Disclaimer: All characters and situations from the games FFVIII and FFX are property of Squaresoft. I do not claim ownership of any of them. However, I do own any characters that I created myself or my co-author, ie. Vira Eronwil, Dorin Vachon, Kravis, ect. That's about it. You know the drill. We do this for fun and no profit.
Chapter 4
Demons
"How can
I feel abandoned even when the world surrounds me?
How can I bite the hand that feeds the strangers all around me?
How can I know so many, never really knowing anyone?
If I seem superhuman I have been misunderstood" - Misunderstood, Dream
Theater
1. Identity of the Sorceress
The garish lights and decor of the theater overwhelmed Dorin as he stepped inside. He sighed, mentally wishing that the Spirans weren't fond of such flashy colors. It was late afternoon, and Dorin hadn't seen any sign of Kravis anywhere. He'd also kept his eye out for anything about this Sorceress person, but so far hadn't heard anything. After a few hours of looking, Dorin decided to stop in the Sphere Theater, the largest and oldest one in Luca's theater district.
In one corner, a band was playing happy and cheerful music. Dorin did a double take when he noticed the band members weren't human, in fact, one of them even looked like a bird. Above them were large screens, showing different events. Someone behind Dorin tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see who it was.
"Excuse me, sir," a man with a little square cap and a large pack said. "Would like to buy something?" The man tapped his chest, puffing it out proudly. "O'aka the twenty-third is my name, and I've sold products all over Spira! Even sold products to Lady Yuna's pilgrimage while they were journeying. I have great discounted prices. You won't find any better in Spira," he said.
Dorin raised an
eyebrow. "No thank you, I'm not interested."
"Are you sure?" asked O'aka. "I've got a lovely set of armor
you might like..." O'aka took his pack off his back and started rummaging
through it.
"No, I'm pretty sure..." Dorin trailed off as O'aka began to search through his wares. Sighing, Dorin looked around at the various screens, now showing various blitzball matches.
On one screen was a woman in a light brown suit, holding a microphone. Her hair was the same color as her suit, and pulled back into a low ponytail. Her expression was serious as she stared into the screen. She was standing outside of the blitzball stadium. "Right where I'm standing is the very spot where just recently an incident occurred where the fabled Sorceress was proven to actually exist, and could be a potential threat..." The reporter trailed off and put one hand to her ear for a brief second. "Oh, I've just heard that we have footage of the incident as a crew was taping reactions for the upcoming game tonight. We now bring you the scene earlier today where the Sorceress was revealed to be an actual person."
The screen cut to a scene with a woman in all black, backing away from a crowd. A woman with brown hair with blond streaks...and a scar....
"Dear God..." Dorin breathed. The world seemed to stop around him, all sound dimmed as he focused on the woman.
An old woman was in front of the woman in black, trying to hit her as the crowd around them became more riled up. The old woman was yelling that the Sorceress was worse than Sin. The woman in black backed up, first looking afraid and then angry. She yelled, "Everyone just...back off...everyone...STOP!"
At that moment,
everyone around them stopped, including the cameraman, the
camera was held firmly in one spot, no longer shaking and moving.
"Stop spell," Dorin murmured.
O'aka looked up from his backpack. "What?"
The woman on the screen spoke to the old woman and everyone else, although a great deal of her speech was being drowned out. All that could be heard was "scapegoat" "be ignorant" and "why isn't Spira in my fingertips?" The woman ran off, past the camera and off screen. The tape ended and brought back the reporter.
"That was the scene as the Sorceress used a spell affecting an entire group of people. According to some eye witnesses, she made a claim that she was going to take over Spira with her power. We'll take you now to some of those interviews."
"Bullshit," spat Dorin. He'd seen enough. He turned and walked out of the theater, struggling to maintain a hold on his anger.
"Wait!"
O'aka yelled. "I found the armor! You'd really like it!" He held it
up in the
air, waving it. After a moment he sighed and put it back in his bag. "Ah
well, can't get em all..."
2. Disguise and Memories
Afternoon, brilliant with gold and amber hues, gave way to the time of twilight in Luca. The golden sun that had been so bright during the day, sank beyond the horizon, its brilliance fading and dying into the blue ashes of nighttime. Golden, amber and crimson melted into purple and blue, until the black night dotted with diamond stars stretched across the sky, covering everything in warm darkness; the pearl moon the only true light left in the firmament. Just as the afternoon had turned into twilight, and then into night, the public's interested in the Sorceress faded into the excitement of the night blitzball game. Soon everyone forgot about the incident in front of the stadium and focused their attention on who would beat who, and what new move might be introduced that night. Suddenly the streets were quiet, cheers rising only from the stadium. What was only a few short hours ago, streets teeming with people were now almost like a ghost town. Only sounds from the stadium were heard, and the rustling of the wind as a gentle sea breeze flowed by.
Vira pulled the hood down from her coat and took a look around. After the incident, she'd run into the merchant district and immediately purchased a new outfit and a bag to hold her old one in. The only piece of clothing she'd kept were her boots, the same ones she'd had the day Xana had died. They were the only shoes she had. Whether it was just laziness or some morbid attachment to them, Vira had never replaced them. She argued that they'd be too heavy to carry in her bag; the coat she had been wearing before was heavy enough. And luckily enough, she hadn't needed to purchase a new shirt, it being hidden from sight in the first place.
She still favored the same colors she always had: red and black. From a merchant who asked no questions, Vira had purchased a light black coat, long, a bit past her knees, with a hood to hide her face from the crowd. Underneath she was her red sleeveless shirt, though when the coat was buttoned up, no one would notice. She had to get rid of the purple pants she had been wearing, replacing them with plain black ones. It was almost sad to do so, remembering the time when she'd bought the new pants.
"Do you always wear that?" Tidus asked.
"Huh?" mumbled Vira.
He pointed at her outfit. "Your clothes. They're all black. Do you want to depress people?"
Vira snorted. "I never cared what other people thought. Black is a nice color."
