Chapter 2:
…Before the storm…
Mikhael kicked a stone across the shell of a house. He was bored, hot and confused. He thought just waiting for the others to turn up was a little fatalistic, but Zidane was more testing a theory than anything else. Plus from what he had heard, finding Quina would be nearly impossible.
So, they waited. Waited in a city of rubble, and scorpions. He had learned to check his boots before he put them on in the mornings the hard way.
What confused him more was all this prophecy stuff, and what was going on. Or more, what may be going to happen.
He sat down on the sandstone floor. He wasn't even game to start thinking about the third worry. It, or more she, was something he was not prepared to think about right now. That thought was something he tried to ignore entirely.
He settled back in a pile of soft sand that had built up in the corner, and began to drift off to sleep.
He awoke only a few minutes later, and sat back up. Suddenly he felt a strange lurch, and he was in a kitchen.
Stone shelves with earthenware jars lined the walls, and a mother warned her child not to touch a pot bubbling over the stove. A dog barked from out in the street.
He lurched again, and it was gone. He was back in the shell of rubble. Must have drifted back off to sleep, he thought. But now he looked more closely at the room around him.
Strangely, there was a jagged line of broken stone at an even height around the walls. There was also a pile of stone against one wall that may have once been something. He braced his hands against the ground to get up, and yelped in pain. A shard of pottery had jabbed him. He threw the offending object away, and stood up.
He sniffed the air, and caught the scent of a cooking stew. Lunch must be ready, he thought, and dashed back to camp.
When he arrived, he discovered he was only partly right. A plate of fruit and vegetables gathered from down near the river was being prepared by Dagger and Zidane. "I thought I smelled stew," he said, a little disappointed. Dagger gave him a puzzled look. "Stew? You must have imagined it.
He saw Eiko and Vivi walk into their makeshift camp from the library. He grinned. It seemed Eiko now had the right idea…
Vivi was happier than he had been in years, though hid didn't admit that much to himself. Everything seemed to be going right. He reached up to the shelf, and pulled down another dusty book.
Eiko closed the book she had been flipping through. She looked at him.
"What happened with everything at the end of the trouble we had, before you came to the palace? I never really heard all that much. Wasn't there a…" She asked.
Vivi finished her sentence. "A note?" He grinned, looking a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I kind of got a little caught up in my own fears. I got a sick, and immediately assumed I was going to die. I left a flowery and poetic farewell, only to wake up the next morning feeling better. I was actually a little disappointed."
Eiko had to stifle a laugh at that. "Well, I'm still here now…"
Eiko thought for a moment, then spoke again. "What about the mages you created, your children, in a way…"
Vivi shook his head sadly. "I could not create others like me without committing an atrocity."
Eiko looked puzzled "What do you mean?" Vivi sighed "I am, or was, totally human. Until… With the other mages, mist was the main ingredient. I was created with a base." Eiko looked a little sick "You mean they…" He nodded "Yeah." They stood up and wandered towards the outside.
Mikhael looked towards the library, and saw Eiko and Vivi walk into their makeshift camp from the library. He frowned. Something was going on…
"Déjà vu" he muttered to himself
"What?" Mikoto said, right behind him. He almost leaped out of his skin.
"Don't scare me like that! Anyway, I said 'Déjà vu'."
"Huh? Weird…" Mikoto said, looking a little spooked
"Let me guess," Mikhael hazarded "You saw Eiko and Vivi leave the library, in the same way, twice?"
She swallowed "Yes. This is one of those things that we need to speak to everyone about, I think. I had a flash of this place being lived in before, too."
Now it was Mikhael's turn to be worried. "So did I…"He waked over to Zidane and Dagger, and explained the situation.
Zidane, in turn, looked a little worried as well. "I didn't see Eiko, I was busy. But Dagger and I both had flashbacks…"
Eiko, who had come over halfway through the conversation, spoke. "Maybe this has something to do with the Prophecy…" She froze mid sentence, and almost whispered "The Plague!"
Everyone looked apprehensive. "What does this mean?" asked Dagger
Eiko gulped "Something is wrong with time…And maybe a few other fundamental things."
"Like what?"
