{ Melodies of Life 2 }
Zidane sighed. Life was great, really. He had his friends, both in Tantalus, and outside of it.
There was traveling, and performing, more often than not, now. There was visits to Kuja's Grotto, formerly The Black Mage Village. There, the Genomes were being roused into a semblance of life through the frequent visits of Vivi, Eiko, Dagger, Steiner, Amarant, Freija, Quina, and himself. And something that only Mikoto knew: wherever Zidane went, Kuja went. The silver pendant he wore around his neck held a valuable treasure: Kuja's soul.
And, most annoyingly at some times, his rapier wit.
But something, something terribly crucial, was missing. Something Zidane couldn't quite put his finger on.
/I know what's wrong with you, my sweet lovable moron! IT'S BEEN A WHOLE FREAKING YEAR, AND YOU'VE BARELY BEGUN DATING DAGGER!!!/
[Shut up, Kuja]
/Why should I? Back at the Iifa Tree, when we were dying, all you could think of is getting back to her./
[Not ALL,] Zidane thought sourly at his brother.
/Almost, you twit. Are you going to waste your whole life - and my death?/
[Death's forever, Kuja, I can't waste it for you - that's your lucky job. Anyway, she's too busy right now to want to - ]
/Too busy?/ Kuja thought skeptically You moron, when has she EVER been too busy for you?!
[Ahhhh...]
Pretty much when hell's frozen over, huh? Dagger chose that moment to walk into the cottage Zidane lived in.
"Hello!"
"Heyas, Dagger. We're doing a show at Kuja's Grotto - wanna come?"
"Well, when is it?"
"Ahhh..."
/Friday, stupid./
[Shutcher trap.] "It's Friday. Same time as usual."
"All right, I'll come. What play are you doing?"
"It's a surprise," Zidane said, sounding mysterious.
/You think she's GORGEOUS, you want to HOLD her, you want to KISS her, you want to-/ Kuja sing-songed, much to the annoyance (and private embarrassment) of Zidane.
[Kuja, shut up right now, or I swear to you by Odin's Sword, I'll feed you to Chocy.] After depositing Kuja (well, the necklace that held Kuja) in a drawer, Zidane took Dagger out for a long walk. After that, she went back to castle.
Duty calls, and being Queen is a tough duty. Be glad you ain't queens, and if you are - SUCKER!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, at the bar, Zidane made up his mind. Today he would propose to Dagger - with, of course, the beautiful ring Kuja had so generously given him. If she didn't say yes, then Zidane would...he really didn't know what he'd do.
Abruptly, Zidane stood as he slapped down a handful of Gil for his water.
"Ah...sir...water's free here..." the new waitress said timidly. Zidane mentally slapped himself. Back on the Outer Continent, water was a precious commodity, and cost 200 Gil a glass.
"Sorry 'bout that. Here, keep it as your tip."
"Ah, don't go yet, Zidane!" Blank called out.
"Yeah, we're only making bets and giving out raffle tickets for when he's gonna get his ass in gear and marry that girl of his," Marcus muttered.
/Oooh, a raffle...get a ticket, Zidane!!!/ Kuja 'thought' at his little brother.
[Shut up. I'm not wasting my Gil on something that was meant to make fun of me.]
/You do need to marry her soon, moron./
[Duh...where do you think I'm going right now?]
/Madin Sari? Esto Gaza?/
(Funny. Just for that, I'm leaving you with Ruby. There's a play on tonight. You can listen to that. And don't mess with her - or anybody else's head, or I'll feed you to Choco.) Kuja shut up. Zidane left the necklace in his spare room at the mini-theater, and headed for the castle.
"Halt! Oh, it's you, Zidane."
"Hey, Beatrix. Have you seen Dagger?"
"Queen Garnet is in her bedchamber."
