Chapter Twenty
Six months passed and since her challenge with Shiva, Rydia had been driven back to her readings. Somehow she thought of this as backwards progress. She'd hoped to be free of it for a while, practicing more magic, but she was wrong.
"You need to get through the first three shelves of the library before I've even begun to consider you've mastered the intermediate summoning spells," Shiva kept telling her every time Rydia asked who her next challenge would be against.
She'd developed a great desire to try something rebellious in the midst of all her readings, but somehow Black always managed to get in the way. His constant nagging and prodding kept her grudgingly on track. She had, however, thrown a book at him once, a small one, but with enough force to cause him to jump several feet in the air when it landed on his tail.
Whenever he entered her house thereafter, it was with his tail tucked under his body, making him look like some pitiful tailless animal, not catlike in the least.
"How are the readings coming? Have you found any clue to breaking the spell we're all under?" he asked on a day Rydia was thoroughly tired of looking at old script.
In truth, she hadn't been thinking about the containment spell at all lately. "Not much," she admitted to him, not letting him know that her attentions had been directed elsewhere.
"I wonder what volumes they hid it in…"
"Black, what's the first thing you'd do outside of the spell?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Well I'd—I don't know. I can't really say any of my summoning experiences were bad, so there wouldn't be much of a change for me."
"But if you were free to come and go as you chose, without a summoner's magic keeping you alive, what would you do?"
"I'd probably go back to Toroia just to see what's happened there since I left."
"You and Ramuh could both go," Rydia suggested. "He can tend to his trees and you can catch mice."
"Catch mice? Please. I'm a great and mighty summon. Catching mice is beneath me."
"Oh sure," Rydia said in mock exasperation, flopping down on her bed and flipping through another book with casual interest.
"Are you actually going to read that?"
"Are you going to stop bothering me?"
He launched himself at her, landing on her back and pulling on her hair with his teeth.
"Ow!" she cried out, pushing him off of her. "I'll read it when I'm good and ready to read it! Pulling hair is not allowed!"
"You've been impatient and sloppy for weeks. Just because you have Shiva's support doesn't mean you should get cocky. And those dreams of yours haven't been helping much either."
"Well, it's strange knowing that my friends are out there fighting a war and I'm here reading books."
"Seven more years, Rydia."
"I know."
"It's not that long. You still have some more spells to learn, some more lore and history, and you've a few more summons to earn the right of calling. Besides, the way you use that whip of yours, you're still likely to do more damage to yourself than any monsters."
She looked at him petulantly. "I'm not that bad."
"Rydia. You're horrific with weapons."
She dramatically rolled her eyes. "Did you come here to encourage or discourage me?"
"I'm trying to wake you up. You've got things to be doing and you keep biting your fingers as if that'll make time go faster. I'll bet your time here will go by so fast that before you know it, you'll be back with your human friends and forgotten all about us. We'll just be a distant memory, and saving the world from its madness will be the only thing you care about."
"That's not true."
"Yes it is."
"Black, how could I forget the people that helped raise me? I'm going to break this spell, I made a promise, didn't I?"
"All well and good, but you'll never break it if you don't start reading."
"Alright, you. Out!"
He made a face and walked away with his tail raised defiantly in the air.
"I'd be careful with that tail of yours!" she warned.
He glared at her and then with fearful eyes, sprinted out the door as another book came hurtling through the air, hitting the wall behind where he was standing with tremendous force.
………………
With Black gone, Rydia walked over to the book she had mercilessly abused and picked it up. It was still remarkably in good condition as she brushed it off. She had to admit it. She was becoming more impatient as the days wore on. She was tired of spending most of her time indoors and less of it doing something. She wanted to learn on the move, but everyone kept telling her she wasn't ready for that yet. If those other two children could learn their spells traveling, why couldn't she? She forced the image of them in stone out of her mind and convinced herself that it wouldn't happen to her. She could do it.
With a heavy sigh she set the book down and decided to go for a walk to clear her mind. She couldn't remember half of what she'd already read that morning. She'd hit a rather boring stretch of books, all written by older men who had catalogued their summoning successes and observations. Most of it Rydia already knew just from living among the summons, but Shiva still expected a full review of each book to be sure Rydia read them, so there wasn't much she could do but oblige. She thought that if Shiva couldn't read the books written in the summoner's language, that she wouldn't be able to tell if Rydia had read a particular book or not. She was wrong. Shiva had other methods to discern what the truth of the matter was.
It was frustrating. Was this what other ten year olds were doing in the human realm? Was this what other mages were subjected to? She imagined not. No human could be as much of a task master as Shiva was. No one had the fate of summon-kind resting on their shoulders either, or the responsibility of being the last of their people.
I'm going to be a slave to these books forever! She thought, not looking where she was going after she stepped off of the portal to reach the city's residential district. She bumped into someone and hastily snapped to attention, looking up into the sour face of Ifrit. She gulped and supplied a quick apology, hoping he'd let her go about her business.
