Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.
Author's notes: I notice that I've changed the way I've been writing these Shattered Mind openings. I can't help but wonder if this is because of some significant style change or if I'm just losing my mind. Who's to say, right? Personally, I think I'm just trying to get to the good stuff earlier this way, but the important thing is if you guys are having fun reading. XD
Oh, and in other news… my novel is finished. O.o
I'm looking for a literary agent so I can get published, so make sure to look for a note saying that I've found one in the coming months. XD Since this story and all your reviews have made it possible to reach this point, I'm gonna try to do something special again soon. Just you guys wait. XD
Chapter 8- Abandonment.
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The boat ride wasn't as bad as I had feared it would be.
When we were traveling back from the Outer Continent on Brahne's escape ship, Amarant and I had to do all the work. Perhaps it was my continuously declining work ethic, but I just didn't feel like doing all hard that again. Sailing was a bitch.
Fortunately, we now had Steiner and Freya joining us, so I only had to do half the work as before. Of course, I could have had it worse. Zidane got pegged with keeping Quina from eating the Regent. My suggestion to tie Cid to Zidane's chest went ignored though, despite its brilliance. Quina wouldn't be tempted to eat Cid if he were stuck to Quina's best friend, now would he?
The trip across the ocean took us only a week. We had enough dried foods to last us a month, as well as fishing rods should we ever desire seafood, but it was good to finally hit dry land. The prospects of new foods crossed my mind almost immediately. Dry meat only tastes good for… well it never really does.
As soon as we landed, Vivi tried to take off for the Black Mage village. Thanks to Cid navigating (as well as me pointing out the beach on the world map in the first place), we found a sandy beach we could moor the ship on for a while. Blank stayed behind to watch the ship while the rest of us wandered off into the familiar woods. Vivi took point, running ahead of the rest of us. Most of us did our best to keep up. Amarant didn't care enough and Cid didn't have the stamina he needed as a frog to run for long. Cid just settled for hopping along with Amarant as he walked lazily.
Meanwhile, we broke through the village's defenses. They had been left down, revealing a lush forest deep within a dead one. They weren't even trying to hide anymore. Then again, if they were all with Kuja now, why would they bother hiding? Vivi charged in, out of breath, to demand an answer.
"HELLO?" he shouted in the town's forum. The rest of us caught up to him as he looked around for any signs of life.
"Looks like nobody's here," Vivi said dejectedly.
"Where did they go?" Zidane asked.
"Looks like Cid was right," I said. "They went with Kuja."
"But there has to be a reason!" Vivi argued.
"He's right," I said. "We've met these guys. They didn't seem like they would want to go back to Kuja or killing."
"What are you talking about?" Zidane asked. "I've never met these guys before."
"Oh, right," I remembered. Hooray for me screwing up the storyline.
"I'm gonna go look around," Vivi decided. He ran off alone. He was getting bolder the more I knew him. It was a good change in him, I thought.
I started walking into the village on my own. Something came to mind that I wanted to check out.
"Trevor?" Zidane called after me. "Where are you going?"
"Follow Vivi," I said. "There's someone I have to see here."
"Someone?" he repeated. "Who?"
I just waved him off. I wanted to go to the synthesis shop to thank the two black mages working there, on the off chance they were still around. I had to thank them for the work they had done previously, and if possible, put in a new request. The quality they performed was second to none.
"You really think they'll be there?" Kaiten asked, reading my thoughts.
Probably not, I told him. But this village is abandoned. There's not much else to investigate.
I caught a glimpse of Vivi running into the graveyard. I hoped he could find the answers he wanted, but I knew he wouldn't. Kuja was manipulating the closest thing Vivi ever had to a people and a culture for his own personal gain. I know it would make me want to kill Kuja more if he had somehow done something to manipulate America to his own benefit.
The Black Cat Synth Shop's front door was left wide open. It looked like it was left in a hurry. Or, maybe the owners just didn't care to take any care of their shop. Their minds were too distracted by the moral dilemma they were facing and closing the door didn't occur to them.
I walked in, looking around and taking a brief inventory. There didn't seem to be any sign of the owners, or anything I could use. As I was afraid of, they weren't here.
"Well, this was time well spent," I muttered.
