Cardinal Strike--OT (Tales of Symphonia), PG

[Midnight]

Well, after playing Tales of Symphonia on practially a daily basis for the past two months, and over-listening to a track for the past week, I've been hit with a flash of inspiration. The results of this flash? This fic.

This little vignette covers the period of time in the past of one of the characters. People who have played this game will recall that Sheena, the summoner of the group, had a nearly catastrophic event in her past life, when her failure to control the Summon Spirit Volt caused her village to be torn asunder, and her adoptive grandfather put into a coma. This chronicles that period of time.

Anyway...enjoy.

The young girl looked toward the prow of the vessel, grinning widely. Her short purple hair fluttered in the wind, as did the ribbon she used to keep her hair organized. Today was the day that her grandfather had noted was very special--she had been training for this moment for many months now. As she leaned against the railing at the front of the vessel, she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. The girl turned in the direction of the hand, and her eyes came to rest on the face of a man. Even though his face began to show the first signs of the ravages of time with several wrinkles here and there, his gaze remained soft and warm. The girl smiled as she looked back at the man's face. She always felt secure in his presence of this man--the one she called Grandpa.

"Are you excited, Sheena?"

Sheena nodded energetically. "I am! I am!" she practically squealed with delight. This, in turn, caused the man to smile as well.

He was the leader of a secretive clan of ninjas, known only to the outsiders as Chief Igaguri. His village of Mizuho was well-known throughout the world of Tethe'alla, though no one knew where exactly it was. Some theorized that it lay in the frozen northern continent somewhere short of Flanoir, others thought that it lay buried in the thicket of the Gaoracchia Forest. Whatever the case, only the King knew for sure. The village of Mizuho was renowned for its inhabitants, as they were all of the highest quality. Sheena was no exception to this rule, of course, but she did have something that set her apart from the other youths of the village. She seemed to have an exceptionally strong inner will--she had a voracious appetite for adventure, and was quite energetic for her age. Perhaps it was because she was an outsider--Igaguri had found her abandoned when she was in her infancy. Perhaps it was because of his care, for he took it to himself to raise her as if she was his own granddaughter. He had high hopes for Sheena--he wanted her to become the foremost summoner in the village--one who would be able to tap into the energies of the mystical Summon Spirits of the land and be able to call them at will. The Spirits were among the most powerful beings of the world--they controlled the ebb and flow of mana, which underlied the existence of the entire world. Being a summoner, Igaguri reasoned, would be the best way for Sheena to tap this nearly unfettered energy she possessed.

As the boat continued to drift northward, Igaguri turned to his surrogate granddaughter. "Sheena," he began. "Do you know where we're going today?"

"We're going to see a Summon Spirit!" she exclaimed.

"Which one?"

"Volt!"

Volt. Volt. That simple name was the one given to the Summon Spirit of Lightning. His lair laid just north of the village, across the sea. Sheena had learned time and time again that it was he who governed all things lightning. It was he who was responsible for the lightning that often accompanied the summer storms, and it was he who was responsible for those little jolts that she felt from time to time whenever she touched anything metallic. All of the books she studied referred to Volt as the "Hammer of Godly Lightning," and she made sure to remember that.

At a distance, a shape began to emerge on the horizon. All Sheena knew at the time was that Volt's home, the Temple of Lightning, lay on an island sepearate from the rest of the continent, probably to make sure that no one would feel Volt's awesome power by being too close to him. The temple was rather simple--its dull brown construction contrasted neatly against the green sloping hills of the rest of the island. It looked like a gigantic funnel had been inverted and painted on the island, though nowhere near as perfect.

The boat eventually slowed and came to a stop at the shores of the island. Sheena was bursting with anticipation as several men heaved anchors overboard and began to lower a path onto the island. She immediately dashed towards the path, but was stopped when Igaguri grabbed her arm.

"Now hold on, Sheena, don't be so quick," he chuckled.

"But Grandpa! I want to go see Volt!" Sheena tugged at her other arm, trying to break free.

