Author's Note: Sorry this update took a while, I got distracted. By playing Final Fantasy XI. That's right, I'm playing it again! On the Caitsith server this time, so if anybody's on there, message me! I'm still Vivli, so feel free to send me a tell!

Something strange happens in this chapter, but I like it. I think it's refreshing. Also a new character shows up; Remasa, who belongs to my friend Remmy. So I'm not taking credit for her! Enjoy!

CHAPTER IX

"Great. Now where the hell am I?" Vivli asked herself, looking around the black void in confusion. "Not this again." She grumbled aloud, deciding there was no harm in talking to herself.

"Don't mistake this for a mere illusion." A surprise voice said. Yet it seemed charismatic, and kind. Vivli tensed up, slightly afraid. She spotted two glowing eyes watching her from the darkness. Yellow.

"W-who are you?" She stammered quite naturally.

"I think you know." The eyes stepped forwards, revealing a figure dressed in a long blue robe, with a large straw hat, and a face obscured by shadow, with only two eyes glowing forth.

"You're- You're a black mage." Vivli figured out quickly.

"Not any old black mage." The figure laughed. "The black mage."

"You're the original Light Warrior, aren't you?" Vivli guessed.

"Bingo." The black mage smiled, not that Vivli could tell. "The one who's soul you inherited. I guess, in a way, I am you."

"Nice to know." Vivli felt a bit uneasy. Especially since the black mage appeared to be male, and she most definitely was not.

"Reincarnation is a funny thing. I guess I'm like your spirit guide." The black mage explained.

"What are you here to guide me through?" Vivli asked cautiously.

"What do you think happened to you, Viv?" The black mage questioned.

"Well, I didn't have the magical energy to cast Holy, but I forced myself to cast it anyway. The result is that my body shut down, right?"

"Kind of." The black mage answered. "You know the rules of magic. It requires magical energy located within oneself. Once you cast a certain number of spells, you can't cast anymore. Or if a spell requires more energy than you have, you can't cast it. In theory." He began to explain. "But with enough will power, people have been able to cast minor spells even without energy, when their cause was strong enough. The result is usually fatal."

"Like when I cast cure to save Zin all those years ago." Vivli observed. "I simply had to. I couldn't let him die."

"Right. But a simple cure spell wasn't enough to kill you. You lived." The black mage told her. "But Holy? That's different."

"So I'm dead?" Vivli suddenly sounded very disappointed.

"Don't be stupid. You're not dead." The black mage told her. "Remember what I was saying about magical energies?"
"I'm a mage. I'm kind of aware of the subject." Vivli grumbled.

"Well, as you get more experienced, your magical energies increase, right?"

"Well, yeah." Vivli agreed.

"When you stop practicing, those abilities don't decrease. You haven't got worse at casting, Viv. You just think you have." The black mage told her.

"I just think I have?" Vivli repeated puzzled.

Olose paced impatiently as Zinkata looked at the silent Vivli with concern.

"I don't think she's going to wake up." He said with a grave expression.

"Give her time." Olose decided. "Who knows what's going on? She's not dead at least."

"Found her!" Exclaimed Bootus as he thundered into the room.

"Found who?" Voldos asked curiously.

"A friend of mine from here." Bootus grinned. "A bit of an expert in this area.

"What's the problemaru?" Came a tiny voice. The others looked down with mild curiosity.

Vivli nervously shivered, knowing what the black mage was going to bring up.

"Look, let's not pretend here. Learning magic is like learning to ride a chocobo. You never forget." The black mage began.

"Never did learn to do that." Vivli grumbled.

"The reason you can't cast is because you're so traumatized you can't face it. Your white magic couldn't save you so you shut it off." The black mage explained. "See that?" He pointed across the black void to a huge floating orb encrusted in a thick black hideous material. "Within that is your white magic abilities. Trapped by your own trauma."

"What do I do?" Vivli whimpered. "I-I don't choose to cut them off. I just can't face them."
"This is all symbolic Viv, I'm making it easy. You just have to tear down your inhibitions. You have to let go and let your skill return. The world is relying upon you."

"The others can-" Vivli began.

"They need you. The Light Warriors must stand united. What happened to you will never go away, but you're one of the few that are really pure of heart. Tell me, how did it feel good to win that battle today?"
"It-" Vivli tried to say.

"No lies here. Tell the truth." The black mage demanded. Vivli burst into tears, suddenly unable to hide her emotions in anyway.

"I didn't want to!" She sobbed. "I didn't want to hurt him! Why did I have the right to hurt him? I shouldn't! I didn't want to!"

"Exactly." The black mage said calmly. "Everybody else, everybody, would have felt some pride, some achievement. But not you. You're pure of heart, like I said. You don't want to harm anybody. The Light Warriors need that. They need a true white mage who believes in what it means to be one."

"I-I know." Vivli croaked. "Somebody has to keep them alive." She tried to joke. The black mage didn't laugh.

