Chapter two: Fear, Pain, and Why?
What in the world does "kawaii" mean?!?!?
"I am just saying," Steiner protested, "that perhaps it is not a good idea to have Master Vivi aid in the clean-up."
He added hesitantly, "What, prey tell, heart desires a cookie?"
Steiner was a big man in rusty armor. He served Princess Garnett and only wanted her to go back to Alexandria. He despised Zidane, but I think he feared my power even though I never hurt anyone and showed him how to do many attacks.
"M-my grandpa always gave me cookies when I was upset. I want to help with the clean-up."
Dagger smiled at me. She was a tall girl in orange with long black hair. A faint scar was just between her eyes. She was the princess of Alexandria and the strongest one of the Party, from what I had observed.
"We'll go together, okay, Vivi?" she said. I smiled, but no one could see it.
"You've been awfully quiet," Dagger mused.
"The Waltz scared me."
Lindblum was a mess. People were putting out fires and digging up bodies. The screams f the innocents brought tears to my glowing eyes.
"I-I was just scared of her, really."
Dagger smiled, "How could you tell it was a girl?"
I resisted the urge to tell her, "How could you not? She was a thing of beauty!" I didn't feel that would go over well with the sea of destruction around us. Already we'd found three people, two dead, one pitifully mauled. She scared me so badly, too. I wondered why I had felt like joining her.
I look like the Black Mages, just smaller. I always wondered why no one around was compelled to hide their face from everyone even though from what I saw of humans they'd find me positively adorable. None of them had features quite like mine, either. They were sharp, elfin, and delicate. My grandpa told me that when I grew I'd have to beat the girls off me.
So far, I had done nothing but beat monster off me and I wasn't even good at that. At least I got out of the Festival of the Hunt. I dint want to fight animals. I had been so excited when the woman at the store told me that there would be animals. I didn't realize that I would have to kill them; I thought it would be like a giant petting zoo.
"Vivi! Over here!" Dagger called. We were apart from the others, very apart, in a place that was so far gone that you couldn't recognize it as Tantalus's hideout anymore. Dagger was holding up a wooden plank more then too big for her. She stood on rubble and it slipped beneath her feet and smoked. I could hear the groans of someone beneath it.
I coughed through the black smoke and ran to Dagger's aid without tripping. I wedged myself beneath it to hold before the wind spell I was casting took effect. Dagger started heaving and sat down. I sat beside her.
"A-are you okay?" I asked.
"It's just the smell, and the sounds, and-OH! Vivi, why would my mother do this?!"
I shook my unseen head, "Don't know."
I stared up at the darkening sky, "look, I heard someone under hear, we should get to them."
Dagger and I stood up and resumed digging through what used to be Zidane's home. I felt the charred wood and stone slip beneath me and I tried desperately to grab onto Dagger, but I only succeeded in pulling her down with me. We fell about thirty feet and then landed painfully on a hard rock ground in what looked like Tantalus's basement. Luckily, I cushioned Dagger's fall.
Dagger jumped off me and I inhaled deeply and painfully until I made a rasping sound. I laid there; unable to move, think, or barely breathe through the pain, but except for my already slim pride I was unharmed.
"Are you okay, Vivi?" Dagger asked panickedly.
"Y-yeah," I choked. "I'm good."
I sat up and stared directly ahead. I saw a body. A BODY!! Do you understand?! There was a DEAD PERSON with her head twisted to one side and her glassy green eyes staring at me with a little line of blood leaking from behind her pale lips! Her skin was pale and ashen and she was lying in a pool of her own rubicund blood.
Do you understand my rage and horror? Can you imagine what fear I felt at the body and how that person shouldn't have died? It was horrible. Especially when the body moved weakly.
She turned her head above her and reached for the three-foot spear stuck in her black-clad abdomen. She wrapped her delicate black-gloved fingers around the stick and pulled it out. Dagger gagged and cried out in astonishment. Whoever she was, the girl was very strong and brave. I ran toward the girl and held her head between my hands to keep her still.
"No, don't move. W-wait for s to get help," I told her.
She didn't say a word, but I saw it. I saw the gaping hole in her belly knit and close, leaving only the faintest scar. I knew. Before I realized that her eyes glowed and she had red and black wings, I knew. I knew *who* she was and I knew *what* she was.
