Disclaimer: I don't own Evil Forest, or Blank, or Baku, or Zidane, or the Prima Vista, or ...
You know how this story is under the "Action/Adventure/Fantasy/" category? Well, I'm doing some Action and Adventure in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it and the reply section is at the very bottom. Thanks to all those who read my story and extra thanks to those who review it! Whoo-hoo!
By the way, I've written down all the things I need to update and will be taking care of them come next update.
Chapter 6
Victory
Once again, I slipped into thought during unconsciousness. So many emotions were rushing through my veins. Loneliness, anger, happiness, excitement, etc. Overall, I was still just as confused as when I arrived here early yesterday morning. There was no explanation for anything, just more questions. But, what a remarkable experience! To see such marvelous things in first person. To feel the grass and breathe the air. However, I still wanted to know why. I needed another theory besides the original dream theory. So, maybe... I was dead? I suppose that could be a possibility. Perhaps this was some sort of afterlife. I'm not sure. Hmm...
Dead? Wait, what if I didn't survive the crash? What if I had died inside the fantasy world? Would I never be able to clarify my existence on Gaia? Once again, more questions with no answers. I wonder why I'm even able to think in unconsciousness... I thought unconsciousness was being not able to think. Alright, I'm getting more confused. Hey. I think I can hear some music... Oh, crap. It sounds like the marching song in Final Fantasy 7! Did I warp again? Suddenly, every joint in my body felt like they were being twisted and torn.
I opened my eyes to a very dark world. A very quiet world except for the crackle of wood under the power of faint flames. The air was filled with smoke. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and I could make out trees standing perfectly still. Everything looked dead and it all appeared to be staring at me. The forest... The Evil Forest. I suppose I hadn't warped.
I looked up and noticed I had rolled down a steep-sloped hill. Fragments of moonlight found its way through the mist and particles of those fragments actually made it through the thick of the forest. It was so dark. I looked back at my body and noticed I was partially submerged in some mud. I saw my left leg, which extended from my body normally but turned sharply at my knee. Was it broken? I attempted to move it and it responded with pain. Great...
Ok, so where is everybody? I peered to the right and noticed where the hill turned beyond my vision was flickering with orange light. Fire? Hopefully, the crashed airship had landed just around that corner. I had to get over there. I took both hands and put them on my twisted knee. I closed my eyes and counted to three in an attempt to gain the will to readjust my leg. Crack!
I swallowed the air and squeezed the ground, trying to find a new pain to replace the current pain. I managed to swallow a scream, but I could not force my watery eyes from streaming down my face. After a moment, the pain subdued. I could wiggle my toes and slowly move my leg with only slight pain... well, it wasn't exactly "slight" pain, but it was less.
I grabbed some overhead rocks and pulled myself to a standing position. I'd just slowly head over to the ship grappling the hillside. I took a step and drug my lame leg to meet the other leg. I took a few steps when I heard something. There were a few owl hoots and frog croaks already, but this was different. A hoarse voice whispered through the air. It spoke my name. My real name.
I turned my head to view the darkened forest. I swear I saw something stir in the shadows. It spoke my name again, a little louder. I decided not to stick around to see whatever the thing actually was. Thus, I picked up my pace and managed to get my lame leg to actually operate properly with only a mere limp. I came around the corner to see a pleasant site.
Marcus and Cinna were playing a game of cards on a stump just outside of the still-smoking airship. Marcus scratched his chin thinking deeply about his next move while Cinna smirked upon his opponent. Marcus then took the single card he had and placed it on the stump and Cinna immediately responded by placing his last card beside Marcus'.
"Victory!" Cinna said as he stood waving his hammer in the air like a barbarian.
Marcus simply lifted his head and shook it at Cinna and slightly laughed. Then, the large man who played King Leo came out of the airship.
"What!? What are you scumbags doin'!?" The large man shouted.
"Boss-" Cinna tried to explain, but was slapped on the back of the head by the 'Boss'.
I smiled and decided to join the company of the friendly, thieving actors. As I stepped forward, a branch under my foot snapped. The three looked immediately in my direction and prepared to fight. However, Marcus noticed me.
"Hey, you're that guy who got on the ship." Marcus said as he remained sitting. "Guys, you can put away your weapons. He's not gonna-."
