I guess you guys didn't really want me to update more, eh? Only three reviews last chapter? That almost made me not want to write for a year. I mean…the three reviews I got were great, but you guys need to review if you want me to update more often. Lots of thanks to those that did review! Anyways…school is starting soon and with that comes marching band. So therefore, I definitely won't be able to post frequently. Luckily, this story is close to ending. I doubt there will be more than four more chapters. So, keep reading and don't forget to review!
Eika – You're always the first person to review. Well…most of the time. Anyways, if you don't stop giving Zidane sugar in any form, I'll kill him off next chapter. Yes…you heard me right. Stares at lame threat Uh…right. Anyways, you think Quina did it? Well…that is an interesting theory. Keep reading though.
Ravyn Crescent – If you're still pacing your carpet, waiting for this chapter to appear…there's got to be a trench in your room or something. Anyways, I'm glad you approve of my work. I tried to figure out how to link to your site, but I couldn't figure it out. So, just let me know what I need to give you, and I'll tell you. Alright?
Jenki Emeralds – You're just now understanding it? Geez…I'm not very good as a writer then, am I? As for giving away the whole reason Zidane is attacking Gaia? I think I'll leave you dangling for a while longer.
Notice: There will be several spells used in this story that were not in Final Fantasy IX, but were in the others. Please don't yell at me for it.
Second Notice: Fanfiction is being annoying, and I can't insert a scene break. So, I'll have to make something very obvious.
Chapter Eight – Vivi vs. EikoVivi sat there, unmoving despite the bitter cold. Actually, to him, the weather was fairly pleasant, but that was mostly because he was equipped to deal with extreme cold. His amber eyes were closed as he once more focused his energy into himself. After a good minute of focusing, he stopped and waited. They came soon enough.
"Vepals," Vivi said to himself. They were like giant, green, flying fish. Only…they were strong…powerful enough to knock Vivi to the point of unconsciousness with a single blow. Without warning, one of the six Vepals suddenly rushed forward, determined to ram Vivi into the ground.
"Firaga!" Vivi shouted, unleashing the highly potent fire attack. The flames scorched the Vepal and it crashed to the ground, badly burnt to the point of death. Vivi didn't afford it another glance as he stared down the remaining five Vepals.
The five Vepals communicated for a moment in their strange tongue. Without warning, three of the Vepals cast Blizzaga simultaneously while the other two charged forwards to tackle Vivi once he was damaged by the powerful ice attacks. The plan was perfect in theory, and it would have devastated Vivi…except that he was fully protected from Ice attacks. As a result, the three Blizzagas merely felt like a brief chill to him…before he raised his hands and his eyes flared!
"Double Flare!" he screamed and the two Vepals that had been charging him were instantly incinerated under the sheer power of Vivi's most concentrated attack. His eyes still burning, he raised his staff high and then brought it down like a sword, pointing it directly at the three remaining Vepals.
"Meteor!" Vivi roared and the incoming asteroid completely obliterated the Vepals. As the dust cleared, Vivi took a deep breath as he surveyed the remains of the battlefield. The Vepals had been completely wiped out and all the snow that had been around them was completely melted. Unexpectedly, Vivi heard the loud, piercing shriek of a giant bird.
"Phoenix?" Vivi muttered to himself, staring at the giant firebird. Phoenix was soaring gracefully over a forest beyond a small range of mountains. Vivi watched as Phoenix released several petals of fire, which erupted the moment they hit the ground, causing the air to look like a spectacular firework display. Vivi knew that only two summoners remained of the ancient race and only one could summon Phoenix. And it wasn't Garnet.
"Eiko," Vivi breathed. It seemed like such a long time ago that Vivi had actually liked Eiko. But, something had changed. Vivi still wasn't sure whether it was him or her, but there was suddenly a rift between them, and they had not gotten along since. When Zidane declared war on Gaia, it only drove the two further apart.
"Shall we battle once more?" Vivi said to no one. Slowly, he started off towards the forest on the other side of the mountain range.
(Scene Change)
"That was close," Eiko muttered as Phoenix disappeared, leaving only the smoldering ashes of her fallen foes as proof that the majestic bird had once been there.
"Cura," she uttered and blew into her flute. Instantly, she felt the healing magic tend her few wounds. However, even as she started to put down her flute, she felt the presence of enemies nearby. For more than the first time in her life, Eiko wished she knew Garnet's Scan spell.
"Protect," she whispered and a beautiful golden light wrapped around her body, acting like a piece of flexible body armor. Just for good measure, Eiko also casted a Shell spell. Now, as well protected as she could possibly be, Eiko waited for her enemies.
