Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia, Forcystus, Magnius and all related characters and names are copyright of Namco.
The Great Desian Hero
Chapter 2 – Payment
His eyes watched in speechless surprise at the two hands holding the hilt of his ax. Turning his head to the side he found a lone crimson orb pointing at him.
"Magnius, stop. We got what we wanted. Let them go." The other said calmly. At their feet, a family of 4 humans was trembling in sheer fear.
The red haired half-elf named Magnius shook his head in disbelief. "W…What!"
Forcystus ignored the question-retort and called at his companions "Everybody, let's go. We've got to hurry."
The ax-user was baffled "You can't be serious Forcystus…"
Brushing off the comment Forcystus walked past the other half-elf and in front the human family curled on the floor.
"Today, your lives have been saved by a half-elf. Let's see how you go through life with that." He walked past them. Before following his leader with an angered attitude the red haired half-elf kicked some dirt toward the now silent family.
"Damn it Forcystus, wait!"
The one he called for didn't do as told. Catching up with Forcystus the ax-user shouted at him even though it was barely more of a meter what kept them apart.
"They are humans! The same race of those that killed the villagers and our friends! Hell Forcystus! We were lucky to get out of there alive! If they were in our place right now they will kill us without thinking!"
Forcystus came to a halt. Seeing that his words had some effect the other stopped as well. Forcystus turned his face to the side a bit.
"Are we blood-thirsty savages Magnius?"
The one he called Magnius was caught by surprise by the sudden question
"ANSWER ME MAGNIUS!"
The ax-wielder lowered his sight, all his anger subdued.
"…No...Sir"
After letting out a short sigh Forcystus spoke again.
"You know why is that?"
Magnius delayed his answer a bit.
"I don't know, Sir."
"It's because we are not like them… we are different. We are not humans." Forcystus walked away, leaving his subordinate behind.
He covered his eyes from the stinging salty water with his right hand while retaliating to the attack splashing some sea water with his left hand.
"No fair! You're teaming up!" the green haired kid laughed. The other two half-elf children kept the attack, sea water covering them a bit above the knees. Soon, other kids joined the "battlefield" giving fair chances to both sides. Honestly, he didn't like the stinging feeling in his crimson eyes. But he loved playing with his friends.
Seeing the young boys and girls playing on the sea incited some of the adults that watched them to put their responsibilities aside for a little while and join them. Soon, the three kids that had started the game were sharing the water with other kids, teens and adults alike.
The fishing town of Eigion Dihl was located at the opposite side of the Altamira continent from Heimdall. But unlike Heimdall, this peaceful fishing town was unmarked on the maps. Eigion Dihl's population was conformed mostly by half-elves. The lesser part of the population was pure-blooded elfin. In this little corner of the world differences such as race were rather insignificant.
Maybe the world could learn a thing or two from these humble fishermen.
After the failed attempt at escaping on the Fooji Mountains this little congregation of half-elves had suffered a major blow to its number. Forcystus had entered Sousei with around 120 companions. After the confrontation, the number had plummeted to the 40's and only a bit more of the half were in somewhat healthy conditions. The villagers, unable to neither defend themselves nor flee, were all killed.
After checking on the wounded the crystal blue haired female half-elf called Touga was now giving her full attention to Forcystus' wounds.
"It seems it healed already" She said, referring to the now unnoticeable wound on Forcystus right shoulder
"I see..." He replied in an absent-minded tone. His mind obviously wandering in another place, or perhaps… another time.
"The travelling caravan we robbed earlier… we won't make it with what we got from them. What we need the most right now is medicine for the wounded. My healing arts aren't enough for the most of them."
Giving the thoughts running trough his mind a break he talked "There is a small town on the coast up north from here, we could head there." The woman nodded "All right, we have a plan then."
"Look dad! It's full! It's full!" he bounced excitedly making the small fishing boat rock over the waves as the fish-full net appeared above the water.
"Calm down Séideán, you are going to make the boat sink" the elven man at his side laughed, trying in vain to put a stop to the kid jumpiness.
"They are huge, huge!" Not hearing his father's words Séideán went up and down, left to right, back and forth. Grunting the kid lifted a big fish, almost as big as him, and showed it off like you would with a trophy.
Taking his most possibly last chance to return to its home and not having any desire to end being the meal of a family, the fish jumped out of the hands of the half-elf. In a matter of seconds both fish and kid were battling it out on the floor of the old but quite sturdy boat. For the unlucky inhabitant of the sea this was a life-death matter, but for the kid it was just a game with a bit of pride in it. After a short battle the fish was again on the arms of the kid, almost stiff.
