Same disclaimer.
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The instant I saw Madain Sari, I knew why Eiko was both stronger and more mature than one would expect a human of her age to be: she had no choice if she wanted to live. While anyone could see that the it was once a thriving city, Madain Sari was little more than a pile of rubble. Aside from Eiko, the only inhabitants were a small group of Moogles.
"This must have been a magnificent place once," I commented.
"You think so?" Eiko sounded pleased.
I nodded. "It reminds me of Vellweb and Kadessa from back home. Now a ruin, but still with an unmistakable sense of power, just as Kadessa was home to the ancient Winglies, and Vellweb to the Dragoons of old."
"Poetic," Indora commented.
I glanced at him briefly. "Comes from spending so much time around Zack's dad. He has something of a gift for language, which Zack has definitely inherited, even if it does desert him once in a while." The prince reddened slightly at my oblique reference to his first meeting with Laura.
Further conversation was halted by the appearance of no fewer than five Moogles. Eiko promptly introduced them, but I was only half listening; a section of the wall had caught my eye. Bending to examine it, I immediately noticed a strange pattern of scorching, too strange to be natural.
What happened here? I'd seen enough ruins in my short life to know that whatever had struck Madain Sari, it definitely wasn't natural. Someone had attacked this place with enough force to almost completely destroy it. Someone wanted Eiko's people wiped out.
"Something wrong with the wall?"
I looked up; it was Dagger. "You mean aside from the fact that it barely reaches my waist? Yeah you could say that. I was interested in the scorching."
She frowned. "Scorching? Couldn't that just be from lightning?"
I shook my head. "Definitely not. Come here, I'll show you." Dagger bent down next to me. "Look at the pattern," I said, tracing the marks with a finger. "Note how regular it is. Whatever did this, it was no lightning strike. Nine or ten years ago, I'd estimate, Madain Sari was hit hard."
Dagger nodded. "I see. Can you tell what caused it?"
"If I had more to work with, I might be able to, but not from this." I shrugged. "Time is the ultimate eraser. One thing we can be sure of, though, is that someone wanted Madain Sari destroyed. The question is, why."
"Maybe it was because of the eidolons," Dagger suggested. "Eiko says she's part of a summoner tribe."
I kicked myself mentally, memories of Cleyra and Lindblum flashing through my mind. How could I, of all people, have missed that? Having seen four different eidolons in action, I could easily imagine why some people would consider them a threat, Odin and Atomos especially. "You're right, that should have occurred to me." I straightened, noticing for the first time that we were alone. "Where's everybody else?"
"Eiko said she was going to make dinner." The princess shrugged. "That's after she peppered Zidane with so many questions that he couldn't get a word in edgewise."
Something in her voice sounded odd when she mentioned Zidane. Could she be…? "Are you jealous?"
Dagger turned bright red. "Jealous!? Me!?"
Yep. "Forget it, Dagger." I vaulted over the wall I'd been inspecting. "See you at dinner."
"O-okay." She still sounded rattled.
The rest of the city was in little better shape than the outer wall. About the only parts I saw that were intact were a fountain, Eiko's home, and an enclosed area in the northeast section, that last guarded by one of the Moogles. Moco, that would be.
I found myself feeling sorry for the young summoner. I'm something of a lone wolf, true, but the thought of growing up almost completely alone, as Eiko had, was a bit much even for me. Eiko was six, but had themind of a much older person. By contrast, I would probably have gone mad by age three if I'd grown up in that kind of environment. Dart and Shana had saved me from that.
"Draw!"
I spun around, yanking out my sword. "Dari! Thanks for the heart attack!"
She grinned. "Sorry about that." Dari didn't sound at all sorry, but I let it pass. "Up for a match?" she asked, her rapier in hand.
I smiled. "Sure. Be a good way to work up an appetite if nothing else."
"Great!" She lunged, aiming a thrust for my chest. I crossblocked, forcing her blade up and to the left. When she tried for a counter, I backed up, out of range.
"Not so fast, O Dark One," I said, chuckling at her enthusiasm. "Remember Cleyra."
"Oh, I remember," Dari countered. She snatched something from a pouch on her belt and lobbed it at me. "Spear Frost!"
I staggered briefly from the water attack. "You want to play rough?" I said with a feral grin. "Fine. Trans Light!"
It was Dari's turn to stagger under the magic assault. Before I could follow up, however, a black sphere began to form around her, the telltale sign of a Dragoon transformation. Knowing that I was guaranteed to lose if I stayed on the ground, I transformed as well. Here we go.
