Chapter 54

To Live in Infamy

Nida hovered above Galbadia City. The first time he had relived these tragic moments, he had fleetingly wondered how he could be doing so. Though by the third or the fourth affliction of this recurring nightmare, he had known what to expect, and that he could do nothing to change its events. So, he had reached and felt Siren's wings protruding from his own head, beating steadily.

Quistis floated before him, lighting the war-torn city with her gleaming amber form as clear as day, her white wind shimmering and shifting beneath her boots. In both hands were the two rippling whips she had fashioned from holy essence, binding Ultimecia from head to toe. As much as her foe thrashed like a full-grown fastitocalon in a net, she could do nothing to free herself from those ethereal bindings. The orbs surrounding Ultimecia shone almost as brilliantly as Quistis did, drawn to a large one emanating from her bosom. When they collided, she would cease to exist.

Nida did not even raise his katana this time, for he knew it was hopeless. An obsidian shadow approached Quistis from behind, the apparition of Tiamat's wings coming from its back. Blood spread from two spots on Quistis' salmon battle dress, and two onyx blades emerged from them in slow motion, six feet long. Her light was expunged instantaneously, as was the striving light from her pulsar and the off-white sheen of her pious whips.

The blue eyes of the stricken Sorceress found her Knight, the Knight who had been absent in reality, and she desperately reached one gloved hand in his direction. Ultimecia's cackle resonated sonorously throughout the whole city, followed by the collective groan of the Allies as they realised what had happened, their hopes dying with the departed light. A hibernating Eden was soon bound within magicite, and Nida watched passively as the Transference took place. Only when these new, lancing lights abated did Nida lay eyes on the obsidian shadow.

Leonidas Christophe. That fiend from the future. Yet Nida had never seen Ultimecia's Knight up close, only from the street where he had found himself in a duel with Admiral Ramius, which had been brought to a respite along with all others when the battle on that rooftop had reached its climax. Thus, Christophe's face was also a shadow, albeit framed with broad features and topped with the blond mohican Nida knew him to have, a crimson cape shifting in an unfelt breeze.

Although a different setting to where his wife and Sorceress had died in reality, the manner of Ultimecia's disdain for her adversary was the same. With a wave of her arm, Quistis' body shot from the two swords and plummeted to the throngs of soldiers below. The thud of its impact had been audible from Nida's actual position, multiplied exponentially in these nightmares, and Ramius had not followed him as he had cried with anguish and sprinted for it.

Ultimecia looked at him with shining cat's eyes, and Christophe's featureless face turned in his direction, before speaking in the commanding Centran strine that Nida imagined him having.

'Where were you when your Sorceress needed you, Knight?'

Thousands of miles away from Galbadia, Nida awoke abruptly in his cabin. Beginning a long-instilled morning routine, he parted his thick sheets and sat upright on the edge of the bed, wiping the cold sweat that had formed on his brow. He soon felt the creeping cold, and he needed no further encouragement to leave the bed and don his travelling clothes.

He dressed suitably now the fishing vessel neared Winter Island, opting for white thermals and waterproofs. donning an additional white cloak from his shoulders. Having thrown the headband representing his mother and father's clans overboard at Battleship Island, a mundane black one now veiled his ridged, olive brow. He had not shaved since his deployment to Dollet – New Sarona, he reminded himself – and several weeks growth of greying black now darkened his jaw.

Nida adopted his badge of shame, his offhand protruding from the centre of his jacket, leaving one sleeve unfilled and dangling by his side. The Knight who outlived their Sorceress knew dishonour like no other. There had been only one other in history, and that had been Hideyoshi of Balamb. Yet, in confronting the Deadly Alliance, Hideyoshi and his comrades had been hopelessly outmatched by the Praetorians of Adel and the Paladins of Jadis, only the intensity of Murasame giving them a fighting chance of saving Nakano.

Some of those among SeeD argued as to whether Seifer had fallen into this category, but the fallen anti-hero had always maintained he had been Edea's Knight, not Ultimecia's. Seifer had told the Children of Fate he was retired before his last battle with them at Lunatic Pandora. As if he did not have enough dishonour by the time they prevailed over Ultimecia.