What in the world does "kawaii" mean?!?!?
"I am just saying," Steiner protested, "that perhaps it is not a good idea to have Master Vivi aid in the clean-up."
He added hesitantly, "What, prey tell, heart desires a cookie?"
Steiner was a big man in rusty armor. He served Princess Garnett and only wanted her to go back to Alexandria. He despised Zidane, but I think he feared my power even though I never hurt anyone and showed him how to do many attacks.
"M-my grandpa always gave me cookies when I was upset. I want to help with the clean-up."
Dagger smiled at me. She was a tall girl in orange with long black hair. A faint scar was just between her eyes. She was the princess of Alexandria and the strongest one of the Party, from what I had observed.
"We'll go together, okay, Vivi?" she said. I smiled, but no one could see it.
"You've been awfully quiet," Dagger mused.
"The Waltz scared me."
Lindblum was a mess. People were putting out fires and digging up bodies. The screams f the innocents brought tears to my glowing eyes.
"I-I was just scared of her, really."
Dagger smiled, "How could you tell it was a girl?"
I resisted the urge to tell her, "How could you not? She was a thing of beauty!" I didn't feel that would go over well with the sea of destruction around us. Already we'd found three people, two dead, one pitifully mauled. She scared me so badly, too. I wondered why I had felt like joining her.
I look like the Black Mages, just smaller. I always wondered why no one around was compelled to hide their face from everyone even though from what I saw of humans they'd find me positively adorable. None of them had features quite like mine, either. They were sharp, elfin, and delicate. My grandpa told me that when I grew I'd have to beat the girls off me.
So far, I had done nothing but beat monster off me and I wasn't even good at that. At least I got out of the Festival of the Hunt. I dint want to fight animals. I had been so excited when the woman at the store told me that there would be animals. I didn't realize that I would have to kill them; I thought it would be like a giant petting zoo.
"Vivi! Over here!" Dagger called. We were apart from the others, very apart, in a place that was so far gone that you couldn't recognize it as Tantalus's hideout anymore. Dagger was holding up a wooden plank more then too big for her. She stood on rubble and it slipped beneath her feet and smoked. I could hear the groans of someone beneath it.
I coughed through the black smoke and ran to Dagger's aid without tripping. I wedged myself beneath it to hold before the wind spell I was casting took effect. Dagger started heaving and sat down. I sat beside her.
"A-are you okay?" I asked.
"It's just the smell, and the sounds, and-OH! Vivi, why would my mother do this?!"
I shook my unseen head, "Don't know."
I stared up at the darkening sky, "look, I heard someone under hear, we should get to them."
Dagger and I stood up and resumed digging through what used to be Zidane's home. I felt the charred wood and stone slip beneath me and I tried desperately to grab onto Dagger, but I only succeeded in pulling her down with me. We fell about thirty feet and then landed painfully on a hard rock ground in what looked like Tantalus's basement. Luckily, I cushioned Dagger's fall.
Dagger jumped off me and I inhaled deeply and painfully until I made a rasping sound. I laid there; unable to move, think, or barely breathe through the pain, but except for my already slim pride I was unharmed.
"Are you okay, Vivi?" Dagger asked panickedly.
"Y-yeah," I choked. "I'm good."
I sat up and stared directly ahead. I saw a body. A BODY!! Do you understand?! There was a DEAD PERSON with her head twisted to one side and her glassy green eyes staring at me with a little line of blood leaking from behind her pale lips! Her skin was pale and ashen and she was lying in a pool of her own rubicund blood.
Do you understand my rage and horror? Can you imagine what fear I felt at the body and how that person shouldn't have died? It was horrible. Especially when the body moved weakly.
She turned her head above her and reached for the three-foot spear stuck in her black-clad abdomen. She wrapped her delicate black-gloved fingers around the stick and pulled it out. Dagger gagged and cried out in astonishment. Whoever she was, the girl was very strong and brave. I ran toward the girl and held her head between my hands to keep her still.
"No, don't move. W-wait for s to get help," I told her.
She didn't say a word, but I saw it. I saw the gaping hole in her belly knit and close, leaving only the faintest scar. I knew. Before I realized that her eyes glowed and she had red and black wings, I knew. I knew *who* she was and I knew *what* she was.