Chapter 14

Musicaa's eyes darted around, giving the feeling that he was somewhat uncomfortable with what he had to say. "I suggest that we... maybe find shelter. My tale might take quite a while, and I do not wish to be caught in the middle of a storm, whether it be of people, of wind, or of sand."

Sabin sighed. "Well, you're a cautious boy aren't you? I'm assuming you've lived here for quite a while then, if you're so at ease with the desert. It seems it is more of me that you are uncomfortable than the sands or storms."

A rebellious light shone in Musicaa's eyes. "That may be, and it may be not. Sabin Figaro, there is one thing that I must desperately say to begin my tale, and that is..." he took a deep breath and lowered the cloth from his face. "That is that you have raised me since I was a child... and I am your grandson, Musicaa Sabin Figaro."

Sabin's face hardened. "Is this some sort of joke, because I don't have the time to play games with you. My daughter hasn't had any children, nor will my son for a long while yet, and you claim to be my grandson. You're older than Luca for crying out loud!" Musicaa quailed slightly. "I knew you would not believe me the first time I said it... you were never supersticious, or easy to fool... nor were you easy to prove truth to! What will I have to do to prove this to you!"

Sabin crossed his arms and thought. "It won't give me complete proof, but where's your mark? Everyone in my family has one. If you are related to me, you have one too." Musicaa's eyes narrowed and regarded Sabin. "Do you have the mark? I never saw whilst I was younger." Sabin growled at him and showed Musicaa his forearm where the dark f-shaped mark of Figaro seemed tattooed into his skin. Musicaa nodded and obligingly rolled up his right sleeve. "My mark is here. In the exact same spot as yours, Grandfather."

"Don't call me that." Musicaa shrugged. "If that is what you wish. What more do you need?" Sabin thought harder for a way to prove Musicaa false. "Which of my children is your parent, if that is the case at all."

"Enri is my father. He disappeared when I was a baby, and you raised me on Mount Koltz. You used to take me to the Annual Figaroan Fair when I was little, and you entered me in the sparring tournaments there when I was older. You taught me the Blitz and you were proud of the fact that I won every year until I became deathly sick and had to be treated. You had to work around the clock to pay off the bills, but you still worked so that I'd have a chance. After that, you took me to visit my great-uncle Edgar here so I could help him with his tools and teach me about them..." He looked up quickly, realizing that he was rambling. "What more proof do you want! I'll give whatever you ask!"

"I doubt you have anything that could change my mind. I think you're a fake and a fraud, because what you speak of is the future, and there is no such thing as time traveling."
Musicaa reached into his coat and pulled out a picture, shoving it in Sabin's face. "Here! This is the only thing that I have of my father! The only thing he left for me, his son! If this doesn't convince you, then I'm not willing to try anymore, and you can let yourself die if you want!" he screamed. Sabin stared at the picture, faded and crumpled on the edges. A picture of a young Enri and Sabin himself, holding a newborn in his arms. "Enri..." it was unmistakable. It was his Enri, grown up with a son of his own."

"There's another one stuck on the back of it," Musicaa muttered hollowly. Sabin turned it over to a picture of Selena and himself on their wedding day, dressed up for the big day and beaming back at him from the picture. "This... I have this... right here..." he pulled out his own picture and compared it to Musicaa's. They were exactly the same, not a flaw to undermine the genuinity of it, not a single thing out of place.

Sabin sighed and felt his forehead. "I'm not delirious... great. Look, Musicaa, not a word of this to Selena, or Luca, and especially Enri. Not a syllable, you hear me?"

"Yes, Grandpa."

Sabin turned quickly and stomped off in the direction of Figaro, letting Musicaa laugh silently at his sulky behavior. "So why'd you come from the future, eh? Old Sabin not good enough for you?" Musicaa shook his head and grinned. "No, no, no! That's not it. I mean, I love you and all, Grandpa, but I really wanted to fiddle around with the Time Device, and well... poof, here I am."

"Great. Just great. Time Device now, perfect. I just want to go home, get in bed, curl into a ball, and sleep for eternity, that's all. Bed seems so nice right about now."

