A/N: Hey guys! As promised before, I am now back with some more chapters of Of Lies and Fantasies. Just finished the advance chapters of the Festival of the Hunt and I'm not writing the aftermath of that. This one doesn't have any action in it, but it sets up the rest of the Evil Forest section of the story. Hope you guys like it. And thanks for your patience as I work on this along with the faves and follows!
Of Lies and Fantasies
Chapter 7: What Do You Mean By Accessory?
-Blake-
I slowly awoke to the sound of crickets chirping and owls howling outside the Prima Vista. There were other noises aside from those two neutral creatures, such as growling from Fangs and feet walking around the remains of the ship. The monsters must be getting antsy with all the fresh meat they can smell coming from the area.
My eyes wandered throughout the room. Nothing had changed since I was last conscious. The ceiling still looked messed up and the walls were about to give out. The only things in here were shattered pieces of a mirror, a wooden dresser barely standing on its remaining two feet, a sheathed knife resting on said dresser, a bed that I was using and a mess of blankets on my side. I must have gotten uncomfortable with those on me while I was asleep.
Now I feel much better, energized and stabilized. "Ahh…" Wait. Hold that thought… "AH-CHOO!" I sneezed hard, whipping my head to the front… I swear my brain almost went out through one of my nasal cavities, though thank God it didn't really happen. It must've been a reactionary effect of being infected with a plant virus. Anyway…
Now I feel better. I swung my feet to the side of the bed, got up and tried to take my first step since I was poisoned. Stabilized should be changed to something else since I felt that my legs are somewhat numb. Plus, I am still a bit dizzy. I should take baby steps.
I tried my best to maintain my balance as I went towards the door as the feeling began coming back to my limbs. That plant virus must be capable of a lot of things if it was to fully develop in a person's body. I believe there was one description of that, but I don't remember right now what it was. I think it affects the nervous system followed by the brain, and then uses the body as a pseudo-nest to grow plant creatures. Sounds like a sci-fi movie.
With that thought out of the way, I went for the doorknob slowly nearing my grasp, or so I thought as it suddenly it distanced itself from the door and the wall it was relatively attached to, almost causing me to fall flat on my face when someone managed to catch me.
"Whoa!" The person called, surprised to even find someone like me in their arms. "You should be lying down, not walking around." I looked at the person and saw Blank and his bandana-covered eyes looking at me as he helped me stand up.
"I felt like walking," I replied not realizing that my voice sounded somewhat slurred.
"Well, you shouldn't be. It's hard recovering from a plant virus if you don't take care of yourself." Blank told me while he put my arm on his shoulders, escorting me back to the bed.
"I've been sleeping for god knows how long. Everyone in this ship has more problems than just exhaustion." And a plant virus that could mutate your entire system and turn it into a monster generator, but he didn't need to know that. "We're surrounded by monsters…"
Blank plainly let my words pass him by when he set me down on the bed. Fighting him off was out of the question since I was in this condition. I decided to just drop what I was saying and just follow what he wants. "Did you drink the antidote?"
"Of course I did. I wouldn't be alive if I didn't." I answered rather quickly. I was lying back down on battered pillow and looking up at that ceiling again. I think I need a change of scenery.
"Watch the attitude," He looked at me through that bandana like I keep my 'attitude' down. My attitude is down. If it wasn't, then you'd be hearing a string of insults right now, and right now thinking of one is quite exhausting. "You wouldn't be alive if it weren't for MY antidote."
I tried acting surprised. "You made it? Wow. Has anyone ever told you that you don't look like the medical type?"
Blank shook his head at my question. "No. I just happen to know how the cure is made. This isn't exactly my first time here."
Oh, really? That's interesting. This is the first time I have heard of this. Maybe it has been mentioned in the game, and if it did then I wasn't paying a lot of attention to it. "Not your first time?"
"This is actually my second." The bandana wearing thief said. "It's quite a long story. It forced me and my crew to walk through the forest and past the South Gate as a way back to Lindblum."
