Reborn Ones
Chapter I – Man from Sky
A/N: Finally... the first chapter! I think it's a little bit too angsty, but anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy's not mine. If not, I would've been rich and have no need to go to school. ^_^
****************
Spira, above the ocean.
Kuja looked down at the vast ocean below him, fascinated by its calm and beauty. For the past few years after his defeat, Kuja had began travelling from world to world on Invincible, using Shimmering Island as his portal. He wanted to find peace in his journey, and a world that would accept him. After what he had done to Gaia and Terra, he knew that he had no right to stay there. He had to find a new home.
In his attempt to achieve this, Kuja left the comfort of being with Zidane and Mikoto. He made a decision to begin a quest for a new place to live. He had journeyed from Gaia to the Planet, Spira, and other unnamed worlds to find a home, but none was fit for him. Although he journeyed far, he never forget to return to Terra to visit Mikoto. She was working hard to make Terra a better planet – beautiful and full of life. And he was glad that she succeeded. With Zidane's help, Terra has become green once more, with variety of species taken from Gaia and other planets Kuja had visited.
After Necron was defeated, he had became closer to Zidane, just like brothers should. They had gone through some adventures together, and he felt extremely glad to be with Zidane. As they travelled together, Kuja had adapted his brother's more informal way of speaking, and – to his own disbelief; Zidane's flirtatious attitude. And the boy had taught him one fact that he had missed most of his life; flirting was fun. However, Mikoto seemed displeased with Kuja's change of attitude, saying that Zidane had corrupted him. He guessed that she had a very good point for saying that.
Just a few days ago, Kuja had returned to Gaia to visit Zidane. He was having a wedding, with none other than Princess Garnet til Alexandros the 17th. That little monkey looked so happy that Kuja could do nothing but smiled along with his brother the whole ceremony.
But that was all he could do.
Although he was smiling, his heart was in a deep sorrow. Zidane had finally settled down with the woman he loves, but he was still alone in his misery world. He had once yearned for Garnet for her beauty and the Eidolons she possesed, but the attachment had withered in his greed for power. Now that his craving was gone, he felt something for Garnet again – not because of her beauty or Eidolons, but for her resemblance to someone he loved so long ago.
Darla.
His meeting with her was brief, but it affected his whole life. When he went to the cliff ten years ago, he was thinking of attempting suicide – a very foolish and childish decision. He thought it would be the best choice and allow him to rest in peace. But then, she came, telling him not to cry anymore. And to be strong.
Growing up with a lunatic such as Garland, he had believed to be strong is to possess great power and rule others with it. That was why he was willing to lead the assault on Madain Sari. He wanted to be strong, and present a stronger Kuja the next time he sees her, but the moment would never come.
It took him some time to believe that it was him that killed Darla mercilessly in Madain Sari. When the realization struck him, he became insane and turned himself into a monster – into the Angel of Death. He let his darkside took control of him and brought havoc on both Gaia and Terra.
Kuja sighed. It was all over now. He would never see her again.
He threw his gaze on a lone ship sailing on the sea. That's when he became aware of a teeny tiny spherical object – which he though was a ball; that was speeding straight towards Invincible from the ship. Thanks to his past visit to Spira, Kuja could identify the ball as blitzball, the only mean of entertainment in the Sin-infested world.
As he watched, the blitzball continued its progress towards the airship -- and then plunged itself onto the engine.
"What the fuck!" Kuja cursed as Invincible began to topple. He quickly ran to the pilot seat and fought to control the falling airship. Most probably, the engine was broken, and there was very little he could do to save himself and the airship from crashing. So much for being 'invincible', huh? It never ever occurred to him that the finest airship in the whole Gaia and Terra would be down because of a tiny blitzball.
Well, at least he would collide onto the ocean, not on a hard ground.
**
Meanwhile, on the 'lone ship sailing on the sea' a.k.a. SS Wino...
"You're not the best anymore, old man," Tidus said proudly. "Now I could also master your almighty Jecht Shot. So much for being the only one. With my newly-mastered Jecht Shot, I will take down everything in my way, even if it's an airship!"
And so he had.
**
Kuja tried his luck with the controller again, doing his best to make the Invincible have a safe landing on the ocean. It was hard as the spherical controller was spinning like crazy. Kuja stopped the spinning with both of his hand and tried to steer the airship into a better position. When he was halfway through his effort, a huge, ugly brownish monster came into his view. He knew right away that it was Sin. Much to Kuja's dismay, Sin opened its mouth, sucking in gallons of seawater along with unfortunate schools of fish with it.
