A/N: Me back. Me hungry. Me too busy writing. Tired . . . So! Hi once
more. I don't have much to say on this chapter. What a miracle. Oh, yeah
. . . I knew this was gonna happen. I showed part of the last chapter to a
friend of mine and asked who the "snake woman" was. She didn't even
hesitate. Here follows the conversation the two of us had (to the best of
my memory, hehe . . .)
BMD: So? Who do you think it is?
Anonymous friend: It's Maliris! DUH!
BMD: What?! What makes you say that?!
Anonymous friend: Um, she's a snake. She's creepy. She's evil.
BMD: She ON GAIA!!!!!!
Anonymous friend: Oh . . . But -
BMD: She used to be allied with Garland!
Anonymous friend: Yes, but -
BMD: One of the other names mentioned was FEMALE!
Anonymous friend: I just assumed that -
BMD: YOU ASSUMED WRONG! *bashes anonymous friend over the head with a World History textbook*
Anonymous friend: . . . Ouch . . .
So as you can see, IT'S NOT MALIRIS!!!!!!! *sigh* But good guess ^_^ It shows that those of you who said that were at least thinking on the right track. Guess that doesn't leave too many other people it could be. Oh well . . .
Disclaimer: Mesa no own Final Fantasy. Mesa Jar Jar Binks. Mesa think Jar Jar STINKS! Mesa think Square shouldn't be allowed to own Kuja! *Throws a hissy fit*
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"You are just a puppet. You have no heart and cannot feel any pain."
- Sephiroth, Final Fantasy VII
Dear Megan,
Are you alright?! You're grandma and I heard about what's going on in Alexandria! Please tell us you're okay! We want you to come back home immediately; no delays. There is absolutely no way we could ever let you stay in that place right now. But listen, your grandmother and I are not in Katei. I know this will sound strange, but a very odd woman came to our house and told us to leave immediately. I couldn't get a good look at her, but I could have sworn she had purple eyes. She told us we had to hide so we're biding our time in Conde Petie. We demand that you return right now. Please, before you or Feather gets hurt. Please, Megan. Please come home.
- Your panicking mother
P.S. How is Feather? You two aren't doing anything . . . inappropriate . . . are you? Because I'll have your head, I swear. Now come home!
Megan stared down at the letter in her hands. A purple-eyed woman had told her family to go to Conde Petie? What the hell? She bit her lip, looking up from the piece of paper. Go home? Now? But Feather had just been reunited with his brother! How could she tear them apart again?
"Damn it . . ." she grumbled.
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Kuja wasn't totally sure when it had happened, but he'd somehow fallen asleep again that night. He hadn't seen anyone around for awhile and had lost track of time. The whispering was still swirling in his mind. Those voices . . . Why wouldn't they go away?! The sorcerer moaned, turning over in bed.
/Shut up . . ./ he thought miserably. /Why won't you people leave me alone . . .?/
He wondered what had happened to everyone else. Was Megan okay? She hadn't even left the castle, so she was probably fine. And had no clue what had happened to her friend . . .
/Even I don't remember what happened to me . . ./ It was a strange realization that the warlock had no clue as to how he had wound up in the castle again. All he remembered was Lulian throwing that magic attack and the purple-eyed woman dodging it or something. He could've easily escaped what happened next, but he'd felt fastened to the ground. It was like someone was controlling him; telling him what he could and could not do. Then, he had felt the strangest rushing sensation and someone shouted "We're back!" in his mind. Next thing he knew, he was lying in agony upon the ground with Zidane crouched over him.
/This sucks./ Kuja glared up at the ceiling, scowling. /Megan's probably wondering where I am. I doubt anyone else cares. Even I don't care. I should just go jump in a large hole and bury myself. Like anyone would be sad . . ./
Kuja sat up suddenly, growling. Somebody was moving nearby. He waited several moments, but nothing happened. He mentally slapped himself.
"You're so paranoid . . ." the genome hissed. "God . . ." he clapped his hands over his ears, the voices rising in volume once more. "Leave me alone . . ."
He hesitated suddenly. If no one was nearby . . . Then what had he heard?
/Kuja . . ./
"What?" the sorcerer looked around in surprise, searching for the source of the voice.
/Kuja . . . Let us out. Or you'll be sorry . . ./
"Sorry? What - what're you going to do . . .?" Kuja snarled furiously. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"
/Let us go!/
"How?!"
/Then you asked for it . . ./ the voice breathed malevolently. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. It took the first angel of death several seconds to realize that - in fact - the temperature in himself had dropped.
And his cry rang out through the entire castle.
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"So this is the thanks I get for letting you come along with me . . .?" Amarant drawled, glaring at the back of Lani's head. The female bandit sniffed dismissively and continued to skip ahead of her companion.
"If you don't like it, go home!" she snapped, throwing Amarant a look over her shoulder. Now it was HIS turn to sniff dismissively. "Besides, I'm determined to see the rest of Alexandria before it gets blown up,"
"Better hurry then . . ."
Lani rolled her eyes and shifted her axe over to the other shoulder.
"Hey, something's going on up there!" the bandit gasped, noticing a crowd of people in one of the nearby squares. "Let's go check it out!"
Amarant folded his arms over his chest with boredom. "Yes . . . Let's . . ."
In the middle of the square, at least twenty men were pulling something back with chains, shouting and tugging feverishly. An abnormally large Red Dragon was struggling against its bonds, clawing furiously at the ground and whipping its head every which way. It let out a jet of flames that forced part of the crowd to scatter. The men holding it back began to yell as their grip loosened on the creature's chains.
"Someone get a restraint around its muzzle!" one of the men shouted, watching as the dragon began to beat its wings madly, shrieking in frustration. "Hurry!"
