Kuja sat on the bridge of the Red Rose II. It was quite a spacious ship, made for long trips that could leave people in the air for a while. All the furniture was made of solid oak, and the pilot would stand in the middle of the top deck, higher than everyone else to see over anyone's head. Most of the others had kept their distance from him, and he was glad for the solitude. Eiko had been put to sleep, Garnet keeping watch over her. Steiner's hand constantly strayed to his sword, sure at any moment Kuja would reveal himself as an enemy. Quina was below decks looking for more food to eat, and Amarant had never shown up in Alexandria. Vivi and Zidane were the only others on the bridge; Zidane was piloting and Vivi was watching Kuja. Feeling his eyes on him, Kuja finally turned to the black mage.
"Is there something I can do for you?" His voice was rough from suppressed emotions.
"I wanted to ask you something." Vivi said timidly. He didn't want to further upset the wizard.
"Well then, ask away. Don't just sit there starring at me." Kuja turned form him to look out a nearby window. 'We should be at the Iifa Tree soon.'
"Why did you make the black mages?" Vivi looked down at his hands.
Kuja sighed. "I would think that was obvious. When I was following Garland's orders, I needed an army that would follow my orders without question. I never honestly expected them to develop an awareness."
"Did you ever regret it?" Vivi asked very quietly.
"Before?" Kuja turned to look at him, aware that Zidane was listening for his answer. "Never. It never crossed my mind to regret what I had done." Vivi was speechless with shock. Kuja sighed again. "I have my regrets now for the things that I did. That I didn't treat the mages any better after they became aware, and that I had the audacity to make them in the first place, when I was so angry about my own 'creation' by Garland, are among them."
Vivi nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. He turned to look out the window and Kuja went back to his own thoughts. Personally he was glad the mage asked no more questions. Zidane looked down at the two of them and cleared his throat. They both looked up as he jumped down from the controls.
"We've reached the Tree. We should go and get the others." They nodded and stood up, Vivi adjusting his hat, Kuja straitening his jacket.
"Let's go get the tin man then." Regardless of the lightness of the words, Kuja's eyes were cold and hard, the smile on his face vicious and cruel.
Zidane met his eyes and didn't look away. "Ya, let's go get him."
They parked the ship near the base of the great Iifa Tree. Most of the leaves had turned a dull brown, but those nearest the trunk still had some green in them. The entrance Zidane had once used to get in to find Kuja was sealed, all the vines having hardened as they rotted. The group had no visible way to get in, and they circled the tree for hours. They finally had to rest for the night, not having enough light to see by. Kuja still kept his distance from the group, ignoring the glares Eiko sent his way.
"So what for dinner?" Quina looked at everyone over the fire.
"I'm not hungry." Eiko responded.
"I think it's eat as you like Quina. None of us are much up to food right now." Garnet said, smiling slightly at their perpetually hungry companion.
"That no good. How you fight bad metal man if you all too hungry. I make nice big dinner for everyone! And you all eat!" With that s/he set about making dinner, using all number of things from their supplies. Needless to say, if it didn't kill them, it'd keep them alert all night with upset stomachs.
Zidane went over to sit next to Kuja. "So what exactly is the plan? How do you think we can get in?"
Kuja raised an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think I have any idea? You're supposed to be the important leader, the one with all the plans."
"Yes, well, that doesn't mean that I don't ask for a little help from those I travel with." He laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Most of the time they just say it was my idea."
Kuja sighed loudly and lowered his head into his hands. "And this is the person I have help from to rescue my wife and save the world." He looked over at the young man. "Were you just insanely lucky when you fought me?"
Zidane smiled lopsidedly. "Probably."
"Zidane and Kuja, come and eat good food!" Quina called over to them. Most of the group was dumping theirs while its back was turned.
"No thanks!" Both of them answered together. At the very least, it made them smile, even Kuja.
"You know we'll get him. Just gotta have faith in the people you're with." Zidane patted him on the back and went to sit with Garnet.
Kuja sighed as he turned to watch the darkness around them. Some creatures were lurking out there, but most kept their distance form the light. 'So I have to have faith in the people around me, do I? That's quite a change from what I've known all my life. I don't know how they can expect such things of me.' He quickly corrected that thought. How Zidane can expect such things of me. The others don't really expect anything, which suits me just fine. I've only ever had faith in myself, no need to change just for them.'
