Cearbhail: So, this started as an honest prankster story of Zelos playing a game of misfortune and humilation on Genis. Since it evolved, I decided to evolve the beggining as well. A little foreshadowing and a little wonder and you get.. the Wonder Chef of Chaos. That would be 'muah'.
-Presea- -
I should have known something bad would happen. I should have calculated the risk of the chance that I would fail. I should have known better than to believe Zelos. We played a simple game that turned into a nightmare. Even if I were to go back in time and rethink my position…I doubt I would have changed my answer. My answer would always have been 'agreeable'. I understand that no one understands what I mean, yet. By the end of the story you will. My friends decided to play a game on me and Genis and it turned into a war. An innocent prank caused two deaths. Even with the cause and the effect, I would not have changed my mind knowing what would have happened in the end.
This is how it started. It was not an average day. I woke up from my three hour slumber not as I usually did. When I opened my eyes, I did not see the blank white ceiling that I always saw. I did not contemplate its whiteness or how empty the color white really is. Instead of the blank slate, I saw four familiar heads all smiling down at me from the edges of my bed. I could see Lloyd, Zelos, Colette, and Sheena all smiling down at me like I was a pet at a zoo that they found interesting. When I sat up, I could see Emil and Marta standing at my doorway, smiling at me…well Marta was too busy giggling to actually look at me. I knew my friends well enough to know that they would not all converge in my room all at the same time at…. 2:13 in the morning. What was going on?
I looked around and said, "Good morning, everyone. Did I forget something?"
As I expected, everyone just crossed their arms and looked at me amusingly. I started getting my uneasy feeling that I always got around people when they paid attention to me for unspecified reasons. Genis was the giver of uncomfortable attention. I should have known what that meant back then. Maybe if I had been more attentive to his feelings it would not have killed us. My friends looked at each other and finally Lloyd stepped forward to start off the end of my life.
"Hey, Presea…do you notice how Genis acts around you?"
I nodded. Yes, I did note the fact that Genis could not comprehend basic words or even a common greeting without looking away from me. His face always flushed of color when I was around and sometimes I could even feel a bit of a warmth associated with him. I just thought that he was ill every day.
Zelos stepped forward and said, "Lloyd, my man, let me. Presea, you know how I feel about Sheena, right?"
I looked at Sheena, who looked both infuriated and ready to hit him.
I said, "You feel anxious that she will hit you but you still attempt to annoy her with your constant sexual comments. If I were to imagine that you do this on a purposeful manner that…you're a masochist. That being said; I would understand that you use Sheena as a conduit for you sexual pleasures when she beats you."
Zelos stopped in his reply and everyone started laughing their heads off. Sheena even doubled over in laughter. Zelos crossed his arms and said, "Aw, come on, Presea…it's not like that. I... Can't you take a hint?"
I tilted my head to the side. Was he talking about his fantasies or was he referring to what Genis really felt towards me. I would not lie; I did know that Genis 'liked' me. I always attempted to dissuade him from actually calling me out for a date. I had no feelings for him and I wished that he would grow out of his for me. Finally, Colette jumped up and said, "Genis loves you."
Everyone stopped talking, but Marta was busy hugging Emil even tighter saying, "Aw."
Genis loved me? That was a step higher than just 'liking' or 'crushing'. I did not find this easily approachable or solvable. I calculated the possibility of that answer. He couldn't look me directly in the eye and he always stumbled or tripped around me. He couldn't say even one word to me. If he did love me, then he wasn't doing it like a person should. Genis was a child, I was an adult trapped in a child's body. I didn't know if it were possible for him and me to even be together. Wouldn't us dating be considered illegal since I am in fact an adult? I ended up with more negative answers than a positive one.
Everyone knew what my different face postures meant. When I tilted my head, it was a confused state of mind that I held myself in. I couldn't convey emotional face postures, so I did different things with my face to convey my mood. Confusion: head tilt. Upset, I look down. Happy: I still haven't found one yet. Angry: I turn around or I just stared at you non-blinking. That was probably more unsettling. I was looking down at my sheets, which meant I was negatively thinking about the answer that was just directed at me. They were waiting for my answer. They already knew my answer. I said, "How do we fix this disease?"
Everyone looked crushed. I guess this was not the course of action that they had wanted to hear. Genis deserved a person who could in fact issue the emotions required to form a relationship. Genis deserved a person his own age that he could play with and then grow into a romantic future with. I was neither of those options. I tried baking cookies when he offered teaching, and I tried building a snowman the night before the last battle. I couldn't be a kid, I just couldn't feel it. I felt old and not just old; my life was stolen from me and I can't live anymore, old.
Marta walked up to me and said, "Can't you at least give him a try?" She looked so desperate to have another romantic tale to fill her personal diary with for future reading to her children. I could not understand how she could feel so helplessly in love. Well, until the end of the game, I could not understand. If falling meteors and a kiss does nothing for you; then nothing ever will.
"Genis is only a child. He does not yet understand his feelings. I assume he only likes me because I am possibly the first girl close to age that has come into his field of vision. I cannot ignore the fact that he is a child because I am not. Relations with him and me are illegal since I am an adult."
Everyone shook their heads. They did not agree with my logic? Just because I look 12 doesn't mean that I am 12. I guess they overlooked this in their thinking. Lloyd said, "I think you're just overthinking it, Presea. What about this? What if we proved that Genis would do anything for you? What if he could act like an adult and save your life?"
I pondered that. This would be an easy way to get rid of Genis once and for all. Genis could barely walk on a log in the middle of a river without falling in. How could he possibly save my life? This was an easy course of action that would have a 0 chance of success. But, if my calculations were off, maybe I'd be able to look past his childish nature. Sure, if Genis could mature a bit I think I could offer him a chance to prove himself to me. I nodded and said, "I find that…acceptable. How?"
Everyone smiled and Zelos said, "Alright, now I get to have some fun."
Colette took my hand and said, "Just follow me Presea. Marta and I will take care of you."
I should have known better than to leave this is Zelos' hands. If there was some way I could have known back then what I know now…I'm not sure what I would have done. After an eternity to ponder it, neither of us had a good answer. Would we change the past or would we keep our present? We had no answer.
Cearbhail: Ok, some drama, some word play, some talk of 'if i knew back then what i knew right now' and you get some foreshadowing, I guess. I don't know, I just felt like rewriting something and this story picked the last cherry.
