Chapter 28: Midnight Meditation & Conde Petie

After walking for four hours, the sun began to set, and we were forced to set up camp. We set up camp at the base of the cliff side. Our camp was near a vast beach and we had a great view of the ocean. We decided to set up our watch order. Vivi would keep first watch, I would take second watch, Zidane would have third watch, and Dagger would finish the night off as fourth watch. We decided not to let Quina keep watch. We were afraid that she might wander off. Once we had decided on the order we ate dinner and went to sleep.

"Is this right, Michael?" Mary said, handing him her work.

He took her work and looked it over before he handed it back to her. "So far, so good. You seem to be getting the hang of this."

She smiled at him. "Thanks to you." He smiled at the complement and she returned to her work.

I watched my past self and Mary work. "Mary…I haven't seen you since my senior year in high school. That was when we first met. Had you not needed help, I probably would have never got to know you. Maybe it was fate that we would meet, and that I would help you…maybe."

Mary is 5' 4" tall and has short brown hair. She has a slim figure and was in her junior year at high school. She had brown eyes and a great personality. She was always willing to help people, especially those with special needs. Her mood would change from time to time, and some of her actions made people wonder if she was right in the head. I didn't care about that though; she has a good heart, and that's all I really cared about. She may act slightly crazy sometimes, but she is a good person who always did what she thought was right. She has a great mind and was always willing to learn. She is also a talented artist, and speaking of art…

I watched as my past self was looking through one of Mary's art folders. She looked up from her work and looked at him. "See something you like?"

My past self looked over at her. "Did you draw these pictures yourself?" he asked, showing her the folder.

She nodded her head. "Yep, those are all my works, except for a few that my sister drew, but ninety-nine percent of it is my work."

My past self looked surprised and looked through the drawings again. "Wow…you're good." He said, in awe.

She smiled at that. "Thanks, one day I hope to be a great artist."

He smiled at her. "With talent like yours…you can do it. I know you can."

Her smile brightened. "Thanks, Michael." The vision faded and all went black.

I woke up as someone was shaking me. I looked up and saw Vivi starring down at me.

"Michael, it's your turn to keep watch."

I nodded my head and got out of my sleeping bag. We finally had enough tents for everyone. I walked out of my tent and Vivi followed behind me. I turned around and looked at Vivi. "Good night, Vivi." Vivi nodded and walked into his tent. After he left I entered the clearing where we had our fire, sat down, closed my eyes, and began to meditate.

I reached out and felt the area around me. No one was going to sneak up on our camp while I was on watch. I wasn't surprised when I felt a presence approach me from the camp. I knew who it was before the person even said anything. "Couldn't sleep, Vivi?" I asked, not even opening my eyes.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you." He didn't seem surprised that I knew it was him.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "What do you want to talk about, Vivi?"

He looked nervous. "Well…you said that you'd train me when we got to the Outer Continent."

I nodded my head. "Yes, I said I would."

He seemed to grow less nervous. "I was wondering if…you could…train me now."

I smiled at Vivi's eagerness. "Very well, Vivi. I'll train you tonight. If you're up to it that is?"

Vivi nodded his head "I want to train now."

I smiled. "Alright, Vivi. Your first lesson will teach you how to focus. I know that you already know how to focus, but that only applies to your magic attack. I'll teach you how to focus on more than that. You'll use meditation to do this." Vivi nodded in understanding.

"The first thing you do is assume the position that I'm in now." Vivi sat on the ground and mimicked my position. I smiled as I watched him. "Now you need to breathe deeply through your mouth and exhale slowly out your nose. Do that until you have a steady rhythm going." Vivi began to do as I had instructed.

After a few minutes I continued. "Now Vivi, I want you to close your eyes, not all the way though, and empty your mind. Once you do that I want you to relax your body. Not even a single muscle should be tense." Vivi nodded and did as I instructed. "Now don't speak during your meditation and only concentrate on what I tell you to concentrate on, alright?" Vivi nodded his head and said nothing.

After fifteen minutes I gave him my first instruction. "Listen to my voice, Vivi, and do as I say." He slightly nodded his head. "I want you to concentrate on the sound of the waves as they crash onto the beach. Hear their sound and let it fill your mind; let it wash through your body. Feel the power of the water." Vivi followed my instructions and focused on what I told him to focus on.

After another fifteen minutes of this I gave him my second instruction. "Now I want you to concentrate on the sound of the wind as it blows across the cliff side. Hear its sound and let it fill your mind. Become as calm as the wind." Like last time, Vivi did as I instructed.

After yet another fifteen minutes I gave him my third instruction. "This is your last task for tonight, Vivi. I want you to concentrate on the breathing of our friends. Hear their breathing as they sleep soundly. Let their breathing fill you, and give you new insight." Vivi did as instructed.

After fifteen minutes passed I gave him one last instruction. "Now, Vivi…awaken." Vivi opened his eyes and looked at me. I could tell just by looking at his eyes that the meditation exercise had worked. His eyes appeared calm; it was no illusion he was definitely calm.

"How do you feel, Vivi?"

Vivi focused on me. "I feel calm, collected, and oddly more powerful. I feel like I can do anything."

I smiled. "You did a great job, Vivi. That will be enough training for tonight. We shall continue tomorrow night. Is that alright?"

Vivi looked pleased. "Sure, I'd love to train again." He seemed much more confident now.

"Let's get some sleep, Vivi. It's Zidane's turn to keep watch." He nodded and walked back into his tent. I walked over to Zidane's tent, woke him up, and returned to my tent.

When I woke up, morning had come. I didn't have any strange dreams about my past. 'I guess I had my fill when Vivi woke me' I thought. I got out of my tent and saw that the others were awake. I noticed that Vivi still seemed calm. After we ate breakfast, we set off on our journey.