"We can't go yet," began Igaguri. "It's not ready. Let the others clear out the traps so that we don't have to worry about them. There's a lot of lightning and monsters in the temple, Sheena, and we don't want to see any of their faces now, do we?"

"No, Grandpa," Sheena responded sheepishly. So they waited on the boat until Igaguri's men cleared a path to the Spirit. In the meantime, Sheena rehearsed what she wanted to say when Volt did appear. She stood in one place on the deck, closed her eyes, and began to chant. Her mantra was barely audible to the Chief's ears, but he knew that Sheena was concentrating intently. This was the first time that Sheena had ever gone on a trip to see a Summon Spirit, and even though she was but a mere seven years of age, he was confident that Sheena would return to Mizuho with a pact--an agreement with a Summon Spirit that guaranteed its holder the power of said spirit.

Sheena had gone through her speech for the seventh time when a man dashed back up to the deck. He exchanged words briefly with the Chief, and the Chief nodded. "Sheena!" he called. "It's time to go!" Sheena heard those words, and she skipped over to the Chief's side. They disembarked from the ship and began to hike into the temple.

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The inside of the temple was quite dark--even though the area was abuzz with lightning. Small spires studded the narrow paths within the temple. Every so often, a loud crack was heard, and a bolt of lightning crashed into one of the spires, acting as lightning rods. This startled Sheena a bit, but that didn't prevent her from enjoying the experience as she walked deeper into the temple with her grandfather at her side. The pair continued to traverse the narrow path, covered in simple stone tiles, which reflected a dull purple. They continued to follow one man, as they climbed up a set of stairs and through a doorway.

The next room was enormous. Unlike the antechamber that they had just came through, this one looked a lot more complete. The walls were covered with the same stone tiles, and they looked a lot more polished than that of counterparts in the previous room. The center of the room was elevated slightly, and a small set of stairs led to the terrace in the center of the room. This was flanked by a symmetrical set of staircases, leading to the top of the room while hugging the walls. The staircases ended at a ledge, and at the very center of the ledge was a circular platform.

"Come," said the man who had led the pair in. "Volt awaits." The Chief nodded and led Sheena up the stairs towards the back of the room. Even though he knew Sheena was genuinely excited about this pact, he could tell that she was growing more nervous as they got closer. Sheena's grip on his hand grew increasingly tighter--not to the point where she was hurting the Chief, but to the point where he knew that Sheena was beginning to get a little uneasy. As they reached the top of the steps, Igaguri let go of Sheena's hand, and bent down. He whispered into her ear "Go get 'em."

Sheena nodded and stepped forward to the circular platform. Hovering above the platform were a few streaks of purple energy. As she approached the platform, the streaks began to spiral counterclockwise, slowly at first. The entire room seemed to tremble as the purple energy streaks spun faster and faster. Eventually, a small sphere had formed at the center of the pinwheel, and it began to pulsate. The sphere then flashed--forcing Sheena to cover her eyes.

Several moments passed, and when Sheena opened her eyes again, she was face to face with the one known as Volt. Volt looked like a hollow ball, with purple electricity arcing throughout its surface. At its front, other arcs of lightning, red in color, formed the shape of a crude face. Sheena could feel the massive amount of mana in the air around her, and it nearly overwhelmed her. Volt hovered in place, its 'eyes' transfixed on this small child, the one who hoped to harness his power.

Sheena stood there, nearly transfixed on the sight. To her left, Igaguri watched carefully, and whispered loudly to Sheena, hoping to snap her back into attention. She jerked reflexively, and realized what she had to do. She took a step forward, took a deep breath, and began.

"I am Sheena," she declared. "I seek a pact with V-V-Volt. Please."

Volt looked at the girl. Sheena could tell that his mouth was moving, but she heard only a quiet pattern of buzzes. No matter how hard she trained her ear on the buzzes, she couldn't make heads or tails of what he was trying to say.

