Author's Note: About the characters hesitating. There were two reasons for that. Firstly, I wanted to get some dialogue in there to make things more dramatic. Secondly, I felt they wouldn't be trying to kill him. I mean, quite obviously I've never had a friend be turned evil by a staff corrupted with the power of a planet destroying monster, but I'd imagine if I did, I wouldn't be overly keen to kill him. The Light Warriors owe their lives to Zinkata (if you remember the end of the FFXI Chronicles 2) and so are overly hesitant to harm him, just like I feel somebody would be in real life. Hopefully it wasn't too unrealistic. It was just how I felt they would act.

PART XXIV

A rope ladder splashed down in the water from the hovering Raven III. A soaked and angry looking figure climbed up and jumped onto the deck.

"Damn, that hurt!" Snapped Olose as he wiped the water from his eyes. Vivli blushed and looked away. Olose was wearing little more than the tatters of his brown trousers, all that had survived the transformation.

"I thought you were immortal." Bootus observed.

"Doesn't mean things don't hurt!" Olose cried. "At least I regenerate wounds."

"You're body looks healed." Voldos observed.

"Yeah, Zinkata showed me his sword skills." Olose grumbled. "So now I'm a fully regenerated new person!" He added with forced enthusiasm.

"What now?" Vivli asked, still blushing and looking at the floor. "Without the Staff of Ra, we're doomed. There's no way we can stop him summoning Lavos."

"Then we have to defeat him." Olose stated. "One way or another."

"No!" Vivli cried. "No killing!"

"Look." Voldos sighed. "We have no idea where Zinkata has gone, but until we find out, we're powerless. I say we land somewhere we can get information and discuss this there."

"We should head to Voldos's place in San d'Oria." Vivli decided. The others looked at her.

"Why?" Voldos asked.

"Something's not right." Vivli tried to explain, but wasn't sure of herself. "Urm, he called you Loneheart. Zinkata never called you that. I was thinking about that and I realised something."

"What?" Olose prompted.

"Well, Zinkata carried the staff back from the desert." Vivli answered. "And it corrupted him. Presumably Illuga touched it at some point, probably curious, and he was corrupted. But what about Sigmund?"

"He must of touched the jewel." Voldos guessed. "Becoming corrupted and going after it ever since."

"So anybody who touches it is corrupted?" Vivli suggested. Everybody else nodded. "So how could Voldos's family keep it?" They fell into silence. "That's why he called you Loneheart. Something about your family Voldos. Your family must somehow be immune."

"That's pretty clever." Olose said with a smile.

"Thanks." Vivli blushed.

"How could my family be immune?" Voldos asked.

"I have no idea." Vivli admitted. "I guess something happened in the past involving the creators of the Staff of Ra and your family line."

"It doesn't actually matter." Olose stated. "The way I see it is that if Voldos can get the staff, he can keep it safe without the corruption spreading." The others stood contemplating this.

"I'll look for something at his house that could tell us more." Vivli yawned. She was feeling incredibly tired, it was now becoming early morning, and she hadn't slept well in days. That measured along with the exhaustion of the battles, the stress of what she had been through, nearly being strangled to death and her unusually low stamina meant that she was struggling to stay awake. She tried to shake it off and pay more attention to what was going on around her.

"Do you want your jacket back?" She asked Olose, beginning to slip out of it. The deck was freezing cold, and she didn't particularly want to lose its warmth, but it was the right thing to do.

"Nah, keep it. For the moment at least. You look cute in it." Olose told her, and she giggled slightly. She suddenly felt incredibly guilty and thought back to Zinkata. She was so sure of her love for him, and tried to force herself to stop thinking about Olose.

The Raven III touched down in San d'Oria and four of the crew members exited.

"I'm going to stay here." Cid announced. "See if I can't touch up the ship a little." He paused. "Plus I've got some cleaning up to do!" He scowled at Vivli.

"Sorry." Vivli mumbled, looking pale and feeling ill. Her stomach was now sufficiently empty, which had quelled any further sickness, but it didn't help how she was feeling. That coupled with her exhaustion meant that she was literally struggling to stay on her feet.

As soon as they arrived at Voldos's house Vivli started digging through what books she could find, but was too tired to even concentrate on the words.

"We have a lot to discuss." Olose decided.

"Yeah, like what we do once we find Zinkata." Bootus grumbled.

"You can't harm him!" Vivli cried, before yawning heavily.