We had been walking for two days now. During that time I was able to instruct Vivi during his watch and mine. Vivi's progress was remarkable; I never thought he could master meditation so quickly. When I was satisfied that he needed no more instructions on meditation, I decided to teach him balance. This was harder for him, but I knew that balance was a necessary skill in battle, and he most likely wouldn't trip as much when he walked.

On the third day of our journey, we finally found an odd looking structure suspended over a cliff by two large, thick roots; we had located Conde Petie.

"What a weird-shaped…village? What is that thing?" Zidane wondered.

Dagger spoke. "Maybe it's a temple of some kind."

Quina had an excited look in her eyes. "Is very delicious shape. Inside might have fine cuisine!" She immediately ran up the root and into the building.

Zidane shook his head. "Geez…all she ever thinks about is food."

Dagger began to walk up the root. "Well, all you ever think about is girls…" she approached the building.

Zidane hadn't noticed that she left. "Uh, that's right! My mind is filled with thoughts of…you!" he turned around and looked at Vivi and me.

I gave him an odd look, turned around, and walked up the root towards the village; Vivi followed after me.

Vivi and I entered the village and were immediately confronted by a green dwarf. "Rally-ho" it said, thrusting its right fist into the air.

I already knew the drill. "Rally-ho" I said.

Vivi seemed confused. "Rh-rahllie-who…?" he paused.

I looked down at him. "No, Vivi, rally-ho not rahllie-who."

Vivi tried again. "Rally-ho."

This pleased the dwarf "alright, ye can pass." He stood aside and let us pass.

Vivi and I split up; I went off to the weapon store to buy supplies for our journey. I arrived at the weapon shop and looked over the weapons he was selling. There were a few items that interested me.

After making my decision I spoke to the shopkeeper. "I'll take an Oak Staff, a Mythril Fork, five Mythril Armlets, a Magician Cloak, four Adaman Vests, and a Stardust Rod."

The owner rang that all up. "That'll be 18,610 Gil." I gave him the money and he gave me the items.

I took my robe off and put one of the Adaman Vest's over my shirt. I put my robe back on and grabbed one of the Mythril Armlets. I put the armlet on my right arm. 'This could prove useful in blocking enemy attacks' I thought; in fact I decided to buy another armlet for my other arm. After making my purchases I walked back to the village and walked into the market.

I froze at what I saw; there was a Black Mage at the counter in the grocery store. He turned and looked straight at me. His eyes widened in shock.

That's when I noticed Vivi walking down the stairs to my left. He looked over at the mage as well. Vivi looked surprised too. "What the-" the mage turned around and looked at him. As soon as the mage saw him he took off, knocking Zidane down as he was walking through the door.

Vivi immediately ran after the mage, and ended up running over Zidane as well. I quickly ran over and helped Zidane back up to his feet. As soon as he was back on his feet, he spoke. "Michael, what's-" I cut him off.

"We have to go after Vivi." He nodded, and we ran after Vivi.

When we left the shop we noticed Dagger. Zidane stopped to talk to her, but I continued to go after Vivi. I caught up with Vivi at the entrance to Conde Petie. "Vivi, where's the Black Mage?" Zidane and Dagger reached us at that point.

Vivi looked at us. "He ran away."

Zidane didn't like the sound of this. "Where the heck did he come from? Has Brahne found us?"

"Do ye ken the Pyntie-Hets?" asked a dwarf who was right behind us.

Zidane turned to look at him. "Huh? Did you just say pointy-hats?"

The dwarf shook his head "Nay, ah said Pyntie-Hets! They often come from the Sootheast Forest tae trade wi' us."

Zidane looked surprised. "They? You mean there's lots of them? And...they live near here?"

The Dwarf nodded his head "Aye! But ye gots tae go all the way aroon' yon cliff an' then go east tae find the Sootheast Forest! They live sae deep in the forest, that even owls dinnae live there!"

Vivi looked at Zidane "Zidane, I want to go to the Southeast Forest and find them!"

I nodded in agreement. "I'm curious about this village myself."

Zidane nodded. "Yeah, me too."

Dagger nodded in agreement as well "I think it's a good idea. We might find some clues."

Quina came up behind us and had heard the whole conversation. "If possible to try new food, anywhere fine" She said, nodding enthusiastically.

"Alright, let's head to the Southeast Forest." Zidane said. We all nodded and left the city.

After three days we reached the Southeast Forest. During that time, I was able to continue training Vivi. As soon as we entered the forest we followed the Black Mages trail. It wasn't that hard to follow; he obviously didn't think that we'd follow him. Despite having an easy trail to follow, we still had to camp out in the forest.

I had given everyone the equipment I had bought for them. Vivi really liked his new staff. I decided to take the opportunity to train Vivi in how to use his staff in battle. His goal was to fend of my attacks for thirty seconds by blocking my attacks or dodging them. If he got hit once; he would have to start over.

The first few tries he didn't last longer than a few seconds, but he steadily got better. Finally after a few hours of trying he finally succeeded. I had to admit, Vivi was getting stronger.

On the fifth day of our journey we finally caught up with the mage. We saw him enter a clearing in the forest he was walking towards a groove of dead trees. I already knew it was an illusion. The mage held up his hands and the illusion was temporarily dispelled. Before the illusion returned however, we quickly slipped into the forest and continued to follow the mage. Eventually we saw a few huts in the woods. We had reached the Black Mage Village.

Vivi has a new ability

Meditation

This technique replaces Focus. When Vivi meditates his Magic Attack, Magic Defense, and Magic Evasion increase; also the MP cost for his magic is reduced by 25 rounded down. This stacks with the Half MP ability.