FINAL FANTASY: INQUISITION
By Thomas Knapp
Act Five- Scene Four
Tamara was probably sleeping peacefully… and Midas only wished that he had been able to do the same. Instead, he sat on a large rock outside the cabin of a small, abandoned military outpost two days north of Cairos.
Midas was deeply troubled, and it was for a good reason… or at least HE thought so. Hades didn't seem to agree, and the Eidolon Lord stated such every so often.
She probably thinks that you're scared of her now. Hades said in disapproval. After professing your feelings for her, you run away from her. She's probably utterly confused.
'There is a time and a place for anything. This is NEITHER.' Midas asserted.
Oh, and what IS the time and place? The two of you are not going to be alone much longer… You intend to return to the Outlaw camp and free Borz tomorrow. And there is no guarantee that EITHER of you will still be alive when all this is finished.
Midas regarded that logic silently. The Eidolon Lord made SOME sense, which was why the argument was so hard to debunk; especially when all Midas had to support him really was just insecurity.
So Midas tried another tactic, "Well… YOU didn't help any."
ME? Hades scoffed. Think about it one more time…
An hour earlier…
"I can walk on my own, you know." Tamara commented as Midas carried her through the doorway of the cabin.
"Well… I wanted to make up for my comments on your weight earlier." Midas said with a slight flush. "Besides, you need to conserve as much energy as you can, right now you need rest."
"HA!" The knight laughed, "Resting is all you've been letting me do. I'm perfectly fine now." To prove it, she pushed herself away from Midas, rolling to her feet barely 10 centimeters from one of the bunks.
She smirked triumphantly, eyes narrowed in challenge, "See… PERFECTLY fine."
Midas pursed his lips, and with the blink of an eye, had Hades' sword in his hand, lunging forward. Tamara gasped as the blade rushed to meet her, the magical steel stopping millimeters short of her throat. She could FEEL the heat of its magical purple fire underneath her chin.
"If you were PERFECTLY FINE… I would have paid dearly in my own blood for such a risky lunge that left me open to your counterattack. The fact that you didn't even have the energy to dodge tells me all I need to know."
Tamara licked her lips, and said, "Okay… so maybe I'm not FULLY back to form…" Then as Midas pulled the weapon away, she added a little more haughtily, "But you don't exactly need to CODDLE me either."
Midas sighed in resignation, "I know… I'm just… I… I don't want you overdo it. It's gonna be tough enough when you are back at full strength." Finally, he groaned in frustration, and added, "Oh, why can't I just say it?"
He took one of her hands in his, and said softly, "I care about you… and I want to do everything I can to make sure that you are always safe."
Tamara looked away slightly, and replied, "I… care about you too. I don't want you push yourself on my account. I CAN take care of myself on occasion. Have a little faith in me."
Midas whirled around to appraise the cabin, and said, "I'll try. It's just… I've never felt this strongly for someone before. I'll get overprotective at times." He tested the mattresses on several of the bunks, and said, "Well, I guess I'll sleep on the floor. None of the beds on this side are any good."
The sounds of armor plates falling to the floor caught his attention. He turned his head to look at Tamara. She had a slight flush in her cheeks, and she motioned to the officer's bed, the only one that still appeared to be in decent condition. "You can use this one."
Midas shook his head, and retorted, "Nonsense. Then where are YOU going to sleep?"
Tamara unbuttoned the front of her tunic, and as it slid off her shoulders, Midas eyes bulged, suddenly aware of where Tamara intended to sleep. His breath caught in his throat, and for a moment he was paralyzed in one part awe, and one part irrational terror. Then he felt a sudden, inexplicable draft.
Glancing down, he noticed that the top half of the jet-black armor that he had been wearing had mysteriously disappeared, leaving him bare from the waist up. Quickly, he identified the culprit. 'HADES!' Midas screamed in his thoughts.
Just trying to help things along. Hades answered with a chuckle. In a blind panic, Midas reacted in the only way that he could think of.
He ran out the doorway, slamming the wooden door on the way out.
Present…
Tamara hadn't followed, and that was what brought Midas to his current problem. He could just walk back in there. If he waited long enough, perhaps Tamara would fall asleep, and he could sneak in. Or… he could just sleep out under the stars.
At that moment, a small droplet of water dropped from above, and splashed onto his nose. Then, not even a blink later, a torrential downpour cascaded to the ground, as if the creator god had opened the sky like a water spigot. 'So much for sleeping under the stars.' Midas thought wryly, then added, "And I don't doubt for a minute you didn't have anything to do with this.'