"Look over there, Dagger. Do you recognize that girl watching us? About your age…"
"What girl-- huh? She looks like…me. But—
"She has a horn" Zidane finished "She must be Sarah, the version of you that never left a burning Madain Sari. Even possibility is now warped."
Sarah faded away. "The images don't last long. For now, at least."
"I think it's about time the others turned up. We need to work out what to do."
Mikhael took this as a dismissal, and wandered back of into the ruins.
This time he took a closer look around, studying the remnants of the lives of it's previous inhabitants. There were no bodies to be seen; the destruction must have been too quick and powerful.
Soon after he came to this conclusion, he looked under a pitted stone table. The skeleton of a child was huddled there, dead fingers clutching at the neck of a skeletal dog. A lump came to his throat. Personal killing is one thing, he thought. There you know who you want dead, and have a reason. But this mass destruction knows no target. It kills the innocent without mercy.
He clenched his fists, and kicked at the wall. He suddenly regretted that Garland had died with Terra. He would have enjoyed killing him himself.
He heard footsteps on the stone behind him. He knew who it was without turning.
Mikoto came up beside him. "What's wrong?"
He said nothing, but waved his hand at the table. Mikoto investigated, and came back looking sick.
"Another reason for me to hate Garland. I never thought about the people, only the damage. Until now." Mikoto laughed bitterly "At least he suffered the same fate. Cringing as the fire swept around him, burning away his flesh. Kuja's insanity did us all a favor there"
"What was Terra like?" Mikhael asked
"Boring, though then I didn't even understand the concept. We were built as shells, no purpose other than to accept the souls of Gaia. Only Garland would have known the thoughts of the ancients, those who created us and vanished."
"Where did they go?"
"I don't know. The secret died with
Garland. Left with whatever they could carry of their civilization, I would
expect. Though Garland's pathetic attempts at fatherhood did leave me with
information otherwise. They were probably only stories."
"What did he tell you?"
"He hinted that they were waiting for us to revive their world. I think that it is more likely that he was trying to give me more incentive to perform my duty. Although, with the words of the prophecy… Who knows?"
"Which words?"
"The ones about the Dormant Ones. Though, it would be impossible for them to have slept for so long. Naturally, anyway."
A loud clanking coming closer interrupted them.
"What the hell is that?"
"Nothing dangerous. Just another member of our little group. Steiner."
The walked back to the camp. Mikhael almost reached out to take Mikoto's hand, but pulled back.
Some things, he thought, are just too complicated.
"My queen! How could you just leave like that, alone? And not telling anyone!"
"Calm down Steiner. I wasn't alone."
"It seems not. But still, you are among very poor company—"
"Don't start on that again. Zidane is almost civilized now…"
"Very well. But isn't that the man my knights stopped at the gateway? Zidane was just a thief. But I asked around, and this man is an assassin!"
"Calm down, rusty. This man is no more dangerous to her highness here than I am" Zidane cut in, defending Mikhael
Steiner looked defeated.
"By the way, have you heard from Quina? Or Freya and Amarant?" Dagger asked him.
"They should be here soon"
True to his word, Freya, Amarant and Quina arrived, walking down the dirt path once called a road.
"You've arrived" Zidane said in greeting
"It would seem that way, wouldn't it" Amarant answered dully
"Cut that out!" Zidane replied with a grin "How are you, Freya? I haven't seen you for years!"
"Well. Burmecia is slowly returning to the way it once was." She sighed
"Do you still blame yourself?"
Freya said nothing, but the answer was obvious.
"Quina?"
"Me good! Traveled far, discovered many yummy-yummies!"
Zidane laughed. Quina never changed.
"Come through. We've kind of set up a camp here."
He led them through to the camp.
"What exactly is the problem, then?" asked Amarant.
"This prophecy. If it was easier to understand, we would know what we were supposed to be doing."
"Find where we're up to now," suggested Dagger "And see what we're supposed to do next. Then, maybe if we do that, the next bit will become apparent."
"Ok then…" said Zidane, taking a deep breath.
But the devourer shall then ready his standard of terror, and his minions will prepare their arms, and many will be sent to trouble the world. He shall then unleash a plague upon the very fabric of the world, and everything shall be imperiled."
