A/N: As super special THANK YOU! goes out to AngelAdept regarding her thoughts on showing Genis's side of things! If you haven't read her stuff, you should check it out. She's got a couple of amazing Abyss stories going, including Innocence and Sentience and Caught in Another World's Apocalypse, a crossover fic with Vesperia. :) I'm sorry that I hadn't given you the thanks and the plugs before. You totally deserve it.

Also, THANK YOU, Raven Tsurara! Raven expanded on Genis's side of the story in this chapter and is working hard to develop Symphonia's side of the story. She's doing such a wonderful job!

Keep up the amazing work, ya'll!

Chapter 14

Van never ceased to impress Guy with his leadership. Even when Guy was such a small child, he remembered Van taking charge, being an authority despite being a servant. It wasn't any different now, watching him take charge of the situation with Arietta. Especially for having shown up so late because they didn't arrive at the port. How he knew to check Choral Castle was beyond Guy, but that was okay. It really wasn't much of a stretch when he thought about it.

"We should probably head back to Port Kaitzur," Van told everyone. He picked up the unconscious Arietta and started for the tower stairs.

Seizing her opportunity, Raine spoke up as the others turned to follow him. "This place is fascinating! Why not spend a little time here, exploring?" Van turned to face her and frowned, but Guy felt his own form of interest.

Anise and Luke loudly groaned as Guy said, "I think I'd like to take a look at that machine in the basement."

"Why?" Luke asked.

"I would think you'd be most interested in it, Luke," Jade said. "Don't you want to know what they were doing?" Luke blushed and turned away, so Jade continued, "At any rate, I'd be interested in studying it as well."

Van's frown deepened, but left them to it. "We'll meet up again at the port. Don't take too long." He carried Arietta with him down the stairs of the tower. It was subtle, his hesitation, but Guy saw it the Commandant's tension and wondered why. Raine's excitement, however, was written all over her face.

"Isn't she finished yet? This is just a stupid empty house." While Luke's impatience was palpable, for once, it was actually warranted. Anise checked the stairs.

"Yeah seriously. What's so exciting about it?"

Even Guy's interest had begun to wane. They had the chance to check out the machine, but further inspection yielded nothing useful as far as he could tell. But when they waited at the bottom of the tower for Raine to come down, she never did. They decided to head back up to look for her and crossed several flights when they heard an eerie laugh.

"You know," Anise started, "this place would be spooky if it wasn't for the atmosphere."

"Nah, it's not so bad. At least we know approximately where she is." Guy peered into the nearest room on the third landing but didn't see Raine anywhere. "It looks like she's still exploring."

"Maybe we shouldn't have let her go off on her own..." Tear said.

"We could just leave her here if she's so insistent on staying."

"Anise..." Ion said. He didn't ask how Raine would protect herself. He didn't have to.

So, Tear and Ion sat on the tower steps while Guy supported the wall by the door with his arms folded across his chest. Luke tapped his foot impatiently from the middle of the landing. Anise kicked her feet against the stairs as she sat on the topmost step. Jade meanwhile had wandered off into the adjoining room. Guy's mind was on something else, though.

Sync.

The boy's mask came off and then he ran away. Guy had a feeling he knew why Sync ran away and why he wore a mask in the first place. He had looked just like Ion, right down the eyes, the hair, his facial structure. Did the Fon Master have a twin? An exact twin? Something about all this just didn't make sense.

"So what's Jade interest in this place anyway?" Luke asked.

"I think it's more likely he went to fetch her," Guy said. "As curious as that machine was, we don't have unlimited time exploring this place."

"Hey, yeah, Luke, did you ever remember anything?" Anise turned to see him sitting on the landing, bored as he brushed dust off of his salt-dried clothes.

"Yes, we've certainly been here long enough. Did anything come to you?" Tear asked.

"No."

But the God-Generals wanted something. Guy just couldn't decide what. Was all of this connected to Luke's kidnapping? It had something to do with that machine, but it was Malkuth who took him the first time. He wasn't sure what to make of all that.

Jade returned, tugging Raine by the sleeve. She cradled a new prize in her hands with the eyes of someone who won at the famously unwinnable Nephry Ball game. Guy smiled and shook his head. This woman was something else. She certainly carried no scruples about stealing from just about anyone, he was sure. Jade was right—letting Raine anywhere near something interesting and small enough to carry was obviously a bad idea. He wondered if they should worry about the Sorcerer's Ring disappearing from Mieu's belly. Well, if all they heard was a cheagle chirping, at least they'd know where to look.

