Never Deal With a Dragon.
Disclaimer: okay easy disclaimer. Everything belongs to their respective parties but nothing belongs to me. Not that it wouldn't be so very neat to work at the Terran Embassy on Gaia. Heck, I'd be a janitor to be there ^_^ (ack! I already am here! oh gods the shame...) Well anyway, there is little to no explanation as to how this story came about save that it was created from two major factors. The naturally rough terrain inside my own mind, and the almost physically painful love of everything related to the Black Mage people... those guileless innocents, trapped in a world that hates them for the color of their spells... (Heh, too much 8 bit theater) ...well anyway, on with the show! *adjusts the button on her shirt, reading 'Support ethnic diversity on Gaia! Hug a black mage today!' and smiles*
"Sometimes, understand the master Kuja, I do not..."
"Indeed, I too suffer your uncertainty. Why he deals with these broken puppets I do not know."
"Fix them all he should. Re-break yet again that which is fixed I do not know why. Again, motives a mystery his are."
Zorn glanced over at his 'twin', raising a thin, bony hand to swat faintly at one of the other grizzled jester's dangling bells. It made a discordant chiming noise in the faint silence of the room, the soft, lush carpet drinking in the sound without an echo. Thorn quieted, his eyes narrowing to slits as he shot his 'brother' a scathing look. Zorn returned the glare dagger for dagger. He merely shook his own head, ignoring his hat's jangling commentary, and briefly bared his worn, yellowed teeth. "We cannot start questioning the master Kuja. We are merely to trust him in his grasp of the master scheme and merely play our parts."
Thorn suddenly growled, his small fists clenching tightly into a knot of thin, weathered skin and muscles standing at alert like a ball of metal cords. He punches the air once. "Mages a mistake, I have always thought. Create such useless things, I know not why he did. Pathetic things they are! Pathetic!"
Zorn merely shook his head, continuing his steady, sedate padding across the carpet. He glanced out of the corner of one of his thin, rheumy eyes, his gaze reproachful. "But master Kuja did, and is currently enlisting their... aid..." He spits the word like a curse, his expression unpleasant as if he had just bitten into a geshahl pickle "And he wants us to... re-break as you have so poignantly put it... one of these worthless little dolls. And THAT..." Punches the air himself. " is what we are going to do..."
"A bad idea, this is."
"I think so too... a mind is a terrible waste."
-
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The figure turned in a mechanical jerk, the hand rising from its serene, relaxed position by its side to flex, fingers curled to claws. The air rippled and roiled as the blast of sub zero air was gathered... before being released to dissipate harmlessly like a bad October chill. The body turned once again, utterly ignoring the two wiry, grizzled figures stepping towards it across the rough stone floor, its attention turning firmly back to its programming. It didn't react as the two small, dour faced figures approached, their eyes narrow and their paper thin lips pursed in disapproving contempt. "Pathetic they are... why master Kuja would assign US I do not know..."
"Indeed." Zorn glanced up and up... despite the fact that the black mages were less than stately in height and stature, to him it loomed above him. He grimaced in annoyance at the whole thing, measuring the still, hunched figure before him for a good long second... and brings his foot back, kicking out viciously at the mage's right shin.
"YOU!" His voice was high and shrill. The figure... utterly ignored him, not even reacting to the sharp, forceful blow.
"..."
"I am talking to you! Bend down! Now!"
"..."
"Blargh! Blasted blasted black mages!!" Flailing his fists in a sudden tide of aggravated frustration, he dances around for a few moments, his face a grimace of anger, eyes like twin little sparks. The body rocked faintly several times as he vented, his foot snapping outward to slam with a heavy, reverberating thunk into the mage's lower right leg. No reaction, no response, not even a wince. It only made him that much more angry...
"blast it blast it I HATE this!!"
"..."
"And YOU! I hate you too!"
"..."
Thorn watched, amused, as his other half capered wildly in rage, throwing a royal tantrum about the whole thing... The black mage made absolutely no response, staring off into space to occasionally twist its head, the gesture lifeless and mechanical. After a good minute or so, Thorn shook his head, stepping up... and placed a consoling hand on his 'twin's shoulder.
"Enough that is. Wasting time we are here. Get done we should so out of this hellish place we can be..."
Nodding, Zorn turned a glaring eye on the form of the mage standing above him, his loathing eyes taking in every detail of the utterly deadpan face. Ooh he'd make this one pay... "You are right here... I guess this will require a bit of improvisation... and agility."
Tensing, he ducked low, eyeing the distances involved very carefully... and leapt. His hand catching the buckle of the mage's gilt belt, he pulled, hauling himself up with the aid of a foot on the mage's knee. The mage bobbed faintly, momentarily thrown off balance by the sudden addition of weight... before straightening. Zorn cursed bitterly, nearly losing his grip.
Thorn just watched, one hand pressed firmly to his mouth to smother the urge to burst out in riotous laughter.
Zorn, one hand locked in a deathgrip around the mage's belt, placed a knee firmly in a fold of the mage's cloth and tensed... lunging upwards, his outstretched hand grasped wildly... before catching onto the edge of the mage's collar. The body bent severely as he grunted, hauling himself up. "Blast you. Blast you blast... YOU! Uugh!"
He stood, both feet braced firmly on the metal links of the belt, one hand still locked firmly around a bunched handful of the mage's collar. His eyes were cold and slitted as he stared into the mage's face. The mage didn't even seem to see him, staring off a few inches to his left.
"Oh yes, you and I are going to have quite the talk after this....." One hand freeing itself from the mage's collar, Zorn turned, twisting as he reached behind him... to the small vial tucked into his belt. Holding it gently in his gloved hands, he stares at it for a moment... before turning to his 'twin' with a quizzical look. "What does this stuff do again, remind me?"
Thorn shot him a suspicious, wearied look, his weathered face breaking out in a spreading wave of narrow lines wrinkling across his paper thin skin. He tilts his head, the tiny bells jangling oddly at the arching tips of his hat. "What, pay attention to the Master Kuja you did not?"
Zorn looked away, a fierce, sheepish grimace fixed across his thin features. "Well, it WAS your turn..."
