*Daguerreo, a week later
Kuja rubbed his injured arm as he walked through the wet library. On the way to the city in the mountain, he had run into a pathetic-looking monster that had demanded a diamond from him. He had laughed at it and threw a rock at it, telling it to shoo. The angered creature then summoned several comets down on him. He managed to get out of that with only an injured arm, having quickly dispatched the creature with a flare spell. However, he was still pretty annoyed. He made his way to the second level of the library and began to look around. Eventually, he found a book entitled, in the Gaian writing, "The Eidolon and I." After looking through it, he found that it really wasn't what he was looking for. This is a work of fiction! The language is rather fascinating though… Stifling his sour mood, Kuja turned to one of the scholars and asked:
"Excuse me, but where are the documents on the eidolons?"
"Lower level to the left, in the middle," the man answered without looking up. Kuja shrugged and went to the place the man had directed him. Sure enough, there were books on eidolons—hundreds of them. I could be here for a while…oh, well. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. He took a deep breath and selected several thick books from various shelves by various authors. He took them back to an empty table and began to read through one. He struggled with the print at first, but he soon became used to it. After he had read through three of them, he had to get up and walk around. They don't understand any more about eidolons than I do, he concluded. These are just the theories of those who've seen them. I guess I've already destroyed this "summoner tribe," that actually knew how to use them. I have to find something written by an actual summoner… He looked up at someone who was staring at him.
"What?!" he barked, for his mood still hadn't improved.
"Where should I start?" the man who spoke was obviously not one of the more respectable Gaians. He wore ratty dress and was missing three teeth and one eye. Kuja quickly wished he hadn't even addressed him.
"Don't. I don't care." The man shoved him, but with the aid of his tail, Kuja didn't stumble far.
"I'll start with that freakin' tail, pretty boy. I seen a lot a strange people here, but none wif stinkin' monkey butts." The ugly man started laughing as Kuja's expression darkened. He didn't know what a "monkey" was, but he didn't like the sound of it. He felt his face flush with anger, as the man began to laugh more. "An' that face, harhar! Now ya look like a freakin' tomato!" That was obviously no compliment either. Kuja brought himself up to his full height.
"Go bash your head against a rock, you sniggering ruffian," he sniffed as he walked by. "It might improve your image." The man whipped out his sword and brought it down with a harsh clang on the railing. Kuja whirled around and backed away from the sparks.
"No one talks to Chugga like that an' gets away wif it!"
"Why am I even speaking to a organism called 'Chugga'?" Kuja quipped. "Chugga" roared like some sort of beast-man and charged at him with his filthy, rusty sword. The genome easily sidestepped the maneuver and caught him in the chin with a quick left jab. The boor fell back against the rail at which Kuja then daintily shoved him over. He fell screaming until he hit the shallows below with a smack and lay face down there. Kuja distastefully rubbed the oaf's grime off of his hands, and looked up at the shopkeeper, who was now staring at him. When she saw his eyes on her though, she quickly looked down.
"Sorry about that," he said aloud to anyone within earshot. For some reason, he felt better now. Only now, he couldn't remember his earlier train of thought. He sighed and returned to his table. Okay, either I have to learn not to stand out so much, or I have to stand out so much that no one bothers me. Either way, the tail has to go. He glanced at "The Eidolon and I" sitting on the edge of his table. I'll get back to work later. This is a lot more pleasurable than anything else on this planet.
*Just north of Alexandria Harbor
"Mama, mama look!" the little girl stated wearily to her mother, who had not responded for a whole day now. Not to her cries of hunger or her begging for water had her mother said anything She just lay there, making Sarah cry more. But Sarah kept talking to her. "I see wand, mama. Mama? Do you see wand?" Sarah sniffed back tears when her mother again failed to reply. She had long since stopped trying to shake her awake. "Well, I see wand…" she pouted at the front of the small boat. She wanted to go to the land; she wanted to eat and she was thirsty. She watched the sun set as her stomach growled. She couldn't see the land anymore; it was too dark. Since it was dark, she decided to go to sleep. She didn't need her mother to tell her she was tired…
***
Dr. Tot heard the commotion at the dock, so he looked up from
his book. The squat, little man walked up to where the workers were and looked
to where they were pointing. He squinted the sun out of his thick glasses
to see a little partially damaged boat floating along. He shouted to get the
dock crew's attention."What are you waiting for? Go tow it in!" They didn't need a second bidding. Two boats were quickly dispatched and, after a while, managed to bring the little wreck in. Tot went down to see if there were any survivors. He could see right away that the woman was dead, but when he picked up the little girl, he was in for a surprise.
