ZT: Hey everyone! Hope you're all loving the fic!

Kuja: (Rolls eyes) If they didn't they would be reading this right now.

ZT: Oh hush before I write you into a tutu.

Kuja: Hmph

ZT: I don't own Sailor Moon or FF9. Enjoy!

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Of Silver Crystals and Feathers

Chapter 24

"Watch out!" Hearing the cry, a blond whipped around and by instinct unsheathing two sharp weapons, and prepared to block the attack of a…little green splotch on the ground. Zidane sighed and tapped his foot impatiently; waiting for it to come out of hiding so he could attack it without getting hit by 1000 needles.

Serenity looked at the thing in slight confusion, having noted that only Dagger and Zidane looked like they were ready to attack it while Eiko and Kuja stayed on the sidelines with her, "What is that thing?"

"A Cactuar," Kuja answered, "It's a lot bigger, but right now it's hiding under the ground, so attacks won't hurt it as much."

"Plus the stupid thing has the 1000 needles attack that he counter attacks with if you hit him while he's hiding," Eiko added, tapping her foot impatiently as she as well.

"So you have to wait for it to come out of hiding before you can attack it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much," the silver haired man replied.

"Then why bother attacking it while it's hiding?" As she asked this, a strange noise filled the air for a moment and Zidane reeled for a second, looking completely dumbfounded and walking in circles until Dagger cast a spell to get rid of his confusing, "…Never mind."

Kuja chuckled at both the sight of Zidane and the tone in Serenity's voice when she saw it. "Yes, it is definitely one of the more humorous status effects, as long as the one inflicted by it has enough sense left to know to attack the enemy and not the party." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "So how my monkey of a brother is able to strike the enemy during these times is still a mystery to me…"

"I heard that!" Zidane growled as the creature came out of hiding.

Serenity blinked when she saw the Cactuar in full size, "It looks like a stick figure that got in a fight with a cactus. Shoot it even moves like one!"

"Ever get smacked by one of these? It FEELS like it too!" Zidane replied, moving in swiftly and taking the creature down with one hit.

Dagger sighed as she watched the creature turn back into mist, "Remember when we used to dread coming across those creatures?"

The blond who she was aiming the question at laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah they seemed so much stronger back then. We definitely went through a few a couple hundred potions going across this continent because of these guys."

Dagger nodded, "And Ethers…"

"Ahem! I was there too you know!" Eiko stomped her foot, trying to get the attention of the queen and bandit.

"True, but you came along after they had gone through this area for the first time, thus they had experience with Cactuars by then," Kuja replied.

"Good thing too; if I had been the first to spot that thing and no one else knew what it was, I might have mistaken it for a bug and tried to step on it," Serenity added.

"You would have been hit by a thousand flying needles in response had you," the silver haired genome replied.

"Owch…and if my foot was the assailant? I'd have to transform into Sailor Moon just so I could fly around and not have to use it!" she exclaimed, getting the mental image of her foot receiving the brunt of the attack…looked painful.

The little summoner huffed and put her hands on her hips, "Fine, the four of you just go into your little lovey-dovey lala lands with each other! I'll just wait till we get to the black mage village and hang out with Vivi then!"

Serenity glanced at Eiko then back at Kuja, "I suddenly feel sorry for Vivi."

"As do I," he agreed with a small smirk on his face.

Eiko let out another angry huff and stomped off down the hill towards a beach. The other four followed at a slower pace. "So where's this village at?" Serenity asked. The area they were in wasn't that massive, yet the only sign she could see of civilization was Conde Petie.

"See that forest down there?" Zidane asked, gesturing towards the massive amounts of browned trees that covered the whole area next to one side of the plateau, "It's hiding in there."

The blond looked at the forest doubtfully, "That's a lot of forest to get lost in…"

Zidane made a gesture with his hands, "Don't worry about it; I've went through there a ton of times; you won't get lost so long as you're with me."

Serenity shrugged, "Ok…I'll take your word for it…"

"WHY did I take your word for it??" Serenity sighed in exasperation as she saw that they had just entered the same place they just left…again.

"Because I know which way we're going," Zidane answered, still walking, "There's a magical barrier so you need to walk around a bit to finally get to the village."

Kuja rubbed his temples, tired of walking around in circles as well, "Zidane, would it not be easier to simply take the barrier down? I took it down before when I needed to speak to the black mages, and with the aid of the ladies it would be no effort at all."

"He has a point…" Serenity sighed, turning around, "Space Sword Blaster!" She turned back to the group, "And aside from that, if I have to blow up another over sized owl I'm gonna go bonkers!"

Zidane sighed watching the Zemzelett she had just attacked turn back to mist, "This should be the last time we have to go through here, then we'll be at the entrance." Serenity made a pouting face but didn't argue, making it very difficult for the blond genome not to laugh. He found it amazing how she could be this powerful entity, capable of standing up against foes he probably couldn't even begin to imagine, yet here she was pouting because she was tired of walking.

"Um…Zidane?" the soft spoken voice got his attention and he looked to the dark haired queen. "What's up Dagger?" he asked.

