A/n: Bah, It looked so much cooler on wordpad. Oh wells... sorry for the spacing, folks, it just looks dumb on here. Anyways, onto buissness. It's tuesday! Told you I'd update on tuesdays... time for the reviewer shout outs. Thanks to- Lori, Pilotsolver(I agree with you about the staves), Took-Baggins and Beastiewolf. La Llama... your review was...intresting. >. and A huge thank you to Neo Nao Neo for your kind review and exceptance of this fic into the C2, The Waltz's Circle... It's really an honor from the master of Black Mage/Waltz fics such as yourself!

Allright, enough of that, onto the fic.

Disclaimer: I ownzor nothing. I'm not teh elite hackzors. Sighzors.

Beautiful Equilibrium

...ouch.

Vivi opened his eyes slowly, trying to figure out what had happened. He was... was... what was he doing? He lifted a hand weakly, running it across his forehead. Where was he? He winced, feeling a bit of pain from his head... he brought his hand down, blinking in the darkness. It felt, even beyond the leather of his gloves, it felt almost... wet.

Wet?

He shook his head, muttering a quick invocation beneath his breath and snapped, holding a small, lasting fireball in his brown gloved hand. Amber eyes narrowed as he lifted the wet hand- and stopped.

Blood.

His head whirled as he put his hand down to stop from falling back. He was bleeding! Wait, why was he...? He shook his head again, closing his eyes for a moment.

Crimson.

Crimson eyes, glaring at him, something... something around his throat, choking...choking him. Why? Suddenly Vivi almost cried out as he felt intense pain slice through his skull. Shakily, he put a hand to the back of his head, drawing it to his eyes...

He swallowed, looking away as if came rushing back to him. Fighting, they were fighting, they got into the cave, Vivi's head... into the wall... slide, a rockslide- blocked them in!

He glanced around hurriedly, pushing the fireball to light his path of sight. Sure enough, boulders and debris scattered the cave, a mountain blocking the entrance.

Suddenly, the mage felt dizzy. He lay back down, breathing hard and looking up at the cavern ceiling. He had been fighting... fighting with who? He couldn't remember...

...c...crimson...

His eyes went wide. Black Waltz Three! He bolted upright. Was he alone! Was... was Three in here with him! He scrambled to his feet, backing up from the entrance. Oh please Eidolons, please let him be dead!

As soon as he thought this, his feet were up in the air and his arms flailing wildly- he landed flat on his back with a jolt to his system, his hand clenching around the fireball and extinguishing his light. He lay there quietly for a moment, with only a single thought.

Stupid Karma.

He sat up slowly, shaking his head clear of the aching pain surging forth. It didn't go away, but he ignored it, adjusting the hat that had miraculously stayed on through this whole situation over it. What did he trip over? Vivi put his hand near his feet, and was rewarded. It was soft, warm... he narrowed his eyes. Soft and warm? That almost sounded like a human bod-

He jumped to his feet. Black Waltz Three! He stood at the ready, his topaz eyes wide in the darkness, surveying everything, but seeing nothing. After a moment of silence, he relaxed a bit. Why wasn't he...? Cautiously, he went to his knees, finding Three's shoulder with one hand and lighting the fireball again with the other.

And he stopped.

In the disaster, a boulder the size of a Blazer Beetle had landed square on his outstretched arm, so much that Vivi couldn't see past his elbow. But, amazingly, that isn't what distracted Vivi into stopping.

It was... his face.

The Waltz's hat, unlike Vivi's, had slipped off, lying a few feet away from them. And Vivi's breath was taken. Three's face had almost remained the same, the same piercing red eyes, shadowed in darkness- but only to the bridge of his nose. He was wearing a piece of black cloth draped snugly across the lower half of his face, two earpieces on both sides that came from behind long, black pointed ears and to the front, where they hooked onto the cloth with a black painted clip. It matched the upper half of his face perfectly, and Vivi realized with quiet awe that only someone this close to his face could see it when hat was removed. His hair was stone gray, pulled back into a waist length braid that Vivi was almost unable to see, due to the fact the waltz was laying on it. His ears were pierced, but oddly- there were three hoop earrings up the right ear, two on the left, one on the lobe and one at the tip, with a small, fragile chain connecting the circles.

...curious.

Before Vivi could stop himself, his hand had found it's way to the ear clip holding the mask in place. He winced at the sound it made as he relapsed the fabric, gingerly taking it and drawing it back.

He almost swallowed his tongue.

It was almost human. The borderline, where the fabric covered, was faded, his skin transitioning beautifully from deep ebony to the same color gray as his hair. His mouth was open slightly, almost in a grimace, his chin almost delicate, not at all like Vivi had imagined. The mage forced himself a shallow breath, biting his lip. He... he... was he dead? Inch by inch, leaned down, tentatively placing his head on Three's chest. He felt the steady rise and fall, sitting up with a sigh of relief.