"It figures," Kaiten said. "There are only three left in the village, right? The old one and the two taking care of the chocobo egg?"
"Yeah, Mr. 288. I don't remember the other guys' names."
"Hopefully the kid won't feel too bad after the old mage gives him the news."
"I hope. At least this trip advances the storyline. Can't say it does much good beyond that."
"Don't be so sure. Look over there."
I glanced to a workbench on one side of the room. I didn't see it at first, but after a moment, I saw a leather strap hanging on the side by a hook. Attached to it was a pair of sheathes, each long enough to accompany my new short swords.
"Good eye," I said, examining the sheathes. I picked them up while placing my old ones on the table. They were still in good condition, so it seemed like an even trade. I left them behind while I adjusted the new sheathes around my belt.
"There," I said, sliding my orange short swords in. "Perfect fit."
"Maybe this wasn't such a waste after all."
"So it seems. C'mon, we need to get back to the others." As I said it, I noticed my odd choice of words. As if Kaiten had a choice but to come with me.
By the time I walked out, Vivi had already left. Mr. 288 was walking up from the graveyard, carefully pondering his situation. He didn't even see me until I was right next to him.
"You alright?" I asked. "You seem distracted."
"Oh, you?" he recalled. "You were the one who was with the young one last time he was here. Vivi…"
"Yeah, I'm Trevor," I said, extending my hand. "Nice to see you remember me."
"It would be poor manners to forget one of the few humans who was ever kind to us," Mr. 288 said, shaking my hand.
"Good to know, but is everything alright? I'm sure Vivi just came to see you."
"Yes, your friend," Mr. 288 said, slightly withdrawing. "He came to me for advice again. I don't know why, but many of the other mages view me as the wisest in the village."
"Well, you carry a staff and you're probably one of the oldest members of the village. You carry the perfect image of a wise elder." Even though it was true, Mr. 288 had been created like everyone else. I was guessing at his age, but compared to how a human would look, the mage barely looked older than thirty.
"Perhaps," Mr. 288 considered. "However, I can only give you the same information that I gave him." Mr. 288 shifted uncomfortably, using his staff to support himself. "Several more of our village have died, but not to injury. The other members discovered that we have a limited lifespan—that we can die of old age. The thought terrified them, so when Kuja offered a way to expend it, they flocked to him."
It made sense for this fledgling race to be so joyfully ignorant. They had only just been created after all.
"And you didn't go with them because…?"
Mr. 288 was silent. He only stared at the head of his staff, like he was trying to ignore the question.
I folded my arms in understanding. I knew he didn't fully understand why, but perhaps I could provide an answer.
"You knew that Kuja was lying, didn't you?" I asked. "You could tell that he was manipulating you into helping him for his plans."
"Perhaps," Mr. 288 finally answered. "I had my suspicions."
"You stayed behind because you knew that helping Kuja would lead to more deaths. Sacrificing yourself by accepting your life as it is limited could have potentially saved hundreds of people. If the rest of the village had followed your example, you could have saved the whole planet."
Mr. 288 looked at me curiously. "Do you think we could have had such a dramatic affect against Kuja?"
I nodded. "He's lost the Eidolons he had control over. He was hurt and weak after his attack was countered in Alexandria. Manipulating the black mages was the last thing he could possibly do to maintain his plot."
"I see," Mr. 288 realized. "Then I have failed as a leader and as a person since I did not see it sooner. I let my people join a man who would ruin this world for his own personal gain."
This was not the direction I was hoping for. "Not necessarily. You could still help us by telling us where Kuja's base is. I swear none of the black mages will be hurt."
Mr. 288 thought for a moment, then shook his head. "But is it right for me to do so? I failed my people once, but if I tell you where to find them, I've betrayed them. I can't do it. I'm sorry."
This was hopeless. I screwed up and only made the problem worse. I could always recover since I knew where to find Kuja's base anyway, but Mr. 288 seemed a lot more depressed now.
"Excuse me," he said. "I need to be alone to think." He turned around and shuffled back towards the graveyard.
"Yeah, sure," I said weakly. I wanted to punch a wall, or just hit something. It seemed like everything I did now made things worse. If I wasn't careful, I'd probably end up killing one of the other heroes. Knowing my luck so far, it would be Zidane or Vivi. I would hate myself so much if that happened.
