Partners for Life
Chapitre Two
Trust
And I come back with the second chapitre. Huzzah! – Blows confetti stuff – Anyway, let's move on.
Thanks to Meowzy-chan for actually putting this story on her favourite list. I don't think a lot of mine were put on a favourite list the first chapitre. Hmm, make. But either way, thanks. :D And to LittleLinor too! Everyone needs an evil Mithos… – Cackles – Muhahaha!
Note: The beginning is a little flashback thing about what happened to Mithos and Yuan while they were leaving for Sybak. Oh! And the worlds are together, not split apart as Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Mmkay? Good.
Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia belongs to Namco-Bandai, Tales Studio, yadda yadda. Seriously though; can I have Kratos? Please? Please?
Summary: One rebel trying to free the half-elves. One boy leading a group of Anti-Discriminators. Both end up in a jail cell, only to free themselves and continue their pursuit of justice. And during the midst of all that, they were somehow chained together by fate as partners in crime.
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"You think I can learn to trust you when you can't even trust me? Where's the trust in that, damn it?"
Mithos wasn't really planning to run over Sybak with his crew and burn down the library. No, one of his friends, Kratos, worked there as a scientist; once he got back, the auburn haired man would surely strangle him to death for burning down his precious history books.
Who cares about history anyway? Mithos thought lazily, slumping forward slightly as the foothills of southern Sybak were bothering him greatly. He swore that the men behind him were snickering behind his back. Yuan was trotting along beside him with his chestnut beauty, inspecting the pale faced boy with worried eyes.
"Mithos, are you sick again? I thought you never got sick when riding on Flare," he muttered, glancing down at the pure white stallion Mithos was riding. Mithos couldn't respond; if he opened his mouth, surely he would throw up.
As they reached the entrance of Sybak, Yuan noticed that the atmosphere was thicker than usual. When I come here with Kratos,he thought, arching an eyebrow, the atmosphere is a lot… cheerful.
The blond leader of the Anti-Discrimination group slid off his stallion with a grunt, searching frantically for a facility he could quickly use to get rid of his stomach problem. "It's not Flare," he scolded himself as he busted into the inn. "I think it's the sudden thick air."
Reappearing into the streets of Sybak as quick as he disappeared, Mithos let out a strangled breath of air. What he saw before him was something he definitely didn't want to see in his lifetime.
Yuan, being something like the Vice President of the Anti-Discrimination group, was fist fighting with a fellow scientist of the Sybak Research Academy. He leaped down the stairs, trying to pull away the blue haired half-elf away from the human.
"Stop it this instant, Yuan! Fighting with the humans wasn't a part of our plan!" Mithos yelled out, hoping his shout would reach him through the shouting around him.
There was a hand that came around his skinny arm, immediately pulling him out of the crowd.
"I thought we got rid of you!" one of the soldiers shouted, throwing Mithos onto the ground. The boy glanced upward and saw a few Imperial Guards with their weapons glooming down at the blond, ready to give him a beating.
But for what? Mithos thought grimly as he felt himself being picked up by one of the gloved hands once more. He looked to the right and saw Yuan struggling against the grip of two soldiers, kicking and blowing random attacks at their masked faces.
"I swear on Martel's name, if you don't let me go, we'll come back here and burn this city down!" he barked, nailing one man in the face with his shin. A soldier yanked his head back by his ponytail, earning a cry from the half-elf.
"Shut up, half-elf."
The group, along with Mithos' and Yuan's horses, fled Sybak quickly without a second glance, leaving the leaders in the group of Meltokio's Imperial Guards.
I knew I couldn't trust those people…
Mithos and Yuan were simultaneously pushed to the ground without care, and then dragged off by the feet harshly.
Scientists were glaring at them, muttering behind their hands to the person beside them.
"Didn't another kid lead a rebellion like this?"
"I just don't understand why these little brainless kids actually try freeing the half-elves. They're fine the way they are."
"Once they get rid of those rebels, I think we can go back to our studies peacefully."
