EIDOLON TROUBLE

by Digintegrated - Hunter Bill

Disclaimer : All of this is Squaresoft's property of course, except this storyline.

It was just another bright day in Lindblum... No particular problem in the city of Regent Cid since the devastating attack of Atomos and its rebuilding. Everything was all right. The streets of the Business District were packed with customers, the Industrial District was filled with machinery noises and clamours were coming from the Theatre District...

The Tantalus had once again known immense success with their performance. Baku was sitting near a table, counting a huge amount of Gils in the Tantalus building, assisted with his fellows Blank, Marcus and Cinna.

"Gwahahahaha!... 7814 Gils. Well done people!"

"I guess we couldn't do better than this...", Blank said.

"Yeah... even your duel with Zidane was superb.", Marcus said. "By the way, has anyone seen him?"

None of the Tantalus noticed the young tailed man was not in their building.

"What? He's not here?", Cinna said in a surprised voice.

"AAACHO!", Baku sneezed, blowing some Gils off the table. "Hey! Why is he never here when we need him?"

"I don't know.", Ruby said, as she turned away from a window and walked to the table. "What's wrong with him? Has it got to do with the play?"

"The play?", Baku growled. "Gwahahaha! Of course not... I agree with you Marcus, Zidane was excellent there."

"Maybe he wants no one around him.", Blank said. "Unless somebody asks him..."

"Erm... what if I search for him? I think I know where he is. I've seen him going there from time to time."

"Yer sure?", Baku asked, seeming not to believe in what Ruby said.

"I am. Now if you just let me find him..."

"Yer allowed to leave now, but be quick!", Baku declared before sneezing again.

Ruby rushed out of the building and took an aircab to the Castle. Once arrived, she hurried to the elevator but didn't watch her steps... and ran into Minister Artania.

"Ouch... Miss, could you at least...", he started to say angrily, but became surprised as he recognized her.

"Hmmm... you must be the beautiful lady who was acting Cornelia in that play. Great performance there!"

"Oh, er... excuse me... and thanks!", she said, confused.

"Don't worry... Miss... what is your name?" he asked.

"Ruby, from the Tantalus.", she answered.

"Anything I can do for you, Miss Ruby?"

"Well yes. I know that one of our actors has come here in the Castle...", she started, but couldn't continue, because of the confusion.

"Zidane? Yes, I saw him. He's in the upper level. Cid and I granted him to get anywhere he wanted in the castle, on condition that he doesn't steal anything."

"Hee hee...", Ruby giggled. "It's evident. We are all grateful for Cid, you see."

"I have to escort you to where he is if you want to see him. You shouldn't normally get access without authorization."

"No problem.", she said as the two of them entered the elevator.

As they arrived to the upper level, Minister Artania led Ruby to the bottom of a flight of stairs and went on:

"Zidane usually goes on the top of this tower. Just climb the stairs and you'll meet him... if he's there."

"I already knew this.", Ruby said. "I've seen him sitting near this telescope. I recognized him easily because of his tail, even from a far distance."

"Well...", said the Minister. "Come back when you are finished, Miss Ruby."

"Thanks, Mr Minister.", she replied before running upstairs.

Ruby was right. Once she reached the top of the tower, she saw Zidane sitting at the edge of the tower, his tail floating in the wind, and his head buried under his gloved hands. As the girl approached him, he raised his head.

"Why on Gaia are you here, Ruby?", he mumbled.

The girl hesitated.

"We're worried about you, you see. It's been some weeks that you've started to isolate yourself."

Zidane said nothing. It was in his nature to help people, but it was unexpected for him to be helped in return...

"Though the Boss is satisfied with you this far, I have realized before the other Tantalus that something was going wrong. You can tell me if you want."

The young thief sighed, and started:

"I'm getting bored... It could have been better if Dagger had given news of Alexandria, or anyone else, but nothing... Not even a single Moogle from Mognet! I miss them all... Dagger, Steiner, the Vivis, Freyja, Quina, Eiko and Amarant..."

"But I'm here.", Ruby said. "I haven't told you before but... I'll do anything you want for you."

Zidane stared at Ruby, wide-eyed. "Really?"

"Yes, I'm not lying.", she said frantically.

