Hello everyone! Nothing to say really, saved for... enjoy!!

Frail Beginnings

'Here,' Tath said, taking a bag from her Rheaird and tossing it to Lloyd, 'help yourself.' They were now in the forest outside the Temple of Darkness, and the party had all collapsed in the clearing around a fire that Tath already had started.

The boy opened the bag and saw to his relief that it was fully of gels and life bottles.

The party helped each other heal, and no one noticed Tath disappearing. Saved for one.

Night had fallen, and the woman was standing not so far away from the party, in the woods, looking out over the valley, where far away, you could hint Meltokio, lit up in the dark night. She gave a sigh and let her head drop, wondering if she was doing the right thing. The party now knew too much about her than she was comfortable with. But that was before. She was not like that anymore.

'So where did you go?'

Tath looked up and turned around, spotting Sheena in the shadows, her green eyes glinting in the moonlight.

'…after Mizuho?'

Tath gave a smile. She had forgotten that she liked Sheena. Somehow, they were kind of similar.

'Nowhere. Everywhere.' Sheena could not see Tath's eyes, as they were shadowed by the trees, but her voice was a bit darker then before.

'Small world, huh?' Sheena gave a grin to herself. Tath walked up to her, both of them similar in height, their eyes shining like gemstones in the night. Sheena's emeralds and Tath's sapphires.

'Well,' Tath said, a lopsided smile on her lips, 'for what it's worth, you were a hell of a friend.' And she walked past Sheena, who suddenly had a frown on her face.

'We were friends?' she asked puzzled, turning to walk behind the girl.

'No, maybe not,' Tath grinned, giving a shrug, stopping only to shoot a smug look at Sheena, 'but it's the thought that matters, right?' And then she continued walking back towards the camp.

'No, it's not that,' Sheena said behind her, standing still, 'and it's not me either.' She paused before continuing. 'You just don't let anyone close, do you?'

At her words, Tath stopped. She turned to Sheena, her eyes suddenly alit with a sudden anger. 'Why should I? People cannot be trusted They only let you down.'

'Not everyone are like that,' Sheena said, her voice soft, as if to calm the sleeping monster in form of Tath, that would explode any moment.

'Oh really? That remains to be seen,' Tath sniffed, walking back.

'We're not like that,' Sheena started, stopping her again, 'Lloyd and the others.'

Tath turned again, seriously tired of the girl behind her.

'Well, that makes eight. Why am I even having this conversation with you anyway?'

'Maybe-' Sheena started, but Tath interrupted her. She didn't want to hear any of this crap anymore.

'What do you know about me, anyway? Maybe you need people to trust, but I don't, so cut the crap. We weren't friends, right?'

Then she continued towards the camp, Sheena behind the angry woman.

'Your name's not Tatheya either, isn't it?' Sheena finally asked, just as Tath reached the clearing. She heaved a sigh, as it painfully dawned upon her she shouldn't be angry at Sheena. She was just saying what she thought was best.

Tath closed her eyes, sighing to herself, and as she opened them again, she could see the whole group eyeing her. Apparently, they had heard Sheena's question.

Tath paused, as she noticed Lloyd's surprised raised eyebrows. And furthermore, Zelos, who stood leaning to a tree, watched her with one eyebrow raised sceptically.

'No,' Tath confirmed. 'That is not my name. It is not Eya,' she said. 'Or Tatheya, for that matter,' she said, shooting Zelos a look, and he raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Instead, Lloyd spoke.

'Then what is your name? And by that I mean you real name.'

Tath looked at him, and at all the other members of the party. Heck, she told them she was going to help them, and how did she do that by lying to them?

'…It's Tath. My real name is Tath Eya. And that's all there's to it,' she said, going over to her bag, and started looking for something.

'So, how many of us do you know from before?' Zelos suddenly asked, bringing Tath to a stop. She shot Zelos a murderous look, but he merely grinned, winking at her.

'Wait, what? You know some of us?' Lloyd asked, stunned.

Tath rose, standing up to her full height. 'Yes, I do. Sheena and I met as kids, and Zelos and I are acquaint.'

