Three Years Later

Unfortunately, Bahamut didn't have much success after this with his "new ability". He tried injecting himself again a few more times at first. But he just saw the same things. He never could see who the light and dark people were, and he never did see the One Whom He Saw Through. However, that didn't mean he stopped seeing him period. Every time he went in he saw him. And always, the visions would end with him nearly screaming for him not to go away. It became haunting after a while. He began to have regular dreams with him in it. They weren't as vivid or shocking, but they made him wake up out of breath just the same. He attempted again and again to try and get more from this person, all with no success.

After a year of periodic tries, Bahamut gave up on the drug. He began to form a hypothesis. The reason he couldn't see more in his visions was indeed because they were being distorted by the drug. They were warping his sense of reality, creating this alternate, bizarre universe. He knew he had to find it on his own now. Yet for all his attempts, he couldn't reach that state. He believed he finally had the place isolated in his brain, but for all his attempts to focus on it, he could do nothing to access it. He still felt hampered and chained somehow…being kept from it. Only the drug gave him the push he needed. But he could no longer try it. It ruined his attempts too much, and he began to fear that he was beginning to develop an addiction as Shinza had warned. He needed to find another way…

On the plus side, Shinza had been doing well. Bahamut continued to work with her every day. What truly helped, as it turned out, was placing her before a mirror, and forcing her to look herself in the eye and say something positive about herself. This simple method, a bit childish as it seemed, actually worked. He gave her "homework" to do, to do something like this to herself several times a day. And as she did it, she gradually began to train her mind not to respond with fear or criticism when thinking of herself, but with positive thoughts. And as she started thinking of herself in a better light, she began to realize more about herself that was good. Her confidence began to improve. She at last began to have self esteem.

Other changes began to follow. She reported less and less incidents about feeling uncomfortable around others. She was able to be in more social situations with males. She was able to dress more loosely and attractively without feeling embarrassed. In short, Shinza was becoming more well adjusted to the world around her and to other people. She began to fear them less and less. She probably would never completely lose her fear, but she was controlling it, and each day it became less of a problem. And now, in spite of everything, she felt that she was worth consideration and true love.

And on that note, today had finally come. At long last, Bahamut had managed to convince her to see her father.


For once, Bahamut found himself outside of Shinza's door, instead of the other way around. He had already arranged everything. It was little trouble for a celebrity like him to be able to gain access to a prison visit. They already had atransport outside waiting to take them there. Bahamut himself was still in Ettecan form, and had dressed himself in his normal attire. The time was when they had scheduled to go, and so he had gone to pick up the scientist. He reached up and gave a knock on the door, and then folded his arms behind him and waited.

Moments later, the door slid open. Shinza, dressed conservative again (for she had no desire to show anything to her father), was there. However, she was eager looking. Far more eager than Bahamut had thought. It actually puzzled the esper a moment.

"Um…Shinza…"

"Bahamut!" Shinza cried out. Her voice was excited and full of joy. Immediately, she reached out and seized him by the arm. "Come in! Right now! You've got to see this!"

Bahamut didn't have a chance to protest before Shinza reached in, snatched him by the arm, and nearly dragged him into the room. While he was still dazzled, she proceeded to drag him across the floor of Shinza's own apartment. It was much the same as his, with more details that Bahamut deemed superficial. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but Shinza wouldn't listen as she pulled him across the chamber and into the living room. The outside projector was displaying the light of a morning, although it was still dark out. However, her hologram projector for media was also up. Bahamut never wasted time with that. He had no interest in the things that this world called "sitcoms" or "show operas". Yet none of that was on right now. It was the news instead, and it was showing footage from earlier. Shinza dragged him in front of this screen, and came to a halt.

"What the-"

"Look!" Shinza cut off, pointing at the screen.

The esper blinked a moment, but then turned and did as he was told. The volume was on, and soon Bahamut began to hear the newscaster as he saw the corresponding images on screen.

"…The election season officially began last night for the next Regent. Three promising candidates all made their opening speeches on the same night…"

At this, the view changed to some sort of technical factory. There was a crowd of Ettecan workers there, and before them all was a man…a man with one eye and work clothing. Bahamut looked him over…and soon recognized him. It was the first man from his dream.

