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 Tibby-san and MajoHikari for continued support of this little story.

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: Eventually all this stuff on this list: Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, incest, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar

FIC START!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Canti didn't need any help from Cid to get ready for the day. She didn't speak much, either, until she was standing outside waiting for her friends' inevitable morning approach. She wasn't sure how she felt. Part of her was super excited to be able to invite them to the party her father brought up before, but part of her would rather just try to get through the day without talking to anyone. She didn't know how to feel or what to feel, considering that even in her dreams, she wasn't able to forget the moogle telling her about the mythril shards and having her own named weapon. She wanted that much more than some party that everyone else in the family has had every time they decided to go down the path of the dragoon. The only good thing about it, she figured, was the fact that she did feel as if she was part of the family since she was given the same treatment as Kain and anyone else who followed down the same path, but even so, she did feel like her choice wasn't being honored. It was more about the family tradition, than her choice. Her ability. But that moogle telling her that there was a way for her to get a unique weapon all of her own? Now that was exciting!

"Good morning!" Crystal said, carrying that huge ass hammer over her shoulder as if it was nothing. "All the things that have happened this week, I thought we wouldn't get a chance to walk together again anytime soon."

"Eh, nothing's happening this morning," Canti said quietly. "Papa Cid is still half asleep, so I just took care of myself."

"Well if nothing's wrong, then why do you look so worried?" Hikari asked.

"What? I'm not worried," Canti said defensively. She was going to divert the subject immediately, simply so she didn't have to talk about anything. "In fact, my family is throwing a party this weekend…. and you, uhh, you two are invited."

"Oh! Is it your birthday?!" Hikari gasped.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. The Highwind family throws a party for everyone who follows the path of the dragoon," Canti said, shrugging. "I guess that means even if I am adopted, I'm really a part of the family. Papa Cid said to invite a few friends."

"When is it? Where is it?!" Crystal asked. She was just as excited as Hikari. Canti made a note that normal girls were excited over parties.

"Tomorrow afternoon. At the Highwind Manor."

"The Highwind Manor is a fancy place. I'm not sure if I have clothes that nice," Crystal muttered. "I'll have to ask Grandpa if he'll get me a new dress or something. I would feel really underdressed in pretty much anything I have in my closet."

"There's a Highwind Manor?" Hikari asked in total disbelief. "Then why do you guys live here in this tiny house?! I mean, it doesn't even have a bathroom, a corner of your living room is devoted to being a shower!"

Canti shrugged. "Papa Cid said something about wanting to live his life his way. Apparently my Uncle Richard inherited the position of family lead, and they rubbed heads a bit too much." And then she gave Hikari a very confused look. "Why devote a whole room to it, if it doesn't need a whole room?"

Crystal's answer was very blunt. "...Privacy?"

"We have different rooms if we need to be alone. I don't see what the big deal is. I just wanted to invite you to a party at the manor this weekend, that's all."

"I'm pretty sure I can be there," Hikari said. "I don't have any plans this weekend."

"Great. Can we just… go to Garden now?" Canti asked, crossing her arms. Sometimes these two just talked too much, and she was at that point where it was annoying. A simple invite to a party came to a discussion about their house? Why?

Cid picked himself out of bed very slowly. He barely acknowledged when Canti left for school, and now he seemed both sleepy and restless. He got himself a shower and pulled on his civilian clothes before keying in a few things on the Sphere's input system. The screen went fuzzy for a bit before an image of his older brother came into focus.

"I told you to take a break," Richard said sternly. "I've all ready filed all of the paperwork through to the ship-yards and Setzer is fully aware that you are in need of time to rest after your last mission."

"I'm not calling you for a report," Cid said just as sternly. He gave a glare straight into the camera. "I'm calling you to tell you that Cantirena has been given the call to action."

"...the moogle?" Richard was only a little startled upon hearing this.

"That's what she described to me."

"Isn't it too early?"

