I'm back! Sorry it's been a long time since i've updated. It would really be a good idea if you re-read the end explanation of chpt 12, otherwise this chapter will be a bit confusing, but that's just me. ^_^
Oh yeah, to death-blane and kingleby; i'm sorry i had you waiting for this chapter, and to everyone else who reads this story! Sorry!
(Note to death-blane (you KNOW who you are!): Thankyou so much for taping the Anime! I can't wait to see it!)
Chpt 13 : Sarah's Memoria
Sarah felt the chilling cold rush up her spine, and moved in an effort to stop it. Her hands felt the soft wool of blankets as she pulled them over her.
"~Get up!~" Sarah heard a distant voice sound.
"~Come on! You can't laze in bed ALL day!~" The warm blankets were tugged from her body. It was a little chilly, but not as cold as she'd imagined it to be.
"~Man! I'd never in my whole life think you were this lazy! It's two o' clock in the afternoon!~" Sarah opened her eyes from what seemed like a perfect sleep to a girl with a pink and white dress on.
"~Taharka?~" Sarah immediately recognised the girl, who gave her a funny look.
"~Taharka? What kind of wise crack is that? Have you been staying up late again?~" The girl put a hand on Sarah's forehead and checked the temperature. "~Nope. You're fine.. Now get up!~"
"~You're not Taharka?~" Sarah slowly raised herself from a bed she didn't recognise. Now she thought about it, she didn't recognise the room either.
"Of course I'm not! I swear you've been taking something.~" The girl shook her head and walked out of the room; calling "~GET UP WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!~" behind her. Sarah became confused. The girl looked exactly like Taharka, okay, maybe except the dress, having the tail out, and having her light blonde hair tied up. But they did look alike.
("~That's funny, I never did see her tail before..~") Sarah reminisced on when she had first met Taharka in Ipsen's castle; the blonde headed girl had always kept her tail in her dress, never out of it. Sarah then noticed something strange. ("~Why the hell am I thinking in Terran? I usually don't even bother..~") Sarah passed it off for a 'in-the-morning' thing, and rubbed her eyes. There was a mirror over on the far side of the room, so she decided to check if she had bed hair or not.
("~My Gods!~") Sarah took one look at herself in the mirror and gasped. Her face structure was the only thing she actually recognised. Her black hair was short and layered, reaching just below her jawline. It was neat and straight, falling delicately around her well built face, and her horn was missing.
("~Where in the name of Shiva is my horn?!~") Sarah felt the spot where it had been and felt nothing, only the roots of her hair; no bumps, no nothing. Sarah also took a chance to look at her new clothes; which were to her dismay, completely different. She wore a white skin tight mini-vest, covered by a red sleeveless utility jacket that reached just below her rib cage. She quite liked it. She looked down to see a red mini skirt with zips and pockets, followed by a chain reaching from the button to the side pocket. She felt keys in the pocket where the chain disappeared; so she pulled them out without thinking.
"~.. 'Stasis Unit Key' .. 'My bedroom'.. 'The Nega-2000'.. What?! These are all weird keys for weird things, well, maybe not the bedroom..~" Sarah spoke to herself, putting the keys back in her pocket. She noticed a pair of rubber soled shoes on her feet, red and blue in colour. She must have gone to sleep in these clothes.
"~I don't even remember going to bed in this room..Let alone going to bed at all..~" Sarah looked around at the strange room before returning to the mirror.
"~Great. Make-over while you sleep, huh?~" Sarah put her hands on her hips before noticing something move behind her. She whipped around, only to see nothing.
"~Weird.. Why the hell am I still talking in Terran?!~" Sarah shook her head and tried to speak Gaian.
"~I can't!!~" She opened her mouth, but none of the words came out. Now thinking about it, she couldn't recall any Gaian words at all. "~This is seriously freaking me out..~" She breathed in and out slowly to try and calm herself. The quick movement from behind her happened again.
"~Okay!! Who's there?!~" She looked around her in a panic, then suddenly let out a small yelp when something brushed against her legs.
"~YAH!!....Huh?~" She turned her head around over her shoulder, to see what was moving.
"~NO...WAY!!!~" Sarah gasped as a long black tail protruded from the back of her skirt. She grabbed it and quickly inspected her new 'limb'.
"~Last time I damn checked, I did NOT have one of these!!~" Sarah looked over it, it was soft, and was the colour of her hair.
("~I get it.. the tail is the colour of your hair.. That's why Taharka's tail is blonde and Iifa's is a light brown..~") She dropped her tail and tried moving it. It moved wherever she wanted it to, it was just like moving your arm, except that the tail could bend in every direction. Sarah giggled a little when she saw her tail automatically swish behind her, just like Iifa's did.
"~I wonder if it reacts to emotions; like Iifa's tail..~" She tried to think of angry thoughts, and her tail reacted like a cats'.. twitching side to side very quickly.
"~Cool..~" She now tried thinking even angrier thoughts, like Dagger liking Iifa.. Her tail now puffed out as well as twitching.
"~Not bad..~" She shrugged. Her gaze quickly returned to the mirror, where she summed up her appearance.
"~If i'd had a choice, I'd say these clothes are kind of revealing..~" Her clothes failed to cover her arms, midrift, and legs from the upper thighs. "~Oh well... It kind of looks good.~" She did a little spin to look at her clothes in their entirety.
"~Haha! If I was Dagger... then I'd say.. 'I do look rather stunning, don't you think?'~" She put on a posh accent and laughed at herself, her tail moving in big swishes this time. She stopped laughing when she looked at her eyes through the mirror.
"~Wha..?~" Her irises were a lighter brown, and her pupils were slitted. She then mentally hit herself.