Suddenly, Marcus jumped up and unsheathed his sword to join the others of which had also fully prepared for battle. What was going on? I wasn't a threat. I needed their help! Why were they about to attack me? Why were they-.
A few branches snapped behind me. I slowly turned my head, preparing myself for the worst. However, it wasn't what I had seen earlier, but it was still a threat. A large flower floated just behind me. Large sacks drooped from its side and at the center of all the pedals was a mouth with a circular set of razor sharp teeth. And, it was coming straight at me. I limped as quickly as I could towards the gang.
The thieves hurried to me and Cinna took my arm and quickly brought me back towards the ship. Marcus and the 'Boss' continued towards the monster, jumping through the thick forest. I saw Marcus jump off a rock holding his sword behind him with one arm. When he got close to it, he yelled and he brought the sword over his head and down upon the monster. The monster let out a weird sound as it sprayed something from its central mouth. However, when Marcus landed, he rolled on the ground both dodging the spray and he also sliced a sack to reveal a grouping of what appeared to be pollen. Marcus kept his motion going as he quickly got behind the monster.
The 'Boss' was hopping on one foot, with his sword also behind him. He then threw all his weight forward and his thick sword crashed right into one of the pedals. Cinna then joined the battle jumping straight at the plant monster. However, the monster began spinning, and its drooping sacks started extending outward. The sacks hit Cinna throwing him at the ground. The sacks also hit both Marcus and the 'Boss' on the backs of their heads, making them fall to the ground.
"Why you!!! Argh!" 'Boss' shouted at the monster waving his arm at the beast.
But, the beast turned towards him and a gust of wind came out of the beast pushing the 'Boss' back to the ground. The beast screamed triumphantly as if it knew it was winning. However, the battle quickly turned to the good-guy's side.
From the tops of the trees, a man came down right on top of the monster, driving his sword directly into the monsters mouth. The force of the falling man caused the entire beast to fall to the ground. The man who was now on one knee stood up and pulled his sword out of the monster and raised it triumphantly. The monster was dead.
The man then leaned down and stuck his arm in the monster's mouth and pulled out a gold-glowing substance. He then placed it all into a pouch attached to his belt.
"Hey! We did most of the work, 'Bro'!" Marcus exclaimed to the redhead warrior.
"Yeah! You gotta share, man!" Cinna joined in.
"Cinna, you didn't do nothin' but fall on yer face." The 'Boss' said as he stood up shaking the dirt off his tattered clothes. "Besides, you were suppose to be getting valuables out of the ship and what were you doing!?"
"Playing Tetra Master." Cinna said staring remorsefully at the ground.
"That's right!" 'Boss' continued. "Now, get your boney ass back in there and do somethin' productive!"
Cinna quickly found his way through the debris and trees and went into the airship. Marcus got up and started walking with the rest of the crew back towards me.
"Good job, Blank, you old dog!" 'Boss' said as he slapped Blank, the redhead, on the back. "How'd ya get up there anyway?"
"I heard Marcus yell and I was already on the balcony." Blank calmly said looking at the ground. At least, his head was tilted that way. I couldn't see his eyes because of a large belt that wrapped around his head.
"Hey, you okay?" Marcus asked me.
"Just... Just a little shaken. That's all." I sighed.
"You look a little beaten up!" 'Boss' said to me. "Blank, fetch some bandages for the wounded!"
Blank nodded and ran into the airship.
"So... what were you and that kid doing back up in Alexandria?" Marcus asked as he sat beside me. 'Boss' stood beside me and looked down at me.
"What? Oh... yeah. Well, we were trying to watch the play and some soldiers started chasing us..." I answered. "...where is the kid by the way?"
"Oh, him and Zidane along with some overdressed knight went searching for the princess."
"I see."
"I still can't believe that boy decided to do it." 'Boss' said as he looked out into the forest. "They just grow up so fast! Gwahahaha!"
"Ha. By the way, I'm Marcus. The ugly one is Cinna and Blank's gettin your bandages. That's Zenero and Benero over there." Marcus explained.
"I'm Baku, but these fools here call me 'Boss'!" Baku announced.
"It is a great honor to meet all of you." I said smiling.
"Honor?" Baku said perplexed. "You sure yer alright there?"
"Haha. Well, you did just save my life." I said staring at the fallen monster.
"Ack! That was nothin'!" Baku said.
