Disclaimer: I walked down the dimly lit path, and the wind whispered through the trees. The crinkling

of dead leaves broke the solemn silence. Upon reaching the clearance, I saw a stone monolith. It's

matte black surface marred by the elements. Brown ivy reached up the sides; the mangled ends

caressing each crevice. I knelt before it and brushed away some of the overgrowth revealing letters

that had taken umbrage under the foliage. I drew my hand back in shock, and I gasped. The sound

carried over the clearing, and frightened the crows in the trees. Their glistening black bodies fading into

the darkness. The letters spelt out a warning, a premonition of disastrous proportions. The very fate of

the universe rested in that one little verse. "Final Fantasy IX belongs to Square-Enix."

Yeah, that was a long disclaimer...I can't help myself. And thanks to Kaya for reviewing! Sorry for the

long wait, I went back to Chicago for my aunt's wedding, and endured the week from hell. Exams are

evil. I'm working on revising the early chapters too, so watch out for those.

Chapter 23

It was unseasonably cold. The giant red moon was now splattered across the sky, and the

streams of energy seemed to draw all warmth from the surface of Gaia. It was a leech, or perhaps a

parasite, sucking the very life out of the planet.

Mikoto watched the sky with a morbid curiosity. She was high above the streets of Treno, the

usual nighttime sounds eerily absent in the face of the blood splattering of the moon. The celestial body

seemed to even draw out the sounds of the city, sucking up everything. She could even swear she felt a

slight updraft, the ends of her tresses lifting up.

She gripped the railing of the tower, needing the reassurance she was still on the ground.

Mikoto looked down at her small hands, surprised at her reaction. Pulling her hands away as if they

were burned, she stepped into the observatory not glancing back.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh...Indeed, yes...I see..."

Dr. Tot shuffled around his tower top laboratory, picking up instruments seemingly at random.

He was an odd little man, Mikoto thought. Barely reaching to her shoulder, Dr.Tot wore an old

fashioned coat showing only his beak like nose. He had a pair of thick circular glasses and a top hat.

Odd little man, indeed.

"Hmmm...This may help...no, not that..."

Mikoto waited a bit impatiently for him to finish his never ending thoughts. When the queen had

sent her here to observe the broken moon, she had no idea she would have to deal with this weird guy.

She was surprised he ever got anything done, he was always going off on some tangent. Outside she

showed no agitation, but her tail was nearly thrashing.

Patience...

"Oh dear, what was I thinking? That will never do..."

She repressed the urge to wave her hand in front of his face, "Dr. Tot? Were you not looking

for the topography maps?"

He glanced back at her and started, "My, my ,my...you're still here?"

He forgot she was here? "Yes," she sighed wearily, "Remember? The queen sent me here to

observe the moon, and you started to look for the map?"

Dr. Tot pushed his glasses higher up his nose, "How could I forget? Yes, the map will be of

much help indeed."

With that he resumed his frantic search amongst his papers. He merely shifted the mess from

one side of the workbench to the other, the papers in a giant disorganized pile. Mikoto turned away

from him, her eyes settling on the ladder that led to the telescope. She climbed up into the dome, and

was surrounded by a map of Gaia. It was rather archaic, and she even thought she saw a 'here be

dragons'. Running her fingers over the surface she found that the map was raised. The mountain

ranges stood out in sharp relief and dipped into the rolling plains and hills of the Mist Continent. The

deep, jagged canyons of the Forgotten Continent dropped into the inside of the sphere like the cracked

surface of a piece of pottery.

But the telescope was what drew her attention. It was ancient looking, and made of brass.

The long, almost phallic, cylinder was pointed into the nighttime sky at the destroyed moon. She bent

over the eyepiece and looked through the many lenses, bringing the celestial body into view.