"Why don't you get some rest, Viv?" Voldos suggested. "You look exhausted." Rest. Vivli liked the sound of that.

"I'm fine." She lied. She wasn't going to let them decide Zinkata's fate without her around.

"At least lie down or something." Olose suggesting, looking like he was repressing a sinister smile.

"Where?" She asked.

"Let's go discuss this in a bedroom." Olose decided. "Probably more books in there anyway." Vivli nodded, too tired to respond, and walked out. The others followed.

"What are you planning, Olose?" Bootus grumbled in his ear.

"Trust me." Olose smiled.

The four ambled into a fairly large bedroom. Vivli smiled at the newfound warmth of the building, it soothed her and made her even more exhausted. She yawned again.

"Viv." Voldos said, having cottoned on to what Olose was thinking. "Lie down on the bed. You can at least rest while we talk." Vivli nodded.

"Thanks." She said, trying to sit on the bed, but ending up collapsing. She found the bed warm and comforting, and snuggled against the soft pillow. She instantly fell to sleep.

"Well, that's sorted." Olose smiled.

"Why did we just send Vivli to bed?" Bootus asked. "I mean, I understand she can behave like a kid, but her input could be useful."

"She's too attached to Zinkata." Olose explained, leading them out of the room. "We need to discuss what we're going to do without her protests."

"This is Zinkata we're talking about!" Voldos cried so loudly he thought he'd wake Vivli, but all she managed was a purr before curling up tightly. "I'm siding with her." He added in a whisper. Olose sighed and the three walked back into the main living room for the rest of the discussion.

The three slouched casually down, tired and defeated.

"What do we do then?" Voldos asked, throwing his hands up in the air. "We can't kill him! He's our friend! We owe our lives to him!"

"Last time we fought, we hesitated and he got away." Olose pointed out. "We have to stop him. We may be too late already!" He sighed. "Look, if it hadn't been me who was thrown off the airship, then that person would have died. He's trying to destroy the world!"
"So to save the world we need to kill Zinkata?" Bootus mumbled. "I'm not convinced I can do it."

"Me neither." Voldos muttered.

"I'm six hundred and fifteen years old." Olose stated. "I've seen a lot. I've lost friends too. I am not going to let this world be destroyed because the villain is a friend."

"There must be a way to save him!" Voldos protested.

"Really?" Olose snapped. "Because I'm not seeing it!"

"If my family is immune, maybe there's a way to make him immune." Voldos suggested. "We need more time!"

"We don't have time." Olose stated sadly. "As soon as find him we need to act."

"This is why we need Vivli researching, not sleeping." Bootus pointed out.

"The poor girl's exhausted." Olose said to him. "Cut her some slack. She's been through a lot, and can't handle it like we can." He paused. "Must have been really stressful for her."

"It wasn't easy for us either." Bootus argued.

"Vivli's always had trouble keeping up with us." Voldos said. "You know that."

"Aw, poor wittle Vivli." Bootus grumbled, clearly not being in the mood for dealing with her. "We need to deal with Zinkata." He stated grimly. Voldos sighed. Olose suddenly stood up.

"You do that." He decided. "I've decided there's something I need to do."

"What's that?" Bootus asked, raising one mighty eyebrow.

"Get some clothes." Olose grumbled, wondering off to explore the house.

Vivli was slumped outside the sealed stone door again. The same dream. She got up and started pounding on it, desperate to get it open. She screamed Zinkata's name but no words came out. She was sobbing desperate to save him. She suddenly caught a glimpse of a gigantic stone lever. She could open the door! She ran to it and heaved. She couldn't move it. It was too heavy and the mechanism too hard for her feeble strength. She let out an angry sob. She was too weak to save him.

Her mind suddenly exploded in a horrific realisation. It wasn't that she was too weak. She'd always blame her lack of physical abilities. This time, she wasn't smart enough. She couldn't see a solution. There had to be one. She had a feeling it was so close.

Suddenly she was stood somewhere completely different. The monastery. Zinkata was there, and had his arm around her. He was supporting her. Something was wrong with her leg. She sighed, and sank dreamily against Zinkata.

"One staff." Zinkata announced, holding out the Staff of Lavos and handing to someone. The High Priestess. Vivli's eyes went wide. This was a memory. Of when they first handed the staff to the Priestess. And Zinkata had handed it over. That meant it could be resisted! He resisted it then, which meant he could resist it now! She could save him!

