A/N: Wah, I'm a bad person . . . No linkie today. Maybe next chapter?
*sigh* I feel bad about it . . . 'cause I said I would have the link and .
. . yeah, you know . . . I don't. Technical . . . er . . . difficulties
arose. GAH, I MUST HAVE A LINK FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER *tears hair out of
head*. Anyhoo . . . This is an odd chapter in my opinion. I don't know
why, but it came off as a very strange set of events. But Triss has a
brief appearance and those are always amusing. Also, the last of the
characters is introduced in this one and a little more of Saishoja and
Drakja's back-story is explained. Just a little . . . But it's going to be
very important later. Woot, read!
Disclaimer: [To the tune of "Melodies of Life"] In my dearest memory . . . I'm owning Final Fantasy! Though I don't, I still believe that I can rule . . . the world!
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"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."
– Aldous Huxley
Four hours and one uneventful airship ride later . . .
"My GODS it's hot in here!" Eiko complained, rubbing the sweat out of her eyes.
"No kidding," Amarant grumbled, trailing along at the back of the group.
"Gee, who would have thought a Fire Shrine could be hot?" Zidane blinked innocently, staring up at the rocky, reddish ceiling. Garnet rolled her eyes.
Getting into the Fire Shrine had been a lot easier than they'd thought. Not only was the chamber already unsealed, but there hadn't been a single geonome around to boot.
"It's a trap," Zidane had said immediately. Nobody was going to argue on that one.
"Garland's not stupid . . ." Beatrix whispered, peering around at the large stone columns lining the walls. They were stiff and worn like ancient soldiers at attention. Every once and awhile a piece flaked off and crumbled to the ground, startling them.
"I wouldn't count on that," Steiner muttered. Beatrix ignored him.
"It's more likely than not he's got some sort of trick up his sleeve,"
"Amarant, Freya, you guys were in here before, right?" Garnet glanced over her shoulder at the pair. "Were there any hidden traps?"
Freya shook her head, shrugging. "Not a thing, unless you count the Fire Guard,"
"B-but you killed it, right?" Vivi looked rather worried.
"Naturally," Freya nodded.
"That was ALL your shrine had?!" Eiko complained. "That's so unfair! Ours threw giant water-bombs at us!"
Zidane grinned to himself. "Ours – in our dear late Quina's own words – almost turned us into pancakes when the floor somehow tried to crush us into the ceiling . . ."
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing Garland chose the Fire Shrine for his base," said Lani offhandedly.
"Too good . . ." Zidane muttered. "There's got to be more to this. There's something we're not thinking of . . ." He shifted the lifeless, hooded and cloaked body slung over his shoulder uncomfortably. He knew if Kuja was awake he would have been running ahead and blasting at everything in sight to clear their path.
/Stop thinking about that!/ Zidane scolded himself. /You're here to make sure Kuja will someday GET to blow more stuff up! . . . Or something like that . . ./.
"I-I don't like this . . ." Vivi whimpered, his lamp-like eyes glowing nervously beneath his hat.
"I agree," nodded Beatrix. "There's something fishy going on here . . ."
Suddenly the hall ended and the team found themselves within an enormous chamber. Large stone pillars ran the length of the passage, each decorated with winding stone snakes that curved and spiraled their way up to the ceiling. The floor was cracked and old; the walls painted with ancient Terran scripts and symbols of Eidolons and no longer worshiped Terran gods. The heat was even more stifling there.
"I know this place . . ." Freya whispered. "This is where Amarant and I fought the Fire Guard. But . . . it's different now. The podium for setting the stone down is gone . . . and most of the statues and pillars are missing . . ."
"It's almost as if . . ." Beatrix furrowed her brow, her face becoming lined with increasing concern as she noted the obvious clearing in the middle of the chamber and the lack of other exits or entrances. Years of being Gaia's greatest general had taught her a thing or two about these sort of layouts. "It's almost as if this place has been cleared away . . . Like a battle arena . . ."
"Ho ho . . . Then the Great General Beatrix's nose for the fight is as good as they say . . . I am pleased. Very impressive, sssssssssweetie,"
The crew were all whipping chaotically around in opposite directions trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It seemed to echo across the entire chamber; reverberating within the very heart of the shrine.
"And my nose for the fight is even better," Zidane hissed, glaring up at the ceiling with grit teeth. "And I know a challenge when I hear one,"
He began to detach himself from the group. Garnet let out a small whine of protest before realizing Zidane wasn't leaving to go take on the challenger by himself . . . He was laying Kuja carefully down on the side of the chamber to keep his vulnerable body safely out of the battle. Freed of his burden, Zidane cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, I'm ready,"
"Excellent," the mysterious voice whispered. It was more like a breathy rattling than anything. Inhuman . . . Female . . . but more like a snake than a person. "Your blood will taste sssssssweet tonight . . ."
"Who are you?!" a typically unheard voice within the group shouted. The others raised eyebrows to see Megan with clenched fists, glaring around for their enemy. There was a faint, flinty laugh.
"You're all murderers . . . traitors . . . beseechers of aid to those who can give none!"
"What are you talking about?!" Zidane demanded, blue eyes blazing.
". . . Don't – pretend – you don't – KNOW!!!"
Flames suddenly erupted within the room. The entire chamber seemed to light on fire; fiery orange swelling up with its suffocating heat and forcing the team to its knees.
She rose up from the sweltering, shimmering air, her yellow eyes aflame. Her skin was a bluish aqua, her clothes a scaly, glittering violet. Drenched in bangles and bracelets, she rattled like a python ready to strike. But her hair . . . Her hair was a bloody crimson red, pulled back into a thick, slithery, snake-ish ponytail. It was so long it could wrap around her body at least four times if not more. A pale pink tongue flicked from her lips, tasting the simmering air. Her yellow eyes were glowing furiously.
The Fire Guard was back . . .
"I thought you guys killed her!" Steiner hollered, eyeing daggers at Freya and Amarant.
"We did!" Freya shouted back. "I swear! I remember watching her die!"
The Fire Guard cackled with glee. "Then you both are the weakest here! Why, the rest of your nasty little friends did a fine and dandy job with my comrades, didn't they?"
/Oh . . . shit . . ./ Zidane suddenly realized what was going on. /If she's referring to the other elemental guardians . . . Then we've got a real situation on our hands . . . Or more like it, a boa constrictor who's just been kicked . . ./.
"We did what we had to do!" Eiko cried shrilly. "They were in our way!"
"And we did only what Garland appointed us to do!" the Fire Guard shrieked. The flames creeping around the edges of the chamber roared with her increasing fury. "But you slaughtered them! ALL I HAD LEFT!!! War has taken my love! Taken my comrades! Taken . . . Even taken my appearance! WELL I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU WHAT WAR CAN DO WHEN IT'S IN THE HANDS OF THE GREATEST MAGICIAN TERRA HAS EVER KNOWN!!!"
She charged down upon the group, flames spitting in a trail behind her. Megan, who had absolutely no skill or experience in fighting (and no magical powers to speak of) was forced to dive out of the way and huddle in a corner. The rest of the crew scattered as the Fire Guard withdrew a fiery, boiled-hot knife from one of the belts tied around her thigh.
"Gah! Run for it!" Lani yelped.
"Not a chance!" Zidane suddenly broke through the chaos of flames and dodging people. He wrenched the Ultima Weapon off his back and brought it streaming through the air. The Fire Guard caught it with her dagger and flung it straight out of his hands.
"YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIE!!!" she snarled furiously.
"For crying out loud!" Zidane stumbled. "Back-up, people!"
Nodding hurriedly, the rest of the crew charged forward to aid their friend. They swiped at her with blades, magic, anything they could find. Freya gave a violent heave into the air, her spear at the ready. But the Fire Guard was too fast. The red-haired monster levitated backwards and vanished in a small spark. She reappeared at the other end of the chamber just in time to release a wave of flames upon the team.
"God damn bitch!" Amarant was too slow and the ends of his pants charred black. The edges flaked off like charcoal. The others had barely made it out in time. Zidane kept glancing at the edge of the chamber to make sure his brother was safe.
"You're working for Garland, aren't you?!" the genome yelled, rushing forward and swinging his newly-retrieved Ultima Weapon in a tight arc towards the Fire Guard's head. She dodged it and lunged straight for him, knocking Zidane backwards with a fierce elbow jab to the stomach.
"Gee, how did you know, genius?!" She let a string of violent Terran expletives fly as she spiraled through the air and dodged several bursts of aqua-based attacks from Vivi.
"That's the way!" Steiner encouraged the young mage. The Fire Guard swept over Vivi's head, scaring him nearly to death and using her muscular snake- hair to trip him flat on his back. Lani swung her axe, but the beast simply vanished again.
"I am SERIOUSLY hating this!" Eiko snarled, casting a faint barrier over some of her nearby comrades. "How did you guys defeat her the first time?!"
"We just kept attacking!" Freya shouted over the din of the battle. "Eventually she just withered away and vanished!"
"Ever heard of WHISPERING?!" the Fire Guard cackled, releasing a jet of fire at Freya. The Burmecian dodged backwards quickly, then dove forward quite suddenly, taking the Guardian of Terra by surprise and nicking one of her bracelets. It shattered and fell to the singed floor in a million tiny fragments. The Fire Guard hissed, her tongue flickering, and she landed lightly at the back of the chamber.
"You all think you can beat me?!" she mocked. "You're nothing but ANTS compared to my wrath!"
"You've got some nerve!" Beatrix hollered.
"Same to you, missssssssy!" the Fire Guard's yellow eyes were glowing with fury. "You come . . . you kill my comrades . . . and then you have the guts to try and enter within the shrine?! The shrine I was sworn to protect?!"
"Bull – shit!" Zidane growled, rubbing his stomach irritably as he stumbled to his feet and retrieved his weapon. "The other guardians are dead so the protection system for Terra doesn't work anymore!"
"Is that what you think this is about?!" the Fire Guard laughed, looking disbelieving. "Psh, Garland hired me because he knew I was FURIOUS!!!" She dove forward once more, darting through the group. Flames roared up in her path, forcing the team to scatter. Then she skidded and flipped around, revealing her two-inch fangs.
"Come on! Show me what you're worth!"
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". . . I smell fire . . ."
"Yeah, me too. You think the guard outside is having a little fun?"
"Meh . . . Probably," Drakja narrowed his green eyes, leaning back against one of the thick shrine pillars. Lulian was gazing eagerly at one of the passages leading to the entrance of Garland's base.
"Ah, I wanna see the destruction for myself!" she whined, tail flicking. Drakja smirked.
"Patience, Lulian . . ."
"Gah, I can only hope a couple of those brats walk in here with a few crispy critters slung over their shoulders! Ooh, wouldn't that be cool?!"
Drakja raised a delicate eyebrow. "You're acting like Dart, Lulian . . ."
". . . And just what are YOU two up to?" Came a soft, sinister voice from (scarily) only a few feet away. Drakja felt cold shivers running up his spine. He knew that voice anywhere . . .
"ARGH, IT'S YOU!!!"
Lulian blinked. "Who's she?"
"Run, Lulian. I'm not even kidding, please freaking run,"
"She looks so cute . . . And small . . ."
"GAH, RUN FOR YOUR GOD DAMN LIIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!"
A syrupy little cackle emitted from the cloaked figure that stood there grinning. "Hehe . . . Garland was right. This place is TEEMING with geonomes!"
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing here?!" Drakja was backing up until he hit the wall, his face as white as a sheet.
"Who's she?" Lulian repeated, blinking. The cloaked figure giggled.
"Come to cuddle with the kiddies, I have,"
"T-Triss . . . What are you playing at?!"
Triss took a step closer. Drakja cringed. "I'm just overseeing the damage, 'tis all. I must say, the reek of singed clothing IS delightful, isn't it?"
"Triss?" Lulian cocked her head. "What is she? Some kind of monster?"
Triss gave a twisted smile, fingering something in her cloak. "Monster? Feh, you wish. I will do far worse damage than any of those so-called "monsters" Garland is toting around here . . ."
Drakja's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the weapons-smith. "What are you talking about?!"
"What am I talking about?" Triss glanced mildly at the geonome with her hidden eyes. "Oh, really . . . You don't honestly think that Fire Guard is going to defeat the Angel of Death, do you?"
Drakja gulped. "Wh-who's side are you on, here?!"
Triss's eyes gleamed red and she licked her lips. ". . . No one's . . ." She let out a dramatic sigh. "Garland is so convinced these old reincarnations from Terra are going to help him . . . But the Fire Guard's going to be worthless by the time this little adventure's over . . . He certainly miscalculated on this one . . ."
Lulian looked more curious than scared of the shrouded, child-like creature. "Why do you say that?"
Triss chuckled to herself. "Don't you know what's going to happen when she finds out . . .?"
"The Fire Guard?"
". . . Hehe . . . She's going to be a might ticked, dare I say it?"
Drakja was frowning deeply. "And just what makes you think the Fire Guard is going to fail?"
"Fail? No, no, she's not going to FAIL! She'll give up; you'll see . . ."
"But why?" Lulian and Drakja queried simultaneously. Triss smirked.
"Because the first Angel of Death was cloaked the first time they met . . ." And that was all the creature said. With a faint "pop" she vanished. The lanterns that had previously been lit around the corridors billowed dangerously as if caught in a fierce wind; several blowing out. But they flickered back to life almost immediately, leaving Drakja and Lulian shivering with goose-bumps riding up and down their arms.
"What was THAT all about?!" Lulian shouted, flabbergasted. Drakja's green eyes narrowed.
"I don't know . . . But I do know ONE thing . . . That little imp is up to no good,"
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The battle in the Fire Shrine was becoming more intense. The Fire Guard truly was out for blood this time. No longer was she trying to prevent anyone from entering the shrine . . . She was trying to kill them before they even thought about it.
"Murderers!" the snake-light woman shrieked where she levitated, holding out her arms and allowing sprays of flames to blast from her fingertips. The team below dodged out of the way.
"Freya, get her!" Garnet cried, skidding off to the side of the chamber as she felt her boots burning. Freya nodded, taking up her spear again. With a snarl, she shot into the air.
The Fire Guard hissed and dodged Freya's spear. Obviously, however, Freya was at a disadvantage. Though she was the only member of the group that could jump that high (courtesy of the geonomes kidnapping Fratley), she couldn't levitate like the Fire Guard could. Her spear missed and she landed lightly on the ground. Then, taking a deep breath, she prepared to leap again.
