A/N: *yawn* Phew . . . Break's over . . . and I accomplished nothing ^_^
Now I have finals in a week *sigh* I'm a lousy student, low B's and a few
A's . . . and an occasional C that gets me grounded . . . But I'm so not
motivated, and I have such a deep hatred for school it's unbelievable. I'm
convinced simply writing and drawing for me is all the training I need . .
. screw school. Okay, now that that's off my chest ^_^ Whee! Important
chapter! The first of the three most important chapters, in fact! In this
one, the mystery of why Saishoja is so weird is finally revealed. We
finally learn why he's always getting beaten up and what "changes" Garland
made when he recreated him. But this chapter is disgustingly angsty (I
couldn't stop laughing while I was writing it). So anyways, Happy New Year
if it's the New Year for you. And if it's not . . . well, be happy
anyways!
Disclaimer: Inalfay Antasyfay isway otnay ownedway ybay emay (bwaha, I love Pig-Latin . . . )
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"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King,"
- Lycon, Minority Report
". . . Dart . . .?"
"What?"
". . . How long's it been . . .?"
"Whaddya mean . . .?"
". . . You know . . ."
"Oh. Um . . . Five minutes?"
"Okay, I'm ready to place my bet,"
Dart stared at Ummei for a full minute at least, wondering if he was truly as stupid as he seemed.
"Ummei . . ." Dart said slowly, trying to keep her temper to a minimum. "You can't place a bet on something like this after five minutes . . ."
"Why not?" Ummei queried. "I'm betting the two Angels of Death aren't dead. What's wrong with that?"
Dart's eye was twitching with the suppressed urge to wring Ummei's neck. "Because . . ." she hissed. "You can't bet on whether or not someone has drowned when they've been underwater for five minutes!"
". . . Wh-why not . . .?"
Dart smacked Ummei across the shoulder, growling. "Because five minutes is how long it takes for someone to die of oxygen deprivation!"
"Oxy . . . What?"
Dart sighed, kicking the snow with aggravation. She couldn't stand how Ummei crouched in the bushes staring at the frozen lake and waiting for what wasn't going to happen . . .
"In other words," the female geonome stated. "If they haven't resurfaced after five minutes, they've drowned,"
Ummei blinked several times, processing this information. Suddenly, he frowned.
"Dart . . . Does that mean we've failed our mission?"
Dart folded her arms across her chest and looked out at the sun, which was barely a thin orange line over the bumpy white horizon. She hated to admit the idiot was right.
"N-not exactly," Dart muttered. "I mean, that part wasn't our fault. We were supposed to watch Drakja and make sure he shot Kuja . . . It's not our fault Drakja shot him and his stupid brother off a cliff . . ."
"B-but maybe we should have gone in after them!" Ummei was clutching the collar of his cloak with fear. His green eyes were dancing with tears. Bahamut only knew what Garland would do to them when they returned . . . Ummei let out a dry sob. "Dart! Garland told us we couldn't report back to the Indomitable until Kuja was shot!"
"Which he WAS!" Dart defended, refusing to meet her partner's teary stare. "L-let's just go back . . . There's no use hangin' around here . . . C'mon . . ."
Dart began to leave with a swish of her mahogany tail. She listened for the sound of Ummei following her, but it was eerily silent. Dart whipped around angrily when she realized the omega was still crouching in the snow.
"Ummei, would you - !"
Ummei's green eyes were wide as he stared at the shimmering lake. "Dart . . . Dart c'mere! Hurry!" Dart realized Ummei wasn't joking. She hadn't heard him sound this excited since . . . Well, since forever . . . Dart rushed immediately to the omega's side and crouched down in the bushes beside him. She saw nothing . . .
"Ummei, have you lost your - "
"Shh!"
For a moment, there was silence. The two geonomes stooped there in the thorny bushes, barely daring to breathe. There was something strange in the air . . . A sign, a warning . . . Something . . .
Suddenly, a chunk of the frozen lake exploded, sending fragments of ice and water shooting into the air. A fist had been punched through the surface of the lake and a ghostly white hand was desperately gripping the edge of the hole. Dart's eyes were the size of dinner plates.
"No . . . Way . . ."
"You owe me gil," was all Ummei could say.
The hand was soon followed by a body, soaking wet and limp like a corpse . . . It wasn't the body the hand belonged to, however. Someone was pushing the lifeless form onto the surface of the ice. Dart recognized the matted blonde hair immediately.
"It's the second Angel of Death! Oh shit, he looks dead, Ummei . . ."
Ummei's eyes were glittering in the setting sun. ". . . He's not dead . . ."
Dart glanced sideways at Ummei, frowning, but decided not to say anything. They were waiting now . . . There was one more person who should have been resurfacing . . .
Suddenly, a head burst from the watery hole, gasping and spluttering for air. The silver hair floated eerily in the water as the person clutched onto the edge of the ice, having pushed his comrade completely onto the surface.
"It's Kuja!" Dart gasped, struck dumb with awe. "Impossible! With his injuries, how could he have - "
Ummei was chewing feverishly on the collar of his cloak, choking and trying not to cry. Dart stared at him, concerned. "Ummei, what's wrong?" Ummei just shook his head, whimpering. Then, suddenly, it all made sense to Dart. Somehow, some way, Ummei was able to sense the life-force in people. He was crying because he sensed death in Kuja . . . Dart felt her chest tightening. Now that she realized what was happening, she sensed it too. The lake-water had become red with Kuja's blood and he wasn't trying to get out. The silver-haired sorcerer was clutching onto the edge of the hole, gasping for breath and shivering. The first Angel of Death was dying . . .
"N-no . . ."
Dart's lip was trembling, and for whatever reason, she felt like crying as well. A rather embarrassing tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ummei . . . I-I'll pay you half if you promise never to tell anyone about this . . ."
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Kuja could barely understand what he was doing as he clutched onto the edge of the ice. His eyes were covered in an impenetrable mist as his grip on the slippery water began to weaken.
/No . . ./ he thought faintly. /I can't let go . . . Zidane . . . Zidane needs me . . ./
The warlock felt as if he were watching himself from far away, able to scrutinize his every movement. He scoffed at his own weakness; that he couldn't even drag himself out of the water. And all the while, the ice burned red with his blood.
"Come on . . ." Kuja whispered faintly to himself, hugging the edge of the ice defiantly. "You pushed Zidane out . . . You can make it too . . ."
The icy water had numbed the sorcerer's body so completely that he could no longer feel the pain he knew was there. He didn't need to look to know what had happened when he'd hit the ice. The wound in his shoulder no longer bled . . . Only one other thing could be causing the ice to soak in the slippery crimson.
"I'm dead . . ." Kuja whispered, eyes glazing sadly. The realization of this truth brought tears to his eyes. "Damn . . ."
/No you're not . . ./
Kuja blinked thickly. He could have sworn he'd heard a voice on the wind, whispering to his ears.
"I must be delusional . . ." he muttered to himself. A soft groan suddenly averted the warlock's attention. Nearby, Zidane stirred slightly as a cold breeze blew over his wet body. Kuja stared at his brother. He looked so weak and small, lying there like a rag doll atop the ice with the wound on his head leaking a slow trickle of blood down his face.
"Zidane . . . I can't let Zidane down . . ."
Then, suddenly, Kuja felt a surge of strength rush through his limbs. With a gasp, he shoved his battered body onto the ice where he collapsed and lay there, in too much shock to move. In his fluttering thoughts, he could have sworn he'd felt someone helping him out of the icy depths . . . The only thing that kept him from giving up hope right then and there was knowing his brother was still alive and needed to be returned to his friends immediately or . . . or he wouldn't be alive anymore . . .
The sun was already going down, and on the Forgotten Continent the sun's departure sent an icy curse upon the land which would surely claim the genome's life if Kuja didn't get him to safety.
So with a sigh, Kuja finally sat up. He could hear the steady plip-plop of his blood dripping onto the ice but refused to acknowledge its presence. He was already dead; only Zidane mattered . . .
Kuja WOULD get his brother to safety . . .
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"Come on!" Beatrix cried, leaping over brambles and plunging through the tufts of trees along the stream-edge. "Hurry!"
"Wh-what are we doing?!" Lani puffed as the general put on an extra spurt of speed.
"Don't you get it?!" Beatrix shouted, annoyed, over her shoulder. "The lake branches out into this stream, which isn't frozen! From where Kuja and Zidane fell, they should wash up around here somewhere carried on the water's current!"
"W-wash up?!" Garnet cried. "You mean, dead?!"
/Maybe . . ./ Beatrix thought softly to herself.
"No!" Garnet whimpered. "No, Zidane can't be dead!" She fingered the golden ring around her finger as she charged through the trees. The trickling water that ran sluggishly beside them as it fought the impenetrable cold was their only guide. "W-we still need to get married! Zidane . . .!"
"Oof!" Vivi fell backwards as he suddenly ran into the back of Freya's legs. Beatrix had come to a sudden, screeching halt which caused half the crew to nearly fall over in surprise.
"What are we doing?!" Fratley queried, craning his neck to better see what had caused the sudden stop.
Beatrix was frozen stiff, staring at something in the trees with her one good eye. For a moment, there was a confused silence. Then the snapping of twigs reached the team's ears from within the trees and a dark shadow emerged slowly as though from a mist. Instinctively, the group withdrew their weapons, suspecting the geonomes had returned to finish what they'd started.
"No, drop your weapons!" Beatrix snapped, holding out an arm. Her comrades were so surprised that they almost did. It was then that the puzzled team realized the shadow that was steadily drawing nearer was carrying another . . .
"It's Kuja . . ." Freya gasped in amazement, eyeing the sorcerer in an awestruck manner.
Kuja walked slowly towards his companions as if in some sort of trance. Draped like a limp doll across his arms was Zidane . . . Garnet made a movement to go to her fiancé, but Beatrix kept her arm out defiantly, keeping the queen at bay.