"Now that she's found something else to pilfer," Jade said, "we can probably head to Kaitzur."

"Finally." Anise jumped up first. Who was first down the stairs was hard to tell, but both Anise and Luke passed Tear and Ion with ease. Both of them followed with Jade right behind. Guy stayed behind to watch Raine step carefully down the stairs with her new treasure. Whatever it was, it had her in a trance. He suspected he knew the exact moment when she found it, too.

Now that she was in a better mood, it might be a good time to ask her. But when it came down to it, he found himself reluctant to ask and just followed her with several steps between them.

She made it to the next landing before she stopped suddenly. Her abruptness startled him and he jumped back up the previous step. She turned just enough to see him standing there, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you doing?"

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak to her. "I uh…." Guy paused, suddenly unsure what to say or how to say it. "Look, I just wanted to—Please don't think I don't like you just because you're a woman."

"Because I'm a woman?" Raine laughed and continued walking. Relieved at her reaction, he followed.

"Ever notice how Tear keeps her distance from me too?"

"No." This time, her response was sharp. She cuddled her new prize to her chest, soaring his curiosity to new heights. What was that thing?

Ahead of them, Tear glanced back, but she must have decided she hadn't heard her name after all and faced forward again. Frustrated, he fell silent.

She was just determined to be offended by him, and he started to wonder if there was a point to offering an olive branch. Well, he didn't owe her anything, but his curiosity really nagged at him. Both things, actually. Would it be worth bothering her? He thought about it, weighing the risk versus his curiosity until finally, he asked, "Why did you call me human?"

"Because you are." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing. He supposed it was. "Isn't that what you call your species?"

"Sure, but…" Was she not human? "You're—"

"I'm an elf." Raine cut him off. Guy's face twitched. She didn't truly expect him to believe that, did she? An elf? Ridiculous! Such things didn't exist. Then he started laughing.

"Oh, I get it. You're being facetious."

She turned on her heel, suddenly angry. "Don't you dare," she hissed in a low whisper. Despite the flare in her eyes, he saw her terror and how tightly she held the thing to her chest. What happened?

"What?"

"Another lover's quarrel?" Jade asked from the bottom of the next staircase.

Raine inhaled like she was going to burst. He waited for it, staring at her, terribly confused. Did she… really believe she was an elf? Why was she so offended for the implication of being human?

But then she deflated, lowering her chin. She kept her voice low when she spoke. "If it's truly nothing personal, don't tell the others anything. I don't want to deal with the consequences."

Consequences? What would they do to her that she was so afraid of? Guy shook his head. "You are one paranoid woman."

"Paranoid?" Raine started down another set of stairs. "I suppose I am. Can you blame me? Few humans find out what I am and still treat me the same as before." She paused and glanced back up at him. "Like you, for example."

"I don't think it's for the reasons you think," Guy said. He stopped several feet away from her. "I mean, seriously, a living elf? You got to be kidding me." At that, Raine's face paled, a deep sadness pervaded. "They don't exist. If that's the reason you're—" But she clearly wasn't listening and cut him off again.

"That's… horrible." Raine buried her face in her palm. Horrible? Did anything about this woman make sense? As confused as he was, he couldn't help stealing a peek at the prize in her hand. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see it very well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, but it's—that just sounds crazy." Not that that helped her feel any better. He didn't mean to say it that way.

She shook her head and fought with her tears.

He was so confused, he just didn't know what to do. He really didn't mean to upset her, but something about this interaction caused so much distress. He ran his words back in his mind. What was the problem? What had he said wrong?

"I suppose that's to be expected," she said.

What was? "And here I thought I'd be told off for calling you crazy…"

"Maybe I am," she whispered. Then she took off running down the stairs.

"Wait!" He chased after her, past everyone else who lined the halls to avoid her rushing by. Suddenly driven with the need to explain and desperate to make sense, he tried to follow her. "My body just reacts," he said, knowing she wouldn't hear him. His body had always been that way. If he had any control over it, he wouldn't be so scared of women.

Raine's heart raced almost as fast as she did.

Every part of her shook as she ran passed the others, clutching the bottle in her hand. To think that elves had all been killed, and then he acted like it was trivial. Humans in Tethe'alla really were cruel. When she reached the room with the desk and the books, it was almost like coming up to some old friends and she stopped, crying into her hand.