I'm guessing that when he said 'my crew' he meant Tantalus and that also involved some sort of heist or one of their thieving operations. Their operation probably got out of hand or they got caught and that made them escape into the Evil Forest.
"Interesting," I say to him. "I hope I'm not wasting your time, but I'm looking for someone here." Blank tilts his head as he hears this. "Have you seen a girl walking around? Brown hair, around my age, wears a stupid looking pair of overalls?"
He immediately points his thumb over his shoulder and replies, "Yeah. She's near the stairs." Then he crossed his arms and looked like he was thinking something over. "She asked me a question and felt really bad when I answered her, almost like she's about to cry."
"What did you say to get such a reaction?"
"Well, it was regarding the crew of the ship." Oh, that is just great. I don't need her getting more emotional than she already is now. Killing her first monster was bad enough, but this is just getting more pathetic.
"I think I need to see her." I sighed. "Can you help me to the door? I'll take over from there."
Blank shrugged and extended his hand. "Alright. Just so you know I only answered her question. I didn't mean to say anything hurtful."
"Don't worry, that's not why she's crying." I reassured him as I took his hand. He helped me stumble over to the door and thankfully this time I didn't fall in a certain way. "Right, I'll be going now." I turned down the hall with my hands on the walls, the strength slowly coming back to my legs. At least I could walk now and that means I can go around the Prima Vista and take a look around.
"You're welcome!" I heard Blank shout as I turn down the hallway and see the downward circular staircase that leads up to the captain's room. To the right is the room where Vivi should be sleeping and to the left leads instrument room and to the where Alyssa was said to be. Zidane is still nowhere to be found and Steiner is still busy getting locked up because of his worrying.
Ah, there she is sitting on the steps of the stairs with her face on her hands. I could barely hear her mumbling something as I approach her. "Are you crying?" I crossed my arms as I asked this.
She shook her head violently then looked up to me. Even if she denied it, I could still tell that she was crying with the little streams of tears going down her cheeks and that her eyes were a bit red. "Correction, you WERE crying." I said.
"Fine, I was crying," admitted the overalls sporting teenager. "It's…because of…the crew."
"What? Is it because a lot of them died in the crash?" I tried joking about it, but she turned to face me with a glare.
"Not just a lot. ALL of them." Damn, that is quite a fatality count. "Not even….one of them survived. Blank told me that most of the crew died on impact….when we were crash landing. The others were burned to death or…choked on the fumes."
I was silent for a while. Alyssa made these little sob noises a few times right before she took in a big breath and calmed herself down. How am I supposed to feel about this? A lot of people die every day with varying causes and this is just one of them, an occupational hazard when you work for a thieving group. I could say that to Alyssa, but she does not need any more reason to grieve people she barely knew. A reality check is the last thing she needs.
But being told that a number of her co-workers died, even though she did not know much about any of them, is an image Alyssa did not need. Also the fact that they could still be standing on their graves, although if they were dug into the earth by the crash or still strewn around the site, didn't help either.
I noticed Blank walk by our silent conversation. He gave Alyssa a solemn look while he gave me a brief nod of acknowledgement as he passed me. Blank was probably going to check up on Vivi's condition. So, we're nearing that time.
"You can let it all out later." I tell the girl. She gives me a disapproving glance as I continued to speak. "You need to concentrate on the task at hand. We need to stay alive for this thing to continue."
She nodded as she dried her eyes. "You too. Fighting monsters is harder than it looks."
I scoffed at her statement. "Don't you listen? I do not fight. I take opportunities."
There were another set of footsteps coming towards us, this time coming from the lower floor. I turned my head to see the blond thief finally appear right in front of us. Zidane looked at us with a brief pause, especially at me. He had a raised eyebrow pointed towards me before he spoke to us.
"Are you supposed to be up?" He asks.
"Apparently not. This is the second time I was told to not be up and about," I replied.
"You should listen then. Plant viruses are the last thing you want to get here," He chuckled with a wag of his tail.
"True," Alyssa agreed to his sentiment. If I was supposed to be resting you wouldn't be feeling any better. "He was just telling me that he was trying to find the guy who carried him through the woods while he was unconscious. Guess he found him."
