Separation Anxiety
By FlowerPower1o1
A/N: Sorry I wasn't able to update yesterday. As unlikely as this sounds, I got in a wrestling match / kendo fight with two of my best friends in a muddy field. We were caked with mud, and it took us HOURS to clean off, so I didn't exactly have a lot of typing time yesterday. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I *DO* have a life *grin*. I only hope this chapter makes up for the delay. Enjoy!
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Chapter 8 - A New Breed Of Waltz
South Gate was undamaged from the battle two days ago, but workers and citizens in the area acted nervous, as if a Black Waltz would leap out at any second and attack them. While Eiko and the others were waiting for the cable car to arrive in the rest area (Quina had three plates of South Gate Bundt Cake spread out in front of her), they discussed their options.
"So, if Zidane isn't hidden somewhere in Treno or Gargan Roo," Blank said as he took another gulp of his drink, "should we take the gargant to Alexandria? Or continue to Pinnacle Rock and Fossil Roo?"
"We need to wait until Freya and Fratley arrive," Beatrix said. The general had sent a messenger to summon the two dragon knights from Burmecia with directions to meet them at Treno. "We can decide from there."
"Wonderful," Amarant said from where he sat, sharpening his Rune Claws.
"If only we still had the Invincible," Vivi said. "We could get around the world in a few hours if we had that. Too bad we left it in Memoria right before Kuja destroyed it."
"If someone hadn't pushed the Hilda Garde 4's engines past their limit . . ." Amarant said, and received a kick under the table from Eiko.
"We not only look for Zidane now!" Quina said around a mouthful of cake. "We look for Dagger too!"
"Who we still don't know is innocent," Amarant muttered.
"How good was the food in Dali?" Eiko snapped.
"I never noticed that Amarant and Eiko bumped heads this much," Blank muttered to Vivi.
"We're all a little stressed," Vivi whispered back.
"How long until the cable car gets here?" Eiko said for the seventh time in the past hour.
"About fifteen minutes," Beatrix said.
And they waited.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Freya Crescent ran her Dragon's Hair lance through another zombie, and turned to look at her love. Fratley was engaged by three Lamia creatures. Before Freya could go to help him, Fratley swung his legendary Grand Dragon Horn lance in a broad arc, taking out the three creatures at once.
"Is it just me, or do these things seem more aggressive than usual?" Freya said as another zombie advanced on her. She jumped in the air and disappeared somewhere into the roof of Gizamaluke's Grotto.
As the zombie looked around at the sudden disappearance of the dragon knight, Freya leaped back down, driving her lance through its body. The zombie crumpled.
"We need to leave, now!" Fratley said. More Lamia creatures were crawling from cracks in the walls and advancing on the pair.
"This way!" Freya shouted, even though she knew that Fratley knew the way. The two of them burst out of the cave and into the sunlight, where the creatures hesitated to follow them.
"We should hurry," Fratley said as he picked himself up. "We need to meet your friends in Treno. The knights picked themselves up and began jogging down the canyon toward Lindblum's Dragon Gate, and South Gate just beyond that.
But as they neared the Qu's Marsh, Freya stopped. "Beloved," she called to Fratley. "Stop for a moment."
Together they sliced their way through the thick brush to the center of the marsh, where the hut of Quale, Master of the Qu clan, once stood.
Now, it was a pile of scorched lumber, still smoldering in some parts. Scattered around the area were signs of heavy traffic, as if a large group of people had been in this area recently. It was doubtful that anyone had survived the fire. "This can't be a coincidence," Freya muttered. "This entire area reeks of Black Magic. But why would the Black Mages that kidnapped Zidane and are fighting to take over the continent want to kill Master Quale?"
"That's just one more question to be answered when we find the person responsible for this," Fratley said grimly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The cable car had arrived, and was now almost at the top of the summit, toward Treno. The group sat in silence, waiting impatiently for the trip to end so they could advance toward the next stage of their journey.
"I wonder if Doctor Tot has heard anything," Beatrix said. "He might know something that we haven't figured out yet."
The cable car hissed to a stop and the doors slid open. The sounds of panic greeted the group.
"What the hell!?" Beatrix said, drawing the Save The Queen and running out, followed by the rest of the group.
There, causing destruction to the rest area of South Gate, were three Waltzes. Dressed all in blue, the creatures looked more like Qu's than the previous Black Waltzes. They were thinner, and didn't have a silly grin on their face, but they did have the flower-shaped eyes and long tongues. They didn't have the awkward movements of Qu's, either; instead, they quickly loped across the ground, smashing things with their weapons, long metal wizard staffs with fork points at the end of them. "What are you?" Vivi said.
