Gender Bending 2: Zella
Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned are property of Namco.
Warning! This chapter will contain small references to Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, but I left them intentionally vague so as to avoid spoiling it for those of you who haven't played it yet and still want to (shame on you!).
Chapter 14
"W-wait a second, Zella." Presea struggled out. She needed to get Zella to listen to reason. It was a good thing that she was so accustomed to appealing to logic, but she still had no idea if Zella would even be willing to listen. "I-I think that you're... infected by a plant from the Gardens..."
Zella just laughed and then smirked at Presea. Honestly, with that red lipstick on she looked positively vampiric. "Do you think I care about something like that?" She twirled the knife in her hand, making sure to keep Presea in a position where she couldn't move. "Even if that's true, it doesn't make a bit of difference to me. Now, it's time to stop your meddling... permanently."
If Presea hadn't been in mortal peril, she would have groaned. She was lacking in life experience, having spent countless years as a living doll, but even she knew a clichéd line when she heard it. Of course, having a knife pointed at you will make you focus on more important things. Presea gulped. Pursuing the "you have been infected" train of thought had failed, but really when did telling someone that ever work? There was still another path she could take that would still be appealing to reason... "N-now don't do anything hasty..." Presea said, choosing her words very carefully and trying not to appear to be patronizing. "If you kill me here, you'll be found out for sure."
Zella pretended not to be listening and fiddled impatiently with the knife, but the fact that she hadn't stabbed Presea yet meant that it still had some significance to her warped mind.
Presea continued. "We're at a large party. Surely someone would find my body." Presea was dragging her point out as long as possible. If only someone had to use the facilities, she might be saved. "And if not, one of our group would notice I'm missing sooner or later." Zella seemed to be getting impatient, so Presea decided to hook her there. "Surely a killing or a disappearance would mess up your plans with Genis."
Zella immediately gave Presea her undivided attention "I suppose you are right, of course... but then I wonder what I should do with you..."
"You could let me go..." Presea suggested hopefully. "I'll leave you two alone! I promise!" Of course, she was lying. All she needed to do was inform Raine of Zella's situation and then maybe they could do something about it.
Zella laughed again, squeezing Presea's neck with her hand. "Do you expect me to believe that? You're not gettin' off that easy."
"Well then.... what are you...going.... to do?" Presea choked. "You can't kill me, and you won't let me go. What other options are there?"
The gender-bent ex-Chosen smirked evilly, her bright red lips glistening. "Oh, there is one other way to keep you quiet."
"And what is tha-mmmmph?!" Presea began, but was interrupted by Zella firmly planting their lips together. It was only a quick peck, but after the kiss Zella released Presea. The young lady slid down the wall and ended up sitting on the ground with a look of complete shock and confusion, Zella's lipstick leaving a mark on Presea's.
"Now let's keep this matter to ourselves, kay?" Zella asked suddenly very sweetly as she began to exit the washroom.
"...okay... I guess...." Presea mumbled with a glazed look in her eyes as she brought her fingers up to gingerly touch her lips.
Zella smirked as she left the room with Presea still sitting on the floor. The clerk at the store noted that the effects would only be temporary this time and that they would be more subdued, but her pollen-infused lipstick would still be able to turn its victims into babbling, lovesick fools. In most ways, she preferred this: Zella just needed to silence Presea and was glad she wouldn't become obsessive and resort to methods that Sheena did when she was under its control. It might make courting Genis a little more difficult, but with Presea in a completely embarrassed and confused state, her major obstacle was still gone. Besides, she'd also purchased a special perfume from the same store that should make Genis more accepting of her advances, as well as keep Presea docile. Guaranteed to make her appear even more attractive to anyone close enough to catch a whiff, she was confident that seducing Genis would now be a cakewalk.
Lloyd marched happily back into the party, followed by a still slightly-wary Genis. Lloyd smiled but was still lost in thought. Sure, he felt a little odd with the constant switching back and forth, but at least he knew the cause. If he could just avoid kissing anyone, he could remain as himself forever. Still, he hoped that they'd be able to find a more permanent cure. First things first, though; he needed to find Raine and explain the situation.