Then, Blank came back out with a red, metallic box. He came over to me and opened it, revealing all kinds of various medical items. He pulled out a small bottle filled with a red liquid and popped open the cork. He took the tonic and rubbed it on my knee and then quickly wrapped some bandages around it.
"There, it should be good as new before too long." Blank said as I finally got to see his brown eyes just below his belt.
"Alrighty! Come on, Marcus! Let's get everything together. We're about to head out!" Baku announced as he and both Marcus and Blank hit their chests with their arms.
"So, what's your name?" Blank asked before he got up.
"Uh... well..." I delayed as I once again thought about whether or not to give out my name.
"Uh... Did you forget?" Blank said after an awkward pause.
"No. I'm just... well." I had to think of something. "I'm just not sure if I can trust you guys completely."
"Hmm... Well, until we get your name, we won't be able to fully trust you." He said as he went back to work.
I laid my head down on the dying grass. I looked up and could barely see the misty sky above the forest branches. I had another choice to make. Should I stick with these guys or should I attempt to venture and find the true characters of this story. I then looked back at the fallen monster and realized that this forest was crawling with things like that. I doubt I could take one of those, especially with my current equipment. Wait, did I still have the cracker? I lifted my mud-stained shirt and found it resting in my jeans.
"That's why my side was hurting so bad." I announced as I pulled the cracker out.
After a few moments of the crew pulling out supplies and other random items, Blank came out and threw some equipment onto the ground. He sat next to the stuff and started strapping it to his body. He started with some padded leg braces that strapped tightly onto his thighs and calves. He then attached a chest plate and put on some shoulder guards. He then picked up his sword and sheathed it on a strap that ran across his back. Finally, I noticed a rolled up scroll of some sort that Blank picked up.
I found the strength to stand up and stared at Blank.
"Hey, alright! You're healing fast!" Blank said as he tightened a few more belts.
"Where you going?" I said as I stepped forward with only a slight limp.
Blank sighed. "To find Zidane."
"Are... are you okay?" I asked the warrior.
"Yeah... I just can't believe the idiot actually went out there. He's gonna get himself killed. Baku has decided to leave and Zidane doesn't even have a map. So, I'm gonna be an idiot too, and try to help him out." Blank said smiling slightly.
"Let me come with you."
"What?"
I took another step towards him. "I wanna come with you."
"Man, I'm on a suicide mission. Are you an idiot too?"
"I don't know. There's a lot I don't understand right now. I figured that I'm supposed to be with the others. Like a calling or something..."
"I guess you wanna see the mage too, huh?"
"Yeah. I guess I do."
"Fine. Well, can you wield a sword?" Blank asked.
Yes. Wait, no. I just wish I could. "No, I can't. I only have this cracker."
"Haha. You ain't killin nothing with that!" Blank said. "How am I suppose to take you along if I'm gonna have to save you constantly?"
"I... I don't know. Please. Let me come!"
Blank stared at the ground for a second. "Alright, man. You better do something for me. And, you know, a name wouldn't hurt either."
I nodded as Blank handed me some armor to put on. Whoa, armor. It took me a moment to decipher which things went on my arms and which went on my legs. Eventually, I was all strapped into my new armor and tried to get used to moving with the equipment on. I started jumping to make sure my leg was prepared for the journey.
"Yeah, it seems like your leg's in good shape now. Can't believe the stuff worked that fast." Blank said. He had gone into the ship and brought something back for me.
"I know you can't use them, but you can't go out there with just a cracker." Blank said as he handed me a belt along with a sheathe. A handle was at the end of the sheathe.
I grabbed the handle and pulled out a sword. I lifted the sword high up into the air and looked at myself holding it in the reflection of the blade. I had to force back a tear as the sword was so much more beautiful than my simple old bamboo sword back at home.
"Whoa. Man, it's just an average everyday sword. Nothing to get excited about." Blank said as he noticed the smile on my face.
"I'm sorry, Blank. I just can't explain what this simple sword makes me feel." I said.
Blank looked confused for a second and then shook off the odd statement. "Alright, come on. We've gotta get goin. I doubt Zidane's gonna last much longer out there."
Then, everybody assembled just outside of the airship and Baku stood up on the stump that Marcus and Cinna had been playing on earlier.
