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

QUIZ START: Just as you began to search for captives three Renegades approached you,
"Why are you guys here? You're supposed to be with Botta, right?" Sheena asked,
"Lord Yuan asked us to accompany you to assure Miss Aura's safety." one responded.
"Wh-what?" you stutter. Everyone looked back at you, "H-hey--! St-stop looking at me like that!"
"I can understand your leaders concern," Raine explained patiently, "But there is no reason for you to accompany us. We'll keep Aura safe."
"I'm afraid we have to insist." the leader responded,
"Fine, whatever." Lloyd sighed, "Let's go."
"He's cautious." Regal commented,
"Or just crazy." Zelos responded,
"H-hey--!" you say, "L-leave my brother alone...!"
"What're we waiting for? Let's go!" Genis ordered.
You all began moving again, but you couldn't help feeling awkward about the three Renegades behind you. Suddenly there was a sharp sting on the back of your neck, as though you had been jabbed with a needle,
"Ow!" you quickly swat your back, but found no dart or anything of the like.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked,
"Nothing--my neck just hurt, that's all..." The room in front of you slowly began to spin, "W-woah..." you stumbled a little,
"Miss Aura?" asked one of the Renegades,
"What's wrong?" Colette asked,
"I feel...funny..." you murmur, your head beginning to feel light, while your legs felt heavy. The room kept spinning.
"If you are not feeling well, then you should rest." Presea said,
"R-ri...iight...uh..."

"R-ri...iight...uh..." without warning Aura passed out. One of the three Renegades who were supposed to escort her caught her before she hit the ground.
"Aura!" Sheena exclaimed,
"Wh-what the hell just happened?" Zelos demanded, "She was fine just a minute ago-!"
"...!" Raine noticed a small sparkle on the ground, "Hm...?" she picked it up, "...!"
"Raine?" Genis asked,
"...Take Aura out of here." the woman ordered,
"!"
"P-Professor, why are you-?" Colette started.
"She's ill, she's in no shape to fight. Take her back to Yuan, we'll get her once we're done with our task here." the woman ordered.
"Right..." One of the three Renegades carried Aura on his back, and the three left, taking Aura with them.

"Raine--how could you tell them to just take her like that?!" Lloyd demanded,
"Because Aura's not ill," Raine responded, "She was drugged."
"!"
"D-...drugged...?" Colette asked. Raine held forth what she had found; a small blow-dart.
"Those three said Yuan sent them to protect Aura didn't they?" she asked,
"Oh-ho~!" Zelos said, "I see now~!"
"Yes..." Presea agreed,
"That appears to be the look of it." Regal finished,
"What are you three talking about?" Sheena asked,
"What better way to protect Aura from fighting, than not having her fight at all?" Regal responded,
"What...?" Lloyd still didn't understand.
"Wait--" the ninja ordered, "A-are you saying Yuan sent those three guys, and they drugged Aura!?"
"Exactly." Raine responded,
"What?!" the brunette exclaimed,
"Yuan doesn't want Aura in danger by being here," Zelos said, "But he knew she wouldn't stay put. Soooo...being the good big brother he is, he sent three men to knock her out, and take her to safety. Talk about overprotective."
"Actually it was a good idea." Raine corrected.
"Why...?" Colette asked,
"Yggdrasill is searching for Aura," Raine explained, "And Pronyma is a direct subordinate of him."
"Yeah...so?" Colette asked,
"Rodyle and Pronyma seem to share information frequently; and Rodyle is after Aura in order to appease Yggdrasill and use her as a sort of bartering chip so that Yggdrasill would allow Rodyle to continue his construction of the Mana Cannon--"
"--So if Rodyle knew that Aura was gonna be here he could tell Pronyma, then she'd tell Yggdrasill...then he'd show up...here..." Sheena trailed off, "...to...get her..."
"Or he'd send Kratos..." Lloyd cursed through gritted teeth.
"And then, once Yggdrasill had Aura back, he'd most likely allow Rodyle to continue his work. As would possibly be the terms of Aura's safe...return...to Cruxis." Raine seemed to have difficulty saying the word 'return',
"Yuan must have foreseen that possibility, and that's why he ordered that Aura be taken out of harm's way." Regal surmised,
"He planned for the worst," Raine said, "Because the worst would probably happen."