The three Waltzes stopped and turned to the group as one. "Oh, there you are," they said simultaneously. "We've been waiting for you. We're the Blue Waltzes."
Vivi blinked. "Blue Waltzes."
"Black Waltzes could only learn certain kinds of destructive magic," one Blue Waltz said.
"So our master decided to improve upon the idea of building Waltzes, using the Blue Magic of the Qu's as a model," the second one said.
"We travel around the world, battle, and eat creatures to gain their energy and power," the last one said. "We've learned many abilities that way."
"And now," they all said together, "we are going to learn yours!" But instead of attacking, they bounded off in three separate directions.
"Spread out!" Beatrix yelled to the others. "Vivi, you're with me. Quina and Blank, follow that one. Amarant and Eiko, follow that one. And hurry up, before these things do more damage!" The group split up and ran after the Waltzes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ah," a Blue Waltz said as Beatrix and Vivi approached it. "You came to find me. I'm so touched."
"So which one are you?" Beatrix said as she began to mentally summon her white magic. "Which Blue Waltz are you, I mean."
The Waltz twirled from where it perched on a sign. "Blue Waltz 1, at your service," it crowed.
Beatrix nodded and smiled, right before she cast Holy on the creature. The blinding white magic knocked it from its perch.
Blue Waltz 1 stood up and shook itself off. "Oooh, it's my turn," it said. "Here's a little something I picked up in Oeilvert." The Blue Waltz pointed its staff forward. "Mirror!" it shouted.
White light blazed from the fork part of its staff, slowly creating a figure. When the light faded, Steiner stood there, smirking at his wife evilly.
"I am Steiner!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blue Waltz 2 was giving Quina and Blank a hard time.
"Magic Hammer!" Quina shouted, wiggling her tongue. A hammer materialized out of thin air and slammed down on the Waltz, draining some of its magic.
"Ow!" the Waltz shouted. "That hurt!" It raised its staff and pointed it at Quina. "Sandstorm!" it called.
A gust of wind kicked up, blowing sand over Quina. The Qu blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Hey!" she said. "I no can see!"
"What a shame," Blue Waltz 2 mocked.
Blank reached into his pocket and pulled out another one of Baku's pyrotechnics. He threw it at the Blue Waltz, and it exploded in a green shockwave that knocked the Blue Waltz back.
Quina jumped forward and slashed the air in front of her with her Gastro Fork, but missed the Blue Waltz. "Quina!" Blank yelled. "Look out!"
Laughing, Blue Waltz 2 slashed forward with its staff.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Madeen," Eiko growled. "Terrifying beauty, Guardian of the Summoning Tribe. Give me the power of your Millennial Decay!"
Madeen shimmered into view hovering above Eiko, blasting Blue Waltz 3 with the Holy power that the eidolon possessed. The Blue Waltz stumbled back.
"Not so strong against summoning magic, are ya?" Eiko said, smiling.
"I can hold my own," Blue Waltz 3 growled, leveling its staff at Eiko. "Snowstorm!" A torrent of ice flew at Eiko, knocking her back as well. "Stupid Waltz," she said as she picked herself up.
Amarant leapt forward and slashed the Blue Waltz across the chest with his Rune Claws. "Any time you want to help out would be great," he yelled to Eiko.
"I just summoned against him!" she protested as she raised her Angel Flute. "What more do you want?" She cast Holy at the Waltz and watched in amusement as its robe began to smoke.
"Did I mention that I HATE holy magic!?" the Waltz practically screamed. "Web!" A sticky string of Carve Spider webbing shot from its staff and entangled Eiko to the ground.
"This time, stay down!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"SHOCK!" Beatrix and the reflection of Steiner said at the same time, blasting each other across the battlefield.
Blue Waltz 1 clicked its tongue. "When will the children learn?"
"Stop!" Vivi said, raising his staff.
The Waltz laughed. "Do you honestly think I'm going to stop now, just when I'm having so much fun?"
Then the Waltz froze in place, not moving, not blinking, not breathing, as Vivi's spell took effect.
"You are not Steiner!" Beatrix yelled as she raised the Save The Queen. She brought it down on the fake Steiner's helmeted head, and the creation dissolved into thin air.