"Okay! Listen up, fools!" Baku shouted which most likely woke up anything sleeping in the depths of the forest. "We're movin' out! The Prima Vista's wasted so let's all take a moment to remember our wonderful ship."
Everybody bowed their head and a second or two passed by.
"What are ya doin! It's a ship! Come on, I wasn't serious." Baku exclaimed as he hit his own head. "Alright, Marcus, you are taking lead. You're in charge of all battles from this point forward. Cinna, you're in charge of the wounded. I'm gonna take the back. Anyone who isn't wounded will be helpin me lug the supplies. Got it!?"
Baku then turned to Blank.
"'Bro's gonna go save the dumbass. Everybody wish him well."
"Stranger here is coming with me." Blank announced.
Baku turned to me and noticed my getup. "Whatever! It's your own funeral!"
Baku then turned back to Blank and hit his chest with his arm. Blank replied by doing the same. I could've almost sworn that a tear had formed in Baku's eye. Then, the rest of the crew wished Blank luck and we split up into the two groups. We left the still-smoking airship to forever become part of the forest.
A small layer of muddy water spread out across the floor of the dark forest. The branches creaked while distant owls hooted. However, the creepy entity, which did know my name, was nowhere near. That was the only positive I could think of...
I followed Blank through the forest. Blank periodically leaned to the ground as if he found a trace of his good friend. We had been walking relatively fast for the past thirty minutes and had seen no sight of a monster. I think it was thirty minutes.
"So, stranger, is there anything you can tell me?" Blank said as he scanned the forest.
"Umm... Well... I liked the play?" I answered.
Blank looked back at me. "No, I mean, about you. Where you from? Who you are? Anything?"
"Well, let's just say I'm from far away and I'm nobody important."
"Everybody's important. In some way or another. And, it's impossible to be nobody."
"It is? But, Blank, how can you truly prove you even exist?"
"Whoa. I'm no philosopher! I'm just sayin' you've got to have some value in something."
"Perhaps. I'm... I'm engaged." Whoa. Where did that come from?
"Oh, yeah? Lucky you. Hey, so what are you doin' out here?"
"Well, I didn't exactly plan to fall into this forest." Actually, I did plan to.
"Yeah, I guess that's true..."
A moment went by and we continued through the creepy place, ready for anything to jump out at us.
"So, is there someone in your life?" I asked breaking the silence.
"Well, not really. I've had my eye on someone in particular for quite a while. But, it might just be because I see her all the time."
"Who?"
"The one who played Cornelia. Ruby..."
"Oh... Hmmm..."
"Somehow, she got left back in Alexandria."
"Oh, yeah? I'm sorry."
"I'm not. I wouldn't want her to be down here. Haha. But, don't get me wrong, when she gets mad, she can take care of herself. Trust me."
"I will." I said smiling. Then Blank stopped.
"Goblins. Three of 'em." Blank said looking at three goblins of which were staring at the water below their feet.
I unsheathed my sword in preparation for battle. The sound of the sword caused the goblins to look up in my direction. Blank scowled at me. I felt bad but, I couldn't think about that now, I had to get ready to fight the goblins.
The three jumped over the fallen trees and unsheathed small swords of their own. When they got close, I noticed they all wore funny hats and their golden dreadlocks came out of the sides of their hats. The looked like small little humans, except their faces were contorted and extremely ugly. They also made little "hip" sounds as they charged us. Blank still hadn't unsheathed his sword.
The closest goblin leaped forward and Blank unsheathed his sword while the goblin was in the air. Blank's sword hit the goblin in the stomach and sent the goblin flying back into the forest. That's one down.
The other two jumped at the same time and Blank was able to hold one, but the other went around him and came to me. It swung its short sword in every direction screaming "hips" at me trying to make contact. I continually stepped back trying to defend myself. Suddenly, a sword appeared through my attacker's chest and the goblin fell to the ground.
"You'll never win if you're always runnin'." Blank said as he stood upright, sheathing his sword.
"I'm sorry. I'm not use to this."
"I know. Remember, that's why I didn't want you to come." Blank said smiling. "Whatever, you can take this one's GP."
"Oh, thanks."
I kneeled down by the fallen creature. I wasn't quite sure how to do this and I looked at the goblin that was face down in the mud. What was I suppose to do?
