Okay, this is a belated author's note, so there's a bit of redundant stuff that I stuck on the author's note on the next chapter before I figured out how to change old chapters.
Semi-Standard Disclaimer: The main charecters and settings belong to Namco and are not mine. However, the particular way the two worlds are smooshed together, and many of the secondary charecters, are mine, so on the off chance anyone wants to borrow them, please credit me.
Warnings: This fic is rated T, mostly for language and sex (implied, and discussed in a non-explicit manner).
Lloyd fought back a sigh as the meeting dragged on into it's third hour. Somehow, he had thought that simply defeating Mithos, restoring the true form of the world, and replanting the Great Seed would be enough to save the world, that everything would become better.
But, as it turned out, life was far from being that easy. Reuniting the two worlds may have solved the problem of mana, but it brought a host of new problems as well. While the old cites, the cites that had existed since the Ancient War, were back in their original positions, the same could not be said for the more recent settlements. Thus, while Meltokio and Sybak were located on the continent of Tethe'alla, and Asgard and Triet on the continent of Sylvarant, the rest of the towns of both worlds were strewn across the two continents with no regard for allegiance. Iselia remained on Sylvarant, but Luin, Hima, and Izoold had somehow wound up on Tethe'alla, and numerous tiny hamlets from Tethe'alla were now located in Sylvarant.
The people of both worlds were in a panic. None of them had known what was going on. That had been mostly remedied within a few days- news traveled quickly when the news-bringers have Rheairds- but the general populace was still rather worried. Just because they knew what had happened did not mean they weren't worried about what was going to happen next. Thanks to the mixing of the worlds, most people had strange new neighbors to get used to, not to mention entirely different landscapes. And so, three days after the defeat of Mithos, the King of Tethe'alla had called this meeting.
"I think, then, we can entirely rule out the possibility of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla having separate governments," said the king, bringing Lloyd's attention back to the conversation. Raine had come to this conclusion within twenty minutes of the meeting starting, and her reasoning seemed sound, not that Lloyd knew much about politics. With the populations of the two worlds mixed between the two continents, separate governments would put much of the population of Sylvarant under Tethe'alla control and vice versa. Besides, Sylvarant had no central government to speak of. Her words, though, were the words of a half-elf, and held little sway amongst the human leaders of the two worlds, particularly Tethe'alla. Lloyd had given a rousing speech on the necessity of treating half-elves as equals about two and a half hours ago. It had been largely ignored, and the time since had been spent arguing about whether, indeed, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla should be united under a single government. Town leaders of Sylvarant like Pietro and Neil were wary of being under Tethe'alla rule. Many Tethe'allian nobles saw the situation as a chance to gain power: some wanted to rule over Sylvarant (claiming that their greater resources would be a boon to the struggling cities), and some, who's land lay on the continent of Sylvarant, saw separate government as an opportunity to break away from Tethe'alla. There were probably some other factions with other motives and goals, but Lloyd had ceased paying attention long ago.
"So, then, shall Tethe'alla rule Sylvarant?" asked one of the nobles who's name Lloyd had forgotten.
Neil gritted his teeth. "The people of Sylvarant will not be dominated by a foreign power."
Regal addressed the king. "Perhaps the cities of Sylvarant could retain autonomy in local affairs, while owing allegiance to Your Majesty and accepting your rule inter-city matters. Of course, in that case, they would also have to have proper representation here in Meltokio."
The king frowned. "That could potentially be acceptable."
Pietro nodded. "An arrangement like that... I think the people of Luin would be content with it, though of course I cannot accept any arrangement on their behalf without discussing it first."
"I dunno," put in Zelos. "It seems to me that what with the two worlds thrown together like they are, people are gonna have to learn to live together and not think of themselves as separate, with different rules and stuff."
"A fine point, Chosen," said a young blond-haired noble. Lloyd vaguely remembered that before he'd been arguing for separate rule by continents.
Zelos shot him a grin. "Thanks, Arin. So anyway, autonomy is cool and all, but I don't think we should always be treating Sylvarant and Tethe'alla differently. I mean, sure, right now Sylvarant's one big backwater, but a couple generations from now who's gonna know the difference, right?"
The Sylvarant representatives looked a little annoyed at Zelos's comments about Sylvarant being a backwater, but nobody said anything.
