Review Responses

Holy cow! I actually got reviews! Was not expecting that; thanks guys! I love Love LOVE getting reviews, even if they're short, so please, if you're reading this and enjoying, please review! I love to hear what you think so far, and honestly, reviews kinda poke / motivate me when I'm slacking off or being lazy with updates…

The Tambourine Man – It's such a shame! I know TOG isn't the most popular Tales game, but it still had some great characters and hilarious skits. Kinda disappointed it's so sparse here… so cheer's to you for your patronage!

Guest (With the Japanese signature 'God of Dragon' – Google translate is my friend. The only character I recognize is the circle-looking one that I think says 'no' and means 'of', and the only reason I speculate that is because Fullmetal Alchemist is the best manga ever and I recognize the character from the Japanese title and I'll stop rambling now…) – I'm so glad you liked it, agreed, and thought it was funny! I was reading a bunch of fanfics here and every one I read that had Pascal's reaction to Hubert's confession I just felt was a total misinterpretation… Not that those fanfics weren't good, I just thought they completely misunderstood her thought process at that point. So I felt the need to study the scene and write my own interpretation based on Pascal's character as a whole. I probably watched the confession scene 3 dozen times before I was satisfied with my analysis, so I'm glad it paid off, if only for 1 reader!

Chapter 2 – With Great Power Comes Great Respect*

-H-

-Yu Liberte, 1 year after Hubert's adoption-

"Sunscreen rangers, go!" Hubert shouted as he posed his red action figure to lead the charge with the other ranger figures lined across the banister. Being torn apart from his family hadn't been ENTIRELY bad. If he'd never come to Strahta, he'd never have been introduced to the awesomeness that was The Sunscreen Rangers!

"Pow, pow-pow!" he called, perfectly executing one of Red's signature moves and taking out the evil Dr. Shark, currently played by a blue throw pillow. Everything was going according to plan, and soon the world would be saved once again by the always-victorious Beach Brigade, when suddenly –

"Hubert Oswell!" a gruff, angry voice interrupted with authority in his tone.

Hubert flinched, still not used to the change in surname, which his new paternal figure seemed to notice, and hence took every opportunity to use it as a stark reminder of Hubert's misfortunes. "Yes, father?" The last word was forced, for Hubert had never thought of this man as his father, yet he'd learned the hard way that if he didn't address the man as such, there'd be dire consequences.

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" Mr. Oswell barked, already making it clear that he didn't approve of it, no matter what it happened to be.

"I was j-just playing…"

"And have you finished your homework and chores yet?"

"Y-yes, father."

"Really? All of it?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, what do you call this?"

Hubert gulped as he tried to think of an excuse. This was bad. He had thought that he'd be allowed to play if he worked really hard to get all his work done. He had been looking forward to today with great anticipation, as it was the first day in weeks he'd be able to finish up his work and have time to play. As it was, he only got to read the Sunscreen Rangers comics when he was pretending to read his history lesson, and he only got to do that when his new cousin Raymond* smuggled him an issue when they had a lesson together. "I-I thought I was allowed to play after I finished my work…"

"Play!? You are now an Oswell, Hubert! Oswells don't have time for useless, unproductive activities! Where did you even get those useless figurines?"

No use lying to the man; he just hoped he wasn't throwing his cousin under the bus with this confession, "Raymond gave them to me."

"Raymond is an idiot. The whole reason I adopted you was because I believed you were smarter and more capable than he."

The man phrased it like it were a compliment, but Hubert knew better. It was chastising for falling below his expectations. It didn't matter how much Hubert studied; if his new father caught him 'slacking off', it wouldn't be good enough. Hubert grit his teeth, chomping at the bit to make a stand, but knowing the more advantageous path was to go along with whatever his new 'father' had in mind. It just wasn't fair, any of this. His father – that is, Aston Lhant, his biological father – had been a bad enough father as it was, but at least he knew there was a time for play. Now he was out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say… But to be fair, this new father hadn't so easily cast him aside like he was worthless… yet. If his new father caught him playing again, would he be shipped off to yet another father? Hubert shivered at the thought, steeling his resolve to prove his worth and avoid another paternal rejection.