A streak of blackish-purple came at me head on, the usual first pass. I met her halfway, our blades clashing together and sending sparks flying everywhere. We spun in midair for a split second, then broke apart and stared at each other. I made sure to keep my face expressionless; one thing I have long been notorious for is my propensity for mind games. I learned early on to unnerve my opponents just by staring at them.
Dari, however, appeared immune to my gaze, possibly because she knew me so well. She locked eyes with me for maybe thirty seconds, then shot some kind of black laser beam from the gem on her chest. I took it full in the face, temporarily blinded. When my vision cleared, she'd gotten close enough for a quick stab. The blow glanced off my chest armor, and suddenly I was seeing stars.
"Gotcha! Hee hee!" Seria had somehow snuck up on us and caught me in the back of the head with her hammer.
"You little…!" Laughing, I did a quick one-eighty and aimed a slash at her leg, which she easily dodged. "How on earth did you sneak up on me like that!?"
"Easy. Winglies can teleport, remember?"
"I'm not likely to forget that anytime soon." Teleportation moves had cost me more than one bout with Lloyd. I started to say more, but stopped when I saw a line of violet heading straight for the young Wingly. Your turn, little sister.
Seria turned at the last moment, but it was far too late. Chris slammed into her at high speed. Unfortunately, that slammed them both into me; I'd misjudged the timing and moved too late. Less than a second later, an arrow whistled past my ear, bouncing off the Giganto who had abruptly made an appearance.
One left, I thought, knowing full well that Zack was bound to show up. He made his entrance like a hurricane, almost impaling me. "Mind if I crash the party?"
"Can I stop you?" I asked mildly.
He grinned. "Guess not. Eat this!" he yelled, and I backed up before the wind spell he sent my way could connect.
I can only imagine what the next hour must have been like to any observer. Any witness who didn't know us would have assumed that we were engaged in a mid-air brawl, and even then they would have to be close up to tell that it wasn't a magic storm. Multicolored streams of light clashed repeatedly, punctuated by bursts of raw power, i.e. Dragoon magic.
At some point in our free-for-all we attracted the attention of at least two Moogles. They stared up at us, but without the terrified awe I'd seen from the people of Cleyra. Not surprising, perhaps, given that Moogles (and especially these Moogles) were more accustomed than most to huge displays of magical power.
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I received a pleasant surprise at dinner that night: Eiko, whatever else she may have been, was an excellent cook. Some people might think that good food doesn't mean much to a warrior, but that is far from the truth. Anyone who has been through extended combat soon develops an appreciation for a decent meal. Battle is hungry work, and while I'm no gourmet, I'm not the sort of person who sees eating as nothing more than refueling the body.
Our new friend, with a little help from Quina, had come up with the sort of meal that most warriors prefer, simple yet tasty. The two dishes were more than enough for someone like me: rock-fisted (whatever that means) potato stew and fried fish. (Fortunately, Eiko had nixed the idea of adding an oglop into the mix. I draw the line at eating bugs unless I'm literally at death's door.)
"This is great," Zidane enthused. "You should open up a restaurant."
Indora seconded that. "You and Quina would make an excellent team." The Giganto, predictably, was gorging himself; someone as big as he was takes a lot of fuel to keep running.
Seria mumbled something; I think she said "Great", but I can't be sure, since she was eating almost as much as Indora. (Personally, I've always suspected that Winglies have naturally high metabolisms. I have yet to meet an overweight Wingly.)
"So Eiko, how is it you can summon eidolons?" Dagger asked.
Eiko looked puzzled. "You can, too, can't you?"
"Well, yes…"
"Dagger didn't know there were any other summoner out there," I said. "She almost had a heart attack when you summoned Fenrir on the mountain path."
Eiko nodded and turned back to Dagger. "We use our horns," she said. "Our horns let us communicate with animals." She frowned. "How can you summon without a horn?"
Dagger, apparently nervous, didn't answer.
"Eiko, where are the other summoners?" Zidane asked. "Are they hiding underground or something?"
Eiko looked sad for a moment. "Yeah, something like that. They're all underground, sleeping the eternal sleep. I am the last survivor of my tribe." She sighed. "Ten years ago, which was four years before I was born, Madain Sari was struck by a hurricane. Most of the summoners were killed, but my parents survived. They died just after I was born, and I was raised by my grandfather, until he died last year. Since then, I've been alone. Except for Mog, of course," she added, waving at the ever-present Moogle.