"Oh, don't mention it." The thief said. "We don't want anyone else dying out there."
"I didn't catch you name," I put myself between the two. He hasn't mentioned his name to us yet, so it's just logical to ask before we accidentally blurt it out. You know, just in case.
"The name's Zidane," He thumped his chest as he said his name.
"Blake R. Skylark." I introduced myself with an extension of my hand. Zidane took it and shook it as I continued. "And she's Eliza Thornberry."
"Alyssa Forsyth," She corrected me after elbowing me on the side. She should just have her name changed because it sounds so ridiculous. I wonder how many times she's mistakenly added vowels to her name.
"You guys already told me your names earlier," Oh, I must've forgotten. Well, it doesn't hurt introducing yourself again just in case. "But it's nice to meet you both. That was quite the showing you did out there with the plant monster." Zidane regarded Alyssa's fighting skills with a grin. "How does a girl like you know how to fight like that?"
"I took classes." She smiled as she answered.
"Really? Because from the look of things you could have fooled me. Your skills were so natural." Zidane complimented her. I swear there was a rising color of red on her cheeks when she heard this.
"Careful, we don't want her ego to go flying about." I remarked making me and Zidane share a small chuckle at Alyssa's expense.
"Well, Alyssa, Blake," He looked at both us respectively when he said our names. "Nice meeting you guys. I have to go check up on someone. If you'll excuse me." He then passed us as he ascended the stairs towards his destination.
Both Alyssa and I knew what he was going to do. He was going to check up on Vivi and wonder if he should go on and rescue the princess from her current dilemma. I was not up to any more talking and decided that I needed some fresh air. Alyssa followed me outside, her reasoning being that I might need help if some monster decides to attack me.
It's not that I can't defend myself, woman. I just don't want to fight because it's unnecessary when you have other options. Like running, for example, or shooting people in the leg and then running.
By that time, we could have sworn that Steiner had started yelling 'FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!' in desperation.
The skies outside still look a desolate gray even after what seemed like hours of sleep that I went through. Cinna could be seen lying on his back, snoring near the pile of rescued rations and relatively important items. I asked Alyssa about this and she corrected me that I was unconscious for only an hour. And how was that supposed to help?
We stood there under the blanket of Mist hovering just a few meters above the trees, covering the stars from our perspectives. It's not a total disappointment. The Mist didn't actually have an effect on air itself, just that it spawns evil monsters because it can. You know, that bothers me. If someone puts enough logic on how monsters spawn just because of the presence of Mist, one could assume that they either appear from out of nowhere from a portal or the Mist spins around in a small form until it creates a solid figure with its own nervous system and minimal cognitive functions along with instinct.
And as I was pondering on this, Alyssa sneezed. "Bless you." I said. And then she did another. "Bless you." I repeated. I'd offer a handkerchief, but I don't have one at the moment.
Anyways, maybe I'm thinking about this too much. It helps pass the time. Passing the time is just the only thing we can do right now. I'm sure that Zidane is done contemplating his next move and the only thing stopping him from moving is the leader of Tantalus himself, Baku. The big, clumsy but headstrong leader that trips in the middle of a battle, but capable of bringing the pain when he can. Zidane has to choose between the group that helped him throughout his whole life or play hero by going out into the Evil Forest and rescue the princess like a fairytale knight in shining armor, and he already knows the answer to that.
I turned to Alyssa and see that there was a spark in her eyes. What that spark entails, I will never know. She won't tell me, that I pretty much know. But being pulled into a videogame with another person and having that same person be the only one who can understand what she was going through has its own advantages. I am the only person she can confide in.
What I'm guessing about that spark is the happiness she's feeling right now because she's living out an adventure that is supposed to be confined in a pack of CDs to be played by a videogame console made by a Japanese company. It's not every day someone gets a chance like that. If I had a choice, I'd rather be in Persona 4, but a person can only dream, right?
"Hey Blake," Alyssa's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Do you wanna see how Zidane's gonna fight Baku?"