Nida had simply not been there. Worse, although there had been others present, he had urged Quistis she was capable of defeating Ultimecia even with Eden depleted. Gerra had filled in as Knight in Nida's absence, though his spent fires had been snuffed out by the flares of Tiamat. Nida had found himself more set on defeating Admiral Ramius in a duel, the one who had left his father close to death during the First Sorceress War. Nida could have ended the fight immediately with Siren's power and returned to his Sorceress' side, though he fought Ramius with the same honour that was weighing him with his badge of shame now.

When he had returned to Battleship Island, not a word had passed between father and son as Nida returned his clan's katana to Instructor Aki. His father's eyes had not held a hint of sadness, nor compassion. He had not returned his son's bow, and Nida had not expected him too. Despite his noble intentions, he had brought deep shame upon both the Aki and Sato clans, and he already considered himself exiled from both.

The crags of Winter Island faced Nida as he left his cabin. The home of the shumi was the bleakest landmass on the Planet, the only place for a banished Sorceress' Knight who had relinquished his Guardian Force and was unworthy of taking up arms ever again. If not for the orders of Squall, Nida would seek to end his days here, as Hideyoshi himself once had. Even if Balamb had not been absolved by the Empire, he would never be able to return, even if his people would accept him.

Nida turned to see the vessel's captain approaching. The Trabian northman was a lifetime commercial fisherman, his grey hair hidden under a dark woolen hat. His snowy beard was untidy, curtailing his round face, and his genuine grin revealed an incomplete set of teeth stained from years of coffee and tobacco consumption.

'Kon'nichiwa!' the captain greeted him politely, but with questionable pronunciation.

'Bore da,' Nida returned.

He would wager he knew more phrases in the Trabian language than any of the crew knew of Balamb's one, although his lessons had come to a halt when Selphie had departed Garden, and he had never taken them up again during his years in Dollet. Though when conversing with Nida, the crew stuck to the Common Tongue, sounding even more guttural than Rhodry with their northern accents. They had little cause to soften them out here.

'The beach you wanted if over by there, boyo!' the captain went on, gesturing northeast. 'We'll bring you in best as we can. I hope your tidy choco can fly!'

Nida gave an artificial smile. 'I told you, Gavin. I've got that covered.'

Gavin guffawed. 'I hope so! Better you than me, taffy! The deep's far more nobbling than the Albatross, out here!'

'I've been here before,' Nida replied patiently.

'So, you say,' Gavin responded, shrugging. 'Well, I bid you gentle northwind, Mr. Sato! Or whatever your name is!'

'Sato was my mother's clan,' he stated earnestly. Was.

Gavin nodded. 'And your da's?'

Nida hesitated. 'Aki.'

Gavin's eyebrows rose. 'Aki!' He gave that husky laugh again. 'You kept that one close to your chest, butt! Anyway, you've paid enough to board fifty with two chocos each. If only Rhiannon was big enough! We'll be here for a week if you change your mind about a return journey, boyo. You've got my number.'

'It won't be necessary, Gavin,' Nida assured him.

He shook Gavin's offered hand and moved to tend his chocobo, Soyokaze, who was under a nearby canopy. Rhiannon was a moderate fishing vessel with an outdated engine, which was longlining for salmon in north-western Trabia, the frigid waters more passable now it was nearing summer. Nida had bargained his way aboard when it had been offloading its catches at Dollet City, some time before Ultimecia's attack. His high-value gil notes, the fruits of his long-standing SeeD salary, had been the only ticket Nida needed. It had been more than enough to compensate the crew missing their leisure time on land, in addition to a swift departure. They had been sailing back for Trabia the same afternoon.

They were a welcoming and jovial bunch, all of them with years of commercial fishing under their belts, the youngest of which had seen over forty namedays. They had an apprentice from Fisherman's Horizon, a smooth-faced boy of sixteen, who was also functioning as their cook despite only having previous worked as a dishwasher. Although Nida was more familiar with Balambfish than salmon recipes, he had opted to help tutor the boy, as he was of limited use to the fisherman without his offhand. He volunteered for some of the less desirable deckhand duties to pass the long hours as the temperature gradually dropped, and had composed several new haikus while meditating on the most secluded of the deck's areas.

