The Secret Garden
Based on: Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. The OCs featured in this fic belong to various friends. Note that while the characters belong to friends, I am the one writing the fic itself. Thank you to my friends for allowing me to borrow your characters. If you wish to appear, please send me a message and we can work something out.
Notes: This is the sequel to Records of Keeper Canti. It's wibby-wobbly, timey-whimy in its execution. I care not. If you care, shut the fuck up and go away. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Warnings: Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, incest, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar
FIC START!
Chapter Eighteen
Cid raced through the city, jumping onto houses and through trees, casting no shadow. Under the cover of night, he made his way down to the ship-yards where he had been working since he retired from being a pilot. He squinted as his eyes traced over the area. The hangars all looked normal, the airships all docked seemed the way they were the last time he set eyes on them. Grasping his spear in his right hand, he used a Long Jump to completely clear over both the road and the tall wall that protected the area. He looked up at the sky, noticing that dawn was just cracking, and then continued his search. What could have been so suspicious that Richard had to get him out this early? Sure, Canti was awake, but… He landed atop the hangar where he did most of his daily work with a very light noise. All dragoons were light on their feet.
Soon, he heard some sort of strange noise nearby. Cid held his breath for a moment, listening as closely as he could. It sounded like some sort of slithering, a greasy, snake-like movement against the concrete below. He crept silently in that direction until he could look down at the ground between two hangars. That's when he saw it - some sort of two-headed dragon creature with a long tail.
The hell is a fucking Schizo doing here? Cid thought, watching it from where he was positioned on the roof.
He watched it as it was sticking one of its heads into the ground below. It was hard to completely make out in the cover of night, as the moon did not provide enough light and the sun was not yet over the wall to expose what was going on. Cid wasn't the type to leave a job unfinished, and he knew he was still going to have to work today. He prepared himself to launch a jump attack on the Schizo when he heard a very harsh whisper behind him.
"Cid, no!" it caused him to freeze.
Cid turned his head just to the side to see a fellow dragoon next to him. His elder brother Richard was there, wearing a helmet that covered his whole face. Only his long blonde hair fell from it, otherwise he could have resembled an actual dragon with that helmet on. But Cid held his position as he was told. "The fuck?" he asked, gesturing to the Hydra. "How?!"
"We have been told to fall back," Richard whispered, grabbing Cid by his armor to pull him along.
"It's… got some sort of swirling darkness in it," Cid whispered in reply. "This is no normal monster… we have to take it out before it causes trouble. There's a residential area on the other side of that wall, broth-… Grand Dragoon!" He wanted to slay it now, but he couldn't disobey a direct order from his commanding officer. When Richard jumped back to the other side of the wall, so did Cid, reluctantly.
"I know, I want to take it out as well, but Leviathan has ordered that we are not to kill it," Richard said sternly. The two landed on the sidewalk near a lamp post across the street from the wall that surrounded the ship-yards. "He wishes to investigate the monster, so we are going to corral it and have it sent to the Monster Farm up north so they may run tests."
"What kind of tests need to be run on a monster that's taking something from underneath the ground?" Cid asked. "It's full of some kind of dark cloud. I don't understand monsters or magic all that much, but that… it ain't natural, brother." He sighed, strapping his spear onto his back again. "…the nightmares Canti's been having and now this thing… I don't think this is just a coincidence."
"Cantirena has always been especially sensitive…" Richard said. "…once we are done corralling the monster, you are to report all of this to Leviathan. Including the fact that she's been having nightmares."
"That… that he all ready knows," Cid muttered. "She's all ready had memories extracted."
"So that's why she was home sick," Richard thought aloud, giving a long sigh. "Kain was beside himself with worry. Never mind that. Let us take care of the problem at hand, shall we? With you here with me, I highly doubt we'll need more of the Warriors!" The light on the lamp flickered out, as the sun had come across the sky far enough to no longer need the streetlight.
"Let's put that Highwind family strength to work, then." Cid gave him a grin, and the two jumped up together at the same time.
…
Canti didn't want to spend any time at all with her overly fussy Aunt Erina. She was a proper woman, with her hair tied into a ponytail to the side, wearing a conservative dress and a white apron over it. She wanted to brush Canti's curly hair until it was straight so she could style it nicely, and Canti fought her off as the sensation of having that rough brush through her hair just made her feel miserable. She jumped out of the house with her bag and school-issued spear, heading out to be alone, screaming about how strangers never properly understood anything. She then climbed a tree and stayed there for a bit, putting her hands over her head protectively.