Well, there was nothing interesting happening around here, unless a random Fang jumps out from a bush and decides to murder Cinna. Fortunately for him, nothing was going to happen to him. One of the gas masked brothers was around, so that means he is safe from any danger.
I shrug my shoulders and sigh. "Fine. It's not like I have anything else to do." Alyssa leads the way back inside as I run my capable hand up and down my right arm's cast. She's going on about how the fight is going to work in a small room with actual weapons with people watching. I was not as absorbed as her as we walk to it. My mind is too busy trying to remember everything important that is bound to happen to us.
-FF FF FF-
Okay, the fight did not go the way Alyssa thought it would. It actually was not as violent as we both imagined. Baku and Zidane decided that they were going to settle this like men, and that meant that both were going to fight with their bare hands. Well, if this was indeed the real world, a fight between two friends, much less than two people who have such a close bond like Baku and Zidane, would not involve deadly weapons. That is if they want to off each other in the most horrible way.
You know, I could understand why Baku does not want Zidane to just up and leave the group here. He is worried about the lives of the injured and currently conscious while Zidane is just trying to go and play hero at the worst possible time. Baku thinks that he's wasting his time by rescuing one person. Perhaps it would be more effective if more people were taken by Prison Cage instead of just one, but that is just a hypothetical situation. But the story won't progress if Zidane doesn't come charging in, right?
Even with that little change proceeding regarding the weapons, Alyssa still cheered like a cheerleader on game night. It was obvious to us as to who was going to win this fight. As she shouted Zidane's name in hope of encouraging him, I stood there beside her with my arms crossed and my thoughts somewhere else. I am sure Alyssa had thought of our next moves before acting like a college fanservice model.
The two Tantalus members were done brawling at the span of 10 minutes. Longest ten minutes of my life. The two traded punches and sold punches like John Cena and Hulk Hogan; they did not sell the punches, they only sold t-shirts and headbands.
They ended up sprawled on the floor in the middle of the room as the cheers from other spectators died down and the impromptu music from the orchestral band slowly came to a halt. Both men took in breaths, but were too determined to stand at their own will. Baku and Zidane eyed each other carefully even if both of them knew the fight was over.
"I'll be damned…" Baku chuckled as he stood. It's not surprising that he's taking this far too well when you see him throughout the fight taunt his little subordinate, telling him that his attack tickles and all that. Plus, I'm not surprised since I had seen this fight a lot of times.
The leader of Tantalus staggered towards Zidane, who was bruised and exhausted and bent over with his hands on his knees. "Bravo!" He surprised the blond with a punch to the gut that brought the smaller thief to his knees. "Go find your princess!" Baku turned on his heel and laughed on his way out of the room. Alyssa and I could hear him coughing loudly a few seconds later.
"Damn, that hurt!" Zidane exclaimed. "He pulled his punches 'til that last one."
"Does that mean Baku let him win the fight?" Alyssa whispered the question to me. She did not notice that? And to think she hundred-percented the game.
"Do you want me to pull out an idiom dictionary and tell you what he meant or do you want to think that over by yourself?" I tell her with a shake of my head.
The two of us overhear Blank and Zidane talk about something. We both know what it is already, but if I have to tell, then Blank is telling Zidane that he's unlocked the door to the instrument storage room so Zidane can talk to Steiner. So yeah, that's lovely.
Then he comes walking towards us. Alyssa started applauding as the thief stopped in front of us and bowed to Alyssa's delight. "Thanks for the applause." I glanced at Alyssa slightly, giving her a look saying 'don't encourage him'.
"You know, you should get some ice on that." I point to a part of his face that made contact with Baku's knuckles. "That is going to bruise."
"I'll be fine," says the thief. "Bruises are the last thing I'll have to worry about. Plus, battle scars impress the girls." He said with a grin, but dropped it fast when it hurt.
"I could tell." I remarked. "So anyway, I couldn't resist hearing that you were going to take the knight and the black mage somewhere. Where might that be?"
Zidane put one of his hands on his belt and grinned. "I'm enlisting their help to rescue Princess Garnet."