Thorn just shook his head, leaning back to gaze up at his 'brother', precariously perched on the front of the mage's clothing. The mage didn't seem to mind overmuch, continuing its gaze's patrolling sweep, the movements unhindered by the faint tilt the small, wiry jester's weight lent to it. Utterly pathetic.... Zorn thought. This just wasn't a good idea.... He sighed. Shaking his hat once fiercely, he paused as the bells clanged their strident discord, his posture hunched and his arms crossed disapprovingly. He growled a little, easing into the explanation with a shrug. "A disrupter it is, its means recall I do not... but know this I do... that disrupts the master Kuja's orders it does, and, essentially... the conditions of the initial waking it does simulate... And, as said before I have, a bad, bad idea this is..."
"Yes, well, tell that to master Kuja..." Zorn shook his head, one of the bells on his odd, flamboyant hat sweeping to the side to strike the mage in the face. He studied it for a moment, his hand tightening on the collar... before, deftly, he popped the top of the vial free with his thumb.
"Open your mouth"
"..."
"Ahh, making this difficult are you?"
"..."
Zorn's eyes narrowed as he calmed down slightly, his attention turning to the slow, steady rise and fall of the mage's body beneath his feet... the subtle rise, the shifting posture and the faint, faint increase of glow in the eyes every time the mage took a breath... He paused, getting the rhythm and growled. "Just remember, toy, you bright this..... ALL of this actually, on yourself...."
The mage breathed in, reaching the limit of its lung's capacity... Zorn narrowed his eyes, watching..... barely visible, the mage's lips parted faintly with the first subtle out-take of breath...
Shifting, Zorn raised the vial, easing it into place in his fist... and brought his hand down, slamming the vial between the sable lips. The mage's eyes suddenly flashed, turning almost white...
Holding himself firmly, Zorn measured the distance, then brought his fist up... and in. His hand, held ridged and flat, snapped under the mage's chin, behind the collar, slamming into the black, delicate sweep of the mage's neck. The mage reacted then, reeling back in sudden shock as, unthinking, the mage tried to draw breath. Reflexively, the throat swallowed...
The vial fell from numb lips, the mage's eyes widening subtly, the glow rising..... then beginning to fluctuate. One leg began to shake as the mage just stood there, staring off into space... Zorn, suspicious, watched it face to face for a moment.... before letting go to fall gracefully at the mage's feet, landing like a cat. He cast one smug grin to his red hued other, tilting his head smugly.
The mage, posture impeccable just moments ago... began to reel, one leg half collapsed under some indefinite weight. It staggered faintly, head tipping, gaze lowering to the floor. The eyes... they seemed almost green, a sickening hue as the mage tilted, looking ill and broken as it nearly fell. Breath came ragged, heaving, as if one fighting the urge to wretch...
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Head. Hurt. Eyes. Burning. Body... I can't feel my legs. Do I even have legs? What are legs? What are eyes? What's happening...
I open my eyes on reflex, clumsy as if I had done it voluntarily for a long time...and opened to a world of nothingness, a cruel, mocking white.... The light came in, spearing into me, hurting me... I couldn't see anything.... I couldn't see... I couldn't.... it's hurting me... why is it hurting me? Please, somebody make it stop...
Muscles twitch. I raised my head...
It was then that my body seemed to realize it was alive, and took the opportunity to the fullest of its advantage. A hand within me rose, slipping from some undefined spot within me to wind its fingers in my innards, stirring and squeezing at the same time. I reeled blindly, eyes going closed as I stumbled. The floor I could feel, the stones rough and uncaring as my knees struck them, the weak skin giving way to stain my pants a plum purple blue... I felt like I was going to vomit, like I was going to die, my mind running like cold soup within me and my eyes staring blindly, blindly...
I fell. I couldn't catch myself and I didn't try.
My head hit the rock, the rim of my hat pressing to my face as a sickening panorama of stars explode dazzlingly behind my already blind eyes... I did wretch then, I couldn't help it, my hand clamped to my mouth as I struggled to remain awake in a mind that wanted nothing more than to slip into the blissful nothingness of the void yawning before me. A high, keening whine rose in my throat. I couldn't stop it, so didn't try, uncaring as I lay there, whimpering, my mind burning and my guts twisting inside me....
I don't know how long I lay there, breath ragged and mind slowly, slowly coagulating into the semblance of something functional. My eyes were closed. I don't remember closing them. Where am I? What happened? Oh gods my head hurt... why can't I remember? Why can't I remember... anything?
My breath quickened within me. Okay, okay, basic basic's first..... name... name.... I let out a long, tremulous breath. Serial number 123B. I, I still knew that.... Wh-what day was it? ...no idea. Not important. What was I? I had a faint but firm grasp of that.... Wh-what had... happened... I roll onto my back, my hands weak and shaking as I clamp them around the queasiness within me...
"Ahh, awake are you?"
"Aww, tummy hurt? Poor little one, so lost, so alone..."
A strange sensation came to me. Confused, I turned blindly towards it... well, not quite, not anymore....
Sparks dancing in my vision, I blinked helplessly, peering blearily through the dancing points of light...
A pair of narrow, steely gray eyes met his, the skin around them pale white and rugged. I blink. The glow of my eyes glints in his eyes, reflected in the narrow, cold gaze... the eyes narrowed, moving away slightly. His face... had I seen it before? ...A vaguely aquiline nose, tight and bony. Thin, hollow cheeks and dark, virulent looking hollows beneath the eyes. Thin lips, pale and pursed in disapproval. Hey... I recognize that face... that... that was... I blink helplessly, clearing my vision as best I can... my shoulder... hurts...
The narrow, spidery fingers trail from my shoulder, relinquishing their grip as they drift over the maroon cloth of my coat, slipping across my collar. I try to draw away, closing my eyes as I feel the cloth fingertip press against my cheek. He's touching me... I don't like that....
He presses harder. The pressure begins to become painful... A deep growl in his throat, Zorn bent, his eyes an inch from my face. "Next time you and I meet, there will be a very, very simple rule you will follow, one even a broken little toy like you will be able to understand. It's rather simple. -I talk to you, you listen. I tell you to do something, you do it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND??"
I nod as best I can against the floor, the sand grinding against my cheek. "Yes... I mean... yes... sir." I don't notice the sand, don't notice the nausea twisting in my gut or the harsh pressure of Zorn's hand as it cups my face, the fingertips unkind... I just want to go to sleep....
