A/N: Wow, chapter fourteen. That's a lot of chapters, if you think about it. Maybe I should get a life... nah. So far, writing this story has been a blast. It's taken a lot of research into that most wonderful of video games, but it's been worth it. Because I've gained so many nice reviewers! Thanks, guys! Now I'll shut up. Here's chapter fourteen.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX. Get off my back.

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Requiem for an Angel

a Final Fantasy IX fanfiction

by Wakizashi

Chapter Fourteen: Island Getaway

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Leaning against the door frame leading out to the bow of the ship, Jack watched Zidane and Claire as they conversed on the deck, a frown on his face. He wondered what they were talking about. He hoped it wasn't about him. Frick, he thought, his frown deepening. Maybe Zidane told her my real name.

It wasn't that he was ashamed of his name, necessarily. He just couldn't help but wonder if his mother had been going a little heavy on the sauce when she thought of it. Come to think of it, that might possibly explain why she hadn't even considered what having four arms would mean for a poor, impressionable child; a family trait like that wasn't exactly something you would want to pass on to your offspring. Not that having two extra arms didn't have its advantages, he reflected. But he had had more than his share of teasing growing up.

At the moment, however, that wasn't what was on his mind. What he was really worried about was whether he would be able to reach the side of the ship if the urge to vomit became impossible to ignore. Man, I hate airships, he thought, gritting his teeth.

After watching Zidane and Claire a moment longer, Jack turned and lurched back inside, one hand on his stomach. He passed that dangerous outlaw, the Flaming Amarant, but he was too nauseous to be intimidated. Finding a deserted corner in the bowels of the ship, far from any windows, he curled up into a four-armed ball of misery and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Jack?" came a sudden voice, familiar and startlingly close. "Jack, luv, what's wrong wif you?"

His pulse quickened as he opened one golden eye and saw a pair of stormy gray ones looking back at him. "Nothing," he lied, quite lamely.

Felina put her fists on her hips and frowned down at him. "Nuffin'?" she repeated skeptically. "Don't look like nuffin' to me. Matter of fact, you look a bit green."

Jack swallowed. He felt a bit green, too. "I hate airships," he muttered. "I get sick."

"What?" The girl looked shocked. "I thought you been everywhere, Jack! How can you get airsick if you travel all the time?"

"Don't ask me, but I do." He planted his face into his folded arms, hoping Felina would take the hint and leave him alone with his suffering.

Of course, she didn't. Without ceremony, she dropped down beside him on the polished floor and sat cross-legged. Jack glanced at her and decided, with her long, thin legs, she looked like a grasshopper in a red hat and tailcoat. "Don't worry, luv," she said jauntily. "I'll help you get your mind off tossin' your biscuits. Why don't we play a card game?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "A fair one?"

In reply, she placed a gloved hand over her heart. "A fair one. What do you say?"

Jack looked at her for a moment, and he couldn't help but smile. "You're on, kitten," he replied.

She squealed in delight and clapped her hands, then delved into the inside pocket of her coat and pulled out a small selection of Tetra Master cards. Jack pulled out his own, flipped a coin, and the game began. Felina had, as he had already disovered, much stronger cards than were in the deck she used for the unethical little business she ran. He found he had to plan his moves carefully, play his cards at exactly the right time, or he got hammered. He had to admit, he no longer felt the urge to heave. His company definitely wasn't bad, either; Felina's reactions to her victories and losses kept him in stitches.

Finally, after a mentally taxing battle, Jack won by a hair by knocking out her Leviathan card. Felina huffed irritably about it for a moment, then held out the card he had won. "Nah, you keep it," he said, pushing it back toward her. "You'll need it for the next time we play."

Felina smiled sweetly. "Thanks." She paused, looking at him carefully. "Is somefin' botherin' you, Jack?"

Her tone made him look up at her sharply. "What do you mean?" he asked guardedly.

She shrugged. "I dunno," she said in a low voice. "You seem a bit glum, is all, and I can tell it ain't just airsickness." She bit her lip and looked away. "You don't have to tell me, it's just... I thought maybe..."

