Chapter 26
Kuja watched the small swarm of people exclaim happily over Blank's awakening, and felt numb inside.
It was the right thing to do, he told himself. It was the hardest decision he had ever made, and it was tearing him apart inside, but it was the right thing to do.
Slowly, as unobtrusively as he could manage, he snuck behind the happy crowd and slid out the door. In the corridor he walked slowly, listening to the click of his shoes on the floor tiles. They echoed loudly in the empty hall.
'This is for the best,' he told himself. 'No more putting anyone in danger. No more of people getting hurt for me. No more inflicting the Angel of Death upon them. I'll just go. I'll go as far away as I can.'
He tried to think to himself which belongings he should take with him, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had nothing to take. Other than the clothes on his back, what did he have here that he really owned? No, if it was going to be a complete disappearance, then he shouldn't take anything. He would just be suddenly gone, like a whisper, or a dream.
His heart ached in his chest and for a moment he wished desperately that he had something, some sort of keepsake which he could remember Blank by. But there was nothing. He would have to be content with his memories. They would have to be enough.
He paused at the door to the garden, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright early morning light. He scanned the field in front of him and saw, in the shade beneath one of the trees, a slight shimmering in the air. He smiled. Only someone who knew what he was looking at would be able to discern the shape accurately. He strode towards Caranteth.
Though he had been napping, the dragon was awake by the time Kuja got there. He opened his eyes and stared at Kuja. Where are you going, Kuja-Child?
Kuja reached forward and embraced the large head, stroking the side of the muzzle. "Anywhere. Anywhere you wish. Just take me away from here."
Why are you running, Kuja-Child?
"I have to," Kuja replied softly. "I'm a danger to those that I care about. People who get close to me always end up being hurt. Zaruyon died for me, and Blank nearly did. I can't put anyone else in that kind of danger. I... I have to do the right thing."
That is a noble ideal, certainly. Are you sure this is what you wish?
Kuja thought of Blank, lying near death in his bed, and of Zaruyon, whose life energy even now coursed through Kuja's veins. How could he have been so stupid as to put them in danger like that? Never again. They would be safe now that he was gone.
"I'm sure," he whispered, and felt his heart breaking at the words. "Take me away from here, Caranteth. Take me as far away as you can."
The dragon lowered his head so that Kuja could mount, but then hesitated. Kuja-Child, I have seen into your heart. I know how much this mortal means to you, and I imagine that you mean at least as much to him. It saddens me that you feel you must leave him like this.
Kuja squeezed his eyes shut. "Please don't make this harder for me than it is, Caranteth. I don't want to leave him. I love him. But I have to. For his sake, and for my brother's as well, I must leave this place."
The dragon bowed his head in acquiescence. Whatever you wish, Kuja-Child. He waited for Kuja to mount, then turned his gaze upward and launched them both into the sky.
Oh God, that was hideous. Take me back.
or
Oh God, that was hideous. Let me complain to the author.