"You know...", Zidane went on. "Your presence suffices. I've been waiting for a long time to talk to someone in private..."

"How kind of you, Zidane!", Ruby giggled, taking him by the hand.

Zidane's thoughts were drifting away. He went closer to Ruby. It was unbelievable for him...

"Ruby...", he whispered. "You must already know it but I would do my best to support the group... and you in particular."

"Zidane...", she whispered back.

The two got even closer, closed their eyes and in a few seconds, their lips met. It was as if time had stopped at the tower of the Castle of Lindblum. Nothing would disturb them. Nothing...

They unclasped and watch each other in a smile.

And then, the most unexpected surprise... a big BANG echoed in the Castle who started to shake. Ruby tripped and fell. Zidane helped her standing back up. The thief was about to say: "What on Gaia...", but stopped as Minister Artania came at the top of the tower.

"Mister Zidane!", he said, breathing hardly because of the considerable amount of stairs he had to climb in a hurry. "Mister Zidane, you are summoned by Regent Cid. You must come immediately! Miss Ruby, sorry about that, but you must leave this place now and return to the Districts."

"Well, thanks for the support, Ruby!", Zidane said cheerfully.

"You're welcome.", the girl replied, as she disappeared in the elevator.

Zidane rushed to the throne room, but stood there dumbfounded. Near the throne was...

"AN OGLOP???", Zidane shouted, but cooled down as he recognized its moustache.

"Cid?", he said horror-struck. "Oh no! Not again!"

"Mr. Zidane -gwok-...", Cid started. "We've tried to hide this for a long time now, but our secret has to be revealed now... -gwok-"

"Wait a moment.", a voice came from behind. Zidane turned back and saw Lady Hilda running into the throne room. She took the oglop in her hands and after a flash of staggering light, made him return to his human form.

"Thank you darling.", Cid said gratefully.

"We have no time to lose.", Hilda went on. "As Cid precised, it all started a long time ago, three months to be correct. I suppose you know about Eiko, Mr. Zidane."

"Er... yes.", the thief said, thinking. "She's a Summoner, like Dagger... sorry, I meant Garnet."

"Right.", the Regent said. "Three months ago, she started to complain that her horn was hurting. From day to day, her state grew even worse. We put her in bed and tried to send Mogs to Doctor Tot in Treno, but we had no reply. We learned later by a group of travellers that a monster terrorized the Treno citizens."

"The day we heard about Treno, Eiko was getting even worse. We could not approach her without being blasted away.", Hilda said. "Until today... she got up and before starting to mess the castle up and turning my husband into an oglop, she told us with such an eerie voice that she was going to some place named Madain Sari..."

"That was this BANG I heard from the tower...", Zidane said.

"Exactly.", Cid answered.

"Madain Sari is where Eiko and Garnet come from.", Zidane went on. "I've been there... This place used to be the home of people able to summon what they called Eidolons. If the monster that the Mogs and these guys in Treno spotted is an Eidolon... Man... we're not out of the woods!"

"Anyway, if this monster comes to destroy my beloved city, I will not surrender without fighting him.", Cid declared, determined.

"I don't think it's a good idea to face him with your flying machines.", Zidane said. "Haven't you forgotten when Atomos nearly destroyed your place? And do you also remember what happened in Alexandria? The dragon that almost devastated the place was an Eidolon. Garnet and Eiko summoned another one to neutralize it. I think we'd better fight fire with fire... I'll go to Alexandria, tell Dagger... Garnet about this and bring her with me to solve the problem."

"It is not convenient to risk the Queen's life, Mr. Zidane.", Hilda countered.

"Is this a reason not to try?", the thief retorted. "She's our only hope. I'm sure she will accept."

"If you see it like this", Cid said, "I will dispatch my new Hilda Garde for you. Use it wisely."

"All right, man.", he said before rushing to the hangars.

"Mmm... he has still got no manners.", Cid thought. "Shall we trust him?"

~~

"We're approaching Alexandria. Prepare for landing.", a crew member of the Hilda Garde 4 announced.

Alexandria... This single word made Zidane dream again as the ship was coming to its castle. He remembered when he got there with the Tantalus and finally embraced "his beloved Dagger". But his dreams were interrupted by another BANG. In a second, the whole ship started to shake.