"Then let go of what bothers you, Vivli. It's in the past. You have your friends now. What happened to you doesn't matter."

"But I can't! How can I just forget?" Vivli cried.

"Don't forget. Move on. It's different." The black mage explained. The blackness around the orb began to crack. "I warn you, Vivli, you've been holding back all this power for so long, I can't predict what a huge influx of white magic flowing through your body will do."

"Well, let's fine out." Vivli suddenly decided, a grim look of determination spreading across her face. She marched at the orb and began to tear away the black casing with strength she could only possess in her own mindscape. White light shone underneath.

The tarutaru, fairly large as far as tarus went, but still short, overlooked Vivli curiously.

"This is strange." She decided. "She should be dead, if what you say is true. Or fine. I can't figure outaru what's happening."

"Hey! She's twitching!" Olose quickly pointed out.

"Very strange." The tarutaru said to herself. Vivli's eyes began to glow white. "Thataru looks like a hugey-wugey escape of magical energy." She observed just before Vivli suddenly burst into a spectacular white light, flooding out all over her body. Everybody fell silent in awe.

Vivli woke and sprang up in bed. She looked around and couldn't see anybody. She felt like she had been asleep for days. Her body felt strange. She could feel her old power within her, but her entire body felt a little different. The white magic flooding over her had changed her body. She looked at her nightdress. The usually light blue silk garment had turned white. Her skin felt odd too. Very very soft. She had soft skin anyway, or so she had always been told, but now it felt softer than the silk she wore. Like it had been completely renewed by the magic outburst. Just like it had bleached her nightdress. She shook her head in confusion and slowly got up. She let out a frustrated sigh as her long blonde hair flopped in front of her face, and she pushed it back.

Her eyes went wide a moment later.

Blonde?

Vivli sprang up and ran to the nearest mirror, finding one by her bedside. She looked in it in shock, to see that her hair had completely turned blonde.

"AH! My hair! What happened to my hair?" She screamed in shock, pulling her hair down.

"She's awake." Came the casual voice of Bootus, who was apparently sat down not far away. "I told you she'd react in a girly way."
"I'm not being girly!" Vivli shrieked.

"Oh, relax, Viv. Now you're just six layers of make-up, a pink mini-skirt, and some pom poms away from being ready for your role in the next ballista." Bootus joked.

"Oh shut up!" Vivli snapped. "That's an unfair stereotype to blondes! I mean, you realize people with blonde hair aren't instantly girly right?"

"Geez, she's been blonde five minutes and she's already defending everybody in the same group. Typical Vivli." Voldos laughed.

"Sorry for sticking up for people!" Vivli shouted in confusion.
"At least now you have an excuse for all the stupid things you say." Bootus pointed out.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vivli cried.

"Nothing." Bootus quickly said.

"Looking good Viv." Olose interjected.

"Good? Good? How did this happen?" Vivli screamed, pulling at her own hair.

"I can answer thataru." Came a voice.

"GAH! Who the hell are you?" Vivli yelled, clearly very stressed and confused.

"Oh right. This is Remmy." Bootus pointed out.

"Remasa." Remmy corrected. "Remmy is the friendly version."

"So what happened to my hair?" Vivli repeated.

"White magic is very powerful. It suddenly flowed through you with the result of essentially bleaching it. It's no big dealaru." Remmy explained with a sigh.

"So, it'll go back to normal, right?" Vivli asked nervously.

"I doubt it. It sort of bleached the roots." Remmy told Vivli. Vivli let out an angry cry. "Geez, you never warned me she was this vainy-wainy while we were waiting for her to wake uparu."

"I am not vainy-wainy!" Vivli yelled, before catching her own words and looking puzzled. "Vain. I meant vain." She corrected, before shaking her head. "I'm just…confused! Okay! This was unexpected!" She pushed her hair back and tried not to think about it. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"A day. Give or take." Olose answered. "We've lost time, and Bastok is getting closer and closer to war."

"Luckily, in that time, we managed to secure a ship." Zinkata put in. "While Remmy took care of you."

"Urr, thanks." Vivli said to Remmy nervously.

"No problemaru!" Remmy smiled.

"Ship? Aw, I hate the sea." Vivli moaned.

"Ah. That makes this easier then." Olose took his turn to sound nervous.

"What do you mean?" Vivli asked suspiciously.

"Well, we're not exactly taking a sailing ship."

There was a sudden roar and Vivli rushed to the window to see a small black airship fly down and land in the street, Cid waving from his place onboard. Vivli's eyes went wide.

"Oh no." She muttered. She spotted the name. Raven III, the Light Warrior's old airship. "Oh no!"

"It's the fastest way, and we can search better from the air!" Olose tried to explain.

"I'm doomed." Vivli muttered, staring at the airship, her old nemesis.

"We need to begin to get ready to leave." Voldos decided.