Sheena began to panic. Even though she studied hard in the village and learned everything that her teachers had told her about Summon Spirits, nothing she learned could deal with this. There was no chapter in the book about what to do when you can't understand a word that the Summon Spirit said, and nothing about how to make a pact when one of the parties seemed to be mute.

Sheena gulped and repeated her declaration. And again Volt moved his mouth, and the same pattern of buzzes and clicks fell upon her ears. She began to grow more worried as she repeated her statement over and over again, to no avail. After about the fifth time, Sheena noticed that the purple energy that arced around Volt's body grew ominously darker, and the mana even more intense. The Chief noticed this too, and his jaw dropped at the realization of what had happened.

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"Sheena! Look out!" he yelled, as he lunged for his granddaughter. As they say, it was too little, too late.

Volt's facial expression had turned to one of anger, and he began to fill the room with arcs of lightning. The Chief had managed to get to Sheena and tackle her to the ground, but as he did that, an arc of lightning surged into his body. Sheena covered her head, fearing for the worst. The crash of the lighting throughout the room drowned out the Chief's shriek as he crumpled into a heap at her side. Volt continued to fill the room with lightning, and Sheena continued to cower. Then, it seemed to stop. Volt had inexplicably stopped his rampage.

Sheena took this opportunity to open her eyes. The first thing that she saw was her grandfather's prone form to her left. His clothing had been singed, and there were still faint wisps of smoke emanating from the tattered remains of his robe. Sheena reached out for her grandfather when she was roughly picked up and taken down the stairs, like a parcel being rushed for overnight delivery. One of Igaguri's men had picked her up and was retreating back to the ship at full speed, while two other men picked up the Chief and did the same. All the while, Volt continued to pulsate. His electricity had become a dark shade of purple, and he leered menacingly over the retreating men. Instead of attacking them, Volt abruptly phased through the wall of the temple.

The men remaining on the ship, oblivious to what had just occurred, had their gaze fixed onto Volt. They had just seen the Summon Spirit come inexplicably out of the Temple of Lightning and fly off to the south, heading perilously close to Mizuho...

The men were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps dashing towards the ship. One of the men looked over and was shocked at the sight. He implicitly understood what he had to do and began to ready the ship for a return to Mizuho. The young man rushed to the bridge and began to turn the wheel, almost in a panic. He had just seen his Chief, presumably killed by Volt, Sheena out like a light, and Volt headed towards the direction of his home. He raced to start the ship, fearing the worst. When the ship arrived back at Mizuho, the man's worst dreams were realized.

Volt was floating from house to house, causing bolts of lightning to rain onto the unwitting village. The bolts that had hit the roofs of the house immediately caught on fire, and most of the village was ablaze. Heavy plumes of black smoke rose over the dying village, but Volt seemed unfazed and he continued pouring his destructive energy into the hapless village. Some villagers, who were caught outside when Volt arrived, didn't stand a chance as lightning surged through them. Some of the burning buildings began to topple, weakened by the fires that raged within. The men carefully disembarked from the ship and made a mad dash for safety. To them, that meant the main house, which was built more solidly than the other huts in the village. They managed to dodge the debris and the occasional arc of electricity and entered the house. Several other villagers had already taken refuge there, and they gasped at the ghastly sight of the men taking the Chief to the corner.

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Sheena eventually opened her eyes, and as her vision began to clear up, she rubbed her eyes to clear the confusion. The last thing she knew was that she was face-to-face with Volt, and her grandfather had shouted something...

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed. She got up and rushed out of the room. She passed from room to room, searching for her grandfather and hoping that he made it out okay. As she ran into the main room, she stopped dead in her tracks. Several men had congregated to the side, and in the corner lay her grandfather lying on the ground. His face had a sickly pallor to it, and he laid motionless behind a thin veil meant to partition his are away from the main room. Sheena gasped and rushed over to her guardian's form, knelt down at his side, and began to shake him gently.

