A/N: It's been a while, everyone. I haven't been active since the middle of last year. Writer's block; a common excuse. Oh, and life's been busy too. This idea's been lingering in my head for a while. I honestly forgot about it till I decided to play ToS again last month, and got to the scene after the battle with Efreet. I was quite amused by his conversation with Celsius, haha.

----/o/----

Spiritual Polarity

If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I hated him. Loathed. Abhorred.

There was no point in trying to be on peaceful terms. We were just too different, being opposing elements. We couldn’t touch. Our attacks would negate if they ever met on the battlefield.

He was annoying, that jerk; there was no doubt about it. I could never stand him. Sometimes I wondered why he still persisted in trying to talk to me despite all the negative waves of emotion I sent him these past couple millennia. Of course, I hadn’t said a word to him since that pact-maker, Mithos, split the world apart in two.

I scowled whenever I thought about the Spirit of Fire, but sometimes I’d wonder how he was doing. Wait…didn’t I say I hated him?

Oh, never mind.

At that time, when the new pact-maker and her companion defeated Fenrir and I, it was strange he was the first I thought of. I saw his temple in my mind, and him, floating above the circular, gray pedestal. If the new pact-maker made a pact with him as well, our mana link would be cut. It would vanish just like that.

That was good, wasn’t it? I could finally avoid him, not feeling what he felt due to our mana link. I wouldn’t be able to know when he was angry, or brooding, or lonely…

But if the pact-maker reunited the worlds, we could see each other again. And she did. She and her friends brought Sylvarant and Tethe’alla back together after being apart for more than four-thousand years.

I imagined Gnome and the Sylph sisters would be overjoyed to see each other again; back then they were always playing pranks on their fellow Summon Spirits and the people of the world together, laughing all the way. Undine and Volt didn’t really chat with one another, and Luna and Shadow were the same, though Luna would occasionally tease her counterpart for his lack of the proficiency to speak our language.

And me? I’d avoid him like he was the plague.

But then…why in the world was I in his temple right now, face to face with its crimson lord? Tell me, Origin, why?

“Hello…Celsius,” he said calmly, though I detected his shock from the little expression shown on his irritating face.

I tried not to frown, but to keep a cool, composed demeanor. “Hello…Efreet,” I retorted coldly.

He paused for a moment. “What brings you here today?”

I knew he’d ask that eventually. I didn’t even know the answer.

“…I was visiting every one of you. I thought it’d be good to catch up after all these years. You’re just one on the list of nine, Efreet. Nothing special. Just passing by. Got it?” I spat, crossing my arms and lifting my chin a little. My eyes wavered for a second, and I hoped he hadn’t seen the action.

I knew he did. I could see it in his face; I could predict his thoughts.

You’d never visit another Summon Spirit to ‘catch up’. You’re not the type to do so.

Unfortunately, he was right. Curse my anti-social ways. Being called the “Ice Queen” didn’t only mean I reigned over the element of ice, or that I lived in the freezing north, in a cave surrounded by snow where hardly anything changed. It also entailed my personality.

“Hm…” he mumbled at last after a long silence.

I fixed him with a hard glare.

“Alright, Celsius,” he began. Was he that stupid to actually believe my lie? “While you’re here, then…may I ask if you would like to take a walk with me?”

A walk? Where? In the scorching desert? I was shocked by the sudden invite. He was still trying to get along with his counterpart, his polar opposite? I suddenly became hesistant. Up until a moment ago, I’d had all plans to just leave and contemplate my actions back in my temple, yet at his last question my feet refused to move.

Yes; no. To accept or to not accept?

I hated myself. Don’t waver, I thought. Don’t waver, don’t waver…

I wavered. For the first time in hundreds of years, I allowed my emotions to take over. My conscience took the PERFECT chance to take a nap, didn't it?

“…Fine! Don’t expect me to make any idle chatter, though,” I grumbled, glancing away.

Efreet chuckled. I couldn’t tell if he did it dryly or not. “Then we can just enjoy the sights along the way,” he said, coming towards me, floating.

“I’m going to hate you more for this,” I threatened, my eyes narrowing to slits.

“Then so be it,” he replied with a smirk from his place beside me.

----/o/----

And yet another ending. Short, I know. I hope you enjoyed it somewhat!

Kannono