Chapter 11: Dali: Underground

I jumped down into the hole, not even bothering with the ladder, and landed on the ground below. "Michael, are you alright?" Zidane asked me from above.

"yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't a long drop." I said.

"Don't do that again, okay? You could've been hurt." He said.

"Don't worry, I won't do it again."

I waited only a couple of seconds before Zidane came down the ladder, Dagger soon followed. As soon as she touched the ground I moved over to the elevator to check and see if the coast was clear.

Zidane came up to stand behind me. "See anything?" he asked.

I shook my head. "no…the way is clear." I said. I turned around to face Zidane, and noticed that Dagger had joined up with us as well.

Zidane spoke. "Alright, let's get going" he said, in a commanding way. Dagger and I both nodded, and we stepped onto the elevator.


The elevator began moving as soon as I pressed the down button. As soon as we touched the ground we snuck down the hallway, and found ourselves in an underground storage area.


My eyes were immediately drawn to the giant, yellow feathered, bird; a Chocobo. I couldn't help but look at it with slightly wide eyes. 'So that's a Chocobo, huh. Looks like a cross between an ostrich and a baby chick' I thought.

I heard Zidane, who was beside me, speak "this isn't… just a regular underground storage facility." I heard Daggers footsteps as she approached us.

"What's going on?" she asked. Zidane and I booth shushed her as we began to hear voices. We all ducked behind a large barrel and listened to the voices speak.


"Why is it moving?" the first voice said "is it true that the mayor's brother found it?" he asked. Then there was a second voice.

"I guess they reconciled. His brother's one of us now" the second voice said.

The first voice spoke up again "…but wasn't he on the old lady's side before?" the first voice questioned.

The second voice responded "Oh, about abandoning the farm? He probably only said that because he was fighting with the mayor. Who cares? We need more workers anyway" he said, and paused before continuing "hey, let's put this in a box."

The first voice responded "I guess the guys at the castle will take care of it" he said.

The second voice responded to this "yeah, we're only in charge of production" he said.

The first voice responded "gotcha" and paused before continuing "come along, now" he said.

The two men came into view, and between them was 'Vivi' I thought, as I saw him walk out between the two men.

The man behind him pushed him slightly "hurry up" he said in a rough voice.


My anger started to flare up at this 'you bastard, you're going down' I thought as I moved to stand up. Zidane seemed to have the same idea as he rose up with me. Then I felt someone grab me from behind. I knew who it was "Dagger, wha-"

"shhhh" she whispered as she dragged Zidane and I back to the tunnel we had just been in.


As soon as she let us go I turned to her. "What were you doing? Zidane and I could have easily saved Vivi back there, if you hadn't stopped us." I said.

Zidane agreed with me "yeah, Dagger, what is it?" he asked.

Dagger gave us a concerned look. "Did you guys see the large barrel next to the shed?" she asked. Zidane and I both nodded our heads. She continued, "I've seen the exact same pattern on some of the barrels at the castle. This place must have some kind of connection with Alexandria Castle. I must know what it is!" she said. She looked at us closely. "So please… I beg of you guy's, don't cause any trouble just yet" she said, pleading.

Zidane and I both cooled down and agreed. Zidane spoke up "alright, but we will start trouble if Vivi is in danger. Agreed?" he asked. Dagger nodded her acceptance and I turned around to head back down the tunnel.

"Alright, let's go. They went further inside" I said. We began walking down the tunnel to find Vivi.


We continued our journey down the underground tunnels. We had passed a few rooms that contained large boxes for storage, but nothing unusual. That is, until we entered the next room. As soon as I entered the room I noticed the giant machine. Zidane had noticed it too. We were just about to get a better look at it when Dagger called us back.

"Zidane, Michael."

Zidane and I immediately turned around and went back to her. "What is it?" Zidane asked.

Dagger looked concerned "I hear someone crying" she said.

I listened and could now hear the sound of someone crying close by. I turned to a coffin shaped box, and approached it. The crying grew louder as I approached "Vivi…" I said to the box.

"…Michael" came the reply; it was Vivi.

My eyes widened "Vivi, it is you. Hold on I'll get you out" I said, unsheathing my normal sword.

I wedged my sword in between the space in the lid and used my sword as a crowbar. Zidane began to talk "why would they stuff you in a box?" Zidane asked, concerned.

"How could they…" Dagger said sadness in her voice.

Vivi tried to respond but I cut him off "don't worry Vivi. Almost…there" I said. Then the nails came lose and the lid clattered to the ground "got it!" I said, triumphantly and sheathed my sword.

