Beauty and the Beast (A Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World Fan Fiction)

Epilogue

       Long ago, the Giant Kharlan Tree, the essence of balance and order in the world, withered and died. By the will of the Heavens the world was cleaved in two. Many years later, the Chosen of Regeneration planted a new World Tree to take the place of the withered Giant Kharlan Tree. The birth of the New World Tree also brought about the unification of the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe’alla. The two worlds were now reborn as one. The world was at the dawn of a bright new era. or so it seemed…

       Marta and I were running through the burning streets of Palmacosta with Ratatosk’s core in Marta’s hands.  Lloyd Irving walked along the rooftops, looking over the disaster and panic he had caused. Marta and I stopped in front of the inn and leaned on the wall, for a quick breather, Marta took a moment to gaze into the red orb in her hands, mesmerised; I stood and watched as Lloyd descended from the rooftops with a smirk on his face.

       With the high level of technological prowess the Tethe’allan civilization possessed, they looked down on the people of Sylvarant as barbarians. The Sylvaranti blamed the the Chosen of Regeneration for bringing this world into being, as they turned their backs on the Church of Martel who supported her. Amidst all of this chaos, the world itself began to cry out. Scorching hot deserts were blanketed in snow. Bountiful lakes dried up and withered. Forests burned to ash, as glaciers melted into the sea. These phenomena fanned the flames of dissatisfaction within the hearts of the people, leading to the birth of a monster. A resistance oranization was formed by the oppressed people of Sylvarant to defend themselves. United against the precieved evil of Tethe’alla and the Church of Martel, they call themselves the Sylvaranti Liberation Front, the Vanguard.

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          A man with blond hair and a women with brown hair are running through the streets in attempts to leave the burning city. They stop by a stone bridge and turn to adress someone behinde them, who is running to catch up with them while breathing heavily. “This way. Hurry!” the man yells to them. “Yes.” adds the women. “Emil Hurry! We must get away or we’ll all be killed by Lloyd.” the man says as the person behinde them catches up to them. Suddenly a voice is heard behind the couple, “Who did you say is going to kill you?” They slowly turn around to discover… “Lloyd Irving!” They  freeze in shock as he draws his swords, “ The people of Palmacosta have aided the Vanguard and underminded the authority of the Church of Martel and the Chosen.” he says as they continue to stare at him, frozen in fear, unable to move. “The punishment for this crime is death.” Lloyd jumps in the air catching the off guard, the woman  screams in agony as he takes their lives. “Mom!” the voice of a young boy calls out. “Emil run! Get away from here!” the man cries out to his son using the last of his strength to do so.

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         We could hear the Vanguard Soliders getting closer, and I prayed to Martel that they didn't spot us. At first I thought my prayer was answered when a group of soldiers ran past us without even looking in our direction. But then another group of soldiers that was passing through saw us, “There they are! Seize them! I’ll go after Lloyd.” I guess our prayer was unanswered I thought as Marta and I began running again. “Commander Brute, wants Lady Marta, alive. The other girl, Lady Alice, wants her.” we heard them say as we ran off.

         We continued to run even though we were tired but, we had to go on, we couldn’t let them have Ratatosk’s core. I looked back to see the vanguard was gaining on us; looking back ahead I began to fear for my life as we came to a dead end, we were trapped, with nowhere left to run. Marta backed up against the wall, holding Ratatosk’s core tightly to her chest. “Get them!” The leader of the group shouted. I stepped in front of Marta. “Give us the core Lady Marta and come back to the Vanguard and Commander Brute and Lady Alice will forgive the both of you.” I saw Marta shake her head no. “If you want Marta and the core you will have to go through me first!” I said to them as I took a fighting stance. “Take it if you can!”  I shouted as I ran towards them, I made a fist and went to hit the one closest to me, but I soon realized I was in no condition fight after all that running because my punch had barely any effect and I knew for a fact I was usually a lot stronger than this. I went to hit him again but he caught my fist with ease then motioned for two of his men to hold me as he started to hit me. “Nooo!” I heard Marta scream. “Leave her alone!” She said to the Vanguard soldiers who were hitting me as she attempted to get close to me but then she too was surrounded by soldiers and there was nothing I could do at this point, but I had an idea, “Marta, call upon Ratatosk.” I told her, when the soldiers heard me say that they laid one last brutal hit on me before throwing me aside and going after Marta. “Marta now… ugh!” I cried out. “Zoee?!” I watched her back up against the wall once again as the Vanguard closed in around her while I laid on the ground a few feet away helpless and in pain, I tried to get up to help her but it hurt too much to move. She looked at me once more as if she was silently asking if I was sure it was going to work, I just nodded my head.

