Tadaaaa~! Look, I'm back! And I'm...starting...a new fanfiction. Oh, Martel. I know, I know. "Not another one!" Right? But I just can't help myself. This idea's been buzzing around in my head for months, and it just demanded that I release it!
Raine: And having no other life to speak of, naturally, you obliged this ludicrous impulse.
Well...duh. I'm a writer. It's kind of what we do, sweetiepants.
Raine: What have we said, Maiya, about those idiotic, little petnames of yours?
Umm... That...they're...?
Raine: -facepalm- She does not own, and is no way associated, with any part of the Tales of Symphonia franchise, or anything related to such. It is all pirated for her own sadistic pleasures.
...huh? OH RIGHT. Fanfic time! Enjoy, readers!
"Wow... Look at that... Raine, look."
It was like a child at Christmas, the way this young man drank in his surroundings. Wide-eyed and glowing with a comical expression of awe and delight, he moved forward, turning in a slow circle as he went. One hand kept running back through unruly white hair in need of both comb and cut; left to its own agenda, it tended to fall into his eyes. She supposed it was a phase, this aversion to getting it trimmed up. It was beginning to resemble a mop sitting on his head, but any grief she gave him about it was brushed off at once. Never mind the fact that it was inconvenient and made him look silly to be playing with it constantly in order to see. Adolescence had brought amusing and exasperating mannerisms along with a few inches of height, it seemed.
Her own eyes half-closed in a tiny smile that her lips wouldn't show as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had little room to talk about his hair, in the end. She had let hers grow, too, until it now sat around her shoulders, straight and soft and still difficult to get used to. But then, hers was not constantly in her face and forcing her to form compulsive habits.
"I'm looking, Genis," she replied. "It's impressive. It's difficult to believe that this was a pile of flooded rubble just two and a half years ago." Idly, she allowed her gaze to trail over the new homes, the shops lining the neatly paved cobblestone pathways, the wide harbor in the distance. Palmacosta, being restored to all of its glory. She couldn't deny a sense of delight, herself.
To Sylvarant and its oppressed, downtrodden people, this was surely an indescribable joy. And while her birthplace had technically been on the flourishing world of Tethe'alla, she found herself more easily relating to the once declining world of Sylvarant. If she had had to associate herself with one or the other, she would now have chosen that latter. And now, not only was the largest and most important city in Sylvarant being rebuilt, but the funding, the support, was coming from a Tethe'allan company. From the most prestigious Tethe'allan company; from the Lezareno. It was a massive lift for these people, after nearly three years of ill treatment and stereotyping from the other side. She was excited - and very grateful to one Regal Bryant.
Of course, there was one aspect of the new city that both she and her younger brother were especially looking forward to; it was more or less the reason they had decided to come at last. And as they turned a corner and stepped around a sign labeled Marble's, the academy came into view. Raine actually slowed to a stop, her expression changing slightly. ...Yes. This was good.
"This is crazy," Genis stated, linking his hands together and dropping them down on the top of his head. "I never expected to see this place a bustling capital again."
"Or ever," she added in a quip. Compared to Meltokio, Palmacosta had been a rustic village. Now, though, it looked like her brother's assessment wasn't far from the truth. People were everywhere - and not only those working. Citizens, families, were passing by them from every direction. Lives were being lived here once again. "Come on. You wanted to see the academy."
Genis tossed her a sidelong glance. "You mean you wanted to see the academy."
"You're the one attending it, yes? Then clearly you have more invested in this visit than I do." She cocked an eyebrow at him and inclined her head toward the large, still not-quite-finished building on the other side of the square. "Let's go."
He shook his head at her, tossed it to the side to clear the violet eyes that matched hers, and started walking again. "I still think you ought to teach here, sis. I don't know why you immediately said no when that letter came."
Raine's initial response was a quiet snort as she trailed after him, watching the people they passed distantly. "We were rather busy at the time," she reminded him dryly. Only recently had they placed their campaign against discrimination on hold. For his schooling, actually.
"We're not now. You're gonna get so bored and lonely without me around. You need something to do all day, every day. What could be better than whipping ignorant, little students into some kind of respectable state of education, huh?" After running his fingers back through his hair for the thousandth time, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. His posture had also taken a slight dip in the past few months. Oh, adolescence. Pray, pass quickly.
"What, indeed?"
The siblings Sage both halted in near unison at this familiar voice that carried in it a mild note of amusement. As Genis twisted his head around to find the source, Raine turned completely and found herself forced to step backward an inch or two and look up to meet a sea-blue gaze glinting with a spark of mirth. She just blinked, surprised. It was her brother who found his wits first.
"Heeey!" the boy exclaimed after a moment, breaking into a grin and coming back to stand beside her. "Regal! Wow, is that you? What do you know?" He stuck out a hand, his good mood absolutely palpable. As Raine held her bottom lip gently between her teeth to restrain the smile, the taller human shook Genis' offered hand like a true businessman. His smile, however, was rather apparent in his eyes if nothing else.
"Genis," he greeted. As he released the youthful hand, he turned to the older half-elf and, after a brief pause to take in her face, picked up hers and bowed his head to barely touch it to his lips. "Raine." At her expression, he chuckled softly. "...Forgive me. It's something of an occupational hazard, I'm afraid."
Raine drew back her hand and folded her arms loosely across her middle, examining their old companion from the cerulean hair neatly tucked away in a lengthy nobleman's braid down his back, to the trim and polished black shoes, just as new and shiny as the stone path upon which they stood. Her eyes lingered briefly on his face, distinctly lacking most of the grimness she recalled, and then again on his unbound hands before he linked them behind his back. "...You've changed," she finally concluded, meeting his eyes once more. The shackles' absence alone was noteworthy.