Blink.

Relief? Wasn't he supposed to hate him? Wasn't he supposed to be the murderer? He killed Black Mage's for no reason! He was a cold blooded killer, and Vivi was relived to find him alive!

The mage blinked again and looked down at his face, again, before he... before...

...how could this... face... belong to such an evil monster, responsible for the loss of lives across the continents? How could this... almost beautiful face... belong to Black Waltz Three?

Vivi was suddenly torn. He looked away, his breathing quickening. Three had meant to take Vivi's life in that last fight. If it weren't for the unstable cavern roof, Vivi would have been dead by now. If he didn't kill Three now, while he still could, his life would end when the Waltz awoke. He knew there was no choice in the matter.

The Black Mage's lips moved almost silently, but the words to the spell echoed throughout the silent reaches of the cave.

"May the darkness in my soul come forth to scorch the skins of my enemies..."

He had never really paid attention to how evil the words sounded until now.

"...strike them in my time of need, this moment, the dust of my heart to... to..."

He swallowed, the hand the held the fireball now beginning to heat even more, but this isn't what bothered him.

"...to burn theirs to oblivion, send their sprits to Hades and Odin... Firag...Firag..."

The word sputtered in his mouth... and died. He lowered his hand, the burning warmth fading away into the nothing he used to fuel the dulling fireball. Even as he sat there, staring at Three's face, the heart in his magic vanished, and so did the lighting element.

Even in the darkness he could see his face, and there in the darkness, he closed his eyes as tears ran from them. He couldn't... he couldn't kill...an angel...

†

Black Waltz One ran hard. As he did so, It suddenly occurred to him that running wasn't as hard has he had always said; but then immediately abolished this thought. It was problem easier when you were running for your life.

As soon as he and his brother had step foot in Lindblum, they regretted it dearly. He had to admit, their plan was a very good one- showing stupid Vivi's stupid Mace of Zeus to Vivi's stupid little friends to get them to trust them enough to help dig stupid Vivi and Black Waltz Three out of the cave they were stuck in- but there was one tiny problem they had forgotten to count on.

Getting to Vivi's stupid little friends.

They were in Lindblum because Two had remembered Vivi saying something about his friends being here. If not, they were going to show the staff to the Regent and demand an airship ride to Alexandria. It was true that they could just fly, but they were tired from their excavation, plus One had never been much of a flier, due to the tiny wings he had been given. So they waltzed (no pun intended) into Lindblum expecting royal treatment- and got knives thrown at them. In fact, the citizens hated them so much, they had chased them out of the city and out onto the harbor, where they stood on the edge of the pier with their heels over the edge, angry mob closing in.

One licked his lips in thought. "You suppose, Dyuetto, that it would be time for a swim?"

Two grimaced. "Ah... about that..."

The shorter Waltz narrowed his eyes at him. "You... do know how to swim, don't you?"

His brother smiled apologetically at him.

One blinked. "Oh. Wonderful."

Suddenly their attention was attracted as they herd a harsh clang of metal on metal. They glanced towards the on coming hoard, blinking as they saw a female Dragon Knight, clothed in a pink jacket and a winged hat, immense spear resting on her shoulder, her bright eyes glaring poison at them from beneth her hat.

"Oh, look," One mused, a bit too loudly then he should have, "a rat. I thought Kuja killed 'em all off."

Two's hands were clamped over his kin's mouth as he gave a huge nervous smile to the knight. "Hello Miss! Fine day, isn't it!"

Unfortunately for them, the Bermician seemed to have heard the remark. She un-shouldered her spear with a fluid motion, the tip pointing at the robed Waltz's throat. "Tell me," she growled dangerously, "what are two murdering scum like you doing sliming the streets of this city?"

One's muffled reply came instantly, but, because Two knew it was all insults and outrage, he stayed his hand. "Ah... well," he started off shakily, "We, um, we have a bit of buiessness with the Regent."

A few people in the rabble of murderous glares chuckled sarcastically, and the Waltz even herd a low mutter, "Buiessness with the Regent, hah. They prob'ly gonna kill 'im."

But he was too quick on the defense for the man to get away with it. "N-no, we weren't going to hurt him! We actually came for some help..."

The Dragon Knight gave a small smile. "Help? The only help your going to need when I'm finished with you will be to pick out your gave sites!" She whirled the spear over her head once and swung it mightily at the pacifist's throat.

An ear-bleeding clang rang out over the harbor as One pushed his brother aside and raised the staff he held. Weapon locked, the shorter Waltz was at a disadvantage, being the weaker of the two, and was buckling under the weight the Bermician was applying. She snarled down at him, her eyes narrowing to a lethal slit. "I'm going to slice that excuse for a weapon in hal-" She stopped.