The hand becomes painful. I open my eyes.
"Wake up! You have not been given the permission to go to sleep." His other hand finds my face as well, shaking me slightly as he gazes into my eyes. I hate his eyes, the ice and steel in that thin, dour gaze. Muttering faintly, I nod, my breath slowing faintly, the nausea lessening somewhat. "Yes sir... sorry sir..."
His eyes lock on mine. I stare, silent and still. His eyes are so cold......
"Do not ever cross me again mage. Things would go very badly for you..."
On my third try, I manage a response, my words sounding awkward and dumb in my mouth. I hate it... "Yes sir. I'm sorry..."
"I'm sure you are..." Pulling away, he releases me, his hat jangling slightly as he turns to stare at me over his shoulder, his gaze icy and his face tight. Thorn blinks, looking over his twin in slight confusion as the jester steps away, shaking his head a little till the tiny bells danced and tinkled. Thorn turned, looking at me once before following his silent brother, his steps hesitant and his demeanor confused.
-
I rise. Or at least try to, making it almost to my knees... I struggle, shaking. So weak... My eyes slide closed as my hands go limp against the floor, my body beginning to ease back down...
...Before opening again, the pale lemony yellow deepening to a goldenrod hue as I feel a pair of hands ease around me, slipping over my coat to gently close over me, drawing me up... I glance down dully, my mind half asleep as I blink, confused. The hands are large, easily the size of my head; the fingers, thick and soft, gloved in a cocoon of warm cotton cloth. The sleeves hang loose, puffy, the belt around them holding them closed... I shake my head, still muggy from the... something.... What had happened anyway? I couldn't recall.... I couldn't... think...
My brother holds me, his hands gentle. I hang, my balance shot and my mind swimming.... My head hurts.... I don't like it when it hurts.
He takes me in his arms, turning me as he holds me to the warm, almost plushy softness of his body. One hand on my back, the other slides up, over my shoulders, gently moving to the back of my neck as he eases my face into the hollow of his collarbone. His eyes are sad...
"Are you... okay?"
"...my head hurts 56. It hurts so bad..." I press myself against him, drinking in the warmth leaking from his jacket. He is silent for a moment, his hands soft as they gently caress the back of my neck, comforting me as one would a scared child. I didn't care if anyone saw me.... I buried my face against his shoulder, my hands shaking as they clamped themselves to his hips and let out a long, low keening cry....
"It hurts so bad 56... it hurts..."
His voice is soft as he nuzzles me, his big arms holding me close. "I know... I'm sorry..."
I sob softly, body shaking as I lean into him, silently accepting his embrace. His breath bathing the back of my neck, I lean into him, soaking in the calming comfort of his brotherly arms. He shakes his head, the floppy brim of his hat brushing mine. "We thought we had lost you 123... we thought we had lost you..." His voice breaks a little and he stills, quieting. I merely remain as I am, my face against his jacket and my hands around him... I pull away, glancing down with bleary, pale eyes at the sweep of his shoulder before me, my hand rising to rub a dull finger against the faintly glowing, silvery stain of my tears on his cloth. My voice a muttered breath, I murmur. "M'sorry..."
He gives the back of my neck a squeeze. "Hey... it's okay... we all have to cry sometime..."
"My head hurts... it won't stop hurting... it won't stop..." I whimper helplessly, my kneed weak as my eyes half close, wincing at the surging, dull tide in my mind. I can't think straight... what had happened? Trying to remember only made it worse and I whimpered again, my voice soft and pathetic in my ears.
His hands found my face, gently cupping the featureless blackness of my cheeks. Just like Zorn had done... but this time it felt good ... good, instead of the sudden rush of sickly fear and... something, something bad, when Zorn had touched me that way... But 56's hands were gentle, his fingers soft and warm... I leaned into one of his hands, pressing my face to the palm and letting my eyes slide closed. He smiled, his eyes rising faintly in a warm expression as a thumb gently ran under my eye...
"It's good to have you back 123. We missed you so much..."
(*there is a strident snapping sound, and a gentle ripple as reality parts, leaving in it's stead a small, rather pathetic looking thing with greenish blue skin and wide, luminescent eyes. The little thing busily pulls out a notepad and clears its throat, its voice high and faintly nasal. "Ahem. As an author's note, I would just like to say that in the previous scene there is no 'thing' between 123 and 56. Being essentially children, and brothers {cousins?} besides, there is nothing harmful in their mutual snuggling. It is just done to comfort, and holds no excess innuendoes. So don't let it creep you out. Nothing is meant by it except the love of the family. Thanks muchly." *the notebook snaps shut with a crack and in a sudden flash of light the mudokon disappears in a rising flock of pale, dovelike birds. Fade out*)
-
Kuja glances up, disinterested, once again distracted from his manuscript... he tilts his head, hearing a faint jingling sound in the hall outside.... And sighs, long and low. Gently easing his book closed, he rises, readjusting the rather risqué clothing around his waist and gently raises a hand to a loose, feathery tuft of his platinum hair, the drift ticklish and maddening against the delicate skin of his forehead. It never fails, does it? One progresses evenly through a piece, only to find a section of great note and interest... and some distraction always manages to raise its ugly head. Or, he reflected as he moved silently to the teleporter, slipping behind it into a small cant of shadow and sinking into a stony silence, in this case two very ugly faces, capped by those ridiculous hats...
A beam of light, suddenly springing to life to swirl up and around the teleporter in a rippling gale of blazing blue illumination, pours out from the floor, blinding in its intensity. After one long, painful moment, it begins to fade... revealing a pair of short, distinct figures caught in the harsh light. One, clad in crimson stripes, rubs at his eyes with taut, bony knuckles, muttering brokenly. His brother doesn't even seem to notice the harsh and blinding light. He merely stares off into space, his eyes narrowed and his thin, wrinkled lips pursed tight. The pair, stepping carefully out of the aqua hued circle set into the floor, raise their heads to the room, glancing around for the form of their reclining master...
"Seems to be here he doesn't.... Perhaps on a walk he is?"
His brother does not look at him as he snaps out, snarling. "I don't know! Why do I always have to be the one to know thing?!"