Seeing this, Kuja fought harder with the controller and tried to steer away from Sin. The sphere chose the moment to slip out of his hands and spin wildly again. Invincible went out of control and fell straight into Sin's opened mouth. As soon as it swallowed the airship, it closed its mouth and burped loudly.
**
Earth, year 2156, 1630 hours.
Darla was walking alone on a narrow road, feeling very tired and depressed. She was walking home from the convenient store, having quite a heavy bundle with her. She had just finished her back-to-school shopping to prepare for her final year at school, which would be tomorrow. Due to her loathing towards school, she chosed to pretend to forget about it, until her sister decided to remind her, and practically shooed her off to the store.
Not that she hated learning. But she felt like her time was wasted when she went to school everyday, doing nothing else but sitting on a chair listening to the teachers drone on and on for eight hours. She was young, and she wanted to do something else to fill her life. Things like saving the world, kicking the bad guys' ass and more importantly, fight for Justice. She needed to do these sort of things while she was still young. She didn't think she would be any useful fightning the villains as a nanny. So... can't she just spend her youth fighting and start going to school when she reaches her 40s?
Definitely NOT! Her sister had said. She sighed.
Whenever the school is open, it has been her daily routine to wake up as early as seven-thirty in the morning, race to school at 8.05 a.m. (her school started at eight), suffer endless torture for eight hours, and stay up late until midnight to finish her homework. All in all, everyday was a boring day to her, except on the rare occasion when assassins from Terra Inc. came to kill her and her sister. Whenever they came, the day always seemed to light up.
Unfortunately, there hadn't been any hired gun for the past few months. Her life had been extremely bored, and it became even worse with the mountain- high piles of homework the teachers had given her for the holiday. Usually, it was her sister who would help her finish the homeworks. Contrary to her thick brain, her sister had a brilliant brain with the I.Q of 300. She was a genuine genius. She could be anything she wanted – scientist, doctor, businesswoman, computer programmer; just name it. She's practically good at everything – cooking, sewing, fighting, and even hacking. However, due to the lack of money, she wasn't able to continue her study, and opened a flower shop instead.
Darla looked up at the cerulean sky above her. It was clear, except for some patches of white clouds. It can't possibly rain anytime soon and it was still early. So she thought she would pay a visit to Faine Hill, her favourite spot in the dull countryside. Smiling to herself, she changed her course and headed towards the rows of hills and mountains at the north of Hillvillle, the one and only town in the isolated valley.
It took her nearly ten minutes to get there. The hill was a beautiful grassland with a wide variety of towering trees. Unlike most hills and mountains on the planet, Faine Hill maintained its natural beauty. It was untouched by the war – most of the countryside was, anyway. The place was too isolated that even the soldiers didn't bother to wreck the place – which was why the school wasn't destroyed.
After taking a deep breath, Darla slowly made her way up the hill, taking each step carefully. She had slipped down the steep hill a few times before, and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. She learnt to be careful the hard way, which was a good thing – in a way. Having such a hard time, she knew she would never forget to be careful while climbing the hill.
About half an hour passed before she set her foot at the peak. It was exhausting, but for her, it was worth it. She gasped in wonder as she stared down at the magnificent view of the countryside. Everything seemed green from her position, except for some patches of brown, indicating the villagers' house. Quite a distance ahead, she could see the town, significantly less green than the land around it. Her eyes trailed towards Desa Lake, a big lake that stretched out for about 10 kilometers, covering both the town and the coutryside part.
She began looking for her house, and managed to spotted it in no time. It was a wooden house at the green valley, located right beside the lake. It seemed so small and trivial compared to the surrounding, but for her it was the greatest thing one could find around the area. She still remembered how hard Sis had worked to make the house availabe for both of them. She still worked hard until now, sacrificing every bit of her time and strength so that they could survive in this cruel world. Now and then, Darla had tried to 'repay' her kindness by trying to find a boyfriend for her. She thought that Sis should settle down and had a nice, rich husband to support her life, instead of working hard by herself. But things always get screwed up. And until now, Sis was still a beautiful unmarried virgin.
