AN: It started off as a rant about how much I don't understand Jade. Then in turned in Dist talking about how Jade was always so unfair to him. And finally, the idea got thrown around and this kind of just flowed out. Nephry talking about that day when Nebilim became a monster. So enjoy what Nephry can remember about the Nebilim incident. Spoilers? Heck yes, this is a fanfic, what didja expect?
Oh, and forgive me if some little detail contradicts the game. I never got around to finish the Nebilim side-quest and this was written solely with the info I remember from that scene in Keterburg and Aselia Wiki.
I am not awesome enough to own any of the Tales games or characters.
Do I still hate him for it? I'm not sure. Jade leaves me concentrating so hard on figuring him out that at times I can't even figure myself out. It was a long time ago, the incident is buried deep within my heart now. But I can't help but wonder...has he changed since that day nearly two decades ago?
My brother was a genius, he mastered one Fonic Arte after another. I still remember how he repaired my doll with fomicry when he was only just nine. Perhaps he expected me to be happy about it, but I remember running from the room. I have to admit, I was scared of him. Perhaps I still am today.
He was always killing innocent monsters. I even saw him practise his Artes on a stray cat once. Jade couldn't grasp what it meant for something to die. But The Professor changed him, she changed all of us. We all loved Nebilim, she was an amazing teacher. She was always patient with us, she listened to our problems, comforted us. For me, Jade, Saphir and Peony, I think we saw her as more of a mother than our actual parents.
Nebilim was probably the one person my brother respected the most. She was a seventh Fonist, someone who could control the seventh Fonon. This was something my brother couldn't do, and he looked up to her for it.
But that was the problem, that was what caused that event so long ago. Jade, I wonder sometimes if things would have gone better if you had just died that day. And you know what? It's still a miracle you survived at all...
I remember that afternoon so clearly. Jade and Saphir had just announced that they were going to be staying just for a while later after class.
"Why?" I asked, quite irritated by the superior tones my brother always used. It was one thing that always annoyed me about him- he was modest yes, but he was extremely honest. And when one is a genius like him, that honesty does seem to contradict the modesty.
"You'll find out if you stay." Saphir piped up. There was a stupid grin on his face. I remember how excited Peony suddenly got and I groaned. Saphir always said that when they had found out some new cool Arte to show off. Jade always made sure that Nebilim was around whenever he did try a new Arte. Partly because the professor said that she wanted to keep an eye on him if he does attempt a new Fonic Arte, mostly because Jade probably enjoyed the praise the professor always gave him.
"Alright! What's it this time guys? The last time you guys dug something up was ages ago! Turbulence was it?" There went Peony again. What is this about boys and destructive artes? I'd much rather be able to heal wounds or something, but I guess that'd require me being a Seventh Fonist eh? Unlike my brother, I have no skill or interest for this type of thing.
Jade's reply made me beg him to reconsider. I normally opposed him whenever he found the incantation to some Arte in some ancient book. But this was just insane!
Even then, so young, I knew the implication of what Jade was trying to do. But he convinced me it was going to end up alright, and I really believed him after a while. It was my brother we're talking about, there wasn't a single Arte he couldn't control...right?
"Professor Nebilim!" Jade called out to draw the professor's attention. The professor peeked around the door into the room.
"Jade? My, haven't you four gone home yet?" She entered the room, with a pleasant look on her face. It was easy to see why we all loved her so much. "I'm guessing it's another Arte again? My my, if you keep this up there'll be nothing left to teach you kids!"
"This one's special professor! Me and Jade worked on this one for ages!" Saphir announced proudly.
Jade and Saphir had forbade us from telling the professor any more details until he did it. He wanted it to be a surprise. If I had only told her then, everything might have been avoided.
We all backed off and left Jade alone in the centre of the room. He began casting.
It was only a few seconds before the Arte went off that Nebilim knew what was going on.
"No! Jade, not the seventh fonon! You can't control it!"
Fear rooted me to the spot that one moment as the Professor cried out and ran at Jade. If the professor was worried, then something bad must be coming! We've all learnt about what happens to someone who tries to control the seventh fonon but was not born with the innate ability. At that moment, I feared for my brother, I feared I was going to lose him.
Jade must have realized what was going to happen before he fully lost control of the Arte though, because we saw him struggling to break free of it moments before it happened.
I don't remember too much of what happened. There was a bright flash of light, Peony was half-dragging me out of the house. And there was the intense heat that made my eyes water, impairing my vision. The house was on fire.