"That's what I thought... You've never done this before." Blank said, apparently he was still staring at me.
"Yeah. Help?" I said knowing that I must've looked dumb.
"Ahhh. You'll get used to it. Just push the goblin over and stick your hand quickly into its chest. You'll feel something cold. Just pull it out." Blank said crossing his arms.
I pushed the goblin to where it was face up. Some black ooze was poring out of the wound that Blank had created. I sighed and stuck my hand into his chest beside the wound as fast as I could. I felt something cold and something warm. I grabbed the cool thing and pulled at it. It took a moment before it gave and I pulled out the goblin's heart.
"Ack! Ah!" I screamed as I threw the heart down. I looked up to Blank who had fallen over laughing.
"Hahaha. I'm sorry. I love doing that to newbies. Okay. I'm sorry. You wanna pull the warm thing."
I squinted my eyes and shook my head. Then, I slightly laughed. After that experience, it was a little easier pulling out the warm, golden substance. I put the small amount of obtuse GP into my jean pocket. It was a small victory. We then continued.
After another half hour to an hour, we came across a cave. The ground sloped up and the layer of water filled the based of the slope. The path up was rocks from this point. However, I had gotten used to walking on my bare feet. I think they were so cut up and bruised that they were actually numb to pain at this point.
Snake-like vines crept up the path into the entrance. They almost appeared to be moving. Blank hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that we shouldn't go in the creepy cave. But, then he started walking towards it. I followed.
Something was going on in there... we could hear something. A monstrous scream bounced off the cave walls. Then, we heard someone barking out directions and orders. I looked at Blank who, in return, looked at me. We then went running inside.
As we got further down the dark cave, we found a rather large monster. Behind the monster was none other than the beautiful princess, Garnet. Zidane, Vivi and the knight, Steiner we're all battling the creature.
The monster composed of four large pedals with a mouth at the center. Inside the mouth was a circular set of teeth. Actually, there were three sets of circular teeth. And behind all those teeth was a single eye glaring at its opposers. The large plant brain was grounded, so that was one advantage. However, the beast had four lengthy, vine tentacles layered with very sharp spikes. They were enough to fend off an entire army. Blank immediately joined the battle.
"Looks like I arrived just in time!" Blank shouted running beside Zidane.
"'Bro'! We've gotta kill this thing! It's got the princess!" Zidane said acknowledging his friend's presence.
And, thus, a battle way above my head restarted. I kept a decent distance back in an attempt to come up with some kind of battle strategy. I went beside Vivi who was also a decent distance back. However, it wasn't the time to rekindle a new friendship.
Vivi had one hand in the air and another held onto a staff in the air. Vivi tilted his head back and a path of small fire spots constructed themselves and then turned into a wall of fire that fell as soon as it fully formed. The monster swayed back and screeched at the flames.
Steiner charged under the flames and, with both hands, thrust his sword into the base of the monster. Zidane then bounced off of Steiner's side and leapt in the air and cut the monster's pedals five times with his daggers before he landed on the ground. Steiner looked angrily at Zidane for using him as a stepping stool. The monster then hit Steiner with one of its tentacles. Steiner went flying right next to Vivi and me. The tentacle only made a dent in Steiner's silver armor. He had not let go of his sword and a black and red ooze drooped down from his sword.
Blank then charged the beast and grabbed onto the lowest pedal. Then, somehow, he ran up the pedal towards the mouth. Blank was trying to stab the monster's eye within its mouth. However, when he got close, the beast attempted to bite Blank. Blank avoided the hundreds of teeth and tried again to stab the beast. This time, a long sticky vine came out of its mouth from the side of its eye and merely knocked Blank off the killer flower.
Feeling left out, and an overdose of adrenaline, I charged the beast. I wasn't sure what exactly I would do, but I had to help somehow. As I ran, I didn't notice a tentacle that knocked me to the ground. I rolled over a few times and noticed a tentacle coming straight at me from above. Out of instinct, I held my sword up and swayed it back and forth. The sword made contact with the sword, but the blade was sent back into my shoulder, right between my guard and into my skin. I yelled out in pain. The blocked tentacle then came back for a second attempt. I raised my other arm and the vine wrapped around my arm and continually span around my arm until it had formed several rings around my arm. Did I mention the vine was layered with spikes? Well, it was and each spike drilled into my arm. Fortunately, this gave me the strength to get my sword out of my shoulder. Then, the beast, being that it had such a good grip on me, lifted me in the air. Suddenly, I was flying in the air and being shaken back and forth. The spikes drilling further into my arm. I dropped my sword.