"I'm sorry, father. I'll make sure it never happens again. I'll work harder than ever to represent the Oswell name." The 11-year-old stated with head held erect, his blue eyes leveled with Mr. Oswell's brown ones, conveying his determination.

"That's a good boy!" Mr. Oswell exclaimed, clapping Hubert on the shoulder. "The only way to gain respect is through power, my boy! And once you have power and the utmost respect of the people around you, THEN and ONLY then may you indulge whatever useless pleasure you will. Why…" He paused here, leaning in and whispering conspiratorially into the boy's ear, "I'm still waiting for the day when I, or someone in the Oswell line, is president before I let down my guard and indulge in those cooking lessons I want."

"Cooking? You?" Hubert gasped in hushed amazement, eyes growing wide. If there was one thing he'd learned about his new father, it was that he was, well, rather sexist and thought that certain tasks, such as cooking, were for 'the womenfolk' only. Having grown up with Cheria, he definitely disagreed with this assessment. Aside from what her illness prevented, Cheria had every desire to undertake all the same tasks the boys had, and excelled at whatever she put her mind to. They'd even had some good discussions during their studies in health class, getting into the science behind it and everything – something his new father would never approve of, since medicinal studies were for 'menfolk'. This new revelation put Mr. Oswell in a new light. Maybe it wasn't so much that he was close-minded, but that he cared very deeply about what public opinion thought of him - for good reason, it seemed, if his most recent words of wisdom proved true.

"It's our little secret, my son." He said with a wink that Hubert interpreted to be both solemn and binding; he figured there'd be hell to pay if he ever spoke of it. In a way, though, it made him swell with pride that his new father would entrust him with such a secret, and suddenly he felt like he could learn a lot from this man; he'd just have to work hard.

"I see now that you've been grossly under taught about the ways of society," Mr. Oswell continued, shaking his head in disappointment, "but that can easily be remedied. The military is the easiest route for that, and it kills two birds with one stone, as you'll be gaining influence at the same time…"

Hubert's eyes widened in shock, and he was relieved to see that his father hadn't noticed and was continuing to prattle on about the military, for it gave him time to process this sudden news. 'What!? The militia!? But… I always wanted to be a scholar… a scientist or a professor!' His mind reeled as he realized his new father's path for him was drastically different than Hubert had assumed he would tread. Maybe he didn't want to learn from this man after all. With each passing second, it felt more and more like he was on an emotional roller coaster, trying to reconcile if this change of family would ultimately be good or bad for him. He held his tongue as his father continued, willing to at least hear the man out before he gave into despair.

"…but until next year when you will be of age to enlist, I can at least arrange for you to take social etiquette lessons in the meantime. …Do you know how to dance, my boy?"

"Do I… what?" the flustered youth asked, taken off-guard by the seemingly random question.

"I said, do you dance? You'll never get far in high society without proper learning, combat training, and social etiquette. The latter includes table manners, proper dress, conversational aptitude, and dancing. You'll be attending many a ball and social gathering in this town. It is what we notable members of Yu Liberte do in our spare time. In fact, the Darbanvilles* are having a ball in about two months' time to celebrate their daughter's birthday. We'll need you ready in time for that."

Hubert listened to his father go on and on about the importance of social etiquette and the arrangements he'd be making for Hubert to learn them. It all sounded quite daunting, and he was beginning to wonder if he'd even have time to sleep this year at this rate.

