Disclaimer: I (still) do not own the characters of Tales of Symphonia, however much I wish to do so.
Warning: Yes, this fic will contain some more questionable stuff. That's why it's rated 'R'. So if you don't like mentions of sex or slightly offensive language, you're not old enough, or your parents would get you in trouble and kick you off of fanfiction forever if they found this, DO NOT CONTINUE. Thanks... Heh... I'm such a hypocrite.
Pairings: Sheelos, etc.
'Nother day, 'nother update. Flanoir will be up within the next three days, so check up! Though, I'm going to see Wicked on Sunday...
potter29vo: Oooo, so thorough as always in your review! Heh, they'll get together soon enough. Have you ever seen the Z-scene "Sheena the Evil Witch"? Well, I just discovered the Katz Island scene thingy, and I saw the title and had to find out what it meant. Seles stalking Sheena was an actual event; and the dialogue given in the scene was exactly what she would have said had she really known what was going on... Heh. I love it when my fic parallels the game exactly like that. Also, I would quite enjoy seeing the pictures...! Send me some... please?
Kitten Kisses: Heh, well, I don't think I would have guessed anything had I read it within 20 minutes' time, either. I wrote it over two weeks O.o; I'm such a procrastinator. Thanks for another review!
Starr: Eh... don't kill me, but Flanoir's in Chapter 9...! ::runs and hides:: But it's quite fluffy, and I've written it, and it'll be up before you can say Great Mysterious Handsome Warrior Zelos!
A fan of ToS: You win! Yaaay! You're too smart for me... ::hands over cookies:: I've got the next chapter
typed, so no complaining allowed!
jellybeanz225: "Aionis", dear! Though, I guess I never thought about how many possibilities there were... O.o... Updating soon, I swear!
Lady Kumiko: Oh, thank you so much! It's so very encouraging to hear that it's not cheesy. You'll love the ending, then. Please don't cry like a sissy...!
Neko-chan: Funny you should mention that. Kuchinawa's voice was bothering me, too! It makes me really happy to know you've become attached to my characters. It means I'm doing my job! Hurrah!
Reddie: Hehe, calm down, you'll get your updates! Thank you very much for reviewing!
Rin: Heh, well, y'know... I tried to make the situation as real as possible. When I first saw the Z-scene I was thinking about a time when Sheena would be confronted, and at the time I myself really had to pee. So I decided upon it because it sounded like something that would happen to Sheena; poor girl, she's got enough troubles already. Good luck with your homework! I'm desperately trying to finish mine... Got any good information on 'counterculture' in American Literature? I hate my teacher... ::grumblegrumble::
Thank you for all of your 54 reviews! You guys keep me going!! Literally, I'm sitting in bed listening to Ani and worrying that I don't have enough time to keep writing, but then I think, 'hey, I have 54 reviews!' and I suddenly have the will to keep going. You're, like, totally my inspiration! ::tears up:: And I'd like to thank my mom...
Eh, keep reading!
--Trickssi
Chapter Eight: Angels of Sorts
Zelos had that weighing expression on his face again. He didn't want to go to that abbey, he really didn't. So many bad memories had been made there, not to mention his sister still was there. He just really didn't want to go. But then... He looked at Sheena, remembered the sacrifice she made for Colette, realized he had to follow her example. She really did inspire him sometimes; lovely in ways, but also devastating.
"Wow, Zelos. I didn't know you had a sister!" Lloyd commented. Zelos snapped to attention.
"Hn? Oh, she's not really my sister. She's just my half-sister, and she's a whole lot more refined than I am," he explained with a sigh.
"Well that's still cool. I always wondered what it was like to have a sibling," Sheena said.
"It's not all that great. She's trained in martial arts and well-versed, but she never gets out of the abbey. She would definitely be the apple of the kingdom's eye if she were to be allowed out. But she's not. And she hates me."
"Hey, if you have a sister," Lloyd continued without real regard to what the redhead had just said, "why isn't she the Chosen? I mean, if she's better and all..."
"Well, sometimes things don't work out that way," Zelos replied, that sullen air about him again. Lloyd shrugged inconsiderately and veered his Rheiard away. "If she could have been the Chosen I would have switched long ago..."
