1 : The Coming of the Merger
I knew, since the day it happened, that there was a reason as to why I was going to be
reborn. Of course, then I couldn't put a finger on it. It was shocking enough that I was still
alive.
I don't remember exactly what happened, other than that Zidane left and then she came
to visit me. The fiery bird of grace and scorn, angelic and demonic, both the giver and taker of
life. The queen of eternal tranquility, the phoenix.
Radiant, blazing tail feathers draped upon my flesh, senging it slightly. I knew the pain
was only temporary, but confusion refused to back down. It wasn't common for the phoenix to
visit a soul at its death.
Then, she spoke, more so through the mind than verbally.
"I am not threw with you, Kuja. There is a wild world out there, longing for a sense
guidence. You must pay for your crimes. So, you shall be reborn, unto a human form, to go to
Princess Eiko and help her prepare for the coming of the merger."
"Merger?" I enquired, have dazed from her blood-boiling heat.
She danced around me, wings outstretched, rising me up from my viney tomb. Rays of
light shooted out from her wings, piercing my skin with lazer-like percision. Suddenly, the light
show stopped. I looked down at myself.
The body she had given me was that of an eighteen year olds. I was fairly tall, with a
medium build, and a calm heart. A strand of hair fell unto my face, silver glittering from it.
Above me, I heard a rumbling. I watched as a nearly invisible phoenix found an
opening in the maze of vines. She rushed downward, and lifted me up, high above my former
self out into the world of Gaea.
Morning had so newly hit the planet; the sun shot blinding rays into my still fragile eyes.
My legs dangled quickly beneath her gentle wings, and we began our journey toward Burmecia,
a close dropoff point to the kingdom of Lindblum. And just before she dropped me down upon
the murky soil, to start a new life and a new adventure, the phoenix cautioned my passage.
"Remember who you are. Remember not all words are truth, even from those whom
we love."
A sudden drop caused me to fall, face down into a small pond. Covered in mud and
soaked in murky waters, I pulled back to calm the water, wanting to catch a glimpse of my new
self.
I didn't initially appear that different, silver hair now hanging just above the chin, eyes a
glistening grey. I was no wider nor smaller bodywise than I had been before. I almost left my
image, but from the corner of my eye, I caught a shiny glimpse of an object on my head.
I moved closer down to the pond, pulling back my hair and feeling the small bump to
conclude upon it. Now the phoenix's words rang clear. I couldn't even trust her, for now I was
much more that a human or Terrian. I was a possessor of a horn, a male summoner.
I knew, since the day it happened, that there was a reason as to why I was going to be
reborn. Of course, then I couldn't put a finger on it. It was shocking enough that I was still
alive.
I don't remember exactly what happened, other than that Zidane left and then she came
to visit me. The fiery bird of grace and scorn, angelic and demonic, both the giver and taker of
life. The queen of eternal tranquility, the phoenix.
Radiant, blazing tail feathers draped upon my flesh, senging it slightly. I knew the pain
was only temporary, but confusion refused to back down. It wasn't common for the phoenix to
visit a soul at its death.
Then, she spoke, more so through the mind than verbally.
"I am not threw with you, Kuja. There is a wild world out there, longing for a sense
guidence. You must pay for your crimes. So, you shall be reborn, unto a human form, to go to
Princess Eiko and help her prepare for the coming of the merger."
"Merger?" I enquired, have dazed from her blood-boiling heat.
She danced around me, wings outstretched, rising me up from my viney tomb. Rays of
light shooted out from her wings, piercing my skin with lazer-like percision. Suddenly, the light
show stopped. I looked down at myself.
The body she had given me was that of an eighteen year olds. I was fairly tall, with a
medium build, and a calm heart. A strand of hair fell unto my face, silver glittering from it.
Above me, I heard a rumbling. I watched as a nearly invisible phoenix found an
opening in the maze of vines. She rushed downward, and lifted me up, high above my former
self out into the world of Gaea.
Morning had so newly hit the planet; the sun shot blinding rays into my still fragile eyes.
My legs dangled quickly beneath her gentle wings, and we began our journey toward Burmecia,
a close dropoff point to the kingdom of Lindblum. And just before she dropped me down upon
the murky soil, to start a new life and a new adventure, the phoenix cautioned my passage.
"Remember who you are. Remember not all words are truth, even from those whom
we love."
A sudden drop caused me to fall, face down into a small pond. Covered in mud and
soaked in murky waters, I pulled back to calm the water, wanting to catch a glimpse of my new
self.
I didn't initially appear that different, silver hair now hanging just above the chin, eyes a
glistening grey. I was no wider nor smaller bodywise than I had been before. I almost left my
image, but from the corner of my eye, I caught a shiny glimpse of an object on my head.
I moved closer down to the pond, pulling back my hair and feeling the small bump to
conclude upon it. Now the phoenix's words rang clear. I couldn't even trust her, for now I was
much more that a human or Terrian. I was a possessor of a horn, a male summoner.