"We're losing attitude!", Erin said. "We must try to land without damaging our ship too much!"

The thief was clinging to whatever he could. The Hilda Garde was plunging to the Alexandrian plateau, near a forest. Erin pulled on several latches, and several airbrakes spread from the damaged hull of the ship which hit the ground in a scaring noise.

"I can't believe we're all alive.", a crew member said.

"Hey! Did you see that?", Zidane called, pointing at some place.

The crew could see some creature hovering far away from them and flying fast towards the ocean.

"I know it... It's Madeen!", Zidane said.

"What have you just said?", Erin asked, as she didn't understand.

"No time to explain for now. I have to run to Alexandria and bring Dagger with me. Then we're gonna fly this thing to Madain Sari."

"I'm afraid this ship won't fly for a while, Sir.", a crew member said. "The blast, whatever it is, has damaged one of the steam engines. It will take some hours to fix it."

"Oh man!", Zidane thought.

"Don't worry, I'll find another way!", he told the crew before making his way as fast as he could towards Alexandria.

The streets of the town weren't as crowded as in Lindblum, so the young thief could easily run through. Once arrived at the castle gates, it was a bit harder for him to pass, since the entrance was packed with soldiers. But nothing seemed to stop him anyway. He reached the tower on the right side of the entrance, lock-picked the door and entered the dungeons. A few moments later, he was at the entrance of the secret passage, just behind the throne room.

"Dagger!", he called as loudly as he could.

Garnet, the Queen of Alexandria, or Dagger as she chose to be called, was sitting in the throne, still beautiful in her royal outfit, but a bit sad. She gave a jump as she heard Zidane calling her by her nickname.

"Zidane?", she replied, looking everywhere around the room. "Zidane, is that really you? Where are you?"

"I'm in the secret passage", the muffled voice of Zidane came through the walls.

Dagger took no time to understand. She opened the passage and let Zidane through, then the two went into an embrace.

"Why haven't you given a sign of life? I was worried about you, you know!", she started.

"I could claim the same...", he answered. "It looks like all the Mogs I sent you are lost in nature or something. And I think I know the reason why... but I need to have you with me again."

Dagger looked at Zidane as if she didn't understand.

"Why?"

"Eiko's been messing up...", he said in a low voice. "She's been having horn-aches for months and now she's ran off Lindblum's Castle with Madeen terrorizing people after turning this geezer Cid into an oglop. Okay, I know, it's not funny at all. But it seems now that Eiko and her Eidolon have both gone mad. Moreover, Madeen has damaged the Hilda Garde I 'borrowed' to come here."

"How could this be...", she said.

"That's why I've come to you. You're a Summoner, right? I need your assistance to get to Madain Sari."

"Hey, wait a moment, Zidane.", Dagger interrupted. "I cannot leave my kingdom like this..."

"And will you have a kingdom left to govern if you don't do anything?", Zidane retorted angrily.

Dagger realized how Zidane was right. Something had to be done...

"Hold on a second.", she said briefly before going to her room, leaving the thief in the throne room.

Just after, a familiar voice came from the corridors. "Majesty! We're in trouble!"

The double door of the room flung open, and Steiner turned up, followed by Beatrix. The two fighters stared at Zidane, gaping.

"What... why are you here, you scoundrel?", Steiner started.

"Better watch your mouth, Rusty!", Zidane countered. "If you're searching for Dagger, she's in her room. She'll come back in no time."

"Why should we bother with him after all, Steiner?", Beatrix said. "These monsters approaching the city matter more than him... although I must confess I'm glad to see you again, Mister Zidane."

Just as she finished her sentence, Dagger came back, but she wasn't in her white dress anymore. She was wearing the clothes she had during her journey with Zidane: orange pants with a white blouse, and red gloves and boots.

"Majesty?", Steiner exclaimed. "What are you doing? Alexandria's in danger and you want to leave?"

"I know, Steiner. I wanted to call for you both after I've changed clothes but it's good you're already here. According to Zidane, Eiko started it all."

"I agree with you both, Your Majesty.", Beatrix continued. "Just before the monsters came, we saw that blue-haired girl making some strange rituals around the castle. We haven't understood exactly what she said, but she sometimes mentioned 'Madain Sari'."

