How it Could Have Been

A Tales of Vesperia Story

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Vesperia, and this story is for free entertainment purposes only.

Summary: Situations always have variables—someone's mere presence can change even the smallest of things. Take a look, at how things could have gone for the people of Brave Vesperia with just some changes, like character or background. Discontinued-Oneshots

AN: Please note that this is before the movie came out, and is done in the 360 universe.

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Karol

He couldn't quite remember who his parents were. They had died when he was only two because of the war six years ago, and since then he'd been living at the orphanage on Port Torim. Apparently, according to Nanny, that bag of his was a keepsake of his parents, and was obviously created through a family trade secret seeing as how it was able to nearly fit everything he wanted in there—he was good at hiding in it when he wanted too, and he'd been able to put two chairs in there with him no problem—and that, in that bag, were obvious signs that his family had been based at Dahngrest, the City of Guilds. But, he didn't really feel connected to them. His family was right here, with all the other kids.

Admittedly, he would always argue with them, and generally talk big while running away at the smallest thing—the boy would never forget how once he found bugs all over his clothes once, and has thus never been the same around them since—but he did love them. He was especially close to Gauche and Droite, who he would always affectionately call "Calm-Sis" (Gauche) and "Hyper-Sis" (Droite) whenever talking about him. So when they left to join a guild a year ago, he had been so upset, and pretty much forced them to constantly visit him and tell him what had been going on. And that they did.

They would always tell him how the boss, Yeager, was a great man, with a funny but most definitely striking accent, and that he always did so much for the orphanage. They would mention how he was teaching the two to fight to defend themselves, and how they were learning how to work together strategically to defeat any monster before them. They even taught him a few things, like healing artes (he couldn't do it quite right, but, with some innovation, had taught himself how to heal by hitting the ground with a nice, large object, like his beloved baseball bat) and mentioned how he should join when he was ten as well. But he wasn't happy with that.

He knew that Calm-Sis and Hyper-Sis hadn't been allowed to join until they were ten, but him being ten would take a whole two years! That was way too long, especially for someone like him. Yes, he would admit, that the thought about leaving the orphanage was be scary, but... he wanted to be useful to the man that had done so much for the orphanage and his 'family'. So, he really wanted to join.

"B-but Calm-Sis! Why not? I can fight too!" he had cried, tears already beginning to appear in his eyes. Admittedly, he was rather good at the whole puppy dog eyes thing, so it should go well, but...

"No. I'm sorry Captain,"—why did they always call him that? He hated it!—"but this isn't a place for you yet. You're also fighting with a baseball bat, which isn't exactly a proper weapon," Gauche said, trying to put it as lightly as possible. Honestly, where on earth did he get these ideas of his? Before the Captain could speak again, Droite has decided to butt in.

"I know you want to help him, but if you joined, it would make the Boss look terrible! He'll have to teach you how to fight as well with a proper weapon, like Sis said," she interrupted, in her normal tone. Captain just folded his arms like any other child would, an annoyed expression on his face. He just wasn't going to win, was he?

"Well... can I at least walk up with you to meet him? Please?" he asked, turning the puppy-dog eyes up a notch. For something as small as that, and with these puppy-dog eyes, there was absolutely no way he wouldn't be allowed. The twins looked to each other, hoping the other would have the nerve to say no. Unfortunately, that hadn't appeared to be the case.

"Fine, you can come. But make sure Nanny knows, okay, Captain?" Gauche reluctantly mumbled, turning away a little. Droite couldn't help but laugh as Captain began dancing and running off to tell Nanny that he was going to see Calm-Sis and Hyper-Sis off.

And so, they were off. They had to leave the protection of the barrier for a little, but it wasn't all that far, and it would be easy for Captain to get back by himself. Besides, if there were some monsters nearby, then the girls would be able to deal with them no problem. And the walk was generally uneventful, with but only a few fights, of which were dealt with quickly and efficiently by the girls, leaving Karol in awe of their strength. If only he were like that, too...

"And... here we are~!" Droite said, as she spun on the spot a little. Gauche shook her head, holding her temple at her sister's antics, while the boy just laughed. Yeager should be here soon, and then they would make sure that Captain got back safely—they would never tell him, though, because he would pretty much flip-out—to the orphanage.