"Beatrix, what are you - ?" Beatrix just shook her head, ruffling the thick brown curls of her hair. With no other option left, the crew simply watched Kuja with curiosity etched upon their faces.
When the sorcerer was within the small clearing of trees, he lowered Zidane gently to the ground as if he were made of glass and would shatter with the slightest touch. Even Steiner was amazed at Kuja's delicate treatment of his brother. Then the warlock straightened and looked at his comrades with the most piercing stare they had ever seen. It wasn't an angry stare, or even an aggravated stare. It was sad, as if Kuja were apologizing with his eyes but was no longer able to speak. His eyes, which were filmed over, seemed to plead forgiveness.
It was the last time they would ever see him look at them like that . . . Beatrix felt the breath rush from her chest as the horrible truth struck her.
"KUJA!!!" The general rushed forward, knowing in her heart that it was too late.
With a sigh, Kuja's saddened eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed, lifeless, into Beatrix's awaiting arms. A gasp of horror arose from the crew and they, too, rushed forward and crowded around the pair.
"No! Don't touch him!" Beatrix cried, gently lowering Kuja to the forest- floor. "Kuja . . ." the general murmured, shaking the warlock's shoulder. He didn't respond. Beatrix bit her lip and then began barking out commands. "Steiner! Fratley! Amarant! Take care of Zidane! Get the bandages from the bag and wrap up the wound around his head! Then use some of the spare blankets to dry off his clothes and for god's sake keep him warm! Freya! Garnet! Lani! Get over here and help me take care of Kuja!"
"What about me and Vivi?!" Eiko whined, wanting desperately to be useful to the crew. Beatrix shook her head angrily. A child's innocence was not wanted in such an urgent situation.
"Just light a fire," she instructed, glaring at the youngest members of the team out of the corner of her one eye. "I'll call you if I need you,"
Eiko and Vivi nodded, then scampered off to find some dry sticks.
"Is he alright?" Freya queried as she stood over Kuja's unmoving body. Beatrix brushed some silver hair from Kuja's face, frowning.
"He's extremely weak. He must have carried Zidane all the way here despite his injuries . . ."
"But how did he and Zidane survive the fall?" Garnet asked cautiously, glancing nervously at her fiancé a few feet away.
Beatrix shook her head, concentrating on reviving Kuja. "I have no idea . . . Damn it!"
"What?"
Beatrix held up one arm to show her blood-stained glove. "The wound on Kuja's shoulder seems cauterized for some reason . . . so I can't figure out where he's bleeding from!"
Freya quickly snagged one of the supply bags and began searching for more bandages. Beatrix, her hands quivering slightly, unhooked Kuja cloak. She could see it now, the puddle-sized blood-stain on the side of Kuja's shirt. And underneath that would be the source of their troubles . . . Tentatively, Beatrix lifted the fabric . . .
. . . And dropped it with a sob.
"No . . .! Kuja, you . . . You god damn idiot!"
Lani cocked her head, craning her neck to see what was wrong. "What the hell are you cursin' him for?!"
Freya sat down in the snow at Kuja's side and pulled back his shirt. Then the Burmecian swore like they'd never heard her swear before. "Holy fucking shit! Beatrix, he . . . He tore his whole god damn side open!"
Beatrix nodded numbly, trying to suppress her tears. Kuja's entire left side looked as if it had been ripped off by a giant claw and was in the process of spilling his life's blood at an alarmingly fast rate. Freya, her eyes dancing with fear, immediately began tearing bandages. Beatrix gently lifted Kuja halfway so Freya could wrap the bandages around his waist. Even SHE knew it was a lost cause . . .
And the sun had finally made its descent, spreading an evil blackness upon the crew . . .
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Kuja stared confusedly into the darkness around him.
". . . What is this place . . .?"
Silence.
". . . Why is HE here?"
Kuja whipped around at the sound of the voice. There was a ripple of whispers in the air; a senseless drone of murmuring.
"H-hello?!" Kuja called, praying for an answer and yet hoping he wouldn't receive one at the same time.
"Is he forgotten too?" a voice queried, nothing more than a breath of air in Kuja's ear.
"No . . . He sees! He sees!"
"He sees! He sees!" the voices cried accusingly. The sound was deafening, pounding against Kuja's psyche. They chased him deeper and deeper into the darkness, to the point of no return.
And when there were no other options left, he retreated into the unforgiving arms of the past . . .
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"How's Zidane?" Beatrix queried, glancing over at Steiner. The knight had stood up and was now brushing the snow off his armor.
"He's fine," Steiner said simply, shrugging. "He was the lucky one, I guess," Beatrix bowed her head sadly, sighing.
"Yes . . . He was . . ."
Steiner hesitated for a moment. "What about Kuja . . .?"
Beatrix bit her lip. "We've stopped the bleeding, but . . . Oh, he won't wake up, Steiner!"
Vivi, who had been standing nervously nearby, took a step closer into the fire-light. "Wh-why not?"
"I don't know . . .!"
Freya, who was seated at Kuja's side and wrapping up the last of the bandages was vainly shaking Kuja's shoulder. The sorcerer was completely unresponsive. "You know . . ." the Burmecian said slowly, as if speaking about a taboo subject. "If you look at Kuja's wounds and Zidane's wounds . . . I think there's a connection . . ."
Amarant grunted gruffly nearby. "No duh. Judging by the gash in Kuja's side, the moron obviously protected Zidane's body from the fall . . . When monkey-boy over here wakes up, he's gonna owe Kuja a shit-load of favors . . ."
Garnet looked away sadly. So that was the truth then? Kuja was in this terrible condition for Zidane? As if out of reflex, the queen gently brushed a strand of hair off Kuja's face. Her eyes immediately gleamed with concern.
"Beatrix . . . He's feverish!"
"What?" The general brushed Garnet's hand away and touched Kuja's forehead. It felt like it was on fire . . . "What in the . . .?"
/Flash/
"Th-they're shooting at us with those weird gun-thingies!"
"With poisoned bullets we are!"
/Flash/
"The bullet was poisoned!" Beatrix gasped, staring in horror at the blood- stain on Kuja's shoulder.
"Is he gonna die . . .?" Eiko queried hesitantly, looking rather unsure as she stood there beneath the dark canopy of trees.
No one answered. After all, what could they say? They were stuck in the middle of a frozen forest in the dead of night with no antidote or even any knowledge as to what the poison could do. Another of the crew members was out of commission, and the ship was miles away. What could they really say?
"Everyone . . . Just get some sleep . . ." Beatrix said slowly. "We'll . . . We'll figure things out in the morning . . ." /If he's still alive in the morning . . ./
After a moment of silence, the others nodded and began to settle in for the night. Blankets were scarce, and the air was like an icy fang that bit them all over, cutting at their flesh. Beatrix, on the other hand, refused to sleep. She sat beside Kuja the entire time, just staring at him in a guilty manner.
After several hours of watching her out of one sleepy eye, Steiner couldn't take it anymore.
"Beatrix, dear, please get some rest! It's not healthy to stay up like this!"
The general just shook her head, glancing up as Steiner sat down beside her. He just didn't get it . . .
"I feel terrible," Beatrix murmured. "No one deserves this less than Kuja. He was saving his brother! And look what he got for it . . ." She gently touched Kuja's cheek and sighed. "I've never seen anything like this before. This is no ordinary fever. My hand nearly burns touching him . . ."
Steiner frowned. "But what's the purpose of a poisoned bullet? It looks like all it's doing is killing him anyways . . . The bullet could have done that itself . . ."
"I don't know,"
Steiner rubbed his chin thoughtfully as the fire cast deep, flickering shadows across his harsh-featured face. "Well, I guess most of Gaia will be happy . . ."
"Don't say that!" Beatrix cried, glaring at the knight. "That's not true!"
"Geez," Steiner muttered, bowing his head in submission. "What are you getting so worked up for?"
Beatrix was shaking slightly with emotions she'd suppressed for years. The general clenched her fingers into fists and suddenly let out an angry cry.
"I loved him once!" she shouted, standing up furiously. "And he loved me! And I swore only a few weeks ago that I would do whatever it took to help Kuja now that he's a different person! And I failed him! Imagine if that was me!" Beatrix pointed an accusing finger at Kuja's unconscious body. "Can you imagine?! A man I once loved is DYING, Steiner! And there's absolutely NOTHING I can do for him!"
Beatrix quieted slightly as Steiner stood up and put an arm around her shoulder, shushing the general softly. He'd never seen Beatrix show this sort of emotion. She was typically a cold woman whose duty was her life and nothing more. But then again . . . If she'd thought Kuja's life was her duty, then . . .
The others were awake, whether they were pretending or not. They'd heard every last word of what Beatrix had said and it pained them greatly.
". . . Ugh . . . That is NOT cool . . ."
Beatrix and Steiner jerked at the sound of the voice. Likewise, several crew members sat up in surprise. A few feet away, Zidane was struggling to sit up, rubbing his forehead and groaning.
"Zidane!" Garnet cried, unable to keep the joy from her voice as she tore off her blanket and ran to her fiancé's side. "Oh, Zidane, how do you feel?!"
". . . Like shit . . . What the hell happened . . .?" Zidane gave Garnet a quick kiss on the cheek, though he was frowning.
"Do you remember anything . . .?" Freya queried as she lugged herself into a sitting position as well.
"Remember anything? I-I fell . . ." Zidane stumbled, furrowing his brow. "Seems I lived though, huh?" Then the shadow fell across his face as some fragment of memory finally resurfaced. "But I . . . I remember Kuja asking me to forgive him and . . . Dagger, where's Kuja?" They could see the suspicion in Zidane's eyes now. He knew something had happened . . . His eyes narrowed even further when no one responded.