'…Kuja…' The voice was light as the breeze, and seem to come from all around. Kuja looked around in alarm, suspecting some trap or attack from Garland. The others acted as if nothing had happened and he resumed his seat.
'Heaven help me, I'm beginning to hear things.' He took several deep, calming breaths. The wind began to pick up, carrying a scent that reminded him of Mira. He stood up and looked around, wishing he could see farther into the night. No one near the fire seemed to have taken any notice of him. An image formed itself in his head, Mira standing before the Iifa Tree, a smile on her face.
'…Come on Kuja, can't you get to me?…' As the image faded, he could hear her laughter on the breeze. He turned toward the Tree, noticing little things that had been in his vision a moment before. He took three steps toward the hated thing, and powered a spell. The whole group had by now noticed his behavior and was watching him. As he powered up the spell, everyone with sense enough began to get nervous.
'I will succeed in this!' Who knows where the power came from, he'd never been capable of anything like it unless he was in Trance, but he let loose the Ultima spell at the Tree. There was a huge explosion and the ground rocked beneath them all, but when the dust cleared there was a sizable hole in the Iifa Tree, just waiting for them to enter. They all turned to look at Kuja, who smiled briefly at his handy work, then, collapsed in exhaustion.
"Why don't we get rid of him? Or leave him here? We can go and save that girl all by ourselves!" Eiko's voice cut through the fog that circled his head. Kuja slowly opened his eyes to see that it was day already and they were not far from him. They seemed to be arguing about him, though he was only able to hear Eiko, who seemed inclined to loudly voice her opinions. "Come on! We can't just wait all day for him to wake up. And do I have to remind you what he did? He's dangerous."
Kuja sat up carefully, allowing himself a moment when the world spun around him. "I'm awake already, so pipe down pipsqueak!" He called over to them, which made everyone turn toward him and come closer.
"I am not a pipsqueak!" Eiko said shrilly.
"Keep speaking like that and I'll never call you anything else again." He snapped at her. She fell to standing and glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"We weren't sure you were going to wake up. You okay?" Zidane knelt down next to him.
"I will be, just give me a few more minutes." He looked at all the faces around him, most of them holding suspicion and a bit of fear. He looked over toward the Tree and saw the hole he had made. In the light of day, he saw that he had blown a quarter of the base away. He continued to stare at it in wonder, amazed at his own power.
"Impressive, I have to agree." Zidane said carefully. "You think you'd be able to do it again?"
"Are you kidding? I'm lucky I didn't kill myself doing this." Kuja closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "Technically I shouldn't have been able to do it without being in Trance."
"He could be lying." Eiko put in.
"Maybe, but I don't think he is." Vivi spoke up.
"Why would you say that Master Vivi?" Steiner wanted to believe the worst of Kuja.
"Well, it sure did seem to take a lot out of him." He pointed out. "And besides that, he seems about as powerful as he had been before he Tranced, and he was never able to cast Ultima on us before that. So it rather makes sense that he is telling the truth." Vivi readjusted his hat, proud of his logic.
"Makes sense to me." Zidane smiled at Garnet, who was frowning ever so slightly. "We should get going as soon as we can, that alright with everyone?" No one said anything, which for Zidane signaled their consent. He stood up and went to get something to eat for breakfast out of his pack. The others went about collecting their things, no one saying much of anything. Kuja contented himself with trying to stand without falling over and looking a fool. He succeeded on his fourth try, and stood waiting for everyone else to be ready. He was more than sure now that Mira was here, waiting somewhere inside the Iifa Tree.
"Well, I'm ready to go when everyone else is." Freya stood with the lance Dragon's Hair in her hands, leaning against it slightly.
"Yes Freya, we're coming." Zidane stood and dusted off his pants. All the others got themselves in order quickly and they all set out for the Really Big Hole, as Quina was happily calling it. They weren't far from it, so pretty soon they stood within the blasted remains of the Tree. Inside, it looked as if a giant worm had eaten out the bottom of the Tree. The edges were all rough and torn, and a strange bluish light came from the bottom, which wasn't visible to them from where they stood.
"This looks like the way we should be heading, huh?" Garnet came to the edge and looked down. She stepped back quickly as the ground began to crumble at her feet. No sense in falling to break your neck before you got a chance to be killed by something more horrible.