Vivi walked out, relieved to be out of that box. Before anyone could say anything I asked "Vivi, are you alright? What happened?" I asked.

Vivi started to shake slightly. "Some men kidnapped me and brought me here. They told me to stay put. I was so scared... I didn't know what to do. They asked me, 'Why were you outside?', and then they said, 'The cargo ship isn't even here yet.' I didn't know what they were talking about, so I didn't say anything, and then they said, 'Let's put it in today's shipment" he said, still shaking. I placed my hand on his shoulder to calm him.

Zidane spoke. "And they put you in that box?" he asked.

Vivi looked up at him with frightened eyes "…yeah" he said, slightly afraid.

I decided to talk now. "We're glad your safe, Vivi, but next time try to scream back at them or something" I said, encouragingly.

Vivi looked at me with confused eyes "scream…?" he questioned.

"Yeah" Zidane said picking up on my hint "like…'get off me you scumbag!" he yelled, surprising Vivi a bit. Zidane continued "like that! It surprises your attacker and empowers you!"

Vivi looked at him in understanding "huh…I see" he said.

Zidane then walked over and knelt down towards Vivi. "I need to ask you a favor, Vivi. We want to check out what's ahead. I know you might not be thrilled with the idea, but..." he paused.

Vivi though understood his meaning. "…Zidane I want to know more, too" he said.

I smiled at Vivi's courage "good for you Vivi, let's all go, together" I said. Everyone nodded and we marched off towards the big machine.


We walked over to the machine. It seemed to be making some kind of giant eggs. We looked closely at the machine and noticed that it wasn't steam coming out of the machine like we had thought; it was mist. Zidane asked "are those eggs made of mist?" he asked. I couldn't answer because my attention was drawn to a door near the machine.

"Zidane, look at that" I said pointing at the bottom of the door.

Zidane looked to where I was pointing and stared in curiosity "is that mist?" he asked.

Dagger spoke up "I think so."

I walked over to the door "shall we see for ourselves." I said as I approached the door and unsheathed my normal sword. I grabbed the handle and looked back at the others to see that they were ready, weapons drawn and all. I opened the door… and was attacked by four Ghosts.


The nearest Ghost cast a Fire spell in my direction. I saw the attack coming and managed to dodge in time. The others ran to my side, and we each picked a Ghost. I ran after my Ghost and tried to strike it. It floated away from my attack and cast a Fire spell at me. I didn't have time to dodge, so I blocked it with my sword. I was surprised at the result.

Not only did my defensive tactic save me from the attack, but it also deflected the attack back at the caster. The Ghost was hit by its own attack and was burning. I took advantage of the Ghosts predicament and rushed at it executing a "Ryu Sho Sen." My attack had cut the Ghost in half, and the two halves faded away. I looked around and noticed that the others had also dealt with their Ghosts as well. We had won the battle.


I sheathed my sword and breathed a sigh of relief. Zidane turned to address us.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked. All of us nodded our heads.

I spoke "those were mist monsters, so this is definitely mist."

Zidane nodded and agreed with me. "yeah and that engine there (he pointed towards a large engine) must be fueling the machine" he said.

Vivi spoke "can we leave before anymore monsters come?" he asked. We agreed and left the room, closing the door behind us.


We continued down and investigated the rest of the machine. There was a Chocobo forced to run in a wheel to power another giant machine. The technology of this machine was new to me, and was definitely from somewhere not of Earth or Gaia. We then continued on until we heard strange hatching noises in the machine. It wasn't until we reached the final room when we received the biggest shock of our lives.


As soon as we entered the room Vivi was the first to speak up "ahhh! What's this!" he said, completely shocked. I would be too if I hadn't already known this was coming. The room contained a conveyor belt and suspended from the conveyor belt were…Black Mages.

They were bigger than Vivi and their steeple hats were straight at the top. They also wore a black coat and big, white pants. They looked like they were being mass produced, and only I knew what for. 'Needless to say we now know what was in those eggs' I thought. I looked down at Vivi. He was shaking in shock.

"Wh-what is this…? Are they… dolls?" he asked still disturbed.

That's when I sensed that someone was coming down the tunnel 'they must have heard Vivi yell.' I thought. Zidane had sensed the person too, because he was looking in the same direction I was. We both turned back to address Dagger and Vivi.

Zidane spoke up first "Dagger! Vivi!" he said. They weren't paying attention to him. Zidane looked at me and I looked at him.

