Song: We Are – Ana
'I wonder where I'll be if I open my eyes this time...?' Zidane thought sarcastically as he woke up. Looking around, he could not see any sign of his friends. 'They must've fallen further away from than me than I thought.' He looked around some more. "Hey, Lindblum's not too far from here!" he noted, smiling. "Maybe they'll be there!" Steadying himself as he stood up, he made his way to the city. 'My Ultima Weapon must have landed somewhere else.' he thought, sighing. 'Why did there have to be only one?' Still walking, he felt dizzy for a few seconds. Shaking it off, he groaned. "Must have concussion." he said to himself. "Well, if I don't find my Ultima Weapon, I guess I'll have to buy a new weapon with the Gil I've got."
"Zidane! Where are you?" Garnet called out as she and everyone else wandered around for any traces of him. "Huh?" She saw Lindblum in the far distance. "He has to be there!" she decided.
"Your Majesty," Steiner started. "Are you sure you wish to travel all the way to Lindblum?"
"What is wrong Steiner? Are you objecting to my decisions?" she asked slyly. Steiner looked shocked.
"Of course not, my Queen!" he protested. Garnet smiled.
"Then escort me to Lindblum. If Zidane is not there, then we shall borrow an aircraft and look elsewhere."
Heading to the Theatre District, Zidane got more time to think while being transported there. 'Okay, if something bad happens, then I tell the others. Until then, there's no use her worrying about it.' he decided. 'I mean, it's not even like it's guaranteed to happen.'he added to his original thought anxiously. The vehicle jolted as it stopped, and he got off and made his way to Tantalus' hideout.
"Hey maybe Garnet's there and looking for me!" he said to himself, grinning. "If she is, she'll probably not want to let go of me again!" Arriving at the hideout, he looked inside. "Guys? You there?" he called as he walked in. "Great, they're gone!" Looking around the room, he spotted a note pinned up onto one of the walls. Tearing it off, he began to read it.
Zidane,
If ya should pop by, I just thought I'd tell ya that me and the boys are startin' a mass-marketin' scam in Treno. I heard the all the nobles in that place are right suckers for 'rare' items! We'll be back in a few days. See ya later.
Baku
"He didn't insult me?" the genome wondered, puzzled. "That's a first." Dropping the note onto the floor he walked out of the hideout, getting the same dizzy spell he had experienced before. 'It seemed worse this time.' he thought anxiously. He tried to ignore it and carried on towards the Industrial District to buy a new weapon.
'I know the sun is out, but why do I feel so hot?' Zidane wondered as he made his way towards the main square of the Industrial District. There were not many people around, to say it was supposed to be a market day. But, there did not seem to be any market stands lining the streets either. Beginning to feel worse, Zidane tried to focus as the whole world began spinning around him. He was getting so hot that the hairs on the back of his neck were on end by the cold chills being sent down his spine to cool him off. He wanted to stop and rest, but something compelled him to keep going, like some kind of unknown force. He began to stumble and lose his balance, and tripped on the steps, falling to his knees in the square. 'What is...going...on?' he thought weakly, starting to panic. Standing up again, overwhelming power surged through his body and he screamed as a tremendous shockwave, much more powerful than what had hit the grand dragon, exploded from him and he could sense that everyone around him was dead by the time he had hit the ground.
"What was that?!" Garnet cried, seeing what looked like the aftermath of an explosion in Lindblum.
"I'm not sure..." Vivi replied quietly.
"It looked like a shockwave of some sort, but it appears that the buildings were not damaged." Steiner noted. Mikoto looked on worriedly. 'This is not good. I did not think that so much power would have built up so quickly!'
"We have to hurry! Zidane may have been in the middle of that!" Garnet instructed, a nervous feeling forming in her stomach. The others agreed and they headed to Lindblum at a run.
Eventually arriving at the town, Garnet rushed up ahead towards the main gate. The others followed at full pace when a scream was heard soon afterwards.
"What's wrong?" Eiko asked apprehensively as she reached her. "No way!" There, lying on the floor, was what remained of a half rotted man, still in guard uniform. Garnet backed away, looking terrified.
"Z-Zidane..." she said to herself, her voice shaking. She ran off towards the street. "No! How could this have happened?!" she gasped, her face pale. Steiner walked up to her, unsure of what to say.
"It...it looks like it was some sort of a massacre." he began. "But I did not see any fleet headed towards the town, and there is no magic or weapons that can do this." he added, looking at the corpses on the ground. Walking further into the town, the entire group were sure that the bodies had become more and more decomposed as they walked deeper into the area.