"Yeah, maybe if you're living in Morbidville. But you're in Spira, so live a little," said Tidus.
"This coming from a boy who dresses like a chocobo with overalls?" Vira replied, smirking.
Tidus rolled his eyes. "Hardy har har. Veeeeery funny. Look, you don't wanna be out of place, right?"
"Right"
"Then that means you gotta add some color to your wardrobe! Seriously, do you want to wear the same thing you killed your mother in?" asked Tidus.
Vira frowned and shook her head. "Of course not. I just left the rest of my 'wardrobe' back home."
"And that is why I'm gonna help you out here!" Tidus exclaimed. He walked over to a rack filled with different color pants and pulled out a deep royal purple pair. "How about these?"
"You've got to be kidding. And I'm not taking fashion tips from you," said Vira.
Tidus grinned stupidly and shook the pair of pants in front of her. "Aw, c'moooon! You'll like them! You can't just be wearing red and black. Yeah, red's a color, but you need more! It's less offensive than pink, right?"
Vira sighed exasperatedly. "Yes."
He handed her the pair of pants, his grin turning triumphant. "Then that's all there is to it! Then you get yourself a new coat, and a new shirt, and you're all set!"
"Haven't you people ever heard of washing machines or backpacks?"
Tidus gave her a strange look. "What?"
Vira sighed again. "Never mind"
She and Tidus had always argued about different things. About the differences between their worlds, about Vira's pessimistic/defeatist attitude about nearly everything, Tidus's overzealous nature with blitzball, and even their clothes. But, they'd rubbed off on each other. Tidus's enthusiasm was infectious, and his happiness as well. She, he and Auron had all seemed like three different variations on the same theme. Auron was the stoic one. The veteran and the most knowledgeable of the three. He rarely did joke, and was never grinning or full of excitement. He would joke, but his sense of humor was dry and sarcastic. Vira was inbetween, given to pessimism, and all of her humor was sarcastic and full of biting wit. She was a bit stoic, only talking about her past when she had to, but then at times could lighten up and even border on friendly. That was Tidus's doing. Being around him long enough made Vira loosen up, even if just a little. Then Tidus was at the opposite end; happy, excited, enthusiastic. All three wanted to help people on their way back to the main lands, but all three were different variations of it. And as much as Tidus and Vira would argue, they had a lot in common as well. Their core beliefs in right and wrong were what made them friends. Vira remembered nearly every conversation the three of them had over ethics, and the like. There had never been arguments about that. All three had a distinct knowledge of what they believed to be right, and it all was quite similar.
Vira missed those times, almost aimlessly wandering across the tiny islands, sometimes never finding a single person. It had been amazing they ever made it to the others, Tidus complaining the first time they had built a raft to sail to the next island, and using it until they had found a town that sold them a boat. Vira would've used that boat to get to Besaid, but she could never find it. Or any familiar land. Or Tidus and Auron. She felt so close now. They had to be in Besaid by now. She only wished they were with her now.
Yellow light filtered down on Vira as she sat on a bench just on the outskirts of the restaurant district. She wondered that if Tidus and Auron had been with her that afternoon, would she be hiding right now? Vira had never run like a scared animal before, never had to. Her running away was different. Oh, yeah, she'd never had to run from a mob that had intentions of hurting her, though Vira wasn't sure how far they had wanted to go. Vira always ran in different ways. Ways that didn't take you anywhere.
You ran away from people when you were a kid. They hated you because you were different and you ran away. Ran into your head where it was safe, just by yourself and no one there to tell you that you sucked, or were stupid, or weird. You ran away from Xana at first, too. Tried to kill yourself to get away from her. That's a running of a different color, isn't it? Maybe it was all her doingheard her voice in herein my head. Was it? Or was it because of how much you hated what was happening to you? Your life? Or your lack of it? And now you've completed your freakin circle, I hope you're very happy, ma'am. You've not only run from friends, from your problems, from your twisted family, but you've also run from a mob of people who hated you based on unreliable rumors. And now what? What'll you run from next? Whatever it is that looks like Xanalooks like Dorinand no one else can see? The insanity? Will I run from that too? And my nightmare? Is it possible to keep running? When can I stop?
Vira looked down at her hands, palms faced up to her. The scar on her left hand was still there, stretched across like a bad memory. She remembered the first week she spent in prison, cold, and sick-she was always sick in the prison, even as she escaped-and going through everything that had happened. Dorin's death and resurrection was still fresh in her mind, her mother's death even fresher. And in her fevered and sickened state, Vira would fall into a restless sleep where she dreamt of Dorin's Dragon Rage over and over, and that each time, she never woke up. She would die, and stay that way, all that was left in her nightmare being his animalistic roar and darkness, until Tidus would shake her awake.
"Hey! Snap out of it! What's wrong with you?!" he yelled.
Vira's eyes jolted open, and she coughed into her chest, feeling a rush of heat to her face. Tidus took his arms from her and sat back against the wall, eyeing her cautiously.
"I'm finesorry if I woke you," she coughed.
Tidus shook his head. "You ain't fine. I heard you scream. I know you're sick and all, but this has happened to you for the past few nights." He paused. "Who's Dorin?"
Vira frowned. "None of your business."
"Well, you scream at him to stop every night, and it's genuinely disturbing, so I'd say it's my business now. C'mon, it's okay to talk about it," Tidus said. He looked concerned. Vira could tell he wasn't a bad guy.
