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mistbow · 1 year

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Sorey, Mikleo, and Growth

Mostly from the manga. It’s known that Shiramine, the author of the manga, consulted both Hase Yuuta (Zestiria game director) and Yamamoto Naoki (Zestiria game head writer), but from her tweets, we know she put her own spin as to tell another side to the story that the game couldn’t tell, that when put together (with the game as well as the novel), we could glean the message of Zestiria as a whole. (As such, I would also like to bring to your attention what the director of Zestiria attempted to achieve with the game.)

Since every panel is drawn with that thought above, I think there’s more to this too. (Using original Japanese version because the official English localization seems to translate things rather liberally, even though every word, every sentence was carefully thought up according to the author.)

SOREY: This is where I became the Shepherd... feels like it was long time ago. MIKLEO: Really? We were running all over the place that it all happened so fast to me. SOREY: I wonder if we really can pass on the wishes of the previous Shepherd, Gramps, Muse, and the others... MIKLEO: I don’t know, but all Gramps told us back then was to be free to live our lives the way we wanted to. SOREY: Yeah, I became the Shepherd and came all the way this far because of my own will. MIKLEO: Still though, it's thanks to Gramps and the others that we've come this far, and that you've grown up from such a small boy to such a fine man.

SOREY: You’re still growing too. MIKLEO: I’m not talking about our heights!

In Zestiria, it is said that seraphim can control their own growth, it is different from humans in that external things affect their growth. Unlike seraphim, the way of being of humans change with time and experience (人間は天族と違い、時間・経験と共にその在り方を変えていく). Whereas seraphim can be seen as static figures that don’t change—since they’re manifestation of human’s feelings, the very bare “hearts of humans” themselves (天族とは誰かの想い、誰かの祈りから生まれた露わな＜人の心＞そのもの). This is why they can’t lie to themselves, nor can they taint themselves (yes, they can’t produce malevolence).

Speaking of time, it is a concept that I feel is important in Zestiria with the way it keeps being brought up again and again, and if you notice, in Japanese (in the game, in the novel, in the manga... it’s consistent), it is often written in the archaic form 刻 rather than 時, even though both are read the same way as とき. There’s a bit of nuance lost in translation here, as 刻 means “cut” in that “time” used to be represented to be cut up in old Japanese. This kind of explains what they mean by “time flowing differently for seraphim and humans” i.e the passages of time for seraphim and humans are different, measured in different units of time, so to speak.

SOREY: ...I never... want to forget this pain... SOREY: It’s exactly because I felt pain that I was able to continue this journey. SOREY: We're grieving, suffering because of the reality across this world... and that's why we are able to rise up for hope. ROSE: ! SOREY: Many feelings even beyond that I had never known before were shining through! That being case, we— MIKLEO: (Humans accept [receive] something, and with that, they change their way of being.)

SOREY: We’re not afraid to go down this road!! MIKLEO: (With time, you grow taller. With your calling, you don the mantle. If you, with all that, are willing to accept the pain that tries to dye you...) MIKLEO: (Then I, the seraph that resides within you, as the thought that you are who you are, will draw the bow together with you.)

Emphasis mine. And sorry for the awkward translation, but this part is especially lost in the English translation for some reason. Here the manga focuses on the very difference of humans and seraphim—humans grow (affected by time, accepting that it changes them) while seraphim are the feelings of those humans taking form.

It’s definitely deliberate that the panel where Mikleo thinks about how Sorey has grown taller and with the Shepherd’s burden, donned the mantle, is Sorey’s back, seemingly distant, with his Shepherd’s cloak too. Ohsaka (Mikleo’s JP VA) has commented before that when Sorey pulled out the Sacred Blade and became the Shepherd, perhaps Mikleo thought that Sorey became so far out of reach for him, that at that time he probably wondered where the Sorey he knew (the childhood friend he knew) went. There’s the fact that they used to be around the same height too, until Sorey grew much taller than Mikleo was. And it was not spelled out exactly why Sorey was adamant about not making Mikleo a Sub Lord, but Mikleo in the manga understood it as Sorey not wanting the last piece of their peaceful childhood, where even the thought of becoming the Shepherd and Sub Lord didn’t cross their mind, gone.

Also, love the wording for “don the mantle”... it’s both figurative and literal, of course, meaning that with that Shepherd’s cloak he took upon the burden and responsibility himself. What’s more in JP though, 羽織る (“to put on [cloak]”) when translated very literally is “to weave feathers”, and from his feather motif (which the Taizen book has described as symbolizing Sorey being a bird who doesn’t know of malevolence taking flight off to the world) and the Elysalark skit really early in the game, it can become a very nice double meaning. I don’t even need to go to the whole “blank canvas being dyed over” imagery here that’s also in the game and even in the theme song, White Light.

Then we go to Mikleo declaring himself being the thought of Sorey being who Sorey is. Again, seraphim being the manifestation of feelings, thoughts, and prayers of humans themselves.

MIKLEO: I've been wondering about this true name that I had felt in my heart long before I even learned words. Its meaning has always felt mysterious to me... MIKLEO: But now that I've seen that memory, I understand. A sorrowful wish in despair gave birth to me; it is the name of that wish. MIKLEO: It might be a curse, or fate, but we know of [comprehend in its entirety, sense, viscerally feel] the hope that resides within this vessel called life. SOREY: ...Yeah, we can’t let everyone’s, our wishes to be tainted. SOREY: Reach it out, Mikleo! SOREY: Luzrov Rulay [Mikleo the Enforcer]!

So seraphim are the very hearts of humans themselves, but especially those who bear the name “Enforcer” are incarnations born as the purest form of those hearts, carrying out the will of those humans (執行者の名を持つ天族は、その心の最も純粋な形として生まれた化身), hence the name. Shiramine said that in the case of Mikleo, he was born out of Michael’s despair, which paradoxically was also his hope. Then he decided to act as Sorey’s purest will.

By the way, it’s not just manga that has Mikleo snapping Sorey out and becoming the first to offer himself as the first bullet to sever the bond between Heldalf and Maotelus. In the novel, he also offered to go first.

「この旅の終わり、僕が嚆矢となる」 “At this journey’s end, I will become the whistling arrow.”

Whistling arrows, in the Heian era, are fired before the battle not just to alert the enemy, but also friendly kami (the beings seraphim in Zestiria are based on) so that they would lend their support. Befitting of a seraph whose armatization uses a bow.

Also, take note on the Japanese quote of Aqua Limit Ultima (which kinda is horribly translated) (and also, it’s called Aqua Limit: Reunion in JP btw):

スレイ「ヘルダルフ…！蒼華たる霊霧の執行！」ミクリオ「僕が決める！」二人「「アクアリムス！！」」

SOREY: Heldalf...! The enforcement of the azure spiritual mist! MIKLEO: I will end it! BOTH: Aqua Limit!!

And that’s the will that they finally carried out. It is because they are human and seraph, that they are two people of different kinds (exactly because they’re different, not the same), each aware of their own way of being, that they can grow this far.

水魚の交わり側に居て当たり前。互いがどんな存在か考えるまでもない。そんな関係。

Like Water and Fish It’s only natural to be by each other’s side. They don’t even need to think what they are to each other. It’s such a relationship.

異体同心種族は違うが、同じ想いを抱いて育った。人と天族の可能性を示す。

One Heart in Different Bodies They are of different kinds, but they grew up embracing the same feelings. Showing the possibilities of humans and seraphim.

唯一無二の互いに誰よりも負けたくない相手。だから成長できる。今までも、これからも。

The One and Only They do not want to lose to each other more than anyone else. That's why they can grow. Until now, and from now on.

応えしものもう言葉はいらない。友の決意を心で受け止めた親友に捧げる称号。

One who Answers No more words needed. A title granted to the best friend who has taken his friend’s decision to heart.

Truly the embodiment of what a human and a seraph can be. That’s the kind of bond that is, and the way they grow together also illustrates that.

#tales of #tales of zestiria #mino rambles #when will i be able to be more concise and coherent lmao #neverrr #mino talks zesty

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frayed-symphony · 1 year

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A brief summary of Asteria - Recollections of Eden (Part Four)

So it’s been a couple of years since I did any translation work on this but with the news of Tales of Asteria shutting down I wanted to finally finish my summary of Recollections of Eden (aka the White Lions) arc.

You can start from Part One here

Let’s finish this! The final summary;

With all three barriers surrounding Shangrace now disabled the core group head into the city and fight to the top of the tower to reach Van and Lazaris.

As they climb the tower and break further barriers they can hear Lazaris’ voice.

The dragon monster from the shrine priestess trials appears and though they manage to injure one dragon, another shows up and blocks the path;

In their final appearance the White Lions show up to take over the fight which allows the others to move on and confront Van and Lazaris. Farewell to these amazing outfits!

Letting the White Lions do their thing the group continues on. At the top of the tower is a ball of light and Mikleo realises its’ the same as the one he saw in the ruins which helped him regain his memories of their original world.

Lazaris arrives and says that with the disappearance of that last ball of light this new world is complete.

Lazaris then attacks them but Colette still struggles to understand why they must fight and why she can feel Lazaris is hurting still. (As a side note anyone who has their original memory is referred to as a ‘sinner’ in this story. I didn’t know that when I was translating previously)

We finally get some backstory on Lazaris. Describing events in a previous Asteria arc (or possibly alluding to Radiant Mythology 3) Lazaris tells how the appearance of Kanonno (the descender) started everything.

How they came into existence at that time and how since then they’ve became exhausted watching how humans fought and killed each other, living creatures and even the world itself.

We briefly fight Lazaris and it looks like the group will be overwhelmed when Colette awakens again to her power and uses it to stop everyone from becoming crystals.

But she doesn’t want to hurt Lazaris, Colette has finally worked out that Lazaris was born as a collection of human consciousness and is not their enemy.

She wants to work with Lazaris to return the world to its former state and make a better future. Lazaris repeatedly denies Colette’s help and that’s when the big cheese himself appears and to everyone’s surprise Van attacks Lazaris.

The group cannot believe Van is now trying to kill Lazaris but we get a little more backstory on why the two were working together in the first place.

Still in Van’s eyes Lazaris’ role is now over and he wants to destroy them to finally complete this new ‘perfect’ world.

The group step in to defend Lazaris and Van tries to reason and bring them round to his way of thinking.

Sorey and the others take responsibility as humans for how their world became and promise if things return to normal that they’ll make the world right again.

None of them want to live in this new fake perfect world and leave their old ones behind because Van’s ultimate wish is to destroy everything and start again.

As they prepare to fight Van, Colette once again offers Lazaris her protection and assurance that they will make the world a better place.

We push Van back once but he comes back stronger than ever.

However Lazaris will not be taken down and musters enough strength to fight back.

I had a very difficult boss fight with Van to get to this point and it didn’t seem like we would be able to defeat him when Lazaris finally steps in.

Lazaris crystallise both themself and Van, Colette and the rest of the group’s words seem to have finally won them over.

The world starts to return to normal, all the traces of crystals disappear.

A few of the group we haven’t seen for awhile show up and tell us the world outside is returning to normal.

They are sad hearing what happened but Colette knows Lazaris is still with them and watching over to make sure they keep their promise to make a better world.

