Chapter 5: Keep Going!
I took a deep breath and thought of the Eidolon Wall –immediately my nerves calmed. Ok, what do I have to do? I asked. It was the next day and the dangerous moment I had been fearing had finally come. I was no longer afraid though; last night I had made a promise –I would survive. I'd bring Zidane back to us and we'd all be happy again. Anything less was unacceptable.
It's quite simple dearie. All you have to do is pray in your heart. Don't worry, the answer will come to you, Iifa Root said and I gaped. It seemed this spell was going to be more complicated than I had originally thought if I was going to have to do it by instinct. If that was how it was done though, there was no help for it.
Just pray in your heart, Iifa Root said again, sensing my anxiety. Over the sparse time we'd had together, we'd come to like each other. She really was something else.
Ok, I responded, nodding even though she couldn't see it.
Concentrating I searched myself for the answer. Let me see Zidane, let me be with him, I prayed in my heart. To whom I was praying I didn't know. To my eidolons, to Grandpa, to myself? No, I wasn't praying to any of them. I was praying to Zidane. Zidane, let me be with you, let me see you, let me save you. Zidane open your heart to me, I prayed, crying out in my own heart for him.
I felt a ghost of a presence, one I knew so well. He was there –I could feel him. He was so far away though. If only I could connect to him. If a line could stretch from him to me…
Root's filled my mind. The strong tough roots of the Iifa Tree. They grew and reached and stretched.
Go dearie, go to him, a sad voice said in my mind and Iifa Root lightly pushed me forward towards the roots she had constructed as a bridge between my soul and his.
I could feel her fading. Was she leaving me? No, no, she must be exhausted and going away to have some rest, I told myself and walked across the roots towards the Zidane I knew so well and could feel in the distance.
On the other side was darkness. Things stared at me from the dark, things I didn't know. I shied from them, but still persisted on my course. The things watched my passage, emanating more feelings than I could keep track of.
I can't lead us. We might die… a familiar voice said doubtfully.
I'm all alone. There's no one who cares for me… Zidane said sadly.
Why does no one look like me? Why do I have no parents? Why am I the only one without a family! He wailed angrily.
I messed up! We could have died and it'd have been all my fault! I'm such an idiot! He screamed, his voice full of self-loathing.
Forlorn, doubtful, angry, sad, fearful —Every hurtful, disheartening, unhappy thought Zidane had ever had bombarded me from the darkness. I clapped my hands over my ears in an effort to keep them out, but I could still hear them, still hear the misery in his voice, the pain in his tone. I started running through that darkness full of eyes and unhappy thoughts. I ran as fast as I could. Somewhere in that sea of misery was Zidane. I WOULD find him! Nothing, no matter how distressing, would drive me away!
A small figure loomed ahead of me, lying still in the darkness. The closer I drew to him the louder and more numerous the thoughts became. "Zidane!" I screamed, trying to be heard over his thoughts. "ZIDANE!"
He didn't hear me. Or maybe he did, but took no notice. Either way he didn't move, he didn't acknowledge me, he didn't even seem to breath.
I fell to my knees, unable to withstand the unhappiness in his soul. It was driving me crazy, filling me with a sadness beyond anything I had ever known. I had to be cheery, I had to be happy, I had to be light-hearted and free! But it was so hard. I began to sob. If only there was a barrier to keep all the unhappiness away and out of my heart.
Walls of ice began to rise in my mind. They grew crystal by crystal, forming at a fast-paced rate. Light refracted in it, drawing me from the sadness that was overwhelming me even as the thoughts of pain and misery faded and finally quieted. I stood up, gasping for air.
Continue on Lady Eiko, Ice Heart called, her voice strangled with exertion and growing dimmer. She shoved me on.
I stumbled forward. She'll be all right. She'll be just fine, I told myself and ran onward, despite my lack of breath.
Letting myself collapse next to Zidane, I pulled him to me. "Zidane! Zidane! Wake up!" I cried, panicking at the blank look to his face. I'd only seen him look like this once before –when Garland had tried to take away his soul on Terra. "Zidane, Zidane," I wept, not knowing what else to do, but call his name. His skin was so pale and he felt so cold. It was almost as if he were already dead. He hardly seemed to be breathing.