"Thanks." With that, Zidane took off through the castle, heading to Dagger's room. Arriving at his destination, Zidane rapped his knuckles on the door, and said,
"Hey Dagger, guess who? It's your favorite bandit-slash-thief-slash-saver of Gaia!!!" Yeah, he could joke and act goofy around her to keep from showing just how nervous he was.
"Oh! Come in!" Zidane opened the door to see Dagger sealing an envelope. Suddenly, Zidane felt his nerve leave him. And just as swiftly, a better idea formed itself in his mind.
"So, are you busy for lunch? Cuz I'm starved, and the guys at the bar are bein' RUDE to me."
"Poor baby," she said, looking up from her stacks of paper. "So you came here to beg food. Oh, well. I'll feed you - but it's gonna cost you."
"I'm broke." Which, of course, was a total lie.
"Hmm, no food for little Zidane."
"I'll come up with something - just not Gil."
"I'll humor you because you're so cute." And with that, Dagger stood and Zidane followed. They wasted time at the table, just the two of them, talking as if it had been four years ago, things like funny stories - like when Zidane was on a raid and got his tail stuck in the window he was jumping out of, and how Blank had to come to his rescue. Things like that, just plain small talk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was close to midnight. A dark figure crept through the window, over to Dagger's bed...Dagger's scream was cut off by the person kissing her. When her captor released her, a familiar voice breathed,
"Shhhh....it's only me."
"Zidane!" Dagger hissed. "You scared me half to death!"
"I love you too," he said dryly. "Here's your stuff from...four years ago. Get dressed in your bathroom - I'll see you when you're done." Dagger grumbled, but accepted the bundle of orange and white, not bothering to wonder where he'd found them.
After she changed, Dagger felt herself being tucked under one of Zidane's strong arms.
"You have to trust me," he whispered, "or we could end up being little more than a splat on the streets of Alexandria." Dagger nodded mutely. At her affirmation, Zidane hopped out the window, and went through a series of flips, jumps, and turns that left Dagger feeling like she left her stomach back in her castle bedroom.
After what seemed like an eternity of the sickening faster-than-lightspeed travel, they landed near a small lake. Zidane grinned.
"Feel like swimming?"
"Ah...Zidane..." Zidane laughed out loud.
"HEY!!! I CAN swim, you know!" she cried out, soundly smacking the chuckling Genome in front of her.
"Never said you couldn't." And with that, Zidane picked her up again, and promptly dumped her into the freezing cold water. Dagger surfaced, sputtering and coughing.
"I thought you said you could swim," Zidane teased mildly.
"The question is, Zidane, can you?" Zidane had exactly three seconds to register what she said, and after that, he was, well, wet. Only Dagger wasn't as merciful as he had been, and she kept his head rooted firmly underwater for almost a full minute. After that, she relented, realizing that he needed air to survive, and that wasn't exactly accessible when one's head is shoved under the surface of a cold lake. Zidane surfaced in the same manner as Dagger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If it was cold in the lake, then it was even colder sitting dripping wet in the branches of a tree. But that's where Zidane and Dagger were, snuggled up. Zidane decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
"Dagger...I love you."
"I love you too, Zidane." That being confirmed, he took a tattered box out of his pocket (AN: pocket? what pocket? ^.~), opened it, and offered the ring to Dagger, timidly saying,
"Will you marry me?" Dagger gasped, seeing the ring by the light of the full moon. A garnet (AN: now ain't that ironic?) shaped like a rose, encircled by diamonds, set on a gold band. The very next thing Zidane felt was Dagger kissing him. When she let go, her head tilted forward to rest on his shoulder, and he murmured in her ear,
"Can I take that as a 'yes'?"
"Of course."
In the middle of their embrace, neither one noticed the pair of glittering, angry silver eyes that watched them in the shadows....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blank came running out of the bar, jumping up and down. A sullen Marcus and Cinna followed. The aforementioned jumping bandit ran right into a slim girl with slightly spiky blonde hair, and unexpressive blue eyes.
"Ah...hi Mikoto...Have you heard about Zidane and Dagger?"