"Uniting the people of the worlds is not just a matter of politics" said one of the priests of the Tethe'alla Church of Martel. "The Chosen is right, however. We must encourage the people of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant to see themselves as a single people, united. That is the only path to peace."
There were general noises of both agreement and dissent around the table. until the king spoke. "Uniting the people is the first step to a peaceful united rule, yes. Perhaps an alliance marriage of representatives of the two worlds is in order."
Princess Hilda bowed her head. "I am willing to do my duty, of course."
A man sitting next to the king frowned. "Princess Hilda is the logical choice to represent Tethe'alla. But what of Sylvarant? As we have discussed, the towns have little allegiance to each other; how can the mayor of a single town represent the whole?"
"The only person in Sylvarant who the whole of Sylvarant looks up to," put in Phaidra. "is the Chosen of Mana."
Colette looked up sharply. "Me?" she squeaked.
Arin smirked. "Well, unless you plan on marrying the female Chosen of Sylvarant to your lovely daughter, Your Majesty, perhaps you should choose a different representative of Tethe'alla."
"Indispensable advice, Lord Couglier," said the king with a hint of sarcasm. "Well, if the representative of Sylvarant is to be the Chosen of Sylvarant, perhaps the representative of Tethe'alla should be the Chosen of Tethe'alla."
The Tethe'allian priest smiled. "Of course! What could be a more fitting union than a marriage between the Chosen of each world!"
"Woah, woah woah!" Zelos said, "You know the whole "Chosen" thing is meaningless, right? I mean, Cruxis made it all up, it's not... I mean..."
"It's not meaningless to the people of Sylvarant" said Phaidra.
"Nor the people of Tethe'alla" said the priest.
"And I note you still seem fond of the power your position holds," said the king mildly.
Just then, the clock struck noon. "I think this meeting has continued long enough for now. We shall reconvene tomorrow." said the king abruptly. With that, he stood up and left the chamber, followed by his attendants and by Princess Hilda.
Dozens of conversations started almost immediately, melding into an unintelligible background babbling as people left. As soon as Lloyd had stood up, Colette was beside him.
"Um," said Lloyd intelligently.
"Yeah." said Colette. "Um, Lloyd? Would you go on a walk with me for a little bit?"
"Sure."
They quickly found an unoccupied bench in the garden. They sat for several minutes in companionable silence.
Colette spoke. "This is kind of weird."
"What, that they want you to marry Zelos? I'll say it's weird."
"Yeah. I never ever expected something like this to happen. I never... I never expected to get married at all."
"What? Why not?"
"Lloyd, I'm the Chosen. I mean, I was. I mean... "
"Colette, being the Chosen is just part of that stupid system that Mithos made! We destroyed it, remember? It's all a fake, just like the rest of the Church of Martel!"
"Colette?"
"Lloyd... just because... Just because the Church was made by Cruxis, that doesn't make it fake. The Goddess is real! I mean, maybe she's not really named Martel, but she's still real! She lives in all of us! And people believe in the Church. It gives them hope. Even with the Giant Tree restored, people still need hope. And... And being the Chosen is part of that. Part of giving hope to the people. I know I don't have to sacrifice myself any more. But that doesn't mean I should abandon the people of Sylvarant!"
"Colette..."
"I know you're worried about me, but I'll be just fine. I promise!"
"I just... I just don't want being the Chosen to control your life anymore. You know? Why can't you just be Colette?"
"Lloyd... this IS who I am. I want to help people. I wouldn't be me if I wasn't helping Sylvarant."
"Do you really think marrying Zelos will help Sylvarant?"
"Maybe. Anyway, we haven't decided anything yet. We don't even know if everyone thinks it's a good idea."
"Mmmm, yeah."
Silence.
"Colette?"
"Yeah?"
"What did you mean, earlier, when you said you never expected to get married at all?"
"Oh. Well... I'm the Chosen."
"So?"
"Lloyd... I knew what would happen to me long before I started the journey of regeneration. I grew up knowing that... that I wouldn't come back from it, even if I succeeded."
"You knew, that long ago, and you just went along with it?"
"Colette, you've got to stop letting being the Chosen control your life! You don't have to sacrifice yourself anymore."
Colette giggled. "Lloyd, I'd hardly call marrying Zelos 'sacrificing myself'. But thank you. I know you're worried, but everything's going to be fine."
Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the path and fell silent. After a moment, Genis and Raine appeared from around the corner.
"Lloyd! Colette!" Genis exclaimed.
