(Untitled)

[joylesslife]

[A regally-dressed woman stands, wavering, in the center of the lobby, which has transformed into a very plush mansion with high windows that look out into different worlds. Her white shawl and dress are stained with blood, but she doesn't appear to be injured. She inspects herself, then looks around.

In a deceivingly sweet voice:] Zelos, you can

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[winningside]

[Oh, dear Goddess.

Or...whoever.

He knows that voice. He knows that voice, even after the better part of twenty years, he could never forget, not for a moment.

Feeling sick, but trying not to shake, he steps into the room quietly.]

...Mom?

[joylesslife]

[She lets go of another curtain and turns. The red hair shocks her, but she doesn't recognize him otherwise. The looks she gives him is terribly cold and terribly familiar.]

Who are you?

[winningside]

[She doesn't recognize him. Of course she doesn't - she died when he was a kid. She still expects him to be eight.]

It's me, Mom. ...It's Zelos.

[joylesslife]

[Her eyebrows go up, and she feels her blood run a little cold, and then-- she's reaching for a knife sitting on another tray nearby, clutching it like it'll save her. Her voice cracks, but then she finds her control again.]

Is this some kind of joke? My son is still a child. Myara! Sebastian! Someone clear away this... this...

[Goddess, he really does look just like her. And him. She can't help but think of /him/ when she sees that unruly hair, and-- no, it's not right. It can't be.]

... You're dead. You must be dead.

[winningside]

[...why would she think he was dead? Not that he didn't come close once or twice, but...]

...It's gonna suck for you to hear this, but...you died. When I was eight. [He nods at the blood on her dress.] ...I'm twenty-two now.

[joylesslife]

[Because she's dead too. There's no logical explanation for being able to see her grown son except that he must've died too, and they're stuck in Purgatory together. Or something.

It made sense to Mylene, anyway. She can't stand to look at him longer than five seconds, seen in the way she turns away dismissively after ascertaining the differences between Zelos and the man she married. And the child she put up with for a few years.]

... So you lived.

[She doesn't say anything for a good, long minute. When she speaks again, she's trying to keep her control still, but her voice is small and flat and trying not to tremble. Her words are as sharp as always, though.]

What does the Chosen want with me now?

[winningside]

...I heard you calling out. [He really has no more idea what's going on than she does, but it hurts to hear her talk about him that way.]

Things have changed, Mom. I helped...I helped to make a world where it'll never have to happen again. That title...it doesn't mean much of anything now. I'll never have to pass it on, the world doesn't need Chosen Ones anymore.

I'm just Zelos now.

[joylesslife]

[What did he expect? For her to welcome him with open arms? Looking at him hurts, too. So he lived. Great. Wonderful. She doesn't give a damn. She's dead now, and talking to him won't change that fact. Her entire life is gone, and she will never have anything she wants...

Wait, what?]

... You abolished the Chosen system? [There ought to be something warmer in her smile, but it's not there, and it probably never will be.] Now I know I'm dead. How could you ever manage to undo centuries of tradition?

[winningside]

[That stings, but he deserved that much. He carries on in spite of her disbelief.]

Well, obviously I didn't do it alone. But I helped. It's over, the Great Tree is reborn and all that - remember those old fairy tales? Turns out some of them were true. As long as we take care of it, the world's never going to run out of mana again, and I'm going to make sure it stays alive this time.

[joylesslife]

[She fixates that similar violet-eyed stare on him, but hers is cold and disbelieving. Then again that's sort of her default expression.]

I didn't think it could be done. The suffering I felt... I wasn't the first person who'd been forced to give her life to the Church this way.

It'll never happen again?

[winningside]

[He nods, as serious as anyone's ever seen him...ever.]

I promise.

[joylesslife]

[Her long nails dig into her palms as she looks at him. If she's dead, then why does she feel so alive? There's a certain heaviness in her chest, and it's like... it's like...

She wants to believe. She's always wanted to believe that there was some noble duty to the whole thing. But what did she get in return? Mylene never got what she wanted, and that fact haunted her to the grave. It made her selfish, sure, but there were other reasons she ignored her only child.]

You promise...?

[There's definitely a streak of naivete about him. Her coldness struggles to separate her from who is truly, undeniably her own flesh and blood. She steps closer, trembling fingers lifting from her shawl to his face.]

[winningside]

[He holds still, eyes wide, willing himself not to flinch away because it might not be a slap. For once in his life, he feels like he might have actually done something to really deserve a little affection from his mother, and that grants him the faint hope of actually getting it.

So he holds still, throat tightening with painful anticipation, fighting to keep tears from pooling in his eyes.]

[joylesslife]

I knew that someday you would be taken from me.

[There's dried blood underneath her nails now, but she doesn't care. She's unclean. Isn't that how it always is? It doesn't stop her from brushing some loose red hair out of his face.]

When your father left me, I knew that someday you would do the same thing. There was no point in being close to my child, since technically he belonged to the Church. They could do with him whatever they wanted.

[She lowers her eyes and sees the crest.]

Why do you still call me your mother? Do you even know what that word means?

[winningside]

[He takes a deep, shaking breath, and another, his eyes sliding closed in an effort to hold back the tears long enough to respond to her query.]

Of course I do. ...You're the one who was there. Dad was never around much even before he went and killed himself. But you stayed, even though it hurt. Even though I ruined your life...you didn't leave. Until you died, and that was my fault anyway...

[His voice trails off, unable to go on. A little belatedly, he reaches up to cover her hand with his own. It's strange, that it's so small now, that he's gotten taller than her.]

[joylesslife]

[She stares at his hand, then looks up at his eyes. It's funny looking up at him, because her first instinct is to recoil. After all, her so-called husband...

Ugh. She looks away and sighs, but doesn't remove her hand.]

You did something with your life. I could have done so much more... but I didn't. I'm dead and cold and undeserving, as it should be...

You deserved better. If we were not who we were, I would have given you better.