A sudden breeze blew against Darla's face, and her short dark hair danced slightly according to the wind. She smiled to herself, enjoying the rush of air on her face, and the sweet scent of the gentle wind. The breeze brought her the scent of the wild greens of the countryside, sweet smell of flowers and grass, along with light aroma of freshly baked cakes and stew from the villagers' house.
"This is wonderful," she muttered to herself. The rush of air on her face, and the magnificent view of the countryside made her feel whole again. Maybe that's why the heroes enjoyed standing on the mountain so much, she thought, referring to the countless times she'd seen heroes in the movies standing on a cliff/mountain/hill etc., with the wind blowing against their face, and their cape fluttered majestically in the wind. Oh, how much she wanted to be like them!
She sighed contentedly, and then looked at her watch. It was already 5.30 pm. If she didn't get back home right now, Sis would be vexed, and perhaps cut down her monthly pocket money, which was already low enough. Not that she blamed her sister for that, of course. Regretfully, she threw a final glance at the azure sky.
And froze.
Something... like a... ship... was moving towards her direction. She peered at it curiously, wondering what it really was. It was a ship, alright, except that instead of being on the sea, it was flying in the air. Not really flying though, it was more like *diving* towards the ground – towards her. Wait a minute... "That ship is going to crash on me!"
Realizing this, she immediately sprinted away, trying to be as far from the ship as possible. She found it hard to determine where it was going to land. As she ran, she kept looking back over her shoulder, trying to find out where the ship was going to hit. To her dismay, it seemed like the ship was going to fall straight onto her, no matter which direction she took.
At her eigth glance, she got another shock of her life as she saw a man jumping out of the ship, falling straight towards her. Why does everything decide to fall on me today? she thought frantically, increasing her speed. A few seconds later, she found herself knocked flat onto the ground. She wanted to stand up and run again, but whatever it was that knocked her pushed her back towards the ground.
"Hold still!"
It was a male's voice. Darla realized that it was the man jumping out of the ship, and he was the one who knocked her down. He was lying on top of her, as if trying to cover her from the oncoming explosion. She wanted to stand up and gave him a punch for what he'd done, but the urgency in his voice made her comply. She realized that the ship was going to collide anytime soon. She closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands in the manner of a terrified child.
Less than a second later – BOOM!! – the ship crashed onto the ground, causing quite a big explosion that momentarily deafened her ears. The explosion was followed by blazing flames that destroyed a big portion of the grassland. As the explosion began to subside, Darla peered one eye open, scanning the area around her. It was a devastating sight. Trees were burning in orange flames. The grass and flowers were obliterated, leaving only a big patch of black ashen soil.
Darla wrenched herself free from the man's hold and stood up, watching the whole scene around her with deep sorrow. "This can't be happening..." she said. "Someone had to stop this. I have to stop the fire."
Without even glancing at the man that had just saved her, she went towards the direction of the stream, determined to put out the fire.
"Wait. I'll do it."
Darla stopped suddenly, and looked back at the stranger, giving him a very close look for the first time. She noticed that his hair was silver – long silver hair that fell gracefully down his back. His skin was strangely pale, and she managed to see quite a big portion of it because of the revealing outfit he was wearing. He was watching her through his eyes – cold blue eyes that brought a shiver down her spine. As their eyes met, Darla felt a wave of recognition swept over her. But she ignored it.
"You're... going to help me?" she asked, and received a nod from him. "Good. Let's go to the stream to fetch some water."
The man snickered. "For what?" he said, somewhat flamboyantly. He held his hand high above his head, and muttered something inaudible. Suddenly, blue light began swirling around his hand, forming a small whirlpool that slowly gained in size. The aqua-colored light materialized into water, and then shot through the air towards the burning trees. In a minute, every single fire was put out, replaced by streams of white smoke.
Darla stood watching the whole scene with her mouth open.
"How... how did you do that?" she managed to ask after some minutes of utter shock. She knew instantly that it was magic. She had seen it countless times in movies and cartoon – and seen some of the assasins from Terra Inc. did it. 'This guy was no ordinary,' she thought and looked around for something to defend herself. Most of the things around her was completely burned by the fire. Her eyes spotted a stick at the place she was knocked down earlier, and quickly darted forward to grab it. She held it upright in front of her as if holding a sword.
"Garnet, what are you doing? Don't you recognize me?" the man asked, slowly walking towards her.
