Disclaimer: If me not owning Final Fantasy IX were strawberries, we'd all
have smoothies right now.
-*-*-*-*-*-*
Author's Note: Hey y'all. I still have an idea and probably a set series of events that will occur in this story so be happy. Nothin' much else to say now. Keep them reviews coming! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has! And I'll take your advice aboot the Author's Notes in midsentence! (you know who you are!)
Randall: Eh, you're just saying "You know who you are" because you forgot the person's user name!
Neo: Shut up you stupid...stupid purple lizard thing!
Maho: Well, he does have a point.
Neo: La la la la la!!! I can't hear you!!!!
Randall: Cover your ears all you want! You can't block out what's in your head.
Neo: I'll take away the foozball table and ask Orko to show you guys his latest act if you two don't stop it!
Maho: No! Anything but that!
Orko: Hey now! I'm not that bad!
Neo: All of you! Quiet! I think we're agitating the reader!
Randall: Oh, heaven forbid.
~NeoNaoNeo
-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 3: Different
-*-*-*-*-*-*
A small fire was blazing in the hearth, keeping the small clay house very warm and giving it a blissful contrast to the downpour and torrents outside. Vivi and Eiko were sitting in the den alone, watching the fire's essence ebb and flow while Zidane and Steiner tended to Garnet, her condition getting worse. The only sound was the occasional "Kupo" from Eiko's moogles, who were clustering around her, thankful for their keeper's safe return. Vivi had the hatchling wrapped in a towel, trying to keep it warm from its fall in the puddle. Eiko was watching Vivi more than the flame as he held onto the sleeping child, cradling and holding it tenderly. She sighed and broke the wary silence. "What's his name?" she asked, assuming the child was a boy.
Vivi shrugged. "I don't know, I really haven't thought about it."
Eiko bit her lip. "How about Ipsen? "
"That's a good name," Vivi commented. "Any reason for it?"
"Not really. Just a cool name," Eiko shrugged as she allowed another moogle onto her shoulder. She gave the furry creature a small jar when she leaned over to Vivi. "Can I hold him?"
"Yeah, sure." Vivi said, carefully removing the child's hands from his shirt. He gave a small whine and clasped the air. Eiko carefully accepted the bundle, handling him with the gentleness of a mother. Vivi looked at the child a moment and said to himself, "Ipsen..." trying the name on for size.
A few of the moogles grumbled as they moved from their familiar posts on Eiko's shoulders and lap to Vivi's unaccommodating frame. Soon, the moogles were all asleep, weighing Vivi down in an uncomfortable way, but at the same time, making the already cozy atmosphere seem that much more welcome and warm. Vivi was becoming drowsy and tired from the warmth, despite his growling, empty stomach until he recieved a sharp shove from Eiko. He yawned and lazily opened a luminous eye. "Hm?" was his only response.
"This is gonna sound weird," Eiko started nonchalantly, "But can black mages have wings?"
Vivi instantly woke up at this question. She hadn't been with them when they faced the three black waltzes and he didn't think they had ever discussed it with Eiko. Where on Gaia had the question come from? he asked himself, half dreading the answer. "W-why?" he finally choked out.
"It's just...here, look at Ipsen's back." she told him quietly, pulling the towel below the infant's shoulders and drawing him closer to her body, trying to show Vivi. Ipsen stirred lightly and, as though he was showing his father, stretched and yawned, making his fluffy damp wings very obvious, the appendages being no more than three inches in length. He shook his head. Eiko noticed this confused action. "What's wrong?"
Vivi couldn't find any words to answer her question. His only response was, "No..." and even that was uttered with confusion and disdainfulness.
"Jeez, Vivi. It's okay." Eiko scoffed. "Calm down."
How could he clam down? This was...unbelievable, a regular kick in the nuts, as Zidane would say. This child was a waltz, and in Vivi's mind, evil, sinful, scornful and any other vile thing that could be imagined. "...no..." he repeated.
"Vivi, snap out of it!" Eiko demanded. "It's no big deal!"
"No big deal," Vivi said contemptiously. "No big deal? You weren't here when we faced them...."
"Who? Does it matter?" Eiko said, offended by Vivi's disjointed reply.
"The Black Waltzes, especially No. 3." he replied, still feeling out of it.
"Vivi, will you make some sense!?" Eiko demanded. Ipsen was now awake, but not making a sound.