- The Darbanvilles' ball, 2 months later –

"Oswells don't have time for useless, unproductive activities!" Hubert muttered under his breath mockingly as he tried his best to maintain isolation in a corner. Such hypocrisy. If ever there was a useless, unproductive activity, here it was, staring him in the face. There wasn't a single constructive point to this social gathering. Everyone was either dancing or making idle conversation, flitting about in their useless, unproductive fancy clothing saying useless, unproductive things. He'd MUCH rather be at home, saving the furniture from the tyranny of the blue throw pillow (that is, the EVIL Dr. Shark!) with the rest of the Beach Brigade. Heck, he'd rather be home studying the encyclopedia like he used to do back in Lhant. He actually found research fascinating and enjoyed learning more about the sciences. He backed away instinctively as a flurry of lace from one of the ladies' dresses clipped his cheek as she twirled past him. Ugh, it was too hot and crowded in here… At this rate, he'd be happier being back home and doing ANYTHING other than being here. He had thought the STUDY of social etiquette he'd been forced to pursue was unbearable, but this? 'Just kill me now… my epitaph shall be: He was too young and practical to handle the frivolities of high society. I leave my Sunscreen Rangers collection to Raymond, as he was the one to give them to me in the first place. Tell Marian she needn't pay me back for the tools I gave her*…'

"Hubert!" a small voice cried, hailing him with equally small and limber arm. 'Well speak of the devil… I didn't know she'd be here'.

"Oh, good evening, miss Marian." Hubert responded as he approached, stopping just short of an arm's distance away and bowing at the waist like he'd recently been taught.

"Hubert…" she responded in near-whisper, her cheeks taking on a pink hue. It seemed he'd startled her, for she looked like a deer in the headlights, all doe-eyed with mouth hanging slightly ajar. Then again, she often looked that way, shy as she was. She recovered with relative swiftness and promptly curtsied, amending her prior greeting, "I mean, SIR Hubert. Please forgive my boldness, for I am not a guest, merely a hired hand at this event."

"Hired hand? Why?" Hubert asked, puzzled. The thought that she would be here and yet not be a guest confused him, though now that she mentioned it, she WAS the only girl he could see wearing pants and a vested shirt, like a boy, rather than in a fancy frilly dress.

Twiddling her thumbs and blushing with what he assumed was embarrassment, she responded, "I'm not from a high-standing family, Hu- SIR Hubert, you have no idea how lucky I am to even be able to SEE all this fancy stuff; I had to beg the kitchen marm – oh no! There she is! I'd best get back to refreshing the buffet table! See you at school, Hubert! Er, I meant SIR Hubert!"

Hubert tried to follow her after she skipped off, but he got swatted in the face with another ridiculously poofy skirt as another pompous, protruding lady twirled into his path.

"Careful, cousin, or you'll trip someone truly important and incur uncle's wrath." Raymond chided, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe that was another skill in 'social etiquette': lurking and eavesdropping, for he soon revealed he'd heard Hubert's and Marian's discussion. "Though you've probably already done so, talking to a kitchen hand like that and allowing her to address you so informally."

Hubert forced a polite greeting, knowing what was expected of him, but let his irritation be known in his tone of voice as he added, "There's nothing wrong with addressing a friend less formally, provided no offense will be taken by either party".

"Oh a friend is she? I'd say recently the two of you have been a little more than casually chummy as of late…"

Blushing automatically due to shock at the absurd accusation rather than embarrassment, Hubert denied it immediately, though he could tell Raymond was not convinced. He hinted as much as he then offered unsolicited advice that only served to infuriate Hubert all the more. Raymond either didn't notice or chose to ignore Hubert's mounting anger, though, and only continued making preposterous statements.

"Trust me, Hubert. A girl with no status and no feminine charm is only trouble. Find yourself a refined, accomplished, and flirty companion who has enough sense not to talk back but doesn't think too much to cause trouble. That's what dad and uncle always say. Apparently my aunt, your late Mrs. Oswell, thought she had a brain, but that's what got her killed. Got trampled in an angry mob while promoting women's suffrage a few years back. Can you imagine? Like a girl would even be able to tell the difference between candidates! Why, could you imagine if they allowed girls to vote one day? I can just see it now, stupid little Marian going to the polls and being too stupid to operate the voting machine levers, and too quiet to be heard when she asks for help…"

It was over before Hubert even knew what was happening. The next thing he knew, Raymond was on the ballroom floor, Hubert was on top of him with a fist in Raymond's face, and all the lords and ladies had ceased their dancing to gasp and gawk at the adolescents acting like barbarians.

