What happened to the Iifa Tree? Read and see...
Despite the fact that it had always been there, and had roots branching all over Gaia, the Iifa Tree was somehow not there. Eiko whimpered a bit. Vivi just stood there, eyes wide and mouth slowly dropping.
"W-what happened, Vivi? Where is it? I mean... what happened?"
Vivi shook his head. "No clue. But I bet it has something to do with that," he said, pointing to the mist filled crater that occupied the space the Iifa Tree once had. But it wasn't Iifa Mist... it was some other sort. It was a pale white, almost milky in appearance, and it seemed to be a lot thicker.
"You don't think... that any of our old enemies are responsible for this, do you?" Eiko asked worriedly. Vivi pondered.
"Well... Garland went down with Terra... and Kuja died with the Iifa Tree... and Necron... well, we can't really find out anything until we go and check it out. After all of the weird things that we've seen, I've got a pretty open mind about this. Come on, let's have a look."
Eiko stared at him with a trace of horror. "Are you serious? What if it IS Necron? We'll be dead meat!"
Vivi considered this for a moment. "I don't think it is... I mean... look! It's white and foamy. Almost looks like a white spell. There's no way he could have done that."
"I guess... okay. Let's go see what's going on."
The two mages made their way down the mountain path, and out onto the plains that surrounded the crater. There was no sight of any living thing in the area, with the possible exception of that strange, fog-like substance that oozed out of the hole in the ground. It seemed to reach out to each of their senses; it almost captivated the viewer's gaze, produced a feathery touch, an indescribable smell, the slightest humming noise, and even a taste to match its scent. As they drew closer to the... impact, they supposed, sight, the fog became thicker. Eiko shivered a bit.
"Vivi... this is getting kind of creepy. My horn is tingling, and-- what was that? Did you hear something, Vivi?"
He shook his head. "Nothing but the weird humming."
Eiko wore a frightened face. "Well... I thought I heard someone singing... and in a really spooky voice, too."
Vivi looked up for a moment, considering. "It's probably your horn. I think that this fog, or whatever it is, holds a recording of something in it, and you must be more in tune to it because of your horn."
She squealed. "Vivi! How can you be so calm? Aren't you scared about what's in that crater? Or what this stuff is?"
He blinked a bit. "Oh... well, at first I was kind of anxious, but I realized that thinking about fears only makes them worse. I think that we should worry about whatever we see once we see it. Leaving it up to our imagination usually makes it a lot worse."
Eiko nodded, though a bit hesitantly. "Yeah... you've got a point there, Vivi. I'm really glad I married a smart guy like you!"
Vivi chuckled a bit. "That's the spirit! Now let's go see what's in that crater!"
"Yeah!"
Stepping up their pace to a jog, Vivi and Eiko soon reached the crater's edge. The fog there was so thick that they couldn't even see down into the chasm, so they would have to go down the edge. This would prove to be difficult, though, since it was incredibly steep.
"Well. Guess we should find some rope or something, huh Eiko?" Vivi asked, still looking down in the chasm. He waited for a little bit, but heard no answer. Looking over at his new wife, he asked, "Eiko?" She wasn't there. Vivi started to panic.
"Eiko! Where are you?"
He then started to hear a scrabbling noise from inside the crater. Fearing it might be a monster of some sort, he aimed his hands at the crater's lips and prepared to cast Flare on whatever ugly creature decided to show its face. Ironically enough, a pretty face with a horn on its forehead showed up; Eiko's face.
"Come on, slow poke! I've already found something down there!" Eiko urged, sliding down the edge again. Vivi stared blankly for a moment, then sighed and laughed in a somewhat pitiful way as he moved to follow Eiko. She turned out to be correct, as it was, and there was a flat platform just a few feet underneath the distance of vision from topside. Vivi and Eiko met on that platform.
"Man! The fog here is so thick! This humming is starting to get annoying," Vivi stated.
"Humming? Oh, right, the humming! I don't even hear it anymore. Just a soft, soothing melody," Eiko replied.
Vivi stared at her. "Melody, huh? Well, as long as you're okay. So, what do you think this platform is for? It seems to be artificial," Vivi observed, kicking it with his foot. It made a sound that echoed across the crater walls; going deep down and then coming right back up. And, they heard something else come up with it. Eiko and Vivi moved slowly through the fog towards it, and discovered a lead shaped platform. Upon closer inspection, the pair noticed that it was attached to a thorny column.
"Vivi... we've seen this before. This is a part of the Iifa Tree."
Vivi nodded in silence. Eiko continued.
"Well... why is it here, but the rest of it gone? I mean, what the heck happened here?" she asked.
"I don't know. I guess... maybe some force came here and decided to turn this into a base of some sort," Vivi suggested.
"So weird. Well, we've come this far. Let's have a look!"
And before Vivi could protest or agree, Eiko had jumped on the leaf. And, unlike how it had been before, it started glowing. As such, Vivi rushed to get on, and did so just in time. The leaf began its downward spiral, the green powder protecting them from the wind. The fog's noise started increasing in volume.
"Where do you think this is taking us, Vivi?"
He shrugged. "Anything could be down there. Suppose we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"
Eiko nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But... before we reach whatever's down there, maybe we should give each other a little comfort?"
Vivi smiled. "Sure. Come here, honey."
They gave each other a big, warm hug. But just as Vivi as about to start giving Eiko's cheek a few kisses, she cried out in pain and clutched her ears, curling up on the floor.
"Eiko! What's wrong?"
Through gritted teeth, she tried to respond. "The music... it's painful! Wailing in my head! Screaming at me!"
She breathed heavily through it while Vivi knelt down by her side, placing a hand on her back. Eiko screamed louder.
"Ah! Don't touch me!"
Vivi did as she said and backed off, his own head starting to ring. Eiko's breathing started to return to normal, though somewhat slowly, and eventually she was able to stand up. Her face was pitiful.
"What happened, Eiko?"
Teardrops formed in her eyes, and Vivi moved in to give her a comforting hug. However, she put up two hands and shook her head.
"Stop. Stay away."
Vivi stopped, and backed up. "What's going on, Eiko?"
She sat down, and sniffling, she began to tell the tale. "Well... eventually I was able to understand the screaming. Whatever it was, it was upset about our feelings for each other. It seems to have some sort of hate for love, if you can imagine that. I don't think we're going to be very warmly welcomed when we reach the bottom of this tower."
Vivi stared blankly, gaze dropping to the floor. "Wow... but... why didn't I hear it?"
"Like you said. It's my horn that lets me hear the true sound of the fog."
Vivi blinked a few times. "Well... there goes my theory about it being a recording. That was a response... not a recording. What kind of thing are we dealing with here?" he wondered aloud.
Sniffing a bit more, then drying her eyes, Eiko stood up. "I think we're about to find out. Look!"
She pointed downward from the leaf. The fog was no longer there, and a series of colored rings seemed to be on the wall of the crater. And, farther down, they could see a large platform that had some sort of barrier to stop the progression of the leaf. It appeared as though Eiko and Vivi would be departing the leaf very soon.
What will they find? What is the fog? What the heck is going on? You'll find out in the next chapter. Neiner! Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I write. Thank you.