"Yes. That is why I left Kuja's Grotto."
"So you're here for the wedding?"
"Yes. The other mages and Genomes are also here. My brother and his fiancé will be spending their honeymoon at the Grotto, and it was assumed that they would require privacy."
"Ah...yeah..."
"Goodbye. Zidane expressed a desire to converse with me."
"Uh...bye..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trani scowled at the image being displayed in the floating orb in front of her. Zidane and his fiancé, that annoying child Dagger, laughing as they wrote up invitations for their wedding together. She stood up, and in a fit of anger, spun around and punched a hole into her stone chair.
"How DARE she!" Trani roared, her silvery eyes flashing. "It would be all SO MUCH EASIER if that half-baked moron Kuja hadn't given him THAT ring to use!" She took a deep breath, then slid back into her chair. Maybe she could still use that spell that would ruin a wedding...no, that was useless. Only Kuja and herself really knew the full powers of that ring, the Garnet Rose, and it had an enchantment so powerful only the one who offered it...in this case, Kuja, could go against the spell: a recipe for a perfect, hitch-free wedding.
Normally, she'd slink into Dremoria, the world parallel to Memoria, and put a spell on Kuja so that he'd ruin the wedding for her. But him being pure soul and little else at this time, he would be immune to the Dream-User spells that would do the job. And the necklace! Zidane had gone to more than a decent amount of trouble to secure the fact that the necklace would let itself be a host to Kuja.
For now, as the only Genome still loyal to Garland, all she could do was seethe.
And destroy the furniture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back on Gaia, the people of Alexandria had no idea that their future King was being threatened by a female Genome, currently living between Dremoria, Memoria, the Spiritual Realm, and the Mortal Realm.
All Steiner and Beatrix knew was that, with their magically heightened danger senses, trouble was on the horizon.
Or, rather, death.
The death of a Queen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooo, cliffhanger.
Yay being alive.
Email me with C&C! Luv an' God Bless,
~*~Katra Raberba Winner~*~
Zidane sighed. Life was great, really. He had his friends, both in Tantalus, and outside of it.
There was traveling, and performing, more often than not, now. There was visits to Kuja's Grotto, formerly The Black Mage Village. There, the Genomes were being roused into a semblance of life through the frequent visits of Vivi, Eiko, Dagger, Steiner, Amarant, Freija, Quina, and himself. And something that only Mikoto knew: wherever Zidane went, Kuja went. The silver pendant he wore around his neck held a valuable treasure: Kuja's soul.
And, most annoyingly at some times, his rapier wit.
But something, something terribly crucial, was missing. Something Zidane couldn't quite put his finger on.
/I know what's wrong with you, my sweet lovable moron! IT'S BEEN A WHOLE FREAKING YEAR, AND YOU'VE BARELY BEGUN DATING DAGGER!!!/
[Shut up, Kuja]
/Why should I? Back at the Iifa Tree, when we were dying, all you could think of is getting back to her./
[Not ALL,] Zidane thought sourly at his brother.
/Almost, you twit. Are you going to waste your whole life - and my death?/
[Death's forever, Kuja, I can't waste it for you - that's your lucky job. Anyway, she's too busy right now to want to - ]
/Too busy?/ Kuja thought skeptically You moron, when has she EVER been too busy for you?!
[Ahhhh...]
Pretty much when hell's frozen over, huh? Dagger chose that moment to walk into the cottage Zidane lived in.
"Hello!"
"Heyas, Dagger. We're doing a show at Kuja's Grotto - wanna come?"
"Well, when is it?"
"Ahhh..."
/Friday, stupid./
[Shutcher trap.] "It's Friday. Same time as usual."
"All right, I'll come. What play are you doing?"
"It's a surprise," Zidane said, sounding mysterious.
/You think she's GORGEOUS, you want to HOLD her, you want to KISS her, you want to-/ Kuja sing-songed, much to the annoyance (and private embarrassment) of Zidane.
