Author's Note: *hugs Twilight's Star* Yay! My first review is from one of
my favorite reviewers! ^-^ Anyway, I was planning to tell what the guy
looks like, anyway, in this chapter. But let's be serious. Would Kuja be
interested in talking to a butt-ugly guy? ...No, probably not. Neko, I
have no intention on abandoning BBL!! *hugs her fic affectionately* I LOVE
it!!! Yes, of COURSE you were one of the reviewers I mentioned! So was
Angel of Death 87, but then, she knew that! ^.~* And whatever your
questions about "I" were, feel free to ask. Wee . . . uh, nice name . . .
Thanks for reading! Mystery . . . hm! Not intended, but always accepted!
Steeple333, short and sweet! I like 'em that way! Sometimes . . . All
reviews and reviewers are welcome!
By the way, I gave him a name in this chapter. I realize that calling him "Mr. I" the whole time would get obnoxious and pointless. By the way, from here on out, the fic cycles between three POV's.
1.) Present view: I's POV
2.) Story-view: Kuja's POV
3.) Past view: Authoress POV (this is during Kuja's flashbacks, and is usually marked with **)
You can usually tell which POV is the current one, but if you have any questions, let me know, and I'll inform you!
DESERT PALACE
"Kuja . . . "
I rolled the strange name on my tongue, testing it out. It seemed just as mysteriously beautiful as its owner. He was looking at me just as closely as I had been doing to him . . . well, I suppose it was only fair, an eye for an eye. His eyes roved over me carefully, watching me closely. For some reason, I wished I had combed my brass-blond hair a little better . . . but then, I had been planning to die, why would I bother looking classy? As always . . . I was from Esto Gaza, so I had always heard of the path of souls . . . always told that I had to look decent for visitors. Before leaving, I had changed to somewhat shabbier clothing . . . I must have looked so scruffy to this elegant man. I glanced up at him. "You have lovely eyes . . . so dark." he commented, tipping his head to one side. I blushed, though my dark skin probably didn't show it . . . thankfully. I'd hate to show embarrassment in front of Kuja . . . Kuja. What a name. What a beautiful name.
"You know my name . . . why don't you introduce yourself?" he asked calmly, sitting on the bed next to me. His long legs stretched out gorgeously. Honestly, didn't he have a single flaw . . . ? "Just call me . . . just call me whatever you want." I shrugged, realizing that he could never call me anything cruel. He thought for a moment. "I'll call you . . . how about (A/N . . . this is going to sound familiar to some . . . ) . . . Blase?" he asked. I looked at him, startled. "How did you know... my name?" I asked. He smiled. "...I just like the name . . . " his voice was so soft. "I... I'm here for a reason . . . " I tried to brush off the suddenly uncomfortable atmosphere. He nodded, the feathers quivering slightly. I felt thrills move up and down my spine as Kuja's hand rested on my arm while he tried to get comfortable. His touch was incredibly soft- just like the feathers in his hair. He could make me react just like Jani could... though she didn't have the intensity in her eyes that he did. And she didn't really have his gorgeous body, either. He took a deep breath, closing those incredible eyes for a moment. "Where do I begin... twenty- four years' worth of living compressed into one night. ...Where would you like me to begin?" he asked, his eyes still closed. I felt strangely important suddenly. I controlled what I wanted to learn about him... "How about your childhood? Where are you from? Who are your parents? What did you do as a child?" I asked, looking at him. His eyes opened, sadder than before.
"...Before I tell you that part of my story... I want you to understand something..." he stood, taking several steps backward. I looked at him, curious. "I am not from Gaia..." he said softly, and snapped his fingers. I gasped as a silver tail appeared behind him, and wrapped almost shyly around his ankle. He wasn't looking at me. I realized... he was scared! He was afraid of my reaction. "...So then..." I asked casually, "Where are you from?" He looked up at me, obviously surprised. "...You're not afraid?" he asked quietly, the tail swishing slightly, releasing his ankle. "What's to be afraid of? It's not like you changed a lot. It's just a tail." I said lightly, earning the maddeningly gorgeous smile back. He lied back down on the bed beside me, almost rolling on top of me this time. "Sorry," he said, inching away. The bed was like quicksand. He took a deep breath, preparing to tell me his own tale.
I was born on a planet called Terra... well, actually, I was created on a planet called Terra. You see, I was one of perhaps thousands of creations known as Genomes... we were all created by a man named Garland. He was the devil in disguise. I won't go into detail on just how strong my hatred for him was... but I will say that I can never describe how many nights I went to bed covered in bruises... I can never recall just how many times I wished he was dead. All of the other Genomes were blond, with golden skin and tails... and those blank blue eyes. Always staring at blue light that eventually led them to blindness. They were soulless, and thus, unaware of what they were doing to themselves. Except two of them... but I'll eventually get around to them. Anyway... Garland's mission is simple... he wants to restore Terra by way of assimilating it with Gaia. And that is where I came in. Garland needed a way to kill many people at one time... someone who had a lot of magic power, and was able to charm people enough to get in with the right crowd. An "Angel of Death" so to speak... So, he created me. But for some reason... he didn't like me. I was his failure, and he reminded me of that often.
