11. Tradition
Jude/ Milla
Tales of Xillia
Ever since she went into the Spirit Realm, Jude was only able to see Milla when she told him. He'd not complain, he just wished he would be able to go with her or that she'd stay just a little longer, though. But, as long as it wasn't possible for that to happen, he'd keep on working in ways to be with her.
The message for their next reunion arrived with one of Alvin's pigeons. They had discovered that the doves were actually capable of entering the Spirit Realm and send messages from one dimension to the other, perhaps it was something on their mana lobes or on their own spirit that made it possible. Jude caught the pigeon and took the small scroll from its paw. Meet me in Nia Khera on the 11th of this month, it read with Milla's curly handwriting. Jude's heart beat faster, noticing he'd have to make the trip in just a couple of days if he wished to arrive on time. He answered the letter just to confirm with her, packed his things and ran to the station as fast as he could to catch a train to Trigleph and then a boat to Rieze Maxia as soon as possible.
Whatever she had done to him, it had been a terrible spell. He knew it. He was perfectly conscious that Milla had him wrapped around her finger, ready to bid to her wishes. In just a couple of hours he'd already boarded the ship and made his way to the town beyond the Kjara Falls, worried he might not make it in time. He had to meet her at her shrine, and he begged to Maxwell he'd not find Ivar on the way or he'd get the scolding of his life for being so imprudent with his master.
However, when he arrived, he received not one, but three great surprises the moment he set foot on the main gate: first one was that the town was completely decorated, each and every single house, road and barn had lights and flowers adorning the buildings. The second one was that everyone greeted him as if they were expecting him and invited the young doctor to celebrate with them the next night. And the third one was that Milla had arrived a day earlier.
His eyes widened as he saw her from the back, her long blonde hair blowing with the air and that unmistakeable bedhead floating amongst her golden locks. She was still taller than him and still wore a very flashy outfit, but this time it was completely white and she was barefooted. He was unable to contain his joy and screamed her name, making the Lord of Spirits to turn around to face him.
"Jude! I thought you'd be arriving tomorrow!"
"I got a boat immediately after I saw your message and I paid the coachman some extra money to get me to Kijara seafalls as fast as he could… I… it's so good to see you, Milla." He explained with a bright, exhilarating smile. Milla smiled back at him with as much eagerness as he did, glad they'd be able to spend more time together. The elder she'd been talking with coughed and insisted he'd take care of everything from then on. If Milla wished, she could take her guest back to the shrine, as apparently, they had a lot to catch on.
"Thank you." She said with an authoritative voice. "Make sure things are ready for tomorrow, please. Jude, would you follow me?" He agreed and walked behind her as they made their way to the shrine. The villagers bowed at them and opened the way to her usual resting place.
Once again, Jude was caught in surprise when Milla opened the door for him. The shrine was completely decorated with flowers and lights as the houses on town, but it had a lot of figurines made of clay on the inside. Jude took them and watched them carefully, each one was painted with a different color and he assumed each represented the Four Great Spirits and their subordinates. Of course, Milla and Maxwell were also portrayed in several of the figurines.
"It is a tradition in Nia Khera to create this votive statues around the end of the year. They assure protection over next year's harvest, the village,and its people, and the colors greatly please the inhabitants of the Spirit World." She explained, grabbing a red Efreet figurine. "Once the celebrations are over, they're destroyed. For example, Efreet's effigies are burnt and Undine's are thrown to the river."
"You've never told me about it." Jude said with amazement and a large smile on his face. "It's… wonderful."
"I wanted you to see it with your own eyes and I wanted you to join me this year. Tomorrow night is the town's biggest party. There's drinks and music and people dance until the next dawn. I… I've never joined the celebrations." Milla admitted,sitting on her throne with her legs crossed. Jude walked towards the throne and knelt before her, resting his arms in one of her legs. Over time, they'd grown very intimate, but it always showed he felt some kind of blind devotion towards Milla, besides mere attraction to her.
"You want to participate this year, don't you?"
"Will you come with me?"
"You know I can't say no to you."
And so, the next evening the villagers borrowed him a white tunic and adorned his body with painting and flowers. They adorned Milla as well, but her decorations were a lot more complicated than his. It was the first time the Lord of Spirits celebrated along with her followers, so they'd made sure this would be the biggest party they'd ever held. Colors splashed on them as they danced at the light of the bonfire and the air smelt of burnt flowers and fruits. Jude drank like he'd never drank before ever since he became of age and he noticed the beverages didn't have any effect on Milla. Perhaps her spiritual link had become so great she was no longer affected by such human mishaps. They danced and danced, but nobody around them seemed to care. their bacchanal had grown so much that even Lord Maxwell had become one with her people. Nobody even seemed to notice when Jude Mathis finally stole a kiss from her.
A/N: Finally up to date! I'm so happy! I have to admit I'm not a very big fan of Jude and Milla, mostly because I don't like Milla much. It was fine during the first game, but on Xillia 2 i felt like they were kinda forcing it down your throath at all times. That's why I focused a lot more on Alvin and Leia, because their relationship wasn't as annoying as this one. I still like it, though, and I think my dislike for it comes from how badly written it was during the second game. Their dinamics and support are great, their story is cute and the devotion Jude has for her is remarkable, I like that about any sort of character, actually. If I'm completely honest, I liked how this chapter came out, perhaps it's been one of my favorites so far. I hope everything goes alright, so I'll see you tomorrow!
