Chapter Two ~ The Truth

"Kuja!",Hilda called out and got up in her bed. She breathed heavily and her eyes wandered around until they finally saw Cid. The regent had a deeply saddened look on his face, but his eyes avoided Hilda's.

"S-sugar cup," Hilda stuttered. "I, it's, er..."

"I fully understand, my dear," Cid said, but his voice was broken. "You caught me doing something terrible, causing you to leave me. You... You spent a lot of time with... Whatever. I was worried about you having nightmares, so I came checking on you, but I see I was... Never mind," he finally stated as he got up.

"Cid, it's – !"

" – okay," the king finished her sentence as he left the room.

As Hilda watched her husband leave the room, she waited for the feeling of remorse and regret. She waited for the tears to fall. But nothing happened. She had lost her feelings for her husband a long time ago and both of them always concealed it. Up until now, for the sake of the people. And there never had been a reason not to conceal it – there was no one either of them was yearning for, so a divorce would have been a complication, nothing else.

But Hilda wasn't able to think about that for too long. Her thoughts wandered back to her dream. She took a big deep breath and smelled the feathers and the magic.

What if..., she thought to herself as she walked to a cupboard made of dark wood. Out of it, she took her crystal ball – a magic artifact she hasn't used for a long time, almost over a year. Slowly, Hilda transported it to her table.

What if what he said was...?

Then, the queen shook her head. She knew she needed to be strong to use the crystal ball, and any doubting, any worries would only make it harder for her to use it correctly.

Hilda started to concentrate. She activated the magic flowing through her body and sent it to the crystal ball.

Give me the answers I am searching for, she demanded and focused on Kuja – and the question whether he was still alive or not.

The crystal ball took its time. First, it only showed Hilda swirls of dust and magic, but Hilda did not give up and manipulated her magic to dig deeper. She saw the Iifa Tree and Zidane and Kuja in the middle of it. Kuja was injured. Suddenly, the tree started to collapse and she could see how Zidane jumped over to cover Kuja's body.

"Kuja, watch out!" Zidane screamed as he leaned over.

"Fool," the sorcerer muttered as he tried to push away the younger one, but his body was too weak and his hands quickly fell down.

Zidane was hit in the back and screamed in pain, but he didn't move. No matter how badly he got injured, he refused to expose Kuja.

"A-are you okay, man?" he asked in a short break.

"What are you?!" Kuja suddenly asked angrily. "I used up all of my remaining power to teleport you and your friends out of here, yet you came back – why?! Was my effort in vain?!"
"It was because of that," Zidane answered while breathing heavily. "I knew it was your doing. You saved us. I couldn't let ya die here, could I? Saving us meant you knew you'd been wrong, didn't ya? But even if you hadn't done anything – I don't need a reason to help people," he added and looked at Kuja with a grin. "It's what I do. What I always did."

Kuja looked at his former rival, his eyes opened wide. Then, he suddenly clenched his fists and his eyes narrowed. "You're such a fool," he said and all of a sudden, a white barrier surrounded the two of them. "Dying like the hero, is it that what you're aiming for?"

The pictures inside the crystal ball became blurry again. Hilda could see how Zidane carried Kuja out of the Iifa Tree. Both of them were terribly bruised and Kuja didn't move at all.

Then, she saw Zidane wandering through the outer continent, across the Conde Petie Mountain Path, still carrying Kuja on his back.

Zidane reached the Magdalene Forest and was greeted by a black mage. Together, they carried Kuja to the Black Mage Village and put him on a bed.

Weeks must have passed. Zidane was still at the village, tending to Kuja's wounds, but the sorcerer was still motionless. Only his eyes would move under their eyelids – as if he was dreaming.

Then, the crystal ball was empty, leaving only swirling mist behind.

Hilda was shocked. Kuja was still alive! He was rescued by Zidane, but fell under a coma in his final attempt to protect his brother. Zidane never mentioned Kuja's survival because he seemed to remain in that state forever.

Hilda knew what to do. She had known it from the very first dream, just refused to accept it. She had been missing him, her abductor, the sorcerer who aimed to destroy the worlds, who killed thousands of people – and yet a man who never ceased to amaze her. He had been visiting her in her dreams and even though he never said it, he had hoped for her to rescue him.

Hilda couldn't help but chuckle. The great, narcissistic man, superior to every other being – to his opinion, at last – was asking her for help.

