Disclaimer: I don't own, or claim to own, Earth or Gaia, or any of the characters of Final Fantasy IX (9). I do, however, own my original characters. I do however own the mysterious assassin (Lethe), Chris, Melissa, the whole idea of the spiritseers, and I am "borrowing" Neil and Bruce by express permission from their owners.
Chapter 1: Cloak & Dagger
I opened my eyes slowly and immediately wished I hadn't. My body was in so much pain that I couldn't even scream, I just lay there whimpering. There were dark movements in my vision, floating about like seaweed on the tide.
"Owww..." I moaned in shock. Normally, I could feel when a bone was broken, or something like that, but now I felt like everything was broken, every single bone in my body was ablaze with agony, my shattered mind was just screaming, telling me to just get on with it and die. I faintly heard a voice before lapsing back into sweet unconsciousness.
"I think I've found him!"
The Red Rose, in all it's sweeping majesty, set off into the skies from the beautiful city of Alexandria. I leant dreamily on the handrail, gazing over the sprawling landscape before me. Once we arrived at Lindblum, there was going to be the first Festival Of The Hunt since the war that struck the city five years ago. Members of all the major territories would be there, like Puck from Burmecia. He'd taken the place of his father, after he'd regrettably passed away two years ago. Even though he was now responsible for an entire nation, it didn't make him grow up at all. He was still the same rambunctious so and so from when I had first became his "slave" all that time ago. In fact, he still wandered around like he had no royal duties at all, causing no end of stress to Burmecia's government.
Then, of course, were Mikoto and Mr 397 from Black Mage Village. True to their word, they had begun endeavors to unite Gaians, Mages and Genomes ever since the end of the Mist Age. However, they had become quite unstuck when the Black Mages lifespans started to wane. Only by the intervention of the people of Dali prevented their extinction, bringing the machines that originally spawned them back to life. Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution, as Gaia's supply of Mist as also dropped steeply, due to the destruction of the Iifa Tree's roots.
I sighed in nostalgia. So much had happened, and I had taken a back seat in life and missed most of it. Not that the past five years have gone by without event for myself, but I was glad that things were finally settling down in Gaia.
"Haven't changed a bit, have you?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me and smiled. "Still all mysterious and dark, like you're constantly hiding something." Melissa joined me, looking at the view.
"Well I had to grow up at a bit, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here right now."
"Got time for that long story?" She looked at me, head cocked sideways."
"Well, maybe a bit of it." I sighed. "Where do I start?"
"How about how you survived in the Iifa Tree?"
"Well..."
Again, I was brought back into consciousness, blinking in the bleak darkness that enshrouded the compact little world I had come to know. The blazing agony had subsided slightly, leaving me just feeling unbearably broken. When my mind decided to stop complaining, I had time to think about things. How was I still alive? Was I still alive? Where was everyone? What the heck happened?
"He's awake again." I heard a familiar voice close by, accompanied by a large white blur in my sight. Right next to it was a light blue blur, moving slightly.
"Chris? How you feeling?" I heard Zidane's voice, so I assumed that he was the light blue blur.
"Like I've been hit by a truck, and then sat on by a oil tanker."
"Hit by a what?"
"By a--- never mind." My vision was beginning to clear, and I could start to make out features on the white blur. "Hey Kuja, feeling alright?"
"I have a lot of thoughts on my mind." I could guess why too, who wouldn't after being told you were going to die, but miraculously survived? With my vision clearing, I decided to have a look at what was going on with the rest of my body. My torso was a mess, but it looked as though someone had been doing some healing work on it. I guessed that had been Kuja.
"Hey, thanks." I told him. He shrugged.
"We're equal now. You saved my life, I saved yours." He turned to look at me, and he looked confused. "What exactly did you do to me?"
"Once you died, I re-bonded your soul with your body. Took a lot out of me too."
"Why didn't you to escape into the netherworld? It would have been a little easier than having a vine smashing you into a wall."
"I was a bit too tired after sorting you out. Not to mention the fact that I thought it was fate. I thought I was supposed to die here."
"What made you think that?" Zidane joined into the conversation, sat on a lifeless vine.
"I saw it in a vision. What I see usually happens at some point."
"So that's why you came with me?"
"Hell no, I just wanted to make sure that iron thong over there made it out of here alive."
"Who?" Zidane looked a little puzzled. I sighed.
"Never mind. If you ever get to my world, you'll have a lot to learn."
