Chapter 31: Madain Sari

After ten minutes of walking, we arrived in Madain Sari. Eiko moved out in front of us. She turned around and looked at Zidane. "Zidane! This is my home: Madain Sari, the village of summoners!"

I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about what she said and how she sounded when she said it. 'Darn it, she's still trying to get too close to Zidane. I got to find a way to stop this. When she finally realizes that Zidane only has eyes for Dagger; she's not going to take it too well' I thought.

I was shaken from my thoughts when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was Dagger who tapped my shoulder. "You need something, Dagger?"

She shook her head. "No, you just seemed to nod off for a moment."

I blushed, slightly. "Sorry about that!"

I turned away from her and noticed six Moogles were in front of us. They were tiny, white furred creatures with bat wings and a red bon-bon thing on the top of their head; which was attached to an antenna or something like that.

Among them, I saw Mog. Mog was smaller than the other five and his bon-bon was yellow instead of red. 'I must have been deep in thought to not notice them' I thought.

Eiko was speaking to Mog. "No, I'm not mad at you, but don't ever leave me behind again, okay?" Mog responded with a "kupo" and flew off into the village. Eiko turned to look at Zidane yet again. "Zidane! Follow me!" she ran off into the village. I followed the others into the village.

I arrived in the central square of the village just in time to see Mog jump into Eiko's shirt. "Did that Moogle go inside your dress?" Zidane asked.

Eiko turned to look at him. "Yup! Mog always stays with me." To emphasis this, Mog jumped out, said "kupo," and jumped back into Eiko's shirt.

Eiko looked back at Zidane. "Zidane, come sit over here!" she walked over, grabbed Zidane's arm with both her hands, and dragged him over to sit on a bench. Zidane was surprised, but accepted the seat, like he had much of a choice anyway.

Eiko spoke. "Tell me more about yourself! Tell me!"

Zidane nodded. "Sure. I wanna know more about you, too, Eiko."

I shook my head at what Zidane had just said. 'You shouldn't have said it like that Zidane. You might be giving her the wrong idea' I thought.

"Really?" she said, ecstatically.

I shook my head. 'Yep, she definitely took it the wrong way' I thought.

Zidane didn't seem to notice. "For instance, the Eidolon-" she cut him off,

"Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do? Where are you going?"

Zidane was surprised by how many questions she asked. "No, what I want to know is-" she cut him off again.

"What kind of foods do you like? What kind of eidolons do you like? What type of Moogles do you like? What type of girls do you like?"

After a minute of endless personal questions, I got bored and looked around the area. That's when I noticed that Vivi wasn't here anymore. After hearing Eiko ask what Zidane's favorite 'turn on' was, I decided to find Vivi and see what he was doing. I knew it would be pointless to try and stop Eiko at this point. I'd have to try again later.

I walked away from the town square and went left toward the kitchen and dining room. I found Vivi outside the dinning room. He had his hands on a rope fence and was looking over a cliff at the sea. I knew he was thinking about something, and I knew what it was.

I walked over to him and stood beside him. I placed my hands on the rope fence and looked out at the sea as well. I turned my head and looked down at him. "Hey."

Vivi was shaken from his thoughts and looked up at me. "Oh…hi, Michael."

I smiled sadly at him. "Something's bothering you, Vivi. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Vivi shook his head. "No, it's nothing."

I pointed at his hands. "If it's nothing, than why are your hands shaking."

Vivi looked down at his hands and saw that they were indeed shaking. He quickly put his hands in his pockets. "I-I don't want to talk about it."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "And you don't have to. Like I said, just tell me when you're ready, okay?"

Vivi nodded. "Okay, I will." I smiled at him and looked back out towards the sea.

We just stood there, just the two of us, and watched the sun as it began to make its descent into the West. That's when I felt something grab my hand. I looked down and saw that Vivi was holding my left hand. His hand was shaking, and I could feel his fear.

I tightened my grip on his hand to let him know that I was there for him. "Don't worry, Vivi. I'm right here" I said, softly. Vivi's hand started to shake less and less and it eventually stopped, but he didn't let my hand go; I don't think he wanted to.

"What are you two doing?"

Vivi and I jumped three feet into the air and let go of each others hands. We spun around and came face to face with Eiko. She looked at us, curiously. "So, what were you two doing?"

I spoke. "Vivi and I were just looking at the sea; watching the sun set. Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, no reason. I'm gonna get dinner ready. You can't come into the kitchen until I say so, alright?" Vivi and I both nodded and Eiko walked off into the dinning room.