The deep red of the moon filled her vision, and the debris of the explosion flew by the surface at

an alarming pace. The irregular sphere was spinning rapidly too, showing the many crevices and

plateaus on the moon. The iridescent streams of energy plunged into the moon, lighting up the inner

core, and passing out of the holes on the surface. The energy erupted like magma from a volcano, then

plunged back in only to repeat the cycle.

Somehow that moon was assimilating the souls of Gaia like the Iifa Tree.

The Iifa Tree, that was another problem. Queen Garnet had sent Alexandria's airship fleet to

finally dispose of the threat, but the airships couldn't get within firing range of the infamous tree. The

energy that the moon was absorbing seemed to originate from the tree, and protected it from outside

dangers.

A barrier of souls...

Even then the souls were defying their birthplace and helping the enemy. It was rather sad,

Mikoto thought. The souls that had helped to protect this planet were now being used to create a new

Terra. Sad, and yet, ironic as well. It was funny what fate had in store for her unsuspecting victims.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Hmmm...that is a problem..."

Mikoto was sitting in Dr. Tot's parlor drinking tea, vaguely listening to him work out the

possibility of the return of Terra and what it meant for Gaia. If his rambling could be called work.

"Dr. Tot? Do you know what has happened to the moon?"

The eccentric doctor sat down across from her, his feet not touching the floor, "Oh yes,

something triggered it's explosion. I believe the explosion brought to light the mechanism for

assimilation."

She looked at him a bit shocked, "You mean the mechanism has been there all along?"

"The red moon is not old, at least geologically. It was probably acquired within the last few

million years. The geology of Gaia has pointed to the fact that the continents have shifted greatly from

where they used to lay. This shifting was most likely caused from the extra gravity of the red moon."

Mikoto nodded to this, she had read something similar in one of the many books in the

Alexandrian library, "I understand the theory, but was not the hypothesis flawed? If I remember

correctly the shifting of the continents took too long for the supposed mass of the moon. Either the

moon was not the cause of the shift or-"

"The moon weighed much less than what was thought." Dr. Tot interrupted. "This theory was

ridiculed for if the moon was hollow then it would surely be ripped apart by the superior gravity of

Gaia. The result of such an event would look identical to the view of the nighttime sky outside."

"Something triggered the release of whatever was holding the moon together." Mikoto

concluded.

"Terran technology is greatly advanced from our own," Dr. Tot mused, "And I would not be

surprised if they discovered a way to harness gravity to hold the red moon together. From what I

learned of Garland from Zidane, the man had been waiting a long time to start the Terran agenda."

"But millions of years?" Mikoto asked incredulously, "Even though the passage of time on

Terra was slowed a great deal, no one is immortal. The only way he could have survived was if he had

some device to either clone himself and transfer his mind or to heal himself entirely like a sarcophagus."

"If the Terrans had developed a way to prevent a moon from splitting apart, do you think

something simple like healing would not be completely understood be them?" Dr. Tot countered.

"I suppose you have a point, but I never saw anything like that on Terra, or on the Invincible

where Garland traveled constantly."

Dr. Tot looked thoughtful, like usual, "Is there anything else that could explain it?"

Mikoto searched her memories of the man, Garland. He was tall, and intimidating. Even to her

old genome self, he had been unpleasant just to be around. Her old genome self which did not know

what emotions meant had shrunk in his presence. With that black armor and the ever glowing red

jewel...

"He wore armor," she paused, "but not just any armor. It was... alive... His chest plate had a

huge glowing red jewel in the center, and it pulsed, like a heart beat."

"Perhaps that is what kept Garland alive across the span of time."

They both paused for a moment.

"The device has been up in the sky all along," Mikoto said, breaking the short silence, "It just

needed the trigger."

"Maybe that fiend Kuja has discovered the secret to the red moon."

"I do not think Kuja is acting on his own. I think he is being controlled by the reincarnated

spirit of Terra." Mikoto said hesitantly.

"You believe in the reincarnation theory? Here I thought the only people who still believed that

are those nimrods in Ipsen's Castle, The Picked." Dr. Tot laughed.