"Lloyd!" Sheena shouted happily approaching. If Lloyd hadn't been so preoccupied and if Genis hadn't been so embarrassed they might have noticed how red her lips suddenly were. Sheena smirked. A quick kiss on the lips and Lydia would be hers... She stopped for a second, remembering the experience in Altamira a while back. Was she really willing to go to such desperate lengths to ensure being with her beloved?
Yes. She concluded. One quick kiss and then everything would be perfect. It wouldn't even look too odd, either. Lydia was clearly disguised as Lloyd. And very well, too. She thought, noting how much Lydia really looked like Lloyd at that moment.
"Sheena!" Lloyd responded happily. "You'll never guess what happened!"
"And what's that?" Sheena asked, staring and Lloyd through half-lidded eyes and moving in.
"I'm Lloyd again!" Lloyd said so full of bliss that he didn't notice Sheena's odd behavior or the odd glances he got from a few of the closer guests.
"What?" Sheena gasped back as her entire plan shattered.
"I know! Isn't it great?!" Lloyd asked, grinning. "Well, I need to go find Professor Sage." He said, starting to run off, stumbling due to the balance change, and then running off again.
Genis and Sheena stood there in silence for a short time, until Genis finally was able to form the words to lamely attempt to begin a conversation. "...So... what's up?"
"Oh shut up..." Sheena muttered.
"Unhand me, fool! I'm king of angel land!" Kratos shouted drunkenly as Yuan held the amnesiac Seraph over his shoulder and made his way out of the large group that had formed.
"Excuse me. Sorry about this. Excuse me." Yuan said embarrassedly as he tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"Yuan!" Lloyd shouted, drawn over by the commotion. "What's going on with my Dad?" He asked worriedly. After all, it could be another one of those pesky plants...
"He's just a little drunk." Yuan grunted, trying to hold the struggling Kratos and walking quickly towards the exit. "Great disguise, by the way." He muttered to the Eternal Swordsman as he slipped past.
Lloyd decided that Yuan was too preoccupied to be dealt a shocker at that moment, so he just played along. "Oh, thanks."
After Yuan left, Lloyd found Raine and Regal, who had both been nearby, and giddily explained his new situation. True, he wasn't cured, but this was better than nothing.
"Kissing, huh?" Raine asked. "I wonder why that action facilitates the change... I may have to test this later..." She stopped talking as soon as she realized what she was implying.
"Okay, sure!" Lloyd said, already back to his usual oblivious self. "As long as you change me back to Lloyd at the end, though."
Raine blushed and gave a sigh of relief, although not really knowing why. That was strange. She thought, looking up at Lloyd... Wait a minute... She'd always been about the same height as her student, but all of a sudden the top of her head was only about as high as Lloyd's nose... "Have you gotten taller?"
"Hima, huh?" Richter Abend muttered, flipping his long red hair out of his face as he read the sign at the entrance of said town. After the merging of the worlds, the geography of both planets had been skewed, resulting in the discovery of villages such as this. Unless he asked the citizens, he'd have no way of determining if it had come from the other world or if he'd simply not heard of it. It was times like this when he wished his usual traveling companion with him, but they'd had to attend to other matters in Asgard. Shaking himself out of his musings, Richter observed that there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on in the center of town, noting a man with dark hair, pointy ears and brightly colored spectacles who was wearing a strange cape-like object surrounding his whole body. The man... or rather, the half-elf, Richter determined, was making a proclamation of some sort in a voice that sounded annoyingly nasally even from his distance.
Zella grinned, spotting Genis near the dance floor talking to Sheena. She was a little miffed seeing her prize fraternizing with another woman, but it made no difference in the long run. A quick kiss was all that was necessary, she knew, and began making her way to the half-elf.
"...Zella?" Came a familiar voice. It was Lydia, or Lloyd, or whatever she was calling herself now. She was unimportant, just white noise to Zella though, who didn't take her eyes off of her target. That is, until the Eternal Swordsman purposely stepped into her line of sight.
"Not now, Lydia. I'm busy." Zella muttered irritably.
"I thought it was you!" The hero said happily, still refusing to let Zella by. "Actually, though, it's just Lloyd now." He said quietly so only she could hear. "I'm cured!" He paused. "Well, sort of."
"Great." Zella said, completely uninterested as she walked past, and was peeved to see that Genis had vanished into the crowd. She quickly set off at a brisk walk to search for him.