"That place filled with Eidolons?", Steiner questioned.

"Exactly. Moreover, Dagger is also a Summoner, that's why I want to get there with her to solve this mystery. We won't be alone, I'm sure some of the Black Mages will give us a hand.", Zidane replied

"These Black Mages I once saw in the Outer Continent?", Beatrix said. "I am sure they will help. Now that you talk about them, I must say I appreciate these ones more than those who were under Brahne's orders... I especially like the smaller ones with folded pointed hats."

"The Vivis...", Zidane thought.

"So, Majesty, what are your orders?", Steiner questioned.

"Steiner, Beatrix, prepare your troops to defend the castle while I'm away with Zidane.", Dagger declared.

"Yes, your Majesty.", they both said at the same time, saluting.

"I'm counting on you, Zidane.", Steiner added before leaving.

"Good luck to you both!", Beatrix cheered.

"No problem. We'll be okay!", Zidane said before getting back to the catacombs.

~~

"I've never seen this place surrounded by so many monsters!", Dagger said, horror-struck.

Her and Zidane were half a mile away from Alexandria, and great packs of creatures were approaching. Zidane was clinging firmly to his double edge.

"No need to stay here doing nothing. I think I've got an idea to get to Madain Sari as fast as we could.", he said.

"Without airship nor seaships?", she asked.

"The Hilda Garde is down and we have no chance to get there by the sea... much too slow. Follow me..."

They entered a deep forest. Dagger was a bit afraid, though the place wasn't as menacing as the Evil Forest, located under the Mist. They reached a clearing and saw a magnificent golden Chocobo resting there.

"That's our chance to get there!", Dagger said happily.

"Not yet...", Zidane said. The thief was right... The Chocobo woke up, noticed their presence and ran away, startled. As Zidane started to run after the feathered creature, Dagger helped him with a Haste spell. His now awesome speed was no match for the Chocobo and he caught up rapidly with it. But something appeared in front of the Chocobo. It was a Zaghnol. The Chocobo tripped on the huge horns and fell to the ground, helpless. Zaghnol was about to run towards the poor creature when Zidane flipped between the two, twirling his double edge.

"Try to beat me first!", he taunted.

The Zaghnol rushed to the thief who dodged it without problem. He made his weapon twirl again and slashed the porcine monster. The blow killed it in no time. Zidane went calmly to the Chocobo, leaving his weapon near the monster.

"Are you all right?", he asked the Chocobo.

"Kweh...", the creature answered in a faint cry.

"Hold on..."

He handed some Gysahl Greens. The Chocobo started to beak them. At this moment, Dagger turned up, puffing.

"Here it is.", Zidane said, victorious. "I killed a Zaghnol and gave some Greens to this Chocobo to make it understand I'm still its friend."

"Poor thing...", Dagger thought. "It must be scared because of the monsters."

She nodded and cast a Curaga on the Chocobo. The feathered creature got up, shaking its tail and making a joyful "Kweeeeeeeh!". It lowered its long neck, allowing Zidane and Dagger to climb on its back.

"Hang on, Dagger.", the thief said as they both settled upon the Chocobo. "We're flying to Madain Sari now!"

~~

After some time spent flying, and after "Rally-ho"ing the dwarves of Conde Petie, Zidane and Dagger, still riding, finally arrived to the deserts surrounding Madain Sari.

"Hey, Dagger!", Zidane said. "You've dropped it while you were running in this Alexandrian Forest with me..."

"It's a Peridot..." she said, observing the jewel. "The power of Eidolon Ramuh... Zidane! I'm feeling something!"

"What?", he said.

"He wants me to summon him!", she declared.

"This old man we saw at Pinnacle Rocks? Yeah, I see. Maybe he's got some things to tell us or some tests for you to pass, some story to be told...", he said in a mocking voice.

Dagger wasn't listening. She raised the Peridot in the air. The sky went dark and suddenly, a old man in a long robe, with a very long beard and moustache, came from the nothingness. It was Ramuh indeed.

"You are wrong, young man.", Ramuh started. "I came here to tell you about the danger that is now threatening Gaia. As you probably know, Eiko started it all, but she is not the person to be blamed."

"Why?", Zidane and Dagger both asked.