"Princess Garnet?!" he exclaimed upon looking at her face.
"What?" a crewmember called back.
"Er…nothing, nothing," Tot smiled at him. He started to walk away with the little girl in his arms. No, the princess has died; nothing could have been done for her. Besides, this girl has a horn. Even if she looks just like the princess…maybe I should take her to see Roger. He took the little, horned girl back to the castle and up to the throne room.
"I must see his Highness," he told the guard.
"Go right ahead, Dr. Tot."
"Thank you." Tot went over to where King Roger til Alexandros the 25th stood looking over his kingdom. The man and his wife, Queen Brahne, hadn't been the same since his daughter by her handmaiden had contracted a disease and died. Tot wondered if he should be doing this. "Your Highness?"
"Yes, Dr. Tot?" the king replied without turning around.
"A boat washed up a little earlier with a dead woman in it, and this child who…well, see for yourself." The king finally turned around to look at the precious little bundle. His jaw went slack as he pulled back the little hood.
"What is this? Have the heavens returned my precious little garnet to me?"
"Sire, we do not know anything about this girl…"
"I have heard enough," Roger raised a hand. "She is Garnet now." Tot was not taken aback. This was quite typical of Roger: to never think about the consequences of his actions. The fact that he was king probably meant that he would never learn otherwise.
"Suppose her family comes looking for her?"
"The woman was dead? Then they will not." The king clutched the tiny girl close to him as if she actually were his deceased daughter. "I want her horn removed and then I want her taken to her bedroom to sleep. I want two servants to wait on her. She is Garnet now. See to it, Dr. Tot."
"Yes, my king," Tot said gravely as he took the girl into his arms.
***
The girl's screams still echoed in his head, even though
now she seemed rather happy, now that she was bathed and fed. He fingered
the horn in his pocket. He would have to look at it later…"Garnet?" said the queen's voice as the door was opened. The little girl looked up to see her, and looked a little shocked. This was understandable, because the queen was less than attractive. But the king had loved her over the more presentable of the noble women, so Brahne became his wife. The queen started to cry when she saw the little face. "Oh she does—she does, Roger! Are you sure it isn't really her?"
"Not entirely, my precious buttercup," he answered. The queen went over to "Garnet" and, bending down, held out her hands to her.
"Come to me, Garnet, dear, come to mama!" she smiled broadly, displaying a fine set of yellow teeth. Roger came over and knelt beside her, also smiling, though his teeth were white.
"Hug, your mother, my child, she has missed you." The little girl looked up at Dr. Tot, confused.
"Go on," he told her. "Garnet" toddled into her "mother's" waiting arms for a hug. When she did, Brahne started her crying anew. When the little beauty had finally pried herself away from the opposite person, she found herself gathered up into Roger's arms and hoisted into the air.
"How do you feel, Princess?" he said with a smile.
"Good!" she smiled back.
"Are you happy, darling?" he hugged her. She seemed to think about that for a while. Finally she nodded.
"Yeah, I wike my new dwess…" Everyone present laughed at this, but then she continued. "But where's my mama?"
"Right there, silly!" He pointed to Brahne, who waved. Now Garnet looked very confused. She looked at the three persons around her and scratched her head. "Let's go for a walk in the garden before we go to dinner!" the king said and carried her out the door, followed by his queen.
"Yes! YES!" Brahne said happily. "I love flowers! Don't you, Garnet?"
"Um, yeah! I do!"
