Regular text: narrative, sort of
Italics: Zidane
Underlined: Garland's voice
Bold: Anonymous voice
Mixed forms: I think you'll recognize.
Well then, Enjoy!
"What's [a name]? It is not hand, nor foot,
nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man." (from "Romeo
and Juliet," by William Shakespeare)
*Bran Bal…
How can you reject them like this, Zidane? They're like you; can't you help them too? You always help everyone else…
"Vivi!" Eiko yelled at him, making him jump. "Where are the others?!"
"At the inn, I think…" he said, adjusting his hat. "Why? What's wrong?"
"It's Zidane…"
*Pandemonium…
Garland continued to talk in that patronizing briefing-a-lesser-life-form tone: "Well…now you should be fully aware of the meaning of your existence…" Zidane had come to the same conclusion he had started with, and he didn't feel that he needed to listen to this man any more. Garland jolted back, alarmed, as Zidane approached him.
"Yeah," Zidane uttered softly. I know the meaning of my existence. "I'm aware…of all the laughter and all the tears I've shared with the people I grew up with on Gaia." Garland came out of his alarm and stepped down to stand over his second angel. The patronizing tone continued:
"Forget all that. You are destined to live among the stars for all eternity. You have the power, the position, and the motive to do it." For a moment, only put this way, did the proposition seem inviting. He had never considered the stars that way before. Your destiny will defeat your design . Because I always wanted to live under them, not among them—I know what I want.
"I wouldn't want that kind of power if I only had a place to call home," Zidane's voice remained soft and low, but strong with conviction. "My brothers in Tantalus, Vivi, Freya, Amarant, Quina, Steiner, Eiko, and…" Dare I say most importantly? "Dagger…" Zidane's tone rose, "My home is with them in Gaia!" Garland seemed content to let him finish. Which was fine. "If you say I have a motive, then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!" Zidane saw…disappointment in Garland's eyes. It enraged him that the man was not taking him seriously. "I'll destroy Terra! That's reason enough for my birth here as a Genome!"
"Regrettable," Garland sighed. "I thought your soul would be perfect for a new angel of death…" Why do you continue to underrate me? Zidane assumed a more threatening pose.
"I AM the new Angel of Death! Yours!!"
"Do you not know what it means to meet your maker?" the patronizing voice, as before. The words sent a shiver down Zidane's spine. Damn you, he thought, realizing that he had no clue what Garland could
do, but he was not going to turn back.
"Shut up!" he was shouting now. "I've heard enough of your crap! I'm taking you out, right here, right now!"
"Foolishness…" Garland sighed again with more disappointment. The body becomes a vessel, which greets a new soul… The words echoed through existence—a spell. Existence, what was this? A searing pain ripped through Zidane's very mind. He could feel his consciousness…his being…being torn from him. His life flashed before his eyes… He clutched his head in panicked agony.
"What's happening?!" he wailed as the ground loomed up at him: the last thing he would see.
"He's too good to make into a regular Genome…" these words became a sigh as he remembered Zidane's resolve. This soul is useless to me. "But I have no choice." He reached his hand out to make contact with his second angel's head. The spell would be stronger this way.
Stop! Please stop! Please don't rape my mind! it begged. No, it was Zidane who was begging. This soul was a person of some sort, not just a logbook residing in the mind of a genome. Thoughts and experiences, not logically organized, but still holding some sort of complex arrangement to themselves, trickled through Garland's senses. So…my work of perfection is not what I intended at all. You are an even grander defect than Kuja. I never intended to create a naturally sentient being. What are you to disturb my plans? Who are you to disrupt my mission? And what can I do with you? As he sifted through Zidane's memories for an answer, a memory surfaced in his own mind...
It seemed all was going well, as the hushed collection of Terrans watched the two planet essences move to merge. The Gaul and highlander tribes seemed particularly tense, Garland noticed. This was probably because they were afraid of being proven wrong, he decided confidently. It was disturbing, however, to hear one highland female burying her face into the chest of the tribal leader whimpering:
"I can hear the Gaian lives' screams of confusion…" Then it happened. For a nanosecond, the planets touched, and Gaia recoiled. Both planets immediately returned to their normal states, but in that infinitesimal amount of time, Terra had jolted in its rotation. As a result, the continental plates shifted and the surface was ripped apart. But when the mountains had settled into their new forms, Garland found himself alive. The sunlight filtered in through massive clouds of dust as a large piece of building was hoisted away by the body beside him. He looked up at his savior, who was busily coughing in the thick dust. He recognized him as Iiban, one of the Highlanders. The man hoisted him out of the debris, before collapsing next to him, where they both choked on the air-born dirt for a few minutes. Iiban drew his sleeve across his nose and once he began to breath normally, looked at his rescuee. Garland had done the same, and from behind the cloth:
"Thank you…"
"Hmph," the highlander responded, sitting up. "I wish I could have saved the dog instead of you."
