You guys…thank you all so much. I asked for 25 reviews by the 5th chapter, and I already have 25! (That doesn't mean don't review anymore!) It was a huge boost for my inspiration and self-esteem. However, school has almost succeeded in killing me, so that's my excuse for not updating for a long while. (What am I gonna do when I get to college?") Ah well, I've got it out now, that's all that matters, right? So…here is what you have all been waiting for…insight into the true plot behind this story!
Wonwingangel – Thanks for the review as always. I appreciate the compliment on fight scenes. As I promised everyone, there will be much more plot development in this chapter. But you have to read to find out. The length of your review did make me want to write, but school wanted to kill me. My bad…Tacofoolio – Thanks for the advice. I do hope you keep reading this story.
Kingpin – I'm glad you like it. Keep reading!
Lightwingdragon – First of all, I have to say: awesome name! The story had no explication for the randomness of the characters because I didn't exactly have a plot planned out. In my mind, I had Zidane attacking Gaia for a reason and that was it. But I think I've got it now. So read on to find your explanation.
Cogito Ergo Sum – Sorry about Amarant's name. They aren't in character? What do you mean?
Ravyn Crescent – As I said before, you are my favorite reviewer. Thanks for telling everyone about the story.
Eika – Thanks much for the review!
Chosenoneknuckles – Here is some of the plot.
Chapter Five – Gods?
Garnet slowly walked through Oeilvert, her Whale Whisker at the ready. However, she didn't meet a single monster as she walked through the monstrous halls of Oeilvert. The lack of monsters unnerved her, and she constantly felt as if a pair of eyes was watching her back. However, when she turned around, there was nothing. But the moment she turned her back, she felt the gaze again.
"Protect," she muttered under breath. Instantly, the protective magic went into action around her. The invisible barrier would lessen the damage that a physical attack would have on her. If the thing watching her attacked her from behind, the Protect would save her life. Feeling somewhat protected, Garnet proceeded on. However, the gaze on her back did not fade away…
"I'm lost!" Garnet wailed some time later. She had been wandering around for sometime, looking for some kind of information center or something that could tell her why Zidane had gone crazy. However, the only thing she had managed to discover was that she was lost. Her newest path had led her to a dead-end: a narrow pathway that led to a platform over nothingness. Above her, fog shrouded her view. Feeling depressed, she fell to her knees on the platform.
"What do I do now?" she cried, feeling despondent. "How am I supposed to save Gaia and rescue Zidane if I can't even manage to get around in this place?"
"Rescue the god?" a deep voice boomed from above her. "How do you propose to do that?"
Garnet screamed and started blabbering about disembodied voices and other nonsense. It took a few minutes before she ran out of things to say and regained control. When she finally did, she looked around for the voice but didn't have to look far. High, high above her, were a hundred stone faces that Garnet had thought were carved into the very stone. However, one of the faces now jutted out and had turned bright orange.
"What…are you?" Garnet stammered. She had a feeling that her Protect spell wouldn't do much if this…thing…were to attack her. If it could attack her, that is.
"I was created by the ancient Terrans that escaped from the incredible devastation of their planet. I was built to record their lost heritage and past, so that future Terrans would not forget their pasts and about the power of the Gods."
"Wait a second," Garnet interrupted. "If you were built by ancient Terrans, why do you speak in Gaian?"
"One unique ability of any Terran is that the moment one enters a room, the Terran translates his language into the language that you are most used to hearing. You are hearing me speak in Gaian because there is a Terran in this room."
"Scan!" Garnet hissed. Information poured into her head about her surroundings. She sifted through it quickly, searching for the name of the person that was there that she didn't know about. There! In the dark stood…
"Oh ho! Me finally caught up to you!"
"Quina!" Garnet breathed in relief. "What are you doing here? And why can you translate Terran?"
"Steiner send me to guard you!" Quina said earnestly, nodding his/her head up and down rapidly. "Me sneak on ship, but me fall asleep, so I no help you in fight with Zidane. However, me watch your back while you get lost in Oeilvert!"
"So that explains the eyes on my back," Garnet muttered. "But how can you translate Terran? You don't have any Terran blood, do you?"
"No…" Quina said hesitantly. S/he seemed rather embarrassed. "Back on Terra, me was hungry. So…me eat a Terran. But, no taste good."
"You ate a Terran?" Garnet exclaimed. "That must be it. You inherit the abilities of the foes you eat. You must have inherited a Terran's ability to translate the Terran language."
"Indeed," the giant stone face above her said.
