Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX or any characters within this document.

Note: If you see a (Music Cue:) within the story, and you own the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack, play the track to amplify your experience (Chapter 2 onward)

Note: I have made 2 changes to the plot:
1. Dagger never cut her hair short
2. Zidane does not go back to save Kuja

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE ETERNAL SHADOW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------------------------Chapter 2: Battle in the Skies----------------------
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Zidane walked through the darkness searching. Searching for someone. For anyone. For Dagger. He looked around and continued walking. He was then bathed in a vibrant blue light. The light surrounded him and caused him to cover his eyes to shield them from the burning. As his eyes became accustomed to the brightness, he thought he saw Kuja within the light. He was holding his head as if in pain. He then called out to Zidane in a loud voice.

"You have to help! That which you have accomplished was in vain! The scourge of eternity lives on...I am but a puppet, conformed to his whims...I now suffer day and night, my pain knows no bounds, and my spirit is in shreds. End my suffering Zidane!"

As Kuja said that, Zidane was thrown out of his bed and against one of the walls of his cabin. Zidane struggled to his feet. "What was that!?" He had barely recovered his footing when a second crash shook the airship. He was thrown off his feet again and as he fell to the ground he witnessed the wall of his cabin being torn asunder a large vine. Zidane couldn't believe his eyes. It was from the Iifa Tree. The vine turned towards Zidane and opened its mouth, bearing two rows of sharp teeth. Zidane quickly righted himself and instinctively reached for the thief sword on his back. Zidane's heart skipped a beat. Nothing was there. He checked for a dagger. Nothing. He looked over at the table that had been shattered when the vine crashed through the wall. There were his weapons, being guarded by the creature. Zidane stepped backwards, towards the door.

'If I can slide below him and grab my weapons, I might be able to inflict some damage before he can follow my movement.' He thought as he prepared to make his move. The vine-creature had other plans, though. The creature lunged at Zidane with its mouth gaping open. "Dammit!" He yelled as he dove to his left to avoid the creature's attack. The monster ripped through the door of the cabin and flew out into the hall, ramming into a wall lined with pipes. The pipes broke, releasing hot steam into the hallway. The creature was stunned momentarily. "I way not have a weapon, but I can still fight!" Zidane exclaimed as he ran towards the doorway. He jumped into the doorframe and sprung off of it towards the monster, delivering a swift kick into its side, sending it sprawling down the hall and through another door.

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Amarant parried an incoming attack with his left claw and countered with his right. His attack left a trail of green "blood" on the floor. He smiled to himself, despite the searing pain in his left arm. As the creature stood up, a violent crash rippled through the ship. "What...? More!?" Amarant asked himself as the monster made another attack. The creature opened its mouth to bite and lunged. Amarant held it at bay and kept its mouth open with his claw and with his other, punched through the round of its mouth. The monster howled in agony. Amarant withdrew his claws from the beast and backhanded it to his left. Amarant jabbed his claw into the monster's side and kicked it into the wall to his right. As it hit he jumped at it and slashed an X into it with his claws. He then proceeded to thrust his claws into it and move them away from each other, ripping the creature's side apart. He then grabbed the creature with his claws, and tossed it across the room, and out the gaping hole in the room. He watched as the badly wounded creature tried to move back towards him. As it righted itself, Amarant drew an item from his table. It was about the size of a dinner plate, and was in the pattern of a sun, and each fiery trail of the sun branched off into arms that spiraled counter-clockwise and ended in razor-sharp edges.

Amarant threw the rising sun out into the sky at the creature. The razor-edged weapon flew straight into the creature's "neck" and cut completely through it. The vine-monster then went limp and fell into the ocean below. Amarant breathed a sigh of relief and clutched his bleeding arm in pain. The moment he did so, he heard a screeching coming from behind his door. He turned to it just in time to see another vine-creature crash through his door. "Oh-!" Amarant was struck by the monster and knocked out the shattered wall. As he was hit, he twisted his body and grabbed onto the ledge of his room. The beast's momentum carried it out of the room and Amarant seized the opportunity and latched onto the creature. The monster's course was straight down from here. Amarant stood up as best he could and began running against its movement, doing little more than slowing his own movement downward.

As the vine plummeted, it began to recover and began heading back towards Amarant. One of the three vines still following at a distance also began flew at him. As both of the creatures neared, Amarant leapt towards the new one and spun 180 degrees and impelled his claws through its skin. The new creature soared through the air and over the airship, heading apparently for the bridge. As it got close, he jumped.

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"No! Amarant!" Zidane yelled as he stepped backwards, unable to believe what he had done. He looked on at the scene in the sky behind the ship. The dark sky of the storm nearly hid from him the vines. As Zidane watched, he saw Amarant, alive, if not a little stunned, grab onto another vine. He was relieved at this (As relieved as one can be when your airship is being attacked by evil vine creatures...) However, this relief quickly faded as the vine he knocked away charged in through the opening in Amarant's cabin. Zidane quickly looked over to where his weapons were. However, he saw nothing where they had been before. They had been sucked out shortly after the vine attacked. As the vine perked up and prepared to attack, Zidane scanned his surroundings. His eyes fell on the source of the steam in the hall. One of the broken pipes on the wall...the longest one was as tall as Zidane. This was his only option.

----------(Musical Cue: You're Not Alone!)----------

Zidane grabbed the longest pipe and tried to pull it away from the wall. It was still connected on the bottom. As the vine began charging towards him, Zidane delivered a swift kick into the bottom of the pipe, effectively breaking it loose. He quickly spun the thick pipe around and slammed it into the beast's head, knocking it into the wall. Zidane smiled as he held it the way he would a thief sword. He stepped forward and swung the pipe upwards, hitting the monster up from the ground. He then swung it clockwise across its face. He reversed the direction of his swing and hit the vine as it was knocked away with the first hit. He finished his attack with a kick into the beast's face. The creature prepared to strike again, and Zidane prepared his defense.

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At the bridge, Cid, Erin, Vivi and Freya stood, unable to comprehend the battle that was taking place around them. Cid had just attributed the crashing noises and shaking to the mist-cloud they were passing through. Suddenly, Amarant fell to the deck just outside the bridge. Everyone inside was startled to see this. Amarant stood up, shook off the fall, and then dove through the glass window separating the deck and the cockpit. As he did so, a vine crashed through the deck, and a large piece of the front of the ship broke off, and drifted away.

Freya raised her lance. "Get out of here Cid!" Cid Erin and the rest of the crew she didn't mention left without a second thought. Vivi stepped backwards and raised his hands. Amarant stood up and shook off the glass with his right hand, since his left was in no condition to be used at this point. He then got in a one handed fighting stance. He nodded to Freya. She nodded back.

"Spirit of the healing dragon, blow your kindness in. Reis' Wind!" Freya chanted and swung her lance. The spirit of a dragon drifted over the three, and a cool, refreshing wind blew across them. Amarant could feel his left arm feeling better already. He raised his right claw, ready to fight.

The vine readied itself and charged into the bridge.

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A/N Sorry it took so long to update...yeah...school...anyways...next chapter will be up within the next few days. Keep your eyes out for it!