Kain gave his mother a flat "I told you so" as he gathered his things for school that he had brought with him, and Erina only muttered that she thought she was helping, and sighed before she dutifully began cleaning everything in the house. Even though it was organized, Erina couldn't help herself. Not having a motherly figure meant things just weren't taken care of properly as far as she was concerned. Kain sighed, heading out to go find Canti before anything else could go terribly wrong this morning.
Canti sniffled, but she didn't cry. She wanted to, but she refused to let something like this be what drove her to tears. This was how Kain found her.
"Cousin?" Kain asked as he looked up at her from the ground. As much as he wanted to hold her, he knew she wasn't ready for anyone to be close to her at the moment. He had to wait for her to approach him. "I apologize on my mother's behalf. She doesn't quite understand your quirkiness. Forgive her."
"Aunt Erina is like everyone else!" Canti shouted at him. "Want to change me!"
"It's not like that, Canti," Kain said, putting his hand on the trunk of the tree she sat in. "She means well. She just thought your hair looked messy is all. She was just raised differently than you are, so she sees the world different. Mother likes you the way you are." He didn't know if that was true or not, but there was no way he would voice his doubt.
"Papa Cid knows…"
"Uncle Cid lives with you every day, Canti. Of course he knows everything about you," Kain continued. "To be honest, I only know you because I make the effort to know you. I care about you a lot. I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you. Anyone hurts you, and I'd run them through with my spear. And trust me, with all the experience I've gotten with my training to inherit the title of Grand Dragoon, I can do it, too!" He looked up at her, giving a very gentle smile. "Hey. I have some gil. You want to go do something before school starts?"
Canti nodded, leaping from the tree to land next to him, glomping around him tightly. "Thank you, Kain…" she whispered.
"...anything for you, Canti," Kain said, wrapping his arms around her to offer her comfort. He supported her with all that he was, absolutely loving the embrace he shared with her. It was this very moment that Kain knew the depth of his feelings for her, even if she was adopted into the family. Kain loved Canti. And even if this meant he had to be alone because of the laws against in-family marriage, he would love her from afar. "Come on. I know there's some shops that are open, and we have quite a while before school opens."
The duo walked together for a while, heading over to a cafe. But what they found outside it was something very strange. A moogle floated above it, wearing very fancy blue robes and a three pointed hat. Canti blinked at it curiously before walking up to it. It looked like a table, but the top was glowing brilliantly like a glittering rainbow. She had seen this, this whatever-it-was, before, but she had no clue what it was or where she had seen it before. Kain looked at her, noticing her eyes were glowing with the same magical force that was shining from this device, and grew concerned with how entranced she became.
"Hello, kupo," the moogle said, flittering his tiny bat-like wings.
"This shimmer," Canti said quietly. "I've seen this before. It looks like the same glowing on Papa Cid's Venus Gospel…"
"Uncle Cid has a named weapon, like Father's Dragon Lance," Kain said. "And they do let off this kind of light."
"Minwu's staff does this, too," Canti said.
The moogle floated back and forth over it, circling the table-like contraption. "Kupo… all souls within the realm have weapons meant just for them. The shimmer comes from the weapons that have reached the hands they are meant for, kupo," it explained while its big, round nose wiggled. "Cantirena… your heart seeks answers… kupo."
"H-how do you know my name?" Canti asked, taking a step back. "My real name?"
"Kuuupo," the moogle replied soundly.
"That's not an answer!" Kain shouted at it, showing his frustration. He just wanted to spend some time alone with her, and now all this nonsense comes up? Didn't he just have the worst luck! "Come on, cousin. Let's go over to the armory." He took her hand, but she didn't move. "Canti, what are you doing?"
Canti shook her head. "I want to know why you know my real name, moogle!"
"You are well-known, kupo," the moogle answered. "And you are sorely missed…"
She didn't understand that at all. "What does that even mean?"
The moogle raised one of its paws up, activating the magic within the device he flew above. Brilliant, shining light poured over both Kain and Canti, causing them to put their hands up to cover their eyes. "Kuuupo," he cooed. "If you bring me five pieces of mythril crystal, I can give you the answers you seek…"
Eventually, the light faded away. When Canti and Kain both pulled their hands away from their face, the moogle and the weird device were gone. They wondered if what happened was even real for a few moments, but no one else was around, and it didn't seem like anything else was affected by what just happened. Canti thought about what the moogle said, wondering what mythril crystals even were. She looked at Kain, who just decided not to talk about their shared experience. The two of them just walked away from that spot, moving on with their day.
"...The Ardent is close, kupo… We need your help, Cantirena… kupo…"