What would she do? Was Genis okay? A part of her felt shaken with the thought. "No," she said firmly. "Sheena and Lloyd would keep an eye on him." But even as she spoke, her heart insisted on worrying. She stashed the bottle in her bag and faced the door where the others would eventually come through.

Then again, these people hadn't treated her with hostility, thinking she was an elf.

If it were true humans hated elves and half-elves that much, why would they still protect her even knowing what she was?

No, there was something else going on here. There had to be. What she learned made no sense. And Guy even knew what she was. Why would he be nice other than to approach her? Was he just curious about her? Perhaps because he'd never met an elf before?

She regained her composure by the time the party caught up to her. Even so, she stayed at the desk as they walked on, taking the non-verbal message to not ask. All of them, though, wore expressions of concern or confusion, except Jade who seemed distant. None of them, disgust or hatred. Not that she wanted it, but... why?

They continued on into the main foyer, with Raine taking up back. Guy watched her with notes of concern, leaving her even more confused about him.

A mouse cut in front of Anise's path, and she feigned a terrified squeal that sounded more like laughter than fear. She turned around to pounce on Luke, who sidestepped the moment he saw her coming.

Anise landed on Guy instead.

Startled wasn't quite the word for it.

If Raine hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't believe the man was capable of such bizarre feats of acrobatics that it took to shake the young girl off. He hollered and thrashed as if Anise was a scorpion instead of a girl, throwing her back onto the cracked marble flooring and pluming a cloud of dust around her. She coughed.

"Anise!" Ion hurried to help her stand, Tear at his heels. Jade and Raine approached Guy. He crouched on the ground, his hands over his head, his whole body shook with terror. She'd never seen this behavior before, but she recognized it immediately. When fear is overwhelming to the point of incapacitation... it was panic.

What was going on? Did Anise scare him that badly?

"Are you all right, Anise?" Ion asked. Anise stood with his assistance but rubbed her backside from the fall.

"Yeah, but... what about him?" She pointed at Guy. "He just went nuts."

"I'm sorry," Guy said, standing though with a little trouble. He still shivered, but Raine saw rationality slowly return to his eyes. When she stepped towards him, he stepped back, obviously frightened. Frustrated with a sharp lash of anger, she stopped.

"That looked like more than just misogyny," Ion said.

"Indeed," Jade said.

Wait. What were they saying? Misogyny? A quick tap in her brain and something clicked. "You're afraid of women? Why didn't you say something?"

"You mean I didn't?"

She had the decency to look embarrassed and admitted, "No… not directly." He had mentioned Tear keeping her distance, though. Not moments before.

"Has it always been that way?"

"Guy has been that way for as long as I remember," Luke answered.

But then Guy contradicted him. "No." He didn't look up at her.

"What happened to cause it?" Tear asked.

"I don't remember. There's just a piece of my memory that's missing and ever since then, I've been afraid of women."

"You have memory troubles, too, Guy?"

"Well, it's just a moment. Not like a whole lifetime like you. I don't remember why, but…" He paused, noticing Raine, and his smile disappeared. "I'm sorry," Guy said.

"How do you know it's just a single moment?" Jade asked.

"Because it was the moment my family died."

Raine couldn't breathe. He lost his family, too? All of this time, he carried that with him? Ashamed, she lowered her chin.

Everyone else stayed where they were as he headed for the front door. They all exchanged worried expressions behind his back before moving on.

She dawdled, struck by how what he said had made sense the more she thought about it. His behavior was contradictory when she thought about his prejudice against half-elves, but looking through the lens of misogyny, something seemed a bit clearer. He kept his distance from Tear, even now, and come to think of it, he jumped back anytime he was too close when Anise pounced on Luke. Still, he was nice to them both. He didn't treat them any differently than he treated her. She paused.

All this time... she thought his body language betrayed his prejudice. It never occurred to her that it was actually fear, even after he himself said it was. Oh, how could she be so blind about it?

And did that mean he didn't know she was a half-elf after all?

Raine crossed the threshold and caught up to Luke, taking up stride next to him. "You grew up watching his gynophobia?"

"What?"

"His fear of women."

Luke shrugged. "He's always been afraid of the maids and even Natalia. To be fair, she's pretty annoying."

"I told him to think of me as a man," Tear said from just ahead of them, "but he said that wouldn't work."

