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Sorry about that...

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Tales of Symphonia: Duel at Dawn


Chapter three: “Sorry about that.”

 

“Any luck on finding the Hidden village of the Elves?”

“I consulted Raine Sage about that actually.”

“And?”

“She didn’t seem interested.”

“That’s odd.”

“No it isn’t, if you think about it. In what alternate universe would Raine Sage not be interested in a hidden elven village?”

“If I had to guess, in one where she knows that that village doesn’t exist.”

“Exactly.”

“Then where does that ridiculous amount of half-elves come from?”

“Now that,” Sinclair said, “is what I’ve been trying to figure out.”

 

--

 

Lloyd, Genis and Colette had barely left the village, when they ran into a monster.

“Whoa! It’s a monster!” exclaimed Lloyd in surprise. He stepped back instinctively and drew his swords. They were made of wood, of course. Teenagers weren’t allowed to wield dangerous weapons. He was a dual-wielder. He loved wielding two swords. To him, twice the swords was twice the status.

The monster before him looked like the decayed corpse of a man, still walking on its legs. The stench of rotting flesh was almost unbearable.

Genis had pinched his nose with his hand, and could barely be heard.

“I thought the Northern Region where the Temple is located was a sanctuary! Why are there…”

“It must be part of the trial,” said Colette in an abnormally calm voice for someone who just met a zombie for the first time. “Martel’s trial involves battling monsters,” she continued.

“We don’t have time to talk!” Lloyd was getting excited. “Let’s get this thing!”

“Wait!”

Genis sounded very serious. The zombie walked towards the group very slowly.

“If this is all part of the trial, shouldn’t Colette fight it on her own?”

Colette swallowed. She knew she was ready for this. Her hands turned white as she clasped her chakrams with so much force that Lloyd was surprised she didn’t cut herself with them.

“Well no, actually.”

“…Lloyd?”

“Normally the priests would be here to accompany her, right? Then I don’t see a problem.”

Lloyd slashed the ground beside him with one of his swords to send a bluish white shockwave towards the zombie. Just as the shockwave was about to hit the zombie, it flashed bright and disappeared. In front of the zombie, slowly but surely, a sort of sack became visible. It seemed to be made from white and pink cloth, hastily sewn together. It was tied at the top and floated in midair.

Colette and Lloyd looked puzzled.

 

What is that?

 

Suddenly, a sewn cut in the front of the sack seemed to unravel, as if it was a mouth, and the sack produced a horrifying, shrieking sound.

 

“A ghost!” shouted Genis at the top of his lungs. He had now released his nose from his grip, and injected the index fingers of both of his hands in his ears. Lloyd could barely hear him scream over the “shriek”. Genis regretted opening his nose almost instantly. The stench really was horrible.

“Let’s go, you two!” Lloyd shouted.

“Wait, Lloyd! The Professor said magic is more effective than physical attacks against non-physical and spiritual monsters.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, then, I’ll leave the Ghost to Genis. Colette, let’s go for the Zombie! Okay! Here we go!”

“Yeah!”

“Be careful, everyone!”

 

Genis quickly removed one hand from his ear and grabbed the Kendama on his belt.

Seconds later, the Ghost was burning to ashes in really bright, pink and yellow flames because Genis had hit it with a fireball. It seemed to be super effective.

“Found your weakness!”

 

“Whoops!” Colette had tripped halfway towards the zombie.

Lloyd had noticed, but decided the zombie was more important at the moment. With one powerful slash, he severed the zombie’s body from its head.

“Didn’t like that, huh?”

As Colette got to her feet, the zombie dropped to the ground and stopped moving.

 

“Wow Lloyd, you looked really cool!”

“I’m starting to wonder about your tastes, Colette.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing” Genis looked at Lloyd sheepishly.

“Ah, well, I owe it to this thing, though.”

 

Lloyd placed his right hand on the bandage covering his left hand. There was a marble underneath it, attached to his skin, which outsiders were not supposed to see.

“Ah, that’s right, the Exsphere…”

“Yeah. It’s designed for combat and brings out my maximum strength. Without this thing, I’d be nothing…”

“But you’re still strong, Lloyd!”

“Yeah. At least his sword skills are good.”

“…What do you mean, ‘at least’?!”

“Let’s go to the Temple!”

