What could have been

Tales of Symphonia: Duel at Dawn

Chapter four: “This isn't a field trip you know.”

Lord Magister Leon was browsing through more of the merchandise. He was now paying attention to the name tags. He picked up a blade, which was formed in the shape of a circle, called a chakram, and then put it back down. He did the same with the sword that lay next to it, and the spear next to that one. They were all adorned with gems and gold, and had been taken out of the safe just for him. He then addressed the shopkeeper.

“I was wondering,” he seemed to be looking for the right words, “if you, perchance, are in the possession of something a bit more…” He took a brief pause, drew a breath, and then continued. “how do you say that?” he paused yet again, “pacifistic?”

There was a brief silence.

“Pacifistic?” repeated the shopkeeper dumbfounded. “Sir, with all due respect,” he sounded like he was telling someone that raw meat was potentially poisonous, “this is a weapon shop.”

Leon looked at him as if he had just said that rocks are made of stone. He decided that the shopkeeper was a moron, and that he wasn’t worth his time. He looked through the shop one more time. His eyes stopped when he saw a rather odd looking staff standing in the corner of the shop. It looked only vaguely familiar to him. It seemed to be made of wood, with a large, rectangular wooden shape at the top. It was adorned beautifully with the green fur of an exotic creature. Lord Magister Leon walked towards it graciously. The shopkeeper looked at him a bit skeptically as he did so.

“Why would you hide such a fine specimen in the corner of your establishment?” Leon said as he grabbed the staff and held it up in the air like he was casting a spell. It was quite light too.

The shopkeeper was now certain Lord Magister Leon was messing with him.

“That, sir, is because it is not a weapon.”

“Well, it ought to be.” Leon swung it around for a bit, barely missing the glass panels on which the more expensive weaponry was displayed. The shopkeeper visibly cringed.

“It is a deck brush, sir,” said the shopkeeper, now completely certain that Lord Magister Leon was in fact completely mad. He had trouble controlling his voice. He didn’t want to offend the man.

“Fascinating!” Leon said enthusiastically as he held the deck brush in both hands to get a good look at it. “What will they think of next?”

The front door of the shop slammed open. A man ran in, nearly jumping up and down from the adrenaline in his body. “Lord Magister Leon, Sir!” he shouted, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. “We’ve had a breakthrough, sir! We managed to synthesize an Awakener with Volt’s lightning, just like the manuscripts stated!”

Lord Magister Leon’s eyes lit up immediately. “Where is it?” he asked as he ran towards the door.

The shopkeeper couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation since Leon and his aide had ran off already. He walked towards the door of his shop, unsure of what just happened, and closed it. Then he walked back to his newspaper and continued reading. It would take another two days and three hours for him to notice his deck brush was gone.

--

Back at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Martel Temple, things were not as peaceful as in that faraway shop. Lloyd, Colette and Genis were running up the stairs. Lloyd three steps at a time, Colette one and Genis… Genis was falling behind. There was a lot of commotion at the top of the stairs. The closer they got to the top, the better they could make out the different noises. Wicked laughter, the cold “clank” of metal hitting more metal, an explosion and shards of a desperate conversation.

Finally, Lloyd reached the top of the stairs. He had to catch his breath while he looked around him. The temple had an old dome as a roof, and had round walls. At least that’s what it looked like from the outside. Ivy was growing on every visible wall. Lloyd wasn’t paying attention to the temple though. He was looking at the people in front of the temple. Colette had joined him moments later, and gasped in shock. The bodies of the priests were scattered all over the place.

The last surviving Iselian stood with her back to the chapel wall. She looked old and wrinkled, her hair almost grey. She was surrounded by, what Lloyd assumed to be three Desians. They all looked very much alike, since they were all wearing the same armor. They wore black leather suits, with red boots and shoulders. Their chests, toes and lower arms were covered in metal plating. A metal helmet covered their faces, completely hiding their identity.

Their leader looked taller and stronger than all three other Desians combined.

“I will ask you one last time. Where is the chosen?” his voice sounded severe. It was clear he was dead serious.