'You know Zelos??' Sheena suddenly asked, stunned.

Tath turned to her, eyebrows raised. 'Who doesn't know Zelos? He's the goddamn Chosen.'

This seemed to shut everyone up, and she shot a look at Zelos. Smooth, he mouthed to her, grinning. Tath sent him a look saying No thanks to you, though, and then turned to look through her bag again, ignoring the others.

'Is there something else we should know about you?' Regal asked, suddenly standing beside her. 'Something you haven't told us?'

Tath, sighing, rose once again. Lloyd looked at her. 'How about you tell us everything for a change?'

Tath raised an eyebrow, her look smug. 'Do you think you can handle it?'

'After all we've been through, it can hardly be any worse,' Presea said, bringing Tath's eyes to her.

'Alright,' the girl nodded, gathering herself. She could tell them, she supposed. After all, what could they do with that information?

'I come from a human ranch, Kvar was the one who made my exsphere, that's where I started out. Then I fled to Mizuho, where I met Sheena.' She shot the ninja a look, before fixing her gaze at Lloyd again. 'Growing up, I lived outside Asgard, and later, I moved to Meltokio, where I met Zelos.'

She fell silent for a while, since she really didn't feel like telling them her life story. She'd told Kratos, but that was an entirely different matter.

'So… you live in Meltokio? What do you do now?' Genis asked, all of them still puzzled.

'No,' Tath answered, 'I do not live in Meltokio. I don't live anywhere.'

She paused, shouldering her bag, and looking at them. 'I,' she paused, 'am an assassin. I worked for a small force opposing the Desians, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I-'

It was suddenly Regal who interrupted her. 'I'm sorry, but there is one thing I do not understand. If you are a woman grown up in the Human Ranch, how is it you could travel between the worlds so frequently? How do you possess that technology?'

Tath fell silent, regarding at the convict from her place behind the fire.

'Because,' she started, putting her bag back on the ground again, 'my father is the leader of the Renegades.'

'Wait,' Zelos said, incredulously, 'you're telling us your father is Yuan?'

Tath looked at them, sensing they believed it easier than Kratos. 'Yes,' was all she said.

'…But he's our enemy,' Lloyd said, his voice faint.

'And that makes me your enemy as well, of course,' Tath said sarcastic, raising an eyebrow. She gave another light laughter. 'Trust me, he is not my best friend, exactly,'

Then she looked at them again. 'But putting aside our differences, I am here, like I said, to help you. I may not be the honest of persons, but with my resources I believe I can be quite useful to you.'

The group looked at her in silence, where she stood. Lloyd looked at her, confused. 'Are you saying… that you want to join us?'

She gave a lopsided grin. '…I am not a team player, so no.'

'But how will you find us?' Raine asked her, and she gave a grin.

'Trust me, I will.'

Then she turned, ready to walk into the forest again, but Lloyd's voice stopped her. 'Why? Why is it you want to help us? I mean, just for a while ago, we were enemies!'

Tath turned to him, pausing for a while. 'I don't really know, actually. Let's just call it conscious for the time being.'

Then she looked at the party again. 'You should all get some rest. I won't be far away, just in the woods.'

And then she turned to walk to the forest. Not because she was going to leave them, but because she knew that they needed some time to discuss whether or not to trust her. Giving a slight grin to herself, she threaded further into the trees.

---

'So you are breaking all the seals? And the Summon Spirits connect… hmm,' Tath fell silent as she considered the group's mission. They were now all sitting around the camp fire. When Tath had returned, she'd asked them about their mission, and they now seemed to trust her fairly well, which suited her just fine.

'I haven't thought of that before, but are you sure it'll work?' she asked.

'Not really,' Raine said from her place, 'but what do we have to lose by trying?'

'Hmm, yes, that could work,' Tath said. She calculated the facts they'd told her, since she, conveniently, knew more than they did. By severing the mana links, the protection around the Great Seed would disappear and Martel, who was inside…

Tath looked up, as it hit her. Martel would die. She cleared her throat, looking at them again.

'I'll tell you what,' Tath said, 'you keep doing this, and I'll hear around, and see if I can't find out what the effects will be.'