That was weird. Lloyd thought. He was certain Zella would be ecstatic about being able to change back, even if only for a short while. Unless... unless she was liking the change as Lloyd once had. Lloyd had to admit, she did make a really attractive girl. True, she may have been wearing something that even he knew was inappropriate for such an occasion, but Zelos had always acted like that anyways, right?
Although he hated to admit it, Lloyd's thoughts of Zella briefly turned to daydreams just in time for him to run straight into another guest.
"Oh, please excuse me." The guest, a man wearing dark purple clothes, said.
"No, it was completely my..." Lloyd stopped dead when he saw the man's face. "Kratos?" How did he get back in so quickly? How did he get so sober all of a sudden? And how in the hell did he change out of that tuxedo so fast?
The man tilted his head to the side. "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met. You are...?"
"...Lloyd." Lloyd said apprehensively. There was something off about Kratos. He wasn't acting like the goof he had been while under the amnesia flower. No... if anything, he was acting like he did when Lloyd first met him; formal and secretive. He was even wearing the clothes he'd had at their first meeting. Something was definitely up.
Kratos looked at the handle of the red sword in one of Lloyd's holsters. "Excuse me," He said again. "May I see that sword?"
Lloyd pulled the sword from it's sheath, displaying Flamberg to the amnesiac man. "You mean this?"
"Flamberg..." Kratos muttered so quietly that an ordinary human couldn't hear it. However, to one with angelic hearing...
"And how do you know that?" Lloyd questioned with a fake smile. Sure, it could be that Kratos' memory was starting to return, but for some reason that Lloyd couldn't quite place, the man just seemed suspicious all of a sudden.
This seemed to surprise Kratos. "How did you hear that? You're not an angel-"
"Answer the question." Lloyd said, dropping all pretenses of being friendly. He didn't know what this impostor was up to, but it clearly wasn't the same Kratos that had been traveling with them. At this point in time, Kratos should have had no idea about angelic hearing.
The Seraph, or whatever the hell the man was, put his hand on the hilt of the steel sword at his waist threateningly. "Or you can tell me what you're doing with my sword, and what the nature is behind that odd mana signature of yours."
Lloyd just glared defiantly at the man. He now knew for certain that this impostor was not his father. He knew too much about mana and Flamberg to have amnesia, but he was more blunt and reckless than the regular Kratos had ever been before. Not to mention, the complete changing of his clothes in such a short amount of time was impossible. If he wasn't in the process of staring the man down, Lloyd would have smiled. That was a pretty smart train of thought he'd been on. Too bad Professor Sage hadn't been around to see it.
And this Kratos definitely was more reckless. Faster than the ordinary human eye could follow, he drew his sword and swung it threateningly at Lloyd's neck.
Lloyd reacted out of sheer reflex, using his angelic speed and the already drawn Flamberg to parry the strike. All nearby guests gasped at the sudden display of weapons and stepped away. Lloyd, however, didn't notice this. He was back on the Tower of Salvation, and this yet another battle against the mysterious Kratos the Angel, as opposed to Kratos, his father. He didn't notice the circle already forming around them made out of curious onlookers. All that mattered was this fight. Lloyd didn't know who this man was, but if he was as strong as Kratos, this would be tough, especially after his balance changing for the third time in less than a day. "Bring it on, Kratos, if that's even your real name!"
"Darn it!" Marta Lualdi coughed, falling onto one knee. This just wasn't possible! He had died a year ago! Governor-General Neil said the Chosen's group had done it... She grimaced angrily. Had the Chosen failed Palmacosta yet again?
"Pathetic vermin." Desian Grand Cardinal Magnius smirked down at the young girl, bringing he staff forward to cast another spell.
Genis gulped, weaving through a crowd or party goers. There seemed to be something going on on the far end of the hall, but as he was standing in a group of people that were all taller than him, there was no way for him to see it. For once, he was glad he was still relatively short. He didn't know what Zella wanted with him, and although a part of him enjoyed the attention he was getting from such an attractive older woman, for the most part, she just made him really nervous. And now that Lloyd had run off, stranding him with Sheena and, as he had observed, in the sights of Zella, he was seriously considering going back to the men's room to hide...