"What's that?" Sheena questioned. Her head was cocked in that 'interested' way again, but no matter how—he felt abnormal to think it—cute she looked, he didn't feel like telling her.
"Nothing," he replied in a mocking tone, similar to that which she had used in many previous conversations. She knit her brow and followed Lloyd's pattern. "Nothing you could know."
Ah, the decay of the Southeast Abbey that they had reached... It was still the same as sixteen years ago. The bricks were wrought with more dirt and decay than he had remembered, and the vines grown somewhat longer, and the window to his quarters dustier. He hesitated to go through the guarded doors and up the spiraled wooden staircase, not even really noticing who followed him. Regal and Lloyd and Colette, and of course Sheena. Sheena mainly to see if another member of the family could turn out as royally screwed up as he. And... Well, yes, she was beginning to see him in a different light; maybe she wouldn't regret what she had done if this serious side of Zelos would stay.
As they reached the top of the staircase, Sheena was eager to peek her head in to see who this Seles really was that her brother had been talking about. She spotted a lavish setting before her, complete with an opulent four-poster bed. Something out of a fairy tale, she thought. Through the sheer curtains she spied the girl: light red hair, cute dress... Whoa. There was something all too familiar about—wait. She knew who that was. That was her stalker!
Quickly she ducked out of the room, accidentally hitting Regal as she spun around and leaned on the wall. She hoped to Martel Zelos hadn't noticed. She hoped to Martel Seles hadn't noticed. Oh, lord! This girl... why would she stalk her like that? Did she—Oh good GOD... The words reverberated in her mind like the chiming of church bells: "I'll teach you to seduce my brother!" Her brother. Zelos. Seduce.
She slumped over in embarrassment; had Seles known? No. No, she couldn't have. No. Not another person "in" on this situation. She'd have to talk with Zelos. One choice is beginning to ruin her life... again. Sheena listened in on the conversation unfolding inside.
"Big bro—... I mean, I see the Chosen is up to his regular frivolity," Seles said bitterly to the redhead, who smirked in return.
"Yeah, whatever, little sister. Listen, I'm gonna need that Cruxis Crystal you've been holding for me, so if you could hand it over..."
Seles sighed deeply; Sheena guessed that she had forked it over.
"Well, gotta be going. Thanks." He began to leave, but was caught by the voice of his sister.
"Big bro—I mean, Chosen," she called.
"What is it, my darling little sister?"
"... N-nothing. Just go on ahead with your stupid friends. I... I don't care what you do..."
"All right then, see you later," Zelos broke off. He strode through the door and attached his Cruxis Crystal to its keycrest. Sheena watched him with a blush spread across her cheeks. "What, can't stand listening to her overflowing sisterly love?"
Caught off guard, she could only stutter: "No, uh, I, ah... I just... I think someone... Just... never mind!" Zelos shrugged it off and headed down the stairs, the summoner in tow. "Wait, Zelos... I think Seles knows! Did—did you tell her? I'll slaughter you if you told her!"
"Tell her what, my voluptuous banshee?" he snapped, reaching the ground level. Sheena was taken aback. "Tell her about what we did? Well, if that's what you think, then you're wrong. I really don't care about ruining your reputation. It was never my intention. I just—..." He shut his eyes and exited the stairwell, pushing the guards roughly as he went.
"What the hell is wrong with him now?" Sheena thought aloud. "He has more mood swings than I do." All witticisms aside, the image of his eyes pierced her; tones of green splattered against their blue backdrop as always, but intense daggers they were also. She had heard what his sister had said rather fondly to him and tried to rationalize it within herself; however, no intention came to mind. She would need to investigate, see what made her tick through questioning him, and questioning his feelings about his sister as well.
But no, she wasn't royally screwed up as Zelos, and come to think of it, neither was he. He was actually showing human emotions. Frightening. The scene before her played out as though she were but a bystander, a theatergoer enjoying the dense shield between reality and this seemingly esoteric picture.