'That sounds great,' Lloyd said, lighting up in a smile.

'…if we can trust you, that is,' Raine said, sniffing.

Tath looked at her, eyebrow raised. What a bitch, she couldn't help to think.

'Anyway,' she said, turning her gaze away from the Professor, focusing her look on Lloyd again, 'until then, I'll follow you guys.'

---

It was now in the middle of the night. The fire was sparkling, every now and then a small glow would jump out of it, lighting up the ground as it landed. Everyone was fast asleep, saved for Tath. She was sitting close to the fire, her eyes lighting up from the glow.

She wasn't thinking of anything in particular, as all her thoughts were wandering. Her exsphere suddenly gave a glow, and her eyes darted to it. She could see her blood pump through it, each wave being fed by the power of the crystal. She had started to feel the effects from it. Her vision had been failing her from time to time, as her hearing. It had been almost a month since she'd received the new Key Crest from Kratos, and it was time to get a new one. She could see the Key Crest, that had almost been absorbed into the orb. Giving a sigh, she wondered what would happen if she just ignored it. But she would rather die than become an angel. Her thoughts suddenly wandered into Kratos, and of what he was doing. Her eyes left the fire and darted up towards the sky, where she knew Derris-Kharlan lay. Was he with Mithos now?

There was a sudden sound behind her. She gave a start, unsheathing her sword as quick as a ferret, pointing at the throat of…

Zelos raised an eyebrow, gently pushing the tip of the sword away, a slight grin on his lips.

'Zelos,' she breathed, her heart suddenly beating fast.

He gave a quiet chuckle. 'Never thought I would be scaring you,' he said with a meaning tone.

'You did not scare me,' she snapped, putting down her sword, something she immediately regretted as Zelos took a step closer to her, his breath tickling her forehead.

'Oh, didn't I?' he whispered, and Tath could practically feel the heat from his body. What the hell is this? How come her heart was beating so fast? She couldn't think of anything to say, just to stare into those incredible bright eyes. His voice made something crawl up her skin, in an exciting way. This was nothing like when she had known Zelos before, back in Meltokio. But then again, all her feelings had been numb back then, she did not really care for him, or anyone else, for that matter.

'No, you didn't,' she finally stated, turning her back to him, sitting down by the fire again. He followed her example, settling himself next to her, but instead of looking into the fire, he looked at her.

'Why are you awake?' Tath suddenly asked, but avoiding his eyes, as she was trying to regain her composure.

'Oh,' he said airily, 'Couldn't sleep, and thought I could sit watch for a while, but now that you are here I suppose I could keep you company for a while,' he said, his lips proud with a devilishly handsome smile. Then he suddenly remembered something.

'So what's the other 'fine quality' about me?'

Tath looked up. 'What?'

'You said so, on the day we fought each other,' he said, one eyebrow raised, and Tath suddenly remembered.

'You're the one who's been following us around, aren't you?'

Tath turned her eyes to the Chosen.

'Well, I see the Chosen has his eyes with him, another fine quality about you.'

Tath gave a grin. 'Well…' she looked at him, 'you always were kind of a good kisser.' He gave a grin, but did not say anything else.

'So seriously,' Zelos started, 'why do you want to help us?'

Tath looked up, deep into the fire, her mind lost somewhere else. 'I don't really know,' she said, her voice faint. 'My beliefs on certain things have been shuffled the last few days, and all I know is…' she suddenly turned her eyes to Zelos, '…is that I believe you are doing the right thing.'

They both looked into each other's eyes for a while. Tath was half-expecting him to say something cheesy, but he surprised her by being silent for once. He merely looked at her, and That could suddenly see that his eyes were serious. Just like Kratos, that other part of him came through, the real Zelos.

Perhaps the man noticed this, or how Tath looked at him in wonder, for he suddenly rose, trying to regain his previous composure, turning his back to her, ready to walk away. Was he scared, just like Kratos? Scared that she could see through him? 'Well,' he said, cheerily, 'seems like you have everything under control here…'

'Zelos,' Tath suddenly said, her voice faint, but it caused Zelos to fall silent and stop.