I pointed to Dagger then I pointed to him. Then I pointed to Vivi and pointed at myself. Zidane nodded his head understanding what I meant. I ran up and grabbed Vivi while Zidane grabbed Dagger. Vivi let out a surprised cry as I picked him up. I ran with him and ducked into the machine used to box the mages. Zidane followed in after me soon after.


We heard someone talking right where we were a few seconds ago. "Hey! Did you say something?" the man asked.

A woman responded. "Nope. Not me" she said.

The man continued, "Okay, never mind. It's almost time. Hurry it up, will you?" he said.

The woman spoke "I hear ya."


Suddenly, a box dropped into the machine we were hiding in. Zidane fell into the box and was trapped inside. "Zidane!" Dagger yelled as his box was loaded into a barrel. Another box fell down and I fell into this one; along with Vivi. I could hear Dagger shout "Vivi! Michael!" before the box we were in was loaded into the barrel as well.


I could feel Vivi shaking by my side. I placed my hand on his shoulder "Vivi, it will be okay. There's nothing to worry about. I'm right here" I said, reassuringly. Vivi seemed to calm down as he stopped shaking. I smiled 'I won't let anything happen to you Vivi, I swear it' I thought. Our barrel was taken above ground.


I could feel the wagon that was carrying us was beginning to move uphill. I still had my hand on Vivi's shoulder. He was keeping pretty quiet 'understandable considering what we had just witnessed' I thought. Then, the wagon stopped. 'We must be outside' I thought. Then, I heard a man speaking to someone else.

"I wonder what they're gonna use it for? We've been making lots of 'em since they set up the factory six months ago" he said.

His partner responded "Who cares? This is a piece of cake compared to farming. Better money, too."

There was a slight pause, until I heard the first man break the silence. "H-Hey! Is that scary guy in armor running toward US?" he said.

The other man responded, "Let's get outta here!" he yelled.

I heard their feet as they ran back to the underground factory, and heard the hatch door close behind them.


The wagon was moving again and our barrel fell off. The barrel hit the ground, right-side up; I let out a gasp of surprise at this. I looked down at Vivi's shadowed form "Vivi… you okay?" I said, concerned.

He looked up at me; his eyes were glowing in the dark. "I-I'm okay" he said. I could hear a sad tone in his voice, though.

"Don't worry, Vivi, Steiner will get us out" I said.

"H-He will?" Vivi said.

I smiled "yeah he will. At least, he had better if he knows what's good for him" I said.

I didn't say anymore, because I had just heard the unmistakable sound of rusty, moving metal. 'Steiner finally made it' I thought. I could hear Steiner speaking. "This barrel... What could be inside? What could they possibly be shipping out from this village?" I heard him say, questioningly. Then, suddenly, the barrel moved. "What the-Did I just see that barrel move?" Steiner said, shocked. "Let's see…" I heard him say.

I could have said something but I didn't want to miss hearing this. "hiya" I heard him say followed by a loud "OW! OOOWWWWWWCH!" I then felt something land on top of the barrel. I was silently laughing to myself

'Sorry Zidane, but I knew you could take it' I thought, still silently laughing.

I was interrupted by Vivi's voice. "Are you okay, Michael? You're shaking" he said, concerned.

I quickly regained my composure, for his sake, and responded. "I'm okay Vivi. Sorry to worry you" I said.

Then I heard something outside. "PUSH!" I heard Zidane yell. I held onto Vivi's shoulder a little tighter, and braced myself for impact. I felt the barrel tip and fall over on its side.


I was a bit disoriented from the fall, but immediately got my bearings straight. I then heard the lid of our box creak and break off as someone opened it; it was Zidane. He looked down on us with concern. "Are you two okay?" he said. I got out of the box, and helped Vivi out as well.

"I'm fine" I responded.

"I-I'm okay" Vivi said.

We were interrupted by a loud voice "Princess, what in the world is going on?" Steiner exclaimed. He turned towards Zidane "You scoundrel! Is this your doing?" he said, accusingly and shaking his fist. I knew Zidane could handle this, so I looked back down at Vivi.

He had his face turned down and was looking at the ground. I could feel the sadness from him. I knelt down at his side. "You okay, Vivi?" I asked, concerned.

Vivi looked up at me "I-I'm fine" he said.

I smiled sadly at this "Vivi don't lie to me. I lied to you once, but from now on I'll be honest with you. I want you to do the same for me, okay?"

Vivi looked at me in a surprised way. "O-okay, but I don't want to talk about it" he said.

I placed my hand on his shoulder again. "You don't have to tell me, Vivi, if you don't want to, but when you do want to talk about it, I'll be ready to listen" I said.

He seemed to brighten up a bit at this "okay, thanks, Michael" he said, thankfully.

