COURAGE.

you remember the last time we did this. it didn't go well.

i told myself i'd never trust you again.

you're not very good at keeping promises, are you?

i thought we agreed to work together.

you're the reason i'm in this mess in the first place.

the last time i listened to you, it nearly got me killed.

i guess i don't have a choice.

you're my last hope.

this isn't going to end well.

i stuck out my neck for you once, and look what happened.

you could have told me the truth from the start.

you're a pretty slimy character.

you don't exactly exude trustworthiness.

i can't believe i'm listening to you again.

after everything that happened, i can't look at you the same.

you betrayed me.

how am i supposed to trust you again?

i put everything on the line for you, and you betrayed me.

i'm not taking orders from you.

how do i know you won't stab me in the back?

i promise you, it won't happen again.

you don't have a good track record of keeping promises.

that was bullshit, and you know it.

this time, you can trust me.

they told me what happened last time.

i won't make the same mistakes they did.

keep telling yourself that.

every time i trust you, it comes back to bite me in the ass.

that was the worst lie i've ever heard.

you're a shit liar.

you're not getting anything from me.

i'm not risking my life to save you, that's for sure.

you're talking out of your ass.

i don't believe a word you're saying.

you're full of bullshit.

that was the biggest lie you ever told.

and to think, i trusted you once.

i'm such an idiot for thinking i could trust you.

i'll never look at you the same again.

that was an awful trick.

did you mean to do that?

had i known what you were up to, i never would have agreed to this.

once again, you lied to my face.

they warned me not to trust you.

after all the things i've heard about you, i'm not sure where i stand.

you don't exactly have a very trustworthy face.

you look like a liar to me.

you won't hold up your end of the bargain. you never do.

Damn, had her life gotten weird.

And it kept getting weirder as he knelt, folding in half. A display of open humility. Shock ricocheted around Neraine's mind, expressed in her widened eyes, furrowed brow, and parted lips. Neraine's hands spread for her side, an open gesture of both confusion and deference.

"Yeah, it was nothing... man," Neraine managed. "Don't sweat it. I mean that, really, please don't." As in, don't take her actions as worthy of some life debt and spend more time pestering her.

Once he was back-up, Neraine crossed her arms.

There isn't so much as a word of farewell out of him. That was a little strange, considering how polite he'd been earlier—but Dhaos didn't see it that way. Their conversation is finished, and so he will extract himself. She had seemed to be in a hurry to leave anyway, and he did not wish to bother her further.

After he departs, he turns and inhales deeply, reaching deep inside of himself to the power he had been granted by his people. A burning star of pure energy and intent that rested within his breast. He called on it, and his body began to rise from the ground, glowing brighter and brighter until he was completely enveloped.

Then, the spell took over, and the light flew forward along the path. Once the process started, Dhaos had little control over it.

It swept across the forest like a blinding comet, slowly rising higher and higher as it gained speed. Gravity around it was distorted, trees bent toward it, leaves tumbled upwards into it...anyone in its path would surely be swept up into it and carried along for the ride.

* * *

"Can he be helped?" Nera asked, even as she pressed her fingers beneath his jaw and felt his faded pulse.

"What afflicts him is not an illness of the body," The High Priestess whispered to her. "His soul is rotting. I can do nothing to save him, but you can."

Intuition filled the gaps. What he needed and what she could to provide it. The quiet knowledge and instinct of the High Priestess, nestling deep in Neraine's mind. She knew what she had to do and she knew how to do it. It didn't mean that she was excited about it.

Neraine turned her face up, lips pressing thin, and closing her eyes, steeling herself for the next step. (Why, on God's green Earth did her powers work this way? For fucks sake). She gathered the reserves of her magic. Neraine grasped the man by the jaw, leaned forward, and kissed him. Her lips scraped over his and then she pressed in, until ice and crystal bit at their skin, the chilling cold of her power seeping into him.

Neraine pulled away, hand swiping over her mouth, and rolling back onto her hip. She felt her power thin and wane, as her magic infused the man's body. In seconds his skin flushed and his breath returned to him, a ragged gasp of oxygen. Then, he was upright, looking at her, alive.