Lindblum still looked eye-bogglingly brilliant from above, the Industrial District's factories and workshops spouted thick columns of pure white steam into the atmosphere, while the faint sound of cheers and laughter echoed from the Theatre District's many theatres. The sky was teeming with the new steam-powered airships developed by a team of technicians under the watchful eyes of Regent Cid. In fact, most of the existing airships were able to utilise the new technology without too much work on them. In the towering Grand Castle, I could see the magnificent form of the Hilda Garde IV rested like a proud eagle in it's nest, it's valiant prow poked out of the side of the colossal docks.
The Red Rose glided into one of the docking bays, coming to rest next to the disembarking platform. Melissa and myself waited for Dagger to come up from beneath the deck, flanked by Steiner & Neil. She was wearing a majestic gown, pearl white in colour. She crossed the bridge gracefully, hand-in-hand with Zidane, who stood out like a sore thumb next to her majestic clothing, standing in his usual light-blue scruffs. He seemed to have made a small effort however, as his hair was combed back, instead of it's normal unruly self. Bruce followed behind, wearing the new suit of armour that he had been given by Regent Cid, lined with jet-black obsidian, gleaming in the blazing sunlight. Behind him stood Freya and Amarant, dressed up as usual, along with Eiko, who seemed to be happy to be back in Lindblum.
"Just like the good old times!" She sighed happily, before bounding down to the bridge to her awaiting "father". I shrugged and followed suite, letting my new black mage cloak swish around me as I walked. Sadly, I couldn't get hold of a hat that would fit on my head, so I couldn't complete the look. Regent Cid, wearing his usual regal clothing, gave Dagger a little hug and shook Zidane's hand firmly.
"It's good to see you all again. I trust that some of you will be joining in the festivities today? I've heard that some of the beasts they have today are quite magnificent." While the others chatted amongst themselves, Bruce came up to me.
"So how about it? Ready to kick some monster ass?" I thought about it for a second, before shaking my head.
"Nah, I'll stay up here and root for you all. It'd be a bit unfair, seeming I have a guardian and all."
"Shh, no-one will notice!" Kirjava murmured sarcastically from inside my head.
"Don't let that stop you. I'm going for it anyway." Melissa said.
"Sucks to be me, I have to stay up here and guard Dagger." Neil muttered, but Dagger laughed.
"Oh I think I'll be fine for five minutes! Go and enjoy yourself!"
The crowd were waving their little flags enthusiastically, cheering for the warrior they were rooting for. I stood next to Dagger and Zidane, while Steiner scoured the view for any sign of the others.
"You should have taken part, you were pretty nifty with that black magic when we were out against those monsters near Gizamulke's Grotto." Zidane admitted.
"Yeah, but I'd have a bit of an unfair advantage."
"Quiet you two, it's about to start!" Steiner chastised us as the crowd went silent. Silence engulfed the entire city, barely any movement could be seen. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the crowd went wild, cheering, whistling, waving flags, making as much noise as possible. The hunt was on.
I watched as a hunter deftly took down a wolf-like creature with a rapier, weaving it expertly against a sparrow-like beast as it tried to peck his face. I glanced across at the Theatre District, where Neil was blasting away at anything that moved with Holy spells, side swiping at a blob monster that was heading towards his legs. Bruce was nearby, cleaving monsters in two with his claymore, that also was lined with obsidian. He swung the blade behind him, charging forward with a war cry and decapitating a wolf in front of him. There was a loud cheer as I saw the distant form of Melissa performing a perfectly executed back flip onto the spine of a wolf, while slicing up a sparrow deftly with her katana, flashing sharply in the sunlight. It was an amazing sight to watch, the whole city seemed to be alive, teeming with monsters and hunters. It was at that moment I felt a slight flicker, not on this plane, but on another. I turned around, looking about for what could have caused it, and saw something that made me freeze with shock.
Just inches behind Dagger was a woman, a sharp kunai raised above her head, poised to land in the back of Dagger's neck. She was wearing a dark purple and black armour, that seemed incredibly light on her body. Her eyes were cold and calculating, the iris was also dark purple in colour. Steiner turned around at this moment, and also noticed the threat to his queen, drawing his sword and knocking the blade aside.
"Halt, traitorous dog!" He shouted as the woman recovered, drawing out the other kunai from behind her back and aiming again for Dagger, this time hitting her in the upper arm. I leapt forwards in between the two, charging up an ice spell to fire at her, but she amazingly vanished into thin air, appearing an instant later in front of Dagger, this time aiming for her throat. Luckily, Zidane was close by and managed to grab the assassin and throw her backwards, toppling dangerously near the edge of the platform. Some of the crowd members had suddenly grown interested in the battle unfolding right in front of them, gasping with each blow, and cheering every time we landed a hit on the assassin.