"Ok, what next…"
"But the holy Ten must take the chariot of diamonds, and travel like no other. They must find the Dormant Ones, on the ravaged plain. Then shall the sleepers awake, and the destiny of the worlds become linked, as was foreordained since the beginning."
"Nothing makes sense." Said Dagger, a little disappointed.
Something sprung into Mikhael's mind. "Mikoto…What were you saying earlier. I asked you about your childhood. You were telling me about some story Garland had told you…"
"Terra!" Mikoto almost shouted.
"I think we're missing out on some of this conversation…" complained Zidane.
"Never mind, brother. Let's go!"
They all hurried off to the Invincible, with more than a few people lost and confused.
"How, exactly, do we get there now? The gate at the island was how we got there last time, and that's gone…" asked Zidane.
"Then you mustn't be as smart as we'd thought… Sorry, that didn't come out right."
"Don't worry, keep going"
"OK. Look out that window. Every one of those stars is a sun, and many of those would have planets. Few of them would have life. The reason the stars look small is the distance"
"How big is a sun in the first place?" Eiko
asked, curious.
"Depending, but very big. Hundreds of thousands of miles."
"So… to look that small – "
"–They would have to be very far away. Most of them are so far away that there's no point even measuring it in miles."
"So how far away is Terra?"
"We've always had our shortcut, so we've never bothered to know. But Garland may have had a way, when he owned this ship. Maybe you should talk to it, Zidane"
"I'll give it a try" He said, and focused. Ship?
You called?
Yes. We need to find a way to Terra. Can
you help us?
That's an interesting question, really.
I have the capacity, yes. The question you really meant was 'Will you help us'
Will you?
Yes. I am as much of an instrument of
the prophecy as you are.
You know?
Yes. Why will become apparent soon
enough.
Are you acting like this just to
irritate me, or are you always like this.
You decide. We've never really spoken at
length before. You've always just ordered me around.
I have, haven't I. Sorry, I never really
thought that you might be intelligent.
These slips can only be expected in
biological life forms. I should know that not all are as perfect as I.
Shut up. So, can you show us a map or
something?
Easy. Look at the screen. I will also
fade out the walls and roof. You will see the names of stars and planets next
to visible objects.
Thanks, he thought, opening his eyes again.
"Wow" Said Eiko
"This is quite amazing," said Steiner. Amarant, of course, said nothing.
"There's Terra" pointed out Mikoto. In response, more information appeared next to the star.
"Travel time: 2 days, it says there." read Freya.
"Let's kick back and relax, then. There are a few double sleeping quarters towards the back of the ship. I'll leave it to yourselves who's sleeping with who…" Zidane announced, grinning.
"Sometimes he disgusts me" muttered Mikoto to Dagger
"I know the feeling" replied Dagger, then followed after Zidane. Mikoto decided that there was some fun to be had, one way or another in staying with Mikhael. It would either, and most likely, cause him extreme discomfort, or possibly have more fun and interesting results. She walked over to him. "Shall we be off?"
His only answer was: "Hell, why not"
Vivi walked over to Eiko. "Would you like to sleep with me?" He asked her. She blushed, and when he realized why, his reaction was much the same. "I didn't quite mean it that way. I meant – "
" – I know what you meant. I'd be happy to." As they walked off together, Eiko shyly slipped her hand into his. For the first time, he didn't get embarrassed, or pull away quickly. They just walked, hand in hand.
Amarant turned to Freya. "You coming?" If she was surprised, she didn't show it. She walked off towards their quarters, Amarant slouching along behind. A slow, victorious smile crept across her lips as they walked away, followed not soon after by the leftovers, Quina and Steiner. Steiner was hoping to as many gods as possible that Quina wasn't female. The after thinking this over for a while, he started hoping Quina was. Quina didn't care less. Leftovers Good!
Mikoto walked up to the door, and it opened with a hiss. The room inside was basic, but serviceable. He was not sure if he was relieved or disappointed that there were two bunks in a niche in the wall. A bright, slightly blue light lit the room from an unknown source. There was a bulkhead door to a small bathroom on one side of the room.
She walked to the bunks, and sat down on the bottom one. She motioned for Mikhael to join her. He sat down next to her, a little uncomfortable.
"Oh stop that," she said, sliding closer to him "What's wrong?"
"I'm confused, is all."