Now it was Jack's turn to scrutinize her. He could swear that she almost looked embarrassed. "Maybe what?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Felina?"

The girl sighed. "It's silly, really," she said, still avoiding his eyes. "But I thought maybe we could be friends." He stared at her incredulously, and she continued quickly, "I mean, I know we got off to a bad start and all, and I called you a bloody imbecile..."

"And a soddin' idiot," he couldn't help but interject.

"Oh right." Felina's cheeks reddened in shame. "Well, I'm real sorry 'bout that, and... I were hopin' that we could sort of start over or somefin'." She cleared her throat. "That is, if you ain't too mad at me."

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. No one had ever formally apologized to him before, and he was shocked that Felina actually felt it necessary. He wasn't mad at her. On the contrary; he felt a ridiculous urge to hug her.

Reaching out with one hand, Jack placed it hesitantly on her shoulder. Due to previous experiences, he expected her to fling it off in distaste, but instead she simply looked up at him with something like vulnerability in her eyes. For a moment he forgot what he was going to say.

"I'll tell you what," he told her quietly. "If you can forgive me for takin' your money, which I had no right to do, then I can definitely forgive you for callin' me an idiot, which I totally deserved. In fact," he added as her face lit up with a smile, "call me crazy, kitten, but I thought we already were friends."

Felina's smile widened, and she leaned forward and kissed Jack on the cheek. He felt himself blush furiously. "Thanks, Jack," she said cheerily as she stood up. Giving his wild red hair an affectionate tousle, she strolled merrily off down the corridor, leaving him with a pounding heart and no thoughts of airsickness whatsoever.

----

"Land ho!" Zidane hollered, sending everyone scrambling into the cockpit. "I've got visual confirmation on our destination! We will be landing on Vile Island shortly! I repeat, I've got visual confirmation..."

Jack looked out the wide window of the cockpit to see a large island in the distance, made even larger by a towering mountain, surrounded by dense forest. Gray, wispy fog clung to the mountain, concealing its base. For a moment he forgot about his airsickness as he stared at it. The whole place looked like something he had seen out of a picture book when he was a child, about a monster that lived in a volcano. That didn't seem all that different, actually.

He felt Captain Steiner come up beside him. "There it is," he said softly, staring out the window. "Heaven help us."

Jack shivered.

"Don't worry, luv," said Felina, lifting an arm and using his shoulder as an armrest. "We been in some scrapes before. There's nuffin' we can't handle. Besides," she added with a grin toward Claire, who had come to join them, "Kuja's wif us, and there ain't a single beastie too strong for him."

"Yeah, you're right," Claire said in a tight voice.

Jack looked at her sympathetically. It was probably tearing her up inside, knowing that Kuja didn't have much time left. "Hey, that hurts, ladies," he pouted jokingly, trying to lighten Claire's mood. "I'm no powerful sorcerer like he is, but I do what I can." He swallowed, feeling his stomach lurch again. "Man, I hope we land soon. Breakfast was great and all, but I have no desire to taste it again."

Claire wrinkled her nose at him. "You're so gross, Jack."

"Aww, poor darling," Felina teased good-naturedly, and he blushed as she threaded her fingers through his. "We'll be on solid ground before you know it. Of course, then we'll be fendin' off ferocious beasts right and left..."

"Ugh, don't start with that again," he groaned. He was tired of being constantly reminded that this was the stupidest thing he'd ever done.

"Oi, where is Kuja, anyway?" Felina asked, looking around. "Claire, why don't you go find him and tell him we'll be landin' soon?"

Claire hesitated, clearly not eager to face him at the moment. "I can go look for him," Jack suggested, coming quickly to the rescue. Felina frowned at him, and it was clear that she was trying to fix the Genome and the Earthling up together. "It's okay, I need something to keep my mind off barfin'. I'll be right back."