"That was the princess?" Alyssa spoke up in fake, yet believable, surprise. Zidane only nodded in confirmation as a response. "I thought that was one of your crew members. Looking back on it now, she did look mighty weird with that outfit on." Yeah right, you're one to talk.
She elbows me on the side very discretely, making me chuckle. "And to think, today's her birthday. Or was." Alyssa elbows me a bit more, this time less discrete that it gets Zidane's attention. "I only say that because it might be morning at this time. You could never tell with how thick the Mist here is." Or she could be dead, but the story won't allow that.
"Oh, sorry for bothering you. You must be busy with preparations for the rescue. We'll be going now." Alyssa proceeded to push me towards the way out of the Prima Vista. I was going to interject that we should suggest helping in rescuing the princess, since that would include us in the main party, but she winked at me as if hinting that she has it all figured out.
"Wait!" Zidane walked up to us as Alyssa stopped pushing and turned towards his voice. "I was thinking that having more people would be great."
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" I ask him.
"Well, four heads are better than three." He replies with a shrug. So Alyssa did know what she was doing.
"That's true. Four heads are – Wait what? What do you mean four?" I squinted at him as he was rubbing the back of his head. There is no need to act so coy about this, Zidane. I know where this is going and I don't like it.
"Taking on the thing in charge of this place is going to take a bit of skill and it's gonna be hard. Rusty's really great with a sword and Vivi's magic is gonna be a huge help. And with Alyssa's help, we might be able to get to the princess faster." Zidane explained, but to me, that was far from an actual explanation.
"What? Are you serious? I know how to fight." I claimed, and it was not a total lie. I do know how to properly swing my arms around in desperation and kick someone in their most private area, but that doesn't mean I have to use proper fighting etiquette while doing it. Sure, it may look the least experienced fighting style, yet it works. "Did you even see me dig into that thing earlier? I am fully capable of hitting stuff, if that's why you're so concerned."
"I'm not concerned about that. What I'm concerned with is that you stood by and watched most of the fight." He countered.
"It's called common sense. You just don't go rushing an enemy with your swords, daggers, hammers, or whatever you may have and think that you'll win. I have a broken arm to prove that."
"Then we're going to have you stay cause of your broken arm. We can't risk anyone else getting seriously injured."
"Okay, I think we're going to end the argument here." Alyssa stepped in between the two of us with her hands on her hips. She was mostly facing Zidane, and by that I already knew what she was going to say. "I'm sorry Zidane, but if you're going to take me with you, then you have to take Blake along." She looked over her shoulder as she said the following. "Think of him as an accessory."
What!? An accessory!? How dare she even say that in front of me?
Even as I launch myself in a mental state of ranting, I could see Zidane sigh and surrender. "Fine then. So, that's five people. Alright then, let's go get Rusty out of the instrument storage room and hope he doesn't cause our ears to drop off." And with that, he led the way up the stairs and in front of the first room we encounter.
I was still seething at what Alyssa had dared suggest. Now I'm just conflicted whether to shove her down the stairs or trip her when we start running away from the plant minions later. You know, pick which one hurts more. She'll probably suffer an injury to the former, while she could possible get killed and petrified in the latter situation. But why should I care, I'm just an accessory. We'll come to that when we do, but right now subtlety is what I need right now.
The three of us entered through the door and was greeted with a mess no magical maid could ever clean. Crates and empty cases for instruments were strewed all over the room due to the crash. Drums were turned over, violins were crushed and some brass instruments could be seen hanging off the walls whether it may be due to an accident or deliberate. We had to watch our steps and be cautious of the towering piles of stored materials to prevent a massive landslide of various musical instruments as we made our way to the center of it all.
The armored knight was sitting on a small stool near the end of the room with a small doll resting in his hands. Zidane caught sight of it, making him chuckle. It was loud enough to cause Steiner into a teetering fit, causing him to wake up and stare at the new figures standing in front of him.