"What is there to be confused about? We both know there's something between us. Let's give it a chance. Besides, even if it's nothing serious, it helps to pass the time"
"What do you mean exactly, by 'passing the time…"
"This." She said, and kissed him. He was caught completely off guard, but recovered quickly enough. He kissed her back, feeling her tongue against his. She ran her hands up to the back of his head, lowering them both down onto the bunk. Things progressed rather quickly from there…
Eiko and Vivi entered the small room. A far cry from the castle, but better than their camp. Looking at the beds, Eiko suddenly felt very tired. The day's events had caught up with her. "I'm going to bed."
Vivi nodded. "I'm tired too."
"Goodnight" she said, walking over towards the bunks. But she stopped, and walked back.
"Goodnight, Vivi" she said, and reached up and kissed him. His lips felt electric, and her pulse raced. They lingered for a moment, and then broke away.
Goodnight, Eiko" he said, smiling. Why did things always have to go and complicate themselves? Although, he didn't think he minded right now…
¨¨¨
"Zidane, shut up. Wake up everyone"
Eiko blinked as light flooded the room. She sat up quickly, forgetting there was another bed above her. Her head hit the metal bars fairly hard, and she shouted one of the words she always heard Cid's technicians use.
She heard laughter coming from above. "Think that was funny?" she inquired, stepping out of the bed.
Vivi was still laughing.
"Ok, that's it" She warned, and climbed up the small ladder to the top bunk, and jumped on him. He stopped laughing soon enough. He started struggling about, but Eiko kept her hold.
"Ok, ok. I give up. Let me down."
Eiko only grinned evilly, leaned down, and kissed him.
"You're full of surprises lately" He said, grinning back
"I know" She said, and kissed him again
"We'd better get up."
"I know." Said Eiko, regretfully. "But I'm going to have a shower first." She nimbly leaped from the top bunk, and walked through the shower door. The bathroom was very small, with a shower cubicle in one corner, a toilet, and a small sink. She closed the door behind her, and locked it. She slipped her worn shirt over her head, and threw it into a corner of the room. She did not wear a bra, because she didn't drastically need one yet, and couldn't bring herself to ask Hilda about it. Cid could be a real irritation sometimes, and these sorts of things gave him endless amusement. Vivi had suffered enough when he had started shaving. And that was Cid's idea in the first place.
She unbuttoned her jeans, which quickly followed the shirt through the air to the corner. The shower had a proper door, unlike the castle ones, which only had curtains. Lindblum castle had probably the only showers on Gaia at the moment, as only Cid had worked out a reliable way to install them. She wasn't very surprised to see that these showers were a lot more advanced, with a strange pad on one wall. She stepped in, and touched the pad. It came to life in shades of gray, depicting a sliding switch. She touched the switch with her finger, which brought the water down on her completely unexpectedly. It was cold. Freezing cold. She touched the pad again, dragging the switch towards the end. This warmed the water, and she adjusted it to a comfortable temperature.
Looking at the drain, she only just realized how much she had needed a shower. The sand of the desert had managed to find it's way just about everywhere. The rhythm of the water massaged her into a doze, until a loud banging came from the bathroom door. She came back to her senses, turning off the water and stepping out of the shower. She looked around. "Damn!" she exclaimed.
"What?" came Vivi's muffled reply through the door.
"No towels."
"What would you expect? These haven't been used since the fall of Terra."
"Doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be annoyed. I'm going to have to come out and get one. Promise not to look, ok?"
"Ok.
She unlatched the door, and opened it, all the while attempting to cover herself. She was failing miserably, and Vivi was not entirely true to his promise, mainly because his mind had lost control of the thinking department. Not entirely true was a little understated though…
"Vivi…"
"Sorry. Though it's not something that really needs worrying about. I have known you since you were six."
"Yes, that would be your opinion. But I'm not exactly six anymore, am I. But you're right in one way. I can't exactly walk around huddled over like this. But try not to have too much fun. There's no point in telling you not to look."
She straightened up, and began the process of searching the room. There didn't seem to be any towels anywhere. She kept looking, expecting to find a cupboard concealed somewhere.