Before Felina could chastise him for ruining her plans, Jack took off in search of Kuja. But the Red Rose was a huge airship, with countless doors which led to cabins or storage rooms. More than once he opened a door and found himself looking at a stack of crates marked 'Phoenix Down' or a dozen barrels filled with annoyntments or vaccines. He began to wonder if Kuja had even boarded the ship at all.

Finally, as he was beginning to run out of doors to knock on, Jack came upon one that was half-open. He tentatively reached up and rapped his knuckles on it. "Kuja?"

There was no answer, but he pushed the door open anyway and stepped into the little cabin. It was furnished with a narrow bed, which was clothed with white linen and a red bedspread. There were also a small chest of drawers and chair, and a tiny, round window. And on the bed, facing the wall, lay Kuja, his long, silver hair pooled out behind him and his tail draped over the side, swinging slowly back and forth.

"Hey, Kuj, ol' buddy," said Jack, leaning against the doorframe to steady himself. "We've reached Agonizing Death Island. The airship'll be landin' soon." He waited for an answer, but none was forthcoming. "Hey man, did you hear me? I said--"

"Fine," came Kuja's flat voice.

Jack frowned. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yes." He sounded less than convincing.

Unfazed, Jack stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Pulling the little chair up to the bed, he turned it backward and sat down, fighting another wave of nausea. "All right, what's wrong?" he pressed.

He heard Kuja sigh in annoyance. "Get out of here, Jack," he said in a monotone.

Jack gasped in feigned indignation. "Come on, that's no way to talk to someone who volunteered to accompany you on this happy little quest," he replied. "We're comrades now, whether you like it or not. And fellow comrades don't keep things from each other."

"Oh, they don't?" Kuja mused in a mock-thoughtful voice, still facing the wall. "Then what is your real name, Alleyway Jack?"

Jack cringed. "Geez, I walked into that one," he muttered. "All right, if you really wanna know... It's Gilgamesh."

He fully expected Kuja to laugh uproariously. On the contrary, he merely said, "Very well, Gilgamesh. Perhaps you can tell me something that has become a source of confusion to me."

Jack noticed that when the Genome was truly upset, his voice became coldly formal. "Okay..."

Abruptly Kuja rolled over onto his back, and Jack was startled by his appearance. His face was shockingly pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were almost blue. Jack wondered in alarm if he was at death's door already.

"I have always heard it said," Kuja remarked slowly, "that when a person dies, it is because his body has shut down, one organ after another, and the last thing to go is his heart. But what if the heart was the first to die? Would the rest of the body immediately die also? Or can it continue living without it?"

Suppressing a shudder, Jack ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. "I don't think that's possible, Kuja," he said quietly. "Why do you ask?"

Kuja's fevered eyes grew more abstracted and far-away. "Because," he replied quietly, his lips barely moving, "my heart has died."

Jack swallowed. "Come on, knock it off, Kuja," he said in a low voice. "You're startin' to freak me out."

"Didn't think I had a heart, eh?" Kuja replied, one eyebrow arching haughtily. "Well, my apologies, Gilgamesh, for contradicting you. I'm simply wondering how it is that I can still be alive when my most vital organ has ceased to beat. Not literally, of course," he added, holding a thin white hand to his chest. "I still feel it thumping against my ribs - irregularly, but I would expect no less, in my condition."

"Will you stop callin' me Gilgamesh?" Jack growled in annoyance. "Just because it's my real name, doesn't mean I want anyone usin' it."

"Oh yes, I'm dying," he continued, ignoring him. "Don't worry, it's what everyone wants, isn't it? But you don't seem all that surprised." He paused for a moment, then gave a sharp intake of breath, as if a revelation had suddenly occurred to him. "Ah, of course. She must have told you. I don't blame her for needing to tell someone, and I know better than anyone that I won't be able to hide it much longer."

Suddenly Kuja's disconnected ramblings began to come together. "Wait a minute, you're talkin' about Claire," Jack said. "Something happened between you two, didn't it? That's why you're sayin' all this crap about your heart dyin'."

Kuja closed his eyes tiredly, but he didn't speak. He waved his hand at Jack, as if he wished he might go away.