'…How long have you been helping the Renegades… and Cruxis?'

A long, compact silence followed her question, and she could tell Zelos was not moving a muscle. She rose, looking at his back. 'Don't bother asking me how I know. I just do.'

She walked forward, positioning himself in front of him, looking up at him, seeing that his expression was not shocked, but sad.

'Why, Zelos? Why do you want everyone to hate you?'

He suddenly found himself again. '…Do you know what it's like being me? The Chosen?'

Tath looked at him, suddenly seeing another Zelos. The serious one. The one with real troubles. 'Obviously not.'

'Everyone loves me because of this title. But I never did anything. My whole life is a lie!'

He stormed away, stopping a few feet away, with his back to Tath. 'And yet, people who see pass the title…' he dropped his head. '…they hate me.'

He turned to Tath again. 'Cruxis can give me a chance of becoming normal. To escape this…lie to a life.'

'At what cost?' Tath asked, stepping towards him, locking her blue-eyed gaze at his eyes. 'Betraying those who care for you? Who trust you?'

Zelos looked down in the ground. 'I thought I already told you. They hate me.'

'…I wasn't talking about them.'

At her words, Zelos looked up, his eyes widened. 'Some of us care about you. Some of us trust you.' There was a sudden break in Tath's voice. 'I trust you, Zelos.'

And with that, she suddenly walked off, leaving Zelos with his troubles.

---

Morning came, and Tath had been up long before all the others, watching the sunrise. Her exsphere had been acting strange, and she suffered lack of sleep because of it. As soon as she was done here she would pay a visit to Altessa She suddenly remembered something. Ian. Turning her eyes to the sun again, she realized she had to tell him she would not be working with him anymore. And she would probably tip him off about the Renegades. Ian's operation had good people, the Renegade's could make good use of them.

Soon the rest of the party roused, getting ready to leave. Lloyd watched as Tath packed her bag, shouldering it.

'Are you leaving?' he asked. The woman shook her head. 'Not yet,' she said, but then looked at the sky, 'but I will before nightfall.'

They had left their Rheairds and were continuing on foot, since they were not going that far until the next seal. Only about a day's walk. 'We'll head east,' Lloyd informed them all, as he took to the front, followed shortly by Collette and Genis. Behind them walked Raine, Zelos and Presea and further behind Regal and Sheena. In the back, a few meters behind the others, walked Tath, one hand on her sword's pommel. She was wearing a pair of dark brown leggings, tucked into her usual dark brown boots. She'd pulled her hair back into a lose plait, which bounced off the back of her usual blue jacket, which she'd thrown over a dark green shirt.

They had walked for the almost entire day, and it was afternoon. The group was still walking in the same formation, with Tath in the back. She suddenly stopped as she heard a faint noise behind them, which she could thank her exsphere for. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at a nearby forest glade. Something shifted within the trees. They were not alone.

'Tath?'

She turned back, and saw that Sheena had stopped, waiting for her. The red-haired woman said nothing to acknowledge the woman in front of her, she merely continued to walk. The ninja walked up beside her.

'I'm… sorry,' she started, '..for last night. It was not really my place to talk to you like that. How you live your life is your business.'

Tath was silent for a while. 'But you don't respect it,' she suddenly stated, causing Sheena to look up.

'What?'

'You do not respect my way of living, do you?' Tath asked, stopping.

Sheena stopped too, looking at her with a curios glance. '…No, I guess I don't.'

Tath started walking again. 'You have to understand, though,' she said, looking at the horizon, 'our lives are so much different. I have never met one single person that I could trust.' She suddenly turned her piercing eyes to Sheena. 'My mother was dead, and I was brought up at a human ranch. My father betrayed me. You see, my childhood, was not like most ones.' She gave a silent sigh, almost so that Sheena could not hear it. 'You however,' Tath continued, turning her focus back to Sheena gain, 'you grew up at Mizuho. You had your granddad, the chief, and a safe village and friends around you. I…did not have that.'