"~I-I-I'm a Terran?~" She sucked in her breath. "~This has got to be a dream..~" But she well knew that she felt as alive and awake as anyone. "~Weird..~" She shook her head a little and headed for the door, which to her alarm, opened for her, and closed behind her. Once she had inspected the door, she turned to the corridor before her, which was lined with huge oval windows. The corridor itself was very long and wide, and she couldn't see the end of the corridor whichever way she looked. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the well-lit and very empty passage. She tiptoed over to the large window infront of her to avoid to echoes she gave off and gazed out.
"~Oh...wow..~" She smiled a little as countless blue spires filled her vision. She even had to crane her head to look down the glass to see what was at the bottom of the spires. The (what seemed) 'ground surface' was covered in aqua blue water, placid and illuminating. She knew this was Terra, but it seemed a little younger than when she had arrived there.
"~Why are you looking so shocked?~" A male voice sounded from her left. She almost leapt out of her skin when he spoke.
"~Where the hell did you come from?!~" She said almost on instinct to the tall, white haired genome.
"~From the other end of the hall, like I always do. I believe you should be at the stasis unit room?~" He looked slyly at her before walking past. He was so tall her head would have barely come up to his chest. She immediately disliked the man. His hair was white and tied back into a long ponytail, but the man seemed only 30. His clothes were mostly white too, including his tail.
("~Bastard..~") She shuddered before thinking on what to do next. He had mentioned that she was supposed to be in 'The Stasis Room'; wherever that was. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out the set of keys again, finding the key that read 'Stasis Unit Key'.
"~Well, I better go to the 'Stasis Room' to see what the hell is going on..~" She muttered to herself. She began to walk in the opposite direction to the white genome she had met, not wanting to bump into him again.
("~That guy is such a freak..~") She told herself, to try and repress, and take her mind off the feeling of panic in her system. She ran her hand through her hair while she was walking, wondering why it was softer than her hair previously was.
"~This is so stupid.. how am I supposed to know my way around this maze?!~" Sarah stamped her foot on the floor, feeling her tail twitch in annoyance. "~Fine! I'm just gonna pick the next door!~" She did as she said, marching over to the next door on the right, which to her surprise and relief; said 'Stasis Room' in Terran on the door.
"~Now that was uncanny...~" She bit her bottom lip and entered, the door doing its opening and closing trick again. The room was full of machinery, large machinery. Sarah felt her stomach create butterflies as she walked through the large high-tech room. She whirled around when the door opened behind her. It was the Taharka lookalike.
"~You finally up? Good. Aikand found a glitch in Stasis port 5.. You know which one I mean?~" The blonde girl walked past her and tapped on a few buttons.
"~Uh yeah..~" Sarah lied.
"~I'm not the scientist in this department!~" The girl laughed, her tail swishing in large arcs. "~When it comes to Stasis; as Aikand would say, 'Kaia's the genius.'~" The girl smiled and patted Sarah on the back.
("~Who the hell is Kaia?...and Aikand?~") Sarah worried.
"~Which one was it?~" The girl asked.
"~Uh.. ~" Sarah took a random guess. "~The Nega-2000..~" She said, thinking of the keys in her pocket.
"~Ohhh.. Wow, you're such a genius, Kaia!~" The girl giggled, pressing the corresponding button to which Sarah had mentioned. Sarah just looked around for the 'Kaia' she had spoken of, expecting to see another person behind her.
"~What are you looking around for, Kaia?~" The girl looked up from the computer she was working on.
"~Uh.. nothing..~" Sarah lied again. ("~So i'm Kaia? No wonder I look different... I must be looking from this 'Kaia's' point of view... But how? The last thing I remember is Iifa saving me from Kuja.. Then darkness. Then I wake up to all this?~") Sarah hurriedly pondered.
"~Hey, Kaia.. Could you lock Stasis port 16 for me? I think it crashed last night.. Well, that's what Aikand told me anyway..~" The girl continued to tap on the large computer.
"~Sure thing..~" Sarah looked around the room until a large computer saying 'Stasis port 16' came to her vision. She approached it and randomly pressed a button.The machine responded and turned on.
("~How the hell did I know that was the 'ON' button?~") Sarah shrugged. She then looked at the keyboard, covered in over a thousand Terran symbols.
"~Oh brother..~" She whispered to herself. "~Well, I'll just start here..~" She began to press buttons on the keyboard, finding that she wasn't pressing them at random, she was pressing them as if she knew what she was doing.
("~How did I know which buttons to press? Why is this scene all so damn familiar?~") Sarah felt an annoying stab of Dej‡-Vu in the back of her mind. When had she ever done this before? How did she know what to press? She felt very confused.
"~Wow.. It's cool to see the stasis-master at work..~" The girl complimented. Without noticing, Sarah had fixed the problem and was typing in a complicated batch of symbols and passwords.
"~It's amazing how you know what you're doing... I couldn't work one of those stasis units if my life depended on it!~" The girl awed at Sarah's speed typing on the computer.
"~Thanks!~" Sarah smiled as she automatically continued to type. She was having fun, even though she had no idea what she was pressing. "~It gets kind of fun after a while..~" Sarah felt like a professional, which from her typing and computer working, she was.
("~I wonder who this Kaia person was... I know she was Terran, but why does she look like me? And how do I know her job so well?~") Sarah finished typing, and the computer showed a message saying 'Access complete. Port 16 repaired and locked.'
"~Looks like it's fixed then..~" Sarah announced to herself. The girl beside her nodded fervently.
"~Is there anything else I have to do?~" Sarah turned to the girl, who smiled.
"~Absolutely nothing, Kaia! Aikand fixed all the malfunctions from Gaia's meteorite storm and we're back online! Aikand's so wonderful, don't you think?~"
"~Uh, yeah..~" Sarah nodded. ("~Not that I know who this Aikand is..~") She noticed that the girl talked an awful lot about this Aikand person.
"~You fancy him.. don't you?~" She smiled slyly. The girl blushed and shook her head.