"Come on. You're too old to be playing with a doll." Zidane remarked, pointing to the girly toy in Steiner's hand. And like Cinna isn't? You don't know your teammates at all, Zidane. Steiner looked at the thing in his hand and realized that he was holding onto it while he slept. He unceremoniously tossed it over his shoulder before speaking up with his raised voice.
"Silence!" He demanded. "A scoundrel like you could never understand!"
"Don't worry, sir. I understand." Alyssa said as she stood beside Zidane. "I used to play with dolls back when I was younger." Like not a lot of girls didn't do that, Alyssa. The situation is different.
"I don't think that was what he meant." Zidane mumbled to her silently.
"I'm just overwhelmed with concern for the princess!" Steiner continued making excuses. It was obvious he was caught red-handed and that he was embarrassed by it. He took to using manly bravado as a self-defense mechanism.
"Oh, come on. I'm overwhelmed with concern for myself and you don't see me clutching a doll at night." I commented with a satisfied grin on my face. Was it night or morning? I might have to ask for clarification later.
"You may have saved me from the plight of that venomous poison, but that does not give you the right to mock me." He pointed a finger at me, directing the statement towards my direction. Then he turned back to Zidane. "And you, if only you rogues hadn't kidnapped her… This is all your fault. If anything should happen to the princess, I will have your head!"
Zidane raised both of his hands in defense. "Take it easy. Geez… I'm gonna look for her now. I'll let you come with me if you promise to be good. What do you say, Rusty?"
The Captain of the Pluto Knights went and changed into three emotions in the span of five seconds. First was joy as Zidane said that he was going to the princess's rescue, then surprise when he had to promise to behave, and lastly anger when he was called 'Rusty'. The last one immediately boiled his blood and went on a tirade directed at the thief.
"R-R…RUSTY!?" His voice was so loud it made the piles behind us moved a bit. "I am Adelbert Steiner, Captain of the Knights of Pluto and I will never work with you conniving thieves!"
"If it makes you feel better, I'm not a thief." Alyssa said.
"And yet you side with one. That is not going to go well with your resume." I told her.
"Captain?" Zidane repeated the rank mentioned. "I figured you were a private, what with that cheap, rusty armor…" Looking at it now, it did look rusty and a bit cheap. It must have been his interaction with the elements since this is a natural forest after all.
This observation just made Steiner shake his fists a lot more, perhaps wanting to tie up the thief and drag him back to his homeland of Alexandria despite the situation they were in. Before Steiner could refute the state of his armor, Zidane held up a hand to silence him. "Look, this has nothing to do with Tantalus. It's something I decided to do on my own. I just wanna save Garnet."
Steiner crossed his arms and eyed the thief carefully. He had a right to, since most thieves aren't the most trustworthy bunch in history. "You had better not be lying! Because if you are, I won't hesitate to kill you."
"Isn't that a bit too harsh?" Alyssa questioned the captain's moral understanding due to his over-protectiveness.
"That does not matter. He will be executed if he is lying and that is that!" Well that takes care of that.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm counting on you, Rusty." Zidane said this, dismissing the death threat given to him.
Steiner walked towards the smaller man until they were face to face. "Make no mistake. I'm only going with you to rescue the princess! I will deal with you personally when this is over!"
"…Whatever." Again, Zidane dismissed the threat as if it was a harmless bug. This is either a blatant display of courage or willing ignorance to danger. Steiner looked at the three of us and nodded after managing to calm down.
"It seems that we have the numbers on our side." He stated as he continued analyzing the two other people standing beside Zidane, which would be me and Alyssa. "Your names?"
"Blake R. Skylark," I say, and then I pointed to the girl beside Zidane. "That's Alicia Keyes."
"Alyssa Forsyth." She corrected me sharply.
Steiner seemed to remember something when he looked at Alyssa. "You were the girl I fought against on the airship." He looked at Alyssa now. "You have quite remarkable reflexes and talent with a sword. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask what style she was using. Maybe later.
"Oh, I took classes when I lived in Treno." The brunette replied. You know, someday someone is going to want you to expound on that answer like 'when did you start' or 'who was your trainer' or 'where exactly in Treno', that sort of question.
