Tales of Symphonia Story, Sylvarant Chronicles (1)

QUIZ START: You don't talk on the way back to Luin until Sheena asked you...
"Hey, I might be the only one here who doesn't know...but what did Kvar mean by 'And where do you think you got your wings'?" Everyone stopped and looked at you,
"..." you look at the ground nervously...you were hoping they wouldn't have to find out for a lot longer......
"...W-we don't know either." Genis said "We don't know about anything like that. Aura what did he mean?" you hang your head, and sigh.
"Well I--...I..." seeing no good way to explain this, you raise your mana, pushing it into your Exsphere, then back into you. Your sparkling silver wings burst from your back. Everyone jumped, Raine gasped.
"You have wings...too?!" asked Lloyd, staring in awe at the wings on your back.
"Yeah. I...I..." you trail off and sigh again.
"There beautiful!!" Colette commented,
"Colette, you have wings just like those!" Lloyd said.
"Oh yeah." she said with a sweat drop,
"...When did you find out you had...Angelic wings?" asked Kratos as you wings disappear, leaving only a few trace sparkles falling to the ground.
"I've...I've known ever since the day I ran away from Isealia." you then explained to them what happened.
"So that's how you got to Triet before us..." Raine mumbled,
"Sorry I never told you. It just slipped my mind." you explain,
"That's okay." Colette told you. "Now I'm not the only...almost angel."
"...." Kratos said nothing, although his eyes never left you. After a few more seconds he turned back to the group, and voiced, ".....We need to keep moving."
"Good idea." Raine agreed; and you all keep walking,
"Where did you get your wings from?" asked Sheena.
"I don't know. I got remember some blonde man. He said 'you will join me as an angel' or something like that...."
"Hm..." Kratos mumbled thoughtfully. But, you noticed, he...didn't look quite as surprised as the others when your wings appeared.

That night, at the campfire, everyone had taken off there Exspheres and looked at them. Kratos, however, merely stood by and watched. No one noticed, you were gone...
"I can't believe Exspheres are made from human lives..." Sheena murmured, looking down at the stone in her hand,
"This is Marbles life..." Genis agreed, his eyes filled with sadness while he looked at his Exsphere.
"Arrgh!! This...thing!" Lloyd yelled as he yanked his exsphere off the back of his hand,
"Lloyd, wait. What will you accomplish by taking that off?" Colette asked "It's not just an Exsphere, it's also your mothers life, remember?"
"But these...things make a mockery of human life." Lloyd groaned
"But we would have lost long ago, had we not had them." Kratos reminded him, his tone not quiet as hard as normal,
"Don't you think I know that?!" Lloyd demanded sourly, glaring at him,
"Do you really?" Kratos countered, retaining his softened tone, "If you throw away that Exsphere now, do you think you can finish this journey?"
"...Yeah I know. Without these things were just a bunch of weak humans. We can fight because we have these. I know that." Lloyd agreed reluctantly, "But Exspheres exist as a result of taking someone's life!!"
"And. Those people didn't become victims because they wanted to." Kratos told him bitterly, not liking the idea either, "But I doubt they would want to be thrown away after being turned into Exspheres."
"My opinion may not matter much because I don't use an exsphere." Colette voiced, "But I believe the Desians Will defeat us if we throw away the Exspheres now. And if that happens more people will loose there lives to these stones. I don't want that to happen. I don't want this journey to be meaningless."
"Colette's right." the Mercenary agreed, "We can throw away the Exspheres at any time. But right now we must carry the weight of the hopes and dreams of those victims, and fight for there sake, as well as ours... Didn't you say you weren't going to hesitate any more?"
"Yeah.... I hate to say it, but you're right." Lloyd agreed, giving his Exsphere a determined glare, "Moms regrets and wishes dwell in this thing. To prevent creating more victims like Marble and my mom, I'm going to help Colette. I will fight for both myself and my mom, who lives on within me."
"Yeah, me too. I'm going to fight on Marbles behalf as well." Genis agreed.
"Me to! I'm going to regenerate the world as quickly as I can!" Colette said.
"People are sinful creatures. Life survives at the cost of another. Then we must continue to bear the burden of our sins for as long as we continue to live." Raine voiced sadly,
"Life survives at the cost of another...I don't really know how to say this, but I don't think theres a way to justify the lives sacrificed to make Exspheres," Sheena told them "They have to be stopped at all costs."

Then Colette seemed to notice something, looking around the fire.
"Hey, wheres Aura?" everyone too realized that she wasn't present.
"She's not here." Raine agreed, looking around.
"We have to look for her--" Lloyd started,
"No," Kratos told him "Aura couldn't have wandered far. All of us searching for her would be a waste of effort."
"Wh-wha...!?" asked the boy,
"I'll go." the Mercenary said, "You all stay here. Understood?"
"But...well..." Lloyd grumbled, "...ok..." the Mercenary turned and left.

You were sitting by a part of the lake surrounding Luin. You pull of your Exsphere, and look at it *I can't keep this. This...thing!! I don't even know whose life was sacrificed for this...* you hold your hand over the water. All you have to do is turn your hand, or even tilt it to the side, and this Exsphere would be gone; down to the bottom of the lake...forever.
"I-I..." you admit aloud... "...Can't do it..."