"Anyways," Garnet interrupted, turning back to the stone face. "You mentioned Zidane being a god? That's not possible. He's a mortal; he bleeds! Gods don't bleed!"
The face replied, "Within your own Gaian mythology, you are correct. However, though I may sound like I am speaking Gaian, I speak of the history of the ancient Terrans. And in Terran history, a god can die."
"What is a god in Terran culture?" Garnet questioned.
"A being of incredible power," the face answered. "One that surpasses even the elites within the Terran military."
"Terra had a military?" Garnet asked, slightly surprised. "I thought they were rather peaceful."
"Terra built the Invincible," the face reminded her. "Yes, the Terrans were inclined towards peace, but they kept a military to defend themselves with. Within the military, a select few, the very best of the best, were singled out for the most important missions. They were called elites by the Terran citizens."
"And a god surpasses these elites in skill?" Garnet inquired.
The face boomed, "Not just in skill. But also in strength, endurance, intelligence, and special talents. Of all the unique talents found upon Terra, two were held higher than all others: Dyne and Pathos. The one that wielded Dyne and the other that held Pathos…they were called the gods."
"Dyne?" Garnet echoed. Visions of Zidane's awesome Trance maneuvers surfaced. "Zidane has the power of Dyne."
"Yes, he does," the face said. "The power of Dyne is the power to destroy and vanquish all life. That is why he is called the God, or Angel, of Death."
Garnet asked fearfully, "And the power of Pathos? What can the wielder of Pathos do?"
"The power of Pathos is the counter to Dyne. The one who wields Pathos can undo the damage done by Dyne. The power of Pathos gave the wielder the name God, or Angel, of Life."
"Where can I find this God of Life?" Garnet asked earnestly. If this person could counter Zidane's powerful dyne techniques, maybe he could also cure Zidane of his madness.
The face replied, "There is another reason why the gods are called gods. When a normal Terran's soul is released from the body, it returns to the planet and awaits its next carrier. However, the souls of the two gods are unique. While the souls wait in the planet, they absorb the information of the planet. And when the body is finally conceived, the soul reenters it. However, if the soul were allowed to retain all the information that it learned while it was waiting in the planet, it would have knowledge of incredible powers and cause chaos to the world. Therefore, fate played its hand here. Always, the two gods suffer a horrible accident, and they forget much of the information they learned. The God of Life has not overcome the barrier of fate. He/she is still oblivious to what he/she really is. You cannot find the God of Life, because the God of Life doesn't even know that he/she really is the God. However, it seems this time, the God of Death has overcome fate's barrier."
"You mean Zidane knows all the secrets of the planet!" Garnet exclaimed.
"Yes," the face replied solemnly. "However, he received all the information at once the moment he overcame fate. Therefore, he has not had enough time to understand it all. So, he knows the secrets, but he doesn't know how to use them. Yet…"
"Yet," Garnet muttered. "So when he does…"
"He will annihilate Gaia," the face finished for her.
"Report," Zidane snapped from the bed. He was still wrapped in bandages from his fight with Garnet, but his Auto-Regen spell was helping his health greatly. Still, without the aid of a White Mage, Zidane would have to actually use time to let his wounds heal. Gathered around his bedside were Vivi, Freya, Fratley, Mikoto and Amarant.
"Steiner is dead," Freya replied. "Lindblum's defenses have been shattered and are in complete disarray. Beatrix is the only one that might pose a problem."
Zidane sighed heavily, and Vivi could not tell if he was sighing in relief or sadness. Every since his battle with Garnet, Zidane had been rather quiet. Whenever Vivi checked up on Zidane, he was either staring out the window in thought with his tail twitching or sleeping heavily.
"Zidane," Vivi said hesitantly. His best friend turned towards him, his face completely emotionless. "When will this war end? When can we stop hurting those that were once our friends?"
"Vivi," Zidane whispered. "The war that has engulfed Gaia cannot stop until I am sure that I no longer need to fear for my life. I will stop fighting when I win this war."
"When will that be?" Vivi questioned.
"I tell you as soon as I know," Zidane said quietly.
"I will stop when I kill the God of Life! I don't know who it is. I only know that it is someone that is on Garnet's side. It wasn't Steiner. I would know if the other God were dead. The war must go on. The God of Life is the only one that poses a threat to me."
Hours had passed, but Garnet had not given up. She was determined to get every ounce of information out of this record information as she could. Finally, the stone face had no more answers.
"You've answered all my questions," Garnet muttered. "All of them except one. Why would Zidane attack Gaia? Why would he declare war against the people that he loved?"
"I have no answer to that," the face replied. "The only way to find that answer…is to ask him personally."