For a moment, she didn't reply. Tired being partly the reason, and the other being she wasn't exactly sure how to explain it. So far she'd told Tidus she came from another world, which he believed without too much trouble, and that she had fought this powerful sorceress and the portal deal with Kravis. She'd said a bit about Xana, and a bit about Squall and how she'd worked for SeeD and Garden, and about Draconia. She hadn't mentioned Dorin. It was a sticky subject. The pain was still at the surface, the wound still wide open. But she knew Tidus wouldn't back down. He'd only ask her again the next night. He'd understand, perhaps. Vira took in a breath and let it out slowly. She spent the next several minutes recounting meeting Dorin, having to show him around Garden with Squall, leaving for Draconia with him and Squall, how he had shunned her for a while, telling her she was no better than a hired droid. Then his attitude had changed and he told her that she was an honorable person, they all were. Vira told Tidus that when she found out that Xana was her mother, Dorin ended up being one of the first people who knew, and she could never get rid of him after that. He followed her around, always trying to get through to her, get some sort of reaction, and engage in some sort of conversation. With great shame, Vira told Tidus about the problem she had in Esthar, when she had nearly killed herself in an attempt to be rid of Xana's voice in her head and her own problems, but that Dorin had stopped her. He had stopped her again when she then tried to leave to take on Xana by herself. That wherever Vira went, Dorin tried to follow, and that his official excuse had been that his country owed her. Vira told Tidus how it frustrated and confused her. She didn't understand his motives, what he wanted, and why he didn't just walk away like everyone else did. Eventually, she spoke of the incident in the Silver Siren, when Dorin succumbed to the Dragon Rage. As Vira recalled the only time in battle she ever died, Tidus stared at her with wide shocked eyes. His expression turned to sympathetic when she told him about Dorin's death afterwards. She wrapped it up quickly by telling him that Dorin had been lucky and was resurrected. He had gotten a happy ending and was okay. Tidus looked relieved at that, but still confused. It was funny, after telling the whole story, it confused Vira too.
"Then why do you keep screaming in your dreams?" Tidus asked.
Vira coughed. "Becausethere was nothing worse than to see him succumb to the Dragon Rage. It may have ended all right for him, but that doesn't take away all the pain I suffered because of it. I died because of it. I guess it scares me still. I should be fine soon"
Vira turned her hands over again, just staring at them in the lamplight. A slight breeze ruffled her hair. A loud cheer rose from the stadium. Vira looked at her left palm again, tracing the scar over with her fingers. She looked at her stomach, and traced the scar that was still there, over her coat. She didn't need to feel it, she knew exactly where it was. That scar was the worst, and the part that she hadn't told Tidus until he asked her, months later as she, him and Auron were trying to go to sleep at their campsite, staring up at the stars. Vira had let Tidus in on most of what she had gone through before, but there were always bits and pieces she left out, details she never gave him. Those came over time. Tidus had been up front and out with everything that had happened to him, even the tiniest detail, from the very beginning. Sometimes there was a small twinge of guilt in Vira that she left the small details out. Because, it was usually the small details that were most important.
"Where's that scar come from?" he asked her.
Vira took her eyes off the expansive, twinkling heavens and stared at Tidus. "What the hell are you talkin about, blondie?"
Tidus pointed to the scar across her stomach, ugly and blaringly noticeable. Vira had forgotten she was wearing a shirt where you could see it. "That scar," he said, pointing to it. "Where'd you get it? From your last fight with your mother?"
She shook her head. "Nah."
"But you were bleeding there when I met you," Tidus said.
"It was reopened in the fight with my mother. That's why it was still bleeding. She'd wanted me to die bleeding, but I'd been able to stop it. Well, enough that it wouldn't kill me, I guess," said Vira. She turned her gaze back up to the stars.
Tidus looked up too, but didn't give up the subject. "So where did you get it?"
"Dorin."
"That guy who liked you? The one with the Dragon Rage that killed you?"
"Mmm hmm."
"During that time?"
Vira sighed. "Why's it so damn important for you to know?"
Tidus shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. "I dunnojust curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat, y'know," Vira replied.
"Huh?"
"Never mind." Vira stayed silent for another moment. As always, Auron stayed silent, listening to their conversation, but only adding something if he felt like it. "Dorin did it."
"Yeah, you said that already," Tidus said.
"It's what killed me," Vira said, making sure to stare really hard at this one star that was twinkling brighter than all the others. It made talking about it a little easier. "When Dorin succumbed to the Dragon Rage and came after me, and my Stop spell missed, he sliced me across the stomach. I bled to death."
Tidus looked at Vira out of the corner of his eye. "I thought you got that scar on your hand from him. I always just thought heran you through or something. Not tried to gut you like a fish."
"Lovely analogy," she replied, sarcastic. "No, he sliced me and then he tried again when I was pleading with him to stop. That's how I got both scars."
"How many do you have?"
"Four in total."
Tidus whistled. "That's way too many if you ask me."
"Four too many," said Vira. "I hate every single one of them."
Tidus chuckled. Vira turned and stared at him, wondering what the hell was so funny. "You and Auron should start a scar club. He's got a great one across his eye."
From behind them Auron grunted. "Funny."
"Yeah, I'm a regular laugh riot," said Tidus. "I betcha I could even get Auron to laugh someday"
Vira stood up, shoving her hands in her pockets. There was another rowdy cheer from the stadium. It sounded like someone had scored. Vira didn't really care. She'd spent the last several hours hiding from people, and now they had all forgotten their scapegoat to watch a game of blitzball. As much as she missed Auron and Tidus, and their unique perspectives, Vira wanted to be alone still. And she wanted to stop thinking. She'd been sitting on the bench since the game started and the streets had gotten quiet, and had spent the whole time thinking. Mostly about the past, and then about her own sanity. Enough was damn enough. Too much thinking makes your head hurt. What could she do to stop thinking? To keep the demons away? To keep whatever it was that looked like Xana and Dorin away?
"I wouldn't drink too much of that. After a while it takes affect and you begin to stop thinking. It isn't good for someone who needs to be alert and ready to fight all the time"
Auron's voice echoed in Vira's mind. She knew where to go now. Lucky her, the restaurant district was right in front of her. Vira turned away from the cheers of the ignorant in the stadium and headed into the district, the goal of finding an open bar the only pressing matter on her mind.
