Shattered Soul

Chapter two - Sickening certainty

Author - Pilotslover )

Disclaimer - I don't own FF IX, Vivi'd be the main character if I did. I do own the concept, and the names of Vivi's sons, so please ask if you want to use this fic or anything within it.

Response to reviewers -

Shpadoinkle91 - Thank you very much.

Girlygirl023 - Died? Hmm ... yes, that was the end of Vivi's letter, there's still a lot more to be covered.

Gaurdian1 - Thank you so much! You have no idea how much getting a review from you means to me! I love 'Go not Gently', and am in awe of it. So, thanks for working so hard on it, because I can't think of only one other fic that I adored so much; something about Vivi as a Waltz seems so right.

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The plain white envelope lay on the desk; it was entirely unremarkable and written on the front in Vivi's tidy, small writing was merely 'My companions'. Nothing in the room had changed, the bed was neatly made and the Mace of Zeus was propped against the desk. "Hey Vivi, aren't you coming for - " Zidane's tones were breezy as he burst into the room without knocking; seeing that it was empty he shrugged to himself, thinking Vivi was already on his way to the main dining room.

A flash of white from the desk caught his eye, and he crossed to it to pick it up. A feeling of sickening certainty welled in his chest, as he thought Vivi may have run away, his hands toyed with the envalope for a while before he opened it; this feeling soon merged with sorrow, anxiety and pure fear as he read the letter. "Oh God no," He murmured, "No, no, no." He dashed out of the room, the letter in his hand as he did so.

"Steiner, find Beatrix and meet me in the main dining room!" He ordered as he ran past the knight; shocked, the knight went to salute but dropped the gesture as he started to run the other way.

Breathlessly, Zidane burst into the castle's main dining room; it had been four years since he had run the gauntlet of the Iifa tree's death, now he could just manage the trip from Vivi's room at full tilt. Garnet looked up as he entered; her cheeks held a healthy glow and she looked content and happy. 'This isn't going to please her.' He thought sombrely. "Zidane whatever is the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." Her tone was slightly teasing, when Zidane had first reached the castle he had been convinced that he had seen a ghost in one of the corridors.

"Garnet," He attempted to go on before shaking his head; concerned by his lack of continuation, Garnet rose awkwardly from her seat, her pregnancy heavy stomach clear as she did so. "You're going to want to sit down," He crossed to her and pulled out the chair for her; she looked increasingly worried as she did as he asked.

"What's wrong Zidane? Where's Vivi?"

She looked past her husband to the door as it burst open, half expecting to see the mage; Steiner and Beatrix stood just inside the door after they closed it behind them. "Geez, this isn't -" Zidane attempted again; unable to say what was really going on he just handed the letter to her before he raised a hand to his forehead and tears began to finally slip from his eyes.

Uncertain about what was in the letter, Garnet felt an acute sense of worry build in her chest as she lowered her gaze to it. As she read, tears glided down her cheeks; one hand went to her mouth as she shook her head. Unable to speak, she motioned for Steiner to take it and read it, before she buried her head in her hands, her elbows rested on the table.

Beatrix read the note from over Steiner's shoulder; she shook her head but did not cry; in the years since the defeat of Necron, the mage had lived in the castle but Beatrix saw very little of him. "We must find him," Steiner insisted, looking towards Zidane for confirmation. "He is not thinking strait." He placed the letter on the table and looked at it, clenching his fist at his side.

"Steiner, he seems to be thinking strait enough," Beatrix attempted from his side, resting a hand on her fellow knight's arm. "This doesn't seem to be something whimsical he's just decided to do out of the blue, he genuinely believes that he cannot live any more." She looked towards Garnet and Zidane who were both still in tears. "Months have passed since the deaths of his sons, however well he seemed to cope with it; he clearly has not accepted it fully."

Zidane looked towards her, "Beatrix, I want you to contact as many of the hero's of Gaia as you can." He ordered as he moved to Garnet's side and hugged her; she gave him a full hug back, crying into his shoulder. "We're going to find him and bring him back." He assured her softly, "I'll drag him by the hat myself if I have too." His gaze went to Beatrix, "On second thoughts, forget about Eiko, make sure you get Cid though. And Tantalus, we've got a whole world to search and not a lot of time to do it by the sound of it."

Beatrix did not move, "Sir, are you sure this is such a good idea?" She queried, "Vivi is very clearly upset, he will not want to return to the same castle that holds so many painful memories for him." Her own memory grasped a moment she remembered all too well from four months before, the last of Vivi's children. "I was there when Valian died sir; it was very far from pleasant."

"Yeah, I know that Beatrix, I was there too, but I can't let him throw his life away like this!"

Realising that he would not be swayed, Beatrix saluted and left. "Steiner, I'll leave Amarant to you, he should be in Treno." He said simply, knowing no one else would be able to find the mercenary. "I want everyone here and ready to search by noon. We're going to be out all night if that's what it'll take." Steiner saluted and left, they heard his footsteps as he ran to the castle's entrance.

"We didn't notice, Zidane." The tearful tones broke into Zidane's own heart; he hated to hear Garnet so upset. "He was dying on the inside and none of us -" She broke off to tears, once again burying her head in his shoulder; he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"We're going to find him, Garnet."

"What if he … he …"

She did not need to continue, Zidane knew what she was trying to say, it was what he feared too. 'What if he's dead already?' His mind posed the question any way, despite Zidane saying he did not want it there. 'What if we do all this and he's already dead?'

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Time for the hero's to search Gaia for our missing mage, but will they find him? And even if they do will they be in time to save him? Find out in the next chapter 'A hopeless seeming search'. Please leave a review.