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

QUIZ START: You continued to wake up that night with nightmares; actually one nightmare... You kept seeing Kratos' pale face when you found him in that coffin in your flashback. It was driving you nuts.
"Yuan was there..." you murmured the final time you woke, "I'll go talk to him..."

Once everyone was awake you pipe up,
"Um...I... I want to...go talk to my brother..."
"Why?" Sheena questioned, confused, "What's wrong?"
"Does it have something to do with that thing you remembered in Shadow's Temple?" Zelos asked, "You were scared stiff..."
"Well...yes." you admit, "Yuan was in that memory... Maybe he can help me sort it out."
"Your brother...I don't think I've met him." Mithos commented curiously,
"You wouldn't like him," Genis said with a pout, more at an imaginary Yuan than at Mithos, "He's really mean to anyone except Aura. He won't talk to anybody except her, either."
"Oh..."
"I'll go meet him," you volunteer, "Then I'll come back, and we can head to Meltokio, alright?"
"Will you be alright going there by yourself?" Lloyd asked,
"Yeah; I'll be fine...I'll take my Rheaird." you gave them a reassuring smile, "I'll be back before you know it, I promise."
"You better be." the brunette told you, "If you're not, we'll come looking for you!" everyone laughed lightly.

"M-Miss Aura...!" the Renegade guarding the door was startled to see you step off your Rheaird, quickly returning it to its wing pack, "Wh...why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk with Yuan..." you pause, remembering that he was last in Sylvarant, "Is he here?" the jump between dimensions wouldn't be trouble, no, but you would rather, at least, stay in the same dimension as Lloyd and the others.
"Yes mamm; he just arrived at the Tethe'alla base yesterday." he nodded, "Shall I escort you too...?"
"No, I know my way." you respond, "Thank you."
"Understood..." he pressed a button on a keypad next to the door and moved aside, "Please, go in." After stepping in you shuddered once in the suddenly warm air, and then headed in the direction of Yuan's office. A handful of Renegades were pacing the halls, acting as a patrol, others were working on magitechnology machines or modifying the guard robots; all of them were surprised to see you, however they greeted you the same way the guard at the front door had. After knocking on Yuan's office door his voice called,
"What do you want?" the door hissed open, and you stepped inside. He was busily reading something on an oddly long piece of paper, sketching something on another sheet at the same time, pausing his reading every now and then to make quick notes near his sketch. "What?" he repeated, not looking at you.
"I...I wanted to talk to you." you explain somewhat sheepishly. If he was working you didn't want to bother him; and from his tone he seemed slightly aggravated. He stopped writing and looked up, almost shocked,
"Aura? Why are you here?"
"I...wanted to talk to you?" you repeat. He pushed whatever he'd been working on into a drawer on his desk as you took the seat that was set in front of his desk,
"About what?" he asked, closing the drawer. You decided to start by telling where you'd been when you got back that piece of memory; maybe he'd know what you were talking about,
"We were at Shadow's Temple a few days ago," you explain, "And when I was in there I remembered...I remembered a coffin," his expression was puzzled as he listened to your story, "And...you told me to get it open while you made something, like a potion or something... And once I opened it--"
"Kratos was inside." Yuan finished, obviously no longer confused, "He was captured by a Coffin Master... Hm, I'm surprised you remembered that first."
"So...you know what I'm talking about?"
"Of course I do." he tilted his head slightly to the side, "But why would you come here to talk about that?"
"Well...I..." you lowered your eyes slightly, mad at yourself for worrying about him, "But I...I didn't remember everything...I remembered to the point where you'd gotten him out of the coffin, but it stopped there."
"...And?"
"His face..." you shuddered visibly, "His face when I opened the coffin...how dead he looked..." you shook your head once as you tried not to picture it, "It's giving me nightmares...I barely slept last night..."
"I see..." He stood and walked around his desk, "You don't remember that he was alright in the end, so all you can think about is how close to death he was."
"Y...yeah, I guess." you shrugged.
"Do you trust me?"
"Huh?" he'd stopped next to you, and you looked up at him oddly, "What? O-of course I--"
"What I want to try...I'm not sure if it will work." Yuan explained, "You...might be hurt."
"What would it do?"
"I want to try and..." he paused, trying to find a good way to say it, "Bring out your memory. I'm not sure how it will turn out...will you let me try?"
"Yes." you nod.
"Alright." he sighed softly, "Face forward, close your eyes, and relax." You did as he asked, and he rested his hands on the sides of your head. Your head started hurting oddly, like something within your mind itself was hurting. The black behind your closed eyes swirled and you felt the same way you had when you go back that piece of memory in Shadow's Temple.