"~N-N-No I don't!~" She stammered. Sarah was pleased that even on Terra, people had emotions other than wanting to kill and destroy on their mind. Well, Iifa being an exception. Sarah thought she better ask the Taharka lookalike about the man she had seen in the corridor.
"~Hey, you know Mr. White? Why is he so stressy today?~" Sarah quickly made up a nickname for him.
"~Haha! You always had a knack for making up nicknames for people on the spot!~" The girl laughed. "~Well, apparently Kronos and Garland have been jumping out of corners at him again.. But you're right, Sirriai was stressy today..~" The girl seemed to be thinking.
("~Garland? Wasn't that the name of Iifa's master? Dammit, I can't remember.. Well, I now know that I'm Kaia, the man in white is Sirriai, the person this girl fancies is Aikand, and the people called Garland and Kronos are playing tricks and frightening Sirriai.. okay..~") Sarah summarised in her head. ("~Now.. how do I find out the girl's name without sounding stupid?~")
"~Whatcha thinking?~" The girl looked at Sarah.
"~Oh.. You know, I had the strangest thought this morning..~" Sarah made up on the spot, "~What exactly does your name mean? I know it's not foreign, so what is it?~" Sarah pretended to be thinking hard.
"~Well, my mom called me Tanze because it was my grandma's name, and it means 'to be content'.~"
("~She's called Tanze then.. Nice name..~") Sarah thought. "~Wonderful. Well, I'll be going then. I have to see Garland about something.~" Sarah felt bad about lying to the girl so many times, but it was necessary.
"~Okay, I'll see you at dinner! Meet me at Hall B at 7:00!~" Tanze said before Sarah waved goodbye. She walked out of the Stasis Unit Room door and dawdled down the corridor.
"~I better go and find this 'Garland' person then.. I swear he is Iifa's master..~" She managed to reach the end of the corridor before the 'Sirriai' man appeared from around a corner.
"~What are you doing?~" He sneered at her.
"~None of your business..~" She sneered back; two could play this game.
"~Don't be insolent with me, girl! I decide what you do and what you don't!~" He snapped.
"~I've had enough of your whining...Now push off!~" Sarah surprised herself as she snapped back. Kaia must have had some attitude.
"~Your disobedience has gone too far, Kaia! You will - ~" Sirriai stopped when he was interrupted by a voice from behind Sarah.
"~Hey, grumpy! Don't be so miserable!~" Sarah didn't have a chance to turn around before a Terran with dark brown hair and a tail the same colour stepped out from her left. He looked around 17, maybe 18, and was quite dashing. He wore a simple blue and black t-shirt and trousers made from some kind of heavy material. But he was not the owner of the voice that had called out a second ago. From her right walked a man with pitch black hair and a black tail. He wore a black jacket and the same kind of trousers as the man on her left. He walked straight past her, disallowing her the chance to look at his face.
"~How dare you speak to me like that, Kronos! I have every right-~" He was interrupted again.
"~Aww, shut-up Sirriai.. You don't half talk a load of crap...~" The dark brown haired man from her left spoke.
("~Okay.. If the one that called him grumpy is Kronos, then that must be Garland..~") Sarah quickly put together. A bell sounded before anything else could happen.
"~Three o' clock.. I will deal with you at four..~" Sirriai swept past them and vanished around a corner, leaving Sarah to talk to the two men.
"~I can't believe how much of a jerk that guy is..~" Garland shook his head and laughed.
"~You're too damn right!~" Kronos finally turned to face Sarah. "~What were you doing down here, Kaia?~" Sarah's mouth dropped. This 'Kronos' was identical to Iifa, every bit of him... apart from the hair and tail. She was tempted to call his name out, but judging from her experience with the Taharka look-alike, she kept her mouth shut.
"~I was.. umm.. going to Hall B..~" She said quickly.
"~Fair enough.~" Kronos shrugged. She wanted to hug him so badly, just make him recognise her as Sarah and not this 'Kaia'.
"~What did Sirriai go for?~" She asked.
"~You should know that already!~" Garland put his hands in his pockets casually. "~He goes to record the status report.~"
"~Oh. So what were you two doing down here?~" She said out of curiosity.
"~We just came back from Eni's lab.. It seems that she created a new genome.~" Kronos then yawned. "~Man, if I were Aikand, I would have been shattered by now.. That guy does nothing but work.. especially after that meteorite shower from Gaia. Out of us seven, I'd say he's the busiest..~"
"~Hey, I'll meet you by the Invincible, I got to measure the soul flow again in five minutes.~" Garland said before rushing off down the hall. Kronos gave a confused expression after him.
"~Everyone seems to work around here.. It's just the stasis and the catalyst work are the ones which take hours to fix when they do break..~" Kronos sighed.
"~Uh-huh..~" Sarah had no idea what he was on about. "~So, um.. Kronos.. You doing anything tonight?~"
"~What was that supposed to mean?~" He gave her an evil smile which reminded her of Iifa's transformed self. "~Involving us or in the general term?~" Sarah didn't expect that answer. He was making her feel uncomfortable, even though he looked like Iifa.
("~I swear Kaia and Kronos have something going on here... What do I do?!~") She tucked some of her hair behind her ear and looked at him again.
"~Well?~" He gave her another evil smile.
("~This is just great.. If it was Iifa I'd know what to say.. But this guy isn't Iifa!~") She smiled at him to bide her time. The smile didn't help bide her time at all; no sooner had she smiled, he pulled her towards him and kissed her hard.
("~Wait-a-moment!! I'm with Iifa! But.. Kronos looks just like him, acts just like him..hell, they even kiss me the same way!~") She blushed hard when he pulled away.
"~I.. um.. ~" She stuttered. Suddenly she began to feel light headed, then drowsy. She felt herself collapse.
"~Hey! Are you okay?!~" Kronos caught her before she hit the floor, her drowsiness becoming greater.