"Find one for me, too. I'm having a shower"
"Fine" She replied, preoccupied. She looked carefully, and found a small recessed square in the wall. She pressed it, and a previously undetectable hatch opened. Inside were spare sets of white bed sheets, as well as two towels. She pulled them down, drying herself off with one. She went over to the bathroom door and tried the handle. It wasn't locked, so she pushed the door open. She put the other towel down by the shower door, and picked up her clothes. She left, pulling the door closed behind her.
She dressed quickly, then left the sleeping quarters.
¨¨¨
Mikhael blearily opened his eyes, disoriented. Then everything came back into focus, and he was fairly surprised to notice the blond locks nuzzled against his shoulder, and the tail wrapped around his ankle. His memory was often like this in the mornings, and he found himself in similar situations fairly often. He'd never woken up to a tail before. That was definitely a new experience. His memory returned to him fully, as he remembered exactly what he had been doing the night before. He couldn't help smiling, and realized this was the first time in quite a while he's actually felt his 22 years. Sometimes he felt fifty. He'd been forced to grow up pretty fast. He disentangled himself from Mikoto, and stepped off the bunk, picking up his clothes from various places around the room. He dressed, and walked back over to Mikoto. "Wake up"
She opened her eyes, and smiled sleepily. "That was pretty amazing"
"Time to get up"
"It is?" She complained
"Yep. Come on"
She grudgingly stood up, and Mikhael handed her clothes to her. She dressed and they walked out, heading towards the bridge. Nobody could be seen, but the sounds of breakfast echoed from somewhere back in the living area. They followed random corridors, until they came to a small galley. Everyone else was seated around the table. Eiko noticed the state of Mikhael's hair, and grinned slyly.
"Have a good night's sleep?"
"Better that you could imagine. I hope."
This brought laughs from everyone, though Mikoto was blushing furiously.
A metal bowl slid down the table towards Mikhael, who deftly caught it before it slid over the edge. He looked into the bowl, and his face turned into an expression of equal parts curiosity and disgust.
"What the hell is this?" he asked, eying the off white paste.
"Apparently 'the most suitable food for our metabolism'" replied Eiko, mimicking the ship's advice.
"I think the bastard has a sense of humor." Said Mikhael, spooning the mush into his mouth. "My metabolism needs one thing: taste. And this stuff tastes like crap"
"You're eating it…"
"I'm hungry enough to eat it. I'll admit that it is filling, at least. Why couldn't Quina cook something?"
"Because he's sleeping in. So is Steiner."
After wolfing down his food, he leaned back on his chair. "So, are we spending all day on the ship, or what?"
"Yep, I guess so. Unless…" Zidane said, closing his eyes. "No, the ship says there's a planet about ten minutes from here, that would be worth stopping on. We can manage the rest of the trip tonight, and wake up tomorrow around Terra.
"What's this place like?"
"Idyllic. Rolling plains, white beaches, tranquil forests… A living cliché."
"What are the chances of a place like that being near us?"
Zidane stared blankly for a moment, then laughed.
"What?"
"The ship just gave me the exact probability of finding a planet like that. He has an irritating sense of humor sometimes"
Dagger raised an eyebrow "He?"
"For the sake of simplicity." He explained, defensively.
"Men!" Dagger sighed.
Mikhael thought for a moment. "Hey, Zidane… the ship can hear normal speech, right?"
"Yeah"
"Ask it if it could somehow use a normal voice, so everyone can hear it. Conversations are a little one sided right now."
A clear, condescendingly enunciated voice rang out through the room, "Like this?"
"Why did it choose that accent?"
"Because it knows that it's my second least favorite."
"What's your least?"
"This!" The ship announced, this time with a clipped twang.
Zidane groaned. "It's hard to imagine how annoying and intelligence that knows most of your thoughts can be when it sets it's mind to it."
A remembered question came back to Eiko. "Hey, ship…"
"Yes?"
"What were you originally used for?"
"I was an advanced, large crewed warship. Why?"
"I was wondering. I knew there would have been some military use, because of your fairly considerable weapon, but I didn't really know what else to expect."
"You think the weaponry you've seen is impressive…"
"I picked up two meanings in that statement. One was fairly crude, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Who the hell would program a ship with an over inflated opinion of bodily parts it doesn't even have. And a dirty, irritating personality."
