Tales of Symphonia Story, Sylvarant Chronicles (1)

**yes, this will probably take a while for me to get all......120+ stories over here, but I'm working on it. Just try to be patient. I'll do a couple chapters a day, so it should be done uh...eventually XD

QUIZ START: Lloyd sneezed loudly and woke up.
"Come on Lloyd!"
"Huh? Oh, right." He stands up and you start to turn the door knob "Oh, Aura!" he called you stop, and look back
"Yeah?"
"It's gonna take me longer than I thought to make keys for your locket."
"It's ok." He gave it back to you and you both walk out of the room. "Lets go." And you head out of town, Lloyd checks the map he had purchased before hand.
"Ok. We're headed for the 'Ossa Trail' right?"
"Yeah." Genis confirmed,
"Ok. Its that way--!" Kratos quickly snatched the map from his hands, "H-hey!"
"Lloyd, you were pointing back towards the entrance to the dessert." the Mercenary told him, while flipping the map over. "And, for future reference, maps aren't normally read upside-down." *Kratos can come down on Lloyd pretty hard...* you think, a small sweat drop sliding down the back of your head. *I know Lloyds not that bright... we all do, but Kratos is just making it obvious...*
"Oh...I-I knew that!" Kratos just shook his head, and looked at the map,
"The entrance to the trail should be along that rock face." he motioned to a distant chain of mountains with a nod, "From what the map says, it looks like it will be quite a walk to get there."
"Well, lets get going." you suggest. The Mercenary folded the map, and held it out for Lloyd to take. The boy quickly snatched it away, and stuffed it in his pocket, while grumbling and glaring at him. Kratos, however, was already walking off, so he didn't notice. After a little over 2 hours of walking, you see a break in the rocks, and grass was pouring around the entrance. That was it. The Ossa Trail.
"Man this is a big change. Sandy and desolate, to green, and grassy." you say, while entering the trail along with everyone else
"Des...olant?" asked Lloyd. You get an anime sweat drop.
"Never mind."

After a vote, you all decide to just sit and relax a little before hiking up the trail. You sat comfortably in the shade of some rocks that jutted from the ground near the paths entrance. Lying back on the grass, you fold your arms behind your head, and look at the clear blue sky above you. Noishe sat down next to you, and you sat up, scratching in between his large ears. You watched as Kratos sat, legs folded, eyes closed. He was probably meditating. *Meditating...maybe I should try that sometime...* but you decided you couldn't now, your mind was too full of questions for you to be able to clear it enough to meditate. Lloyd walked over to the Mercenary,
"Hey, Kratos." he asked.
"..." the man was absolutely silent, and didn't do so much as bat an eyelash.
"Kratos...!!" Lloyd insisted "Hey!! I want to talk to you!!" *We can all see that Lloyd...* you think. Noishe rested his large head in your lap comfortably, making a soft whining noise. You laugh lightly at the big dog, and continue to scratch his head. Lloyd put a hand right in front of Kratos' face, and snapped his fingers loudly. You're expecting him to flinch or something...but nothing happened, nothing changed in the Mercenaries features. The brunette-haired boy glared at Kratos, before going around behind him. He squatted down behind the Mercenary, almost appearing as though he was going to pounce.
"What is...?" you murmur. When Lloyd launched himself at Kratos "!" but in the blink of an eye, the Mercenary took on of the boys wrists, and flipped him over. He landed hard on his back with a loud 'thud'.
"....oww...." Lloyd groaned.
"Don't Sneak Up On Me." Kratos told him bluntly, releasing his wrist.
"What the hell was that for...!?" Lloyd demanded, sitting up. You heard the faint 'pop' that issued from his back.
"I was meditating," the Mercenary responded simply, "And you interrupted me."
"I wanted to talk to you..." Lloyd grumbled, standing and rubbing his back. It popped a few more times, each time you winced a little.
"...I'm not in the mood." Kratos announced plainly. Lloyd stomped off towards the entrance of the Trail, leaving the Mercenary alone. But after a little while you heard Colette calling that it was time to go. Noishe stood, and ran after Lloyd, and you walked over to Kratos.
"Kratos?" you ask "Kratos...??" he wasn't responding. You sigh *Will I have to do what Lloyd did....?? I hope not...* deciding on taking a different approach, you move to put a hand on his shoulder, but in the blink of an eye he caught your hand "-!" you hadn't seen him move, leaving you startled momentarily,
"...What is it?" he asked, almost sounding annoyed,
"I-its time to go. Come on." you ask as he released your hand.
"..." he sighed, before opening his eyes and standing. "...Alright." then you both walk to catch up with the others.

