'The Call of the moon'
- Pilotslover
Entry for the 2004 Halloween contest on AF1's FF guild.
Authors note: I'm sorry if this seems a little rushed, I found out about the contest deadline on the 20th and the deadline was the 23rd. (chuckles) so it was a bit of a rush to write it.
I don't think it's a very good Halloween story, but it does have a Vivi and Zidane moment towards the end that's kind of cute.
Enjoy.
-
"C'mon Zidane, tell me a story,"
The thief looked towards the little white mage who sat huddled in a blanket, a moogle cuddled against her, its pompom tucked against Eiko's cheek. "Will you go to bed if I tell you one?" He asked her, sometimes it was a little difficult to get Eiko to go to bed, she was used to doing what she wanted after having lived alone in Madain Sari for so long.
"That depends on how good and scary the story is,"
"Alright," Zidane sounded exasperated as he tried to think of a story to tell her. It was darker then usual for that time of night, a thick cloud covered the moons, the only real light came from the fire that crackled between the two. A flash of yellow caught his gaze and a story came to his mind. "Lord Avon wrote a play that few people know 'The call of the moon', it's kind of a horror story." Even as he spoke, he was trying to remember the short play that Baku had told the band on a dark ghostly night. "It's set a long time ago, in the city of Treno; back then Treno was just a village, a small one. Everyone in it knew everyone else and strangers were a really big thing."
Freya shook her head, she too had been sitting outside the tent; she used a twig to stoke the fire that was starting to die out. "Anyway," Zidane went on, ignoring the Burmecian's slight disapproval. "It was a quiet place, kinda like Dali; people got on with things just like usual and nothing extraordinary ever happened. On this really wet day, a traveller arrived in the village, seeking shelter. The kindly mayor took pity on him because he was all scratched and looked exhausted; so they took him in. Only after did they realise that the stranger's eyes were unusual, they glowered with their own yellow light."
This drew a familiar pair of glowing eyes to Zidane, Vivi had been using a small spell to replenish the fire; unlike Eiko, he did as he was told. 'It's probably part of his programming,' Zidane thought with a mental shrug; he had long since grown accustomed to the mage being a creation of his 'brother'. The thief tried to ignore Vivi's eyes as he went on. "The mayor's wife was scared; she'd heard stories about men with yellow eyes who could conjure the fires of hell and lightning from the heavens. She wanted the man to leave but the mayor would not throw a wounded man out of the village and back onto the monster infested plains."
"The injuries are important, big scratches marked his arms, tearing through coat and flesh alike." With this, Zidane raked a hand down his forearm in demonstration. "It looked like a monster had clawed him, but there were no monsters of that size near to the village. The man said very little, his manners were fitting of nobles but his clothes were too big and they were untidy. He let them dress his wounds, and agreed to stay in the village until he was strong enough to leave."
Vivi sat nearby, as keen as Eiko to hear the story; his small form was hunched in an attempt to keep warm but he did not reach for a blanket. Zidane was not sure that Vivi would appreciate the tale but he knew Eiko would not let him stop now and that it would hurt Vivi's feelings to send him away. "Rumours followed the stranger around, all the time he retained his manners. Of course, we know the truth, he was a Black Mage, one of the most feared and hated classes on Gaia. Back then, Black Mages gave something of themselves in order to cast; many gave the ability to care, others their souls. The stranger, never once, showed his powerful abilities but the whispers of a suspicious wife turned people against him."
"Soon the day of the duel full moon dawned, a time of incredible magic; the stranger was torn naked from his place of rest and into the village centre. The mayor's wife claimed he had seduced her using his darkness." He flicked a worried look towards the Black mage, Vivi's eyes were hidden but he did not seem to be upset, so Zidane continued. "Now, we know magic can't be used like that but the claim was taken seriously. Evening drew near, sweating, panting and pained; the man's pleas for release were ignored;
"Please punish me in a week," Vavil begged, his voice sounded pained as he spoke. "But let me free now, I can't be here." The plea's fell on deaf ears, Vavil kept trying, his hoarsening calls were heard throughout the entire village.
People returned to their homes, in the morning they would burn Vavil at the stake so that no more women could be seduced by his wickedness. The light of the duel full moon struck the shuddering man and a bright blinding flame consumed him; screams of agony emitted from his mouth as he thrashed around, his skin peeling off in painful chunks. The fire light died away, leaving in Vavil's place a demon. A best of fur and flames, of darkness and pain; vicious claws grew from his hands, curved horns sprouted from his head and a tail grew, a short one with a flaming tip.
"Like Ifrit," Eiko supplied, interrupting the flow of Zidane's story. He looked towards her for a moment, frustrated that she had stopped him. Vivi seemed to be a little annoyed too, though Zidane was not sure if this was due to Eiko's interruption, or due to the nature of the story.
"Yeah, I guess, anyway;"
The demons roars rang across the sky, the stake that had bound Vavil was gone; burnt away by the intense heat of the flame that had consumed the good-natured man. It stalked though the village, intent on its prey, it burst into the mayor's house, mercilessly killing the cowering man; it took the mayors wife by the throat, cruel yellow eyes locking with hers. "Your lies condemned you all," A growling mockery of Vavil's voice claimed, the grip on its prey tightening. "Tonight you all shall die, this city forever bathed in the darkness of your lies." It snapped her throat, a roar of victory passing its jaws.
