Chapter 4

Devil take me by the hand,
Angel take the other
And as you guide me through my trials
I'll be neither saint nor sinner


"NOOOO!!!" Rage wailed; she tore at her hair. Vatica had lost contact with Kuja's body. Rage shot a random Holy spell; it lanced through the air and crumbled a pillar.
Malice managed to get control, "Stop!" She commanded, "all will be well."
"How?" Innocence asked, "Kuja is lost!"
"He will come back to us...you cannot kill what is already dead."


Kuja was in a state of disbelief. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. There was a monstrous hole in the side of the castle where Bahamut had burst in. The whole West Side of the castle itself was just a hollowed out shell. Anything wooden or glass had been annihilated, the only parts of the structure that survived were those made of stone and metal. Zidane was standing over Kuja's body.

"Stay back," Tot warned, "he is still alive."

"How can he be?" Zidane asked, "not even an undead could survive that."

Tot shook his head; "he is not the usual form of walking dead. A Holy Spirit brought him back, cure spells, medicine, and weapons cannot destroy him. He is only knocked out, he will awaken soon, and then he will return to the one who gave him life."

"So he's going to go back to Vatica?" Zidane said, "so, like, how do we kill him?"

Kuja bristled, if only they knew he was there, then they might choose their words more carefully. Didn't anyone care?

"There is only one way," Tot sighed, "we must reunite his body and soul. He will go through a cycle of rebirth and be truly alive once again...then we must kill him while his soul is in his body."

"How dare you speak of me in such a way!" Kuja roared. He stepped up to Tot, who of course could not even see him. "You really think that I would allow you to kill me?! Do you honestly think you could?! You are an even bigger fool than I first made you out to be!"

"Wouldn't bringing him back be doing just what Vatica wanted?" Garnet asked.

"To do such a thing would be insane!" Steiner exclaimed, "if that scoundrel were alive again, what is to stop him from bringing more terror and destruction? And with Vatica around, what is to stop him from joining her and helping her despotic plan come to be? That villain would never pass up a chance to rule all of Heaven and Earth!"

"Incompetent morons!" Kuja spat, "am I that shallow? Do you think that I would repeat my mistakes?"

"No, I don't think he would do that," Zidane said thoughtfully, "when I last saw him alive at the Iifa Tree, he told me he had finally learned what it means to live, and he saved us remember?"

"Perhaps," Garnet said, "but what about Vatica?"

"In my research I found out quite a bit about angels," Dr. Tot informed, "there may be a way, but I doubt my books survived any of this..."

"So there is a way?" Eiko asked, "tell me how and I'll do what ever I can to help."

"The only way to be rid of Vatica is for Alexander to pass Holy Judgement on her." Tot explained, "only he can curve her immortality. Yes Eiko, you and Queen Garnet may be very much help. Alexander appears to favor you, he may respond to a request from the two of you."

"What will you do with me?" Kuja asked. Even if they couldn't hear a word he said, it was impossible not to say anything when it was your fate being discussed.

"...Your attempts are vain and unrealistic..." Kuja's body sat up suddenly. Everyone drew their weapons and stayed back. "Such pathetic mortals will never be able to destroy an angel..."

"I thought you said Vatica left him!" Zidane said tersely.

"She did, I imagine this is the body itself speaking to us!" Tot said.

"Why can't you miserable people understand?" Kuja's empty eyes narrowed, "there is no hope for you..."


Innocent blood to stain mortal hands
Innocent blood to poison mortal lands
Innocent blood to destroy mortal souls
Blood to spill on Heaven's door
Immortal creature cast down from grace
Never can look you in the face
Shame and heartbreak take a toll
With no home to return to
Where will you go?
Angel are you?
Or devil in white?
Deserved is you madness?
Or is it evil of spite?


Malice paced around the dark throne room. Her eye twitched every few seconds, "he'll be back..." she told herself.
"Can't you ever face your own mistakes?" Innocence asked.
"The mistake was not mine!"
"Then whose was it? You were in control for the majority of the time, you -
"Will you shut up!?"
Vatica sat down on the damp stone floor, she arched her wings up over her head, "my dream is falling apart so quickly...why? What have I done wrong?" She gritted her teeth; "it is my destiny! I was meant to be a god...wasn't I?" Her aura was the only light in the palace. Except for the rats she was alone in the gloomy darkness. She missed Kuja terribly already. "I wasn't supposed to be alone..." She wiped her nose, "I deserve what I want! Heaven is mine!"
"You just keep telling yourself that...," Innocence said sadly. "It's been centuries and we have never gotten any closer. We take one step forward, and two steps back...that's the way it has always been."
"My dream is not in vain!" Vatica cried. She jumped up and screamed at the ceiling, "the only vain dream is the one that was never attempted! I have attempted! What I want can be realized!"