"Grandpa, Grandpa...wake up! Wake up!" she sqeaked. The Chief remained motionless. One of the men in the side group motioned towards Sheena, and they immediately stopped what they were saying. One of them stepped forward and knelt at Sheena's side. "Sheena," he began. "Do you know who I am?"

Sheena looked over the man who had just spoke to her. "Tiga," she responded. "Tiga! What's wrong with Grandpa? He won't wake up!" She tugged at Tiga's arm, trying to inform him of the severity of the situation--something Tiga knew all too well.

Tiga spoke. "Igaguri is..." he trailed off. "Do you remember what happened at the Temple of Lightning?"

Sheena shook her head. Before she could explain what happened, Tiga began again.

"Well, it seemed that Volt was not as friendly as we thought. Grandpa's asleep now...and I don't know when he'll wake up," he stated solemnly. Tiga took Sheena by her hand and escorted her outside of the building.

Sheena could hardly believe her eyes. Most of the village lay in ruins. The cries of the injured and dying filled the air, as men rushed from place to place trying to heed these calls. To her left was a pile of rubble that vaguely could have been a house. The material was blackened and laid tilted on the ground, and smoke still rose from the smoldering remains. Sheena looked around, and she saw charred remains where the house of her best friends stood. Two young boys stood at the edge of the rubble, only able to stare at the ruins where their house once stood. The boys looked quite similar, even though both had ash on their clothes and their skin. Other than that, they looked to be perfectly fine, if not a little emotionally distraught. Sheena ran up to the boys.

"Kuchinawa! Orochi!" she yelled.

The two boys looked at the girl that was approaching them. "Sheena!" Kuchinawa said. He ran up to her, and began to speak. "You've gotta help us! Mom and Dad were at home when Volt came!"

"Where were you?" Sheena asked.

"We were on our way back from the well," began Orochi, "when we saw a blinding flash of light from the skies. It looked like a giant purple ball, and it was heading for the village. What was that thing?"

Sheena gulped. "Volt."

"Volt?" asked Kuchinawa incredulously. "The Summon Spirit?"

"Yeah," she said. "I don't know what happened, though..."

"You couldn't control Volt?" asked Kuchinawa.

Orochi grabbed Kuchinawa by the hand. "Come on, Sheena, you gotta help us! Mom and Dad could be trapped under there!" The two boys began to sift through the rubble, hoping to find their parents alive.

Sheena was just about to help them out when she froze. Her mind had finally pieced together what had happened, and the full realization of the disaster struck her like a sack of potatoes. She had failed to form a pact with Volt, and as a result, she lost her home, her friends, and worst, her grandpa.

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A single tear rolled off Sheena's face, both then, and nearly a dozen years later. She turned to face Lloyd, but she couldn't handle any more and ran from the room, sobbing.

P.S. If there are errors with line breaks, I apologize. Stupid Notepad.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Spork-Queen.EXE]

Very nice, Mid. You writing flows together nicely. I also really liked the idea for the fic; I've never seen it done before, which is always good. I'd like to read more ToS stuff by you, for sure. :)

[Sol]

Ah, very nice. This is a wonderful look into what Sheena went through, and captures the reactions of both herself and everyone around her as the whole ordeal happened. The writing flowed smoothly from one action to the next, which was very good. The only little nitpick is that it seemed to end a bit too abruptly, but other than that, it's a great read.

Great job, Midnight.
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<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Sol]

Ah, very nice. This is a wonderful look into what Sheena went through, and captures the reactions of both herself and everyone around her as the whole ordeal happened. The writing flowed smoothly from one action to the next, which was very good. The only little nitpick is that it seemed to end a bit too abruptly, but other than that, it's a great read.

Great job, Midnight.
_________________


<3 Planty~
Art in icon done by Raburabbit.

[Midnight]

Yeah, well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't very good with the ending, since I had written this on a whim and did it last evening. I was being called off to bed, so I didn't put a lot of thought into how the story ended, and I was also afraid that I would ramble a bit.

That being said, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Perhaps I'll take up writing a bit more often...
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3