Why is this happening to me?

This was a question that the Chosen of Tethe'alla could not find an answer to. It wasn't related to some ordinary circumstance. It had nothing to do with getting smacked by Sheena for the millionth time (though he would know the answer if that were the case) or cutting it close when fighting one of those monsters or angels or Desians or whoever it was that decided to attack their traveling group. It didn't have anything to do related to his choices, his decisions to be apart of all sides, yet remain by one. Instead, it was one fixed upon himself and his body.

There was nothing wrong with it, not that anyone could tell even if they took a long and examining look at the red head. He was perfectly fine for all they knew or cared- and that's exactly what he expected, wanted them to think. It wasn't the first time Zelos had to play this cool and not so serious facade to the world. This mask he wore was something he had grown accustomed to; he could hide his true feelings behind a noble and womanizing persona and no one would suspect a thing. It hurt thinking that and realizing that was true, but thats how things were. Thats how things were supposed to be.

But for once, he wanted someone to notice this change happening to him. He wouldn't admit it, not outright. The small part of himself that hoped for a change, for a chance to actually be graced with true friendship, that was the part that was yearning for someone to notice. But, no one would as long as he kept up his defensive masks.

Zelos was changing- no, transforming into an angel. This fact did not hit him right away, how could it? While he had heard of Colette's transformation and what had happened to the other Chosen, he never expected it to happen to him. Wasn't the transformation only supposed to happen to her? Tethe'alla wasn't declining, he never met with a so called angel to help undergo this transformation to save his half of these two worlds. It just sort of…happened.

Ever since he had taken it back from his dear half-sister, thats when things began to change. Slowly, but surely. Maybe there weren't any special requirements to unlocking this whole angel transformation thing after all. Perhaps all one needed to do was have it stuck onto them long enough in order for it to take effect. It was an annoying thought. Why couldn't someone have warned him about this? Why couldn't any one see that this was happening to him?

The troubled Chosen sat up in his luxurious bed, casting a gaze that really didn't linger upon anything in his own room. It was all so familiar but it didn't feel like he was at home. His thoughts were distracted over the various effects that had taken over his body. A hand was placed over his chest, over where that shining red orb was seated onto his body. A finger gently rubbed this cursed gleaming red sphere.

The first sign was the loss of taste and appetite.

...

"Whats the matter? The idiot Chosen not eating with us again?" It was Sheena who spoke, turning over to look at Zelos. It was her turn to cook for the group, which also meant making sure everyone received a portion of her cooking; the pervert of the group included.

"Hey, hey, I already ate! You should have seen the delicious cookies and brownies a hunny of mine made specifically for me," he smiles, lets out a dreamy sigh, looking as if he were truly in love with the maiden who graced him with that gift. "They were the best I've had in a long time." It was a half-lie. He had been given something earlier from one of his many sweethearts, but it never once touched his lips. None of their sweets ever did.

"Look, I don't care about you stuffing your face with sweets, but you have to eat a proper meal." The ninja was stern with her words. That pig couldn't go on eating sweets forever. As much as she would say she didn't care for him, she did. And she had taken notice of his loss of appetite, at least whenever he was around them, Zelos never seemed to be eating.

"You don't care? Are you just saying that because you can't make any good deserts yourself? Oh, poor Sheena, my darling, can't make anything sweet, only poison!"

"…" There was no verbal response, but the female ninja was already getting ready to do her usual thing around him when he began to push her buttons.

"Oh wait, I've got it." He snaps his fingers, looking totally excited to this little 'ephiphany'. "You're jealous because I ate my hunny's food and praised it so much instead of your cursed cooking, huh? You know, maybe I'll eat the food you made if you feed me, mouth to mouth, my darling~"

"You ungrateful Chosen!" Cue the usual smack from an angry demonic banshee.

"Ow!" And cue a red head in pain, holding onto his injured arm. That was going to leave a mark.

"You can starve for all I care!"

Sheena didn't bother to serve him or speak to him for the rest of the evening. She had walked away to go and eat away, far away from Zelos. That was one way to get her to not worry over his lack of appetite. He did feel bad for not accepting her food or even trying to eat it later, but he just couldn't force himself to eat. Even when the others had asked him later, he could only say things about eating it later, being full from an earlier meal, Sheena's food making him sick, anything to get them off his back about eating. And the lies had continued to build from then on.

But that wasn't anything new.

...

The hand that was placed over his chest had now dropped to his stomach. There was no pang of hunger, no growling, no anything. It was empty. It had been for a long time. The Chosen missed eating. There were so many goodies and delectables that the world had to offer- now that was taken from him. But that just meant one less worry, right? Zelos wouldn't have to bother with hunger- that would make his life easier. It should have anyway. Having to hide the fact he couldn't, didn't have to eat was more troublesome than making sure to eat three meals a day.

It was at the second sign that he truly feared the transformation was really taking its course.

...

"Man, what a night to be awake. If only I could be spending it with a cutie pie and not some shortie like you," the Chosen pouted as he looked to the 'little twerp' of the group.

Genis shot a glare at him with no hesitation. A stomp to the Chosen's foot followed shortly after.

