Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia; Namco does.

This in Genis' POV, when he's walking the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge to his execution in Meltokio. Spoilers for those who haven't reached this part…

To My Death

As I walked the bridge, my sister at my side, I stared desperately around, and of course, behind me, to see if Lloyd was running after us to save us right now.

But why would he save me? I'm a half-elf...and so is Raine. And besides, Lloyd and the others are stuck, locked in the research academy.

I...want to go home....

I want to go home to Iselia, and still pretend to be an elf. I want to go to the schoolhouse, where Raine would always yell at Lloyd for sleeping and not paying attention. I want to still have a home to go back to.

As frantic thoughts of escaping, jumping off this god-forsaken bridge, I remembered what Lloyd would always say...

"No matter what happens to you, you're still you! Even if you become an angel, even if you die, no matter what, you're still you..."

Would you care if I'm actually a half-elf, Lloyd? I actually stopped walking to ponder this.

"Keep walking, despicable half-elf." I felt a sharp pain in my back. Screaming, I whipped around, and saw a Papal Knight holding a knife dripping with blood. My blood...

"Walk!" I stood my ground before glancing at Raine. She had a stern face on. Not one of those faces where she wants to hit me, but a more protective face. I knew exactly what she was trying to say to me: 'Move, or they're going to kill you...'

I swallowed, and hesitantly walked toward Raine. With each step I took, I could feel the blood running down my back...

As we continued walking, I heard the knight mutter, "Now that's an obedient half-elf."

I could feel my blood boiling, my head about to explode with feelings of mixed hurt and anger. Why are we treated this way?! Why?

This must be how the Desians are treated as well...despite myself, I could feel a tear coursing down my cheek. It seemed to burn my skin as it rolled down...

This kind of discrimination gave rise to Cruxis...I never thought of that. This, the way half-elves are treated, is what caused the Desians to attack and kill humans...the fact of just being born a half-elf is enough to get the humans angry.

Humans...how I hate them. All of them except Lloyd and the others...I suppose. Wonder if they'll even care if we're going to be executed right now?

I looked up to see Raine watching me carefully. I know what she was trying to tell me: don't cause any trouble. She always had that look on her face whenever I did something wrong.

Now, though, if I do something wrong, it's not going to be Raine who's going to punish me. It'll be the Papal Knights; and their punishment is worst than a slap or two. I was horribly reminded of the blood still pouring down my back, and the sharp pains and stings.

I would never think that I would be treated like a Desian. This is what gave rise to this madness...discrimination...I felt a prod from a knight, telling me to walk faster. I did, not wanting to get stabbed again.

"Justice...how I hate that word..."

You're so right, Lloyd. I sighed inwardly from desperation and pain. How can humans speak of justice when they treat us like this? How can this be called fair?

As we reached the end of the Tethe'alla Bridge, I gave a small chuckle when the knights went to raise the bridge. Humans...to think the angels, the beings they worshipped, were half-elves...how can you discriminate against what you worship?

My last thought before the knights nudged for us to walk towards Meltokio: it would be so funny if Mithos the hero were actually a half-elf...

We walked towards Meltokio...my death awaits.

OOOO

Yes, this is extremely crappy…I haven't had time to think of a good plot. I was just typing a report for school and then the idea for writing a quick one-shot like this came to me. Flame all you want; I'm totally expecting them. Constructive criticism would be extremely helpful as well.

To My Reviewers:

Sirhcnotilih- I'm still considering that…the fact that I actually have time to type this is nice. I do have some nice ideas for a next chapter…

Potter29vo- The reason I write in first POV is because you can explain so much more about the characters through their thoughts and flashbacks. I've never been really good at grammar, so there should be a lot of grammatical mistakes in my writing…I like to end fics this way, however. It leaves the story hanging there, and gives a more angsty feeling. At least, that's how I feel. Thanks for the review.

Thank you to 'The Evil Maid' and 'Wyvern's Darkness' for reviewing as well…