Raven asks Ludger and the others if they saw the White Lions on their way up but Ludger tells them no. It seems they have already disappeared from this world along with the crystals.

One by one they are engulfed by a bright light and start to disappear. Everyone is worried they won’t remember these events later on and all say their goodbyes now.

Still, despite everything they are finally returning home.

Epilogue!!

Back in the regular world the various groups discuss what happened. It seems like only a select few people remember what happened.

Raven explains it here but people who remembered the original world are the ones who now retain their memories of Lazaris and Van’s world.

I didn’t see this in my reading earlier but there were some stone mouments which also appeared with Lazaris’ world. I asked @sekaiki-honey about this as well as why Colette had ‘the will of the world’ inside her and they said;

Colette, Lloyd, Zelos vow to keep their promise to Lazaris and make a better world.

The end!

Thanks to everyone who read this far. I know I summarised it heavily and probably missed a lot of stuff but there’s still a couple of months til the game shuts down and I encourage you to read it yourself if you want info on a particular character’s journey or more backstory.

I am also sorry for the poor quality of the photos and translations as well as how long this took to finish but I don’t speak Japanese or have much free time so this is the best I could do. I wanted to record the story somewhere for people who were as curious as me before the game shut down and I’m happy I could finally do that.

Thank you again!

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lildoodlecat · 1 year

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I posted 2,958 times in 2022

That's 1,521 more posts than 2021!

201 posts created (7%)

2,757 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lordofcalamity

@anxiousgod

@hungrydolphin91

@fontasticcrablettes

I tagged 2,939 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#tales of zestiria - 603 posts

#mikleo - 428 posts

#sorey - 394 posts

#f - 306 posts

#mdzs - 303 posts

#tgcf - 275 posts

#sormik - 248 posts

#svsss - 244 posts

#wei wuxian - 202 posts

#jay yells - 196 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#tgcf is my favorite series ever since i read it back in february i hope to inflict it upon as many friends as possible (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

My Top Posts in 2022:

Sometimes I think abt how neither Shang Qinghua OR Mobei Jun are going by their real names

Shang Qinghua? The name of the character Airplane transmigrated into!! (Tho there are some hc's that sqh was his self insert w/ his real name and those are fun)

Mobei Jun? Inherited name!!! Jun is just a suffix akin to lord or smth (don't quote me on that I don't have my book handy I just remember it's high status) and Mobei is passed down through his family to whoever is to inherit the power from their predecessor

Like wtf you two you live like this?? Anyway they should kiss and/or fuck abt it

114 notes - Posted November 28, 2022

I finished rereading the main story of scum villain and got emotional fuuuck

how are bingqiu so!!!! how dare they do this to me fucking

"This time, no matter where you wish to go, this master will accompany you."

crying wtff

I also was once again reminded that zzl is a minor character ;w; my best boy..

Anyway waiting for volume 4 for the extras ✨

125 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

Luo Binghe nodded. He had more to say, but he sensed something slightly off. Shen Qingqiu seemed to be paying extra attention to him today. He couldn't help but smile.

"Why does Shizun keep looking at me?" he asked. "Could it be that this disciple was gone for so long that Shizun also missed him?"

"I'm not allowed to look at someone I raised?" asked Shen Qingqiu.

Luo Binghe chortled. "Of course Shizun is allowed. Am I pleasing to look at?"

Shen Qingqiu shook his head while smiling, and he considered his next words.

one of my favorite scenes from when lbh was still a 'white lotus' as sqq would say ✨

too bad his shizun is so dense with internalized homophobia and dumbass he doesn't even know lbh is flirting with him at all,,

ah sqq you are such a silly man I love watching you fuck around and find out

130 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

"the fact that sqq ended up marrying blorbo from his books"

ik it's been said but putting it like this has me losing it sjxkdk

Truly a man living the dream (with the catch of 'all the other shit that happens to him first')

205 notes - Posted July 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

when it comes to mxtx novels they're all a lil (maybe a lot) fucked up and dark in their own ways but there is a key difference in how I enjoy them

mdzs and tgcf: a little silly sometimes but also gripping story and ✨romance✨

svsss: caught between laughing my ass off and just trying to hold on to whatever the fuck is happening bc scum villain does weird shit and then just keeps going

220 notes - Posted June 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#slkdjfksd oh that last most reblogged is definitely bc of tales of sexyman #hii #evidently i am a zesty lover but most importantly. a mikleo enjoyer #and then i got obsessed with mxtx's books and they inhaled the rest of my stats #my blog activity basically doubled from last year #to be expected since i dont think i used tumblr as much until i played zesty in august(?)#in terms of top posts. well. glad to see the svsss fandom enjoyed my lil guy contributions mwah #jay yells #my 2022 tumblr year in review

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destinydefied · 2 years

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“What if I never see you again?”

@sinumsolis. / lost meme. / not accepting.

‘ you will. ’

not that sorey really knows for sure what will happen , or how long he’ll be gone. but , at least as far as he knows , seraphim live a long time. surely he’d be back before mikleo was gone , right ??

despite his own anxieties , sorey offers a gentle smile , taking mikleo’s hand in his own for a moment. the truth is , he doesn’t know for sure if he’ll ever see mikleo again , or any of his other friends for that matter. he doesn’t know how long he’ll be gone , he doesn’t know how long it’ll take , & he doesn’t know if he’ll even be alive at the end of it. he could be gone for hundreds of years , & most humans don’t live to see even a hundred . it’s terrifying , to know that he could simply fade out of their lives , become a name only spoken in passing at best.

he couldn’t stand that , so he couldn’t just disappear .

‘ i’ll come back, i promise. it just....might take a while. ’

the shepherd offers a nervous laugh , bringing mikleo’s hand up & pressing a kiss to his knuckles , lingering for a moment. this was likely the last time they’d see each other for a long time , & sorey was never too good at goodbyes , not like this .

‘ just...promise me something ?? ’

so maybe he won’t . maybe mikleo already knows what he’s trying to say , what he can’t say , because it feels too final , too damning to actually say.

‘ promise me you’ll still be here when i come back. ’

i can’t come back to a world without you.

#⌈ * ☆ .. & answered ── another step forward .#⌈ * ☆ .. & chara ── sorey .#⌈ * ☆ .. & in character ── let these words reach you .#⌈ * ♡ .. & sinumsolis / mikleo & sorey ── i’m begging for you to take my hand ; wreck my plans .#:')#sinumsolis

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lnkedmyheart · 2 years

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In response to your post about Mikleo getting flustered by girls: Most likely, it has to do with the way they were raised. Since Mikleo is a seraph, the seraphim in Elysia knew to raise him to "seraphim norms" (which we know from Berseria are most likely human norms, due to them at one point living in harmony.) With Sorey, they did NOT know if human society had changed, and with Zenrus being well aware of Sorey's destiny to return to the human world, they were unsure how to raise him as someone who fits in there. (As a side tangent on this, with Mikleo coming to Zenrus as a seraph baby, there may have been genuine concern that seraphim can reproduce among the community, leading to this behavior as well, but this isn't backed by canon in a obvious way. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know.)

Thus, Mikleo gets flustered around girls because Mikleo was raised and socialized in seraphim culture (and thus human culture, by accident) properly. Sorey doesn't because he's not a seraph and thus had to be taught in a different, possibly archaic or strange way. (This is also why multiple people in this area of the fanbase tend to state Sorey is autistic/schizophrenic coded - due to his complete disregard for what goes in a society and just following what he knows very well.)

Thank you for taking the time to send me this I appreciate a good discussion.

Hmmm. Well I could see this but there's a few things that make me think that's not the case.

The key point of the story is the harmony and cohabitation between Seraphim and Humans with Sorey and Mikleo being at the center to show they are no different outside of the main thing. I'm pretty sure the canon makes it a point to highlight how Sorey and Mikleo were literally raised in the same exact way with the seraphim taking on the habits of eating, sleeping and living in houses for Sorey. Its also made clear in a skit (though its anime so meh) that Mikleo actually goes out of his way to ask Zenrus about talking to girls his age while Sorey has never really had an interest in such questions prior to meeting a girl his age. Whether Mikleo asked this in regards to help Sorey along in the future or because neither knew how to talk to a human girl before is uncertain.

Seraphim are never stated to reproduce but with a chief as old as Zenrus and typically seraphs being as long lived as they are, I'm pretty sure while rare seraphic rebirths aren't unheard of since they have happened before with kids so the idea that baby Mikleo might have raised concerns about seraph pregnancies is shaky at best. The only thing that surprises people (like with Zaveid) was the idea that Mikleo was an actual baby.

Going off of the last point it also doesn't make sense for them to suddenly give Mikleo sex ed and crush talk 101 if his arrival was what raised seraphic reproduction concerns because they'd be as ill equipped to handle it as with Sorey. Also its not been THAT long since Zenrus mingled with humans at Camlann and canon to be that out of touch with human culture.

I still don't think Sorey doesn't get sexuality or attraction. Its made clear at several points that both Sorey and Mikleo are somewhat innocent about the more kinkier side of things often missing innuendos but Sorey is always aware of love talk. He is incredibly sharp when he picks up on Zaveid's plans to read the wind at the sauna and is equally as disturbed by the idea of Dezel stalking Rose at the sauna. He is distressed about walking in on what he thinks is Alisha changing and berates himself for not knocking as he did invade her privacy but shows no further interest whatsoever. He also realises and is horrified at the prospect of Edna mock flirting with him early on and is unimpressed by Sergei continuing to see him and Rose as a married couple. Basically he showcases absolutely no true interest in women as a whole so much so that despite several scenarios which are typically shippy he never really reacts in a manner suggesting any interest or attraction. Meanwhile he is quite giddy about the idea of romance in general, he finds angsty passionate love poetry nice, he quite clearly states to Zaveid that romance does come up in his life. He is also pretty flustered about his connection with Mikleo early on post water armatization and doesn't quite talk about it. He is never quite flustered by women or the thought of women. Hell he shows more fascination at Mikleo's whole babe scene while being very "girls have nice skin 😀" about them in bathing suits in the dlc.

Overall Sorey shows a healthy interest in romance and can pick up on and even makes a small sex joke at one point (I can't remember when exactly but he does). He simply shows no attraction to any of the girls and doesn't react to any of the moments with Rose, Alisha or Edna in ways that suggest an interest. And this lack of interest is actually brought up by everyone at several points. You'd think at 17 hormones would override a chaste archaic upbringing because regardless of our awareness, attraction isn't a concious thing.

I have no opinion on him being autistic coded or schizo coded (????). I'm neither and therefore don't relate or assume.

I'd love to discuss more anr bounce ideas and theories off of you. I like the idea of baby Mikleo causing a mini panic wave amongst the seraphim even if I think its unlikely. 😂

#sormik #sorey #tales of zestiria #ask #random ramblings

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lloydart · 3 years

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A brief summary of Asteria - Recollections of Eden (Part One)

Like a lot of Western Tales fans I saw this image of Lloyd from the Japanese mobile game Tales of Asteria and wondered what the deal was with Lloyd fighting Colette and Mikleo;

I recently got to play Asteria for myself and spent hours using the google translate app on my phone to read it so I could find out. Because I can’t see much else online about this arc I thought I’d summarise here what I read but I’ve mostly concentrated on the Symphonia characters because that’s what interested me (sorry). I would recommend reading and translating for yourself if there’s other characters you want to know more about.