I decided it was time to make my way back towards the others. The village looked nice, so I rook my time strolling around.
I soon found myself walking along a small river flowing through the middle of the village. The black mages had already discovered using water wheels to power things like furnaces and fans. It showed a lot of ingenuity, or so I thought.
However, walking along the river, I was soon distracted when I saw a bridge, small and simple, crossing it, lined with an ornate handrail. A row of flowered lined each side of the bridge. Someone had put a lot of effort into beautifying his part of the river.
It was familiar. I had seen this before, and not from the last time I was in this village either…
Suddenly, there was a flash, like someone had just taken a picture with an overly large flash bulb. The scenery didn't change at all, but I could no longer hear the wind blowing through the trees, and the river sounded different. I found out what had happened a moment later when I saw myself walking across the bridge and plopping down on it, looking down at the river.
"Oh god," I muttered. "Another hallucination?"
I saw myself from high school lay back, hands behind his head and bask in the sunlight. This place was a fun hangout spot for me when I was younger. I always liked the woods behind my house since the river was a cool place, but more importantly—
"Hey Trevor."
My high school self and I looked up to see the most beautiful girl ever sitting next to him. Her raven hair brushed gently against her shoulders like silk and her dark eyes only made the rest of her seem even brighter. She wore a cute smile and a pink shirt, as well as cut-off jeans stretching only to the knees.
Nicole, my old girlfriend.
"You're late," my younger self accused.
"Sorry," she giggled. I always loved that laugh of hers. "I had homework to finish. Unlike someone, I actually care about getting into a good college."
"Hey, I care!" he said. "I already have something lined up. My father's taking me to some college in Ohio that he went to."
"Aww… but that's so far away!" Nicole pouted. My younger self turned away, unable to look at her like that and not blush. I had to turn away as well. Even after all these years, the memory of her had this affect on me.
"Are you sure you want to go that far?" she asked sweetly. "I don't want to be apart. Is there anything I can do to convince you?" As she spoke, she gently and slowly came closer until she was sitting on my younger self's stomach, legs straddling him.
"God you're tempting," my younger self said, holding onto her by the waist.
"I know," she grinned, and leading in for a kiss.
I had to look away for a moment, not from embarrassment, but because it just hurt too much to see her like this again. I had just gotten over her after I moved to college. She was perfect… everything I wanted in a girl…and I was too stupid and arrogant to realize it at the time.
Nicole finished the kiss and laid on top of my younger self, cuddling him by pressing her head into his chest. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. I missed that feeling so much…
"You'll have to call me every day at college," she insisted.
"I know."
"And we have to spend every day together when we come home on break."
"Of course."
"And we should celebrate before we leave! Something special that we never do!"
"I already thought of that," my younger self said. "I got reservations at that fancy French place you're always looking at."
"Oh my god, really?" she shouted excitedly. "Thank you Trevor! Thank you, thank you!"
She immediately began to smother him with kisses. It wasn't until he finally caught a break that he was able to laugh and remind her, "You'll have to wait for it. Graduation isn't for another few months."
"I know, but I don't care!" she said, kissing him again on the neck. "You're the best boyfriend ever!"
"You're not so bad yourself," my younger self said, kissing her back gently and passionately.
Nicole kissed him back before hugging him tightly. "I love you so much," she said quietly.
My younger self looked down at her. It had taken so long for them both to admit how they felt, and even after they both said it, it was still a little embarrassing for Nicole. Still, that was one of the cuter qualities about her.
"I love you too," Trevor said back.
There was a moment of peaceful silence until Nicole popped her head up, staring at Trevor with her chin pressed up on his chest. "Ssooo… your dad…" she began slowly, and blushing like mad. "He's not home… is he?"
"Um, no," my younger self said quickly. "He's gone for the rest of the day."
Nicole bit her lower lip nervously. "Ok… then maybe we could go there and… you know…uh…"
"I think I know what you mean…" younger Trevor said. His hands slowly slid down Nicole's waist, down to her hips…
A shrill cry broke the moment and resounded throughout the air. A howl mixed with a whine echoed in the woods. It clearly wasn't human.
