Content
Author's Note
Disclaimer
Chapter 5
Authors Note
Hi there!
Wow, the last chapter received better feedback than I had thought ^.^ thanks to Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan for being awesome!!
This chapter is a little calmer than the last one (blame musculoskeletal-system(anatomy) and physiology exams next week T.T )
Disclaimer
Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.
(Honestly? If I owned that company I would have made sure that the strategy-guide contained all the information and not linking to a website that - nine years later - doesn't exist anymore.)
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Chapter 5
"I am one of those who never knows the direction of my journey until I have almost arrived" A. Strong
'Nature at war with itself' that was the term people would use to describe this particular storm later.
The sky's color had changed from a calming blue to an angry gray that would soon be blacker than death itself. Thunder roared, bellowing with rage as if Gaia herself felt the need to protect her people from the alien force that had just invaded her territory.
In the center of the storm - out of anyone's sight – raged another fight. The ocean fought with a small body, dragging him into its icy depths, tossing him closer to the lightning's reach or using its humongous waves like hands in an attempt to rip him apart.
The body's soul however, was more persistent than even nature could have thought and kept the little child alive and fighting with every thing he had left. Finally, after an endless struggle to get just one more gasp of salty air, the child's eyes - burning from the salt - caught sight of something other than the white rabid-like sea foam, the dark blues, grays and blacks of the sea.
"Land" he realized breathlessly and began his escape, eager to leave the wet prison, fueled by a desperate need to reach the shore. The closer he got to his destination, the more forcefully he was choked back by the waves – until he finally reached the end of the water. Only then did the child realize the ten feet wall in front of him. His eyes searched frantically for a way up. He found none.
Everything looked frighteningly strange. Nothing acted the way it was supposed to. Water wasn't supposed to move, the sky wasn't supposed to be heard and he certainly wasn't supposed to be here, especially not alone - not yet.
Being exhausted, lost and frightened, the little child did the only thing that came natural to him in this situation, he called out for help. As he did, the rational thinking part of his brain already shouted at him to drop the effort and to give up.
The chance to hear a faint, croaky voice in the middle of a midnight storm was closer to zero than anything else.
But sometimes - at very exceptional occasions - 'close to zero' still isn't zero.
As his consciousness left him and he sank deeper into the icy fangs of the sea, the boy imagined himself being encircled by a pair of warm arms. He imagined his head breaking through the water's surface and hearing a grumpy voice. Even in his imagination the words were to strange to decipher their meaning.
Zidane woke with a start, bumped his head on something and felt the sickening coldness of water running down the front side of his sark. For a moment he felt disoriented. Panic widened eyes searched for the source of the cowardly assault. He found a pair of tranquil turquoise blue eyes as his sister stood next to the hammock.
"You dreamt." she stated plainly, reaching for a wooden cup that lay in his lap.
"ehm... I noticed."
Silence surrounded them.
Mikoto was about to excused herself to get a new cup of water for him, but changed her mind for his hands were still shaking slightly. He probably hadn't even noticed. This state of confusion usually occur after he regained another memory. She was used to it by now and knew he would feel better after he talked about it.
"An unsettling dream?"
"No, it wasn't dream. It felt too real." Zidane fumbled thoughtfully - nervously? - with the laces on the neck of his white linen shirt. "I think it was the night I first arrived on Gaia."
"A stormy night," she nodded in remembrance,"Kuja took his chance to take you down here while Garland's attention was absorbed by his task. Strong storms are always the reaction of a healthy planet whenever its exposed to the Invincible's power."
He nodded thoughtfully then stopped abruptly. "How...?" he shook his head,"You couldn't remember, at that time you were like... two, can you?"
The blond didn't answer. Instead she turned her back to him and he didn't press the issue further, for his mind was already sorting through images of another, more urgent topic.
