Gigi's Multimuse

Colette obeyed Genis’ request to step back nervously. She fidgeted with the strap of her purse and bit her lip as she watched Genis push through the strange portal. Sol’Limina seemed to be full of these strange thresholds, but to think one would open up not only to her home world, but her friend, too…!

She stood poised the whole time, ready to jump in if something went wrong. It would be terrible if something happened to him because she’d suggested he push through, after all. 

Unfortunately, her reflexes were not quick enough to save him from faceplanting into a flowerbed. While her gaze was focused on her small friend, she did see out of the corner of her eye the portal shimmer and disappear, changing back into an ordinary shopfront. 

Colette felt a powerful twinge of homesickness at that. She had seen Aselia again… for a moment.

“Genis, are you okay?!” She knelt to check on him, offering a hand to help him stand back up. He’d managed to get up on his knees, but when he looked her in the eyes…

“P-pff… heheh… hahahaha…!” A laugh came out before Colette could help herself. Genis had dirt smudged on his cheeks, a flower and some loose petals stuck this way and that in his hair, one petal even clung to the tip of his nose. 

That funny sight, combined with the joy of seeing her childhood friend again, made Colette overflow with mirth.

“S-Sorry, sorry, Genis,” she said, stamping down her sudden fit of giggles. A few still bubbled up, however, even as she pulled her dear friend into a quick but heartfelt hug. “I promise I’m not laughing at you. I’m just really happy to see you, that’s all.” 

She reached into her purse, pulling out a packet of wipes to clean the dirt off his face with. He didn’t seem to have any injuries, so that was a relief at least. Colette helped him pluck the flowers out of his hair, too, then held his hands to help him back to his feet. 

But then, where to even begin? The way this place worked, getting everything straight was hard. Was this the Genis she had traveled with, or had another Colette known him? “H-hey, when was the last time we saw each other…?!” The way she asked it, with her usual smile, she intended it to sound casual, the way two friends would ask after reuniting after a long while. After all, that’s what they were, anyway. “You know, I was traveling around with Lloyd, so…!”

His arms shook as he pushed himself out of the dirt and his face quickly grew embarrassed. He looked diagonally to the ground and brushed dirt out of his clothes. His brow furrowed as Colette brushed the petals out of his hair. He didn’t want to look like a pathetic kid, so he couldn’t help but feel a little offended by the kind gesture out of his own insecurity. He didn’t want to be ‘cute’!

“H-hey! I-it’s not that funny! The portal has a kick to it! I swear!” He huffed and clenched his fists, his bangs fluttering upwards. “I’m fine...”

Still, he couldn’t stay aggravated at Colette. Who could? Colette was like a ray of sunshine. Wherever she went, she could light up the sky. When she pulled him into a hug, Genis smiled into her shoulder. Being with his friends again always felt like he was going back home, even if he was somewhere far across the world. 

“Well, I guess it must have been a month ago?” He was a little confused. Sure it may have felt like a long time, and even longer to Genis being younger than Colette was. “We had dinner with you and Phaidra and Frank, remember? We’re all busy travelling so we don’t see each other that often...You came home after looking for exspheres, and Lloyd went off on his own somewhere in a hurry. Raine and I have been travelling around to different places too. She was in Asgard right before that portal showed up...at least I thought she was.” He gestures in a semi-circle around him to their surroundings as if to say ‘what am I going to do with her?’.

Genis tilted his head and scratched at his cheek. Now that he was taking a look at her though, something seemed a little different about his friend.

The boardwalk was sure an interesting place to walk around. The food smelled so good, the rides looked so fun…! Though, today, she was by herself. It was a little lonely, she thought, and she found herself wishing one of her old friends was with her. She’d been missing them so much, lately.

As if her thoughts manifested in front of her, Colette did a double-take when her reflection in a glass storefront warbled and took on a strange, shimmery green hue. Even more than that, however, superimposed over her own image was that of a familiar looking forest… and an even more familiar looking half-elf boy, gaping at her. Ironically, he probably mirrored her own expression.

“G…Genis? Genis!” Seeing him made her heart ache in a way that Colette wouldn’t have anticipated. Instinctively, her hand reached out towards him. She swallowed at the mention of Lloyd, but decided not to pursue that question now. When her palm touched what should have been glass, her hand sank into the image a little, as though it had a gelatin-like consistency. 

She shook her head. “I’m… I’m not. But…” Colette paused. If Genis came over here… could he get back? She wasn’t sure. Was there another Raine over there that would miss him? Or if he returned, would it be like only an instant had passed? Trying to guess at logistics she had no idea about was making her head hurt. “But, Raine is here with me! Well, not right now, but… she’s here, too!” 

Tears started to bead up in the corners of her eyes. Her hand pressed into the image in front of her a little more. “Can you… are you able to come over here…?”

Genis blinked as her hand glided over the portal and waves of light began cascading out of the center of her touch, making her image warble like a funhouse mirror. He might have laughed at how goofy she looked if she didn’t look so emotional to see him. It had been a long time. Everyone went their separate ways for two years. Colette would come back every once in awhile, sometimes while the Sages were there and some times not. Colette missed him just as much as he missed her.

“Huh? Raine’s there too?” He turned his palms up in exasperation. What did his sister get caught up in now? If she found some kind of portal in an ancient tomb of course she’d just jump into it. For science. If she was on the other side of that portal he’d just have to abandon dinner plans. She wasn’t coming home tonight after all! He didn’t have to think about the repercussions of this strange magic because if she was there, they would at least be together.

A note would have been nice...sis.

“I don’t know. Let me try. Step back a little.”

Genis pushed his hand through the portal, and it felt like he was pushing through ooze. The portal resisted his hand at first, but then it felt like there was a breakthrough, and his hand felt a shift in temperature as it reached the other side. His whole body quickly got pulled through the vortex.

Genis walked down the path with his arms behind his head, letting out a yawn as the rays of morning light danced between leaves of the trees. When he opened his eyes, he could have sworn that they were playing tricks on him. To his right, and underneath a thick canopy, a swirling oval of green light stood atop a ledge. Genis rubbed his eyes, believing that he had probably just stared at the sky for too long. The light was still there. He pauses in his tracks and puts a hand on his hip to study the phenomena.

“What the heck is that...?” 

The half-elf changes course. He starts climbing the hill, stumbling over fallen tree trunks and avoiding hills of fire ants. When he reaches the portal, his eyes open wide in awe as he sees a cityscape wobbling in and out of focus in the swirling vortex. He could see brightly colored stalls, people holding balloons in animal costumes, and rollercoasters. 

Raine would go nuts if she saw this! I’m gonna have to bring her back here later to see what she thinks.

He didn’t want to investigate it further without her...until he saw a familiar face. Genis gasped and slapped a hand against his mouth when his childhood friend Colette scooted into view, curiously peering back at him.