"I can't shake the feeling that the Schizo we brought into the monster farm is linked to this, as well as the nightmares she's had in the last week," Cid said, his sincerity not once fading from his tone. "How do things look outside the barrier? Have you seen if the enemy approaches or not?"

Richard glared at his brother. "I told you to focus on what is important."

"I AM!" Cid yelled into the camera. "It's clear as day that my daughter is involved!"

"I'll have no choice but to report you to those higher up if you don't stop looking for answers involving the outside, Cid. You don't want me to do that. You know what they'll do."

"Same thing they've had me do to Canti, I reckon," Cid said. "Extract the memories."

"Cid…"

Cid flicked the switch to kill the call, and turned away from it. How was he supposed to ignore all the signs? If a moogle came looking for Canti, to offer her a chance at obtaining her own weapon, didn't that mean that she was going to be asked to fight against the evil approaching? He looked up at the Venus Gospel that hung on the wall overhead and remembered everything about how he obtained it. He closed his eyes, and the memory came to him as if it just happened.

I took up the spear, just like my father, and his father before him. As did my older brother. We were rivals in everything. Our grades, our battle styles. But at one point, we were friends. And one morning, on our way to breakfast, we came across one of the moogles. It sat upon a table that glowed in a brilliant rainbow, and offered us a chance to obtain something that was meant only for us. A unique weapon that could bond with our very being and unleash abilities that no mere training could create, that would bring out our utmost potential, in exchange for shards of mythril. We had no idea what mythril even was, and when we asked our parents, they said nothing. It wasn't long after that… monsters became more frequent, and each one bigger and more powerful than the last. Everyone from the first year student at Garden up to the Grand Dragoon himself at the time had to fight to protect those who could not protect themselves. It was because of this incident that the monster farm was even built at all. I spared the life of a behemoth to send to captivity, and it gave me a glimmering shard of a dull, dark blue metal… I fought a Malboro to protect my brother, who had become unable to fight after being hit with the Bad Breath blue magic spell and obtained another… eventually, I had five shards, and when I found the moogle again, the table gave me my spear, that glowed the same way the table did…

He sighed. Something was going on, but he didn't know what. He didn't know what all to do, either. Should he have told her what it was? Cid didn't want to report anything else to Leviathan. Last time he did that, he was just consumed with guilt. He picked up his wallet and headed out of the house, determined to learn something, anything about outside the barrier.

The whole group got together before parting ways to head to their classes.

"What?!" Tidus said loudly. "There's gonna be a party tomorrow?!" He jumped all over the place, immediately making Canti regret telling him. "Can we play Blitzball?!"

"It's not that kind of party," Hikari said. "It's a fancy thing since it's up at Highwind Manor."

"Well then we make it that kind of party! Parties are meant to be fun!"

"And get you all kicked out of there because you broke something because you weren't paying attention with your ball…" Kain grunted at Tidus. He seemed just as annoyed as Canti over his reaction.

"Isn't it a celebration, though? Shouldn't celebrations be fun?" Vivi asked. "I'm not good at playing sports, but why keep others from playing?"

Kain shrugged. "I'm not sure if it's a celebration or not," he said. "It's more of a gathering of the family in appreciation for upholding our oldest tradition."

Canti crossed her arms. "Then why invite friends? Did you invite friends?"

"Of course he did," Minwu said. "He invited me last year."

"Will you come to mine, too?" Canti asked.

"I'd be honored," he answered. "I have a feeling you'll need my help dealing with your anxiety for the event."

Kain turned to both Minwu and Canti. "Minwu will always be there for you," he said with a smile. "I won't let him leave you."

"What?" she asked in confusion. "What does that even mean?"

Kain blushed for a moment. "Oh, n-nothing."

Crystal and Hikari both took Minwu's attention for a moment, asking all sorts of questions about what kind of party it was, and if gifts were expected. They had no idea what was going on or what they were supposed to do. Since he was the only one who had been to one of these things, they decided to pick his brain for information so they wouldn't embarrass Canti on her special day. Minwu told them that he'd help them get ready for it after school and sent them off to their classes to begin their day.