***
Within a week, the girl, who now answered to "Garnet,"
had accepted everything. She was too happy not to, and it seemed like no one
considered that the real Garnet was actually dead. The new Garnet looked just
like, and was beginning to talk just like, the old one. Alexandria Castle
was a happy place again. Even Dr. Tot all but forgot about the little boat
and the dead woman. However, he still had not solved the mystery of the horn.
That was when he was going through his books, and he noticed something. The
members of the summoner tribe that had disappeared had horns. He realized
that the woman, who had also had a horn, and the girl were both probably summoners.
So he brought this matter before the royal couple."Well, she hasn't a horn anymore," Roger slammed his fist on the table for effect, "so it no longer matters."
"Precisely," agreed Brahne, "She is our daughter now. No more of this eidolon rubbish." With that, Tot was forced to leave the matter alone. And eventually, he forgot about it altogether. Besides, he had a princess to educate.
*Two years later, the new site of the Desert Palace
Kuja lazily watched his new creations work. They were somewhat like the genomes in that they were soulless, but they were far less complicated. And they were all the same. His "black mages," as they were called, were meant only to fulfill orders and complete labor; they did not possess the need to be genetically designed like the genomes, because they served a far lesser purpose. Still, Kuja despised them for being like the genomes…for being so much like himself. True, they were his creations, soulless golems destined to fulfill his whims, but he was copying his maker. He hated the black mages because they were shadows of himself. I am better than they are, he kept telling himself. At least, I have a soul. At least, I have my whims for them to fulfill. They are necessary for me to replace Garland .
He stretched out his spine and practiced walking across the newly constructed balcony. After some concentration, and probably some luck, he managed to walk across and back to where he had started only stumbling twice. It was ridiculous, he admitted, having to learn to walk, but he deemed it necessary. He had to learn to walk like a human and that meant without a tail. He had actually had to bind the appendage against his backside to keep from using it, but he was getting the hang of it. After he practice walked around the balcony a few more times, he left his black mages to their work and went back to his quarters on the Invincible. Sitting on the bed, he loosed his tail from its bonds and stroked the silvery velvet with his hands, bringing the feeling back into it. He lay down and stared at the ceiling, taking the kinks out of his tail and considering a new prototype for his black mages. There was little wrong with the ones he had: they were as hard working and efficient as ants. In fact, they were just like ants. The problem was that they would not break from their work long enough to maintain themselves. As a result, many of them had already worked themselves to death.
Kuja laughed aloud at the dilemma. Well, I am new at this, so I guess there's plenty of room for improvement. I'll get it right eventually, I suppose. Give yourself a break! They're probably excellent for a first try! I'd bet Garland never even came close to his goals when he first started, what? Four thousand years ago? Kuja sprawled out on his mattress, relaxing every muscle in his body one at a time. He sighed with pleasure as he practiced the peacefulness. Though he tried not to think of his dilemmas, they all kept pestering his mind, robbing him of the rest he was fighting for, and had been for a while. After nearly a year of studying, he was finally starting to understand the eidolons, and he was finally beginning to realize that it was not going to be easy to get his hands on one, especially the one he wanted. He had to be careful. So far, Garland had left him alone. If he starts to suspect my plans before I am finished…there is no speculation of that; he will finish me .
Now Kuja couldn't even close his eyes; regardless of how tired he was, sleep was not happening. He sighed as his muscles tensed up and his brain went into frenzied reflection. He got out of his bed and went down to the next room: Zidane's old quarters. He never understood why this worked, but often it did. The door slid open for a change of scenery. Kuja tended to enjoy flagrant splendor, while Zidane's tastes had always been more natural, in the most literal sense possible. Kuja had just left his satin sheets for the odd sensation that deerskin provided. It was only comfortable if one lay across it a certain way. He lay his head on the wolf-hide that was supposedly a pillow, and brought the blanket made from some form of wool over his shoulders. He closed his eyes and lay there breathing in the scents of a variety of woods and of long dead creatures. Zidane had obviously known something he hadn't, for soon Kuja's eyelids became too heavy to lift and sleep began to creep in at the back of his mind. He wondered about his brother for the first time in a while as he found the rest that had eluded him for a week.
There you go. Hopefully I can reformat Chapter 5 before I go on vacation.
