All right, this was by far the hardest to write out of the four I've done so far... It's also the one I have the most doubts about. The Genis POV (well, kinda, it's third person, but still centered around his thoughts) are harder, it seems... Maybe I think like Zelos, so it's more natural... now that's a scary thought

Same thing as last time, thanks to those who reviewed, and if you have any ideas for themes, tell me

WARNING: shonen ai, even though it's REALLY not obvious for the moment...

Disclaimer: I do NOT own ToS

Transcend

There was one, just one occasion when Genis could feel at home, and that was when he practised magic.

Often, when they were resting after eating in the evenings, he would stray a bit from the camp, find a quiet place and practise. He would just stand there, and first let his senses feel the mana around him, the strong currents that were linked to the elements, reading them and learning how they worked. Then we would link his own to the world's mana, and let it course through his body, every time a little more so that the quantity he could channel without being spent became more important and he could use more powerful spells. But the new spells were just an excuse. When Genis used magic, it was mostly to feel the mana flow through his body, using his mind to bend it to his will. When he used magic, the world that usually rejected him suddenly entrusted him with all its secrets, and let him use its own core, it's substance, to use as he wanted, and Genis loved that. Even if being a half-elf was probably what allowed him to be so good at it, magic was the only thing that let him forget he was one.

Magic made him feel whole. Made him forget that he was an outsider both for the two races who had sprouted him and from his own race, since he had refused with his sister to join the Desians. Made him forget that he was small and weak as he felt the immense strength of the elements at his command. Made him forget the weariness in his body from travelling and fighting, and cleaned away the nasty after-taste of having blushed and stuttered too much from his body.

That was part of the reason he loved to fight, even though he would admit it to no one. He loved the rush of adrenaline mixed with the physical experience of magic rushing through his body. And when he fought, he was no longer a kid or a half-elf, because that kind of things didn't count any more in a life and death situation, he was just a mage, and he loved it.

One of the things Zelos loved about this trip was that he was always fighting. Fighting kept his mind off things, kept him from thinking too much or from asking himself exactly what he was doing, working with the people who had made his life a joke and betraying those who had accepted him. And fighting also gave him a sensation to which nothing short of "playing" with a woman compared, and sometimes even transcended it. He needed the adrenaline, the panting and the need to give his everything into it lest he die on the spot.

He also liked magic… he had started it because he would look cool, and continued it because it was so damn interesting, and gave him a good element of surprise in a fight, when his opponent thought he was fighting a brainless tank instead of a dancer.

But one day he had gone out to spy on Genis, wondering what the brat could be doing each evening, and had caught him standing still, arms against his body and hands turned up, channelling huge currents of mana, and switching from one element to the other. Even without the elven blood that would have allowed him to feel mana like Raine and Genis did, Zelos felt goosebumps running down his spine.

He would still go and watch every so often and marvel at the sight, but ever since the first time he had seen Genis weaving mana with such a look of rapture on his face, magic had had a bitter taste to Zelos, because every time he did some and it just worked, he had a desperate gut feeling that something was missing.

thank you for reading

(bows)

Until our next meeting