"Dagger . . . Where's Kuja?" the genome repeated. Garnet hesitated, then pointed a shaking finger at the unmoving body lying a few feet away. Zidane's brow furrowed. "Dagger, help me up," he commanded quietly. Garnet nodded and carefully supported Zidane as he rose unsteadily to his feet. The genome then stumbled over to his brother's side and when he saw the pathetic sight, he dropped to his knees beside him.
"Kuja . . . No . . ."
In the few hours since Kuja had collapsed, the sorcerer had become undeniably worse. His face was an ashen, sickly gray, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. He scarcely breathed or made any sign of life. Zidane's eyes filled with tears at the sight, particularly when he spotted the blood-stain on Kuja's side.
"He . . . He did this to save me . . ." Zidane whispered, biting his lip. The others were silent, watching as the glow of the fire cast twisted shadows across their darkened figures.
"He was shot by one of the poisoned bullets," Beatrix explained. "We . . . We don't know what it's doing . . . But he hasn't woken since he collapsed. And he's burning with the most horrible fever I've ever seen . . ."
Zidane gently touched Kuja's pale hand and immediately recoiled. "It's like a fire!" Beatrix nodded sadly. Then, feeling it was the least he could do, Zidane clutched Kuja's hand once more. He could brave the flames . . . for his brother.
Suddenly, Kuja's eyes snapped open. Zidane suppressed a gasp and then looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. No one was even looking in the general direction . . . /How strange . . ./ Zidane thought, frowning. It was as if for that one solitary minute in time, every member of the team was preoccupied with looking at something else but himself. Zidane looked down at his brother and had to stifle a scream. His brother's eyes were white . . . Like death. And though they were right on him, they seemed to see nothing at all. There was a horrible glaze upon the warlock's eyes as if they were the unblinking, sightless eyes of hell.
And the image was so familiar . . .
/Flash/
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kuja's eyes snapped open with a hiss. Zidane had to stifle a scream. They were white and as empty as his dead body . . . They seemed to be leering at him, through him, past him . . .
Into him . . .
/Flash/
"Kuja," Zidane murmured, clutching his brother's hand. Kuja didn't respond. His eyes were far away and seeing things that didn't exist . . . anymore . . .
"Please . . ." Kuja rasped. "Don't do it . . . I won't let it happen . . . I won't let him be . . . Like me!" The sorcerer flinched as if in pain.
The others looked over just as Kuja's eyes closed wearily once more. They hadn't seen what Zidane had . . . But it didn't matter . . . They'd heard him.
"What's he talking about?" Lani queried from where she lay shivering beneath a thin blanket. Zidane bit back a sob.
"He's reliving the past . . . And the day he tried to kill me . . ."
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Kuja stumbled blindly in the darkness for what seemed like a thousand years.
"Please . . ." he sobbed, reaching out for anything in his path. Much to his surprise, the sorcerer's fingers suddenly brushed the threshold of an open door. Not even asking how it had gotten there, Kuja clutched onto it and sank limply to the floor.
"It's so . . . hot . . ." the warlock moaned. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face as the furnace-like temperatures increased. Kuja bit back a cry of pain as he clutched the wall. It felt like he would slip into an oblivion if he let go.
". . . Kuja . . .?"
The sorcerer blinked and looked up. Then his glazed eyes widened with surprise.
"M-Megan . . .?"
There she stood, exactly as he remembered her years before. Her pale brown hair seemed to blow in a phantom wind and her fair skin was glowing from the mysterious light that shined from behind her. The girl's milky white hands were out as if beckoning him to rise. There was a thin smile on her face.
"Megan, what are you . . .?"
"Stand up," Kuja hesitated, still afraid of the creeping darkness around him. Yet Megan's eyes were glittering in the light and a mysterious warmth seemed to come from her; not the creeping heat that the sorcerer felt in the blackness of his mind. With a single nod, he rose.
"Come," Megan commanded, smiling. She was like a beacon of flames that chased away the darkness. Kuja's memories tugged angrily at his cloak and he could hear the voices of the past drifting around in the silence. He would not let them win . . .
Nervously, the genome crept up to Megan's glowing form. The young Summoner smiled kindly and pulled him into a gentle embrace. Kuja couldn't help but sink into it. She was such a comforting presence in the darkness. He never wanted the moment to end . . . He closed his eyes, sighing, when he heard Megan's voice once more.
". . . Can you see me . . .?"
Kuja's brow furrowed and his eyes opened slowly. Everything was dark.
". . . No . . ."
"Poor baby . . ." Kuja could feel something around his eyes. Megan's arms remained wrapped around his neck, but she was tying something softly beneath his silver hair.
She was blindfolding him . . .
"Megan, why - ?"
"Sh," the Summoner pressed a gentle finger to his lips. "No more words. You must allow the past to take you . . ."
And at her command; and without Megan's light to guide him, Kuja allowed himself to sink into the perpetual blackness of his mind . . .
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". . . What are we going to do . . .?" Fratley queried hesitantly. No one could find it in their hearts to answer. The sun was beginning to rise, but its light could not erase the horrible images of the night. None of the crew had slept. For hours Kuja had sobbed in his fevered sleep, crying out strange things from his past and cursing at the spirits of the dead. He shivered constantly, yet there was nothing they could do for him. Beatrix had not left his side, even when he began screaming terrible oaths about her.
Even as the general sat there, she could hear the silver-haired genome's delusional ranting ringing inside her mind . . .
/Flash/
"Why has the Rose of May abandoned me?!" he screamed, shaking his head furiously. "The Midnight Wanderer . . . in the Great Garden . . . Tangled in her accursed thorns! Seeing through the one eye that sees only evil! Only EVIL!!!"
/Flash/
Beatrix buried her face wearily in her hands, sighing deeply.
"I don't know . . ." she muttered softly. Kuja had stopped screaming only an hour before and though it was less frightening, it was also a curse. Obviously, the poison had done its work and now he was finally . . .
Kuja, who had already been pale, had lost any semblance of color. He was as white as the snow around them, and he scarcely breathed if at all. He was no longer hot, but freezing to the touch. His lips were tinged with blue, and it was difficult to even find a pulse . . .
They still needed to find the Indomitable . . . but how? What could they do?
"W-we could carry him . . ." Eiko offered, wincing at the thought.
"We could . . ." Garnet affirmed. The idea was, of course, ludicrous. Not only would he slow them down, but if they were attacked, he would become another defenseless thing to protect. They drifted into silence once more. Zidane seemed lost in thought, his eyes out of focus as he gazed into the trees. Of all the crew member's present, Kuja's condition had hit Zidane the hardest. In the night, Kuja had cried out his brother's name angrily and cursed the boy who had replaced him . . . Suddenly, Zidane stood up, hauling his backpack from the snow and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Zidane, what are you - ?"
"We're leaving," Zidane said coldly, narrowing his blue eyes sharply.
"Leaving?!" Lani cried. "But what about - ?!"
"Leave him," Zidane snapped. "Just . . . leave him,"
"But why?" Freya queried.
"B-because . . ." Zidane whispered. "Ever since Kuja and I escaped the Iifa Tree, he's complained about being a burden. He hated himself for it . . . He WANTED to die. I just . . . wouldn't let him . . . He would rather perish alone on this god forsaken rock than drag us all to our deaths together. He's GOING to die . . . But in the process, he wouldn't want to be . . . to be a burden . . ."
Zidane suddenly turned away, not wanting his companions - especially Garnet -to see him cry. When he spoke, his shaking voice was barely above a controlled whisper. ". . . Let's go . . ."
The genome began to slouch away, shoulders slumped in misery. The others, hiding their tears as best they could, stood up and, murmuring silent prayers for their comrade's soul, left Kuja to his unavoidable doom . . .
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"Oh my god . . ." Dart whispered, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Th- they're leaving!"
From their perch atop a snow-drenched hill, the two geonomes could only watch in horror as the crew abandoned one of their own behind.
"Then . . . Then Kuja must have finally snuffed it!" Dart gasped. Ummei said nothing. He was staring down into the clearing where Kuja's body lay lifelessly in the snow. The Angel of Death truly looked angelic, lying there as pale as the winter's frost.
"Hey, Ummei," Dart suddenly cut through the silence. "Why is it you can sense life and death in people . . .?"
Ummei chewed his lip, concentrating hard on the answer. "I don't know," was all he could say. "Garland said we each had different traits of the original Drakja . . . Maybe the original could sense that kind of stuff . . ."
Dart looked thoughtful. "Or maybe something happened to him that forced him to see life and death in such a way . . ."
Of course, this statement was way over the top for Ummei and it would be several more days until the omega could process what Dart's words meant.
"I guess we'd better go . . ." Dart said finally, standing up from her crouched position and twirling around to leave. "Garland will want to know what happened . . ."
Ummei nodded, rising to his feet. But before the clearing had gone completely out of sight, Ummei stole one last glance back the Angel of Death. There was no death coming from the poor creature, only a muffled light . . .
So before Ummei left, he smiled at his own little secret . . .
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"Come on!" Zidane shouted, tearing through the trees. "Hurry! Hurry!"
The others fled as the sound of snapping twigs and rushing feet overwhelmed the air. They were being followed . . .
"Aha!" The crew screeched to a halt as something popped out of thin air and shoved Zidane to the ground. He gasped, falling into Freya, who caught him out of sheer reflex.
"Drakja!" Beatrix gasped. The towering geonome snickered as dozens of his kinsman began to appear out of the shadows of the trees. They'd been ambushed . . .
"Thought I'd let you get away?" Drakja queried, grinning. "You must be dumber than I thought . . . After all, my mission comes first, doesn't it?"
"No . . ." Zidane whispered, trembling. "No . . . This was all YOUR fault!!!" the genome scrambled angrily from Freya's arms and threw himself at Drakja. "I'll kill you!!!"
