Remembrance
"Hm. The fool resisted my assault. A pity. It would have been much more
entertaining to just watch him slowly go insane and destroy his friends
and himself in the process." Kuja whispered softly to himself, rubbing the
artifact which he had used to warp Zidane's memory.
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"Garnet!" Zidane shouted, happy beyond belief, as he awoke and saw her, a beautiful butterfly amidst the gout of locusts. "Zidane, you're awake!" Garnet, too, shouted. Inside her a swirl of emotions flew. Should she be mad? Happy? Concerned? Questioning?, but as Zidane's arms flew around her in an expression of sheer joy, she could respond with nothing but happiness to see him.
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Later, they discussed what Zidane had done. So far, Zidane had refused to open up, but that was because, perhaps, he felt uncomfortable surrounded by soldiers. Now he was spouting tales of his experience freely, letting Garnet help him hold the burden of pain and sorrow. He described it with such vivid detail that sometimes Garnet told him to stop, as she felt Zidane's terror and confusion as he fell into the black pit of insanity. Then he got to the part where he had fell upon the village, slaughtering its innocent inhabitants, and his voice trailed off. He became suddenly silent, and looked away from Garnet, thinking. "Zidane, it's okay. It wasn't your fault..." "I know it wasn't, but if I had just... If I had just resisted the false memories, if I could have kept my sanity, if... if I hadn't been so weak, maybe those people would still be alive." Garnet looked away and was silent, too.
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The Pluto Knights loafed around the desert, leading the search for Fratley, as well as his lover, Freya, who had also left for reasons unknown to them. "A sandstorm's about to pick up" cautioned Beatrix, who had decided to stay in the desert to look for her comrades. "Yes, I know. But what can we do about it? We weren't left any supplies by her Majesty the Queen" Steiner replied, having been relatively silent throughout the journey except for a few odd complaints about sand in his boots.
The sandstorm began around an hour later. Steiner's troupe of soldiers ran about even more aimlessly than before, unable to see anything. One of the knights felt a strange sensation around his feet, but passed it off for some stray rocks having stumbled their way into his shoes.
A deadly mistake.
The cadre of warriors watched in paralyzed horror as the screaming soldier was dragged mercilessly under the churning sand, as well as several of his comrades. A few knights grabbed onto their friends' hands as they fell, but they, too, were dragged into the whirpool of killing sand. Most of the knights let go of their friends' hands when they saw shining flashes of metal in the forsaken sand, and gouts of blood erupting from the spiral and streaking the sand. Those that did not were rended by the creature under the sand as well.
Throughout the experience a strange, maniacal laughter pervaded the arid desert air, mingling with the shrill screams of the dying.
End.
Notes:Well, I like this chapter. Nice and gory :P Also something of a cliffhanger, you know?
Stay tuned for chapter 7!
----------------------
"Garnet!" Zidane shouted, happy beyond belief, as he awoke and saw her, a beautiful butterfly amidst the gout of locusts. "Zidane, you're awake!" Garnet, too, shouted. Inside her a swirl of emotions flew. Should she be mad? Happy? Concerned? Questioning?, but as Zidane's arms flew around her in an expression of sheer joy, she could respond with nothing but happiness to see him.
-----------------------
Later, they discussed what Zidane had done. So far, Zidane had refused to open up, but that was because, perhaps, he felt uncomfortable surrounded by soldiers. Now he was spouting tales of his experience freely, letting Garnet help him hold the burden of pain and sorrow. He described it with such vivid detail that sometimes Garnet told him to stop, as she felt Zidane's terror and confusion as he fell into the black pit of insanity. Then he got to the part where he had fell upon the village, slaughtering its innocent inhabitants, and his voice trailed off. He became suddenly silent, and looked away from Garnet, thinking. "Zidane, it's okay. It wasn't your fault..." "I know it wasn't, but if I had just... If I had just resisted the false memories, if I could have kept my sanity, if... if I hadn't been so weak, maybe those people would still be alive." Garnet looked away and was silent, too.
------------------------
The Pluto Knights loafed around the desert, leading the search for Fratley, as well as his lover, Freya, who had also left for reasons unknown to them. "A sandstorm's about to pick up" cautioned Beatrix, who had decided to stay in the desert to look for her comrades. "Yes, I know. But what can we do about it? We weren't left any supplies by her Majesty the Queen" Steiner replied, having been relatively silent throughout the journey except for a few odd complaints about sand in his boots.
The sandstorm began around an hour later. Steiner's troupe of soldiers ran about even more aimlessly than before, unable to see anything. One of the knights felt a strange sensation around his feet, but passed it off for some stray rocks having stumbled their way into his shoes.
A deadly mistake.
The cadre of warriors watched in paralyzed horror as the screaming soldier was dragged mercilessly under the churning sand, as well as several of his comrades. A few knights grabbed onto their friends' hands as they fell, but they, too, were dragged into the whirpool of killing sand. Most of the knights let go of their friends' hands when they saw shining flashes of metal in the forsaken sand, and gouts of blood erupting from the spiral and streaking the sand. Those that did not were rended by the creature under the sand as well.
Throughout the experience a strange, maniacal laughter pervaded the arid desert air, mingling with the shrill screams of the dying.
End.
Notes:Well, I like this chapter. Nice and gory :P Also something of a cliffhanger, you know?
Stay tuned for chapter 7!