Chapter 22
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Looks like there are going to be 30 chapters in this thing, including epilogue. So we're in the home stretch! Yay!
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As Kuja followed his guards up through the passage, he felt the air grow colder and realized that this tunnel connected back to the outside. There were enough twists and turns to make it difficult for the warm air to escape the cavern, but the further they went, the more evident it became that they would soon reach the snow.
Though he knew it was coming, he was still not prepared for it. The brightness of the stark white snow was a blinding contrast to the dim interior of the cavern, lit though it was by the draconian mage-lights. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found that he was in a strange sort of outdoor cave, at least half as wide as the main cavern had been. High stone peaks surrounded the space on all sides, but the top was not covered; it was like a large cavern with no roof. And in the center of the space was-
Kuja gasped. "I-impossible," he said. But it was true. Right before his eyes was a creature believed to have gone extinct thousands of years earlier.
"A... mirror dragon?"
The dragon, which Kuja now realized must be Caranteth, was enormous, half-again as large as Zaruyon, though more sleek and streamlined than the white dragon. As the creature unfurled his wings slightly, the outlines of his form shifted, coming in and out of view as his silver scales mirrored the surrounding rock faces. But the inside of the wings were dark, providing large black spaces that were easier to focus on, and the dragon's eyes, when he opened them at last, were golden, reminding Kuja forcibly of Blank's.
So this is the Kuja-Child. The voice in Kuja's head was much loftier, icier than Zaruyon's had been. We meet at last.
Flustered, Kuja hurriedly bowed. "Forgive my rudeness Great One. I was simply in awe. I had thought your kind extinct long ago."
The dragon chuckled. As you can see, Kuja-Child, that is not the case. Though we are quite rare, we still exist. And in enough numbers to breed and re-establish ourselves if we so choose. But this talk is not why you are here.
One of the drake guards next to Kuja spoke up. The Queen wants him tested. She wants you to test his soul, to see if-
I understand what is requested of me, the dragon said, sounding slightly annoyed. Very well. Allow me to peer into your soul, Kuja-Child.
Unsure of what, exactly, he was supposed to do, Kuja closed his eyes, and after a few moments felt a sudden jolt, followed by the strangest sensation of floating. He tried as hard as he could to concentrate on his feelings towards the dragons, on his love and respect for the whole draconian race. But somehow, he found his thoughts drifting towards Blank.
In his mind's eye he saw his friend lying sick in a bed, dying, waiting for Kuja to return with the desperately needed medicine.
Who is this Gaian?
He recognized the voice as the dragon's, but it was different. It seemed to come from inside him, as though it were his own voice simply thinking.
Blank, he thought, unsure if the dragon could hear him, or if it was even the dragon he was speaking to. This is Blank. He's sick. A snow drake bit him. The poison was meant for me, but he saved my life. And now he's dying, and I came up here to try to save him.
A dragon died for this cause.
Suddenly the picture in his mind shifted to Zaruyon, to his corpse as it had been before Kuja had burned it. He felt sadness well up in him once again at the thought of Zaruyon's death. It should never have happened. Yet another innocent life lost because of him.
Yes, he answered. This dragon died for me. So that I could live to retrieve the medicine for Blank.
The image disappeared, and Kuja once again felt himself to be floating. It was as though he were adrift in a sea of darkness. He felt alone, like the only being left in the entire Universe. He looked all around him but in all directions there was nothing but black, an endless ocean of nothing.
You care so much the this Gaian?
Kuja looked around, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but it was impossible. The sound seemed to be everywhere at once, even inside of him.
I do, he said. I love this Gaian.
He is only mortal.
No. I am only mortal. I am only what I give back to the world. Any loyalties given to me, any friendships, are my blessings, not my rights. But I believe in my cause. I may be mortal, but I can still make a difference. I can still affect this man's life. It is in my power to save him from death. And perhaps to do so will make my mortality worthwhile.
The voice in his mind chuckled. It was a dark sound, but not entirely frightening. It tolled with the finality of a death bell, but it was not menacing.
Well-spoken, Kuja-Child.
And then suddenly Kuja opened his eyes to the brightness of a white, snow-filled sky. Sitting up, he found that he had fallen onto his back on the snowy ground. He shook his head slightly, dislodging some of the snow from his hair and clearing the remaining haze from his mind. The mirror dragon gazed down at him with large golden eyes that now seemed to hold a spark of laughter.
Rejoice, he said to the drakes. The Kuja-Child remains one of us. He is loyal. He has his determination. Give him what he came for.
The drakes practically fell over themselves to obey, and led Kuja back down into the tunnel that led to the main cavern.
When you have received your antidote, Caranteth said as Kuja retreated, return to me.