Disclaimer: Tales of Destiny, its characters, and its world belong to Namco. I'm writing this story for fun and don't expect any money out of it. As long as you don't use copyrighted things for . . . financial advancement, it's legal. Ahem, well, this story is based on a part of the game. If you've played through the game (or even halfway through), this story shouldn't surprise you. There are some hints to spoilers in this story and a major spoiler at the end, but if you read through "Leon -Victim of Fate-," this isn't as bad.
Started: August 25, 1999
Finished: August 26, 1999

Stahn Aileron and his two female companions watched the boy storm down the streets of Darilsheid, almost a leap and a bound away from them already. Glancing nervously at Rutee Katrea and Mary Argent, he hurried after the young swordsman ahead of them. Even once Stahn, Mary, and Rutee were a few steps behind him, young Leon Magnus didn't even look back to acknowledge them. Perhaps the always-confident kid knew that they would fall in line behind him without him having to look.

Rutee was probably thinking the same thing, since her first words were, "Hey, kid! You don't have to act stuck-up, you know!"

Leon spun around, causing Stahn and Mary to crash into each other and land in a heap on the ground. He didn't mind them, as his violet eyes were on Rutee. "I'm not a kid! I'm only two years younger than you."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Rutee, taking up a cocky position with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not going to call you a 'man,' you know!"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call you a 'woman' myself!" snapped the other, restraining from crossing his own arms. Meanwhile, Atwight and Chaltier traded mental sighs.

"What?! I'm more a woman now than you'll ever be a man!" the black-garbed teenager nearly yelled in reply.

Mary took this chance to intervene, climbing to her feet and pulling Stahn up as well. "You two are acting like brother and sister, you know that??" she declared, shifting her gaze from one to the other.

It was then that Leon stopped, a strange look dawning on his face. A moment later, the look was gone, replaced with a glare that could turn milk sour. He aimed this glare at Mary and scowled. For a moment, Stahn was just about sure the boy would hiss. A second passed, and Leon stalked away angrily. Mary blinked and scratched her head. "Did I say something wrong?" she queried more to herself than anyone else.

Sighing, Stahn gestured the two to hurry after Leon, leading them on the trail of the sixteen-year old. This lead them to a huge mansion near the one port of Seinegald, which clearly had been entered recently. Birds were still ascending from the surrounding lawn as they went into the mansion.

"Marian!"

Leon was standing near the front of the mansion as he shouted, his back to them. As the three others looked at the mansion from the doorway, he took a step forward. "Marian!!" He waited a few moments, frowning. "Are you here?" The next thing Stahn knew, Leon was walking away from them yet again, this time climbing a flight of stairs to the right side of the mansion's entrance. He, Mary, and Rutee followed quickly, catching sight of an older man wearing light clothes and sporting bushy, white hair. Leon turned to acknowledge the man, smiling faintly. "Ah, Rembrandt. Where is Marian. . . I mean, Hugo?"

Rembrandt blinked in surprise and smiled warmly at the pink-caped boy, nodding in greeting. "Leon, my boy. It's so good to see you."

The ghostly smile on Leon's face immediately disappeared, replaced by an annoyed look. "I told you not to call me that."

The much older man nodded in understanding, continuing with, "Master Hugo is in his office, my boy."

Rutee giggled from where she stood next to the stairs. "Hee, hee. He called you a boy!!" She began laughing harder, only to be cut off by a sharp, electronic shock that sent her reeling down the stairs. "Eeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!!" She landed hard at the bottom of the stairs, her hair smoking a little.

Mary and Stahn took a step backwards, sweatdropping at the angry stance Leon had taken up, the dreaded remote control controlling the tiaras on their heads in his hand. "Silence!" he roared, staring down at Rutee.

"Why you little. . ." Rutee trailed off into grumbles as she picked herself up and dragged herself back up the stairs.

Leon, already a little taller than Rutee despite his age, looked her directly in the eye as she returned to her spot next to the stairs. "What did you just say?" His voice was cold, barely restraining the rage in his eyes.

"No, nothing, I swear. . .," Rutee muttered, returning the cold voice as easily at Leon.

The black-haired youth straightened, the rage slowly dying down. "That's what I thought. Now, shut up." Rutee rolled her eyes as Leon returned his attention to Rembrandt.

"By the way. . .," the man was saying, "who are they?"