"As have the two of you," the Duke returned evenly, ever the diplomatic tower of etiquette. "It took me a moment to recognize you. One of you is quite a bit taller than I seem to remember."
Here, predictably, Genis began to glow again. "A whole three inches!" he exclaimed, proudly.
"Are we talking about your height or your hair now?" This was Raine's wry interjection as she reached over maternally to again drag the mess out of his face, which fell into a flat expression. "Honestly."
"Are you still on that? Your hair is longer than mine, you know. And look at Regal's!"
"His does not form a curtain in front of his eyes and force him to walk around with his head cocked to one side as though his neck were broken," she sighed.
"Okay, Mom." Genis rolled his eyes in good humor. "When my hair gets that long, I'll be sure and wear it just like Regal, since you apparently think so highly of him."
"...I believe I am better off as a spectator here, rather than a participant," Regal mused. "And for the blatantly obvious reason of breaking up this debate - it's good to see you both. Are you two planning to bring your cause here, as well?"
Raine shook her head. "Not exactly. Genis has finally decided to take up the offer made him several years ago by the Palmacosta Academy and become a student here. I wanted to see him off, as well as see for myself the restoration of the city." Here, her expression softened just a touch in appreciation. "It's inspiring. I'm grateful to you. Everyone here is, I'm sure."
The large man turned his head to sweep his gaze across the city. "It is inspiring - but not because of me or the Lezareno. It is because of the people of Sylvarant themselves, who have accepted us and refused to give up. They are strong, each and every one of them. They are the ones who accomplished all of this, in the end."
Genis scratched his cheek idly. "Sylvarant's had the short end of the stick for a long time, but they never gave up," he agreed soberly. "While it was still the declining world, they never stopped believing in Martel, and the Chosen's Journey. A lot of people were too scared to stand up to the Desians - but they never lost hope that there was a way to beat them. And now, against Tethe'alla's bigotry and intimidation, they're even more determined to hold their own. Whether as a world or now as a nation, Sylvarant is amazing, huh?"
"Yes, it is. It is immensely difficult to hold hope when all the odds are stacked so stubbornly against you." She knew that much from experience. "But when all is said and done, it's well worth it, I suppose."
"Lloyd demonstrated that to us, I believe," nodded Regal.
"...I'm not sure that it was quite so philosophical in Lloyd's case as much as the fact that he was stubborn," Raine replied, wryly. "But yes, I guess he did."
Genis quirked a little smile and turned away to look at the academy once more. "Man, it really looks great, Regal. It's bigger than it was, right?"
Regal twisted a bit to follow the young man's gaze. "Yes, it has been expanded to better meet the needs of its students. We have also been working on filling the faculty positions with the most qualified individuals available." Raine did not miss the fleeting glance he sent her way, but she chose, for now, to ignore it. "There have been two or three people from Tethe'alla who have stepped forward to assist the education on this side, but that has been...challenging."
Genis frowned slightly, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
A small grimace tugged at the nobleman's lips. "You were not mistaken when you mentioned Tethe'allan 'bigotry', I'm afraid. The majority of the populace is decidedly indifferent to the wellbeing of their neighbors here. A great deal of them are even very much opposed to the idea of helping them. The Lezareno has been the target of many political and personal slanders for our work here. It's shameful."
"Shameful, but not exactly a surprise." Raine's own voice was grim. "People are constantly looking for ways to validate themselves by grinding another beneath their heels."
"'People fear and hate what is different,'" quoted Regal. They all recognized the words from nearly three years before, and she shook her head slowly with a quiet sigh. It was an undeniable truth of the nature that existed between men, whatever race.
With a sad smile, she added her own soft quotation: "'Life survives at the cost of another.' Some things do not change." Her left hand strayed over to scratch at the opposite shoulder, near her neck.
This apparently irked Genis, who pulled a face. "That's not true, sis. Some things have already changed a lot. We just have to keep trying to change them more."
After an oddly scrutinizing look at the elder of the two that she wasn't sure she understood or liked, Regal relaxed into a tame smile and inclined his head toward the mage. "This is very true. Belief and perseverance can change entire worlds," he quipped. "But enough of this dismal topic; you've just arrived, I presume? No doubt you'll want to settle in a bit."
"Actually, I'm kind of anxious to get inside and look around. Is that okay?" Genis looked between the two adults, though she was fairly certain it was a request more directed toward Regal. The latter just chuckled quietly and swept his arm toward the building.
"Be my guest."
Grinning, he tossed a nod to his elder sister and set off toward his new school. There was a giddy bounce in his step that Raine was both amused at and proud of. Few people would get that excited about pursuing a higher education, and while it had taken a great deal of discussion and persuasion on her part before he had agreed to put their campaign on hold for this, she knew it had turned out to be the right choice. He was ecstatic.
And there you have it: the first chapter of my lastest Symphonia baby! It was much fun to write. I actually had more written, but it had racked up to over three thousand words, and I still wasn't finished with it. So I decided to cut it off here and make the rest of it into part of a second chapter. For length, convenience, and sanity's sake. Y'know.
Raine: Martel only knows how people get through this much of your drabble, let alone something longer. ...-shudder-
Oh, pshaw. You know you love these sibling-love moments. And hooking up with Regal, eh? Eh?
Raine: ...I beg...your pardon.
Oop. Someone's in deni~al... SO! Before Raine has the chance to throttle me (as she is wont to do), thank you all for reading, and please review! More to come soon!