The general then calmly strode over to Blue Waltz 1 and stabbed it through the chest. The Blue Waltz collapsed, fading gradually from view.
"Go help Eiko and Amarant!" she yelled to Vivi as she ran off. "I'll go help Quina and Blank!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Quina and Blank needed help. Quina was lying on the ground, too injured to get up. Blank was able to dodge most of the Blue Waltz's attacks, but he knew he couldn't last much longer without help.
"Aerial slash!" the Blue Waltz shouted, leaping into the air and swiping its staff in an arc. The wind damage forced Blank to his knees. "Help!" he yelled.
Suddenly, he felt replenished as the effects of a Cura spell went through him. He stood up and looked over at Beatrix, who was casting Full- Life on Quina. Quina got up and shook her head.
"No fair!" the Waltz whined. "That's cheating!"
"You hurt Quina!" Quina shouted. "You bad! Must beat you!" She raised her Gastro Fork and waggled her tongue again. "1000 Needles!"
As promised, a thousand deadly sharp needles flew from the air in front of Quina and embedded themselves in the Blue Waltz 2. The Blue Waltz flew backward, dissolving as it went. Its staff clattered against the ground, but the body itself was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Amarant Tranced.
It didn't happen very often, and Eiko had never really looked at Amarant when he was in Trance mode. He looked the same, except for his hair was midnight black and his clothes were different shades of gray and silver. "No Mercy," he growled, using his Flair ability. The attack burst around Blue Waltz 3, knocking it to the ground. "Curse," Amarant said again, summoning a could of dust around it. The mercenary felt some of the Waltz's magic defense slip away.
"Hit it with some fire," Amarant said, and stalked away.
"That's where I come in," Vivi said, bouncing forward. "Firaga!"
"Phoenix!" Eiko said at the same time. "Lord of air and Lord of flame! Unleash your Rebirth Flame upon my opponent and let him know the wrath of an eidolon's fire!"
The two flame attacks incinerated the Waltz. Just before it burned away to ashes, it said "It's too bad about Treno, you know. It used to be such a nice town." Then it disappeared.
Eiko, Vivi, and Amarant looked at each other, and then turned around to see Beatrix, Quina and Blank running toward them.
"We need to get to Treno right away," Eiko said, and then they were running again.
A/N: Sorry I wasn't able to update yesterday. As unlikely as this sounds, I got in a wrestling match / kendo fight with two of my best friends in a muddy field. We were caked with mud, and it took us HOURS to clean off, so I didn't exactly have a lot of typing time yesterday. Yes, contrary to popular belief, I *DO* have a life *grin*. I only hope this chapter makes up for the delay. Enjoy!
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Chapter 8 - A New Breed Of Waltz
South Gate was undamaged from the battle two days ago, but workers and citizens in the area acted nervous, as if a Black Waltz would leap out at any second and attack them. While Eiko and the others were waiting for the cable car to arrive in the rest area (Quina had three plates of South Gate Bundt Cake spread out in front of her), they discussed their options.
"So, if Zidane isn't hidden somewhere in Treno or Gargan Roo," Blank said as he took another gulp of his drink, "should we take the gargant to Alexandria? Or continue to Pinnacle Rock and Fossil Roo?"
"We need to wait until Freya and Fratley arrive," Beatrix said. The general had sent a messenger to summon the two dragon knights from Burmecia with directions to meet them at Treno. "We can decide from there."
"Wonderful," Amarant said from where he sat, sharpening his Rune Claws.
"If only we still had the Invincible," Vivi said. "We could get around the world in a few hours if we had that. Too bad we left it in Memoria right before Kuja destroyed it."
"If someone hadn't pushed the Hilda Garde 4's engines past their limit . . ." Amarant said, and received a kick under the table from Eiko.
"We not only look for Zidane now!" Quina said around a mouthful of cake. "We look for Dagger too!"
"Who we still don't know is innocent," Amarant muttered.
"How good was the food in Dali?" Eiko snapped.
"I never noticed that Amarant and Eiko bumped heads this much," Blank muttered to Vivi.
"We're all a little stressed," Vivi whispered back.
"How long until the cable car gets here?" Eiko said for the seventh time in the past hour.
"About fifteen minutes," Beatrix said.
And they waited.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Freya Crescent ran her Dragon's Hair lance through another zombie, and turned to look at her love. Fratley was engaged by three Lamia creatures. Before Freya could go to help him, Fratley swung his legendary Grand Dragon Horn lance in a broad arc, taking out the three creatures at once.
