Revival of the Chosen

by crystaladept

Author's Note - Alright! This is going to be my first posted story, and it's a bit Zelos-centric. It might wind up being yaoi... or straight, or for the heck of it, mixed. No yuri, though. I'm not a yuri person. It's based after the game... best read if you regained Kratos in your party for the final boss... That's right, Zelos is dead... cough

Disclaimer - All rights to Tales of Symphonia belongs to Namco. Not me... T-T

Warning - Contains spoilers from the game. Don't like spoilers? Then don't read.

Time-line - Three months after game's end.

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Chapter One - Resurrection

Bring back this soul from purgatory! Resurrection!

Lloyd Irving-Aurion had a hard time sleeping. He hadn't slept very well since the time in the Tower of Salvation, when Zelos Wilder had betrayed them. It wasn't the betrayel that kept him awake though. It was soemthing else. He sat up in his bed and drew a small red orb from his pocket.

"Zelos..." he muttered. The orb was a cruxis crystal... Zelos' to be more exact. Even though Zelos had given exact instructions to destroy the object, Lloyd couldn't bring himself to do it. He cared too much about Zelos. Then, a smile graced his pale face. Maybe he didn't have to forget about Zelos, ever. Maybe Raine could help.

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Raine Sage sat in her new house in Iselia, feeling rather lonely without her brother who was studying at the Sybek Academy. While Colette Brunel was also in town, it just wasn't the same. She spent most of her time in the Church of Martel where she had become a priestess. Suddenly, a knock at her door broke her from her loneliness.

"Who is it?" she asked, standing beside the door, half eager, half nervous.

"Professor Sage! It's me, Lloyd!" came the voice from the otherside. The teacher's eyes lit up and she threw open the door, startling the young man on her steps.

"Lloyd! What brings you here, and at this hour?"

"I came to ask for your help. Do you still have the unicorn horn?"

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The two sat in Raine's dining room, staring at the crystal.

"Let me get this straight... you want me to revive Zelos?"

"Please, professor... you're the only one who can do it!" Raine sighed and sat back in her chair. She had spent a good fifteen minutes in rune mode befoe snapping out of it.

"What makes you think I can do it?"

"Faith? Trust? Pixie dust? No... that's not right..."

"Lloyd? Have you been reading?" Lloyd blushed.

"I attempted the first chapter, and then read the whole thing. It was good."

"Well... I'm amazed. Do you really think I could revive Zelos? Do you really think it'd work?"

"I know you can do it." Raine stood up and picked up her deck brush.

"Very well then. As a reward for you actually doing your homework for once, I shall give it my best shot." Lloyd glared at her for a moment, then watched as mana gathered around her. She had already pulled the unicorn horn from her waist pouch and was chanting. "Hear me ancient spirit of life... bring back this soul from purgatory. RESURRECTION!" A burst of mana in the shape of wings enveloped the jewel.

"It's working!" Lloyd cried. And indeed it was. A body began to form around the gem, and very soon an extremely nude Zelos was laying unconcious on the table. Lloyd was already prepared and had a blanket draped over Zelos before Raine opened her eyes from casting the spell.

"Amazing!" Raine chirped, her eyes once again lit up. It was Zelos, but he had changed. His hair, although the same length, was a darker shade of red, almost the same as Kratos Aurion's hair. The curious professor reached forward, her hand just hovering over the sleeping male's mouth. The warm breath made her giggle in delight. "I didn't know I could even do that. Lloyd? What gave you the idea that I could do that?" Lloyd gazed at her for a breif moment.

"I remembered when you healed Clara and Pietro. If you did that, then why couldn't you heal a locked soul." Raine jumped up and down like a little kid. Then she stopped and met his eyes.

"I thought you destroyed his crystal." Lloyd's shoulders fell.

"No... I couldn't bring myself to."

"But... I saw the crystal fragments on the floor... what was it then?"

"Well... you all had turned your backs, not wanting to see me destroy his life. While you were turned, I exchanged his cruxis crystal for a regular exsphere that we had picked up. I destroyed that instead."