"Well, what happened?" Jack persisted, leaning forward and resting two of his arms on the back of the chair. "Hey, I told you my real name, and I hate it more than anything. So now it's your turn. Spill."

Kuja uttered a low growl, his pale eyebrows drawing together in irritation. "Your inquisitiveness will only get you so far, Jack, and then it will get you strangled." The redhead simply waited, and finally Kuja heaved a long, histrionic sigh. "What is the point of all this questioning? Surely you must know. I essentially bared my pathetic, wretched soul to Claire, and she ground it to dust under her heel. Are you happy?"

Jack felt a sudden stab of pity; something he never expected to feel for Kuja. "Ah, Kuj, I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know what that's like. In fact, if I had a hundred gil for every time I've been shot down..." He cleared his throat, eager to change the subject. "But listen, it's not the end of the world. It doesn't feel too great, but there are other girls out there--"

"No, Jack," Kuja interrupted sharply, sitting up straight and glaring at him with his haunted blue eyes. "No, there aren't. Not for me." Jack noticed that tiny beads of perspiration had broken out on his pale brow. "Do you know what it's like, Jack?" he demanded. "Do you know what it's like to be hated and feared your entire life, and then suddenly meet someone who made you feel... like you weren't useless, like you were actually worth something?" He narrowed his eyes scornfully at the thief, then turned away with a scoff. "No, I don't imagine you do."

"But why did she turn you down?" Jack had to ask. "I could have sworn you guys had some kind of... connection, or whatever." Suddenly his eyes widened in realization. "Is it because she found out about what you did?"

At this Kuja shot to his feet and began pacing restlessly in the small cabin. "No, and that's the most incomprehensible part of it," he replied angrily. "She said that that didn't even matter to her." His tail lashed about in frustration, inadvertently whipping Jack across the face. "I don't understand it."

"Girls," Jack muttered, frowning. He was silent for a long time. "You know, don't be surprised if she has some reason that she's not tellin' you. Girls are like that."

Raising his head slowly, Kuja stared at the thief for a long moment. "Perhaps you're right, Jack," he murmured. Then he added darkly, "Even so, I'd rather die now than spend my last moments knowing I can't have her."

Jack winced. Kuja could be so morbid, he thought. "Well, who knows? Maybe she'll change her mind. Just don't force yourself on her." He stood up, feeling his stomach give another lurch. "Ugh, I'm gonna hurl. Come on down to the cockpit soon, okay?"

As he turned and left the cabin, he heard Kuja chuckling mirthlessly to himself. And then he said something that made the back of Jack's neck tingle. "I never thought love would kill me."

----

After a slow, steady descent, the Red Rose touched down on the wide, rocky plains of Vile Island. Everyone was running this way and that, shoving food, water, and medicine into knapsacks to be carried with them. In the middle of the commotion, Claire stood and looked out the window at the red desert, dotted with cacti, and beyond, surrounded by dark, primeval forest, the tall black mountain. Somewhere at the feet of that mountain, if Doctor Tot was correct, was the portal to Earth. If they reached it alive, she would soon be home.

Fighting down her apprehension, Claire slung her own sack of provisions onto her shoulder, along with her bow and quiver of arrows. Her purse had been discarded long ago, after the fight with the malboro had left it covered in slime. Her own meager possessions were now at the bottom of her knapsack.

She felt a presence beside her, and attempted to return the encouraging smile Zidane gave her. As they were among the few people who didn't hate Kuja, they had formed an instant bond. "Had any practice with that bow?" he asked.

"Some, but not a whole lot," Claire replied uncertainly. "You think I'm ready?"

Zidane shrugged. "Does it matter?"

She blinked for a moment, then chuckled dryly. "No, I guess it doesn't."

"Then let's get crackin'." He double-checked his weapons, which consisted of a dagger at his belt, another in his right boot, and a colossal double-bladed sword with a handle in the middle. It looked like it was made of crytal. Then he hoisted his own sack onto his shoulders. "Now, is everyone here?"