"Hey--what was that thing you said Aura wanted to talk to Yuan about?" Sheena asked Zelos,
"Huh?" he looked up at her from where he'd been playing cards with Lloyd and Regal,
"You said that she wanted to speak with Yuan about something she remembered in Shadow's Temple...what did she remember?" Presea asked,
"Oh...I don't know." the redhead shrugged, "But after I snapped her out of her daze she started asking me about Coffin Masters and what happens to people they capture in their coffins."
"Why would she ask about something so horrid?" Regal wondered aloud,
"She said one of her friend was captured by a Coffin Master," the Chosen threw down a card, "And then she and Yuan had saved them. Er...that was the gist of it, anyway..."

-------
"Calm down, Aura, he'll be fine..." Yuan's voice was the first thing you remembered. You opened your eyes; you were clutching Kratos' hand to your neck again, Yuan again holding him up with an arm behind his shoulders, "Just let him rest."
"Kratos, are you okay?" your voice didn't fade when you spoke this time, "We searched all over for you when the scientists were calm--we couldn't find you anywhere."
Scientists? What were you doing with scientists...?
"Yuan made something for you to drink..." you looked to the half elf who was still holding Kratos up, "Where is it?"
"Near the fire," Yuan responded, then added, "And you're not calm yet, Aura."
"...." you murmur 'sorry', still clutching Kratos' hand. You'd thought Kratos had died--of course you weren't calm yet...!
"..." Yuan sighed softly, then said, "I need to finish the potion. Can I trust you to watch him?" you nod once. He mumbled, "Alright, make sure he stays sitting up."
"Right..." after setting his hand aside, Yuan half pushed the man, shifting his weight so he was leaning slightly on you, you put an arm behind his shoulders to keep him upright,
"So?" the half elf asked, not quite pulling his arms from around Kratos, should you not be able to keep him up.
"I can hold him...please, just finish the potion."
"Y'know, I'm getting tired of telling you to calm down." he was smiling a bit; he wasn't scolding you for worrying, he was trying to make a joke.
"....." you manage a weak giggle. Yuan stood and began to head back towards the fire; however you suddenly felt Kratos trying to get up. "N-no-!" you pull down on his shoulders to try and keep him from standing. He wobbled slightly when you started pulling on him. Yuan quickly returned, putting a hand on Kratos' shoulder and leaning his weight on him.
"Not so fast, Kratos." he said calmly as he did so. Kratos grunted quietly when he fell back to a sitting position, "That kind of confinement can suck the energy right out of you. Standing takes a lot of energy; if you stand on your own now you'll pass out...it may even be enough to...." Yuan trailed off.
"But..." Kratos mumbled weakly in protest, his eyes still shut,
"Please, just take it easy," you ask. You felt a lot better hearing him speak, "You need to rest...after what you must have been through in that coffin..."
"Just relax. Okay?" Yuan asked, still leaning his weight on the man's shoulder, "We'll take care of you. Calm down."
"...." Kratos groaned softly, weakly swatting Yuan's hand away and pressing his forehead into his palm. You raised your hand from behind his shoulders and stroked his hair lightly,
"Lean on me." you mumble. He shifted slightly in compliance, leaning his head on your shoulder.
"...?" he made a small noise of confusion after opening his eyes.
"Can you see?" you question. He grunted softly as a 'kind of'. After a moment of him trying to look around Kratos made a noise of annoyance as he rubbed at his eyes. You could tell he was impatient with his healing process; he wanted to be better Now. "It'll take your eyes a little while to focus," you mumble, "You were in the dark for so long and introduced to light so suddenly..."
"....." he mumbled to you that he knew that already.
"You need to take it easy, Kratos..." Yuan told him monotonously, still working on making the same potion he'd been making earlier, "No pushing yourself, no rushing... even when it comes to seeing." he grunted once, pulling his hand from his eyes and opening them again.
"...!" Kratos seemed somewhat startled when he realized where you were. You didn't recognize it, you didn't even try; you just wanted to be as sure as you could that Kratos was alright, then you could stop having those nightmares of him looking dead.

Your heart was still a bit shaky, so you began to whisper a tune under your breath you didn't even know that you knew; you began subconsciously stroking his hair as you watched the fire, telling yourself mentally that he was alright as you continue singing to yourself.
"Lacrimosa dies illa... Qua resurget ex favilla... Judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus... Pie Jesu Domine......" Kratos sighed softly, interrupting the song he probably didn't even know you were singing. He pulled his head from your shoulder and sat up; you rested your arm behind his shoulders to keep him up. He rubbed his forehead weakly, eyes closed as he tried to think.
"Alright...This is almost done..." Yuan mumbled, seemingly more to himself than you two. He'd poured the contents of that pot into a cup while you were singing, and he was now crushing dried herbs in his hands and sprinkling the powder into the cup. He muttered the list of ingredients under his breath, making sure he'd added everything.