The teleporter knows good and well that he doesn't want it to activate, and so does not as he steps softly across it, his footsteps lithe and fluid across the gentle sweep of the floor. Approaching the two bickering figures with the predatory ease of a stalking cat, he stalks forward silently, his eyes cold and amused.
"A rhetorical question it was! Take things in such a terrible light I know not why you do... fitful and childish you are acting! Calm down you must! Calm down..."
he stepped behind them, utterly silent. Absorbed in their own argument, they never even noticed his presence...
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?? YOU weren't the one... s-slighted! SLIGHTED by a MAGE! By one of those worthless puppets..." His fists tense to balls of rocklike muscle and bone, his eyes bright and fuming, twin live coals of rage....
He reaches out, his hands graceful as they ease to the twin jangling bells dancing before him ...
" Calmness you should seek. Anger, at your age, a good idea is not- uh?" Thorn yelped in startled pain as he felt his hat wrenched around and to the side... and slammed brutally into his brother. Zorn's forehead met his, a strident clunking sound erupting as their skulls met. His hand fixed onto one of the wrinkles of his brother's coat, clinging to him in the sudden pain and disorientation as the two withered jesters fixed onto each other like a lifeline, blinking and dazed...
With a gentle, fluid movement, Kuja bent, easing to one knee and almost affectionately slipping a languid hand around each jester's hunched, bony shoulder. The two figures shook faintly at the touch, turning to gaze upon him as he descended, their eyes half closed and nervous... Thorn raised a hand, his fingers delicately exploring the thin skin stretched across his bony forehead, probing a little as his eyes lock on those of his master. "Master Kuja... have a request of us d-do you have?" His brother merely said something that sounded like "mouch" and ran both hands over his bony, aquiline face.
Gently tousling the red clad jester's hat, Kuja smiled warmly, his face remarkably pleasant. Drawing the two nervous figures closer, he leaned in close, his eyes half lidded beneath their dramatic swatches of scarlet face paint. Thorn's eyes wince closed as he feels his master's face approach his... breath gentle on the thin, pale flesh, Kuja leans in close, his voice pleasant and amiable... "So, my pathetic little excuses for servants, what news have you to bring me hmm?"
Zorn's hand, unseen behind his brother's back, briefly gives his brother's side a squeeze of reassurance, and clears his throat. Thorn seems to be shaking a little... "Our task has been completed Master Kuja, The mage is awake, as requested..."
"Good, good..." Zorn winced slightly, feeling the master's attention fixed upon him... "You both have done so well..." Voice even, he leans in closer to the blue clad jester. Zorn stiffened, the cool sensation of Kuja's hand sliding softly against the back of his neck, playing gently under his collar... the fingers were smooth, running over his skin to play along the bumpy ridge of his spine... "I will simply have to find some way to.... reward you both..."
Thorn coughed then, choking faintly as he stuttered out. "N-no need Mater Kuja. Serving alone reward enough it is..."
Zorn shook. The hand left the back of his neck as it moved around... and abruptly Thorn's coat pulled through his fingers. Thorn seemed tiny and insignificant, hanging in his master's grip as Kuja, fingers firmly entwined in the front of his servant's coat, lifted him, holding him very close... his voice wasn't warm anymore. "You are a funny little person. You entertain me, you know that? ....make sure you keep it that way... understand?"
Thorn nodded, his hat slipping down over his face... his hand shook as he righted it, the angle of his body in Kuja's arms making his facial expression unable to be seen by his grounded brother. Zorn's hands tightened in his own coat as he stood, silently... Thorn simply nodded, not saying a word...
"Good. Now get out of my sight."
Zorn took hold of his brother, gripping him firmly by the cloth of his shoulders and, half dragging the shaken figure, pulled him from the room. Before they had left the room, Kuja suddenly called out, his voice acid. "And send that blasted mage in! I want to have... words... with him."
"Yes master Kuja, as you request master Kuja..."
-
The air was mercifully still as they stepped across the cavern floor, having been silent for the entirety of the trip. Zorn didn't press. He knew if Thorn was going to say something, he was going to say it when he was good and ready...
Almost as if on cue, the other jester suddenly lets out a long, ragged breath. His voice seems rough and shaky... "Always rough and angry with us Brahne was... always hateful and insulting Brahne was..."
Zorn nodded softly, his hat making a small tune to the movement.
Thorn stared at his hands, his fingers gently twining and untwining with each other. His voice, when he continues, can barely he heard... "But, make me feel bad just by being there, by being close, queen Brahne never did... Scared of master Kuja I must admit I am... scared he makes me so sometimes..."
Zorn, stepping close, suddenly and unexpectedly leans out, taking his ancient brother in a firm perfunctory hug, holding him close for a short moment before releasing him once again. Thorn paused, turning to look at his brother in shock, utterly surprised by even such a small gesture of affection... and nods, once, understanding. Zorn's voice is rough as he grumbles out. "Come on. Let us go and find this pathetic excuse for a wind up toy and get this mission done with..."
Thorn only nodded, gently playing with one of the bells on his hat...
okay, before you all start clubbing me about just how creepy I'm making Kuja, you must understand that that is my goal here. There is a simple mathematical fact you must consider. Fact A. I am writing a fic about the black mages. Writing fic about black mages = likes black mage people. Fact B. Kuja toyed shamelessly with the black mage people's lives, laughing in their face and shamelessly taking advantage of their naiveté and adolescence, using them and then throwing them away like a cheap harlot. Kuja not like black mages = Kuja not a very nice person and enemy #1 to black mage people. And therefore (can't find the keyboard button for the three pyramid shaped dots that is the mathematical 'therefore' symbol) Kuja enemy to the black mage people + I adore the black mage people = I have little love for one overly effeminate man. And therefore when I write for him, my mind naturally finds the correct cant for the actions that creep would take...
The odd thing was that I had originally thought I hated Zorn and Thorn. But I came to realize that they are merely assistants. They kick those beneath them simply because they are kicked so hard by the ones directly above. *shrug* so I forgive you Zorn and Thorn...
Oh, and I'd like to thank all the fanfic writers out there for inspiring me in this endeavor, and showing me that it wasn't a silly, stupid idea to write stories about those onix faced, amber eyed innocents....
*bows, waves and suddenly erupts into a rising flock of birds* see you in chapter four!
