Chapter XIII
The Search and a Scary Dream
The men stared in silence and shock as tears fell down Bergljot's face.
"How did this happen?" Gwandoya asked, struggling to keep from yelling. He was obviously angry that the two of them had not listened to him and his worst fears were coming true.
"Well, the night you talked to Gilda on the ship, you know, right before we got to Itziar," Bergljot began. "I woke up and heard you two talking. I snuck into the corridor to listen and heard what you said about not making love to each other until the light comes. Anselm came and got me when you hung up, and we had sex while you were piloting. It was going to be the last time, and I didn't think that anything would happen…"
"Yeah, you didn't think," Gwandoya said angrily. "Why do you keep eavesdropping on me and going against everything I say? I'm the oldest one here. I thought we got it through your head when you were a student that you respect your elders. You're lucky Anselm didn't get you pregnant when you had sex with him at fourteen."
"How did you know about that?" Anselm whispered in a shocked voice. Bergljot was sitting there, jaw slightly dropped and eyes wide.
"You honestly think I'd believe that you overslept? You've never been late for anything with the exception of when you were born. Plus the fact that when I got to the house, it was to do laundry since our machine was broken, remember? I loaded yours after I finished mine and found you-know-what on your sheets."
"That was ten years ago!" Anselm snapped. Before his brother could speak, Anselm hurriedly changed the subject. "Bergljot, you're sure it wasn't a mistake?"
"Look," she pulled out the test from her pocket. It was clearly positive. "See? It's positive. And pregnancy tests are never wrong, even home ones."
"Bergljot," Anselm whispered. He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "You know this is bad?"
"Yeah, we can't travel to-" Bergljot stopped and looked at Gwandoya angrily. "Wait. Doya, you said that Gummi Ship radiation kills fetuses. Wouldn't that mean that this baby,"-she stood and pointed at her stomach. - "would be dead right now?"
"I lied. Okay? I lied," Gwandoya stood. "I hoped that maybe if you believed that, it would be a decent birth control until this is over."
"I'm only about a month and a half along," Bergljot whispered, deciding to drop the subject. "I did some figuring, and I should give birth in June. I think we should find Sephiroth before that. I'll need extra defense, since I won't be able to fight until the baby is born. I'll be laid up in bed for at least a few days afterwards, too. I'll go call Renatus and explain that we'll be postponed for a little while."
"What about the other worlds?" Gwandoya pointed out. Bergljot thought.
"I think we should tell Renatus to send out a universal news flash that if any worlds are invaded, they are to defend the planet as best they can until we get there," Anselm suggested.
"Good idea. I'll go tell her since I'm the cause of this mess," Bergljot said as she walked down to the basement to use Ace's transmitter.
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"So you see, we need you to send out a call to as many worlds as possible," Bergljot had just explained the situation to Renatus. She could see the runaways in the background reading. Most of the books had been left with them, save Riku's diary and the scroll Renatus gave them. Leilani was sitting there, too, hands bandage-free and looking as she did when they met. Yuffeth looked up, saw Bergljot in the sphere, and waved.
"I will do that," Renatus was smiling. "I know this is a bad time for you to get pregnant, but congratulations anyway."
"You're pregnant?" Yuffeth exclaimed as she ran over to the sphere. At the nod from Bergljot, she and her friends went ballistic. "Aw! Is it a boy or a girl?"
"I don't know," Bergljot confessed. "I took a home pregnancy test. I don't plan on going to a doctor. I don't want to chance being attacked. Even if I did, I want it to be a surprise."
"How far along?" Strifer asked happily.
"Roughly a month and a half," Bergljot said, shocked to see Strifer so excited.
"When are you due?" Leilani questioned.
"Sometime in June."
"I bet Doya and Anselm are proud, huh?" Ken'ichi grinned.
"Actually," Bergljot looked sad. "I think Anselm's pretty happy, but Doya's pissed. He thinks Ansem will get farther ahead if I'm pregnant."
"I see," Ken'ichi nodded. "You can't blame him for thinking that, though."
"I'll send your message tonight," Renatus agreed. She got up to leave. "I guess I'll go prepare the recording."
"You better keep us up to date!" Yuffeth was grinning like an idiot. "Send us a call every month!"
"I'll see what I can do," Bergljot laughed. "Oh, and Leilani?"
"Yes?"
"We're going to go retrieve Sephiroth soon. We'll bring him with us when we get you."