 

--

 

In a distant land, a small bell jingled, indicating the arrival of a prospective customer. The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man, had to use considerable effort to remove his gaze from his newspaper and look at the person who had just entered his shop.

“Good morning, what can I do for you-” he had started routinely. His eyes grew wide, then he bowed.

His customer was expecting a bow with a bit more Joie de vivre, as the elves said it. The shopkeeper, however, probably didn’t know of that bow, so the customer let it pass.

“Lord Magister Leon,” proceeded the shopkeeper. “How can I be of service?” He rose again, and looked at his customer.

Lord Magister Leon quietly glanced over the shelves and displays of the shop.

“Yes,” he said slowly as if a potato had stuck itself to his tracheotomy. “It has been brought to my attention that I require a means to protect myself.”

“You have certainly come to the right address then, lord”, the shopkeeper said rather clumsily. He was trying to match the way of speech of Lord Magister Leon, which wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped. “Is there anything you have in mind, sir? I am sure we have something befitting of the head of the Elemental Research Laboratory.”

Leon studied the weapons in the shop. He still hadn’t moved from his spot. There were lances, spears, swords, bows, crossbows, axes of all sizes, swords, daggers, rapiers; even a coffin. He was just about to ask who in the world would use a coffin in combat, when something caught his eye. It wasn’t something sharp, that would have hurt. It was a small hammer, with a small ball attached to it through a small rope. It looked almost like a toy.

Leon grabbed the curious device with his index finger and his thumb, and held it as far away from himself as possible, as if he would contract a serious disease from being too close to it. He was wearing gloves, of course. It didn’t feel safe regardless.

“That would be a kendama, sir. Used by those of elven blood to channel their magic.”

Leon quickly let go of the hammer, as if all his suspicions about it had suddenly come true, and he had just now been infected by a dangerous and, of course, incurable disease. The kendama fell back onto its pedestal. The shopkeeper looked as if he wanted to inspect it immediately to see if anything was broken.

“How quaint,” Leon said in a very calm voice.

The shopkeeper didn’t know whether he should feel insulted or praised. He didn’t even know what ‘quaint’ meant. While he was trying to figure that out, Leon had started wandering around.

 

--

 

Meanwhile, Colette, Genis and Lloyd had already walked for quite a while, when they saw a figure in the distance. He seemed to be zigzagging the road really slow, and had spikes on his back and shoulders. None of the teenagers could quite make out what kind of being it was. It did look vaguely humanoid, but not familiar in any other way.

They started walking more slowly, unsure what to do. Then, the figure suddenly fell over.

Genis screamed and started running towards him.

Colette seemed to have realized what was happening as well, and started running after Genis.

Lloyd didn’t understand what was going on at all, but realized it was important. He had overtaken Colette almost immediately after he started running. When he was about to overtake Genis, which was within 20 meters, he realized what had happened. The figure lying on the road looked very much human, wore an outfit with religious motifs and was chock-full of arrows.

Lloyd sped up.

“Hang in there!”

 

Lloyd bent over the figure of the pastor lying on the ground. “Are you all right?”

“Cho-sen” – the man coughed. His voice sounded hoarse. “O-ne…”

“Stay with us!”

Colette fell to her knees as soon as she reached the man. “Pastor!”

“The.. The Desians! They bro.. br-” he coughed again. Blood was flowing from the many arrows planted in his back and arms. “They broke the treaty” he gasped.

Genis arrived. “We know”, he cried.

“They.. th-.. Temple-ah Attacked.” The words coming out of his mouth became harder to make out.

“Haste. Oracle. Cho-seh..” He coughed.

“I think his lungs have been punctured”, Lloyd didn’t know what else to say.

“You don’t say?” Genis was mad, tears were rolling over his cheeks.

“Please let him finish.” Colette spoke in a small voice. Her face dead serious.

“I.. I can’t see…” The man sounded calm, like he came to realize something.

“We have to do something!”

“Genis, there’s nothing we can do! Not out here…”

“Guys, please!”

The pastor closed his eyes. Colette had grabbed his hand. Lloyd was thinking like mad. What could he do about the arrows? What could he do to stop the bleeding?

“Please… be careful. I regret that… that I will not… be able..” he sounded like he was drawing his last breath. “to…pro…tec…t…” the pauses were becoming longer now. “The Chosen.”

