Final Wish
Chapter 3 - Return
When he found the strength to open his eyes again, he still couldn't see much. Blurs between familliar golden eyes and black faces, mixed with flares of sunlight and plumes of shadow dominated his field of vision. But he could hear things again.
"Ohh, look! He's waking up! He didn't stop, after all," someone whispered.
"Thank goodness," another sighed.
"Vivi? How are you feeling?" asked yet another.
Vivi felt his mouth opening, but he couldn't speak. The pain that was present before he went under was still there, though it had faded from a racking sting of pain to a numbing soreness.
"That's Ok, Vivi," mumbled the one who had asked the question. "You don't have to talk yet. I think you're still... fixing. Is that it?"
"Fixing, healing.. something like that," assured a random voice.
"Ah."
The weakened mage tried to look around, but found that his eyelids fluttered uncontrollably against the brightness around him. What he saw was enough to tell him at least where he was; his coat lay upon a small table by the door, and atop it was his favorite staff. From the odd angle at which he recognized the items, he realized that he was lying down most probably on his bed. It didn't feel right, however; it seemed much firmer than he remembered it.
"I'll stay here and watch over him," said a voice. "I'll call for all of you if something happens."
Unanimous acknowledgements greeted the one giving the order, and feet shuffled across the wooden floor boards of his hut as the Mages filed out. The door gave a quiet bang as it hit back into the doorframe.
Vivi could focus on the one remaining now, and recognized the warm yet extremely concerned expression on Mr. 288's face. He was standing beside Vivi's bed, bent over slightly with a strong feel of concern and fear. The fingers of his right hand clenched and unclenched ceaselessly on the length of his golden staff.
"Can I get you anything?" Mr. 288 asked. Vivi noted the slight quiver in his voice. "Water, food... anything?"
Vivi coughed, clearing his throat, and managed with a croaking and broken voice, "I-I'm thirsty..." He really was, too. His ordeal had left his throat parched and there was a horrible taste sitting in his mouth.
Mr. 288 nodded and rushed out to fetch the poor child some water. He paused only to prop the hut's door open with his staff.
Vivi sighed and tried moving. His body was pressed snugly beneath blankets, so snugly that he had trouble moving anything but his arms. He sighed and simply gave up; he could ask someone to untuck him so he could stretch a little.
288 had practically run back with a small flask of water in hand, stopping abruptly in the doorway. "Here you go," he said as he walked to Vivi's bedside. Vivi felt the blankets loosening around his body. "Bet you were kinda... stuck, huh? I'm sorry... We were just so scared..."
Vivi scooted himself up, propping his back against the warm fluff of pillow at the head of the bed, noting with suprise that his pains were diminishing rather quickly. He reached out and accepted the flash from Mr. 288, who regarded him curiously.
"Feeling better already?"
"Y-yes... sorta," Vivi mumbled after taking a long sip from the flask.
The tension in Mr. 288's eyes drained, replaced by a clearly evident relief. "Oh, I'm so glad! We were afraid you were--" His words found themselves forcefully caught in his throat and rather than continue that sentance, he offered, "It's good to see you're ok."
... They thought I was gonna die...
Vivi watched Mr. 288 quietly and saw the older Mage shift about uncomfortably beneath his gaze. "It's good to see you're gonna be ok," he repeated at a whisper as he found his gaze fixing on a spot right above Vivi's face.
... is something wrong? He blinked. Of course, there was something wrong; everyone was under the impression that he was about to die. Obviously, there was going to be an air of uncertainty and fear dwelling about the village. It had been a while since anyone last stopped. To Vivi's knowledge, the last was Mr. 36 a while after the village was established. Even though Vivi had only been here a few days, it already was apparent that the villagers looked up to him despite his youth. After all, he's been aware for pretty much his whole life and had learned some things about themselves through his travels.
There was a soft choked sound of someone clearing his throat and Vivi's eyes focused back onto Mr. 288. "So, umm... what exactly happened to you?" The quiver was still in his voice, but Vivi didn't blame him; he wasn't the only scared one.
"I... I don't know," the child started. "I just started to get this bad feeling..."
"Bad feeling? Do you know why?"
"N-no..." He added quickly, trying to bring some reassurance to the atmosphere. "But I'm feeling a whole lot better now, Mr. 288, really."
288 was silent for a moment. A cool sigh whisped from his hidden lips and his words followed shortly, "Maybe so, Vivi, but we still don't know what's wrong, if there's anything really wrong at all. I think it would be best for you if you stayed in bed for a while. The feeling might come back and I want to be here to help if it does."
Vivi almost said what immediately popped into his mind: But I don't want to stay here. He caught himself quickly, shutting his voice down before anything could escape, and forced his head to bob in acknowledgement. The nod seemed to please Mr. 288 for his grim expression lightened into a vague but discernable grin.
"Now I have some things to go take care of so I'll be back in just a little bit. Try to sleep for a while; you'll feel at least a little better." He didn't wait for a reply. His slightly plumped body rose, turned, and waddled out the door. There was a soft click of metal and wood, and a gloved hand guided the door shut slowly.
Vivi was alone yet again. Seeing nothing better to do, he layed himself back down and forced himself to keep still long enough to creep into the place between waking and slumber.
