A/N~ My first order of business is to say I updated. Obviously. My second order of business is to apologize for it's crappiness. This chapter did not come easy. I fought with several people online while writing it, and I finished it when I was half asleep. Then I want to apologize to anyone angry at the fact that I killed off Baku. Don't worry though; his death is not irrelevant to the plot. There will come a time when all will become known to you. Until then keep reading and reviewing! ^^
Mysteries of the Ice CavernBaku had been buried at the edge of the forest. There was nothing else they could do for him. A crude cross now marked his final resting spot. An air of sadness followed as they stood silently around the grave saying their last goodbyes. Everyone was sad, but no one felt their grief to as deep an extent as Zidane.
Garnet stood beside him wanting nothing more than to hold him and help him work through it, but she couldn't. And they couldn't stay any longer; the soldiers would soon be after them.
If only I hadn't left the palace. Then Baku would still be alive, she thought to herself. Even though it wasn't directly her fault, she couldn't help feeling responsible for his death.
"Let's go," Zidane said softly, turning away from Baku's grave.
They followed him in silence into the forest. Everyone was still mourning the loss of their friend and leader. Vivi had never known him, and Garnet had not known him long, but it was impossible to be around so many sad people and not be sad yourself. So they stuck by each other and Zidane.
The trip through Evil Forest was relatively uneventful to their complete and utter surprise, only a few fights with monsters here and there, nothing the gang of Tantalus hadn't seen before. After hearing so many tales of the strange beings within they couldn't help but be a little suspicious.
"Let's not let our guard down, there are still dangers outside the forest," Marcus said as they left the other side.
It wasn't long before they found a cave in a cliff.
"This is the Ice Cavern. My grandfather told me about this place. It will take us to the top of the mist. From there we should be able to find a way to Lindblum," Vivi told them.
"Great!" Zidane said with forced enthusiasm. Garnet could tell that his mind was back at the edge of Evil Forest where Baku would forever lie.
She felt so helpless. She could tell he was suffering, and it killed her that she could not heal emotional wounds like she could physical ones. Why did she care so much? It wasn't as if she had known him for very long. Two days. And yet his pain was her pain. It was as if they were already one person.
To feel that way about a person she had known for so short a period of time baffled her. It wasn't all that long ago she had thought that she wanted to spend her entire life with Kuja. And yet here she was on this big adventure to see the world, and on the second day she had fallen in love… was that too strong a word? Could it be true?
There was no denying it. Somewhere in the course of the past several days she had changed. Her life had been considered a dream, the life everyone wanted to have and only a few 'lucky' people did. She had always been taught that it was her fate to do exactly what was expected of her. She had to be a primped, proper, imperious princess. And she had always been taught that what she wanted in life didn't matter. Everything had been about what her mother wanted to her to do.
But she had changed all that. She escaped from the one thing she had thought she had wanted. She had left behind a mass of wealth in that split second when she realized that what she thought she had wanted wasn't as important as she thought it was. She had to do something for herself for once. She had to prove that what she wanted was just as important as what her mother wanted.
And now the first person to hold out his hand in an offer to do something for her, to show her kindness, to see the person behind her rank, to treat her as an equal rather than a superior, and to believe in her, was hurting. And there was nothing she could do for him.
Why do horrible things have to happen to nice people?? Why did Baku have to die and leave Zidane here mourning him?? Why did this even have to happen?? It's all my fault!! I caused this!! Her mind was screaming at her. Blaming her… It was all her fault.
She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling isolated. None of the others had caused this. It was her! She had indirectly destroyed lives. How many people in her kingdom were suffering due to her selfishness? Were they cursing her as she thought about them?
In one moment of panic she had done so much. Something that she had thought was not a big deal at the time. It had been a gut instinct after all. Her instincts had told her to run, and so she had. And now people were suffering due to her split second decision.
Maybe I should have just married Kuja after all, no one would have had to suffer that way, She thought to herself.