The 'Ossa Trail' was just a poorly kept path in between 2 opposing rock faces. After about 5 minutes of walking through tight spaces, you wind up in an open spot. You guys are about to continue up the trail, when you hear
"Stop!!" and a girl, dressed in light purple with a pink obi around her waist jumped off the top of one of the cliffs, landing cleanly on the ground. She almost looked like a Ninja.
"Is she a friend of yours Lloyd?" asked Colette.
"Not that I'm aware of...Aura?" Lloyd asked, looking to you.
"I don't think so..." you mutter. You were standing sort of behind Colette, next to Kratos. No one seemed to recognize this girl.
"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" asked the girl.
"Oh, yeah!" Colette said "I'm--"
"You!" the woman exclaimed, turning to you. You got a '?'mark,
"Me...?"
"Aura...?" asked everyone else at once, looking at you. Although Kratos didn't say anything; a '?'mark appeared above his head, but that was all.
"Don't try to play dumb!!" she told you, clearly mad, "Chosen of Mana!!" you got an '!'mark,
"Wh-wha--?! No! Its not me--!" you say, taking a step back. Elongated cards of some sort appeared in her hands, and she got in a battle stance,
"Prepare to die!!" she ran at you, most likely with every intention of killing you. You took another step back, but you put your foot down on a patch of loose gravel; the small, unstable rocks under your foot slid, and caused you to loose your balance.
"W-waa--!" you fell back on your ass. "Ow--!" *Man...* you think. Kratos put a hand on his sword handle, taking a step in front of you, he began to draw his sword; Colette started to run in your way as well,
"Wait! Aura isn't the---ops!!" she slipped, falling on her face. After she landed both of her legs flew up behind her, and one of her heels hit the large red orb that topped a switch near a small door in the ground. The woman happened to be right over the door when it opened.

"Uh-oh..." you all say at once, while a '...' appeared above Kratos' head. The woman fell down the hole, landing with a loud thud.
"O-oh no!" Colette exclaimed worriedly, scrambling to the side of the opening and looking down. "What should I do? I did it again..." Genis and Lloyd joined Colette, both of them peering into the dark hole as well.
"You don't need to worry about it." Raine voiced "If she hadn't fallen in, she may have killed Aura; apparently thinking that she was the Chosen. Then she probably would have come after you, Colette." Colette started fretting over whether or not she would be ok. Kratos turned to you,
"Aura," he asked "Are you alright?" you nod in response,
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." the Mercenary offered a hand; you take it, and he helped you get back to your feet. You dusted yourself off, the fall not hurting you too badly. The Mercenary walked farther ahead on the trail, not saying another word,
"??? Gravity...constant? I don't know what you just said," Lloyd told Genis, referring to his complicated explanation "But she's alive, right?"
"Probably." the little elf decided. Lloyd looked back to the hole, as you walk over to join them. You couldn't see all the way down to the bottom.
"Still," the brunette said "Man, she’s got some bad luck. Standing right on top of a trapdoor and all."

"Its not a trap," Professor Raine corrected, joining you all at the edge of the hole "Its a hidden maintenance passage for the mountain path."
"Maintenance?" you asked
"Mm." she confirmed, nodding "A mine runs deep into this mountain, but it has been closed for some time now."
"Where's the exit?" asked Lloyd,
"Hm..." Raine mumbled thoughtfully "If I had to guess, I would say its probably closer to the Izlood-side of the Ossa Trail..." you look back down the hole *...Maybe we'll see her again.*
"...We should get moving." Kratos voiced. He was waiting farther ahead along the pathway.
"Hey!" Lloyd argued "Shouldnt we try to find out who that woman was?"
"She will come after us again on her own." Kratos told him. "This area is confined, and the footing is poor. It would be wise not to linger. And she may continue, under her false assumption, thinking that Aura is the Chosen." a small sweat drop slunk down the back of your head *Why do people think that IM the Chosen...?!* you wonder.

"Aura," Colette said, standing and turning to you.
"Huh? What is it Colette?"
"I'm sorry." she apologized,
"Eh?" you ask, tilting your head to one side.
"That woman was supposed to be trying to kill me. But she came after you instead. If this trap door wasn't here you could have been killed." she explained. "Its my fault that she put you in danger..." you tuck the tip of your middle finger behind your thumb.
"Colette." you say, raising your hand. Just as she raised her head, you let your middle finger slide from behind your thumb, and you flicked her square in the middle of her forehead.
"Ow...?" she exclaimed, more from surprise than actually feeling pain. She put a hand over her forehead, and looked at you confused. So did everyone else.
"Stop thinking everything is your fault, ok?" you ask. "Even if you hadn't fallen, or even if that door wasn't there, Kratos was about to interfere anyway. I'm sure I would have been fine."
"But..." she asked, lowering her hand, you flicked her in the forehead again "--!" she replaced her hand on her head,
"Every time you do that, I'll flick your forehead," you tell her. "Every time you start thinking everything is your fault. Got it?"
"..." she was confused as to what you meant.
"I don't care if people think I'm the Chosen. Even though it is getting a little annoying." you tell her "Besides, if assassins like her think that I'm the Chosen, it means you'll be safer; doesn't it?" Colette smiled one of her friendly smiles.
"...Your right," she agreed "Thank you, Aura." you nod in response, smiling to.
"Okay," Lloyd voiced "Now that thats settled, lets get moving." and everyone agreed.

