Five & Nine

Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series was created and is under copyright through Square/Square-Enix. I do not own these characters and had no influence with the original plot. The actions and portrayal of these characters are done originally, therefore I take claim only for this and future stories. Again, not the series itself (even though that'd totally be awesome!) Enjoy.

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It's Not The End.

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1

Just when I thought I was back home, the fat lady sung.

Literally.

"Si tu ne m'aime pas, je t'aime, si je t'aime, prend garde toi!" her voice rang throughout the whole damned place. Plump as hell with a wrack that would convince any old man she was worth loving. Heh, I hardly say this, but she was totally not my type.

I browsed through the open field, catching the eye of all the townspeople who gave me, or the tail, feverish glances. Some even ran, the kids mostly. It was unbearably difficult to keep going without finding some directions to. . .well, wherever I was. I stopped by a pub and lifted the shutter door open before once again becoming everyone's own personal peep show.

"No animals. Someone get this animal out of here!"

"What? Hey, I'm no animal!" I roared at the man behind the counter. He stepped back and gulped. "I-I'm sorry sir. . .I didn't realize-"

"Yeah. Right, it's fine." I gritted my teeth some and approached him, not forgetting to slip my tail around my waist to attempt any further "accusations."

"Can you tell me where I'm at right now?"

"You don't know?" he responded puzzled. "You're in Jachol, my dear sir."

I raised a brow. "Jachol?" The name didn't ring a bell, and I was a professional at catching onto cities and landmarks inside Gaia. I tossed him another glance and crossed my arms. "How do I get to Alexandria from here?"

"Excuse me? To where?"

"Alexandria." I repeated, sighing. "You know, Mist Continent?" I scratched my head and stared around, noticing that the machines running nearby had no mist steaming out of them.

"We have no Mist Continent, sir. Are you feeling well?"

"Hanging on a limb, here." I scoffed at his response and cast my arm at him. "Thanks anyways." I caught him nod his head before pushing myself back outside, staring at the sky that was bright and kind of green. It didn't even smell the same, now that I thought about it. I figured Cosmos knew us well enough to determine what home was, but I guess even Goddesses get it wrong sometime.

"Bartz, is that you?"

I turned my head and followed my eyes toward that voice. That unfamiliar voice. A deep, but sort of not so deep voice. It's owner was some guy in what looked like pirate clothing. I shook my head.

"Not Bartz. Zidane Tribal." I corrected her. "I know the guy though." his face popped up in my mind for a moment. He crossed over to me and sighed.

"My mind must be rationing on air. Everyone looks the same in this silly trollop of a town." He stared at me. "You know a Bartz?" His hand finally lifted off of that sword to his side.

"Yeah, of course." I smiled and propped my hand out slightly above my head, indicating his size. "He's about this tall, hair not too long, and he's a fan of tights for some reason."

He tilted his head for a moment and laughed.

"We must know the same person then." He reached his hand out to shake mine, and I grasped his hand quickly, shaking it.

"Faris."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Zidane."

"Zidane? Where might I ask that you be living?"

"Well Lindblum for awhile." I replied, returning my arm to it's side before slipping my dagger out of it's holster and into the air to ease my frustration, catching it quickly. "Alexandria is where I'm from. The guy over there claimed he didn't know the place at all, though." I nudged my head at the pub next door.

"Aye." he shook his head. "That's because there is no such place." he turned away for a second and sighed. "Do you have a minute to spare a story you could tell?"

We finally decided to take refuge in the pub again, and I sat down to straighten out my thoughts. He was curious to know how Bartz and I met, and as reluctant as I was to share the details, I needed answers. So I talked on about Cosmos and Chaos and how we all kind of came together to situate peace and what not. Surprisingly that didn't draw a single laugh from the fella. He just continued to nod and took everything in. That's when my eyes instinctively pooled themselves down to that chest region, noticing quickly that his breastplate was pushing out a good inch. Apparently he noticed.

"Looking for some sisters?" he chuckled and sighed.

"Aye. I am female. Your eyes have just been warned."