Our moment was interrupted by a surprised voice.

"Something is heading this way" it was Steiner who spoke.


I turned to look at the field and only caught a glimpse of the creature before it disappeared. Then it suddenly appeared right in front of our group, and I now had a better look. It had a ripped, steeple hat, a blue cloak, big, black wings, narrow, red eyes, and seemed to levitate off the ground; it was Black Waltz No.2.

"Princess Garnet, the queen is waiting for you at the castle!" he said.

Zidane quickly unsheathed his new daggers. "You were all sent by the castle?" he asked.

Steiner turned to look at him. "What? What are you talking about?" Steiner asked.

I responded. "You were all unconscious from the blizzard. Zidane and I faced a creature similar to this one in the Ice Cavern. He said he was a Black Waltz!" I said, unsheathing my normal sword.

The Waltz looked over at Zidane then at me "So you are the two who defeated No.1. I am Black Waltz No. 2! My power, magic, and speed make me far superior to No. 1! Resistance is futile! Come, Princess. The queen awaits!" he said.

Dagger shook her head in refusal. "No! I will not return to the castle" she said, decisively.

This didn't please the Waltz. "Come with me or you'll regret it" he said.

Steiner spoke up. "Wait! I, Steiner, shall escort the Princess back to the castle!" he yelled.

The Waltz turned to look at Steiner, amusement in his eyes, and laughed. "Kee hee hee. You think I care? I won't let you stand in the way of my mission." he said. Steiner unsheathed his sword and Vivi readied his staff. It was time to fight.


I started things off by charging at the Waltz. I tried to strike it with a horizontal slash, but it dodged the attack. The Waltz gathered magic energy around it and unleashed a blizzard spell right at me. I jumped to the side and just managed to avoid its attack. I quickly jumped back to regroup with the others.

I glanced over to my right side and noticed Vivi was preparing a fire spell. He quickly launched the spell at the Waltz, but the Waltz managed to evade it at the last second. It then fired a blizzard spell at Vivi. Vivi couldn't dodge in time, so I jumped in front of the blast and struck the spell with my sword. Vivi was saved "thanks, Michael" he said behind me. I nodded to him then looked at my sword, and cursed.

My sword was incased in a thick layer of ice and became useless. I didn't want to risk that the blade on my normal sword might break if I used it while it was frozen, so I sheathed my normal sword and unsheathed my reverse blade sword. I noticed that the Waltz was teleporting around again and seemed to be heading for Zidane. Zidane couldn't dodge fast enough and ended up getting struck by the Waltz. Steiner leapt at the Waltz and tried to strike it with a diving vertical slash.

The Waltz dodged it and Steiner's sword ended up getting stuck in the ground. The Waltz quickly cast a blizzard spell on Steiner's sword, freezing it in ice. The Waltz then punched the sword blade in the middle; causing the sword to break in half. Steiner now held up his broken sword, and cursed the Waltz for what it had done to his beloved sword.

That was when I remembered the gift I had for Steiner. Reaching behind me, I grabbed the 'Iron Sword' that was strapped to my back and brought it to my front. I saw that Zidane was distracting the Waltz, so I took my chance. "Steiner, catch!" I yelled as I flung the sword at Steiner. Steiner turned and saw the sword coming at him. He instinctively reached up and grabbed the sword by the hilt. I smiled "my gift to you" I said, cheerfully.

Steiner looked at me with gratitude on his face. "Thank you, Master Michael" he said as he readied his new weapon.

I nodded. "You're welcome. Now, let's kill this thing" I said, indicating the Waltz.

I looked at the Waltz in time to see that it had hit Zidane back our way. I also noticed that Zidane managed to get some hits in, and rather good ones too. The Waltz turned its attention to me and raised its hands forming a fireball. I saw my opening and decided to take it.

While it was distracted with its spell I stuck my sword into the ground. I then performed the "Do Ryu Sen" and sent rocks, dirt, and dust right into the Waltz. The Waltz had a surprised look on its face as it saw the debris coming right at it. It canceled its spell and tried to dodge, but it was too late. It was hit by a combination of rock, dirt, and dust.

It was temporarily stunned, and I noticed Steiner was taking full advantage of the distraction. Using his new 'Iron Sword' Steiner charged at the Waltz and struck it in the side. The Waltz yelled in pain as it tried to recover from mine and Steiner's attack. Zidane, after being healed by Dagger, immediately rushed at the Waltz and delivered two quick strikes to its chest. Now the Waltz was knocked out of the sky; Vivi decided to take advantage of this and used a fire spell. The spell flew true and struck the Waltz; incinerating it. I lowered my sword as the battle was over…my mistake.