"Stand still!" Darla ordered, and the man halted. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. The recognition strike her once again as she heard his voice. Don't you recognize me? The words rang a bell somewhere in her memory. She was tempted to say 'Yes', but then, who was he? She certainly didn't remember knowing anyone with silver hair and.... an incredibly beautiful face... she added without thinking. She blushed slightly. What am I thinking?
"When did you cut your hair?" the man asked again, sounding amused. "Is Zidane here?" As he asked the fourth question, he began to approach her again.
Darla glared at him. "I said, stand still!" But her glare turned into a curious stare as she noticed the furry... thingy...at his back for the first time. It was swinging from left to right, looking very much like a... tail. "You... you have tail!" she exclaimed increduously, eyeing his tail in disbelief.
The man gave her a puzzled glance. "Garnet, it's not like you've never seen someone with tail before."
"Oh, yes. I happen to have never seen someone with tail before, mister." Darla replied sarcastically.
"What about Zidane? Don't tell me you've never seen his tail."
Zidane? As in Zinedine Zidane, the famous footballer before the War began? She had never heard that he had a tail. And, who is this Garnet anyway? "For your information, my name is not Garnet. You got the wrong person."
She felt her wariness slowly receded. He can't be a bad guy, she decided. He kept calling her 'Garnet', and had a tail. He can't be from Terra Inc. Or, even if he was, it didn't seem like he wanted to kill her. He would've done that if he wanted to, as he seemed to be a very powerful sorcerer. Slowly, she lowered the stick towards her side.
The man didn't seem abashed at his mistake for calling her Garnet. Instead, he simply stared at her, giving her a look of surprise and... hope. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out of it. Finally, he managed to say one word, although his voice was so faint that she barely heard it. "Darla."
Me: sorry for the abrupt end. I've separated the supposedly one chapter into two as I added new things here and there. It's become too long.
Darla is the only original character I have for now. Sephiroth and Aeris will make their appearance later (maybe in the 2nd or 3rd chapter). About Darla's hero-wannabe attitude – I got that from watching to much Slayers and reading too much of its fanfic. She died wearing Gilgamesh's mask, and it had stirred up her heroic attitude, I think.
To all reviewers, Thank You Very Much! I really appreciate them.
Lastly, please click the bluey button down there and tell me what you think of this fic. ^_^
Chapter I – Man from Sky
A/N: Finally... the first chapter! I think it's a little bit too angsty, but anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy's not mine. If not, I would've been rich and have no need to go to school. ^_^
****************
Spira, above the ocean.
Kuja looked down at the vast ocean below him, fascinated by its calm and beauty. For the past few years after his defeat, Kuja had began travelling from world to world on Invincible, using Shimmering Island as his portal. He wanted to find peace in his journey, and a world that would accept him. After what he had done to Gaia and Terra, he knew that he had no right to stay there. He had to find a new home.
In his attempt to achieve this, Kuja left the comfort of being with Zidane and Mikoto. He made a decision to begin a quest for a new place to live. He had journeyed from Gaia to the Planet, Spira, and other unnamed worlds to find a home, but none was fit for him. Although he journeyed far, he never forget to return to Terra to visit Mikoto. She was working hard to make Terra a better planet – beautiful and full of life. And he was glad that she succeeded. With Zidane's help, Terra has become green once more, with variety of species taken from Gaia and other planets Kuja had visited.
After Necron was defeated, he had became closer to Zidane, just like brothers should. They had gone through some adventures together, and he felt extremely glad to be with Zidane. As they travelled together, Kuja had adapted his brother's more informal way of speaking, and – to his own disbelief; Zidane's flirtatious attitude. And the boy had taught him one fact that he had missed most of his life; flirting was fun. However, Mikoto seemed displeased with Kuja's change of attitude, saying that Zidane had corrupted him. He guessed that she had a very good point for saying that.
Just a few days ago, Kuja had returned to Gaia to visit Zidane. He was having a wedding, with none other than Princess Garnet til Alexandros the 17th. That little monkey looked so happy that Kuja could do nothing but smiled along with his brother the whole ceremony.
But that was all he could do.
Although he was smiling, his heart was in a deep sorrow. Zidane had finally settled down with the woman he loves, but he was still alone in his misery world. He had once yearned for Garnet for her beauty and the Eidolons she possesed, but the attachment had withered in his greed for power. Now that his craving was gone, he felt something for Garnet again – not because of her beauty or Eidolons, but for her resemblance to someone he loved so long ago.