The crew enjoyed playing Tawlbwrdd, of which Selphie had swiftly topped the leagues of at Balamb Garden, neck-and-neck with Quistis of course. He had accepted a couple of challenges from the crew, but admittedly knew his way around a Tawlbwrdd board about as well as the Trabians knew how to place tiles on a Balambi Mahjong table. Instead, they found common ground with Triple Triad, sharing regional rules as readily as they traded their bity pilsners for his rice wine.

As his parting gift, Nida treated to a crew to a spectacle he doubted they had ever seen before. Fully stocked on water and wind para-magic, the preferred elements of his people, he mounted Soyo. Then, he slowly fashioned a sphere of water to shroud him and his mount, with an air pocket in its centre that left them bone dry. Spurring Soyo on, the aged chocobo took two steps and leaped overboard, to the dismay of the Trabians. 'Shiva's teats!' one of them exclaimed. The lancing cold of the sea did not touch either of them as long as his spherical barrier held.

Soyo had been his loyal mount for twenty years, having been gifted to him as a week-old chicobo by his mother's clan when he had made SeeD. She trusted Nida unequivocally, though had spent most of her life on the Hasberry Plains and was unused to the harsh Trabian climes. Now well into the afternoon of a chocobo's lifespan, she still had many strides ahead of her, even if her racing days at the Elder Tree and her breeding seasons on the ranch were a thing of the past.

When they emerged onto the shore a short time later, Nida dissipated his barrier. There was no sign of any life nearby, and there were no fastitocalons in the far north. His para-magic would be adequate against creatures which stood between him and completing his objective, of which only wild mesmerizes Soyo might not be able to outrun in middle age. The Empire had not reached this far north, and in the event that he came across imperial poachers, his wind conjuring would grant Soyo additional speed.

Having returned the Aki katana, a more mundane one remained sheathed in the saddlebag. Nida would only ever draw a blade again if faced with the one who had murdered his Sorceress, which would likely be the end of him. Leonidas Christophe was held to be the best swordsman between two timelines, having survived duels with Liu, Zhang, Rhodry and Gerra during his brief involvement with the war. Moreover, he had fought Squall and Seifer simultaneously, then maimed Fujin in her blind rage. As learned as Nida was in the katana disciplines, he did not believe he could best more than one of Christophe's previous opponents in a duel. Gerra had said Christophe was known as the Obsidian Harbinger in his timeline, regarded as a man of impeccable valour, if that could be believed; the holder of Bahamut's magicite who had singlehandedly held off Omega Weapon.

In any case, Nida did not plan on being anywhere near Timber when the Allies moved to liberate the western continent, and without Siren, would be no use on the frontline if he was. Upon completion of his objectives, he was planning to request his discharge. After a last visit to Quistis' grave at the Tomb of the Unknown King, he would be returning here. A duel with Christophe would remain his final fantasy, forever denied to him. Though it was comfort to know there were many other worthy opponents who craved Christophe's blood.

Needing to rest Soyo only twice, Nida reached the plumes of steam shooting from Shumi Village by the early afternoon. It became progressively warmer the closer he got, the snow being unable to settle within several hundred yards of the structure.

As he entered the tended compound, he was alarmed by the sight of what looked like two Balamb Garden faculty members guarding the notorious Ninth Element draw point. Norg's henchmen had vanished following the former Garden Master's demise, and they had evidently returned here since. They were tall for shumi, like their Elder, though dressed in matching white and burgundy robes. Their faces were obscured behind their white hoods and orange veils, though their heads followed Nida and Soyo as they moved toward the elevator doors.

Once, Nida had heard Cid call them 'the Disavowed'. They had been sixteen during Norg's Uprising, wherein eight of them had been killed – not nearly enough. The leftmost one waved him over. Nida calmly dismounted and approached them, opting not to bow to such despised shumi. Their heads lowered as they noted his protruding offhand. How long would it take them to make the connection? They knew Quistis had become a Sorceress the year after they had cruelly dismissed her from her Instructor post.