"Sitting at a console every day for years on end had to have some reward for the engineers. They thought it was funny. If only they'd gotten the same guys to program Garland…"
"Program?"
"Yes. He was not really a Terran."
"I assumed that, he'd lived for far too long" said Mikoto, "But I thought he was like me. Bred in a lab."
"No. No living matter could last for as long as he lived, no matter how well designed. He was a machine. Too long alone set those delusions of godliness going. He refused to speak to me." The final sentence almost seemed like a pout. "Anyway, we're here. Please prepare yourselves for landing, it's going to be smooth!"
"They also built you with an over inflated ego…"
Eiko heard a mechanical sound from below the deck, and felt a slight jolt on landing.
"I told you it would be smooth. Have a safe trip."
They made their way back through the corridors, towards the outside exit, Steiner clanking hurriedly to catch up.
Mikhael saw the square of sunlight shining through the hatch, momentarily blinding him. They had landed near a lake, with a white beach ringing it the whole way around. Apart from that, they were in a rolling plain, with the occasional hill. He walked over towards the door, but before he stepped out, he noticed a heavy door in the wall. He stopped, and opened it. It was pitch black, but as he stepped in, blue light faded into the room. What he saw made him breathe in sharply, and whistle. He'd stumbled across the armory, and what an armory it was. It was huge, with all the walls, and many shelves lined with weaponry, much of it completely alien. On one shelf were a collection of spheres, each emitting a faint blue light. Next to them was what appeared to be a pair of gloves, but with cables running off them, and metal rods tracing the lines of where bones would be in a hand. He walked over to these, and picked one up. Seeing nothing immediately dangerous to him, he slipped it over his right hand. It hummed to life, and when he flexed his hand into a fist, arcs of charge ran up the rods to the fingertips. A flame-like nimbus coalesced around his hand. Ideas and images came to him unbidden, instructing him. He concentrated, looking at his hand, and blades of energy ran from the wrist of the glove. He concentrated again, and the blades vanished. More images came to him, and he hastily removed the glove at put it back on the shelf. He decided that a room loaded with explosives was not the best place to experiment with that thing. He moved over to an adjacent shelf, finding a pair of goggles with a slightly grey tint to them. He put these on, and noticed an overlay of images joining his sight. It showed temperature, and what appeared to be a gauge showing how breathable the air was. He slipped them off, and wandered back towards the door. He noticed a green glowing pad on one wall, and brushed it with his fingertips. A large door began to slide open, flooding the room with sunlight. The newly lit room revealed more things he hadn't noticed before., including a rack against one wall with a row of strange black shapes among them. They were roughly waist height, and rested on two fin-like plates. Mikhael walked over to one, looking closely at it. The top seemed padded, with a slight depression. There were seams on a panel on what seemed to be the front. He went look closely at these, when a shadow appeared against the sunlit floor.
"I wondered where you went." Said Mikoto.
"This place is definitely worth checking out. Don't do anything rash, though. There are some fairly dangerous things in here…"
"What sort of place is this?"
"I think it's an armory."
Mikoto rolled her eyes disapprovingly. "Big boys toys…"
Mikhael grinned self-consciously. "Yep. And I'm trying to work out exactly what this toy here is." He looked at it, puzzled. Mikoto looked at it for a moment, then stepped over it, straddling it. The seams at the front glowed blue, and two handles popped out the side, along with a small screen panel in the middle.
"How did you know to do that?"
She grinned. "I didn't. I guessed."
She gripped the handles, which molded into a perfect grip shape for her hands. The thing also started to hum, and slowly lifted up off the ground.
"Nice! I think I know what this does now…" She grinned, then twisted one of the handles. The bike lurched forward, almost hitting the wall.
"Oops. Backwards this time."
She twisted the handle a little the other way, and backed the bike out of the racks. Turning quickly, she faced the large bay doors and twisted the accelerator. The bike hummed higher, and she sped out the door. Not one to miss a challenge, Mikhael mounted the nearest bike and followed her out into the light. After a few clumsy lurches, he got the hang of it, speeding after the slowly disappearing bike ahead.
Mikoto heard a second hum behind her. She grinned, and gunned the engine, keeping ahead. But before she could act further, he copied the move, pulling up alongside her.