Lani looked appalled. "A Red Dragon?!" she exclaimed. "But those all died with the shut-down of the Iifa Tree! There couldn't possibly be a Red Dragon alive!"
Amarant nodded thoughtfully. "Zidane and Kuja killed them all . . ."
"Sleep spells on the count of three!"
Lani grimaced, pulling back. "Let's get out of here . . . Besides, I think Zidane may want to hear about this . . ."
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Megan dipped her quill into the ink well, frowning thoughtfully. How could she say her feelings without sounding rude . . . Sighing softly, she touched tip to paper and began to write.
"Dear . . . Mom . . ." Megan hesitated, lifting her quill. /Now what?/ "I know . . . things sound bad . . . here in Alexandria . . . But . . . I really want . . . to stay. I know . . . I promised . . . only three days . . . But plans . . . do change. Please . . . do not . . . get mad. I met . . . an old friend . . . here in Alexandria. Do you . . . remember Amy? And Feather . . . Well . . . Let's just say . . . I met some of Feather's . . . family. We wish . . . to remain . . . in Alexandria . . . for at least . . . another . . . two days. Don't worry. We are fine. You're loving daughter . . . Megan," she smiled slightly, tapping her chin. "P . . . S . . . Feather is fine. And no . . . we haven't . . . been doing . . . anything naughty,"
Megan lifted the paper, scanning it over one last time. "Perfect . . . Now I'll just get a local moogle to send it off and everything will be fine,"
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Zidane was heading towards his bedroom when he heard Kuja's cry. The blonde froze, his insides turning to ice. Heart beating like mad, he whipped around in the other direction and tore down the hall, jumping the last few steps of the stairs, and flying towards the infirmary. All he could think about was what could have made Kuja shout out like that. When he got to the room, he pressed his ear against the door, frowning. There was an odd sound, like someone tearing at fabric coming from inside. That did it . . . Zidane flung open the door, not sure what horrors would meet him on the other side.
And sure enough . . .
Kuja was sitting on the bed at the far end of the corridor-like room, hunched over as if in pain, body shaking. He had his hands over his face and Zidane could see that Kuja had clawed the sheets to shreds.
"K-Kuja . . .?" Zidane acknowledged tentatively. Slowly, his brother lowered his fingers, body trembling violently. Then the genome's eyes whipped onto Zidane, a beastly growl rising in his throat.
"Aaaaaagh!" Zidane clapped his hands over his mouth in horror. The entire space within the first angel of death's eye-sockets was a glowing blood- red. Kuja let out a soft moan, hugging himself and rocking back and forth.
"Zidane . . ." he choked out, blood dribbling from his mouth. "Don't . . . Don't come near me! I . . . I don't know what I might do!"
"What's going on in here?!" Dr. Tot came rushing down the steps outside, his night-cap still resting upon his feathery head. The old scholar squeezed past Zidane through the doorway and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh no . . . Zidane! Get out of here! NOW!!!"
"But - "
Kuja's body convulsed for a moment, blood pouring down his chin. Out of nowhere, the sorcerer fell over on the bed - crouched down on all fours - and his flaming eyes rolled onto Zidane, tinged with slight madness. A twisted grin spread across his crimson-stained lips.
"Fool . . ." he sung in his eerie neutral voice. ". . . Thinking Kuja could hold us back . . ." he laughed maniacally, head thrown back. Several strands of hair lifted into the air. From root to tip, they turned a deep rose-red. "It's Kuja's own fault! He meddled in affairs that didn't concern him! After all, he'd be dead by the time everything came together!"
Tot gripped Zidane's arm fiercely. "Keep your mouth shut, kid!" he snapped. It was most unlike him to treat Zidane that way but somehow the genome knew it was for the best. Kuja crawled almost catlike off the bed, rising slowly. The yellow aura was surrounding him once more.
"We oppose all who stand in Kuja's way . . ." the silver-haired man breathed, maddened eyes roving onto Zidane in an almost hungry manner. "All replacements must be terminated . . ."
Zidane took a nervous step back. Kuja smirked. His canines seemed almost fang-like. Suddenly, he sprung into the air, palms thrown forward.
"NOW DIE!!!!!"
FWOOM! A jet of yellow light blasted Zidane out the door, knocking Tot to the floor with a thud beneath him. Zidane scrambled angrily to his feet, daggers at the ready and muttering a quick apology to Dr. Tot.
"Zidane, no!" Tot shrieked, retrieving his glasses from the floor. "If you hurt him it will make them more powerful!"
Zidane was getting fed up with all the mysteries. "Why?!" he screamed, slamming one of his daggers into the wall. "What is wrong with my brother?! What are they doing to him?!"
"Watch out!!!"
Another beam of light whizzed over Zidane's head, blowing his hair back off his face. Kuja floated near the ceiling, hands still smoking. There was a commotion from outside as people came running down the stairs, obviously drawn by the sounds emanating from the infirmary.
"Zidane?!" Garnet headed the rest of the group. All of them appeared extremely scared. Lani and Amarant looked as if they had just come from outside - exceedingly and rather dirty.
"Dagger, get out of here!" Zidane shouted furiously over his shoulder, blocking the doorway. Garnet protested immediately.
"What?! Why should I?!"
BOOM! Another explosion rocked the outside threshold, knocking nearly everyone off their feet. Garnet squealed and grabbed Zidane just as the dust cleared from inside. As the others rose, eyes wide, they took in the sight of Kuja floating in the air with his eyes burning red. The sound of someone else coming down the stairs and jumping the last few steps reached their ears.
Megan emerged at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide as she soaked in the sight before her.
"Oh my god . . . " she whispered, clearly not believing what she was seeing.
Kuja crossed his legs in mid-air as if sitting upon an invisible chair. He yawned openly, twirling a flame on one finger. "You mortals bore us . . ." he teased, flipping a strand of crimson-highlighted silver hair over one shoulder. His eyes hardened as he glanced over the frightened crew. "Which of you here is capable of control over the Invincible or its counterpart?"