The Waltz got back up, rage in its eyes "you call that a fire spell!" it bellowed at Vivi. "This is how you cast fire!" it yelled, extending his hands and summoned a fira spell. Vivi was too shocked to move. I didn't have time to think; I ran up to Vivi and pushed him to the ground. The spell hit me instead.

The force of the explosion was so great that I was flung, twenty feet back, through the air. As I hit the ground I felt pain course up my entire body, but the most prominent was a burning sensation in my chest. I slowly got back up to my feet and looked at myself. My chest was completely covered in second-degree burns, and it HURT! It wasn't long before I felt a wave of pleasure course through my body, and I knew it was Dagger; casting a cure spell on me.

My burns and bruises immediately healed, but I was angry. Not at the fact that the Waltz had burned me, or the fact that it froze one of my swords, it was the fact that my brand new blue shirt was…completely…RUINED. I looked back at the Waltz and saw that he was dodging Steiner and Zidane's attacks while Vivi was running over to see if I was okay.

I couldn't help myself "MY SHIRT!" I screamed at the Waltz. A hush fell over the battlefield as everyone turned to stare at me. I continued, "I HAVEN'T EVEN WORN THIS SHIRT FOR A DAY, AND IT'S ALREADY RUINED, THANKS TO YOU!" I yelled fire in my eyes. I went on "I hope you're ready Black Waltz No.2, because I am going to kick…your…ASS!" I said, and readied my sword.

The Waltz was still surprised by my anger and didn't quite know what to do. I charged at it and jumped into the air. I then shouted "Ryu Tsui… (brought my sword down on the Waltzes shoulder, landed on the ground and grabbed my sword with both hands)…Sho Sen" and stuck it right under its chin; effectively knocking it to the ground. I then turned to look at Vivi "Vivi, finish it" I said, my voice returning to normal.

Vivi still looked surprised at my earlier outburst, but nodded in agreement. He quickly unleashed a blizzard spell just as the Waltz was getting up. It struck the Waltz and it landed back on the ground. This time though, it looked like it was having a seizure. It then muttered the words "wh-why…!" and then stopped moving. The battle was finally over.


I sheathed my sword and checked on my other one to see if it had thawed; it had and I wiped the water off with my robe. I turned around to look at the others. Dagger was the first to speak up "Black Waltz No.2…did my mother really send him to capture me…?" She asked

Steiner spoke up next "It can't be! There is no reason to trust the words of some bandit. He was just another criminal, scheming to use the princess for some evil deed." He declared.

Dagger was still talking to herself. "Have I not been careful enough?" she asked.

Steiner responded to her question "your noble upbringing is not so easily hidden" he stated.

I decided to speak up "Steiner, Dagger is doing just fine. She has been practicing really hard" I said.

Zidane decided to add, "Yeah, you're the one with the problem running around yelling Princess everywhere" he said. Steiner looked like he would just love to attack Zidane.

Zidane ignored him, turned to Dagger, and continued, "About the border crossing…" we all eyed him expectantly. He then turned and pointed at the cargo ship, which I had just now noticed "why don't we hitch a ride on this airship?" he said.

Steiner immediately forgot his anger and looked relieved. Dagger liked the idea "Sure, Lindblum should not be terribly far by airship! I mean...'won't be too far.'" She said, catching herself nicely. I looked up at the sky, and noticed that the sun was setting.

"Hey guys, why don't we go back to the inn first. It's getting late" I said.

Zidane thought about this, and nodded. "Good idea, Michael. We'll leave in the morning. Okay, everyone?" he asked. We all nodded. "Okay, let's head back to the inn" he declared, very leader like. We all walked back to the inn.


As soon as we entered the inn I noticed the innkeeper was sleeping on duty again. Zidane noticed this too "he's out cold…" 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, again.

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…th-the room is through that door." He said, nervously.

I noticed he was looking at Vivi again and my anger grew. 'We'll have a little talk about what you did to him, tonight' I thought. We paid for and entered the room. We had to decide who shared a bed this time. It was between Zidane, Vivi, and me. It ended up being me and Zidane again. I tore off the remains of my once new shirt and got into bed, preparing for tomorrow.


Ryu Tsui Sho Sen
A combination of the Ryu Tsui Sen and Ryu Sho Sen; the user jumps up into the air, slams his sword on a body part of his opponent, then concludes the attack by pushing his sword upwards at the neck of his opponent, if he is still standing after the Ryu Tsui Sen part.