Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or anything in it.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Warning: Contains end game spoilers.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
'Finally. They have finally arrived. Heroes, they call themselves. What do they know? There was no good or evil. Everyone did what was best for them. Hah. He had tricked them, and now they would die. No longer would they hold him from his ultimate want. Nothing mattered anymore, not now that his dreams had been crushed. All he wanted was to be with his sister.'
As Lloyd finally came to the stand and stood before Mithos' hovering body. It was floating lifelessly, muttering, "Home… I'm going home."
Genis, the blue haired mage stepped up. "Mithos, listen to me! We don't have to fight! Please return the Great Seed to us so that we can reunite the worlds." He felt a strong connection to his fellow half-elf, but what was right must be done. He strongly hated the fact that he would have to fight the hero.
'Genis, I thought you were my friend, but you don't understand anything about me at all. Do you not see that what you hope for will never come? Discrimination will always continue, no matter what you do.'
"Home… I'm going home." The lifeless body continued its chant.
Suspicious, Lloyd took a closer look. "Something's wrong. He sounds like a puppet!"
Before anyone could register what their leader had said, Genis cried out, "Whoa!" The Cruxis Crystal he had been carrying flew from him and connected itself to the Mithos' body. Suddenly, the fallen hero opened his eyes, showing their brilliant green.
"I need to thank you for going through all the trouble to bring me back here," he sneered. "I'm finally myself again."
Genis stepped back, feeling sadness take over his heart. He did not like the tone of Mithos' voice when he spoke as Lord Yggdrasill.
"Damn! So that's what this was all about!" Lloyd was very angry that his best friend had been used for transportation. However, he tried to stay calm and reason with the former hero. "Mithos, Martel is already dead."
"That's not true! Martel IS alive." He denied the truth in front of him. "Just as I lived on in the Cruxis Crystal."
Pain tore through Genis. He felt what Mithos said. Had anything happened to his sister, he would also have been willing to give up the entire world for her. Maybe he shouldn't fight Mithos. Maybe they should just leave him alone.
Genis readied himself, but Lloyd spoke out first, "That's not living. That's just existing as a lifeless being."
"What's wrong with that? After all, in our bodies flow the bloods of humans and elves, the bloods of those that despise us." Yggdrasill remembered those people, the humans and the elves that had shunned him. Unbidden, two images rose to his mind. The first was Kratos, a human, standing in front of him, guarding him, helping him, and teaching him. The second was his father, an elf, fighting and dying so that he could live on.
Mithos was amazed. How could such memories have survived in him, despite the strength of the Cruxis Crystal he had been absorbed by? However, the opening in his heart flickered, and the flame of justice that had been rekindled died out again. He shook his head to clear it of all such unwanted thoughts. "We're better off casting aside such filth and becoming lifeless beings."
"That's what you really want?" Lloyd asks, astonished that someone could wish for such a thing.
"Of course," Mithos replies, beginning the transformation to his original body. It required energy to remain in his adult form, and if he was to battle he wanted to be at his full power. His voice changed first. "Watch! When you become a lifeless being, you can even control your appearance and growth." His transformation completed and he stood as the young boy, the hero, Mithos of the ancient Kharlan War.
Looking down, he thought back to the days 4000 years ago. Back then, he vowed to remove discrimination from the world. No matter what happened, no matter the consequences, he would fulfill that vow, if for no other reason, then for his sister. Mithos spoke out, "Everyone should become lifeless beings. I told you before, the only way to eliminate discrimination is for everyone to become the same race."
"What you hope for is nothing but a dream, Mithos," Lloyd informed the ex-hero with near-reverence. He, too, shared the same ideals; however, he did not agree with the methods Mithos, no, Lord Yggdrasill used. No matter the appearance, the boy standing in front of him was not the hero who once saved the world. He had changed. Maybe, just maybe, Lloyd could spark some of his old humanity and resolve this dispute without having to fight. "Discrimination comes from the heart."
"He's right, Mithos" Genis added, supporting his friend despite the emotions roiling within him. No matter what Mithos said, no matter how much the ideas appealed to him, Genis knew that Lloyd was correct. "It's the weakness of people's hearts that causes discrimination. Looking down upon others while placing themselves too high."
"You do the same thing!" Sheena picked up where Genis had stopped, obviously unable to continue speaking against the person he had looked up to. "You look down on humans and elves, treating them like cattle. That's the weakness of your heart."
Shaking his head, Regal added in his insight. "Even if people become lifeless beings, nothing will change. Discrimination will continue."
"Then where should the half-elves go?" Mithos countered. "We aren't accepted anywhere. We opened our hearts, but no one took us in. Where should we live?"
"You can live anywhere you like," Lloyd offered, spreading his arm out.
"Don't make me laugh."
"I'm serious. Anywhere is fine. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you should just live proudly in the open."
"It's because we couldn't do that, that I, that we wanted a place of our own," Mithos lashed out as memories of him and his sister being banished from Heimdall replayed themselves in his mind.
"Sorry," Zelos cut in, "but don't act like you're the only victim here. It doesn't even come close to justifying all the things that you've done."
"What you've done caused meaningless suffering and death to countless people," Presea put in to support the red-haired swordsman. "Can you feel their pain?"
The pink-haired girl's challenge rang through Mithos' mind. 'Can you feel their pain?' He looked down, guilt tingeing his thoughts. His reverie held him as Raine spoke.
"People can change, even if they don't change right away. Months, years – as time passes, change is inevitable."
Colette tried to appeal to Mithos as well. "Maybe not everything can be forgiven, but one can try to atone for one's sins. Can't you feel it in your heart? The Goddess known as conscience."
'Goddess? There is no such thing! I introduced that idea! Who does this failed Chosen think she is to speak to me in such a way!' Mithos' mind raced with fury. "Do you think I'm going to beg for forgiveness? Ridiculous. There is no Goddess, so I will continue to pursue my ideals. If there is no place where I can live, and if I've been denied my Age of Lifeless Beings, then the only thing left for me is to build a new world on Derris-Kharlan. A world just for my sister and me!"
'Maybe they are right. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. What would Martel think?' Second thoughts crossed the ancient hero's mind. He fought back with his rage at failing to revive his sister. 'These are the people who stopped Martel from coming back. They don't understand, they can't understand what I've gone through. I can't let anything stop me now!'
Somehow, his hesitance seemed to be gaining strength. Maybe he could keep this fight from happening. 'Martel? Is this really what you want?' Just as Mithos was about to fall back and relent, his feelings left him. His Cruxis crystal shone with a brilliant light as it absorbed the mana and feelings generated from his inner conflict. It was too strong; Mithos' will was subdued, and his wings appeared behind him. When he looked up, though his appearance was that of the Kharlan Hero, he was now Lord Yggdrasill. Devoid of any feeling, he struck at those opposing him.
Well... just a slight drabble written on a whim. It's going to have two more chapters, one on the battle, the second on the scene after the battle.
Hope you enjoy it.