"Well, the one who helped your sorry ass, to start," Neraine grunted. "I hope you don't make a habit of passing-out in the middle of the woods, i'm not doing that again." She pressed to her feet and swiped dust and leaf litter off her skirt.

He looks down at the stranger before him, ignoring her vulgar language as easily as one might brush off a stray leaf. Especially in the wake of what she says to him.

"You saved me...?" Dhaos asks, his voice quiet. He regards her critically for a moment—trying to discern whether or not she is lying to him. He can't sense anyone else nearby, and the mana within this one is strong. She must have...

He lets out a short sigh—one of relief rather than irritation—and kneels down before her, placing his hand over his chest.

"My name is Dhaos. Thank you for saving me, who is but a stranger to you. I will remember your kindness on this day for as long as I walk this universe," he pledges, and he sounds completely sincere and genuine as he does.

A White Future, Volume 2 Episode: Ion, Sync, & Florian Translation: Final Part

Prev | (This is the last part!)

Well, it’s been a project that’s taken me half a year, but this is the final part of the green beans’ section. What’s left is Sync’s death and Florian’s epilogue. I want to thank everyone who encouraged me to keep this up, with a special shout out to @vangrants​, @rayless-reblogs​, and everyone else for being there while I was in translation hell. I’d also like to thank my friend Mars for helping with some of the Japanese I couldn’t make heads or tails of.

That said, without further ado, here is the conclusion.

* * *

Oracle, I've fallen at last But they were the feast Of a permanent blast

Crossover & OC Friendly Multimuse for the Tale series (primarily Tales of the Abyss). Uses the beta editor & x-kit rewritten. Please read rules before following.

"... I have no particular feelings about that." Ion reminds himself all the time that it doesn't matter - it would be pointless to make a fuss out of it. He only needs to do this right for long enough that no one will know the truth. This is temporary... but it doesn't change that it bothers him some days.

Ion folds his hands in his lap, staring at Sync and speaking plainly, "Study is different from practice, Sync. I am not as educated in this work as our original, I could easily make the wrong call." He was afraid, too. Afraid of Mohs, and the consequences of making a mistake that may expose him.

But he hadn't been good enough to be chosen. Maybe their original had been a pathetic pushover as well.

Whatever.

"Of course, Fon Master," Sync replied, using his title sarcastically. "But our original didn't exactly get along with Mohs, given the split in the Order. Isn't it likely that he'll try to have you turn your back on our original's ideals?"

Dhaos was speaking quite plainly, and a part of Walter appreciated that. At the same time, he was still being... evasive, for lack of a better word. That was the part that rubbed him the wrong way. Well. That, and effectively ruffling Walter's pride as a Ferines. It wasn't so unusual, really. Walter just was prideful.

"You have no teriques, so it couldn't have been like that," he observed. Did Dhaos even know what a teriques was? Walter wasn't really certain either way. Surely Dhaos couldn't have just manifested from thin air. Not even the Merines had that kind of power.

"My name is Dhaos, and this power is my own." He had been the only one on Derris Kharlan who could survive the ritual that had imbued him with this power. His control over mana exceeded anyone else in his world.

And yet, all the power in the world would only help if he could find what he was looking for. "I have come seeking something...but I can tell that I will not find it here. I have no ill will toward you or your world."

"Oh em gee!!" Ramuda gasps, hands flying up to his cheeks as he bounces closer. Eyes wide as he looks the stranger up and down, he giggles and grins brightly.

"You're so so cool, mister! Just look at you showing off~!!" He titters, pointing to the stranger's bare midriff before he runs circles around Luke. "Ah, a super scawy monster's on the back of your shirt!! Is it 'cause you're that scawy or 'cause you wanna scare anyone who sneaks up behind you??"

"The monster on the back is the logo for the clothing line," Luke replied, snapping a little. He crossed his arms in front of him, watching the other move around. "It's not plain! And it's not all white."