The Song of Eternity

Canto 2 : Gaia

Verse 2

Helpless

The destroyer returned to the land full of his enemies,

Unable to defend himself,

Taken in by those who would kill him,

If not for one.

            There was a large commotion in the Treno auction house.  Once the current auction ended, the ushers moved the buyers to the exit and ushered them out of the building.  Once they were out, the door was locked and barred.  "What do you mean, you found him?"  The voice came from a man standing about six feet tall, with dark red hair, obviously the other Starmore.  "People don't just appear in this building, we've seen to that with the mages," he said angrily to the person next to him.

            "All I can tell you is one minute that balcony was empty and when I turned back, there he was," his companion explained.  Her tail twitched in annoyance at Nathan.  Mikoto looked at him seriously and continued talking.  "We should kill him, if he's here, Garland probably sent him."

            "Great, which means they know where we are.  Except for that it makes no sense because if they knew where we were, this place would be crawling with WEAPONs.  Take me to him, I'll figure something out," he sighed as he followed Mikoto to the stairs.  Mikoto gestured for him to go forward onto the small balcony to examine the person there.  "So this I him?"  He said out loud as he examined the body.  "His breathing is weak…  What's this…?"  He muttered to himself as he examined a wound that that was seeping blood.  Nathan's face got white as he got back to his feet and talked to Mikoto.  "Try to use a cure spell on him," he ordered her.

            She shot an angry look at Nathan, but created the green light that washed over Kuja's body.  "Not working on him.  Good.  Saves me the trouble of having to kill you, Kuja," she angrily shouted at the body.  Nathan grabbed her by the shoulders and walked her down the stairs to the lobby.

            "Those wounds…  I haven't seen them for years," Nathan said with a puzzled look on his face.  "Get a doctor and someone who can use curaga, I want him on his feet in an hour," he ordered, causing many of the people in the lobby to scurry about.

            "What are you thinking?  He is a monster!"  Mikoto shouted at Nathan. 

            "I do not care Mikoto, if he is a spy, you can kill him.  But I want to know where he has been and more importantly, why he has those injuries," he stopped talking as he noted the strange look on her face.  "The wounds…, Travis got ones like that whenever he used a Starlight Blast."-

            Mikoto stared at Kuja as the doctor tried to wake him up with smelling salts.  Finally he opened his eyes and looked around the room dazed.  "Where am I?" he whispered, trying to regain his strength.  He looked around the dark auction house, finally noticing and recognizing Mikoto.  "What's going on?" he asked as the doctor injected some painkillers into his arm.

            "You tell me.  We found you up there in the balcony like this.  Everyone thought you were dead for the past decade.  Where were you?"  She asked him angrily, before Nathan came into the room and calmed her down.

            "I must apologize for her, she doesn't seem to regard you with fondness.  But I want to know where you have been as well as how you got here," he asked Kuja.

            "In a statue… on Parm…," Kuja muttered before closing his eyes and falling silent. 

            "Someone find out where Parm is," he shouted to no one in particular.  "And you got here how?"

            Kuja opened his eyes slowly before speaking.  "We were fighting Ashura, then the mage did something…that's all I remember," he shook his head before blinking hard.  "There were the two kids, the bounty hunters, and the metal man," he slurred his words as he started to fall asleep.

            "He needs to rest or he might die," the doctor warned Nathan.

            "One more question.  The wounds, how did you get them?"  Nathan said calmly as he stood next to Kuja.

            "Starlight……," Kuja whispered before he passed out and the doctor took him away.

            "Okay people, get back to work.  See what you can find out about Parm and keep a lookout for people that are supposed to be dead, like him," he gestured at Kuja.  Finally he turned to Mikoto.  "We need answers from him, no killing him, please.  If nothing else, he might be able to use Starlight Blasts, which would aid us greatly."  He stopped talking as Mikoto stared at him with eyes full anger.  "Guess I'm sleeping on the couch," he muttered before walking away to get back to work.