The seconds ticked by and nothing came forward to challenge her. Slightly unnerved, Eiko held her flute to her mouth, a powerful word of power poised on her lips. Suddenly, she heard a monster scream to her left. She turned to face it, only to see it blasted out into the clearing of the forest, its body completely burned. Behind, a tiny warrior stood behind it. But Eiko did not put her guard down. Size was no indication of power. The warrior before her was a testimony to that.
"Vivi," Eiko said with gritted teeth.
Vivi replied, "Eiko. Long time since we last saw each other."
Eiko shot back, "For good reason too. I recall you trying to kill me with your Doomsday attack the last time you were nearby. Even with the Egoist Armlet, I barely survived it."
"What are you talking about?" Vivi questioned her. "Well, anyways, I've come to settle it with you today."
"Why are you playing stupid? But I'll admit, you've grown much stronger, Vivi," Eiko whispered, mainly to herself. "But so have I. Maybe you're right. Maybe now is the time to decide it all."
"I'm feeling crowded," Vivi announced. His voice was completely emotionless. "Break!"
Eiko closed her eyes and braced herself for the attack…but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she could only stare in astonishment. Vivi had completely petrified the forest!
"Thundaga!" Vivi shouted and massive bolts of lightning lanced down from the sky, blasting apart the petrified forest. Dust stirred up, but Eiko didn't fear. Her Protect spell was still in place, so she knew that, for the moment, nothing could physically hurt her. After the dust cleared, Eiko looked around, only to find that the entire forest was gone! Now, there was nothing but an open stretch of ground, which extended for several miles.
"Much better," Vivi said with approval. His voice was monotone and flat…as emotionless as the black mages before they awoke. What was happening to Vivi?
"Are you ready, Eiko?" Vivi questioned. "Then let's go!"
"Holy!" Eiko shrieked, blowing into her flute!
"Flare!" Vivi screamed, waving his staff!
The two most powerful concentrated magical attacks smashed into each other with all the force of two Grand Dragons. For a moment, the two energies were locked in a furious battle of power: the Flare unrelenting and the Holy unstoppable. But before either could triumph over the other, both died away. From a distance of 100 feet, Vivi and Eiko glared at each other.
"You've gotten better," Vivi admitted.
Eiko replied, "Same to you. But that's not all I can do!"
"Holy!"
"Flare!"
Shooting death glares at each other, they simultaneously shouted, "Times 2!"
This time, it took the snow a lot longer to settle down. When it finally did, a crater fifty feet in diameter was right in the middle of the two warriors, marking where the Flare and Holy had impacted each other.
"Impressive," Eiko remarked.
"Not bad," Vivi muttered. "But I'm not done yet!"
Eiko tensed, waiting for Vivi's next move. Her Holy spell was her only offensive spell. The rest were all used for healing or to make a battle easier. None of them could win a battle.
"Fira!" Vivi shouted. Eiko grinned and easily dodged the spell. She turned to face Vivi, only to find another Fira spell right in her face! Luckily, she had been prepared.
"Haste!" she uttered quickly, the Time spell allowing her to move ten times faster than normal. Twisting to her left, she barely managed to avoid the Fira spell. But even as she avoided the second Fira spell, two more were already on their way.
"He's learned to rapid cast!" Eiko thought to herself while dodging the continuous spells. Very quickly, Eiko realized that Vivi had been merely toying with her. As he continued his rapid casting, each spell came faster and faster after the next, until the air was filled with Vivi's powerful spells.
"Hastaga!" Eiko uttered and suddenly she was moving 100 times faster than average! In the blink of an eye, Eiko ran around the wall of Firas and appeared behind Vivi, who had not yet registered the fact that Eiko was nowhere to be seen.
"Mini!" Eiko shrieked and Vivi suddenly found himself in a very big world. Not wasting a second, he realized he had somehow been hit by the Mini spell and whipped out a Remedy. But, fast as he was, Eiko was faster still while under the effects of Hastaga. With all the strength she could muster, Eiko kicked Vivi halfway across the frozen tundra! However, by the time Vivi hit the ground, the Remedy he had drank went into effect, and he returned to his normal size. The impact, therefore, was ten times as bad and when Vivi finally rolled to a stop, face down, he did not get up.
"Is it over?" Eiko panted, the Hastaga spell winding down. Vivi's body remained motionless. Sighing in relief, Eiko turned away. She didn't notice Vivi's body growing brighter, nor did she see his hat become pointed instead of flopping down as usual. She didn't even hear him stand up. But, she did feel an enormous burst of power when Vivi finally finished Trance.
"Impossible!" Eiko screamed. "You were out!"
"Almost," Vivi muttered. "But now I'm back. It's time to meet your maker, Eiko!"
"Not quite," Eiko countered as she tranced as well!
Vivi took a step back in shock, "You can control when you trance!"
"Yes!" Eiko replied. "Now feel my new power!"