Do you highlanders still have it in for me? Have I given birth to my own bane? His thoughts were interrupted when he came across a tidy package of memories that were blocked from Zidane's access, appearing to him only as a blue light. Garland, however, helped himself. This explains a lot. Suddenly, Garland knew how he might still be able to use Zidane. He violently swept Zidane's life collections away, sending them tumbling, jumbled and fragmented, into the corners of his mind. Then, he thrust forward the earliest memories: The training of the Genome. See the truth for yourself, he said as he left the mind of the Angel of Death.
"Who are you?"
True memories are retained by the soul.
The memories must reconnect to the mind before
A reflection…an image… {A blonde
boy with a tail?}
This is me. You are not. Zidane!Yeah,
I was called that once. Many people called me that. An illusion.
A fragment… an accusation… {You're called Eiko: named girl}
"You always have to show off, don't you?" she pouted and
disappeared as readily as she appeared. Yeah, maybe I do. A point.
A recollection… an insult… {You're called Steiner: named man}
"Why, you worthless mendicant!" he shook an angry, accusing
forefinger. Yep… Sounds about right. An agreement.
A vision…a compliment… {You're called Freya: named woman}
"How very becoming of you," a smile that vanished with
her. Becoming of me…? Confusion…
A reminiscence…an encouragement… {You're called Vivi: named boy}
"I really learned a lot by traveling with you, Zidane,"
the voice, not the face, shared emotion. Yeah, right. I have nothing to
teach…
A teaching…a student… {You're called
Quina: named thing}
"You teach me many things more important than tasty munchies,"
words around a pink tongue. No! I don't know anything!See the truth
for yourself.
A question…a remark… {Amarant: a
given name}
"You call that friendship?" he snorted. Friendship…
Friendship…? An importance…
A treasure… a truth… {Dagger: a
chosen name}
"Zidane!" the call of a cherished one. Who are you?
I don't know… who I am…
The truth…?
"You were always there for me, Zidane…" I tried. I'm
so… tired…
...
"How come you're always so…?" Unfinished. My will
meant nothing to Garland!Do as I say. My WILL.I… I am…an…empty…vessel…
"Zidane!"
Who? You know who.
"Wake up, Zidane!" Who…? Yourself.
"Come on, Zidane, wake up!"
But once I was…My Will… am I still?
anything can be resolved.
"Zidane!" Vivi's voice, and the other Eiko's.
"Vivi… Eiko…" he opened his eyes and barely registered the visual conformation.
"Thank goodness, you're alive!" Eiko continued. "We thought you were dead!" Dead? Why not?
"Oh…" Zidane moaned as he recalled why he had left everyone, "I…"
"We were so worried!" Vivi sobbed. "Why did you come here all by yourself?" That's none of your business. You should be home, where you're safe.
"What… are you doing here?"
"Huh?" Vivi looked startled. "We came to save you, of course…" Come to save me? What's to save?
"And it wasn't easy!" Eiko made this clear with a wide gesture. "You went off all alone!" Alone? Sure. I'm something different: there is no place I belong…But… Zidane stood up and began to walk towards… I will resolve this. Or I will die trying.
Because I care about you guys:
I won't let you know the truth…
Go on, insult me, yell at me, and degrade me… God knows I deserve it.
It makes no difference…
Just don't follow.
This is my problem; I don't want you to get hurt…
Because I… I care
I will resolve this, or I will die trying.
"Is this how you want to solve the problem?" Garnet asked, angry.
"Dagger…" …I care about you the most. I don't want to hurt you, but…
"You try to do everything by yourself, don't you?" Sometimes…yes, I do. But I have to. Someone's gonna get hurt. I'd prefer it to be me.
"Try to understand…" Zidane searched for the right words, not wanting to tell Dagger the truth about himself. You can't forgive Kuja, and I'm just like him. "I don't want to cause trouble to anyone."
"Aren't we your friends?" she looked about ready to cry. Zidane felt like crying too.
"I want to think so! That's why I always…(protected you)" The truth is what is fair to everyone. "Look, I'm not from Gaia. I was just a hairsbreadth from becoming the destroyer of Alexandria! I can't accept your friendship so easily!" She simply shook her head in exasperation.
"You've always protected us," the tears formed in the corners of her eyes, "but you still don't understand that we looked out for you, too! We watched your back while you watched ours, and we believed in you the same way you believed in us! Just like you protected us… We want to protect you." One reaps what one sows?