Musicaa glared at him. "Hey! Don't get us lost out here just because you're feeling suicidal. That's no good for me, man." Sabin bit his lip, irritated. "I'm trying to navigate, here! Can't you be quiet for one minute?"

"No! I can't, because you've gotten lost, and now I'm gonna die!"

"I didn't say I was lost! Which concept of the words 'shut up' do you not understand?" he furrowed his brows. Something was wrong... like he was being watched... or followed... he didn't like it, though Musicaa seemed to see nothing but Sabin in front of him. "This sand is getting in my face! There's gonna be a bad sandstorm soon!" Musicaa yelled at him. Sabin snorted. "So? I've been in a sandstorm before; it isn't that bad," he lied. He turned and looked behind him, but there was nothing. He turned back, disgusted with himself. "Look at you! You get old, and you're already paranoid!"

His head swiveled around again, his eyes narrowed. "Or maybe... duck Musicaa!"

Musicaa looked clueless and confused. He looked around, bewildered. "Duck...?" Sabin hurled himself at him and pulled him to the ground as something big flew at the space where his head had been. Sabin got up quickly, ready to fight.
"Same old trick, eh Vargas? You never change! When will you just leave me alone?" he shouted. "V...Vargas!" Musicaa choked out.

Vargas stared at Sabin, contempt practically oozing in his voice. "You? I will leave you alone when you are dead! Unlike you, I have rigorously trained all these years. You," he spat, "You become soft and waste your skills, and it is the perfect time to rid myself of your prescense!"

"Stand back, Musicaa. I can handle this!" Musicaa held onto his arm. "No! No, don't fight, not now! You're not strong enough, you'll die! He'll tear you apart, don't do it!" Musicaa whispered furiously. Sabin tore his arm away from Musicaa's grasp. "Vargas is mine, I'll do it. And if this doesn't turn out so well..." Sabin shrugged. "Then it's my fate, and I'll join my father, I suppose. But... that's not going to happen!"

He charged and ducked under Vargas' swing for his head, lashing out with his fist and connecting it with his opponent's stomach. Vargas hunched over for a split second and quickly jumped back, clearing Sabin's follow-up swing and catching his arm. Sabin swung out with his other arm and Vargas caught it easily, sending electricity running through Sabin with a small-scale Electroshocker Blitz.

Sabin gritted his teeth and tried to keep his knees from buckling as the electricity surged through. "Aaah! You... you're toying with me!" he said furiously, rage welling up inside of him. "You see, Sabin? I am the better man; I always was, always will be, especially once you're wiped off the face of the planet!"

"Grandpa! Hold on, Grandpa!" Musicaa held his hands over his head. "Fierce storms and white lightning, I grant thee the power of Lightning!" he swung his arms downward towards Sabin, and then fell to his knees clutching his forehead. Slowly, Musicaa withdrew a hand, a glimmering ball of white energy floating on his palm. "Fierce storms and white lightning, I grant thee the divine element of the storms! I grant thee lightning and part of light itself!"

The ball wavered and then split into two, one a shimmering ball of crackling yellow energy, the other an orange sphere of energy that receded into Musicaa's forehead. "Divine power I grant to thee, to use the Power of Storms!" Musicaa pointed to Sabin and the energy collided with him, sinking into his body. Vargas had the sense to back off as Sabin fell to the ground, shaking with the impact of the energy. "Aaaagh... too... much... energy..." Blue arcs of electricity jumped across his body and he tried to contain his pain. "Overload Blitz!" A blazing white mark shone on his forehead for an instant before blinking out, and as it blinked out, a seething beam of electricity swept across the land in front of him, missing Vargas by mere centimeters, but the closeness of it jolted Vargas with more power than he thought possible to throw. His hair stood on end and his body convulsed painfully before he collapsed on the ground, twitching madly.

Sabin's eyes closed and he fell face first into the sand, unconscious before he hit it. Musicaa crawled to him weakly. "Grandpa? Grandpa, wake up! Grandpa..." his vision swam; that wasn't good. He looked up as he heard footsteps, into the eyes of a grey-eyed youth dressed in odd clothing. "Ter verth henu!" he shouted to some other men. Musicaa swayed and fell next to his grandfather, completely exhausted and at the mercy of the strangers.