"Gotcha!" he said, slowing down to a stop. She stopped a little ahead, then turned around and came back slowly. " I have a feeling you knew what you were doing…" he said suspiciously.
"Kind of." She admitted. "I'd only seen them before. Garland used to show me recordings of Terra's civilization before the destruction of it's ecosystem. These things were a fairly standard transport there, but their ones were more stylish, suited for casual transport. These probably had some military use."
"Lucky we didn't find a weapon by accident, and set it off in there."
"Lucky we didn't… Race you to that tree?" She grinned mischievously, and pointed to a tree about two hundred meters away.
"You're on!" He said, revving the engine.
¨¨¨
Zidane lounged around the lakeshore. The sun was out brightly, with a few wisps of cloud in the sky. Dagger walked stood beside him.
"This place is nice.' She said, smiling
"I think it's because nothing lives here except plants, so nothing interferes.
"Except people like us"
"I don't think there are any other people like us anymore. The Terrans could have been, but I don't know"
"You could ask Mikoto."
"I could, but I have no idea where she is."
"I haven't seen her. I haven't seen Mikhael, either…"
"I wonder what they're up to?" Zidane wondered, mock-innocently
¨¨¨
Amarant sat lazily under a tree, watching the others. Eiko and Vivi were fooling about in the water, making an awful lot of noise. Zidane and dagger were walking along the beach, and Steiner was trying to find comfort in a patch of shade. Armor is not practical for traveling, it seems, he thought. Freya was off somewhere, and Mikhael and Mikoto were nowhere to be seen. He heard a rustle in the tree above him.
"Freya, I don't know what you're doing up there, but why don't you come down?"
Freya dropped down from the tree, landing nimbly as always.
"I have no idea how you do that, Freya"
"Do what?"
"'Leap tall buildings in a single bound' would be an appropriate phrase."
"Practice and training."
"How did I know you'd say that? Anyway, I've had practice and training, and I can't jump like that. The real reason."
"Ok…" she said, flashing one of her rare grins. "I'm built for it. Dragoons are solely Burmecian, you may have noticed. We're fairly different from humans, in more ways than just cosmetic."
"Ah… so you're more than just an ugly face?"
"Hmph… You should talk. Anyway, my beauty can't be compared to your perceptions."
"Yeah, I guess when it's one rat to another, you're pretty stunning"
"Did you just want to be insulting, or did you actually want to talk to me."
"I can't help myself."
"You haven't been around Zidane long enough then. I think in your case he might even be a good influence."
"Me, influenced by monkey-boy? I don't think so…"
"He seems to have an effect on everyone else, usually for the better."
"He can keep his influence."
"Are you ever nice to anyone?"
"Not if I can help it, no."
Freya smiled mysteriously.
"What? What's funny?"
"That means if you are nice to somebody, you must really mean it."
"I guess you want me to say: 'Yes, it's all an act, deep down I love you?'"
"It'd be a pleasant surprise, but…no. I wouldn't expect that from anyone."
"You're a hero back in Burmecia…"
"Not hero enough."
"You still blame yourself?"
"How could I not? I should have been there, not agonizing over my poor, lost Fratley."
"Eagle eye hindsight, they call that. You always look back and say: 'I should have done better'. But, if you were back in that position… You'd probably do the same thing again."
"Wisdom's a rare thing from you."
"I just choose not to show it."
Amarant sat, thinking.
"I just realized, but I don't think I've ever seen you without that hat on. Why don't you ever take it off?"
"It saves trouble. People are rarely understanding."
"Zidane doesn't hide his tail."
"That's only a minor addition."
"Technicalities. Why don't you take it off? There's nobody here on this whole world but your friends."
Freya laughed. "Ha! So you don't mean it."
"Not really. I just act arrogant to save the trouble of a decent conversation."
"Fine, I'll take it off." Freya swept her hat off with a flourish.
"You don't look that bad, really."
"You really mean?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"You're pretty. Maybe even beautiful."
"Do you mean that, or are you just saying it"
"Am I the kind of person who'd do that?"
'…No. You're not…"
Freya was silent.
"Nobody's ever said that to me before…"
"What about Fratley?"
"He admired my strength, my personality. I don't know what he really thought, though. He never really told me."
"You clung to that for so many years?"