"Zelos, when you left, your sister said, 'be careful, big brother,'" Colette told him sweetly. He closed his eyes again, clenching at first to ward off sadness then relaxing as his outer mask returned.
"Whatever. I know she hates me. Always has, always will. I'm used to it," he stated bluntly.
"No! Your sister really loves you, Zelos. Believe me," the angel pleaded.
"... We ought to get going to the Tower of Salvation, don't you think?" Sheena noticed this was not the first time he had redirected a conversation to spare his emotions.
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'Right, down, left, up, right...? No, right, down, left, up, left—but if you go left, then you'll never get to the door, so it has to be right... GRR!!!!' Sheena stormed around the zero gravity rooms in a fluster. She could not for the life of her figure out which way to go to get into that damned tiny door. It reminded her of the Temple of Ice, except more nauseating. Her head was pounding and her equilibrium had been thrown off; not to mention this intricate maze of patterns that she could not discern.
"I HATE ZERO GRAVITY!" she proclaimed, frustrated. A failed attempt was made to stomp her foot into the ground.
"Sheena, perhaps you ought to let somebody else give it a try," Raine suggested.
"No way!" she shouted in protest. "I'm not going to just float around while that stupid Chosen is off-duty. Did you hear the lewd comment he made back there? ...Just let me keep trying. I'll get it eventually."
Raine looked at her desperately. "I just want to get out of this room before my digestive system decides to reverse itself." The undetermined lilting of the sea was apparently too similar to this room for the Professor to stomach.
"Well what if the Chosen is on-duty?" Zelos suggested, inching his way toward the women.
"Like you could do this any better than I," Sheena scoffed.
"I'm serious this time!"
"Uh huh. Exactly how you were serious with the darkness beam."
"I do believe the Violent Demonic Banshee needs to relax," he remarked, scanning the layout of the room. Sheena huffed in reply. "Look, if you keep going left and up and down over there, you'll eventually come to that door. See?"
The summoner squinted toward the distance, and found his statement to be true. "Y-you're... Hey, how did you figure that out so quickly?" she questioned.
Zelos shrugged and averted her glare. "I guess I have an eye for that sort of a thing; and I've had... déjà vu of this place, and our going the right way," he said.
"You confuse me, but since you're right, I'm gonna let your bout of intelligence slide." Sheena used the side of the wall as a springboard to propel her away from the Chosen.
"Why, thank you, my—Hey, wait!"
It truly would have been a shame if they had gotten all the way to this mana fragment and couldn't return to Tethe'alla to get Colette's cure. After the chaos of lack of gravity and winding corridors, they encountered Yggdrasill and had to confront him; it was then Sheena noticed another odd quirk of Zelos's. During the battle, he took more time to heal his party members and less time to fight. Was he suffering from another bout of utter kindness, or was there something more? For during Pronyma's appearance, Yggdrasill shielded Genis from an attack. Peculiar things were happening, and more peculiarly, Colette fell as she watched the battle unfurl.
As for the grave expression on Lloyd's face, it made everyone forget about all of the childish things he'd ever done. His determination to save his beloved friend outweighed his flagrant ignorance. The group set out at full speed for Altessa's house.
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Tabatha and Altessa walked calmly out of the bedroom. Lloyd jumped at hearing the edge of their footsteps and eagerly addressed them. "How is she?"
"Healing complete," Tabatha stated.
"She is completely fine. When she wakes up, she'll be back to normal," Altessa told him.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief to break the tension. Sheena in particular was quite elated about the news; she had temporarily sacrificed one friend for another, and thank Martel it had paid off. Colette... to lose her would have been to lose hope entirely.
"That's good!" Zelos announced. "Except, Lloyd, you haven't been eating..."
"I'm just not hungry. I don't think I'll be able to eat until I see Colette normal again," replied the young swordsman.
"Aw, come on. The first time I'm generous enough to cook you guys a meal you don't even appreciate it. At least have some carrots, or a potato, or something," he advised. "If you don't eat, you're going to pass out and then you won't even get to see Colette. And you'll trouble her."
Lloyd pushed away the offering. "No thanks... Why are you so worried about me all of a sudden?"
"Because we're buds!"