Vivi blinked in surprise. "C-counterpart . . .?"
Kuja rolled his glowing eyes, twisting a strand of hair around his finger. "Yes, the Indomitable! Have you not heard of it?"
"No, we haven't!" Freya snapped, looking murderous. Kuja chuckled, his laugh echoing eerily around the long corridor-like room.
"So you mean to tell me none of you here knows how to operate the Invincible?"
All eyes fell on Zidane. He could feel the blood draining from his face. Why did Kuja - or the people speaking from within him - want to know who could control the Invincible? Unfortunately, Kuja already seemed to know the answer.
"Ah . . . so it's the second angel of death again . . . Then I'm afraid you must die,"
Eiko jumped up and down in a fit of rage. "Why should Zidane die for knowing how to operate the Invincible?!" she shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger at the sorcerer. "Your own brother!"
Kuja laughed, holding his hands in front of his face and forming a glowing yellow orb of light within them. "Well, he's not OUR brother, is he?" the genome mocked. "And when he dies . . . perhaps he can join us . . . Wouldn't that be wonderful? Two brothers never to part even in death,"
"This is ludicrous . . ." Steiner mumbled, gripping Beatrix's hand. "This man is insane. Nothing he speaks makes sense . . ."
Megan remained speechless, frozen stock-still. She couldn't even move. Dr. Tot was searching desperately through his mind for a way to solve the problem before them. But for the first time in his life, the great teacher of Alexandria was drawing a blank.
/The purple-eyed woman . . ./ Zidane thought desperately. /She knows about this . . . Why did Garland have to take her?!/ His musing was rudely interrupted by a sudden flurry of lance-like icicle shooting in his direction. The blonde genome cried out, dropping to the floor as the icy needles shredded his clothes and pierced his skin like a million tiny claws. Impaled to the ground, Zidane simply closed his eyes and let the spears slash him mercilessly.
"Zidane!" Garnet screamed, lunging towards her fiancé. Beatrix caught the queen in her arms and pulled her back hurriedly. When the icicles stopped coming, Zidane was lying upon the ground, dozens of open wounds leaking blood upon the floor.
"Zidane! Zidane, are you alright?!" Lani shrieked, throwing herself down next to her friend. Zidane grimaced, pulling himself up into a sitting position and nodding numbly.
"Yeah . . . Yeah, I'm fine," he lied instantly. "It looks a lot worse than it feels,"
Kuja sighed dramatically. "Terribly sorry . . . But I'm afraid you really must die,"
"Why?!" Garnet cried, tears beginning to stream down her face. She managed to struggle out of Beatrix's grasp and stood there, fingers balled into fists, brown eyes flashing furiously at Kuja. "Why must he die?! What did he ever do to YOU?!"
"It's not what he DID to us!" Kuja exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's what he COULD make us do AGAIN!"
"Which is WHAT?!"
Zidane dragged himself to his feet, clutching at a particularly nasty gash across his left shoulder. "I swear I would never do anything to you . . . people," he made a face as if the plural word had a bitter taste to it. Kuja smiled knowingly.
"If you want your brother back, you will . . ."
Tot gasped, realization suddenly dawning in his eyes. "The Invincible!" he cried, spectacles popping off his beak in horror. "Zidane has the Invincible . . . And Garland has the Indomitable . . .! Both are a threat to them . . . and Kuja is sanctuary!"
"Very good, old man," Kuja chuckled, waving an arm as if blowing the comment away. He no longer floated in a sitting position. A wind was picking up in the room as it had on previous occasions. "And we've been under orders for FAR too long. Well, tell Garland he can keep his precious genomes dumb and his precious plans out of OUR - WAY!!!" Kuja blasted up into the air, breaking a hole in the roof and vanishing out of sight.
Fratley cursed angrily, grabbing Freya's arm. "It's our duty to stop this!" he shouted, glancing around for moral support. The others seemed to agree but the crew quickly turned to Zidane for confirmation. The genome hesitated, wincing at the pain in his arm, and slowly nodded.
"Don't hurt him . . ." Megan pleaded in the background, tears sparkling in her eyes. "Please . . . Don't hurt him . . ." she sank down to the steps, looking faint. Zidane blinked, then stared down at his shredded body.
"Oh . . . Oh! Oh, Megan I'm so sorry!" he apologized. "I forgot about your . . . phobia . . ."
Megan was too nauseous to answer. She just waved him away, looking rather green.
"Phobia?" Steiner queried curiously.
"She's afraid of blood," Zidane explained, shrugging.
"Oh,"
A scream from upstairs startled the others out of their reverie. All eyes turned to the ceiling.
"He's still in the castle!" Beatrix gasped. "He must be attacking my soldiers!"
"Well come ON then!" Lani snapped, pulling her axe off its strap and brushing past Megan up the stairs. In turn, Megan leaned over, hand over her mouth. The others scrambled urgently up the steps, some unsheathing weapons and others muttering quick apologies to the brunette as they passed.
The door slammed shut at the top of the stairs.
Megan scrambled to the nearest bathroom.
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Crystal yawned as she leaned back against the door inside the Alexandrian entrance-hall. She played absently with her hair, sick of doing early morning guard duty. The soldier had been up all freakin' night! She sighed, closing her eyes.
Something clattered nearby. Crystal groaned, squinting across the entrance hall in the direction of the noise.
/Must be a bird trapped in here. Probably knocked over a suit of armor . . ./
A swish seemed to confirm this theory. But suddenly, a flash of light burst from the hall on the right. Frowning, Crystal straightened herself and unsheathed her sword.