"You better bring the baby, too," Strifer commanded.
"Unless you were enlisting Doya's wife as a babysitter," Ken'ichi corrected.
"You didn't hear me tell Renatus?" At the replies of shaking heads, she told them. "They were killed by Heartless the day after we got back here."
"Oh, no," Yuffeth gasped.
"On behalf of all of us, tell him we're sorry," Leilani instructed. "I thought I felt three heartless souls entering the Lifestream recently."
"I'll tell him," Bergljot said. "I'd better go. I'll talk to all of you soon."
"Be careful with Sephiroth," Strifer told her seriously.
"He's strong, but very evil. Chances are, he'll either kill you or challenge you to a fight," Ken'ichi warned her.
"A fight…" Bergljot pondered. She finally closed her eyes and nodded her head. "I'll be ready."
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"So, when do we leave?" Bergljot asked at dinner. They had spent the day planning to go after Sephiroth, but had not decided a day to leave.
"Next month, maybe," Gwandoya said thickly. Despite the fact that he swore he wasn't very hungry, Gwandoya was shoving as much food into his mouth at once as possible. He reached for another helping.
"Slow down, you've eaten three plates already," Bergljot looked at him sickeningly. "Anyway, I think we should leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Anselm repeated. "Are you sure?"
"The later we leave, the less likely it is I'll be able to fight if we come across anything dangerous. Ken'ichi told me that Sephiroth might challenge me. If I wait too long," Bergljot stood and stuck her arms in front of her. "I'll be about this big and trying to fight. I'd rather do it now."
"Ha ha," Anselm laughed. "I'm sorry, but the image of you with that big of a stomach and trying to fight…"
"Shut up," she snapped, but she had to laugh, too.
"I think you should go to bed right after dinner. We'll need as much energy as possible. We'll leave before dawn and take a boat, just in case my lie about the radiation had some truth to it. I'm heading up now. Good night," Gwandoya said as he stood and left.
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"Aren't you coming to bed?" Anselm asked a short time later as he prepared for bed. Bergljot was standing in front of the mirror in her pajama bottoms. She hadn't put on her top yet, but was staring at her reflection instead. Turning sideways, she looked at her husband.
"You realize that in eight months, I actually will be out to here?" she asked in disbelief as she stretched her arms in front of her stomach. She slipped on her top and hugged Anselm. "I'm scared."
"What about?"
"I'm not so scared about the pregnancy itself. I'm worried about actually giving birth. I wish Gilda were here. I could use some advice from her. I'm mostly scared about the labor pain."
"You'll be fine. I wouldn't know since I'm not a woman, but I've heard that as long as you stay healthy during the pregnancy and breathe correctly when you're in labor, it doesn't hurt too bad."
"That makes me feel a little better."
"Let's get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead," Anselm said quietly as he led his wife to bed.
They fell asleep within half an hour. In the room next to them, however, Gwandoya was falling into an uneasy slumber.
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Where am I?
Gwandoya looks around sleepily. He is in a field at night. There is fog obscuring his vision, but he makes out Bergljot, who is standing a few feet away.
Bergljot? Gwandoya calls. She does not answer. He approaches her and lays a hand on her shoulder, only to have it go through.
Bergljot turns swiftly at the sound of rustling behind them. She walks through Gwandoya, who is shocked to see that her stomach is roughly the size of a globe. She looks at least seven months pregnant. A Heartless leaps out at her.
"Leave me alone," she hisses. The Keyblades are drawn, and she begins to fight the monster.
No… Gwandoya is whispering.
The two have only been fighting a few minutes when Bergljot screams in pain and doubles over, using the blades for support. She begins breathing with difficulty.
She's in labor, Gwandoya realizes with shock.
Bergljot collapses on the ground and lays there, breathing heavily as the contraction continues to hit. She slides off her pants as more Heartless gather. Time seems to fast-forward. What feels like the next moment, Gwandoya is next to Bergljot.
"So this is what you bastards brought me here for," she gasps at the Heartless between breaths. "You bring me here early in the pregnancy, keep me healthy, and when I get huge induce labor. AHHH!" She screams, not knowing that Gwandoya is watching as a boy is born. No sooner is the baby out and Bergljot manages to find a blade to cut the cord, when the Heartless jump on the wailing newborn.
"NO!" Bergljot screams. She begins to cry. After the baby is devoured, the Heartless turn on the mother.