“Grandmother!” shouted Colette.

The old lady noticed Colette and Lloyd.

“Run Colette!”

The Desians turned around. One of the foot soldiers pointed his blade at the Chosen of Regeneration.

“Lord Botta! There she is!”

The taller man looked at Colette disdainfully.

“Chosen One, your life is mine!”

Lloyd stepped in front of Colette and drew his sword. “I won’t let you Desians get away with anything!”

One of the foot soldiers started laughing. One of the others murmered. “Desians?”

Genis had finally reached the top of the stairs. He was breathing heavily and was shocked by what he saw. “What’s so funny?” His voice was trembling.

“Well then,” continued the Desian, “die at the hands of the Desians you so hate.”

The other Desian was laughing so hard now that he had trouble staying on his feet.

“Get them!”

One of the Desians took a hand-sized metal sphere from his belt. Lloyd noticed how beautifully it was polished on the outside, and wondered how in Martel’s name they had been able to do that. The Desian grabbed the two halves of the sphere with one hand each, and turned them in opposite directions until he heard a clicking sound. He then threw it towards Colette as fast as he could.

“Duck!” screamed Phaidra as loud as she could.

Genis stepped backwards, lost his footing and stumbled down a few stairs.

Colette jumped to the left, and hit the ground with almost her entire body simultaneously.

Lloyd jumped the other way, as far as he could.

As soon as the metal sphere hit the ground, it exploded with such a deafening sound, that Colette thought that the world had stopped, if only for a brief moment. She looked to her side. The earth, where she had stood only moments earlier, was scorched. Behind it, Lloyd was moving his lips, as if he was screaming at her. Colette couldn’t actually hear him though. Lloyd was moving his arms violently, as if he was trying to signal her. She couldn’t make out the signals.

A shadow fell over her.

She quickly turned to the source of the shadow, and saw a tall man standing in front of her. Taller than the leader of the Desian group, Botta. Taller than Botta with a Desian sitting on his shoulders. This man was a giant. His helmet was like a regular Desian helmet, but huge, and tusked. His clothes were really tight and seemed three sizes too small. His weapons, were made to be brutal. In his one hand, a chain with a spiked ball at the end, which he was dragging over the ground behind him. In his other hand a hammer, the size of a regular human, and on his back, a sword of equal size.

Colette stared at the man. She was scared to death.

As the man lifted his hammer, Colette instinctively placed her chakrams and arms over her head and made herself small, somehow hoping he would not notice her, or at least miss her with his hammer.

“..o ..ot …g…t…our way!”

Her hearing was beginning to return at exactly the wrong moment.

As she looked up, she saw the hammer crashing down right towards her. Something purple blurred in front of her. A loud “clang” echoed around the temple. The hammer had changed directions and barely missed the Chosen, hitting the ground beside her with so much force the shaft snapped like a twig.

Colette looked up in amazement. The giant had fallen on his knees. Lloyd had gotten to his feet and was already close to Colette, when he had seen the purple something blur in front of Colette. He had wanted to jump in front of her and deflect the hammer, he just hadn’t been quick enough, and he knew that.

In front of Colette stood a man, wearing a purple outfit with a bad-ass muffler which seemed to be integrated into his normal outfit. It was also purple, and made of four pointed straps of cloth. His brownish red hair was waving dramatically in the wind, his red eyes locked with the helmet of the giant Desian.

“Get out of the way!” he said in a calm, low voice, as if the man in front of him was merely a nuisance. His sword slashed sideways towards the helmet of his opponent.

“Thunder Blade!” he shouted in a low voice as his sword hit the helmet. Lightning fell from the sky and hit the Desian head on.

The Desian shook violently and then got back to his feet again. The man tried to stab the Desian, but he evaded the attack just in time by stepping backwards.

“It’s not working…”

“Demon Fang!” A bluish white shockwave hit the giant from the side. Colette got to her feet. “Thanks Lloyd!”

Lloyd?

The giant grabbed the sword on his back and violently slashed it towards the man clad in purple, who evaded it easily by stepping to the side.

To be continued... or not?