"Hello?!" she called, squinting through the darkness accumulated in the far hallway through her too-big visor. A soft chuckle reached her ears. The soldier couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Crystal called out again. Suddenly . . .
"DIE!!!"
SPLAT!
Crystal screamed, slumping back against the door. Blood poured from her cracked armor, sword dropping uselessly to the floor. Kuja landed lightly nearby, licking the blood from his fingers.
"Out of my way," he snapped, kicking the door open and sliding through before it had become entirely passable yet.
"KUJA!!!"
Zidane and the others skidded into the entrance-hall, looking around desperately for the sorcerer. With a stifled gasp, Beatrix dropped to her knees next to the soldier thrown across the floor, her visible eye flashing angrily. Zidane saw this and clapped a hand down on her shoulder, face sympathetic.
"Someone you knew?"
"New recruit," Beatrix grunted. "Crystal Tan . . . Damn it . . ."
A shriek emitted from outside. Garnet immediately flung herself at the door, bursting out onto the new morning grounds. The others quickly followed. The soldier who typically took people back and forth across the moat was lying in the gondola, unmoving. Beatrix was the first to the shore, drawing the boat in by a rope. This time, however, the woman breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's not dead," the general announced, glancing over the Alexandrian soldier. "Looks more like Kuja just put a sleep spell on her or something . . ."
"Thank Shiva," Eiko muttered, looking furious. "When I get my hands on that man, I'll - "
Beatrix shook her head, lifting the soldier out of the gondola and placing her on the shore. She signaled for the others to get in. "No one's going to kill 'that man,' understood?" Beatrix snagged the paddles as the companions clambered inside. "Kuja probably has no idea what those people are doing. Even HE wasn't this ruthless,"
Vivi straightened his hat nervously. It felt like they were chasing down the Grim Reaper . . .
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Ummei had never been so surprised in his life when Garland informed him that he was to release prisoner #2 that day.
"But why?"
"Interrogation," Garland snapped, shoving Ummei out of the way as he stormed down one of the halls of the enormous air-ship. The pair passed a group of whispering geonomes whose green eyes followed them the whole way by.
"But shouldn't she at least be tied down or something?" Garland rolled his colorless eyes.
"She's not going anywhere," he stated firmly, flinging open the door to the control-room. "Her only means of escape are through her god damn telekinesis, and I've got Drakja working on that,"
"But . . . how?"
"He's already activated the blocking part of the Metsubo,"
Ummei's face was a storm of disappointment. "But I thought I was allowed to do that,"
Garland sighed. He checked the coordination on the radar absently as he spoke. "I said only if she got out of hand. And she hasn't so there's been no reason for you to use that thing . . ."
/So not fair!/
"Besides, I wouldn't trust you with it in a million years . . ."
"But - "
"No buts. Now shut up and get out of here. I've got another segment of the mission to plan,"
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When the crew finally managed to spot Kuja, he was standing at the dock of the Alexandrian harbor, blood-red eyes focused intently upon the closed-off space at the edge of the grounds. Unfortunately, he managed to slip into a crowd at the docks and vanished.
"Shit!" Zidane took off after his elder brother, the others quickly following. They realized, suddenly, that they were heading towards the harbor offices.
And then they found him . . .
A large building rose up from the dirt, made of simple gray bricks with three words engraved over the dull, steel door:
AIRSHIP HOLDING FACILITY
"He's going after the Invincible!" Freya gasped, pointing a finger at the sorcerer.
"He can't!" Garnet exclaimed, eyes wide. "He doesn't have a key!"
Kuja, from the other end of the harbor, glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. Walking briskly forward, he held out a hand and slipped right in through the side of the building's wall. A gasp arose from the crowds at the wharf who had been watching the newcomer suspiciously. The guards stationed around the building hadn't even given the man a thought. Now, however, they started to draw weapons. Beatrix quickly yelled at them to stop. They'd already lost enough soldiers that day . . .
"Kuja melted into building!" said Quina blankly. Zidane cursed furiously.
"He's Barrier Transmigratory!" the genome snarled, chastising himself for not remembering such an important thing. Beatrix rounded on him in a horrified rage.
"Kuja can walk through WALLS?!!" the general fully understood the term from having to deal with certain ghost-like monsters during training.
"Um . . . yeah. Guess I should've mentioned that, huh?"
"Zidane," Lani sighed, rubbing her forehead in aggravation. "You really are an - idiot,"
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Kuja's fingers glided over the smooth side of the Invincible, enflamed eyes flashing hungrily.
"Never again . . ." he hissed, his other-worldly voice dripping with quiet fury. "Not if we have any say in this . . ."
He stepped over to the portal on the side of the ship and transported himself into the control room. Quietly, he exited the area and slipped down the hall towards the middle staircase. An eerie red glow was emitting from its depths, however the light was much fainter than it had once been. Kuja's fang-like teeth glinted in the dim atmosphere. He ascended the steps slowly, trying to contain his excitement.
Suddenly, he stopped. Body shaking, the sorcerer dropped to his knees, clutching his chest in agony. A voice rose from within his throat - completely male this time.
"Stop - IT!" Kuja's eyes flickered to blue. Then the red overtook them once more.
"No! NEVER!!!"
The warlock's fingers reached out towards the red light glowing dully before him, groping desperately towards its luminescence. He groaned in pain, dragging himself forward, fangs clenched in frustration.
"Don't . . . interfere . . . We must . . . deactivate . . . ugh . . ."
Kuja's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the cold tile floor.
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A/N: NOOOO! KUJA! I so cruel . . . I still talking like Quina/Jar Jar Binks. No can stop. God that's annoying. Anyways . . . Poor Kujaku. He's so messed up now. And I didn't want this story to get angsty but I guess it's kinda headin' in that direction. Oh well. It kinda has its angst up and downs. And right now it's WAY UP! *sigh* Please review! I'm dying . . . DYING!
