Chapter 10: Dali
As we approached Dali the first thing I noticed was the giant windmill. Of course, I wasn't the only one to notice it. Vivi ran past me, his eyes wide with excitement, as he went towards the windmill. He was the first one to make it into the town. "Gee whiz, a windmill" he said.
I smiled at hearing this. 'Such simple pleasures' I thought as I watched him stare at the windmill.
Zidane walked past me and right behind Vivi. "Vivi, the inn is this way." he said.
Vivi turned around and looked at Zidane. "Aw, do we have to? …but I wanna go see the windmill" he said with a disappointed look in his eyes.
Zidane looked at Vivi in an understanding way. "I know but let's get some rest first. We also need to decide what to do next."
Vivi lowered his head in submission. "Okay" he said.
I felt sorry for Vivi, but Zidane was right. We had been walking to the village for a few hours. We would have gotten here a lot sooner if we hadn't run into a few random monsters every now and then. None of the battles were difficult, just time consuming. Zidane opened the door to the inn and we all entered.
The first thing I noticed about the place was not only did it have a country atmosphere, but the innkeeper was also asleep. Zidane noticed this too "sleeping on the job, huh" he said and tapped the innkeepers head. The innkeeper woke up with a start and looked at our group.
"Oh, I'm sorr…y…" he said and trailed off, starring at the group.
Zidane turned around to see what he was starring at, and looked right at Dagger. Zidane turned back to the innkeeper. "Hey, I know she's cute, but it's rude of you to stare."
The innkeeper looked startled at this. "oh! I-I wasn't looking at the young lady. I was just…" he paused.
I was the only one who had noticed that the innkeeper wasn't looking at Dagger; he was looking at Vivi. I eyed the innkeeper with a severe eye. 'I know what you're going to do' I thought.
The innkeeper motioned to the door on my left. "The room is right over there. Make your selves at home." he said, still a bit startled. Zidane walked over to the door, but was stopped by Dagger.
"Um…Zidane, were will I be staying?"
Zidane answered. "In the same room. Where else?"
This shocked Dagger. "But, Zidane… I mustn't…" she paused, not knowing were she wanted this sentence to go.
Zidane looked at her with understanding. "I know how you feel, but these country inns don't have private rooms." Steiner didn't look like he liked this idea at all, as he was shaking with fury. Zidane opened the door. "Get inside everyone" he said. Zidane and the rest of us entered the room.
Before I entered the room, however, I looked back at the innkeeper. 'We'll have a little chat, later' I thought. I then turned around and entered the room.
As soon as I entered the room I immediately sat down on the bed that was to my right. I looked around the room. Dagger was at the bed that was right in front of mine, and Steiner was near the other bed. Vivi was near the bed that was to my left.
Zidane walked in, closed the door, and began to speak to Dagger. I already knew what they were talking about, so I decided to observe the area around me and let my mind wander. The room was quite a sight. It defiantly had a nice country feel to it. It kind of reminded me of home.
My eyes eventually came to rest on Vivi. The little mage looked tired as he stretched his arms and yawned. I watched him as he climbed into the bed. He put his head on the pillow, and didn't bother to get under the covers. It was such a peaceful site 'Vivi doesn't have a care in the world' I thought smiling. 'At least, not now' this thought caused my smile to vanish.
I was shaken from my thoughts by a loud voice "I've heard enough!" it was Steiner, again.
I turned my head to see what was going on. Steiner approached Dagger "Princess you cannot trust the words of a thief! He may expose you to even more danger, like in Evil Forest. I beg of you Princess, please return to the castle with me." he pleaded.
I decided to enter the argument. "Frankly, Steiner. We wouldn't have ended up in Evil Forest if the Queen hadn't shot down the theater ship." I said.
This seemed to anger Steiner. "Her majesty was only trying to save the Princess from-" I interrupted him.
"How? By blasting a BOMB at the ship? Steiner she nearly killed us, including Dagger, how do you explain that?" Steiner didn't look like he could come up with an answer. I continued "Dagger has her reasons for going to Lindblum, and they must be pretty good reasons to risk life and limb. If she wants to go to Lindblum, let her."
Zidane nodded in agreement. "He's right; it's her choice after all."
I looked over at Vivi, who was lightly snoring. I smiled at this "I think Vivi has the right idea." I said. They all turned to look at Vivi.
Steiner was a bit surprised. "Master Vivi…" he said.
I looked at Steiner. "He must have really been tired in order to sleep through your yelling." Steiner turned red in the face, but this time it was from embarrassment.
Zidane held in his laughter and spoke. "Let's get some sleep guys."
I had to say it "Zidane we have a small problem…we only have four beds. One of us will have to share with someone." I said. Zidane looked around and realized I was right. I decided to decide for him "Zidane, it will have to be you and me. Dagger is a woman so none of us can bunk with her. You and Steiner would kill each other, and besides Steiner would take up most of the bed anyway. Also, I don't feel like disturbing Vivi so it's you and me. Is that okay with you?"
Zidane nodded his head. "Yeah, that's fine, Michael" he said.
I smiled. "I get the left side" I said, already moving to claim the left side as my own.
