Fipp: Sorry for the hiatus, but Doctor Who has really been taking up my attention.

Worthless Bonds

The manikin let out a warped and garbled scream as the Mage Mashers cut at its throat. Zidane quickly pushed off the copy, back flipping in the air, before his body became coated in thick pink light. He suddenly flew forward, his blades spinning like a blender, before crashing into the manikin and ripping it apart, sending bit of crystal all over.

Zidane landed on the ground in a crouching position, before standing straight up to observe the remains of his opponent. The victory itself was unsatisfying.

Strewn across the ground, scattered from his own attack, were the remains of a Capricious Reaper; Kuja's manikin.

Sighing from himself, he looked away.

"You okay, Zidane?" The Thief looked to his side, and saw Bartz approach him.

Zidane looked back to the ground before replying. "Yeah, I guess so…"

Bartz cocked his head. "Are you sure? You've been really out of it lately. If there's something wrong, you know you can tell us, right?" The Mime gave a reassuring grin.

Zidane looked up to Bartz, and let out a small chuckle. "Thanks, Bartz, it's just that-"

"Don't tell me you're still worried about Kuja," Squall suddenly cut in, approaching the two from the remains of his own kill. "Why do you keep getting upset about that guy?"

"Squall…" Bartz groaned. "Don't you think you should-"

"No." Squall didn't let Bartz finish. "He needs to quit worrying himself to death about Kuja. He tried to kill us, and used Zidane to do that."

The Genome downcast his view. "But, Kuja, he's…"

Squall shook his head. "He's a treacherous liar who tried to convince you that he was good, just so he could take advantage of your trust and set trap to kill us all."

Zidane shook his head, and looked up to Squall. "No Squall! That's not right! I mean sure, he was like that before, but he changed before all this. Something's not right here! He-"

"Would you shut up already!" Squall snapped, surprising both Bartz and Zidane into silence. "I won't pretend to have any clue what happened in your world, but in this world, I'll believe the things I see, and what I saw was us falling into an ambush because you trusted your enemy." He paused and looked intently at Zidane, who glared right back at him. "You still trust him, don't you?"

Zidane did not look away. "I have to."

Squall was silent for a moment, his thoughts hidden from Bartz and Zidane. "Whatever," he said, turned around and began to walk away.

"Squall?" Bartz called out. "Where are you going?"

Squall didn't bother to stop, or turn around to face them. He just kept walking. "It's clear that with Zidane around, I'm going to be in constant danger of another enemy winning his trust. You can stay with him if you want, but if you don't want to end up dead, then I suggest you do something about it."

"Squall!" Bartz called out.

"Whatever…" Squall responded, coldly, before vanishing from their sight, and leaving the Gateway.

"Squall…" Bartz helplessly called out, knowing that he wouldn't be heard. When he was certain that Squall wouldn't change his mind and come back, Bartz turned back to Zidane, who kept his stare forlornly at the ground. "So, Zidane, now what?"

Zidane didn't reply, and kept his sight fixed on the ground.

Bartz looked back to where Squall had left. "I think we should go after him, it's dangerous out here, so we should try and stay together." He looked back to the Thief. "Don't you think, Zidane?"

For several moments, Zidane did not respond, worrying Bartz. He then suddenly looked up, and turned to Bartz. "Yeah, you're right. You go and find Squall."

Bartz nodded. "Right, I'll go-" He paused. "Wait, what? 'You' as in me alone?"

Zidane turned around. "Yeah."

"But what about you?"

Sighing, Zidane looked ahead. "I'm sorry, Bartz, but I just have to know what happened with Kuja." He shook his head. "I can't say I know what happened, but I know something happened. He wanted to help us, but…" He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I just have to do this."

With that, Zidane quickly sped away, leaving Bartz alone, and unsure what to do with the situation.

Leaving, he followed Squall's path. Maybe he could convince Squall to at least come back.

When Bartz had left, from his hiding spot at the top of one of the nearby cliffs, Kefka loudly cackled at the events that just happened.

"Knew you'd be good for something, Kuji-coo!" Kefka cackled. "You got to love it when a good ol' betrayal of friendship and trust just tears apart these worthless bonds that people delude themselves into believing!"

He let out another round of haughty laughter.

000

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Mrfipp