*_- Black Mage Dad *_-
P.S. Whoa . . . I almost signed my REAL name there. That would've been silly ^_^ Wanna know what it is? 'Tain't no secret . . . It's in my bio, la.
BMD: So? Who do you think it is?
Anonymous friend: It's Maliris! DUH!
BMD: What?! What makes you say that?!
Anonymous friend: Um, she's a snake. She's creepy. She's evil.
BMD: She ON GAIA!!!!!!
Anonymous friend: Oh . . . But -
BMD: She used to be allied with Garland!
Anonymous friend: Yes, but -
BMD: One of the other names mentioned was FEMALE!
Anonymous friend: I just assumed that -
BMD: YOU ASSUMED WRONG! *bashes anonymous friend over the head with a World History textbook*
Anonymous friend: . . . Ouch . . .
So as you can see, IT'S NOT MALIRIS!!!!!!! *sigh* But good guess ^_^ It shows that those of you who said that were at least thinking on the right track. Guess that doesn't leave too many other people it could be. Oh well . . .
Disclaimer: Mesa no own Final Fantasy. Mesa Jar Jar Binks. Mesa think Jar Jar STINKS! Mesa think Square shouldn't be allowed to own Kuja! *Throws a hissy fit*
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"You are just a puppet. You have no heart and cannot feel any pain."
- Sephiroth, Final Fantasy VII
Dear Megan,
Are you alright?! You're grandma and I heard about what's going on in Alexandria! Please tell us you're okay! We want you to come back home immediately; no delays. There is absolutely no way we could ever let you stay in that place right now. But listen, your grandmother and I are not in Katei. I know this will sound strange, but a very odd woman came to our house and told us to leave immediately. I couldn't get a good look at her, but I could have sworn she had purple eyes. She told us we had to hide so we're biding our time in Conde Petie. We demand that you return right now. Please, before you or Feather gets hurt. Please, Megan. Please come home.
- Your panicking mother
P.S. How is Feather? You two aren't doing anything . . . inappropriate . . . are you? Because I'll have your head, I swear. Now come home!
Megan stared down at the letter in her hands. A purple-eyed woman had told her family to go to Conde Petie? What the hell? She bit her lip, looking up from the piece of paper. Go home? Now? But Feather had just been reunited with his brother! How could she tear them apart again?
"Damn it . . ." she grumbled.
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Kuja wasn't totally sure when it had happened, but he'd somehow fallen asleep again that night. He hadn't seen anyone around for awhile and had lost track of time. The whispering was still swirling in his mind. Those voices . . . Why wouldn't they go away?! The sorcerer moaned, turning over in bed.
/Shut up . . ./ he thought miserably. /Why won't you people leave me alone . . .?/
He wondered what had happened to everyone else. Was Megan okay? She hadn't even left the castle, so she was probably fine. And had no clue what had happened to her friend . . .
/Even I don't remember what happened to me . . ./ It was a strange realization that the warlock had no clue as to how he had wound up in the castle again. All he remembered was Lulian throwing that magic attack and the purple-eyed woman dodging it or something. He could've easily escaped what happened next, but he'd felt fastened to the ground. It was like someone was controlling him; telling him what he could and could not do. Then, he had felt the strangest rushing sensation and someone shouted "We're back!" in his mind. Next thing he knew, he was lying in agony upon the ground with Zidane crouched over him.
/This sucks./ Kuja glared up at the ceiling, scowling. /Megan's probably wondering where I am. I doubt anyone else cares. Even I don't care. I should just go jump in a large hole and bury myself. Like anyone would be sad . . ./
Kuja sat up suddenly, growling. Somebody was moving nearby. He waited several moments, but nothing happened. He mentally slapped himself.
"You're so paranoid . . ." the genome hissed. "God . . ." he clapped his hands over his ears, the voices rising in volume once more. "Leave me alone . . ."
He hesitated suddenly. If no one was nearby . . . Then what had he heard?
/Kuja . . ./
"What?" the sorcerer looked around in surprise, searching for the source of the voice.
/Kuja . . . Let us out. Or you'll be sorry . . ./
"Sorry? What - what're you going to do . . .?" Kuja snarled furiously. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"
/Let us go!/
"How?!"
/Then you asked for it . . ./ the voice breathed malevolently. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. It took the first angel of death several seconds to realize that - in fact - the temperature in himself had dropped.
And his cry rang out through the entire castle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So this is the thanks I get for letting you come along with me . . .?" Amarant drawled, glaring at the back of Lani's head. The female bandit sniffed dismissively and continued to skip ahead of her companion.
"If you don't like it, go home!" she snapped, throwing Amarant a look over her shoulder. Now it was HIS turn to sniff dismissively. "Besides, I'm determined to see the rest of Alexandria before it gets blown up,"
"Better hurry then . . ."
Lani rolled her eyes and shifted her axe over to the other shoulder.
"Hey, something's going on up there!" the bandit gasped, noticing a crowd of people in one of the nearby squares. "Let's go check it out!"
Amarant folded his arms over his chest with boredom. "Yes . . . Let's . . ."
In the middle of the square, at least twenty men were pulling something back with chains, shouting and tugging feverishly. An abnormally large Red Dragon was struggling against its bonds, clawing furiously at the ground and whipping its head every which way. It let out a jet of flames that forced part of the crowd to scatter. The men holding it back began to yell as their grip loosened on the creature's chains.
"Someone get a restraint around its muzzle!" one of the men shouted, watching as the dragon began to beat its wings madly, shrieking in frustration. "Hurry!"
Lani looked appalled. "A Red Dragon?!" she exclaimed. "But those all died with the shut-down of the Iifa Tree! There couldn't possibly be a Red Dragon alive!"
Amarant nodded thoughtfully. "Zidane and Kuja killed them all . . ."