"Dagger…"
Alone, bleak, forsaken himself…then
"You're not alone"—feels he could fly.
* Below the Overlook, the fall of Neo-Kuja
That which goes around, comes around…
Falling… Even if Kuja would fulfill Garland's purpose
for him, Zidane would still stop him. I am the last hope of Terra…
Do you think a defect like you could last forever?
Falling… So, I finally die. And after all this time,
I have accomplished nothing. You too, my son. You too. Even as I
die, you'll have died without ever leaving your mark on the world...
Falling… You are a mortal. Yes, mortals us
both. But Zidane? What is he? Will I ever know? Will I ever understand?
Garland hit the ground with a sickening thud, his body armor breaking open,
and the unholy mixture of man and machine spilling out. This armor had kept
him alive to finish his purpose, but now… The only thing that is finished
is the planet. Shin La was probably correct: Our time was up. But what of
the highlanders? What of Zidane? What will happen now? Garland's soul
could not pass until the end, so he lay useless in his shell. And he reflected
on his own life:
There were four survivors. Four left from all of Terra's
billion: two highlanders, from the tribes Selto and Warasu; a Franc; and
a Roma, Garland himself. Tekko, the Franc, was a scientist also, and the
two began constructing plans for a second attempt to restore Terra. The
other two, Iiban and Yassetta, had disagreed with them but stayed in the
shelter with them. There, they revealed their own method for restoring the
planet: Yassetta gave birth to a son in the first year. Several years passed,
but it soon became clear that their fight against the barrenness was in vain.
They were all soon to die.
Tekko and Garland designed the shell, so that one of them might remain
until the planet could be completely restored. The greatest step would be
retrieving the Invincible, which, they agreed, would wait until after the
death of the highlanders. Tekko died first, and was followed by Yassetta.
Iiban, although in decline, seemed to hold on to life for the sake of his
son. However, he was forced to rest often because of his poor health, and
as a result, the boy spent most of his time amusing Garland.
He was named "Tribal Iiban" supposedly after the Highlander
dana, or god, Tribal, the patron spirit of Friendship, Fortune, and Adventure.
He was six years old at the time of a certain memory…
"What does all this mean?" Tribal asked, flipping through pages upon pages of studies on the planet Gaia.
"Oh, that is to be the new Terra," Garland responded and went back to work.
"What's wrong with this Terra?" the boy asked, doing some gymnastics to get closer to see what Garland was doing.
"It cannot support life."
"That's not true! See, I'm alive!" Tribal did a little dance. Not much longer, Garland thought.
"For now, but see, I'm trying to restore life to all those people who died because of a mistake I made, which made the planet like this."
"Oh… how are you gonna do that?"
"By making Gaia the new Terra."
"…that makes no sense," Tribal complained.
"It's simple, really. I just need to take out the soul-stream of Gaia and replace it with that of Terra. Then Gaia is Terra. And the Terrans live once more."
"…that still makes no sense."
"Tribal, what does it take to make a person?" Garland chuckled as he tried to explain.
"Well, momma and dad made me," Tribal started.
"Now you have a body," Garland nodded. "Yes, a man and a woman together can create a body. But that body is empty and meaningless without the soul. That comes from the planet."
"I come from the planet?" the boy looked incredulous.
"Your soul does, yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Where else would it come from?" Garland looked annoyed. The boy furrowed his eyebrows.
"Before I was born," he rolled his eyes up, as if he were recalling something. "I ran barefoot. Barefoot among the stars."
What are you? Who are you, Zidane? His second angel of death had been based on the god, but the in the gaps the legends couldn't fill was the genes of this boy. So playfully I named him "Demigod." Is he really? Bran Bal was burning down around him. So fitting . Zidane had escaped. Mikoto too. So Garland focused on his first mistake. Kuja was having his vengeance on his own breath. He was punishing the world that had brought him forth to be its plaything—its punching bag. After a long moment, Garlan could sense a new type of energy: a very strong teleportation spell. Strong enough to take him to… no, he wouldn't would he? He'd actually transport himself to the Crystal World? Garland's mind raced, because he would not put it past Kuja to… I will not allow you to destroy all life. I will not. And I don't believe Zidane will either. Garland knew there was one path that could breach the distance to the Crystal faster than Kuja's way. It would take all of his power, but I am about to die anyway . Concentrating everything he had within him, he entered the Iifa tree one last time, and from there, found his way into the memory bank of the universe.
Whew... I hope your head is not spinning too fast... . I hoped you liked! Have a Happy Holiday! And review so I can have a happy holiday too! n_n
oh, and an extra special thanks to my little bro Joe who is an HTML wizard... I couldn't have gotten the super-important format right without him.