"We faced two Black Waltzes, Zidane three of them...they were winged black mages..." Vivi said, recalling the terrifying airship ride from Dali to Lindblum. He remembered the black mages, coming to his rescue against the aviatory sage, how he destroyed them all with no regrets. "No. 3 killed all the black mages on the airship....I hate him..."
Eiko was slightly taken back by Vivi's sudden contemptous and venomous statment, Ipsen whimpered slightly and clung to her shirt. Vivi was on the brink of crying, struggling to keep his breaths deep and tranquil. Ipsen made a small, timid whimper again and nuzzled Eiko. She looked down at the child and to the doorway that Zidane entered. "What's wrong?" she asked Zidane, noticing his distraught expression, still very confused on the issue that Vivi was talking about.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Zidane said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey, how about we get some dinner cooking?"
"OKay, me and the moogles will get cracking," Eiko said. She looked from Ipsen to Vivi as she pulled the small mage off her shirt and out of her lap. He whined again. "No, you can't help me cook dinner." she scolded playfully and offered the bundle to Vivi. The mage hesitated, but took him, slowly and uncertainly. Ipsen immediatley latched onto Vivi's shirt. Vivi sighed.
"Affectionate little thing aren't you?" he sighed, and reached down, running a gloved finger along the child's cheek then tracing a path down the child's shoulder, making Ipsen giggle with amusement. But when his finger approached the small buds of Ipsen's wings, both drew back, Ipsen making a small, insecure noise. Vivi was surprised by the infant's sudden shyness. He once again edged his finger closer to Ipsen's appendages, but the child quickly withdrew, pulling his wings tightly against his back. Vivi suddenly felt a pang of guilt and a sudden sense of irony. He reminded himself of a person on the streets of Lindblum after the black mage attack. Just because the child was a waltz didn't mean he was evil....no matter how much a small part of his mind argued so.
"I'm sorry," he said, once again running his finger along Ipsen's cheek. "I was wrong, please don't be afraid." he whispered tenderly. Ipsen continued holding onto Vivi's shirt, watching him inquisitively with his bright yellow eyes, slightly giggling. And, as if Ipsen had understood what Vivi said, neither of them shrank back when Vivi's knuckle met Ipsen's wing. The small waltz's giggles increased as Vivi started down his back and to his stomach, the giggles turned to laughs when Vivi began a full tickling assault on the child's stomach.
They played that game for nearly a half an hour when Ipsen's laughs shrank to giggles and eventually to silence as Ipsen curled up in his arms, drifting off to sleep. Vivi recalled the lullaby his grandpa used to sing him as a child and began to repeat it in a quiet and unsure voice, he had long fogotten the melody, but the words still rang clear.
"'The grey clouds hang like fog, Crytal drops, heavy and long. In the swamp croaks a frog This is life's sad song.
The sun above dries the rain, Letting gardens grow strong. Only the warm breeze can explain, Why this is life's true song.
An owl goes through the night, A mouse his next meal. The gentle creature within its sight, Soft, warm fur, is what his talons feel.
Sometimes even scholars can't understand, why that is life's bittersweet song.'"
Vivi ended on a confident note, remebering the tune as he went. It was a depressing lullaby, but one that seemed true and comforted him on his journey. Vivi smiled at the sleeping child in his arms, warm and secure.
"Hey, Vivi! Come help Zidane cut up these vegetables Mogson brought in!" Eiko shouted from the kitchen. He sighed, loosened Ipsen's grip and laid the child in the nearest chair. He went into the kitchen where a wonderful, intoxicating aroma was drifting about, causing his mouth to water. Zidane was already setting to work, washin and cutting up the plump roots and vegetables, their juices dripping from his dagger like the tranluscent blood of a slain enemy. Vivi found the nearest knife and cutting board and began to work on the vegetables. When they were through and the roots were dumped into the broth, Eiko told them to start setting the table.
Zidane came down from the cabinet holding three bowls.
"Only three?" Vivi asked.
"Yeah, I'm not eating and neither is Garnet," he explained, seperating the bowls and placing them on their corresponding spots on the table. "I don't even know if Rusty's eating tonight."
"Then why'd you make me make this big ol' pot of soup?!" Eiko scolded.
Zidane shrugged. "You two look real hungry," he chuckled.
"That's not funny!" Eiko said, her brows furrowed.