If only I could give him the energy I had in abundance. I'd done it once before when we'd fought Necron, but I don't know how I had done it. All I knew was I'd give anything to make him better.
A feeling of coolness washed over me as sphere of blue emanated from my body. Dregs of energy floated away from it and I began to feel faint. I bit the inside of my cheek, using the pain as a stimulant to keep awake. Even so I felt light-headed.
Looking at the sphere of blue that was all the energy I had to spare, I noted the fluxing flower contained within that connected to the surface of the sphere by small tendrils and caused the orb to pulse. The sphere sank into Zidane, bit by bit, lighting him from within with a light more brilliant and clear than any I had ever seen before; his eyes fluttered open.
"Ei…ko…?" he questioned softly, seeming exhausted beyond compare.
I nodded and immediately regretted it as the motion caused me to feel dizzy. Standing, I pulled Zidane up with me, though I had to do so slowly so as not to fall to my feet again.
Lady Eiko…Run! …Go…now, Blood Blossom panted and pushed me onwards, back the way I had come.
I shook my head to clear it. He's just tired too. He'll be okay, I told myself and forced my weary form into a trot and then a clumsy run. Zidane followed me, stumbling along as I did seeing as he was also exhausted; it didn't help that I refused to let him go: I wasn't taking any chances.
The voices of Zidane's unhappiness suddenly surged around us, becoming deafeningly loud. I could feel them pounding against the walls of ice within my mind. Zidane, though, had no such barrier. He wrenched his hand away from mine, clapping them to his ears as his face contorted in pain and he fell to his knees. "Aagh!"
"Fenrir!" I shouted, both aloud and through my connection with him. He appeared in an instant.
Lady Eiko? He panted, also seeming to be tired.
I draped Zidane over his back. I knew it was an insulting thing to do, but I didn't have the time to worry about politeness. Take Zidane, go! I ordered. He nodded and bounded off. I followed him as best I could.
The bridge of roots, Iifa Root had constructed rose in the distance; Fenrir waited there for me.
I ran forward, panting with the exertion of making myself continue on when I was already so tired. I misplaced my footing and I went sprawling; Fenrir started running towards me.
No! Go! I shouted, feeling something familiar and malevolent approach under the cover of the surrounding darkness. Fenrir looked back and forth between me and Zidane, unable to decide whether or not to obey me. Finally he bounded back to Zidane and nudged him towards the bridge.
"Eiko!" Zidane called back, turning around; Fenrir shoved him onto the bridge and started to herd him across.
"I'm fine! Get going! There's a lady waiting for you and you should never make a lady wait!" I yelled in reply.
Zidane smiled, seemingly reassured, and ran across the bridge towards life and Garnet.
Eiko! Madeen and Carbuncle cried, appearing between me and the menace behind me. I pushed myself up and started the painful process of standing once more. I was so tired; I could have laid down right there and then, giving up everything. I had someone waiting for me too though; I'd seen it in his face, even if he had not.
Eiko, move it! Carbuncle snapped, casting protect just in the nick of time as a hand shot out of the darkness towards me. I flinched and the protection spell shattered, as did the floor.
I fell through space and time and a voice I knew, yet couldn't place, laughed. I was speeding towards a world of nothingness. A zero world…
Lady Eiko! Phoenix called and grabbed me. Soaring through the darkness, he placed me before the root bridge.
Phoenix, thank y-I began, but he interrupted me. Get out of here, quick! He snapped with an abruptness he saved for only the most dire of times and turned around to join Carbuncle and Madeen in detaining whatever monster was hiding in the darkness. I ran across the bridge, half fighting for balance with each and every movement. They'll be all right, they'll be all right, they will be all right, I told myself repeatedly. Before I could worry anymore, the loud crack of breaking wood sounded and the bridge gave out beneath me, causing me to tumble through the grey light of the surreal landscape, knowing nothing more.