As soon as they were close enough to the shore Séideán jumped over the edge of the boat, proudly holding his big fish as tight as he could.
"Wait, Séideán! Who is going to help me unload these?" His father called.
"Not me, I have to show this one to mom!" caressing the shadow of a beard he had the elf shook his head, but a smile was on his lips.
-----o-----
Panting excitedly he arrived to the porch of his house. Juggling the fish, he opened the door and called.
"Mom!"
No response.
He appeared at the porch again with a somewhat disappointed look once that he made a thorough search inside his home.
"Hey there Séid…Whoa! That's huge!" purple orbs were now fixed on the corpse of the fish resting on arms of the little kid. Forgetting his previous disappointment the kid saw this as a perfect chance to show off.
"Isn't it Gouten? Dad and I caught a lot these this morning" The tall man reached an arm for the fish but the green haired backed away before he could touch it.
Hiding the fish protectively behind him the kid shouted half-laughing "No way! It's mine! If you want one go catch it yourself!" the other crossed his arms, amused by the nerve of the crimson-eyed kid. "Okay, okay. But I'll tell ya, its eyes are going to pop out if you keep squishing it like that."
The little one gave a slight jump "Oh!" He caressed the scale covered body "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it Mr. Fish." Gouten brought a hand to his forehead, the absurdity of it all.
"Hey Gouten…" the kid called him "…Have you seen mom?" The silver haired half-elf frowned in thought "Yeah… I saw her going to the hills west of town a short while ago. I never though humans liked places like that one." With an excited jump the kid was on his way "Thanks! See ya later."
Yup, yup. There she was. He was going to call her but his tongue entangled itself when he saw another 3 figures with her. Shortly after that one of the figures spotted him, a man with an unshaved beard and moustache. His confusion and insecurity went away when he heard his mother's voice.
"Séideán! Come!"
A couple of shy steps at first, then a carefree pace. When he reached to his mother's side the bearded man kneeled to meet him eye to eye, and offered him his hand. "Hi there little man, how are you doing?" trying to shake the hand and at the same time keep his fish in a firm grasp he returned the greeting.
"That's a big fish you have there. You caught it yourself?" the kid pointed to the general direction of the sea "No, with my dad" going to his feet the bearded man clapped twice "Well then I'm not going to take more of your time little man." He looked at the woman "About our business, expect the results very soon. We will repay you handsomely for your cooperation."
Once that the two of them were down the road back to town Séideán looked at his mother "What is that man going to give you mom." Playing with his green bangs she smiled at him with her deep red eyes "Something that is going to make dad happy, that's why you have to promise to not say anything of this to him nor any of your friends. All right?"
He nodded with a smile "Okay mom. I promise."
"Well, they only have a small militia. Nothing big, really." The blonde archer spoke, sounding a bit more carefree than she wanted due their current situation.
Touga nodded in approbation. But Forcystus had another question in his mind.
"Boats, did you find any?"
Artea looked specifically at him "Yeah, but only those small boats fishermen use. I don't think we can use them to go ou—
Forcystus raised his hand signalling her to stop. "We will use them. If we stay here in Fooji it would be just a matter of time before those knights find us" The archer looked concerned but the other woman did her best to dispel her worries.
"Even though they are small the distance that separates Fooji from Sybak isn't that big. With some luck we can manage it."
Forcystus patted the hilt of the sword at his right hip. "We're attacking at night. Artea, you and Magnius are coming with me. We can't let him get overexcited like last time."
It was hot all around them. A father with his son in his arms was running away of the screams and the sounds of swords slashing and piercing the skin. A turn right, a turn left, stop, backtrack and left again. The fire tongues at their sides were growing taller and taller each minute, mockingly lunging at them from time to time. More turns, shadowy figures in front, another turn and…
…A dead end.
One of the constructions in town had fallen across the street. There was enough space among the debris for a kid to crawl through. But not for an all-grown man. Lowering the trembling child in his arms to the ground the elf kneeled on one leg holding the crying kid by the shoulders. Some hurried armored footsteps were heard closing in on them.
"Séideán, hear me out." The elf cleared the tears away of his son's face "We will have to split up now. Go find your mother and protect her, okay?" Seeing that the kid didn't stop sobbing he tried again, striking green bangs "Don't worry, I'll join up with the two of you later. But right now I need you to be brave and help me." The half-elf child nodded fighting back the sobs and tears "Okay…dad" the little one answered.
