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Like Starlight | Tales of Symphonia
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Words: 5,424 words
Summary: Aithra Brunel is sixteen when she accepts the oracle and her new title: Sylvarant’s Chosen of Regeneration.
Pairing/Character: Aithra/Cecil (OC)
Warnings: Fantasy Racism, Character Death
Rating: T
Genre: Budding romance, tragedy.
Notes:
Welcome to the world of me just making up everything. We know very little of Aithra or her family aside from the fact that they know what her fate is (just as Colette's family knows hers) and Phaidra is her little sister. I imagined a secluded little life for her in Iselia.
I'm sure other branches of the mana lineage live elsewhere in Sylvarant, but Iselia is so specifically hailed as the Village of Oracles with the non-aggression treaty and the temple close by, that it feels like this has been the home of the main part of the mana lineage for at least the last 200 years.
Also, selfishly, presenting her journey in the same order as Colette's should make it seem more familiar to anyone reading.
Colette has a surprising amount of freedom in her life, attending school and having friends, so I thought about how Phaidra might have influenced that as the family matriarch. I really grew attached to the idea of Aithra being sheltered and protected, and the regrets her parents might have felt when she left to die anyway, that they had never given her any freedoms. Phaidra may have grown up knowing about these regrets, and tried to do better for her daughter, and then for Colette too.
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Snowfeather was the name of a long-haired white cat my family had when I was young.
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Gooseberries are great. And gooseberry jam sure is something. I think it's stated somewhere that fruit is pretty rare in Sylvarant, due to the declining mana, so I imagine berry-bearing bushes are the go-to for things like jams. Even then, nothing is in bountiful supply.
I wanted the jam to feel like a very meaningful gift. Mother knows it's her favorite and worked really hard to get enough for a little jar for her journey because it was all she could do.
I can't begin to imagine how the parents feel in this situation. Terrible, I bet.
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Aithra is pretty tall (like 5'10''+) and athletically built.
I gave her a spear because I didn't do any research on what she might have actually used (and I like the idea that the Chosen gets to pick their weapon of choice).
Her wings being silver is because I said so, and I wanted to make sure she felt different from everyone else we know who has manawings.
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Cecil! I put him in my modern Aselia story as an artist Aithra loved when she was younger, and I decided to stick with that idea for him here, though the world doesn't really have space for an artist.
I gave him silver hair and eyes because I wanted to give them something like an instant connection, and this allowed for that with Aithra's worry-stone and the wings she's recently acquired.
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The history of the character doesn't really explain how he was able to sneak in with the priests and even pretend to be one, so I decided if she really saved his life per the extra material, then it's possible he joined her on her journey.
From an outside perspective it seems unlikely that he would be allowed to join them, being a half-elf and all, but Aithra is a very faithful and devout Chosen, and has never given them cause to doubt her. It helps that she only meets Cecil because he is nearly killed; it seems clear he's not a Desian spy or anything.
Also, I think there might be something to be said about her being 16 and marching faithfully toward her death that makes them loosen the reins a bit. It doesn't really matter if she holds hands with a boy so long as she fulfills her duty.
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Trust and Obey is a popular hymn, and I very nearly named the story after it. Had I been writing a much longer version of this story, I might have used the title to parallel Aithra's trust and obedience with Cecil's lack of these things at the end. While I did cover this theme in the story, the connection isn't as strong as I might have wanted to feel comfortable using this as a title.
(Even though I no longer associate myself with the religion of my youth, I do still find some comfort and a lot of joy in many of the old hymns. This one is not a particular favorite, but I grew up singing it and for that reason alone it makes me feel something.)
For the record, having a religious background makes writing devoutly religious characters easier. I spent the majority of my life in the church, and one thing we often discussed at length was Jesus's death. There is never a point in the Bible where it is implied that Jesus goes to his death happily. In these verses Jesus goes to the Gardens of Gethsemane:
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
I like the way the Chosen's journey sort of parallels this sacrifice for the greater good/sins of others, and while I imagine many Chosens are willing to walk the path they've been born into without outward complaint, even for the most devout there comes a time when they wrestle with the weight of the burden they bear.
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I found it interesting that Zelos and Colette both have long hair, and so does Martel. Phaidra does too, though she wears it up. It makes me think this is an important tradition, so I used it here.
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There is something so so awful about her losing her mind the moment she loses her sense of touch, and I like to imagine it's more than her cruxis crystal doing this to her.
And if you think losing her mind when she loses her sense of touch is bad, I don't know, there is just something so incredibly terrible about her then losing her ability to speak. I imagine she is locked up in her body fighting and afraid.
Colette says at one point she cannot cry, but I like think for Colette that wasn't a physical restriction so much as born of other issues. For Aithra, she can just keep on crying, but eventually her voice is silenced. I think it makes the most sense to only lose the ability to cry when one's heart and memories are gone; then there is nothing to remember and nothing to long for and nothing to cry about any longer.
--
Excuse me for showing that Aithra is still in there, sometimes. She understands more than Cecil even realizes. It's just that she knows how this journey ends, so his hope is overwhelmingly tragic to her and now she can't even find her voice to tell him the truth.
Anyway, I didn't want the last part of this story to feel entirely hopeless, and I wanted to foreshadow the fact that Aithra will come to his defense when she sees him fighting for her.
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The idea of Remiel using judgment to destroy the priests and Cecil was too iconic and fascinating to not use.
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The true tragedy of this story is that after Aithra dies, the official story that reaches the world is that she was killed by Desians.
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This isn't the kind of thing I usually write (so I'm a little nervous about posting it).
And if I'm being honest, it made me really like these characters. If I had any drawing skill worth a damn, I'd illustrate this. Sadly (or perhaps thankfully), I don't possess the skill. So you are free from my madness for now.