Zidane shrugged his shoulders. "Fine with me. Let's get some sleep guys."
He slipped into the bed, and the others did so likewise. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Miiiiiccchhhhhhhaaaaeeeeellllll" I heard the voice yet again. I sang to it "AAAAAngel I heeeear you speak…I listen. Stayyyy by my side, Guide meeeee." That's when I heard another voice, singing as well
"La la la la…la la la la la… la la la la la la la la la la…la la la la la la laaaaaaaaaa… la la la la la… la la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… la la la la la la laaaaa."
Every thing went black again.
I woke up and saw that I was still at the inn. I sat up in bed as I went over the dream in my mind. 'I was so close…but who was that singing in my dreams?' I thought. It didn't take me long to come up with an answer 'Dagger…it must have been her' I thought as I got out of bed. That's when I noticed that Zidane was not in bed. 'He must have woken up before me' I thought, as I walked over to the door.
I opened the door and saw the innkeeper sleeping on his desk, again. 'Pretending to be asleep, huh. Fine I'll let you think you're clever' I thought as I walked out of the inn. I noticed that the kids were playing in the street, and I also noticed that Vivi was standing near the windmill. I smiled 'well at least he got to see the windmill' I thought as I approached the local store.
I entered the store and saw a blue cotton shirt that looked like it would fit me. I looked at my old shirt, and frowned. 'It still has those blood stains from Evil Forest' I thought, sighing. 'Well, I may as well buy a new shirt' I thought.
I walked up to the shopkeeper. "Excuse me, Miss, I was wondering if you could tell me how much that shirt cost" I said, pointing to the shirt I wanted.
She looked at the shirt then back at me "that shirt's 20 gil" she said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out 20 of the 1,720 gil I already had, and handed it to the shopkeeper. She accepted the gil and moved over to the shirt to retrieve it for me. She took the shirt off the hook and handed it to me.
I noticed a display case for weapons and noticed a good looking set of daggers and a shiny sword. I asked the shopkeeper "what are those, Miss?" I said, pointing out the sword and daggers.
She looked at me "the daggers are called 'Mage Masher' and the sword is an 'Iron Sword'" she said.
I spoke "how much for both, Miss?"
"1,160 gil" she said. I handed over the gil and she gave me the daggers and sword. I quickly thanked her and walked out of the store.
'Zidane and Steiner are going to love these new weapons, pity I couldn't find any thing for Vivi and Dagger' I thought.
I went back to the inn and entered the room, and saw that Zidane and Dagger were already there. Zidane spoke up first "Michael, where were you? I was looking everywhere for you."
I held up the shirt. "Sorry, but I had to get a new shirt to replace my old one" I said holding up the shirt and pointing to my old bloodstained one.
Zidane nodded in acceptance. I decided to pull out my gift "and I also got you a little present, Zidane" I said holding out the daggers. Zidane's eyes lit up with excitement as he went over to get a look at his new weapons.
"Wow…thanks, Michael" he said, unstrapping his old daggers and strapping on the new ones.
I smiled at him "don't mention it. Now where's Steiner? I got him a new sword" I said bringing out the 'Iron Sword' I had just purchased.
Zidane's eyes widened in surprise "I can't believe you got Rusty a gift" Zidane said, astonished.
I looked at him "Steiner's an okay guy Zidane. He may be very rigid, but he isn't a bad person" I said.
Zidane accepted this and I looked towards Dagger. I smiled sadly at her "sorry, Dagger. I couldn't find anything that you might have wanted" I said, sadly.
She smiled at me. "it's okay, Michael. I don't need anything" she said, with understanding. I smiled at her.
I turned around and removed my battle robe. Then I removed my old, bloodstained shirt, and discarded it onto the floor. I then picked up my new shirt, which I had laid on the bed, and placed it on. Then I placed my battle robe back on, and turned back around to face them. "Man, that feels better" I said, liking the feel of my new shirt.
Dagger broke the silence "I wonder what's keeping Vivi?" she said, concerned.
Zidane looked concerned now "you're right. He is late. I'm not worried about Steiner, but Vivi, I'm not so sure about" he said, concerned.
I spoke up "I saw him by the windmill five minutes ago. He might still be there. Let's go see him." They both nodded and we left the inn to go to the windmill.
We reached the windmill when Zidane spoke up. "Vivi said he heard a Chocobo over here" he said as we approached a stone fence, located by the windmill. That's when I heard someone crying.
"Zidane I hear someone crying" I said, and pointed to a pipe in the floor. I walked over to it "Vivi" I said, already knowing the response.
"…Michael" I heard Vivi's voice come up from the pipe.
"Vivi are you alright?" I said.
"They told me to stay here…" he said.
"Don't worry Vivi, we'll get you out stay where you are" I said.
"Okay…" he said.
Zidane, Dagger, and I then moved into the windmill. I pointed out the hatch immediately. Zidane shook his head "isn't this obvious" he said as he opened the hatch. Zidane leaned his head over the edge "there's a cool breeze coming from here…"
I looked over his shoulder and looked into the hole. "Let's go" I said holding the hilt of my reverse blade sword, a look of determination in my eyes.