Zidane was clenching and unclenching his Ultima Weapon with fury. "Damn it, Kuja . . ." he muttered aloud. "Why can't you be alive when we need you?!" He knew full well that Kuja could not only fly like the Fire Guard, but could probably touch her blue-ish flesh and end the battle right then and there.
/I'm supposed to be the better Angel of Death . . ./ Zidane thought angrily to himself. /By all rights I should be able to defeat this creature in a snap. Why am I so powerless against her?/.
This odd thought suddenly fascinated the genome. As if his legs were moving of their own accord, he backed up lethargically from the battle and stood there watching the action.
"Miserable wretch!" Beatrix swung furiously at the Fire Guard but couldn't reach her. "A cheap trick!"
The Fire Guard simply cackled. "All's fair in love, war, and assimilations!"
Zidane's mind was racing. /All's fair in love . . . war . . . and assimilations . . ./.
Eiko was readying her flute. "I didn't want to have to Summon!" she shouted. "But it looks like you leave me no choice!"
The enemy smirked. ". . . Your Eidolons will be powerless against me now that Garland has strengthened Terra . . . I could squash them like Gaian oglops!"
/Strengthened Terra . . . Gaian oglops?/
Suddenly, Zidane hurled into the air, his Ultima Weapon whizzing out behind him. The Fire Guard blinked and dodged out of the way with a cry. She vanished with surprise and reappeared at the other end of the chamber, her feet planted firmly on the ground.
"Insufferable beast!" Zidane growled, pushing off against the wall and racing straight towards her. His Ultima Weapon shrieked as the Fire Guard caught it defiantly in her hands. Blood dripped down her fingers but she seemed to be ignoring it. Her fangs were bared.
"You're one of the original Terrans!" Zidane snarled, backing the creature up against the wall of the shrine.
"No shit!" the Fire Guard bit back. Her tongue flickered in Zidane's face but the position of her hands kept her from using any magic.
"The magicians that Kuja told me about!" Zidane continued as if she'd said nothing at all.
The Fire Guard let out a pained shriek and suddenly kicked the genome backwards. Then she lunged at him with all her might.
"That name! DO NOT MENTION THAT ACCURSED NAME IN THIS SHRINE AGAIN!!!"
The others could only stand and watch in horror as Zidane and the Fire Guard each struggled for a dominant position over the other. Zidane finally overpowered the creature and pinned her down against the floor. Then Zidane hesitated. The Guardian of Terra smiled toothily. ". . . I can't disappear you fool . . . My magic supplies were low from the beginning . . . and that little bitch just cast Osmose on me," She glared daggers at Eiko who smirked superiorly.
"Kuja was the one that originally sent the guards to kill us, huh?!" Zidane accused. "Three years ago, practically to the day!"
"That's right!" The Fire Guard suddenly used her snake-ish hair like a whip-turned-battering ram to hurtle Zidane off her body with a crack. He yelled and hit the ground hard. Garnet made a move to go towards him but he waved her away.
"No! Let me handle this!"
The Fire Guard rose and stepped menacingly towards Zidane as he stumbled to his feet. He quickly grasped his Ultima Weapon.
"You think Kuja was a Gaian, right?" he queried, blue eyes blazing. "You think he came because he wanted us dead, right?"
"Right!" The Fire Guard winced, summoning the few dregs of magic she had left to throw a pyre of flames in Zidane's direction. He darted out of the way and then, much to the surprise of his comrades, dusted himself off and continued to talk with the guard.
"And then the other magicians died because of what he made you do, right?!"
"Not as stupid as you seem, huh?!" The Fire Guard caught Zidane's Ultima Weapon with one of her remaining bracelets as he brought it down dangerously close to her shoulder. They stood there, arms trembling, aqua eyes glaring fiercely into amber.
"Apparently YOU are!" Zidane kicked out at the beast, forcing her to stumble backwards. "You're attacking me! Kuja and I . . . we're Terran!"
The Fire Guard blinked, not comprehending right away. ". . . What . . .?"
"We're Terran, you snaky idiot! Look, tail!" he turned slightly to the side and waved the furry golden appendage in her face. The Fire Guard stared at it for a moment, then growled.
"YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE FUCKING GENOMES!!! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF FAKES!!! GARLAND AND I ARE THE LAST OF THE /REAL/ TERRANS!!!"
She threw a punch at Zidane's face and they saw too late that there were flames dancing around her knuckles. Zidane yelped as he leapt away. The flames licked his vest, singing it slightly, and he stumbled backwards nearly landing right on top of . . .
"Gah, Kuja, sorry!"
Zidane quickly rolled sideways to avoid hitting his brother, accidentally brushing Kuja's hood off his face. Then the blonde leapt up, fists clenched and ready for a fight. The Ultima Weapon lay forgotten several feet away.
"Alright, I'm ready!"
But the Fire Guard wasn't attacking. In fact, she wasn't even moving. The snake-like appendage that was her ponytail was limp and lifeless, her arms hanging uselessly at her sides. Her golden eyes were staring at Kuja's face with a mixture of some kind of horror and fear.
"N-no! It . . . It couldn't be!" She backed up a step, trembling. "No! Saishoja, why . . .?"
Complete and utter silence descended. It took Zidane a second to realize he wasn't the ONLY person with his mouth hanging open like a suffocating fish in shock. He snapped it shut hurriedly, fumbling over what to say.
"Th-that's not . . . Ahem . . . That's not . . . Saishoja . . ."
But the Fire Guard wasn't listening. She stepped slowly towards Kuja's lifeless body, her eyes shining with what could have once been tears.
"Saishoja . . . Truly, Garland did not . . . But they burned . . ."
She slumped to her knees beside him, her fingers ghosting over Kuja's face as if they brought back some sort of tragic memory.
"Garland said . . . He said he'd burned Saishoja's body . . . I was there . . . They lay it upon a pyre . . . And it went up in smoke . . ."
The others were watching Zidane quietly as if waiting for him to force the Fire Guard away from his brother. But Zidane wasn't moving. He seemed riveted by this turn of events.
". . . That's not Saishoja," Zidane repeated. He licked his lips, looking somewhat nervous. "THAT'S Kuja . . ."
The Fire Guard whipped her head over her shoulder, the snake-like hair rattling with rage.
"What do YOU know, you mangy cur?!"
"I know that Kuja's my brother and right now you're touching him WITHOUT my permission . . ."
The Fire Guard looked crestfallen. "But . . . No, that's not possible! This face . . . I would know this face a mile away! After all these centuries . . . It is still so clear in my mind . . .!"
Zidane's eyes were lit. He could feel the little connectors in his head snapping together.
"Kuja was cloaked when he spoke to you three years ago, wasn't he? He probably didn't want you to mistake him for Saishoja . . ."
"This is TOO weird . . ." Lani whispered, shaking her head.
"Th-this is scary!" Vivi was clutching his staff anxiously.
The Fire Guard hissed. "How could that asshole be Saishoja?!"
Zidane was smiling faintly. ". . . He's not . . . He's a replication. Garland's been lying to you, hasn't he?"
The turquoise-skinned woman was looking mortified. "Garland . . . has been playing us ALL false! He told me the only people that would die would be those who were not of the new Terra . . . But now I recognize where I've seen you before!" she gaped at Zidane. "The genomes! Garland has hundreds of them in imprisonment! Th-they may not be my people . . . But if they are all replications like you claim Kuja is, then they were all birthed of a real Terran! Garland . . . Garland's been having me out to kill my own people!"