Then he turned to me. I could see his eyebrows furrow when his line of sight came towards me. "And you. You're that coward who keeps trying to talk his way out of a fight."
What's that supposed to mean!? "It's called common sense." I repeated my statement from earlier, though that doesn't explain the cowardice. The knight just shrugged and sat back down on his stool.
"Nonetheless, we should seek Master Vivi's help as well," Insisted the knight.
"Master?" Alyssa tilted her head quizzically.
"Why do you call him 'Master'?" Zidane asked.
"You fools. That black mage has unimaginable powers…" Well, I can imagine what spells he can use, so it his powers are not unimaginable. "I don't want to get him involved, but alas, it can't be helped. We need Master Vivi's powers to rescue the princess."
"You know what's a smart way to rescue the princess?" I crossed one of my arms and tapped a finger to my head's side. "Burn the whole forest down." I nonchalantly suggested. The other three people in the room looked at me as if I was crazy, especially Steiner.
"That's madness!" Steiner exclaimed.
"Do you actually want to save her or kill her?" Alyssa said, still surprised that I could suggest such a thing.
"Think about it." I continued to explain with the straightest and most serious face anyone could possibly execute. "If the forest is burning down, the plant monsters would be so busy trying to avoid the fire or saving it that we could sneak up on the boss, cut the princess loose from its grasp and escape."
"And how about the injured here in the Prima Vista? How about the rest of Tantalus?" Zidane asked.
"Their loss," I shrugged. "They didn't want to come along, they burn with the forest." Now Zidane was giving me a look of disbelief. And yes, I am definitely serious.
They all stared at me as I counter-stared at them blankly. "I think it is a good idea to bring him along." Zidane whispered to Alyssa. "Not for the right reasons, though."
"Hey! I heard that!"
"Now that we have that out of the way, let's go and talk to Vivi." Zidane walked past me, completely shutting down my brilliant idea as he makes his way out of the instrument storage room with Steiner trailing behind him. Alyssa looked at me, still shocked at the audacity that was my idea, threw up her hands into the air and exited.
"What? It's a smart plan. Think about it!"
-FF FF FF-
The four of us entered the room where Vivi was resting, the little boy's head turning to our direction when he heard the door open. His room was very much in the same condition as mine was, except for the other bunk beds in the corner of the room and the shattered pieces of a mirror hung above the dresser. That was exclusive to this room only. Vivi's staff leaned on the wall right beside the bed of the resting black mage, an item used to focus enough power to burn, paralyze with lightning or freeze their target. It temporarily caught my attention before Zidane spoke.
"Well Vivi, we're ready to go look for the princess." ZIdane said. Vivi sat up on the bed and faced the four of us.
"Really!? That's great!" Vivi's voice sounded so happy despite just suffering from a plant virus earlier and the fact that he's in a place called Evil Forest. "Be careful, okay?"
"Actually, we want you to come with us, too." Zidane added. The black mage was taken aback by the thief's idea.
"B-But, I can't do anything." Vivi muttered as he looked down to the floor.
"Hardly, Master Vivi." Steiner objects, showing his respect to the young child's power. "Your magic was highly effective against that monster."
"You did more damage to the monster than any of us could." Alyssa added. I decided to stay silent, despite that my ideas and plans helped to a certain degree, and when I say a certain degree I mean a lot.
The captain continued encouraging Vivi. "In all honesty, I hold your power in greater esteem than I do this scoundrel's." He pointed to the thief standing beside him. Zidane didn't react to his words, though.
"B…But…I'm scared. I couldn't even move last time." Confessed the black mage.
"It's okay." Alyssa knelt beside the bed and looked up to Vivi. "It's natural to be scared. All of us were scared at one point today. Zidane was scared for his friends' condition, Steiner was scared for the princess, and I was scared because I thought I lost my friend." She glanced at me with a smile, making me knit my eyebrows together. That was quite the speech, but did she really have to go and resort to such a thing? It was unnecessary yet encouraging at the same time.
