Well, I decided to something different and write about the character I liked the least, Zelos. For some reason, I never really liked him all too much. Maybe it's because I went on Kratos' path the first time I played this game...anyway, a friend of mine challenged me to write something with him as the main focus, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of fics that have him with his sister! Since writing this, though, my respect for him has gone up. That's improvement, right? ^_^
By the way, words in double quotes ("...") are being spoken. Words in single quotes and italics ('...') are the character's thoughts.
NOTE: There are spoilers if you have not finished the game and if you do not know Zelos's full backstory!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. ToS belongs to Namco.
What Matters Most
"What were you talking about with her?"
Zelos stared blankly down at the water that surrounded the secluded abbey, pretending not to notice his companion's words. Maybe if he ignored Lloyd, he would just leave him alone.
"Hey! Zelos! I asked you something!" The moron began waving his hand an inch in front of Zelos' face. Damn that idiot…
"What's up, Bud?" He turned around to face Lloyd, putting on the fake smile he had been wearing almost all his life.
"You heard me. What were you talking to Seles about?"
"Now, now, hunny, don't you know it's rude to pry into a man's personal business?" The small jewel he tightly clutched in his glove sharply cut into the fabric and even into his skin. It was little punishment for what his fate would lead him to do soon.
"But…you just look really upset, and, well, you never look upset."
"Hey, even sexy guys like me get down at some point, right?" There was no way he would submit to the stubborn idiot.
"Still…" Lloyd started, only to have Sheena grab his arm and start pulling him away.
"Come on Lloyd, we're leaving. If the narcissist doesn't want to come, then so be it. He can mope around forever for all I care."
"I…" Lloyd looked back hesitantly, like he still wanted to say something, but Zelos turned back to the sea, mumbling, "Just go ahead without me, 'kay? I'll catch up."
"Zelos…" Lloyd still seemed concerned, but was successfully dragged off nonetheless. With the idiot gone, Zelos let all of the cheerfulness on his face evaporate, a more serious, grim look overtaking him. He opened his hand in front of him, looking at the Cruxis Crystal. The damn crystal…it was the symbol of the Chosen and the cause of all the pain and misery in his life. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it had actually cut into his thin glove and was now drawing a miniature pool of blood, the same color of the snow from the day he realized his life had been a total joke. He sighed. First the stupid thing caused his mother to die, and then it caused Seles's mother to be executed, and then it caused Seles to be forced to live on to this deathtrap of an island. He just wanted to crush the stupid jewel and throw it away, so it could never hurt anyone else's life ever again…
Sighing again, he shook away the blood that had accumulated towards the ocean and began to walk towards where Lloyd and Sheena and everyone else went. Seles didn't deserve this kind of life. She did nothing wrong. Soon, she would be freed at the expense of his life. 'Not that anyone would care,' Zelos thought bitterly. 'No one cares about my pathetic, worthless life. That is what I am after all. Pathetic and worthless...'
"Now, if you're done, I humbly request that you leave!"
Zelos let the smile he usually masked over his face appear and waved his hand that now carried his Cruxis Crystal in the careless fashion he has adopted over the years. "Fine, fine, we'll see ourselves out."
They had filed out of the room in the abbey one by one until it was just Zelos and Lloyd. "Go on ahead, Bud. I wanna talk to my little sis a bit." Lloyd gave him an inquisitive look, but went down the stone stairwell anyway. Zelos walked up to the girl, now staring out the small window impatiently.
"What?" Seles snapped, refusing to look at him. "Didn't I politely ask you to leave?"
"Oh, so I can't chat with my only sister? How cold." He let out the charming laugh that had won many women over, but this seemed to infuriate Seles even more.
"As if you really want to talk. You haven't visited me once, never written me a single letter since they imprisoned here, and now you want to talk?"
Zelos inwardly flinched with guilt, but kept up his winning smile as he said, "Well, I just want to see you happy, is all."
She finally turned her head, meeting his eyes with enmity in her own. "Happy? Oh, of course I'm happy, rotting my life away here while you're throwing away your money on the most useless things, flirting with every single lady you see, living so extravagantly," she spat out with such contempt that Zelos really did cringe, "while I'm just…just—"
"And how, exactly…" Zelos closed his eyes in an struggle to maintain 'the smile' and spoke slowly, "would you know about my behavior if you never left this abbey?"
Seles gave him a combination of a glare and smirk, as if she enjoyed seeing his guilt. "Word travels far about the 'wonderful' Chosen of Mana and his spectacular follies, even to a place like this. You think I spent the past nine years in ignorant bliss while you made your filthy reputation? Do you know how ashamed I am to call you my brother, h-how worried I—"
She stopped abruptly, looking away from him determinedly and out the small window again, the only door she had to the outside world, Zelos realized. Her body was violently trembling, and Zelos wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know if it was her illness causing the shaking or her emotions.
"J-Just leave, okay?" Her voice shook with the same hatred that had occupied it before, but was more unstable and vulnerable. "I d-don't want to see y-you here…"
Zelos put a hand on her shoulder, startling her but did not make her turn around. "I'm sorry…I've caused you nothing but grief, haven't I? I'm just gonna leave, 'kay?" Zelos turned toward the door, clutching the accursed crystal when he heard a weak-spirited, "No…you're wrong…"
He turned slowly, unsure. "What did you say?"
"I-I didn't say anything. There must be something wrong with your hearing."
"Yeah…there must be." Reassured, he spun around again and walked down the stairwell, not taking one look back.
Seles stared out the window to see him outside, flouncing carelessly. He stopped near the side of the island the abbey was built on, embracing the free world she could no longer feel herself, and with a single teardrop, she murmured, "You're the greatest thing to ever happen to me, Big Brother."
'See, you don't even need me Seles. No one does. I'm just a pawn to revive some chick and then I'll be gone. Don't I get a say in all this?'
Zelos stood near the edge of the island the abbey was on. He stared into the liquid abyss before him, wondering if anyone would care if he jumped in and never came back.
'No one knows how I feel.' He felt his fist tighten and welcomed the pain that came from pressing against the Cruxis Crystal. 'No one knows what I'm doing, and they'll never know until I'm dead. No one matters to me anymore, no one but Seles. All my hunnies could be impaled by a Dragon Knight and I wouldn't care. All I can do now is find a way, any way, for Seles to get out of the abbey. Even if that means I have to turn my back to everyone. Even if that means turning traitor to the people who actually understand.
'I'll do whatever it takes.'
Please review! *bows*