"Flare!"
"Holy!"
"Times 4!" They both screamed.
The snow didn't have time to settle down this time. The sheer power of Vivi and Eiko blew all the surrounding snow far away. Fueled by trance, Vivi's rapid casting became even faster. But Eiko still had Hastaga up her sleeve, and she wasn't afraid to use it.
"Hastaga!" Eiko shrieked. Unfortunately, Vivi was prepared this time.
"Slowaga!" He countered.
The two Time spells cancelled the other out and suddenly, Eiko's best defense was useless. Falling back on her original defenses, Eiko cast Shell, this one much more powerful than her normal one. Meanwhile, Vivi was no longer rapid casting his Fira spell. He had now progressed to Firaga, and he was casting faster than ever. Then, to his shock, he found he could not longer cast any magic!
"Of course!" he thought. "I've exhausted my magic supply!"
Moving as fast he could, he uncorked an elixir and downed it. But in the few short seconds it took the elixir to go into effect, Eiko had already cast Hastaga and was preparing to cast a quadruple Holy. Vivi had prepared himself for fighting nothing but ice monsters the entire time. He was completely defenseless against Holy!
"Quadruple Holy!" Eiko shouted and four super-charged Holys blew towards him with unstoppable power. Vivi could only watch in horror as they shrieked towards him. He was powerless to stop them. Reacting on instinct, he curled into a ball and closed his eyes.
"What magic do I have that can deal with a quadruple Holy?" Vivi shouted at himself. "Nothing! All my powerful magic is nothing compared to a quadruple Holy! Only my quadruple Flare can equal it! And I have no time to cast it! I'm going to die!"
Vivi almost cried as he realized that nothing could save him. But then…so deep within him that he had never felt it before…a power beyond anything he had ever cast before made itself known. Vivi didn't try to cast it. He had no idea what it was! Instead…he simply let go of all control over himself. The magic filled his veins, and he felt electrified. Nothing…nothing could compare to this! Even Doomsday paled in comparison to this!
Eiko could only watch in horror as her quadruple Holy spell was completely overpowered by Vivi's sheer energy. As his energy continued to grow, the ground around him crumbled into dust. A crater began to form beneath him, but he did not fall into it. He was actually being levitated by the sheer power of this magic attack!
All of a sudden, Eiko realized what spell Vivi had finally tapped into. It was the greatest magic attack of all time. Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga were nothing to it. It dwarfed Flare, Holy, and Meteor. Doomsday could not come close. A magic spell that had no equal, with enough power to completely level a planet. So powerful that no one had even fully mastered it before. Ultima.
"Vivi," Eiko whispered, scared beyond any sense. "What have you done?"
Vivi turned his head towards her, and Eiko turned white. Vivi's eyes were no longer amber. They were now bright red. They seemed to glow with power.
"Prepare…to die," Vivi said emotionlessly. Raising his right hand, Vivi pointed it into the sky. With barely any effort, the Ultima spell formed above his palm, a bright, shiny, pink sphere of pure death.
"Ultima!" Vivi said calmly. The pink sphere shot into the sky, where it divided and became a dozen streaks of light that shot towards Eiko with incredible speed. There was only one thing Eiko could do: run.
"Hastaga!" Eiko shouted as she started to run. Her Hastaga spell gave her enough speed to equal the Ultima attack. Each time, she dodged the Ultima spell by only a few feet and where it hit the ground, it didn't create an explosion but simply drilled a hole straight through the earth. Amazingly, Eiko dodged all twelve of the streaks of death, and she didn't give a second look behind her as she ran with all possible speed to the Hilda Garde 4.
"You won, Vivi," Eiko whispered as the airship took off towards Lindblum.
(Scene Change)
Vivi watched the Hilda Garde 4 fly away, but something inside him stopped him from unleashing Ultima upon it. Surprisingly, he realized that it was himself who stopped the spell from behind cast. With a cry, he regained control of his body.
"What am I?" Vivi screamed, throwing his staff away and clutching his head. "What have I become? I wanted to fight Eiko, to hurt her, to scare her into not fighting anymore! But kill her? I would never have dreamed of it! Doomsday? When have I ever summoned Doomsday against her? Never, I have never summoned it against her! At least…not that I can remember."
Realization hit Vivi. He understood what was happening. And he also realized what it meant in the long run. Quickly, he ran as fast as he could back to the airship that he had arrived on. He had to tell Zidane about this.
"I am just like my brothers," Vivi thought to himself. "They were born asleep and later awoke, with no remembrance of what they had done when they were asleep. Soon after they wake, they stop. I was born awake, but now I fear that I am falling asleep. Will I soon fall into a sleep that I cannot awake from? And if I do…will I soon stop as well?"
Doubling his speed, Vivi ran faster towards his ship.
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