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Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of the characters contained therein
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Lloyd rested for a while, one hand holding him up by using the sword as a crutch. His breathing came out hard and ragged. His body was far more tired than it had ever been. However, his mind was at peace; the long hard road had come to an end. Lloyd slowly coaxed his body to rise up as his friends came to stand behind him. The group gathered together with the Eternal Swordsman at their lead. They looked on at the remains of the giant machine lying in front of them.
Mithos was nowhere to be seen, but as Lloyd watched, his cruxis crystal rose up from the rubble. It flashed brightly and a ghostly image of the ancient hero appeared. His face was bent downwards and a strange sadness filled his eyes. His mind rushed with thoughts. No longer did the crystal hold a grip upon him. His thoughts came to him in streams and bursts, stunning him into utter silence and stillness. Memories flooded back of times long past and much missed.
As the Kharlan hero floated silently, Collette noticed him. "Mithos is…!" She blurted out in sudden fear that the battle may not be over. Then, realizing the situation, she spoke again, "It's just like Alicia! Mithos will continue to live as long as the Cruxis Crystal exists!"
Hearing those words, Mithos snapped himself back to the present. He and Lloyd were similar, but there was a major difference. Lloyd would accept a mistake and fix it. He would deny a mistake and let it worsen. Having just seen the result of the battle, Mithos decided to give Lloyd's path a try. Maybe the boy was right.
Accepting that he could make mistakes, Mithos turned his thoughts to his most devastating error ever: equipping the cruxis crystal that took away his ability to feel and think. He would, as Colette had just said, continue to live on indefinitely, but there would be a price to pay for that…
"And eventually, I will be taken over by the crystal," Mithos found himself speaking without realizing it. No, this was the truth. His heart had waited too long to accept this, and with the crystal's grip loosened, it could finally speak out its desire. "I'm tired of playing your game of good-and-evil. Hurry up and destroy the crystal. Derris-Kharlan will continue to drift away."
Lloyd felt the fatigue and pain in the 4000 year old boy's voice. He could hear the lack of hope and the utter despair in the words. Mithos had given up. No longer would he try to act the hero and to save his sister, no longer would he try to fight discrimination, no longer would he try to control the world and all those within it. "Mithos…"
"Do it now!" The young boy desperately urged. "Before I, too, am no longer myself."
Genis stared at the only half-elf who he had ever befriended and understood his feelings. "Lloyd!" He begged. "Please help him! Let him die while he's still himself!"
The young swordsman stepped forward, knowing what he had to do. "All right." He drew his sword back.
"Farewell, my shadow," Mithos spoke out. "You who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow." His thoughts flew over past adventures with Kratos, Yuan, and his beloved sister Martel. He remembered the friendship he had. He also remembered the hardships caused by those who discriminated against him. Lloyd had chosen to oppose them by showing them openness and asking for them to adopt the same path. Mithos had chosen to oppose them by returning their hatred with his own. One had failed, the other would one day succeed. "I wanted my own world, so I don't regret my choice." No matter what the right choice was, Mithos would not betray himself. He would not have chosen to live any other way. "I would make the same choice all over again." Though he understood what was right, he would not leave the path he had chosen. He had done what he did for his sister, and though he would follow her wishes and let the world be at peace, he would never allow her to leave the world, not unless he left it too. His path was to be by her, always. "I will continue to choose this path…"
Lloyd swung his material blades, slashing through the air. A bright light shone, a crystal shattered. Shards of mana glittered in the air, hovering in place before they began to swirl into Lloyd's exsphere.
I will watch you, Lloyd. I will see what path you have chosen, and how you stick to it. I will see if you can succeed through life where I failed. I will see if you can protect the one closest to you, and if you can bring to an end the disease that plagues every race of this world.
I hope that you can do that which I could not.
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Well... that's the ending. I hope you enjoyed this little fanfic. Please review!
I'm sorry if the chapter's a little short, or if it seems a bit lacking, but I have been very busy. Also, this will be the first fanfic that I've ever completed (YAY! I've finally finished something, as opposed to leaving it half done). To all those with enough stamina to stick through 3 chapters of my lousy writing style, I'd like to say congratulations and to refer to another story of mine: The Kharlan Wars. It's an Action/Adventure fic about what happened 4000 years before the beginning of the game. Of course, you don't have to read it if you don't want to.
Anyway, Thanks for reading!
Good bye!
