Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of its properties.
Notes: This was written forever ago and posted to Tumblr. In an attempt to update this account with some things, I decided to post it here.
Questions of Religion
"Hey, Colette."
"Yes?"
"Now that all of this stuff with Cruxis and everything is over . . ." Colette looked over at Lloyd, raising her eyebrows, and Zelos looked over in interest as well. Lloyd wasn't looking at any of them, but was instead staring up at the sky. "What do you think about religion and stuff?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we know now that Martel wasn't ever really a goddess." Colette's eyes widened before her expression settled into thoughtful understanding. "So even if we prayed to her, it's not like she could really do anything about it, since her soul has merged with the spirit of the World Tree. And the angels and everything—they definitely weren't watching us for anything good. So I was just wondering what you thought about all of that now. You were always pretty into it before."
"Well, yeah, I was." Colette wrapped her arms around her knees, and rested her chin upon them. She was quiet for a moment, Zelos watching her, Lloyd still looking up at the stars. "I think . . ." She took a deep breath, released it, and said, "I think . . . I still believe, kind of."
"You do?" Lloyd asked, bemused. "But Martel wasn't really—"
"I know she wasn't really a goddess," Colette interrupted, and Lloyd closed his mouth. "But even if her divinity wasn't real, she was still a really good person. When she possessed me that one time—" Lloyd's brow furrowed as he glared at the grass, and Zelos looked away, "—I could see her memories, and hear her thoughts. Even after Zelos gave me that Key Crest, I could still hear her faintly, just a little bit. She really did try her hardest to live a good life. Mithos made up the fact that she was a goddess, but all of the other teachings of the Church of Martel . . . they were real. She really did teach him to live that way, even if he did things against what she wanted later on. She really was a good person. He didn't make all of that up.
"So I think that even if Martel isn't a goddess, and even if the angels aren't what we thought they were . . . we shouldn't ignore all of the teachings. The Church of Martel is still a good thing for the people." Zelos snorted a sarcastic laugh, and Colette frowned. "In Sylvarant it is. And it can be in Tethe'alla, too, now that the worlds are merged. We could fix it."
"Colette, you know I love you," Zelos said, "but let's be realistic. The Church is way more powerful in Tethe'alla than Sylvarant. If anyone is going to convert, it's Sylvarant's Church—not Tethe'alla's."
"Being realistic never helped us before," Lloyd said, and Zelos opened his mouth to counter, but closed it before shrugging to acquiesce. "But I'm not sure if we could spend the time to change it. We still have to find the Exspheres . . ."
"We can try, little by little," Colette insisted. "I mean, if we see them doing something bad in Tethe'alla, we're not just going to sit by and watch, are we?"
"Of course not."
"Then see?" Colette smiled, and looked up at the sky. "And that's what Martel would want, I think. She hated what Cruxis was doing, and she really wanted everyone to live happily and freely. She didn't want people to have to suffer or starve. So if we can change the Church of Martel, little by little . . . if we can do that in her name, I think it really would be for the best. Even if she wasn't a goddess, I think she had the right idea."
"Yeah," Lloyd said after a moment, as he, Colette, and Zelos settled into comfortable silence again, watching the stars. "Me, too."