That, however, was not the case.

"Huh?" was all Captain could say when he heard the sound of some sort of... stampede? Turning around, he could only stare as he saw a large group of monsters coming towards them. Why... why was there so many? The twins had also noticed, and realised just how grave the situation had just gotten.

"A link encounter!" Gauche had said, already whipping out her weapon, Droite doing the same. Captain just stood there in fear, unable to bring himself to move. Seeing this, the green-head instantly jumped in front of him in a defensive manner. Small fights, they could handle, but a fight like this... their only choice really was to run, especially with Captain there.

"Hey, Captain!" she yelled to the boy behind her, "the moment you see an opening, we want you to get out, 'kay?" Her tone was still cheerful, but she couldn't quite hide the edge in her voice as she prepared herself. Captain noticed this, but couldn't really bring himself to point it out. This... this was most certainly a dangerous situation. He had to get out of there!

Apparently noticing that the prey had taken notice of them, the monsters began to charge, giving out their own battle-cries. Gauche and Droite braced themselves, as they prepared to fight, while Captain began to edge away in order to escape. The enemies began to attack, and the girls did all they could to fend them off with their long-range artes.

Captain, meanwhile, was looking for an escape route back to Torim. Really, there was no way someone like him, as much as he hated to admit it, could fight. Restraining himself from simply running off in any direction and screaming, he looked about. Just one little opening would be enough... just one... there!

Seeing his chance, the boy began to run as quickly as he could. He hadn't been seen, so it looked like he would be able to get off scot-free! Just a little bit more and—!

"Ahh!" Looking back for but a moment, Captain saw it. Droite had been thrown to the ground pretty hard, and Gauche looked pretty bad and was panicking over what to do. He gulped. He couldn't leave them, not like this! But... what could he do? He couldn't fight, not at all!

There wasn't any time to think to think—if he didn't do something, his sisters, his family, would most likely be no more. He could run but he didn't want to be a coward! No, by fighting, he was just being a coward—since he feared being left alive and running away rather than being killed right here and now, this was the only option he could choose!

"Reaper-Knock!" he screamed, whipping out his beloved baseball bat, and using his spare set of baseballs as projectiles. They hit right on target, ripping the monsters attentions from the twins to himself, hearing them cry out in anger and pain. One seemed especially angry, as it was all ready charging towards him, attempting to run him over. Prepared, somehow, Captain simply hit it over the head twice before calling out another self-designed arte, defeating it in a grand flash. Another one came, grazing him a little, causing him to shout out in pain. He responded with hard, low hit, knocking it off its feet before running off to the side a little.

He was shaking now, the pain in his side burning. He couldn't do anymore. His eyesight was getting blurry, and soon, everything was black.

When he woke up, the sisters were right in his face, scolding him about how he should have got away rather than stayed. That lasted a while, until he could hear someone laughing with an... accent?

"Ja, are you okay, kind?" the man said, a strange look on his face. Captain forced himself to stand to get a better look at the man, while Gauche and Droite seemed to be embarrassed as they, too, stood up.

"A-ah, Boss, I'm terribly sorry by our horrible performance in battle," Gauche said, bowing to him. Droite followed suit, also stating an over the top apology while Captain just stood there. The boss, Yeager, simply smiled, before mentioning how it was a difficult fight, and that being able to last that long was truly amazing, showing how much talent the lot of them had, and that he was in the wrong, seeing as how he had taken so long. The girls had been relieved at this a little, while Captain had seen it in a different light.

"S-so I did well?" he stuttered, eager to get an opinion off of 'The Boss'. The man looked to him again as the girls began to scold him once more, before laughing.

"Ja, ja! You did very well," he chimed, smiling. The boy smiled as well, before bombarding him with another question—could he, too, join the guild and be of service? To be asked this by a child, once again, put the man on edge. He cared for children, just like his darling Casey had, and thus really didn't like having them in his guild. But, it looked like he wasn't going to be able to refuse.

Debating this for a while, and, finally getting his desired answer, Captain was more than happy to repeat to Yeager as he was told to make an oath upon the laws of the guild.

"I, Karol Capel, swear upon the laws of Leviathan's Claw, and will uphold them until death!"

~Line~

AN: Kind is german for kid