Then, a dagger went flying through the air and cut through the vine. I fell to the ground and hit my nose on a rock. My nose started bleeding and my eyes immediately got teary. The cut-off vine was still wrapped around my arm.
I rolled over and notice Blank coming towards me. He ran side to side dodging the monster's tentacles and then he slid on the ground. While he was on the ground, he picked up my sword and continued to slide right to me. He gave me the sword and turned around swinging his own sword. Somehow, he knew a tentacle was coming after him and he managed to parry the attack.
Blank then charged the monster along with Zidane and Steiner. But, the beast retorted by sending bolts of lightening from the ceiling downward at the heroes. They all went flying back away from the beast.
"Princess! I will not allow you to harm the princess!" Steiner shouted angrily. "Vivi! Now!"
Vivi looked confused at the knight for a second before he realized what he needed to do. Vivi aimed his staff at the knight's sword and began casting. Soon, Steiner's blade started glowing and the light filled the room. Then, Steiner threw the sword directly at the beast's mouth. While the sword flew through the air, it ignited into flames and hit dead center of the beast's mouth. The sword stuck and the beast squirmed and waved back and forth until the tentacles all fell to the ground. The beast then turned into dust that spread through out the room.
"Princess!" Steiner ran to the limp princess and picked her up and stared desperately at her.
"Zidane, give her that medicine I gave you." Blank ordered Zidane.
Zidane ran to her and poured the stuff into her mouth. She began to murmur and Steiner started to breathe.
Then, the cave started shaking. The millions of pebbles strewn across the floor bounced up and down. We all looked around desperately for an answer. A spider like monster came down from the ceiling and started screeching at us. Its head was a large pedal with no eyes and a single mouth filled with more razor sharp teeth. And then, another spider monster came, and then another, and another.
"Uh, now, would be a good time to leave." Blank proclaimed.
Steiner held the princess and stood up. Blank motioned for us to exit and we all followed. Then, we simply started running.
We exited the cave and ran through the forest. Vivi and Steiner were in front and I was beside Blank and Zidane. We ran as fast as we could for at least five minutes and I quickly became exhausted. Suddenly, Zidane stopped.
"What are you doing!?" Blank questioned.
"Something's wrong." Zidane said as he viewed the entire forest. "It's like the entire forest is coming after us!"
And he was right. Because, behind us were now thousands of the giant plant spiders hunting us down. And, we continued to run.
I was trying to find air however I could. I was also trying to stay up with the group however I could. They were all so fast. Then, we came to a long stretch were a small opening opened at the end of the path. There didn't appear to be as many trees on the other side. Steiner led the group to the small opening. Zidane slowed down to check on Blank of whom ran past Zidane. I was behind them all and I turned my head to see the spiders only a few feet behind me. Thus, a new set of adrenaline rushed through my blood and I ran faster than I ever had before. I ran right past Zidane and Blank and kept running with all my strength.
When I turned my head back for a second time, I saw Blank push his friend Zidane out of the way of a spider. Blank was then picked up in the spider's long spike legs. Blank was stuck. Then, we all noticed that the forest, for some inexplicable reason, was being petrified. Everything in the forest was being petrified. Even the spider holding onto Blank. Blank looked frantically for a way out, but there was none. Suddenly, a pure emotion stronger than I had ever felt before took over. I stopped running.
"Nooo!!!" I shouted knowing what was about to happen.
Blank pulled out the map he was suppose to give to Zidane and threw it to him. I searched quickly for a solution and then I lifted my shirt around my chest plate. I saw the cracker. I looked up as the spider became fully petrified. Blank would be next. With all my strength, I lifted the cracker and threw it directly at the stone spider. The cracker flew threw the air and, I'm guessing my adrenaline was on overdose, because the cracker appeared to move in slow motion. I started moving again back towards the opening, but I continued to watch the small foot-long club fly through the air.