This is going to be long so I’ll split this into multiple posts! Here’s part one. Apologies in advance for the bad screenshots my phone camera isn’t the best.

Arc 1 and 2 in Asteria are mostly separate to this and you don’t need to know much about them except Colette and Lloyd had a story similar to that in Symphonia (Lloyd is Colette’s protector, Zelos betrays them at one point etc). They meet other characters along the way like Rita so they’re familiar with people outside their canon game. Arc 3 ends with Van (the villain of the arc) using Lazaris’ power to crystallise the world, and everyone living there. I believe the reason was to create a world without war. He and Lazaris then re-awaken some people but their memories are altered. Sorey and Velvet seem to be two of the only people at the beginning who have memories of the original Arc 1-3 because they escaped notice. (I didn’t read this part too deeply, apologies that could be a little wrong). The name of this new world is Entelestia!

We find Colette living in Orsha Village with her best friend Cheria, without memories of their past lives. In this world Lazaris is worshipped by the people as their emperor and Colette makes a flower crown, wanting to travel to the city and give it to Lazaris in person. Cheria says she will accompany her.

(Colette also makes a bouquet for Cheria.. so cute)

They travel to a nearby town called Falcham which Lazaris is visiting and with Ruca’s knowledge of the back streets they get to meet her. When Colette comes face-to-face with Lazaris though she gets a strange feeling and it seems to be mutual. Lazaris leaves after just a few words and Colette was so caught up she was unable to hand over the bouquet she made.

That night Colette tells Cheria she could sense Lazaris’ feelings when they met and that she the woman seemed lonely.

Colette wants to continue following Lazaris and Cheria tells Colette that she might be able to get closer to her if she becomes a shrine priestess. There is an exam she has to pass first though and being a good friend Cheria says she will also take the exam with Colette so she doesn’t have to do it alone.

They travel to the capital city Shangrace, which has an uneasy air due to a recent jailbreak (Velvet was captured but Raven broke her out of prison a few days prior to this part) and head to the palace but they don’t know where to go. While here Colette runs into-

We find out there are a group of Knights called ‘The White Lions’ and Fang is the captain of them (or maybe just a group of them? It was a little unclear). Their main job seems to be protecting the capital and Lazaris so Lloyd/Fang is a bit of a celebrity in this new world.

When Cheria sees them together she misunderstands and thinks the two of them are close already. I really like how they call him ‘Mr Fang’ too :D

Colette says they’ve never met but she knows a lot about him and Fang seems happy to hear that. He points them both to the cathedral for the exam and wishes them both luck.

Once they arrive they meet Lailah who is the priest in charge as well as Marta and Arietta who are about to take the exam to become shrine maidens. There is an immediate fierce rivalry on Marta’s side towards Colette but Colette seems oblivious to it. Lailah tells them the exam involves going to a cave and bringing back the crystal residing there and that only one of them can pass. Marta and Arietta immediately run off leaving Colette and Cheria to play catch-up.

Once in the cave Colette falls into a trap and no one except Cheria stops to help her. Later when Arietta and Marta fall into traps of their own Colette and Cheria help them and a small friendship forms. Arietta says she was told by Van to become a court priestess and Marta says she met eyes with Lazaris once and knew it was her destiny to become a priestess after that.

They all travel deeper into the cave and find the crystal but when they remove it from the shrine a monster attacks them.

There’s a few cute scenes of them helping each other but ultimately Colette says she will distract the monster so the others can escape with the crystal. It seems at first Marta and Arietta want to agree but then they all decide to leave the crystal in the cave and return to the capital as it’s too dangerous to try and retrieve it.

They return empty-handed and Lailah says it was all a test and the cave was just an illusion and that she saw everything. Lazaris also appears to have been watching but no one except Lailah sees her.

Colette passes the exam and while the others are sad (Cheria is just happy) they all agree she deserved it the most and wish her well.

This is where Colette gets her new outfit! It even has a 3D model and I love it

Next scene Colette is finally able to meet Lazaris, who takes her down an underground passage below the city. She can finally give her the bouquet!

Colette is happy she can be with Lazaris from now on but unfortunately Lazaris’ intentions are about what you’d expect of someone who takes you down into a dungeon alone.

Under the city are all the crystals filled with the other characters who are frozen. Colette sees this and begins to panic. Lazaris says they are harmful humans who want to pollute her world. She then calls Colette ‘The Will of the World’ and mentions that she doesn’t seem to be a descender (which is a term used to describe the protagonists in the Radiant Mythology games.)

It seems Lazaris’ reasons for wanting a shrine priestess were to find someone with a pure will because they would be a danger to her world (this is explained more in part two)

And Lazaris then crystallises Colette who seems to regain her memories as she says Lloyd’s name before being consumed by the crystal.

Going to end Part One there and continue in Part Two!

#tales of asteria #recollections of eden #colette brunel #lloyd irving #tales of symphonia #mobile game

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theblackbutterfly02 · 3 years

Note

Hi! I saw your reblog of the sad prompts list and because I love your writing so much is it ok for me to request a sormik themed one? I don't really have a preference on the prompt, rather I'd like it to be a tainted AU? (repetitive plotline I know). Can be either meebo or sorey, just not the two of them unless they both get better, that's just too much malevolence :(. Sorry, if I did a bad job, I've never requested something before :O

Heyyy, first off aaaaaaa I'm so glad you like my writing enough to stop by in my inbox! Don't worry, your request is clear and understandable! Also! Never feel bad about requesting tainted AU's, they are great!

This turned out to be more introspection and less plot than I wanted it too but I hope you can enjoy it anyway!

When he came back after collecting herbs and berries Mikleo found Sorey still sitting in the same spot he did this morning, looking out to the horizon with his feet dangling over the cliff. He wondered if it was the light that shone through the trees or just his own imagination, refused it to be reality that made the aura of malevolence around Sorey seem that much stronger than before. With a sigh he set his basket aside.

When the malevolence first settled in Sorey he noticed something was off before anyone else did, though he couldn't quite name what it was. Once Mikleo understood what it was though, he forced Sorey to as many breaks as they could afford, to get his mind off the duty bestowed upon him, to try and get the shepherd to talk to him. Even now he still was...

"You know", Mikleo said as he sat down with his back pressed against Sorey's. "It was easier when you were lying to me and thought I didn't see right through it." He was almost glad when he heard Sorey grunt in acknowledgement of his words. It meant he was listening and that was more than what he usually got out of Sorey when he tried to talk to him. "At least I could try to understand what you were thinking or.. feeling when you were still talking to me. Like this.." He turned his head to the side, looking over to the ruin they stayed in. The sun was slowly setting, shining it's last rays through the tall trees. He used to think sunsets were romantic but now the orange-red colour of them had his stomach turning. It shouldn't have been like this. "I don't even know if you still want me by your side anymore. Or rather.." Mikleo tugged his legs to his chest, hugging his arms around them. "I know what you told me when I first came with you, but even though you told me to leave back then, I could tell you wanted me to stay. Right now, I can't tell what it is you want anymore."

But after Lailah broke their pacts, after Sorey had lost the ability to purify and everyone could tell malevolence had settled in the shepherd Sorey had told Mikleo to leave. And that was the last word he spoke to Mikleo in over a week now.

"We all pushed you too far", Mikleo continued after a short break. "We shouldn't have asked so much of you. You had a whole world to consider and still you kept smiling." Mikleo chuckled. "You had us fooled pretty good with that one. I always thought I knew you so well, but I really should have noticed what was going on sooner. I said I wasn't going to be a burden anymore and yet, how many times did I push you forward when I should have opted for a break?" With a sigh he let his head sink down onto his knees. "So, if you don't want me by your side anymore, I get it. If you're telling me to leave again and you really mean it, I'll go this time. I won't keep bothering you. Just know that.. I still want to support you in every way I can. You just..", Mikleo had to suppress a sob, his eyes burning with unshed tears all of a sudden. He longed to hear Sorey's voice again so badly. "You just have to talk to me."

But Sorey stayed silent and Mikleo waited. He waited until the sun had sunken below the hills and the cold blue hues of the night covered the almost cloudless sky. He waited until the first stars sprang to life. And he sighed. Not today either, then, he thought.

"Well, I should prepare dinner then", he said and pressed his hands to the ground to push himself up.

But he stopped when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist.

"Stay", Sorey whispered and it was so silent Mikleo almost missed it. But he heard it and despite his smile his tears finally fell. Sorey had asked him to stay and that might mean that he was finally ready to talk, that he had something more to say than this one word. But even if he didn't Mikleo was so, so happy for this single word didn't only mean for him to stay sitting like this. Somewhere behind this simple word he heard Sorey telling him to stay by his side, not only today but forever.

"I wouldn't dare go anywhere else", Mikleo whispered just as silent. He hoped it was reassuring enough, even if Sorey's hand didn't move away from his wrist. He didn't mind the contact at all.

And so Mikleo waited again. For Sorey, he would always wait.

A wind picked up as the night went on, not warm but not unpleasantly cold either. Mikleo allowed it to play with his hair, thinking back to Dezel. He knew Sorey must be doing the same.

The wind seemed to push the last clouds out of the sky as well and an almost full moon shone down bright on the two of them. It was so silent Mikleo almost jumped when Sorey spoke again.

"It wasn't your fault", he said and relief spread through Mikleo at the honesty in the other's voice. "Or anyone's, really. There's no one to blame but me and that's what makes it so hard. No matter how many times Lailah told me 'You don't become the strongest shepherd in a day' I kept pushing too far. And when I met my limit I hated myself for my weakness. I still do. I keep thinking back to the cardinal and to Dezel and my head keeps repeating the question of what else I could have done. It keeps haunting me even in my sleep - I'm sure you noticed, I remember waking up to your concerned glance more often than not."

Mikleo nodded, knowing Sorey would feel the motion. He knew Sorey kept having nightmares, knew he didn't even sleep some nights. But he never dared to ask what they were about.

"Wanting to change the past is selfish and no one should decide who lives and who dies", Sorey said. "Knowing that.. I feel the malevolence inside myself grow stronger every time I think about it."

Just as he said that Mikleo felt the pang in his chest grow stronger again, felt the malevolence around them grow and knew it came from Sorey. Then he heard Sorey take a shaking breath, then another and the waves coming from him dimmed down a little.

"I felt bad for rejecting you as my Sublord but I felt even worse for dragging you along with me, through all this danger."

Mikleo was sure Sorey said that and yet it sounded so far away. The whole Sublord drama - they never really addressed it again after Sorey fainted in the Galahad ruins that day. To hear him talk about it now..

"...the reason I rejected you in the first place", he remembered to focus back on Sorey's voice. "There were so many instances you could have died because of my inexperience! That time in Marlind, with my vision.. I tried to hide it so no one would worry and then it almost killed you because no one knew what was going on. Or on that battlefield, when I insisted on going against Heldalf and I lost my resonance. I could've lost y-"

"But you didn't", Mikleo interrupted him before his malevolence could act up again. It was still his job to reassure Sorey after all. "You can't get rid of me that easily." He took a deep breath before he continued. "And I came along because I wanted to. I may not have known what I was getting into fully but I was aware of the dangers the path of the shepherd would bare."