"What was that?" Nicole asked. She snapped out of her thoughts from a moment ago, much to my younger self's disappointment, and stood up. "It sounded like a puppy somewhere. I think it's hurt!"
Nicole always cared about animals. She had two cats at home that she adopted from a shelter. Helping an animal always took priority for her. My younger self just groaned, trying to withhold his momentary anger. Getting cockblocked by a puppy would do that to any guy.
"C'mon!" Nicole said, pulling my younger self to his feet. "We have to help him!"
She quickly pulled younger me up and ran down the river where we heard the sound. I watched at the two figures wandered off. I came back into reality and saw the bridge over the water for what it was: a nice little part of the Black Mage Village.
I was in Gaia, I had the soul of a Terran Special Forces Lieutenant stuck in my head, and I hadn't seen Nicole in almost two years. All I had seen was a memory, somehow projected into real life. I wonder briefly if others could see it, or if the memories impacted anything at all.
Hey, Kaiten? I asked in order to find out. Did you see…
I was cut off in my thoughts when I saw Nicole again, standing before me. It didn't seem like a memory. It was more like she was just staring at me. The real me.
Her eyes were red from crying.
"Nicole?" I asked apprehensively.
"You killed him!" she accused me. "How could you be so cruel?"
"Wait, stop!" I knew this memory, and even though I probably couldn't talk to her, I still felt compelled to try and reason with her. "It's not like you think!"
"I hate you! I never want to see you again!"
"Wait, stop!" I pleaded with the image. "Let me explain!"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
That was the defining moment. I didn't try to resist anymore. Nicole ran off into the woods of the Black Mage Village. I wanted to chase after her, to explain how everything leading to that particular point had happened, and why it wasn't my fault.
It hurt so much to see her running away. I clamped my hand over my chest as the pain started to grip me. My heart felt like it was splitting in half.
She never even gave me a chance.
"Trevor?"
I looked up at another familiar voice. At first glance, I thought it was Nicole again, but instead, it was just Freya, standing next to Dagger.
"What are you doing?" Freya asked. "Who's Nicole and why were you yelling for someone to stop?"
I rose, embarrassed that I had made myself look like an idiot in public again. How bad were these hallucinations going to get? I blushed and tried not to face the girls, especially Dagger. I hadn't really thought about it before, but she looked just like Nicole in a lot of ways.
"Nobody," I lied. "I… haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. I think I'm just seeing things."
"Seeing things?" Freya asked. "You should have stayed on the boat if you're not feeling well."
Dagger's look of concern was too much for me to handle just then. Her sad eyes were exactly the same when—
NO! I shouted at myself. I couldn't let my thoughts get bogged down like that. I barely pulled myself up from the first time, after Nicole dumped me. I dug my nails into the sides of my head to get the thoughts out of my mind.
"I'll be fine," I told Freya, turning away from them both. "Let's just get Zidane and Vivi so we can leave."
"Alright," Freya said, with more than a hint of concern in her voice. "If you say so."
I started to walk away, but Zidane and Vivi came rushing towards us from the chocobo hut. Another pair of black mages had stayed in the village to care for an abandoned chocobo egg they had found. It was a remarkable turn for them towards parenthood, of sorts.
"We found it!" Vivi shouted excitedly. "We need to go now!"
"Hold on!" Freya said. "Found what?"
"Kuja's base," Zidane said. "And where the other black mages have gone."
"Mr. 288 changed his mind and told us," Vivi explained. He spoke with a determination that I had rarely seen in him.
"There's a desert to the east on this continent," Zidane said. "Kuja has a palace underneath a sand pit. We'll sneak in, take him by surprise, and finish this in one go."
"Is that all the information we have to go on?" Freya asked. "It'll be risky if Kuja has any kind of defense up. What will happen if we fall right into a trap, or worse, if he's expecting us to come? We shouldn't underestimate him."
"But we have to try something," I said. "He's cunning. Very cunning. Kuja's probably planned for at least three other contingencies. This way, we can at least control some portion of what goes on."
"We have to save the black mages!" Vivi shouted. "We have to stop Kuja from using them!"
"Either way, we're wasting time," Zidane said. "Let's find the others and get back to the boat. It's going to take us a while to sail to the other side of the continent."