"Sleep spells on the count of three!"
Lani grimaced, pulling back. "Let's get out of here . . . Besides, I think Zidane may want to hear about this . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Megan dipped her quill into the ink well, frowning thoughtfully. How could she say her feelings without sounding rude . . . Sighing softly, she touched tip to paper and began to write.
"Dear . . . Mom . . ." Megan hesitated, lifting her quill. /Now what?/ "I know . . . things sound bad . . . here in Alexandria . . . But . . . I really want . . . to stay. I know . . . I promised . . . only three days . . . But plans . . . do change. Please . . . do not . . . get mad. I met . . . an old friend . . . here in Alexandria. Do you . . . remember Amy? And Feather . . . Well . . . Let's just say . . . I met some of Feather's . . . family. We wish . . . to remain . . . in Alexandria . . . for at least . . . another . . . two days. Don't worry. We are fine. You're loving daughter . . . Megan," she smiled slightly, tapping her chin. "P . . . S . . . Feather is fine. And no . . . we haven't . . . been doing . . . anything naughty,"
Megan lifted the paper, scanning it over one last time. "Perfect . . . Now I'll just get a local moogle to send it off and everything will be fine,"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zidane was heading towards his bedroom when he heard Kuja's cry. The blonde froze, his insides turning to ice. Heart beating like mad, he whipped around in the other direction and tore down the hall, jumping the last few steps of the stairs, and flying towards the infirmary. All he could think about was what could have made Kuja shout out like that. When he got to the room, he pressed his ear against the door, frowning. There was an odd sound, like someone tearing at fabric coming from inside. That did it . . . Zidane flung open the door, not sure what horrors would meet him on the other side.
And sure enough . . .
Kuja was sitting on the bed at the far end of the corridor-like room, hunched over as if in pain, body shaking. He had his hands over his face and Zidane could see that Kuja had clawed the sheets to shreds.
"K-Kuja . . .?" Zidane acknowledged tentatively. Slowly, his brother lowered his fingers, body trembling violently. Then the genome's eyes whipped onto Zidane, a beastly growl rising in his throat.
"Aaaaaagh!" Zidane clapped his hands over his mouth in horror. The entire space within the first angel of death's eye-sockets was a glowing blood- red. Kuja let out a soft moan, hugging himself and rocking back and forth.
"Zidane . . ." he choked out, blood dribbling from his mouth. "Don't . . . Don't come near me! I . . . I don't know what I might do!"
"What's going on in here?!" Dr. Tot came rushing down the steps outside, his night-cap still resting upon his feathery head. The old scholar squeezed past Zidane through the doorway and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh no . . . Zidane! Get out of here! NOW!!!"
"But - "
Kuja's body convulsed for a moment, blood pouring down his chin. Out of nowhere, the sorcerer fell over on the bed - crouched down on all fours - and his flaming eyes rolled onto Zidane, tinged with slight madness. A twisted grin spread across his crimson-stained lips.
"Fool . . ." he sung in his eerie neutral voice. ". . . Thinking Kuja could hold us back . . ." he laughed maniacally, head thrown back. Several strands of hair lifted into the air. From root to tip, they turned a deep rose-red. "It's Kuja's own fault! He meddled in affairs that didn't concern him! After all, he'd be dead by the time everything came together!"
Tot gripped Zidane's arm fiercely. "Keep your mouth shut, kid!" he snapped. It was most unlike him to treat Zidane that way but somehow the genome knew it was for the best. Kuja crawled almost catlike off the bed, rising slowly. The yellow aura was surrounding him once more.
"We oppose all who stand in Kuja's way . . ." the silver-haired man breathed, maddened eyes roving onto Zidane in an almost hungry manner. "All replacements must be terminated . . ."
Zidane took a nervous step back. Kuja smirked. His canines seemed almost fang-like. Suddenly, he sprung into the air, palms thrown forward.
"NOW DIE!!!!!"
FWOOM! A jet of yellow light blasted Zidane out the door, knocking Tot to the floor with a thud beneath him. Zidane scrambled angrily to his feet, daggers at the ready and muttering a quick apology to Dr. Tot.
"Zidane, no!" Tot shrieked, retrieving his glasses from the floor. "If you hurt him it will make them more powerful!"
Zidane was getting fed up with all the mysteries. "Why?!" he screamed, slamming one of his daggers into the wall. "What is wrong with my brother?! What are they doing to him?!"
"Watch out!!!"
Another beam of light whizzed over Zidane's head, blowing his hair back off his face. Kuja floated near the ceiling, hands still smoking. There was a commotion from outside as people came running down the stairs, obviously drawn by the sounds emanating from the infirmary.
"Zidane?!" Garnet headed the rest of the group. All of them appeared extremely scared. Lani and Amarant looked as if they had just come from outside - exceedingly and rather dirty.
"Dagger, get out of here!" Zidane shouted furiously over his shoulder, blocking the doorway. Garnet protested immediately.
"What?! Why should I?!"
BOOM! Another explosion rocked the outside threshold, knocking nearly everyone off their feet. Garnet squealed and grabbed Zidane just as the dust cleared from inside. As the others rose, eyes wide, they took in the sight of Kuja floating in the air with his eyes burning red. The sound of someone else coming down the stairs and jumping the last few steps reached their ears.
Megan emerged at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide as she soaked in the sight before her.
"Oh my god . . . " she whispered, clearly not believing what she was seeing.
Kuja crossed his legs in mid-air as if sitting upon an invisible chair. He yawned openly, twirling a flame on one finger. "You mortals bore us . . ." he teased, flipping a strand of crimson-highlighted silver hair over one shoulder. His eyes hardened as he glanced over the frightened crew. "Which of you here is capable of control over the Invincible or its counterpart?"
Vivi blinked in surprise. "C-counterpart . . .?"