"A long time ago, some people tried to remove Eiko's Eidolons, but didn't succeed. You know that Eidolons cannot be removed from a Summoner before he or she is 16..."

"Thorn and Zorn!", Zidane exclaimed.

"Yes, those two jesters...", Ramuh went on. "They corrupted Eiko's mind as they tried to cut off her horn. Madeen slowly started to become mad after this. You might not have noticed this while you were battling against Kuja, but as time passed, Madeen went even angrier, and Eiko was no longer herself."

"That's awful...", Dagger said.

"Eidolons must remain in harmony with their Summoners. If an Eidolon becomes unstable, both the Eidolon and the Summoner turn mad. This is what happened to Eiko."

"Well... what shall we do now?", Zidane questioned.

"You heard that Eiko wanted to go to Madain Sari, right? You must prevent there to reach the Eidolon wall at all costs! If she ever reaches it, she will raise all the Eidolons, me included, to destroy the world."

"Hmmm... doesn't sound pretty.", the thief commented.

"Eiko and Madeen know you would both try to stop them. They terrorized the people and Mogs of the Mist Continent in order to block you.", Ramuh continued.

"I would never figure out she was so smart...", Zidane said.

"I hope Steiner and Beatrix are all right...", Dagger added.

"You should better focus on Madain Sari right now.", Ramuh said. "Go to this place and stop Eiko and Madeen from achieving their evil deeds."

Ramuh vanished and the sky became blue again. Zidane thought for a moment, and suggested:

"Dagger, go to Madain Sari and summon all of the Eidolons you can, I'm going to the Black Mage Village with the Chocobo to bring some Black Mages with us."

Dagger nodded and headed to the ruined place.

A minute later, Zidane reached the Black Mage Village. Nobody was there. Not a single Black Mage or Genome from Terra was there. The thief searched everywhere, every single house... nobody.

"Hey, is there anybody out there?", Zidane called loudly. "This is me, Zidane! Where are you? Vivi? Mikoto?"

"It's been a long time, Zidane.", a voice emerged from under a house.

"Mikoto?"

"Yes. Go to the counter behind the inn."

He turned to the inn. Mikoto was standing there, her eyes filled with sorrow.

"Everybody's under this house. The Black Mages created this shelter to protect us from the monster who came some time ago in our village. We already lost two Genomes and two Mages."

"Damn...", Zidane thought.

"Er... May I go down and take a look before I leave?", he asked.

"Sure."

Zidane went under the house. Some underground corridors and rooms had been dug under the houses and were lighted with torches. He greeted Black Mage #288 as he passed, and found the Vivis playing with magic in a corner. One of them turned to the thief.

"I recognize you!", he said happily. "You were there in Alexandria!"

"Yes.", another Vivi said. "When you were hugging the Queen... it was so beautiful."

"How is she now?", a third Vivi asked.

Zidane kneeled down to the six small Black Mages who were all pointing their shining yellow eyes to him and said:

"The Queen and I need your help. You have seen this monster outside your village, right?"

"Yes.", a Vivi said.

"I'm afraid of it.", another one complained.

"You've found a way to beat him, Sir?", another Vivi questioned.

"First, don't call me 'Sir'. My name's Zidane. Second... I think we could do something together, with some of you, Dagger... er, the Queen and myself. Anybody wants to come with me?"

Three Vivis timidly marched to Zidane.

"You are sure you still want to go with me, right?", Zidane asked.

The three Vivis nodded.

"We will go to Madain Sari with by Chocobo. Come with me.", he said.

"You have a Chocobo?", a Vivi asked as they made their way out of the shelter.

"I like them very much.", another one commented.

~~

Because of its relatively heavy burden that were Zidane and the three Vivis, the golden Chocobo was hovering only a few feet above the ground. As they approached Madain Sari, the sky turned orange-red and the earth started to shake.

"Uh oh...", Zidane declared. "It's definitely no good at all..."

"And you are right, you rat-tailed wretch!"

It was Eiko. Zidane stopped the Chocobo, dismounted and faced the little girl. She seemed not to be herself anymore. Her eyes were red with fury...

"Eiko... what do you think you're doing?", Zidane said, trying to make her see sense.

