(Author's Notes: Yay! Another chapter! And I wrote this one quicker than I thought I would. Just for the record, I'd like to warn the readers that if you are familiar with Tales of Symphonia, then you are going to be seeing some twists to the original storyline. To help with the added characters and scenerios, there will be some events that would normally occur in a certain place that could be moved to another place in the game. I assure you that no major event will be forgotten, but in order to deal with this certain story line, I need to make some tweaks here and there. Please don't be alarmed if you see something happening before another and it's not supposed to in the game! Thank you!

I do not own Tales of Symphonia or Sailor Moon.)

5

The night was warm, surrounding with the blaze of a campfire near the ruins that the group had previously traveled through. Smoke trailed into the air as the group silently ate their curry. Chibiusa stared at every member of the group, as if to scan them. What had happened ever since their trek into the ruins? Many things. Colette passed out as soon as they got out, but the Senshi of the Future Moon was able to save Sailor Mars. In fact, Rei was the newest member of the group.

Rei Hino adjusted to the group's personality quickly, but had a little trouble getting used to the personalities of Lloyd and Kratos. She often took glances at both of them, noticing small key details. Despite the fact that Rei could not stand Lloyd's laziness, she seemed to admire his determination. Chibiusa was shocked when Rei offered to train Lloyd a little bit. They had done that while Raine and the others treated Colette. She was safe now, so there were no worries.

Or, were there?

Colette hadn't touched her food at all. She just…stared at it. Chibiusa loved the meal, and wondered why the chosen didn't eat. Rei took notice of this too, but said nothing to allow others to take notice.

"Colette?" Chibiusa spoke up finally. The angel turned to face Chibiusa, smiling as usual.

"What is it, Chibiusa?" Colette asked, her voice cheerful as ever.

"Why haven't you touched your curry? It's really good." Chibiusa noted. The rest of the group gave Colette a concerned stare. Colette looked down at the full dish of curry, just waiting for her to feast upon it. Colette turned back to the group.

"I'm just not that hungry." Colette said, her carefree smile never vanishing.

"Well, whatever you say. Just make sure you eat something." Lloyd spoke up next, worrying for his friend. "We can't have you passing out again on our way to Izoold. We are going to Izoold, aren't we?" Lloyd asked the two adults.

"That's right." Kratos answered. "Izoold should have a ship that will take us to Palmacosta, which should be near the Thoda Geyser." Kratos explained.

"Is that where the second seal is?" Colette asked. Raine nodded. Rei finished her curry, placing the dish down.

"Thank you for the meal." She thanked Genis, trying to be polite to the young boy who did the cooking.

"It's no problem, Rei." Genis remembered names easily. He was a genius, after all. Rei stood up and turned to Chibiusa, who was still sitting down.

"Chibiusa, I can't believe you came here to save us." Rei muttered to her, trying not to catch the attention of the other group members. "Was it Helios who sent you here?" Chibiusa nodded.

"Yes." She answered. Rei shook her head.

"Helios did not want to send you. He sent all of us before even considering putting you into danger. But, it's wonderful to see you! And in this time and age as well!" Rei smiled as she saw how mature that Chibiusa had grown up to be. "You look just like Usagi!"

"Just like?" Chibiusa knew that she had some physical differences from her mother, but not too many. They were related, after all. There was no point in lying about her heritage.

"We should get some sleep. We'll be traveling a far distance tomorrow." Raine told the group.

"I'll be on watch." Kratos reminded the group. He sat off to the side of the camp, looking off into the desert sky. Rei looked at him, her eyes narrow. She turned back to look at Lloyd.

"Why are you so concerned about the two of them?" Chibiusa noticed this right away. Rei turned back to look at her best friend's daughter.

"It's nothing." Rei explained. It was an obvious lie, but the truth was hard to cram out of Rei. She was the mysterious psychic, and whatever she knew was what Chibiusa was bound to find out later. "But…" Rei spoke up again. "…Doesn't he remind you of Setsuna at all? He seems so solitary and lonely…"

"Lloyd or Kratos?" Chibiusa asked in confusion.

"Kratos. Lloyd would never be lonely or solitary. He'd drive himself nuts!" Rei exclaimed with a laugh.

"Hey! Shut it!" Lloyd heard Rei and got mad. Chibiusa giggled, but took note of Rei's statement. Kratos did seem like her friend, Puu. At first, she thought it was Raine who resembled the Time Guardian. But over the last couple of days, she noticed major differences between Setsuna and Raine that she never noticed before. Lying down on the sand, Chibiusa decided that all of this thought had to be put beside her for the night.