Mithos growled as he tried to kick one of the guards in the shin, but failed miserably as he felt a bag being thrown over his face. He let out a shout.
"Hey, you better not-!"
Suddenly searing pain spread throughout his face as one of the soldiers punched him in the face to shut him up, silencing the boy for another couple of hours on their trek to Meltokio.
…
Genis stared in disbelief, blinking his azure eyes at the blond half-elf before him. Then he realized that his story about being knocked out from behind unknowingly was just as worse as this one. And soon, he was doubling over, laughing loudly as skittered along the carpeted floor of the Meltokio Castle with no one noticing them.
"Don't laugh!" Mithos hissed as he felt his face go red in embarrassment. He told the younger half-elf to shut up because one, if he laughed hard enough they'd be caught and two, his laughter wasn't helping at all.
Noticing that the boy didn't shut up, he punched him in the back, making him tumble over onto the ground in shock. Genis let out a yell, alarming several duchesses near one of the rooms. Their eyes locked down on the half-elves, and they screamed.
"Run for it!" Yuan yelled; he grabbed Genis by his long lock of silver hair and dragged him down the stairs before any soldier could see them. The poor half-elf boy had to bite his lip hard to keep himself from screaming on top of his lungs.
Mithos, luckily, just had to hop right down beside Yuan, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
"Yggdrasill," Yuan barked as he grabbed the blond by his ear, earning him a squeak, "no dilly-dawdling! Do you want to be skinned by those freaks?" Simply he shook his head and let Yuan drag him along painfully.
…
The guards were at their heels and Yuan tried hurrying the best he could. He muttered something about not meeting up with such trouble in his life. Genis, still being pulled by the hair, swore that Yuan pulled at least fifty hairs out and counting.
Women and children gasped and turned to stare at the commotion coming from the top level of Meltokio. They backed away as Imperial Guards were chasing three boys who, for people that were about to get chopped up alive by the soldier's spears, were perfectly fine in the situation.
Well, make that two.
Genis was too busy kicking his legs and trying to pull himself away from Yuan's grasp, acting like a complete lunatic. The blue haired half-elf groaned and was just about to let go of Genis' hair, when he felt something nail him right in the back. Letting out a breath, Yuan fell forward with no one to catch him, collapsing onto the cobblestone path that led down to the second set of stairs in the city.
At the same time, both boys stumbled onto their backs as Yuan let go of them during his fall. Genis' blue eyes widened again as he saw the armored men stomp towards them, weapons high up in the air.
Then there was music playing, a soft, sweet melody right beside him. The half-elf boy whipped his head to the side and frowned when he saw Mithos playing on a wooden windpipe.
"Mithos, I don't think this is the time to be playing the flute!" he yelled, trying to pick up Yuan's stiff body and grab the pipe out of the blonde's hand at the same time. Mithos snapped back at him.
"For your information, it's a windpipe, not a flute."
Genis rolled his eyes and was about to yell back, when suddenly there was barking noises from not too far away. Their eyes shifted to the side, one pair in surprise and the other in amusement, as a dog – no, more like a fish and a canine combined – came rushing towards them, knocking into the soldiers with a howl.
"Yuan!" someone cried, running after the dog and glancing around quickly. As the man's eyes met the limp, stiff figure in Genis' arms, he sprinted towards the two kids and grabbed the man into his arms, crushing him in a hug.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you out yesterday, Yuan!" he muttered as he buried his face into the crook of Yuan's neck. Mithos quickly stuffed his windpipe into one of his pockets, turning to face Genis and held out a hand.
"Hurry while Noishe distracts the guards. We have to get Yuan out of here before someone gets severely hurt," the blond whispered in his ear, tugging Genis sharply by his right arm and dashing down the stairs right before them. Soon enough, the man with Yuan was right beside the two, with the unconscious half-elf slung over his shoulders.