I blushed for a second, before dropping my head. Man, I felt stupid, but the indicator of estrogen once again set me off the chain. I peeked again anyways. She grunted and shifted herself slightly. "He was reported to be around the area. That's why I'm visiting Jachol." Her eyes crossed mine again before slipping her finger past the hilt to her blade, raising it from it's sheath just slightly. "Your eyes. They test me."

I coughed and nodded. "Yeah, uh, Sorry."

"Monster!" a woman's voice shot out from outside. We both got up instantly and Faris shot through the door with me quickly towing behind her. Behemoths. Man, these guys are natives too apparently. Three of them.

They roared and frightened all of the citizens behind houses and buildings. That made it easier to not worry about accidental fatalities, but the moment I even thought about reaching for my dagger, Faris already whipped out that sword.

"Hngh! Can you fight!?" she looked at me, bracing her sword against the fangs of the beast before pushing it back some.

"Yeah, I got this!" I smirked and reached around my belt to secure two daggers in each hands, vaulting into the air before shooting them down at the head of the second beast, followed by another two daggers, pushing the Behemoth out the way. Tempest wasn't enough though. No, these guys were made out of something a little harder then the usual.

"It will take more than the effort of a few daggers, Zidane." she jumped down beside me and huffed. I caught her arm reaching inside her coat for what looked like red glass. A shard, maybe. It shined and suddenly her clothes changed into what looked like a coat. She rushed in for the Behemoth she was struggling with and bent down to punch at the ground. I felt the tremor immediately and jumped. An earthquake!? Who was this woman? These questions had to wait, and I didn't feel reluctant anymore to let go of the chance to use trance.

I shifted emotions together and growled at the Behemoth who was struggling to stay on it's feet, feeling the energy circulate through my fingers before letting the lightning fly, crashing down on it's massive head before unsheathing my blades to engulf the behemoth in heavy rain. Finally the damned thing towered over and fell, but not before roaring and raising it's head into the air.

"Damn! They must be killed sooner than this!" Faris shouted, her speech leading way to a large piece of rock, almost like a comet pummeling straight for us.

"Don't worry! I got this!" a body jumped in front of me and Faris, raising two swords in the air before I heard the stranger in the armor struggle, grunting as the burning rock pushed him deeper into the ground. I quickly took that moment to jump past the guy's shoulders, spiraling into the rock as the heat meshed into my head, but it was tolerable. Enough to break it at least, but not enough to avoid the second Behemoth's fucking claw that rammed itself into my back. I felt the air punch completely from my lungs and flew down into the dirt.

"Zidane! Stay still!" the voice shouted. "Going for a finisher! Faris, Necromancer!"

I shifted my hand and managed to catch Faris' clothes change again, wearing a large headpiece while the man in the armor changed, Bartz, and materialized some armored mask over his face. It had to be Bartz!

Faris casted what looked like a spazzed out version of Blizzard and Bartz jumped in front of each attack to a deliver a massive strike down the last two Behemoths, making mincemeat out of their heads before they tried to summon another damned meteor.

"Huh. Monsters. Can you believe it?"

"Where have you been?" Faris rang in her voice, slightly irritated, while reaching down to pull me up, offering me a bottle that looked like an potion. I took it quickly. Man, it helped.

"Thanks.." I sighed.

"Don't mention it. You're a fair fighter." she smiled briefly. Her eyes darted over to Bartz and she scoffed. "Waiting till the punches fly to make an entrance, Klauser?"

"I didn't even know you guys were in the area." he rose his arms in front of him, grinning wildly. "Much less Tribal here." he tossed me a wink. "The stink of those things got me running."

"Lenna has been asking for you. Will you come with me to visit her?"

Bartz nodded at her before turning his gaze back to me. "I have a few things to go over with this guy, first. Go ahead and I'll catch up."

Faris shoved her hand into the air before exiting the village quickly.

"What are you doing in my parts, monkey boy?"

I glanced at him, scoffing. "I figured you had the answers." That made him smile enough to pat my back, pushing me back into the bar. "Let's discuss."