"I'm going to sleep." Chibiusa told Rei.

"All right. Good night, Chibiusa." Rei said, smiling sweetly as Chibiusa closed her eyes and fell into a soft sleep.

Rei looked over toward Genis, who was cleaning up the dishes with water mana. He hummed a tune to himself as he washed the third dish with his kendama, scraping off the dry remains of food.

"A golden aura." Rei stated.

"Pardon?" Genis asked.

"You have a golden aura around you." Rei explained.

'It looks like I can't hide from Sailor Mars.' Helios spoke in Genis' head. Genis put down the dishes that he was cleaning and stood up.

"Whatever you see, it's probably just an illusion or a mirage. We are in a desert." Genis came up with a quick excuse. Helios took in a breath, hoping that Rei would believe it. She didn't, obviously. But, she didn't have any other questions to ask.

"Fine then." Rei said, leaning against a nearby rock. She looked over to where Lloyd was, practicing his swordplay.

'He is quite skilled.' Rei thought, smiling. Genis quietly watched Rei spying on Lloyd, sweatdropping.

'Why is she eavesdropping? She's barely been with us for a few hours and I already feel suspicious.' Genis thought.

'Trust the Senshi. They are not here to do harm to this group, I can assure you. The reason why I brought them here was to save this world. You will need all the help you can get.' Helios thought back to Genis.

'I suppose…' Genis thought, unsure. He finished up with cleaning the plates, packing them away in a satchel. He laid down on the sand, ready to go to sleep. He was young, and needed his rest.

However, the night's events were not over. As every member fell asleep, the golden aura that only Rei could see around Genis began to glow. If anyone woke up, it would be visible to him or her. A phantom appeared above Genis' body, a soul appearance of Helios. Clouds covered the moon, so the phantom did not glow as brightly. Slowly, Helios walked over toward Chibiusa and knelt down. Any physical touch would fade through her skin, and Helios knew this fact well.

"Chibiusa…" his voice was quiet, but audible. Helios remembered what Rei had said before. He knew that Chibiusa was strong, but he did not want to put her in so much more danger. He knew what was coming to the group, while the others were walking in blindly. "Stay strong, my maiden. I will aid you." He smiled as she turned to her side, noticing that she was smiling brightly. What could she be so happy about? Perhaps she was dreaming of…him? No, the thought couldn't stain the priest's mind now.

"Helios." A deep voice sounded behind the phantom.

"You're still awake?" Helios asked, seeing the night guard behind him. Kratos stood, his silver blade drawn.

"You're lucky that it's Remiel's duty to capture you. Why are you in that boy's body?" Kratos questioned.

"You've been in love, haven't you?" Helios asked, the utmost seriousness in his voice. Kratos didn't respond for a few minutes, the desert wind howling at the two of them.

"Go." Kratos told him. He turned away from the priest, defeated. Helios turned back to Chibiusa, kneeling down and whispering something into her ear. The phantom disappeared in a mere flash, the golden aura around Genis dimming. The night was still.

And Kratos looked up at the starless sky, in deep thought. As if Helios' words impacted him strongly…

/ t/

The group awoke early in the morning. It was no different from the previous morning. Lloyd slept in, Raine nagged everyone to eat something, but the new addition of Rei was interesting. Her daily morning tarot card readings picked up the interest of Colette. The golden-haired chosen watched Rei place the cards out in front of her to tell a fortune. Genis rolled his eyes. He didn't care about this supernatural stuff.

"Morning…" Chibiusa muttered. She had just woken up, rubbing her eyes.

"We're heading down the Ossa Trail." Kratos informed her. "There are sure to be monsters down that way, so you may want to prepare for battle before we get there."

Chibiusa and Rei nodded, looking at each other.

"We'd better get used to using our Senshi powers often." Rei told Chibiusa. "There are lots of fights ahead." Rei explained. Chibiusa nodded, standing up.

"We're all ready to go, right?" Raine asked, picking up her satchel.

"Always!" Colette said cheerfully.

"Let's head off, then." Kratos said, leading the group away from the remains of the campfire and into the desert toward the Ossa Trail.

Going back through the desert was a little stressful for Chibiusa. She hated the heat, and just wanted to get out. Lloyd shared her feelings of exhaustion, but Rei happened to be completely fine. Was it because she was the Senshi of Fire? Who knows?