"They are called The Chosen, and no, I do not believe in their prophecies."

"Then tell me why you believe Kuja is being controlled."

Mikoto sighed, "I met the revived soul of the planet Terra."

----------------------------------------------------------

"Well...that is interesting indeed..." Dr. Tot trailed off.

"Interesting or not, I know what I saw." Mikoto said harshly. She remembered the pupil-less

eyes of the spirit all too well.

The doctor seemed thoughtful, "I conclude the only way to prevent the assimilation is to destroy

the red moon."

"And how exactly is that supposed to happen?" Mikoto asked. "I already have to weaken the

spirit of Terra, and have no idea how to accomplish that. Now you say I have to somehow travel to the

red moon and destroy it?"

"...yes..."

"And what of the energy streams creating a barrier around the moon? They prevented access

to the Iifa Tree, why not the red moon as well?"

"...you have a point..."

"Is there even any atmosphere on the red moon? Do I need some kind of environmental suit

like Garland wore, and where would I find one?"

"While what you say is true, I believe the moon would have to have some atmosphere.

Otherwise, the trigger would not be able to jump start the mechanism." Dr. Tot said rather quickly in

order to prevent being cut off again.

"So you think the trigger is on the moon itself?"

He nodded, "It would be logical for the mechanism to start at the presence of the trigger, it was

probably how the mechanism was designed after all. It would prevent the mechanism from being

accidentally activated."

She was silent for a moment, gazing into the tea, "The end of it all..."

"The possibilities are grim." Dr. Tot said, surprisingly cheerful. "But you are going to stop it,

am I correct?"

She looked up, "Yes."

---------------------------------------------------------

The city of Treno hadn't changed much even with the presence of the shattered moon hanging

threateningly overhead. The dark streets were still silent save for the lilting melody that drifted through

the air, possibly from the musicians at the waterfront entertaining the nobles. Thieves lurked in the

shadows, not deterred in the least from their kleptomania.

Mikoto strolled along the riverfront, the waves lapping gently at the stone walkway. Nobles

were seated at the one of the many river side cafes, completely oblivious to the danger Gaia faced. But

then, she thought, the only thing worth their small talk was the latest fashions, and what to do with their

secret hordes of money.

She sighed, and sat on one of the stone benches scattered along the bank of the river. The

water was surprisingly clear, for the deteriorated state the rest of the city was in, and she could see the

silver fish swimming against the current. Their sleek bodies reflected the street lights necessary in the

perpetual twilight of the city.

Looking up, she decided the sky was a lot like a reflection of the black waters running through

Treno. The stars were the flashes of silver fish, and the water was the never-ending space between.

Everything except the broken pieces of Luna had a counterpart.

She wondered if the ancient people of Terra had really created the weapon in the sky, hanging

innocently overhead until the right moment, then pulling the life out of the planet. Assimilation was

something she knew about extensively as a genome. It was the process of converting the life energy of

one planet into another. The life of one planet would be sacrificed to insure the continuation of the

other.

The ancient Terrans must have killed their planet. Perhaps due to the guilt of that revelation, or

just maybe their own survival instinct they came to Gaia to live. They created their pawn Garland to

produce the genomes, bodies for their dead souls. But Terra had been gone, where did the souls of the

ancient Terrans go? Mikoto remembered the limbo world she had been drawn into, and shuttered at

the thought of spending eternity drifting in the dead space.

The souls of the ancient Terrans sought peace and respite. The soul of Terra sought only to

live, and the only way these could be accomplished was the assimilation of the Lifestream of Gaia. So

one had to die in order for the other to live. This was the way of all life, from the tiniest bacteria to the

massive whales that swam the open oceans of Gaia.

But was it really fair to destroy the lives of so many so a few could live? She looked around,

seeing the countless people whose lives where ruined so a few nobles could live in comfort. It wasn't

fair, but it could be fixed.

She smiled, it could be fixed.