"Me? Get flustered around her? The closest I get to being “flustered” is when I’m fearing for my beautiful face.”

He isn’t sure he’s made the right decision until he hears the accusation fall from her lips. It was meant to be a ploy, a distraction - the only way he could possibly get close enough to Cruxis in order to get the intel that they needed. It was supposed to end when he has the Eternal Sword in hand… if they were in this crazy plan, then they were in this together.

You never- you never wanted to help us at all! You were just looking to swap places with Colette! 

Her words hit like a physical blow. He stops at the transporter, turns - incredulously staring. The comments come in a wave - we should never have trusted you, you were just using us. Each somehow hurts more than the last.

But the worst is the look on her face.

The look that says he is worse than the scum under her boot.

"… That’s right."

Zelos steps away from the platform completely.

"That’s right. I was just using all of you all along. Haha! You totally fell for it. I’ve been playing you this whole time and you had no idea.”

He thinks about Seles, and how at least this way he upheld this end of the bargain. Tethe’alla was already flourishing, there was no way Cruxis could use her for their plans. She would no longer be their bargaining chip.

He thinks about Colette, and how sorry he is that he won’t swoop in there to rescue her. The role of the hero had never suited him, had it? He was just a puppet on strings, dancing beautifully but always at the behest of another. They’ll save her, they’ll rush in there and save the day and this whole crazy plan will be just fine.

It never needed him in the first place.

"And how stupid do you look right now, huh? Do you think I cared about any of you? It’s always been her or me, and somebody’s got to look at for me. It’s not like any of you ever gave a damn about what happened to me, so long as your ideals are in tact. I can’t believe you thought you could change the world. How naive can you be?”

He laughs, loud and hollow. It feels good, like ripping a bandaid off. They never cared, they never wanted anything to do with him - he was just a backup, always a backup. The useless one, the wheel with the cracked spokes. All they had to do was wait for it to fall apart, it didn’t matter they had a better one on hand.

No one wanted to deal with someone who just darkened the lives of everyone they came in contact with.

"It’s just as well. I never actually cared about any of you either.”

This isn’t what he expected. A cordial greeting should never be met by a denial, a denial was a guilty conscience.

"Same as any Chosen would be! Surviving long enough to get the Oracle, regenerating the world, going down in history as the most beautiful and amazing Chosen that’s ever been.”

"Gotta make sure Seles doesn’t take the honor of being the Chosen from me."

Zelos actually doesn't have that much he feels proud of, other than the fact that he's survived as long as he has and has effectively shielded Seles from the pain of being the Chosen by doings o. With her sickness, he's certain that she'd die on the journey before she even really got started.. and that the Church wouldn't see anything wrong with sending her anyway.