THE MARK OF AN ESPER

Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure
Setting: FF9 landscaping
Main Characters: Zidane

Note from the Authoress: Sorry about the weird format at the end. My computer went weird for some reason.

Part 6

It had been a race against time. Zidane had thankfully managed to find Terra quite quickly in the theatre district. He had run into her while on his way to ask Baku and Tantalus for their help. After having to wrestle with her for a while, he had managed to convince her to listen to him. He had told her quickly that he had to take her to Madain Sari, and thankfully, she had agreed. Now, they were in the Tantalus airship, The Prima Vista, heading towards Madain Sari. Zidane gazed over the side of the airship. It had been a quiet journey so far but now he could see another airship closing in on them. He glanced around the deck and saw that Terra was curled up in a corner of the airship. The airship following them was drawing closer. With a jolt of terror, he recognised a figure standing on the deck. Diamond! He swore to himself, turning to Blank. Blank was gazing at the airship too.

"How do we fight it?" Zidane shrugged. He turned away. He could see the unmistakeable form of the Iifa tree in the distance.

"We're nearly at Madain Sari. Hopefully we'll be able to land before they reach us." He glanced at Terra again. She stirred and lifted her head.

"What is it?"

"Nothing much" Zidane replied softly. Baku walked over.

"We're there. Now landing." Zidane nodded in relief. The Prima Vista slowly descended and the ruins of Madain Sari came into view. With a jolt they landed. Zidane glanced up. Damn, the other airship was hovering above. He grabbed hold of Terra and pulled her in between the buildings. He dragged her towards the Eidolon wall. BBut just at the entrance, Terra pulled back.

"No," she cried out. "This place is evil!" Zidane half turned.

"It will help you!" Terra shook her head and pulled back. Zidane glanced back at the wall. What was so evil about it? He glanced at the sky again. The other airship had vanished. He lowered his gaze and spotted the top of it just visible among the ruins of Madain Sari. Damn! They had landed! He couldn't waste time arguing with Terra. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the doorway.

The next few moments seemed to happen slowly. Zidane dragged Terra to the centre of the wall. Next, several cloaked figures appeared to drift out of the wall, drifting ominously into existence. At the same moment he felt Terra tense completely. Mere seconds later Diamond fell into the area, followed closely by the rest of Tantalus. The air seemed to thicken. A reddish mist was creeping from under each of the ominous figures cloaks. Zidane couldn't understand what was happening, but he felt certain it wasn't good. Why were these figures here? weren't they the good guys? They had helped him after all. He heard diamond whisper.

"We're too late!" Slowly, dreading what he was going to see, Zidane half turned, looking at Terra. She was hovering a little way off the ground, still tensed. He gasped and turned back. On of the figures approached. It spoke, and Zidane realised with horror that it was with the same coarse voice as the one who had attempted to kill him.

"Well done boy. Now we will be able to take her powers. But there is no need for you to live any longer." it raised its hand slowly. Zidane's eyes widened. He heard baku's voice.

"Run Zidane!" instinctively, Zidane dived to the side, hearing a crash, and then a sound that sounded like something was being sucked up. He glanced around. A burn mark hovered in mid air, green drops falling from it. Terra appeared to have some kind of shield around her. Zidane started as he felt someone grip his arm and drag him backwards. He fell, landing behind a boulder. He realised that he was hidden from the figures.

"Don't worry. They don't care about you. All they want is the power. If you aren't trying to stop them they won't bother tracking you down." Zidane turned. So Diamond had pulled him here.

"What's going on? I thought you were the bad guy?" Diamond shook her head.

"I'm trying to stop those creatures. Listen carefully Zidane. The survival of Gaia may now depend on you."

END OF PART 6