But would she help him? The consequences would be fatal. She just thought it to herself: One of the greatest enemies Gaia ever had to fight, revived by her? She almost threw away the thought, when she remembered Zidane's words she heard through the crystal ball. He saved Zidane and the others. It took until his final defeat but in the end, he tried to atone for his sins. Hilda smiled. At least Zidane would support her. And if Zidane was going to, Garnet would have no other choice but to do so as well.

Hilda got up, a determined look on her face. Quickly, she got dressed in a less formal attire. She wrote a short letter addressed to Cid, explaining that she would be gone for a while and left it on her bed. Sooner or later, one of the servants would find it. Eiko would be taken care of until she returned, she was sure of that – Cid had fallen for the little, energetic girl the moment he saw her. In fact, it was thanks to Eiko that Cid and Hilda had tried for so long to remain a loving family.

Hilda couldn't help but smile as she left her bedroom, wandered through the castle, boarded a newly finished air ship and set course to the Outer Continent. It felt so much like the first time she left Cid. And just like back then, she felt free and happy. Eiko had brought her joy, but this feeling, flying through the clouds, watching the plains, mountains and seas as she passed by, this gave her true happiness.

And now, she dared to admit it: It was a feeling of happiness she could only enjoy because she was headed towards him. Her doubts of doing right or wrong were gone. Her feelings were like the sea she was currently passing: Wild, heavy, yet they followed the natural order of things. Everything was right.

Even though she was impatient about her arrival, the Outer Continent came to sight earlier than she expected – Cid's new air ship was impressive, indeed.

As Hilda landed the air ship at the shore, feelings of worry hit her: How was she to find the Black Mages' Village? All she had were her memories of the blurry vision the crystal ball gave her. She almost lost hope when she spotted a giant forest not far from her. She recalled Zidane telling her that the Black Mages' Village was hidden in a big forest on the Outer Continent, causing him to tell her a long story about all the fights they encountered until they finally reached it.

Determined, Hilda approached the forest.

This is bad, Hilda thought to herself as she was surrounded by countless fiends. Her magic skills were predominately focused on aiding and curing others, but offensive magic was not her expertise. The queen already had bruises on her face and body and was trapped: In front of her the fiends, behind her back dense trees. One of the fiends was jumping forward and Hilda closed her eyes, ready to give up, when the fiend suddenly let out a cry. Hilda looked around surprised to see black mages attacking the enemies. While the fiends were occupied with slowly burning away by the mages' fire spells, a soft hand touched Hilda's. As the queen turned her head, she saw Mikoto standing in front of her. And to an even bigger surprise, Mikoto slightly smiled.

"Mikoto?" Hilda asked surprised, and the genome nodded.

"Yes, lady Hilda. I will explain everything to you once we reached the village. But now, we need to retreat." And without allowing further discussions, Mikoto pulled her through the forest, leaving the rest to the black mages.

"I see," Mikoto concluded after Hilda explained to her why she was there. "It looks like Zidane was right."

"Zidane?", Hilda asked confused. She was sitting on a small chair, just a few houses away from Kuja – at least that was what she figured. Most of the black mages had returned already and Hilda had already been able to observe how the genomes and the black mages were working hand in hand. She was surprised by how well everything seemed to have worked out – then again, it has been over a year and it was only natural for the genomes and black mages to find a peaceful way of living, considering their non-agressive nature to begin with.

"Yes, Zidane," Mikoto repeated and pulled Hilda back to the conversation. "As you said correctly, Zidane brought Kuja here almost a year ago. After several months, he decided to go back to your continent, but he told us that there was no need to worry and that Kuja would wake up someday. No one would believe him, but we still did our best protecting the body."

Suddenly, Hilda remembered what Kuja was to both the black mages and the genomes. He misused them, probably even worse than any other race, and had been ready to dispose of either of them whenever he felt like it. Slowly, Hilda looked away. "That was... very kind," she gave the understatement. "Considering everything that had happened."

But Mikoto shook her head. "Not at all. Although we have been here for a year, all the other genomes are having difficulties developing emotions. They are far from the stage of being able to feel hatred or similar feelings. The black mages are further in their development, but then again... Zidane said they would have 'a big heart'. It took me a while to realize he meant they were forgiving and kind, instead of them having bigger hearts than we do."

"But what about you, Mikoto?" Hilda asked and looked at the girl – and she couldn't perceive her as anything different – with a worried face. "You have a soul, do you not?"

Suddenly, Mikoto looked away. "He did terrible things to us – and to many other people as well. And a part of me dislikes him for that. But... Even though he was wrong, he gave us hope."

