Final Fantasy IX and everything related to it is Squaresoft's property.

This story was written by QualmC661.

Final Fantasy IX:

The Future of the Past

Chapter Five

ZIDANE AWAKENED on the floor, underneath the bottom silver ball. He looked around, and found that he wasn't tired. ...Why was he here? How did he get here? He hadn't wanted to come out yet...

...Then it came to him...

...They had ordered him out of the machine.

But he could just go back in, couldn't he? He turned, and put one hand on the bubble. It rippled under his hand, but did nothing. A loud, deep screech filled the air for five seconds as he pulled it away. 'Is', as they called it, was not responding to him. Then something struck him.

Where was all this technology coming from? The rifles, the things on their head? Had they come from the machine? Apparently so. Someone made technology from the future come to the present time. Why? What were they planning to do with it?

He turned, and searched for...

"...Baku?"

HE WAS in prison, actually, several miles from Zidane's point. Or was it a few feet? Zidane was sitting on a bed about five feet away. Baku wasn't sure if he knew what was going on...

"Zidane."

"Yeah?"

"...You remember Terigan? Nmi? What they did?"

"What are you talking about, Baku?" He didn't know.

"Don't you remember Aein?"

"Aein who? You mean the leader?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"...Why didn't he accept that you were actually King once?"

"...Huh? You feeling okay?" It hit Baku like a ton of bricks.

"You know, when you announced that you used to be leader of Alexandria."

"...I never said that." Terigan and Nmi were doing something.

TERIGAN AND Nmi watched as things took their course. Aein couldn't help but smile. King of Alexandria? This was too easy...

That's when he saw it. This was too easy. Why weren't things any harder than they were now?

"...Aein." It was Nmi. He turned to him. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"Look. don't worry about this. There's nothing that can go wrong. As long as we're in 'Is', we're okay." Then there was a rumble.

THEY WERE outside of the machine. Zidane and Baku were nowhere to be seen, and from what they remembered, no one had entered the machine without proper permission...

Then why were they forced out?

BAKU WAS asking himself the same question when he noticed that Zidane hadn't appeared there with him. Why hadn't he been brought to prison, like himself? Instead, the past Zidane was there with him, not knowing what had actually happened. He turned to Baku, and asked, "What were you talking about earlier?"

"...Listen, I'm going to explain this to you once, and it will sound strange, but you have to believe me." He cleared his throat, then continued. "You were really once King of Alexandria, married to Garnet, who was then named Garnet Tribal. You went on vacation for a few weeks, and during that time, Terigan and Nmi recieved a letter to cause a self-destruct on Alexadria."

"They attacked it? But they're in Lindblum."

"No, pay attention. Before, they were the leaders of the army after Steiner and Beatrix were married."

"Who are they?" Baku paused, then shook his head.

"Never mind. Anyway, they said you gave them orders to destroy the city. What really happened was they used a machine they called 'Is' to change history, things, people, events, the whole works. They changed what you were actually doing to destroy the city. You were innocent, but they were the only ones who knew it. Now, the machine stil exists, and has been tampered with. I don't know where you were...the one who was with me, anyway."

"...Whoa, whoa, slow down. You're telling me there's a machine that can change anything? That's kinda hard to believe-" Then he stopped. No, it wasn't that hard to believe. That was why he had the two memories of the same thing...

"Terigan, Nmi, and Aein are our enemies here. We have to find some way to get out of here and change everything."

"...That's hard to do. There's guards all over the place, and none of them have the key." Almost as if on que, the door snapped open, and all was quiet. They couldn't even remember there being any guards.

"...Zidane, is that you?"

"What?"
"No, I mean the one who was with me." The one he was currently with shrugged as both exited the cell. Something odd was going on.

ACTUALLY, ZIDANE was inside the castle by the time they had escaped. He had come on Baku's chocobo, Ptera, and was now in the lobby area. Everything was different. It's probably better destroyed, he thought. Black and blue veils hung from the ceiling. Black suits of armor and several stains in rugs and cloth decorated the area. Everything was almost wrecked, but still being used anyway.

He ran through the lobby, leaving the bird where it was. After running for a few seconds, he found himself in a hall. He looked one way, towards something outside...beside the theater. He started towards it, but stopped. He didn't hear it, but felt something inside...NO. He looked around for someone, somebody that might have uttered the word, but found no one.

Then a man was walking down the hall from the door. Half a dozen guards followed. He pointed to Zidane, and said something. Al the guards began rushing after him. ...Who was he?...

Aein.

Zidane turned and began to run back down the other way. He drew two long swords, what he had traded off for his daggers, and turned to fight. Once again, he felt the word itself, not by hearing it.

NO.

He sheathed the swords, and ran back towards a kitchen.

NMI SIGHED as the small party of three arrived outside the castle. "You got what you wanted," announced Terigan. "You are leader of this city." Then he chuckled. "...You better hope you take a liking to yourself."

Aein shrugged it off. They continued.

BAKU AND Zidane had made it to the upper levels. They were now in a cafeteria. Guards poured through doors the second they arrived. The leader, a tall man in armor, said loudly, "He's not here. Keep looking." As soon as he saw Baku and Zidane, he pointed and shouted, "Wait! There he is!"