"~Yeah.. I ..~" Kronos's face faded out of her vision, and darkness swept over her.
****************
**One Week Ago**
The ivory moon shone softly in the blackened sky, and the still red trace of the day's sun slowly disappeared into the west. It was only the dazzling white snow that illuminated the land of the forgotten continent. The snow still fell from the clouds invisible to the eye, resting in smooth layers on the ice formations and mountains. The snow gradually turned to brown, unfertilised soil as the seas lapped and washed over the flat and barren plain known as the Winter Tundra. Along these shores, the unconscious body of a small girl lay, soaked in ink and blood; which seemed to be penetrating the entire shore. This was how they found her. A small group of friends had swum in the icy cold waters for a dare, and were painfully making their way back to Esto Gaza. The three companions had been surprised to see such a girl lying alone, unconscious.. and with the strangest features... A pair of wolf ears protruding from her head and a bushy white tail reaching down to her ankles. Not to mention the blonde and white hair that fell roughly to her shoulders. The friends had rolled her over and checked her pulse, she seemed to be alive. One of the female companions had opened one of the strange girl's eyelids, and quickly shut it on discovering the wolf like girl had slitted pupils with dark yellow eyes. The mystified companions had hardly even tried to resuscitate her when a large and fearsome growl was heard. The humans had no choice but to run as a massive grey wolf the size of a large shire horse bounded towards them with his fangs bared. The wolf turned to the unconscious girl, picked her limp body up in his jaws, and carried her to the east towards the mountains.
****************
Sarah felt her body respond as consciousness came, but her eyes stayed shut.
"~Where am I? Kronos? Tanze?~" She muttered.
"Sarah?! Wake up!"
"~I have to do the stasis.. Kronos wanted.. uh..~" She breathed.
"Speak normally! What are you saying?!"
"~Kronos..Iifa..~"
"IIFA!! SHE'S WAKING UP!!" The voice screamed. "She's saying weird stuff too!"
"Move, Eiko!" Sarah heard the shuffling of feet. "~Sarah?! Can you hear me?!~" She felt someone hold the back of her head, and support her neck.
"~Stasis.. ~" She muttered again. "~Need to.. need..~"
"~Sarah?! Open your eyes!~" Sarah responded and her eyes crept open. She was met by Eiko's face directly infront of her, and a familiar looking gloved hand supporting her.
"~Iifa? Eiko? Where am I?~" She painfully got up, taking in her surroundings. It was the same room as she had woken up in as Kaia. But it was older, dirtier and riddled with bullet-holes. Someone had made a last stand in here; since blood stains were on the floor. Sarah just hoped it wasn't anyone she had just met.. well, maybe it was Sirriai. Suddenly, Iifa appeared from behind her and looked her in the face.
"~Are you okay, Sarah?~" He stroked her face gently. Sarah felt a sudden rush of emotion for her lover. She fell into the comfort of his arms, saying nothing; but letting her actions speak for her.
"What was happening to you Sarah?" Eiko whined. "You kept saying stuff like 'Kronos' and 'Tanze'. Is that something in Terran?"
"No.. Kronos and Tanze are people.." Sarah raised her tearstained face from Iifa's embrace. Iifa's face frowned a little on the mention of Kronos and Tanze; remembering what Garland had said about them, and about him.
"What did you dream Sarah?" Iifa breathed quietly.
"I had a dream that I was a Terran.. called Kaia... she caused me to have the most Deja-Vu i've had in my life time.." Sarah sighed a little, remembering how she had been in control of Kaia's body, and how Kronos had approached her. To the thought of Kronos she blushed, her eyes avoiding Iifa's.
"Whats wrong?" Eiko grabbed Sarah's hand.
"Nothing..nothing.." Sarah smiled, sliding off her bed. She took the opportunity to look at the room again. Along with the bullet holes and bloodstains she saw the mirror she had looked into, broken and dirty. Sarah walked carefully towards it, aware that Iifa and Eiko were now probably worried about her condition, and the fact that she now found it hard to walk straight.
"What are you doing?" Iifa got up and supported her as she walked.
"I remember waking up in that bed, and looking at myself in that mirror while I was unconscious." ((Dark Anima's note: She has now gathered that she was in a coma while the events at the beginning of the chpt happened...)) She placed her hands on the glass that was left on the wall mirror, and looked at her normal self. She looked tired, battered and ill. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair messy, unlike the image of herself that she had seen in her coma.. Kaia was presentable and pretty, even giving the fact that she had just woken up. Sarah felt a twinge of jealously when she thought of Kaia, and not having a horn kind of suited her.
"I had a tail, and no horn.. and this girl who looked like Tarharka... Tanze.. woke me up." As Sarah talked Iifa pieced together what was happening. He knew that Sarah was Kaia's reincarnation, and she was having images and memories from her past life. He wondered why she was having them now; of all times. The automatic door, now slow and rusty, opened and Garland walked through. Sarah gasped as she looked at him. He was the older version of the brown haired Terran she saw! This was Garland!
"~Garland?! What happened to me!!??~" Sarah cried, thinking that she was Kaia once more.
"~You are weary Sarah.. have you been hallucinating?~" Garland played innocent as Sarah became desperate with confusion.
"~I met you in the hallway!! You were with Kronos!! I had just fixed the stasis machine, and..~" Sarah shouted hysterically.
"~I know, Kaia, I know.~" Garland shook his head. "~You are dead Kaia. Don't you realise yet? You died long ago.. and now you inhabit your reincarnation..~" Garland seemed to be speaking to Kaia herself, not Sarah.
"~What happened to me?~" Sarah spoke, realising her feelings as Kaia were surfacing.
Yeah!! I haven't written in AGES!! Oh yeah, if you have any questions about this, then please e-mail me. I may be writing a fanfic about Kaia, Kronos, Garland and co, you know, a prologue to Iifa's Soul. (^_^ a prologue to the prologue!) I'll try and write chpt 14 as soon as possible. (Note to Kingleby: Please please please update! I HAVE to know what happens to Dagger!! It's your birthday soon aswell!)