One stumbled as the knight withdrew, her eyes narrowed now with confusion rather than venom. She blinked several times before she spoke, the crippled Waltz looking up at her from beyond the rim of his hat. "Where... where did you get that weapon!"

It was Two's turn to speak. He stood, swallowing back his fear of the deadly weapon the woman carried. He knew if he let One tell her what happened, he'd screw it up somehow, and they'd both be dead before hey even got a chance to save Three.

"Our friend gave it to us."

"Friend!" The knight spat, glaring at him. "The owner of that weapon would never befriend the likes of you!"

He blinked. "You know him? The owner, I mean."

The distaste for him was clear in her voice. "He was a comrade of mine, once."

"Do... you happen to know Zidane Tribal?" One blurted gruffly. Two was about to slap a hand over his mouth again when the Bermician grabbed him by the front of his robes, bringing him in very close to her with the tip of the spear between them. Her tone of malice returning, she hissed, "It would do you well not to speak of my friends as though you knew them as I have. You have not." Then, raising her voice, she addressed the crowd. "Please, disperse. I do not wish anyone see the action I plan to take with these two."

One growled and took a step forward, but the Dragon Knight lifted Two's trembling chin with the flat of the blade. "Take one more step, I dare you."

Slowly, grumbling, the mob split and withdrew. When the three were alone, the Bermician dropped the waltz so suddenly, he was forced to sit hard, shaking slightly.

"My name is Freya Crescent." Freya muttered, checking their surroundings for any stragglers. "Make no mistake, I'm not saving your life to be kind, nor to be civil. I'm doing it because the weapon you hold and the information you speak. Now." She turned her icy gaze down to Two. "Tell me exactly how you came across that weapon. And no lies, or I'll slit your throat."

Two swallowed, but rambled the story off at a fast pace. "We came across a traveler in the woods not far from here. We were in need of supplies, so we robbed him. No lies. It turns out it was your friend Vivi Orunitia... my brother, Mittsu, er, I mean, Three-"

Freya let out a growl.

"...um, Three and Vivi got into a fight. It let them to a cave nearby, just when the entrance collapsed. They're both trapped inside."

It took a moment for the Bermician to respond. "Do you know for sure weather they are alive?"

Two shook his head dismally. "No... ma'am. Not for sure. But I know my brother, and if your Vivi is as strong as he, both of them are still alive."

Again, Freya delayed her comment. One, however, was impatient. "So are you going to help us or not?"

The Dragon Knight glared daggers at him. "I will help your cause. However, there are conditions I wish to apply."

The smaller Waltz raised a confident brow, but his eyes stayed on the spear she held. "Like?"

"First, that you listen to every order I say. I want your honor, if Adamantiose slop like you have honor."

Both Waltzes nodded, although One didn't seem so thrilled about it.

"Second, you give me Vivi's weapon."

"No." Both Freya and Two looked at One with surprise.

"Hito!" The pacifist blinked, his tone shocked.

The hunched figure tightened his grip on the mace. "Dyuetto, we give her this and she'll take it and kill us. This is our only leverage."

Freya, unexpectedly, smiled. "I like the way you think, Waltz. The only hindrance to this is that I don't know of the cave you describe."

"Yeah, right." One growled, glaring at her, "And even if your telling the truth, there will be someone who does know where we're talking about. Cid for example. This is his kingdom, he should know where everything of his is. Once you find out- " He drew a line across his throat descriptively. "Our purpose is to be your guides. Vivi'll get his mace back when we see our brother."

The Dragon Knight's smile had faded, but her eyes almost held a bit of respect when she looked at the short Waltz. "...Well played, I must say. But mind yourself around me. If I find that this is all a lie, then you'll be seeing your brother." The rancor returned to her tone. "From your places at the Gates of Hades'." She turned on a heel, the mace wielder ducking to avoid being smacked by the broad side of the spear blade. "Stay here, hide yourselves. I'll explain the situation to Regent Cid and Lady Hilda." Without further ado, she was off towards the castle.

One sat next to his brother, putting on a high, mocking voice. "'You'll be seeing him from the Gate's of Hades'. Ooooh, aren't I clever!' Damn rat." He glanced at Two, nudging him. "You alright, Dyuetto?"

"...I think so." He muttered, though his expression unreadable. "I... hope Mittsu is still alive."

His companion blinked. "What's makes you say that?"

"...because I've realized..." Two said steadily, though One could hear his voice beginning to shake. "That his and Vivi's lives... determine ours."

They were both silent for a moment, then Two spoke again. "...you know how those people had us standing on the edge?"

"Yeah?"

"...why didn't we just fly away?"

†

A/n: I'm sorry, One fans. I truely am.