Thanks to those who have been reviewing; I'm glad to know people are enjoying this! Good lord, we're only on day 4 here. Well, the Giant Scary Plot Outline of Doom says start skipping days soon, so we'll get a bit more plot development.
Raine had difficulty getting out of bed the next morning. It had been well past midnight when she and Genis had finally gotten back from meeting with the leaders of the newly-formed Association for Half-Elf Rights. And now, of course, she had to get up in time to attend the committee to repeal anti-half-elf legislation. She managed to throw on some clothes and make her way downstairs to the breakfast room.
"Morning, gorgeous."
"Grrrmmmorning."
"Up late last night, were you?" Zelos commented. "Fun night out on the town?"
Raine glared at Zelos and stumbled over to the sideboard, where the servants had laid out a rather nice breakfast buffet. She stood blinking, trying to clear her head.
"Uh, you want some tea or something?" Zelos asked, gently guiding her towards a chair.
"Tea?" She sat down.
"Uh, yeah, didn't they have it on Sylvarant?"
Raine shook her head as Zelos poured her a cup.
"Man, you guys had it rough over there, didn't you? Here."
Raine sniffed the steaming beverage curiously, then took a sip. "It's... interesting," she said.
"Yeah, it'll wake you right up," Zelos said. "Great stuff, I'm telling ya. Only thing that kept me from falling asleep in class back in the day."
He was right; Raine soon felt much more alert. Somehow Zelos managed to stay quiet and they ate in almost companionable silence.
When she was about halfway through eating, Genis ran down the stairs. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully, darting to the sideboard and piling a plate with food.
"I don't understand how you can be so energetic after so little sleep," Raine said.
"Ah, the energy of youth," Zelos said.
"Where's Lloyd?" Genis asked, shoveling omelet into his mouth.
Almost as if in reply, what sounded like a dozen rock golems thumped down the stairs; it was, of course, actually Lloyd.
"Morning guys!" Lloyd said brightly.
"Hey Lloyd, ever thought maybe you should learn a little stealth?" Zelos asked.
Lloyd ignored him and piled his plate even higher than Genis's.
"Lloyd," Raine said, "you're joining Genis and me today, correct?"
"Yep! Man, I'm glad I'll be somewhere that I won't be completely useless today. All that Tethe'allian politics sure is confusing."
"You find everything confusing," Genis said.
"Tethe'allian politics are pretty crazy," Zelos said.
"I wish I understood them better," Raine said. "I simply must read some books on Tethe'allian history, when we have some free time. I managed to learn very little of it on our journey."
"Hey, well, my library is at your disposal," Zelos said. "Though I don't really know what's in it. Most of it is just what my father had."
"Actually," Raine said, "once things are a bit more settled here, Genis and I were intending on heading to Sybak."
"Oh, yeah," Genis said. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Lloyd. I'm enrolling in the Academy at Sybak!"
"The Academy at Sybak has essentially taken in all the students from the Academy at Palmacosta," Raine explained.
"Yeah, and since... well... I mean, now that the worlds have been re-united..." Genis said.
"Yeah," Lloyd said. "I remember how much you wanted to go there, back when we first got to Palmacosta."
"It's going to be so cool!" Genis said. "There's so much knowledge Tethe'alla has that I haven't even dreamed of..."
Lloyd blanched. "That sounds really scary when you put it that way."
"Have you considered going back to school at all, Lloyd?" Raine asked.
"Uh.. I hadn't thought about it at all, actually," Lloyd said. "But it seems, there's so much I want to do now, to help the new world, that going back to school would just get in the way."
Raine sighed. "Yes, I suppose that's a reasonable attitude to take. However, you must realize that you can never abandon learning. It occurs constantly throughout your life, and you are best off if you continue to apply yourself to study wherever you are."
Lloyd sighed. "Yeah, whatever. Man, you just don't let up, do you?"
oOoOoOo
The committee was headed by a clerk from the palace by the name of Gilon. He quickly outlined the topics he thought necessary to address: the repeal of the recent anti-half-elf laws enacted by the pope; searching for older laws, and evaluating whether to repeal them or not; what laws to enact regarding Desian activity; and whether or not to enact laws to protect half-elves.
The first two items, of course, would require that comprehensive lists be made of what laws needed to be addressed. Gilon had already set some clerks under his command search through the law books. They would report tomorrow, he announced, which left the more touchy problems to be discussed.