"What was that for? I just called you a shortie!" Zelos shouted as he lifted his foot into the air, hoping on one and moving just a bit away from Genis after that hit. "Yeesh! You're almost as bad as that banshee..." He quietly comments, glad that Sheena wasn't around to hear that.

"You know what that was for." The younger crosses his arm, smirking. He always did enjoy having a chance at being able to hit Zelos. "Just stop complaining and enjoy the view. Its a nice night out."

"I would enjoy it much more if I had someone worth watching this with…" Zelos mumbled as he cautiously put his foot back down, now looking ready to move in case the half-elf had decided to do the same thing again.

Instead, the boy just sighed and shook his head. He did his best to retain from yawning. It was getting a bit too late for the young half-elf. As much as he wanted to try and be an adult, staying up late just wasn't his thing. He was still a kid, still required an early night. "I don't know why I came out here with you. You don't seem like you're going to be sleepy any time soon. So much energy, even at night…"

"Well, adults do have to have energy for the night time events. Especially when being with that special hunny." Zelos smirks as he looks over to the shorter. "Just imagine the energy you'd have if you were hanging with Presea right now."

And the thought of that makes the half-elf's face flush. Whether he had gotten the adult reference or not, Zelos didn't really care. Just making his face turn red was good enough for him. It was pretty easy to. Just say the 'P' word and you were guaranteed a small blush.

"Oh, is the great little mage having naught thoughts now? Ooohhh how grown up!"

"Sh-Shut up! I'm not like you!" Genis shouts and stomps on his foot, the same one, again. "I'm going to bed!"

"Ah! You know you can apologize for hurting me first!" Zelos shouts as Genis heads back to their temporary campsite. He remained with an annoyed look on his face until he was certain that Genis was gone. Then he relaxed and looked towards the night sky, a frown forming on his face. He had thought being out with Genis would lead to a longer banter and would make him grow tired. To bad it was cut short and he wasn't even feeling remotely sleepy. Not even a single yawn had passed through those lips of his. Maybe he should have chosen someone else to hang out with.

But deep down, he knew no matter who he chose to speak with, the result would be the same.

...

Thinking about his insomnia had caused the Chosen to fall back on his bed. Its not like he was used to having a decent amount of sleep in the first place. There had been sleepless nights, restless ones, many waking due to nightmares, but prior to this, at least he could get some decent amount of sleeping in. After laying in bed, wide awake for a couple of nights had really made him miss such a human need. Not to mention it had tipped him off at how abnormal he was becoming. Was it better to lie awake at night and be left to his own thoughts? Or was it better to get some sleep, pretend he wasn't apart of this world and have a fifty-fifty percent chance of getting either a dream filled with hunnies or one of his family? Neither really seemed that great of an option.

Then there was the loss of feeling.

...

"Ouch…" Zelos mumbled as he looked at this fresh cut across his arm. It wasn't on purpose, it was an accident. He had been practicing with his dagger when along came a cute little angel, who had accidentally bumped into him and caused this accident.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Zelos! Are you okay?" Colette was quick to apologize and was already deeply worried about what she had done to her friend. Seeing her grow so worried, she was so sincere; why did this have to happen to him?

"Don't worry, my angel, this is just a scratch," he said with a grin, hoping that she wouldn't panic more than she needed to. But this was the sweetheart of the group. The pure little angel who would not let this go unchecked.

"But it looks so bad! I'm sorry, I should have let Lloyd come and get you instead." He wouldn't have accidentally stumbled into Zelos and caused this, she thought.

Zelos hated the sorry look on her face. He, as well as anyone else, knew that she never really meant to cause harm nor hurt anyone. "It was an accident, don't worry about it." He says in a gentler tone. His uninjured hand pats the girl on the head gently before placing it over his injury.

"But, its my fault! I'm sorry, Zelos, I can get Raine to heal it up right away! It looks like it hurts a lot."

"No sweat, my darling angel. It'll take more than this to take the great Zelos down, you should know that." Zelos gives her a small smile. For once, he's glad that there's no pain to feel to affect his mask. "Anyway, you can make it up to me by massaging my arm once the gorgeous professor fixes it up, alright?"

Colette was hesitating for a moment, something didn't seem to right here. Had she wanted to ask more of him? Was that not the right reaction to this wound? It was just a scratch…wasn't it? Now he had begun to doubt his own acting abilities. It was difficult when he couldn't even tell how much pain he should be feeling from this.

"Alright. But please, hurry and let Raine heal it!" Colette pleaded and Zelos did not put up a fight with her. The two had quickly made their way to Raine to inspect and heal the injury. The professor had made a comment about Zelos taking this injury quite well- it had been deeper than he thought. He was sure to tell Raine that he just didn't want to worry Colette when they were alone. If she knew how much damage she had done, the Chosen of Sylvarant would be an apologetic mess towards him. Still, that was a reminder for him to be more aware of the damages he took.

It really was difficult to conceal the fact that nothing hurt him anymore, nothing physically anyway.

...