"Hope?"

"Hope. We learned that we could defy our fate. Kuja was designed to destroy Gaia – instead, he rescued Gaias saviors. And now, look at us: Cut off from the Soul Cycle of Terra, a lot of us have somehow retrieved souls. We live at a new home and we start to create bonds like friendship. We were designed as vessels for someone elses' soul, but now, we are independent beings. We learned from Kuja we could change our fate, and that's what we did. So no matter what he did, a part of me, a part of us, has to be thankful for him. He made a great sacrifice that brought us hope."

Hilda nodded as she looked down. This sounded almost nothing like Kuja – but then, she felt like remembering gentle expressions on his face. Times where his laughter wasn't evil, but true. Moments, where his smile occurred out of positive, pure thoughts.

Hilda lift her head up, her eyes were glistening. "Guide me to his place."

Kuja looked as he if was asleep. His face had a gentle, almost innocent expression – apart from his eyes, which were moving heavily. There were no wounds or scars on his face – a prove of how well he had been treated by the ones he used to enslave – or saved, like Mikoto would argue.

Hilda sat down beside him, her breath was unsteady. She was there, after a year she was finally there. He had been calling out to her, had ignored his pride and asked for help – how could she deny it? For a moment, she looked at his lips – and a vague memory of Kuja appeared.

It had been weeks since she had been captured. Hilda had somehow gotten used to it – even though she couldn't stand not being able to go out. But she hadn't been hurt, tortured or even interrogated. Even though that kind of conversation was almost torture as well.

"I have heard they're coming for me. My foolish brother, the silent canary and the rest of that childish group. They believe they could fight me – me!" Kuja laughed hysterically and for the first time Hilda had been captured, she dared to speak up to him: "And I hope they will do it."

Kuja turned around, quickly, a weird look in his eyes. "Do you believe they might succeed, my lady?" he asked as he moved toward her.

Hilda laughed. "It's not a question of me believing or not – they will. They will free me from this cage and give to you what you deserve!" Then, she twitched. Was it a good idea to tell him what she thought? He had never hurt her, but she had never told him off like that either.

But instead of being furious, Kuja seemed troubled. "Is that what you wish for? To flee from here?" he mumbled, his eyes looking through her. "I had thought that, by now... No!", he suddenly exclaimed, his eyes narrowing even further, and without hesitation, he approached Hilda, grabbed her chin and kissed her – and despite him being forceful, his lips were soft, his movements gentle, and he sent waves of heat down Hilda's spine. Then, he abruptly ended the kiss and looked into her eyes. "You are my prey, my lady. You belong to me – and I won't allow them to take you from me, no matter how much you wish for it."

"How could I forget?" Hilda mumbled to herself as she smiled. She looked at Kuja's pale face and stroke his cheek.

"This is against all logic," she whispered to him as she started to accumulate the magic inside her. "It is against logic, common sense and possibly even nature as well. But I don't mind. And neither did you. You knew it all along, but I was too scared of what would happen if I admit it. But not anymore."

And with a modification of the cure and sleep spell, she entered Kuja's dreams, while still being able to look at him as he slept.

She had thought she would see herself in a room, like in her dreams, but all she could see was darkness around her. Still, she felt she was not alone. Kuja was around this darkness. Was it the result of his remorse, his loneliness? The queen could not tell, but she knew she was there to end it.

Hilda reached out her hand and called out: "Wake up, sorcerer. I am here for you now."

Kuja opened his eyes. And he greeted her with his evil grin she had missed for so long. "My lady," he said, his voice rough from a year of not speaking. "How did I get such honor?"

"I am here to take you as my prey, sorcerer," Hilda smiled. "You have to pay back to me – for a very long time."

"At your service, my lady."

Author's note

Surprise! MysticSpiritus, who is a huge Kuja x Hilda fan, requested this story! This was my first request ever, so I was really, really happy and very excited. I know I didn't do it perfectly, but I truly hope you could enjoy it, Mystic! It was fun working with Kuja and Hilda, but a bit hard as well, since I never worked deeply with either of the two. Still, I worked really hard on this fiction and I tried to make it interesting. I fear though that it's not really Drama, as you requested, but I hope you could still enjoy it. Thanks again for requesting this, it was a lof of fun and an honor x)
Check Mystic out here: u/1362086/
Thanks for reading, as always! I'm open for constructive criticsm :)

- Ruska