"Calm down, I'm probably gonna have a bite to eat later, so just relax." he replied.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It was nearly nine o' clock by the time Eiko and Vivi had finished their meal and cleaning up around the kitchen. The rain was no longer pounding at the windows, but the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder disrupted the peace. Eiko walked into the living room, holding a small bag of incense. "I'm going to Eidolon Wall," she announced and walked out the door, before Vivi could get a word in. He wandered across the room and, noticing Ipsen still slumbering in the armchair, picked up the small bundle and sat in front of the fire. It was so quiet and peaceful in the house, almost too quiet, like a sea before a violent tempest. He was nearly falling asleep when he heard a loud, pained groan from the bedroom. "Garnet?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else.
He heard Zidane shout something and something small and wooden, like a foot stool, falling over. Vivi stood up to investigate, but when the mage got to the door, Steiner exited, looking red and embarassed. "What's wrong, what happened in there?" Vivi quickly asked, stumbling over his words.
"Nothing's wrong Master Vivi," Steiner said. Another pained groan from Dagger and a word from Zidane. o_O "I've never been here before, would you mind...showing me around?" he said sheepishly, still quite red.
Vivi nodded, looked at the door to the bedroom, shook his head and began walking outside, Steiner following him quickly.
-=-=-=-=-==-=-
A streak of lightning lit up the sky above Madain Sari, briefly lighting the dreary corner of Eidolon Wall. Eiko was knelt down in the center of the colorful murals, stripped of their beauty in the pitch darkness of the night. Beside her was a small lattern, which sturggled to stay lit in the gusts and rain. Steiner and Vivi had been there for nearly an hour, Steiner standing by the entrance and letting neither of them go. Vivi had given up on going anywhere, so he to leaned against the wall, his hat drooping over his eyes. Ipsen was still asleep in his arms, making a small and fond whimper or whine every so often.
The echo of quick slogging footsteps soon filled the villa. Zidane ran through the entrance, panting and nearly knocking Steiner over. He had a look of urgency on his face.
"Zidane, what happened, what's wrong?" Eiko said, coming from her state of meditation.
Zidane said nothing.
"Zidane?" Vivi echoed.
Zidane was still panting, his tail curling with every drawn breath.
"Tribal, what is it?!" Steiner snapped.
"Do you really want to know?" he taunted, looking up.
"Yes!" they said in a chorus.
He grinned mischieviously.
"It's a healthy little girl." he reported happily. "Her name's Robin."
+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Author's Note: Whoot, done and done.
-*-*-*-*-*-*
Author's Note: Hey y'all. I still have an idea and probably a set series of events that will occur in this story so be happy. Nothin' much else to say now. Keep them reviews coming! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has! And I'll take your advice aboot the Author's Notes in midsentence! (you know who you are!)
Randall: Eh, you're just saying "You know who you are" because you forgot the person's user name!
Neo: Shut up you stupid...stupid purple lizard thing!
Maho: Well, he does have a point.
Neo: La la la la la!!! I can't hear you!!!!
Randall: Cover your ears all you want! You can't block out what's in your head.
Neo: I'll take away the foozball table and ask Orko to show you guys his latest act if you two don't stop it!
Maho: No! Anything but that!
Orko: Hey now! I'm not that bad!
Neo: All of you! Quiet! I think we're agitating the reader!
Randall: Oh, heaven forbid.
~NeoNaoNeo
-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 3: Different
-*-*-*-*-*-*
A small fire was blazing in the hearth, keeping the small clay house very warm and giving it a blissful contrast to the downpour and torrents outside. Vivi and Eiko were sitting in the den alone, watching the fire's essence ebb and flow while Zidane and Steiner tended to Garnet, her condition getting worse. The only sound was the occasional "Kupo" from Eiko's moogles, who were clustering around her, thankful for their keeper's safe return. Vivi had the hatchling wrapped in a towel, trying to keep it warm from its fall in the puddle. Eiko was watching Vivi more than the flame as he held onto the sleeping child, cradling and holding it tenderly. She sighed and broke the wary silence. "What's his name?" she asked, assuming the child was a boy.
Vivi shrugged. "I don't know, I really haven't thought about it."
Eiko bit her lip. "How about Ipsen? "
"That's a good name," Vivi commented. "Any reason for it?"
"Not really. Just a cool name," Eiko shrugged as she allowed another moogle onto her shoulder. She gave the furry creature a small jar when she leaned over to Vivi. "Can I hold him?"
"Yeah, sure." Vivi said, carefully removing the child's hands from his shirt. He gave a small whine and clasped the air. Eiko carefully accepted the bundle, handling him with the gentleness of a mother. Vivi looked at the child a moment and said to himself, "Ipsen..." trying the name on for size.