He had other ideas. "Well if it isn't Shiva's little pet, and Ramuh's too."
"I'm sorry, Ifrit, I didn't mean to bump into you, I was just—"
"You were just on your way, you meant to say? Don't know what good it'll do you. Nothing you can do will prepare you for what's out there. You're weak, that's what you are. So fine, go about your way and waste your time on all those studies. You'll just end up dying in the end and no amount of knowledge will save you from where you lack in experience."
Rydia was shocked and dangerously close to tears. Why was he telling her this? It was like all her own worst fears exposed right in front of her. Was she dreaming? No. She was very much awake.
"I don't want any trouble, Ifrit."
"Trouble? But that's what you are. You've been nothing but trouble since you got here. You're a blemish, you're one of them. I taught you how to use fira and you use it to gain the trust of Shiva. Bah, you're nothing but a little opportunist."
His words buffeted her like gale force winds. Why was he choosing now to confront her? Why did he wait all this time to tell her he thought she was nothing but a no-good human?
"I'm no trouble to you," she said, making her voice as steady as possible.
He snorted. "Of course you are. You've upset the way we live here, stirred up the waters, and I'll have none of it. We don't need humans and you're no exception," he said, jabbing her on the shoulder with a finger.
Rydia looked at him with rising terror. Where was this heading? He was in human form out of courtesy, but she could still see his true form peeking around the edges--in his eyes, around his shoulders. Was he preparing to attack her?
"Leave me alone! I'm only trouble because that's what you've made me out to be! You're nothing but a bully and I'm done being afraid of you!"
He threw his head back and laughed, something that sounded more like a roar than anything else. "Afraid? If this is you scared, I can only begin to imagine what terror looks like."
She jumped back as he altogether abandoned his human guise. His true form was almost blinding, a constant flame burning along his body. He looked like a demon she'd read about, complete with horns and sharp teeth and the gleam in his eyes screamed a desire to fight.
She was definitely not as strong as Ifrit, but she was fast. Her training for the past two years with Black had paid off. She was agile and swift and she left him in hard pursuit. She began an incantation as she ran, readying it for when she'd actually need it.
She ran between buildings, and then back around, trying to lose him, but he was not easy to shake off. As she ran, she felt a searing heat snap cross her ankles and she cried out in pain. What was wrong with him?
Finding a wide open space on the road, she released her spell. Blizzara surged out of the air and formed a wall of ice between her and Ifrit. She hoped it would buy her some time but he crashed through it, shattering it to bits.
She looked around frantically, wondering where the rest of the summons were. Was no one going to do anything about this? She thought of a quick plan and then sprinted directly toward Ifrit, passing him and running in the direction of Shiva's house. Shiva had to notice something was wrong when loud explosions went off near her front door, she thought.
Ifrit pivoted rather ungracefully to catch up to her and began the chase again. He hurled fire at her as she ran, singing her back and her legs. Her ankles hurt considerably from his first attack, but she kept running. Then something she hadn't expected happened. She was on the wrong street! She ran into a dead end and turned around, fear apparent in her green eyes. She thought back to all her spells and another plan developed. Ifrit in the meantime had caught up with her and with burning fists tried to land some blows. She hopped away and dodged all his attacks. She was small and fast and held the advantage. He just couldn't touch her when she was up close. Thinking she was finally prepared, she let loose a fira spell. But instead of aiming it at Ifrit, she surrounded herself much the same way she had done in her battle with Shiva. Ifrit, thinking Rydia had just doomed herself, released a full force wave of fire in her direction. Instead of hitting her as he'd planned, it fueled the fire caused by her own spell.
He stared at the circle of fire furiously, only to be stunned backwards by a new and unexpected attack. Snow? No, a blizzara spell. It fell on him in tiny flakes, chilling his flames into submission, and stinging like a thousand tiny needles. It was infuriating, but not insufferable. When the spell ran itself out, Rydia's voice called through the fire wall that was still burning on its own.
"I told you I didn't want trouble! If you don't leave me alone I'll cast another blizzara spell and then you'll see just how much trouble I can be!"
Ifrit paced around the wall of flames, grunting in his displeasure and trying to shake off the last bits of ice from the blizzara spell. Clever girl, he thought.
"I won't harm you," he said at last. "But that doesn't mean I'll like you any better."
Rydia cast another blizzara spell and calmed the flaming circle around her to the ground. She stood in the center of a charred circle, burned into the wooden planking by their encounter. She was singed in several places and a few locks of her hair had been ruthlessly crisped. Her green eyes were no longer fearful, they were angry.
"You're not as weak as I thought," Ifrit went on, forcing the words out of his mouth. "If this is how you'll fight your enemies, then I imagine I'd be better off staying on the side that isn't in the path of your attacks."