"Do you need some water, Chibiusa?" Rei offered the young Senshi a water bottle. Chibiusa nodded desperately and drank some. Lloyd groaned.

"How come you offer her some and not me?" Lloyd asked, glaring at Rei.

"Don't complain." Rei said simply.

The desert soon stopped as they reached the north end, arriving at a valley of green grass.

"Finally!" Lloyd and Chibiusa exclaimed. They had never been happier to see lush, green grass. The rest of the group sweatdropped as they saw the two teenagers jumping with joy at the sight of the forest's trail.

"You are never serious…" Raine muttered as she walked into the Ossa Trail. Colette giggled, which made Chibiusa come back to the group and go toward Rei. Rei rolled her eyes, but smiled as she noticed that Lloyd was still frolicking toward the entrance.

"You're going to get left behind." Genis stated, making Lloyd glare at him.

The group entered the Ossa Trail, seeing the healthy plants and trees. Sure, they were healthy now, but if Colette did not regenerate the world, they would die. Chibiusa smiled as she stared at the different plants around the area. Rei turned to Chibiusa, seeing that she was gawking at the trail.

"Chibiusa, it's just a forest." Rei reminded her.

"But there aren't so many forests in Crystal Tokyo." Chibiusa replied. "When's the next time I'm going to see one, Rei?" Chibiusa asked, smiling. Rei sighed, but smiled.

"I suppose." Rei muttered. The group advanced in the trail, eventually reaching a hill. Before Lloyd (in the lead) had a chance to scale the hill, a shout from ahead of them froze the group.

"Stop!"

It was the voice of a female who stood before them. Her hair was a jet black, tied back into a zig-zag-like circle. Almost like an abstract sun. Her clothes were in a different style than of the clothing that the members of the group wore, which made Raine's eyes widen.

"What?" Lloyd asked, arching his right eyebrow in confusion. The girl advanced on the group, her eyes narrowed.

"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" she asked, her voice filled with determination to do something. Chibiusa shook.

'I have a bad feeling about this.' Chibiusa thought. Colette raised her hand.

"Oh! That's me." Colette answered as if she were just called for attendance at school. Rei sweatdropped, but it soon went away as the mysterious girl smiled.

"Prepare to die!" she yelled, charging at Colette.

"No!" Rei yelled. Colette stepped back a few inches, scared. She then felt something in the ground that made her lose her balance. She tripped onto a strangely placed red lever that opened a trap door just as the girl attempted to reach her and kill her. The girl fell into the trap door, her yell echoing through the darkness.

"What was that about?" Chibiusa asked.
"Oh no! What if she's hurt?" Colette worried frantically as she looked down the trap door.

"She's an enemy." Lloyd pointed out.

"If you hadn't have activated that trap door, you could have been killed." Rei explained to Colette, wondering why she would feel compassion for an assassin who tried to take her out.

"I hope she's okay…" Colette muttered.

"Even assuming her weight to be 45kg, and this hole to be 10 meters deep, and calculating the gravity constant at 9.8, the impact shouldn't have been fatal." Genis explained how the fall couldn't have possibly injured the girl too much.

'Hmm...' Helios' thoughts echoed in Genis' mind. 'I doubt she could have been seriously injured.'

Lloyd stood, confused. He didn't get what Genis had just said, but he shrugged it off. Another thought came to his mind.

"So, why is there a trap door in the middle of this place?" Lloyd asked.

"Who knows?" Genis asked, examining it.

"It looks like there might be a chamber below." Raine explained. She stuck her head into the trap door, seeing nothing but darkness. "It's deep enough to have more than just dirt in it."

"We need to keep going." Kratos reminded the group. The group members agreed and continued on the Ossa Trail. Going through this forest wasn't the simplest thing ever. Rei and Chibiusa didn't transform, so they stayed back while the other members battled various monsters they faced on their way. As they had finally made it to the bottom of the hill, the group noticed a strange, wooden blockade on the side of the hill that they had just walked off of. Without warning, the blockade fell down, revealing the assassin who had tried to kill Colette before.

"W-wait!" she yelled, panting.

"Wow, she caught up with us." Rei stated, surprised. Chibiusa noticed that Colette's face lit up.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Colette exclaimed. The assassin heard Colette and began to advance on the group.

"D…Don't move!" she yelled. She drew out two cards and summoned a monster behind her. Chibiusa and Rei's eyes widened.

