Another Tale of Two Mages

My sequel to "A Tale of Two Mages"

Basically, it just follows the same timeline.

But now there are some new things going on...

Adventurous things!

Eiko had finally settled in to her new home with Vivi in the Black Mage Village. Actually, it wasn't really the Black Mage Village anymore, now that the Genomes were living there as well, but they didn't really seem to care what the village was called. They were all getting along well, and both Mages and Genomes had learned a lot more about life in their respective categories.

It had taken Eiko some time to get used to this new lifestyle. For one thing, she had only brought the clothes she was wearing with her. Fortunately, Mikoto had some spare clothes to lend her until she could make her own. That took her a while too, since she had never used a needle and thread before in her life. But, as Vivi had said, Mikoto was much nicer these days, and helped her out quite like an older sister would; assuming she was a nice one, anyway.

There was one thing Eiko got used to right away, though: the food. Food in Lindblum Castle had been almost nauseatingly rich in her opinion, so when she first sunk her teeth into a roasted owl breast, she practically fainted in ecstasy. It wasn't too rich, and it wasn't bland either; it was just perfect, and tasted delicious! Vivi hadn't been kidding about that.

The fruits were fresh picked, and though the water was a little dirty, it had a certain flavor to it that Eiko liked. There were other good things to eat other then owl and fruits, of course. Nuts of all sorts could be found in the woods, as well as small game and the occasional Zemzellet. They didn't actually taste very good by themselves, but their feathers could be used to make quite the seasoning. As was later made apparent to Eiko, Quina had stayed in the Black Mage Village for some time, teaching them what and what not to eat, and how to prepare it best.

Eiko had encountered one other difficulty: a place to stay. Vivi was the only person who had any extra room at all, and that extra room consisted of was some extra space in the same room that he slept in. For a long time, they worked on making her a dwelling of her own, but until they completed that, Vivi and Eiko just made sure to be very careful when entering the bedroom.

Fortunately, Eiko and Vivi managed to finish the dwelling, have Eiko learn how to sew her own clothes, as well as make a few sets, by the time Regent Cid showed up to check on her as he had promised to do. She appeared totally self-sustained and in no need of assistance whatsoever. Cid, though still disappointed that his daughter had decided to live in such a place, was glad to see her in good condition. He assured her that he would be back again, but not for quite a lot of time.

It was shortly after her father had left -- about 3 months after she had ran away from Lindblum -- that Eiko had an odd thought. What was the situation at the Iifa Tree? Somehow or another, neither she nor Vivi had seen it since Zidane attempted his heroics there. There had been no need, really; Zidane informed them all of its decayed and rotten state. But still, she wanted to see it for herself. So one day, she sought Vivi out to talk with him.

"Vivi! Can I talk with you?" she asked, finding him in search of a small beast to roast.

"Of course you can, Eiko," he said, lowering his hand that had been searching for a target. "You can always talk with me."

She smiled, laughing in her innocent way, coming up to him and giving him a 'hello' hug and kiss. He returned it, and then their conversation resumed.

"I was just wondering if we could go and check out the Iifa Tree together."

Vivi quirked a brow. "Why? It's nothing but a gnarled pile of roots, really."

Eiko pouted a bit. "Aw, come on, you don't know that. Besides, even if it is, why not just for old-time's sake? If you think about it, the Iifa tree was the sight for a lot of maturing on your part. And you know that both Dagger and I got an Eidolon there. Can't we go, please?"

Vivi sighed a bit, shaking his head softly, though smiling and then chuckling a bit. "Okay, sure. It's not like we have anything better to do. Do we?"

With a satisfied grin on her face, Eiko shook her head. "Nope."

"Great. When do you want to go?" Vivi asked, thinking about any preparations that he might have to make.

"As soon as possible... like, now, for instance," she said with an innocent smirk on her face. Vivi was not as startled as he normally would have been, but that was probably because he had now lived with Eiko for so long. She had a habit of springing things like this on him.

"Ah... well, I guess. We better tell Mikoto first, though. And is there anything we want to bring?"

Eiko shook her head. "Nah. I'll go tell Miko, you just hurry up and roast something! We don't want to leave on an empty stomach, do we?"

"Definitely not. See you soon then, Eiko," Vivi said, chuckling inwardly. Ever since Mikoto and Eiko had become friends, a phrase had been developed for them: the Ico sisters. They would call Mikoto the M sister and Eiko the E sister. It wasn't as funny as it used to be, and it was more of a habit then anything else now, though. Vivi put those thoughts aside and tended to the business of locating a rabbit of some sort. Luckily, he spotted one rather quickly, and a nice meal was ready by the time Eiko had returned.

"Yum! Rabbit! Thanks, Vivi!" Eiko said, chomping into the portion of meat that Vivi had placed on a stick.

"You're welcome. Shall we?"

"Indeed we shall."

And, with hands wrapped around each other's backs, they made their way out of the woods, and towards Conde Petie.

Oooh, can you guess what happens next? Well, you'll just have to review to urge me on, won't you?? Hahaha! Oh, I shouldn't say things like that. I'm sorry. The next chapter will come soon, whether you review or not. But please review anyway, because it makes me write faster!