3. Reaching Besaid
During the day, the sea always looked a bright greenish blue, but at night,
it looked so black that if you dived in, you could never find your way back
to the surface. But, there was still an undeniable sense of calm and peace when
the gentle waves lapped against the side of a ship at night and a ship would
rock back and forth, just like a cradle.
Tidus walked down the wooden plank onto Besaid's docks, stretching his arms above his head. Behind him came Auron, who turned to tie the boat to the dock. He looked towards the beach and then at Tidus, who looked like he was about to explode with excitement.
"You're ready to see Yuna again," Auron stated.
Tidus grinned. "You damn right I'm ready to see her again! I've missed her a ton and now I'm so close to seeing her again I can feel it!"
Auron snorted, finishing the knot on the rope and starting down the docks towards the beach. "She might not be here."
"Where else would she be? This is her home, man! Don't be such a downer, Auron," said Tidus.
"You always said that to Vira," Auron replied.
The two of them reached the beach. Tidus kicked at some of the sand and sighed. "Yeah, well, she is a downer too, sometimes. Think she's okay?"
"In a manner of speaking," said Auron. "She's either here or Luca and on her way here. She knew you wanted to come here first to see Yuna. She can take care of herself."
Tidus nodded, looking to the pathway to Besaid village. "Yeah, so we're bound to see her soon. Right now, I wanna see Yuna! C'mon, let's hurry up!"
Without another word, Tidus took off up the pathway, running out of sight. Auron sighed and followed.
*****
"That was a great dinner, Lu. It took me a long time to figure out that you actually did cook," Wakka said, patting his pudgy stomach.
Lulu smirked. "Did you think I just made food magically appear on my plate?"
Wakka shrugged. "I actually never thought about it."
"Your mind was almost always on blitzball," Lulu said.
Wakka laughed, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess it was"
Lulu smiled, shaking her head. She stood up, pushing her chair back and picked up her plate. She took it over to the sink, placing it carefully inside and turning back to Wakka. Their house was small, but sufficient for them. Lulu suspected that they would need a bigger one once the baby came, but that was still a little ways off. It would be fine for the time being. Although most of Spira had seriously upgraded their towns since the beginning of the Eternal Calm, Besaid had remained basically the same. The only differences were that the huts were larger, and housed more people. Now they had a few different rooms, more like the Crusader's Lodge, and some of the more built up ones had windows. But they still were huts, with doors that were just pieces of cloth draped over the opening.
Wakka and Lulu's hut was cozy, and brightly colored. A red and orange throw rug was on the floor in the kitchen area, and a plain red one was in the bedroom. They had a nice fireplace in the living area, and a few comfortable cushioned light brown chairs to sit on. Their various knick-knacks lined the walls. Wakka's blitzball equipment, Lulu's different dolls, including her onion knight, and even some souvenirs they picked up on their journeys to all the different lands in Spira.
Lulu sat down in one of their chairs near the fire, picking up her old mog doll. "Don't forget to put your dish in the sink. I'll wash them later tonight."
"What do I look like, a forgetful goof?" asked Wakka, picking up his plate.
Lulu chuckled. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
Wakka smacked himself in the forehead as he walked over to the sink. "Aw, man, Lu, you always get the best of me"
Lulu looked up from her mog doll and smiled at him. "That's not such a bad thing."
Wakka dropped his plate into the sink as his cheeks turned a shade of pink. He scratched the back of his neck. "Heheh, geez"
From outside, two familiar voices drifted into their house. "So, where d'you think they are?"
"At home. Which one, I don't know."
Wakka stared that the piece of cloth that stood for their door. After a second, he shot a quick look at Lulu, who nodded at him. The two of them rushed over to the cloth door and threw it back.
It was true. The sphere didn't lie. Vira didn't lie. It was one of the most amazing things Wakka and Lulu had ever seen. In the middle of the village stood Tidus and Auron, looking around at all the different huts. Two years hadn't changed them. Tidus still looked as excited as ever, and Auron stilllike Auron. Wakka and Lulu stood in their hut's doorway with bated breath as they stared at Tidus and Auron. It was a miracle. A bonafide miracle.
Wakka rushed up to Tidus from behind, getting him in a headlock and giving him a good round of noogies. "Geez, little brudda, I didn't think it was true, but here you are again! Thankwell, y'know! It's great! And Sir Auron!" Wakka let go of Tidus, who yelled out "Hey, leggo!" as soon as Wakka had grabbed him. "It's great to see you again too! It's a miracle, man! No doubt about it!"
"It's wonderful to see you two again," Lulu said from the doorway, smiling. "But we didn't really expect you for another day or two."
Tidus rubbed his head where Wakka had given him a blast of noogies. "Huh? You were expecting us?"
"Vira," Auron stated.
Lulu nodded, walking to join them. Tidus's eyes grew wide when he noticed how pregnant she looked. "Yes. She came here around two days ago, right after Rikku dropped by with a strange sphere. It had you and her on it Tidus."
"Me?" he thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! That sphere. Weird. I never thought I'd see that one again"
"Vira was able to show us another scene with her in it to prove that she was telling the truth. Yuna had been about ready to leave to go look for you," Lulu continued.
Wakka grumbled. "I was tryin to talk her outta it. She didn't have time to go lookin all over the world for ya. No offense meant, brudda, but she's real busy."
Tidus nodded. "I understand. Yuna must have a lot do to these days. Where is she?"
"She, Rikku and Vira left for Luca a while ago. They should be back in a day or two. When Vira realized you two weren't here, she said that you might've ended up in Luca instead. They went to search for you there. We stayed in case you came here," said Lulu.
"Come into the house, guys. We just finished dinner and we have plenty left in case you're hungry," suggested Wakka, his hand waving towards their house.
Auron nodded. "Sounds good."
The four of them moved into Wakka and Lulu's hut, Tidus eyeing Lulu's pregnant state the whole time. As they walked through, Lulu looked at Tidus.
"Lulu, looks like you're expecting!" he exclaimed.
Lulu laughed. "Yes. Very soon."