The Invincible. In his mind, he saw glimpses of a spacious conning bridge, a lidless eye gleaming in a murderous light. Stone formations that looked like little houses crumbled in the eye's red light. The ground shook and trembled. Out of this chaotic flood of images he caught one picture that struck a painful cord in his heart. A little, nutshell-like fishing boat set sail and vanished in the roaring storm. He tried to follow the tiny vessel with his eyes, desperate to protect the hooded figures. But it was gone. Lost at sea. Zidane swallowed hard.
Meanwhile, Mikoto had reached the ladder which lead to the deck. "You better get dressed. We will arrive shortly."
He looked up in bewilderment, before he made the connection. Right, they were on a ship. On board of 'The Ship' as a matter of fact. It served the most relevant task for its creation: it floated on the water. There really wasn't that much left to say about the old hooker.
One large storage room with a couple of old, reeking hammocks, and a little prehistoric caboose and a small cabin. He had assigned the later to Mikoto for she was the only female passenger. By now, he was an expert whenever it came to skillfully ignore her eye-rolling and protesting muttering about the needlessness of such a special treatment.
Eagerly Zidane jumped out of the hammock to examine the pile of clothes his sister had left for him. Another white linen sark, dark pants, a pair of black leather boots, an old gentleman's hat and a thin, dark brown wool cloak with a hood. The cloak reached down to his ankles and would help to hide his tail, which was far too uncommon to show in public.
Fresh air filled his lungs as he joined Mikoto on deck. She too had changed into less noticeable attire than her usual black and pink Terran clothes. She was dressed in a beige, sleeveless cotton dress over a white blouse. Even his trained eyes weren't able to make out the tail he knew was hidden somewhere under the many layers that gave the skirt a very puffy look.
"Looking good,sis. But I don't think brown is your kind of color." He pointed at a light brown piece of cloth in her hand. It would later cover her shoulders and short hair, along with a good part of her facial features.
She ignored his teasing and mentioned him to sit on a barrel next to her. He groaned. He knew what would happen next and didn't like it one bit. As he sat he could have sworn he saw her suppress a smile.
Mikoto reached inside the big wicker basket at her side and unfolded a handkerchief to reveal a dark, hairy bundle.
"Uf, not that tight, Mikoto. I got hair in my nose!" Zidane grizzle as Mikoto tied the threads behind his head to prevent the fake beard to slip out of place. She turned, griped his right hand with her left before it could do any damage to the hairpiece and adjusted it to look like it belonged into the young man's face.
"Better?" she asked. He grunted sulking-ly. He had been one of those boys who had always longed for a beard to look more like a man, but didn't get one. Right now, he wished men didn't have beards at all.
"Now, the eyes brows." Mikoto said exorbitantly good natured, after she tucked her brother's ponytail under his hat.
She glued two small stripes of medium brown hair to his eyebrows. The glue was a mixture of honey and resin and had a pleasant smell to it, matching the early spring atmosphere. While Mikoto perfected his appearance, Zidane watched her hair move with every breeze. She had cut it down to create the hair pieces but now it almost reached half way down her neck again.
"Its still a little shorter than Dagger's as she decided to change in order to become a better leader for her people." he thought wistfully.
Soon, he promised himself, soon he would have enough knowledge of himself again to go back to her. He closed his eyes and could almost smell her rose-scented hair, just the way it had been when she collapsed in Oeil Vert a couple of moons ago.
"All done." Mikoto said and handed him a mirror to see for himself.
"Wow." he grasped as he watched the man inside the mirror rise a dark brown eyebrow. He smiled and so did the man. As he looked closer, Zidane realized that each 'hair' consisted of several finer ones that had been swirled together to create an illusion of a more bristly texture.
"You are a genius!" he declared excitedly,"That theater group I was in, Daedalus - or was it Icarus? - aaanyway, they would have seriously loved your craftsmanship."
She smiled, obviously unused to such high praising.
They left the ship and the accompanying Genomes in a small lagoon. Their destined city provided a port for ships and airships alike, but they had decided to stay as anonymously as possible and to walk the last remaining miles alone.
Or as alone as you can, considering you are on your way to the kingdom's capital while it hosted the biggest market for all kinda thinks of the entire continent.