A/N: Sorry to end it here! I had originally planned on doing a whole chapter on all of Hubert's views of the past, but since I had all these extra scenes from his childhood, it got way too long. I hope that's not too unfair to Pascal… she's only got one chapter of prelude, whereas Hubert gets two now. But you know, Hubert's past is a lot more crucial to his character and how he views Pascal… anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it! I hope to finish part two of Hubert's past soon so we can get to the main arc of this story. I know what I want to happen in part two, I just haven't written it yet…

Footnotes

Chapter Title - 'With Great Power Comes Great Respect' is a reference to the line 'With great power comes great responsibility'; a phrase popularized by the 2002 Spider-Man movie when it was told to Peter Parker by Ben Parker. If you've seen it, then you know of THE FEELS that go with this line. Well, maybe not in my version, but in the Spider-Man movie...

Raymond - Hubert's cousin in the Oswell family; the douche who kidnapped Cheria then developed inverse Stockholm's syndrome, crushing on her for the rest of the game.

Darbanvilles… ball - And the geeky references keep coming! Super kudos to anyone who can appreciate this Firefly reference (or the Firefly TV show at all. If you've never seen it, it's on Netflix and Hulu and I highly recommend it). In the episode 'Safe', Simon Tam is trying to convince his parents that something has happened to his sister River at her new school. He tries to prove it to them by mentioning a quote from one of her letters mentioning "the Darbanvilles' ball", rationalizing that the Tams don't know any Darbanvilles. Also, Pascal marveling at the chandelier in the first chapter of this fanfic was a loose reference to Kaylee's reaction to the chandelier at the party in the episode "Shindig". Since it was a VERY loose reference, I chose not to include it in the footnotes for that chapter, but since I'm already talking about Firefly in the footnotes in THIS chapter, I figured I'd go ahead and show my hand of obsessive Firefly fangirling cards. It doesn't help that I'm currently re-watching the series…

Marian… tools [Hubert] gave her - A reference to Side Quest #34 - Priceless Tools, where the party has to find a set of tools belonging to a shop owner named Marian in Yu Liberte. At the end of the quest you learn that Hubert was the one who gave her the set of tools a long time ago, and Marian currently has her heart set on Hubert. A skit afterword (#357 – Burning Questions) has Cheria teasing Hubert for it and he reveals that they were in the same military unit at one point. So in all likelihood, Hubert wouldn't have met Marian at this point, before he even joined the military, but if you're really curious about my canon, here it is:

Hubert meets Marian at his school shortly after he moves to Yu Liberte. Marian is a shy and awkward girl who's indecisive and doesn't really think for herself, so she becomes fast friends with Hubert as he is also shy and awkward, but very strong in his thinking and decision making. For awhile, he would indulge his hobby of building ships in bottles (it's mentioned during another side quest that Aston Lhant had this hobby and the boys used to make some as well when they were young) inbetween classes and Marian would watch. He eventually taught her how to work with the tools as well, and shortly after his discussion with Mr. Oswell in the first scene of his chapter, he decided to give up the hobby since it wasn't useful or productive. When Marian asks why he would suddenly give it up and give his tools to her, he says, 'I just want to work hard towards my goals in life, so I shouldn't be dawdling around with useless distractions. Besides, you're getting much better at it than me; you could even have your own workshop someday I bet!', in an effort to distract her from asking more uncomfortable questions. She takes him seriously though and makes it her goal, even though she later on briefly follows him into the military to be close to him, as she's had a crush on him ever since he gave her the tools. Obviously, Hubert wanted to avoid further teasing from Cheria during the 'Burning Questions' skit, so he tells the partial truth of 'She was just in the same unit as me once!' since he knew that divulging that they were also classmates and childhood friends would be more incriminating.

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