Baku looked for a weapon, and found nothing. As one guard charged at him, he picked up a chair, and slammed it over the helmet. The guard laughed as it broke over his well-proteted head. Then Baku hit him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Zidane climbed up onto the middle of the folding tables, and kicked one guard over his helmet. The heavy man fell backwards onto one side. The body hit the table; the table folded upwards rapidly; Zidane, being on the fold, shot up into the air. He grabbed a rafter above his head,

Baku was knocked onto a table. The soldier raised his sword to kill his opponent, and a small object fell on top of him. Zidane strangled the man from behind until the soldier lay motionless on the floor. Both turned and ran through the first door they saw.

AEIN WAS standing in the middle of a hallway as the leader version of himself walked up to him. Both were identical. "...Do I know you?" asked the leader.

"...I think you do," said Aein, and Terigan and Nmi began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"...Let's talk about it. I can help you catch Zidane and the fat one you are chasing." The leader smiled.

"...I think I like you three. Come with me." He led them towards the courtroom.

ZIDANE, RUNNING into the kitchen, quickly caught his breath before more soldiers arrived in attempt to capture him. One struck at him; he rapidly dodged, and fell onto a table. A sword came down, and he rolled, sparks erupting from the surface of the counter. Now he was on his hands and knees. He crawled underneath the table as one of the five climbed on top. Zidane, while underneath, drew his two swords, and rolled out. Quikly standing, he was greeted with a very thick sword, which would have made him lose his head.

He struck at his enemy's hand, dismembering it from the arm, and knocked his opponent off his feet. Two ran around one side, and two around the other, both sides quickly gaining on him. They started in on him-

-until Baku knocked two of them in the head with a massive wooden spoon, the length of a pitchfork and the weight of a sledgehammer. It clonked against their heads as they fell to the ground. Good as my hammer, thought Baku. Zidane turned and defended against both soldiers. One was about to cut his throat-

-until-himself?-pulled the enemy backwards by the neck. He watched in amazement as his other self choked the man. After realizing what was going on, he knocked the weapon from the other soldier, and sent the man running for help. When all was quiet, Zidane looked at himself.

"...You're...uh..."

"...Me."

"Yeah." Baku looked at both of them. He knew it was very strange to meet yourself, but...

"...Hey, we don't have time to chit chat with ourselves. We have to get Terigan, Nmi, and Aein." Before anything further was said, they were off to 'Is'.

WHEN THEY arrived, they could hear the wheels of some other carriage coming their way. They quickly rushed down to the basement. "...Will someone tell me what's going on?" asked the younger Zidane.

"...No. You'll see soon enough."

"...What's going on?" he asked, anyway. The older walked over to him, put a hand on his shoulder, and shook his other hand.

"Never thought I'd do this, but I'm going to thank myself. Thanks." When they parted, the older walked up to the machine. "...I just hope this will let me in now." He touched the surface, and floated into the air. When he was gone, baku looked over to the younger Zidane. The younger was surprised at what was happening, himself. He held up his hand as he disintegrated into dust, floating up into the air. First his hands, arms, legs, body, then head.

Baku shook his head in amazement, then walked up to the machine, prepared to touch the surface.

TERIGAN AND Nmi had explained to the leader Aein about the machine, and everything it could do. "Now, we're tired of having Zidane running around. First we were wanting to give him bad luck. Then torment him. Then torture him. Now we finally want to destroy him...and, uh...why did you bring...uh..." He motioned to the Leader's wife, who was sitting in the back.

"You say Zidane was the former leader of Alexandria?"
"...Yes. What does that ave to do with it?"

"...Then she was his wife. One he loved. Just to give him a last terrible moment, I want to pull that little stunt."

"I see your point," said Nmi.

"...But why are we doing this to him, especially?"

"He is a threat to us and what we stand for," answered Terigan. That was all he said to explain. Nothing further.

Garnet climbed up to where her husband was, and smiled as he put his arm around her. As they kissed, Nmi was fighting back the urge to laugh. Aein, who was in the furthest back seat, sat alone, in his own world, thinking.

...It's all to easy.... Why?

ZIDANE MET Baku inside the machine. The sensation of knowing everything was overtaking him again. "Baku."

"What?"
"...Do you like...'Is'?"

"...It makes me uncomfortable."

"Me too." The emptiness around them was starting to rush in on them.... Now that they knew the full power of the machine, it was almost terrifying to think about what would happen if someone largely misused it...

Stop for a moment, and think.... What would happen if they used it that way? It had only been slightly misused; the destruction of a city and a man's life are nothing compared to the destruction of the universe. Or if it's creation was prevented. Or if everything past man's imagination was destroyed...

...Then that says something, to. Man's mind is limited to what he is used to. We think of 'everything' as physically everything around them, air, water, living things, non-living things.... But there must be something past 'everything'. Something that does not include. What would that be?...