"It wasn't supposed to end like this though."

"Is it really over, Sorey?"

"I no longer have the power to purify Hellions. How can I defeat the Lord of Calamity if I don't even dare call myself the Shepherd?"

"Is that really what we set out to do?", Mikleo asked, urging Sorey to think back to that first time they left Elysia together. "We wanted to see the world, remember?"

He could hear Sorey take in a sharp breath, then felt the other's hand cup his own, squeezing tightly. "With all the things going on", Sorey breathed, "I almost forgot about our dream."

"Even if saving the world isn't within the range of our possibilities, the things we did manage sure didn't go unnoticed. And we can still follow our dream, even now. Let's focus on us for now, instead of the world, how does that sound? We can walk a new path, in our own pace for now. Small steps towards a bigger goal."

"Our own pace..", Sorey repeated with newfound wonder.

He let go of Mikleo's hands and Mikleo felt his heart sink to his stomach as Sorey stood up. Did he say something wrong?

But Sorey walked in front of him, smiling through the dried tears that shimmered in the moonlight and extended a hand towards Mikleo. "Just us, right?", he asked as Mikleo took his hand.

"Yes, just us."

"I think I like that."

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tatlinanise · 4 years

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The Tale of Heroines & Sorey’s Love Life: Solved

In an older post, I searched out into the wild in hopes of finding out something the root of a certain quote concerning ToZ’s heroine controversy. “Are Rose and Alisha considered heroines?” “Is there officially recognized romance in Zestiria?” “Is Sorey “too pure” for women?” Well, it is with great pride that I can actually say I have come back with something to show!

Thanks to @silent-shanin owning the Tales of Zestiria Complete Guide, I finally have a direct, textual proof of the quote that confirms that this dated post and translation by @kiraleshoot is 100% accurate and legitimate!

The full page text is as presented:

Q : There’s not much romance this time, is there?

A : While romance is a very fun element in terms of character drama, this time we chose to water it down, or shall we say, put it on the low priority list. We want Sorey to be a character who grew up pure, chasing his dreams about history and ruins. If we put a prurient man-woman relationship in there, it might just upset the direction we want to go with him. Still, ‘Boy Meets Girl’ is still a powerful introduction to a story in the end, so he meets Alisha, and in meeting her learns about the world. However, Alisha is a normal human, and she has to face the reality that she cannot measure up to Sorey. The girl he meets after that, Rose, is less of a 'heroine’ than Sorey’s 'foil’. Mikleo, Lailah and the others would tend to think about their problems the same way as Sorey does, so Rose is the character who views things differently, assisting Sorey who has just learned about his limits from his parting with Alisha. We made her into a character that, at the end of the story, you can see her accepting what Sorey leaves her with, and know that she will certainly continue it and keep it alive.

So there you have it. An official answer from the game devs about the lack of romance in Zestiria as well as their reasoning for not pairing Sorey up with any of the girls in the traditional Tales fashion. It’s also a more comprehensive look at the roles Rose and Alisha were meant to play as well.

As a disclaimer: I would like to reiterate that I did NOT dig this quote up in hopes of inciting fandom drama. I wanted to find the direct source of the quote for the sake of proof and fandom archiving. Do what you like with this information, I just wanted the existence of the quote and it’s legitimacy to be known.

#Tales of Zestiria #Sorey #Rose #Alisha Diphda #Thanks again for the help silent!

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igneouswyvern · 2 months

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finished my replay of zestiria a few days ago and something that's been really on my mind is just how incredibly hard all of this must have been for mikleo in particular. we all know the tragedy of mikleo waiting multiple centuries for sorey to come back but what about the immediate tragedy. he literally lost zenrus right before the final showdown and then he loses sorey right after. the two people he's known as long as he can remember. both of them snatched away from him in one fell swoop. what must that have been like for him? he still has the rest of the party, but they aren't what gramps and sorey were to him. the extent to which he can emotionally lean on them for support is just not as great. so he probably had to bear most of the grief by himself. and of course he knows sorey will probably be back in some form, but he also knows it will be longer than he can imagine. lonelier than he can imagine. and what can he do while he waits? elysia isn't really elysia without gramps. without sorey. exploring ruins isn't as thrilling without sorey. seeing new places, meeting new people, adventuring? sorey is what made all that special. what can mikleo do without sorey? a thousand years is a long time.

something that's even more tragic to me is that i know mikleo would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat to help sorey. he knew the risks involved with being used by seigfried in that way and he didn't care one bit. he'd throw his life away without question if it meant sorey would be able to accomplish his goal. and instead, he's cursed to live on. muse is dead. zenrus is dead. sorey is in stasis for so long he may as well be dead. only mikleo remains, cursed to survive. cursed to walk the earth for all of eternity, cursed to lose everyone he loves. cursed to loneliness, as he waits for a day that may never come. a foil for heldalf, although this is a curse of circumstance rather than of malice. and i just. i can't imagine what that must be like. to have lived your whole life with people and then to suddenly have them all taken from you at once. how do you even go forward at that point? how can you carry on?

but he did. he waited something like a thousand years, and he never gave into his grief. he never succumbed to malevolence. he lived a hundred lifetimes, all alone, and he stayed pure and holy. and sorey really did come back for him. all that loneliness, that heartache, that waiting, was all worth it in the end. and i'm crying

#we interrupt your regularly scheduled au brainrot hell to bring you: Tragic Canon Posting #i don't really intend this to be a shipping post but they are literally so soulmates it's unbelievable #god. they make me insane #wyvern rambles #wyvern's zestyposting #tales of #tales of zestiria #mikleo #sorey #sormik #long post

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sheps-shepherd · 4 years

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Title: Perfectly Perfect

Pairing: Mikleo/Sorey; Mikleo & Sorey

Rating: T (for non-explicitly implied sexual content)

Written for @sormikweek 2020 Day 8: New Moon - New beginnings; Blank page / El Nath - Neutrality for good or evil; Symbolically called the Shepherd

A/N: This is by far my favorite piece that I wrote for the entire week. It's also the piece that started the whole idea to use this week to expand this universe that I'm really excited to build on and share. Expect not only the rest of the week's prompts, but many more independent works from this world.

"This world" being a BBC Merlin AU in which magic is illegal, Mikleo is a sorcerer hiding who he is, and Sorey is a prince living his best sunshine life. In case you haven't heard that spiel already.

Enjoy!

Read on AO3

---

“What if I changed my name?”

Mikleo turned from the spellbook he was reading with a smile on his lips, sure that Sorey would greet him with a matching one. But Sorey wasn’t even looking at him, let alone smiling. He was standing by the window, arm braced against the stone wall above it, staring out into the courtyard with a shadowed look on his face. Mikleo’s smile faded. He’d been catching Sorey with that kind of look on his face more often these days than he liked.

“Where did that come from?” Sorey offered a half-hearted shrug and stayed silent. Mikleo didn’t buy it for a second. He closed the book and stood from his spot, crossing over to the other side of the window. “Is this about the coronation tomorrow?” Sorey winced like he’d been hit, which was as good as an admission in Mikleo’s eyes. “Sorey, it’s okay to be nervous-”

“That’s not it,” Sorey said, shaking his head insistently. “It’s not nerves.”

“Then why have you been thinking about changing your name?”

Sorey’s jaw worked like he was wrestling with the words inside his mouth. Mikleo waited patiently, leaning against the wall as he watched his prince.

King, Mikleo mentally corrected himself. Today was the last day that Sorey would be a prince. Although, in Mikleo’s opinion, Sorey had been a king for a long while already; it just hadn’t been official until now.

“Because I don’t think I can do it.” Mikleo opened his mouth, ready with another protest. But Sorey finally turned to look at him, and the shadows hiding in the green of his eyes made him pause.

Sorey finished, “I don’t think I can take the crown if I still have his name.”

“Sharing his name doesn’t mean anything. You couldn’t be more different than him.”

“I know that. I know that, but….” Sorey squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. “Mikleo, I can’t stop thinking about it. And if I can’t stop thinking about it, then how can I expect anyone else to?”

Mikleo reached out, placing his hand on Sorey’s shoulder as gently as he could. The muscle beneath his palm was taut with what he now understood was several days worth of stress and anxiety - this had been on Sorey’s mind for a while, probably ever since Velvet’s abdication.

No. Probably longer than that.

“You’re not Artorius, Sorey,” Mikleo said. The name tasted vile on his lips, and hearing it made Sorey flinch again. “You could never be. The darkness in him didn’t come from his name. It doesn’t work like that.”

“But that’s what I’m talking about,” Sorey argued weakly, cracking his eyes open and peeking back over at him. “It feels like that, doesn’t it? It’s like it’s a curse now. No one wants to say it. No one wants to hear it, and I’m supposed to accept his crown in front of the entire kingdom like I don’t know that’s what everyone watching will be thinking?” He pushed himself away from the wall, away from Mikleo. His hand went up to tangle in his hair. “I won’t do that, Mikleo. I can’t.”

“Sorey,” Mikleo said, as calmly as he could with his heart racing so frantically in his chest. “This is your destiny. You accepting the crown tomorrow was the only thing in Camlann’s history ever meant to be set in stone. And no, not everyone is going to understand that, but you will. You do.”

“But what does knowing that change? That becoming king of the kingdom Arthur broke should make me feel good? That doing it with his name should make me feel proud? Because I don’t feel anything but afraid.” Sorey raked his fingers the rest of the way through his hair, the strands sticking out wildly in their wake. Mikleo had always poked fun about how Sorey’s hair seemed to constantly look some semblance of messy, but there was nothing charming about seeing it that way now. “Arthur wasn’t even my real father, but I’m still destined to get stuck with all his mistakes? I know destiny means a lot to you, Mikleo, but that doesn’t solve anything.”

Mikleo’s magic stirred in his chest. It trembled in the anxious atmosphere that had filled the room like it understood it had become a topic of their conversation. No one knew the burdens that came with destiny as much as Mikleo did. Not even Sorey.

His magic strained against his fingertips. He knew what it wanted to do. He let it.

“You aren’t destined to be stuck with any of Artorius’ mistakes.” Mikleo looked back to the window and felt his magic rush out of him. The latch clicked and the window pane creaked open on purposely rusty hinges. A gust of wind flew into the room, buoyed by the sweep of his magic as Mikleo focused back on his king.

As he expected, Sorey’s eyes were wide; he still got starstruck every time he saw Mikleo’s eyes flash amethyst, even though he’d seen it plenty of times at this point. The breeze blew through Sorey’s hair, righting the strands that had been tousled in his frustrated pulling, circling around his head like a halo until it deemed every piece in its place. It sent his earrings fluttering across his cheeks as it swept down towards his shoulders and dispersed with a flutter of his sleeves. Sorey still stared at him, wonder replacing the shadows that had haunted his eyes. Mikleo stared back.

“You’re destined to fix them.”