Zidane took the lead again as we headed out of the village. I stayed in the back, wondering if everything was going to be okay. I had to keep the storyline going as best I could. I couldn't afford to screw up again and ruin anything else. The events in Lindblum during Alexandria's invasion were too close for comfort. Only dumb luck kept us going.
Hey, Kaiten? I tried asking again.
"What?" he asked, finally answering me.
I had another hallucination earlier. Did you see it at all?
"Another one? Damn…"
So, I guess that means you didn't see it, huh?
"Well, there was a moment back there," he said mysteriously. "You tried calling me before, remember? I called back, but you didn't respond. Didn't you hear me?"
You called back? I tried to recall, but I really didn't hear Kaiten speak back to me at all.
"It was like something was blocking you from me."
This was getting worse by the minute. The fragile connection I had to Kaiten was the one trump card I had through all these events. If I lost that, then everything was at risk. I had to protect that connection no matter what, but without knowing what I was even going against, how was I supposed to mount a defense?
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Our trip east only took us three days.
The desert we saw was nothing like the one we saw outside of Madain Sari. In the western part of the Outer Continent, the ground was dry, arid and cracked. Here, there was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see. Once we landed on the coast, it was as if the beach just extended forever. Finding the sand pit we needed would have been impossible if I didn't already know where to go. Perhaps playing through Final Fantasy IX over two dozen times was a good thing.
"So, is this it?" Zidane asked, standing outside the outer rim of the sand pit. Its sands dragged down, into a single point, like in an hourglass.
"It's gotta be," I said, pointing to the center of the pit. "Look there."
In the middle was a small, rounded structure made of glass. It let light in below, meaning something, or more importantly someone, had to be down there.
"Alright, then we have our plan of attack!" Zidane announced to the other eight of us. "I'll go first and smash into the palace. We should be able to break in and go one by one. Stay together so that whatever Kuja might have ready for us won't take us down."
"This is reckless," Steiner said. He was sweating in his heavy armor, and I was sure that all that metal was scalding hot in the sunlight. I didn't envy him. "You could just as well be leading us into an ambush."
"Who cares?" Amarant blurted out. He folded his arms and impatiently waited at the edge of the sand pit, risking getting pulled in. "As long as I get to fight, everything will work out."
"Aya! I hot," Quina complained. His tongue dragged down and looked like it risked licking the sand. "Maybe Kuja's hideout is cooler?"
"Just stick together," Zidane said. "We'll be fine if we watch out for each other."
With that, Zidane hesitated no more. He leapt down the sand pit and started surfing his way to the glass dome. Amarant was close behind him and I followed third.
As soon as Zidane was close, he stabbed the glass dome, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. They fell harmlessly to the ground below the dome or were quickly lost under the shifting sand. Amarant jumped first, breaking the rest of the glass with his body and clearing the way for the rest of us. Zidane, not to be outdone by him, went in second.
I looked down, losing sight of Zidane instantly. The light didn't pierce the darkness beyond a few feet. I stood at the edge of the shattered dome and took a deep breath.
Here we go, I thought. Ready partner?
"Let's do it," Kaiten agreed.
With a sharp yelp, I jumped in, ready to attack whatever Kuja had ready for us.
But the light didn't travel below the shattered glass entryway. As soon as we entered, we all fell into darkness…
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It's the chapter that almost wasn't! :D
I almost had to skip this month's chapter (the first time in about a year and a half! XD). Due to my getting fully certified at work (no more mentor watching over my shoulder! Yay! XD), finishing my book (more yay! XD), and some drama at home (not yay! O.o), Shattered Mind had to take a back seat. Fortunately, I had a good amount of free time over the weekend, so you get to read Shattered Mind on time, if only a little shorter than normal. :P
Still, better than nothing, right?
I'll try to make a new ATE sometime soon to make up for it. ^^
PREVIEW!
After capturing the world heroes, Kuja sends Zidane and friends to Oeilvert, where they discover the hidden secrets of Terra. Kaiten reverts back to his old life, living in the military during a time of war, leading his squad, the renowned Spectral Knights.
You will finally know Kaiten's story…
Chapter 9- Blood and Nightmares, Part 1
