Chapter 3: It's Never Easy


It was all so impossible to imagine. Replacing an Angel… Garland had always said it could never be done perfectly.

"The soul gives a person their personality. Without it, you are nothing but a vessel.

Sure… the Genomes she so cared for were empty vessels, but they could be more. So could she. So would she.

Mikoto was set on that as she walked. She'd packed very light… just a few of the things she'd accumulated in her short time at the Black Mage Village and some food. It was a very long journey, but that was not something she was unfamiliar with. Mikoto had walked to the Iifa Tree and back a number of times by now, this was only a few miles further.

The difference this time was that she was heading away from the ocean. It became warmer and warmer as she walked… the forest disappearing and being replaced with nothing but sand and rock. It was difficult to walk through it and her speed greatly decreased because of it. She could get to the Iifa Tree in a little under three days… at this rate; she imagined it would take twice that long to make it to her destination.

It was so hot on this cursed planet! The wind was constantly blowing, constantly forcing the sand to blow up into her face, pushing her back. It did little to cool her off as well! The air was like fire in itself! How had her brothers tolerated such occurrences? And the thirst! She knew precisely how much water she needed in a day to be healthy and had packed only that much for a journey she had guessed would take a grand total of eight days. All her calculations were thrown off by the strangling thirst that penetrated her throat, drying out her mouth and tongue and managing to make it so difficult to breathe she would find herself breaking control and going for her water early! The heat was out to destroy her! Not only did it bring about such an agonizing thirst that she thought she might burn alive, it also gave her a pounding headache that often forced her to reach up and feel her head just to be sure something was not actually beating her! Water would solve that, but the heat closed off her throat; drying her out so completely that she was prevented from swallowing!

It had taken great skill and practice just to survive this journey. She had to re-think and re-plan her water intake so she could attempt to ward off the heat, yet even that was defeated by this accursed weather! Hot wind would blow into her face and down her throat and nose, often into her mouth as she panted for air that was breathable! It disrupted all her calculations!

She would end up lying in any shade she could find, on her back with water in her mouth, waiting as it slowly flowed down into her stomach until she would be able to swallow on her own. It made her so ill! It would start out as a mild headache and the feeling of being tired and overheated. She would start breathing harder and then the headaches would become unbearable! She would feel as if she were going to vomit but do everything in her power to hold it back as all she would have in her to discharge would be the water she consumed. She had no desire to eat. She knew she must, but the very idea made her ill.

How could the Gaians allow such a place as this? Why had they done nothing to change it? It was torture to her! Could they really survive here? She could not see anyone… but no one had ever warned her about these places. Did they really not notice this pain? Or did they just assume she would never go this way?

Is it possible… Mikoto wondered, looking around. That I am missing something? Could they know some secret I don't?

Her only chance of luck was in that without the Mist fueling them, there were very few monsters. There always had been monsters and there always would be, but they needed to readjust to a life without the mist after having survived in it for so long.

Slowly, as she traveled, she noticed it begin to cool down. There were spots of plant life every now and then as well as a great mountain off in the distance. The air became foul with a horrid scent she could hardly withstand. Everything on Gaia had some sort of odor, but this was the worst she'd experienced. Up ahead there was a large grouping of trees and bushes… the scent was coming from that place, but so was the cooling breeze.

Mikoto walked into the marsh with only slight resentment toward the smell. There were frogs surrounding a lake she didn't dare touch despite how her body craved it. There were insects hovering above the water and green algae floating on top.

Disgusting! Mikoto gagged. How could they let this happen to their water supply!? She pushed on, refusing to stop even to rest at the marsh and plunged back into the desert… despite being against the wind, the air surprisingly remained cool… it obtained a salty scent to it, but nothing as unbearable as the marsh.

Slowly, though, that changed. Mikoto had been wrong. Whatever was coming up was the worst thing she had ever smelt.

"UGH!" Mikoto gasped, recoiling as she saw the cause of the foul stench. It was a whale and it was quite dead! Some adventurer had come along and slain the thing and left it's corpse to rot here!

Mikoto looked at the mountain that was now right next to her. She did not think she'd be able to climb over it so her only solution was to go around… which meant going past the foul carcass.

Mikoto grit her teeth as she walked past, eying the beast as she walked past, giving it as much space as she could without deviating her course.

She glared disgusted at it, offended by its presence as if she blamed it for adding to her misery. As she walked to the other side, she stared into one of its decaying eyes.

"How very foul!" She cursed it.

Its eye… moved to look at her.

Mikoto stopped, watching and wondering if she was actually seeing this right. The whale looked at her, blinked and got up…

H-how is that possible?! It's dead!

The whale zombie let out a haunting moan of a call and Mikoto ran as the hungry beast charged after her, flying through the air in a way something its size and weight should never be able to do!

Mikoto screamed as it got closer. She speed up, going as fast as she could! She heard a crashing sound coming from in front of her! Coming closer and closer. She rounded a corner caused by the mountain and found herself running on beach sand right in front of the ocean.