Disclaimer: okay easy disclaimer. Everything belongs to their respective parties but nothing belongs to me. Not that it wouldn't be so very neat to work at the Terran Embassy on Gaia. Heck, I'd be a janitor to be there ^_^ (ack! I already am here! oh gods the shame...) Well anyway, there is little to no explanation as to how this story came about save that it was created from two major factors. The naturally rough terrain inside my own mind, and the almost physically painful love of everything related to the Black Mage people... those guileless innocents, trapped in a world that hates them for the color of their spells... (Heh, too much 8 bit theater) ...well anyway, on with the show! *adjusts the button on her shirt, reading 'Support ethnic diversity on Gaia! Hug a black mage today!' and smiles*
"Sometimes, understand the master Kuja, I do not..."
"Indeed, I too suffer your uncertainty. Why he deals with these broken puppets I do not know."
"Fix them all he should. Re-break yet again that which is fixed I do not know why. Again, motives a mystery his are."
Zorn glanced over at his 'twin', raising a thin, bony hand to swat faintly at one of the other grizzled jester's dangling bells. It made a discordant chiming noise in the faint silence of the room, the soft, lush carpet drinking in the sound without an echo. Thorn quieted, his eyes narrowing to slits as he shot his 'brother' a scathing look. Zorn returned the glare dagger for dagger. He merely shook his own head, ignoring his hat's jangling commentary, and briefly bared his worn, yellowed teeth. "We cannot start questioning the master Kuja. We are merely to trust him in his grasp of the master scheme and merely play our parts."
Thorn suddenly growled, his small fists clenching tightly into a knot of thin, weathered skin and muscles standing at alert like a ball of metal cords. He punches the air once. "Mages a mistake, I have always thought. Create such useless things, I know not why he did. Pathetic things they are! Pathetic!"
Zorn merely shook his head, continuing his steady, sedate padding across the carpet. He glanced out of the corner of one of his thin, rheumy eyes, his gaze reproachful. "But master Kuja did, and is currently enlisting their... aid..." He spits the word like a curse, his expression unpleasant as if he had just bitten into a geshahl pickle "And he wants us to... re-break as you have so poignantly put it... one of these worthless little dolls. And THAT..." Punches the air himself. " is what we are going to do..."
"A bad idea, this is."
"I think so too... a mind is a terrible waste."
-
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The figure turned in a mechanical jerk, the hand rising from its serene, relaxed position by its side to flex, fingers curled to claws. The air rippled and roiled as the blast of sub zero air was gathered... before being released to dissipate harmlessly like a bad October chill. The body turned once again, utterly ignoring the two wiry, grizzled figures stepping towards it across the rough stone floor, its attention turning firmly back to its programming. It didn't react as the two small, dour faced figures approached, their eyes narrow and their paper thin lips pursed in disapproving contempt. "Pathetic they are... why master Kuja would assign US I do not know..."
"Indeed." Zorn glanced up and up... despite the fact that the black mages were less than stately in height and stature, to him it loomed above him. He grimaced in annoyance at the whole thing, measuring the still, hunched figure before him for a good long second... and brings his foot back, kicking out viciously at the mage's right shin.
"YOU!" His voice was high and shrill. The figure... utterly ignored him, not even reacting to the sharp, forceful blow.
"..."
"I am talking to you! Bend down! Now!"
"..."
"Blargh! Blasted blasted black mages!!" Flailing his fists in a sudden tide of aggravated frustration, he dances around for a few moments, his face a grimace of anger, eyes like twin little sparks. The body rocked faintly several times as he vented, his foot snapping outward to slam with a heavy, reverberating thunk into the mage's lower right leg. No reaction, no response, not even a wince. It only made him that much more angry...
"blast it blast it I HATE this!!"
"..."
"And YOU! I hate you too!"
"..."
Thorn watched, amused, as his other half capered wildly in rage, throwing a royal tantrum about the whole thing... The black mage made absolutely no response, staring off into space to occasionally twist its head, the gesture lifeless and mechanical. After a good minute or so, Thorn shook his head, stepping up... and placed a consoling hand on his 'twin's shoulder.
"Enough that is. Wasting time we are here. Get done we should so out of this hellish place we can be..."
Nodding, Zorn turned a glaring eye on the form of the mage standing above him, his loathing eyes taking in every detail of the utterly deadpan face. Ooh he'd make this one pay... "You are right here... I guess this will require a bit of improvisation... and agility."
Tensing, he ducked low, eyeing the distances involved very carefully... and leapt. His hand catching the buckle of the mage's gilt belt, he pulled, hauling himself up with the aid of a foot on the mage's knee. The mage bobbed faintly, momentarily thrown off balance by the sudden addition of weight... before straightening. Zorn cursed bitterly, nearly losing his grip.
Thorn just watched, one hand pressed firmly to his mouth to smother the urge to burst out in riotous laughter.
Zorn, one hand locked in a deathgrip around the mage's belt, placed a knee firmly in a fold of the mage's cloth and tensed... lunging upwards, his outstretched hand grasped wildly... before catching onto the edge of the mage's collar. The body bent severely as he grunted, hauling himself up. "Blast you. Blast you blast... YOU! Uugh!"
He stood, both feet braced firmly on the metal links of the belt, one hand still locked firmly around a bunched handful of the mage's collar. His eyes were cold and slitted as he stared into the mage's face. The mage didn't even seem to see him, staring off a few inches to his left.
"Oh yes, you and I are going to have quite the talk after this....." One hand freeing itself from the mage's collar, Zorn turned, twisting as he reached behind him... to the small vial tucked into his belt. Holding it gently in his gloved hands, he stares at it for a moment... before turning to his 'twin' with a quizzical look. "What does this stuff do again, remind me?"
Thorn shot him a suspicious, wearied look, his weathered face breaking out in a spreading wave of narrow lines wrinkling across his paper thin skin. He tilts his head, the tiny bells jangling oddly at the arching tips of his hat. "What, pay attention to the Master Kuja you did not?"
Zorn looked away, a fierce, sheepish grimace fixed across his thin features. "Well, it WAS your turn..."