Claire looked around. Steiner and Beatrix stood at one end of the cockpit, along with the guy with the dreadlocks, Amarant. At the other end were Jack and Felina, the former looking glad to be on solid ground. And in the back, looking distressingly pale, was Kuja. Eight heads in all.

"Okay," said Zidane, rubbing his hands together. "We're going to be separating into two teams of four. We won't actually be splitting up, but here's the thing. With eight people, there'd be too much confusion in a battle, too much going on. With two teams of four, we'll have better opportunity to get accustomed to everyone's fighting style. Does that make sense?" General nods of agreement. "So, how are we going to do this?"

There was a short silence. Zidane sighed theatrically. "Fine, if nobody wants to speak up, I'll split us up myself."

"Felina's with me!" Jack blurted. When everyone eyed him in amusement, he blushed and scratched his head. "I-I mean, if she wants to, that is."

Felina grinned. "Of course I will, Jack," she said happily.

"I would be glad to accompany them," Beatrix put in, surprising everyone.

"And I, as well!" Steiner added, surprising no one.

"All righty," said Zidane, trying unsuccessfully to smother a smile. "Then I guess that leaves me, Amarant, Kuja, and Claire. We'll be Team A, the others will be Team B. Sound good to everyone?"

Claire suppressed a sigh. Being teamed up with Kuja was, at the moment, the last thing she wanted. But she didn't dare protest, and she was sure that he would have insisted on going with her anyway, to better serve as her bodyguard. His words suddenly came into her head, unbidden and unwanted: "You're everything to me, damn it!" Tears sprang to her eyes, and she quickly blinked them back.

"Well, if there are no objections," Zidane was saying, "then let's go." When everyone stood for a moment in indecision, he clapped his hands and made shooing gestures. "Come on, people, get moving! We don't have a lot of time here!"

Galvanized into action, they filed off the airship one by one, blinking in the bright light outside. As they stepped out onto the ground and began walking in the direction of the mountain, Claire took a deep breath through her nose, inhaling the pleasantly dusty smell of the desert. Here and there groups of cacti huddled together, bursting with orange or purple blossoms. If she didn't know that there were creatures nearby that would gobble her up in a second, she might almost consider this island an okay place.

"Yo, Earth chick," came a gruff voice. Claire came back to reality to find Amarant walking beside her, looking at her expectantly. "You got an accessory yet?"

She frowned, confused. "An accessory?" she asked. "What's that?"

As they walked, Amarant slid a small bag off of his shoulder and shoved a hand into it. His other hand, she noticed in alarm, wielded a glove with wickedly pointed metal claws. "Accessories are things you wear that protect you from certain elements. They can also raise your strength or defense. Don't ask me how the hell they work." He pulled out a short length of black ribbon. "This, for example, absorbs wind attacks." To her blank look, he clarified, "Meaning, instead of hurting you, it heals you."

"Oh." Claire looked at the ribbon, wondering how something so small could be so powerful. "Which one do you think I should use?"

"Let's see, you're a newbie, so... Wait, I know. Protect Ring." He pulled out a little, delicate gold ring with a blue-green gem set into it. "It cuts damage from all elements in half," he said as he handed it to her. "Fire, ice, thunder, holy, you name it. It also lets you attack from further away without reducing your own strength."

"Wow, thanks," she said, slipping the ring onto her finger. He shrugged in reply. "There's still so much I don't know about battles. I don't know about spells, or abilities, or 'status effects'. But since I'm from Earth, I don't have any magic abilities anyway." She sighed dismally. "I don't stand a chance."

"Yans!" Captain Steiner suddenly shouted. "Four of them!"

"Ah, frick," she heard Jack mutter.

"Everybody get into your teams!" Zidane yelled at the top of his lungs. "Team A, we'll take the two on the left! Team B, the other two!"

Amarant tensed beside her, every cell in his body prepared for combat. Claire bit back a whimper of despair. She was in over her head. From out of nowhere, she felt someone grab her by the arm and pull her closer to the group. It was Kuja. Her eyes widened, but he said quietly, "Don't worry."