       “Help us. Help us, Ratatosk!” Marta spoke to the red orb with a butterfly like symbol inside it, as she brought the core closer to her face as if to whisper in Ratatosk’s ear. The core suddenly began to glow giving off a blinding reddish-white light, I watched Marta faint as a part of the butterfly symbol from Ratatosk’s core began form and glow a bright red on the right side of her forehead; as the light from the core grew brighter I had to avert my eyes so that I was not blinded by its great luminous light.

        Through my peripheral vision I could see the Vanguard trying to get closer but the moment they got close enough to the core to grab it, they were all pushed back and rendered unconscious. As the light started fade, I slowly got up even though I was still in pain but I didn’t care at this point and made my way over to marta who was still unconscious by the wall.

        I kneeled beside her about to try and wake her, the core still glowing red on her forehead, out of the corner my eye I saw a figure emerge from the once bright light of the core as the light faded away completely. I sat there and watched him for a moment as Marta began to stir, holding her forehead with a part of Ratatosk’s core now embedded. The figure stood there as he took in his surroundings. While he studied where he was I took a moment study him, the form he took was that of a young boy about our age of 16 maybe a year or two older, he had blonde hair that came down to his jawline, bangs that came just above his grey eyes, a piece of his hair stick up like alfalfa, his face was oval shaped, he was well built but not buff or muscular but I could tell he worked out. His attire consisted of a long white coat like a lab coat, a black turtleneck with a vertical red stripe down the middle of the shirt, black pants and thigh high brown boots.

        “Are you two alright?” he asked his voice was gruff but filled with concerned. “Yes we are fine, thanks to you.” I spoke as Marta rose to a sitting position her hand on her forehead, the glowing red light of the jewel starting to fade as she looked up at the boy who stood a few feet from us. “Are you the one who saved us?” she asked as the light of the core faded completely, he didn’t answer. “Aaarrrrrroooooooo!” we suddenly heard a howl in the distance. “That’s Tenebrae’s howl.” I said as Marta dropped her hand from her forehead and looked around for him but we couldn’t see him he must of been hiding in the shadows because we could not find him. We turned to face the boy again and watched as he turned to leave as if in some kind of daze or trance, “I have to go.” he said as he walked away. “Wait, what’s your name?” Marta called out to him as she stood up, but he didn’t seem to hear her. I stood up once he was out of sight and leaned against the wall to support myself so wouldn’t fall.

        “Zoee, who was that guy?” Marta asked me as she approached me. I knew who he was but I wasn’t sure if should tell Marta or not, she can be a bit immature for her age and tends to easily fall in love. “I don’t know who he was.” I lied, didn’t like lying to her but didn’t quite how to tell her. “Oh well, I have a feeling we we will be seeing him again soon!” she exclaimed as she used her healing artes on me. Once I was healed Marta and I left the ruined city of Palmacosta.

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       The boy approaches the couple that had been killed by Lloyd Irving earlier. He stands and stares at them for a minute before kneeling in front of them. The women who is not quite dead yet senses his presence, she opens her eyes. “Emil, you came back.” she says as she tries to look up at him, hoping to see his face one last time before her life fades completely, but the lights have gone from her eyes, her vision hazey, unable to see anything anymore as death slowly claiming her life. “Oh dear, I can’t even see your face.” she cries as she reaches her hand out feeling for him. “I… I’m not going to last much longer. But you, you have to live.” the women tells him as her hand touches his leg. “You have run before Lloyd comes back. Go to Luin, to your Aunt Flora… Hurry!” she gasps out, her hand lifelessly falls from his leg, eyes closed once more never to open again. Just like the man beside her. The boy stares at her for moment, pondering all that she had said to him. He reaches his hand out to touch her face, hoping she only just fainted, but her body is now cold, pale and lifeless. “M… Mom. Mom!” he cries out into the night as he comes to the realization that she is now dead.