"I know. People seem so noble in retrospect. I lost sight of reality, and got carried away with increasingly false interpretations of memories."
"I've always gone by the philosophy that if you don't try, you can't fail."
"You learn from your mistakes."
"Have you?" He asked.
"In a way. I've learned never to get so carried away. I've also learned to accept that not everyone will be your knight in shining armor, the perfect man. There's no such thing…"
"Everyone has their own idea of the perfect partner."
"You're right. I think Dagger found hers."
"Zidane?"
"Yeah. She couldn't have gone on without him, with all that happened to her in her life."
"She's changed him, too. I remember him, and he's much different now."
"He's grown from a boy, into more of the hero he is."
"Hero?"
"That's the usual title gained from saving the world." She replied, a little whimsically.
"I don't think I'll ever understand you, Freya."
"You won't if you don't try."
"I'll take that as a challenge, then. To get to know you better."
"That's one way of putting it."
¨¨¨
Eiko and Vivi were now completely drenched.
"Look at me, I'm wet all over!" Eiko complained, trying to wring the water out of her clothes.
"It's your own fault."
"How is it my fault? You're the one who pushed me in."
"Well, you splashed me. Anyway, we're both wet, so we're even."
"At least it's sunny. Why don't we sit down and try to get dry before we have to leave."
"Not in the sand. On the grass. Otherwise we'll end up as sandy as we are wet."
"Good thinking."
They walked over and sat down, neither of them saying anything. Eiko found herself staring at Vivi. He was not powerfully built, but not too skinny. His black, once short hair now came just to shoulder length. This was an indicator of just how long it had been since the beginning of all this. Most of the time had been spent in Madain sari. She looked critically at his hair again.
"Your hair's a knotted mess."
"I can't do anything about that. It's too long."
"That isn't a reason. It just needs more attention."
"I like it short, anyway."
"I think it looks nice long."
"You don't have to manage it."
"No, but I manage my own fine. Come here, I'll fix it for you."
"What, in your lap?"
"I haven't got a problem with it. Besides, it makes things easier."
"Fine."
Eiko ran her fingers through his hair, trying to work out the knots.
"You've made an awful mess of this."
"I know. These sorts of things were never a problem before."
"Did you keep it cut?"
"No, it didn't grow, at all. That's why I wore the hat."
"Why didn't it grow? And why did it start once you were older?"
"I'm not sure. It must have been something… they… did to me."
"I don't want to know."
"Neither do I, but I'll find out one day. There are lots of things I need to know. I don't even know a thing about Black magic."
"You must…"
"I know how to use it, but only to the limits of what I've learned. I don't know what it can do, I don't know it's real basis, I don't know of any real black mages, people who were born with the skill."
"I'm sure you'll find out, one day."
"I hope so…"
"…There, that's better. You should run a brush through it properly, when we get back to the ship."
"Yeah…"
Vivi started to get up.
"No, stay. I like this."
Vivi settled back down against her and Eiko draped her arms loosely around him.
It's amazing what happens if you just stop avoiding things, he thought to himself.
¨¨¨
Zidane looked over to where Vivi and Eiko were before, and was quite surprised at what he saw.
Dagger followed his gaze. "That's so sweet…"
"Yeah…" He looked up at the darkening sky, the horizon already shifting from orange to a deepening purple.
"We'd better head back. Try and round everyone up."
"No need. They've all wandered back."
"That makes things easier."
He stood up, and walked back towards the ship's ramp. Mikhael and Mikoto were already standing outside the ship, near an opening he hadn't noticed before.
"What's that door there?" he asked.
"The armory."
"Ah. I thought there would be one somewhere. Let's head up."
"What are we going to do about dinner?"
"I'll see if Quina will cook something. I don't trust the ship much, especially when it comes to food."
"Suits me."
¨¨¨
They all sat back at the galley table, this time contented, and with empty plates left behind.
"I won't say much for his personality, but he's a good cook. Where is he now, by the way?" asked Mikhael.
"Finishing off the leftovers."
"Ah. Well, I think I'll head off to bed."
"Me too." agreed Vivi.
''Night all" waved Mikhael, walking out the small door.
(There! I finished chapter two. I feel so
special, I'm going to start on three straightaway. Hope you all enjoyed
yourselves ^-^)