Game
by Jargonelle

Game (noun):
1. An activity engaged in for amusement.
2. A form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules.
9. A secret plan or trick.
10. Wild mammals or birds hunted for sport or food.
Game (adjective):
1. Eager and willing to do something new or challenging.
- Concise Oxford Dictionary

Summary: 'It has been a while since Genis has played a game of chase this fun, since Lloyd was too quick and Colette too prone to falling over for a game in Iselia to ever last long.' Genis and Mithos fic.

Spoilers: The two lines dialogue in the last section is lifted directly from 'the' scene at Altessa's. General Zelos spoilers beyond that.

A/N: Italics represent dream sequences, for the most part.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia and am making no money from this.

…..

Genis hurries towards the city, alone.

It is dark and he is cold, and every so often he hears the ominous thud of footsteps.

If he stops, which he does not do, not any more, they get louder, faster, martial. So long as he keeps moving, they do not seem to keep up with him.

His breaths come faster now, from stress, from fear, from the physical exertion.

He does not believe he will make it.

…..

When Genis wakes, he is startled to find his head resting in Mithos' lap, Mithos' hand gently stroking his hair, the warmth of Mithos' body sheltering him from the wind. It is a nice surprise though.

He sits up, and automatically checks for Raine, who meets his smile with a guarded one of her own, her eyes still on him when he eventually turns away.

"Good morning, Genis," Mithos says, once he has Genis' full attention and he holds it, captures it for a few moments so that Genis forgets to worry about Raine's distance. "I hope your nightmares weren't too bad. I… er… I tried to wake you, but then you seemed to settle down when I held you."

Genis cringes, afraid that his new friend has already discovered what a coward he is. "Thank you," he says, embarrassed, "but you didn't need to do that. Don't you-"

"I like doing it." Mithos' tone is certain, if a little strained, and his use of the present tense fills Genis with hope that maybe, possibly, he might want to do it again.

"But didn't I keep you awake?"

Mithos lowers his eyes and fidgets, reluctant. "I haven't been sleeping much since Ozette…"

Genis does not know how to react to that, not really, so he whispers that he is sorry and tentatively touches Mithos' arm, in what he prays is a sympathetic gesture.

His prayers are answered when Mithos smiles and returns it.

…..

It has been a while since Genis has played a game of chase this fun, since Lloyd was too quick and Colette too prone to falling over for a game in Iselia to ever last long.

Palmacosta is a great place to play, with wide, open spaces, as well as the smaller side streets, and if the people mind, then they do not say anything; probably, Genis thinks, because Mithos looks too much like the Chosen from a distance.

He runs as fast as he can, his breathing quick from exhilaration. He runs and runs until he realises that he has left Mithos behind, and so he slows down, stops for a few seconds even. Mithos likes to win and Genis wants Mithos to be happy: besides Genis considers the game to be fairer when the participants are not miles apart from each other.

In the end, he lets Mithos catch him.

Mithos throws his arms around Genis, trapping him close to his chest. "Don't think you can ever get away from me."

Genis laughs, because that was what Lloyd always used to say and he is glad that he and Mithos have that shared experience too.

…..

It is daytime now, but he is no closer to the city than when he started.

He turns around to check that he is not imagining it, but it is true: he has not been moving, or at least, he has left no footprints.

The sun glares off the bright desert sand; it is menacing and it hurts his eyes. He sinks to his knees and the footsteps get louder, faster and gain a soulless rhythm.

He realises he is not kneeling upon sand anymore, but upon bones, powdered and then scattered to the wind. Forgotten.

…..

Genis preferred it when Mithos did not have a Rheaird of his own.

Not fond of flying anyway, Genis misses having Mithos tucked behind him, arms wrapped tighter around him than was strictly necessary. It made him feel secure.

Mithos would hunch over and talk in Genis' ear, stories for him and him alone. Now they have to yell across at each other, conversations that the others can hear and it is just not the same.

Maybe, once they take Mithos' Rheaird back to the Renegades, Genis will like flying again.

He feels awful though, for breaking Mithos' flute.

…..

Mithos likes to play tricks on Zelos.