Drakja simply laughed and brushed Zidane away with a wave of his hand. The blonde hit a glimmering magic barrier and was tossed backwards like a piece of string. He skidded in the snow and then lay there, shivering with rage. Drakja looked around, frowning.
"What's this?" he seemed generally confused. "Why, where is our dear Kuja? Surely you would not leave him behind? Unless . . ." A smile broke out across Drakja's lips. "So Saishoja's heir has finally passed into the Shadow World? Ah, what a pity . . . But after all, it does take a lot of strength to carry one's sorry-ass brother all the way down a river, doesn't it?"
"Shut . . . UP!!!" Zidane cried, struggling into a sitting position. "YOU are the one to blame! It's YOUR fault Quina died and Kuja was needlessly shot and it's YOUR fault I had to watch him suffer all night! But above all . . . IT WAS YOUR FAULT I HAD TO ABANDON HIM!!!"
And at Zidane's trembling words, a blood-curdling howl filled the air, and a mile away, a cry arose from the Angel of Death's lips . . .
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". . . NO!!!"
Kuja gasped, seized with uncomprehensible pain.
"Shh . . . Shh . . . Don't move. I'm trying to help you . . ."
Kuja, convulsing in burning agony, could barely understand the muffled words above him. It was a man talking and he could hear the sound of rustling beside his body and feel a cold hand upon his forehead. Someone was . . . helping him . . .?
"Wh-who . . .?"
"Shh . . . Please . . . Calm down and open your eyes . . . Hurry!"
Kuja couldn't understand what was going on. The fever continued to scorch his insides and his wounds were blazing like fire. The sorcerer coughed, and he felt the warm blood run down his chin. He should have been dead . . . It was impossible to wake from the Sleep of Death the poison reaped upon its victim . . .
"Please . . . Open your eyes . . ."
Though Kuja didn't know why, he silently obeyed. Though they were open, it remained impressively dark. A ghostly hush fell upon his rescuer.
"Dear god . . ." the warlock heard the man whisper from above him. ". . . I'm too late . . ." Kuja could feel himself drifting away. The voice was fading into oblivion.
"No!" the newcomer shouted. "Don't you dare! Just relax . . . We need to talk. Don't move . . . and envision my voice . . ."
Kuja, gasping for breath, silently obeyed. Slowly the world came back into focus. Someone was kneeling over him, looking anxiously into his face. Kuja could barely keep the image in focus . . . The man stood slowly, and Kuja took in his full appearance.
He wasn't tall . . . nor did he appear powerful. The man was frail and sickly yet pulsing with a grand strength. But as Kuja's ruined eyes scanned over his rescuer's body, a fear began to creep into his heart.
The long, silver hair that halfway became a braid which swept the ground, the pale, milky skin, the feminine figure, and hooked onto his old- fashioned Terran armor was a badge. Drakja's badge . . . only with the fork standing right-side-up. And though the man was blindfolded and an indescribable glow resonated off his form, there was no mistaking who Kuja was looking at . . .
Himself . . .
Or so it seemed. Kuja detected small differences, so small in fact that only one who had known him for years would have been able to detect them. Only one person had ever lived who had so closely resembled Kuja . . . And that man had died more than six-hundred years before.
"S-Saishoja . . ." Kuja choked out in disbelief. His rescuer smiled thinly.
". . . Yes . . ."
"No . . ." Kuja shook his head as though willing it to be a dream, moaning at the pain that wracked his fevered mind. "No, you can't be here . . . You're dead . . . You've been dead for centuries . . ."
"That's true. But does that condemn me to eternity away from this world?"
"But then how . . .?" Kuja's eyes widened with fear. "You're a ghost!"
The corner of Saishoja's lips twitched into a half-smile.
"Not exactly," he said, sighing. "But I am, indeed, dead. There is no returning the dead to life, and no ghost of Terra can wander the world of Gaia, just as no ghost of Gaia can possibly find his way to the Red Moon . . ."
"Th-then what are you?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Saishoja queried, holding out his arms. "I'm a soul,"
"A soul?" Kuja felt faint trying to process all this information. It was all too much . . . too fast . . .
"Yes, a soul. You of all people should understand," Saishoja said.
"But why are you here? Why haven't you been absorbed into the Mist?"
Saishoja laughed. "Not to be arrogant, Angel of Death, but I'm incredibly powerful. Garland had intended to seek me out after my death and use me to create you. But I slipped through his grasp time and time again until eventually he gave up and gave you the dying soul you possess now . . . It took Garland six-hundred years to give up on finding me. And after you were created, I watched over you and followed you here,"
Kuja, coughing up still more blood, managed to find his voice. "But why?"
Saishoja sighed and got down on one knee beside his predecessor. "To avoid this from happening . . ." he waved a hand over Kuja's body. "While I was alive, I swore to protect my heir, whoever he or she was. When I died so suddenly, I became restless and was able to escape the Iifa Tree. In affect, I became a wandering spirit. I cannot find peace until my mission is complete. I must save you and the two moons from Garland's evil ways . . ."
/His heir . . .?/ Kuja thought thickly. /Of course . . . Saishoja's son died during birth . . . I am, technically, all he has left . . ./
"You . . ." Kuja hissed. "You were the one that helped push me out of the ice-water . . . And you were the one that called those people back into me when I lost control at the castle . . . You . . . You've been following and protecting me for years!"
Saishoja chuckled. "Yes, that's true . . . But you probably don't remember the greatest thing I ever did for you . . ."
"Wh-what's that . . .?"
The Terran warrior looked grave. "I am the one that told you not to kill Zidane when you were children . . ."
Kuja's face darkened as he struggled to remember that event. Indeed, he did recall a strange sensation . . . As if a voice had whispered to his ears and told him to spare his brother's life. It was then that Kuja had abandoned Zidane on Gaia; whether out of pity or hatred he could not recall . . .
"But what were you trying to prevent?" Kuja queried. "What is Garland doing?"
Saishoja shook his head sadly, and Kuja couldn't help but stare at the black blindfold around the man's eyes.
"He's trying to turn you into me," Saishoja said. "Because that would make you stronger, and that would make those things you harbor within yourself stronger as well,"
Kuja tried to sit up but failed. "You know what they are?! Please, tell me!"
Though Kuja could not see Saishoja's eyes, he knew the Terran was looking away sadly. The warlock could see Saishoja's silver tail now, curled up in the snow.
". . . I cannot tell you . . ."
"Wh . . . why not . . .?"
Saishoja turned his face back in Kuja's direction and, grabbing the trailing end of black cloth behind him, he tore the blindfold from his eyes. Kuja had to stifle a scream.
Saishoja's eyes were white, sightless orbs, glazed and milky in their blindness like the eyes of death. They did not look at Kuja, yet the sorcerer could feel Saishoja's saddened gaze upon him.
". . . Because the truth would kill you . . ."
Kuja could not breathe in his shock. He knew, though he wasn't sure how, that as he gazed into Saishoja's cold, unseeing eyes, he was looking into a mirror image of himself. His own eyes were now like his predecessor's, and it was only by a miracle of magic that he was even seeing Saishoja now.
He was blind . . . Just like Saishoja . . .
"Then . . . Then Garland has succeeded . . ." Kuja whispered, his whitened eyes glistening with tears. "The poison has robbed me of my vision . . ."
A small smile spread across Saishoja's lips and he carefully wrapped the blindfold around his eyes once more. "Not quite yet. And I'm going to help him,"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"Because while Garland may have succeeded in reducing you to my blindness, you have not achieved the power I, myself, was able to harness centuries ago," Saishoja leaned in slightly, and once more Kuja could feel the eerie gaze upon his face. "I was born blind and I died blind," Saishoja explained. "I was an outcast, abandoned by all my family but my mother. I had no friends, no companions, and the children at school beat me up at least three times a day. Terra was only concerned with the affairs of soldiers, something I could never be. So I wished hard enough, and I tried . . . And then I saw,"
". . . I do not understand . . ."
Saishoja laughed. "There is nothing to understand. If you truly wish to see, then you shall. Though my eyes remained useless, I was able to see the world around me. I even became a general. If you truly wish to see, you can . . . And I will help you,"
Kuja shook his head angrily. "NO! That will make me more like you!"
"Yes!" Saishoja chimed. "Yes! Powerful enough to defeat Garland! Do you wish to save your companions?"
". . . Yes . . ."
"Do you want to defeat Garland?"
". . . Yes,"
"Then go!" Saishoja cried, rising suddenly to his feet. "Go! Save them now; hurry! Drakja is already on their trail! He cannot rest until he has defeated me, and with you dead, his only means of fulfilling his lust is to destroy your siblings!"
Kuja, with a gasp, leapt to his feet. " . . . Zidane . . .!" His wounds screamed in pain, yet he could not feel them anymore. All was dark, and now that Saishoja was no longer aiding him with magic, his vision was gone save his savior's ethereally glowing figure. Saishoja smiled and moved up to Kuja's side. Gently, he placed a hand upon the sorcerer's forehead and muttered something in Ancient Terran.
"Now put me to rest . . ." he murmured softly. Then everything came into focus once more . . .
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A/N: Ehe, I was supposed to write more, but this got too long so I cut it off. Ah well . . . So now the mystery of Saishoja is revealed. Poor bugger . . . He's all handicapped and stuff . . . We learn a little more about how he sees in the next chapter but it's no big deal. I'm just afraid of the Kuja fangirls . . . They're gonna kill me . . . Wait, I'm a fangirl too! No . . . Hand . . . edging . . . towards . . . gun . . . Poor Kuja-sama! But please, put away your weapons! He's not, like, blind- blind. Saishoja's helping him, remember?! Just keep your cool and everything will work out *tugs on collar nervously* Ooh, for those interested, I saw the new Jump Festa trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and it's almost 100% positive Vincent Valentine's going to be in the movie!!! *has a heart-attack* We see him jump all mysterious-like out of a tree and drop towards the camera with the moon silhouetting him from behind. You can only tell it's him 'cause of the funky boots and the cape . . . And if you freeze it, the person has his shape and someone (with no life, but a saint anyways) froze the shot when his face was in the camera and he has RED EYES!!! *screams and huggles Vinny* Phew. Okay, I feel better now . . . REVIEWWEIVER!!!