"Uhgg...." you roll your head from side to side slowly,
"Sh-she's waking up, sir." a voice said from nearby,
"Yes...you're dismissed." the second voice sounded an awful lot like Yuan's... You rolled your head from side to side slowly as you tried to wake up; your body felt heavy, and you still felt really groggy. "Are you awake, Aura?"
"Yuan?" you ask weakly, barely able to see through partially-open eyes. A hand rested on your forehead,
"Yes, it's me. How do you feel?"
"Tired..." you respond. You thought you heard him murmur 'I thought so' "Where...where am I...? Where're Lloyd and the others...?"
"...Don't worry about them," the half elf responded, "You should go back to sleep. I'll explain when you wake up."
"No--wait..." you demand weakly. You reached up a hand blindly, and found his; you squeezed his hand as tightly as your tired muscles would allow; which actually wasn't very tightly at all. Your eyes slipped closed against your will. "T-tell me...what's going on."
"...." he was silent for a short while, "...I will, I promise," he murmured finally, "...First, get some rest." he paused briefly, "...There will be two Renegades watching your door... When you wake up as them to take you to see me."
"Wh-where are we...? The Renegade base...?"
"...Yes." he responded,
"Bu--" he pulled his hand from your forehead, resting his palm lightly on your mouth,
"Don't worry; just...go back to sleep."

In the meantime, Lloyd and the others were riding up the elevator,
"...I hope Aura is okay..." Colette murmured,
"Yuan wouldn't hurt her; she's his little sister." Zelos said, "She'll be fine." the elevator eventually stopped. After solving a complex puzzle of teleporter activated by sound, they wound up at a large door. They ran into a control room where Rodyle waited for them.
"Well, I see the failed Chosen and her traveling band of fools are still alive. You're as stubborn as cockroaches." he then did a quick head count, "Hmm...Lady Aura isn't with you...how disappointing..."
"You and Vharley...deceived me." Presea growled.
"Presea...I'd have treated you so much better had you made me a Cruxis Crystal in that little body of yours." Rodyle sneered.
"Die!" the girl ordered. Rodyle sneered at her again
"Ahahaha! Now, now, settle down. Have a look at the projector. I've got a special underwater show for you." the projector lit up. Flood water rose up around the prisoners who were trying to escape the ranch,
"H...how could you do that?!" Genis demanded
"They'll all be killed!" Colette exclaimed,
"Damn you!" Regal yelled at him. Lloyd took a step towards Rodyle,
"You bastard! Stop the water, now!" Lloyd yelled.
"It's too late." Rodyle laughed. Lloyd drew a sword in anger and swung at the half-elf, however the purple-haired half-elf jumped out of the way.
"I know why you've come here." Rodyle said, "I'm sure you intend to shut down my Mana Cannon. But you won't succeed. I've filled the corridor leading to the Mana Cannon with sea water!"
"You're going to kill all those people at the ranch just to stop us?!" Colette demanded,
"Who cares about the lives of pathetic inferior beings?! The Mana Cannon will be completed once I get the Cruxis Crystal." Rodyle said, "With Thors Hammer in my possession, Yggdrasill and Cruxis will beg for my mercy! Even that eye-sore of a tower will fall before my cannon." he laughed, "I would only use Lady Aura so that Yggdrasill would stay out of my way until all preparations were complete! Too bad she's not here though."
"What do you hope to accomplish by destroying the Tower of Salvation?!" Lloyd demanded.
"Heheheh, that's nothing you lower life forms need to concern yourselves with." the half-elf said, "The Cruxis Crystal is finally mine! Now, let's see. I think I'll test its power first by equipped it on myself."

Rodyle put the Cruxis Crystal on himself, and grew into a grotesque monster...

"Uh..." you rolled your head from side to side, and opened your eyes; your gut clenched with worry, the feeling that Lloyd and your friends were in danger coming over you, "...where's...?" you mumbled, then sat up remembering what Yuan told you, "Oh..." you swung your legs over the side of the bed and stood up. You walked out of the door to find two Renegades standing on either side of the door,
"Good to see that you're awake, Lady Aura." they greeted.
"Where is my bro--....Yuan?" you ask
"In his office," one explained, "I'll show you the way." you nod, then follow him through the base.