Kuja rolled his glowing eyes, twisting a strand of hair around his finger. "Yes, the Indomitable! Have you not heard of it?"
"No, we haven't!" Freya snapped, looking murderous. Kuja chuckled, his laugh echoing eerily around the long corridor-like room.
"So you mean to tell me none of you here knows how to operate the Invincible?"
All eyes fell on Zidane. He could feel the blood draining from his face. Why did Kuja - or the people speaking from within him - want to know who could control the Invincible? Unfortunately, Kuja already seemed to know the answer.
"Ah . . . so it's the second angel of death again . . . Then I'm afraid you must die,"
Eiko jumped up and down in a fit of rage. "Why should Zidane die for knowing how to operate the Invincible?!" she shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger at the sorcerer. "Your own brother!"
Kuja laughed, holding his hands in front of his face and forming a glowing yellow orb of light within them. "Well, he's not OUR brother, is he?" the genome mocked. "And when he dies . . . perhaps he can join us . . . Wouldn't that be wonderful? Two brothers never to part even in death,"
"This is ludicrous . . ." Steiner mumbled, gripping Beatrix's hand. "This man is insane. Nothing he speaks makes sense . . ."
Megan remained speechless, frozen stock-still. She couldn't even move. Dr. Tot was searching desperately through his mind for a way to solve the problem before them. But for the first time in his life, the great teacher of Alexandria was drawing a blank.
/The purple-eyed woman . . ./ Zidane thought desperately. /She knows about this . . . Why did Garland have to take her?!/ His musing was rudely interrupted by a sudden flurry of lance-like icicle shooting in his direction. The blonde genome cried out, dropping to the floor as the icy needles shredded his clothes and pierced his skin like a million tiny claws. Impaled to the ground, Zidane simply closed his eyes and let the spears slash him mercilessly.
"Zidane!" Garnet screamed, lunging towards her fiancé. Beatrix caught the queen in her arms and pulled her back hurriedly. When the icicles stopped coming, Zidane was lying upon the ground, dozens of open wounds leaking blood upon the floor.
"Zidane! Zidane, are you alright?!" Lani shrieked, throwing herself down next to her friend. Zidane grimaced, pulling himself up into a sitting position and nodding numbly.
"Yeah . . . Yeah, I'm fine," he lied instantly. "It looks a lot worse than it feels,"
Kuja sighed dramatically. "Terribly sorry . . . But I'm afraid you really must die,"
"Why?!" Garnet cried, tears beginning to stream down her face. She managed to struggle out of Beatrix's grasp and stood there, fingers balled into fists, brown eyes flashing furiously at Kuja. "Why must he die?! What did he ever do to YOU?!"
"It's not what he DID to us!" Kuja exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's what he COULD make us do AGAIN!"
"Which is WHAT?!"
Zidane dragged himself to his feet, clutching at a particularly nasty gash across his left shoulder. "I swear I would never do anything to you . . . people," he made a face as if the plural word had a bitter taste to it. Kuja smiled knowingly.
"If you want your brother back, you will . . ."
Tot gasped, realization suddenly dawning in his eyes. "The Invincible!" he cried, spectacles popping off his beak in horror. "Zidane has the Invincible . . . And Garland has the Indomitable . . .! Both are a threat to them . . . and Kuja is sanctuary!"
"Very good, old man," Kuja chuckled, waving an arm as if blowing the comment away. He no longer floated in a sitting position. A wind was picking up in the room as it had on previous occasions. "And we've been under orders for FAR too long. Well, tell Garland he can keep his precious genomes dumb and his precious plans out of OUR - WAY!!!" Kuja blasted up into the air, breaking a hole in the roof and vanishing out of sight.
Fratley cursed angrily, grabbing Freya's arm. "It's our duty to stop this!" he shouted, glancing around for moral support. The others seemed to agree but the crew quickly turned to Zidane for confirmation. The genome hesitated, wincing at the pain in his arm, and slowly nodded.
"Don't hurt him . . ." Megan pleaded in the background, tears sparkling in her eyes. "Please . . . Don't hurt him . . ." she sank down to the steps, looking faint. Zidane blinked, then stared down at his shredded body.
"Oh . . . Oh! Oh, Megan I'm so sorry!" he apologized. "I forgot about your . . . phobia . . ."
Megan was too nauseous to answer. She just waved him away, looking rather green.
"Phobia?" Steiner queried curiously.
"She's afraid of blood," Zidane explained, shrugging.
"Oh,"
A scream from upstairs startled the others out of their reverie. All eyes turned to the ceiling.
"He's still in the castle!" Beatrix gasped. "He must be attacking my soldiers!"
"Well come ON then!" Lani snapped, pulling her axe off its strap and brushing past Megan up the stairs. In turn, Megan leaned over, hand over her mouth. The others scrambled urgently up the steps, some unsheathing weapons and others muttering quick apologies to the brunette as they passed.
The door slammed shut at the top of the stairs.
Megan scrambled to the nearest bathroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Crystal yawned as she leaned back against the door inside the Alexandrian entrance-hall. She played absently with her hair, sick of doing early morning guard duty. The soldier had been up all freakin' night! She sighed, closing her eyes.
Something clattered nearby. Crystal groaned, squinting across the entrance hall in the direction of the noise.
/Must be a bird trapped in here. Probably knocked over a suit of armor . . ./
A swish seemed to confirm this theory. But suddenly, a flash of light burst from the hall on the right. Frowning, Crystal straightened herself and unsheathed her sword.
"Hello?!" she called, squinting through the darkness accumulated in the far hallway through her too-big visor. A soft chuckle reached her ears. The soldier couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Crystal called out again. Suddenly . . .
"DIE!!!"
SPLAT!