Moi? I think not. Hades corrected. My power is directly bound to you now. I cannot act without your consent under any circumstances. Perhaps this is a… sign from above.
Midas did not entirely believe Hades, but whoever was responsible for this sudden storm did the trick quite effectively. Rushing back to the cabin, he swung open the door, and lunged inside.
If Tamara had been sleeping, the noise of Midas's entry would have awoken her. However, when she rolled over, she didn't appear to have been asleep for even a moment. She scrutinized Midas, then with a half smile commented, "You're soaking wet."
"I can fix that quickly enough." Midas stated, "But… I wanted to apologize for my actions earlier."
"How so?" Tamara asked, attentively tuning into what Midas had to say.
"It's not that I don't… you know…" Midas said, trying (and failing) to keep from blushing. "It's just… I want it to be special. Not like this."
Midas quickly glanced down to the floor, where armor, tunic, trousers, and undergarments lied in a neatly folded pile. He gulped nervously before finishing. "I don't want to disappoint you."
It started as a soft chuckle, but within seconds, Tamara was laughing out loud. Regaining her composure, she said gently, "Midas… being with you is special enough for me, no matter where we are."
Told you. Hades quipped.
'If you still had a throat, I'd throttle you.' Midas thought, and thus he nearly missed what Tamara said next.
"As for disappointing me…" Tamara teased, "After the disappointments in my life, you'd NEVER be able to come close. Not at this stage."
He approached where Tamara lied, his face hovering over hers. "Are you sure?"
"We won't get a chance like this again." She affirmed, "If not now… when?"
This time, he was not interrupted, and his lips met hers at first gently, gradually increasing into a burning fervor. His last coherent thought was to the Eidolon Lord fused with him. 'Hades… NOW you can help things along if you wish.'
Morning…
"Did you sleep well?" Midas teased as he readied the chocobo for the last leg of their trip.
Tamara stuck her tongue out at him, and said, "SOMEONE kept waking me up every few hours."
Midas then grew more serious, "How are you feeling?"
The knight thought about this, and said, "You know… I don't think I've felt this well in a LONG time."
Midas smirked, but when he lunged forward, sword in hand, Tamara nimbly leaned to the left. Her sword zipped free of its scabbard, and took a graceful arc, pausing abruptly before striking the extended plate of armor covering Midas's neck.
His smirk broadened into a full-fledged smile as he regained his feet. "It's good to know you're back at the top of your form."
She whispered softly into his ear, "I had a lot of help. Thank you."
Midas flushed, and then motioned to chocobo. He stammered, "Well… we best be going. The longer we dawdle, the worse things become."
Outlaw Camp, later that day…
Cid watch the pair enter the camp almost triumphantly. Instantly, the mood of the survivors increased dramatically. Cid marveled at how such a small victory boosted morale. He slipped through the crowd that had circled Midas and Tamara when they had dismounted, finally emerging through the mob, nearly colliding with Midas's breastplate in the process.
Before Cid could say anything, "We don't have much time to waste. I'm going to do what I can to recover Borz. I need you to prepare some sort of way for us to cross the ocean."
"I think I can help you there, lad." A deep, robust voice from the crowd said. The figure belonging to the voice pushed his way through the crowd, his broad toothy smile putting Midas slightly on guard.
"Midas, Tamara," Cid began, "I don't know if Harmon told you about him…"
"The name's Micho." The large, gray haired man said, "I was Harmon's chief mechanic in Overlook."
"Okay… Micho…" Midas began, "How can you help us? Do you have a ship?"
Micho laughed, and slapping Midas on the back so hard he nearly stumbled replied, "I can do one better, young man!" Micho pointed to the outskirts of the camp, where Midas realized that there was something different there for the first time.
The bottom part looked like a normal sea-faring vessel, complete with a deck and rudder, but instead of masts, long lengths of metal cable connected the bottom portion to the top, a large floating balloon.
"It's one of Harmon's blueprints that I decided to finally make a reality. On its maiden flight, my crew and I sorta had to make an emergency landing. Fortunately, we were able to bring her down next to this camp here."
"Wait a minute…" Tamara interrupted, "Did you just say, maiden FLIGHT?"