"Don't mind them," replied Leon, shaking his head a little. "I'm traveling with them out of convenience."

Stahn frowned angrily at that. Mary suddenly found the hallway behind them a lot more interesting than the scene before her. "Hey, I thought we were working together. . ."

Leon averted his gaze to Stahn, his voice cool with a tinge of anger in it. "Was I talking to you?" he hissed.

Although the tone of voice Leon was giving him was clearly a warning, Stahn decided to speak anyway. "Well, you don't have to treat us like a bunch of lepers or something."

The other snorted and was about to retort when Rembrandt spoke again. "Kind strangers, please don't fret over what the boy says."

Rutee, red-faced, shoved Stahn into the wall and confronted Rembrandt. "You've gotta be kidding! I've had it with him!"

"Hah!!" Leon exclaimed. "Speak for yourself!" He crossed his arms and turned so he had his back to Rutee.

Rembrandt continued on, unperturbed by the little outburst. "Leon tends to keep people at a distance on purpose."

Leon snapped back around to look at Rembrandt. "Nonsense!"

Stahn and Rutee exchanged glances at that. ". . . . . . . . ."

"Well," sighed the older man, " any guests of the young master Leon are welcome here." At the thought of finally getting to rest and have a little fun, Mary smiled.

Sadly, her thoughts were crushed by the boy's words. "Sorry, but we don't have time for that right now."

Mary and Rembrandt shared a frown. "That's a pity. . .," he said.

Returning to business, Leon queried, "Hugo is in the office, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Fine." Leon turned to look at the three he was being ordered to bring with him to Straylize Temple. "Well, let's go."

"Oh, whatever!" Rutee ground out, looking dangerously at the 'snobbish swordsman.'

Leon looked at the 'Lens-craving witch' coolly. "You're hopeless."

With that, Leon led Stahn and Mary down towards the right wing of the mansion. Rutee seethed for several moments before taking off after them. They traveled down the furnished halls, Leon leading as if he knew the place extremely well. Within minutes of leaving Rembrandt, they were standing before Hugo Gilchrist, a tall man with black hair beginning to gray and stunning purple eyes.

"Hello, Hugo," greeted Leon.

Hugo looked calmly at Leon, then gazed over the other three of the small party. "You're here earlier than I thought. Well, let's go to the hall and talk."

Hugo escorted the quartet to the main hall and had them sit down, taking his seat the head of the table with Leon to his left. Straight across from him was Mary, Stahn across from Leon, and Rutee across from an empty chair. The President of the Oberon Corporation cleared his throat before speaking. "I want to give you something. . . Marian, bring them here."

"Excuse me." Leon blinked in surprise as a woman stepped into the room. She was still very pretty as she neared the age of thirty-four, smiling as she carried two familiar objects in her arms.

Stahn, Rutee, and Mary all stood and looked at the woman as Hugo spoke. "Let me introduce all of you to Marian. She's our housemaid."

Marian smiled and nodded at the introduction. "Hello, how do you do?"

Hugo grabbed Marian's attention and spoke again. "Marian, give them the Swordians."

"Yes sir." Marian walked over to Stahn first, handing him the larger of the two Swordians.

"Dymlos!" It looked like Stahn was just about ready to hug the sentient weapon.

I thought I was going to be stuck in storage again.

Marian crossed the room and handed the other Swordian to Rutee. "Atwight!" exclaimed Rutee, grasping the Swordian firmly in her hands.

I was beginning to worry about our fate.

"Well," began Hugo, "just add Chaltier and that makes a total of three Swordians." He gestured to Leon, who had removed Chaltier from his sheathe. All three Swordians returned to their sheathes as Hugo went on. "History books say that six Swordians saved our world in the ancient Aeth'er Wars."

That's correct, affirmed Dymlos.

Hugo smiled slightly as he sighed. "And now, half of them are assembled here." He looked carefully at each of the four, going from Rutee to Mary to Stahn to Leon. "I expect you to be successful." After about ten seconds, the man revealed a map, which he handed over to Leon. "This will help you find your way around the world. Now go ahead with your mission."

All four gathered together and walked out of the hall, starting silently towards the door. Rutee and Mary were already out the door when Leon stopped. "Hey, wait a minute."

"Wh, what?" queried Stahn, turning to look at the boy as he stood at the door.

"I remembered something," explained Leon. "Wait here for a while."

"Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business." Leon walked a few paces before turning around again. "Remember, there's no use trying to escape. I'll hunt you down in the end."

Stahn blinked, then nodded. "I, I know."

The blond-haired young man watched the boy spin away and disappear into the main hall.

He walked quickly and quietly, sighing in relief to see that the person he had been wanting to speak to was alone. Hugo had decided to return to his office most likely. "Marian!"

The woman turned to him, a confused expression on her face. "Leon, what's wrong?"

Leon frowned at the name, lowering his eyes to the floor as he spoke. "Don't call me that. No one can hear us here."

Marian lowered her eyes for a moment as well. ". . . I'm sorry. But I thought you went off to some place."

Shrugging helplessly, the boy replied, "I don't think I'll be able to see you for a while, so I just wanted to talk to you before I left."

An eyebrow rose. "You came back just for that?"

Leon flushed pink for the first time in quite a while. "I'll miss you," he admitted, the words coming out in a whisper.

In response to that, Marian smiled warmly. "Oh, poor thing," she giggled. "Master Hugo wouldn't like it if he knew about this."

Leon gritted his teeth and immediately snapped back with, "Don't even utter that bastard's name in front of me!" As he spoke, he turned away and glared down the corridor to his left, hands clenched into fists that shook with fury.

Marian sighed. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. She made her way to Leon's right, touching his sleeved arm gently. "Emilio . . . you shouldn't say such things."

Emilio bowed his head and closed his eyes, his taut body loosening slowly. ". . . . . . . . . . . ." The two stayed in this position for a brief moment in time's eye, although minutes were slowly ticking away in the reality they tried to leave behind. Then, Emilio turned to Marian, bowing his head again. ". . . I'm sorry, Marian. . .," he apologized. "I was wrong. . ."

Marian gave the boy a maternal smile. "It's fine as long as you understand."

"Then, I'm off." Leon's normal, placid and yet stoic look again on his face.

"Emilio . . . please be careful."

Leon looked at hand still holding his sleeve, managing a smile for the woman who had raised him more like a son than his own father. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine."

But even as Leon took two steps away, he had to stop. Marian again was overtaken by confusion. "What's wrong, Emilio?" she asked.

"Marian. . ." Leon stopped, as if suddenly reconsidering his planned words. He shook his head instead. ". . . Sorry, it's nothing." Not waiting for any sort of reply, he walked out of the room the same way he had entered.

Marian trailed him, standing in the center of the room as he closed the door behind him. She closed her eyes. ". . . . . . . . ." Emilio, what did you want to tell me?

Rutee's face curled in annoyance as she tapped her foot impatiently. She and Mary had come back into the mansion upon noticing Leon and Stahn hadn't come out yet. "He's late. . .," she stated.

Stahn nodded. "He said he had to take care of some business. I wonder what he meant by that?"

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" exclaimed the black-haired Lens hunter.

"I wasn't asking you!" Stahn replied.

Just then, Leon walked back into sight from where he had exited the main hall. He looked the three over as he came within a few steps of them. "Good. It looks like you were able to behave yourselves." He smirked. "Well, I would have caught you even if you tried to escape."

Rutee scoffed at that. "You never know!"

"You fools!" exploded Leon, glaring at Rutee in particular. "Those tiaras on your heads work as homing beacons. We know exactly where you are, wherever you go. Don't even try to get smart on me, do you hear?" Rutee rolled her eyes, and Leon's hand had just reached the remote control when. . .

"Anyway, where were you?" The question came from Stahn, as Mary was basically sleeping standing up.

"It's none of your business," was the quick reply. "I don't have to answer any of your inane questions. Let's get going!" Leon, as usual, stormed past the three and into the streets of Darilsheid once again. Rutee dragged Mary after him, Stahn carefully going after them.

None of them ever noticed Marian standing at the entrance to the main hall. "Was that what you were going to tell me, Emilio?" she whispered to herself. "I can see the resemblance between the two of you; it's uncanny." She paused, a thought coming to mind. "But why do you hate her? Do you blame her for what happened to you?" Climbing the flight of stairs to the left of the mansion, Marian gazed at the portrait of a beautiful woman with long, black hair and energetic violet eyes. "Whatever happened, Chris Katrea, that caused you to tear apart your own children? What could have happened that led up to that?"

Her questions, although resounding and echoing through the mansion, went unanswered.