And which was the requirement of your young friend Lloyd"

"What are you talking about, they were in Mizuho" said Colette.

Yuan only looked slightly puzzled. "So you mean Lloyd never told you why he left suddenly? Hmmm, he told me that none of you offered any assistance when he came to me for help in saving the summoner."

Everyone stared at either Regal or Raine. "Tell them, Raine." Regal repeated.

Raine sighed, "Everyone, the reason why Sheena didn't show up at Iselea wasn't because she was ill. Lloyd went to the Mana Cannon that morning, and all the Renegades were slaughtered…and Sheena had been kidnapped."

"You mean Lloyd went after her on his own!" Exclaimed Genis, "That idiot! He should've got us to help him."

"Wait, hold on a second." Started Zelos, "If you knew this, why did you tell us she was ill?"

"Because it would just be too dangerous to try and rescue her. Cruxis had obviously set up a trap to capture Colette." Raine said this as if she had planned it in advance. "I tried to convince Lloyd this but no matter what I said he refused to listen to reason."

There was a slight pause after this, everyone being too shocked at what she said. Then, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Everyone turned to see Colette, red faced with fury. "Sheena's our friend! We should have helped Lloyd to save her!" Everyone stared at her. No-one had ever seen her angry before, let alone in an outrage like this. "And now because of you, Lloyd is DEAD!"

"He's not dead." Yuan said calmly.

"He's not?" she asked.

"Then what happened to him?" asked Zelos.

"Lloyd is now a member of Cruxis." He stated. "He will be granted with angelic powers shortly."

"You mean he's become one of the Four Seraphim?" asked Raine, she sounded more curious than worried.

"Not exactly. He is a higher rank than other members of Cruxis, even the Grand Cardinals, but he must follow any order we give him."

"So our friend is now our enemy." She said sourly.

"You make this sound like Lloyd's fault, Raine." Said Genis.

But just as Raine was about to snap back, Regal interrupted. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation at Mizuho. This area is full of monsters, and we need to get Sheena to a familiar place."

"Yes." Monotoned Presea, "Sheena is best where she belongs right now." And without another word the group headed for Mizuho.

0000000

Lloyd was strapped down to a metal table, with many weird machines surrounding him. He barely noticed all the wires that were attached to him, or that Pronyma was constantly switching between checking a monitor, and looking at him, as he thought of what had happened.

Yuan had taken Sheena to the rest of the group, he wasn't sure how the others would react to seeing her return without him, and Yggdrasil, or should he say Lord Yggdrasil had ordered Pronyma to give Lloyd the 'Angelic treatment', as he put it.

"So then, young Irving," Pronyma started after a while, "Are you ready for your transformation into a higher being?" Lloyd grunted, "Now don't act like that Lloyd. You should be honoured, only one human has ever been granted with angel powers before you." Lloyd growled to himself, he knew that had to be Kratos, that traitor. Until now he thought Kratos was on their side, but now…would the others consider him a traitor too. "It's kind of poetic really," she continued, "how his son was the only other human granted with such an honour."

"What?" asked Lloyd, but before he could even ask for a response, a loud click was heard, and he lost consciousness.

0000000

"So basically," said Zelos, "Lloyd swore his loyalty to Cruxis, so that Sheena would be set free?" They were all in the Chief's house in Mizuho, and Yuan had just explained to the group, including the Vice Chief Tiga, exactly what had happened in the Tower of Salvation.

"That is correct." He replied simply, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to properly welcome our new recruit."

"Wait, Yuan!" cried Genis, "Is there anyway we can get Lloyd back?"

He paused for a moment before answering, "Lloyd is the type who keeps his word, but he has technically not joined Cruxis willingly. He'd probably refuse to fight any of you directly."

"So what are you saying? We just charge in and attack?"

"First you need to help the summoner recover from what she's been through." And without another word, he vanished in a flash of light.

"How is Sheena?" asked Zelos, looking at the shivering, purple-clad ninja.

"She seems to have been through a lot of emotional stress." Stated Raine, "I can't get her to respond to my questions, but she keeps muttering 'Lloyd', and 'No'."

"It seems Mizuho is in a path of bad luck recently." Said Vice-Chief Tiga, "First Chief Igagura fell into a comma, and now the person most likely to succeed him is…well." He stared sadly at Sheena.

"Do not give up hope." Said Regal, "There is still a chance that Sheena will recover."

"Yeah!" chirped in Colette, "I'm sure Sheena will be back to her normal self soon. She's the one who wants Lloyd back the most." She too looked towards the once brave Sheena, and saw something glitter in her hand. 'Is that…?'

0000000

Lloyd was walking through one of the corridors of his new home; his new spectral wings were out. They looked identical to the ones Kratos bore on his shoulders. His new Cruxis Crystal replaced his mother's exsphere on his hand. He knew that Cruxis may have wanted the one that contained his mother's soul, so he made it so they wouldn't dare try to obtain it. He remembered what had happened when he awoke.

Lloyd awoke in the same room he had lost conscious in, but something was…different. He couldn't explain it, nor could he explain how he could tell this, but he felt stronger than he had ever felt before.

"Ah, Lloyd. You're awake." He looked up to see Yggdrasil staring at him. "Now, there is something we need to ask you; what happened to your exsphere?" Lloyd just grunted and looked away. "That was an order, Lloyd. Remember our deal."

"I gave it to Sheena." He replied, a defiant smile on his face.

"Ah, you're smarter than others give you credit for. We cannot touch her as our arrangement. Well it's not that important. It's a miracle that Kvar's invention actually started working in the first place."

"What's so important about my exsphere anyway?" He had wanted to know this for a very long time.

"Kvar created a way for which an exsphere can evolve on its own, as long it remains on a host body that is. In theory it would become more powerful than any Cruxis Crystal would. However, we have been recording data on it throughout all your battles; the gem is only stronger than an average exsphere. It still has no recognition to the power of a Cruxis Crystal."

"But…if it failed, why do you still want it?"

"There's always the chance that we can develop the technology Kvar used. If we knew that his project would actually work, we probably wouldn't have let Kratos finish him off."

At his name, Lloyd remembered the last thing Pronyma had said before he passed out. "Where is Kratos?" he demanded.

"Why don't you look for him yourself. It'll give you the time to look around your new home."

And with that he left.

Lloyd's pace quickened. He had to find out. Did Pronyma mean what he thought she meant?

"So, Lloyd." Came a voice, "I believe you were looking for me?"

And there we go. Again, apologies for the late update. Please review and I'll update faster this time.