A few of the moogles grumbled as they moved from their familiar posts on Eiko's shoulders and lap to Vivi's unaccommodating frame. Soon, the moogles were all asleep, weighing Vivi down in an uncomfortable way, but at the same time, making the already cozy atmosphere seem that much more welcome and warm. Vivi was becoming drowsy and tired from the warmth, despite his growling, empty stomach until he recieved a sharp shove from Eiko. He yawned and lazily opened a luminous eye. "Hm?" was his only response.
"This is gonna sound weird," Eiko started nonchalantly, "But can black mages have wings?"
Vivi instantly woke up at this question. She hadn't been with them when they faced the three black waltzes and he didn't think they had ever discussed it with Eiko. Where on Gaia had the question come from? he asked himself, half dreading the answer. "W-why?" he finally choked out.
"It's just...here, look at Ipsen's back." she told him quietly, pulling the towel below the infant's shoulders and drawing him closer to her body, trying to show Vivi. Ipsen stirred lightly and, as though he was showing his father, stretched and yawned, making his fluffy damp wings very obvious, the appendages being no more than three inches in length. He shook his head. Eiko noticed this confused action. "What's wrong?"
Vivi couldn't find any words to answer her question. His only response was, "No..." and even that was uttered with confusion and disdainfulness.
"Jeez, Vivi. It's okay." Eiko scoffed. "Calm down."
How could he clam down? This was...unbelievable, a regular kick in the nuts, as Zidane would say. This child was a waltz, and in Vivi's mind, evil, sinful, scornful and any other vile thing that could be imagined. "...no..." he repeated.
"Vivi, snap out of it!" Eiko demanded. "It's no big deal!"
"No big deal," Vivi said contemptiously. "No big deal? You weren't here when we faced them...."
"Who? Does it matter?" Eiko said, offended by Vivi's disjointed reply.
"The Black Waltzes, especially No. 3." he replied, still feeling out of it.
"Vivi, will you make some sense!?" Eiko demanded. Ipsen was now awake, but not making a sound.
"We faced two Black Waltzes, Zidane three of them...they were winged black mages..." Vivi said, recalling the terrifying airship ride from Dali to Lindblum. He remembered the black mages, coming to his rescue against the aviatory sage, how he destroyed them all with no regrets. "No. 3 killed all the black mages on the airship....I hate him..."
Eiko was slightly taken back by Vivi's sudden contemptous and venomous statment, Ipsen whimpered slightly and clung to her shirt. Vivi was on the brink of crying, struggling to keep his breaths deep and tranquil. Ipsen made a small, timid whimper again and nuzzled Eiko. She looked down at the child and to the doorway that Zidane entered. "What's wrong?" she asked Zidane, noticing his distraught expression, still very confused on the issue that Vivi was talking about.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Zidane said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hey, how about we get some dinner cooking?"
"OKay, me and the moogles will get cracking," Eiko said. She looked from Ipsen to Vivi as she pulled the small mage off her shirt and out of her lap. He whined again. "No, you can't help me cook dinner." she scolded playfully and offered the bundle to Vivi. The mage hesitated, but took him, slowly and uncertainly. Ipsen immediatley latched onto Vivi's shirt. Vivi sighed.
"Affectionate little thing aren't you?" he sighed, and reached down, running a gloved finger along the child's cheek then tracing a path down the child's shoulder, making Ipsen giggle with amusement. But when his finger approached the small buds of Ipsen's wings, both drew back, Ipsen making a small, insecure noise. Vivi was surprised by the infant's sudden shyness. He once again edged his finger closer to Ipsen's appendages, but the child quickly withdrew, pulling his wings tightly against his back. Vivi suddenly felt a pang of guilt and a sudden sense of irony. He reminded himself of a person on the streets of Lindblum after the black mage attack. Just because the child was a waltz didn't mean he was evil....no matter how much a small part of his mind argued so.
"I'm sorry," he said, once again running his finger along Ipsen's cheek. "I was wrong, please don't be afraid." he whispered tenderly. Ipsen continued holding onto Vivi's shirt, watching him inquisitively with his bright yellow eyes, slightly giggling. And, as if Ipsen had understood what Vivi said, neither of them shrank back when Vivi's knuckle met Ipsen's wing. The small waltz's giggles increased as Vivi started down his back and to his stomach, the giggles turned to laughs when Vivi began a full tickling assault on the child's stomach.