Kuja watched as his body slowly advanced towards Zidane and Garnet. It pulled the dagger from its chest. The blood that oozed out was almost black and had the consistency of tar, indicating that it hadn't flowed in a long time. "I will have my soul...but first...all of you will die..."

Kuja reached out, "stop!" He expected the body to be deaf to him and keep going, but its head turned and its eyes widened. Kuja moved back. It had heard him.

"I can't believe it. I thought I would have to spend an eternity looking...but here you are..."

"What's he doing? Who's he talking to?" Zidane wondered aloud.

"Tell me," Kuja's body smirked, "why do you come here? Is it because you care for the lives of these pathetic mortals? Does guilt for what you had done in the past bring you to this place? Or was it just meant to be?"

"What's going on?" Eiko demanded.

Garnet squinted at the spot Kuja was talking to. She didn't see anything at first, but after a moment, she could make out the outline of someone standing there. "Zidane, look..."

"I don't see anything," Zidane shrugged, "what do you see?"

The outline became more solid as the figure stepped into the light. He was transparent, like one would expect a ghost to be, tall, with long hair and flowing sleeves. She gasped, he turned his childlike face to her, exotic eyes locked on hers. She nudged Zidane; "It's Kuja..."

"I can see that," Zidane gestured in the undead's direction.

"No, I mean, it's almost like he's a ghost or spirit. He's standing right next to the wall."

Dr. Tot drew in his breath; his gaze fixated, he also saw, "it is true. It is his soul."

"So you all can see me?" Kuja asked, "...well then why are you all just standing there? And what have you done to my body?!"

"I still don't know what you guys are talking about!" Zidane complained.

"A lost soul can only be seen by those who want to see." Tot said.

Zidane considered this: if it was, did he want to see Kuja again? He sighed, yes, he did. And with that thought Kuja's shadowy outline appeared before his eyes, "well I'll be damned..."

"This truly is a day of glory," Kuja's body said, "now there will be nothing that can stop the fall of Alexander. I will have my soul back!" He reached his hand out. "Come back to me!"

"Hold on just one-

Tot cut Zidane off, "no, let him go."

The genome whirled, "what?!"

"It seems that there is a loophole our 'friend' has overlooked..."

"What?"

"This will get very unpleasant..." Tot grimaced.

Kuja was shocked as his empty body grabbed him by the wrist. He thought it was impossible for those of the physical world to connect with those of the ethereal plane. "The body and soul are inseparable..." his body commanded Eiko, "you, the Summoner, give me a Phoenix!"

"No way!" Eiko glared.

"Do as he says," Tot said.

Eiko looked baffled, "you want me to help him?" but she closed her eyes and gently blew into her flute she always kept by her side. As the song played, a ball of fire materialized in front of them. The Phoenix burst from it, rainbow feathers shining.

"I beseech you great Phoenix, rejoin my body and spirit! Let me be born again!"

Kuja tried to pull away, he couldn't believe that everyone was letting this happen, "have you all gone mad?!"
The Phoenix flew into the air; it began to glow red and orange. A deafening roar erupted as a sea of flames engulfed the castle.

"The cycle of rebirth has begun," Tot yelled. The others shielded their eyes from the blaze.

The Phoenix screeched and sent a stream of fire down onto what was left of the hall floor. The flames swirled around. Kuja's soul and body were forced back together. The fire spun around them and exploded in a ball of fire. "What?!" The body cried fearfully, "no! Stop! It's not supposed to be this way! STOP!" The wall of inferno grew until Kuja was surrounded in a funnel of fire. The others watched in horror as his body caught fire. The flames burning away his flesh and skin. He screamed piercingly and fell to the floor. The fire seared away all but his bones. So that there was a skeleton struggling amongst the white-hot fire.

"Oh my God!" Garnet choked on the smoke.

The funnel became opaque and folded around Kuja, forming an egg shape. The screaming stopped and the fire died down until the egg looked like a ball of cooling lava. The Phoenix observed its work; it folded its wings and dove straight down on the molten ball of fire. It exploded into hundreds of burning pieces; the Phoenix swooped up and gave a last cry before vanishing in a flash of red.
No one could find words. All faces were pale and agape with shock. The place where the egg had been still glowed orange and yellow. Zidane cautiously came forward, "...Kuja?" He squinted in the light. "Kuja, are you there?"

The ethereal glow faded, revealing Kuja, standing at its center. Kuja looked slowly at everyone, astonishment on their faces. What had happened had felt like a dream, and now he was awakening. He stopped his eyes, a small smile tugged at his mouth, "...bravo Zidane..." His eyes rolled up in his head, his legs gave out and he fell forward. Zidane reached out and caught him. 'Bravo indeed. It seems as though all that occurred after the battle with Necron was merely intermission...on to the final act...'