'State your business!' one rightmost demanded, in the slurred speech distinct to their race. The Common Tongue did not roll well from their own ones.

'You may recognise me,' Nida replied evenly. 'I am Nida. One of Cid's SeeDs,' he added, with purposeful emphasis on the late Headmaster's name.

Nida noted their subtle shifts with satisfaction. He also glanced at the semi-transparent purple of the draw point, though only wondered how much the shumi now charged for its use. Even if he could use the shadow magic, of which many could not, it would not change his resolve to fight. Some of the Disavowed had been able to use para-magic, firing lightning bolts at unruly cadets and juniors all too often. Though without Siren, he could not know if they were harbouring any.

Nor could Nida see those despised Esthari whistles around their necks, an early prototype of mind control methods over monsters, which would send creatures ranging from bitebugs to granaldos into a frenzy. Odine had abandoned this method when the first slave diadems had been finalised, as the monsters had been apt to turn on their tamer in their bloodlust, and it had been a desperate military tactic at best. Nida suppressed a smile at the memory of one of the Disavowed being mauled by a t-rexaur during the Uprising.

'The son of Heihachi,' one noted.

'Balamb Garden's pilot,' the other stated.

Those were the days, Nida reflected. When he had finally begun to stand out.

'So, your Elder has taken you back following Norg's death, has he?' Nida asked. When they said nothing, he continued, his voice laced with thinly-veiled loathing. 'Would you like me to recite the names of the thirteen cadets and two SeeDs killed during your master's uprising? Among the cadets was my cousin, Kojiro; a junior classman. He was cornered by a grendel in the dorms, and eager to match the achievements of his elder cousin, who had just become a SeeD. Yet Kojiro was just a child. Your Elder may have excused your sins over time, but my mother's clan is not so forgiving, and you deserve nothing less than execution! If I would permit myself to draw a katana one more time, I would cut the two of you down where you stand!'

The Disavowed made no move nor gesture.

'I've been sent by Commander Leonhart,' Nida explained now. 'To ensure your Elder makes good on his promise, and to escort your moombas through the Sorbald and to the western continent.'

They remained watching him silently for a few heartbeats, then one of them slowly reached into a pocket of their burgundy secondary robe. Nida tensed slightly, as he could not see what the guard withdrew with that thick white cuff. There was an abrupt noise to the right, and Nida looked to see the elevator doors opening.

'Our Elder will be in meditation during this hour, but feel free to tour our city in the interim,' the same guard said. 'You can leave your chocobo in our stable.'

Nida gave them a hard stare. 'I don't need to warn you what will happen if something befalls Soyokaze. If the elevator will accommodate her, I will take her down below.'

'As you wish,' the leftmost one said.

'Do you wish to use the draw point?' the other asked suddenly. 'It's a hundred thousand gil per use.'

Yeah, right, Nida thought. He was sure the shumi were only charging ten thousand when he had last come here, during that field trip Selphie had organised for the juniors before she had departed Garden. The war had resulted in sustained worldwide inflation, but the price should not have increased tenfold since then. Perhaps Norg's old henchman had a side hustle going on. Nida knew that White SeeD paid annual visits here, but how many outside customers did the shumi get, anyway?

'No, thank you,' he replied.

Returning to Soyo, Nida gave her a single gysahl green before leading her to the elevator doors by the bridle, giving her face a reassuring pet as he motioned her inside. He fondly remembered the inviting seats in the centre and noted the blank monitor on the far wall as Soyo folded her legs, getting comfortable in the far-right corner and contentedly waggling her tail-feathers. With a final, disdainful look at the Disavowed, Nida entered.

(A/N: Hyne, I can't believe it's been 4 months since I updated this! In addition to posting Restoration, I've spent the interim editing all my work on here, mainly to fix minor story discrepancies and make my writing style more consistent. So, anyone reading TSW or CoS for the first time will get the definitive versions. Chronologically, this chapter (and the next) takes place before the events in Centra, though admittedly, I only came up with the ideas for it during my hiatus. When I've finished the Timber arc, I plan to rearrange the chapters so that these sit around C45.)