Yet underneath all that, she somehow knew that she had made the right decision in running away. She just couldn't see herself marrying Kuja. And besides, now was not the time for what if's.
They entered the Ice Cavern and immediately shrunk back from the blast of cold air that greeted them.
"Gods it's cold in here!" Zidane muttered, wrapping his arms around himself in an effort to get warm.
Garnet was glad she had the cloak that had dried while they sat by Evil Forest waiting for the airship. Unfortunately she couldn't stay glad when she saw Zidane shivering ahead of her. Pulling off the cloak she walked up behind him and wrapped it around his shoulders.
For a moment he just stared at her in shock. Then he pulled it off and handed it back to her, "You keep it."
She shook her head, "My dress keeps me warm enough, besides your shirt has no sleeves. You're going to catch a cold, and then how are you going to take me to Lindblum?"
To her relief he flashed her a half smile, although the grief he felt was still evident in his eyes, "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it."
They walked in an uncomfortable silence, glancing unseeing at the ice-covered walls. The silence was eerie, but it suited the environment. Everything was so beautiful, but she was too distracted to take much notice.
It wasn't long before a wall of ice blocked their path. Zidane sighed, "Now what? We're stuck here."
Vivi walked up to the front. "Stand back, I'm going to use my fire magic to melt it."
Zidane and Garnet moved back, giving him enough room to do the spell. With a sudden blast of heat and flames the wall melted, water pooling around their feet.
Zidane started walking again, "Let's get moving before it freezes."
In a matter of seconds they were walking along the stone floors. Garnet sighed, unsure of what to say. The silence was deafening, it was giving her too much time to think. It was time to start with the small talk.
"So has Lindblum changed much? I haven't been there in about four years," Garnet said.
"Not really, there's been a rumor about some airship that Regent Cid's developing. They claim it doesn't run on mist, but that's impossible," Marcus said.
Airships not run by mist? She thought, something tugging at the back of her mind. But before she could figure it out the thought was gone. With a sigh she turned her attention back to the conversation running around her.
"…the Festival of the Hunt is coming up soon. Zidane, are you entering this year?" Cinna asked.
"I haven't really thought about it. Probably not."
"You should, you could win. There's no one in the three great nations who could beat you," Marcus said encouragingly.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he looked to the ground.
"You should enter, Zidane, I'd like to see you win," Garnet said with a smile.
"Yeah Zidane, you should do it for your girlfriend," Blank said, a sly smile on his face, growing bigger as he watched Zidane and Garnet turn bright red out of the corner of his eye.
Zidane liked her, of that Blank was certain. He didn't act like he normally did around girls. Usually he was using cheap pick-up lines to get their attention, but with Princess Garnet he was…different…there was no other way to explain it. There was something about the way they looked at each other.
They had only met two days ago, but somehow it seemed as if they had known each other forever. Something about it….
"Guys… I can't go on any longer…" Cinna said, sinking to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Zidane asked, concerned.
Cinna couldn't answer; he was unconscious before he hit the ground. In seconds they were crowded around him. Garnet and Zidane knelt beside him.
"I think he's sleeping," Garnet told Zidane.
"Everything that happened today must have taken a toll on him, why don't we all get some rest then," Zidane suggested.
"That's the best idea you've had since I've known you," Blank joked. Zidane glared at him, which only made Blank laugh harder. "Do us a favor and don't get the Princess pregnant while we're asleep."
"BLANK!" Zidane shouted, his voice echoing off the icy walls. His face was red; he could feel it. He didn't know why it embarrassed him so much, he was never embarrassed when Blank, Marcus, and Cinna joked with him about the other girls who had been a part of his life, but for some reason he was embarrassed when they joked about her.
He pondered this as they settled down to rest on the stone floors. It wasn't very comfortable, but what choice did they have? Soon he and Garnet were the only ones awake.
"So what was it like living in the palace?" Zidane asked.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be. Everyone thinks that the life of a princess is a fairy tale, but it's not. You can't do anything you want to, it's all prim and proper," she told him.