Darla.
His meeting with her was brief, but it affected his whole life. When he went to the cliff ten years ago, he was thinking of attempting suicide – a very foolish and childish decision. He thought it would be the best choice and allow him to rest in peace. But then, she came, telling him not to cry anymore. And to be strong.
Growing up with a lunatic such as Garland, he had believed to be strong is to possess great power and rule others with it. That was why he was willing to lead the assault on Madain Sari. He wanted to be strong, and present a stronger Kuja the next time he sees her, but the moment would never come.
It took him some time to believe that it was him that killed Darla mercilessly in Madain Sari. When the realization struck him, he became insane and turned himself into a monster – into the Angel of Death. He let his darkside took control of him and brought havoc on both Gaia and Terra.
Kuja sighed. It was all over now. He would never see her again.
He threw his gaze on a lone ship sailing on the sea. That's when he became aware of a teeny tiny spherical object – which he though was a ball; that was speeding straight towards Invincible from the ship. Thanks to his past visit to Spira, Kuja could identify the ball as blitzball, the only mean of entertainment in the Sin-infested world.
As he watched, the blitzball continued its progress towards the airship -- and then plunged itself onto the engine.
"What the fuck!" Kuja cursed as Invincible began to topple. He quickly ran to the pilot seat and fought to control the falling airship. Most probably, the engine was broken, and there was very little he could do to save himself and the airship from crashing. So much for being 'invincible', huh? It never ever occurred to him that the finest airship in the whole Gaia and Terra would be down because of a tiny blitzball.
Well, at least he would collide onto the ocean, not on a hard ground.
**
Meanwhile, on the 'lone ship sailing on the sea' a.k.a. SS Wino...
"You're not the best anymore, old man," Tidus said proudly. "Now I could also master your almighty Jecht Shot. So much for being the only one. With my newly-mastered Jecht Shot, I will take down everything in my way, even if it's an airship!"
And so he had.
**
Kuja tried his luck with the controller again, doing his best to make the Invincible have a safe landing on the ocean. It was hard as the spherical controller was spinning like crazy. Kuja stopped the spinning with both of his hand and tried to steer the airship into a better position. When he was halfway through his effort, a huge, ugly brownish monster came into his view. He knew right away that it was Sin. Much to Kuja's dismay, Sin opened its mouth, sucking in gallons of seawater along with unfortunate schools of fish with it.
Seeing this, Kuja fought harder with the controller and tried to steer away from Sin. The sphere chose the moment to slip out of his hands and spin wildly again. Invincible went out of control and fell straight into Sin's opened mouth. As soon as it swallowed the airship, it closed its mouth and burped loudly.
**
Earth, year 2156, 1630 hours.
Darla was walking alone on a narrow road, feeling very tired and depressed. She was walking home from the convenient store, having quite a heavy bundle with her. She had just finished her back-to-school shopping to prepare for her final year at school, which would be tomorrow. Due to her loathing towards school, she chosed to pretend to forget about it, until her sister decided to remind her, and practically shooed her off to the store.
Not that she hated learning. But she felt like her time was wasted when she went to school everyday, doing nothing else but sitting on a chair listening to the teachers drone on and on for eight hours. She was young, and she wanted to do something else to fill her life. Things like saving the world, kicking the bad guys' ass and more importantly, fight for Justice. She needed to do these sort of things while she was still young. She didn't think she would be any useful fightning the villains as a nanny. So... can't she just spend her youth fighting and start going to school when she reaches her 40s?
Definitely NOT! Her sister had said. She sighed.
Whenever the school is open, it has been her daily routine to wake up as early as seven-thirty in the morning, race to school at 8.05 a.m. (her school started at eight), suffer endless torture for eight hours, and stay up late until midnight to finish her homework. All in all, everyday was a boring day to her, except on the rare occasion when assassins from Terra Inc. came to kill her and her sister. Whenever they came, the day always seemed to light up.
Unfortunately, there hadn't been any hired gun for the past few months. Her life had been extremely bored, and it became even worse with the mountain- high piles of homework the teachers had given her for the holiday. Usually, it was her sister who would help her finish the homeworks. Contrary to her thick brain, her sister had a brilliant brain with the I.Q of 300. She was a genuine genius. She could be anything she wanted – scientist, doctor, businesswoman, computer programmer; just name it. She's practically good at everything – cooking, sewing, fighting, and even hacking. However, due to the lack of money, she wasn't able to continue her study, and opened a flower shop instead.