"Is it just me, or do these things seem more aggressive than usual?" Freya said as another zombie advanced on her. She jumped in the air and disappeared somewhere into the roof of Gizamaluke's Grotto.
As the zombie looked around at the sudden disappearance of the dragon knight, Freya leaped back down, driving her lance through its body. The zombie crumpled.
"We need to leave, now!" Fratley said. More Lamia creatures were crawling from cracks in the walls and advancing on the pair.
"This way!" Freya shouted, even though she knew that Fratley knew the way. The two of them burst out of the cave and into the sunlight, where the creatures hesitated to follow them.
"We should hurry," Fratley said as he picked himself up. "We need to meet your friends in Treno. The knights picked themselves up and began jogging down the canyon toward Lindblum's Dragon Gate, and South Gate just beyond that.
But as they neared the Qu's Marsh, Freya stopped. "Beloved," she called to Fratley. "Stop for a moment."
Together they sliced their way through the thick brush to the center of the marsh, where the hut of Quale, Master of the Qu clan, once stood.
Now, it was a pile of scorched lumber, still smoldering in some parts. Scattered around the area were signs of heavy traffic, as if a large group of people had been in this area recently. It was doubtful that anyone had survived the fire. "This can't be a coincidence," Freya muttered. "This entire area reeks of Black Magic. But why would the Black Mages that kidnapped Zidane and are fighting to take over the continent want to kill Master Quale?"
"That's just one more question to be answered when we find the person responsible for this," Fratley said grimly.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The cable car had arrived, and was now almost at the top of the summit, toward Treno. The group sat in silence, waiting impatiently for the trip to end so they could advance toward the next stage of their journey.
"I wonder if Doctor Tot has heard anything," Beatrix said. "He might know something that we haven't figured out yet."
The cable car hissed to a stop and the doors slid open. The sounds of panic greeted the group.
"What the hell!?" Beatrix said, drawing the Save The Queen and running out, followed by the rest of the group.
There, causing destruction to the rest area of South Gate, were three Waltzes. Dressed all in blue, the creatures looked more like Qu's than the previous Black Waltzes. They were thinner, and didn't have a silly grin on their face, but they did have the flower-shaped eyes and long tongues. They didn't have the awkward movements of Qu's, either; instead, they quickly loped across the ground, smashing things with their weapons, long metal wizard staffs with fork points at the end of them. "What are you?" Vivi said.
The three Waltzes stopped and turned to the group as one. "Oh, there you are," they said simultaneously. "We've been waiting for you. We're the Blue Waltzes."
Vivi blinked. "Blue Waltzes."
"Black Waltzes could only learn certain kinds of destructive magic," one Blue Waltz said.
"So our master decided to improve upon the idea of building Waltzes, using the Blue Magic of the Qu's as a model," the second one said.
"We travel around the world, battle, and eat creatures to gain their energy and power," the last one said. "We've learned many abilities that way."
"And now," they all said together, "we are going to learn yours!" But instead of attacking, they bounded off in three separate directions.
"Spread out!" Beatrix yelled to the others. "Vivi, you're with me. Quina and Blank, follow that one. Amarant and Eiko, follow that one. And hurry up, before these things do more damage!" The group split up and ran after the Waltzes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ah," a Blue Waltz said as Beatrix and Vivi approached it. "You came to find me. I'm so touched."
"So which one are you?" Beatrix said as she began to mentally summon her white magic. "Which Blue Waltz are you, I mean."
The Waltz twirled from where it perched on a sign. "Blue Waltz 1, at your service," it crowed.
Beatrix nodded and smiled, right before she cast Holy on the creature. The blinding white magic knocked it from its perch.
Blue Waltz 1 stood up and shook itself off. "Oooh, it's my turn," it said. "Here's a little something I picked up in Oeilvert." The Blue Waltz pointed its staff forward. "Mirror!" it shouted.
White light blazed from the fork part of its staff, slowly creating a figure. When the light faded, Steiner stood there, smirking at his wife evilly.
"I am Steiner!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blue Waltz 2 was giving Quina and Blank a hard time.
"Magic Hammer!" Quina shouted, wiggling her tongue. A hammer materialized out of thin air and slammed down on the Waltz, draining some of its magic.
"Ow!" the Waltz shouted. "That hurt!" It raised its staff and pointed it at Quina. "Sandstorm!" it called.