Chpt 13 : Sarah's Memoria
Sarah felt the chilling cold rush up her spine, and moved in an effort to stop it. Her hands felt the soft wool of blankets as she pulled them over her.
"~Get up!~" Sarah heard a distant voice sound.
"~Come on! You can't laze in bed ALL day!~" The warm blankets were tugged from her body. It was a little chilly, but not as cold as she'd imagined it to be.
"~Man! I'd never in my whole life think you were this lazy! It's two o' clock in the afternoon!~" Sarah opened her eyes from what seemed like a perfect sleep to a girl with a pink and white dress on.
"~Taharka?~" Sarah immediately recognised the girl, who gave her a funny look.
"~Taharka? What kind of wise crack is that? Have you been staying up late again?~" The girl put a hand on Sarah's forehead and checked the temperature. "~Nope. You're fine.. Now get up!~"
"~You're not Taharka?~" Sarah slowly raised herself from a bed she didn't recognise. Now she thought about it, she didn't recognise the room either.
"Of course I'm not! I swear you've been taking something.~" The girl shook her head and walked out of the room; calling "~GET UP WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!~" behind her. Sarah became confused. The girl looked exactly like Taharka, okay, maybe except the dress, having the tail out, and having her light blonde hair tied up. But they did look alike.
("~That's funny, I never did see her tail before..~") Sarah reminisced on when she had first met Taharka in Ipsen's castle; the blonde headed girl had always kept her tail in her dress, never out of it. Sarah then noticed something strange. ("~Why the hell am I thinking in Terran? I usually don't even bother..~") Sarah passed it off for a 'in-the-morning' thing, and rubbed her eyes. There was a mirror over on the far side of the room, so she decided to check if she had bed hair or not.
("~My Gods!~") Sarah took one look at herself in the mirror and gasped. Her face structure was the only thing she actually recognised. Her black hair was short and layered, reaching just below her jawline. It was neat and straight, falling delicately around her well built face, and her horn was missing.
("~Where in the name of Shiva is my horn?!~") Sarah felt the spot where it had been and felt nothing, only the roots of her hair; no bumps, no nothing. Sarah also took a chance to look at her new clothes; which were to her dismay, completely different. She wore a white skin tight mini-vest, covered by a red sleeveless utility jacket that reached just below her rib cage. She quite liked it. She looked down to see a red mini skirt with zips and pockets, followed by a chain reaching from the button to the side pocket. She felt keys in the pocket where the chain disappeared; so she pulled them out without thinking.
"~.. 'Stasis Unit Key' .. 'My bedroom'.. 'The Nega-2000'.. What?! These are all weird keys for weird things, well, maybe not the bedroom..~" Sarah spoke to herself, putting the keys back in her pocket. She noticed a pair of rubber soled shoes on her feet, red and blue in colour. She must have gone to sleep in these clothes.
"~I don't even remember going to bed in this room..Let alone going to bed at all..~" Sarah looked around at the strange room before returning to the mirror.
"~Great. Make-over while you sleep, huh?~" Sarah put her hands on her hips before noticing something move behind her. She whipped around, only to see nothing.
"~Weird.. Why the hell am I still talking in Terran?!~" Sarah shook her head and tried to speak Gaian.
"~I can't!!~" She opened her mouth, but none of the words came out. Now thinking about it, she couldn't recall any Gaian words at all. "~This is seriously freaking me out..~" She breathed in and out slowly to try and calm herself. The quick movement from behind her happened again.
"~Okay!! Who's there?!~" She looked around her in a panic, then suddenly let out a small yelp when something brushed against her legs.
"~YAH!!....Huh?~" She turned her head around over her shoulder, to see what was moving.
"~NO...WAY!!!~" Sarah gasped as a long black tail protruded from the back of her skirt. She grabbed it and quickly inspected her new 'limb'.
"~Last time I damn checked, I did NOT have one of these!!~" Sarah looked over it, it was soft, and was the colour of her hair.
("~I get it.. the tail is the colour of your hair.. That's why Taharka's tail is blonde and Iifa's is a light brown..~") She dropped her tail and tried moving it. It moved wherever she wanted it to, it was just like moving your arm, except that the tail could bend in every direction. Sarah giggled a little when she saw her tail automatically swish behind her, just like Iifa's did.
"~I wonder if it reacts to emotions; like Iifa's tail..~" She tried to think of angry thoughts, and her tail reacted like a cats'.. twitching side to side very quickly.
"~Cool..~" She now tried thinking even angrier thoughts, like Dagger liking Iifa.. Her tail now puffed out as well as twitching.
"~Not bad..~" She shrugged. Her gaze quickly returned to the mirror, where she summed up her appearance.
"~If i'd had a choice, I'd say these clothes are kind of revealing..~" Her clothes failed to cover her arms, midrift, and legs from the upper thighs. "~Oh well... It kind of looks good.~" She did a little spin to look at her clothes in their entirety.
"~Haha! If I was Dagger... then I'd say.. 'I do look rather stunning, don't you think?'~" She put on a posh accent and laughed at herself, her tail moving in big swishes this time. She stopped laughing when she looked at her eyes through the mirror.
"~Wha..?~" Her irises were a lighter brown, and her pupils were slitted. She then mentally hit herself.
"~I-I-I'm a Terran?~" She sucked in her breath. "~This has got to be a dream..~" But she well knew that she felt as alive and awake as anyone. "~Weird..~" She shook her head a little and headed for the door, which to her alarm, opened for her, and closed behind her. Once she had inspected the door, she turned to the corridor before her, which was lined with huge oval windows. The corridor itself was very long and wide, and she couldn't see the end of the corridor whichever way she looked. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the well-lit and very empty passage. She tiptoed over to the large window infront of her to avoid to echoes she gave off and gazed out.