Of course not. Thinking of the ocean as anything else did nothing for Raine, either. Genis had told her several times that with the boat beneath their feet, she couldn't possibly sink, but that fear always lingered. But this revelation explained everything, why he always stepped back as she approached, why he always signaled that he didn't like her and yet always wanted to talk, why he seemed genuine when he spoke but his body betrayed other thoughts.

He didn't believe she was an elf, though, and he still didn't treat her badly. Her guilt solidified in her stomach.

"Guy..." Then in a stronger voice, "Guy!" Raine rushed to the front where he stopped in the courtyard, frowning over his shoulder. As soon as she got within feet of him, she slowed down, matching his stride. "I've always believed words exist to help people understand each other, and here I've been blaming you for being prejudiced. It was gynophobia all along. Even when you told me, I didn't believe you."

He didn't look at her.

"I'm so sorry." The rest of the words died in her throat.

He offered a weak smile. "I gathered that much."

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"You know what? If I never forgave, I'd never be happy again." This time, when he smiled, it was genuine. "Let's just put this in the past and worry about getting Luke home to Baticul."

This time, Guy and Raine led the pack and she kept her distance, matching his stride with hers. Her guilt nagged at her mercilessly.

But at least he didn't hate half-elves.

"I've just dealt with so much animosity." Raine said after a while. Puzzled, Guy watched her. This was new. He always had such a hard time getting her to open up. He decided to take advantage of it, especially if she truly believed in words like she said.

"I don't understand. You act like I should hate you or something."

She dropped her dampened composure. "I only act that way, huh?"

"Well, haven't you thought about how what you put out there comes back to you?"

"What?" She asked sharply. Oh, no, not again.

"See that." He pointed at her. "I used to live like that, too. Thinking everyone was an enemy. Don't you think it's possible that at least some of it is in your head?"

She clamped both feet on the ground, her fists shaking. "In my head?" Now he'd done it. So much for words and understanding... "You think being chased out of town with them screaming at me was all in my head?!"

The others easily caught up to them.

Guy tensed, too, but determined to hold his ground. "No, but think about why."

"Because of what I am."

"Oh, right, an elf." Guy shook his head. This was ridiculous. "Fine. Whatever." How could she not see it?

His response startled her into a momentary silence. She looked as confused as he felt with her mouth hanging open. "You... really don't care...?"

"About what?" Why else would someone hate her than for her attitude? Seriously, what happened to her before she came to Elder McGovern?

"You're the anomaly, Guy," she whispered.

What in the hell did that mean? "Look, I don't know what I've done wrong—"

The frustration built up in her exploded as she threw her hands in the air. "I've been treated this way my whole life. It's a common human belief that my kind—" She cut herself off. Embarrassed, she fled down the path, way ahead of everyone.

Guy was simply dumbfounded. He stared for several seconds. She sure had a habit of running when she felt too emotional, he noted. That woman was the seriously the strangest person he'd ever met. Just like the outraged liger that fell into the water at Choral Castle. If they didn't so look different, he would've thought they were the same species.

Why did she think she was an elf?

If only he could convince her that that wasn't the problem. It was her attitude towards other people. And she likely saw so much animosity and rejection because of her claims of being an elf. Who in the hell would believe her?

We handed Arietta over to Master Van and started back for the Kaitzur military port. Finally I can get back to Kimlasca! Though it'll be a pain to get confined in the mansion again...

On the way out of Choral Castle, Anise was startled by a mouse and jumped onto Guy's back. All of a sudden Guy let out a terrible scream and threw Anise off.

That really took me by surprise. I knew Guy wasn't good with girls, but I've never seen him so scared like that. He said he lost his family when he was young, and there was probably something that happened then that made him afraid of women. I never knew Guy had a past like that... I only ever saw him in the manor.

That incident did have one good effect, though. Raine apologized for how she'd been treating him. I guess she thought his misogyny was personal only to her. How stupid. Why would she think that?

But then, along the way to the port, Guy and Raine had another fight. This is really annoying. She keeps insisting she's an elf, but I thought elves were only in stories. Whatever.

There went their chance to save Colette. Lloyd's attempt to repair a Key Crest they found at Sybak's plaza didn't work. Their only alternative was going back to Sylvarant, but how? Furthermore, with Zelos there, the Church would find out immediately about their plan.