“It’s okay”, said Colette. Her expression was devoid of any emotion. Her hands however, told a story on their own. They were white and squashing the hand of the pastor like there was no tomorrow. He didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll… be… with… Martel.” He smiled.

“Pastor?”

“Pastor, hang on!”

Lloyd checked his pulse. “It’s no good. He’s…” Lloyd took a deep breath. “Gone”. He was surprised his voice sounded kind of relieved.

Genis’ voice was trembling. “Wh.. what was his name?”

“Pierce…”

“That’s not funny Colette.”

“I’m not joking.”

Colette got to her feet. “… I’m going.” She started walking in the direction of the Temple, which was still a ways away.

“Colette! There are Desians in there!” Colette stopped. As she turned around, she looked a little sad. “Yes.. But I have to go. I’m the Chosen remember? My job is to accept the oracle on the Day of Prophecy. The two of you, wait here, okay?”

“Lloyd, please talk her out of it.”

“I’m going, too.” Lloyd’s face was cold.” He turned to Colette. “I can’t let you go by yourself.”

“Are you sure? It’s dangerous.”

“Dwarven Vow #1: Let’s all work together for a peaceful world. Let’s go.”

“Wait! I’m going too. I’m worried about Raine.”

“Thanks, both of you.”

 

--

 

“Say, Colette.” Lloyd felt a desperate need to change the mood. “What’s it like inside the Temple?”

“Yeah!” Genis seemed to catch on. “We’ve never been inside, so it’s kind of exciting.”

“Hmm, well…” she sounded a little better. “It’s kind of dark because not… much.. sun..light-”. She sounded really depressed all of a sudden.

“That’s not quite what I was expecting!” said Genis quickly.

“But then again, I’ve never been to the inner part, either!” Colette sounded almost cheerful.

“Hmm. I can’t wait to get inside!”

“If only you could keep up this enthusiasm the entire time…”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

They laughed and felt a little better.

 

--

 

Far behind them, the corpse of the pastor lay peacefully. The arrows removed, his hands folded together on his chest. Next to him stood a man, clad in purple, with a grave expression on his face. His right hand was raised above the pastor’s body.

“May you rest in peace…”

The pastor’s hand began to twitch.

“Hell pyre!”

A liquid sort of flame formed in the palm of the man’s hand, and fell down to the body of the pastor. Within seconds, he burned to ash, leaving no evidence save the scorched earth.

 

--

 

The Martel Temple, was in fact, not a temple, but a chapel. Everyone called it a temple though, except for Raine, who knew better. When Lloyd, Colette and Genis had finally arrived at the temple, they couldn’t quite see it. All they saw, was the staircase leading up to the temple, and a pillar of really bright light that descended from the heavens to the top of that staircase.

The group had stopped walking for a second to take it all in.

“Whoa!” said Lloyd in amazement. “That light really is coming from the temple!”

“Then an oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette’s really going to be the Chosen of Regeneration!”

Lloyd and Genis looked at Colette, waiting for her to say something fitting of the Chosen for this special moment.

“It’s really, really bright!”

Lloyd and Genis simultaneously made the face they always made when Colette managed to completely betray their expectations. It was something like a combination of pity, utter shock and adoration.

 

“Say, Colette…” Lloyd started, “when the oracle is conveyed, you’ll become the Chosen who will save the world, right? You’re going to be like the hero, Mithos! So maybe you should act a little more… you know, Chosen-like…”

“Yeah!” she said enthusiastically. “No problem, no problem.”

Genis was staring to the top of the stairs.

“Hey, there’s a lot of commotion at the temple.”

Lloyd looked upwards as well, while listening intently.

“… You’re right!”

 

“Okay, let’s go you two!”

“Okay!”

“Yeah!”

While the trio ran towards the stairs, Colette tripped.

“Oww…”

Lloyd turned around immediately.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” Colette stood up carefully. “Sorry about that.”

“Dwarven vow #9: Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

 

--

 

Aftermath:

“Have you seen Sheena?”

“Did you check the well?”

“The well?”

“She has a tendency to fall down holes.”

“…”

I honestly don't remember where I was going when I wrote this, but I've got one more chapters lying in wait and will try to pick up from there if people are interested.

The drama kicks in.
We'll miss you Pierce.

Slivius

I don't own the game Tales of Symphonia btw.
© 2012 - 2024 Slivius
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