[Kuja, shut up right now, or I swear to you by Odin's Sword, I'll feed you to Chocy.] After depositing Kuja (well, the necklace that held Kuja) in a drawer, Zidane took Dagger out for a long walk. After that, she went back to castle.
Duty calls, and being Queen is a tough duty. Be glad you ain't queens, and if you are - SUCKER!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, at the bar, Zidane made up his mind. Today he would propose to Dagger - with, of course, the beautiful ring Kuja had so generously given him. If she didn't say yes, then Zidane would...he really didn't know what he'd do.
Abruptly, Zidane stood as he slapped down a handful of Gil for his water.
"Ah...sir...water's free here..." the new waitress said timidly. Zidane mentally slapped himself. Back on the Outer Continent, water was a precious commodity, and cost 200 Gil a glass.
"Sorry 'bout that. Here, keep it as your tip."
"Ah, don't go yet, Zidane!" Blank called out.
"Yeah, we're only making bets and giving out raffle tickets for when he's gonna get his ass in gear and marry that girl of his," Marcus muttered.
/Oooh, a raffle...get a ticket, Zidane!!!/ Kuja 'thought' at his little brother.
[Shut up. I'm not wasting my Gil on something that was meant to make fun of me.]
/You do need to marry her soon, moron./
[Duh...where do you think I'm going right now?]
/Madin Sari? Esto Gaza?/
(Funny. Just for that, I'm leaving you with Ruby. There's a play on tonight. You can listen to that. And don't mess with her - or anybody else's head, or I'll feed you to Choco.) Kuja shut up. Zidane left the necklace in his spare room at the mini-theater, and headed for the castle.
"Halt! Oh, it's you, Zidane."
"Hey, Beatrix. Have you seen Dagger?"
"Queen Garnet is in her bedchamber."
"Thanks." With that, Zidane took off through the castle, heading to Dagger's room. Arriving at his destination, Zidane rapped his knuckles on the door, and said,
"Hey Dagger, guess who? It's your favorite bandit-slash-thief-slash-saver of Gaia!!!" Yeah, he could joke and act goofy around her to keep from showing just how nervous he was.
"Oh! Come in!" Zidane opened the door to see Dagger sealing an envelope. Suddenly, Zidane felt his nerve leave him. And just as swiftly, a better idea formed itself in his mind.
"So, are you busy for lunch? Cuz I'm starved, and the guys at the bar are bein' RUDE to me."
"Poor baby," she said, looking up from her stacks of paper. "So you came here to beg food. Oh, well. I'll feed you - but it's gonna cost you."
"I'm broke." Which, of course, was a total lie.
"Hmm, no food for little Zidane."
"I'll come up with something - just not Gil."
"I'll humor you because you're so cute." And with that, Dagger stood and Zidane followed. They wasted time at the table, just the two of them, talking as if it had been four years ago, things like funny stories - like when Zidane was on a raid and got his tail stuck in the window he was jumping out of, and how Blank had to come to his rescue. Things like that, just plain small talk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was close to midnight. A dark figure crept through the window, over to Dagger's bed...Dagger's scream was cut off by the person kissing her. When her captor released her, a familiar voice breathed,
"Shhhh....it's only me."
"Zidane!" Dagger hissed. "You scared me half to death!"
"I love you too," he said dryly. "Here's your stuff from...four years ago. Get dressed in your bathroom - I'll see you when you're done." Dagger grumbled, but accepted the bundle of orange and white, not bothering to wonder where he'd found them.
After she changed, Dagger felt herself being tucked under one of Zidane's strong arms.
"You have to trust me," he whispered, "or we could end up being little more than a splat on the streets of Alexandria." Dagger nodded mutely. At her affirmation, Zidane hopped out the window, and went through a series of flips, jumps, and turns that left Dagger feeling like she left her stomach back in her castle bedroom.
After what seemed like an eternity of the sickening faster-than-lightspeed travel, they landed near a small lake. Zidane grinned.