Rodyle stumbled back suddenly
"Ugh...what's happening?...My...my body...my body is disintegrating!" he glared at the empty projector, "Pronyma, you tricked me!" Rodyle walked to the controls, then collapsed on them when his legs gave out, "But I won't die alone! I'm taking you all with me!" he yelled. The words 'Self-destruct' flashed across the projector. Rodyle died, and his body disintegrated.
"No! He's activated the self-destruct system!" Raine cursed.
"Botta warned us not to destroy this place!" Colette worried.
"Dammit! We have to stop it!" Lloyd cursed, running to the control panel, Presea joined him,
"Impossible." she announced, "The only one among us who can handle this machinery is Raine..." Lloyd looked back to Zelos,
"Most Tethe'allan's don't really study the details of magitechnology very much." he admitted, Lloyd looked back to Raine who was typing away on the control panel furiously only to look extremely unhappy in the end,
"Professor!" he pleaded,
"I know!" she exclaimed, "But I can't do this by myself!"

The door opened suddenly; Botta and two men ran into the room,
"We'll take over from here. The rest of you go and escape through the hatch over there." Botta nodded to a hatch on the far side of the room.
"Botta!" Lloyd exclaimed happily, "You're okay!"
"There'll be plenty of time for chit-chat later." he responded impatiently, "Leave, now. You'll only get in our way!"
"...Okay." the brunette nodded.
The group ran out through the hatch while Botta and the two Renegades worked to deactivate the self-destruct system. Suddenly the hatch shut tightly once everyone was out; Botta and the Renegades continued to type even though water was slowly flooding into the room.
"Oh, no!" Lloyd cursed, "We've got to open that door!" Lloyd and Genis tried to pry the hatch open again,
"It's no use! Arrgh! It won't budge!" Genis groaned.
"Move!" Regal ordered. He ran by the boys, delivering a hard blow to the glass window; even the floor shook, but the glass didn't even crack. He tried a few more times, but still to no avail.
"Botta did this on purpose." Raine gasped, "They knew the water was coming and locked it from the inside."
"Why would they do that?!" Colette demanded,
"If the door opens, this area will be flooded as well." Raine glanced up to the dome far, far over their head. "And as you can see, the ceiling is covered by a dome. There's nowhere for the water to escape."
"They did it...to save us?" Presea mumbled,
"No! We have to do something!" Colette practically sobbed.
"Dammit!" Lloyd yelled, "Isn't there anything we can do?!" Botta and his two subordinates approached the glass,
"We've stopped the self-destruct system." Botta announced,
"Botta! Open the door!" Lloyd pleaded desperately, "If we destroy the dome overhead..."
"Our goal was to modify each ranches mana reactor in order to fire mana at the Great Seed." Botta explained, "Now that we've finished reprogramming this control room, our mission is complete. We need you to get the message to Yuan that we have succeeded."
"Tell him yourself!" Lloyd demanded, "Open the door, now!" the brunette drew a sword and attacked the window as hard as he could. The contact caused sparks, but there wasn't even a scratch left. The water level was continuing to rise...
"We pray for your success in regenerating the world." Botta told them, "Please see to it that Martel is finally allowed her eternal sleep, and for Aura's and Yuan's sake as well." The water level was nearing their necks...

A large metal shutter slammed down, blocking the view of their three friends as the water level continued to rise.
"No!!" Colette screamed.

Yuan sighed, slowly twisting the thin silver ribbon you had given him between his hands.
"Y-you knew that Botta might die?!" you demand, "Why did--"
"I didn't want him to." Yuan interrupted, clutching the ribbon in one fist. He'd been telling you the story the whole time, "...I wanted him to stay...but he insisted that he'd go."
"...Botta..." you murmur softly. Yuan shook his head slowly, wrapping the silver ribbon around his ponytail a few times, resulting in a small section of silver hiding the hair right at the base of the ponytail, he then tied it firmly.
"......" he sighed softly.