"It's..." Garnet tried to say something, but was afraid to in case her suspicions were correct.
"It's what?" Eiko asked, trying to stay away from the bodies.
"It's...just like that grand dragon yesterday. But, it seems much worse." She was silent for a few seconds. "Was it...Zidane who did this?" Mikoto looked at her nervously, but no one had noticed. Erin and the rest of the crew were looking in horror at what had happened.
"How would he have been able to do this?" she wondered, appalled at what she was seeing. Vivi walked into the hotel to see if there was any sign that anyone had survived. Heading upstairs, he opened the door of the first room and saw the body of Moodon, lying dead on the ground, still decomposing. Backing off timidly, he darted out of the hotel and up to Garnet.
"What did you see?" she asked, trying to calm him down.
"Th-the moogle w-was still rotting!" he blurted out. Garnet knelt down him and hugged him.
"Don't worry, we won't stay here long." she said softly, standing up again. "Just stay by my side."
"O-okay..." Vivi replied hesitantly.
Garnet headed towards the square with Vivi, the others following seconds afterwards.
They continued on until there was barely any sign that anyone had been there, except for few bones. Garnet instantly found Zidane, collapsed on the floor. Sprinting up to him, she knelt beside him. "Zidane..." she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "You're going to be okay...please say you are..."
"My Queen, we must return to Alexandria immediately and inform Regent Cid and Lady Hilda of the disaster that has happened here. Garnet wiped her eyes and stood up, allowing Steiner to pick up Zidane.
"Your Majesty, may I suggest that we use one of the ships here to get to Alexandria." Erin suggested. Garnet nodded and they headed off towards the dock.
Sat on one of the cliffs near Lindblum, Stiltzkin was contemplating what had happened. "Maybe I should help them." he suggested to himself. "That shockwave couldn't have been good." He flew off towards the town to look for them.
"There's no ships here?" Eiko groaned, seeing that the dock was empty. Garnet sighed.
"What do we do?" she asked worriedly, looking at Zidane. "The only other way to Alexandria is by foot."
"Any way I can help?" Heads turned toward where they had entered as Stiltzkin's voice called through the area.
"Hey Stiltzkin!" Eiko greeted, smiling at the friendly face. "What are you doin' here?"
"I was in the area and I saw the shockwave. I thought I could help." the moogle replied. "So, what can I do for you?"
"I wish you to pass on a message to Uncle Cid and Lady Hilda." Garnet requested. "Can you tell them that we wish to have the Red Rose collect us from Lindblum, and that a catastrophe has occurred throughout the entire town."
"Okay!" Stiltzkin agreed and flew off. Garnet turned to the others.
"Now all we can do is wait." she suggested, sitting on a nearby wall. 'I hope he hurries, Zidane is depending on it.'
Two hours had passed, and Garnet trying to give Eiko singing lessons to cheer herself and the little girl up was getting more than irritating for everyone else.
"This is getting annoying." Mikoto said to herself. Garnet looked at her.
"I was passing the time." she answered back. "Eiko is getting better."
"I never thought it appropriate to have singing lessons when everyone else in town is dead because of Zidane." the genome informed her. Garnet looked at her with a mixture of confusion and shock.
"Then it was Zidane who did it!" she realised. Her face grew suspicious. "How did you know?"
"Zidane did not wish to tell you, and I will respect his wishes. However," she added, seeing Garnet becoming infuriated. "when he wakes I am positive that he will tell you everything. If he does not, then I shall tell you." Garnet looked at Zidane.
"Very well." she sighed, then she looked at Mikoto again. "I knew there was something wrong with him. All that has been happening lately has to have been more than a coincidence." A rumbling noise was heard and the Red Rose docked, with Cid and Hilda stepping out. Hilda gasped.
"What happened here?" she demanded, seeing rotted bodies of workers scattered around the place. Garnet approached them.
"There was a horrific occurrence just before we arrived here. Everyone is dead." she explained. Cid looked around in disbelief.
"My goodness..." he said quietly. "Are you sure hat everyone is gone?" he asked, just to make sure.
"We did not check all of the areas, but we are confident that that is the case." Garnet responded.
"What has happened to Zidane?" Hilda asked, looking at the genome lying on the ground with Steiner watching over him.
"We..." Garnet paused. 'I shouldn't tell him that he was the one who caused it. They might take him away from me.' "We found him just outside Lindblum after this had happened. I am not sure who has caused this."
"Very well. We shall head back to Alexandria and discuss it there." Cid decided, taking one last look at the corpses, sighing, then heading off to the ship, followed by everyone else.