"Indeed I did, lass. Indeed I did. With this 'airship', get it? AIR-SHIP? Anyway, with this, you'll be sailing the waves of the sky. Almost anywhere, from the highest mountains, to the furthest islands will be accessible with this thing… granted, once I work all the bugs out of it…"
"How long will this take?" Cid asked before either Midas or Tamara could.
"Oh… about a week, I'd wager… depending on what problems pop up."
Midas nodded, "That's fine… there's still more that Tamara and I can do here, anyway. There's another of our allies on this continent other than Borz."
"Who?" Tamara asked.
"He's in the Media area. Take a guess."
Tamara didn't need to. "So, once we free Borz… we'll go get Creed, and once we've done that, Micho should have the… airship… ready."
"That's a good plan." Micho answered affirmatively. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."
Later in the Outlaw Camp…
Cid escorted Midas and Tamara to the cocoon that held Borz in containment. Midas motioned to the other two to take a step back. "It might get a little… messy." After Cid and Tamara complied, Midas put his hand on the translucent shell, connecting directly with Borz's tortured mind.
"MIDAS! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Borz chirped, "Hey… nice clothes! Where'dya get 'em?"
Midas smirked ruefully. "It's a long story that I can explain when you get out of this mess."
"Are you sure you even WANT me?" Borz asked, "Won't I just be a burden on you again?"
Midas shook his head. "Borz, you were never a burden even BEFORE you had no control of your magic. It was ALWAYS nice to have that extra set of hands. And now… you're invaluable."
Midas couldn't see it, but he was sure that Borz had smiled, "You sure have gotten nice all of a sudden, you know that? The old Midas would have said something crass like, 'Eh… you were good at drawing the enemy fire.' Or something like that."
"Yeah… I probably would have. Things sure have changed haven't they?" Midas reflected.
"But you know what hasn't changed?"
Midas became more attentive, and asked, "What's that?"
Borz twiddled his thumbs, and said, "Despite all my fears, and questions about myself… I'll follow you, Midas. If you think I can do the job… that's all I need to know."
"I KNOW you can do the job… but there is something I'd like for you to do for me…"
Meanwhile…
Tamara shifted nervously from her right foot to her left, then back again. "What is taking so long?"
"I know what you mean…" Cid agreed. "Borz ADORED Midas. I can't imagine it would be that hard to convince Borz to help him.
As if on cue, the shell began to crack, and Midas leaped out of range as the cocoon contents spilled out. He then jumped back into the pool of goo to keep Borz from having a painful headfirst meeting with the ground.
The little Black Mage gasped, then with a couple coughs, ejected a small amount of the slime from his throat. Finally able to breathe clearly, Borz staggered to his feet, but then wobbled, falling on his back before anyone could react.
Three concerned faces filled his still swimming vision, and he squeaked, "Whoa… that was cool…"
Helping the little mage to his feet, Borz held out his hands to stabilize his balance. Midas was slightly concerned, but Hades interjected. He's a moogle, correct? Those sprites are known for their incredible resiliency. He'll recover MUCH quicker than Tamara did.
As if affirming that statement, Borz began taking tentative steps, gradually increasing in speed and confidence. He looked down at his feet, jumped twice, and then began bouncing somewhat energetically. It was apparent that he still wasn't fully energized, but Midas held no doubts that it wouldn't take long.
Borz whirled to face the three onlookers, and said, "Well… what are we waiting for? Midas told me that the old freak Creed is sitting around in a little slime pool like I was. We better go get him!"
Midas quickly lunged forward, and grabbed Borz by the shoulder. With a chuckle, he said, "Aren't you forgetting something, little guy?"
Borz paused, then his eyes snapped open. "Oh YEAH! Sorry…"
Tamara and Cid blinked, wondering as to what the pair were talking about. Their questions were answered when Borz reached up, grabbed his hat with both hands, and in one smooth motion, pulled it off his head, and tossed it across the room.
"Midas asked me to never wear that thing again." Borz explained, "And ya know what? Maybe he's right. I'm a moogle, and I can't change that. If people don't like it, well, it's their problem. I don't need to hide from anybody."
Borz waited for some sort of response, but grew impatient when none came. Finally, the moogle shrugged, and started to leave. Midas motioned for Tamara, and said, "Come on… he WILL leave us behind."
"It just doesn't strike me as something Borz would do." Tamara noted.
"Before, I would have agreed with you." Midas said, "But Borz has finally accepted who he is. That sort of thing tends to give you the courage to take on the world."
A good thing too, because right now, you might as well be taking on the whole world. Hades added wryly.
End Scene Four