Sorey - who was Mikleo’s destiny, and always would be - blinked slowly. Mikleo watched the anxiety bleed out of him, watched as his shoulders dropped and his fingers uncurled and his face softened. He suddenly looked exhausted, but it was better than seeing him look so hopeless.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Yeah, okay, that was what I needed to hear. Thanks, Mikleo.” He brought a hand back to his face and rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”

That sounded more like the Sorey he knew. “Don’t apologize. If anything, I wish you had dumped this on me sooner.” He crossed the room again, and this time Sorey was there to greet him with a hand at his waist and a sheepish smile. “But I should have realized this wasn’t as easy on you as you were making it seem, so I’m sorry.”

Sorey opened his mouth, paused, then closed it again, like he had changed his mind about what it was he wanted to say. “It’s not easy,” he admitted finally, and Mikleo was sure he’d scrapped some kind of I’m fine, don’t worry about me speech. “It’s… been a lot to process. And sometimes it feels like I don’t have enough time to go through it all.”

“You don’t have to go through it all right now,” Mikleo said. “And you don’t have to go through it by yourself, either.” He placed his hand on Sorey’s arm, squeezing carefully. “I know Velvet’s leaving, and I’m not her, but-”

“I don’t want you to be like Velvet.” Sorey reached up to press his other hand against Mikleo’s cheek. “I want you to be you. Who else is going to tell me when I’m in over my head or being too dumb?”

“Velvet, but I see your point.” And his Sorey really was here again, because he threw his head back and laughed. A full, rich sound that made Mikleo think of sunshine - or maybe there were just things about Sorey that still left him starstruck, regardless of how many times he’d seen them. “As long as you’re okay with me taking up that mantle,” he continued once the other’s laughter died down, “I suppose that settles that.”

“I’m more than okay with it.” Sorey cocked his head then, staring at Mikleo with a fond grin on his face. “Sometimes thinking about all the destiny stuff makes my head spin, but I know it’s not all bad. After all, destiny brought me you….” His green eyes sparkled with mischief as he snuck his thumb beneath Mikleo’s fringe of hair, tracing across the skin of his forehead right beneath where his circlet rested. “...Luzrov Rulay.”

Like clockwork, Mikleo’s magic rose to the call. It swirled wildly in his chest, an involuntary spark that shot through his bones. The feeling wasn’t as alarming to him now as it had been when he was young with no idea of where it was coming from, which had resulted in his mother gifting him the circlet in the first place. Mikleo hadn’t felt that terrifying slipping feeling again until he met Sorey, although he eventually realized it wasn’t a rebelling of his magic, but instead an answer. The tampering enchantment he wore did nothing to block Sorey’s voice if he called, and Mikleo’s magic would never ignore their king. It pulsed in his palms, spiked aches in his knuckles on its way down to his fingertips, and then Mikleo felt the tell-tale rush that came with the beginning of a spell.

The window pane swung back and closed itself. The latch clicked. The drapes drew themselves shut with just enough of an opening for a sliver of light to keep the room dimly lit. But Mikleo still saw the stars that twinkled to life in Sorey’s eyes, also like clockwork as his own eyes flickered back to amethyst.

Sorey’s thumb moved again, now tracing a gentle path below his eye, watching intently for the moment the amethyst faded back to his natural blue. “There we go,” he murmured, and his magic sang from the praise as it settled back into his blood where it belonged.

Which then shot up to Mikleo’s face and burned his cheeks. “You know I hate it when you do that.”

“You know that I hate it when you use magic around me when I can’t fully appreciate it. It was only fair.”

“I was just trying to remind you.” He cleared his throat. “Which it seems I did.”

“You did.” Sorey’s other hand came up, and he tipped Mikleo’s head back as he properly cupped his face. “You definitely did.”

Sorey kissed him, and his magic simmered happily. It was all Mikleo could do to hold onto Sorey’s arms as he leaned into him, all warmth and comfort as Sorey thanked him in his own way.

Mikleo let him take his fill, felt his head begin to get that floaty feeling that came with Sorey’s more intense kisses; the kind of kisses they shared when they were alone that often built into something more, which were finally becoming more common between them, much to Mikleo’s delight. But when he felt one of Sorey’s hands leave his cheek in favor of moving down to press against the small of his back, Mikleo reluctantly twisted his face away, and brought his own hand up to keep the other at bay when he tried to follow.

“Wait,” he said, and Sorey’s pout was immediate. Mikleo pointedly ignored how cute it made him look. “The name thing. You need to tell me more about that first, before we get distracted.”

Sorey blinked. “Oh. That.” His brow furrowed thoughtfully. “Yeah, that wasn’t supposed to spiral into what it did. I really did just want your opinion.” His fingers flexed nervously at the small of Mikleo’s back. “So, what do you think? About maybe changing my name?”

“I think the question you should be asking me,” Mikleo answered, “is what I think of whatever name you’ve already picked out.”

Sorey was surprised enough to take a step back, and Mikleo rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Sorey, I’m not stupid. You wouldn’t have brought it up to me at all if you hadn’t gotten that far with it.” The pout returned. Mikleo ran his hands up Sorey’s arms, settling on his shoulders where he gave him a light shake. “Come on, tell me.”

“I really can’t get anything past you, can I?” Sorey sighed and straightened his shoulders. “I thought about just taking Velvet’s name. I mean, it would have made sense. The Crowe family is technically the one that should be on the throne. But.... I didn’t like the way that made me feel either. I’m not really Velvet’s brother any more than I was Arthur’s son.”

Mikleo opened his mouth, but the hand on his cheek shifted to cover it before he could speak. “And I don’t mean that in a bad way,” Sorey hurried on. “I just mean I think I’m finally ready to make my own name. I don’t want to be defined by Velvet any more than I do Arthur. I think it’s time I finally start just being Sorey, don’t you think?”

He took his hand away, dropping it awkwardly onto the bend of Mikleo’s elbow. Sorey stared at him with the most hopeful look Mikleo had ever seen on his face, and he didn’t know if it was possible to fall in love with someone twice, but their relationship had braved greater unknowns than that.

“Yeah,” he said softly, “I do.”

The smile that split across Sorey’s face put the sun itself to shame.

“I like Shepherd,” he said, voice quiet like it was taking everything he had not to burst with excitement. “I thought it fit nice. I came from something simple, just like all the people I’ll be leading. I want them to know that.”

Mikleo nodded as his eyes stung with pride. Hearing that made him prouder than any ancient script of destiny ever could. His destiny was to make sure Sorey took the crown tomorrow, but Sorey made himself worthy of it all on his own.

“Sorey Shepherd.” It was like magic, sizzling on his tongue. “I like it, too. It’s perfect.”

You’re perfect, Mikleo didn’t say. Sorey looked happy enough to cry without hearing that part.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You’re right; it suits you.”

The pressure that suddenly appeared at the small of his back told him what Sorey’s next move was going to be, and he held up his hand again before Sorey could swoop back in. “But,” he chimed, maybe just a little teasingly as he watched impatience paint Sorey’s face, “to answer your original question, I think the whole thing’s a great idea. You of all people deserve a new beginning.”

Sorey smiled at him, something softer and more tender but just as warm. It matched the way he cradled Mikleo’s face. “You’re my new beginning,” he murmured. “You always were. You always will be.”

And while Mikleo would normally shove him for saying something so horribly cheesy, he let Sorey have that one. He wouldn’t have been able to stop the stupid smile that spread across his own face anyway.

Sorey’s fingers twitched against his cheek. “If there’s anything else from that spiel you want to talk about, you should say it now. Because once I kiss you again, I’m not going to be able to stop.”

Mikleo shook his head with absolutely nothing but fondness. He glanced over Sorey’s shoulder, eyeing the lock on his bedroom door, and his magic rushed to do his bidding. He heard the heavy click a moment later. The drapes were next with a glance over Sorey’s other shoulder, the sliver of light vanishing and shrouding them in darkness - but only for as long as it took Mikleo to light the candles on the walls.

The flickering flames sent shadows dancing across Sorey’s face, and Mikleo took a moment to appreciate the way he looked, just like he knew Sorey was doing as he felt his magic curl within him once more.

“No,” he answered, belatedly. “You can kiss me again.”

And Sorey, his sweet and shining king, was true to his word.

The next morning, His Majesty Sorey Shepherd of Camlann was formally sworn to the throne. The crown glittered where it nestled in his brown hair, caught by the sunlight streaming in through the windows as he stood on the dais, surrounded by his people. Rose and Zaveid were the ones who started the chant, passing it along to Velvet and Alisha and soon to everyone in the room. But Mikleo whispered his piece to himself, and his magic glowed with understanding. They would do everything they could with every bit of power they had to make sure the wish was fulfilled.

Long live the king.

#talesoffanfic #sormikweek2020 #sormik #sorey #mikleo #merlin au #tales of zestiria

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mistbow · 1 year

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I love Sorey’s ending MA in Rays, Raijin Souhyoujin (雷迅創雹刃).

It is an Ice- and Lightning-elemental MA, the elements reflecting his connection to Mikleo and Gramps respectively. He’s really an Elysian through and through, in the end, going back to his origin (historical technicalities would make his hometown Camlann, but that’s just historical technicalities; his heart belongs to Elysia forever.)

Also love how they went for “雹” instead of plain “氷” for the “ひょう” part of the name. “雹” or “hail” in English, is a type of precipitation (condensation of water vapor) that usually gets formed during thunderstorms. Again, you could see the connection to his Elysian family.

雷を呼び、限界を超える全身全霊の一撃を放つ魔鏡技。 A mirrage arte that calls forth lightning and unleashes a blow of one’s whole body and soul transcending the limits.

Again with the 全身全霊/whole body and soul, but this time transcending even the limits. He even says it in the quote.

来たれ神雷！オレの全てで！限界を超える！ Come forth, divine thunder! With my everything! I will transcend the limits!

Popular theory has it that Sorey might be Heldalf’s biological son (there are more than just that one manga page supporting this theory, btw, hints were even in the game itself, but we’re not getting into this today) and in a way, he inherited Lion’s Howl (獅子戦吼) from him, so now even beyond that, he inherits one from his actual parent, the only one that matters to him.

I know Sorey being mostly associated with the Lightning element is not a new thing; after all, both his MAs in the original game, Bolt Tempest (雷迅双豹牙) and Divine Wrath (烈震神雷牙), are for all intent and purposes Lightning-elemental anyway, they’re only Void in the game because it’s Zestiria that classifies Lightning/Light and Dark under Void... but here are some other fun stuff while we’re at it:

Kimura Ryouhei (Sorey’s JP VA) suddenly tweeting Indignation chant, which made Indignation trended on Twitter on that day too. In Tales of Memoria, years before this tweet was even made, Tales-related questions were asked to the VAs, and one of the questions was what arte they would want to use, and Kimura answered Indignation to that.

Speaking of Indignation... I’ve always wondered why Sorey’s profile in Perfect Guide has Maotelus’ crest instead of the usual Shepherd’s dragon’s crest.

In the official Chinese localization of the game, Sorey’s name is rendered 史雷, very fitting for him since it consists of the characters for “history” and “lightning” and I will always love his Chinese name for this... really unintended meaningful name.

So yeah, Lightning child Sorey. As far as Sorey is concerned, Zenrus is his parent, the one who could give him more than enough love that he couldn’t get from the father and mother he’d never had.