Rydia's expression nearly folded in on itself. What was he saying?
He detached the fiery whip from his side and tossed it at her where it landed in a coiled heap at her feet.
"Ifrit, what does this mean?"
"I'll come when you call, but only because I think you've earned that right and not because I'm bound to honor the contract of the spell. You wouldn't get very far with only Shiva, anyway. Ten of her strongest magics aren't worth one of mine," he said haughtily. "Of course, that still doesn't mean I've taken a liking to you, but I wasn't going to take orders lying on my back."
Rydia nodded dumbly, the pain from his attacks still stinging. "Thank you for the honor," she said. "And the whip!"
He looked at her snidely and then walked off. His flames rekindling along his back.
She looked down at the whip and reached to pick it up. She should have known better, but it took her brain a little longer to register the pain before the injury was already done.
"Ouch!" she yelped, clutching her burnt hand and inspecting the damage. She glared at the whip. Leave it to Ifrit to have one final word, she thought bitterly.
She knew she couldn't just leave it there, so she tentatively reached down again and poked it with one finger. It wasn't hot anymore, the fire seemed to have been squelched when it burned her hand. She slipped the coil around her shoulder and this time headed in the correct direction of Shiva's home to tell her what had happened.
Before she could get halfway there, Black ran up to her. "What happened to you!" he said, shocked by her appearance. "Did one of the books fight back?"
Rydia shook her head, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened.
"It was Ifrit. He just…picked a fight and chased after me. I beat him back in the end and suddenly he agreed to be summoned by me."
"He what?" Black was incredulous.
"Doesn't make sense to me either," she admitted, feeling a bit light headed from her afternoon's activities.
"Shiva's going to ice his hide!" Black hooted.
"I hope not. I'd rather not start any more trouble today," Rydia said weakly.
He looked her up and down. "Yes, you do look a bit crispy."
They reached Shiva's house together and Black jiggled the handle.
The door opened and Shiva was once again looking at Rydia in baffled surprise.
"What is it with you lately?" she asked in dismay, hurrying them both inside.
Rydia gave Shiva the cut and dry version, and Shiva sat back in her chair in disbelief. "He did what?"
"That's what I said!" Black added.
"That's the strangest thing…what could have--" Shiva just shook her head. "I'm going to ice his hide!" she shouted, slamming her fist on the table.
Black gave Rydia a winning smile, complete with fangs and everything. Rydia just looked at him miserably. Was the day never going to end?
"Why were you in this part of the city today anyway?"
"I was taking a walk!" Rydia cried pitifully. "I wasn't looking for trouble, it just found me! As always!"
Shiva and Black just stared at her.
"Alright, give me that hand of yours," Shiva said, moving away from an apparently sore subject to a physically painful one.
Rydia extended her arm and Shiva took a look at the burn. "He got you good, that's for sure," Shiva said, clicking her tongue.
Rydia watched as she applied a thick salve to her hand and her ankles.
This is what I get for wanting to practice my magic. Next time maybe I'll just stick to the books, she thought miserably.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Author's note:
Just a reference point…there's going to be a very long gap between Cagnazzo and the dark elf/tower of Zot. Reason being…they have an airship and can fly anywhere…Pretty much: they get equipment and prepare for the task of retrieving the crystal of earth (Cecil and co. don't know that they can't wear metal yet and I'm thinking head Silvera town) Plus, then there's the matter of arriving in Toroia and finding out the crystal is gone…then finding Edward, walking through the forests of Toroia to get to the chocobo forest, then flying to the cave, then back to Toroia because they have to pick up the old armor they need, then back to the cave, then through the cave, then defeating the dark elf, returning to Toroia and then to the tower…so…that's a good chunk of time (how's THAT for a run-on).
Also, anyone else noticing a trend with magic users in this game? Rydia gets taken to the Land of the Summoned monsters and is presumed dead, Palom and Porom get turned to stone, Rosa is abducted, Tellah dies…I mean…what's the deal? Okay, besides the fact that everyone for a time is presumed dead or missing and then has a second return…except Edge who comes and stays around. Square likes to abuse their magicians
And no, I'm not going to have Rydia learn a new summon every chapter…Ifrit just kind of…happened. Also, the reason why I'm just skipping around is because really, Rydia's doing a lot of reading. She's getting bored with her readings and I'm getting bored writing about her readings, so…I'm trying to keep to the interesting bits. Once again, I may insert chapters to add some extra fluff later on…
Chapter twenty one is in need of some editing and some additions so it might not be up until tomorrow. Just a heads up. Honestly, this is what I've been doing all week besides working. I seem to be most productive the end of July/beginning of August. If I finish before Aug. 22, then it will have taken me a year to write this fic! Yup…
Alright, I'm ending this before it turns into its own mini novel.