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Seles Wilder | Tales of Symphonia

The half-elven half sister of one idiot chosen

She relies on her exsphere to keep her body healthy

Meet her in the pit though she’ll 1v1 you

[pulls a giant sword out of her purse] fight me

@minimeteor​

“Seles!!  I’m glad you were feeling up to coming out with me, we need to hang more, we’re siblings and all that.”  Zelos had toted her along to the Opalarian market in Archimedes and it seemed like there were some artisan booths set up this time around!  A lot of the booths had handmade intricate jewelry and other various trinkets.

“If you want to grab a couple of things.  Go for it.  You gotta stop using my card to order crap online though.  I know we have a large house, but I don’t need all this junk.”  He’d been selling off some of it because of the sheer volume of things she’s ordered.  And he doesn’t think she’s noticed.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so busy all the time.” Seles pouted, but she knew full well that wasn’t exactly fair. She could admit that she maybe didn’t get out as much as she could’ve, and she’d been recovering for the past while thanks to that near-apocalypse that’d happened.

A smile returned to her face though as she started looking around, eyes immediately drawn to a number of stalls with pretty things. She was choosing to ignore his comments about her purchasing habits- she thought it was fun. You could get so many neat things, truly!

“I’ve used it a bit.”  …A lot.  “There’s some neat gadgets.  Not that I know how to really use them.”

“Oh, most of them are confusing to me too. But it’s still really fun to buy them! I’ve ordered all sorts of weird things for the kitchen for us.”

“I wouldn’t say cute…More like abominations at best.  If they get such a reaction from the city, surely I can stir up some form of trouble…”

“Oh, hey, that’s an idea.  I can order an army online…Fufufu…”

“They’re a bit cute, aren’t they? I think I’ll get some myself.”

“Now that’s a creature of darkness if I’ve seen one.  I wonder where I can acquire it.”

“Pardon the intrusion” The older Regal nods politely, and the other version of him follows suit. At least both of them know how to act in the presence of other nobles. “For the time being, I think him joining us would be best, if you don’t mind. There’s nothing serious to discuss, I’m just dropping off the paperwork we had talked about in our last meeting. I wanted to go over it with you myself, but we can schedule that for another time if you’d prefer.”

The younger Regal’s face remains neutral, but he can’t appreciate being talked about as if he’s not there by both of them. He holds his tongue, however– this Seles seems different from the one he’d come to know. More guarded… he’d never had the chance to talk to either one of the Wilder siblings about their counterparts. Now he wishes he had.

“If I may, I’d like to ask about the version of you that I know, Miss Wilder,” Regal speaks up, careful to keep his tone polite. “I wanted to make sure she was doing all right in all the chaos.”

“I see. I have time at the moment, and if you don’t think he’ll intrude, then I suppose that’s fine.” It wasn’t like she’d openly discuss many details of her business regardless- and he wouldn’t have much time to go around leaking information anyways, given a worst case scenario. Of course, she wouldn’t let something like that happen... but always good to be prepared. “Come inside, then.” 

Leading both of the Regals towards her parlor, Seles took a seat and signaled for Tokunaga to bring them some tea. While her reputation wasn’t an entirely gentle one, she was still going to entertain guests properly. After all- like it or not, she was in the upper class here.

“Ah, her.” Nodding, she looked to the younger Regal. “She’s staying here at the moment. Are you familiar with her in your world, then?”

He’d never set foot in the Wilder residence–especially not after what happened years ago. He hardly even corresponded with that woman. Even with her daughter, Krautos only sent her a very objective letter asking to uphold the agreement with the late Lady Wilder.

Now here in person, he looked a bit more stiff than he would have liked. He’d never seen what Seles looked like, after all (but now he could clearly see the resemblance.)

“Forgive the intrusion. Ordinarily, I opt to leave you be. However, I take it you are… aware of the odd circumstances happening around here?”

Well, she would give him credit- at least he was being polite. If this was a conversation that had to happen, it was better for things to be civil. Not that she knew exactly why he’d shown up here, but she felt like she could wager a guess.

“Yes, I am quite aware.” Nodding, she folded her arms across her chest. “I was met by another version of myself, so it would be difficult to not be aware.”

The Seles from the other Spirale was still resting, though her condition had improved considerably since her arrival. And despite her initial hostility, Seles had no intention of throwing the other out at this point.

That was…Peculiar wording.  He knew her mother had died…Particularly young for a half elf.  He’d suspected foul play the moment he’d heard, but he had nothing to back it up.  But, then his sister practically came out and admitted to it.

“Seles…Did you kill your mother?”

She’d imagined he would guess from how she’d worded it as soon as it had left her mouth- her brother wasn’t a fool. Even ten years ago, he’d managed to fend for himself and keep himself safe, keep himself alive, despite everything her mother had gotten up to.

“...Yes.”

“Like I wanted any of it.  It was all built on lies and trampling other people down.”  The man squeezed his sister’s shoulder, “They dragged their own name through the mud, so I trust you can make things right there.”  If not, that would’ve been his mess to clean should he have become the heir.

“Really, you don’t have to apologize…I’m alive, aren’t I?”

“...I can’t say I’m any better, Zelos. I’m part of this family too- the head of it now.” She’d done her best to clean things up, to make their businesses things that would actually help people, but... could she really say she was any different? At the end of the day, she was still just throwing money around to solve problems. 

“Yeah, till they start throwing shit.  Not our fault their shit’s flopping.  But, whatever.  Not my problem.”

“Oh…Yeah, it wasn’t too bad…Ma’s not here anymore so uh, it’s not the worst thing ever.”  He placed a hand on her shoulder, “You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your fault.  And kids shouldn’t have to bear the guilt of their parents’ misdeeds.”

“Face it, ma didn’t like me because I wasn’t her kid.  I can’t blame her for that.  And I don’t blame you for this shit either.  Take it easy.”

“They’re all overconfident.” Or, put less politely, they were fools. A bunch of power-hungry parasites who wouldn’t give up gunning for any chance for more power.

“But still... she... we took all this from you. It should’ve been yours.” Even if Zelos said she didn’t apologize, she felt like she needed to. Her mother was gone, there was nobody else left, so she had to be the one to clean up that mess. “Mother wanted me to have everything. She wanted a lot of things for me- I guess she got her wish, in the end.”

There was a hint of bitterness in Seles’s voice, though she hid her face from view.

“Can do, Lady Wilder.”  Her brother jested as he followed her out, “Sorry I can’t do more about the fam.”  He shrugged at the notion, she seemed to be faring alright though, for someone who’s been without his defense for ten years.

“I think I’d call this house call a success.  I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“It’s alright. I can handle them fine.” And she hardly wanted Zelos being dragged back into their drama- it was better for everyone if they still thought him dead. He got to be happy doing whatever it was he was doing, without having to worry about their extended family. “They’re all predictable, anyways.”

It was easy to avoid their general disdain, and they didn’t seem to care that she didn’t want to be around them.