You pull your hand back, and look sadly at the Exsphere resting safely in your palm,
"I know I don't stand a chance without this...no matter how much I hate it..."

You sit there, thinking, when you heard the soft sound of footsteps in the grass, gradually growing slightly louder. Someone was walking over to you, probably finally noticing that you were missing. You acted like you didn't notice they were coming, and just stare in the reflective blue water. Soon, you saw a blurry reflection come into view slightly behind your left side. Because the water was running you couldn't see features, but you did see purple.
"...Aura." you glance back.
"...Kratos...what is it?" you ask softly.
"...You left. And didn't tell anyone where you were going." he informed you gently,
"...I'm sorry..." you mumble, eyes downcast, before you turned back to the lake. Kratos noted your mood, and the state of almost depression that you had slipped into since you all left the ranch.
"...Would you mind if I sat down?" he asked *...?* you wonder *He's asking...?*
"N-no...not at all." he walked to your side, and sat next to you on the edge of the river. You both sat in silence together, just staring at the water. Something inside wanted to talk, wanted to tell Kratos what you wouldn't tell the others...like you thought he would understand...
"I..." you start slowly, Kratos looked at you,
"...mm...?" he mumbled, telling you he would listen.
"I just..." you start, you hold your knees to your chest "...That had to be a lie."
"...You mean about what Kvar said?" the Mercenary asked,
"It had to be fake...!" you insist weakly, not even sure if you believed your own words, "But...what if he's right?"
"...What if he's not?" Kratos countered calmly.
"...Maybe..." you agree.

The Mercenary glanced back over his shoulder at the glow coming from the campfire.
"..." but he said nothing. He was going to wait for you, wait till you were ready to go back.
"..." you sighed quietly, squeezing your hand tightly around your Exsphere, still looking at the water.
"...Its getting late..." Kratos advised, looking up at the star-filled sky. You look to him, and then look up in the sky,
"...Do you see Polaris...?" you ask. You didn't see his sudden falter at your question, or hear his sudden intake of breath. But you did notice when he didn't answer you, "...Kratos...?" you ask.
"..." he glanced at you briefly, before he looked back up at the sky, "...hm..." he searched around the sky, you didn't think he could find the star, but wasn't willing to admit it. You smile softly, and look back up.

KRATOS' POV: You were sitting next to Aura near the river outside of Luin, she fell silent. You glance over one shoulder to the campfire; the orange glow penetrated the black night.
"..." but still, you said nothing. You wanted to wait, wait until she was ready to go back... a lot had happened to her today. Aura sighed quietly, squeezing the Exsphere in her hand tightly, still looking at the water. Even if she wasn't ready to go back yet, she needed to rest...
"...Its getting late..." you advise gently, looking at the star-filled sky. It was almost painful for your heart as you remembered when Aura had showed you where all of the constellations were....that long time ago..... out of the corner of your eye, you see her look at you, then up at the sky.
"...Do you see Polaris...?" she asked softly. You gasped quietly, faltering suddenly. That question...she asked you that exact same question before. You didn't open your mouth to answer, not sure if you would say something wrong. She didn't notice your falter, or hear your gasp, but she did notice your silence "...Kratos...?"
"..." you glance at her briefly, before looking back at the sky. Finally regaining your composure, you mumble "...hm..." you couldn't point out anything in particular in the night sky tonight...it had been a long time since Aura practically forced you to learn the constellations... But you said nothing, still trying to find the star...not willing to admit you had lost another part of the memories you held dear. *Dammit...* you curse mentally, annoyed, *How hard is it to find one star...!?* out of the corner of your eye, you see Aura smile softly at your determination, before looking back up.
"There." she told you, pointing up towards one of the brighter stars over your head. *...*
"...Ah..." you agree softly "...I see..." Aura giggled quietly as she lowered her arm to her side. Most likely laughing at your reluctance to admit that you, a 'Traveling Mercenary', couldn't find the North Star...

YOUR POV: "There," you say, pointing to a star,
"...Ah..." he agreed softly "...I see..." you giggle quietly, lowering your arm back to your side. You sigh quietly again,
"...Should we go back?" you ask.
"...Probably..." Kratos agreed, standing. He offered a hand, you take it, and he helped you to your feet,
While walking back, he asked,
"...What are you going to do about your Exsphere?"
"...I don't like it." you tell him, "And I don't feel right using it. But I know if I throw it away now...I wouldn't stand a chance."
"...You seem to understand that better than Lloyd did."
"...But he knows...he knows whose life is in his Exsphere..." you look at yours again.
"I don't, either. Neither do Raine or Sheena." Kratos reminded you.
"...Hm...You're right... But as soon as the journey is over, I'm getting rid of this thing. And I'm going to learn to fight without needing this to boost my skill." you say, determined.
"...A nice goal, I suppose." he agreed; you put the stone back in place on the back of your hand. When you get back to camp you all talk a little more, then every one goes to sleep.

In the morning, Sheena tells every one about a man named Pietro who lives in Hima. And about how he escaped from the ranch.
"So we're going to Hima...?" you ask. She nodded,
"Yup. Thats where I took Pietro when I help him." she responded.
"Alright." Lloyd agreed "Off to Hima it is, then."