"Guess we should start down. More time we leave Garland to work, more we have to face when we see him." Freya walked to the edge and jumped to an overhand a short ways down. The rest of them began to follow her.
"How much further to the bottom, do you think?" Zidane called down to Kuja.
"I have no idea. The Iifa Tree was never this deep before." He hopped down another overhand and looked over the edge. He and Zidane had easily overtaken the others a long while ago. The light was a lot brighter now, but the bottom was still not in sight. Kuja opted to wait for the others and sat down.
'What am I going to do if he's killed her? And what could he really want with her anyway?' Kuja put his head in his hands. These questions and others had been plaguing him the whole way down. He heard Zidane land, but didn't acknowledge his presence, not even when he heard Zidane move to stand before him.
"Will you snap out of it already?" Kuja raised his head, surprised by the venom in his "brother's" voice. "Look at Eiko. Her friends are dead, and she isn't going around feeling sorry for herself. Or are you saying you're more pitiful than a kid?"
"No." Kuja stood up to look Zidane strait in the eyes. "I am, however, less experienced in emotions that don't involve destruction or wanting people dead. I have never been loved, Zidane, and have never loved anyone else. I have never even had friends. To suddenly have these feelings and to have the source of these feelings in mortal danger, I think I'm allowed to be a bit unhappy." He turned away and walked to the edge again.
Zidane stood looking at Kuja a minute. He could hear the others making their way down; they'd be here in another minute or so. He took a deep breath and walked over to stand next to Kuja. "I'm sorry, but we're all under a lot of stress." Kuja nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing. They were still standing like that when Steiner, then Garnet landed behind them. Zidane turned and waved at them as Eiko and Vivi landed (Vivi fell, and Steiner helped him up). Garnet walked over to stand beside Zidane and look down.
"Look out below!" Quina called before jumping down with the others. Freya shook her head and leapt down gracefully; glad they had all made it without incident this far.
"So how far do you think we have to go?" Garnet looked toward the light, wishing it didn't seem to obscure things.
"Knowing Garland, probably another mile." Kuja replied dryly.
"Me getting hungry. We go too slow. Need go faster." Quina walked to the edge, looked down, and jumped.
"No!" Seven voices all shouted at once.
Garnet looked away, not wanting to see the splat that Quina became. Freya came running up, hoping s/he had landed on another overhang. Eiko and Vivi stood back awaiting the worst, and Steiner was too dumbstruck to leave their side. Kuja and Zidane though. Zidane's mouth fell open, and Kuja began to laugh. Garnet opened her eyes as the others all ran over. Quina stood maybe eight feet from them, the floor she stood on being a giant smoky mirror. They had finally reached the bottom.
Kuja and everyone jumped down to where Quina stood. The light the floor reflected came from a cave just ahead of them. It had been hidden from view until they were right in front of it. The inside was carved smooth, the walls being made of gray opaque crystal. They saw a room ahead of them; a balcony looking down, it turned out to be. When they reached the end, there was a railing and set of stairs to their left. No one had said anything thus far, all of them expecting some sort of trap. They had come to a large domed, circular room, with three doors along the wall on the lower level. There was no furniture or ornamentation, save a single stone bier in the center; the source of the light. Lying on the bier in a simple black dress was Miraina.
Kuja stood frozen looking at her. Her skin was white as marble, her lips a light pink. Around her head was a simple gold coronet with a red gem set in the center. He let out the breath he'd been holding when her chest rose ever so slightly with her breathing. He'd feared for a moment that Garland had killed her, and left her body here as a cruel joke. He was weak with relief, and began to think that maybe they would get her safely out of here.
Everyone had held still, waiting for Kuja's reaction. When he seemed to relax a bit, they let out a collective sigh. The door to the left opened then, and Garland walked in, followed by two odd looking Iron Men. They all saw each other, and for a moment, you could have heard a pin drop. After that, it was just chaos.
The Iron Men looking things attacked the group, holding them back. Kuja and Zidane managed to get by, by jumping over the railing. Four more Iron Men things came in through the other door and joined the fray. Standing before Garland, who stood between them and Miraina, they could hear the battle raging behind them. Vivi, Eiko, and Garnet could be heard casting spells. The sound of steel on steel let them know Steiner and Freya were holding there own. They could also hear Quina complaining of the taste of the Iron Men things. Garland stood with a smile on his half-metallic face, a ball of energy in his right hand.