Thorn just shook his head, leaning back to gaze up at his 'brother', precariously perched on the front of the mage's clothing. The mage didn't seem to mind overmuch, continuing its gaze's patrolling sweep, the movements unhindered by the faint tilt the small, wiry jester's weight lent to it. Utterly pathetic.... Zorn thought. This just wasn't a good idea.... He sighed. Shaking his hat once fiercely, he paused as the bells clanged their strident discord, his posture hunched and his arms crossed disapprovingly. He growled a little, easing into the explanation with a shrug. "A disrupter it is, its means recall I do not... but know this I do... that disrupts the master Kuja's orders it does, and, essentially... the conditions of the initial waking it does simulate... And, as said before I have, a bad, bad idea this is..."
"Yes, well, tell that to master Kuja..." Zorn shook his head, one of the bells on his odd, flamboyant hat sweeping to the side to strike the mage in the face. He studied it for a moment, his hand tightening on the collar... before, deftly, he popped the top of the vial free with his thumb.
"Open your mouth"
"..."
"Ahh, making this difficult are you?"
"..."
Zorn's eyes narrowed as he calmed down slightly, his attention turning to the slow, steady rise and fall of the mage's body beneath his feet... the subtle rise, the shifting posture and the faint, faint increase of glow in the eyes every time the mage took a breath... He paused, getting the rhythm and growled. "Just remember, toy, you bright this..... ALL of this actually, on yourself...."
The mage breathed in, reaching the limit of its lung's capacity... Zorn narrowed his eyes, watching..... barely visible, the mage's lips parted faintly with the first subtle out-take of breath...
Shifting, Zorn raised the vial, easing it into place in his fist... and brought his hand down, slamming the vial between the sable lips. The mage's eyes suddenly flashed, turning almost white...
Holding himself firmly, Zorn measured the distance, then brought his fist up... and in. His hand, held ridged and flat, snapped under the mage's chin, behind the collar, slamming into the black, delicate sweep of the mage's neck. The mage reacted then, reeling back in sudden shock as, unthinking, the mage tried to draw breath. Reflexively, the throat swallowed...
The vial fell from numb lips, the mage's eyes widening subtly, the glow rising..... then beginning to fluctuate. One leg began to shake as the mage just stood there, staring off into space... Zorn, suspicious, watched it face to face for a moment.... before letting go to fall gracefully at the mage's feet, landing like a cat. He cast one smug grin to his red hued other, tilting his head smugly.
The mage, posture impeccable just moments ago... began to reel, one leg half collapsed under some indefinite weight. It staggered faintly, head tipping, gaze lowering to the floor. The eyes... they seemed almost green, a sickening hue as the mage tilted, looking ill and broken as it nearly fell. Breath came ragged, heaving, as if one fighting the urge to wretch...
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-
Head. Hurt. Eyes. Burning. Body... I can't feel my legs. Do I even have legs? What are legs? What are eyes? What's happening...
I open my eyes on reflex, clumsy as if I had done it voluntarily for a long time...and opened to a world of nothingness, a cruel, mocking white.... The light came in, spearing into me, hurting me... I couldn't see anything.... I couldn't see... I couldn't.... it's hurting me... why is it hurting me? Please, somebody make it stop...
Muscles twitch. I raised my head...
It was then that my body seemed to realize it was alive, and took the opportunity to the fullest of its advantage. A hand within me rose, slipping from some undefined spot within me to wind its fingers in my innards, stirring and squeezing at the same time. I reeled blindly, eyes going closed as I stumbled. The floor I could feel, the stones rough and uncaring as my knees struck them, the weak skin giving way to stain my pants a plum purple blue... I felt like I was going to vomit, like I was going to die, my mind running like cold soup within me and my eyes staring blindly, blindly...
I fell. I couldn't catch myself and I didn't try.
My head hit the rock, the rim of my hat pressing to my face as a sickening panorama of stars explode dazzlingly behind my already blind eyes... I did wretch then, I couldn't help it, my hand clamped to my mouth as I struggled to remain awake in a mind that wanted nothing more than to slip into the blissful nothingness of the void yawning before me. A high, keening whine rose in my throat. I couldn't stop it, so didn't try, uncaring as I lay there, whimpering, my mind burning and my guts twisting inside me....
I don't know how long I lay there, breath ragged and mind slowly, slowly coagulating into the semblance of something functional. My eyes were closed. I don't remember closing them. Where am I? What happened? Oh gods my head hurt... why can't I remember? Why can't I remember... anything?
My breath quickened within me. Okay, okay, basic basic's first..... name... name.... I let out a long, tremulous breath. Serial number 123B. I, I still knew that.... Wh-what day was it? ...no idea. Not important. What was I? I had a faint but firm grasp of that.... Wh-what had... happened... I roll onto my back, my hands weak and shaking as I clamp them around the queasiness within me...
"Ahh, awake are you?"
"Aww, tummy hurt? Poor little one, so lost, so alone..."
A strange sensation came to me. Confused, I turned blindly towards it... well, not quite, not anymore....
Sparks dancing in my vision, I blinked helplessly, peering blearily through the dancing points of light...
A pair of narrow, steely gray eyes met his, the skin around them pale white and rugged. I blink. The glow of my eyes glints in his eyes, reflected in the narrow, cold gaze... the eyes narrowed, moving away slightly. His face... had I seen it before? ...A vaguely aquiline nose, tight and bony. Thin, hollow cheeks and dark, virulent looking hollows beneath the eyes. Thin lips, pale and pursed in disapproval. Hey... I recognize that face... that... that was... I blink helplessly, clearing my vision as best I can... my shoulder... hurts...
The narrow, spidery fingers trail from my shoulder, relinquishing their grip as they drift over the maroon cloth of my coat, slipping across my collar. I try to draw away, closing my eyes as I feel the cloth fingertip press against my cheek. He's touching me... I don't like that....
He presses harder. The pressure begins to become painful... A deep growl in his throat, Zorn bent, his eyes an inch from my face. "Next time you and I meet, there will be a very, very simple rule you will follow, one even a broken little toy like you will be able to understand. It's rather simple. -I talk to you, you listen. I tell you to do something, you do it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND??"
I nod as best I can against the floor, the sand grinding against my cheek. "Yes... I mean... yes... sir." I don't notice the sand, don't notice the nausea twisting in my gut or the harsh pressure of Zorn's hand as it cups my face, the fingertips unkind... I just want to go to sleep....