"You and Wakka?" Tidus started, the beginnings of a grin crossing his face.
"Married. Not too long ago," Lulu finished.
Tidus laughed and pointed at her. "Ha!" he exclaimed in triumph. "You told me I didn't know anything about women! And now you and Wakka are married and you're about to have a baby!"
Lulu sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's great to have you back. Now shut up, Tidus, and have something to eat."
4. Vira Has a Drink
It wasn't Luca's most popular café but it was a nice clean place, out
of the way, and just right for Vira. She stepped inside, taking a look around
the circular room. In the middle was the bar, a donut with liquor in the middle
and chairs on the outside. There was no one in the bar at the moment, though
a few large screens hung from the ceiling near the middle of the room, playing
the game on them with commentary from those two guys Vira had heard in the pre-game
show. Everything was a light wood color, and the shelves that held the liquor
lit up with lights behind them. There were a lot of windows on the outer walls,
revealing the empty Lucan streets, and a few booths for people to sit in to
watch the passersby.
A man stood behind the bar, his head craned up to watch the game, while his hands cleaned an empty glass with an off-white rag. Vira walked in quietly, taking a seat on one of the stools nearby. Although she tried to be quiet, the stool made a scratching noise when she pulled it back, and it was enough to alert the bartender to her presence. He put down the glass and looked at her.
"Not at the game, miss?"
Vira shook her head. "No. Didn't feel like it. Stadium's all full."
The bartender smiled. "Yeah, that's what they say. What can I do for you?"
"A large bottle of Taril Whiskey," Vira replied.
The bartender whistled. "That's awfully hard for someone your age. You sure?"
Vira nodded. "Positive. I have the money. Please, just give me the bottle and a glass."
"Sure, no problem," he answered, turning around to face the shelves of liquor. It only took one look at Vira's face to see the sort of tired, almost desperate resolve she had. The bartender didn't want to argue. "Soyou look familiar," he started. "Have I met you somewhere before?"
Vira rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn't see her do so. "Decidedly not, sir."
"Oh, you don't have to go around calling me 'sir.' I'm just a bartender for this place. Name's Dravil," he said.
"Vira," replied Vira. "Vira Eronwil." It sounded strange. She hadn't introduced herself with her last name in a very long time.
Dravil, a tall lanky man with some muscle on his arms and a long light brown ponytail hanging down to his shoulders, looked around for the type of liquor Vira requested. Vira tapped her fingers on the bar top, getting impatient. Did it really take that damn long to find a bottle of whiskey?
"Vira Eronwil? That's an odd name," Dravil mentioned off-handedly.
Vira stared at her tapping fingers, not much interested in the conversation, only hoping Mr. Bartending Dravil wouldn't figure out she was the Sorceress. "Yeah, well, I'm not from around here."
"Oh yeah? Where you from?"
Vira sighed. "One of the northern islands. Y'know, those ones people don't go to all that much. Uncharted territory and all that."
Dravil nodded and turned around, holding the large dark red bottle in his hands. He looked at the label and pointed to it. "Taril" he pointed to himself, "Dravil. Funny, eh? My name rhymes with a whiskey."
Vira didn't laugh, but managed a polite chuckle. "Heh, yeah. Funny."
The bartender raised an eyebrow, placing the whiskey on the bar top and looking at Vira with a look that said 'are you sure?' Vira knew that look well. Almost everyone gave it to her at one point or another. "You sure I don't know you from somewhere? You look familiar."
"Must have that kind of face," said Vira quickly. "Got a glass for that bottle?"
"Yeah." Dravil bent down behind the counter, and pulled out clean glass, setting it in front of her. "I swear I've seen you before. Hey, you hear about the hubbub in front of the stadium this afternoon?"
Vira internally winced, but tried to remain nonchalant. "Hmm? What?"
"They said the Sorceress is in Luca, got into a scuffle with some people and froze them in place for a while," Dravil explained. He shook his head. "Nutsos. As soon something goes wrong, they have to blame it on some lady who isn't like everyone else. They kept saying she killed a ton of people, but I never heard of them. Or where. Stupid fabricated stories to make themselves feel better is all it is. It's a goddam shame, if you don't mind my swearin."
"Not at all," Vira replied, lightening up a little. "Youdon't think the Sorceress is a problem?"
Dravil waved his hand and gave her a dismissive look. "Pfft, nah! Okay, Sin died. That's great. The Sorceress comes along a year later. I can see how that'd be a little suspicious, but I've heard nothin but good things about her. The way I see it, we'd all be in big trouble already if she really wanted to do something terrible. And now that Spira's on the divided side of things, maybe this Sorceress chick is around to do some good. Role model and the like. Maybe something for someone to aspire to."
Vira smirked. "You're pulling my leg. How many people think that about the Sorceress?"
"A few," he replied, smiling. "And I know that if you meant ill to people, they'd be dead already. I'd be dead already."
The smirk on Vira's face vanished. Her? Shit. Did he catch on? How did everybody know this? How was she so damn easy to spot? "Huh? Me? What do I have to do with this?"
Dravil grinned and rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, Vira Eronwil. I could tell you was the Sorceress after a few minutes."
Vira frowned. "How?"
"Dunno. There's just somethin about you that's different, y'know? Don't mean no disrespect by it, but, there's this sorta aura about you that most people don't have. You give off thiswhat's the word?Vibe. That's it. Vibe. Powerful too. But, like I said, if you meant to kill anyone, they'd already be dead. And you wouldn't be in here, looking like a hunted down animal asking me for some whiskey that'll probably knock your socks off after one drink," Dravil said. His smile stayed. Behind him, there was the sound of a buzzer going off. Sounded like the Luca Goers just scored. Bobbo started saying something about the 'amazing play.'
"Don'tlet it get around, okay? I've been trying to lay low the whole day and I was doing fine until outside the stadium. I don't want any trouble," said Vira.
Dravil winked, picking up the dirty glass and off-white rag, beginning to clean it again. "Don't you worry, miss. I understand. You just take it easy on that stuff. It's strong."