"~Oh...wow..~" She smiled a little as countless blue spires filled her vision. She even had to crane her head to look down the glass to see what was at the bottom of the spires. The (what seemed) 'ground surface' was covered in aqua blue water, placid and illuminating. She knew this was Terra, but it seemed a little younger than when she had arrived there.
"~Why are you looking so shocked?~" A male voice sounded from her left. She almost leapt out of her skin when he spoke.
"~Where the hell did you come from?!~" She said almost on instinct to the tall, white haired genome.
"~From the other end of the hall, like I always do. I believe you should be at the stasis unit room?~" He looked slyly at her before walking past. He was so tall her head would have barely come up to his chest. She immediately disliked the man. His hair was white and tied back into a long ponytail, but the man seemed only 30. His clothes were mostly white too, including his tail.
("~Bastard..~") She shuddered before thinking on what to do next. He had mentioned that she was supposed to be in 'The Stasis Room'; wherever that was. She reached down into her pocket and pulled out the set of keys again, finding the key that read 'Stasis Unit Key'.
"~Well, I better go to the 'Stasis Room' to see what the hell is going on..~" She muttered to herself. She began to walk in the opposite direction to the white genome she had met, not wanting to bump into him again.
("~That guy is such a freak..~") She told herself, to try and repress, and take her mind off the feeling of panic in her system. She ran her hand through her hair while she was walking, wondering why it was softer than her hair previously was.
"~This is so stupid.. how am I supposed to know my way around this maze?!~" Sarah stamped her foot on the floor, feeling her tail twitch in annoyance. "~Fine! I'm just gonna pick the next door!~" She did as she said, marching over to the next door on the right, which to her surprise and relief; said 'Stasis Room' in Terran on the door.
"~Now that was uncanny...~" She bit her bottom lip and entered, the door doing its opening and closing trick again. The room was full of machinery, large machinery. Sarah felt her stomach create butterflies as she walked through the large high-tech room. She whirled around when the door opened behind her. It was the Taharka lookalike.
"~You finally up? Good. Aikand found a glitch in Stasis port 5.. You know which one I mean?~" The blonde girl walked past her and tapped on a few buttons.
"~Uh yeah..~" Sarah lied.
"~I'm not the scientist in this department!~" The girl laughed, her tail swishing in large arcs. "~When it comes to Stasis; as Aikand would say, 'Kaia's the genius.'~" The girl smiled and patted Sarah on the back.
("~Who the hell is Kaia?...and Aikand?~") Sarah worried.
"~Which one was it?~" The girl asked.
"~Uh.. ~" Sarah took a random guess. "~The Nega-2000..~" She said, thinking of the keys in her pocket.
"~Ohhh.. Wow, you're such a genius, Kaia!~" The girl giggled, pressing the corresponding button to which Sarah had mentioned. Sarah just looked around for the 'Kaia' she had spoken of, expecting to see another person behind her.
"~What are you looking around for, Kaia?~" The girl looked up from the computer she was working on.
"~Uh.. nothing..~" Sarah lied again. ("~So i'm Kaia? No wonder I look different... I must be looking from this 'Kaia's' point of view... But how? The last thing I remember is Iifa saving me from Kuja.. Then darkness. Then I wake up to all this?~") Sarah hurriedly pondered.
"~Hey, Kaia.. Could you lock Stasis port 16 for me? I think it crashed last night.. Well, that's what Aikand told me anyway..~" The girl continued to tap on the large computer.
"~Sure thing..~" Sarah looked around the room until a large computer saying 'Stasis port 16' came to her vision. She approached it and randomly pressed a button.The machine responded and turned on.
("~How the hell did I know that was the 'ON' button?~") Sarah shrugged. She then looked at the keyboard, covered in over a thousand Terran symbols.
"~Oh brother..~" She whispered to herself. "~Well, I'll just start here..~" She began to press buttons on the keyboard, finding that she wasn't pressing them at random, she was pressing them as if she knew what she was doing.
("~How did I know which buttons to press? Why is this scene all so damn familiar?~") Sarah felt an annoying stab of Dej‡-Vu in the back of her mind. When had she ever done this before? How did she know what to press? She felt very confused.
"~Wow.. It's cool to see the stasis-master at work..~" The girl complimented. Without noticing, Sarah had fixed the problem and was typing in a complicated batch of symbols and passwords.
"~It's amazing how you know what you're doing... I couldn't work one of those stasis units if my life depended on it!~" The girl awed at Sarah's speed typing on the computer.
"~Thanks!~" Sarah smiled as she automatically continued to type. She was having fun, even though she had no idea what she was pressing. "~It gets kind of fun after a while..~" Sarah felt like a professional, which from her typing and computer working, she was.
("~I wonder who this Kaia person was... I know she was Terran, but why does she look like me? And how do I know her job so well?~") Sarah finished typing, and the computer showed a message saying 'Access complete. Port 16 repaired and locked.'
"~Looks like it's fixed then..~" Sarah announced to herself. The girl beside her nodded fervently.
"~Is there anything else I have to do?~" Sarah turned to the girl, who smiled.
"~Absolutely nothing, Kaia! Aikand fixed all the malfunctions from Gaia's meteorite storm and we're back online! Aikand's so wonderful, don't you think?~"
"~Uh, yeah..~" Sarah nodded. ("~Not that I know who this Aikand is..~") She noticed that the girl talked an awful lot about this Aikand person.
"~You fancy him.. don't you?~" She smiled slyly. The girl blushed and shook her head.
"~N-N-No I don't!~" She stammered. Sarah was pleased that even on Terra, people had emotions other than wanting to kill and destroy on their mind. Well, Iifa being an exception. Sarah thought she better ask the Taharka lookalike about the man she had seen in the corridor.