Mustering up every ounce of courage that she had, Claire took her bow off her shoulder and fitted it with an arrow. Trotting purposefully toward the travelers on little hooved feet were four small sheep-like creatures, with large eyes peering out from even larger heads. Each wore a pair of curved horns. "Those are yans?" she asked in surprise, lowering her arrow involuntarily. "But they're so cute."

"Don't let their looks fool you," said Zidane, his tail lashing back and forth in anticipation. "They may be cute, but they can kill you with one comet spell."

Claire swallowed and gripped her bow tighter.

"Quit freaking her out, Tribal," Amarant said in his gravelly voice. "You know she won't be able to fight if she's terrified out of her mind."

"Sorry," Zidane replied with a grin.

Okay, Claire thought, taking a deep breath and calculating her first move. I'm going to be fine. It's just a couple of sheep-thingies... Sheep-thingies that can summon comets from space to kill you where you stand. No big deal. Pulling the string of her bow taut, she took careful aim at the yan on the far left and let the arrow fly. There was a whistle, and the tip sank into its left shoulder. The animal shook itself violently, snorting with rage.

"Ha-hah!" she cried as she loaded another arrow. "Take that, lambchop!"

"Beautiful, Claire!" Zidane exclaimed approvingly. Then, dashing toward the same creature, he swung his double-bladed sword. The yan saw it coming and dodged it. "Damn it!"

"Watch and learn, dear brother." Claire watched as Kuja closed his eyes, standing perfectly still. A halo of fire enclosed the second yan, shrinking smaller and smaller until the creature was engulfed. Immediately the yan crumpled to the ground dead, its woolly coat scorched and blackened. Claire couldn't help feeling frightened by Kuja's power.

"Having you on our side might not be too bad, after all," Amarant remarked. Pulling out a throwing star that looked like a deadly metal pinwheel, he chucked it at the second yan. Blood instantly spurted from a wound that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. The yan snorted furiously, and then the sky inexplicably began to darken. "Comet!" Amarant yelled. "Heads up, everyone!"

The sky continued to dim into an eerie black. Claire's breath caught in her throat as she looked up and saw a flaming chunk of rock hurtling down toward them at incredible, insane speed. She realized with a horrible sense of helplessness that it was coming toward her, and she had absolutely no time to get out of the way. But she tried to run anyway, knowing it was useless.

To her surprise, it was not flesh-melting rock that collided with her, but the slamming force of another body. The breath was knocked out of her before she even hit the ground. She opened her eyes, coughing, and found Kuja lying on top of her, his head slumped heavily on her breast.

Too worried to be embarrassed by her current position, Claire shook his shoulders hard. "Kuja, get up," she said, her voice trembling. There was no response, and she shook him harder, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh God, Kuja, please. Come on, wake up."

Suddenly he groaned and lifted his head. "Am I going to have to do this on a regular basis?" he asked in a weak voice.

Claire smiled through her tears. "I'll try to keep it down to once a day," she replied shakily.

Kuja slid off of her, and together they managed to pull themselves to their feet. In the battle, Zidane was running headlong at the second yan, brandishing his sword and yelling crazily. With a flash, the blade came down, and the animal fell to the ground and lay still. He wiped his forehead, breathing hard. "Couldn't get away from me that time, you little bugger," he gasped.

Team B had already come out of their battle successfully, with only minor injuries; nothing that a hi-potion or two couldn't correct. But there wasn't a single person who was not exhausted from the fight.

After he had caught his breath, Zidane bent over the yan that he had dispensed with and poked it a few times with the tip of his sword. "How do yan-kabobs sound to everyone?" he asked with a grin. Then he ducked a punch from Amarant.

----

A/N: Oh, that Zidane. What a kidder. Anyway, hope that was satisfactory. I'm not too good with battle scenes, as you have probably noticed. But to my surprise, I actually enjoyed writing that one. So! Thanks for spending part of your day reading my little chapter, and please leave a review if you would be so kind, while I start work on the next chapter.

-Waki