"Don't ask me such silly questions.", she said angrily. "Terra Homing!"

The land shook with more violence. Zidane and the Vivis could just have time enough to see Madeen coming right in front of them and firing energy bullets to them! Then everything went white...

~~

Meanwhile, in Madain Sari, Dagger was standing inside the round Eidolon wall. The Mogs were watching her with a very interested look. "We're all with you, kupo!", one of them had said as she had entered.

The girl could hardly concentrate. Summoning all the Eidolons she could was very demanding for her. Suddenly, a flash appeared above the wall and eight strands of light raised from Dagger's body. The rays then took form of her summonable creatures. They were all here: Ramuh, Shiva, Ifrit, Atomos, Leviathan, Odin, Bahamut and even Ark. After the eight Eidolons erected a protective barrier around their wall, Dagger went outside, holding her staff with both hands, questioning herself.

"Why should I have to do this?", she was thinking. "What should I do in order to save Eiko? I hope I won't have to fight against her..."

A moment later, she could see Eiko approaching the ruins. "Hurry up Zidane... please hurry up!", she thought, but as she didn't see the thief approaching, her hopes started to fade.

"There you are!", Eiko squealed. "I know you're gonna be kind to me and let me pass, right?"

Dagger didn't know what to do. She only wanted Zidane to come back as soon as possible... Maybe he was a bit late... After all, if she tried to reason with Eiko, that could allow her to gain some time...

"Eiko, please stop this... This makes no sense at all!", she begged.

"Who do you think you are to give me orders?", Eiko retorted. "I'm gonna show you!"

The child twirled her staff... and a great pack of wild Mus rushed towards the Eidolon wall, which started to produce an eerie glow. Dagger waved her staff towards one of the beasts, releasing an energy ball. Several Mus perished, but it wasn't enough... no matter how fast she was shooting at the rodents, they were still coming in great numbers. Just as Dagger thought it was over, the Eidolon wall gave out a powerful blast that rolled across the pathway leading to it.

None of the Mus survived.

"How could you...!", Eiko shouted.

"Listen up, Eiko...", Dagger began to say, but was interrupted as she saw the child falling down to earth, hit by a small fire blast. Eiko stood up and turned back. She saw Zidane and the three Vivis, with their yellow eyes shining brightly in the dark, performing a Stop spell. Eiko's eyes widened in terror as she got hit by the spell, and remained there, still.

"Zidane!", Dagger exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry for having kept you waiting but an Eidolon has delayed me...", he said as he was limping to her and Eiko. "This little... erm... child has summoned Madeen upon us all as we were heading to Madain Sari, and then... The Phoenix helped us to survive."

"But why have you done this to Eiko? I meant, why did you want the Black Mages to do this?", Dagger asked. "And how could Phoenix come to help you?"

"I think that if, according to what the old geezer said, Eiko isn't responsible, we have to face Madeen instead. I wanted the Vivis to cast a spell that couldn't kill her, you see. As for Phoenix... maybe Eiko lost control of her other Eidolons who didn't turn insane..."

The land quaked again, with more violence.

"And Madeen will come here in no time... since Eiko isn't there to call for his Terra Homing anymore, the battle would be a lot easier."

"You really think you could defeat an Eidolon?", Dagger said. "That's nonsense!"

"He is right...", said the voice of Ark. "Before you were able to summon me, this young man already defeated me in Oeilvert, even without using magic."

The mechanized Eidolon appeared in front of them and went on:

"If one of us shall become uncontrollable, he or she has to be defeated in battle. The Eidolon will then disappear from Gaia until someone calls for him or her again. I know this because it was my case too. I remember that my madness has driven me in Oeilvert. I was condemned to stay there until someone would free me. I still don't know how, but Zidane and his comrades made it. If you defeat Madeen, he will not only become sane again, but Eiko will also be freed from his influence."

"If you think so... we'll do it.", Dagger said.

"All right, pal!", Zidane added.

"We will protect the Eidolon wall as long as we can but it's up to you to vanquish Madeen. Good luck to you.", Ark concluded before returning to the wall.