"All right, let's get back to the base," he ordered in a gruff voice. Genis blinked at him for a split second, until the man pulled out a sword from his hilt. Then he froze in shock.
Is he going to kill me?
The man stopped as they reached the bottom level of Meltokio and quickly slammed the tip of the double-edged sword into the ground. He shouted, "Teleport!"
Genis closed his eyes tightly as a binding light flooded the area, making his eyes water. He felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and tug, but Genis didn't do anything since he couldn't see.
"Genis, hold tight!" he heard Mithos shout out a second before he felt two lean arms around his waist, secured tight.
Then, as the binding light vanished, as he opened his eyes, Genis fell into complete darkness again.
This time, he wasn't knocked out in the back by some guard.
…
Genis wondered why the world went dark suddenly.
He wondered why everything, the darkness and all, was spinning around him.
And he also wondered why, as he looked up in confusion, Mithos was holding onto him tightly.
No, not holding. Hugging.
The half-elf was about to open his mouth to speak, to tell the blond that he was currently being suffocated by his ridiculously strong arms. But the light returned as quickly as it left, leaving Genis wincing and letting out another shriek.
He collapsed backwards – "Whoa" – and knew he landed on something soft.
Correction, he thought, some 'thing'.
Peeking down below, he noticed that a pale hand was twitching lightly above his stomach, making him giggle childishly. Looking further down, he saw two more legs extended out underneath, clothed in teal coloured pants.
Now who would wear such horrid pants? Genis thought to himself in curiosity. I never really saw someone wear teal pants-
"Sage! Get off me!" the thing beneath him shouted, trying to push him small body off. Genis leaped up, looking down and immediately blushing as he saw Mithos sprawled all over the sandy floor, growling at him.
"You idiot, help me up!" Mithos ordered, extending his arm wrapped in blue bracelets near the wrist. The half-elf huffed and bent down, pulling the blond up forcefully. They ended up chest to chest, both staring at each other for a brief second before turning around and snorting.
"Mithos are you okay?" the man that held Yuan in one of his arms asked, patting Mithos on the head. "For a fourteen year old, you sure are bossy." Mithos scowled. There everyone went, making fun of his age.
Mithos mumbled something under his breath that Genis couldn't make out. He poked Yuan once and asked, "Damn it, what happened to Yuan?" The man shrugged as he fixed the dark cape tied around him.
"We should wake him up later. I think someone got him in the back; if not, then just from stress," he explained, laying Yuan down on the ground. "Yuan, wake up." He shook his body lightly, his own floating slightly above it. The half-elf didn't stir, which worried Mithos greatly.
"He's the strong type; wouldn't he wake up right now?" the blond asked, scratching his chin. Genis peeked over the man's shoulder, staring down at the blue bangs that spread all over his forehead messily.
"Hey, who are you anyway?" the young half-elf asked. He poked the man on the shoulder in an inquiring way, catching his attention. The auburn haired man casted a glance over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow.
"Kratos Aurion, second guardian of Yggdrasill here," he responded and nodded his head to the blond beside him. Mithos rolled his eyes; he let out a sigh and punched Kratos on the shoulder.
"I thought I told you not to call me Yggdrasill, Kratos."
"Hmm…"
All eyes were on the stirring figure trapped on the floor between Kratos' arms. Slowly his eyes opened, and once he regained his focus, his eyes locked on Kratos' crimson ones.
"Eh, Kratos, am I back in the apartment?" Yuan managed to get out, propping his arms down below him to get a better look around. The first thing he saw was Genis and his incredibly long silver hair, miles and miles of sand, and then to his left Mithos and his glowering azure eyes.
Uh-oh, Yuan thought to himself with a gulp. Yuan and glowering usually equals to a massive headache in the morning…
"Yuan, do you know how much you worried me?" Mithos exploded, grabbing the half-elf by the shoulders and shaking him with such strength and Yuan swore he felt his arms pop out of its sockets somehow. Genis watched the whole yelling and retorting before his eyes, horrified by the angered blond.