"I will."
Dravil nodded and walked to the other side of the circle. The noises from the game were still audible in the empty bar. Now Vira felt alone again, but relieved. She stared at the bottle in front of her, and then the glass next to her. For a moment, she didn't move. Did she really need to do this? Vira, the grand escape artist; she can run from anything, even her own mind! That wasn't who she was. That wasn't who she wanted to be, or who she thought she was, anyway.
"You always did think too much," an accented voice said from the stool next to her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Vira saw the apparition of Dorin, sitting at the bar as if he did it all the time. He was smiling a smile that was very unlike his. It was knowing and conspiratorial.
"Honestly, Vira, you've always been a moody person. Always wondering too much about what others thought of you when you acted like you didn't even care. If you ever make it back homeI mean, where you sort of came fromhow do you think it'll be? You were always worried about the Draconians hating you because of-" Dorin's face melted into Xana's, her obsidian lips extended into a wide sick smile. "-me. You've gotten a taste of what it's liked to be hated for no real good reason, and Spira's supposed to not hold prejudice against sorceresses. What would happen to you if you came back to the world that still generally fears and hates them?"
Vira didn't answer. For a brief second, she closed her eyes, trying to drown out the noise with the sounds of the blitzball game on the screens. It didn't work. She opened her eyes and, with fevered hands, opened the bottle of whiskey, pouring herself a glass until it almost overflowed. She held the glass in her hand apprehensively, some drops of the liquor spilling over the side onto her hand. Now the glass felt slippery and hard to hold onto. She looked over to the stool beside her. Xana's apparition had turned back into Dorin.
"Do you think you'll be able to go anywhere without being hounded or persecuted? You took the powers of the first sorceress. She killed tons of them before her demise. Part of her rule was spent hunting them down and taking their powers. Maybe Rinoa can go around without being looked at because she saved the world and is girlfriend to the Commander of SeeDs. She never uses her powers unless it's doing something good. People like her. But you've always been anti-social, always cold and heartless. You inherit your mother's powers, and have the same hard stare. Do you think you could just walk around and be left alone? You'll be hunted down with no one to protect you. Or do you think there will be? A knight? Did you think that when everyone was against you that someone would come to help? Did you think I would?"
Vira lifted the drink to her lips feeling the cold, smooth glass. She closed her eyes.
"And you think you can keep running tooOh, love, you can't do that. You're heading down the path that'll destroy us all, and I won't be there to protect or help you." Dorin's awful smile spread into an even worse grin. He had never grinned. That was too much.
Vira downed the glass of whiskey in one burning gulp. Her eyes watered and a heaviness came over her eyelids for a second and then lightened. Clumsily she poured herself another glass, spilling some more of the whiskey onto the bar. Before drinking the second glass down the stared over to the chair that Dorin and Xana had been sitting in.
Nothing was there.
That was good. No, better. It was fan-freakin-tastic. Like Auron said, nothing worked better to stop the thinking. Vira knew it was probably a very stupid idea, and somewhere inside her she yelled out how she never drank in her entire life. Except for that one time when she was curious about what Auron kept in his jug. This was the wrong solution, but Vira had spent too many hours thinking and hiding, and nothing had worked. Vira didn't want to be insane, she didn't want to be skipping down the path that made her see things that weren't there and dream nightmares where she killed people she knew. This was her only option at the moment, the only thing she could think of because she wasn't as stupid as she had been two years ago. She wasn't going to kill herself just because things got a little difficult. Just because of nightmares and a few apparitions. They were disturbing-very disturbing-but she wouldn't do something that idiotic. Her apex of stupidity was left behind in Esthar. Yes, this wasn't the grandest idea she ever had, but Vira had a feeling she could hold her liquor. And it had made whatever she had seen go away. She downed the second glass.
Vira hoped it would keep the nightmare away from her for just one night as well. Just one night, and then she could go back to facing whatever it was.
Above her, the screens lit up and the cheers roared, the Kilika Beasts scored. It was going to be a long game. Dravil heard the door open and someone come in, so he greeted them. Vira couldn't hear what they were saying. Whoever it was turned out not to be interested and left. Vira didn't care. She looked up, watching the game, and pouring herself another glass of whiskey. For a while at least, the demons were gone.
5. An Ill Conceived Plan
Squall had managed to find Selphie and Irvine in the merchant district , Selphie showing off her new coat, Quistis and Seifer still wandering in the residential district, and Zell at the entrance to the docks. Dorin was the only one he couldn't find, after he and Rinoa searched through the theater district for a half an hour. Time was of the essence, so Squall hoped Dorin could forgive him for not finding him. He knew Dorin would've wanted to deliver the killing blow to Xana, and of all people, it should have been him, but Squall just didn't have the time to find him. Knowing Xana, she wouldn't stick around forever after the incident. The group looked around the entrance to the blitzball stadium, but she'd been long gone, and the people she had frozen were gone as well. Squall spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening listening intently and searching for anything about the Sorceress. It paid off at dusk, as everyone headed over to the stadium for the game. Squall heard a man say as he passed by that the Sorceress might've been spotted in the restaurant district. Sure, it wasn't a safe bet, but it was better than a blind guess.
He sent Quistis to look for Dorin again in the theater district as he and the others searched every restaurant in the district for someone matching Xana's description. When Quistis finally caught up with them, she said she still couldn't find him, and that he probably wandered into some other district. It was unlike Dorin to just disappear, but Luca was a big place, and they'd just have to find him later.
The group walked past a bar with large windows showing the empty interior. Squall stopped when he saw a woman from behind sitting at the bar. Her hair was a very dark brown, and her coat and pants were black. She sat on a stool, leaning on the bar. That had to be her, but Squall wanted to get a closer look. He just had to make sure she didn't see him.
"Wait here," he told everyone else as he stepped inside.
The bartender had been looking up at the screens playing the blitzball game when Squall stepped inside. He heard the door open and looked at Squall, smiling politely.