Crystal screamed, slumping back against the door. Blood poured from her cracked armor, sword dropping uselessly to the floor. Kuja landed lightly nearby, licking the blood from his fingers.
"Out of my way," he snapped, kicking the door open and sliding through before it had become entirely passable yet.
"KUJA!!!"
Zidane and the others skidded into the entrance-hall, looking around desperately for the sorcerer. With a stifled gasp, Beatrix dropped to her knees next to the soldier thrown across the floor, her visible eye flashing angrily. Zidane saw this and clapped a hand down on her shoulder, face sympathetic.
"Someone you knew?"
"New recruit," Beatrix grunted. "Crystal Tan . . . Damn it . . ."
A shriek emitted from outside. Garnet immediately flung herself at the door, bursting out onto the new morning grounds. The others quickly followed. The soldier who typically took people back and forth across the moat was lying in the gondola, unmoving. Beatrix was the first to the shore, drawing the boat in by a rope. This time, however, the woman breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's not dead," the general announced, glancing over the Alexandrian soldier. "Looks more like Kuja just put a sleep spell on her or something . . ."
"Thank Shiva," Eiko muttered, looking furious. "When I get my hands on that man, I'll - "
Beatrix shook her head, lifting the soldier out of the gondola and placing her on the shore. She signaled for the others to get in. "No one's going to kill 'that man,' understood?" Beatrix snagged the paddles as the companions clambered inside. "Kuja probably has no idea what those people are doing. Even HE wasn't this ruthless,"
Vivi straightened his hat nervously. It felt like they were chasing down the Grim Reaper . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ummei had never been so surprised in his life when Garland informed him that he was to release prisoner #2 that day.
"But why?"
"Interrogation," Garland snapped, shoving Ummei out of the way as he stormed down one of the halls of the enormous air-ship. The pair passed a group of whispering geonomes whose green eyes followed them the whole way by.
"But shouldn't she at least be tied down or something?" Garland rolled his colorless eyes.
"She's not going anywhere," he stated firmly, flinging open the door to the control-room. "Her only means of escape are through her god damn telekinesis, and I've got Drakja working on that,"
"But . . . how?"
"He's already activated the blocking part of the Metsubo,"
Ummei's face was a storm of disappointment. "But I thought I was allowed to do that,"
Garland sighed. He checked the coordination on the radar absently as he spoke. "I said only if she got out of hand. And she hasn't so there's been no reason for you to use that thing . . ."
/So not fair!/
"Besides, I wouldn't trust you with it in a million years . . ."
"But - "
"No buts. Now shut up and get out of here. I've got another segment of the mission to plan,"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When the crew finally managed to spot Kuja, he was standing at the dock of the Alexandrian harbor, blood-red eyes focused intently upon the closed-off space at the edge of the grounds. Unfortunately, he managed to slip into a crowd at the docks and vanished.
"Shit!" Zidane took off after his elder brother, the others quickly following. They realized, suddenly, that they were heading towards the harbor offices.
And then they found him . . .
A large building rose up from the dirt, made of simple gray bricks with three words engraved over the dull, steel door:
AIRSHIP HOLDING FACILITY
"He's going after the Invincible!" Freya gasped, pointing a finger at the sorcerer.
"He can't!" Garnet exclaimed, eyes wide. "He doesn't have a key!"
Kuja, from the other end of the harbor, glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. Walking briskly forward, he held out a hand and slipped right in through the side of the building's wall. A gasp arose from the crowds at the wharf who had been watching the newcomer suspiciously. The guards stationed around the building hadn't even given the man a thought. Now, however, they started to draw weapons. Beatrix quickly yelled at them to stop. They'd already lost enough soldiers that day . . .
"Kuja melted into building!" said Quina blankly. Zidane cursed furiously.
"He's Barrier Transmigratory!" the genome snarled, chastising himself for not remembering such an important thing. Beatrix rounded on him in a horrified rage.
"Kuja can walk through WALLS?!!" the general fully understood the term from having to deal with certain ghost-like monsters during training.
"Um . . . yeah. Guess I should've mentioned that, huh?"
"Zidane," Lani sighed, rubbing her forehead in aggravation. "You really are an - idiot,"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja's fingers glided over the smooth side of the Invincible, enflamed eyes flashing hungrily.
"Never again . . ." he hissed, his other-worldly voice dripping with quiet fury. "Not if we have any say in this . . ."
He stepped over to the portal on the side of the ship and transported himself into the control room. Quietly, he exited the area and slipped down the hall towards the middle staircase. An eerie red glow was emitting from its depths, however the light was much fainter than it had once been. Kuja's fang-like teeth glinted in the dim atmosphere. He ascended the steps slowly, trying to contain his excitement.
Suddenly, he stopped. Body shaking, the sorcerer dropped to his knees, clutching his chest in agony. A voice rose from within his throat - completely male this time.
"Stop - IT!" Kuja's eyes flickered to blue. Then the red overtook them once more.
"No! NEVER!!!"
The warlock's fingers reached out towards the red light glowing dully before him, groping desperately towards its luminescence. He groaned in pain, dragging himself forward, fangs clenched in frustration.
"Don't . . . interfere . . . We must . . . deactivate . . . ugh . . ."
Kuja's eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the cold tile floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: NOOOO! KUJA! I so cruel . . . I still talking like Quina/Jar Jar Binks. No can stop. God that's annoying. Anyways . . . Poor Kujaku. He's so messed up now. And I didn't want this story to get angsty but I guess it's kinda headin' in that direction. Oh well. It kinda has its angst up and downs. And right now it's WAY UP! *sigh* Please review! I'm dying . . . DYING!
*_- Black Mage Dad *_-
P.S. Whoa . . . I almost signed my REAL name there. That would've been silly ^_^ Wanna know what it is? 'Tain't no secret . . . It's in my bio, la.