Note to self, he muttered, crawling away ever so slowly, never anger Mithos…
…
"This is a base?" Genis asked in a tone that didn't sound so amused, scrunching his nose at the paintings and several pots of plants in the corner of rooms. "Yuan, you work in here?"
The blue haired half-elf didn't reply and kept his eyes straight ahead, still not over the beating he received from the triumphant blond. Kratos had to answer for him with a simple nod, pointing at the huge portrait of Yuan near the desk.
"Now," Mithos said after a moment of awkward silence in the base, "we have to solve a problem here quickly. It only takes one thing to do to solve it." Three pairs of eyes blinked at the leader, watching him closely as he searched through Yuan's desk and swore when he couldn't find what he was looking for.
Genis, obviously bored from watching Mithos looking over and over for the item, played with one of his silver bangs with his index finger.
"I got it!" Mithos shouted out in triumph, pulling something out that clanked and rattled inside the drawer. "I'm serious, Yuan, get a housewife to clean it up. Or become one for Kratos, jeez," the blond growled as he slammed the drawer shut. Yuan didn't say anything; neither did Kratos.
The blond walked up to where Genis was playing with his hair and bent down, taking one of his unoccupied hands.
"Genis…" he started out calmly, looking into Genis' orbs, "you promise you won't run away from me after I do this?" The half-elf didn't know what to say; what exactly was he going to do anyway?
"Good."
And with that, Mithos pulled out whatever item his had behind his back and clamped it shut over Genis' wrist, then his. He yanked tightly at the metal chain that connected the handcuffs together.
"You can't run away from me like this, anyway," Mithos snickered, sitting up and pulling hard with his wrist. Genis stood up immediately and let out a yell at the sudden harsh move.
"What the hell is this for?" he snapped, holding up the chain with the hand that wasn't handcuffed to Mithos'. Genis stared down at Kratos and Yuan who were sitting on one of the chairs in the room, minding their own business. He picked up random words about Sybak, passing out, being bagged by soldiers and running through Meltokio like some madman.
"Mithos." The younger half-elf said it with such a serious tone that no sense of humor could be found underneath the layer of seriousness. "Tell me what you're doing to me with these… handcuffs."
Of course the boy didn't give back an immediate reply. He wandered around the room, testing the strength and length of the metal chain, inspecting it with such curious and observing eyes that Genis wondered if this was the same foolish and violent Mithos he met moments ago. "Well, answer me!"
"Oh," was the blonde's reply as he snapped back to reality. "I didn't want you running off and ratting me out or anything. Think about it this way, Sage; this metal chain here is a bond between us half-elves. If you don't break the bond, that means you trust me. And then maybe I can learn to trust you when it comes to freeing half-elves. Get what I'm saying?" Hearing no reply, he let out a frustrated sigh and started over.
"Simply put, I don't trust you, all right? I'm thinking that if we chain ourselves together, maybe we could grow some trust between us!" He pointed to the metal cuffed at their wrist, throwing on a grin. Genis ducked his head, shutting his eyes for a brief second before,
"You think I can learn to trust you when you can't trust me just because of this stupid piece of metal?" Genis yelled, surprising the other three in the room. "Where's the trust in that, damn it?"
The blond shrugged. "I gave it a shot. Maybe if we got to learn about each other-"
"No!" he interrupted him, shaking his head like Lloyd would have done. "I'm not learning anything about you; I don't want to know anything about you and your anti-discrimination group! And if you can't trust me, why should I trust you? Maybe you were using me before in the Castle, just to have another guy shoot away for your own freedom. Maybe I was using you to escape just for my free will! How about that?"
Mithos' eyebrow shot up and after he registered what the short half-elf said, he doubled over in laughter. However, Genis didn't understand why he was laughing.
"Stop laughing! I'm serious here; let me go. I'm not teaming up with you. I'm going back to Iselia and that's final!" he proclaimed, stomping his foot on the carpeted floor. The blond boy stopped laughing and stared at him with tearing eyes.