"Genis." Presea said, appearing almost out of nowhere. Genis jumped a bit, but quickly settled down when he saw who it was. Although he was still occasionally nervous around her, the situation with Zella made these nerves feel almost nonexistent. If anything, this awkward situation was starting to draw Presea and himself closer together.
"H-Hi, Presea." Genis said quietly. "Look, I'm hiding from Zella, okay? So stay quiet."
Presea's brow furrowed. She still had her feelings for Genis, but now they were smothered by an invasive new set of thoughts. "Why?" Zella was fun, and smart, and pretty...
"Why?" Genis repeated incredulously, interrupting Presea's thoughts. He hadn't expected that response. "You were there when she danced with me, remember?!"
The confused girl still didn't see the problem. "And?" She felt a nagging thought in the back of her mind, telling her to warn Genis about the sanity of Ze... Zella. Her mind completely shifted gears at the name. That was right... Zella wanted Genis for herself, didn't she? Presea felt a small twinge of jealousy (although for which party, even she wasn't sure), but she relented, realizing that Zella's happiness was the most important thing. If Zella wanted Genis, what position was Presea in to deny her?
Saying nothing else, pink hair girl bolted from Genis, leaving the confused half-elf alone. She had to tell Zella where Genis was!
Sheena wandered towards the exit to the dance hall in a daze. Lydia was gone? But everything was going according to plan! It just wasn't fair! W-Why do I even care so much? Sheena wondered in a moment of insight. For the longest time, she'd had a crush on Lloyd and even though the swordsman was too oblivious to recognize her hints, her feelings had remained. So why had they suddenly changed? She'd never even found other women attractive, save for the chaos back in Altamira months ago with the magic lipstick... She stopped right in front of the open archway, realizing the implications of what she was thinking. Wait a second...
At that exact moment, Yuan burst back into the room, running smack-dab into Sheena. The two stumbled, landing on the ground with Yuan on top of her and their faces dangerously close. They were both significantly embarrassed, but Sheena's heart caught in her mouth when she realized that she was wearing the magic lipstick from Altamira. They were so lucky. If they had kissed-
Sheena didn't believe in fate, or destiny, or really any god or goddess. She still said phrases like "Thank Martel" out of habit, but she no longer believed in a higher power, not after all they'd seen on their journey. However, if there was a goddess, she clearly enjoyed spreading chaos as, at that exact moment, another party guest tried to enter through the same door as Yuan, not noticing the two on the floor. He stumbled, bumping into Yuan and pushing the Seraph's face into Sheena's, mashing their lips together.
Raine sighed worriedly. This party was meant to promote peace between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, but with all of the chaos going on, they'd be lucky if this whole thing ended without a full-scale war.
Well, unfortunately, this chapter wasn't all that funny, but I've been trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends from waaaaaay earlier in this fanfic so I can return to a feel similar to that of the original story without all of the ridiculous lesbian sexploits. Speaking of which, there's a new poll on my profile pertaining to if you actually think that is the best direction for this. I'd appreciate it if you took the time to vote so I know what you guys and gals want. As for this chapter, its primary purpose was to move some of the subplots towards closure.
And speaking of subplots, a few select characters from ToS:DotNW will be making appearances in sort of "expanded cameos" to resolve some of my aforementioned loose ends. After that, they'll be out of the story, so if you don't like them, you can pretend it never happened! =D And don't worry about spoilers. They will likely remain vague at worst, but if I do end up including any beyond that, they will include a warning beforehand.
Additionally, dumbing down my language when from Lloyd's perspective is quite difficult, which I never really realized since I've always written "him" as Lydia, who seems to be the more aware of the two.
In other news, LunaLocket, the author of the AU Gender Bending sequel "From Hero to Heroine" has returned after an extended hiatus due to computer troubles and has resumed posting chapters. Also, her writing has improved leaps and bounds during her time off, and, personally, I was really impressed by shift in her style starting in chapter 5. So if you need some Gender Bending goodness while you wait for me to get my lazy butt in gear and post a new chapter, you should check it out!
...Now all we need is The Amazing Chris back and all three sequels will have been revived...
I mean, please review and vote on the poll!
Oh, and I almost forgot; 100 REVIEWS! WOOO!