Vivli's eyes opened with a jerk. Bright light poured into the room. It came to her attention that somebody had pulled a sheet over her to keep her warm. She snuggled back into the pillow, enjoying the comfort. She suddenly remembered the night before. She was only supposed to be lying down while they talked! She quickly figured out she must have fallen asleep, and sprang up, running out of the room. She was still in her gown and Olose's jacket, and feeling particularly drowsy and rough despite the long sleep she had just had.

She ambled into the living room, subconsciously wishing he had found a hairbrush first.

"Mornin', Princess." Called Bootus.

"Haven't called me that in a while." Vivli grumbled.

"Fitted the moment." Bootus laughed.

"You slept for a while." Voldos observed.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Late afternoon." Voldos answered, not really knowing the exact time.

"Afternoon?" Vivli cried. "But he just said it was morning!"

"Figure of speech." Bootus grumbled. Vivli noticed they were hunched over books, reading.

"Found anything?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Apparently, it was Voldos's ancestors here who built the Staff of Ra." Bootus explained. "Presumably the enchantment stayed in the family."

"They vowed to protect the jewel no matter what. Then they died and forgot to tell me about it." Grumbled the elvaan. Vivli nodded.

"Figured it was something like that." She mumbled. "Where's Olose?" She asked, slipping out of his jacket and placing it on a chair. Her gown was beginning to look quite dirty, but there something she liked about the way it loosely hung around her in it's battered form.

"Went into town, see what he could find out." Voldos explained.

"Well, I can explain this without him." Vivli decided. "We can save Zinkata."

"What? How?" Voldos quickly asked.

"I'm not sure." Vivli said, her face turning red from embarrassment. "But I know its possible! Remember when we first defeated Sigmund? He carried the staff and wasn't corrupted! That means he can resist it!"

"How do we make him resist it though?" Bootus asked, sounding unenthusiastic.

"I don't know! Ask! Beg! We have to try!" Vivli cried.

"Okay." Voldos sighed. "We'll give it a shot." He paused awkwardly. "But if that fails, we have to end it, Viv." Vivli let out an audible whimper. "There's no other way."

"It wont fail." She whimpered. "It can't. I can't live without him!" Vivli stood there, in desperate need of a hug. Luckily, Voldos figured it out, stood up and took her in his arms.

"It's alright. We'll save him." He said gently. She rested against him, tears running down her face. She felt pathetic, but was so hopelessly in love she couldn't leave him to die.

Olose walked in and the others instantly sprang to their feet. He was now dressed in a cleaner shirt and black trousers, but somehow still managed to look scruffy.
"I think I found him." Olose announced.

"Where is he?" Vivli cried quickly.

"Nice to see your finally awake." Olose told her, and she blushed a little, embarrassed she had been asleep for so long. "Apparently the snow around the glacier has been melting. Adventurers have been sent fleeing by some terrible force there. It has to be him."

"We need to get there right away!" Vivli cried. "We can finally save him!"

"Save him?" Olose asked.

"We'll explain on the way." Bootus sighed.

"Right." Olose nodded. "Let's get moving then!" The four went to rush out.

"Oh, Olose." Bootus cried, throwing him his jacket. "It looks like its yours again." Olose held it, and sniffed it curiously. He tossed it down.

"Yeah, it stinks of perfume. Not exactly the manly image I like to create." He said.

"Well, you gave it to me!" Vivli protested. "So I wore it! Not my fault if it picked up a scent!"
"The glaciers are gonna be cold, Viv." Olose observed. "Maybe you should wear it anyway." Vivli slipped back into the brown jacket with a nod. It was too big for her, and heavier than it looked, but she was somehow comfortable in it anyway.

"Right." Voldos announced. "Vivli's got something to protect her from the cold, Olose has protected his masculinity and Bootus isn't insulting anybody. We ready?" The other three nodded. "Right. Let's move out to the glacier! And then Zinkata can finally get back to being our leader. This is getting tiring."

"Diddums." Bootus stated with a smirk. Voldos groaned.

"Can we try and keep some professionalism here?" Vivli requested.

"Says the girl in a dress." Bootus mocked.

"Hey! I can stop and get changed if you want!" She suggested. "You know, waste time and everything!"

"Point taken." Bootus grumbled.

"I've never felt so sorry for Zinkata." Voldos grumbled. "Now please can we get moving?"

"Let's go!" Olose announced, and the four hurried from the building.