Chapter 43: Black Mage Village: Deserted

I woke up, and saw that Vivi was on top of me. His hat was poking my chin. Vivi was still sleeping peacefully, and his head was lying on my chest. I smiled, I was grateful that Vivi was here for me. Our situation seemed to be reversed. Instead of me comforting him; he was the one comforting me. I knew that I had decided sagaciously when I made him my blood brother.

Vivi started to lift his head up from my chest, and looked at me. I smiled. "Morning, Vivi."

He looked tired, but I could see the happiness in his eyes. "Morning."

I looked at him. "Thanks for staying with me last night. I really needed it."

He nodded. "No problem. Are you feeling better?"

I nodded. "Yes, the pain isn't as bad as it used to be, and I'm glad I finally decided to say goodbye." Vivi nodded, and laid his head back on my chest.

After a few minutes, I spoke. "So, Vivi, how did you know that I needed someone with me last night?"

He looked up at me. "I don't know. I just felt like you needed some company."

I embraced him. "Thanks, Vivi. You're a true friend, and I'm proud that you're my blood brother."

He embraced me as well. "You're welcome. You're a true friend, too, and I'm glad that you're my blood brother, too." That made me hold him tighter.

After a few seconds, we let go. Vivi seemed to have an odd look in his eyes. I was curious. "What is it, Vivi?"

He looked at me. "Michael, I was wondering…I know you loved Mary but…did Mary…did she love you, too?" I looked at him.

My mood darkened a bit, but I spoke. "I don't know. She never told me."

Vivi pressed his head against my chest again. "I'm sure she did, Michael. Why wouldn't she love someone like you?" My mood lightened considerably.

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Vivi. You don't know how much hearing that means to me."

He looked up at me. "You're welcome."

"Guys, breakfast!" It was Eiko.

I sighed. "Guess we better get up."

Vivi shook his head. "No, just five more minutes, please."

I smiled, sighed, and shook my head. "No, Vivi. We gotta go down, and eat. We'll be going back to Gaia today. We're gonna need our strength."

He looked disappointed. "Ahhhh, but you're so warm."

I smiled. "Come on, Vivi."

He sighed. "Oh, okay." He rolled off me, and got off the bed. I got out of bed as well, and we both went downstairs to the kitchen.

Everyone was already sitting at the table. Vivi decided to sit next to Eiko, and I decided to sit between him and Zidane. My Master looked at me. "Feeling better, Michael?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad I got that over with at last."

My Master continued to look at me. "What about-" I interrupted him.

"No, I think I've done enough already, and besides, we need to get back to Gaia. We don't have time for any other distractions."

He sighed. "Fine" he said, in an annoyed tone.

Zidane looked at me. "What's he talking about?"

I shook my head. "don't ask. I don't want to do it. Not yet. Besides, we have more important matters to attend to." He nodded and we all continued to eat.

After we finished eating, we all moved to the backyard. My Master stopped me. "Michael, before you leave, I have something to give you." He removed his cape, and handed it to me. "You are the new master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. This cape is yours now. You are now Seijuurou Hiko the 16th." I nodded, took the cape from my Master, and put it on. It fit pretty well.

"Thank you, Master."

He smiled and gave me a white bag. "Also, a new battle robe for you, as well as some new clothes. Wear these after you finish your adventure." I nodded and took the bag.

He stopped me yet again. "Also, these are for you as well." He handed me a photo and a large poster board. My eyes opened in surprise when I looked at the photo. It was my Prom photo, and there was Mary, as beautiful as ever. He handed me the poster board "She made this for you. It was her last work." I looked at the poster board, and saw that it was a hand drawn picture. On the corner was the name 'Mary.' It was a picture of us. The pain returned, but it didn't hurt as much. I could bear it now.

I looked at my Master. "Thanks, Master."

He nodded. "You're training with me is over, my apprentice. Now it's time for you to make your own destiny." I smiled, nodded, and turned to the others.

"Are you guys ready?" They all nodded. I nodded and held up my ring. I concentrated on were I wanted us to go. As soon as the picture was clear in my head, I said, "Lindblum, conference room." My ring began to glow, and a white light enveloped all of us. We were falling again. We were going back to Gaia, hopefully.

After a few seconds, we landed on the floor. I looked around, and saw that we were in the conference room at Lindblum. I got up to my feet, and smiled. "Alright, it worked." I turned to look at the others. "Is everyone alright?" They all nodded, and got back up to their feet.

As soon as Zidane got up, he looked at us. "We better get to the harbor. We're two days late." We nodded, and left the conference room.

As soon as we left the room we heard a big booming voice. "PRINCESS!"

I looked up, and saw Steiner running towards us. He stopped in front of us. "Princess, you're alright!" He turned to Zidane, and his face reddened. "YOU! Was this some trick of yours!"

I intervened. "Steiner, is everyone at the harbor?"

He shook his head. "No, we've been looking for you guys for two days straight." He looked puzzled. "Where did you get that cape?"

