Chapter 2
I own Final Fantasy 9. Hey look! A flying cow! J/K The only thing I own is Amber. Oh, before I forget. This fanfic is linked with my Final Fantasy 8 fic I haven't even written. Kuja was born from an evil sorceress and became a sworn enemy to Cara and her descendants. Cara is Squall's older sister and the direct ancestor of Ultimecia, Alexia, Amber, and Zidane. A little more will be explained in this chapter.
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Amber regained consciousness and found herself on a soft bed in a light blue room. She was still in her hunting clothes but her arm was bandaged up and her boots were beside her bed. Her masamune was placed beside an open window. So Amber climbed out of bed and looked out the window. There was blue light outside as well. She saw many genomes that looked identical to Zidane, all had emotionless faces. Further out, she could see some weird test tubes that contained some genomes and a brown haired one being forced into a test tube. She squinted her eyes to get a better look at the brown genome.
"Tybalt!" she gasped, "What are they doing to him?"
"He is only having his soul removed so he can be an empty vessel until Terra is restored." Amber turned to the owner of the voice and discovered a tall man with white hair.
"Who are you?" She asked, getting ready to reach for her masamune. He chuckled, "You don't remember? Or have they not told you? I was Cara's sworn enemy. I am the very one who married Ultimecia and corrupted her. I am Alexia's father. Do you know now?"
"Kuja!" the handle of the masamune was in one hand while the other was on the sheath, "Leave me alone. I am not Cara! Hold no grudges against me or my son!"
"Don't worry. After Alexia defeated me, I changed. Having your own daughter, your pride and joy, say 'I hate you' can change anyone."
"So you stopped your search for ultimate power?!"
"Of course not! I need more power to get my revenge on Garland. I was talking about how to save you since you're my great (x15) granddaughter."
"Garland? Who's he? And what's all this about Terra being restored?" Amber lowered her weapon and stepped away from the window as Kuja walked towards it.
"2 years ago, a genome by the name of Jared, awakened Garland. When this planet starts decaying it is Garland's job to gather all the souls and restore Terra by assimilating other planets. Oh, and by tradition, the soulless genomes are to look identical to the last powerful king. Which was your father, in case you are wondering. I wanted to study Garland's power, but he turned me into a genome and then I became his Angel of Death!"
"That's right, my ancestors were humans." Amber thought, then asked, "Why do I still have a soul?"
"Jared was granted a request and he asked Garland to let you and him to keep your own souls. He wants to use your powers to take over the world or something. Whatever it is, I'm not going to let him have his way."
"Jared Hames …that pathetic asshole!"
"Now that you know everything, get some rest and you will find a note detailing on how you and Zidane are going to escape." Kuja noticed Amber's worried look and said, "Don't worry he's safe" She immediately began to relax. Just when Kuja was about to leave, she asked, "One more question. Where are we?"
"Bran Bal"
"Impossible! I was born and raised in Bran Bal and this place doesn't-!" She froze outside the window. Even though it was on top of a pillar, the streets and the houses were familiar.
"This cannot be." Amber whispered as she noticed Kuja was gone.
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"Zidane will be the new Angel of Death, but Kuja will pretend to be jealous and make him forget until I say his name." Amber silently followed Kuja and Zidane. The Pandemonium was actually the castle Amber grew up in so she knew her way around. All she had to do was follow Kuja to the Invincible and escape to Gaia. Simple.
"The Queen is escaping! Get her!" Garland shouted from above. Kuja injected a potion in Zidane's arm and lifted him to his shoulder. He took one last glance at Amber before running away, meaning she have to switch to plan B and get out of the Pandemonium by herself. The people who were once her guards were now hunting her down. Remembering exactly where she is, Amber kicked a wall and a door slid open across from it. She ran inside and heard one genome made it in before it closed. She kept going forward until she fell and slid all the way down to the first floor. Guards were already waiting for her there so she was surrounded. Amber backed up, then ducked down as the other genome fell though the chute and crashed into several guards leaving a stained glass window her only escape.
The Invincible was already in the air and was slowly heading towards its destination. Her hands were bleeding from the small bits of glass that dug into her skin. She kept running. Some genomes that haven't lost their souls were now shouting 'Long live the Queen!' as more soulless genomes joined in the chase. Amber tried to stay under the airship's shadow, but was too far behind. Three to five of her pursuers were inches away from her as she reached the end of the city. The Invincible was glowing blue and began to fade. Amber jumped, only to fall on the ground.
"NNOO!!!" she cried, squeezing her eyes shut. Suddenly she felt a rush of air, then noticed she was in snow. It wasn't snowing in Bran Bal …which means she made it! A small smile appeared on her lips as she saw the Invincible fly away.
*Swoosh!*
A fireball almost hit her. On top of a hill stood a shadowy figure with long black hair flowing in the cold wind and a black tail swishing behind her. Amber couldn't see her face but didn't try to as another fireball was aimed at her. Deciding that being a sitting duck was getting her nowhere, Amber climbed the opposite hill so she could get out of the woman's firing range. Soon the fireballs turned into meteor spells when she reached the top. There was nothing but endless ocean ahead. So Amber occupied her attacker with a tornado spell and swam away in the icy water.
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Kuja directed the ship to the Mist Continent after destroying the last existing Black Mage Village. He hated Black Mages and found killing every last one of them a good way to relieve his anger towards Garland. He watched the burning village for a few more minutes, then turned his attention to the sleeping Zidane. If he paid close attention, he would have noticed a small boat carrying the last known Black Mage to the Mist Continent.
"Now where to put you." Burmecia was automatically out of question since Zidane wouldn't fit in or be well hidden in a kingdom of rats. Kuja finally decided on Lindblum because people from around the world gather there, making it easy for a genome to blend in. He landed the Invincible and placed Zidane at the front gate. He threw a rock and walked back to the Invincible. The rock caught a guard's attention.
"Hey look! It's a little boy."
"So?"
"Well, we can't just leave him there!"
"Sure we can! Soon a monster will come by and eat him so we won't have to worry about it. …H-hey! What are doing?"
"I'm taking him to Baku. Maybe he'll take care of the kid." The guards left and Kuja departed to Alexandria to take care of some unfinished business.
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Well, here's another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review please!