"~Hey, you know Mr. White? Why is he so stressy today?~" Sarah quickly made up a nickname for him.
"~Haha! You always had a knack for making up nicknames for people on the spot!~" The girl laughed. "~Well, apparently Kronos and Garland have been jumping out of corners at him again.. But you're right, Sirriai was stressy today..~" The girl seemed to be thinking.
("~Garland? Wasn't that the name of Iifa's master? Dammit, I can't remember.. Well, I now know that I'm Kaia, the man in white is Sirriai, the person this girl fancies is Aikand, and the people called Garland and Kronos are playing tricks and frightening Sirriai.. okay..~") Sarah summarised in her head. ("~Now.. how do I find out the girl's name without sounding stupid?~")
"~Whatcha thinking?~" The girl looked at Sarah.
"~Oh.. You know, I had the strangest thought this morning..~" Sarah made up on the spot, "~What exactly does your name mean? I know it's not foreign, so what is it?~" Sarah pretended to be thinking hard.
"~Well, my mom called me Tanze because it was my grandma's name, and it means 'to be content'.~"
("~She's called Tanze then.. Nice name..~") Sarah thought. "~Wonderful. Well, I'll be going then. I have to see Garland about something.~" Sarah felt bad about lying to the girl so many times, but it was necessary.
"~Okay, I'll see you at dinner! Meet me at Hall B at 7:00!~" Tanze said before Sarah waved goodbye. She walked out of the Stasis Unit Room door and dawdled down the corridor.
"~I better go and find this 'Garland' person then.. I swear he is Iifa's master..~" She managed to reach the end of the corridor before the 'Sirriai' man appeared from around a corner.
"~What are you doing?~" He sneered at her.
"~None of your business..~" She sneered back; two could play this game.
"~Don't be insolent with me, girl! I decide what you do and what you don't!~" He snapped.
"~I've had enough of your whining...Now push off!~" Sarah surprised herself as she snapped back. Kaia must have had some attitude.
"~Your disobedience has gone too far, Kaia! You will - ~" Sirriai stopped when he was interrupted by a voice from behind Sarah.
"~Hey, grumpy! Don't be so miserable!~" Sarah didn't have a chance to turn around before a Terran with dark brown hair and a tail the same colour stepped out from her left. He looked around 17, maybe 18, and was quite dashing. He wore a simple blue and black t-shirt and trousers made from some kind of heavy material. But he was not the owner of the voice that had called out a second ago. From her right walked a man with pitch black hair and a black tail. He wore a black jacket and the same kind of trousers as the man on her left. He walked straight past her, disallowing her the chance to look at his face.
"~How dare you speak to me like that, Kronos! I have every right-~" He was interrupted again.
"~Aww, shut-up Sirriai.. You don't half talk a load of crap...~" The dark brown haired man from her left spoke.
("~Okay.. If the one that called him grumpy is Kronos, then that must be Garland..~") Sarah quickly put together. A bell sounded before anything else could happen.
"~Three o' clock.. I will deal with you at four..~" Sirriai swept past them and vanished around a corner, leaving Sarah to talk to the two men.
"~I can't believe how much of a jerk that guy is..~" Garland shook his head and laughed.
"~You're too damn right!~" Kronos finally turned to face Sarah. "~What were you doing down here, Kaia?~" Sarah's mouth dropped. This 'Kronos' was identical to Iifa, every bit of him... apart from the hair and tail. She was tempted to call his name out, but judging from her experience with the Taharka look-alike, she kept her mouth shut.
"~I was.. umm.. going to Hall B..~" She said quickly.
"~Fair enough.~" Kronos shrugged. She wanted to hug him so badly, just make him recognise her as Sarah and not this 'Kaia'.
"~What did Sirriai go for?~" She asked.
"~You should know that already!~" Garland put his hands in his pockets casually. "~He goes to record the status report.~"
"~Oh. So what were you two doing down here?~" She said out of curiosity.
"~We just came back from Eni's lab.. It seems that she created a new genome.~" Kronos then yawned. "~Man, if I were Aikand, I would have been shattered by now.. That guy does nothing but work.. especially after that meteorite shower from Gaia. Out of us seven, I'd say he's the busiest..~"
"~Hey, I'll meet you by the Invincible, I got to measure the soul flow again in five minutes.~" Garland said before rushing off down the hall. Kronos gave a confused expression after him.
"~Everyone seems to work around here.. It's just the stasis and the catalyst work are the ones which take hours to fix when they do break..~" Kronos sighed.
"~Uh-huh..~" Sarah had no idea what he was on about. "~So, um.. Kronos.. You doing anything tonight?~"
"~What was that supposed to mean?~" He gave her an evil smile which reminded her of Iifa's transformed self. "~Involving us or in the general term?~" Sarah didn't expect that answer. He was making her feel uncomfortable, even though he looked like Iifa.
("~I swear Kaia and Kronos have something going on here... What do I do?!~") She tucked some of her hair behind her ear and looked at him again.
"~Well?~" He gave her another evil smile.
("~This is just great.. If it was Iifa I'd know what to say.. But this guy isn't Iifa!~") She smiled at him to bide her time. The smile didn't help bide her time at all; no sooner had she smiled, he pulled her towards him and kissed her hard.
("~Wait-a-moment!! I'm with Iifa! But.. Kronos looks just like him, acts just like him..hell, they even kiss me the same way!~") She blushed hard when he pulled away.
"~I.. um.. ~" She stuttered. Suddenly she began to feel light headed, then drowsy. She felt herself collapse.
"~Hey! Are you okay?!~" Kronos caught her before she hit the floor, her drowsiness becoming greater.
"~Yeah.. I ..~" Kronos's face faded out of her vision, and darkness swept over her.