The hand becomes painful. I open my eyes.
"Wake up! You have not been given the permission to go to sleep." His other hand finds my face as well, shaking me slightly as he gazes into my eyes. I hate his eyes, the ice and steel in that thin, dour gaze. Muttering faintly, I nod, my breath slowing faintly, the nausea lessening somewhat. "Yes sir... sorry sir..."
His eyes lock on mine. I stare, silent and still. His eyes are so cold......
"Do not ever cross me again mage. Things would go very badly for you..."
On my third try, I manage a response, my words sounding awkward and dumb in my mouth. I hate it... "Yes sir. I'm sorry..."
"I'm sure you are..." Pulling away, he releases me, his hat jangling slightly as he turns to stare at me over his shoulder, his gaze icy and his face tight. Thorn blinks, looking over his twin in slight confusion as the jester steps away, shaking his head a little till the tiny bells danced and tinkled. Thorn turned, looking at me once before following his silent brother, his steps hesitant and his demeanor confused.
-
I rise. Or at least try to, making it almost to my knees... I struggle, shaking. So weak... My eyes slide closed as my hands go limp against the floor, my body beginning to ease back down...
...Before opening again, the pale lemony yellow deepening to a goldenrod hue as I feel a pair of hands ease around me, slipping over my coat to gently close over me, drawing me up... I glance down dully, my mind half asleep as I blink, confused. The hands are large, easily the size of my head; the fingers, thick and soft, gloved in a cocoon of warm cotton cloth. The sleeves hang loose, puffy, the belt around them holding them closed... I shake my head, still muggy from the... something.... What had happened anyway? I couldn't recall.... I couldn't... think...
My brother holds me, his hands gentle. I hang, my balance shot and my mind swimming.... My head hurts.... I don't like it when it hurts.
He takes me in his arms, turning me as he holds me to the warm, almost plushy softness of his body. One hand on my back, the other slides up, over my shoulders, gently moving to the back of my neck as he eases my face into the hollow of his collarbone. His eyes are sad...
"Are you... okay?"
"...my head hurts 56. It hurts so bad..." I press myself against him, drinking in the warmth leaking from his jacket. He is silent for a moment, his hands soft as they gently caress the back of my neck, comforting me as one would a scared child. I didn't care if anyone saw me.... I buried my face against his shoulder, my hands shaking as they clamped themselves to his hips and let out a long, low keening cry....
"It hurts so bad 56... it hurts..."
His voice is soft as he nuzzles me, his big arms holding me close. "I know... I'm sorry..."
I sob softly, body shaking as I lean into him, silently accepting his embrace. His breath bathing the back of my neck, I lean into him, soaking in the calming comfort of his brotherly arms. He shakes his head, the floppy brim of his hat brushing mine. "We thought we had lost you 123... we thought we had lost you..." His voice breaks a little and he stills, quieting. I merely remain as I am, my face against his jacket and my hands around him... I pull away, glancing down with bleary, pale eyes at the sweep of his shoulder before me, my hand rising to rub a dull finger against the faintly glowing, silvery stain of my tears on his cloth. My voice a muttered breath, I murmur. "M'sorry..."
He gives the back of my neck a squeeze. "Hey... it's okay... we all have to cry sometime..."
"My head hurts... it won't stop hurting... it won't stop..." I whimper helplessly, my kneed weak as my eyes half close, wincing at the surging, dull tide in my mind. I can't think straight... what had happened? Trying to remember only made it worse and I whimpered again, my voice soft and pathetic in my ears.
His hands found my face, gently cupping the featureless blackness of my cheeks. Just like Zorn had done... but this time it felt good ... good, instead of the sudden rush of sickly fear and... something, something bad, when Zorn had touched me that way... But 56's hands were gentle, his fingers soft and warm... I leaned into one of his hands, pressing my face to the palm and letting my eyes slide closed. He smiled, his eyes rising faintly in a warm expression as a thumb gently ran under my eye...
"It's good to have you back 123. We missed you so much..."
(*there is a strident snapping sound, and a gentle ripple as reality parts, leaving in it's stead a small, rather pathetic looking thing with greenish blue skin and wide, luminescent eyes. The little thing busily pulls out a notepad and clears its throat, its voice high and faintly nasal. "Ahem. As an author's note, I would just like to say that in the previous scene there is no 'thing' between 123 and 56. Being essentially children, and brothers {cousins?} besides, there is nothing harmful in their mutual snuggling. It is just done to comfort, and holds no excess innuendoes. So don't let it creep you out. Nothing is meant by it except the love of the family. Thanks muchly." *the notebook snaps shut with a crack and in a sudden flash of light the mudokon disappears in a rising flock of pale, dovelike birds. Fade out*)
-
Kuja glances up, disinterested, once again distracted from his manuscript... he tilts his head, hearing a faint jingling sound in the hall outside.... And sighs, long and low. Gently easing his book closed, he rises, readjusting the rather risqué clothing around his waist and gently raises a hand to a loose, feathery tuft of his platinum hair, the drift ticklish and maddening against the delicate skin of his forehead. It never fails, does it? One progresses evenly through a piece, only to find a section of great note and interest... and some distraction always manages to raise its ugly head. Or, he reflected as he moved silently to the teleporter, slipping behind it into a small cant of shadow and sinking into a stony silence, in this case two very ugly faces, capped by those ridiculous hats...
A beam of light, suddenly springing to life to swirl up and around the teleporter in a rippling gale of blazing blue illumination, pours out from the floor, blinding in its intensity. After one long, painful moment, it begins to fade... revealing a pair of short, distinct figures caught in the harsh light. One, clad in crimson stripes, rubs at his eyes with taut, bony knuckles, muttering brokenly. His brother doesn't even seem to notice the harsh and blinding light. He merely stares off into space, his eyes narrowed and his thin, wrinkled lips pursed tight. The pair, stepping carefully out of the aqua hued circle set into the floor, raise their heads to the room, glancing around for the form of their reclining master...
"Seems to be here he doesn't.... Perhaps on a walk he is?"
His brother does not look at him as he snaps out, snarling. "I don't know! Why do I always have to be the one to know thing?!"
