Author's Note: Recently, a friend of mine sent me a rough translation of Jade's past that she found while perusing the intarweb. What's most interesting about it is that it was a rough translation of the OFFICIAL Japanese Tales of the Abyss novel and Character Episode Bible, so aside from my overanalysis of their feelings and my paraphrasing of their dialogue (as the rough translations were far beyond "rough"), I present to you my novelization of Jade Balfour's OFFICIAL past.

---PROLOGUE---

Van had fallen. Auldrant was safe. And Luke was bid his farewells.

The entire gang wanted nothing more than for Luke to accompany them on their safe passage home aboard the Albiore, but he had one final task to complete on this foresaken Eldrant replica. "Don't worry, I promise I'll return," Luke swore. All eyes were on him and all faces wore a visage of both hope and despair.

Wordlessly, the group turned around and hid their sadness from Luke as they left the area, knowing there was nothing more they could do to change the way this story would end. It had been a long time since any of them had been able to return home free from worries regarding the future of their planet however, and Noelle was quick to remind them of the joyous occasion by greeting them all with encouraging smiles at the passenger door.

Jade was at the back of the queue being led into the Fontech aircraft, brooding silently as he always does, but uncharacteristically not sporting his trademark grin. 'This is the last--' He was so distracted by his thoughts that he halted his progress before entering the Albiore and turned about face, staring into the sunset distractedly. Luke was somewhere in that direction, probably facing the final obstacle of his life. 'No, it's not like that... He's...'

MORE THAN 25 YEARS EARLIER...

A young woman with a bright blonde bed head was just waking up. It was still so early in the morning though and the sun had yet to rise. Sitting up in her bed and stretching her arms over her head, she clambered to her feet and made herself decent. Still yawning, she grabbed a coat and headed outside to check on something in the backyard. All night, this terrible scent had been abusing her nostrils, and at first, she figured that it was just a passing aroma, but as she had woken up to it this morning as well, she decided to pursue the stench and eradicate the source.

Upon reaching the rear of her home however, she gasped and stumbled backward in the snow in fear. Screams of terror tore from her lips and echoed through the empty streets. There were monsters in her backyard! Blood was everywhere... But after this initial shock, realization hit her that the blood painting their backyard was that of the monsters themselves. She breathed a sigh of relief and fought back the adrenaline tremors still racking her body.

'Jade...' she growled to herself. As if on cue, a boy whose face was hidden behind a curtain of light brown locks opened a window from inside her house. As he pulled away the offending strands of hair from his eyes, he rubbed at them sleepily.

"What are you crying about so early in the morning, Nephry...?" he called, clearly still half-asleep. Not that anyone else could be any more awake at this hour.

"What am I crying about?? You're killing monsters again--I thought mother distinctly ordered you to stop!!" Nephry's voice shook with residual fear, but Jade appeared to remain unaffected by his sister's plight. So with a straight face seeming to lack any conscience or guilt, Jade closed the window on his sister without dignifying her with a response.

---CHAPTER ONE---

The next morning, Nephry found herself knocking at her brother's door timidly. "Jade? Can I play with you...?"

"No," came a firm response from inside his bedroom. Nephry tried at the doorknob to enter anyway but found it locked.

"Well, can I at least come in?" She didn't want to sound desperate, but she really wanted someone to play with...

"No; I'm reading and I don't want you messing with my books." Jade was an avid reader and loved to study and learn new things, but sometimes, Nephry had reason to believe that Jade loved his books more than her, his own flesh and blood, and it made her feel unloved and neglected... She downcast her eyes sadly as she groped around her mind for one last plea.

"...Would you maybe like to come to the spa with me then?" She could hear Jade breathe a frustrated sigh from within and felt her heart become heavy realizing the impending disappointment.

"I have no interest in lounging about with a bunch of smug, stuck-up, wealthy adults," he admitted flatly. At that point, Jade could hear a feint sniffle and the fading pad of her feet against the carpeted flooring. Good...now he could read in peace.

---

Nephry sadly trudged herself back to her bedroom and sat down on her bed, hugging her most precious doll to her chest. Tears began to roll from her cheeks onto her doll's perfect porcelain face, staining it with her sadness, which only made her feel worse. Why did Jade have to be so cruel to his only sister? She just wanted to play with him...

Setting her doll down carefully beside her, she laid down slowly on the bed and stacked a few pillows to lean against. But as she rested herself against them and reached over to retrieve her doll, she realized all too late that it had been placed dangerously close to the bed's edge. Nephry watched in terror as it fell from the safety of her covers.

SMASH!

Nephry peered over the edge of her bed, eyes wide, just about ready to break down from the overwhelming emotional stress of the morning overall, and burst into a hysterical fit. She couldn't regulate her breathing properly and her tears absolutely refused to stop raining down from her bloodshot eyes.