"About when we get to the village… I know I need to talk to Steiner, and Eiko and you were to talk to Vivi, but what of the rest of the villagers? I don't believe the genomes will be much trouble, but the black mages are not exactly fond of Kuja…"

Eiko nodded, "That's right, especially with that whole thing with the 'I can help you live longer' thing. Won't they attack Kuja the instant they see him."

Hearing this made Serenity tense slightly. She knew Kuja had created the black mages and had that they weren't exactly happy with why they were made. However she wasn't aware of the fact that Kuja had done more afterwards to harm them directly. It didn't surprise her that he did, but if they were anything like Vivi they had power, and if they attacked without listening to reason, should she fight back to protect Kuja?

The silver haired man she was thinking about had noticed her tense. He guessed she was worried about how the black mages would react and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You needn't worry; once the black mages became aware, they were benevolent creatures. Most likely they will just go into their houses if they are worried."

Serenity looked up at him; she smiled slightly and nodded as if to say it was enough to comfort her. Zidane glanced over at them to add something as well but stopped. 'What the hell?' he thought. It was Kuja and Serenity, he was sure of that, but if he had been passing by them on the street, he would not have believed it. Serenity had that funky hairstyle she was wearing when in her Sailor Moon form, but now she wore a white gown which hugged her top then flowed out from there. Standing next to her was Kuja who, which is the reason Zidane was positive he was hallucinating, was wearing white pants rather than his skirt and thong. He had on white shoes which from the shape Zidane guessed were boots which the tops were hidden by the pants. He wore what Zidane could only describe as what looked like a white, long sleeved knee length toga with a slit that started at the waist. The outfit had a grayish/silver sash around his waist and a silver design embroidered around the edges of the toga. Across his chest were five silver buttons, with the center one having a gold upturned crescent on it which reminded Zidane of the insignia on Serenity's head. Connecting each button were two small loose chains, with a little silver symbol he found looked somewhat familiar yet had no clue what it was hanging from each of the looser chains. The makeup was gone, and without it Kuja looked a bit more masculine in his features than he did whenever Zidane saw him. Hanging around his neck was a circular pendant. It had the same symbol as the ones hanging from the chains but this time in a bluish white with a silver crescent moon. In the center of the moon was a sparkling white gem which seemed to have a light shining from the core of it.

Zidane rubbed his eyes and shook his head, then looked at the two again. When he did, they were back in their normal attire. Serenity, having felt eyes on her, looked over at him. "What?" she asked innocently.

The blond genome just stared for another moment before shaking his head, "It's nothing I guess... Come on; let's get to the village." He continued walking, fully aware of the fact that he had four pairs of eyes looking at his back curiously, but didn't care. He was next to positive that what he saw was Serenity's "Moon princess" form, but why did Kuja change appearances as well? With an outfit like that, he looked like he could have been from her kingdom as well…

"Hey there it is!" Eiko exclaimed suddenly, pointing at the village that was in the clearing.

'So this is the black mage village…' Serenity thought as they walked in through the entrance. She blinked when she noticed a bunch of Zidane look-alikes standing around. 'Genomes maybe…?' she considered. They didn't look like Vivi, so she doubted they were black mages.

Zidane took a step forward and grinned with outstretched arms, "I'm home my family!" None of the genomes even acknowledged him. He sighed and dropped his arms.

Kuja looked at his younger brother with a raised eyebrow, "What were you expecting them to do? Welcome you with open arms? They have no soul."

Serenity looked at Kuja in surprise when he said this before looking at the genomes, "No…soul?"

Kuja shook his head, "Garland only gave his angels souls. That is, Zidane, myself, and Mikoto."

"Mikoto?" she was sure Zidane said that was the name of his sister…but then again, that would make sense since he called Kuja his brother.

"Yes?" The group looked up as a girl dressed in pink and white with a bow on her tail came up. She looked a lot like Zidane…and the other genomes other than Kuja for that matter. However, one look at her eyes told Serenity that this girl was aware of her surroundings as well as herself. This was the other angel of death, the one meant to replace Zidane should that be necessary, the one who Zidane called his sister: Mikoto.

"Hey Mikoto! How've you been?" Zidane greeted cheerfully.

She gave a curt nod, "Zidane." She looked at the rest of the group, her cool gaze lingering on the unfamiliar blond for a moment before her full attention snapped to a particular person. Hey eyes widened in shock as she realized she really was looking at who she thought she was, "Kuja…"

As soon as the name was spoken, a bunch of noises almost sounding like big mice scampering on wooden floors were heard. Serenity looked over at the buildings to see adult sized Vivis running into the buildings and slamming the doors behind them.

A bunch of scampering and door slamming later, all that could be seen in the area were the genomes who stood as they did before, looking as if nothing had just happened. Kuja looked at Serenity and smirked, "Hmm… with how they scattered, you'd think Mikoto just announced the arrival of something terrifying..."

"She did," Serenity replied, "It's a guy in a skirt and thong."

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