"Lloyd..." Raine looked down at Zelos. "I think you should probably find him some clothing." Lloyd grinned at that.

"I already planned for that." Pulling up a bag, he withdrew a long black duster and baggy red pants. "I figured something close to his old outfit, but different would suit him, don't you agree, Professor?"

"Very good, Lloyd. I'm going to go out for a bit. See if you can dress him and then maybe wake him up."

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Lloyd stared at Zelos, unseccessful in waking the ex-chosen up. Instead, he opted to study the male. Then he noticed blood in several spots on his old friend. Seemed as though, while his body was restored, so was his old injuries from their battle. Sighing, he found the first aid kit Raine kept and applied some lemon gels and some bandages to the wounds.

"Zelos... when will you wake up?" he questioned, mainly to himself. He grinned unhappily. "This sucks. It feels as though I can't do anything... you think, being an angel, I'd be able to wake him up... but I can't even light a candle." Again, he sighed. Nothing was going the way he had planned. His brown eyes fell upon Zelos' lips. They looked so inviting... so tempting... he leaned forward to kiss them... and wound up looking into sleepy blue eyes. "Zelos! You're awake!" Lloyd crushed his friend in a hug, much to the red head's dismay.

"Uh... yeah... I am awake... and oddly enough... alive... for now... I won't be though if you keep on crushing the life out of me." Lloyd blushed and scampered away from the angel, who sat up upon release. Their eyes met once again. "How is it that I'm still alive? I thought I asked you to destroy my cruxis crystal."

"I couldn't do it... I cared too much for you." Zelos grinned and launched himself at Lloyd, hugging the swordsman in a tighter grip then what Lloyd had on Zelos.

"BUDDY!"

"Gack!" Lloyd yelped as he was smothered in Zelos' adoration. It was at that moment that Raine walked back in, carrying a bag of groceries.

"Hmm... if you two are going to do that, then maybe you should return to Lloyd's home." The two parted in embarassment and Raine releived herself of the groceries' weight. "I'm glad to see you're awake, Zelos. You had Lloyd worried."

"And I didn't have you worried, my ultra cool beauty?"

"No. I couldn't of cared less. But Lloyd did, and that's why you're here." Zelos cringed at her harsh words.

"At least Lloyd loves me," he pouted, hiding behind the said boy. Lloyd's face was redder than it was when Raine had walked in. Sighing, the teacher sat down at the table that was once Zelos' bed.

"You won't be able to retrun to your old life. Everyone thinks you are dead," she told him bluntly. Zelos nodded.

"I don't plan on returning there. I have nothing left in Meltokio." Zelos also sat down and propped his elbows on the table.

"Then what to you want to do? Where will you go?" Raine asked, as Lloyd took up the last chair at the table.

"Well... if my buddy here will put up with me, I'd like to stay with him." Lloyd stared at his friend.

"Things won't be easy. Living's not free, you know." Raine and Zelos nodded at Lloyd's statement.

"I dunno... maybe I'll find a job around here or something." The professor gazed at Zelos for a moment.

"You're actually serious... aren't you."

"You bet. Not like I have anywhere else to go. I even think I'll give up on hunnies too." There was a thud as Lloyd fell out of his chair. "Lloyd? You okay, buddy? Did I kill him?"

"No, he just fainted. Now... I have a proposition for you, if you chose to take it."

"Hit me."

"Hmm... I'm not as good at math as I'd like to be. That is why I would like you to teach math at school, and maybe even sword fighting and magic. Of course, there's a catch."

"What's the catch?"

"Colette's still around here, and while she's dense, she'll recognise your name and your personality. Those will have to change." Zelos thought for a moment.

"Okay. I can do that. But what name should I go by?" Raine sat back, her mind processing names.

"Solez. Solez Redliw, a half-elf from Exire who came here on my request to help the children. They'll fall for it."

"Solez... isn't that my name backwards?"

"Just so long as no one else meets you besides the people of this town, you'll be fine." Zelos stood up, a big grin across his face.

"Watch out world! Solez Redliw is here to stay!"

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A.N.- Please read and reveiw.