A gust of wind kicked up, blowing sand over Quina. The Qu blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Hey!" she said. "I no can see!"
"What a shame," Blue Waltz 2 mocked.
Blank reached into his pocket and pulled out another one of Baku's pyrotechnics. He threw it at the Blue Waltz, and it exploded in a green shockwave that knocked the Blue Waltz back.
Quina jumped forward and slashed the air in front of her with her Gastro Fork, but missed the Blue Waltz. "Quina!" Blank yelled. "Look out!"
Laughing, Blue Waltz 2 slashed forward with its staff.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Madeen," Eiko growled. "Terrifying beauty, Guardian of the Summoning Tribe. Give me the power of your Millennial Decay!"
Madeen shimmered into view hovering above Eiko, blasting Blue Waltz 3 with the Holy power that the eidolon possessed. The Blue Waltz stumbled back.
"Not so strong against summoning magic, are ya?" Eiko said, smiling.
"I can hold my own," Blue Waltz 3 growled, leveling its staff at Eiko. "Snowstorm!" A torrent of ice flew at Eiko, knocking her back as well. "Stupid Waltz," she said as she picked herself up.
Amarant leapt forward and slashed the Blue Waltz across the chest with his Rune Claws. "Any time you want to help out would be great," he yelled to Eiko.
"I just summoned against him!" she protested as she raised her Angel Flute. "What more do you want?" She cast Holy at the Waltz and watched in amusement as its robe began to smoke.
"Did I mention that I HATE holy magic!?" the Waltz practically screamed. "Web!" A sticky string of Carve Spider webbing shot from its staff and entangled Eiko to the ground.
"This time, stay down!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"SHOCK!" Beatrix and the reflection of Steiner said at the same time, blasting each other across the battlefield.
Blue Waltz 1 clicked its tongue. "When will the children learn?"
"Stop!" Vivi said, raising his staff.
The Waltz laughed. "Do you honestly think I'm going to stop now, just when I'm having so much fun?"
Then the Waltz froze in place, not moving, not blinking, not breathing, as Vivi's spell took effect.
"You are not Steiner!" Beatrix yelled as she raised the Save The Queen. She brought it down on the fake Steiner's helmeted head, and the creation dissolved into thin air.
The general then calmly strode over to Blue Waltz 1 and stabbed it through the chest. The Blue Waltz collapsed, fading gradually from view.
"Go help Eiko and Amarant!" she yelled to Vivi as she ran off. "I'll go help Quina and Blank!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Quina and Blank needed help. Quina was lying on the ground, too injured to get up. Blank was able to dodge most of the Blue Waltz's attacks, but he knew he couldn't last much longer without help.
"Aerial slash!" the Blue Waltz shouted, leaping into the air and swiping its staff in an arc. The wind damage forced Blank to his knees. "Help!" he yelled.
Suddenly, he felt replenished as the effects of a Cura spell went through him. He stood up and looked over at Beatrix, who was casting Full- Life on Quina. Quina got up and shook her head.
"No fair!" the Waltz whined. "That's cheating!"
"You hurt Quina!" Quina shouted. "You bad! Must beat you!" She raised her Gastro Fork and waggled her tongue again. "1000 Needles!"
As promised, a thousand deadly sharp needles flew from the air in front of Quina and embedded themselves in the Blue Waltz 2. The Blue Waltz flew backward, dissolving as it went. Its staff clattered against the ground, but the body itself was gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Amarant Tranced.
It didn't happen very often, and Eiko had never really looked at Amarant when he was in Trance mode. He looked the same, except for his hair was midnight black and his clothes were different shades of gray and silver. "No Mercy," he growled, using his Flair ability. The attack burst around Blue Waltz 3, knocking it to the ground. "Curse," Amarant said again, summoning a could of dust around it. The mercenary felt some of the Waltz's magic defense slip away.
"Hit it with some fire," Amarant said, and stalked away.
"That's where I come in," Vivi said, bouncing forward. "Firaga!"
"Phoenix!" Eiko said at the same time. "Lord of air and Lord of flame! Unleash your Rebirth Flame upon my opponent and let him know the wrath of an eidolon's fire!"
The two flame attacks incinerated the Waltz. Just before it burned away to ashes, it said "It's too bad about Treno, you know. It used to be such a nice town." Then it disappeared.
Eiko, Vivi, and Amarant looked at each other, and then turned around to see Beatrix, Quina and Blank running toward them.
"We need to get to Treno right away," Eiko said, and then they were running again.
