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

QUIZ START: The air in the mine was cool and stale as you walked in. A small tinge of pain trickled through your head, but you hardly felt it; you must not have been here for very long...if you were ever here at all, anyway... However, everyone quickly noticed that the main door to the mine was...shut. From the looks it appeared to have intricate mechanics and workings,
"Wow! So this is that sealed mine!" Zelos exclaimed, "It sure looks like it might house a ghost or two, dont you think? Hmm?"
"Argh!" Sheena fumed, turning on Zelos, "Will you just be quiet for a little while?!"
"Whats with you?" asked the Chosen, "Don't get mad, Sheena."
"...This isn't good." Regal commented, gravely.
"What's wrong, Regal?" asked Lloyd, looking towards him,
"The doors guard system is out of control." he explained,
"I'm going to guess by the way your talking, that..." you say "The guard system going out of control is a bad thing?"
"Yes. Someone must have destroyed it when trying to force their way through." he explained,
"Then let's bust it up even more!" Lloyd suggested,
"That's our Lloyd!" Zelos complimented "That's an easy to understand plan!"
"Yeah. I'm fine with that, too." Sheena agreed,
"Well...If it gets us into the Mine, then I guess..." you comment.
"Well, if Lloyd says so, it's fine with me." Colette agreed.
"...Are you sure?" asked Genis "Don't blame me if this goes wrong."
"...Honestly!" Professor Raine exclaimed.
"Genis, you start out. Hit it with a big electric attack! Zelos, you help too." Lloyd instructed,
"Makes sense, I guess." the redheaded Chosen commented,
"Alright. If you say so..." the little elf agreed.

After a grueling battle, you finally succeeded in busting the door open. You saw to healing Sheena's wounds once the door had finally opened,
"Okay, good work everyone!" Zelos complimented, "Now, let's go get that whatchamacallit."
"Inhibitor ore!" Genis corrected.
"Yeah, that! Come on, let's go!"
"There; how do you feel now?" you ask, your healing done,
"Good as new. Thanks." Sheena smiled at you as you two stood.
"They're so violent..." Regal commented as everyone proceeded into the mine,
"Did you say something?" you ask as Sheena followed the others,
".......No." he responded, "Come on. We need to catch up to the others."
"Right."

Upon getting inside you found an interesting series of puzzles and various other traps,
"What the hell is with this place?!" Lloyd demanded after barely dodging a boulder that came thundering after him,
"These traps were set up to prevent intruders that managed to get past the security system." Regal explained,
"There's gotta be some way to turn them off, right?" Sheena asked,
"Most likely." Regal agreed, "We just have to find it."
"Then let's get looking! I'm sick of these things!" Zelos whined.

After safely deactivating all of the traps and navigating through the mine, you wind up at a bridge that lead to a small area where many crates were stacked. A huge waterfall was thundering down on the left side of the bridge. After crossing...
"This is the inhibitor ore mining area." Regal confirmed,
"So which one is inhibitor ore?" asked Lloyd, looking at all of the crates,
"Hmm...let's search this area." he suggested, "There may be some left over in the wooden boxes."
"Oh please, I'm not going through all those boxes!" Zelos whined "Let's just blow them all up."
"B-blow them up...?" you ask,
"Sure!" the redhead smiled, "Ores are tough stuff, they can handle an explosion or two, right?"
"I agree!" Lloyd said eagerly, finding the bomb-function of the Sorcerers Ring to be particularly fun. Once most of the crates had been destroyed Lloyd found a blackish ore on the ground, he picked it up curiously, and showed it to Regal.
"This is inhibitor ore." Regal confirmed,
"We did it, Lloyd. Now we can save Presea." Colette cheered enthusiastically,
"Yeah. All I need to do now is prepare this." Lloyd nodded,
"How long will that take?" asked Regal,
"To be honest, only a dwarf could do it right." Lloyd admitted, "But if I carve the charm directly into this, I think it'll serve in place of a Key Crest. If that's all right, I can make it right away. Wait just a little bit."
"Sure thing." Zelos nodded.

All of you basically sat around the area for around an hour, waiting. Once an hour was up, Lloyd had finished,
"...I think this will do." he said, "Later, once Presea has returned to her normal self, let's have Dad or Altessa make a real one."
"I understand." Regal nodded, "Then, let's return. It is unbearable to leave Presea in that house steeped with the stench of death."
"Yeah." Lloyd agreed. It was easier to leave the Mine now that all of the traps were set off.

But, just before you get back to the area just outside the newly destroyed door. You see a very, very fat man blocking the way; he was speaking with some knights. You recognized the man from Meltokio, he had spoken with Presea before you all had asked her to help you sneak into the castle.
"It's no good." he told the knights "There're no Exspheres around here, either..."
"...Vharley!" Regal exclaimed, the man spun back hearing his name,
"Regal! So you're the one who destroyed the guard system outside." Vharley concluded,
"Who's that?" asked Lloyd,
"That's...Vharley, the Exsphere broker." Zelos explained, "Whats he doing here?"
"Exsphere broker?" you ask,
"If people want Exspheres, then they find him. They pay him what he wants, and he gets them their Exspheres." the redhead explained,
"Why are you here?!" Regal demanded, "Why has the Pope let you stay free? That's not what I agreed to!"
"Hahaha! Did you think the Pope would really keep a promise to a murderer?" Vharley taunted, "And youve forgotten your promise to bring us Aura and Colette! You joined with them instead!" your body stiffened slightly when he said your name. You could understand why they're after Colette, but...what's so special about you?
"Silence!" Regal ordered, "If the Pope will not fulfill his promise, then I will punish you myself!"
"No way! I'm gettin' out of here!" after which he and his knight escort quickly fled.

However, instead of fleeing, you turned back towards Regal,
"Regal, who is that man?" asked Colette,
"He called you a murderer..." Genis agreed,
"I am a prisoner serving time for the crime of murder." Regal explained softly, "I won't blame you if you look down on me."
"What happened?" asked Lloyd,
"Explaining would be an excuse. I committed a crime. That's all that needs to be said." he responded,
"...My stupid actions have killed many people." Lloyd told him,
"Mine have too." you add.
"...I don't know what you did, and your crime won't go away. But when your suffering, it's alright to at least say so." the red-clad teen assured.
"Um, I don't know how to explain it very well." Colette voiced, "But I think we have the Goddess inside all our hearts. So I think the Goddess also bears the burden of your sins with you. Um...that's all."
"...Perhaps someday I will have the opportunity to tell the story..." Regal agreed. "I apologize..." after this small talk, you leave the Mine. You were intent to return to Ozette and save Presea.

But, once out, you see that it's almost dark,
"What...?" you ask, "How long were we in there?"
"It's difficult to tell time, if there isn't even a clock or small source of sunlight to tell time by." Regal agreed. You try and make as much progress as you can, but then you're forced to stop for the night. However, at least, you were right next to the dock where you would take off from tomorrow.

Genis and Sheena cooked dinner, and everyone went to sleep not soon after.
The next day you set off early in the morning. While the EC cruised close to the continents you sat on deck feeling the sun; your head would hurt every now and then. It wasn't so much painful as it was annoying. You weren't even sure why your head kept hurting. You sigh and rub your temples with your index and middle fingers while closing your eyes. After about another many hours, you make it back to the dock near Ozette.