#tales of #tales of zestiria #mino rambles #mino talks zesty

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somefinelipstickonthatpig · 4 years

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Of Dreams and Memory Zestiria // AtlA AU // Oneshot #9

[Read on AO3]

As the gang begins to infiltrate the Fire Nation in order to save Muse, surprising revelations come to light.

tw // mentions of physical abuse

- o - o - o -

A frantic gasp shatters the silence of the fire prince’s bedchamber. Prince Sergei’s arms shake behind him, sweat beading along his brow. His chest rises and falls with every breath, entirely too warm even without a shirt to cover it; his blanket pools around his hips, also entirely too much. Instinct makes him kick his feet over the side of his bed, shoving his covers aside. His eyes dart through the shadows, but in the night, everything is still and calm. Tranquil. His balcony doors are still shut and bolted. The long curtains don’t rustle.

With a withering sigh, he hides his face in his hands.

“Just a dream,” he lies to himself. “Nothing more. No need to lose yourself over this, Sergei.”

The past is meant to remain in the past.

…and yet.

He can still recall with perfect clarity the twist of his stomach at a singular raised hand twelve years ago. Admittedly, the imprint the image had left on him has always struck him as strange. Why does such a thing affect him when he himself had fallen under the shadow of that hand so many times?

Maybe it was his tears, he thinks. Or perhaps it took finally seeing it happen to someone else to awake in me—something like empathy.

Ironic, Sergei thinks, as he uncurls and tilts back his head to his ceiling.

The canopy above his bed is the same as it has always been for so many years.

“I haven’t had that dream in a decade,” Sergei murmurs. Which leaves one more important question, as tangible as the sweat he can feel beading down his temple. It draws a thin line down from his brow to his neck.

Why now?

- o - o - o -

“Do I have to?”

Dezel’s stance doesn’t change in the slightest. His extended hand remains pressed against Sorey’s chest, frown firm on his face.

Finally, with a heavy sigh, Sorey caves. He reaches up to his ears. “But I like them.”

“And right now, those feather earrings are one of your biggest identifying factors,” Mikleo huffs. His arms cross over his chest and watches as the earrings pass from Sorey’s hands to Dezel’s. The tension in his shoulders doesn’t fall until Dezel finally pockets the earrings in Gramps’ travel bag. “If we actually want to sneak through the Fire Nation, then we need to make sure there’s no possible way anyone will recognize you. Now, for your hair.”

“First Atakk, then my earrings—now I have to take off my hair, too?!”

Mikleo rolls his eyes and play-punches Sorey’s arm. He fights the smile that wants to crawl on his face at the teasing and all-too-telling grin on Sorey’s face. “No. Idiot. We’re just wrapping your head. Word is spreading about your crazy hair. This scarf should do the trick.”

Sorey grins. “Should I be flattered? Ah, what the heck.” With one final sigh, he bows, head shoved towards Mikleo’s chest. “Might as well get it over with. Want to do me the honors?”

“I suppose.”

- o - o - o -

When Lailah hears dusty footsteps behind her, she turns and gasps widely, happily. “Why, Sorey! You’re hardly recognizable!”

“Well, I think you’re being nice, but thanks anyway!” Sorey grins cheekily. For good measure, he gives a spin. The small tail of his yellow scarf, peeking out from where it’s tucked in at the nape of his neck, bounces with the rock of his weight. “How do I look?”

“Like a true citizen of the Fire Nation!” she hums and claps her hands together.

Sorey laughs and scratches the back of his neck. “Oh, uh, you think so…?”

Lailah nods. “All of you do!”

Dezel hums and brings up the rear of their party. When he holds out Zenrus’ bag, Sorey takes it and loops it over his head gratefully. Of all, Dezel seems the most uncomfortable in the reds and deep blacks and browns of the Fire Nation jacket and pants hanging loose around his figure. “Then let us reunite with the Sparrowfeathers as quickly as possible. We should thank them for procuring us these garbs.”

Sorey looks up at Dezel, both hands wrapped around the bag strap. “You think Rose and Eguille made it into the palace okay?”

“They’re professionals, Sorey.”

“Yeah, and I know you said that before, but I still don’t fully get how that’s supposed to make me feel better.”

“It means,” Dezel hums and walks past Sorey and out of the alleyway into the street. “That it should have been obvious to you long ago that selling imports isn’t the only business the Sparrowfeathers partake in.”

Sorey still doesn’t know what to make of that.

Before he can follow his teacher out onto the street, Lailah puts a hand on his shoulder. “Sorey—listen. There’s one last thing we have to take care of before we depart. We need to change our names.”

Sorey’s eyes widen. “Everyone’s names?”

“W-well, most of the others should be fine, actually!” There’s a falter in Lailah’s voice Sorey hasn’t heard before, a hitch in speech that twists Sorey’s stomach and zeroes his attention on her, wondering if there’s something in her words he missed that he should have paid attention to. Something he should understand or know but doesn’t. “Rose and the others are from the Fire Nation already. Their names are fine. Mikleo and Dezel aren’t too obvious detractors. But you and I…well, just to be safe, we should call each other by different names until we’re out of the Fire Nation.”

“Really?” Sorey frowns. “Why? Do so many people know the Avatar’s name already…?”

“W-well—it’s—it’s just in case! You know? A precautionary measure. Yes!”

And there it is again. That wobbly uncertainty.

Sorey watches Lailah for a long moment. Lailah has always been difficult to read, always smiling even in situations when Sorey isn’t entirely certain she should smile. When finally he nods, he doesn’t miss the relieved sigh that slips out of her.

“Okay, so, we’ll go with something simple,” Lailah says, “There are many good names out there, so I’ll let you decide which one you want to use while we’re here…”

- o - o - o -

Boris doesn’t anticipate finding Sergei staring off into space at the window when he first walks in the crown prince’s quarters. At first, he turns around to duck his head out into the hall to make sure he’s walked into the right room before he turns around and observes his brother’s dazed profile.

Huh.

Perhaps he can capitalize on this.

“Looks like someone still needs sleep,” Boris begins and clasps his arms behind his back, striding forward with long, lazy steps.

Sergei blinks, jumps, and turns. The instant he sees Boris, however, whatever fright had tensed his figure just as quickly slips away. He pinches the bridge of his nose and makes a sound low in his throat. “Oh. It’s just you.”

“Just me?” Boris scoffs and places a hand over his chest. He staggers back a step. “Ugh! You wound me, brother.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

Boris laughs, but when Sergei doesn’t join in, the smile fades. He strides closer to slap a hand over Sergei’s shoulder. “Wow. You’re out of it. What, did you wake up on the wrong side of bed?”

“You could say that.”

Sergei’s voice is a quiet murmur.

It reminds Boris faintly of a barren desert. Dry and wistful, waiting for the slightest chance of rain. What a morbid comparison, he can’t help but think: to compare his brother to a lifeless ground. Boris shakes his head and squeezes Sergei’s shoulder instead. “Well, I can tell something is troubling you.”

“Of course it is,” Sergei mutters. “There’s always a great many number of things troubling me.”

Boris rolls his eyes. “Now who’s being dramatic?”

“I simply—”

It’s not the first time that Boris has seen Sergei’s eyes mist over. Sergei, for all of his stiff manners and rigid posture, has always had the more tender, weepy heart. He cries much more easily than his twin.

But it is the quickness of it, the suddenness of those wet eyes, that draws Boris up short.

“—he’s out there, Boris,” Sergei whispers tightly. “We know this, now. We know he is there. Somewhere. After all this time…and I had every opportunity to hold him again and lost it. How can such a thing make me as happy as much as it hurts me?”

Boris doesn’t need to ask who.

“Do you think he will ever know?”

He squeezes Sergei’s shoulder again. “I can’t say, brother.”

Boris doesn’t know what to make of the silence that follows. Is it mournful? Hopeful? Expectant? Or is it something else entirely?

- o - o - o -

“S—Daija! Hey! Don’t run ahead so fast!”

Sorey grins and spins around. “Ah-ah-ah! You almost slipped, Mikleo!”

“No thanks to you!” Mikleo scowls. “What are you doing, running around like you own the marketplace?”

“There’s food to eat, Mikleo! I’m starving! Plus, I haven’t had any of this stuff in like, ages, so I’m super excited to eat it again.” Sorey’s hands are tight around the bag strap over his shoulder. He’s practically running in place as he waits for Mikleo, Lailah, and Dezel to catch up. “Besides, what else are we supposed to do while we wait for Rose and Eguille? I remember there used to be these delicious roasted komodo chicken kabobs with lots of different veggies between ‘em—I don’t even remember what they were! But they were so good! I wonder if we can find some…”

Mikleo’s face tightens. “Yeah?”

“Yeah!” Sorey continues breezily. He splays a hand out, looking around at the food stalls they pass by, where fruit of various sizes and shapes sit on display. There’s a salty, savory smell in the air and Sorey breathes his lungs full of it. “Man! I haven’t eaten some of this stuff in ten years! This takes me back!”

Mikleo bites his lip. Idly, he scratches at one arm with the fingers of his opposite hand. “It does, huh…?” He catches sight of the palace walls, further down the marketplace.

Above their heads, giant banners dangle in the air, red and gleaming. Their golden trim catches the light, framing the illustriously painted silhouette of a bearded, fire-crowned man who Mikleo has no doubt is Fire Lord Heldalf himself.

And with that face literally hanging over us, still he smiles?

“Is that…a good thing?” Mikleo hedges.

Sorey jerks around. His green eyes stretch wide. “Huh?”

Suddenly, it’s very hard for Mikleo to meet those eyes. He crosses his arms around his middle. “I mean…you never…”

What am I trying to say here?

“You never talked a lot about what life was like for you in the Fire Nation before you and Gramps came to the South Pole. So I guess I always thought you hated it. Or you didn’t remember it.” And maybe, some part of a very young and impressionable Mikleo had enjoyed being able to be part of a positive change in a friend’s life and took pride, even, in the possibility that his home was the better home for Sorey. “Was I wrong?”

“What?” Sorey blinks and shakes his head quickly. “No! I—”

Sharply, Sorey looks away, too.

Mikleo watches him for a long moment. His chest twinges. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it’s okay. You’re right.” Sorey shrugs but there’s something in his eyes that is far-away as if trying to recall something that he’s long forgotten. “I don’t remember everything, but what I do remember from over ten years ago isn’t…that great. I guess I just didn’t want to think about those parts. Y’know?”

Mikleo steps closer. He squeezes Sorey’s hand. “Yeah.”

Sorey smiles.

Mikleo tilts his head. “So…can I ask…?”

“Ask what?”

“About what you do remember?”

Sorey hitches a breath and looks away. “Uh—well, I—”

“It’s the Fire Lord!”

“Fire Lord Heldalf!”

“He’s coming!”

Sharply, immediately, a commotion breaks out further down the street. Sorey and Mikleo share one look and jerk back as a procession clears the way, quick to hide behind the thinning edge of the crowd as a palanquin approaches. Mikleo holds tight to Sorey, as an ornate, golden palanquin is carried down the center of the street.

It’s plush, regal. Upholstered with only the finest satin and cotton. The heavy, dark curtains are pulled back with golden ropes, and through the posts, and holes in the honeycomb half-walls, the stern, wide profile of the Fire Lord can be seen, his thick, dark beard curling over his chest.

“Make way for Fire Lord Heldalf!” the attendants ahead of the palanquin shout, their backs straight and rigid, arms extended.