Small things, mainly, like rearranging his belongings when he is not looking, but it is enough for Genis to notice. He also notices that Zelos does his best not to react, whereas Genis was certain that he would not get off so lightly if he tried the same things.

"Why Zelos?" he asks, after Mithos had tied a lock of Zelos' hair to a bedpost, firmly, whilst the Chosen had been sleeping. "Why anyone?"

"I don't trust him." Mithos seems to find it amusing that anyone would.

"I didn't at first," Genis starts, "but now I have got to know him I don't think he's that-"

"I trust you though. Do you trust me?"

Sometimes Mithos is so incredibly desperate for reassurance that Genis cannot help but worry about him. "Of course I do," he answers, "and we'll be friends forever."

"Forever is a long time," Mithos replies bitterly, as if he has heard that line before.

…..

He was there, and then suddenly he was not.

The footsteps got closer and louder and more painful, until they were the only things he could focus on, the only thing that mattered. Genis was scared, curled up the smallest he could be, shaking.

Then they became light.

It caressed him, swirled about him, and carried him to the city gates.

He is there now, amazed, wondering why he was ever foolish enough to run from that which only wished to save him.

The people of the city shut their gates to him, afraid.

…..

"Something wrong with the kid?" Zelos asks Raine one day, considering her the group's best hope of figuring Mithos' secret out for themselves.

Raine shakes her head and Zelos sees the proud smile of a parent flicker on her face, the smile that was never directed at him. "It was about time Genis had a friend like Mithos."

"Hey, hunny, now that's a change of heart."

"After Kratos… I guess I've just been too suspicious."

Zelos would have laughed at the irony, had it all not been so tragic and close to his heart.

"Genis, he's growing up. He doesn't need me as much as he used to do. I know it's a good thing, natural, but it's hard to accept."

"Well I can definitely think of one good thing that has come out of it," Zelos says, deliberately sly, since he has always found that the best way to cheer someone up was to make them feel something, anything, other than depression.

"And what would that be?"

"It gives us more time alone, Professor," and he puts a hand on her, comforting at first, but sliding into an inappropriate position when she initially does not react.

The slap he receives lets him know when he has succeeded. Yet the price of victory seems untenably high these days.

…..

They sit beside each other, outside Altessa's house, throwing small stones into a barrel.

They are both pretty good at it actually; Genis reckons it involves the same hand-to-eye coordination skills that the kendama does, so it is not really a competition, more a private exhibition of their talents.

One particularly flamboyant shot of Mithos' defies gravity before entering the barrel at such a high speed that it topples over.

"That's cheating," he says.

"I didn't know that there were any rules."

Genis wonders why Mithos never mentioned he could use magic and also if it would be polite to ask him about it. He does not want to offend Mithos ever.

Fortunately Mithos knows him well enough to answer the question without him saying a word.

"I learnt enough to protect myself, that's all," Mithos says, earnestly leaning towards him. "You won't tell the others, will you?"

"Of course not." Genis likes that Mithos tells him things he does not tell anyone else, it makes him feel special, and needed.

Mithos smiles conspiratorially and then Genis finds himself floating, a few centimetres off the ground.

Genis is impressed.

…..

The city is destroyed now.

Genis just stands there, horrified. He was only angry for a moment, he did not mean to for everyone to die, trapped inside the gates that they would not let him through. He hates humans - yes, no, sometimes, some of them, most of them – but this was more than they deserved.

He thinks of Ozette, of how the people treated Presea yet how she mourned them anyway… Then he thinks of Mithos.

…..

Mithos asks him once, what he would do if he had the power to do anything.

"Reunite the worlds, I guess. Make a place where everyone could live."

"I know what Lloyd would do," Mithos says, irritable, "but what about you?"

"Er…" Genis shrugs; he would not want the power. He is not sure that what they are currently doing is the right thing, but it is better, he thinks, than the alternatives. "What would you do, Mithos?"

"I'd bring back my sister," he says, without hesitation, and Genis feels ashamed for even asking.

"Would you… would you like to tell me about her?"

"Yes," Mithos says, "but I can't. Not yet."

Genis leaves it at that.

…..

"Mithos, so it's true!"

… and this time, he does not get to wake up.

…..

THE END