Father and son hugged for the last time. One of them whispered one of the most important sentences that will ever exist.
"I'm so proud of you."
After breaking the hug Séideán rushed to crawl in the little holes among the debris that blocked his way. Once that he was on the other side he peered through the same he had came. From there he was able to clearly see his father's back and some armored men circling around him.
"Fire Storm!" red-hot flames surged from both elfin hands, but not having used this kind of magic for a long time caused the spell to not be as strong or fast as it should be. With quick reflexes the men in armor dodged the spell or blocked it with their shields. The elf called for mana to answer his plea once more.
"Gra--!"
His body pierced through by blade after blade, he fell to the ground. Never finishing his last spell.
Séideán stumbled backwards. Not feeling neither sick nor sad just…empty. His body became empty of any emotion in a mere second.
That face, he had seen it before. All the ideas in his head were twirling around in a downward spiral. That man, why would he…? Why would mom…? Lies! LIES! All lies! Someone had lied to him but, who? Why? What was he supposed to do now?
"…Go find your mother and protect her, okay?"
"… Right now I need you to be brave and help me."
"I'm so proud of you."
Yes! YES! Those were all the truths he needed right now. He had to hurry, he had to RUN!
The greedy fire cracked with delight as the old wood succumbed before it. The whole construction went down like if it had lost all support in a blink of an eye. He dived for safety. The last thing his right eye would see was the shadow of a nail coming for it.
"Come on! Let's go!"
"Wha… What about the others?"
"Did you see those guys, they were half-elves. The others are as good as dead"
"Ahhhh!"
"What happened?"
"Its pitch black here, I can't see were I put my feet. I think I twisted my ankle; I'm trapped in some roots or something. Here, give me a hand."
"Screw you! The half-elves should have heard you scream. I guess this is where we part ways my friend."
"What! You can't leave me behind! We are supposed to be friends…right?"
But the other wasn't around anymore.
-----o-----
Very, very clever from him. All to be said, he felt proud. Not only he had pulled out a watch-and-learn escape from those half-elves right under their nose but also he had managed to enter a house or two and get some extra money and goodies for himself. Patrick? Bah! To hell with him! He had always been clumsy, ever since they were kids.
Everyone to its own my friend. He smirked.
"So, even among yourselves you act as selfish as ever." The voice seriously startled him. No! Not now! He was so close! It was all that damn Patrick's fault!
A green haired man with only one crimson eye emerged from the shadows in front of him. The man seemed to be in his 20's but you can't be sure with those freaks of half-elves.
Forcystus unsheathed his sword "I had planned to spare all of you as long as you cooperate…" the human's attempt to escape was given a stop by the clinging sound of an ax to his left and the string of a bow cord to his right. "…But those beings who turn their backs even to the ones who had shared life with them. What does the future has in store for them?" There was a slashing sound, then a loud thud (at least he thought so) and for whatever odd reason he was now looking up at the green haired half-elf like if his head was at the floor level.
"I believe that is not worth knowing. Don't you agree… my friend?"
"Mom!"
A big, strong hand held him in his place, his pupil dilated a bit. His surroundings weren't those were he thought he was. No more were the burning houses and screams. Now, at the weak light of a single oil candle, he was in what seemed to be a small cabin. The only pieces of furniture he could perceive were the bed where he was laying, a simple chair and a little table were the candle rested. His chest going up and down in fear.
"Easy there" He knew the voice but he couldn't help a startled jump. His left leg ached in protest. A pained moan escaped his lips.
"Don't move little one." Two purple lights shimmered in the twilight. The young half-elf was relieved at the sight of a familiar face. He opened his mouth as if to speak but his world twirled and almost lost consciousness.
"Do not worry my young pal." Gouten said with what tried to be a chuckle "It's the medicine I gave you" the kid relaxed, now knowing that someone was taking care of him. Someone who he could trust. After resting his head on a not-so-soft pillow he tried to talk once more.
"…Dad…?" even in complete silence his voice was barely audible.
Gouten lowered his gaze and shook his head slowly. Séideán was too tired to even cry, but how badly he wanted to do it with all his strength.
Some seconds passed by. Some minutes passed by. Gouten was ready to answer that the kid's mother had disappeared. How naive of him. If he knew the same things the kid did he wouldn't be as condescending with the woman.