"Thank you. For everything..." Kratos' voice was very soft, but loud enough for both you and Yuan to hear. You stared at him for a moment; a 'thank you' was almost the last thing you were expecting him to say right at that moment.
"H-humph." Yuan responded, trying to sound as though the out of character thanks hadn't fazed him at all. He'd stiffened after he heard Kratos' thanks.
"He means 'you're welcome.'" you whisper to the man, a tiny smile on your lips at Yuan's attitude. Yuan stood, cup in hand, and walked to you two; he gave the potion to you, however, instead of Kratos. He probably didn't think Kratos could hold it. You held the cup to his lips. "Drink it slowly..." you advise, feeling the heat from the potion radiating through the cup.
"It's bitter and hot, I know, but that can't be helped; I'm missing an ingredient or two." Yuan explained in a somewhat serious tone, "However, it should still do its job fine without it. Those ingredients I was missing were used more for flavoring..." Kratos lightly rested his hand over yours and began to drink the potion like he'd been told. His hand still felt cooler than it should have, but he was obviously much better. He wasn't anywhere near death...
------

Abruptly everything went away, and you were again sitting in Yuan's Renegade base. You opened your eyes, confused; there was more to you memory than that, you knew it, but why would Yuan just stop there?
"Ahhh...!" Yuan collapsed behind you, clutching the top of your chair with one hand, his forehead with the other.
"Y-Yuan...!" You kneeled next to him, "A...are you alright?"
"Fine..." he mumbled "I just need...to lie down." He shifted his hand from the chair to your shoulder, "Help me up..."
"R-right." you took hold of his wrist and pulled his arm over your shoulders, putting you other arm around him. Standing was a little awkward with how slowly you went to make sure he could follow you. "Where's your room?" you ask,
"I'll tell you as we go." he mumbled. He sounded angry with himself for letting himself get like this, "Go out and go right."

"It's been a few hours..." Mithos voiced, "Is Aura alright?"
"She probably got to Yuan's place a while ago," Colette assured, "I'm sure she's fine."
"If they're speaking about Aura's memory, then it may be near night before she returns." Raine told him, "But your worry is understandable...you haven't known us, or Aura, long enough to know that."
"Well...alright, if you're sure." the blonde half elf nodded,
"Mithos, come on. Let's play something," Genis asked, having located another deck of cards,
"Huh? Oh, sure."

"Are you okay?" Yuan had guided you to his room, relying on you to remain standing, after getting to his room you'd helped him sit down on his bed; he'd then laid down, rubbing his temples slowly like he was trying to relieve a headache.
"I'm fine..." he sighed softly, dropping his arms to his sides, "Your friends are probably worrying about you... you should get back."
"But, you..." you argue softly. He turned towards you,
"I'm fine," he assured, "I just need to sleep."
"Well...alright." you nod, "Just...don't do that again, alright?"
"...yeah, right." he sighed. He looked away for a moment, then looked back, "That wasn't everything... That wasn't the full memory." you smiled weakly,
"Yeah, I figured."
"Alright... See you."
"Ah...right, b-bye." you turned and headed out of his room, turning of the light so that he could sleep in peace. You recited Yuan's directions to his room in her head, then did the opposite, and found herself back at Yuan's office. She then left the base, got on her Rheaird, and headed back to Altessa's.

After arriving back at Altessa's you were greeted happily by everyone.
"So, how'd talking with Yuan go?" Colette asked,
"Fine...He told me what I wanted to know, so..."
"If you're ready, why don't we head to Meltokio now?" Raine asked, "The sooner we tell the scientists at the Elemental Research Laboratory about Kate's safety, the sooner we can get the Blue Candles."
"Will we go straight to Shadow's Temple then?" Lloyd questioned,
"We'll have to." Regal told him, "We're still wanted criminals; we won't be able to stay within the city."
"Oh yeah..."
"So, camping it is. Awesome." Zelos sighed, "Well, let's get going." The flight to Meltokio went by quickly, and after arriving you had to sneak through the sewers once again, which wasn't as big of a nuisance now that everything was solved.
After arriving at the Elemental Research Laboratory you were greeted hopefully by the scientists.
"Welcome back, everyone!" one greeted,
"We escorted Kate to Ozette at her request." Raine assured,
"I see." they sighed gratefully, "There's been a terrible commotion here as well. Because of Kate's escape, the Pope suffered a great loss of face. We've all been incredibly worried about being arrested."
"Really...?" you ask,
"We were already gone from here when that was going on." Lloyd responded,
"Here's the...blue candle. Thank you." the other scientist said. A pale blue candle, its wick such a dark blue you could see it through the pale blue candle.
"The wick and the wax are made of special mana; it won't actually burn so it will never burn out." the first explained, "So you don't have to rush yourself through Shadow's temple."
"Thank you." Lloyd thanked, taking the candles,
"Now we can go to Shadow." Regal said,
"Yeah." Sheena agreed. She turned towards the scientists, "Thanks. Well make good use of it."
"Good luck, Sheena." they said. You left the laboratory, heading back through the sewers, and then sneaking safely away from the city.