Tales of Symphonia Story, Tethe'alla Chronicles (3)

QUIZ START: You started the Rheaird's engine, hoping Yuan wouldn't catch up to you. For some reason though yours wouldn't take off, and Lloyd and the others were already far ahead of you. Tears streamed from your eyes as your heartbeat accelerated.
"No... It can't end like this! Why am I so important, Yuan?!"

Yuan had just entered the hanger, Botta with him. But the blue-haired half-elf froze in his tracks, while his subordinate continued. Botta knocked you off of your Rheaird with a hard blow to your side,
"A-hh!!" you yelp, hitting the floor hard. Botta had hit a pressure point in your side, leaving you unable to coordinate your movements for a short while,
"!" Yuan gasped softly, suddenly feeling something in his stomach clench at seeing you hurt. Botta picked you up, disregarding your pain, and carried you towards Yuan, dropping you by his feet,
"Remain silent if you wish to--" he began,
Yuan held up his hand, and spoke levelly to his subordinate,
"Botta, you're dismissed." the half-elf ordered.
"S-Sir...?" the subordinate asked, confused.
"You're Dismissed." he repeated, lowering his hand.
"...Yes, sir..." Botta agreed. Then the grey haired half-elf left. Leaving you on the floor, with your side in pain, and the Renegade leader standing over you; not surprisingly enough, you felt scared. And now you were left completely at his mercy.

Yuan kneeled down next to you, and carefully rested a hand on your side.
"Hold still." he told you softly. A pale green light came from his hand, and your side slowly stopped hurting *? Why is he...healing me?* you think, watching him. Not only was this confusing but...he was healing you, while his own side was wrapped up in bandages. The Renegade leader kept his eyes focused on his hand, and your side; purposely avoiding your gaze. When he pulled his hand away, your side was healed.
"...Th-thank you." you murmur, pushing yourself into a sitting position, still confused as to why he helped you. Yuan shifted his gaze to your face, and stared at you seriously.
"You do look resemble him...faintly... I wonder why I didn't notice it before...? Asakura, huh?" then he continued, almost as though he didn't care if what he was currently saying was confusing you, "Yggdrasill really did mess up your memories. To think that jealously could stretch so far... You're not the only one having headaches and flashbacks."

You stared at him timidly; a few bits of what he said did make sense... before you looked away. An awkward silence fell over the hanger; you break it by asking,
"...What are you talking about?" Yuan paused for a second, before answering.

"Did you ever feel like... you were trying to find a part of your heart? That something or someone was missing from you?" he asked.
"Maybe..." you admit, "I thought it was Kra-..." Yuan chuckled lightly, shaking his head, thus causing you to turn your attention back to him
"No... Kratos did--maybe...love you... but...." he trailed off, before saying, "He's not...what you've been searching for. Otherwise you'd no longer feel like you were still trying to find that part of your heart." As an afterthought he mumbled, "Asakura... hmm..."

You whispered almost inaudibly,
"...you're right..." then you ask, more loudly "How is Lloyd in all of this? Let alone me? And why do you keep mumbling my last name?" when a thought suddenly poked at your mind *Kratos...there...there was something about his life... About a Summon Spirit and...and his life?*
"...Because it isn't 'your' last name. It's 'our' last name. Or at least our fathers... To think that... that Yggdrasill went so far as to hide my half-sister from my memories... just as you ran away from yours.... But, I would imagine you probably found a way to seal the memories of me the deepest...along with him... Meaning it will be sometime before you remember me, fully..." Yuan explained, then paused,
"H...how...?"
"Our father, a human, married an elf woman, my mother." Yuan explained, "Then... after I was born... he had another relationship with a human woman, his mistress. Your mother. You see now?"
"...." you lower your eyes slightly, and he could tell by your expression that you were thinking. He closed his eyes, and took a slow breath, before continuing, eyes still closed,
"Now, as for Lloyd... He is--...On second thought," he shook his head, "...I'm getting ahead of myself." he decided, changing his mind mid-sentence.
"So..." you ask slowly , still looking at Yuan, "Kratos knew this all along, and just didn't tell us? And he..." you pause for a second, and ask weakly, "He...he really doesn't care about...me?"
"To the first question, yes. He did." Yuan responded flatly, seemingly annoyed at Kratos for not saying anything to either you or him about being siblings. "But for the second...That... is mere speculation. I thought you meant something...that you meant a great deal to him, by how defensive and protective he was of you... But the words he spoke..." Yuan trailed off when your expression became crestfallen.

'And Aura... she began to show feelings for me, and I merely copied them. Simple.' His words stung as you recalled them, your stomach churning at the thought of it,
Kratos had deceived and used you.
"Why does my heart shake at his name?" you whisper, not even sure why you were asking Yuan, "Why can't I see that he betrayed me? Why...?"

"Because you can't let him go." Yuan told you gently, "Your heart doesn't want to. Just like you couldn't let him go before you ran."
"B-before ran? You mean I--..." you put a hand on your forehead, screwing your eyes shut when your head ached. You remembered what Kvar had taunted about how you disappeared...you remembered running from something... Yuan's expression softened; before he sighed, and rested a hand on your shoulder. You look at him, pulling your hand from your forehead.
"This is too much for you at one time..." he told you gently, "Come, I need you to see something." he stood, and began to walk back to the hanger door, he added, "But...I suppose... If you wanted to rest first, that would be alright." You stood as well, but don't follow him.
"...No." you say.
"What?" Yuan asked, turning back,
"I-...I'm not sure if I...believe you. Please forgive me Yuan...I'm sorry." you run to the Rheaird, starting the motor, and kicking the vehicle roughly. This time, the engine started with a roar, and soared out of the base.