I shook my head. "Gather everyone at the harbor. I'll explain everything." Steiner looked confused, but nodded, and left to get the others.

Zidane turned to me. "So, you're gonna tell them?"

I nodded. "Yeah, they have a right to know the truth about me. Besides, if they don't believe me, I know you guys can back up what I say."

Zidane smiled. "Alright, we better head to the harbor." We all nodded, went to the elevator, rode down to the sub-level, boarded the trolley that was going to the harbor, arrived at the harbor, and boarded the ship.

Fifteen minutes passed, and now everyone was on the ship. Freya spoke. "So where were you guys?"

I sighed. "I'll tell you, but it's quite a tale." I told them everything.

When I was finished, all of them were starring at me. Cid spoke. "So…you're from another world?"

I nodded. "Yep."

Freya spoke. "Wow…and all of you were with him?" Zidane, Vivi, Dagger, and Eiko all nodded.

Steiner spoke. "This is…this is incredible."

I nodded. "Yeah, but I believe we have something else we should be doing." They all nodded.

"I'm driving" said a voice behind me.

I turned around to face the person; it was Blank. Zidane spoke. "You're coming with us?"

Blank nodded. "Yeah, I was asked to."

Zidane looked curious. "By whom?"

He smiled. "The boss, of course. But it wasn't his idea."

Cid spoke. "It was mine ribbit ."

While Zidane talked to Blank, I got off the boat to speak with Artania. "Minister, I need to ask you a favor."

He turned to me. "what is it?"

I handed him the white bag my master gave me. I also gave him the photo and Mary's drawing. "Can you put these in a safe place for me?"

Artania nodded. "Of course. I'll do it after you depart."

I nodded. "Thanks."

He nodded as well. "No problem."

"Hey, Michael, we're leaving. Hop on board" said a voice above me; it was Zidane. I jumped onto the ship, and we took off.

I knew that our voyage was going to take a few days, but I had fortunately brought along the chess set. I challenged Vivi, and we walked into the cabin to play. Freya, Steiner, Amarant, Quina, and Cid decided to watch us. Vivi had improved since the last time he played. His moves were becoming better, but against an experienced player, like myself, he stood very little chance. I had him in checkmate in thirty minutes.

Freya decided to play a game. I told her the rules, and she challenged Vivi. They played for over an hour. During the time, Quina left to go outside on the deck. After a few more minutes, Vivi had checkmated Freya. Steiner wanted to play as well, and he challenged me. I explained the rules to him, and we played a game.

We had only been playing for ten minutes, and I already had him on the ropes. Steiner was trying to make his next move, but was taking his sweet time doing it. Finally, Amarant lost his patience, and moved Steiner's pawn to take my bishop for him.

I raised my eyebrows at the move, and looked up at Amarant. "Good move, Amarant."

He leaned against the wall, and spoke. "He who hesitates is lost."

I nodded. "True…but hesitation can be a good thing. Especially if you think you're walking into a trap." I moved my queen to take the pawn Amarant had just moved. I looked up at Steiner. "Check." After a few more turns, I beat him.

I turned to Amarant. "Taking my bishop was a good idea, but you should've been paying attention to my queen." He didn't respond. Cid decided that he'd play Eiko, who had walked into the room during my match with Steiner. I decided to go out onto the deck.

I walked up to the railing, and watched the sea. It was midday. We would be at the Outer Continent in another day. I sighed, and turned back to the cabin. 'This is gonna be a long trip' I thought.

After reaching the Outer Continent we went straight to the Black Mage Village. It still took us a day to get to the forest, and another day to get through the forest. During that time, I continued to train Vivi, and this time, the others decided to help out as well. Zidane and Freya were very helpful during Vivi's training exercises. Eventually, we reached the Black Mage Village.

When we arrived, I noticed that the entire village was deserted. Vivi came up behind me. "Looks like nobody's here."

I spoke. "I wonder where they went."

Vivi turned to me. "I'm gonna go look around." Vivi ran off.

I knew where he was going. The others arrived as well, and started to look around the village. I decided to follow Vivi to the cemetery.

When I got there, I saw him talking with Mr. 288. "Where is everyone?"

Mr. 288 turned to him. "They went away with Kuja...two other guys stayed behind. They're probably at the chocobo shack..."

Vivi looked shocked and angry. "Why? Why did they go with him?"

Mr. 288 spoke. "They learned about our lifespan...we can live only for a given amount of time. Kuja said he knew how to extend our life spans, so everyone followed him..."

Vivi shook his head. "He's lying! I bet he's lying! Look what he's done to us. He's been using us, treating us like puppets."

Mr.288 sighed. "Maybe we are just puppets, created to serve humans." Those words shocked Vivi.

My eyes narrowed. "You guys are no puppets. I've already told Vivi as much. I've said it once and I've said it many other times. You guys are no puppets."

Vivi nodded, and looked back at Mr. 288. "Where did they go?"

Mr. 288 shook his head. "I can't tell you that. I can't betray them."