...Zidane wondered these things himself as he drifted through the emptiness. Then he noticed something he hadn't seen before...someone else? He fought to go faster in the direction of the person, but with no success. "Hey!" he shouted. The person turned to him. "Who are you?" Somehow, some way, the figure drifted closer to them both...

...Aein. "Stay back!" shouted Zidane, drawing his weapons...what weapons? Where had they gone?

"Don't be afraid of me."

"Stay back, you're crazy..." Aein jerked back in surprise.

"What have I done?"

"What have you done? You-" Then Zidane stopped. He noticed Aein appeared younger...slightly younger...decades younger. "...How old are you?"

"Seventeen. What are you doing here so soon?" What was he talking about...So soon? Plus, the Aein Zidane originally knew was around fifty or sixty...seventeen?

"...What do you mean, so soon?"

"You are here very early for new ones."

"New whats?" asked Baku, now very interested. This wasn't a cold, dark, fifty year old Aein. He was friendly, looked intelligent, and was very warm.

"...You know what I mean. And you look very different from them, too."

"...We don't understand. Please explain..." Aein cocked his head.

"Follow me."

NMI WAITED outside 'Is' with his older brother, Aein, the Leader version of Aein, and Garnet. He still did not ask for their last name, though he was interested in it. The plan was perfect; wait for them to come out, and kill Zidane. They would waste no time, of course. In most instances, as Nmi had heard about and often read about, one would tease the enemy before killing them, and end up being destroyed themselves. They were not that stupid.

AEIN, THE younger, was inside 'Is', and was showing Zidane and Baku what was going on. He waved a hand, and they saw an image of Gaia. Around it were hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of stars. Nothing else was able to be seen. "This was home to you," said Aein, "correct?" Zidane nodded. "We call it Gaia. We came from 'Beginning', a place we can not describe ourselves."

Three silver balls-what Baku assumed was 'Is'-rushed by them, and headed towards Gaia. "This was our home. We lived in this place, a place of perfection. We needed to find a place with different ways, a place of different life. We were looking for somewhere where you only had to concentrate on one thing at a time. A place where you could walk, feel, have emotions, see things, let them happen without the fear of being destroyed. But we were told that day was years off, at least eight.

I couldn't wait that long. With the fear of being sought after and killed, as our civilization was in war, I came up with a plan; what if I could go through time? What if I could go foward through those eight years, and be here quickly?"

"What if you just made everyone else like you?" asked Zidane, wondering why he hadn't done that. "Or destroyed them?"

"You cannot alter a person inside this place except through physical contact. Commands have no effect on living things, here. So, your ancestors, thousands of years back, lived in this universe of itself.

Now, what I did was foward to a time that I would most likely live, which would be a place where was used to the technology, the food, the clothing...basically where I would fit in. I came to your time. What has happened to me?"

Zidane explained. "...We don't exactly know, but you've basically given the machine to the wrong people, and misused it."

"Machine? What machine?"

"This...all this," said Baku.

"I would never do such a thing! ...I watched myself...I did do it," he said, contradicting himself. A look of horror overcame his face.

"Right," replied Zidane. "...You were the one who followed us around the castle...the one who told me 'NO'?"

"And opened the prison doors for us?" asked Baku.

"That was me."

"Then we'll have to thank you, and ask you to come back with us, to help us save you from yourself." Aein thought a moment, then nodded.

WHEN THEY came out of the machine, Terigan, Nmi, and two Aeins were already waiting for them. "So, you have finally arrived," said Terigan. Then he saw Baku and the younger, innocent Aein. "...Who are they?"

"We are your enemy, Terigan. I never should have trusted you with Alexandria."

"No, you should have never trusted me with that machine." He motioned to the Leader Aein, who had Garnet in his arms. Zidane about ran to her, then stopped.

"What have they done to you?" asked Zidane. She smiled in a dark way.

"I've never seen you before," she said. Zidane's nightmares had been realized. He turned, and ran to 'Is'. He reached for the surface, but there was only the loud screech as he pulled his hand away. He beat on the surface while his enemies laughed at him. He turned, and Baku and the younger Aein were gone. Where are they!? Zidane asked himself. His head was screaming in rage through its thoughts.

"It is sad for you, though. We thought it might be smart to permanently give ourselves the power, so we could come out of 'Is' and still use it." Terigan was grinning broadly now. "It is also sad that Baku and your other friend are dead." He motioned to the bodies of Baku, the younger Aein, and Tantalus, which were all on the floor, motionless. "They are all nothing now, Zidane. You cannot join us. You cannot fight us. You can do nothing but listen to us and our commands. You can do nothing but die. Who shall go first?" he asked, to the people behind him.

"I will," said Nmi.

"No, I will," said the Leader Aein.

"Why don't we let the one he loves give him his first doom?" asked Terigan, smiling at her. Garnet walked closer to Zidane, and crossed her arms.

"Garnet, what are you doing? I love you..." said Zidane, walking backwards. All hope was lost for him now. She was the only thing that stood between him and anything in the world right now. What was she going to do?

"Hmm..." she put a finger to her chin. "There's only so many things you can suffer from..."

His mouth dropped in horror as all the others laughed.

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER SIX