Yuan watched Aura fly away, a gust of wind blowing through the open doors, his cape whipping behind him, and his hair blowing from in front of his right eye.

His left eye was blue. His right eye was silver. Just like Aura's.

Botta burst into the hanger again. Yuan didn't move.
"Lord Yuan, we have detected the final Rheaird leaving--"
"Aura. She Left." Yuan told him, watching his half-sisters Rheaird get smaller,
"Hm...I see. I'll have some men follow her, and bring her back as--"
"No, Botta."
"Sir?"
"Let her go. For now. We'll get Aura back when we retrieve Lloyd."
"Understood, sir." Botta said, then left. Yuan stayed in the hanger. Aura's Rheaird was almost gone.

Another gust of dry, desert wind swept through the hanger. The Renegade leader didn't move an inch, his arms by his sides. His cape billowing behind him, his hair whipping. He watched her till she disappeared into the dimensional rift. Yuan's expression hardened severely as he stared at the empty dessert. His hands balled into a tight fists *Kratos...you bastard...How could you do this to her?* Yuan thought, eyes narrowing dangerously, and teeth gritting. His arms shook from how hard he was clenching his fists *She loved you... You broke my sisters heart. I swear, you're going to pay.* Yuan turned on his heel, and left the room, determined to find Kratos.

You soar through the tear in the dimensions. The air felt thick and heavy, it was almost hard to breathe, this strange sensation...felt familiar. Soon you burst through the portal, into the Tethe'alla skies.

You soared over small islands, and a huge ocean; until you finally found yourself over a continent. You flew over a vast forest, and see mountains in the distance.
Your head began to hurt... You were getting memories back. You had been here before.
A snowy city...
A deep gorge...
A large, magnificent city...
A frightening, dark dungeon...
It was like in the Tower of Salvation. *No-- No! Not now...I have to find Lloyd and the others first!* you think, squinting your yes, and ignoring the pain.

The mountains in the distance are now closer, and you can see them better. A red light, a warning light, on your Rheaird started flashing, a buzzer beeping when the light flashed to signal your attention. But you could barely see what it was because your head was pounding so hard,
"Guess...its t-time...to jump..." you murmur, sweat dripping down your face, and a hand clamped firmly on your pounding head. You jump from your Rheaird, forcing your Mana to skyrocket; your wings burst from your back as your Rheaird sailed away. You do your best to control your glide towards the ground, however you were too weak to stay up for long. You can't see straight or clearly, however you could tell you were falling when the wind flowing past you began to feel faster and faster.
A dark, foreboding forest...
A floating city...
A deep mine...
A grand, huge bridge...

Falling from this height would kill you; however your body froze in response to the fall.
Snow white ground was coming closer and closer...
You heard someone scream your name, and the sound of glass shattering.
*I...can't let myself fall...* you think dazed. Despite your best battles to stay awake, you began to loose consciousness. Just before you fell unconscious you saw a flash of royal blue; strong arms came around you, and the wind blowing against you stopped. You slip from consciousness, left completely at the mercy of your mystery rescuer.
Memories, hundreds of them, pounded through your head. You saw those same cities over and over again, different things happening in each city every time you saw them. The cities began to fly by your vision in a whirlwind, you couldn't see any of them clearly. Voices, lots of them, screaming in your ears so loudly that you couldn't understand any of them.

Lloyd and the others crashed into the Fooji Mountains,
"W-wh...where are we?" Then Sheena explained what's going on, and what the deal is like in Tethe'alla. When, Lloyd noticed. "Hey, wait a minute. Something isn't right..."
"What?" asked Genis.
"...Where's Aura?" asked Lloyd looking around,
"I don't see her." Sheena worried. Their searching became frantic,
"Oh no..." Raine said, looking to the sky. "I saw her falling behind. Her Rheaird, I think it... I think it malfunctioned...!"
"But that means she's still in Sylvarant!" Genis exclaimed,
"In Sylvarant...and still in the Renegade base!" Lloyd yelled, running to the edge "Dammit! We have to go back!" he exclaimed,
"We can't! The Rheairds don't have any power!" Genis told him,
"Hey, what's that?" asked Sheena.
"What?!" Lloyd demanded, angered by the fact that Sheena got so easily distracted.
"That!" she pointed to something. Something... was soaring through the sky, to them.

It was another Rheaird.

The machine crashed into the side of the mountain; but there wasn't anyone there to pilot it,
"That must have been Aura's Rheaird..." Raine said, "She must have made it here..."
"But where is she?!" asked Genis, "Her Rheaird is empty!" There wasn't anyone near the Rheaird...And the sky all around them was empty,
"Don't worry. She can fly, remember?" Sheena assured, there was uneasiness in her voice. She was trying to reassure herself that Aura would be fine.
"She's probably near here. Let's go!" Raine exclaimed. They all start heading down the mountain, when they see something sparkling on the path ahead of them.

Something silver.
"Is that...?" asked Lloyd. They all quickly rush down the pathway, stumbling occasionally in their hopeful rush, to where the sparkle had come from. And they were right. It was Aura, she was lying on the ground, but had no indication of falling. Her beautiful, angelic wings sparkling on her back. She looked ill; her complexion was pale, and the only movement she made was her breathing.
"Aura--!" For that time, Lloyd and the others didn't care about how Aura got here, or what took her so long to make it....they were just worried about what was wrong with her.