Chapter 12: Dali: Conversations in the Night
"You are his guardian so you will have to take care of him from now on Mr. Hiko."
I turned to view another scene from my past. I could see my Master and myself, as well as another man. 'I remember this…this is one day after my father died…' I paused as I started to listen.
"I will take care of Michael in his fathers plac.e" Hiko said.
The man turned to my past self "do you wish to live with Mr. Hiko, Michael. The alternative is the local orphanage" he said.
My past self responded "I will live with my Master. He's the only family I have left." my past self said. The vision faded away leaving me to ponder on what I had just witnessed.
'Master…even though we weren't related you were always like a grandfather to me' I thought.
Then I heard him again "Miiiiiiccchhhaaaeeeellllll."
I turned to see where the voice was coming from. "Angel…where are you?" I asked. The voice didn't respond "no…don't leave me." I pleaded. Then all went black.
I woke up at the sound of a door closing. I turned over to look at Vivi's bed; he wasn't there. Alarmed I got out of bed and went over, quietly, to the window. I saw Vivi walking away from the inn. No one was following him, so I relaxed a little. 'And here I thought he might have been kidnapped again' I thought.
I looked back out the window. It was still night out, but I could sense that it would be morning soon. I couldn't see Vivi anymore 'he probably went off to think for a bit. He probably couldn't sleep. Who could blame him?' I thought. Then I remembered what I had promised myself yesterday evening. 'I'll go speak with Vivi after I take care of business' I thought as I walked over to the door.
I walked into the lobby and saw the innkeeper asleep at his desk, again. This time though he was asleep for real. I didn't care; I walked over to him, and hit him upside his head with my fist.
He woke up with a start "wh-what's goin-" I grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him against the wall. Now he was wide awake and looking down at me with fear. "P-please, d-don't hurt me. W-what do you want?" he asked, terrified.
I looked at him with anger in my eyes. "I know what you did to my friend ."
His eyes grew wider "w-what are you ta-" I tightened my grip.
"The Black Mage you snitched on. He is my friend, and you told your brother, the Mayor, about him so you could get into the Black Mage factory loop. You make me sick."
His eyes grew even wider at this announcement "h-how did you-" I cut him off.
"I have my ways."
He was truly terrified "I-I'm sorry I'll-" I cut him off again.
"You better be…because if you ever cause anymore trouble for me or my friends, I swear…I'll make you regret it."
He was still terrified "I-I promise not to bother y-you or your f-friends again."
I nodded. "Good to hear" I released my grip.
He fell onto his feet, but immediately collapsed onto the ground from fright. I looked down at him "you can go back to sleep now." I said, in a normal voice. He nodded his head in understanding. 'Now that that's taken care of I better go see Vivi' I thought. I turned from the innkeeper and walked over to the door. I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the innkeepers whimpering form before I left the inn.
I walked out into the night and set off in the direction Vivi went. I followed him to the small cornfield and noticed him near the barrel we were all in yesterday. I approached him. He looked up at me when he heard my footsteps. He looked surprised "Michael…what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.
I smiled at his surprise. "I saw you leave. I decided to follow you. I thought this would be a good time to talk."
Vivi looked down at the ground. "I…I've been thinking about what I saw down there…in that factory" he said. I nodded in understanding.
He looked up at me, and gave me a serious look. "Michael…those dolls in the factory…did they look like me?" he asked.
I sighed; I wasn't going to lie to him. "Yes, Vivi…yes they do look like you only taller, rounder and wearing different clothes."
Vivi looked down at the ground again. "I knew it…" he paused.
I felt bad for him. "Vivi, look at me." He looked up at me with sadness in his eyes. "Vivi, even if those dolls look like you it doesn't change who you are. You are Vivi Ornitier, a Black Mage and a friend to Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, and me. No matter how you look Vivi you will always be who you are, nothing will ever change that simple fact...remember that."
The sadness in his eyes seemed to diminish slightly. "A-are you sure?" he asked.
I smiled. "Of course, Vivi. No matter what…you will always be my friend, and I will protect you now and forever, I promise."
This lifted Vivi's mood considerably. "T-thanks, Michael" he said, gratefully.
I smiled at him. "What are friends for?"
There was a long silence between us. I broke it. "It will be morning soon, Vivi. Do you want to watch the sunrise with me?" I asked.
Vivi's eyes lit up at this. "S-sure, I'd love to" he said.
I was glad he was happy again. "Would you like me to sing while we wait?"
His eyes grew wider at this offer. "Sure" he said, and sat on one of the boxes to listen.
I smiled. "Very well, I'll sing." I said as I began to sing.
"Miiidnigggght not a sound from the paaavement. Have the moons lost their memories. They are ssmilling alooooooone. IIIIIIIIn the laaamplight the withered leaaaves collect at my feeeeet, and the wiiiiiind begins to moooooan. Everyyy streeeet lamp seeeeeems to beat a faaataaaliiiistic waaaaarniiiiiiing. Someone muuuutters and the streeeet lamp guuuutters, and sooooon it will beeee mooooooorniiiiiiiing. Meeeemoryyy all aloooone in the moooooonliiiight I can smile at the oooold daaays I was Beautifull theeeeeen. I remeeeeeember the time I kneeeew what happiness was. Let the meeeemoryyyyyyy live agaaaaaain."