With her gone, Vivi and I looked back out towards the sea. I was grateful that Eiko had disturbed us when she did. She had interrupted Vivi's thoughts and had given him a small break, and for that I was grateful.

We were standing there watching the sea for fifteen minutes when I heard someone approach. I turned around and saw Eiko walk out of the dinning room. "Michael, Vivi, I need your guy's help in the kitchen."

I smiled, knowing that this was coming. "Sure, we'd love to help. Right, Vivi?" Vivi nodded.

Eiko smiled. "Great, come on into the kitchen." She walked back into the kitchen; Vivi and I followed her in as well.

As soon as we entered the kitchen, she immediately set us to work. "Okay, Vivi, I need your help with the stove." Vivi nodded and walked over to the stove. She turned to me. "Michael, I need you to peel and cut these potatoes for the stew" she said, handing me a basket filled with potatoes.

"I'll get to it." I said.

She smiled. "Good, I'm gonna keep stirring the stew so it doesn't burn."

"Are we having anything else besides stew?" I asked.

Eiko didn't even bother to turn and look at me. "Quina is helping Chimomo catch some fish."

I wasn't surprised. "So Quina's here." I looked over to the walkway that was behind me and saw Quina. "Hey, Quina. You made it."

She turned and looked at me. "Michael, good to see you. Had much trouble getting here."

I nodded "I'm sure-" Eiko cut me off.

"Hey, more work less talk guys." Quina and I immediately shut up and returned to our duties.

I began to peel the potatoes with a knife I found in the drawer. I was not going to use my sword, mainly because a warrior is supposed to take care of their weapon, not use it to cut up potatoes. After a few minutes of mild labor, I had successfully peeled all the potatoes. Now came the fun part…cutting'um up. I immediately began slicing up the potatoes with practiced precision, and in a matter of seconds, I had nice, evenly proportioned, chunks of potatoes.

I looked over at Eiko, who was still stirring the stew. "The potatoes are peeled, cut, and ready to go in the stew when you need them."

She looked over at me and smiled. "Thanks, Michael. Can you bring them over here and put'em in?"

I nodded. "Sure thing." I picked up the cutting board, walked over to the stew pot, tilted the board, and scrapped the potato chunks off the board and into the stew.

After that was done, Eiko stirred the chunks into the stew and placed the lid on the pot. She wiped her forehead and looked at me. "Thanks for the help, Michael. Um…I was wondering if we could talk."

I was curious. "About what?"

She shook her head. "It's private. I wanna talk to you alone. There's a storage room under the kitchen. We can talk there." I nodded in agreement. She smiled. "Thanks. Quina, you're in charge. Make sure nothing burns, okay?"

Quina looked offended. "I am gourmand. I never let food burn. That bad for gourmand."

Eiko nodded. "Alright, come on, Michael." I followed her down the stairs and into the storage room.

As soon as we entered, she turned to look at me. "I wanted to talk to you about what you said to me back at the mountain path."

I nodded. "What do you want to know?"

She pouted. "What did you mean by 'Zidane will be my friend and only my friend.'?"

I smiled. "I meant exactly what I said. Zidane will be your friend and only your friend. I know what you're trying to do, Eiko. You may fool Zidane, but you can't fool me. You can't get between their relationship, and you know it."

Now, Eiko was angry. "How do you know that it won't work between Zidane and me?"

I kept calm. "Because I have traveled with those two for some time now. They may not show it, but I can see the feelings they have for each other when I look in their eyes. It will only be a matter of time before they finally admit it to themselves and to each other. They love each other, I know they do."

Eiko looked doubtful. "I don't think so. Zidane and Dagger are both slow at understanding each other. I think there's still time to get between them."

I shook my head. "Maybe they are slow, but if Zidane were to pick between you and Dagger; I know that he'd pick Dagger. I don't mean to sound cruel, but I'm just trying to stop you before you get yourself hurt. A girl like you shouldn't have her heart broken at the age of six."

Eiko stamped her foot on the ground. "I don't care. I'll get Zidane to like me, one way or another."

I shook my head at her stubbornness. "Fine, go ahead and flirt with Zidane, but when he breaks your heart; don't blame me, I warned you." I turned to leave, but she stopped me.

"What about you and Vivi?"

I turned to look at her, a neutral look on my face. "What about me and Vivi?"