"It wasn't a hurricane," I put in.
"How do you know?" Eiko, Zidane, and Vivi asked simultaneously.
"I examined the remains of the outer wall," I explained. "The pattern of scorching is far too regular to be natural." I shook my head. "Whatever struck here ten years ago, it definitely wasn't natural. Someone wanted your people destroyed."
Zack jerked upright in his chair. "Kuja! I'll bet it was Kuja!"
Laura frowned. "What makes you think so?"
"Think about it." The prince got up and started pacing. "Kuja has been manipulating Queen Brahne of Alexandria. Kuja has been making Black Mages for war." He gave Vivi an apologetic look. "And," here he looked at Dagger, "Kuja wanted Dagger's eidolons. Madain Sari is, or was, the home of a summoner tribe. Summoners, eidolons, get it?"
Chris swore. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's some special eidolon in Alexandria." He looked questioningly at Dagger.
She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I've heard there's some kind of secret in Alexandria Castle, but I don't know any details. Sorry."
"There's something else, too," I said. "Eiko, what is the significance of this Iifa Tree? The Dwarves obviously don't know squat."
Eiko shrugged. "All I know is that an eidolon is sealed there."
"An eidolon," I repeated.
"That's right. If we fail to summon an eidolon, we seal it away," she said. "An eidolon was sealed at the Iifa Tree a long time ago, so no one can get in."
"Is it possible to break the seal?" I asked.
Eiko gave me an odd look. "Yeah…"
"Will you do it?" I pressed.
She almost exploded. "No way! Are you crazy!?"
I sighed. I'm clearly wasting my time. "Forget I asked. We'll have to take care of it ourselves."
"There's no way you can get through!"
"Oh, really?" I stood. "Have you managed to forget everything I told you on the way here?" Seven Dragoon Spirits flared at once. "We are the Dragoons! We are the Dragon Knights who have the power to rule Dragons! I highly doubt any magic seal will stop us." Don't get me wrong here. I liked Eiko, but I react badly when someone interferes with a mission.
She jumped back, understandably nervous; seven Dragoons in a confined space can be intimidating, to put it mildly. "S-Sorry!"
I smiled, reverting to human form and signaling my companions to do likewise. "Don't worry about it. All I ask is that you consider this: if we are to stop Kuja, the Iifa Tree may well hold the key."
Eiko hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, I'll do it."
"Thanks." Despite my words, I wasn't at all sure Dragoons could break the seal. We are far from omnipotent, whatever some people may think. "We leave in the morning."
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The moment I got close to the seal, I sensed something very odd. It wasn't just the sealed eidolon, either; I'd been around Eiko and Dagger long enough to sort that out easily. It was the Iifa Tree itself; it may have been called the Tree of Life, but to me it was more reminiscent of the Death City Mayfil than anything else.
I wasn't the only one who thought so, either. "This is just like Mayfil," Seria said. "I can feel souls in there."
Eiko looked surprised. "How can you do that?"
"Winglies are mildly psychic," I explained. "and while I am mostly human, I nonetheless inherited that power." I waved at the tree. "How do you plan to break the seal, anyway?"
"I'm going to ask the eidolon to come back." She faced the tree. "Boom boom boom. I call upon thee, to rise again, wherever your soul may be!" There was a blinding flash, and Eiko grinned. "There we go."
"Nice," Zidane said. "Was that a spell?"
"Oh, that was just for show," Eiko replied. "The actual spell's much longer, but the eidolon asked me to hurry up. I concentrated my thoughts in my horn."
"Interesting," I commented.
Climbing the Iifa Tree was a less than pleasant experience. Of our adventures on the Outer Continent up to that point, only the encounter with the Super Virage was nastier. Most of the monsters were undead, rendering Dari's magic virtually useless, but that wasn't the worst of it. No, the worst was the fact that the Iifa Tree turned out to be the source of the Mist. I was actually forced to resort to the Dragon Buster at one point, because a zombie dragon almost killed me.
We've been at this for maybe two hours, and I'm already sick of it. More and more, I was reminded of Mayfil. I hadn't spent much time there, but the odor of decay was unmistakable. At the same time, though, I sensed life everywhere, too. It was as if the Iifa Tree was at the heart of some sort of cycle of death and rebirth.
That impression was reinforced when we found a way to get inside the tree. Someone had kindly left an elevator at the top. None of us understood why, but only Zidane was able to operate it, which to me at least suggested he was somehow connected to the Mist. Even if he is, that doesn't make him evil. He's done his best to help.