"Feel like swimming?"
"Ah...Zidane..." Zidane laughed out loud.
"HEY!!! I CAN swim, you know!" she cried out, soundly smacking the chuckling Genome in front of her.
"Never said you couldn't." And with that, Zidane picked her up again, and promptly dumped her into the freezing cold water. Dagger surfaced, sputtering and coughing.
"I thought you said you could swim," Zidane teased mildly.
"The question is, Zidane, can you?" Zidane had exactly three seconds to register what she said, and after that, he was, well, wet. Only Dagger wasn't as merciful as he had been, and she kept his head rooted firmly underwater for almost a full minute. After that, she relented, realizing that he needed air to survive, and that wasn't exactly accessible when one's head is shoved under the surface of a cold lake. Zidane surfaced in the same manner as Dagger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If it was cold in the lake, then it was even colder sitting dripping wet in the branches of a tree. But that's where Zidane and Dagger were, snuggled up. Zidane decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
"Dagger...I love you."
"I love you too, Zidane." That being confirmed, he took a tattered box out of his pocket (AN: pocket? what pocket? ^.~), opened it, and offered the ring to Dagger, timidly saying,
"Will you marry me?" Dagger gasped, seeing the ring by the light of the full moon. A garnet (AN: now ain't that ironic?) shaped like a rose, encircled by diamonds, set on a gold band. The very next thing Zidane felt was Dagger kissing him. When she let go, her head tilted forward to rest on his shoulder, and he murmured in her ear,
"Can I take that as a 'yes'?"
"Of course."
In the middle of their embrace, neither one noticed the pair of glittering, angry silver eyes that watched them in the shadows....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blank came running out of the bar, jumping up and down. A sullen Marcus and Cinna followed. The aforementioned jumping bandit ran right into a slim girl with slightly spiky blonde hair, and unexpressive blue eyes.
"Ah...hi Mikoto...Have you heard about Zidane and Dagger?"
"Yes. That is why I left Kuja's Grotto."
"So you're here for the wedding?"
"Yes. The other mages and Genomes are also here. My brother and his fiancé will be spending their honeymoon at the Grotto, and it was assumed that they would require privacy."
"Ah...yeah..."
"Goodbye. Zidane expressed a desire to converse with me."
"Uh...bye..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trani scowled at the image being displayed in the floating orb in front of her. Zidane and his fiancé, that annoying child Dagger, laughing as they wrote up invitations for their wedding together. She stood up, and in a fit of anger, spun around and punched a hole into her stone chair.
"How DARE she!" Trani roared, her silvery eyes flashing. "It would be all SO MUCH EASIER if that half-baked moron Kuja hadn't given him THAT ring to use!" She took a deep breath, then slid back into her chair. Maybe she could still use that spell that would ruin a wedding...no, that was useless. Only Kuja and herself really knew the full powers of that ring, the Garnet Rose, and it had an enchantment so powerful only the one who offered it...in this case, Kuja, could go against the spell: a recipe for a perfect, hitch-free wedding.
Normally, she'd slink into Dremoria, the world parallel to Memoria, and put a spell on Kuja so that he'd ruin the wedding for her. But him being pure soul and little else at this time, he would be immune to the Dream-User spells that would do the job. And the necklace! Zidane had gone to more than a decent amount of trouble to secure the fact that the necklace would let itself be a host to Kuja.
For now, as the only Genome still loyal to Garland, all she could do was seethe.
And destroy the furniture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back on Gaia, the people of Alexandria had no idea that their future King was being threatened by a female Genome, currently living between Dremoria, Memoria, the Spiritual Realm, and the Mortal Realm.
All Steiner and Beatrix knew was that, with their magically heightened danger senses, trouble was on the horizon.
Or, rather, death.
The death of a Queen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooo, cliffhanger.
Yay being alive.
Email me with C&C! Luv an' God Bless,
~*~Katra Raberba Winner~*~