I had lost myself in the song as the melody swept through my mind. I continued to sing.
"Meeeeeemoryyyyy turn your faaaaace to the mooooonliiiight. Let your meeemory leeeeead yoooooou. Open uuuuup enter iiiiiiiin. If you fiiiind there the meaning of what haaaaappinesss issss. Theeen a neeeeeeew liiiiiiiiiiife will beginnnnn. Meeeeemoryyy all alooooone in the moooooonliiiight I can smile at the oooold daaaays I was Beautifull theeeeeen. I remeeeeeember the time I kneeeew what happiness was. Let the meeeemoryyyyyyy live agaaaaaain. Buuurnt ooooout endsssss of smoooooky days. The staleeee cooold smeeeell of moooorniiiiiing. The streeeeet lamp dies another night issss oooveeeer anoootheeeer day isss daaaaawniiiiiing. Daaaaaylight I must wait for the suuuuunriiiiise I must think of a neeeeeeew life and I mustn't give innnnnnn. Wheeen the daaaaawn comes tonight will beeeeeeeeee a memory toooooo and a neeeeew daaaaay will begiiiiiin."
I collapse to my knees and look down at the ground. Vivi gets off of the box to see if I'm okay. That is, until I started singing again.
"Suuuunlight throughhhh the treeeees in suuuuuuuummer eeeeendlessss maaaaasqueraaaadiiiiiiing. Liiiiiiiike a floweeeeeer as the daaaaaawn isssss breakiiiiing. The meeemoooooory issss faaaaaaaaadiiiiiiiiiiing."
I get back up on my feet and look to the sky my hands outstretched to the sky. I continue to sing.
"Toooooooooouch meeeeeeeeeee! Itssss so eaaaaaasy toooooo leeeeeeave meeeeeee alllll aloooooone with the meeeeemoryyyyyy of my daaaaays in the suuuuuuuun. IIIIIf youuuuu touch me you'llllll understaaaaaand what happiness isssssss. Look, a neeeeeeeew daaaaaaaay haaaas beguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun." I concluded my song.
Vivi looked up at me with wide eyes. "Michael, that was great." he said.
I smiled at him. "I'm glad you liked it, Vivi."
I sat on the grass and from there laid down making sure I was facing the east. I looked up at Vivi. "Come on, Vivi. Lie down next to me and watch the sunrise. It won't be long now." I said.
Vivi looked down at me and nodded. "Okay" he said, and lied down next to me.
We lay there, together, waiting for the sun to rise. Then I felt something grab my hand I looked down and noticed that Vivi had my hand in his. 'Still unsure about what you saw, eh Vivi' I thought, slightly tightening my grip on his hand. His grip tightened as well. 'Don't worry, I'll be there for you, always' I thought.
Then we saw the sun crest up over the mountain. It was a beautiful sight. Vivi and I laid there until the sun came over the mountain.
As soon as it did I looked at Vivi. "We should be getting back. The others will start to worry if they're already awake" I said.
Vivi nodded his head. "Okay, let's go" he said. I got up and helped Vivi to his feet. We let go of each others hands and walked back to the inn.
As soon as we entered we noticed Zidane, Dagger, and Steiner at the table eating breakfast. Dagger looked up at us as we entered. "There you guys are. Where were you? We thought you might have been kidnapped again."
I smiled at her concern. "No need to worry. Vivi and I were just watching the sunrise. Right, Vivi?" I asked.
Vivi nodded "right" he said.
Zidane spoke up. "We're glad you guys are okay, but next time tell us before you do this again, okay?" he asked. Vivi and I both nodded in agreement.
We sat down with the others and ate our breakfast. I was the only one who noticed that the innkeeper was shooting nervous glances in my direction. After we had eaten Zidane announced, "let's get to that airship and head to Lindblum" he said. We all nodded in agreement; Steiner a bit too enthusiastically.
We got up to leave, but I hung back. Zidane noticed this. "Michael, what is it?" he asked.
"You guys go on ahead I need to take care of something. I'll catch up in a minute" I said.
Zidane looked skeptical but nodded in agreement. He and the rest of them left the inn. With them gone, I turned to face the innkeeper.
As soon as he saw me he got out of his chair and backed into the wall cowering in fear. I approached his desk. "You remember what I said last night?" I asked; he nodded his head. I smiled "good, because I meant what I said, but I'm not a bad guy" I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out 20 gil. I placed it on the table. "This is for breakfast. It was rather good." I said, happily. I turned around and left the inn, leaving a stunned innkeeper in my wake.
If you're curious about the song it is the song "Memory" from the musical CATS. I changed the lyrics at the beginning to accommodate Gaia's two moons. I also combined both versions of the song into one.