They played that game for nearly a half an hour when Ipsen's laughs shrank to giggles and eventually to silence as Ipsen curled up in his arms, drifting off to sleep. Vivi recalled the lullaby his grandpa used to sing him as a child and began to repeat it in a quiet and unsure voice, he had long fogotten the melody, but the words still rang clear.
"'The grey clouds hang like fog, Crytal drops, heavy and long. In the swamp croaks a frog This is life's sad song.
The sun above dries the rain, Letting gardens grow strong. Only the warm breeze can explain, Why this is life's true song.
An owl goes through the night, A mouse his next meal. The gentle creature within its sight, Soft, warm fur, is what his talons feel.
Sometimes even scholars can't understand, why that is life's bittersweet song.'"
Vivi ended on a confident note, remebering the tune as he went. It was a depressing lullaby, but one that seemed true and comforted him on his journey. Vivi smiled at the sleeping child in his arms, warm and secure.
"Hey, Vivi! Come help Zidane cut up these vegetables Mogson brought in!" Eiko shouted from the kitchen. He sighed, loosened Ipsen's grip and laid the child in the nearest chair. He went into the kitchen where a wonderful, intoxicating aroma was drifting about, causing his mouth to water. Zidane was already setting to work, washin and cutting up the plump roots and vegetables, their juices dripping from his dagger like the tranluscent blood of a slain enemy. Vivi found the nearest knife and cutting board and began to work on the vegetables. When they were through and the roots were dumped into the broth, Eiko told them to start setting the table.
Zidane came down from the cabinet holding three bowls.
"Only three?" Vivi asked.
"Yeah, I'm not eating and neither is Garnet," he explained, seperating the bowls and placing them on their corresponding spots on the table. "I don't even know if Rusty's eating tonight."
"Then why'd you make me make this big ol' pot of soup?!" Eiko scolded.
Zidane shrugged. "You two look real hungry," he chuckled.
"That's not funny!" Eiko said, her brows furrowed.
"Calm down, I'm probably gonna have a bite to eat later, so just relax." he replied.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It was nearly nine o' clock by the time Eiko and Vivi had finished their meal and cleaning up around the kitchen. The rain was no longer pounding at the windows, but the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder disrupted the peace. Eiko walked into the living room, holding a small bag of incense. "I'm going to Eidolon Wall," she announced and walked out the door, before Vivi could get a word in. He wandered across the room and, noticing Ipsen still slumbering in the armchair, picked up the small bundle and sat in front of the fire. It was so quiet and peaceful in the house, almost too quiet, like a sea before a violent tempest. He was nearly falling asleep when he heard a loud, pained groan from the bedroom. "Garnet?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else.
He heard Zidane shout something and something small and wooden, like a foot stool, falling over. Vivi stood up to investigate, but when the mage got to the door, Steiner exited, looking red and embarassed. "What's wrong, what happened in there?" Vivi quickly asked, stumbling over his words.
"Nothing's wrong Master Vivi," Steiner said. Another pained groan from Dagger and a word from Zidane. o_O "I've never been here before, would you mind...showing me around?" he said sheepishly, still quite red.
Vivi nodded, looked at the door to the bedroom, shook his head and began walking outside, Steiner following him quickly.
-=-=-=-=-==-=-
A streak of lightning lit up the sky above Madain Sari, briefly lighting the dreary corner of Eidolon Wall. Eiko was knelt down in the center of the colorful murals, stripped of their beauty in the pitch darkness of the night. Beside her was a small lattern, which sturggled to stay lit in the gusts and rain. Steiner and Vivi had been there for nearly an hour, Steiner standing by the entrance and letting neither of them go. Vivi had given up on going anywhere, so he to leaned against the wall, his hat drooping over his eyes. Ipsen was still asleep in his arms, making a small and fond whimper or whine every so often.
The echo of quick slogging footsteps soon filled the villa. Zidane ran through the entrance, panting and nearly knocking Steiner over. He had a look of urgency on his face.
"Zidane, what happened, what's wrong?" Eiko said, coming from her state of meditation.
Zidane said nothing.
"Zidane?" Vivi echoed.
Zidane was still panting, his tail curling with every drawn breath.
"Tribal, what is it?!" Steiner snapped.
"Do you really want to know?" he taunted, looking up.
"Yes!" they said in a chorus.
He grinned mischieviously.
"It's a healthy little girl." he reported happily. "Her name's Robin."
+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Author's Note: Whoot, done and done.