However, their first encounter and short time with the Chosen of Tethe'alla was enough for Genis to learn a few things, like his selfless kindness to young girls. No matter how much Colette and Presea didn't react to his quips or flirtations, Zelos always kept an eye out for them. The guy had a good thing or two among all his awful qualities.

Using that, Genis and Lloyd convinced Zelos of keeping quiet and even helping them find information from the academy researchers. His status would be useful for this. What they weren't counting on was someone else monitoring them besides Zelos.

So when they convinced Zelos to help them return to Sylvarant, Papal Knights burst from the halls and surrounded them. The leader ordered them restrained, except Colette for obvious reasons. While they did that, Genis heard Zelos and the Papal Knight arguing. From what he could gather, the Church of Tethe'alla wasn't fully united and it was clear the Pope wanted Zelos out of the way. Power hungry human, just like the rest of them. Then the leader told the other knights to get samples. Samples of what?

"Criminals undergo biological tests before they are arrested," Zelos explained, his voice full of disgust at being manhandled. "It's because of the caste system here."

Genis's heartbeat accelerated. It couldn't be…

"Some half-elves don't look any different from humans."

No, no, no… Genis tried to slip out of the restraint, but the grip of the Papal Knight was too strong for him. He felt the device come close to his skin; Genis deduced it was to get a person's mana reading. There was nowhere to hide.

"S-sir! We found a match."

Genis lowered his chin in shame. Of course they did. Searching for the mix of human and elven blood would yield a positive match in his veins.

"Genis?" Lloyd asked. His eyes carried concern and worry.

What should he say? Yeah, Lloyd! We've been half-elves all along, didn't we tell you? That would go over well. All he could do was apologize with his eyes.

"This pathetic half-elf has engaged in shameless caste deception. His punishment is death. Take him away."

One of the guards clapped shackles on Genis' wrists. Without struggle, he followed.

"Wait! You can't just—"

"Lloyd." Zelos stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd," Genis said before the guards led him out into the street. There's no more hiding it, and this time, he'd pay for his deception with his life.

Now knowing this, however, Genis grew even more worried about Raine. There hadn't been any sign of her anywhere, not that they've been able to search far, but if these humans in Tethe'alla had a way to determine who was half-elf and who was not, it certainly wouldn't be long before they realized what she was, too. Had they already, perhaps, found her? And worse… executed her?

Disconcerting even more, he was all alone now. Not even Raine or Lloyd were with him, and each step felt numbered. The first time they'd crossed the bridge together felt like forever, but this time, it couldn't extend far enough. He knew, at the end of it was Meltokio and the last place he would ever see. His last sight would be humans praising Martel for his death.

Raine… he cried silently as he walked, a Papal knight at either side. What do I do?

Raine heard the tiniest of whimpers and woke up.

"Genis?" She reached for him before she realized he wasn't there. But Luke was. Even in the dim fire pit lighting, she could see him curled in a ball, heard his shallow breathing and she knew immediately the whimper came from him. He shook as he stared, his eyes wide. "Luke? What's wrong?"

She sat up and moved closer. The others slept around the fire, just like her, but only Jade seemed to be awake, apparently having heard the whimper, too.

"It happens," he told her. "Every time we fight humans, he gets like this."

I said I'd fight, didn't I? Just because I faltered doesn't mean I'm still afraid.

Except that he was, she realized. Extremely so.

Luke's outburst back then suddenly made sense. He didn't want to hurt people. Not even Arietta who had kidnapped him for whatever purpose. Even as awful and obnoxious as he was, he really did have a sense for life beyond other humans Raine had ever met. She sidled up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shuddered and his eyes rolled to look up at her, almost pleading but full of terror.

Somehow, she couldn't help but feel that to Luke, it wouldn't matter if she was a half-elf. Even if he hated her, he wouldn't hurt her. But his youthful vulnerability made her miss Genis that much more. She laid down to look him in his fearful eyes. Genis had stared at her like that once, his first of many encounters with humans who found out what they were. She had brushed his bangs aside and sang to her brother the same song Mother had used on her. This same song, she sang in a soft whisper until Luke relaxed, then closed his eyes, and eventually, fell asleep.

A/N: I apologize for the wait on this one. It was especially difficult to get right. The next one will take me a little time as well since it's misbehaving, too. However, we're coming up on a section of the story that won't take long to be ready and I think you'll be excited to see. :D Thank you for reading!