At hearing the crash and the crying, Jade slowly stood from his mountain of print and wandered out into the foyer, peering down the hall into Nephry's bedroom where the source of the commotion seemed to lurk. He noted that her favorite porcelain doll lay on the floor beside her bed in pieces. Just as he thought...something had been broken; it was time to test out his new abilities.

Grinning abnormally wide for such a depressing situation, Jade casually waltzed into Nephry's bedroom, staring at her trembling form calmly despite her body racking before him with uncontrollable sobs. "J-J-Jade..." she whimpered desperately.

He made no response to her directly, but kneeled himself beside her broken doll and set up the Fonic Arte he'd prepared. Nephry watched her brother attentively and her sobs started to calm themselves slowly but surely. Was Jade going to repair her doll...?

Activating the Fonic Arte by speaking its corresponding chant, a brand new doll that looked exactly like the original had before it'd been broken formed itself in a shining blue aura beside the broken one. He'd formed a replica and invented the Arte of Fomicry successfully; he had just watched all of his hard work come to fruition.

Extraordinarily proud of himself and his work, he looked up into his sister's eyes upon the bed and saw not appreciation, but fear. No one had ever looked at him in such a manner no matter what they'd called him or secretly thought about him. He'd often been told he was a cold child, even sometimes calculating or manipulative, but the look in her eyes really made him feel like he was something evil. Something subhuman. He raised himself to his feet without breaking eye contact and his smile had long since been wiped away.

Nephry crawled backwards as far as she could from him to the corner of her bed in utter fear of her brother and his abhorrent abilities. Jade couldn't handle her reaction and bolted from the bedroom without looking back.

---

Jade wasn't one to lose composure so easily. Stepping back into his bedroom and closing the door behind him, he closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and put the scarring image of his sister's haunting face out of sight.

"Jade! Jaaade!" a cheerful voice rang from outside. Jade glanced at the clock and noticed that while a good amount of time had passed, it was still rather early in the morning. There was only one person that could be.

With no sign of Nephry heading to answer the door, Jade dejectedly answered it in her stead and was met with two large amethyst eyes. "Good morning!! There's so much fresh, beautiful snow on the ground this morning...it's going to be such a nice day, don't you think?" the overexcited child continued as Jade watched unamused.

'...Saphir's much too early again.'

"Oooh, did you lose the last of your baby teeth already, Jade?" Saphir asked, spying a few of Jade's teeth between his slightly-opened lips. "I'm so jealous; you've got all of your adult teeth now!" Completely ignoring Saphir's rambling attempts at compliments and stimulating conversation, Jade turned his attention to the footsteps approaching from behind him inside. The now-present Nephry glanced back and forth between Jade and Saphir, noticing that they were both already wearing their backpacks for school that day, and promptly gasped at her foolish error, running back inside to fetch her own. Jade sighed at how forgetful she was sometimes and was extremely grateful that she was pretending as if what happened earlier never did. He didn't want to remember it and he didn't want anyone else to find out about it either.

Jade shook his head to signify the mental dropping of the subject and turned back to Saphir, addressing him verbally, "Saphir."

"Yes, Jade?" Saphir responded happily, like a loyal puppy. Saphir was so amusing in that respect. 'I bet he really wants to know...' Jade chuckled in his mind and decided to leave the boy hanging desperately on his last word, clutching futiley at his silence, hoping for more, for a message addressed to him and only him... It was simply driving Saphir mad! "What?? What is it??" Saphir begged, both in frustration and anticipation.

"No one asked you to come here every morning. Stop it." Jade spat. His eyes were unwavering, unnerving, and never left contact with Saphir's for even a moment, as if challenging him. However, in comparison, Saphir's eyes flickered with doubt and weakness.

"But I...wake up extra early every morning, just for you...I like walking to school with you," he sounded so hurt and was struggling to stay strong. His mind fished around for hope while his staring battle with Jade waged on. Just then, the realization hit him. "Oooh, I get it!" Saphir's mouth curled into the cutest smile and he clapped his hands together with enthusiasm. "You're going to pick me up at my house from now on! That makes me so happy!!" It truly did, Jade could tell, which is why he simply couldn't resist delivering a dream-crushing retort.

"That's not what I meant, idiot." His message was clear and Saphir's morale had run dry. His emotional supports buckled and he began bawling right there on Jade's doorstep.

"You're the idiot, idiot!! I'm not playing with you anymore!!" With that, Saphir ran off to school without him and Jade couldn't help but smile. Saphir would come crawling back to him later that day; there was no doubt in his mind.

"Saphir...is so wierd," which was exactly why he delighted in torturing him so.

"Did Saphir leave already?" Nephry called from inside as she approached once more, this time bearing her backpack.

"Yes. I think we can expect great Fonic Artes from him at school today."