Feeling an unnatural sensation around where his right eye should be the little one reached a hand for his face. Before he could touch it a bigger hand grasped his. "Not now." The older one said, almost pleadingly. The child nodded as best as he could, he sighed.
The relative silence in which both friends were enshrouded broke with the sound of a wooden door slowly being open. "How…How is he?" a very shy voice rose, by the sound of it Séideán couldn't be sure if it was a girl or a little boy. His doubts were cleared when a little blonde girl, half his age, appeared at his left side.
"…Hi" She greeted him shyly. As a response he tried to smile. Seeing his reaction the little girl clasped his left hand with hers "I'm Artea, what is your name?" the boy looked at the ceiling.
A name given to him by a human mother "I…" Such filth should be purged out of him.
"I… forgot."
Artea looked with a puzzled expression at the older of the three in the room. Gouten patted the girl on the head and gently stroke green bangs with new understanding.
"You have nothing to fear…" he said looking at one of the kids, and then at the other "…I'll take care of you from now on."
"We can see light inside but no one will come out Forcystus." Touga signaled to a window of a simple and small construction. "You can even see the shadow of someone there; it doesn't seem like if they were hiding."
Forcystus turned to his red haired companion "Magnius, let's check this out." The ax-user nodded in agreement. "Touga, you gather all the villagers in an open area. Only use force if the need arises and have some of our men to take the sturdiest boats they can find and gather supplies. We're out to sea tonight."
-----o-----
The room was well lit and the scarce furniture being only a wooden table and 3 wooden chairs both half-elves were able to move without fear of a desperate ambush. They entered the next and last room cautiously. There was nothing in it, only an old rocking chair and sitting on it an old woman around her 80's looking absent-mindedly at them.
"Just an old witch" Magnius laughed. He stopped his amusement when he saw Forcystus' face growing paler and paler. "Wait for me outside the house Magnius. I will take care of her myself." Not daring to question his leader Magnius left the room, his footsteps were heard until he exited the house.
When the outside door was shut the woman watched the half-elf with semi-interest. He was sure now, even with the shadows brought by age those eyes still had the same crimson bright he loathed. To find her here, of all places! He approached her slowly. His knuckles getting paler and paler with each step. Once he was right in front of her he did what he desired the most.
He slapped her face as hard as he could, first with his palm, the second time with the back of his hand. Blood was spilled but he didn't notice nor cared. Fury and joy were cohabiting inside him. This woman was the reason behind a sea of tears and blood, the reason behind a carpet made with the skin of the people who had accepted her without prejudices. Even her own husband formed part of those abominations! And this… Monster was still alive! But… he was grateful for that. Death hadn't claimed her yet. He still had his chance.
She moved her wrinkled lips quickly seemingly not fully aware of what was going on, while the man in front gave her a cold and sadistic look.
"You never expected to see me again, do you?" cold, his voice was colder than how any other living being in the past or the future would hear coming from him. Rudely grabbing her chin with a trembling hand he forced her to look at him straight in the eye.
"Not only you abandoned me to die, you also betrayed the one who loved you!" Her eyes went wide in realization as he spat word after word "Did you ever thought about us! If we were still alive or rotting away on the side of a dirty road leading nowhere! You wanted that, didn't you!" She tried to look away, tears surging from her almost dead eyes, but Forcystus didn't let her "If it wasn't for you dad would be alive right now! My friends would still be here!" He despitefully tossed the now crying face to the side.
Pacing around the room like a caged animal Forcystus glared at the sobbing old woman.
"Do you cry now?" he asked half-amused and half-furious "Is when you have to face your crimes and pay for them when you start to cry? To begin with, why do you cry? Is it regret? Or maybe fear?" he stopped in the middle of the room, staring at her. A chuckle appeared on his lips to be quickly replaced by a cold glare
"You humans are pathetic. You rob, you kill, you betray, you have no respect for life, prejudice is your law and egoism your ruler. Those who are different are a threat and a mistake. Those who are burden for your own selfish desires must be mowed out of the way. You will victimize even your own kind, your own blood. Such is the human's true nature."
-----o-----
Magnius didn't dare to speak. Forcystus' glare was something he hadn't seen before. There was something in it that made Magnius feel true fear of his superior. The fresh blood strains on his face and clothes made him look even more menacing than ever.
"…m all"
Magnius blinked confused. Had he heard right?
"Kill them all." Forcystus said again, not being altered by the lack of reaction from his subordinate.
Magnius nodded and sprinted away, not even trying to hide his joy.