Disclaimer: Inalfay Antasyfay isway otnay ownedway ybay emay (bwaha, I love Pig-Latin . . . )
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"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King,"
- Lycon, Minority Report
". . . Dart . . .?"
"What?"
". . . How long's it been . . .?"
"Whaddya mean . . .?"
". . . You know . . ."
"Oh. Um . . . Five minutes?"
"Okay, I'm ready to place my bet,"
Dart stared at Ummei for a full minute at least, wondering if he was truly as stupid as he seemed.
"Ummei . . ." Dart said slowly, trying to keep her temper to a minimum. "You can't place a bet on something like this after five minutes . . ."
"Why not?" Ummei queried. "I'm betting the two Angels of Death aren't dead. What's wrong with that?"
Dart's eye was twitching with the suppressed urge to wring Ummei's neck. "Because . . ." she hissed. "You can't bet on whether or not someone has drowned when they've been underwater for five minutes!"
". . . Wh-why not . . .?"
Dart smacked Ummei across the shoulder, growling. "Because five minutes is how long it takes for someone to die of oxygen deprivation!"
"Oxy . . . What?"
Dart sighed, kicking the snow with aggravation. She couldn't stand how Ummei crouched in the bushes staring at the frozen lake and waiting for what wasn't going to happen . . .
"In other words," the female geonome stated. "If they haven't resurfaced after five minutes, they've drowned,"
Ummei blinked several times, processing this information. Suddenly, he frowned.
"Dart . . . Does that mean we've failed our mission?"
Dart folded her arms across her chest and looked out at the sun, which was barely a thin orange line over the bumpy white horizon. She hated to admit the idiot was right.
"N-not exactly," Dart muttered. "I mean, that part wasn't our fault. We were supposed to watch Drakja and make sure he shot Kuja . . . It's not our fault Drakja shot him and his stupid brother off a cliff . . ."
"B-but maybe we should have gone in after them!" Ummei was clutching the collar of his cloak with fear. His green eyes were dancing with tears. Bahamut only knew what Garland would do to them when they returned . . . Ummei let out a dry sob. "Dart! Garland told us we couldn't report back to the Indomitable until Kuja was shot!"
"Which he WAS!" Dart defended, refusing to meet her partner's teary stare. "L-let's just go back . . . There's no use hangin' around here . . . C'mon . . ."
Dart began to leave with a swish of her mahogany tail. She listened for the sound of Ummei following her, but it was eerily silent. Dart whipped around angrily when she realized the omega was still crouching in the snow.
"Ummei, would you - !"
Ummei's green eyes were wide as he stared at the shimmering lake. "Dart . . . Dart c'mere! Hurry!" Dart realized Ummei wasn't joking. She hadn't heard him sound this excited since . . . Well, since forever . . . Dart rushed immediately to the omega's side and crouched down in the bushes beside him. She saw nothing . . .
"Ummei, have you lost your - "
"Shh!"
For a moment, there was silence. The two geonomes stooped there in the thorny bushes, barely daring to breathe. There was something strange in the air . . . A sign, a warning . . . Something . . .
Suddenly, a chunk of the frozen lake exploded, sending fragments of ice and water shooting into the air. A fist had been punched through the surface of the lake and a ghostly white hand was desperately gripping the edge of the hole. Dart's eyes were the size of dinner plates.
"No . . . Way . . ."
"You owe me gil," was all Ummei could say.
The hand was soon followed by a body, soaking wet and limp like a corpse . . . It wasn't the body the hand belonged to, however. Someone was pushing the lifeless form onto the surface of the ice. Dart recognized the matted blonde hair immediately.
"It's the second Angel of Death! Oh shit, he looks dead, Ummei . . ."
Ummei's eyes were glittering in the setting sun. ". . . He's not dead . . ."
Dart glanced sideways at Ummei, frowning, but decided not to say anything. They were waiting now . . . There was one more person who should have been resurfacing . . .
Suddenly, a head burst from the watery hole, gasping and spluttering for air. The silver hair floated eerily in the water as the person clutched onto the edge of the ice, having pushed his comrade completely onto the surface.
"It's Kuja!" Dart gasped, struck dumb with awe. "Impossible! With his injuries, how could he have - "
Ummei was chewing feverishly on the collar of his cloak, choking and trying not to cry. Dart stared at him, concerned. "Ummei, what's wrong?" Ummei just shook his head, whimpering. Then, suddenly, it all made sense to Dart. Somehow, some way, Ummei was able to sense the life-force in people. He was crying because he sensed death in Kuja . . . Dart felt her chest tightening. Now that she realized what was happening, she sensed it too. The lake-water had become red with Kuja's blood and he wasn't trying to get out. The silver-haired sorcerer was clutching onto the edge of the hole, gasping for breath and shivering. The first Angel of Death was dying . . .
"N-no . . ."
Dart's lip was trembling, and for whatever reason, she felt like crying as well. A rather embarrassing tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ummei . . . I-I'll pay you half if you promise never to tell anyone about this . . ."
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Kuja could barely understand what he was doing as he clutched onto the edge of the ice. His eyes were covered in an impenetrable mist as his grip on the slippery water began to weaken.
/No . . ./ he thought faintly. /I can't let go . . . Zidane . . . Zidane needs me . . ./
The warlock felt as if he were watching himself from far away, able to scrutinize his every movement. He scoffed at his own weakness; that he couldn't even drag himself out of the water. And all the while, the ice burned red with his blood.
"Come on . . ." Kuja whispered faintly to himself, hugging the edge of the ice defiantly. "You pushed Zidane out . . . You can make it too . . ."
The icy water had numbed the sorcerer's body so completely that he could no longer feel the pain he knew was there. He didn't need to look to know what had happened when he'd hit the ice. The wound in his shoulder no longer bled . . . Only one other thing could be causing the ice to soak in the slippery crimson.
"I'm dead . . ." Kuja whispered, eyes glazing sadly. The realization of this truth brought tears to his eyes. "Damn . . ."
/No you're not . . ./
Kuja blinked thickly. He could have sworn he'd heard a voice on the wind, whispering to his ears.
"I must be delusional . . ." he muttered to himself. A soft groan suddenly averted the warlock's attention. Nearby, Zidane stirred slightly as a cold breeze blew over his wet body. Kuja stared at his brother. He looked so weak and small, lying there like a rag doll atop the ice with the wound on his head leaking a slow trickle of blood down his face.
"Zidane . . . I can't let Zidane down . . ."
Then, suddenly, Kuja felt a surge of strength rush through his limbs. With a gasp, he shoved his battered body onto the ice where he collapsed and lay there, in too much shock to move. In his fluttering thoughts, he could have sworn he'd felt someone helping him out of the icy depths . . . The only thing that kept him from giving up hope right then and there was knowing his brother was still alive and needed to be returned to his friends immediately or . . . or he wouldn't be alive anymore . . .
The sun was already going down, and on the Forgotten Continent the sun's departure sent an icy curse upon the land which would surely claim the genome's life if Kuja didn't get him to safety.
So with a sigh, Kuja finally sat up. He could hear the steady plip-plop of his blood dripping onto the ice but refused to acknowledge its presence. He was already dead; only Zidane mattered . . .
Kuja WOULD get his brother to safety . . .
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"Come on!" Beatrix cried, leaping over brambles and plunging through the tufts of trees along the stream-edge. "Hurry!"
"Wh-what are we doing?!" Lani puffed as the general put on an extra spurt of speed.
"Don't you get it?!" Beatrix shouted, annoyed, over her shoulder. "The lake branches out into this stream, which isn't frozen! From where Kuja and Zidane fell, they should wash up around here somewhere carried on the water's current!"
"W-wash up?!" Garnet cried. "You mean, dead?!"
/Maybe . . ./ Beatrix thought softly to herself.
"No!" Garnet whimpered. "No, Zidane can't be dead!" She fingered the golden ring around her finger as she charged through the trees. The trickling water that ran sluggishly beside them as it fought the impenetrable cold was their only guide. "W-we still need to get married! Zidane . . .!"
"Oof!" Vivi fell backwards as he suddenly ran into the back of Freya's legs. Beatrix had come to a sudden, screeching halt which caused half the crew to nearly fall over in surprise.
"What are we doing?!" Fratley queried, craning his neck to better see what had caused the sudden stop.
Beatrix was frozen stiff, staring at something in the trees with her one good eye. For a moment, there was a confused silence. Then the snapping of twigs reached the team's ears from within the trees and a dark shadow emerged slowly as though from a mist. Instinctively, the group withdrew their weapons, suspecting the geonomes had returned to finish what they'd started.
"No, drop your weapons!" Beatrix snapped, holding out an arm. Her comrades were so surprised that they almost did. It was then that the puzzled team realized the shadow that was steadily drawing nearer was carrying another . . .
"It's Kuja . . ." Freya gasped in amazement, eyeing the sorcerer in an awestruck manner.
Kuja walked slowly towards his companions as if in some sort of trance. Draped like a limp doll across his arms was Zidane . . . Garnet made a movement to go to her fiancé, but Beatrix kept her arm out defiantly, keeping the queen at bay.
"Beatrix, what are you - ?" Beatrix just shook her head, ruffling the thick brown curls of her hair. With no other option left, the crew simply watched Kuja with curiosity etched upon their faces.