"I won't be caught off guard this time! Prepare to die!" the assassin yelled, pointing at the group to tell the monster behind her to attack. Rei drew the henshin pen out of her pocket, while Chibiusa glared at her enemy.

"MARS CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"

"MOON ETERNAL, MAKE UP!"

Rei transformed into Sailor Mars, while Chibiusa became Eternal Chibi Moon. The others prepared their weapons.

"What the hell is this?" the assassin questioned as she noticed the transformations of Chibiusa and Rei.

"No harm shall come to the Chosen of Mana!" Mars yelled. "We are the Sailor Senshi, here to protect her at all costs!"

"In the name of the Future Moon, we will punish you!" Chibi Moon did her trademark stance and yelled out her trademark phrase.

"You bore me." The assassin hissed. "Go!"

The monster behind her rushed at the two Senshi, sending blasts of wind at them. The wind forced the two to almost hit the cliffs of the hill nearby.

"We'll take care of her!" Raine told the two Senshi. "First aid!" she cast a healing spell on the two, allowing them to heal slightly. The group advanced on the assassin, Lloyd being the first to attack. He began to dodge the assassin's strikes, attempting to lay a hit on her with his blades. She was really quick, he couldn't lie about that.

"Sword rain!" Lloyd yelled, finally landing multiple hits on the assassin. She fell back, landing on her feet through a back flip. With her pause, Genis used another attack.

"Wind blade!" he yelled, wisps of violent winds striking at her. She yelled out as the mana struck her and made her fall on her back. With her down on the ground, Kratos drew his blade out to make a critical hit to her. It was done, and she was gravely injured in his attack. She gasped, trying not to pass out.

"Fire Soul!" Mars yelled, the flames erupting from her fingers and launching at the monster that she had summoned. It was badly burned, but this attack only made it mad. It blew Sailor Mars back toward the cave that the assassin had fallen into. Chibi Moon knew that her supreme attack would waste too much energy. She had to use an attack that wouldn't strain her so much. She remembered back in the old days when she fought with Sailor Moon. That's it! Her old attack would help her! She took out her staff, smirking.

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" she yelled, her staff flashing with a pink light. It seemed to be a tad bit foolish to be using such a weak attack, but it did moderate damage. Small outlines of hearts struck the monster, distracting it enough for Sailor Mars to recover.

"Mars!" the Senshi of Fire began to charge her energy for her attack. She lifted her hand up into the air and fire began to generate in the shape of an arrow. "Flame Sniper!" she yelled, the arrow of fire hitting the monster directly. It fell back. The attack was fatal, and the monster disappeared. Sailor Mars smirked, giving a thumb's up to Chibi Moon. The assassin was able to get up, and jumped back.

"Ugh! Just you wait! I swear I will kill you all next time!" she exclaimed. In a mere second, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wait!" Lloyd yelled, but she was already gone.

"Why did she try to kill us?" Genis questioned.

'There are those who reject salvation.' Helios explained. 'Yet, she seems to be fighting for a good reason.'

"Maybe she's a Desian." Sailor Mars suggested. Yes, even Rei knew about the Desians. Once she was freed from the Fire Seal, the group had told her about what was going on in the world and why they were traveling.

"No matter what her intentions were, she failed to complete them. We must keep going to Izoold." Kratos reminded the group.

The group moved away from the hill and back onto the main land of Sylvarant. They began to near their next destination, which was not so far at this point.

/ t/

"What do you mean we can't go out to sea?"

A furious Rei questioned a sailor at the docks of Izoold. The sailor shivered and moved back.

"It's dangerous to go out to sea now! There are monsters and sorts!" he explained to the group.

"Ugh, we came all this way and now we can't even head toward Palmacosta!" Lloyd complained, turning to face the rest of the group. Rei sighed, glaring at the sailor. She turned back to the group along with Lloyd.

"Well, actually, there is someone who could take you out toward that way…" the sailor spoke up again.

"Really?" this got Rei's attention.

"Who? Does he live here in Izoold?" Colette asked. The sailor shook his head.

"Nah, he lives in a larger town. He said he was traveling back to his hometown, so I suppose I should apologize for bringing it up." The sailor said sadly, knowing he was going to get a beating from this fiery maiden.

"What's his name?" Kratos asked.

"Aifread." The sailor explained. Chibiusa walked away from the group, wanting to get a good look at this town near the sea. She hadn't really seen any ports before, and it made her happy to see newer things. She walked over toward the beach, smiling as she stared at the sapphire sea. However, a voice nearby took her interest.