They joined a large group of travelers. There were merchants with their overloaded wagons filled with the products they would offer in the marketplace, small families with empty bags on their way to fill their pantries with fresh food after the long, hard winter. He also saw a group of Burmacians along the way. Nervous parents kept a vary eye on their little ones who played tag and hide 'n' seek, staying in and out of sight as they run through the crowd.
Before long the hills and mountain chains ended and allowed the travelers a magnificent view at Gaia's grandest city. Its walls shimmered golden in the last rays of the late afternoon sun.
"Lindblum, home of airships, chronometers and theater!" Zidane announced to Mikoto, who could feel the tingling excitement through their shared bond.
Although this particular part wasn't as accurate or reliable as an open channel, they still felt if the other experienced very strong emotions - like panic or pain. Apparently this connection also worked with positive feelings.
By the time they reached the Dragon's Gate - two gigantic steel doors decorated with the blood red head of a dragon. His eyes - two head-sized emeralds – gleamed down viciously at the people, warning them to stay on the righteous path of life while they wandered in his territory. Zidane chuckled. "What a joke," he mentally told his sister in a clearly amused voice,"The problem usually ain't the people going inside as much as the ones already lingering inside, waiting to help the guests with their way too heavy purses."
The crowd moved slowly into the city. Once Mikoto yelped painfully as a fat hippo woman pushed her way forcefully through the masses, hitting people right and left with her baskets. From then on Zidane kept her under his cloak, especially guarding his baby sister's right arm which was still healing after the Epitaph's attack.
Two hours later, they both collapsed on the Inn's squeaky double bed
"'Mr and Mrs Emoneg'," Zidane said in a surprisingly good imitation of her voice,"Ow man, Mikoto I thought you'd give that poor man a heart attack when you told him we're newly weds enjoying our honeymoon!" he managed to say between fits of laughter.
"Well," she said, sounding quite proud of herself,"it worked, did it not? A room entirely to our own usage."
"Who - in their right mind - would want to share a room with newly weds?" he muttered, but as she turned to him he said "I said: 'Remind me to get a couple of kuponuts before we leave'. I want to thank Kupoline for making our reservations, and if she is anything like her father... well that will be the best way to do it." he grinned, thinking fondly of the little overweight moogle and his family who lived inside Gizamaluke's Grotto. She nodded, and if she had heard his first statement, she didn't show it.
Before he had even realized he had fallen asleep, a loud knock-knock startled the groggy Genome awake. Lately, his naps and wanna-be 'good night sleeps' seemed to be filled with the most eventful and frightening events of his life and always ended – too soon – with something starling him. He wondered if one could get used to it over time or if he would – someday – suffer a heart attack if this new tradition didn't stop.
"Wathisit?" he mumbled semiconscious as Mikoto returned from the door with a medium sized sheet of rise paper - the cheaper version of parchment.
"An advertisement for some kind of 'a humorous and tragic love story'." she said in an uninterested voice.
"Bawhom?"
"A group called 'Tantalus'."
"'TANTALUS'?!" Zidane almost shrieked, metamorphosing from a drooling sleep-talker into a hyperactive chocobo with a sugar-rush in record time. "Lemmesee!"
Perplexed, Mikoto handed him the paper. Fascinated with worry she observed the rapid change of colors on his face. White, red, white, green, red, white, blue, blue. He had forgotten to breath.
A second later, a very heavy breathing Zidane lay sprawled on the floor, suddenly being very aware of the upper part of his back where Mikoto had placed her... hand tightly reminder that oxygen was in fact a necessity for every living being, including Angel of Deaths.
"When, is, it?" he croaked.
"Tomorrow night."
Finally, the story arrived at the point I had planned out for chapter two ^_^" *smiles*
I have to admit, I'm a persistent detail-lover, but I don't know if I - sometimes - go a little overboard at times (like the beard scene)?
Who would like to take wild guess about the "couple's" surname?
Thanks a lot for reading!
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