Zidane sighed, nodding. "It's about time somebody realized it . . . See the state Kuja's in? Garland sent one of the replications to do that to him. He's been stealing souls that rightfully should belong to the new Terrans – the genomes – for years. Kuja's been becoming Saishoja for quite some time now . . . And Garland just put a death curse on him . . ."
"That's it, Zidane . . ." Beatrix whispered, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "Just keep negotiating like that . . . We might win this yet . . ."
Zidane continued. "Your appearance; did Garland do that to you?"
The Fire Guard nodded, biting her lip with one sharp fang. "I was once . . . I once looked something like YOU! With a tail and everything like the original Terrans of centuries ago. After Saishoja died, the world began to collapse. Garland said the only way anyone could survive would be serious mutation. He said Terra would never become habitable again, and then he warped my three other comrades and me. But the genomes were living there! It DID become habitable! And the fact that he didn't alter himself proves he knew it would! He changed me for no reason! L-look what he did to me!" She signaled towards her hideous, creature-like form. "I'm a freak!"
"This is really confusing . . ." Steiner muttered to Beatrix. "The Fire Guard just changed her opinion in a matter of seconds. Just how old IS she?"
Apparently the Fire Guard heard him. "You want to know the story?" she queried without even turning around to face the knight. His silence was her only answer. She sighed, her tongue tasting the air.
". . . More than six centuries ago, around the time the war that would eventually destroy Terra began, I was an apprentice mage along with my three other comrades, Derek Kaze, Linda Eikitai, and Michael Shibo. When the war started, we became neutral warriors – the Four Great Terran Magicians – who could be hired by any side to fight. Saishoja's city wound up hiring me . . . And I, er . . ." The Fire Guard cast an anxious look first at Kuja, then at Zidane. Zidane's eyes narrowed.
". . . You fell in love with Saishoja, didn't you?"
The Fire Guard nodded so faintly it was hard to tell she'd made any response at all. "But . . . Saishoja wound up getting married to that . . . that damn woman! He loved her SO much!" The Fire Guard made a face. "But then when their first child was born there were . . . complications. Both mother and child died leaving Saishoja with nothing! His family had been in the care of, surprisingly enough, an opposing city,"
"Let me guess . . ." Zidane was smirking at the irony of it all. "Drakja's city?"
". . . How did you know that?"
"Just a guess,"
The Fire Guard looked suspicious but continued her story nonetheless. "Well, naturally Saishoja was furious. He swore revenge on Drakja, whom he had once been extremely close to,"
"And then Drakja killed Saishoja during the battle that was fought the next day, causing a political Terran uproar that ended the world" Zidane butted in. "Kuja told me the story once,"
The Fire Guard's eyes gleamed. "No, no he didn't! Drakja did something MUCH worse than that! He went to Saishoja at the Shin camp . . . OFF the battle-field. Those territories were considered no-man's land! In other words, what Drakja did was legally considered murder! He killed Saishoja in a neutral territory . . . It was against the law! I . . . happened to walk right in on them just as Saishoja collapsed," A twisted smile formed on the Fire Guard's face. "Drakja stabbed Saishoja through the back with a blade until it stuck right out of his chest . . . Straight through flesh . . . bone . . . and his heart,"
"Ew," Eiko squealed off to the side. The Fire Guard ignored her.
"Nobody knows what happened to Drakja after that. Most figure he fled, knowing he would be executed for his crimes. When the bombs were detonated Drakja probably died from the radiation while in hiding . . ."
But that didn't sit right with Zidane at all. If Garland had recreated the old Drakja into the new Drakja that was pursuing Zidane and his comrades in the present era, he would have needed some of the original Drakja's DNA. How could he have gotten that if Drakja had fled and died of a nuclear winter? After all, hadn't Garland gone into a hidden underground lab in Bran Bal right before the bombing? The Fire Guard let out a tragic sigh.
"Needless to say, Saishoja's ruined body was taken away and kept in his home city before a huge ceremony was conducted to cremate him . . . I . . . I was there, of course . . ."
But that didn't sit right either! Then where had Garland gotten the DNA from?! The people would have noticed if Garland had taken Saishoja's body away at some point!
". . . No, wait . . ." Zidane frowned. "The body they burned . . . It was a fake,"
"Huh?" The others were staring at Zidane as if he were growing another tail out of the back of his head.
"Garland constructed a fake body to be burned and took the real one for himself to study and reconstruct . . . Then he made Kuja,"
The Fire Guard looked horrified. "That's terrible! . . . And illegal,"
"But what about Drakja?" Garnet queried.
"What do you mean?" The Fire Guard swelled with fear, her fangs bared. "Don't tell me – "
"You mean you didn't KNOW?" Zidane was gaping at the beast. "Didn't you SEE him?"
"I THOUGHT Garland's minion looked uncannily like Drakja! So he's a reconstruction as well?! That means I'VE BEEN SERVING MY BITTER ENEMY?!!
". . . 'fraid so . . ." Zidane looked truly sorry for the poor creature. "Somehow he must have gotten a hold of Drakja's body in order to reconstruct the new one and all those geonomes . . ."
"You think he tracked down Drakja six-hundred years ago after that incident and killed him?" Freya cocked her head curiously. Suddenly, the Fire Guard's face broke into a grin.
". . . I know what happened to Drakja . . . It was right after he killed Saishoja. I was there. Saishoja said something . . . and then . . ."
Zidane looked eager for answers. "And then . . . what?"
The Fire Guard glanced at him slyly. ". . . It's a secret . . ." She rose huffily to her feet, fingers clenched and flames dancing around her wrists. "This . . . this TREACHERY of Garland's, however . . . is UNACCEPTABLE!"
"Then you'll join us?!" Megan looked hopeful as she stood up from the corner now that it was safe.
The Fire Guard nodded, growling. "Absolutely! I'll go and stop the flow of Mist from the Iifa Tree. It's my fault it started up again. You guys go on ahead . . . Save Kuja and the other Terrans . . . And make sure you give Garland an extra stab-wound just for me," She smirked. "You, my friends, have just made a very powerful ally . . ."
She floated into the air and began to fly towards the exit when she suddenly stopped mid-air and turned around.
"And by the way . . . My real name was Madeline Hebi. Only the other Terran Magicians, however, called me by my nick-name . . . I'm going to bestow that right unto you . . ."
"And what's the name?" Zidane inquired. The Fire Guard chuckled, landing lightly and walking composedly towards the door.
"Just call me . . . Taki-Bi . . ."
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A/N: Yes! A new ally! Take THAT, Garland *kicks Garland repeatedly with Triss's cool spiky-soled boots* I think the introduction of Taki-Bi might make a few of the other chapters a little more clear (for example, why Garland said she would wake up if Drakja was near . . . Obviously her hatred for him might issue a response *evil grin*). Also, in the flashback of a previous chapter where we actually see Drakja kill Saishoja, ya might remember a woman screaming. Yeah, that was the Fire Guard . . . Ehe. And now to say something in my defense . . . When I give y'all the link to the web-comic (which I WILL!) you might notice in chapter one something that appears to be . . . oh gosh, it's too horrible to say . . . You might notice me seemingly *gulp* reusing names. But TECHNICALLY I'm not, and if you follow the web-comic you'll see why. I know that makes no sense now, but it will. Let's just say, they're not really names. Er, what I mean by that is like, for example, Taki-Bi isn't a name. It means "fire" in Japanese. So I wouldn't really be reusing names . . . Just . . . words *cough* . . . . . . . . *ahem*
[Continuing to sing "Melodies of Life"]
So far and away see the chapter flying by, darting through reviewers of the fic up in the sky. I've laid my hopes and prayers upon those guys . . . Leave them there and pray this story never . . . dies. YAY!!!