When the sorcerer was within the small clearing of trees, he lowered Zidane gently to the ground as if he were made of glass and would shatter with the slightest touch. Even Steiner was amazed at Kuja's delicate treatment of his brother. Then the warlock straightened and looked at his comrades with the most piercing stare they had ever seen. It wasn't an angry stare, or even an aggravated stare. It was sad, as if Kuja were apologizing with his eyes but was no longer able to speak. His eyes, which were filmed over, seemed to plead forgiveness.
It was the last time they would ever see him look at them like that . . . Beatrix felt the breath rush from her chest as the horrible truth struck her.
"KUJA!!!" The general rushed forward, knowing in her heart that it was too late.
With a sigh, Kuja's saddened eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed, lifeless, into Beatrix's awaiting arms. A gasp of horror arose from the crew and they, too, rushed forward and crowded around the pair.
"No! Don't touch him!" Beatrix cried, gently lowering Kuja to the forest- floor. "Kuja . . ." the general murmured, shaking the warlock's shoulder. He didn't respond. Beatrix bit her lip and then began barking out commands. "Steiner! Fratley! Amarant! Take care of Zidane! Get the bandages from the bag and wrap up the wound around his head! Then use some of the spare blankets to dry off his clothes and for god's sake keep him warm! Freya! Garnet! Lani! Get over here and help me take care of Kuja!"
"What about me and Vivi?!" Eiko whined, wanting desperately to be useful to the crew. Beatrix shook her head angrily. A child's innocence was not wanted in such an urgent situation.
"Just light a fire," she instructed, glaring at the youngest members of the team out of the corner of her one eye. "I'll call you if I need you,"
Eiko and Vivi nodded, then scampered off to find some dry sticks.
"Is he alright?" Freya queried as she stood over Kuja's unmoving body. Beatrix brushed some silver hair from Kuja's face, frowning.
"He's extremely weak. He must have carried Zidane all the way here despite his injuries . . ."
"But how did he and Zidane survive the fall?" Garnet asked cautiously, glancing nervously at her fiancé a few feet away.
Beatrix shook her head, concentrating on reviving Kuja. "I have no idea . . . Damn it!"
"What?"
Beatrix held up one arm to show her blood-stained glove. "The wound on Kuja's shoulder seems cauterized for some reason . . . so I can't figure out where he's bleeding from!"
Freya quickly snagged one of the supply bags and began searching for more bandages. Beatrix, her hands quivering slightly, unhooked Kuja cloak. She could see it now, the puddle-sized blood-stain on the side of Kuja's shirt. And underneath that would be the source of their troubles . . . Tentatively, Beatrix lifted the fabric . . .
. . . And dropped it with a sob.
"No . . .! Kuja, you . . . You god damn idiot!"
Lani cocked her head, craning her neck to see what was wrong. "What the hell are you cursin' him for?!"
Freya sat down in the snow at Kuja's side and pulled back his shirt. Then the Burmecian swore like they'd never heard her swear before. "Holy fucking shit! Beatrix, he . . . He tore his whole god damn side open!"
Beatrix nodded numbly, trying to suppress her tears. Kuja's entire left side looked as if it had been ripped off by a giant claw and was in the process of spilling his life's blood at an alarmingly fast rate. Freya, her eyes dancing with fear, immediately began tearing bandages. Beatrix gently lifted Kuja halfway so Freya could wrap the bandages around his waist. Even SHE knew it was a lost cause . . .
And the sun had finally made its descent, spreading an evil blackness upon the crew . . .
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Kuja stared confusedly into the darkness around him.
". . . What is this place . . .?"
Silence.
". . . Why is HE here?"
Kuja whipped around at the sound of the voice. There was a ripple of whispers in the air; a senseless drone of murmuring.
"H-hello?!" Kuja called, praying for an answer and yet hoping he wouldn't receive one at the same time.
"Is he forgotten too?" a voice queried, nothing more than a breath of air in Kuja's ear.
"No . . . He sees! He sees!"
"He sees! He sees!" the voices cried accusingly. The sound was deafening, pounding against Kuja's psyche. They chased him deeper and deeper into the darkness, to the point of no return.
And when there were no other options left, he retreated into the unforgiving arms of the past . . .
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"How's Zidane?" Beatrix queried, glancing over at Steiner. The knight had stood up and was now brushing the snow off his armor.
"He's fine," Steiner said simply, shrugging. "He was the lucky one, I guess," Beatrix bowed her head sadly, sighing.
"Yes . . . He was . . ."
Steiner hesitated for a moment. "What about Kuja . . .?"
Beatrix bit her lip. "We've stopped the bleeding, but . . . Oh, he won't wake up, Steiner!"
Vivi, who had been standing nervously nearby, took a step closer into the fire-light. "Wh-why not?"
"I don't know . . .!"
Freya, who was seated at Kuja's side and wrapping up the last of the bandages was vainly shaking Kuja's shoulder. The sorcerer was completely unresponsive. "You know . . ." the Burmecian said slowly, as if speaking about a taboo subject. "If you look at Kuja's wounds and Zidane's wounds . . . I think there's a connection . . ."
Amarant grunted gruffly nearby. "No duh. Judging by the gash in Kuja's side, the moron obviously protected Zidane's body from the fall . . . When monkey-boy over here wakes up, he's gonna owe Kuja a shit-load of favors . . ."
Garnet looked away sadly. So that was the truth then? Kuja was in this terrible condition for Zidane? As if out of reflex, the queen gently brushed a strand of hair off Kuja's face. Her eyes immediately gleamed with concern.
"Beatrix . . . He's feverish!"
"What?" The general brushed Garnet's hand away and touched Kuja's forehead. It felt like it was on fire . . . "What in the . . .?"
/Flash/
"Th-they're shooting at us with those weird gun-thingies!"
"With poisoned bullets we are!"
/Flash/
"The bullet was poisoned!" Beatrix gasped, staring in horror at the blood- stain on Kuja's shoulder.
"Is he gonna die . . .?" Eiko queried hesitantly, looking rather unsure as she stood there beneath the dark canopy of trees.
No one answered. After all, what could they say? They were stuck in the middle of a frozen forest in the dead of night with no antidote or even any knowledge as to what the poison could do. Another of the crew members was out of commission, and the ship was miles away. What could they really say?
"Everyone . . . Just get some sleep . . ." Beatrix said slowly. "We'll . . . We'll figure things out in the morning . . ." /If he's still alive in the morning . . ./
After a moment of silence, the others nodded and began to settle in for the night. Blankets were scarce, and the air was like an icy fang that bit them all over, cutting at their flesh. Beatrix, on the other hand, refused to sleep. She sat beside Kuja the entire time, just staring at him in a guilty manner.
After several hours of watching her out of one sleepy eye, Steiner couldn't take it anymore.
"Beatrix, dear, please get some rest! It's not healthy to stay up like this!"
The general just shook her head, glancing up as Steiner sat down beside her. He just didn't get it . . .
"I feel terrible," Beatrix murmured. "No one deserves this less than Kuja. He was saving his brother! And look what he got for it . . ." She gently touched Kuja's cheek and sighed. "I've never seen anything like this before. This is no ordinary fever. My hand nearly burns touching him . . ."
Steiner frowned. "But what's the purpose of a poisoned bullet? It looks like all it's doing is killing him anyways . . . The bullet could have done that itself . . ."
"I don't know,"
Steiner rubbed his chin thoughtfully as the fire cast deep, flickering shadows across his harsh-featured face. "Well, I guess most of Gaia will be happy . . ."
"Don't say that!" Beatrix cried, glaring at the knight. "That's not true!"
"Geez," Steiner muttered, bowing his head in submission. "What are you getting so worked up for?"
Beatrix was shaking slightly with emotions she'd suppressed for years. The general clenched her fingers into fists and suddenly let out an angry cry.
"I loved him once!" she shouted, standing up furiously. "And he loved me! And I swore only a few weeks ago that I would do whatever it took to help Kuja now that he's a different person! And I failed him! Imagine if that was me!" Beatrix pointed an accusing finger at Kuja's unconscious body. "Can you imagine?! A man I once loved is DYING, Steiner! And there's absolutely NOTHING I can do for him!"
Beatrix quieted slightly as Steiner stood up and put an arm around her shoulder, shushing the general softly. He'd never seen Beatrix show this sort of emotion. She was typically a cold woman whose duty was her life and nothing more. But then again . . . If she'd thought Kuja's life was her duty, then . . .
The others were awake, whether they were pretending or not. They'd heard every last word of what Beatrix had said and it pained them greatly.
". . . Ugh . . . That is NOT cool . . ."
Beatrix and Steiner jerked at the sound of the voice. Likewise, several crew members sat up in surprise. A few feet away, Zidane was struggling to sit up, rubbing his forehead and groaning.
"Zidane!" Garnet cried, unable to keep the joy from her voice as she tore off her blanket and ran to her fiancé's side. "Oh, Zidane, how do you feel?!"
". . . Like shit . . . What the hell happened . . .?" Zidane gave Garnet a quick kiss on the cheek, though he was frowning.
"Do you remember anything . . .?" Freya queried as she lugged herself into a sitting position as well.
"Remember anything? I-I fell . . ." Zidane stumbled, furrowing his brow. "Seems I lived though, huh?" Then the shadow fell across his face as some fragment of memory finally resurfaced. "But I . . . I remember Kuja asking me to forgive him and . . . Dagger, where's Kuja?" They could see the suspicion in Zidane's eyes now. He knew something had happened . . . His eyes narrowed even further when no one responded.
"Dagger . . . Where's Kuja?" the genome repeated. Garnet hesitated, then pointed a shaking finger at the unmoving body lying a few feet away. Zidane's brow furrowed. "Dagger, help me up," he commanded quietly. Garnet nodded and carefully supported Zidane as he rose unsteadily to his feet. The genome then stumbled over to his brother's side and when he saw the pathetic sight, he dropped to his knees beside him.