"No! There's another! Wait! NO!" Bergljot screams as loud and high-pitched as she can, but the Heartless smother her screaming form the next moment.
No… Gwandoya yells. NOOOOOOO!
He fades as the Heartless disperse to reveal a bloodied corpse and two orange eyes hovering over the body.
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"BERGLJOT!"
Footsteps sounded in the hall as Gwandoya sat straight up. He was shaking horribly, tears flowing down his cheeks and sweat dripping from every part of his body. His heart raced as Anselm swung the door open.
"Are you okay?" Anselm asked.
"DON'T YOU LEAVE HER ALONE FOR A SECOND!" Gwandoya screeched when he realized Bergljot wasn't with him. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Bergljot screamed in the next room.
"AH! Anselm!"
The two men ran in to find Bergljot crouched behind the door and a Heartless scratching at the window.
"Thundaga Heartless!" Anselm screamed. Lightning bolts shot at the creature outside and it exploded in black smoke.
"Are you alright?" Anselm asked as he knelt by her.
"Yeah. I was lying in bed waiting for you to get back, and that thing leapt at the window," Bergljot explained shakily.
"I know what it wanted to do," Gwandoya said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Bergljot asked.
"I had a nightmare," he said shakily. He explained the dream quickly, as if trying to erase it from his mind as quickly as possible. As he finished, he looked at his brother. "Anselm was nowhere in the dream. "Don't let her out of your sights for a second. The results will be disastrous if you do."
"Right. Bergljot, if you need to go anywhere, let me know and I'll be there with you."
"Got it. The baby… was it a boy or girl?" Bergljot whispered.
"It was a boy, but that may not be what you're carrying," Gwandoya answered.
"Thanks. Well, I'm going back to bed," Anselm said. "Good night."
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"Food?" Bergljot read off the checklist.
"Check," Anselm replied as he searched his pack. "Is that everything?"
"Looks like it," Bergljot confirmed.
"Let's go. I want to get to the dock as soon as possible to get a boat," Gwandoya said as he slipped on his pack of supplies. It was just before the crack of dawn, but the group had already been up for three hours preparing. Anselm and Bergljot slipped on their packs and joined Gwandoya on the porch. Ace and Alpha were staying to guard the house.
"Remember how to cast Aeroga?" Anselm asked Alpha as they began to depart.
"Yes," Alpha said exasperatedly. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
"Ready guys?" Bergljot asked as she stepped onto the grass.
"As we'll ever be," Gwandoya looked at his house sadly. "If I find one piece of wood out of place or the graves have been messed with, I'm knocking the crap out of both of you."
The trio left under fading cover of darkness, running as fast as they could.
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"Please, we need a ship," Gwandoya begged when they got to the docks. They had run along the river going east from the lake to the ocean. They had made the trip in about seven hours, stopping only to eat. Several Heartless attempted to bar their path, but they were taken care of easily. Once they got to the docks however, the captain was being more difficult than any Heartless they had met yet.
"Sorry, but yer not gettin' a ship without a license," he growled in his heavy pirate-like voice.
"Look, we need a ship immediately," Bergljot snapped. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch, jingling with munny. She shoved it towards him. "Maybe this will change your mind."
"Well, that be a different story. Come 'ere, I'll git ye settled with yer ship," he smiled as he took the munny. Six teeth were missing. He led them onto the dock and stopped in front of a decent-sized fishing boat. "This be yer boat. There're four beds and a small mess room. Come into me office and we'll fill out the papers.
The captain then took them into a large ship filled with maps, charts, and boat rental reports. He sat on a stool and pulled out a pad of papers.
"Jes' sign on the dotted lines, and she's all yours," he grinned as Gwandoya read and signed the papers carefully. "How long ye plan on sailin'?"
"I don't know," Bergljot thought for a moment. It had just dawned on her that if the islands were too far away, they could be gone for a few months, maybe even until she was ready to give birth. Deciding not to think of that, she came up with a random time span. "A week, week and a half, maybe."
"Ah. Where be ya headin' that'll take that long?"
"Destiny Islands," Anselm blurted without thinking.
"Destiny Islands?" the captain gasped in shock. "Nobody gone there fer one-thousand years. Ye got a map?"
"No, actually," Gwandoya realized as he finished signing the papers. "You got one you can lend us?"
"Sure thin'," he said as he pulled a map off the wall. He spread it out on the table. "I'll show ye as much as I know. This be where we are. Sail a little way east 'n turn southwest. Keep goin' southwest 'til ye get to a wall. I don' know how ye plan on gettin' in, but good luck. Fortunately, there ain't been no guards fer years."