She ran into the waves as quickly as she could, but shrieked as the action caused her to slow down. She hoped the beast wouldn't be able to follow, but it dove past, getting ahead of her.

Mikoto screamed and fell over as she saw its wide-open mouth coming right at her! Just then, though, the whale turned its attention to the side. Not far from the beach were two very large ships. The water around them was a redish-pink, bubbling, and churning greatly. The boats were side by size and they both seemed to be connected by a tangle of ropes. The ship furthest from Mikoto started pulling something up; Mikoto could see a giant finned tail being dragged from the water. When the thing was halfway up, Mikoto realized it was the living version of the Zombie attacking her. The size and coloring of the animal was so amazingly impressive, but its natural beauty was tainted with the blood covering it. It let such heart shattering cries that it was able to distract Mikoto fully from the monster in front of her.

The Whale Zombie let out a sharp, angry cry and turned, speeding off toward the boats in a furious charge. Once it did, Mikoto stumbled to her feet and ran out back to the beach, running as fast as she could to get back on her way and ignoring the shouts, cries and crashes coming from behind her.

… She was uncomfortable being so wet as she walked. It made her clothes heavier and fit strange, but it cooled her body off enough that she ignored the idea of setting up camp for a bit and drying her clothes.

It made her shiver she got so cold, and that annoyed her. Was there nothing in the middle here? She froze at night and burned during the day. Was it not possible to be at a comfortable temperature?

As she dried off it was both a blessing and a curse. The dip in the ocean kept the suns rays at bay for a long while, even after she was dry, but the heat returned. She stayed on the beach by the ocean, walking through the stiff sand for the next two days, only stopping to dip in the ocean once or twice a day. She was so tempted to drink it, but it smelt so strange… she didn't dare try.

Soon she had to turn back to the desert, though. She made the decision quick and ran away from the water so her self-control would remain and she wouldn't turn back toward the ocean for relief.

It took a full day and a half of walking without a single stop before she saw the swirling sand… and the cave leading into Kuja's Desert Palace.

She wouldn't even have known about this place had it not been for Garland keeping tabs on her eldest brother. Garland knew all about this place and the location had been recorded.

Mikoto walked in through the cave that had once served as an airship hanger. She stepped onto the Telepad and entered the palace.

It was so magnificent in design. So overly elaborate and the perfect representation of Kuja.

It took her a while to find the Library, but once she did she set up a bed for herself as she planned on remaining there till she learned everything she needed to know.

Kuja didn't have any information on Zidane, but that was alright… Right now, she needed information on magicks. Mikoto knew her plan would not stand a chance unless she could get the male Genome's hair to look like Zidane's and for that to happen it needed to grow. She only had her memories of seeing Zidane to match with, but Mikoto had a photographic memory and was sure of herself on this aspect.

This was the lesson Kuja had given them all. With enough work and practice, anything is possible. You have to try and she was not going to stop until she got what she sought after. Mikoto knew she deserved this. They all deserved this. The Black Mages deserved their village back; the Genomes deserved Terra… Zidane's comrades deserved to have him back as well. Or, at least, all that she could give them of him.

As she went through the books, she was almost tempted to discard those not based on magick at first… However, her thoughts changed as she went along. For this plan to work, she would need to get the male Genome to act like a Gaian and to do that she needed to be more familiar with Gaia.

She knew very little about Zidane… he was an actor, though. Therefore, she read all the plays Kuja had first. Most of the tales in these manuscripts were silly, frivolous dramas that were as unrealistic as they were boring. Did events like this really happen on Gaia? A mysterious prince on a white horse riding through the forest slaying monsters and rescuing damsels in distress… in a world where horses were all but extinct and only used by soldiers in times of war, easily replaced with airships and Chocobos? What of the damsel? This prince really has the right to rescue some girl and make her the next queen? Children of royalty were pawns and little more. That was the truth. They were married off to pay debts and end wars as well as increase their parent's territories. Yet in these stories, they save the girl and are married the next day! That was another mystery. Where were these damsel's parents and why was there always a prince around to save them? The girls were always enchantingly beautiful yet they're living in the forest alone or are the servant of a stepparent who is always cruel. With so many evil stepparents, it begs the question of why anyone is allowed to remarry at all if they have children!

Then there is the princesses who are always lost and lonely and everything is oh-so-tragic… they cannot take care of themselves and all they seem to do is cry all day over the silliest things Mikoto could imagine. Their prince loves a peasant, woes them. They should know by now that every peasant girl has the makings of a princess inside of her and no prince ever wants a princess according to these tales! The Princess is always left high and dry if the damsel is involved…

… Garnet was a princess. Mikoto had yet to see her bawling her eyes out over such trivial manners. She fought monsters and summoned great beasts to fight for her. True, she did faint from time to time, but that seemed to be a necessity if you're a Princess. At the very least, she had never done the hand to forehead thing before gasping and going down. When Garnet was upset, Mikoto always saw she had a reason behind it. Right now, she was upset because her love was gone. Yet she was trying to be strong and focusing on others and rebuilding their towns rather than moaning about how meaningless existence was.