"Kuja . . . No . . ."
In the few hours since Kuja had collapsed, the sorcerer had become undeniably worse. His face was an ashen, sickly gray, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. He scarcely breathed or made any sign of life. Zidane's eyes filled with tears at the sight, particularly when he spotted the blood-stain on Kuja's side.
"He . . . He did this to save me . . ." Zidane whispered, biting his lip. The others were silent, watching as the glow of the fire cast twisted shadows across their darkened figures.
"He was shot by one of the poisoned bullets," Beatrix explained. "We . . . We don't know what it's doing . . . But he hasn't woken since he collapsed. And he's burning with the most horrible fever I've ever seen . . ."
Zidane gently touched Kuja's pale hand and immediately recoiled. "It's like a fire!" Beatrix nodded sadly. Then, feeling it was the least he could do, Zidane clutched Kuja's hand once more. He could brave the flames . . . for his brother.
Suddenly, Kuja's eyes snapped open. Zidane suppressed a gasp and then looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. No one was even looking in the general direction . . . /How strange . . ./ Zidane thought, frowning. It was as if for that one solitary minute in time, every member of the team was preoccupied with looking at something else but himself. Zidane looked down at his brother and had to stifle a scream. His brother's eyes were white . . . Like death. And though they were right on him, they seemed to see nothing at all. There was a horrible glaze upon the warlock's eyes as if they were the unblinking, sightless eyes of hell.
And the image was so familiar . . .
/Flash/
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kuja's eyes snapped open with a hiss. Zidane had to stifle a scream. They were white and as empty as his dead body . . . They seemed to be leering at him, through him, past him . . .
Into him . . .
/Flash/
"Kuja," Zidane murmured, clutching his brother's hand. Kuja didn't respond. His eyes were far away and seeing things that didn't exist . . . anymore . . .
"Please . . ." Kuja rasped. "Don't do it . . . I won't let it happen . . . I won't let him be . . . Like me!" The sorcerer flinched as if in pain.
The others looked over just as Kuja's eyes closed wearily once more. They hadn't seen what Zidane had . . . But it didn't matter . . . They'd heard him.
"What's he talking about?" Lani queried from where she lay shivering beneath a thin blanket. Zidane bit back a sob.
"He's reliving the past . . . And the day he tried to kill me . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja stumbled blindly in the darkness for what seemed like a thousand years.
"Please . . ." he sobbed, reaching out for anything in his path. Much to his surprise, the sorcerer's fingers suddenly brushed the threshold of an open door. Not even asking how it had gotten there, Kuja clutched onto it and sank limply to the floor.
"It's so . . . hot . . ." the warlock moaned. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face as the furnace-like temperatures increased. Kuja bit back a cry of pain as he clutched the wall. It felt like he would slip into an oblivion if he let go.
". . . Kuja . . .?"
The sorcerer blinked and looked up. Then his glazed eyes widened with surprise.
"M-Megan . . .?"
There she stood, exactly as he remembered her years before. Her pale brown hair seemed to blow in a phantom wind and her fair skin was glowing from the mysterious light that shined from behind her. The girl's milky white hands were out as if beckoning him to rise. There was a thin smile on her face.
"Megan, what are you . . .?"
"Stand up," Kuja hesitated, still afraid of the creeping darkness around him. Yet Megan's eyes were glittering in the light and a mysterious warmth seemed to come from her; not the creeping heat that the sorcerer felt in the blackness of his mind. With a single nod, he rose.
"Come," Megan commanded, smiling. She was like a beacon of flames that chased away the darkness. Kuja's memories tugged angrily at his cloak and he could hear the voices of the past drifting around in the silence. He would not let them win . . .
Nervously, the genome crept up to Megan's glowing form. The young Summoner smiled kindly and pulled him into a gentle embrace. Kuja couldn't help but sink into it. She was such a comforting presence in the darkness. He never wanted the moment to end . . . He closed his eyes, sighing, when he heard Megan's voice once more.
". . . Can you see me . . .?"
Kuja's brow furrowed and his eyes opened slowly. Everything was dark.
". . . No . . ."
"Poor baby . . ." Kuja could feel something around his eyes. Megan's arms remained wrapped around his neck, but she was tying something softly beneath his silver hair.
She was blindfolding him . . .
"Megan, why - ?"
"Sh," the Summoner pressed a gentle finger to his lips. "No more words. You must allow the past to take you . . ."
And at her command; and without Megan's light to guide him, Kuja allowed himself to sink into the perpetual blackness of his mind . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
". . . What are we going to do . . .?" Fratley queried hesitantly. No one could find it in their hearts to answer. The sun was beginning to rise, but its light could not erase the horrible images of the night. None of the crew had slept. For hours Kuja had sobbed in his fevered sleep, crying out strange things from his past and cursing at the spirits of the dead. He shivered constantly, yet there was nothing they could do for him. Beatrix had not left his side, even when he began screaming terrible oaths about her.
Even as the general sat there, she could hear the silver-haired genome's delusional ranting ringing inside her mind . . .
/Flash/
"Why has the Rose of May abandoned me?!" he screamed, shaking his head furiously. "The Midnight Wanderer . . . in the Great Garden . . . Tangled in her accursed thorns! Seeing through the one eye that sees only evil! Only EVIL!!!"
/Flash/
Beatrix buried her face wearily in her hands, sighing deeply.
"I don't know . . ." she muttered softly. Kuja had stopped screaming only an hour before and though it was less frightening, it was also a curse. Obviously, the poison had done its work and now he was finally . . .
Kuja, who had already been pale, had lost any semblance of color. He was as white as the snow around them, and he scarcely breathed if at all. He was no longer hot, but freezing to the touch. His lips were tinged with blue, and it was difficult to even find a pulse . . .
They still needed to find the Indomitable . . . but how? What could they do?
"W-we could carry him . . ." Eiko offered, wincing at the thought.
"We could . . ." Garnet affirmed. The idea was, of course, ludicrous. Not only would he slow them down, but if they were attacked, he would become another defenseless thing to protect. They drifted into silence once more. Zidane seemed lost in thought, his eyes out of focus as he gazed into the trees. Of all the crew member's present, Kuja's condition had hit Zidane the hardest. In the night, Kuja had cried out his brother's name angrily and cursed the boy who had replaced him . . . Suddenly, Zidane stood up, hauling his backpack from the snow and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Zidane, what are you - ?"
"We're leaving," Zidane said coldly, narrowing his blue eyes sharply.
"Leaving?!" Lani cried. "But what about - ?!"
"Leave him," Zidane snapped. "Just . . . leave him,"
"But why?" Freya queried.
"B-because . . ." Zidane whispered. "Ever since Kuja and I escaped the Iifa Tree, he's complained about being a burden. He hated himself for it . . . He WANTED to die. I just . . . wouldn't let him . . . He would rather perish alone on this god forsaken rock than drag us all to our deaths together. He's GOING to die . . . But in the process, he wouldn't want to be . . . to be a burden . . ."
Zidane suddenly turned away, not wanting his companions - especially Garnet -to see him cry. When he spoke, his shaking voice was barely above a controlled whisper. ". . . Let's go . . ."
The genome began to slouch away, shoulders slumped in misery. The others, hiding their tears as best they could, stood up and, murmuring silent prayers for their comrade's soul, left Kuja to his unavoidable doom . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh my god . . ." Dart whispered, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Th- they're leaving!"
From their perch atop a snow-drenched hill, the two geonomes could only watch in horror as the crew abandoned one of their own behind.
"Then . . . Then Kuja must have finally snuffed it!" Dart gasped. Ummei said nothing. He was staring down into the clearing where Kuja's body lay lifelessly in the snow. The Angel of Death truly looked angelic, lying there as pale as the winter's frost.
"Hey, Ummei," Dart suddenly cut through the silence. "Why is it you can sense life and death in people . . .?"
Ummei chewed his lip, concentrating hard on the answer. "I don't know," was all he could say. "Garland said we each had different traits of the original Drakja . . . Maybe the original could sense that kind of stuff . . ."
Dart looked thoughtful. "Or maybe something happened to him that forced him to see life and death in such a way . . ."
Of course, this statement was way over the top for Ummei and it would be several more days until the omega could process what Dart's words meant.
"I guess we'd better go . . ." Dart said finally, standing up from her crouched position and twirling around to leave. "Garland will want to know what happened . . ."
Ummei nodded, rising to his feet. But before the clearing had gone completely out of sight, Ummei stole one last glance back the Angel of Death. There was no death coming from the poor creature, only a muffled light . . .
So before Ummei left, he smiled at his own little secret . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come on!" Zidane shouted, tearing through the trees. "Hurry! Hurry!"
The others fled as the sound of snapping twigs and rushing feet overwhelmed the air. They were being followed . . .
"Aha!" The crew screeched to a halt as something popped out of thin air and shoved Zidane to the ground. He gasped, falling into Freya, who caught him out of sheer reflex.
"Drakja!" Beatrix gasped. The towering geonome snickered as dozens of his kinsman began to appear out of the shadows of the trees. They'd been ambushed . . .
"Thought I'd let you get away?" Drakja queried, grinning. "You must be dumber than I thought . . . After all, my mission comes first, doesn't it?"
"No . . ." Zidane whispered, trembling. "No . . . This was all YOUR fault!!!" the genome scrambled angrily from Freya's arms and threw himself at Drakja. "I'll kill you!!!"
Drakja simply laughed and brushed Zidane away with a wave of his hand. The blonde hit a glimmering magic barrier and was tossed backwards like a piece of string. He skidded in the snow and then lay there, shivering with rage. Drakja looked around, frowning.
"What's this?" he seemed generally confused. "Why, where is our dear Kuja? Surely you would not leave him behind? Unless . . ." A smile broke out across Drakja's lips. "So Saishoja's heir has finally passed into the Shadow World? Ah, what a pity . . . But after all, it does take a lot of strength to carry one's sorry-ass brother all the way down a river, doesn't it?"