****************
**One Week Ago**
The ivory moon shone softly in the blackened sky, and the still red trace of the day's sun slowly disappeared into the west. It was only the dazzling white snow that illuminated the land of the forgotten continent. The snow still fell from the clouds invisible to the eye, resting in smooth layers on the ice formations and mountains. The snow gradually turned to brown, unfertilised soil as the seas lapped and washed over the flat and barren plain known as the Winter Tundra. Along these shores, the unconscious body of a small girl lay, soaked in ink and blood; which seemed to be penetrating the entire shore. This was how they found her. A small group of friends had swum in the icy cold waters for a dare, and were painfully making their way back to Esto Gaza. The three companions had been surprised to see such a girl lying alone, unconscious.. and with the strangest features... A pair of wolf ears protruding from her head and a bushy white tail reaching down to her ankles. Not to mention the blonde and white hair that fell roughly to her shoulders. The friends had rolled her over and checked her pulse, she seemed to be alive. One of the female companions had opened one of the strange girl's eyelids, and quickly shut it on discovering the wolf like girl had slitted pupils with dark yellow eyes. The mystified companions had hardly even tried to resuscitate her when a large and fearsome growl was heard. The humans had no choice but to run as a massive grey wolf the size of a large shire horse bounded towards them with his fangs bared. The wolf turned to the unconscious girl, picked her limp body up in his jaws, and carried her to the east towards the mountains.
****************
Sarah felt her body respond as consciousness came, but her eyes stayed shut.
"~Where am I? Kronos? Tanze?~" She muttered.
"Sarah?! Wake up!"
"~I have to do the stasis.. Kronos wanted.. uh..~" She breathed.
"Speak normally! What are you saying?!"
"~Kronos..Iifa..~"
"IIFA!! SHE'S WAKING UP!!" The voice screamed. "She's saying weird stuff too!"
"Move, Eiko!" Sarah heard the shuffling of feet. "~Sarah?! Can you hear me?!~" She felt someone hold the back of her head, and support her neck.
"~Stasis.. ~" She muttered again. "~Need to.. need..~"
"~Sarah?! Open your eyes!~" Sarah responded and her eyes crept open. She was met by Eiko's face directly infront of her, and a familiar looking gloved hand supporting her.
"~Iifa? Eiko? Where am I?~" She painfully got up, taking in her surroundings. It was the same room as she had woken up in as Kaia. But it was older, dirtier and riddled with bullet-holes. Someone had made a last stand in here; since blood stains were on the floor. Sarah just hoped it wasn't anyone she had just met.. well, maybe it was Sirriai. Suddenly, Iifa appeared from behind her and looked her in the face.
"~Are you okay, Sarah?~" He stroked her face gently. Sarah felt a sudden rush of emotion for her lover. She fell into the comfort of his arms, saying nothing; but letting her actions speak for her.
"What was happening to you Sarah?" Eiko whined. "You kept saying stuff like 'Kronos' and 'Tanze'. Is that something in Terran?"
"No.. Kronos and Tanze are people.." Sarah raised her tearstained face from Iifa's embrace. Iifa's face frowned a little on the mention of Kronos and Tanze; remembering what Garland had said about them, and about him.
"What did you dream Sarah?" Iifa breathed quietly.
"I had a dream that I was a Terran.. called Kaia... she caused me to have the most Deja-Vu i've had in my life time.." Sarah sighed a little, remembering how she had been in control of Kaia's body, and how Kronos had approached her. To the thought of Kronos she blushed, her eyes avoiding Iifa's.
"Whats wrong?" Eiko grabbed Sarah's hand.
"Nothing..nothing.." Sarah smiled, sliding off her bed. She took the opportunity to look at the room again. Along with the bullet holes and bloodstains she saw the mirror she had looked into, broken and dirty. Sarah walked carefully towards it, aware that Iifa and Eiko were now probably worried about her condition, and the fact that she now found it hard to walk straight.
"What are you doing?" Iifa got up and supported her as she walked.
"I remember waking up in that bed, and looking at myself in that mirror while I was unconscious." ((Dark Anima's note: She has now gathered that she was in a coma while the events at the beginning of the chpt happened...)) She placed her hands on the glass that was left on the wall mirror, and looked at her normal self. She looked tired, battered and ill. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair messy, unlike the image of herself that she had seen in her coma.. Kaia was presentable and pretty, even giving the fact that she had just woken up. Sarah felt a twinge of jealously when she thought of Kaia, and not having a horn kind of suited her.
"I had a tail, and no horn.. and this girl who looked like Tarharka... Tanze.. woke me up." As Sarah talked Iifa pieced together what was happening. He knew that Sarah was Kaia's reincarnation, and she was having images and memories from her past life. He wondered why she was having them now; of all times. The automatic door, now slow and rusty, opened and Garland walked through. Sarah gasped as she looked at him. He was the older version of the brown haired Terran she saw! This was Garland!
"~Garland?! What happened to me!!??~" Sarah cried, thinking that she was Kaia once more.
"~You are weary Sarah.. have you been hallucinating?~" Garland played innocent as Sarah became desperate with confusion.
"~I met you in the hallway!! You were with Kronos!! I had just fixed the stasis machine, and..~" Sarah shouted hysterically.
"~I know, Kaia, I know.~" Garland shook his head. "~You are dead Kaia. Don't you realise yet? You died long ago.. and now you inhabit your reincarnation..~" Garland seemed to be speaking to Kaia herself, not Sarah.
"~What happened to me?~" Sarah spoke, realising her feelings as Kaia were surfacing.
Yeah!! I haven't written in AGES!! Oh yeah, if you have any questions about this, then please e-mail me. I may be writing a fanfic about Kaia, Kronos, Garland and co, you know, a prologue to Iifa's Soul. (^_^ a prologue to the prologue!) I'll try and write chpt 14 as soon as possible. (Note to Kingleby: Please please please update! I HAVE to know what happens to Dagger!! It's your birthday soon aswell!)