The trip back through the mountain path was harder than before, but they made it. Conde Petite loomed farther down the narrow trail.
Steiner was beside Dagger, as usual. Since the tragedy at the Iifa Tree, he had been even more protective of the princess. Eiko and Freya, too, had made their concerns knowns. They all walked in a loose circle around, offering their combined protection from whatever pains and trials they may encounter on their voyages.
Quina noted, with dissapointment, that there weren't any monsters to eat along the way. Perhaps the sudden appearance and assault of Bahamut had sent them all in hiding.
The two dwarven guards that watched the back exit Conde Petite let them pass without hesitation, granted that Zidane had to give them the customary call of, "Rally-ho!" He had no objection; anything to get Dagger somewhere safe.
Amarant had let himself dissapear somewhere in the monolithic come of the Dwarves while Steiner, Eiko, and Freya had opted to take Dagger to the Inn and let her rest for a while. She had objected, claiming that it wasn't neccesssary, but they had dragged her off, anyways. When they returned, minus Stiener who stood guard infront of the room rented for Dagger, they found Zidane alone in the chamber with the boat forever grounded.
"Reminiscing about your marrage?" Freya chortled as she led the group to Zidane.
"Ehhh.. Just thinking, I guess," replied Zidane. "Been thinking a lot lately..."
Freya chuckled, then sighed. "My, my... Either you're maturing, or you're just taking after Vivi."
Eiko snorted and asked, "Who's Vivi? I keep hearing about him."
"A child not unlike yourself," answered Freya. Her ice blue eyes lowered to regard the summoner. "A boy of much power, perhaps more than he's ready for..."
Zidane hmm'ed thoughtfully, setting a hand against his hips while the other hung by his side. "Maybe we oughta go pay Vivi a visit. I bet Dagger'll like that."
"I wanna meet him, too," insisted Eiko. A lively glitter flowed through her eyes like water under a beaming sun. "I wanna see who this 'lil boy is!"
The Burmecian chuckled some more and gave Eiko a friendly pat on her little head, taking care not to poke herself with the curious horn that protruded from beneath strands of blue hair. "Then I suppose we have a plan. But I believe it would be better to stay a while, for Dagger's sake. And for Steiner, as well; they both have much tension right now..."
"Yeah," Zidane mumbled. "I suppose I could find something to do here while..."
Quina appeared through an arched doorway, and waddled by, mumbling, "Everything so dry... Quina no like much." Just as quickly, it dissapeared down another hallway. getting odd glances from the dwarves that passed it by.
Eiko stared after Quina, and grumbled, "I guess I oughta watch after that thing. Mebbe we'll find something to eat along the way." Her small form took up a jog after the large Qu.
Freya nodded after Eiko, then turned to look at Zidane. "You should get some rest yourself, Zidane. 'Twas a difficult journey.. you look tired."
He shruged, grinning smugly. "Eh, there's enough time for that when I'm old."
Freya paused, then shrugged. "Yes, there is... I'll be seeing you around, then, Zidane." With that, the tall Burmecian turned and wandered outside, tapping the butt end of her javelin along the way.
He suppressed a sigh and a yawn and decided to get a better look around, as well. A nameless melody, oddly familiar, found itself whistling from his lips as he swaggered off towards the Weapons Shop.
In contrast to the trip to and past Conde Petite, the trip all the way around the central plateu of the continent and into the dying forest was quiet and uneventful. Sure, the occasional Gnome or Zanghol would pass their way, but nothing that an angry knight whipping his sword around couldn't chase off.
"I really wish," Dagger muttered with just a tinge of maternal strength, as if she needed to schold the much older knight as she could any child, "That you wouldn't cause such a ruckus, Steiner."
"But, Princess," the Pluto Knight retorted innocently. "If I do not give show, these beasts will not hesitate to try and attack!"
Zidane piped in at the wrong time yet again, only to irritate Steiner. He found that he liked bugging the older man, despite the fact that Dagger didn't aproove. Oh, well, she can live with it, he figured. "That's odd.. I'da figured that they would be attracted to the scent and sight of some loudmoth moron jumping around. Plenty of food for them, yep."
"Zidane," Dagger snapped. Her tone was sharp and stern, and Zidane immediately shut up with a wince. Was she.. angry? "I don't want to hear you two fighting right now." Flicks of rose still stained her cheeks from the pained trails of tears, faded yet painfully clear to Zidane.
The theif paused then snorted quietly at Steiner. "Fine, fine... I'm sorry, Rusty. And I'm sorry for whatever monster that would even think of eating you, with all that nasty armor."
That gained him a glare from the Princess and a harshly muttered word from the knight. He glanced helplessly to the others and was met with condoning stares and smirks. Amarant was grinning in his usual "what-a-dumbass" fashion, crossing his pale arms in idle manner.
Zidane decided to keep quiet for a while. A sigh escaped momentarily parted lips as he stared straight ahead, watching as the crowns of tall brittle trees rose in the horizon.
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Yes, I know this is a short and sorta empty chapter. o_O; Apologies; it'll get better soon
enough. *bow* Chapter 4 should be up sometime tomorrow (that being 3-23-2001), so keep an
eye out! ^_-