I was labeled as an outcast from day one. I guess Garland created me to be different... to be the one he could always spot in a crowd. I hated him, just as strongly as he hated me. He never cared if I was happy or not... as long as he was pleased. You can translate that to "If he was happy, I was in pain." He usually beat me if one of his plans went wrong, even if I hadn't done anything wrong at all. If I wasn't around, he only beat me even harder when he found me... so I always stuck around. I cried... I used to beg him not to hurt me. I used to ask what I had done wrong, curling into a ball in a far corner when he began yelling at the emotionless Genomes...
**"Kuja! Come here! Now!"
"No, Master... No..."
"Kuja!"
"Please... I didn't do anything..." The old man grabbed the tiny boy's collar, pulling him violently to his feet.
"You... you're bad luck! Every time you're around, my plans fail!"
"Master... I... I'll leave..."
"Not until I'm finished with you, you won't!"**
...He would beat me until I screamed for his mercy. And even then... he usually wouldn't stop. He'd beat me senseless, then leave me for days. I would be starving, tired, and scared... so scared. I kept thinking that if I slept, he would come back... and beat me again. And I was even more afraid that I wouldn't wake up. As a child, you know... the world seems so wonderful to a normal child... to me, it was just an everyday living hell. I wanted to escape it. I would have accepted death with open arms. And I suffered through it for eight years... it wasn't fun. Nor was it easy. He would leave me on the floor of the Observatory, gasping for breath... dying... or so I hoped...
I looked at Kuja with a new kind of admiration. Child abuse... God, I never would have expected that. He was so beautiful, so refined, I would have expected him to have been born and raised in a peaceful place, where everyone loved him... instead, the truth was that he had been abused by his father... or creator... and shunned by everyone else. I watched as he looked to his past, presumably fighting his old life. He looked at me strangely. "It's morning." he said quietly, and I had to think for a moment. Oh! Of course... my suicide... "Oh... but you're not finished yet.." I said disappointedly. Why did it have to end so soon...?
"...you mean... you want to know more...?" Kuja asked softly. I nodded. "Kuja, tell me all of your secrets... I'll take them with me to my grave. Until then..." I smiled at him.
"...I want to hear your story."
Author's Note: Hope that wasn't too confusing. This is probably really short, but I'm pressed for time... Oh, well. Now does everyone understand the title? ^-^ I love this fic~! I love ALL of my fics! *goes back to work on Blinded by Love*
By the way, I gave him a name in this chapter. I realize that calling him "Mr. I" the whole time would get obnoxious and pointless. By the way, from here on out, the fic cycles between three POV's.
1.) Present view: I's POV
2.) Story-view: Kuja's POV
3.) Past view: Authoress POV (this is during Kuja's flashbacks, and is usually marked with **)
You can usually tell which POV is the current one, but if you have any questions, let me know, and I'll inform you!
DESERT PALACE
"Kuja . . . "
I rolled the strange name on my tongue, testing it out. It seemed just as mysteriously beautiful as its owner. He was looking at me just as closely as I had been doing to him . . . well, I suppose it was only fair, an eye for an eye. His eyes roved over me carefully, watching me closely. For some reason, I wished I had combed my brass-blond hair a little better . . . but then, I had been planning to die, why would I bother looking classy? As always . . . I was from Esto Gaza, so I had always heard of the path of souls . . . always told that I had to look decent for visitors. Before leaving, I had changed to somewhat shabbier clothing . . . I must have looked so scruffy to this elegant man. I glanced up at him. "You have lovely eyes . . . so dark." he commented, tipping his head to one side. I blushed, though my dark skin probably didn't show it . . . thankfully. I'd hate to show embarrassment in front of Kuja . . . Kuja. What a name. What a beautiful name.
"You know my name . . . why don't you introduce yourself?" he asked calmly, sitting on the bed next to me. His long legs stretched out gorgeously. Honestly, didn't he have a single flaw . . . ? "Just call me . . . just call me whatever you want." I shrugged, realizing that he could never call me anything cruel. He thought for a moment. "I'll call you . . . how about (A/N . . . this is going to sound familiar to some . . . ) . . . Blase?" he asked. I looked at him, startled. "How did you know... my name?" I asked. He smiled. "...I just like the name . . . " his voice was so soft. "I... I'm here for a reason . . . " I tried to brush off the suddenly uncomfortable atmosphere. He nodded, the feathers quivering slightly. I felt thrills move up and down my spine as Kuja's hand rested on my arm while he tried to get comfortable. His touch was incredibly soft- just like the feathers in his hair. He could make me react just like Jani could... though she didn't have the intensity in her eyes that he did. And she didn't really have his gorgeous body, either. He took a deep breath, closing those incredible eyes for a moment. "Where do I begin... twenty- four years' worth of living compressed into one night. ...Where would you like me to begin?" he asked, his eyes still closed. I felt strangely important suddenly. I controlled what I wanted to learn about him... "How about your childhood? Where are you from? Who are your parents? What did you do as a child?" I asked, looking at him. His eyes opened, sadder than before.