There was a sudden silence. Sheena could sense that Tath wanted to tell her something, and merely waited for her to continue. Tath looked at the rest of the group in front of them, knowing each of them came from a safe place. 'Do you want to know why I think people keep on fighting? Because I think they want to change the world. Change it back into the safe place it was when you were a child. When nothing was bad, and everyone was happy. You all do it,' she said, motioning to the rest of the group ahead of them.

'Then what do you fight for?' Sheena asked, looking at the redhead.

'I have no need of seeing the world safe. I have never witnessed it, therefore, I am in no need of it. But what I do fight for, is for revenge.'

She stopped, turning her gaze behind them, avoiding Sheena's gaze. 'Maybe I do want to feel safe. But to do that, I need to have revenge on everything that made me suffer. And right now, I believe you and I are actually fighting for the same thing.'

'I think, Tath…' Sheena started, brining the woman's attention to her, 'that at last… we understand each other.'

They both gave a sudden smile, but then Tath looked back to behind them, unsheathing her sword.

'Lloyd!' Sheena called to the front, as she realized they had been followed by a band of monsters. Lloyd turned, immediately spotting Tath walking off towards the dark presence, a warlock, one enormous bear and a fierce-looking falcon. Lloyd quickly unsheathed his both swords, taking off towards the monsters.

'Sheena, Genis, come with me!' he nodded to his fellows, but was interrupted by Zelos running past him, sword out, towards the monster, after Tath. Lloyd raised an eyebrow. 'Er, okay, Genis stay here.'

The wizard gave a sigh, but stayed put.

Tath reached the battle first, ducking from a blow from the bear, immediately heading for the warlock. He used his staff to summon a spell, but Tath was to quick. She thrust her sword at him, hitting his staff, but it did not break. By now Zelos had reached the battle, but he was stopped from getting to Tath by the big bear. It took a swipe at him, but he raised his sword, blocking the blow and at the same time hurting the bear. It gave a roar, and advanced at the man.

The warlock turned out to be surprisingly good at near-combat, something Tath had not predicted. Also, his staff was strong enough to stand up against her sword. But Tath spun around, and then quickly making a high jump over the warlock, landing behind him, and trust her sword through him. He gave a gasp, but no other sound escaped his lips. He then vanished, before he even fell to the ground. Suddenly she stopped, as her vision disappeared. She could not heard anything, saved for a ringing sound in her ears. She completely disappeared out of the battle, and the whole reality.

'Tath!' Zelos cried out in warning, but it was too late. The bear had turned to Tath, and with one powerful swipe with his arm, hit Tath. Weak and taken off-guard, she was knocked away, flying backwards like a projectile, landing hard on the grass, knocked out.

'Tath!' Zelos exclaimed, moving towards the unconscious girl, but the bear moved in his way. Finally, Lloyd and Sheena reached them as they had been busy fighting the falcon. As it finally had fallen, they advanced towards Zelos' side. The red-haired man ducked for the bear's attack, and then thrust his sword into the belly of the bear. But its fur was thick, and the man's sword barely grazed the animal's flesh.

'Demon Seal!'

Sheena's voice reached his ears, and her attack knocked the bear off-guard. Both Zelos and Lloyd took the opportunity to hit the bear, using their Sonic Thrust attack. The bear gave a roar, and Zelos suddenly concentrated his mana to follow it up with Grave. Sharp rocks shot out from the ground, hitting the bear several times. With one final thrust of Lloyd's sword, the creature was defeated and the battle was over.

'Ha! They'll think twice before following us again…' Lloyd started, but suddenly fell silent as he realized Zelos was gone, and his eyes turned to Tath, where the man already was.

He kneeled beside her. 'Tath?' he said, brushing the hair out of her face, his fingers grazing her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open, her eyes first wandering, then locating Zelos' pale blue worried eyes, and rested upon them.

She moved to sit up, but Zelos placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Steady.'

'I'm fine,' she snapped, finding herself again, shoving his hand away, and stood up. Unfortunately she did it a bit too fast, losing her balance and would've fell, if Zelos had not gently grabbed her arm, holding her upright. She quickly snatched it away, looking sourly at him. He looked back at her, his gaze raw. Tath knew he was pleading to her, not to be angry with him. He knew she was the only one who treated him… like a friend.