READ AND REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
Disclaimer: [To the tune of "Melodies of Life"] In my dearest memory . . . I'm owning Final Fantasy! Though I don't, I still believe that I can rule . . . the world!
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"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."
– Aldous Huxley
Four hours and one uneventful airship ride later . . .
"My GODS it's hot in here!" Eiko complained, rubbing the sweat out of her eyes.
"No kidding," Amarant grumbled, trailing along at the back of the group.
"Gee, who would have thought a Fire Shrine could be hot?" Zidane blinked innocently, staring up at the rocky, reddish ceiling. Garnet rolled her eyes.
Getting into the Fire Shrine had been a lot easier than they'd thought. Not only was the chamber already unsealed, but there hadn't been a single geonome around to boot.
"It's a trap," Zidane had said immediately. Nobody was going to argue on that one.
"Garland's not stupid . . ." Beatrix whispered, peering around at the large stone columns lining the walls. They were stiff and worn like ancient soldiers at attention. Every once and awhile a piece flaked off and crumbled to the ground, startling them.
"I wouldn't count on that," Steiner muttered. Beatrix ignored him.
"It's more likely than not he's got some sort of trick up his sleeve,"
"Amarant, Freya, you guys were in here before, right?" Garnet glanced over her shoulder at the pair. "Were there any hidden traps?"
Freya shook her head, shrugging. "Not a thing, unless you count the Fire Guard,"
"B-but you killed it, right?" Vivi looked rather worried.
"Naturally," Freya nodded.
"That was ALL your shrine had?!" Eiko complained. "That's so unfair! Ours threw giant water-bombs at us!"
Zidane grinned to himself. "Ours – in our dear late Quina's own words – almost turned us into pancakes when the floor somehow tried to crush us into the ceiling . . ."
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing Garland chose the Fire Shrine for his base," said Lani offhandedly.
"Too good . . ." Zidane muttered. "There's got to be more to this. There's something we're not thinking of . . ." He shifted the lifeless, hooded and cloaked body slung over his shoulder uncomfortably. He knew if Kuja was awake he would have been running ahead and blasting at everything in sight to clear their path.
/Stop thinking about that!/ Zidane scolded himself. /You're here to make sure Kuja will someday GET to blow more stuff up! . . . Or something like that . . ./.
"I-I don't like this . . ." Vivi whimpered, his lamp-like eyes glowing nervously beneath his hat.
"I agree," nodded Beatrix. "There's something fishy going on here . . ."
Suddenly the hall ended and the team found themselves within an enormous chamber. Large stone pillars ran the length of the passage, each decorated with winding stone snakes that curved and spiraled their way up to the ceiling. The floor was cracked and old; the walls painted with ancient Terran scripts and symbols of Eidolons and no longer worshiped Terran gods. The heat was even more stifling there.
"I know this place . . ." Freya whispered. "This is where Amarant and I fought the Fire Guard. But . . . it's different now. The podium for setting the stone down is gone . . . and most of the statues and pillars are missing . . ."
"It's almost as if . . ." Beatrix furrowed her brow, her face becoming lined with increasing concern as she noted the obvious clearing in the middle of the chamber and the lack of other exits or entrances. Years of being Gaia's greatest general had taught her a thing or two about these sort of layouts. "It's almost as if this place has been cleared away . . . Like a battle arena . . ."
"Ho ho . . . Then the Great General Beatrix's nose for the fight is as good as they say . . . I am pleased. Very impressive, sssssssssweetie,"
The crew were all whipping chaotically around in opposite directions trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It seemed to echo across the entire chamber; reverberating within the very heart of the shrine.
"And my nose for the fight is even better," Zidane hissed, glaring up at the ceiling with grit teeth. "And I know a challenge when I hear one,"
He began to detach himself from the group. Garnet let out a small whine of protest before realizing Zidane wasn't leaving to go take on the challenger by himself . . . He was laying Kuja carefully down on the side of the chamber to keep his vulnerable body safely out of the battle. Freed of his burden, Zidane cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, I'm ready,"
"Excellent," the mysterious voice whispered. It was more like a breathy rattling than anything. Inhuman . . . Female . . . but more like a snake than a person. "Your blood will taste sssssssweet tonight . . ."
"Who are you?!" a typically unheard voice within the group shouted. The others raised eyebrows to see Megan with clenched fists, glaring around for their enemy. There was a faint, flinty laugh.
"You're all murderers . . . traitors . . . beseechers of aid to those who can give none!"
"What are you talking about?!" Zidane demanded, blue eyes blazing.
". . . Don't – pretend – you don't – KNOW!!!"
Flames suddenly erupted within the room. The entire chamber seemed to light on fire; fiery orange swelling up with its suffocating heat and forcing the team to its knees.
She rose up from the sweltering, shimmering air, her yellow eyes aflame. Her skin was a bluish aqua, her clothes a scaly, glittering violet. Drenched in bangles and bracelets, she rattled like a python ready to strike. But her hair . . . Her hair was a bloody crimson red, pulled back into a thick, slithery, snake-ish ponytail. It was so long it could wrap around her body at least four times if not more. A pale pink tongue flicked from her lips, tasting the simmering air. Her yellow eyes were glowing furiously.
The Fire Guard was back . . .
"I thought you guys killed her!" Steiner hollered, eyeing daggers at Freya and Amarant.
"We did!" Freya shouted back. "I swear! I remember watching her die!"
The Fire Guard cackled with glee. "Then you both are the weakest here! Why, the rest of your nasty little friends did a fine and dandy job with my comrades, didn't they?"
/Oh . . . shit . . ./ Zidane suddenly realized what was going on. /If she's referring to the other elemental guardians . . . Then we've got a real situation on our hands . . . Or more like it, a boa constrictor who's just been kicked . . ./.
"We did what we had to do!" Eiko cried shrilly. "They were in our way!"
"And we did only what Garland appointed us to do!" the Fire Guard shrieked. The flames creeping around the edges of the chamber roared with her increasing fury. "But you slaughtered them! ALL I HAD LEFT!!! War has taken my love! Taken my comrades! Taken . . . Even taken my appearance! WELL I'M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU WHAT WAR CAN DO WHEN IT'S IN THE HANDS OF THE GREATEST MAGICIAN TERRA HAS EVER KNOWN!!!"
She charged down upon the group, flames spitting in a trail behind her. Megan, who had absolutely no skill or experience in fighting (and no magical powers to speak of) was forced to dive out of the way and huddle in a corner. The rest of the crew scattered as the Fire Guard withdrew a fiery, boiled-hot knife from one of the belts tied around her thigh.
"Gah! Run for it!" Lani yelped.
"Not a chance!" Zidane suddenly broke through the chaos of flames and dodging people. He wrenched the Ultima Weapon off his back and brought it streaming through the air. The Fire Guard caught it with her dagger and flung it straight out of his hands.
"YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIIE!!!" she snarled furiously.
"For crying out loud!" Zidane stumbled. "Back-up, people!"