"Shut . . . UP!!!" Zidane cried, struggling into a sitting position. "YOU are the one to blame! It's YOUR fault Quina died and Kuja was needlessly shot and it's YOUR fault I had to watch him suffer all night! But above all . . . IT WAS YOUR FAULT I HAD TO ABANDON HIM!!!"
And at Zidane's trembling words, a blood-curdling howl filled the air, and a mile away, a cry arose from the Angel of Death's lips . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
". . . NO!!!"
Kuja gasped, seized with uncomprehensible pain.
"Shh . . . Shh . . . Don't move. I'm trying to help you . . ."
Kuja, convulsing in burning agony, could barely understand the muffled words above him. It was a man talking and he could hear the sound of rustling beside his body and feel a cold hand upon his forehead. Someone was . . . helping him . . .?
"Wh-who . . .?"
"Shh . . . Please . . . Calm down and open your eyes . . . Hurry!"
Kuja couldn't understand what was going on. The fever continued to scorch his insides and his wounds were blazing like fire. The sorcerer coughed, and he felt the warm blood run down his chin. He should have been dead . . . It was impossible to wake from the Sleep of Death the poison reaped upon its victim . . .
"Please . . . Open your eyes . . ."
Though Kuja didn't know why, he silently obeyed. Though they were open, it remained impressively dark. A ghostly hush fell upon his rescuer.
"Dear god . . ." the warlock heard the man whisper from above him. ". . . I'm too late . . ." Kuja could feel himself drifting away. The voice was fading into oblivion.
"No!" the newcomer shouted. "Don't you dare! Just relax . . . We need to talk. Don't move . . . and envision my voice . . ."
Kuja, gasping for breath, silently obeyed. Slowly the world came back into focus. Someone was kneeling over him, looking anxiously into his face. Kuja could barely keep the image in focus . . . The man stood slowly, and Kuja took in his full appearance.
He wasn't tall . . . nor did he appear powerful. The man was frail and sickly yet pulsing with a grand strength. But as Kuja's ruined eyes scanned over his rescuer's body, a fear began to creep into his heart.
The long, silver hair that halfway became a braid which swept the ground, the pale, milky skin, the feminine figure, and hooked onto his old- fashioned Terran armor was a badge. Drakja's badge . . . only with the fork standing right-side-up. And though the man was blindfolded and an indescribable glow resonated off his form, there was no mistaking who Kuja was looking at . . .
Himself . . .
Or so it seemed. Kuja detected small differences, so small in fact that only one who had known him for years would have been able to detect them. Only one person had ever lived who had so closely resembled Kuja . . . And that man had died more than six-hundred years before.
"S-Saishoja . . ." Kuja choked out in disbelief. His rescuer smiled thinly.
". . . Yes . . ."
"No . . ." Kuja shook his head as though willing it to be a dream, moaning at the pain that wracked his fevered mind. "No, you can't be here . . . You're dead . . . You've been dead for centuries . . ."
"That's true. But does that condemn me to eternity away from this world?"
"But then how . . .?" Kuja's eyes widened with fear. "You're a ghost!"
The corner of Saishoja's lips twitched into a half-smile.
"Not exactly," he said, sighing. "But I am, indeed, dead. There is no returning the dead to life, and no ghost of Terra can wander the world of Gaia, just as no ghost of Gaia can possibly find his way to the Red Moon . . ."
"Th-then what are you?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Saishoja queried, holding out his arms. "I'm a soul,"
"A soul?" Kuja felt faint trying to process all this information. It was all too much . . . too fast . . .
"Yes, a soul. You of all people should understand," Saishoja said.
"But why are you here? Why haven't you been absorbed into the Mist?"
Saishoja laughed. "Not to be arrogant, Angel of Death, but I'm incredibly powerful. Garland had intended to seek me out after my death and use me to create you. But I slipped through his grasp time and time again until eventually he gave up and gave you the dying soul you possess now . . . It took Garland six-hundred years to give up on finding me. And after you were created, I watched over you and followed you here,"
Kuja, coughing up still more blood, managed to find his voice. "But why?"
Saishoja sighed and got down on one knee beside his predecessor. "To avoid this from happening . . ." he waved a hand over Kuja's body. "While I was alive, I swore to protect my heir, whoever he or she was. When I died so suddenly, I became restless and was able to escape the Iifa Tree. In affect, I became a wandering spirit. I cannot find peace until my mission is complete. I must save you and the two moons from Garland's evil ways . . ."
/His heir . . .?/ Kuja thought thickly. /Of course . . . Saishoja's son died during birth . . . I am, technically, all he has left . . ./
"You . . ." Kuja hissed. "You were the one that helped push me out of the ice-water . . . And you were the one that called those people back into me when I lost control at the castle . . . You . . . You've been following and protecting me for years!"
Saishoja chuckled. "Yes, that's true . . . But you probably don't remember the greatest thing I ever did for you . . ."
"Wh-what's that . . .?"
The Terran warrior looked grave. "I am the one that told you not to kill Zidane when you were children . . ."
Kuja's face darkened as he struggled to remember that event. Indeed, he did recall a strange sensation . . . As if a voice had whispered to his ears and told him to spare his brother's life. It was then that Kuja had abandoned Zidane on Gaia; whether out of pity or hatred he could not recall . . .
"But what were you trying to prevent?" Kuja queried. "What is Garland doing?"
Saishoja shook his head sadly, and Kuja couldn't help but stare at the black blindfold around the man's eyes.
"He's trying to turn you into me," Saishoja said. "Because that would make you stronger, and that would make those things you harbor within yourself stronger as well,"
Kuja tried to sit up but failed. "You know what they are?! Please, tell me!"
Though Kuja could not see Saishoja's eyes, he knew the Terran was looking away sadly. The warlock could see Saishoja's silver tail now, curled up in the snow.
". . . I cannot tell you . . ."
"Wh . . . why not . . .?"
Saishoja turned his face back in Kuja's direction and, grabbing the trailing end of black cloth behind him, he tore the blindfold from his eyes. Kuja had to stifle a scream.
Saishoja's eyes were white, sightless orbs, glazed and milky in their blindness like the eyes of death. They did not look at Kuja, yet the sorcerer could feel Saishoja's saddened gaze upon him.
". . . Because the truth would kill you . . ."
Kuja could not breathe in his shock. He knew, though he wasn't sure how, that as he gazed into Saishoja's cold, unseeing eyes, he was looking into a mirror image of himself. His own eyes were now like his predecessor's, and it was only by a miracle of magic that he was even seeing Saishoja now.
He was blind . . . Just like Saishoja . . .
"Then . . . Then Garland has succeeded . . ." Kuja whispered, his whitened eyes glistening with tears. "The poison has robbed me of my vision . . ."
A small smile spread across Saishoja's lips and he carefully wrapped the blindfold around his eyes once more. "Not quite yet. And I'm going to help him,"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"Because while Garland may have succeeded in reducing you to my blindness, you have not achieved the power I, myself, was able to harness centuries ago," Saishoja leaned in slightly, and once more Kuja could feel the eerie gaze upon his face. "I was born blind and I died blind," Saishoja explained. "I was an outcast, abandoned by all my family but my mother. I had no friends, no companions, and the children at school beat me up at least three times a day. Terra was only concerned with the affairs of soldiers, something I could never be. So I wished hard enough, and I tried . . . And then I saw,"
". . . I do not understand . . ."
Saishoja laughed. "There is nothing to understand. If you truly wish to see, then you shall. Though my eyes remained useless, I was able to see the world around me. I even became a general. If you truly wish to see, you can . . . And I will help you,"
Kuja shook his head angrily. "NO! That will make me more like you!"
"Yes!" Saishoja chimed. "Yes! Powerful enough to defeat Garland! Do you wish to save your companions?"
". . . Yes . . ."
"Do you want to defeat Garland?"
". . . Yes,"
"Then go!" Saishoja cried, rising suddenly to his feet. "Go! Save them now; hurry! Drakja is already on their trail! He cannot rest until he has defeated me, and with you dead, his only means of fulfilling his lust is to destroy your siblings!"
Kuja, with a gasp, leapt to his feet. " . . . Zidane . . .!" His wounds screamed in pain, yet he could not feel them anymore. All was dark, and now that Saishoja was no longer aiding him with magic, his vision was gone save his savior's ethereally glowing figure. Saishoja smiled and moved up to Kuja's side. Gently, he placed a hand upon the sorcerer's forehead and muttered something in Ancient Terran.
"Now put me to rest . . ." he murmured softly. Then everything came into focus once more . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Ehe, I was supposed to write more, but this got too long so I cut it off. Ah well . . . So now the mystery of Saishoja is revealed. Poor bugger . . . He's all handicapped and stuff . . . We learn a little more about how he sees in the next chapter but it's no big deal. I'm just afraid of the Kuja fangirls . . . They're gonna kill me . . . Wait, I'm a fangirl too! No . . . Hand . . . edging . . . towards . . . gun . . . Poor Kuja-sama! But please, put away your weapons! He's not, like, blind- blind. Saishoja's helping him, remember?! Just keep your cool and everything will work out *tugs on collar nervously* Ooh, for those interested, I saw the new Jump Festa trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and it's almost 100% positive Vincent Valentine's going to be in the movie!!! *has a heart-attack* We see him jump all mysterious-like out of a tree and drop towards the camera with the moon silhouetting him from behind. You can only tell it's him 'cause of the funky boots and the cape . . . And if you freeze it, the person has his shape and someone (with no life, but a saint anyways) froze the shot when his face was in the camera and he has RED EYES!!! *screams and huggles Vinny* Phew. Okay, I feel better now . . . REVIEWWEIVER!!!