"Can I help you?"
Squall didn't answer for a moment. He stared at the woman at the bar. She was staring up at the game, and in front of her was a bottle of liquor and a glass, which she held in one hand. Looked like she'd spilled some of it already. He couldn't get a good look at her face without her seeing him, though. But it was Xana's height, and hair color. It made sense that she would have cut her hair after entering a new world. The bartender's smile wavered.
"Hey, buddy, can I help you?"
Squall shook his head. "UhI don't think so." He pointed at the woman at the bar. "Who's that?"
The bartender shrugged. "Some lady who wanted to watch the game in peace. You know her?"
It had to be Xana. Vira never would've been drinking such a large bottle of liquor. Squall shook his head and turned towards the door. "No, thanks anyway."
Squall stepped outside into the warm night air. Everyone else stared at him and he ushered them into a nearby alley. They all clamored to find out what was going on. Seifer looked at the alley, noting that they were in back of a few of the restaurants. Trash cans dotted the sides of the alley, reeking of garbage. For a moment, he thought he saw a rat run by.
"Great place for a meeting, Leonhart. Next time, why don't we just take it to the next level and talk inside a dumpster?" Seifer quipped.
Squall sighed. "We don't have time for jokes now, Seifer."
"What's up?" asked Zell.
"I hate to say this, but it's true. We all heard about the incident outside the stadium this afternoon. Rinoa and I heard it from these two people at a café. The Sorceress is in that bar right now. And it can only be Xana. There's no one else," he explained.
Quistis squinted her eyes, making a dubious expression. "Are you sure? Maybe it really is Vira."
Squall shook his head. "Did Vira seem to be the type of person that would drink an entire bottle of liquor by herself?"
"Not really. She didn't seem to be the type to do that much except fight and be silent a lot. She did a lot of thinking," replied Quistis.
"Exactly. Besides, if it was Vira, she'd probably still go along with some of the rules from back home and one of those is that anyone under twenty-one isn't served hard liquor, and that woman had some very hard looking liquor," said Squall.
Irvine rubbed his chin. "But, Squall, don't they always serve stuff at the SeeD graduations?"
"Nothing hard like that. And they only give SeeD graduates one glass. They aren't allowed more than that unless they look very much like an adult," he replied. "I hate to say it, but it looks like it's Xana. We can't hold back any longer. I wanted to find Dorin, because I know he'd like to be involved with this, but we don't have the time to find him. I know that Vira was the only one who had been able to stop Xana, but we have to try."
"What do you suggest?" asked Selphie.
Squall ran one of his hands through his hair. "Wait until the bar closes. If she's drinking a lot, she might be out of it by the end of the night. The streets'll be empty until the game is over. We follow her for a little while, and then hit her hard, and fast. Do our best. It's possible that she's different now and we can damage her."
Seifer frowned. "What if we can't?"
"It's the best plan we have right now. We can't wait and see if she does anything. I know it isn't brilliant, and I know that it might not work, and if it doesn't, we run and hide. Make sure she doesn't see us. But, Xana has taken a lot from all of us. If there's a chance we can stop her before she does something to someone else, I'll take it. What about you guys?"
With solemn faces, the rest nodded.
Squall sighed. It would be a long night for sure "Okay. We'll wait until the bar closes, and then strike. Remember, fast and quick and as quietly as possible. If we can keep her in the dark the whole time, then it'll be easier to escape if we can't finish her. Let's hope we can stop her. Finally"
6. Mistaken Identity
"Okay, Vira, I gotta close up now," Dravil said.
Vira looked up from her glass, which she had been staring at for the past five minutes, contemplating whether to drink it or not. When Dravil told her he was closing, Vira drank the glass of whiskey in one gulp. It burned all the way into her stomach. She looked at the bottle and there was still about half of it left.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked.
"Hmmfifteen gil. You had?"
"Six glasses," Vira finished.
Dravil looked shocked and whistled. "Geeeeez! You sure as hell can hold your goddam liquor! Look, just gimme fifteen and that'll be fine."
"I want to keep the bottle," said Vira, already reaching out for it.
Dravil went to stop her, pulling it away from her. "Vira, that's not a good idea. You've had six glasses already. I'm damn surprised you ain't on the floor, passed out or dying already. You drink anymore and you could do some serious damage."
Vira sighed and looked at the bartender. "I'm not gonna drink the rest of the freakin bottle tonight, man. I just want to have it in case I need it again at a later date. Is that alright with you?"
"I guess" Dravil started, loosening his grip on the bottle of whiskey.
Vira reached out, snatching it from his grasp. With her other hand she reached into her pocket, fishing around for gil. "Now, again, how much do I owe you?"
Dravil sighed. "The entire bottle of Taril Whiskey is twenty-five gil."
She pulled out a handful of gil, placed it in the bartender's hand, and said: "There you go. That's thirty-five gil. The extra is my thanks to you."
Dravil clutched the gil in his hand, smiling. "Thanks. You gonna be alright? You have a place to stay?"
Vira pushed away from the bar, wavering slightly, but still clutching the bottle of whiskey in one hand with a tight fist. "I'll be fine. I'm staying at the Hotel Luca. It's not all that far. I can make it no problem."
"Okay" said Dravil.
Vira waved as she exited. "Thanks for everything, man. See ya."
Dravil waved back. "Bye," Vira heard him say as the door closed behind her.
Out in the night air, Vira felt a little bit clearer. Her head certainly wasn't going into overdrive with the thinking process, and her only real concern was finding her way back to her hotel. Vira hadn't felt so relaxed in such a long time. She couldn't remember when. Taking a swig from the bottle of whiskey, and pulling her hood over her head, Vira began to wander towards the hotel.
