... sorry for the huge break before the update

Basically i'm stuck int he middle of the Mithos's arrival chapter. So I finally decided to skip ahead ad write the two next chapters: this one and one centering on Genis. Basicaly Zelos's chapter (Mithos's arrival), Genis's chapter and this one are like a triolgy that take place around the same time and center on the same thing: what Mithos's intrusion in the group means. So even if this is technically after Zelos's chapter, it still fits...

Kinda...

Please? ;

So yeah, I'll try not to take that long to update again

NOW.

This chapter is Zelos and Genis seen by Mithos. With his opinion of Zelos, his new opinion of Genis, and the first hints of Genis x Mithos. I'm going with a Mithos who thinks a lot. And plans. And actually still has a rather good understanding of people. I think he has it and alwas has had, it's just Martel that makes him forget it.

DISCLAIMER: same as always. I dont own ToS, nor its characters. And the warning... is the same again. Two guys, 10 years apart, with hints of two girls too, though they don't appear in this chapter (well, they're mentioned, but that's off-subject). Don't like, don't read. And if you're still here and don't like it, then you've forgotten to read the disclaimers for 12 chapters now.

ON WITH THE FIC!

Separate

Much too close.

They were much too close, Mithos reflected, and it was one of the first things he had noticed when he had joined the group.

To tell the truth, he had never trusted Zelos. The Chosen was the kind to believe in no one and to not trust anyone either, so it was obvious he wouldn't do as he was told with a blissful acceptance and ignorance. He was probably leaking information to several sides at the same time, but Mithos didn't really care. As long as he was aware of it, he could prevent it from being really harmful, and could use it to turn the tide in his favour if need be. What he really hadn't thought, though, was that Zelos would come to trust some of the members of the team. He should have stayed his usual impersonal and playful self, acting the playboy but never opening himself or bringing himself to share or trust… yet there he was, laughing carefreely with Genis and Sheena at a joke he had made at Lloyd's expense. And this laugh was genuine, something he would never have imagined possible.

He really had done well to infiltrate the group, he thought. There had been several reasons (analysing the way they thought and worked, getting an agent inside that he could actually trust (and with Kratos now a father, Mithos could only trust himself), checking their progress with the summon spirits, getting to see who from his team was having contacts with them), but now it seemed a very wise decision. To not be able to trust Zelos's loyalty was something he had expected. To fear his loyalty to someone else was very problematic.

What surprised him most, and this from the very first day, was how close he actually was to Genis. Sheena was expected: he knew her since childhood and they had always been friends, though apparently their relationship was a bit chaotic. Genis, on the other hand, had registered in Mithos's mind as an insignificant member of the party. Back at the Tower of Salvation, he had been mildly reasonable, but not the voice of reason like his sister, mildly passionate but nowhere as strong in his actions and beliefs as Lloyd. He was both a child and a scholar, and mostly he was a half-elf. By Zelos's standards, he should have been classified either boring or worthy of disdain, or even hate. Yet there seemed to be a strange companionship between them, rather akin to the one he had with Sheena, where they were always at odds, yet would silently unite when necessary, and compensate each other's weaknesses. He could see it in combat, he could see it in their actions and interactions with the group. It wasn't friendship, not really, but Genis finally had competition to push him forwards, and Zelos…

Zelos seemed to suddenly have received a breath of fresh air in his stagnating mind, heart and life. And Mithos was truly curious as to why Genis, of all people, could have given him that.

So he used Genis's all too friendly attitude to get close to the kid and study him. After all, hadn't he offered friendship straight away (something that still surprised Mithos)? And he had to admit that the kid had something about him that made you forget about your troubles, doubts and faults… only to have them jump back violently in your face from time to time. There was something strangely endearing… Mithos also felt much more at ease with him than with anyone else… Lloyd's views and his own were much too much at odds, but Genis… Genis had a more subtle view of things, more complex and allowing for shade instead of plain white and black.

He still followed Lloyd's ideals, though, and for those who were more dubitative about Lloyd's simplistic view, his influence should not be underestimated.

And that made his path very clear. Even if he could and would try to win Genis to his side and opinions (both to have him influence others and because he really wanted the lively half-elf to join him), as long as he remained loyal to the group's ideals he had to be stopped from strengthening those ideals, especially in Mithos's pawn. Zelos must NOT be left to make up his mind and learn to trust his friends with everything…

He had to separate them at all costs.

THanks for reading Sorry for the delay and please reviex, it'd make my week (which has been rather shitty)