Vivi gave him a look of dislike. "Then why didn't you go with them?" Mr. 288 didn't answer, and turned back to look at the graveyard. Vivi spoke. "You said the two other guys are in the chocobo shack, right?" Mr. 288 didn't respond, so Vivi took that as a yes.

He ran past me, and was heading for the chocobo shack. "Vivi, wait." he kept running. Either he didn't hear me or he decided to ignore me. Before I left to follow him I turned to look at Mr. 288. He had his back turned to me, and showed no intention of turning around. I sighed, and ran off after Vivi.

When I got to the chocobo shack I heard a 'Kweh' sound from inside the shack. After that a Black Mage opened the door to the shack. He looked excited. "It's born!" That's when he noticed Vivi and myself. He walked back into the shack. Vivi and I followed him.

When I got in, the first thing I saw was the baby chocobo. I looked from the baby, to the two Black Mages, and then to Vivi. Mr. 111 spoke "Finally…" he paused.

Mr. 33 echoed his words "Finally…"

then they both raised there hands into the air. "Hurray!"

Mr. 111 couldn't take his eyes off the chocobo. "I still can't believe it…"

Mr. 33 nodded. "Yeah…"

Vivi spoke. "I don't understand. Why are you here?"

Mr. 33 turned to him. "We're here to look after the chocobo."

Mr.111 turned to Vivi now, as well. "At first, we were gonna go with everyone, but someone had to stay behind to look after the chocobo egg, so we stayed."

Mr. 33 spoke. "We kept the egg nice and warm by putting a lot of hay over it." They both turned back to the chocobo.

Mr. 111 spoke, he seemed excited. "I can't wait to show him to everyone."

Mr. 33 nodded and spoke. "They're gonna be so happy."

Mr. 111 spoke "We have come up with a name."

That's when Mr. 33 started rubbing his hands together. "Hey... What's happening to me? I feel strange..."

Mr.111 started rubbing his hands as well. "M-me, too…" After a few seconds, Vivi turned and left the shack. I followed him outside.

When I left the shack, I saw that Mr. 288 was outside. He had followed us. Vivi spoke to him. "You stayed behind because you were worried about the chocobo egg."

He thought for a moment, and finally shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to follow Kuja because I was so scared of dying. But I couldn't...I felt like I was leaving something important behind."

Vivi spoke. "I need to ask you something?"

Mr. 288 nodded. "What is it?"

Vivi looked uneasy, but spoke anyway. "A-Am I gonna stop pretty soon, too?"

Mr. 288 shrugged. "I don't know...Kuja said the prototype built before us would last longer."

Vivi nodded. "But...I am gonna stop eventually." Mr. 288 didn't answer.

Vivi spoke. "I was really confused when my grandpa died. He told me, 'Vivi, no need be sad.' So I told myself, I can't be sad. That's why I felt confused again when I heard that everyone was stopping around here. I didn't know what to do or what to feel... But when I saw Dagger crying when her mom died, and when Michael cried at Mary's grave, I wasn't confused anymore. I was sad...if I were just a puppet, I never would've felt that way. Mr. 288...Michael is right, we aren't puppets. I know we aren't."

Vivi paused before he continued. "I hate him. I hate Kuja! He's turning everyone into puppets just to kill people! If it weren't for him, I know everyone would understand someday. It's not fair..." he paused.

I couldn't help but smile at what Vivi had said. 'Good, Vivi. I'm glad to see that you finally understand what I've been saying to you' I thought.

Mr. 288 spoke. "Kuja's secret palace is on the eastern side of this continent. It's buried under quicksand. You'll need a ship to get there."

Vivi adjusted his hat, and looked at him. "Thanks."

Mr. 288 nodded. "I hope we can become strong like you someday." Vivi and I left to see the others.

Zidane looked at us as we approached. " Hey guys, we heard everything. So, Kuja's palace is under the quicksand that's at the eastern part of this continent, huh?" We both nodded. Zidane smiled. "Alright, let's go." We all nodded, and left the Black Mage Village.

We camped out in the woods, and reached the ship by the night of the next day. I continued to train Vivi during all of this. After we made it to the ship, we sailed to the eastern shore. After we reached the shore, we got off and walked to the desert. It didn't take us long to find the quicksand Mr. 288 was talking about.

We stood at the edge of the whirlpool. Zidane spoke. "Well, I guess we better get this over with." We all nodded, and prepared to walk into the whirlpool.

I felt someone grab my hand, and looked down to see that it was Vivi. I smiled at him. "Don't worry, Vivi. We'll be fine." He seemed to relax a bit.

We all stepped into the whirlpool. We were all pulled under. I was beginning to wonder if this was a mistake, but I knew that there was no turning back now. I tightened my grip on Vivi's hand, and he tightened his grip on mine. It wasn't long before we were pulled under the sand. That's when I heard a voice. "Huhaha…I knew you'd come, though you took a little longer then I expected. Oh well, everything is going according to plan." That was the last thing I heard before all went black.