Nodding hurriedly, the rest of the crew charged forward to aid their friend. They swiped at her with blades, magic, anything they could find. Freya gave a violent heave into the air, her spear at the ready. But the Fire Guard was too fast. The red-haired monster levitated backwards and vanished in a small spark. She reappeared at the other end of the chamber just in time to release a wave of flames upon the team.
"God damn bitch!" Amarant was too slow and the ends of his pants charred black. The edges flaked off like charcoal. The others had barely made it out in time. Zidane kept glancing at the edge of the chamber to make sure his brother was safe.
"You're working for Garland, aren't you?!" the genome yelled, rushing forward and swinging his newly-retrieved Ultima Weapon in a tight arc towards the Fire Guard's head. She dodged it and lunged straight for him, knocking Zidane backwards with a fierce elbow jab to the stomach.
"Gee, how did you know, genius?!" She let a string of violent Terran expletives fly as she spiraled through the air and dodged several bursts of aqua-based attacks from Vivi.
"That's the way!" Steiner encouraged the young mage. The Fire Guard swept over Vivi's head, scaring him nearly to death and using her muscular snake- hair to trip him flat on his back. Lani swung her axe, but the beast simply vanished again.
"I am SERIOUSLY hating this!" Eiko snarled, casting a faint barrier over some of her nearby comrades. "How did you guys defeat her the first time?!"
"We just kept attacking!" Freya shouted over the din of the battle. "Eventually she just withered away and vanished!"
"Ever heard of WHISPERING?!" the Fire Guard cackled, releasing a jet of fire at Freya. The Burmecian dodged backwards quickly, then dove forward quite suddenly, taking the Guardian of Terra by surprise and nicking one of her bracelets. It shattered and fell to the singed floor in a million tiny fragments. The Fire Guard hissed, her tongue flickering, and she landed lightly at the back of the chamber.
"You all think you can beat me?!" she mocked. "You're nothing but ANTS compared to my wrath!"
"You've got some nerve!" Beatrix hollered.
"Same to you, missssssssy!" the Fire Guard's yellow eyes were glowing with fury. "You come . . . you kill my comrades . . . and then you have the guts to try and enter within the shrine?! The shrine I was sworn to protect?!"
"Bull – shit!" Zidane growled, rubbing his stomach irritably as he stumbled to his feet and retrieved his weapon. "The other guardians are dead so the protection system for Terra doesn't work anymore!"
"Is that what you think this is about?!" the Fire Guard laughed, looking disbelieving. "Psh, Garland hired me because he knew I was FURIOUS!!!" She dove forward once more, darting through the group. Flames roared up in her path, forcing the team to scatter. Then she skidded and flipped around, revealing her two-inch fangs.
"Come on! Show me what you're worth!"
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". . . I smell fire . . ."
"Yeah, me too. You think the guard outside is having a little fun?"
"Meh . . . Probably," Drakja narrowed his green eyes, leaning back against one of the thick shrine pillars. Lulian was gazing eagerly at one of the passages leading to the entrance of Garland's base.
"Ah, I wanna see the destruction for myself!" she whined, tail flicking. Drakja smirked.
"Patience, Lulian . . ."
"Gah, I can only hope a couple of those brats walk in here with a few crispy critters slung over their shoulders! Ooh, wouldn't that be cool?!"
Drakja raised a delicate eyebrow. "You're acting like Dart, Lulian . . ."
". . . And just what are YOU two up to?" Came a soft, sinister voice from (scarily) only a few feet away. Drakja felt cold shivers running up his spine. He knew that voice anywhere . . .
"ARGH, IT'S YOU!!!"
Lulian blinked. "Who's she?"
"Run, Lulian. I'm not even kidding, please freaking run,"
"She looks so cute . . . And small . . ."
"GAH, RUN FOR YOUR GOD DAMN LIIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!"
A syrupy little cackle emitted from the cloaked figure that stood there grinning. "Hehe . . . Garland was right. This place is TEEMING with geonomes!"
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing here?!" Drakja was backing up until he hit the wall, his face as white as a sheet.
"Who's she?" Lulian repeated, blinking. The cloaked figure giggled.
"Come to cuddle with the kiddies, I have,"
"T-Triss . . . What are you playing at?!"
Triss took a step closer. Drakja cringed. "I'm just overseeing the damage, 'tis all. I must say, the reek of singed clothing IS delightful, isn't it?"
"Triss?" Lulian cocked her head. "What is she? Some kind of monster?"
Triss gave a twisted smile, fingering something in her cloak. "Monster? Feh, you wish. I will do far worse damage than any of those so-called "monsters" Garland is toting around here . . ."
Drakja's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the weapons-smith. "What are you talking about?!"
"What am I talking about?" Triss glanced mildly at the geonome with her hidden eyes. "Oh, really . . . You don't honestly think that Fire Guard is going to defeat the Angel of Death, do you?"
Drakja gulped. "Wh-who's side are you on, here?!"
Triss's eyes gleamed red and she licked her lips. ". . . No one's . . ." She let out a dramatic sigh. "Garland is so convinced these old reincarnations from Terra are going to help him . . . But the Fire Guard's going to be worthless by the time this little adventure's over . . . He certainly miscalculated on this one . . ."
Lulian looked more curious than scared of the shrouded, child-like creature. "Why do you say that?"
Triss chuckled to herself. "Don't you know what's going to happen when she finds out . . .?"
"The Fire Guard?"
". . . Hehe . . . She's going to be a might ticked, dare I say it?"
Drakja was frowning deeply. "And just what makes you think the Fire Guard is going to fail?"
"Fail? No, no, she's not going to FAIL! She'll give up; you'll see . . ."
"But why?" Lulian and Drakja queried simultaneously. Triss smirked.
"Because the first Angel of Death was cloaked the first time they met . . ." And that was all the creature said. With a faint "pop" she vanished. The lanterns that had previously been lit around the corridors billowed dangerously as if caught in a fierce wind; several blowing out. But they flickered back to life almost immediately, leaving Drakja and Lulian shivering with goose-bumps riding up and down their arms.
"What was THAT all about?!" Lulian shouted, flabbergasted. Drakja's green eyes narrowed.
"I don't know . . . But I do know ONE thing . . . That little imp is up to no good,"
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The battle in the Fire Shrine was becoming more intense. The Fire Guard truly was out for blood this time. No longer was she trying to prevent anyone from entering the shrine . . . She was trying to kill them before they even thought about it.
"Murderers!" the snake-light woman shrieked where she levitated, holding out her arms and allowing sprays of flames to blast from her fingertips. The team below dodged out of the way.
"Freya, get her!" Garnet cried, skidding off to the side of the chamber as she felt her boots burning. Freya nodded, taking up her spear again. With a snarl, she shot into the air.
The Fire Guard hissed and dodged Freya's spear. Obviously, however, Freya was at a disadvantage. Though she was the only member of the group that could jump that high (courtesy of the geonomes kidnapping Fratley), she couldn't levitate like the Fire Guard could. Her spear missed and she landed lightly on the ground. Then, taking a deep breath, she prepared to leap again.
Zidane was clenching and unclenching his Ultima Weapon with fury. "Damn it, Kuja . . ." he muttered aloud. "Why can't you be alive when we need you?!" He knew full well that Kuja could not only fly like the Fire Guard, but could probably touch her blue-ish flesh and end the battle right then and there.
/I'm supposed to be the better Angel of Death . . ./ Zidane thought angrily to himself. /By all rights I should be able to defeat this creature in a snap. Why am I so powerless against her?/.