"Thank you," Bergljot smiled as the man rolled up the map and handed it to her. "We should be able to return the ship in about three weeks."
"Fine. What business be you headin' down there fer?"
"We're interested in the geography," Gwandoya said quickly, not giving Anselm the slightest amount of time to let their plan slip. "Well, I guess we'll be off now."
"I'll see ya in a few weeks."
The trio left the ship and headed for their boat. They took a few minutes to tour, put their packs away, and shoved off.
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The trip was going to take longer than they original thought. Within one week, no land was in sight at all. Bergljot stood on the bow, gazing out at the ocean.
"You know you could get seasick doing that?" Anselm pointed out as he joined her.
"I'm already sick," she whispered. Anselm slipped an arm around her shoulder.
"Don't think of it that way. This is a good thing. This is the best way to show Ansem how beautiful and powerful life and love are."
"Can I have a few minutes alone?" Bergljot said suddenly.
"Sure babe," Anselm said. He pecked her on the cheek and went to join his brother at the helm.
"I don't care what he says. This isn't good," she muttered, leaning against the railing. "Ah…"
Bergljot breathed in the sea air deeply. She had hardly left her quarters the entire trip. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She began daydreaming about the baby. She thought about the children she saw before Angra Mainyu tried to kill her.
"I wonder if I'm actually carrying…" Bergljot whispered as she opened her eyes. She lay a hand on her stomach. "No, it couldn't be twins."
"Bergljot…"
"Huh?" She looked around to find the source of the voice, but nobody was on the deck with her.
"Bergljot…" the voice whispered again. A cloud of silver appeared on the other side of the ship. It took human form a few seconds later. Curiosity taking over, Bergljot walked over to the 'person.'
"Bergljot…"
"Yes?" she whispered back. The silver thing was taller than her, wore a long cloak, and had long hair. It also had a single wing on its right shoulder blade. "Hey, how did you get on here?"
"Humph. You seek what you see before you, yet do not see what you seek…"
"What… What's that supposed to mean?"
"You fight all that is hate, yet hate to fight…"
"Stop talking in riddles."
"Am I speaking riddles? Or are riddles all you can hear?"
"Knock it off!" she cried. The person stopped. After a few moments, it began to laugh softly.
"Ha ha ha ha ha. You will never be able to handle living with me. Give up. Turn around and go home…" the thing turned slowly, still whispering and a slight echo to its voice. "You will only gain my assistance by proving your power to me… Harm me severely… Only then will you be able to get me on your side and know you can destroy him…"
She got a glimpse of two green eyes before it turned into the cloud again and disappeared.
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Bergljot never said a word about the incident during her entire lifetime. It was nearly another month before they finally came across land. Surprisingly, nothing happened the entire time, save a short thunderstorm a week after the cloud formation appeared.
"We've been gone a long time," Bergljot said. She looked at the small calendar that the captain provided with the map. They had left one month and four days before. During that time, her stomach had grown quite a bit. She found that she couldn't tie her sweats quite as tight as she could before, and she had to stop wearing hip-huggers as they slightly slipped down once in a while. Anselm looked over her shoulder at the calendar.
"You're right. You realize that if we can't get in or find him soon enough, we may have to stay out here until-"
"I know," she said quietly. "I've been trying not to think about it."
"You know," Anselm whispered. "If he challenges us to a fight, I'll battle for you."
"No. I have to fight. I won't be able to help fight anything until late next June, maybe even July. I want to fight one more time."
"All hands on deck!" Gwandoya called down to them. "I think we're there!"
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So, how ya'll like it so far? Sephiroth should be revived next chapter. And just so you know, I think I have enough worlds now. Thanks everyone! And special thanks to Med for recommending me to other readers! I might not take the story off after all. I'm still deciding. I might also be putting another story for Final Fantasy X soon. Again, a work in progress and yet another 'blooper fic.'
Chapter 14: A battle with a Dungeons and Dragons monster, Sephiroth's revival, and one of the heroes is going to gagging noise in background die. Will Bergljot fall overboard and drown? Will Gwandoya commit suicide? Will Anselm be hit by his own spell? Will Sephiroth attempt to fly with his one wing and end up falling over a cliff to the pointy rocks below that'll tear open his flesh? Who will it be? Well, you'll find out in the next chapter, won't you?