And then, magically, the cracker hit the spider directly on its stone, pedal head and the entire statue shattered into pieces. Blank fell to the ground and started running again. Every step he took, as his feet left the ground, the ground below him turned to stone. Now, the adrenaline was in Blank as he started to glow. Blank's speed increased rapidly. Was he in "trance"? A state driven by the rush of pure, raw emotions? I would guess so. I then leapt through the opening and looked back as vines closed the opening. I watched wide eyed for a second. Did he still not make it!
Then, the vines shattered and Blank came through and hit the ground hard as he rolled right into a large rock. More vines came and closed the opening. I looked at Blank and like Cinna earlier said, I spoke.
"Victory."
I sat in shock for a second. I stared at the now petrified forest. In the original story, Blank doesn't make it out of the forest. But, he was eventually saved so, why should it matter if he was okay now? I just couldn't let such a pure-hearted man become stone. Then, something felt wrong with my arm...
I looked down at my arm, the arm that had the vines wrapped around it. The vines were stone and so was most of my arm. I tried to lift the heavy object and stared at it. My hand was shaped like I was grabbing something. My nerves still ran signals into the stone and were telling me that I needed to move my fingers to get the blood flowing again. However, this was an incorrect signal. Only nerves ran through the stone, blood did not. Yet, it felt like I should adjust my fingers. But, they were stone and I couldn't do that. This was going to get very annoying very fast. I let my statue arm fall back to the ground.
"Hey." Blank said coming around the corner holding the back of his head.
"Hey." I replied continuing to stare at the ground.
"You... You saved my life."
"You saved mine back at the cave."
"Yeah, I guess we're even, huh? Haha." Blank then noticed my hand. "Oh, my gosh. I take that back. Your hand is... stone."
"Yeah."
Blank got next to my arm and lifted, he then took out a small dagger from his leg brace.
"Hey!" I said thinking the worst.
"Trust me." He then managed to cut the vines off.
The stone vines fell to the ground. My arm wasn't completely stone. Actually, it looked like some kind of African-flame tattoo, only it wasn't black ink but rather actual stone.
"Man. I'm sorry." Blank said looking at my arm.
"It's alright." I then looked back at him. He was suppose to be all stone...
"Well, I guess we can call this whole thing a victory, huh?" Blank said.
"Yeah. Victory." I said thinking hard on the word.
Blank started walking away to see the others and I stopped him.
"It's Victor." I told him.
"What's Victor?"
"My name."
Blank then turned to me and slightly smiled. "Why are you telling me now?"
"Things are...different now."
Reviewer Replies!
To all: Once again, thanks for reviewing my story. I hope that you guys are still enjoying it, especially as much work as I'm putting into it. If ever I make something appear not to be Final Fantasy-ish, please let me know. If you are not reviewing the story, that's cool, I still hope you enjoyed it!
Lavaangel: Don't ya just hate that? Both my favorite part and worst part of a game is when it ends. I love the ending, but at the same time the story stops. So, it sucks your favorite character is dead. But, you can always revive him here in the fanfic world! Yay! So, as you can see... things got different in this chapter. As always, thanks for the reviews!
Lollip0pstick: I wasn't scared of the boards until you mentioned all that. Now I'm freaked! Haha. Yeah, I played the game, both the start and the end to get the play right. I actually wrote the entire play down and thought about doing a little short just on the play. I don't know if I'll ever get to it though. Thanks for the compliment on the description! Three battles in this chapter! Uh... let's see. I got close on the fight scene, but I can't remember if I ever impressed Queen Brahne. Oh well. Yeah, I think sparks between Zidane and Garnet started immediately so I wanted to show that with out going overboard. I don't think my character is going to be able to go into trance. Unfortunately, I'm gonna make that just for Gaians. I was keeping my name secret because I'm still so lost in the world. I wanted to gain some kind of understanding before I gave too much info out. The Burmecia part, well, you know, you're just going to have to wait. :)
Tacofoolio: Welcome to my story! I'm glad that you are enjoying it and I'll try to get around to reading one of yours. Thanks for the compliments. I wanted to name my character properly so I hope that the symbolism in this chapter provides a decent name. Thanks again for the review!
RefugeofSouls: I see... Yeah, I wanted it to be confusing and I hope it still felt like I was in Alexandria. It's always a challenge trying to create the world around the known-world. Thanks for the comment on me being "faithful" it makes me glad that I did it. Anyway, thanks for the splendid review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Let's see, it took me five hours to compose the whole thing.