Dravil had marveled at how she'd taken six drinks down and was still coherent. To tell the truth, it amazed Vira too. She'd never even had a drink at those stupid SeeD functions. Maybe being the Sorceress gave her a larger capacity for drinking. Whatever it was, it was fine with her. There was a bit of heaviness in her eyelids, and tingly warm feeling in her stomach. She knew she'd sleep fine that night. No more nightmares. This was good. She could walk, and talk and be coherent, but all the edge had been taken off. All the excess strain and stress. For a little while, there was no pain.
Vira walked through one of the streets, the light from the lamp up above casting her in a pale yellow glow. She took another swig from her bottle. She began to hum a song she couldn't remember the words to.
Waitwhat just moved by?
The humming of the song with no words stopped. Overhead, a street light poured soft yellow light onto Vira. She thought she'd seen something out of the corner of her eye, that crazy peripheral vision, but it must've been nothing. Vira shrugged and walked on, taking yet another swig from the bottle, and promising herself that was the last one.
Squall and Rinoa watched Vira as she walked by, her face hidden behind her hood. They made sure to keep out of sight and in the shadows, where she wouldn't see them. Squall watched her intently, then looked ahead to where she was walking to.
"Seifer and Quistis should be in position in a minute" he said absently.
Rinoa stared at the staggering figure walking down the street, and an idea suddenly came to her. She was a sorceress, so was this woman. It wouldn't be too hard to try toreach out to her, without her knowing. Gauge on how powerful she might be. Maybejust maybefind out she isn't as bad as everyone was fearing she was. Rinoa closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, feeling it stretch in a soft, flowing way until it hit the woman staggering in the street.
There was power in this woman. Immense power. Andshe felt just like Xana. Xana herself, her power, as if it still had Xana wielding in, and for a moment, Rinoa's fears had been confirmed.
Waitbeyond the evil feelingwhat is?
Rinoa stayed connected a moment longer, just long enough to feel something beyond the feeling of Xana's power. It was a sense of compassion, and honor. Even humor, and caring. None of those did Xana ever possess. Rinoa stretched herself farther, and felt a dizzying sense ofbeing drunk? She could nearly see through the woman's eyes, it was amazing the woman didn't feel Rinoa's presence in her. The woman looked down at her left hand.
That confirmed it. One hundred percent. The underlying compassion and caring had led Rinoa to believe it wasn't Xana, and she had stretched far enough to see the evidence that made her believe it with all her heart. Seeing through the woman's eyes, she saw something that only Vira possessed
The small scar on the palm of her left hand.
"Rinoa?" Squall shook her, trying to not feel panic coming on when she hadn't responded to him yet. "Rinoa?!"
Rinoa's eyes flew open and she yelled immediately, "It's Vira! She's alive!!"
Squall stared at her in disbelief. "What? How can you-"
"I reached to her with my powers. It's her, I know it! I could see through her eyes, and I know it's her!" Rinoa exclaimed.
Squall stared as the woman staggered closer to where Seifer and Quistis were supposed to attack first from. He frowned and grabbed Rinoa by the hand, leading her out into the street. "C'mon, we've got to stop Seifer and Quistis before it's too late!"
Vira sighed and looked at her whiskey bottle. Every time she swore she wouldn't drink anymore, a minute later the bottle would be to her lips and the fiery liquid would flow down her throat again. It didn't matter. Everything was okay right now. Five by five. A-okay. Hunky dory. Thinking wasn't an issue, so if she downed a few more sips of whiskey, what would be the problem? She hadn't dropped to the floor yet, and she'd be going to bed as soon as she got back to the hotel.
She stopped. For an instant, she thought she heard someone call her name. She made a face and snorted. That was impossible. Vira continued walking, reaching an alleyway shadowed in darkness.
"There she is," Quistis murmured as the Sorceress walked into view.
Seifer tightened his grip on Hyperion. "Let's go say hello."
As Vira walked past the dark alleyway, again she thought she heard something. She stopped, looking down the street, and then at the whiskey bottle. "Maybe Auron had a point about this stuff..."
"Vira!"
Now she knew someone was calling her name this time. There was no denying it. Maybe it was Yuna or RikkuVira turned to see who had called her name...and was immediately knocked to the ground. She tried to get up but immediately found a sword tip at her throat.
"Hey Xana, miss us?"
Vira blinked at the familiar voice...and cringed at the name.
"Wha...huh?" Vira muttered. "Xana?...What the hell are you talking about? I'm not her. She's dead..."
"Seifer! Let her up!"
Vira turned to see two figures run up, one in a leather jacket, the other in a blue jacket. What the hell was going on? Crazy mob people never sounded this familiar
"What?! Are you crazy Squall?"
"It's Vira!"
Squall? Vira struggled to concentrate, and finally saw a horrible truth staring her in the face. Squall and Rinoa were above her, Quistis standing not far behind. And Seifer was there, right above Vira, gunblade pointed at her throat.
Her friendshad come for her?
Author's Notes: It didn't take me quite as long with this chapter, did it? Anyway,
I'm having a blast writing this, and have a strange feeling that I'll have to
change the genre title before too long. Angst is certainly there, but I think
it'll take a different approach soon. Anyway, I know that I'm becoming too prolific
for my own good. But, this just means more story goodness for you guys! I'm
considering adding some additional notes to Iron Will, so that more people who
liked that story, can find this one. Seems that it is indeed in a place that
most people wouldn't consider. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't think I'd
be writing Iron Will's sequel as a giant crossover. Believe me, we had written
over half of a different sequel that was only in FFVIII's universe. It wasn't
that bad, but I'd probably want to rewrite it now, if I had decided to go that
route. If I had, Iron Will's ending would've been different too, probably more
formulaic to the FFVIII type ending. Well, next chapter we'll continue with
Vira's troubled encounter with her old friends. She doesn't take it very well.
And what happened to Dorin? After seeing Vira on the screen, he disappears into
Luca. Where does he go? That'll be revealed in the next chapter! And I know
I'll do all right as long as I never have a job class that has "pop star"
in it. Creepy Please R&R and lemme know how we're doing. This story's
gonna be dialogue intensive, so watch out! Stay tuned! :D