"Hi Genis, hi Professor," said Lloyd. "Wow, some meeting!"
"Mmm." said Raine. "Though I was disappointed that nothing was said on the position of half-elves."
"Hey, what about..."
Raine sighed. "Aside from what you said, Lloyd. I suppose I can see how the method of governing the two worlds takes precedence, but the issue must be addressed soon. Especially in Tethe'alla, half-elves are treated as scapegoats when things go wrong. The Sylvarant tales of Desians are only fueling the fires of hate."
"But that was Cruxis' fault! Don't humans realize that most half-elves aren't like that?" exclaimed Colette.
"Most humans are stupid," muttered Genis.
SLAP!
"Don't say things like that," said Raine.
"But Raine..."
"Anyway, Colette, I'm sure you must be startled, to say the least, by the turn the discussion took near the end."
"Uh, yeah. But it's okay." Colette smiled. "I'm glad to do what ever I can to help Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."
"Mmm. Well, we were about to return to Zelos's mansion."
"Oh, I guess we should come with you, then" said Lloyd.
They ran into Zelos on their way back to his mansion. He was, to nobody's surprise, talking to a young woman. She was wearing an elaborate dress and her dark brown hair was immaculately curled and styled. She looked vaguely familiar, Lloyd thought. Maybe she had been at the meeting.
"Of course! How could I deny anything to such a beautiful lady as yourself?" they could hear Zelos saying as they came into earshot.
"Thank you, Zelos. I'm sure that your words will have more weight with the King than those of my husband's."
"Yes, I... hey! Lloyd, bud!" Zelos said, as Lloyd came into his view.
"Hey Zelos."
"Lianna, this is Lloyd Irving, I'm sure you've heard of him by now. And Lloyd, this is the Baroness of Ardra, Lady Couglier."
"Charmed," said Lady Couglier, smiling graciously.
"Oh, Raine, my cool beauty!" Zelos said as the others caught up with Lloyd. "Genis!" He grinned. "How are... oh." A look of terror passed over his face. "Colette."
"Hi Zelos!" chirped Colette.
"Uh, Lianna, these are my friends Raine and Genis Sage, and, uh, this is Colette Brunel, the Chosen of Sylvarant. Guys, this is the Lady Couglier, the Baroness of Ardra."
Colette gave a little curtsey. "Pleased to meet you!"
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chosen," said Lady Couglier. She nodded at the other two.
"Yeah, so, um, I'll be sure to talk to the king for you and stuff. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Indeed. Good day, everybody." Lady Couglier gave a radiant smile, kissed Zelos on the cheek, and walked off.
"Friend of yours?" asked Raine.
"Just one of my hunnies," grinned Zelos. "Come on, let's go."
"Hey Zelos, what was she asking you to talk to the king about?" asked Lloyd.
"Oh, yeah, so their land wound up over in Sylvarant. Actually, it's pretty close to Iselia now. Arin- that's her husband- wants more local control. Right now, there's a lot of laws that says what he can and can't do with his land and it's really getting on his nerves. So Lianna's asked me to push for autonomy for Tethe'alla settlements, as well as Sylvarant ones."
"So that's why he made such an apparent change in policy," mused Raine. "Being on Sylvarant now, he was pushing for a separate government to get away from Tethe'allain rule."
"Exactly so, oh beauteous Professor. But since now it looks like Sylvarant's gonna be under the control of Meltokio..."
"He's going for the next-best option," finished Raine. "I suppose most of the nobles have similar motives."
"Yeah, there's a bunch like Arin, who are content with what they've got but want more freedom. There's a lot more, though, that just want more power for themselves. Actually it's more complicated than that, but I'm really not the best person to explain, ya know? I'm no good at politics. Ah, here we are."
"You seem pretty good at politics to me!" said Lloyd as they entered Zelos's mansion.
"Yeah, well, I had to learn a certain amount of stuff just living here. Can't avoid it," said Zelos. "But I'm still not particularly good at it. I'd much rather just talk to my hunnies, ya know?"
"Which seems to involve a certain amount of politics itself, as we've seen," said Raine.
Zelos ignored her and flopped down on a sofa. "Hey guys, I dunno about you all, but I'm famished! Hey, Sebastian!"
The butler appeared at Zelos's side. "Yes, sir?"
"So what about lunch for all of us?"
"The cook has anticipated your return, sir, and you will find luncheon laid out in the dining room."