An earthquake later, Madeen himself showed up in front of the group. The three Vivis, scared of the creature, ran and hide behind Zidane and Dagger, who had both their weapons ready. The thief's tale was shaking vigorously as he was staring at the greenish, lion-like Eidolon. Dagger was a bit apprehensive, but she was determined to play her role till the end. She protected the whole team with a Shell spell, while Zidane artfully dodged a fire bolt Madeen was shooting at him.

"C'mon!", he shouted at the three scared Vivis. "Show him what you can do!"

The three little Black Mages nodded, raised their trembling hands and released in succession a Firaga, a Blizzaga and a Thundaga that hit Madeen head on. The Eidolon furiously hovered towards the Black Mages, but Zidane leaped like a cat to his gigantic head and slashed his body, while Dagger distracted him once more with a blast coming from her staff. Furious from being obliged to take so many hits, Madeen roared so loudly that the Vivis got scared again.

"Looks like we got him angry!", Zidane said with a grin.

"You find it amusing? I'll never understand you...", Dagger replied with disdain.

Madeen performed several claw slashes to the group. One of the Vivis fell to the ground, unconscious, Zidane, clasping Dagger's hand, successfully dodged the attack, while the other two Vivis retorted with both a Flare.

"You are worthy opponents, indeed...", Madeen growled. "But what will you do against this?"

He raised his claws in the air and hurled a magic blast towards Eiko.

"NO!", Zidane, Dagger and the two Vivis shouted in unison. The four of them had time enough to put themselves between Eiko and the blast, hiding their eyes from the blinding light... and a loud explosion echoed throughout Madain Sari.

"She's no use for me anymore...", Madeen went on. "I wanted her to get to this place before I could definitely discard her... and you want to risk your life in protecting such a meaningless being? You are pitiful..."

Though Eiko was still frozen but unharmed, the two Vivis couldn't get up anymore. Zidane helped himself with his double edge to stand up. Dagger was kneeling and hardly breathing. The young thief raised his hand to her. As their hands clasped, both of them could feel huge strands of energy flowing into their bodies.

"Zidane! What's happening to you? You're warmer than ever!", Dagger said, alarmed.

Zidane's tail straightened as he was feeling how Dagger was warming up too.

"Dagger? You... know what I'm... thinking about?", he stammered.

"Is it...?", she could hardly reply.

Their two bodies were furiously glowing and projecting electric sparks. "Trance...", Zidane said to himself.

The two nodded to each other as they realized what was happening... the power of Trance. Exactly what Kuja had experimented during their brief visit in Terra. Dagger raised to her feet and summoned all of her Eidolons at a time. The eight creatures assembled in an enormous chaotic vortex and headed to Madeen, while Zidane emitted a white energetic shockwave with his double edge to the insane Eidolon, who got engulfed between the two blasts. Madeen roared, growled, shook as fast as he could, he couldn't break free. As the vortex dissipated, the Eidolon stopped hovering above the earth, hit the ground with a loud echoing noise and exploded. There was nothing left of him a moment later.

While Zidane and Dagger were recovering from their wounds, Eiko fell on the ground and started sobbing.

"Eiko!", Dagger exclaimed. She and Zidane rushed to the child. Eiko recognized her old friends and hugged them tenderly; with her eyes filled with tears.

"Madeen...", she began between two sobs. "He was mean with me... he made my horn hurt... and wanted to kill me if I didn't obey him!"

"It's all over now.", Dagger said.

"Relax, Eiko...", Zidane whispered to her. "Madeen's gone now. He won't disturb you anymore..."

"He won't?", the child replied. "Oh, thank you!" and she hugged them tighter. The three little Vivis stood up and approached the group. She embraced the Black Mages, and declared as if she was in a hurry:

"Hey, we're in Madain Sari here... We should go to Lindblum right now! I don't want Cid and Hilda to say I've been bad because I've been out for too long!"

"As usual...", Zidane thought as the group left the ruined place and the sky went back to blue. "She's herself again..."

Author's Note : this story is a response to Lady Aliena's challenge. A very, how should I say, demanding one... How lucky I was to fall into an ideastream for this challenge!

Very special regards to Lady Aliena of course. You're awesome!

Greetings to the nice people who left reviews for my four preview pieces of work... you know who you are! But thank you anyway... thank you! And friendly feelings to all of you...

~~ Digintegrated Hunter Bill ~~