"How can I quell these feelings I have? Aifread…" a woman whispered, her expression of sorrow was obvious. She stared out to the sea, sighing deeply as if she had lost something important. Chibiusa advanced to the girl.

"If you're looking for Aifread, I heard he went back to his hometown." Chibiusa explained. The woman turned to look at Chibiusa with surprise.

"What did you say? Is that true?" she asked, shaking Chibiusa to get information out of her.

"Y-yeah!" Chibiusa stated, sweatdropping.

"This is my chance!" the woman whispered. She raced off back toward the docks. Chibiusa walked back slowly to the group, only to see the same woman nearby arguing with a man on a boat.

"What's going on?" Chibiusa asked.

"This woman wants to go out to sea." Raine explained. "She's been arguing with that man as soon as she got here a minute ago."

"Why can't you see that I need to go to Luin?" the woman yelled, glaring at the man who faced her.

"It's dangerous, Lyla. I don't want you to get hurt!" the man argued back. Lyla glared sharply at him.

"Fine Max, then you deliver this letter for me." Lyla said, revealing a white envelope in her hand.

"What? Why should I have to act as a go-between for my rival in love?" Max asked, returning the glare. Lyla sighed, obviously annoyed. She noticed the Chosen's group, and remembered the pink-haired girl that told her of Aifread's whereabouts.

"You there, excuse me." Lyla called out to the group.

"Uh-oh." Genis muttered. "We're going to get dragged into this…"

"You mean us?" Colette asked.

"Is there anyone else?" Lyla asked. "I'd like for you to deliver a letter to Aifread in Luin." Lyla explained.

"Well, we really can't deliver it unless we cross the ocean." Lloyd stated.

"If you can deliver it, I'll make sure that Max takes you on his boat." Lyla said, pointing toward the boat that Max was on. Max's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious!" he yelled.

"Okay." Lloyd said, seeing that this was the only way that the group would be able to get to Palmacosta.

"I…I won't do it!" Max objected. Lyla's glare returned.

"Are you saying it's all right if my letter doesn't reach Aifread?" she asked, venom in her raised voice. Max shivered.

"L-Lyla! No, I mean, it's not…I don't mean that…" Max tried to get out of this. Chibiusa giggled. He must have had strong feelings for Lyla, despite the fact that she was stubborn and in love with another man. Rei noticed this too and hid her smirk from the rest of the group. Colette was worried of what the outcome would be, while Genis and Raine were getting good entertainment out of this. Kratos never seemed to be impressed with anything.

"If you keep making a fuss about this, I'll just do it on my own!" Lyla began to walk away from Max, but was stopped by his next statement.

"Okay, okay! I'll go, I'll go. Dammit..." he whispered the last part, his face slightly red from embarrassment. Lyla smiled.

"You should've just said that from the start." She said. She noticed that she was near Lloyd and handed him the letter.

"Then, it's in your hands now." Lyla said, walking off. Lloyd sweatdropped as he pocketed the letter.

"She's really pushy…" Lloyd muttered. The group turned toward Max, who had been defeated by the stubborn woman of Izoold.

"Just tell me when you're ready to leave." He said, glaring at the group.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be." Genis told him. Raine nodded.

"Okay, let's set sail. Don't blame me if we run into any monsters." He reminded the group as he prepared the ship. The group walked onto the boat, noticing that it was rather small in size. Raine remained near the center, not wanting to lean against the side of the boat and look out at the beautiful ocean.

"I was afraid this journey would force me on a boat sooner or later…" Raine whispered, trying not to move toward the side of the boat.

"Professor?" Chibiusa asked. "Are you alright?" Raine jumped at Chibiusa's words.

"I'm fine!" Raine exclaimed, not wanting to look suspicious. The boat began to move away from Izoold, finally setting sail.

"We're at sea! We're at sea!" Genis yelled, jumping up and down.

"Settle down! This thing's tiny. Do you want to fall out?" Rei asked. Max glared at the group.

"Gee, I'm sorry my ship is too "tiny" for you!" Max was insulted.

"I'm gonna fall!" Colette yelled, trying not to lean toward the side so much.

The voyage toward Palmacosta was relaxing, but Raine seemed a little more stressed than usual. Chibiusa looked out toward the ocean, thinking over the previous night. She was sound asleep, dreaming of the priest that summoned her to this land.

'Helios...where are you now?' she thought in despair, watching the waves roll by the boat as they made their way to the next city.