“Daija!” Lailah’s voice calls from far away, a worried note in her pitch.

Oh.

Time might have stopped.

Maybe it did.

About what you do remember, Mikleo had asked.

“I—”

The Fire Lord doesn’t glance at them. Nothing in his stern countenance shifts as his palanquin is carried by. The frown on his square face doesn’t budge; his eyes stare at nothing. Perhaps they are nothing to him; all of them.

But for just a moment, he is closer than he has been in ten years.

And it is enough.

Mikleo squeezes his hand. “Daija?”

The palanquin has passed.

Sorey blinks once, twice, and thinks he can remember plenty. “I know that face.”

“What?”

“I know—”

A raised voice out of an angry face. There were always so many lines digging into the skin high above the man’s brow and around his mouth. It had always looked as if his face had been distorted, every time he would spit, No true son of mine would ever turn out to be a lowly nonbender—and it hurt, it hurt, so much that all Sorey could think of at the time to say over and over again, prostrating himself, was, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Dad—

“Bergs!”

Sorey stumbles back.

Mikleo clasps his hands around his arms, eyes wide. A pale moonface flooding his vision. “So—Daija! Are you okay?! What’s wrong?”

Sorey raises his eyes. Immediately, Lailah and Dezel are there, squeezing closer through the massive press of people around them. Her hands flutter towards him first before threading together in front of her stomach, shaking. Her fingers are clutched so tightly, her skin burns a brighter, pallid white.

“I think…” the Fire Sage says quietly and slowly, “…we should find a place to sit.”

- o - o - o -

The door opens with a creak, loud enough to break Sergei out of his reverie. He lifts his head from his fist as a young soldier strides in and respectfully bows. His eyes dart down to the reports and maps scattered across the table in front of him that he hasn’t been paying attention to all morning.

What will Father say when he knows what little work I’ve managed to finish?

With a tight wince, Sergei rubs his forehead.

The soldier remains bowed even as her voice—unfamiliar to him—rings out: “A message for you, Crown Prince.”

“Oh?” Sergei waves her forward. “I won’t ask who it’s from. It’s undoubtedly Father again with another matter he wants me to address while he’s out. Bring it here, then.”

As she steps forward with the scroll held out, Sergei takes a glance up and takes in the strange, unfitting way the uniform falls over the young woman’s form. She’s short; the armor looks like it would have fit better on someone two sizes taller.

“Are you a new recruit?” he asks as he takes the extended scroll.

The soldier ducks her head. “Yes. I’ve not yet been in the service for two weeks, your highness.”

“Mm.” Sergei nods. That explains it. His fingers catch on the edge of the scroll as he begins to distractedly unroll it. “When you can, inform your superior officer that the Crown Prince approves of you being fitted for more comfortable armor. I’d hate for you to be encumbered thusly by ill-fitting attire and unable to perform your duties.”

“Oh—” The soldier flounders for a second, her mouth flapping uselessly. Not for the first time, Sergei finds he hates the Fire Nation helmets that obscure half of every soldier’s face. A strand of red hair tickles her cheek, peeking out beneath the cover of her helmet. “Thank you, sir.”

Sergei nods and lifts a hand. “Dismissed.”

For a woman wearing armor much too large for her, she does not haste in making her departure.

The scroll unrolls quickly in Sergei’s hands. His eyes fall upon the end first—a habit he has always had since he was a child, eager to see who sent the message before reading its contents—but as soon as he sees the name Sorey in scratchy, misshapen letters, inked at the bottom, he freezes.

He jerks up so fast, his knees catching on the edge of his table, nearly upending it and spilling papers and figures and quills to the floor. With little care for anything that has fallen, Sergei launches himself to the door and opens it wide.

“Wait!” he shouts into the hallway.

Only the men already standing guard jerk to attention.

Even when they search the entire palace, the redheaded soldier with the too-big armor is nowhere to be seen.

- o - o - o -

Sorey sits on a large wooden shipping box, his back to a stone wall, holding his face in his hands. He hasn’t moved for several moments, bent and silent. Mikleo hovers at his shoulder, violet eyes traveling over the other faces of their small party as they wait. For a moment, he wonders if he’s the only one who missed what had transpired on the street. Lailah and Dezel’s faces both are unreadable: Lailah’s pinched and Dezel’s frowning.

“Are…you all right, Sorey?” Mikleo murmurs.

Sorey sighs tightly.

“You remember now, don’t you?” Lailah says quietly.

Sorey doesn’t answer.

“I must admit, when I first met you, I had thought it strange you acted like you didn’t know at all, but…I don’t know. I figured you were young. Perhaps you forgot. Memory can be a fickle thing.”

“Remember what?” Mikleo asks. “What is it he’s supposed to remember?”

Finally, for the first time in several minutes, he speaks—and when he does, it’s defeated. Quiet. “That I’m a Fire Prince.”

Mikleo freezes. “You…” He spins on Sorey, body numb. “Wait, what?”

Sorey’s fingers press hard into his eyes before his hands fall.

This time, when he says it, he meets Mikleo’s gaze head on. “I’m a Fire Prince, Mikleo. Crown Prince Sergei and Fire Prince Boris, they’re my brothers. And Fire Lord Heldalf…I…he’s…he’s my father.”

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kaiser-dracon · 4 years

Text

Sure Promise and the first chapter of Alternative Zestiria The X sneak peek

~Sure Promise~

Pendragon Castle, The Era of Chaos

Alisha Diphda, the princess of the Hyland Empire, sitting on a bench in the garden, was waiting impatiently for Shepherd Sorey and her friends to come back from Rolance. Alisha set down the book of her ancestry and leaned her head against her arm, smiling a little to herself as sunlight warmed her face through the leaves.

“Princess!”

Alisha raised her head and saw her friend, Sirel, putting down a cup of hot coffee in front of her. Sirel brushed a hand over her short black hair, and her blue eyes glanced amusingly over Alisha. “What has gotten into you today, princess? You’re so spacy!”

Alisha shook her head slightly and closed the book. “Sorry, I was just… lost in thought.”

Sirel leaned forward, squinting at the old leather-bound journal that Alisha was reading. “Is it the Diphda ancestry records that lady Maltran gave you?”

“Yes.”

“How far back do these records go?” Sirel asked.

“Not much. The rest goes into legends way before our time, but then it is not enough for me.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Alisha took a sip from her cup. “I have received Sorey’s message… and I really want to know my family’s connection to the Shepherds.” Alisha put a hand on her warm cheeks as she blushed, lost in her dream. “Thinking about my ancestors were Shepherds and heroes. It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Sirel locked her hands behind her head, pursing her lips. “You certainly let these things get to you…”

Alisha shook her head, and her dreamy face reverted. “No, I’m not! I’m just admiring them…Whoever they were.” Alisha recalled no traces of them in her family’s records, and gloom flitted behind her eyes. Alisha sighed and turned to Sirel. “Any news of lady Maltran?”

“No, I couldn’t find her. She is probably doing her daily inspection of the barracks.” Sirel suggested, “Today’s going to be a breeze though as usual, no sweat. Even without lady Maltran around.”

Sirel grinned before turning her attention toward someone approaching the as Alisha took another sip of her coffee and relaxed. “Oh god, would you look at that?”

Alisha turned to look at the direction Sirel was talking about. She recognized the red-headed Ian, one of her guards and the close friend of Sirel, pacing to their side from the castle. “Look at that hair. Fashion tragedy at twelve o’clock.” Sirel mockingly said.

Alisha groaned to herself, narrowing her eyes at Sirel. “If you can’t say something nice…”

“Princess… be fair! Look at those bangs! Who could say something nice about that?”

Alisha crossed her arms and leveled a scolding glare with Sirel. “You could if you tried.”

Sirel rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Okay. At least her uniform is neat, I guess.”

Ian noticed Sirel’s up-to-no-good gaze as she joined them. “Was she bad mouthing me again?”

Sirel grumbled to herself, her brow furrowed. It made Alisha smile. “No, it was nothing. Sirel is just having some adjustment in her view of others.”

Ian sighed, eyeing Sirel suspiciously. “Shepherd Sorey has arrived. They’re in the castle, waiting for you.”

Alisha scrambled from her seat. “Really?!” She beamed and rushed towards the palace. Sirel and Ian trailed behind her.

“Slow down, princess!” Ian said.

But she was already bounding away down the corridor as they entered the castle and the giant double doors. Alisha steeled herself before pushing them open in a hurry. They slopped into the guest hall, illuminated dimly by the light that shone through stained glass windows. Alisha caught a glimpse of Sorey, Mikleo, Rose, and Lailah, waiting for her. Their heads swiveled in Alisha’s direction.

“Hey, Alisha!” Sorey waved her over, and she hurriedly paced towards him.

In his letter, Sorey reported that their mission in Rolance was successful; the city was returned to normal. With bearing the news from Emperor Dorian, the day couldn’t get better for princess Alisha…

Out of the blue, the palace began to shook, and chandeliers swung left and right. Alisha and Sorey both stopped, their eyes widening. Sorey suddenly clenched his chest and clawed where the heart was. “Ngh! No!”

Alisha’s eyes fell on his twisted face. “What is going on?!”

Mikleo rushed to his side, holding his arm and pulling Sorey up. “Sorey! What is it?!”

Lailah scrambled to join Mikleo and Sorey but then glowed to her spot, whipping her hand toward the main door, fear flitted behind her bright eyes. “This can’t be...It’s…!”

Alisha followed her gaze. She gasped as the doors heaved inward and exploded in a fiery blast. Alisha covered her face and braced herself. The burst wave hit her body and threw her over to the other side, debris raining down all around her. Alisha struggled to get up and saw several soldiers and guards staggered from the smoke. One of the castle guards held himself against the wall with one arm. “Someone… help.”

Another fully armored guard fell to his knees in the middle of all broken woods and stones, mumbling. “Please…”

Alisha’s senses heightened and quickly sobered, focusing. She called out in a voice, striding and hardened. “Everyone! Get back to the halls and assume defensive positions!”

Sirel and Ian struggled to their feet, stepping forward, and knees shaking as they fought back the shockwave’s dizziness. “Princess, what are your orders?” Sirel asked vigilantly.

Alisha gestured over the wounded soldiers staggering in the smoke. “Take the wounded out, and look out for any signs of intruders!”

Sorey and the rest join Alisha. He was still clutching his chest, but his expression was now collected. “Alisha, order your men out of here.” He suggested.

“What is it? Malevolence? Why we didn’t sense it sooner?” Alisha asked, eyes searching for the enemy amid the chaos. But there was none.

The worst part, the Shepherd, was unsure of himself. Sorey turned to Lailah, and she shook her head slightly.

Alisha’s glance shifted back and forth between Sorey and Lailah. “Hellions?”

Sorey nodded skeptically. “Yes… but we need to get you out of here.”

Alisha instantly frowned, “Getting me out of here?” She strengthened her posture firmly. “I’m not leaving my men behind.”

Sorey agreed with her and whipped his sword. “Then, we’ll protect you…” His bond with Lailah surged up, and he raised his sword skyward. “Fethmus Mioma!”