"What's so complicated about it?" said one young human, who had been freed from the Iselia ranch. "The Desians must be punished for what they have done."
"Yes," said a green-haired Tethe'allian half-elf. "What these Desians have done is hideous. Even as one who as suffered at the hands of humans, I cannot accept what they have done. This is an entirely separate matter from the lifting of laws against those of us that have done nothing. "
"And yet, there are practical matters to consider," Raine said. "Without leaders, the Desians are no longer a unified force. It will be difficult to track down all of those who were involved."
"Indeed," said Devorah, the new leader of the Renegades. She had spoken with Raine several times already. "It may be wise to offer some amount of amnesty to low-ranking ex-Desians, particularly those who turn in their superiors. Many Desians joined out of desperation, not strong ideology."
"We cannot just let this go!" Another human. "These horrific crimes- murderers must be punished!"
Raine heard Lloyd's sharp intake of breath, only audible because she was sitting next to him. "Murderers must be punished." Wasn't that what Mithos said, she thought to herself.
There were murmurs of agreement with the man. Lloyd stood up. "What good will punishing the Desians do now? It won't bring back anyone. It won't undo anything. I think instead of concentrating on vengeance, we should be looking to see what we can do to make the future better."
"We cannot leave them to start more trouble," someone said.
"Exactly," said Devorah. "Though the five Desian Cardinals are dead, there are still enough high-ranking Desians left to be a threat. They could still organize. Catching them should be our top priority. However, I suspect many Desians would jump at the chance to live a more peaceful life, even to make amends for their actions. It would be wiser to leave them be than to force them into hiding, back into that desperation that made them join the Desians in the first place."
"That's fine for you to say," said an elderly human man, "But what of those of us who have suffered all their lives because of the Desians? How can you possibly begin to understand-"
"Young man," Devorah interrupted, "I have devoted the past three hundred years of my life to fighting Cruxis and the Desians. I have seen my comrades die at the hands of the Desians so many times I can no longer begin to count them. But I say that peace is more important than vengeance."
"But many humans have serious grievances against the Desians," said the green-haired half-elf. "To ask them to forgive the Desians at the same time as to accept blameless half-elves as equals... I think those who understandably balk at the former might out of spite not accept the later either."
"And many half-elves have serious grievances against many humans," another half-elf countered. "Why should we be so quick to forgive those who have rejected us, and reject those of our own blood?"
"You're comparing how humans have treated half-elves to the atrocities of the Desians?" demanded a rail-thin human man.
"Will everyone stop fighting already?" yelled Lloyd.
"This isn't fighting, this is discussion," said the thin man.
"Regardless, accusations of this sort will get us nowhere," Raine said. "If everyone continues to hold grudges, the world will never be at peace.
The words didn't really help. Over the next few hours, the same argument in different words repeated itself over, and over, and over. After awhile, most of the people who seemed sensible and intelligent were more or less agreeing on the same plan, with minor quibbles over details: Desians above some yet to be determined rank were to be executed; those below that rank were to be allowed to live freely, with some restrictions. There still needed to be discussion about what exactly those restrictions would be. Most people thought that having to inform authorities of their whereabouts and state of employment was appropriate. Some wanted some of the anti-half-elf laws that were soon to be repealed, to still apply to ex-Desians: laws against owning property, holding certain governmental positions, and so forth. More recent Desian activity, of course, would still be a treasonous offense. Most of the people present, though, were neither sensible nor intelligent in Raine's opinion. There was rather a lot of pointless arguing.
Eventually, they all took a short break for lunch. When they returned, Gilon announced that the first batch of laws to be reviewed was ready.
It was both fascinating and horrifying, the laws that restricted half-elves in Tethe'alla. Of course, as Raine had experienced first-hand, the punishment for just about any crime was execution- usually without a trial. Half-elves could not own land, and any wealth they acquired in excess of 100,000 gald could be confiscated. They were excluded from any aid the Church of Martel distributed. They couldn't get married (as marriages could only take place in the Church; an exception was made for Mizuho, but there was no exception for half-elves.) Half-elves could not inherit from human parents; the same went for quarter-elves and eighth-elves, who were legally classified as half-elves anyway (those who had fifteen human great-great grandparents were considered human enough for most purposes, but it took thirty-one human great-great-great grandparents to inherit aristocratic titles.)