Garnet had never bitten into a poisoned apple as far as Mikoto knew. Never been kidnapped by a dragon and held for ransom, been pricked by any object that has put her into a coma, never been locked away anywhere to await her true love. To Mikoto's knowledge, she had never been kidnapped by anyone other than Zidane, the only masked man to ever rescue her was either Marcus or Blank, and neither of which turned out to be her long lost true love. She had never been cursed and she was never engaged to anyone she did not truly love but would have to deal with… other than Zidane. Garnet had never been involved in the dealings of criminals, other than Zidane and his friends, that ended up leading her to her prince charming… unless you counted Zidane… there was a developing trend there… Princess Garnet had never made rope out of her hair for someone to climb up, never been forced to give up something to become human, unless you counted the horn that was cut off her as a child; never had to rely on her true love to help her find the answers… again, unless you counted Zidane. She was never involved with a man named Inigo Montoya whose father was killed by a six-fingered man who should prepare to die.

… As far as Princesses were going, Garnet seemed to be lacking in their stereotypes… though not by much and usually with some sort of twist.

These were the stories Gaians were taught? These were their legends? What of the stories of their people? Why was there so much more interest in these fairy tales? Didn't they care about their histories?

Mikoto found some books on that topic… yet they were far outnumbered by the fantasy scriptures that must have been extremely popular given how many copies Kuja had of them.

This is what my brother was brought up on? These… are meaningless. What do you learn from them? None of these are possible. Did he grow up with feelings of being minuscule because those in the story always were better?

She shook her head, disgusted as she read these books. A few of them even began stating that the reader should prepare to lose themselves in this world of fantasy! The vast majority all began in a place far away or long ago… practically stating that there was no way for these events to be real or happen to the person reading them!

… However… as Mikoto went on, she started seeing a different pattern. There was a turn in the stories… from what Mikoto had seen. In this one, it was not a valiant knight slaying a monster to rescue a princess or a charming prince sweeping a damsel off her feet. In some of the stories, the man was the commoner instead of the woman. There was one about a thief boy. He was in love with a princess yet she was destined to marry a prince.

... Perhaps these stories are reenacted. These Gaians are so willing to accept such unusual situations because they wish to live in a world where these fairy tales are true. Mikoto thought about that as she read a few more scripts, It… is rather wonderful a theory. Unrealistic, of course, but… It has a draw to it. I suppose.

The Genome girl wondered if Garnet and Zidane knew they seemed to be clashing with the fairy tales of old and yet writing a new one themselves.

A tragedy, in the end. Mikoto sighed, closing the book. Their happily ever after was ruined…

She looked back over at the bookshelf towering above her. … If these are the stories Zidane acted out on stage, it would make sense he would try to act it out in his real life. Perhaps he didn't even know he was… If he were to come back… would that trend continue? Would he make it a grand affair like in these stories?

She began to think he would be the type to go to an extreme. Someone who would hide behind a curtain, waiting for someone to walk by and then speaking up to surprise them.

No… she thought, it would be grander than just that… He would do more.

Mikoto packed away a few of the plays, including a copy of I Want To Be Your Canary.

I'll consider that later. It doesn't mean anything right now. I should not plan too far ahead before I even find out if this can work. She kept searching for the books she needed. Looking for incantations and anything else that might make it so she could make the male Genome look more like Zidane.

It took her two full days of searching before she found it. A notebook hidden away on the bookshelf that had a few notes Kuja had made and it was packed full of magicks specifically designed to alter someone's appearance. Kuja had made side notes on ones that would work on Genomes and ones that would work on vessels derived of a soul.

Could this mean he wanted them to change as well? Mikoto wondered to herself. He'd always hated how much the other Genomes used to resemble him… perhaps he'd planned to change that once he took over Terra… or perhaps it was for another project. Who could know? What was important was getting what she required now… with all the spell ingredients littered about and the castings at her disposal, it was looking better and better that her plan would succeed.

Oh, brother… Mikoto smiled, I'll have you back yet.


Can anyone guess I'm against the whaling industry?

No? Darn. I know I'm hardly ever clear or vocal on the things I'm against… (yes, I am being sarcastic;)) And yeah, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Rapunzel, and Princess Bride (love it) are all wonderful films and all vaguely mentioned in Mikoto's ranting! We also mention the character(s) Prince Charming (numbers 1 through 10 thousand XD).

Oh, also, I spell "magic" as "magick". In case new readers were wondering, it is because most earth religions and new age beliefs state that "magic" is the stuff you see on TV and "magick" is true and pure. ;) Just FWI! I don't want people to be confused! I also go with American English spellings for things since… I live in America and it's easier on me that way. … I should have said this in an earlier chapter, hu?... Oh well!

Remember, Halloween contest! If you need more info, ask about it in your review and leave an email address where I can reach you!