Yay! Thank you, Katana of the Jade Wings, GenisAddict and Sunfrost for making me feel so happy! I love getting reviews!
Late up because of a three-day sleepover, which translates to three days not writing World Traveller and writing Regeneration.
I don't own Tales of Symphonia!
I numbly stepped through the doors, listening to the speeches that I now knew by heart. It seemed silly, but a part of me still refused to believe that I was standing right here, in Derris-Kharlan.
We stepped into the teleport after Lloyd said, "All right let's go! We're going to restore a world where everyone can live freely!"
We were in a long, ruined hallway, with the motionless figure of Yggdrasil hovering at its end.
"Home…I'm going home…" Yggdrasil said emotionlessly.
"Mithos, listen to me! We don't have to fight! Please return the Great Seed to us so that we can reunite the worlds." Genis tried to reason.
"Home…I'm going home…" Yggdrasil repeated.
"Something's wrong. He sounds like a puppet." Lloyd said.
Mithos' Cruix Crystal detached itself from my neck, painfully and I collapsed to my knees, gasping for breath.
"I need to thank you for going through all the trouble to bring me back here. I'm finally myself again."
"You needed me to come here, in order to be whole. It was a big risk. What if I didn't?"
"There was no likelihood of that eventuality occurring. I learnt that by being in your head."
I shuddered at the memory, or rather, memories.
"Mithos, Martel is already dead." Genis tried to make him see sense.
"You're wrong. Martel is alive, just as I lived on in the Cruix Crystal." Mithos insisted.
"That's not living! That's just existing as a lifeless being!" Lloyd protested.
"What's wrong with that?"
"What!" Lloyd asked incredulously.
Yggdrasil turned his gaze straight at Genis. "After all, in our bodies flow the bloods of humans and elves; the bloods of those that despise us." He shook his head. "We're better off casting aside such filth and becoming lifeless beings."
Lloyd, like most in our group was shocked. "That's what you really want?"
Yggdrasil's voice changed to Mithos'. "Of course. Watch! When you become a lifeless being, you can even control your appearance and growth." We were now looking at the twelve year old form of Mithos.
"Everyone should become lifeless beings."
It was Mithos' cold voice, with his sense of absolute confidence, which made me cry out. "You're wrong. By sacrificing emotion, you may as well simply kill the entire population. In fact, they may even prefer that! Never again to experience joy, fear, hope, despair, love or hate…it would be an experience worse than death." I was speaking in the cold, calm voice that I used when truly upset.
"The only way to eliminate discrimination is for everyone to become the same race." It was a fact, stated in the same way as someone states an obvious truth, like the sky is blue.
One problem though: the sky isn't blue. It's just our perception of it. If that truth is wrong, then so must Mithos'.
"What you hope for is nothing but a dream, Mithos. Discrimination comes from the heart." Lloyd said.
"He's right, Mithos. It's the weakness of people's hearts that causes discrimination. Looking down upon others while placing themselves too high…" Genis explained.
"Even if there was only one race, discrimination would still occur. People would be picked on for their birthplace, their hair colour or their beliefs." Stephen gave a description of Reality.
"You do the same thing!" Sheena accused. "You look down on humans and elves, treating them like cattle. That's the weakness of your heart."
"Even if people become lifeless beings, nothing will change. Discrimination will continue."
"Then where should the half-elves go? We aren't accepted anywhere. We opened our hearts, but no one took us in. Where should we live?" Mithos asked.
"You can live anywhere you like." Lloyd reasoned.
"Don't make me laugh." Mithos said in the least amused tone of voice possible.
"I'm serious. Anywhere is fine. If you aren't doing anything wrong, then you should live proudly in the open."
"It's because we couldn't do that that I…that we wanted a place of our own." The pain of rejection – made worse over time – was audible in Mithos' voice.
"But that is not an excuse for the things we have done. It is merely a motive, not a justification." Kratos, being the closest one to Mithos in our group, tried explaining things from his side.
"What you've done has caused meaningless suffering to countless people. Can you feel their pain?" Presea's words had a harsh tone.
"People can change, even if they don't change right away. Months, years…as time passes change is inevitable." Raine's voice was soft, understanding.
"Maybe not everything can be forgiven, but one can try to atone for one's sins." I swear that Colette stole that from a combination of Lloyd and Kratos. "Can't you feel it in your heart? The Goddess known as conscience…"
That reminds me of a scene in Final Fantasy VII where Cloud asks Vincent if sins are ever forgiven. Back to Symphonia, however…
"Do you think I'm going to beg for forgiveness? Ridiculous. There is no Goddess, so I shall 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!" At the end of this little speech, Mithos pulled out his rainbow coloured wings.
'Dammit, how come the little brat's got wings!'
"There's nothing anyone can do!" Mithos almost spat, before we launched into battle.
'Wait a second. You said Naois would fight at the same time as Mithos…' I thought to Stephen as I summoned fire.
As if on cue, Naois appeared.
'I really shouldn't have asked.'
Then I noticed the jewels and symbols on the walls that shouldn't be there.
"Be on guard. Naois has prepared some kind of spell."
To my surprise Mithos – not Naois – spoke first. "Nia. When I was inside you I looked around at your memories. You and Stephen aren't of this world! You know exactly what will happen, and now, so do I. I will make sure that future never comes to pass!"
I wanted to say a four-lettered word repeatedly just then. Now, Mithos was fighting to ensure he didn't die.
"Envelope your souls in darkness, surrender unto your fear. Lose yourselves in pain and misery." Naois chanted.
The jewels sparkled and glowed softly.
"Create despair and let it run amok. Imprisoning Darkness!"
Naois turned to Mithos. "The rest is in your hands. Remember, you can't do anything until they wake. If you do…"
Naois' voice faded into nothing. The next thing I, or anyone else saw was black.
I bet you hate me now. I bet you wish I hadn't discovered the joy of cliff-hangers! If you want to torture me now, though, you should read Regeneration. Even I hate some of the things I've done to poor Kratos! And I wrote them! But I have to explain that they weren't my idea, and if I had my way, they wouldn't exist.
Back to World Traveller. Two more chapters! Yes, I know I said that two chapters ago, but I didn't realise, okay? Please review, otherwise Kratos will die, and I can make that threat honestly now, thanks to Regeneration! I bet no-one's read this far. If you have…free Jamaican ginger cake for you!