"Sorry, I don't have a key."
Genis stood there in silence as Mithos continued laughing at him, his frame shaking so violently that Yuan thought he was about to erupt. "Oh yeah?" he muttered in what seemed like a murderous tone. "Well then I'll just drag you to Iselia, and maybe during our trip there we could learn to 'trust each other'!"
The leader of the Anti-Discrimination group stopped laughing and looked at the shorter kid with a serious look on his face. "You're kidding right? That town absolutely hates half-elves."
Genis snorted and shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "I'm going and you're not stopping me." He turned to leave where he came in, dragging a helpless Mithos along with him.
"A-All right, all right!" Mithos stammered, pulling back at the chain. "Here, just work with me, please? You want to end discrimination as much as I do. So why don't we help each other? It's for our kind, remember?" The silver haired elf scoffed, throwing his free arm in the air.
"There you go again, using that 'save our kind' phrase! You act as if this is some kind of game, Mithos!" Genis retorted angrily. Really though, the kid hated being around certain people who could act so childishly at times; being chained to one was just like suffering a slow, painful death.
Mithos frowned and scratched his head with his chained hands, bringing Genis' arm with him. "Oh, whoops, sorry," he apologized meekly, letting his arm fall down to his leg. "It's a habit."
Taking a moment to sort everything out, Mithos came up with something simple. "I know it seems that I'd have more of an advantage here, but hear me out. If you work with me, I won't do anything that will bother you. When we go to bed, when we take a shower; that's the time I'll let you go. But you're chained up after that."
Genis turned his back once more, forcing Mithos to follow his path. "It's like I'm being forced to do this against my will."
"But you're giving up your freedom, one soul, for the entire elf kind. Think about it, will you Genis?"
He stood there, deciding, lower lip sticking out like a spoiled kid upset because he couldn't get a toy he wanted. "This is only for a while. After that moment, you unchain me."
Mithos blinked and stared at Genis so long that the boy began to fidget under his stare. "So what you're saying is that you're agreeing to work with me that easily? Wow. I thought I'd have to hold you in captivity until you gave up and agreed to work with me."
"What?"
…
"Then it's decided," Mithos announced after receiving a few wild kicks and punches from the enraged silver haired boy. "Genis will work with us as a part of the Anti-Discrimination group for a few months; then we'll release him and let him go back to Iselia. But," the blond paused to give him a stern look, "if he rats out on us to any person outside of his organization, we'll cut off his head."
Genis gasped. "You didn't mention that before!"
The leader shot him a look again, shutting the boy up.
Boy, when Mithos gets all businessman-like, he sure is scary.
"Any objections?" Mithos scanned the audience before him, who was, of course, only Genis, Yuan and Kratos, and was pleased to see no hands up. "Very good." He focused his attention on Genis and gave a genuine smile.
"Welcome to Organization Eight, now renamed as Organization Nine."
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Again, a crappy ending. I mean, c'mon. 'Organization Nine?' What kind of crappy name is that?
You should know why it's called Organization Nine; all Tales fans should figure it out somehow.
I kinda stole it from Organization Thirteen of Kingdom Hearts too… My bad.
Whoa, Genis throwing a temper tantrum in the middle there, eh? Sorry, the chapitre really didn't make sense to me as I was writing it. Especially the whole 'trusting' part. Sorry.
Hmm… that was so lame. I'm sorry. I'm sure that once this story gets into its actual plot with the group and Anti-Discrimination plans it'll be much better than it is now.
Note: Yes. I know. Before you tell me, I know that Mithos is rather odd in this story. Hey, it's alternate universe. I'll make Mithos act however I want, just following the lines of his basic characteristics in the game.
Okay, now that this is finished, I'm gonna go to sleep. If I have a snow day tomorrow at school, well then, that just proves that God loves me. Haha.
Drop a review please! Anything. Maybe even an alert list thing, C2 category, or even a favorite list… o3o
-Muffinizer, pon