He didn't bother to touch that old wound, it was gone by now. Raine had the skills to make it seem as if he was never cut there in the first place. Thinking back to it, he was a bit surprised the older half-elf hadn't asked more of his reaction to the injury that day. Still, he shrugged it off. Zelos was certain not to make a mistake like that again. Being overly dramatic was his thing and he could easily act like everything hurt him, whether it be an injury from battle or a hard hit from the banshee. He was lucky that everyone already knew him as this dramatic Chosen.

Finally, there was that semi-immortality side effect.

Thank Martel he didn't have to travel with any of them for more than a few months. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to fake the whole 'not being able to age thing' for too long. Even so, he was ready to joke about how his good looks were unaffected by time and how hard it would be to get him to lose his beauty. Yeah, that would work. Everything else was working already, the lies and deceit, the numbing angel transformation was already set and completed. No one knew but him.

Those were the effects that were truly hurting him, making him wish that he had never gone back to get this little gem in the first place. Sure he had those 'positive' and less bothersome side effects to. The whole heightened sense, his power was boosted, and there was one other thing that made him stand out. Just like any other angel, he had them.

Wings.

Those bright, glowing, shimmering, beautiful angelic wings. Not the feathered and dull ones, but those that were granted only to a select few. His golden, fading to orange strands of wings were unlike the others he had seen. They were meant for him, it seemed. Beautiful, just like him. Though he'd deny it. Didn't even think he deserved them. But what would be an angel without their signature wings?

Bet no one ever expected me to be a shining angel, huh?

Zelos closes his eyes and mockingly smiles to that thought. Him? An angel? He was far from it; in the sense of the term anyway. No way someone like him could be one of those perfect figures of the church. Of course he knew the truth and how they weren't so perfect and heavenly. Maybe he did fit in with these angels after all. The only one who would ever be considered a true angel would be Colette. She could be exempted from this whole bad angel type.

A sigh escapes him as his thoughts return to that single question. Why was he having to deal with this? Was it karma? Maybe Mithos had something to do with this. Or Kratos. Yuan? Any of those long living beings were probably behind this. Not a single one of them had given him a warning that he'd end up like them. Maybe they just never expected it or never expected him to live long enough for the effects to begin kicking in.

A hand runs through his hair, getting tangled in those long red locks, the other hand has gone back to resting on his stomach. All he wants is a distraction. He hates thinking about this and the effects of this stupid Cruxis Crystal is having on him. Couldn't this just be a normal exsphere? The last thing he wanted was to become some lifeless vessel and live for all eternity. Even he wanted to die at one point.

The Chosen knew there was a way to control it, Colette could, that old man Kratos could. But no one told him how to control these abilities. Was it as simple as wishing the wings to come to? Making them appear and disappear with just a simple thought? Or would he have to undergo some tiresome trials? Colette had a problem dealing with it at first, but now she was just fine. Maybe she was just lucky, that girl had unbelievable luck after all. That still left him in the dark, not knowing how to control these effects, and no way was he going to any of the angels he knew for help. That was definitely out of the question.

This will just have to be a secret, another thing about himself to be kept away from anyone. Even so, he knows he can't keep this secret up. Being around all these people, his so called friends, eventually he will be exposed. Thinking about that, he'll just have to try his hardest to be comical, keep that facade going. Nothing to hard, nothing he can't do.

But, all masks break and eventually the truth is revealed. Zelos doesn't expect to remain with them for long; his mask and lies will stay and all his friends will leave or he will, he thinks. No one will find out about him being an angel, no one will see his wings. Not a living soul.

But, things never go as planned, not everything works out in his favor, he of all people should know that. Never did he expect to hate his status of Chosen, never did he expect to be granted a way to get rid of his status, never did he expect to come to like the people he'd been traveling with, and never did he expect to become an angel. So, he knows that no matter how hard he tries to hide this secret, something unexpected will occur. He fears that this outcome is possible. Someone will see, the mask will unhinge, fall, and his wings will be shown to the world. Yet, there is one thing he isn't sure of. While he's certain that someone will see his wings, it leads to one simple question.

Who will be the first to see his wings?

a/n: alright, a couple of notes here. This chapter takes place during the game. Sometime between meeting with Seles and his betrayal. The next chapters are all post-game, they do not intertwine with each other, and each chapter is supposed to be taken as if Zelos had the highest affection with said character. Although that being said, I don't intend on making the chapters too shippy, but feel free to take it as either friendship or romantic.

Initially, I wanted this to be a oneshot with either Lloyd or Colette seeing his wings but then I started to think about the others reacting to Zelos being an angel. Rather than just writing one oneshot, I decided why not make this sort of collection. One were all the characters can react to him in their own way since the whole Zelos becoming an angel thing is kinda overlooked in game and the only way you see his wings (when you don't have to fight him) is through getting his Shining Bind move. Plus I thought it would be fun to write Zelos interacting with the each member of the group.

But so far I only have five characters/chapters really planned out...I really am hoping to hit all the playable characters and even some of the non playable ones, but it all depends if I can think of some mini plot for them. I expect some characters might be harder than others, but I'll do my best to think of something.

I believe thats everything I had to say and I'm really hoping I didn't forget anything. So, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and look forward to the upcoming ones!