Of course, many laws against half-elves were actually laws enforcing the rigid Tethe'allian class system; half-elves were simply at the bottom. Raine suspected that dealing with those properly would require at least partially dismantling the class system; the humans of Sylvarant didn't fit very well in it either, so it was rather inevitable that it would crumble. It was all very well to say that half-elves would no longer be executed for all crimes without trial; but then, how should they be treated? The laws treated humans differently depending on their social status; humans who owned no land or other significant wealth were treated little better than half-elves, while the highest-ranked nobles could get away with just about anything, as long as the victim was of a low enough class. If Regal had put up a legal fight, Raine reflected, he could probably have gotten out of jail long ago, particularly given the extenuating circumstances. Even offenses against other nobles were generally met with house-arrest and long trials.
That would probably have to change.
For the time being, though, half-elves (and the lowest ranks of humans) would be treated as small property owners currently were, as far as the legal system went. Most of the rest of the laws against half-elves- the curfews, the travel restrictions, the laws forbidding the carrying of weapons, the restrictions on where they could live, the list went on- were easily disposed of.
oOoOoOo
Devorah invited Raine to dinner, after the meeting was over. Genis and Lloyd returned to Zelos's mansion, while Devorah and Raine headed to a small restaurant that Devorah knew would serve half-elves; most of them didn't.
"I wonder if a law forcing this sort of establishment to serve half-elves would be effective," Devorah said.
"Mmm. It might cause resentment. You can't legislate people's hearts."
"Indeed." Devorah sighed. "I'm worried. While the Renegades were not as, well, I mean, while our mission was not explicitly anti-human, such feelings still run strong. Yuan's parting words- I don't know how much people will pay attention. We've existed for a thousand years, and never had an official position on relations between half-elves and humans. Apparently Yuan felt that an official position either way would jeopardize the mission."
"He certainly seemed ruthless."
Devorah nodded. "Yes. But effective. Being ruthless was the only way for such a small force to oppose Cruxis."
"Do you regard us as having been ruthless, then?"
Devorah looked surprised, then smiled. "Well, then, either ruthless, or very, very lucky. Colette wasn't the first Chosen to find out the truth and then work against Cruxis, you know."
"Really? So why didn't..."
"Well, they all tended to die rather quickly," Devorah said.
"Oh."
Raine reflected on all the close calls during their journey, and shuddered.
"Raine? If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
"What? Oh, it's fine. I'm twenty-three."
"So young!"
"I suppose so. I gather you're... quite a lot older than I am."
"Three hundred and seventy six damned years."
"It's hard for me to imagine. Maybe it's because I've spent so long among humans."
"Girl, when you're three hundred and seventy six, twenty years is a blip. No, no, when I was twenty three, I could barely even imagine being as old as one hundred. Even to a human child, as young as twenty seems impossibly old."
"Is this... Do you think this sort of thing is part of the reason humans don't trust half-elves? Because we live so long?"
Devorah nodded. "In truth, I don't think that humans and half-elves will ever live together fully. Perhaps we can live peacefully side by side, but... well, most half-elves become wary of befriending humans, after they reach one hundred years or so. It's maddening, the way they keep dying on you."
Raine shook her head. "I would never regret becoming friends with humans."
"Did I say anything about regret? No, no, humans make wonderful friends, while they live. It's just, sometimes, one wants someone who has a chance of sticking around more than sixty years. Of course," Devorah smiled sadly, "it's only a chance, particularly in my line of work. Steel or magic will kill half-elves just as easily as it will kill humans."
"What about full elves?" Raine asked.
"You ever tried talking to them? Just talking?"
"Well, no..."
"They're... I just don't understand them, and I've never met a half-elf who did. Don't know how to describe it. They... they live so slowly. Don't like change or new ideas, much. Tell the same stories over and over. Oh, you get the occasional elf who thinks more like a human- they're usually the ones that go and make folks like us. But on the whole- well, it's easy to see why half-elves went and left the elves in the first place."
Raine nodded. "Yes, I can... AAAH!"
An arrow flew right past her nose, arrow lodging itself in the wall. There was a note attached to it. Raine pulled it off the arrow carefully, and read it.
Death to the blood-traitors. You are being watched. Hail Lord Yggdrassil. Glory to the coming age of half-elves.