He opened his mouth to say something, but jerked himself upright, suddenly alert. Over the snorts and snores of his companions sleeping he thought he heard the soft sound of a bell.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
"Hear what?" Garnet asked, looking confused.
"Listen…"
His ears seemed to hear everything ten times better than usual. After a moment he heard the tinkling of the bell.
"Did you hear it?" he asked again.
Garnet shook her head, "What's going on?"
"Stay here," he said, getting to his feet.
"Zidane…" she protested.
"Keep an eye on them, I'll be right back. I'm just going to go see what that was."
She watched him walk away, worried. What was going on? She was struck with indecision. She wanted to follow him, but at the same time she wanted to stay here and do as he said.
***
Zidane wandered down the icy corridors. Every once in a while he heard the tinkling of the bell, drawing ever closer. At last the corridor opened into a large circular room, the walls here were also coated in ice. In the far back there was a type of ramp leading up to the outside. Good…they were almost out of the Ice Cavern's. He didn't know about the others, but he was getting pretty sick of ice.
Looking around he soon found the source of the bell sound. Standing in front of him was a figure that looked like Vivi, only much taller. He wore a long patched coat and hat. In his hand he held a bell, which he tapped. It made a melodic tinkling sound.
"At last you have shown up, I've been watching you progress through these caverns. But you and your companions will go no further. You will give me the Princess and the rest of you will die," the figure said.
"What makes you so certain that I will give you the Princess?" Zidane asked.
"I am Black Waltz 1, and no one can defeat me," the figure said, its arrogance was infuriating.
"We'll see…" Zidane said, drawing his daggers.
"Come to me, Sealion!" the Black Waltz said. The air to the right of the Black Waltz shimmered, and a giant sea lion appeared, "Let's see how tough you are now."
The Sealion attacked before he could move. For a moment Zidane was frozen in a block of ice from his Blizzard attack. When the ice shattered he managed to mumble, "Yeah, I'm really getting sick of ice," before he shot out and slashed at the Sealion.
The Black Waltz cast Blizzard on his minion, curing his wounds.
"Shit," Zidane muttered as the Sealion used his wing attack, "I'm going to have to take out the Black Waltz first."
Slashing at the Black Waltz he managed to do a decent amount of damage. He had definitely improved his skills since his last big battle. The Black Waltz cried out in pain.
"You may be able to defeat me, but you will never be able to defeat my Sealion," the Black Waltz said, casting Blizzard on his minion again.
The Sealion cast Blizzard, once again freezing Zidane in a block of ice. As soon as it had shattered he jumped at the Black Waltz once again doing a decent amount of damage. The Black Waltz fell to the ground, defeated, and disappeared.
The Sealion bellowed in anger and struck him. He fell to one knee, knowing that if he didn't use a potion now he was done for. He dug through his pockets until he found one and used it right before the Sealion decided to attack again. He countered the attack and then went in for one of his own. He managed to deliver a massive blow to the creature's chest and the Sealion fell to the ground dead. He sighed with relief and turned to go back to Garnet.
You may have defeated number one, but two and three will defeat you, a voice said from up above. Zidane quickly looked around but saw nothing.
"I'd better get back to Garnet," Zidane said, after a moment.
***
"What happened?" Garnet asked as soon as he lay back down next to her.
"Nothing," he said, "I couldn't find anything, but we aren't far from the exit."
"You were gone that long, and you didn't find anything?" she asked suspiciously.
He nodded; he didn't want her to worry. If she knew that the soldiers and that weird Black Waltz thing was after her and they were inside the Ice Cavern who knew what she would do. Instead he would watch over her, and pretend nothing had happened.
A/N~ So there it is. In all it's glory. It could have been a lot better, but I was half asleep when I wrote it, though determined to get it uploaded today. Let me know what you think. I promise that this story will progress rapidly over break, if my mom releases me from the clutches of spring-cleaning. *shudder* So stay tuned for the next chapter, coming soon to a computer near you.