The teleporter knows good and well that he doesn't want it to activate, and so does not as he steps softly across it, his footsteps lithe and fluid across the gentle sweep of the floor. Approaching the two bickering figures with the predatory ease of a stalking cat, he stalks forward silently, his eyes cold and amused.
"A rhetorical question it was! Take things in such a terrible light I know not why you do... fitful and childish you are acting! Calm down you must! Calm down..."
he stepped behind them, utterly silent. Absorbed in their own argument, they never even noticed his presence...
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?? YOU weren't the one... s-slighted! SLIGHTED by a MAGE! By one of those worthless puppets..." His fists tense to balls of rocklike muscle and bone, his eyes bright and fuming, twin live coals of rage....
He reaches out, his hands graceful as they ease to the twin jangling bells dancing before him ...
" Calmness you should seek. Anger, at your age, a good idea is not- uh?" Thorn yelped in startled pain as he felt his hat wrenched around and to the side... and slammed brutally into his brother. Zorn's forehead met his, a strident clunking sound erupting as their skulls met. His hand fixed onto one of the wrinkles of his brother's coat, clinging to him in the sudden pain and disorientation as the two withered jesters fixed onto each other like a lifeline, blinking and dazed...
With a gentle, fluid movement, Kuja bent, easing to one knee and almost affectionately slipping a languid hand around each jester's hunched, bony shoulder. The two figures shook faintly at the touch, turning to gaze upon him as he descended, their eyes half closed and nervous... Thorn raised a hand, his fingers delicately exploring the thin skin stretched across his bony forehead, probing a little as his eyes lock on those of his master. "Master Kuja... have a request of us d-do you have?" His brother merely said something that sounded like "mouch" and ran both hands over his bony, aquiline face.
Gently tousling the red clad jester's hat, Kuja smiled warmly, his face remarkably pleasant. Drawing the two nervous figures closer, he leaned in close, his eyes half lidded beneath their dramatic swatches of scarlet face paint. Thorn's eyes wince closed as he feels his master's face approach his... breath gentle on the thin, pale flesh, Kuja leans in close, his voice pleasant and amiable... "So, my pathetic little excuses for servants, what news have you to bring me hmm?"
Zorn's hand, unseen behind his brother's back, briefly gives his brother's side a squeeze of reassurance, and clears his throat. Thorn seems to be shaking a little... "Our task has been completed Master Kuja, The mage is awake, as requested..."
"Good, good..." Zorn winced slightly, feeling the master's attention fixed upon him... "You both have done so well..." Voice even, he leans in closer to the blue clad jester. Zorn stiffened, the cool sensation of Kuja's hand sliding softly against the back of his neck, playing gently under his collar... the fingers were smooth, running over his skin to play along the bumpy ridge of his spine... "I will simply have to find some way to.... reward you both..."
Thorn coughed then, choking faintly as he stuttered out. "N-no need Mater Kuja. Serving alone reward enough it is..."
Zorn shook. The hand left the back of his neck as it moved around... and abruptly Thorn's coat pulled through his fingers. Thorn seemed tiny and insignificant, hanging in his master's grip as Kuja, fingers firmly entwined in the front of his servant's coat, lifted him, holding him very close... his voice wasn't warm anymore. "You are a funny little person. You entertain me, you know that? ....make sure you keep it that way... understand?"
Thorn nodded, his hat slipping down over his face... his hand shook as he righted it, the angle of his body in Kuja's arms making his facial expression unable to be seen by his grounded brother. Zorn's hands tightened in his own coat as he stood, silently... Thorn simply nodded, not saying a word...
"Good. Now get out of my sight."
Zorn took hold of his brother, gripping him firmly by the cloth of his shoulders and, half dragging the shaken figure, pulled him from the room. Before they had left the room, Kuja suddenly called out, his voice acid. "And send that blasted mage in! I want to have... words... with him."
"Yes master Kuja, as you request master Kuja..."
-
The air was mercifully still as they stepped across the cavern floor, having been silent for the entirety of the trip. Zorn didn't press. He knew if Thorn was going to say something, he was going to say it when he was good and ready...
Almost as if on cue, the other jester suddenly lets out a long, ragged breath. His voice seems rough and shaky... "Always rough and angry with us Brahne was... always hateful and insulting Brahne was..."
Zorn nodded softly, his hat making a small tune to the movement.
Thorn stared at his hands, his fingers gently twining and untwining with each other. His voice, when he continues, can barely he heard... "But, make me feel bad just by being there, by being close, queen Brahne never did... Scared of master Kuja I must admit I am... scared he makes me so sometimes..."
Zorn, stepping close, suddenly and unexpectedly leans out, taking his ancient brother in a firm perfunctory hug, holding him close for a short moment before releasing him once again. Thorn paused, turning to look at his brother in shock, utterly surprised by even such a small gesture of affection... and nods, once, understanding. Zorn's voice is rough as he grumbles out. "Come on. Let us go and find this pathetic excuse for a wind up toy and get this mission done with..."
Thorn only nodded, gently playing with one of the bells on his hat...
okay, before you all start clubbing me about just how creepy I'm making Kuja, you must understand that that is my goal here. There is a simple mathematical fact you must consider. Fact A. I am writing a fic about the black mages. Writing fic about black mages = likes black mage people. Fact B. Kuja toyed shamelessly with the black mage people's lives, laughing in their face and shamelessly taking advantage of their naiveté and adolescence, using them and then throwing them away like a cheap harlot. Kuja not like black mages = Kuja not a very nice person and enemy #1 to black mage people. And therefore (can't find the keyboard button for the three pyramid shaped dots that is the mathematical 'therefore' symbol) Kuja enemy to the black mage people + I adore the black mage people = I have little love for one overly effeminate man. And therefore when I write for him, my mind naturally finds the correct cant for the actions that creep would take...
The odd thing was that I had originally thought I hated Zorn and Thorn. But I came to realize that they are merely assistants. They kick those beneath them simply because they are kicked so hard by the ones directly above. *shrug* so I forgive you Zorn and Thorn...
Oh, and I'd like to thank all the fanfic writers out there for inspiring me in this endeavor, and showing me that it wasn't a silly, stupid idea to write stories about those onix faced, amber eyed innocents....
*bows, waves and suddenly erupts into a rising flock of birds* see you in chapter four!
