POV: Blank
We're so close! So close to the Iifa Tree that I can reach out and touch it. But we still can't find a way into the tree, no matter how hard we look. There just aren't any gaps in the twined braches. But if we could get ON the tree itself…
I snarl quietly to myself, nervously bringing my fingers to my forehead band and twisting the leather around.
Sheez! Zidane, you idiot, what gave you the nerve to hop right back into the Iifa Tree like that? To leave behind everyone who loved you?
To leave me? Okay, maybe that's unreasonable, but…
Baku's voice interrupts my wandering thoughts. "The Prima Vista ain't gonna hold up much longer! We've got to leave soon!" The Boss comes over and places a hand – gently, for him – on my shoulder. "Blank, we'll have to try again tomorrow. The ship's gonna run outta fuel if we don't move off soon."
He's right. Most of the land around Iifa is too rough for landing, torn up by the massive tree's roots. Our landing spot is on the other side of Madain Sari.
I'm turning around to hop below decks, when I spot something between the leaves.
"Boss! Look – there ain't no branches below those! We have a way in!"
Too late – Baku's moved off now, can't hear me over the roar of Prima Vista's steam engines. Sorry, guys, but I promised myself I'd get Zidane outta the damned tree – today – and I guess I'll do it myself.
"Sorry…"
Then I'm off, and running – the ship's started rising slightly, but we're still close – and I hop off the side. Baku's roar follows me over ("Whaddya think you're doin'?!) Then I'm falling, slamming through the leaves into the tree (Hey, I was right, there was a way in!)
Then – yipes – I practically splat on one of the Iifa's inner branches.
It takes me a few minutes to pull myself up, my ribs are gonna bruise like hell, but I don't care. My shadowed eyes are focused on what's ahead.
*******
It takes a while to get to the heart of the tree, what with all the Zombies and Dracozombies and all, but I'm glad I practiced what magic I've been able to learn. Firaga sword works great on the suckers.
I finally spot something odd, off to the right, and I start to run towards it.
A massive cocoon of dead vines, and out of the crisscross, held fast – Ultima Weapon!
"Damn!" Casting Fire after Thunder after Blizzard doesn't work, Cure's too weak, but – hey! Cool! Death flakes it off real easy! Just lucky for me Eiko an' Vivi took the time to give me proper magic lessons.
Dropping into a hole for the second time that day, my eyes work furiously to adjust to the blackness in the small space. I'm hunched down low, but I spot the two figures near me easily enough.
"Holy shit." The curse escapes my mouth. Both of them are frozen, the Kuja guy lying down, Zidane kneeling next to him, and when I touch Zidane's arm and feel the cold roughness, I realize. They are both stone.
Digging furiously through my bag for a Soft or two, my impaired vision doesn't spot the serpent until it's fastened it's teeth to my leg.
The effect is instantaneous – gray begins to stream outwards and the serpent itself, dissolving into dust and myself, I can only watch as the gray covers me swiftly and realize how we will look, trapped here. Not again…nonononono…
Three stone figures trapped in a nest of vines.
Petrified…
*******
So, didja like it? Didja hate it? This ain't the end, you know! And by the way, this is a Zidane/Blank, but I promise it won't go anywhere beyond PG-13. R&R if you want the next chapter soon! – Ni'khali/Karra