Darla looked up at the cerulean sky above her. It was clear, except for some patches of white clouds. It can't possibly rain anytime soon and it was still early. So she thought she would pay a visit to Faine Hill, her favourite spot in the dull countryside. Smiling to herself, she changed her course and headed towards the rows of hills and mountains at the north of Hillvillle, the one and only town in the isolated valley.
It took her nearly ten minutes to get there. The hill was a beautiful grassland with a wide variety of towering trees. Unlike most hills and mountains on the planet, Faine Hill maintained its natural beauty. It was untouched by the war – most of the countryside was, anyway. The place was too isolated that even the soldiers didn't bother to wreck the place – which was why the school wasn't destroyed.
After taking a deep breath, Darla slowly made her way up the hill, taking each step carefully. She had slipped down the steep hill a few times before, and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. She learnt to be careful the hard way, which was a good thing – in a way. Having such a hard time, she knew she would never forget to be careful while climbing the hill.
About half an hour passed before she set her foot at the peak. It was exhausting, but for her, it was worth it. She gasped in wonder as she stared down at the magnificent view of the countryside. Everything seemed green from her position, except for some patches of brown, indicating the villagers' house. Quite a distance ahead, she could see the town, significantly less green than the land around it. Her eyes trailed towards Desa Lake, a big lake that stretched out for about 10 kilometers, covering both the town and the coutryside part.
She began looking for her house, and managed to spotted it in no time. It was a wooden house at the green valley, located right beside the lake. It seemed so small and trivial compared to the surrounding, but for her it was the greatest thing one could find around the area. She still remembered how hard Sis had worked to make the house availabe for both of them. She still worked hard until now, sacrificing every bit of her time and strength so that they could survive in this cruel world. Now and then, Darla had tried to 'repay' her kindness by trying to find a boyfriend for her. She thought that Sis should settle down and had a nice, rich husband to support her life, instead of working hard by herself. But things always get screwed up. And until now, Sis was still a beautiful unmarried virgin.
A sudden breeze blew against Darla's face, and her short dark hair danced slightly according to the wind. She smiled to herself, enjoying the rush of air on her face, and the sweet scent of the gentle wind. The breeze brought her the scent of the wild greens of the countryside, sweet smell of flowers and grass, along with light aroma of freshly baked cakes and stew from the villagers' house.
"This is wonderful," she muttered to herself. The rush of air on her face, and the magnificent view of the countryside made her feel whole again. Maybe that's why the heroes enjoyed standing on the mountain so much, she thought, referring to the countless times she'd seen heroes in the movies standing on a cliff/mountain/hill etc., with the wind blowing against their face, and their cape fluttered majestically in the wind. Oh, how much she wanted to be like them!
She sighed contentedly, and then looked at her watch. It was already 5.30 pm. If she didn't get back home right now, Sis would be vexed, and perhaps cut down her monthly pocket money, which was already low enough. Not that she blamed her sister for that, of course. Regretfully, she threw a final glance at the azure sky.
And froze.
Something... like a... ship... was moving towards her direction. She peered at it curiously, wondering what it really was. It was a ship, alright, except that instead of being on the sea, it was flying in the air. Not really flying though, it was more like *diving* towards the ground – towards her. Wait a minute... "That ship is going to crash on me!"
Realizing this, she immediately sprinted away, trying to be as far from the ship as possible. She found it hard to determine where it was going to land. As she ran, she kept looking back over her shoulder, trying to find out where the ship was going to hit. To her dismay, it seemed like the ship was going to fall straight onto her, no matter which direction she took.
At her eigth glance, she got another shock of her life as she saw a man jumping out of the ship, falling straight towards her. Why does everything decide to fall on me today? she thought frantically, increasing her speed. A few seconds later, she found herself knocked flat onto the ground. She wanted to stand up and run again, but whatever it was that knocked her pushed her back towards the ground.
"Hold still!"
It was a male's voice. Darla realized that it was the man jumping out of the ship, and he was the one who knocked her down. He was lying on top of her, as if trying to cover her from the oncoming explosion. She wanted to stand up and gave him a punch for what he'd done, but the urgency in his voice made her comply. She realized that the ship was going to collide anytime soon. She closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands in the manner of a terrified child.