"Please, Master Vivi." Steiner began once again as Alyssa stood. "For the sake of Princess Garnet and all of Alexandria, I humbly request your assistance!" Surprisingly, his voice didn't bring the walls down.
"Come on! You're a black mage, for crying out loud! Show us what you've got!" Zidane said, trying to cheer up the mage.
Vivi thought about what they have all said for a minute and then he looked back at us and nodded. "…Okay. I'll try my best."
"Thank you, Master Vivi." Steiner bowed.
"Alright! Let's get going then." Zidane, now the impromptu leader of this collection of people with the sole objective of theirs is saving the princess before she is turned in a plant host, said as he turned back to the door. Alyssa and I followed him out, but Steiner held Vivi back for a moment to discuss something. He was going to propose this idea for an attack that would need Vivi's assistance. I already know that.
Both of us went back to the room I used earlier to retrieve our stuff that has been left there. My knife was still sheathed and lying on the dresser while Alyssa's sword, the same one she swiped from one of the Pluto Knights during the Prima Vista's escape, leaned right next to the drawer while inside its own sheath. We picked up our respective weapon, attached the sheath to my belt – which Alyssa can't do because she has no belt – and exited the room that we will last see, unless something happens and forces us to come back to this horrible place.
We met with everyone else outside the Prima Vista. Zidane was talking to Cinna for the last time until they meet again, which will be a very long time. Steiner was discussing with Vivi, perhaps it was about the magic sword ability they talked about earlier. When they heard us coming, they stopped what they were doing and got together.
"Okay, before we move, take this." Zidane gave each of us a few vials of potion to keep on our person in case we needed a healing. We did not have a white mage on our party currently, so a potion is the next best thing to have. Cinna handed Zidane a pack that had only one strap. It looked similar to a messenger back but a bit wider. Anyway, Cinna gave this to Zidane and nodded before going to the pile of materials near the trees. He's probably still looking for the Garnet doll.
Zidane walked up to me and handed me the pack. "What's this?"
"In case we need to make camp, the tent's inside the bag." Zidane said, pointing to the bag in my hands. It didn't take long before I realized what he just said.
"Oh, so now I'm a pack mule?" I made it clear that this was insulting me in some way or another.
"You make it sound like it's a crime." Zidane replied. I make it sound like it's a crime because I don't like it. "We'll exchange tent-carrying duties as we go on." He put the strap on me and let it hang to my side. Satisfied that I didn't struggle with bag duty, he went back to the front of the group and led us to the tree trunk.
"This is like making fun of a cripple." I mumbled under my breath as I climbed into the tree trunk after everyone else.
When I reached the end of the trunk, I jumped down and heard a thick splash followed by a cold stream surround my feet up to my shins. Crap, I forgot about this. There goes two hundred bucks swimming down the drain. My shoes ruined for a princess.
Alyssa called my attention when she saw me worrying about my shoes. She doesn't need to worry about her shoes because the ones she's wearing came from an old broom closet along with her current outfit, so don't tell me to not worry about expensive belongings that you currently don't have. My parents bought me these.
Anyway, we trekked down the path where the Prison Cage fight went and down deeper into the forest. The area where we fought the monster smelled of decomposition, a fact supported by the rotting corpse of what infected me and Vivi. I instinctively covered my nose in case there was some of that chemical it spewed.
The deeper we went into the forest, the darker it got. We only saw where we were going because of the moon's light shining down from the sky. So, it was still night time. That answers my previous mental question. Not that it helps the situation we were in right now.
All of us were quiet, hands near our respective weapons in case one of the common monsters jump out at us or another Prison Cage attempts to imprison one of us again. Our previous encounter with it proved that there might be another one prowling the forest for another prisoner. Steiner is particularly cautious about that as he constantly looks up to the trees in case another one planned to strike from above.
Vivi walked between the knight and Alyssa with Zidane leading the pack and me bringing in the rear. Our formation proved that we were trying to play it safe even if nothing has attacked us yet. As we neared the upcoming fight and rescue, the more it was necessary to keep the formation to avoid any surprise attacks. Only the humming of crickets joined us in our quest through the forest.