'It's your exsphere, isn't it?' Lloyd asked, nodding towards her hand with the glowing orb. Her hand rubbed it gently, and it responded by giving a subtle glow. 'Yes,' she replied. 'I will have to renew it.'

'I'll do it,' Lloyd offered. 'I did it last time.'

Tath gave a crooked smile. 'No offence, but I think I'll rely on the professionals when it comes to this.'

Lloyd gave a shrug, but didn't push the matter further.

'Alright, everyone, we'll set camp here tonight!'

'No,' Tath argued. 'We should reach the Seal first.'

'No, we shouldn't,' Zelos replied. 'You need to rest,' he stated, his voice a sense of finality to it, and no one argued. Not even Tath, as she looked darkly at him.

---

Once again, Tath found herself spending another evening with the group. She was not going to stay however, since she needed a new Key Crest. Real soon, too. The group was by the fire, all of them sleeping. They had eaten a light dinner together and Tath found to her surprise that she rather enjoyed the company.

She shot a glance at the sleeping frames of the party, and then resumed packing her back, finally rising and shouldering it. Turning, she then walked into the black woods, vanishing into the dark.

'…So you're leaving.'

The voice of Zelos' voice startled her, and giving a start she spun around, hand reaching for her sword. As she returned to her senses, she let go. The man stood under a tree, his pale blue eyes filled with something Tath found hard to read in the darkness.

It was strange; the man had been acting nothing like his old self the last few days. He was nothing like the cheery and flirty Zelos. He had grown into the mature and soft man he really was inside.

'Yes, I'm leaving,' Tath replied sourly. She could not help it, she still felt disappointed at him for his betrayal. 'What do you want, Zelos?' she sighed.

'I want you to still trust me,' he said, taking a step forward into the moonlight, and Tath could see there was something honest in his eyes.

'I tried, Zelos,' she said, walking away again, 'but you just proved why I shouldn't. Just like everyone else.'

'…that's because you don't know the whole story.'

Tath stopped. What was this now? Knowing she'd regret it, she heaved a sigh and turned back. 'What do you mean?'

Zelos took another few steps forward, quickly narrowing the space between them. 'Cruxis will always be after Colette, since she is the vessel of Martel. What if I told you they have something that could help her? Something that could free her.'

Tath looked at him, eyes widened in surprise. 'I would say…' Her voice trailed away as she thought of nothing to say. Suddenly she remembered something though, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

'…what about the other things you said? Last night? I suppose you just happened to find out about this thing Cruxis has and then decided to join them?'

Zelos' eyes left her, and fell to the ground. '…no. What I said last night is… true.'

Tath gave a sniff, but did not walk away. Zelos looked up again, into her eyes. 'I cannot deny how I feel, but I can still do this. But if it is to work, I can't have Lloyd and the others knowing about it.'

'I won't tell them,' Tath suddenly stated in a grim voice.

Zelos eyes were sad but honest, as he searched for something else in the cold eyes of Tath.

'Tath,' he said. 'To do this… I need someone who trusts me.'

It almost seemed like he was on the verge of tears, and strangely enough, so was Tath. They were close, breathing each other's air, as Zelos spoke again. 'I need you to trust me, Tath.'

And then he let his lips meet hers. Softly, just a light kiss. She closed her eyes, letting a tear find its way down her cheek. She felt torn: she both loved and despised the man in front of her. But now that they kissed, she found that she could not break free. Resting his hands on her cheeks, he deepened the kiss, as she pressed closer to him. Suddenly, though, she parted from him, another tear falling from her eyes.

'Don't… don't ask me to do that,' she whispered, afraid her voice would not carry if she spoke any louder. She just did not trust people. She never did. And now, she was to trust this man in front of her? The most unpredictable man she had ever known? It was a blind leap, something Tath would never do. But times where changing. And perhaps that was why she suddenly looked into his eyes, opening her mouth.

'I do trust you, Zelos.'

Well? What do you think? Please, please review!!!