"It looks like you two are best friends," Mithos interjected from the other side of the room as Zelos nearly strangled Lloyd with 'affection'.
"Yup! Doesn't it though?"
Genis looked up from the tile at which he'd been staring. "Hey, Mithos, we're friends, right?"
"Hm? O-of course, Genis."
The boy looked at his friend sincerely. "I trust you, okay? No matter what, I trust you." Mithos smiled weakly.
"I don't trust Zelos," Lloyd commented, releasing himself from the trap of arms.
"Aw, dude, ouch," Zelos said dejectedly. "But you know? I think you can ameliorate that little comment by eating some of my food in appreciation."
Sheena smirked. "You sound like a housewife," she said jokingly, grabbing a plate in spite of her better judgment.
"Well, look at you: that plate's as big as a man's appetite!"
"Shut up! I'm going to eat your cooking so you'd better be nice to me!" she countered. Touché. He couldn't argue.
Eventually, Sheena's boldness had convinced everyone to try and force down some of the redhead's food, though it tasted a bit bitter. Genis recommended adding some sugar to the dessert; Sheena recommended adding pineapple to the curry ("But pineapple doesn't go in curry!" "At least my curry tastes better than yours! It's like eating a charred shoe!"). Though, one by one the group drifted off to their rooms sleepily, leaving Sheena, Zelos, and Mithos to themselves in the kitchen.
The food was drugged, and Zelos had done it. He began to panic, seeing that the summoner hadn't given in yet and was still going strong, driveling on about this and that in a bored fashion. Perhaps she had become immune to those sorts of things because of ninja training or in fear of getting date-raped. Hah, date-raped, as though she'd ever go on a date. He considered offering her some wine, a depressant, so that it would put her to sleep, but despite his loyalty to that young boy in the corner he could not bring himself to put her in medical danger. He waited it out until she finally collapsed on the table from sheer fatigue, and carefully hauled her off to her own bed, tucking her in as a courtesy.
She had not been sleeping for three minutes when a loud noise was heard outside; she sat straight up, red-eyed and sore and sick-feeling, and dashed through the empty chambers to the front door.
Tabatha. Tabatha was lying there in a mechanical ruin, jolting with fractured fuses. Altessa was not moving, either, seemingly thrown against the ground. Sheena rushed over to the dwarf since she had had no knowledge of machines. Raine was already working what healing methods she could offer.
"He's not getting any better," she mumbled under her breath, the pang of tears beginning to sting her eyes.
"He doesn't have an Exsphere like the rest of us, so your healing methods might not be effective," Genis said.
"What are we going to do?" Colette questioned, full of concern. The dwarf that had just saved her life was about to lose his. She didn't want to be a bystander at his death.
"I..." Sheena began. The whole affair was confusing to her sleep-deprived mind, but she knew full well what would happen if Altessa wasn't tended to immediately. "I know a doctor in Flanoir. He cured the Chief when he fell ill, and I know he's got the skills to help Altessa."
Raine looked up. "That sounds reasonable. Flanoir isn't too far, but I'm afraid we won't be able to mobilize instantly. Everyone seems to be feeling a little off for some reason, and I see you follow suit in that respect. Why don't we wait until tomorrow to retrieve him?"
Sheena nodded and sighed. "It's probably best." She chuckled under her breath. "I bet it was Zelos's cooking that's making me feel so queasy right now."
"Either way, we should try not to move Altessa. We'd better bring him a blanket; I think we'll be sleeping out here tonight as well." She sulked at this. Three minutes in a bed for the first time in—how long? She couldn't even recall. It was back to the cold hard ground. She wished ardently that dawn would show itself.
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La! Can't wait until I put up Flanoir, can you? I'd also like to announce that I'm writing several one-shots... One about Colette and religion, one about Mithos, and something on Zelos's Cruxis experience... Till next time!
--Trickssi
PS—Please R&R! You know you want to! And I'll put in a good word for you to the Great Mysterious Handsome Warrior Zelos!
PPS—Hm. Sometimes I wonder if Botta has a thing for Yuan. But don't quote me on it until someone else likes that pairing...