This odd thought suddenly fascinated the genome. As if his legs were moving of their own accord, he backed up lethargically from the battle and stood there watching the action.
"Miserable wretch!" Beatrix swung furiously at the Fire Guard but couldn't reach her. "A cheap trick!"
The Fire Guard simply cackled. "All's fair in love, war, and assimilations!"
Zidane's mind was racing. /All's fair in love . . . war . . . and assimilations . . ./.
Eiko was readying her flute. "I didn't want to have to Summon!" she shouted. "But it looks like you leave me no choice!"
The enemy smirked. ". . . Your Eidolons will be powerless against me now that Garland has strengthened Terra . . . I could squash them like Gaian oglops!"
/Strengthened Terra . . . Gaian oglops?/
Suddenly, Zidane hurled into the air, his Ultima Weapon whizzing out behind him. The Fire Guard blinked and dodged out of the way with a cry. She vanished with surprise and reappeared at the other end of the chamber, her feet planted firmly on the ground.
"Insufferable beast!" Zidane growled, pushing off against the wall and racing straight towards her. His Ultima Weapon shrieked as the Fire Guard caught it defiantly in her hands. Blood dripped down her fingers but she seemed to be ignoring it. Her fangs were bared.
"You're one of the original Terrans!" Zidane snarled, backing the creature up against the wall of the shrine.
"No shit!" the Fire Guard bit back. Her tongue flickered in Zidane's face but the position of her hands kept her from using any magic.
"The magicians that Kuja told me about!" Zidane continued as if she'd said nothing at all.
The Fire Guard let out a pained shriek and suddenly kicked the genome backwards. Then she lunged at him with all her might.
"That name! DO NOT MENTION THAT ACCURSED NAME IN THIS SHRINE AGAIN!!!"
The others could only stand and watch in horror as Zidane and the Fire Guard each struggled for a dominant position over the other. Zidane finally overpowered the creature and pinned her down against the floor. Then Zidane hesitated. The Guardian of Terra smiled toothily. ". . . I can't disappear you fool . . . My magic supplies were low from the beginning . . . and that little bitch just cast Osmose on me," She glared daggers at Eiko who smirked superiorly.
"Kuja was the one that originally sent the guards to kill us, huh?!" Zidane accused. "Three years ago, practically to the day!"
"That's right!" The Fire Guard suddenly used her snake-ish hair like a whip-turned-battering ram to hurtle Zidane off her body with a crack. He yelled and hit the ground hard. Garnet made a move to go towards him but he waved her away.
"No! Let me handle this!"
The Fire Guard rose and stepped menacingly towards Zidane as he stumbled to his feet. He quickly grasped his Ultima Weapon.
"You think Kuja was a Gaian, right?" he queried, blue eyes blazing. "You think he came because he wanted us dead, right?"
"Right!" The Fire Guard winced, summoning the few dregs of magic she had left to throw a pyre of flames in Zidane's direction. He darted out of the way and then, much to the surprise of his comrades, dusted himself off and continued to talk with the guard.
"And then the other magicians died because of what he made you do, right?!"
"Not as stupid as you seem, huh?!" The Fire Guard caught Zidane's Ultima Weapon with one of her remaining bracelets as he brought it down dangerously close to her shoulder. They stood there, arms trembling, aqua eyes glaring fiercely into amber.
"Apparently YOU are!" Zidane kicked out at the beast, forcing her to stumble backwards. "You're attacking me! Kuja and I . . . we're Terran!"
The Fire Guard blinked, not comprehending right away. ". . . What . . .?"
"We're Terran, you snaky idiot! Look, tail!" he turned slightly to the side and waved the furry golden appendage in her face. The Fire Guard stared at it for a moment, then growled.
"YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE FUCKING GENOMES!!! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF FAKES!!! GARLAND AND I ARE THE LAST OF THE /REAL/ TERRANS!!!"
She threw a punch at Zidane's face and they saw too late that there were flames dancing around her knuckles. Zidane yelped as he leapt away. The flames licked his vest, singing it slightly, and he stumbled backwards nearly landing right on top of . . .
"Gah, Kuja, sorry!"
Zidane quickly rolled sideways to avoid hitting his brother, accidentally brushing Kuja's hood off his face. Then the blonde leapt up, fists clenched and ready for a fight. The Ultima Weapon lay forgotten several feet away.
"Alright, I'm ready!"
But the Fire Guard wasn't attacking. In fact, she wasn't even moving. The snake-like appendage that was her ponytail was limp and lifeless, her arms hanging uselessly at her sides. Her golden eyes were staring at Kuja's face with a mixture of some kind of horror and fear.
"N-no! It . . . It couldn't be!" She backed up a step, trembling. "No! Saishoja, why . . .?"
Complete and utter silence descended. It took Zidane a second to realize he wasn't the ONLY person with his mouth hanging open like a suffocating fish in shock. He snapped it shut hurriedly, fumbling over what to say.
"Th-that's not . . . Ahem . . . That's not . . . Saishoja . . ."
But the Fire Guard wasn't listening. She stepped slowly towards Kuja's lifeless body, her eyes shining with what could have once been tears.
"Saishoja . . . Truly, Garland did not . . . But they burned . . ."
She slumped to her knees beside him, her fingers ghosting over Kuja's face as if they brought back some sort of tragic memory.
"Garland said . . . He said he'd burned Saishoja's body . . . I was there . . . They lay it upon a pyre . . . And it went up in smoke . . ."
The others were watching Zidane quietly as if waiting for him to force the Fire Guard away from his brother. But Zidane wasn't moving. He seemed riveted by this turn of events.
". . . That's not Saishoja," Zidane repeated. He licked his lips, looking somewhat nervous. "THAT'S Kuja . . ."
The Fire Guard whipped her head over her shoulder, the snake-like hair rattling with rage.
"What do YOU know, you mangy cur?!"
"I know that Kuja's my brother and right now you're touching him WITHOUT my permission . . ."
The Fire Guard looked crestfallen. "But . . . No, that's not possible! This face . . . I would know this face a mile away! After all these centuries . . . It is still so clear in my mind . . .!"
Zidane's eyes were lit. He could feel the little connectors in his head snapping together.
"Kuja was cloaked when he spoke to you three years ago, wasn't he? He probably didn't want you to mistake him for Saishoja . . ."
"This is TOO weird . . ." Lani whispered, shaking her head.
"Th-this is scary!" Vivi was clutching his staff anxiously.
The Fire Guard hissed. "How could that asshole be Saishoja?!"
Zidane was smiling faintly. ". . . He's not . . . He's a replication. Garland's been lying to you, hasn't he?"
The turquoise-skinned woman was looking mortified. "Garland . . . has been playing us ALL false! He told me the only people that would die would be those who were not of the new Terra . . . But now I recognize where I've seen you before!" she gaped at Zidane. "The genomes! Garland has hundreds of them in imprisonment! Th-they may not be my people . . . But if they are all replications like you claim Kuja is, then they were all birthed of a real Terran! Garland . . . Garland's been having me out to kill my own people!"
Zidane sighed, nodding. "It's about time somebody realized it . . . See the state Kuja's in? Garland sent one of the replications to do that to him. He's been stealing souls that rightfully should belong to the new Terrans – the genomes – for years. Kuja's been becoming Saishoja for quite some time now . . . And Garland just put a death curse on him . . ."