"So, my defects have returned to me." His voice was light and mocking. "I'm so sorry to say though, I have no use for either of you." Kuja had cast reflect on himself and Zidane while Garland spoke. He was about to cast Flare when Garland threw the ball of energy at them. It ripped through the reflect and sent them both crashing into the wall. Both blacked out.
Kuja came to first. He shook his head slightly to try and clear the spots before his eyes. Vivi stood by him, seeming to be relieved he was awake. The black mage stepped back as Kuja carefully got to his feet. Zidane was not far from him, Garnet cradling his head in her lap. The whole group looked the worse for wear, but three of the Iron Men things were dead on the ground. Mira no longer lay on the bier, and the light had dimmed.
"Where's Miraina?" Kuja turned toward the young queen. She raised her eyes to look at him and Kuja felt his blood go cold. "What happened?"
"She got up from the stone table by herself. She didn't seem to recognize any of us. Then Garland called her from the doorway, and she just followed him without any argument." Garnet looked down as Zidane began to stir.
"And you didn't go after them!" Kuja's hands clenched into fists.
"That was just a minute ago. We came to check on you two before we followed." Freya's voice was calm, if tired. "I'm sure there's still time to catch up with them."
Kuja took a deep breath and counted silently to ten. Zidane sat up and looked around at everyone. "So what are we all still doing here? Where'd Garland go?" Garnet pointed toward the door Garland had entered from. Zidane got to his feet, Steiner helping him when he swayed a bit, then walked toward the door. It was locked.
"If you move Zidane, I could blast the door open." Vivi said quietly. Zidane complied and Vivi blasted the door with a meteor spell. Kuja was through the opening before the dust had cleared, Zidane following quickly with a muttered curse and something about hair-brained wizards. The others followed closely behind.
They entered a hallway, five doors on each side and one strait ahead of them. Kuja stood in the middle of the hall, looking around. Zidane came up behind him. "What are you waiting for?"
"What do you mean? You don't think that," he pointed to the door at the end of the hallway, "is the way he went, do you?" Zidane nodded. "Silly boy. Garland would never make it that easy. He went through another one of these doors, I'm sure of it. The only question is, which one?" Kuja went to the first door on the right and opened it. A blank wall stared back at him.
"Wrong one. Let's try another one." Zidane went tot he first on the left, and opened it. He was thrown backwards by one of the Iron Man things. Two of the other doors on the left side opened and out came three more. The group jumped into the fray, all of them except Kuja. He continued to open doors on the right side. Two led to empty rooms, two led to a chest, but no other entrances. He carefully moved out of the way of a flailing limb and went to open the last two doors on the left side, when he turned back to the first door he had opened. The blank wall seemed wrong, somehow, like it didn't belong there. He moved over to the rock wall and put his hand on it, ignoring everything else around him. After some initial resistance, his arm passed right through.
Kuja stepped through the wall without thinking, not bothering to wait for the others. He felt confident that he could face and beat Garland if necessary. He hadn't been intending to come with them in the first place, after all. The room he stepped into had a wide opening in the top that allowed sunlight to hit the bottom. An airship rested on the ground, robot looking things boarding the ship on each side from ramps. Garland stood near some crates, giving instructions. Beside him stood Miraina, a blank look on her face as she watched everything around her. Garland turned and met Kuja's gaze, a look of irritation crossing his face.
"Deal with him!" Garland pointed toward Kuja and four of the robots stopped there loading to move in his direction. Satisfied, he turned toward Miraina. "Come along, my dear."
Kuja couldn't believe it when she turned and followed Garland up a ramp onto the ship. "Mira!" She turned at the sound of his voice, but only briefly, and there was no recognition in her eyes. He would have run after her, but the robots had reached him and it was all he could do to stay in one piece. The airship soon took off while he was fighting them. He was still fighting two of them when the others made their way into the airship hanger, and together they quickly defeated the last ones.
"What happened?" Garnet asked.
"He took her with him." Kuja answered, his eyes going to the high tunnel. He said the next part very quietly. "She didn't even recognize me." No one knew quite what to say to that. They could only look up the tunnel with him and hope they would be able to save Mira.