After taking another elevator (and taking out the undead who followed us) we reached the heart of the Iifa Tree. I for one was relieved; the scent of life was overwhelming, but it was better than the decay I'd felt higher up.
Seria didn't share my relief. "Something's not right here."
"What's wrong?" Vivi asked.
"I don't know. I just sense something. I can't figure out what it is." The Wingly's usual energy seemed to have deserted her.
I frowned. "I feel it, too. Eiko, does Mog sense anything?"
"I'll check." Eiko turned to the Moogle. "Mog?"
Mog seemed to consider. "Kupo? Kupo!"
"Well?" Dari prompted.
"Mog says something's coming---" Eiko broke off as the room started shaking.
"What in blazes!?" I drew my sword and transformed. "What's going on!?"
Before anyone could answer, a huge, tremendously ugly being literally dropped in on us. I'm not sure how well I can describe it. It looked to me like a tree with a gargoyle's head. A dead tree, I should say; there was no way a live tree would look like that. So, it wasn't Kuja.
It's telepathic!? I realized suddenly that this freak was the reason the Iifa Tree felt like Mayfil. "Where is he?"
I do not know.
"Are you the one producing the Mist!?" Zidane demanded.
The creature seemed to laugh. It is not produced. Mist is a byproduct of the refining process. It is expelled through the roots to contaminate other continents. It stimulates the fighting instinct and leads to war and the fall of nations. Kuja merely puts the byproduct to a different use.
"What kind of use?" Vivi asked suspiciously.
I cannot lie. Kuja uses it to make weapons. Weapons…like yourself. Do you deny your own birth, puppet?
Eiko bristled at that. "He's really ticking me off. Can I kill him?"
"Yeah! Let's take him out!" Dari said.
"Right! "Maybe it'll draw Kuja here!" That was Zidane.
The freak laughed again. I have seen the end of my thousand-year existence, and it is not yet. You cannot stop me. It is futile even to try.
"We'll see about that," I snarled. "Final Burst!"
"Rose Storm!"
"Thunderstorm!"
"Firaga!" Apparently, Vivi's high-level magic wasn't limited to thunder attacks.
"Freezing Ring!"
"Thunder God!"
The freak countered with a spray of leaves. While benign-looking, the attack proved to be very dangerous. The end result, however, was to provoke a very nasty retaliatory strike: two eidolons and the White Silver Dragon. Dari and Indora followed with a close-in attack, since their magic was of little use.
Zidane stabbed once and pulled back. "Dagger, it's undead! Try healing magic on it!"
She nodded. "Curaga!"
The thief's hunch was right. With an agonized roar, the creature simply disintegrated. That, unfortunately, was not quite the end: the chamber started to collapse. Getting out wasn't much of a problem, though; Zidane, Laura, and Seria snatched up those who couldn't fly.
The air seemed much clearer outside, and we soon saw why. Since we had defeated the monster that produced it, the Mist was clearing away. Within seconds, the Iifa Tree stood pristine, unclouded by the Mist.
Eiko grinned. "It's so pretty without the Mist. So much for the Mist Continent."
Vivi hung his head. "Did I do the right thing? Kuja used the Mist to create us." He sighed. "Now there'll be no more Black Mages."
"You don't know that," I said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Who knows, maybe you'll find a way to reproduce on your own."
"Maybe."
"Eiko!" A Moogle, I think it was Moco, rushed in, gasping. "Eiko, come quick!"
"What's wrong?" Eiko listened for a moment, then, "What!? Okay, I'll be there!"
"Thanks! I'll tell the others." Moco departed.
"What's wrong, Eiko?" Zidane asked.
"Someone stole a treasure from the village," she replied. "I have to get back!"
Zidane glanced at Dagger, who nodded. "We'll come too."
"What about Kuja?"
"He can wait." Zidane gripped his knife. "This can't."
"We'll go by air," I said. "That'll be faster." Without waiting for a response, I took to the sky. The others rose behind me, and we headed off for Madain Sari, and, though we didn't know it, another run-in with Lani. hope we're in time.
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Author's note: I had intended to concentrate just on the first visit to Madain Sari, but then found that the chapter would have been too short, so I added the first trip to the Iifa Tree. Next will come Amarant, and probably the end of the second disc, though I'm not sure as yet. (As an aside, you may have noticed that Final Burst is my favorite Dragoon spell.)
Reiko5, thanks. That will probably be very helpful.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
