vatheon | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Zelda and Zelos/later Zelos and Lloyd
Where: Ordo 3/Lloyd's place
When: Backdated to the 25th, after speaking with Link over the SFC
Status: Closed

Zelda isn't even one hundred percent sure of where she's going once she puts down the SFC. Hylia. A goddess. She's always felt responsible for everything that happened to Hyrule, but if this is the case... she held more responsibility than even she had ever thought. She lays on the bed facedown and hugs a pillow tightly enough that it looks as if it might burst.

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"I am not..." Zelda lets out an irritated grumble. "Would you please tell me what Zelos told you in regards to me? I think there has been a misunderstanding, here. I would rather not talk in circles or bicker about semantics with you."

Lloyd had best not ask her what semantics are, or she'll really get a headache.

Yeah, he's... not really sure what semantics are, but her question was clear enough. He'll just skip that word for now.

"He said you thought you had to give your own happiness up, that you spend all your time caring for everyone else and never about yourself. And he said you had to marry a jerk so you could have babies." Okay, he was paraphrasing a little, more or less, but that's what he got from what Zelos told him. "He said you thought because you were a goddess reborn that you had to sacrifice who you are for the sake of protecting your world."

Zelda shakes her head, softening her expression. It isn't Lloyd's fault that Zelos was being unreasonable, she shouldn't take it out on him.

"It is not like that. I am sacrificing a part of myself, yes... but it's in the way that a parent sacrifices their own wants for the needs of their children. I am the one who is responsible for my people. I don't think that means I'm giving myself up entirely. There is truly nothing I want more." When she's speaking about her people like this, it's almost possible to catch a glimpse of the goddess Hylia that she's descended from still somewhere within her.

"It does mean that I will have to leave Vatheon, but I will do it by my own power. I will discover the nature of this place, find out why it draws people here, why it sends them back, and why it takes their memories when it returns people to their own worlds. That way, I don't have to forget anyone I have met or all the things that I have learned here."

"Even parents have to take care of themselves, too, you know. Besides." Lloyd holds up a finger, emphasizing the point that he's about to make. "They aren't your children. They can be responsible for themselves."

This was probably where Lloyd's upbringing was showing through a bit. He'd never really dealt with monarchies outside of boring lectures on history until he'd traveled to Tethe'alla. His experience with the way things work when someone is in charge of other people centers mostly around the mayor in Iselia. He made rules and decisions he felt were best for the people in the town, yes, but for the most part people took care of themselves.

He pauses, though, when she says that last part. "Do you think you can find a way so other people won't forget either?"

Clearly Lloyd has never seen the people of Hyrule if he thinks that they aren't children. They need caring for! She simply ignores him chastising her and answers his question. "That is the goal, yes. Ideally we will be able to travel between this world and our own worlds freely. No one will have to be separated."

If they always depend on her, then of course they'll be like kids. They need a chance to stand on their own two feet. Don't make him quote dwarven vows at you, Zelda. He's armed and fully prepared!

Hearing the plan, he smiles. "Yeah, that'd be great. I need to go home, too, but I wouldn't want to give up my friends here, either. If you figure something out, will you tell me?"

"Of course." She smiles at him sweetly, then turns to go for the door. Zelos is going to get SUCH an earful for this. If she doesn't just leave the house altogether for a few days. That man!

He starts to follow her, but he pauses before leaving the room. Don't think you can sidetrack him that easily, Zelda. Not when it's something to do with ideals.

"Hey, think about what I said, okay? People are stronger than you think. They'll show you if you let them, and you won't have to sacrifice so much."

Her country has been ravaged. Zelda knows that they won't be able to rebuild without the financial support a good marriage will offer. She was the one who caused all of this, and she will be the one to fix it. She looks over her shoulder at Lloyd and smiles again, then heads downstairs.

The best and worst thing about smiles is that they can be interpreted however anyone who sees them wants to believe. That smile to Lloyd makes him think that Zelda is agreeing, at least to think about things. He smiles back and follows her out.

"I should probably head back home." He has a mild headache. Nothing big, nothing that's really bothering him, but he'd kind of like to lie down for a while.

He has no idea yet that that headache's only going to get worse.

"Of course. Get some rest, Lloyd." Zelda heads to the kitchen and looks at Zelos. Why had he told Lloyd? She felt betrayed, having him drag someone into it all like this. She would never repeat most of what he'd told her. If Zelos looks up from his preparations, her expression is perfectly blank.

Zelos hadn't actually been listening, for once. As nosy as he is at times, hearing Lloyd give his idealistic speeches made him feel entirely too much so he'd hidden out in the kitchen the entire time, not only making tea - specifically the kind that he knows Zelda likes best - but also madeleine cookies. Now things can just go back to how they were after that brief bout of insanity and while that Link guy may still be a bit of a problem, it's nothing that can't be handled.

He doesn't look up when he hears Zelda enter, happily continuing to pour batter into the cookie mold. "You get what I mean now, right? Lloyd's got this way with words I'll never understand but it works♥"

"No, Zelos. It doesn't."

She doesn't say anything more than that. She doesn't need to. The hurt in her tone is clear, if distant. It sounds more like an echo of an emotion than the real thing. She continues to observe him quietly for a few moments.

What? That's... not what he expected. If her tone is akin to a slap in the face, her expression when he turns around is tantamount to a punch in the gut.

"W-..? But I was just trying to..."

The rest of his excuses die on his tongue. It's impossible to argue with that face, even feeling as he does that he's simply trying to help, to make her understand that her life can be her own, but he's gone about it in the worst way and he can't even apologize, turned silent by the look in her eyes.

She's always known that her life wasn't hers to live. It hurts a little to see him upset like this, but it feels far away. "I know what you were trying to do, Zelos. I don't appreciate it." She turns and heads out of the house without saying anything else.

He's tempted to go after her, grab her shoulder, make her understand somehow that the only reason he did this, the only reason he cares is because he wants her to be happy. There's a space for her in his life now. He doesn't usually make space, but she'd managed to worm her way in over his time here and her walking out like that leaves a tangible hole, an empty place he'd never meant to develop.

He watches her go, powerless to stop her.

He's left alone in the house.

It's easier to be angry. It's easier to pretend there's no hole there and that it's simply her own damn fault for not understanding. It's easier to throw all the baking in the sink with a crash, to hurl a teacup at the wall out of spite. It's easier to sink his arms to the counter and hide his head in them, heedless of the bits of batter and teacup crackling underfoot.

Only none of it's actually easy.

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