A/N: Hello. This is my first ToS fic, hopefully out of many. It's just a short, worthless one-shot about The Neglected. (weird, huh?) So, uh, read it, I guess. ;

The Neglected

Mithos...created me...or perhaps it was the emblem? I do not know. I know nothing...except pain. I am alone, in the darkness. Or perhaps I am the darkness. I do not know.

But now I see light, going past me...or do I only feel it? Again, I do not know. It's ghostly, pale light, but it has form. In it I can see things...images...memories. I see...two-half-elves...like Mithos. A boy, and a woman. I see them. They are in pain. They are rejected...neglected. Like myself. I am...The Neglected. I know now. Now I see them clearer...they're real now, in the present, not just in the memories...no, their memories.

Now Mithos is here. He speaks to me...

"Do you see their memories? Do you see what has happened to them? They're trying to forget. But they can't be allowed to. You must remind them."

Now I am a mirror. Trapped behind me are the two half-elves. Now I know their names: Genis...and Raine. Now I see their memories even clearer. Then I remember Mithos's words. I find myself able to summon images of two people, an elf and a human. I make them speak to Genis and Raine, telling them words of hatred. Them Mithos appears to them, and speaks as well. I can see them...they are in pain. The same pain I was in...having nowhere to go...they are Neglected as well.

Then a human comes and speaks to them as well. I can feel their pain lessening...but mine does not. I make the images speak again...trying to make their pain greater, like mine. Is this what Mithos wanted me to do? But finally the human shatters me and Mithos disappears again. I am unable to keep the images present.

Then a piece of me floats down to them. A part of my pain...to keep them from forgetting, like Mithos said. Now Mithos speaks to me again.

"Can't you see? They aren't going to remember! You must destroy them...put them through physical pain...they shouldn't be painless while you are not. Destroy them."

I speak to the human. And finally, I see what I truly am.

"I reflect the bitterness that lies in the depths of your hearts. Will you face your darkness?

"Yes.." speaks the human, seeming to be unsure of where my voice comes from. I don't know myself. Again, I speak.

"Then be devoured by the darkness."

I pull them in. Them I find myself in physical form before them with light cascading around. The human draws his swords and points one of them at me.

"You're the one who made those illusions, aren't you! You're going to pay for doing that to my friends!"

He rushes at me with his swords, and Genis and Raine begin casting spells. I find myself fighting, slashing them with long blades on my arms, bombarding them with magic. But they are strong. I soon find myself dissolving. I realize I am dying. I let them out and I speak for one last time.

"...You have conquered your darkness. You have changed from shadow to light. That which was light will lose its power."

Then I fade. I...no...longer...exist...

A/N: And that's it. Review if you are so inclined. (shrug)