The conversation over lunch was dominated by Raine's musings about the fate of half-elves under various political configurations. Zelos and Colette avoided looking at each other as much as possible.
As they were finishing, Sebastian appeared in the dining room to announce a messenger's arrival for Raine. She got up and went to meet him, returning a few minutes later.
"So who was it?" asked Genis.
"There's a meeting of half-elves elsewhere in the city in a few minutes and they're requesting my presence. You may come too, Genis."
"What about me?" asked Lloyd.
Raine shook her head. "The meeting is for half-elves only, Lloyd. Perhaps I could ask for your inclusion in a later meeting, but I can't bring you along this time."
After Raine and Genis left, Lloyd, Colette, and Zelos sat around awkwardly for a few minutes, until Sebastian appeared again, this time announcing a messenger for Colette.
It turned out Phaidra had wanted her at a meeting of Church of Martel clergy. Colette left, leaving Lloyd and Zelos alone.
"Hey, Zelos?"Lloyd asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah?"
"...So, if Colette was invited to a meeting of the Church of Martel because she's the Chosen, why weren't you also asked?"
Zelos groaned. "Took you this long to come up with that question?"
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, Lloyd, that it's been at least five minutes since she left."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, like, didn't it occur to you that I'm also a Chosen before now?"
"Oh. Uh... I guess I sort of forgot."
Zelos sighed. "Yeah. It's not like I'm a very good Chosen, after all. Not like Colette."
"What? How can you say that?"
"Skip it. Don't try to console me like that, we both know perfectly well that Colette's, like, 10 times better than I am."
"Zelos, the whole idea of the Chosen is stupid! It was all made up by Cruxis, it's... it's..."
"Bullshit, yeah. Tell that to the people of Sylvarant. Tell that to the entire damned Church of Martel"
"Zelos..."
"Even with Cruxis gone, I'm still not free. I've still got all these guys trying to control my life. The Church still has so much power."
"...Do you really have to keep being the Chosen? I mean, can't you just do whatever you want? It's not like Cruxis is around anymore."
"Heh."
"What?"
"Cruxis may be gone, but do you see the Church of Martel collapsing?"
"Well..."
"Church still has power, I still have status, and there's nothing I can do to change that."
"You can't just give up that power?"
"No point. People will still try to control me. You know what I am? A symbol. One big, shiny symbol, and nobody's going to forget that."
"Well... can't you... I mean... hey, what about your sister?"
"Seles? What about her?"
"Can't she be the Chosen instead?"
"How? Cruxis isn't around anymore. Who's gonna come down with the wings and the trumpets and announce, hey, new Chosen! I mean, unless Kratos and Yuan wanna come back from that big old rock in the sky..."
"Oh... Right..." Lloyd said. "Kratos..."
"Great, now I've gone and depressed both of us. This sucks."
"Yeah."
"And I'm probably gonna end up married to Colette at this rate. Me! Married!"
"Yeah, about that..."
"I shoulda expected it, really. They always make the Chosen get married to someone in the mana lineage. Just because Cruxis is gone, why should that change?"
"Huh? But now there's no.."
"Yeah, yeah," Zelos interrupted. "No more need for any Chosens, no need to continue the mana lineage, all that stuff. Sure. But now they're going about symbolism and alliances and hey, so I'm not being married off to produce special Chosen offspring, great. Instead, I get to be married off as a symbol to the people. Wonderful. Such a change."
"Sorry for rattling on like this. It just bothers me, ya know? And I mean, why should this be forced on Colette, too? It's not fair to her, either."
"Yeah, I know. I've talked to her, but she just keeps going on about how she wants to help Sylvarant."
"She's really serious about that, isn't she."
"Yeah."
"I don't understand her at all. How she can just.. just accept things like that." Zelos sighed. "No wonder the Church likes her better than me."
Just then, Sebastian entered the room. "My lord, your presence is requested at the cathedral in half an hour."
"What? I thought that only Colette was going!"
"Hey, wasn't it Phaidra specifically that asked her to come?" asked Lloyd. "Maybe she wanted to talk to her before the main meeting started!"
"Huh. So I guess the great Zelos Wilder still has some respect after all," Zelos mused.
"Indeed, sir."
"Well, Lloyd, sorry to leave you here like this, but I've got some ladies I should speak to before my afternoon is monopolized. Seeya round, bud!" With that, Zelos strode out the door, leaving Lloyd blinking after him.