She looked curious. "Is there something between you two. You two seem closer than friends."

Now I looked offended. "Are you implying that we're-" she quickly cut me off.

"No, no, I don't mean like that. I mean you guys just seem closer to each other than just friends. I can't think of a word to describe it."

I walked towards the door, but stopped to speak with her. "Vivi and I are friends; that's true, and I'm also his teacher. I will admit, though, I do care deeply for him, but I care about all my friends. Believe it or not, Eiko, I also care about you. That's why I said what I said back at the mountain path; I didn't want you to get hurt…because I know what it's like to have a broken heart." I left the room before she could say anything.

I left the kitchen and entered the dinning room. I saw Vivi setting the table. He looked up at me. "Quina said dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

I nodded and smiled. "That's good to hear. I'm starving." I helped Vivi set the table, and after it was done we both took a seat. He ended up sitting next to me.

After a minute, Quina came into the room with the pot of stew. Mocha came in a few seconds after with a large, cooked fish. It looked great and it smelled even better. Both Vivi's stomach and mine couldn't help but growl. Eiko entered the room a few seconds later and looked at Mocha. "Go tell the others that dinner's ready." Mocha immediately took off to get the others.

Quina went back into the kitchen, but Eiko stayed in the room. She didn't sit down and was fidgeting around. She kept casting a few quick glances at me and Vivi. I was beginning to wonder if my words had any effect on her back in the storage room. If they did, then that would explain the way she was acting.

After a few minutes, Zidane entered the room. His eyes widened at the sight of the food. "Wow this looks great!"

Eiko looked happier when he entered the room. "Hi, Zidane. Have a seat."

Zidane looked at the food more closely. "You made a lot!"

She smiled at the complement. "Vivi, Michael, and Quina helped as well."

Zidane looked surprised. "Quina helped you without eating all the food! Amazing!"

Dagger entered the room at this point. Now that everyone was here we decided to sit down and eat.

After getting done with half of the meal, Eiko spoke. "So how is it?" she asked. She sounded a bit tired.

This surprised me. 'Maybe my words did have an impact on her.' I thought.

Vivi spoke. "The stew's great, Eiko! You're really good at this, and the fish is just right!"

She smiled at the compliment even if it didn't come from Zidane. "Thanks, Vivi."

He nodded. "No problem."

Zidane spoke next. "Hey, Eiko. Where are all the other summoners? Are they hiding underground or something?"

I spoke before Eiko could. "Judging by the condition of this place, Zidane; I think all the summoners who lived here are dead."

Eiko nodded her head. "Michael's right. I'm the last survivor of my tribe. I've been living with Moogles ever since my grandpa died last year."

Dagger looked sad. "I'm sorry…" she didn't know what else to say.

Eiko shook her head. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm really happy here. Ten years ago, which is four years before I was born...a natural disaster struck the village. Even the survivors suffered a great deal. But my mom and dad fell in love and had a family. Not that I remember what they look like, because they died when I was very young."

I spoke before Zidane could "I see…" I paused.

"I've been told that when I turn sixteen and my body builds a resistance to summon magic... I can leave the village with any Eidolon I want! That's only a short time away!"

I spoke. "Then how come you can summon Eidolons if you're not of age?"

She looked at me. "Well, a summoner can't choose her Eidolon until she has come of age. That's why I can't choose an Eidolon or leave the village until I turn sixteen. We just keep training until then!"

This sparked Dagger's interest. "How do you train?"

Eiko looked at her oddly "how…?" then she remembered that Dagger had no horn. "Oh, it's our horn. We use our horns to communicate with Eidolons. How do you communicate without a horn, Dagger?" Dagger didn't speak. She looked depressed, and with good reason.

No one said anything after that. We all quietly finished our meal. I finished my meal first. I was feeling sleepy.

I turned to Eiko. "Hey, Eiko, where are the bedrooms?"

she pointed to a door I hadn't noticed on the wall behind me. "There are six bedrooms to choose from, but don't sleep in the one that's on the right at the end of the hallway; that's MY room."

I nodded. "Alright, I think I'll turn in now. See you guys tomorrow." They said their goodnights and I walked through the door.

It was a long hallway and there was three rooms on the right and left side. It looked like a hotel hallway. I walked down the hallway and chose the last door on my left. I walked into the room.

It was as big as a hotel room and had no real decorations. There was a bed put against the left wall. It looked to be in rather good condition. I walked over and lay down on the bed. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.