"That's it, Zidane . . ." Beatrix whispered, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. "Just keep negotiating like that . . . We might win this yet . . ."
Zidane continued. "Your appearance; did Garland do that to you?"
The Fire Guard nodded, biting her lip with one sharp fang. "I was once . . . I once looked something like YOU! With a tail and everything like the original Terrans of centuries ago. After Saishoja died, the world began to collapse. Garland said the only way anyone could survive would be serious mutation. He said Terra would never become habitable again, and then he warped my three other comrades and me. But the genomes were living there! It DID become habitable! And the fact that he didn't alter himself proves he knew it would! He changed me for no reason! L-look what he did to me!" She signaled towards her hideous, creature-like form. "I'm a freak!"
"This is really confusing . . ." Steiner muttered to Beatrix. "The Fire Guard just changed her opinion in a matter of seconds. Just how old IS she?"
Apparently the Fire Guard heard him. "You want to know the story?" she queried without even turning around to face the knight. His silence was her only answer. She sighed, her tongue tasting the air.
". . . More than six centuries ago, around the time the war that would eventually destroy Terra began, I was an apprentice mage along with my three other comrades, Derek Kaze, Linda Eikitai, and Michael Shibo. When the war started, we became neutral warriors – the Four Great Terran Magicians – who could be hired by any side to fight. Saishoja's city wound up hiring me . . . And I, er . . ." The Fire Guard cast an anxious look first at Kuja, then at Zidane. Zidane's eyes narrowed.
". . . You fell in love with Saishoja, didn't you?"
The Fire Guard nodded so faintly it was hard to tell she'd made any response at all. "But . . . Saishoja wound up getting married to that . . . that damn woman! He loved her SO much!" The Fire Guard made a face. "But then when their first child was born there were . . . complications. Both mother and child died leaving Saishoja with nothing! His family had been in the care of, surprisingly enough, an opposing city,"
"Let me guess . . ." Zidane was smirking at the irony of it all. "Drakja's city?"
". . . How did you know that?"
"Just a guess,"
The Fire Guard looked suspicious but continued her story nonetheless. "Well, naturally Saishoja was furious. He swore revenge on Drakja, whom he had once been extremely close to,"
"And then Drakja killed Saishoja during the battle that was fought the next day, causing a political Terran uproar that ended the world" Zidane butted in. "Kuja told me the story once,"
The Fire Guard's eyes gleamed. "No, no he didn't! Drakja did something MUCH worse than that! He went to Saishoja at the Shin camp . . . OFF the battle-field. Those territories were considered no-man's land! In other words, what Drakja did was legally considered murder! He killed Saishoja in a neutral territory . . . It was against the law! I . . . happened to walk right in on them just as Saishoja collapsed," A twisted smile formed on the Fire Guard's face. "Drakja stabbed Saishoja through the back with a blade until it stuck right out of his chest . . . Straight through flesh . . . bone . . . and his heart,"
"Ew," Eiko squealed off to the side. The Fire Guard ignored her.
"Nobody knows what happened to Drakja after that. Most figure he fled, knowing he would be executed for his crimes. When the bombs were detonated Drakja probably died from the radiation while in hiding . . ."
But that didn't sit right with Zidane at all. If Garland had recreated the old Drakja into the new Drakja that was pursuing Zidane and his comrades in the present era, he would have needed some of the original Drakja's DNA. How could he have gotten that if Drakja had fled and died of a nuclear winter? After all, hadn't Garland gone into a hidden underground lab in Bran Bal right before the bombing? The Fire Guard let out a tragic sigh.
"Needless to say, Saishoja's ruined body was taken away and kept in his home city before a huge ceremony was conducted to cremate him . . . I . . . I was there, of course . . ."
But that didn't sit right either! Then where had Garland gotten the DNA from?! The people would have noticed if Garland had taken Saishoja's body away at some point!
". . . No, wait . . ." Zidane frowned. "The body they burned . . . It was a fake,"
"Huh?" The others were staring at Zidane as if he were growing another tail out of the back of his head.
"Garland constructed a fake body to be burned and took the real one for himself to study and reconstruct . . . Then he made Kuja,"
The Fire Guard looked horrified. "That's terrible! . . . And illegal,"
"But what about Drakja?" Garnet queried.
"What do you mean?" The Fire Guard swelled with fear, her fangs bared. "Don't tell me – "
"You mean you didn't KNOW?" Zidane was gaping at the beast. "Didn't you SEE him?"
"I THOUGHT Garland's minion looked uncannily like Drakja! So he's a reconstruction as well?! That means I'VE BEEN SERVING MY BITTER ENEMY?!!
". . . 'fraid so . . ." Zidane looked truly sorry for the poor creature. "Somehow he must have gotten a hold of Drakja's body in order to reconstruct the new one and all those geonomes . . ."
"You think he tracked down Drakja six-hundred years ago after that incident and killed him?" Freya cocked her head curiously. Suddenly, the Fire Guard's face broke into a grin.
". . . I know what happened to Drakja . . . It was right after he killed Saishoja. I was there. Saishoja said something . . . and then . . ."
Zidane looked eager for answers. "And then . . . what?"
The Fire Guard glanced at him slyly. ". . . It's a secret . . ." She rose huffily to her feet, fingers clenched and flames dancing around her wrists. "This . . . this TREACHERY of Garland's, however . . . is UNACCEPTABLE!"
"Then you'll join us?!" Megan looked hopeful as she stood up from the corner now that it was safe.
The Fire Guard nodded, growling. "Absolutely! I'll go and stop the flow of Mist from the Iifa Tree. It's my fault it started up again. You guys go on ahead . . . Save Kuja and the other Terrans . . . And make sure you give Garland an extra stab-wound just for me," She smirked. "You, my friends, have just made a very powerful ally . . ."
She floated into the air and began to fly towards the exit when she suddenly stopped mid-air and turned around.
"And by the way . . . My real name was Madeline Hebi. Only the other Terran Magicians, however, called me by my nick-name . . . I'm going to bestow that right unto you . . ."
"And what's the name?" Zidane inquired. The Fire Guard chuckled, landing lightly and walking composedly towards the door.
"Just call me . . . Taki-Bi . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Yes! A new ally! Take THAT, Garland *kicks Garland repeatedly with Triss's cool spiky-soled boots* I think the introduction of Taki-Bi might make a few of the other chapters a little more clear (for example, why Garland said she would wake up if Drakja was near . . . Obviously her hatred for him might issue a response *evil grin*). Also, in the flashback of a previous chapter where we actually see Drakja kill Saishoja, ya might remember a woman screaming. Yeah, that was the Fire Guard . . . Ehe. And now to say something in my defense . . . When I give y'all the link to the web-comic (which I WILL!) you might notice in chapter one something that appears to be . . . oh gosh, it's too horrible to say . . . You might notice me seemingly *gulp* reusing names. But TECHNICALLY I'm not, and if you follow the web-comic you'll see why. I know that makes no sense now, but it will. Let's just say, they're not really names. Er, what I mean by that is like, for example, Taki-Bi isn't a name. It means "fire" in Japanese. So I wouldn't really be reusing names . . . Just . . . words *cough* . . . . . . . . *ahem*
[Continuing to sing "Melodies of Life"]
So far and away see the chapter flying by, darting through reviewers of the fic up in the sky. I've laid my hopes and prayers upon those guys . . . Leave them there and pray this story never . . . dies. YAY!!!
READ AND REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!