Less than a second later – BOOM!! – the ship crashed onto the ground, causing quite a big explosion that momentarily deafened her ears. The explosion was followed by blazing flames that destroyed a big portion of the grassland. As the explosion began to subside, Darla peered one eye open, scanning the area around her. It was a devastating sight. Trees were burning in orange flames. The grass and flowers were obliterated, leaving only a big patch of black ashen soil.
Darla wrenched herself free from the man's hold and stood up, watching the whole scene around her with deep sorrow. "This can't be happening..." she said. "Someone had to stop this. I have to stop the fire."
Without even glancing at the man that had just saved her, she went towards the direction of the stream, determined to put out the fire.
"Wait. I'll do it."
Darla stopped suddenly, and looked back at the stranger, giving him a very close look for the first time. She noticed that his hair was silver – long silver hair that fell gracefully down his back. His skin was strangely pale, and she managed to see quite a big portion of it because of the revealing outfit he was wearing. He was watching her through his eyes – cold blue eyes that brought a shiver down her spine. As their eyes met, Darla felt a wave of recognition swept over her. But she ignored it.
"You're... going to help me?" she asked, and received a nod from him. "Good. Let's go to the stream to fetch some water."
The man snickered. "For what?" he said, somewhat flamboyantly. He held his hand high above his head, and muttered something inaudible. Suddenly, blue light began swirling around his hand, forming a small whirlpool that slowly gained in size. The aqua-colored light materialized into water, and then shot through the air towards the burning trees. In a minute, every single fire was put out, replaced by streams of white smoke.
Darla stood watching the whole scene with her mouth open.
"How... how did you do that?" she managed to ask after some minutes of utter shock. She knew instantly that it was magic. She had seen it countless times in movies and cartoon – and seen some of the assasins from Terra Inc. did it. 'This guy was no ordinary,' she thought and looked around for something to defend herself. Most of the things around her was completely burned by the fire. Her eyes spotted a stick at the place she was knocked down earlier, and quickly darted forward to grab it. She held it upright in front of her as if holding a sword.
"Garnet, what are you doing? Don't you recognize me?" the man asked, slowly walking towards her.
"Stand still!" Darla ordered, and the man halted. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. The recognition strike her once again as she heard his voice. Don't you recognize me? The words rang a bell somewhere in her memory. She was tempted to say 'Yes', but then, who was he? She certainly didn't remember knowing anyone with silver hair and.... an incredibly beautiful face... she added without thinking. She blushed slightly. What am I thinking?
"When did you cut your hair?" the man asked again, sounding amused. "Is Zidane here?" As he asked the fourth question, he began to approach her again.
Darla glared at him. "I said, stand still!" But her glare turned into a curious stare as she noticed the furry... thingy...at his back for the first time. It was swinging from left to right, looking very much like a... tail. "You... you have tail!" she exclaimed increduously, eyeing his tail in disbelief.
The man gave her a puzzled glance. "Garnet, it's not like you've never seen someone with tail before."
"Oh, yes. I happen to have never seen someone with tail before, mister." Darla replied sarcastically.
"What about Zidane? Don't tell me you've never seen his tail."
Zidane? As in Zinedine Zidane, the famous footballer before the War began? She had never heard that he had a tail. And, who is this Garnet anyway? "For your information, my name is not Garnet. You got the wrong person."
She felt her wariness slowly receded. He can't be a bad guy, she decided. He kept calling her 'Garnet', and had a tail. He can't be from Terra Inc. Or, even if he was, it didn't seem like he wanted to kill her. He would've done that if he wanted to, as he seemed to be a very powerful sorcerer. Slowly, she lowered the stick towards her side.
The man didn't seem abashed at his mistake for calling her Garnet. Instead, he simply stared at her, giving her a look of surprise and... hope. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out of it. Finally, he managed to say one word, although his voice was so faint that she barely heard it. "Darla."
Me: sorry for the abrupt end. I've separated the supposedly one chapter into two as I added new things here and there. It's become too long.
Darla is the only original character I have for now. Sephiroth and Aeris will make their appearance later (maybe in the 2nd or 3rd chapter). About Darla's hero-wannabe attitude – I got that from watching to much Slayers and reading too much of its fanfic. She died wearing Gilgamesh's mask, and it had stirred up her heroic attitude, I think.
To all reviewers, Thank You Very Much! I really appreciate them.
Lastly, please click the bluey button down there and tell me what you think of this fic. ^_^