The hike up was about 30 minutes, and then the hike down was reaching about 10. When you reach a flat area with a large, old, poorly made wall of boards blocking the entrance to what looked like a mine shaft. *Maybe that leads to where that woman fell...* you ponder.

You continue past the makeshift wall without so much as a second glance, when a loud creaking cuts through the silence. The wall fell, and that girl from before was standing there,
"S-stop!" she ordered. Lloyd got a sweat-drop
"Hey, she caught up with us!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" said Colette, taking a step forward.
"D-don't move!" she ordered, sounding a little embarrassed.
"A wise decision." Raine agreed.
"...I wont be caught of guard this time, prepare to die!" said the girl, and she attacked; summoning a 'Guardian: Wind' to her side.

But, you soon win.
"Darn it! I'll get you next time!" she cursed, then she disappeared in a puff of smoke,
"Wait!" exclaimed Lloyd, running toward where she was standing. But when the smoke cleared, no one was there. "Why are people trying to kill us?"
"There are always those that reject salvation." Kratos told him,
"Maybe she's a Desian." Genis voiced,
"Who knows?" the Mercenary responded. "At any rate, we are in constant danger. Thats all we need to know."
"We didn't even have time to tell her that Aura wasn't the Chosen." Lloyd added.
"Oh well..." you agree.
"...Those cloths..." Raine muttered.
"Professor Raine?" you asked.
"Professor, is something wrong?" Lloyd agreed.
"...No." she responded "Its nothing. Lets go."
"Yeah," the brunette agreed "Anyway, lets look for a place where we can get a ship." Then you all go to the small town of Izlood. (I don't wanna type everything that happened) You get a ride to the city of Palmacosta, a forced ride.

While walking into town Collette accidentally bumped into some1, and it caused them to drop a potion. The glass bottle shattered and its contents spilt on the stone path.
"What was that for?!" exclaimed the girl.
"I'm sorry." Colette apologized.
"Hey lady," started a guy that was with her. "That was-" when he seemed to notice you. He stopped mid-sentenced, "Hello lovely." he greeted grabbing your hand. "What are you doing with these losers?"
"Hey!" Lloyd growled
"...Let go of me." you ask,
"Aw, c'mon!" he said "Don't be so --ow!" Kratos grabbed his wrist, squeezing firmly.
"...I believe she asked you to let go." the Mercenary told him. He continued to squeeze his wrist tighter and tighter, his hand turned paler and paler as the circulation was cut off more and more; until he finally released your hand. Once he had released you, Kratos let go, and the guy quickly rushed back to his friends, rubbing his bruised wrist.
"That was a very valuable potion lady!" another guy told Colette, paying no mind to what Kratos had done.
"How do you plan on making up for this?" said the girl that Colette bumped into,
"Awww. Get over it. Its just a potion." Lloyd told them,
"Why you...Do you even know who we are?!" she demanded,
"I doubt we would care either way." Kratos responded. The girl glared at all of you,
"Stop, its ok. I'll buy a replacement potion." Colette pleaded, stopping the argument.
"You really think that's gonna be enough?" the girl demanded,
"Yeah!!" agreed the guy that had hit on you "You're gonna have to pay extra for what that big lug did to me!!"
"..." Kratos' expression didn't change at all. You couldn't help glaring at the guy, mad at how he insulted your friend *At least Kratos is in shape...* you think, insulting how the person in question was in less-than-perfect-shape.
"You had it coming." Raine told him.
"No kidding..." you agree softly.

"Stop. Everyone, please." Colette asked. "I'll buy a new one." the girl she had run into agreed reluctantly to her proposal. And you go to by another 'Palma Potion'. The main shop for it was closed, so you had to go to the regular 'Items Shop'...but you saw the name.... The Items Shop was named 'Marbles'. Your heart stopped for a second, remembering Marble from the human ranch in Isealia *Th-....this shop owner...* you think *C-could they be related to...? No...Marble was all the way in Isealia!* you assure yourself *Theres a human ranch near here... she would have been taken to that one... they wouldn't bother taking one old woman from Palmacosta all the way over to Isealia...would they....?* you wonder.
"Hello...? Aura?" asked Lloyd
"W-what?" you ask. He was waiting in the doorway; everyone else was already inside,
"Come on."
"O-oh yeah...! Coming!" you assure, jogging in after him.
After buying a Palma Potion, a pretty reasonably priced one, at that, you all finally replace the potion.