"...Before I tell you that part of my story... I want you to understand something..." he stood, taking several steps backward. I looked at him, curious. "I am not from Gaia..." he said softly, and snapped his fingers. I gasped as a silver tail appeared behind him, and wrapped almost shyly around his ankle. He wasn't looking at me. I realized... he was scared! He was afraid of my reaction. "...So then..." I asked casually, "Where are you from?" He looked up at me, obviously surprised. "...You're not afraid?" he asked quietly, the tail swishing slightly, releasing his ankle. "What's to be afraid of? It's not like you changed a lot. It's just a tail." I said lightly, earning the maddeningly gorgeous smile back. He lied back down on the bed beside me, almost rolling on top of me this time. "Sorry," he said, inching away. The bed was like quicksand. He took a deep breath, preparing to tell me his own tale.
I was born on a planet called Terra... well, actually, I was created on a planet called Terra. You see, I was one of perhaps thousands of creations known as Genomes... we were all created by a man named Garland. He was the devil in disguise. I won't go into detail on just how strong my hatred for him was... but I will say that I can never describe how many nights I went to bed covered in bruises... I can never recall just how many times I wished he was dead. All of the other Genomes were blond, with golden skin and tails... and those blank blue eyes. Always staring at blue light that eventually led them to blindness. They were soulless, and thus, unaware of what they were doing to themselves. Except two of them... but I'll eventually get around to them. Anyway... Garland's mission is simple... he wants to restore Terra by way of assimilating it with Gaia. And that is where I came in. Garland needed a way to kill many people at one time... someone who had a lot of magic power, and was able to charm people enough to get in with the right crowd. An "Angel of Death" so to speak... So, he created me. But for some reason... he didn't like me. I was his failure, and he reminded me of that often.
I was labeled as an outcast from day one. I guess Garland created me to be different... to be the one he could always spot in a crowd. I hated him, just as strongly as he hated me. He never cared if I was happy or not... as long as he was pleased. You can translate that to "If he was happy, I was in pain." He usually beat me if one of his plans went wrong, even if I hadn't done anything wrong at all. If I wasn't around, he only beat me even harder when he found me... so I always stuck around. I cried... I used to beg him not to hurt me. I used to ask what I had done wrong, curling into a ball in a far corner when he began yelling at the emotionless Genomes...
**"Kuja! Come here! Now!"
"No, Master... No..."
"Kuja!"
"Please... I didn't do anything..." The old man grabbed the tiny boy's collar, pulling him violently to his feet.
"You... you're bad luck! Every time you're around, my plans fail!"
"Master... I... I'll leave..."
"Not until I'm finished with you, you won't!"**
...He would beat me until I screamed for his mercy. And even then... he usually wouldn't stop. He'd beat me senseless, then leave me for days. I would be starving, tired, and scared... so scared. I kept thinking that if I slept, he would come back... and beat me again. And I was even more afraid that I wouldn't wake up. As a child, you know... the world seems so wonderful to a normal child... to me, it was just an everyday living hell. I wanted to escape it. I would have accepted death with open arms. And I suffered through it for eight years... it wasn't fun. Nor was it easy. He would leave me on the floor of the Observatory, gasping for breath... dying... or so I hoped...
I looked at Kuja with a new kind of admiration. Child abuse... God, I never would have expected that. He was so beautiful, so refined, I would have expected him to have been born and raised in a peaceful place, where everyone loved him... instead, the truth was that he had been abused by his father... or creator... and shunned by everyone else. I watched as he looked to his past, presumably fighting his old life. He looked at me strangely. "It's morning." he said quietly, and I had to think for a moment. Oh! Of course... my suicide... "Oh... but you're not finished yet.." I said disappointedly. Why did it have to end so soon...?
"...you mean... you want to know more...?" Kuja asked softly. I nodded. "Kuja, tell me all of your secrets... I'll take them with me to my grave. Until then..." I smiled at him.
"...I want to hear your story."
Author's Note: Hope that wasn't too confusing. This is probably really short, but I'm pressed for time... Oh, well. Now does everyone understand the title? ^-^ I love this fic~! I love ALL of my fics! *goes back to work on Blinded by Love*