Life after Death

Chapter 14: Explanations at Last

LLL

A/N: I'm happeh, and I don't know why…Oo

Loki:…Let's just shoot Mel and put her out of our misery. --

Ryoko: Wha?

Lilly: Yes, let's let's!

Mel: No fair ganging up on me!

LLL

"If you want me to go anywhere with you, you'll have to drag my dead, lifeless corpse out of here!" Zidane snarled, glaring at me.

"And he's not going anywhere with you without me!" Mikoto added in.

Fine, if that's the way they wanted to play… "It can all be arranged!" I assured them, pulling Flare out of its sheath. "Now look, I'll explain it all to you two, just get packed! There's no time to explain right now!"

"I'm not going without an explanation!" Zidane crossed his arms and sat down on the floor. This was becoming frustrating really fast.

"Get…ready…now!" I clenched my teeth and tried to look threatening. The fur on Zidane's tail stood up a little, but Zidane himself didn't budge.

"Zidane, this is important! Get ready to go now! I'll go tell Garnet where you're going!" Eiko cut in, walking over to Zidane.

Zidane stared at Eiko for a second, and then stood up. "Okay Eiko, if you say it's important, I'll go!" Gah! He'd listen to her, but not me?

"'Kay, I'll go see if I can find Garnet!" Eiko trotted off, arms swinging by her side.

"Come one, Mikoto, let's go get our stuff together," Zidane stretched and walked out the door, tail swishing behind him lazily.

"I'm coming, Zidane," Mikoto answered, releasing Lilly and following after him.

Ryoko stood up as soon as Mikoto was gone, and turned to me. "What now?" She asked, tilting her head to one side.

"I'm going to go talk to Zidane," I declared, sheathing Flare, and following suit.

"Eh? Don't leave without me!"

"Go see if Vee is okay!" I commanded. Her face drooped, but she turned around and headed back towards the airship. That left me alone.

I tried to follow Zidane, but I lost track of him. I searched hopelessly through the castle, completely missing Zidane's room. I was thoroughly lost. I had switched into a day dreaming mode, not even paying attention anymore. I didn't notice the giant tin can in front of me.

"Oomf!"

"Watch it! I am the Captain of the Knights of Pluto! You're not even supposed to be here! This is a restricted section of the castle!"

"You're in the way, that's what you are!" I protested, looking up at the hunk of metal. I recognized him immediately as that damned knight I met at the dinner in Alexandrian castle!

"Oh, you must be that new member of Tantalus, from last year!" He remarked, holding a hand to his chin.

"No duh," I mumbled to myself. "Yeah, guess I am."

"Hm, have you heard from Ryoko recently? She appears to have disappeared from Lindblum Castle! I can't get a hold of her!"

"Yeah, she's in the airship I just came in from!" I pointed my thumb behind me. I didn't know if that was the way to the dock, but it seemed to work.

"Ah, very good! Thank you, Miss!" He ran off, armor clanking with his steps. Damn, he was loud…

"What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" I looked up, to see Zidane looking down at me from the second floor balcony. "Oh, looking for you!" I answered, shrugging.

"Why me?" He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"You wanted to know what was going down, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm going to tell you!" I don't believe I had ever admitted what all it was we had to do. Well, I was about to now!

"Fine," Zidane sighed, and signaled me to follow him, which I did. He led me into his bedroom, biggest bedroom I've ever seen, mind you, and shut the door behind me. "So, what's going on?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"…You know, Vivi never did tell me why I'm trying to kill a tree…besides the obvious…"

"…What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah! Every night, when I fall asleep, or get knocked unconscious, I end up in the land of Say! Say is this other world, like Terra, except there isn't anyway there except through the Iifa Tree!"

"Okay, you have me so far…not sure I believe you…"

"Well, the Iifa Tree sorts the souls of Gaia and Terra, right?"

"Yeah, that's common knowledge!"

"Good! Well, my theory is this; The Iifa tree has been sorting the Gaian souls into Say, and the Terran souls into Gaia! When Kuja was trying to start war, he wanted all of the Gaian souls to go to Say!" It was finally beginning to make sense to me…

"Well, it would make sense, I guess. But what does this have to do with Vivi?" Zidane was skeptical, I could tell. It was written all over his face.

"Vivi's soul was moved into Say! In Say, he's a human! Same age, same height, everything, except he actually has a face!"

"Right, sure! Loki, you're delusional!" Zidane grabbed me by my arm, and opened his bedroom door.

"Zidane, no!" I wailed, grabbing onto the door frame to keep myself from being pushed out.

"Loki, yes!" He grunted, trying to get me out.

"You don't understand! I'm telling the truth! Gah!" I fell over, on my hands and knees, outside of Zidane's room. He slammed the door shut, the click from the handle telling me he hand locked it.

"Zidane, wait!" I stood up and slammed at the door with my fists. The guards standing guard nearby where giving each other odd looks. "I have a message for you! From Vivi!" I slammed my palm against the door, before allowing myself to slide to the floor in defeat. Silence emanated from his room for a good five minutes.

"What's the message?" Zidane asked.

I sighed in relief, turning back towards the door. "He said…he was sorry. Sorry he couldn't be there when you got back. That he could see how happy you and Garnet are! That, most of all, he gave up on you, without a second thought…right before you arrived. He's…sorry for all of it." My voice drifted off. I hadn't made it up. Vivi really had asked me to tell Zidane that. It hurt me to do so. None of it was Vivi's fault.

The door knob clicked, and opened with a solemn creak. Zidane's head was dropped, his tail limp at his legs. "How is it Vivi always manages to find blame in himself?" Zidane asked. His voice was even to the untrained ear, but I could tell, it was filled with sorrow and guilt.

I shook my head and stood up. "It's…just the way he is. He's the type…that wants everything to be perfect for everyone else. He doesn't care…how horrible life is for himself…he just wants us to be happy." I shrugged, sighing heavily.

"I miss him," Zidane whispered, turning his head away from me.

"I know," I mumbled, turning around. I began to walk away, drawing Zidane's attention back to me. "We'll die there. Eiko, Ryoko, Lilly, me, maybe even Vee. You need to know. Don't let Regent Cid and Lady Hilda be too upset."

"W-what? I can't just let you four die!"

"You have to. The future of Gaia, and the fate of the black mages, depends on it. We'll be back. Vivi too. It'll be worth it in the end!" I was trying to convince myself too. So many things could go wrong. So many things would lead to me and Vivi being apart, and this time, permanently. I didn't want that to happen.

"I can't take that chance! Hilda and Boss would kill me!"

"It's a Leap of Fate. We just have to hope that the wind will catch us. I just have to hope…that our powers will be enough…I just have to hope that love truly does conquer over all…"

LLL

A/N: 1;30 AM, woot! I got chapter 14 done! Now for 15:sweatdrop: Don't worry, it'll be up by noon Friday! I promise!

Loki: No she doesn't.

Mel: Yes I do!