"It tore through the whole village, leaving none of the citizens alive." Zidane finished the bulk of the story, Eiko's eyes were wide, her gaze occasionally flicking to Vivi; the moogle she held trembled against her. "The stranger's pact, the price he had paid for his magic had been the control of his body; on a duel full moon a demon would take his body and use it as his own. The scratches the man had had on his arrival were caused by the demon as punishment for trying to warn others."
Leaning into the fire slightly, the erstwhile actors locked eyes with Eiko. "Rumour is that, on some duel full moons, you can see a figure in Treno, his eyes ablaze with Fire. Some say, that every Black Mage since has been cursed with a demon, a beast who claims their body every duel. Full. Moon." He said the words with slow deliberateness, pausing for a while before lunging at Eiko with a bark. She screamed, abruptly waking everyone who was asleep. Vivi seemed unafraid by the story to Zidane's surprise but the mage knew the truth after all.
Dagger was soon standing close to Zidane, her hands on her hips as she reprimanded him with a look. "What's going on?" She demanded in one of her most regal tones, Zidane smiled at her; it was the sort of smile that won women's heart but Garnet Til Alexanderos was seemingly immune to his charms. "Are you okay Eiko?"
The little summoner looked up at the princess, before her worried green eyes went to the still quiet form of Vivi. "Yeah, Zidane just told me a stupid story," She insisted bravely, but she was still shaking; she released the moogle, which flew away into the darkness, its small wings beating incredibly quickly. "Can I sleep next to you tonight?" Usually, Vivi and Eiko slept in the middle of the tent, acting as a divide between male and female. "I don't want to sleep next to Vivi."
"Why ever not?" Steiner queried, he had emerged from the tent when Eiko had screamed, his sword drawn and ready for action.
"Because he might eat me or something,"
The young black mage stood, looking solidly at Eiko for a while. "It's already been the duel full moon," He pointed out, his manners and tone as polite as the man in the story. "And I've already eaten," Zidane chuckled, glad to see that Vivi had understood the story was just what it was, a story meant to scare people slightly.
"Alright, bed I think," The thief instructed, "We've got a busy day tomorrow. It was just a story Eiko, if Vivi was gonna eat you he'd have done it already." He said simply, "He's not gonna change into a demon just because I told the story," Vivi had already ducked into the tent, with Freya, Steiner, Amarant and Quina.
It took a while before Eiko would follow suit, she walked cautiously into the tent behind Dagger. Zidane would be sitting watch, something the older party members would do to ensure the safety of everyone else. "I'm sorry," He murmured as familiar footfalls drew near. Vivi sat beside him, yellow eyes going to Zidane for a moment before they fell on the fire.
"It's okay; it's just a story,"
"Yeah,"
"I've been called a demon before, so it's okay,"
Silence fell for a while, "Zidane, you said the Black Mage was a class in the past, I just wondered what it'd be like to choose that." This drew Zidane's eyes for a moment before his gaze went back to the fire. "Eiko's a white mage, she didn't choose that."
"I guess it's all changed since then, if you have the potential to use magic then you choose the type you wanna cast."
"I don't think so, you can't switch black and white magic; Eiko can't cast fire."
Vivi had a habit of asking Zidane questions that usually required thought, the Genome was not sure why this was but he put up with Vivi's curiousness. "Red mages can cast both," He pointed out logically, "Maybe Gaia's grown specialised since then, maybe it's hereditary, maybe there are no answers." He smiled widely when Vivi looked up to him, big yellow eyes locking with changeable blue/green ones. "You need to get some sleep."
Vivi stood, "Okay," He retreated into the tent, leaving the thief alone with his own foolish story. For years, he had believed Baku's stories about evil Black Mages but meeting Vivi had torn away his remaining misconceptions; how could someone who was scared of heights, of most things, be the sort of person to sign pacts with demons or turn dark magic on innocent people? Vivi certainly had not chosen to be a Black Mage, to have this incredible and slightly scary power to call upon; it was just something he had been made with. 'I guess Eiko was born with White magic and summoning in the same way.' Zidane thought.
The small Black Mage lay on his back, he had not lied, there had been a duel full moon, it had been a few weeks ago and he had not turned into a demon. Nothing had happened, well nothing that would merit the concern of his friends; he had regained his memory for a while, of the time before Quan had caught him but could only recall pictures. Kuja would not make a weapon that could turn into something beyond even his own control. He was too sensible for that but what if Kuja had found a way to harness that power? The Mage shuddered slightly, trying to ignore what he felt, Zidane had been right, the Duel Full moon was a time of incredible magic, more so then the Genome appreciated.
Kuja had used the Duel Full moon to aid the creation of his army, using its magic to strengthen his own. The first four had been the strongest by far, the most unpredictable; the prototype was his one failing, it had eventually been blessed with complete sentience and therefore, utterly useless to him. The other three were violent and required a lot of controlling; they had been the Waltz's. Vivi knew nothing of this, but pictures from his time in Kuja's control had entered his mind; a place full of dragons, Kuja's Silver dragon, the Waltz's.
The deaths of innocent people.
Vivi tried to shove the images from his mind, he felt like the stranger from the village, able to recall a past he could do nothing to prevent. It felt like watching his own body doing things from the inside, a feeling of utter helplessness rose in him but he fought it down. 'No, that's not me any more!' He thought angrily at the images, 'I'm not like that any more.'
'Zidane's right, all Black Mages have their demons, but they don't leap out of fire in the night and kill people, they linger in our heads and hearts to hurt us that way. They remind us of what we did; they let us relive things in vivid memories. That's our price, we didn't choose it but we have to live with it.'
-
END