The transformation illuminated the area around them. But over Sorey’s shoulder, something caught Alisha’s eye. In the dark corner behind a column, she saw a smudge or a shadow, settling down in the dark. Alisha looked around, but it seems she is the only one who noticed it. She stepped closer to the back. The shadow pulsed, it grew, and she tilted her head even closer.

Sorey whipped his head alarmingly at Alisha, sensing the dark corruption building up. “Alisha!”

The shadowy figure turned a violent shade of red! An opening appeared below its two hollow eyes as it let out an angry hiss. It launched itself at her, sending Alisha reeling. She tripped over her own feet, falling backward as the hellion sprang. Sorey scrambled and slashed his sword at the hellion, sending a wave of fiery magic. The creature sensed the attack and split into two. The arte missed the hellion as it flew between the wide gap. It connected instantly and threw a large claw as its dark nails extended. Sorey put up a firm guard, and the attacked bounced off.

As Sorey and the hellion were at each other, a strange voice whispered to Alisha from the shadow. “Hey, pssst! Miss. Alisha!”

The princess whirled her head alarmingly at the source. She scrutinized into the dark and could make a small creature, the same size as a normin and wearing a large hat, was talking to her. “I’m here to help!” He whispered and tossed something. Alisha caught it as she opened her fingers. It appeared to be a necklace with emerald stone, the same color as her eyes, was in the middle. “What is…”

Alisha raised her head and the small figure was gone.

“Watch out!” Sorey’s shout pulled her back to reality as the hellion pounced at her from behind.

Alisha quickly rolled out of the way, throwing up her arm guard to keep it off. Suddenly, a bright beam, golden as the sun, shot from her palm where she held the necklace, blasting right through the hellion’s middle.

Alisha gasped as her eyes widened. “How…?!”

Even though the light had faded, her palm still glowed warmly. The hellions had been reduced to nothing. She opened her hand to feel the energy humming inside of her, and instantly Alisha knew it had been there all along.

Somewhere under the surface. Somewhere secret.

Sorey and the rest watched her in wonder. As soon as Alisha’s own baffling gaze clung with Sorey’s, she sensed that he wasn’t surprised like the others.

“Sorey… What is happening to me?” Alisha asked.

The Shepherd turned to the exit door and extended his hand. “First, let’s get out of here. Then I’ll explain…”

Sorey cut himself off and whirled to his back. Alisha’s new senses picked up a mighty and distant power rushed to them all.

“A Domain!” Sorey shouted, and a dark wave instantly swept all over them.

Alisha cupped her hands over her ears as her eardrums battered by the magical surge. Alisha struggled to look at her friends. She saw Sorey had been reverted back with Lailah falling on her knees. Sorey raised on his feet but his body began to flicker. Mikleo raised his hands and gazed over them in shock. “Sorey… our magic!”

Their water arte surged, and the water spouting out of a small fountain nearby turned into a high-pressure flood. “It’s out of control!” Mikleo yelled.

The hinges on the doors began to rattle before they shatter and break off. The flames along the walls flared, and water started floating the hall.

Sorey winced in pain as his magic burst from him, out of control. Flame artes ricocheted off the walls, and the rest dived to the floor to avoid getting hit.

“Sorey! What are you doing?!” Alisha demanded.

Sorey twitched in pain. “I don’t know! I can’t control my--”

A gust of wind exploded from his body, sending Sirel and Ian flying down the hall. A statue bust slammed into Sirel’s head and she was knocked unconscious. Sorey’s power raged uncontrollably. His fire magic flared up, blinding Alisha.

She stroked her eyes, and her vision snapped back into focus. Sorey’s magic was flaring in a visible aura around him. Mikleo caught Sorey’s shaking body and turned to Lailah. “What the hell is happening to him? How do we stop this?”

Bere Lailah could respond, flagstones tore themselves out of the walls, and whizzed over their heads like bullets. Lailah cast the flagstones aside and gestured her arms at Sorey and he was wrapped in a shield. His powers momentarily contained, but the Seraphim magic continued to spark around him.

Alisha watched Sorey in dread as he twitches around, groaning in anodizing pain. Then as Mikleo and Lailah reached to him again, over their shoulders, a lonely, tall shadow marched toward them. Alisha squinted her eyes and saw a tall man, all dressed in dark, smirking and raising an arm toward them. Alisha’s screamed, warning her friends, but it was too late as dark magic burst out of his hand and surged at them.

Her head spun. Alisha felt her body hit the hard ground, but she could barely saw anything. Faintly, the sounds of glass shattering, wood creaking, and artes firing all around reaching her ears.

“Sorey…” Alisha mumbled, but suddenly, soothing magic like a healing spell twirled around her soul. Calm washed over her, and as the pain receded, relief flood over her senses. A small figure, the same Normin from before, loomed into view above her, staring down at her with a worried gaze.

“Miss Alisha! We need to go!”

#fanfiction #talesofzestiria #toz #Alisha Diphda

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mewnia · 5 years

Text

ARD Final Post!

Okay!! So!! I will tell you what I had planned for the rest of the story. Now, the last pages we ended on were these ones. I’ve said before we only have 1/3 of the story left. So yes, everything will end in this post.

From here on will be the last chapter!

So we find Tainted’s true motive with this update. You guys were getting too comfortable with him and were dismissing all that happened at the beginning :P And this update was supposed to pull you right back to the thought of “Oh right, Tainted’s still... Tainted.”

Of course this motive upsets Mikleo. To destroy the timeline he lives in would destroy the Sorey he loves and all his friends, and even millions of innocent lives. All of the effort they went through in the game would be for naught, and he expresses all of this to Tainted very clearly.

Tainted falters for a second before smiling that “I’m totally innocent” smile and brushes off all of Mikleo’s concerns. “Oh, you’ll be fine! You will still be alive! And I’ll have you in my life again! Now come on, let’s get to the capital and start some fires.”

Mikleo refuses Tainted a second time in this comic. This hurts Tainted and makes something snap inside him. Because like we saw when he first showed up and with Alisha, he hates being denied. Especially since he thinks he’s in the right and “why is no one seeming to understand that I’m trying to save them?!”

From here Mikleo starts pointing out more reasons why he wouldn’t go with him. He repeats his scolding at the first refusal, his scolding when he woke up, and retelling his concerns. Tainted’s horns start growing back, his face starts cracking, and his hands are back to being claws. And he lunges like he did before.

But then Sorey suddenly drops out of the sky slamming directly into Tainted, stopping the charge (unintentionally). Because this is a sudden shock and blow to Tainted, he’s dizzy and unmoving on the ground. Sorey takes a second to take in his surroundings and registers that he’s pinning his other self down. And once he catches sight of Mikleo he smiles with relief “Mikleo!!” and immediately gets off to run over to him.

While he’s swarming Mikleo with questions about his wellbeing and “you wouldn’t believe where I just went-” Lailah also drops out of the sky into Tainted. She’s beaming! She’s so happy! Mikleo points this out to her and asks why. To which she responds “I just feel so alive!” and we get a flashback of:

I was so looking forward to this scene you guys have no idea. It just helps to lighten the mood for a little bit. We can’t be all broody for too long!! It makes me smile when I think about how it must have looked for Wilt. Like, right after Lailah says “Abrada-cobra” she goes *poof!* which leaves behind a bewildered Wilt and it’s like Sorey and Lailah were never there at all.

But anyway, back on track the comic goes and Rose, Edna, and Zavied pop out of the bushes not too far away but still a fair distance. “Thank the gods you popped out of the sky at the right time! We suddenly felt the malevolence around your Tainted self thicken and ran as fast as we could into the domain!”

“Thicken?” Sorey repeats back and everyone moves their attention to Tainted who’s pushing himself up from the ground. Dark mass is swirling him as he growls. Once he finally gets to his feet, his face is cracking apart and his horns are fully grown. He’s a pissed boy.

And here are some references I made with Tainted’s final form!

He’s a goat hellion :P Since goats are seen as the demon versions of sheep and all.

But anyway he’s pissed.

Then I was planning a whole fight scene where Tainted is aiming to kill everyone except for Mikleo. Oh I would love to draw an official art piece where it’s the water armatus vs Tainted’s final form. Blue against red?? It would be so pretty!

But like all final battles, there’s always that one moment where the boss has the heroes pinned in the corner with no hope of winning. Everyone’s exhausted, Tainted’s smirking. “Let’s get rid of the one who started this mess.” And he grabs Sorey by the neck much like Heldalf does in the game.

Hold for dramatic effect. Tainted starts channeling a very powerful Lion’s Howl and Mikleo, with little strength he has left, dashes up from the ground and wraps his arms around Tainted’s arm to prevent him from moving it into Sorey.

This makes Tainted falter, the blue light emitting from his fist flickering as he pulls against Mikleo. “Why can’t you just let me do this for you?! For me?!”

“Because you know you’re wrong!”

Tainted’s guard goes down as he stares at Mikleo pulling on his arm. He’s wrong? Does he really know he’s wrong?

And just as he goes to reply, a dagger suddenly shoots down from the sky into his arm holding Sorey. Tainted shouts in pain, letting go of Sorey and pulling away from Mikleo. Then two figures land next to them. And they’re very familiar!

Now the second half of the boss fight starts with the inclusion of Wilt and Alisha. And Tainted, now that Mikleo’s told him that he knows he’s wrong... Isn’t as focused as they fight.

The fighting goes on until Tainted seems to be backing down, and Lailah looks to Sorey.

“There’s too much malevolence. He can’t be purified, Sorey...”

Wilt walks up and puts her hand on Sorey’s shoulder, “While he’s down..”

It becomes very quiet. Sorey’s eyes linger on Tainted’s crouched form before looking Wilt in the eyes.

And then Rose puts her hand on his other shoulder, joined by Mikleo and the others gathering behind him. Sorey grips his sword, holding Mikleo’s hand as he walks over to Tainted who’s crouched on the ground.

He doesn’t bother to look up. Instead he sits back and rests his head against the tree, letting out a long sigh.

“Finally... I don’t have to start over, again...”

Sorey and Mikleo both take hold of Sorey’s sword and mutter their apologies before plunging it into Tainted’s chest. And the beast that was once sitting against the tree becomes human.

Tainted looks up to meet Mikleo’s gaze. He’s tired. He’s so so tired... But using the last of his conscious strength he smiles. And says “Thank you.” Before finally falling asleep for the first and last time in so long.

So the final battle ends. Wilt and Alisha walk up to Sorey, saying their apologies and thanks. Alisha giving a goodbye hug and Wilt patting Sorey on the back. “It felt good to do one final battle by your side.” And the two girls pick up Tainted’s body before being engulfed in wind and green light, disappearing for good.

Our team can finally relax. The malevolence Tainted brought slowly starts to disappear. The sun rises over the mountains behind them. It’s been a very long night.

Sorey picks up his sword and sheathes it, going back to holding Mikleo’s hand. Only Mikleo seems to hold tighter than he usually does.

“Don’t ever knock me unconscious.”

Sorey laughs softly, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

And everything continues the way it should.

#A Repeating Darkness #Tales Of Zestiria #Tainted!AU #Tainted!Sorey #Sormik #death #comic sketches #comic #ARD ending #and that’s the end #it didn’t help that I was listening to It’s Quiet Uptown while writing out his death #I was crying while writing that last part #if You have any questions #i’m Willing to answer!#mewnia's pawprints

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