I fought Peony's grip but I couldn't break it. I was crying and trying to get back. Saphir and the professor were still in there! And Jade, my dear brother Jade! I never knew how much Jade actually meant to me until that one moment I though I would lose him. Either to the fire or to neural contamination, it didn't matter. All I thought was that I'd never see him sane again.
A lot of people were starting to crowd around now. Mother and father found me, and Peony was forced to slip away. No one except the professor and us knew that the successor of the throne secretly went to school here after all. My parents wouldn't let me go and get Jade back. Mom and dad were fonists, and they worked hard with many other fonists nearby to extinguish the fire. I could only watch helplessly as the fire died down, and nothing remained of the house other than a few burnt beams and a pile of ashes.
Someone went to search inside the house, they couldn't find a single trace of Jade or Saphir or the Professor. I thought I had lost them all that night.
Mom and Dad were devastated. As much of a pain Jade always was, they were still our parents and they loved us. They wouldn't leave the remains of the house. I slipped off on my own, I couldn't bear looking at the ashes any longer. I can't remember where I ended up exactly, I was crying the whole time. Peony found me though.
"They're alive! I saw Jade and Saphir taking the Professor out of town. She looked really injured, c'mon, let's go find them!"
I was so happy, so happy. They were alive, I wasn't going to lose them! We saw someone that looked like the Professor approach, and we were going to call out for her. But she just suddenly killed a man who was standing there on the street. It scared me a lot, I think I started crying again. Peony managed to make me hush and we hid behind a snowbank. Peony was just as confused and scared as I was, but he held me tight and comforted me. Did you know that he proposed to me just a few weeks after this? We had promised to get married when we had come of age, but it never did happen. We were just little kids back then after all.
Then we saw Jade and Saphir running back into town. Saphir was supporting my brother, and both of them looked weak. I ran at the two, wrapped my arms around Jade and cried into his coat. I wanted to know what was going on, badly, but Jade shoved me off and continued to go after the Professor.
I could tell he was injured, and I was frightened and worried about him. And I wanted to know what was wrong with the professor. Me and Peony chased them down, and the scene was horrific. Several of the fonists that had gathered to help put out the fire were dead, and I saw dad there, trying to stop the professor. She killed him, and mother too. I can never forget that scene, ever.
I remember grabbing Jade and yelling at him. "What's going on?! What's happening? Why is the Professor doing this!?"
The people of Keterburg started to retreat into houses and avoiding Nebilim with all the effort they could muster. The replica killed many fonists that day. She left the town and had started wrecking havoc on the Keterburg Bay a week later before the Malkuth Army came and stopped her.
Jade explained everything to me. Jade saved himself and Dist with a Fonic Arte when the house burst into fire. The two of them carried the professor out a window, Jade suppressing the flames the whole time. They carried the professor to the north of town. They tried to replicate her, to save her, but something went wrong. She attacked Jade, but he managed to run away, though he got slightly hurt in the process. Then the replica set her sight to the town.
I never knew why, but she killed mainly fonists, many fonists. Including mom and dad.
I hated Jade, I detested the fact I ever thought that I needed him. Perhaps I was a little harsh toward him, but I didn't talk to him for months. We didn't spend long in the orphanage, everyone wanted to adopt us. Mainly because brother was one of the smartest human beings on Auldrant, although back then I remember how I refused to acknowledge him as a human being at all.
It took me many years to accept him again. It was mainly because he seemed so detached about everything, he didn't even show any remorse for what he had done. He even continued with the fomicry research! Back then, perhaps I should have realized that it was your own way of showing grief.
Do I still hate you for that day? Would everything have gone better if that Arte you foolishly tried had really killed you?
Jade, you've always been a puzzle to me and everyone around you. Do you wonder if I hate you for what you did? What about Peony, and Saphir? Every time I stare into your unnaturally red eyes, I wonder what is going on in that mind of yours. You know what? I think I forgive you. You are my brother, and I never knew the significance of that until I thought I almost lost you. But after that, in all the shock and grief, I forgot that significance, I forgot what an important part of my life you were until now again.
They say you died when Akzeriuth fell. I find it hard to believe them. Jade, dead? You've always had this air of invincibility about you Jade, and I always felt like nothing could ever beat you. Even now, I find it hard to think that anything could have ended your life. You lived through death once Jade, you can do it again. So please, for those who can't live without you -for me, for Peony, Saphir, and The Professor most of all- come home safely brother.
AN: Thanks to Kitty-Katz-Katz for the idea about Akzeriuth