"Urm, where are we going again?" Vivli asked.

"Geez Viv, I know you're blonde, but there's no reason to ask a dumb question like that." Bootus laughed.

"Oh, shut up!" Vivli snapped.

"We're going to head to the location where my ship was apparently raised." Olose explained. "If this is a trap for me, which I think it is, we're going to go and spring it."

"Walk straight into the trap? Nice plan!" Vivli sarcastically mumbled.

"Best way to find out what they're up to." Remmy interjected.

"See? She agrees." Voldos smiled.

"It's true." Remmy agreed. "And you can all handle itaru. You're the Light Warriors."

"You're coming to." Olose pointed out. Remmy rose a tiny eyebrow.
"I am?" She repeated.

"We need you Remmy." Bootus explained.

"What for?" Vivli asked, confused.

"Nobody's been through what you've been through Viv." Bootus told her. "We want Remmy on hand to make sure you're okay."

"I'm up for itaru. It sounds like an adventure, and I can take care of myself." Remmy said confidently.

"I can't." Vivli whimpered, suddenly sounding a little afraid.

"It's okay Viv." Bootus told her calmly. "I'm sure you could beat them away with your pom poms."

"Dammit! I am not a cheerleader!" Vivli screamed. The others shared a laugh.

"Okay, we have until tomorrow morning." Zinkata decided. "We're all weary from staying up and making sure Vivli was okay." Vivli blushed guiltily. "So I want us to stay at the inn tonight, make our final preparations, upgrade our weapons and such, and then we'll depart tomorrow." The others nodded and turned away.

Later that evening Vivli had headed down into the small kitchen area the innkeeper had allowed them to use. It was late, but she had slept so much she couldn't get back to sleep, and was getting hungry. Hungry was an odd sensation for her, being as skinny as she was, but she was glad her appetite was returning. She caught odd glimpses of her reflection in various pots, and felt very strange, self consciously touching her new blonde hair. She now wore a head band to hold it back and had tied it into a ponytail, but it still felt particularly strange.

She suddenly let out a yelp as something moved by her. She staggered back in fear. Remasa rose a curious eyebrow.

"What?" She asked. Vivli caught her breath, and stared at Remmy.

"What are you doing there?" She cried in fear.

"It's not my fault you didn't look down." Remmy stated. "You never did pay attention to what you were doing." Vivli stayed silent at this. "Why didn't you tell the others we knew each other?"

"Why didn't you?" Vivli shot back confidently.

"Because I always tried to teach you to make decisions on your own." Remmy replied. "You were never very good at that."

"Well, what was with the taru voice you put on? After the hours lecturing me and training me to speak properly, I'd of thought you'd do the same." Vivli smirked slightly.

"Just an act to blend in." Remmy said calmly. Vivli looked over her old teacher.

"Is this coincidence then?" Vivli asked. "Us being together again."
"Nonsense. I knew Bootus was your friend, so I thought if I befriended him I might see you again. You've made quite a name for yourself, but you haven't changed much." Remmy smirked, before pulling out a large rubber spider. Vivli shrieked for a moment, before realising what it was.

"Hey! That's mean!" Vivli took a cautious step to take a closer look. "I recognise that. You used to try and cure my phobia with that." She smiled.

"Yeah. It never really worked." Remmy laughed. Vivli looked at her old mentor. Remasa had trained her back in the monastery in Windurst. A powerful white mage who had journeyed to Windurst from Bastok to help with the training of newer white mages. She didn't like Windurst, but had come for a few years, and Vivli remembered her well. Remmy had been quite hard on Vivli at some times, trying to drill out a few of her character flaws, but never quite succeeding. "So, why did you ignore me?"

"I don't know." Vivli replied. "I just- everything was so confusing. It was easier to pretend I didn't know you."

"Am I missing something?" Olose smirked from the corner.

"GAH!" Vivli cried. "Is everybody in here and I don't know about it?"

"Oh yeah." Olose grinned. "We're throwing you a surprise birthday party."
"It's not my birthday." Vivli muttered.

"Well, that's why it's a surprise." Olose laughed. Remmy chuckled. Vivli folded her arms in frustration at the predictability. Olose took a bite out of a sandwich he had made, and walked out of the kitchen. "Get some rest for tomorrow you two." He told them as he left. "Things could get interesting."

Vivli watched him go before Remasa spoke up.

"Gonna tell him then?" She asked.

"Sorry, what?" Vivli replied, sounding more than a little flustered.

"You know, ask him out." Remmy smiled.

"What?" Vivli blushed brightly.

"Oh come on, I can read you like a book. You really fancy him." Remmy grinned.

"I-I don't! I did, b-b-but that was a long time ago!" Vivli stammered.

"Sure. Sure." Remmy smiled, walking out the kitchen. "See you tomorrow Viv." Vivli watched, red faced, and completely shocked. She turned back to the kitchen, and tried to remember what she had been planning to do.