It didn't seem to be helping much though, her armour was thick enough to deflect most of our hits, yet light enough to allow her to perform all sorts of gymnastic feats. Again, the woman banished into thin air, and I realised just why that tactic seemed so familiar. Why would a spiritseer be attacking the Queen of Alexandria? I left this thought for a moment and threw out my hand, freezing time around the assassin for a few moments, allowing Dagger to get behind us and start moving towards Regent Cid, who was ordering guards to start moving into position. Just then, my stop spell waned and evaporated, allowing the woman move freely once again. Zidane jumped at her, swinging his daggers deftly into her face, carving a deep slice right across her face. She stepped back for a second, and touched her face with a spare hand. She took one look at the crimson blood that covered her hand and started to laugh, throwing her kunai straight at Steiner. The blade hit a chink in his armour, and he grunted as the blade pieced flesh, just near his shoulder. While he was distracted, she somersaulted swiftly over him and charged straight at Dagger, hitting a guard standing right in front of her with a flying kick. The guard screamed and toppled clumsily over the side of the battlement, coming to rest with a crunch on the ground far below. She looked straight at Dagger and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up off the ground.
"Time to die." Her voice was cold, with barely any emotion in it whatsoever. I damned myself for leaving my bow in the room on the Red Rose, and realised that in that position, I couldn't risk firing a spell at her either, in case I accidentally blew both of them up. Zidane, desperate to save his love, flung his dagger straight into the woman's back. She dropped Dagger with a thud, and fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Time for a little interrogation, I thought. I grabbed her and turned her over onto her back, grabbing her neck in a tight grip.
"Who are you!" I shouted angrily.
"Ah, the young one. The Master said you would be here."
"Why are you trying to kill the Queen?" She laughed, getting weaker and weaker by the second.
"Trying? I've already succeeded..." With that, she shuddered and went limp. I dropped her back on to the floor and turned to see Zidane crouched by Dagger's side on the floor. Her chest had a growing red blood stain, slowly spreading out in stark contrast to the pure white gown she was wearing.
"Kirjava, get Neil." I ordered my guardian, who promptly shot out of my pendant, soaring high into the sky as her beautiful dragon form, before dropping down sharply towards the Theatre District. I turned again to Dagger, and took a look at her wounds.
There was something highly unusual with the wounds in her body. They were not only bleeding profusely, but there also seemed to be a faint white mist creeping out of them, evaporating after a few seconds in the open. I recognised this as something that definitely shouldn't be leaving her body, her actual essence. Her very spirit was bleeding out through her wounds, which meant that not only would she die, but there would be nothing left to live on in the spirit realm. In effect, it would kill her twice, completely annihilating her from existence. I knew I had to concentrate hard, otherwise we would lose her. Slowly, I put my hands out over the wound on her chest, closing my eyes and trying to feel for the wound in her soul. I felt memories, fear, confusion, shock, her entire mind flowing through mine. I felt around carefully, sensing anything that shouldn't be there. It was at that moment that I found what I was looking for: a gap in her consciousness, a place where there was nothing. I concentrated on finding the very edges of this gap, pulling them together with my mind. I felt a click deep within me, a good sign. I opened my eyes and looked at her. That was the spiritual wounds sorted out, now we had to wait for the physical ones to heal up. Just then, I heard a flapping above my and Neil landed with a thud next to me. He looked quite shocked.
"What the hell happened here?" He ducked down and started to heal the Queen's wounds.
"An assassin happened, that's what. She's lucky to be alive." I informed. He shook his head in dismay.
"Honestly, I leave for five minutes and all hell breaks loose!"
Things were calming down a little, the crowd was dispersing, chatting excitedly amongst themselves. I knelt down next to the body of the assassin, checking out her armour. The markings on it looked familiar: a flaming eye with a knife through it. I couldn't think for the life of me who it belonged to though, but I was little preoccupied with the fact she had spiritseer abilities. I looked at her arm, where there was a small control panel. After tinkering around with the buttons, I found out that her powers were artificial. Someone had made a device that allowed the wearer to phase between realms. This was getting a little out of hand. Who would want Dagger dead so much that they would send a highly technological assassin after her? I shook my head and got up. Many questions needed answering, and I figured that only one person would be able to answer them.
Well that's it for now! Hope it's good enough for you, and I'll get on with writing the next chappie. See ya soon!
Ulthran