"Lapgip Ahlbed declared his candidacy at the machinery plant in his hometown last night, promising industrial law changes and better policies to cut dependence on foreign labor."

It changed soon after. This one was to more of a formal assembly, one located in a speaking hall somewhere. Here was another candidate. He was dressed differently…but it was the next man from his dream.

"Praetor Ralaiab, a renown public speaker and philosopher, and advocate of Gaiaism, announced a similar claim in his assembly last night, promising to crack down on acts of immorality and materialism in society."

Again, there was a change. Now, it was too an outdoor gathering, in front of what looked like a hydroponic farm. In front of this stood the last man from Bahamut's dream. He had artificial limbs just like he had in the dream, but he also was a very decorated officer.

"Lastly, General Joon, renown Cybeperian War hero, declared his intentions at a Farmer's Union gathering that he was speaking at last night. If elected, he promises to promote more Ettecan defense and take a harder stance against Yalori. There is no word yet if Regent Stone will run for reelection. In other news…"

Shinza switched it off at this. She turned and looked to Bahamut. The esper himself stared at the blank wall momentarily, his eyes wide and taking this in. But after a moment, he turned and looked back to the Ettecan. She greeted him with a somewhat enthusiastic smile.

"You were right, Bahamut." She told him. "You could see the future. You saw these three men deciding the fate of our land…and look. They're the three candidates for Regent. Any of them could rule our province within a year, and they'll all be fighting each other politically to see which one will get it."

Bahamut blinked for a moment, but then began to realize it. At last, it seemed his hypothesis was confirmed. He had to wait a few years for certain, but now he knew that he was indeed seeing the future. Rather…he had seen a warped version of it. In his vision, all had been wildly dressed and colored, and they were ready to go to war with each other for the future of the world. Here, they were dry politicians, vying for the position of a leader of the country. He was right about his visions being distorted…but not about his original hypothesis. Somehow, he had seen them. Somehow, he knew that they would eventually run for office. And now, this was the proof. Just as he hoped…they matched their drawings in too much detail to be simply coincidences. It was all here…

"This is amazing!" Shinza continued, her voice eager and excited. "I knew you had powers…but never have we documented anything as incredible as precognition! This reopens your file entirely! We could do a whole new report on it…"

"No."

Shinza froze at this. Bahamut, for all of her excitement, hadn't changed much in expression. The woman became confused. There was nothing that Bahamut hid from the world or her. But now, his face was stark and resolute. She blinked for a moment at this, wondering what was wrong. Bahamut, on his part, hesitated for a moment longer, but then turned back to her. His face was dark, but it wasn't hostile. He inhaled slowly and shook his head.

"That's not going to be possible just yet, I'm afraid." He responded to her. "This confirms that I am seeing the future…but for now, it shows little else. I saw many other visions in my dreams too. None of them have come to fruition. So for now, I don't know if I am seeing truth or possible futures. What more…none of these people are exactly how I saw them. In my vision, they were all distorted…with too much color and detail. Again, I don't know if I saw a possible future, or if I saw them as a result of the drug. I don't really know how much of what I saw was hallucination, and what was real."

The Ettecan paused for a moment. Bahamut did have a point, after all. She had brought it up herself in the past, when the visions didn't immediately appear. And she had wanted him off drugs for quite some time to test it. However, until now, neither of them had thought of a solution. And as far as she knew, Bahamut still didn't have one. She looked a bit troubled, but then gave a shrug. "So…now what do we do?"

"There is one thing I haven't tried yet that looks promising." Bahamut responded. "I'm having it installed today while we're out. When we get back, I'll show it to you. For now, let's just put this aside. Today is supposed to be about you. Let's get down to the penitentary."


A few hours later, they were there. After checking in and going through the proper channels of clearance, both of them were issued ID badges and allowed into the prisoner conversation areas. Of course, given the special circumstances, it was going to be heavily guarded. Two armed police in the room…and the prisoner would be restrained to his chair. A required minimum of ten feet distance was to be kept at all times. After finally getting through all of these channels and procedures, Shinza was nervous. It had taken time to get here and get through all of this. And the time lag had only made things worse for her. However, when Bahamut offered to call it off, she shook her head, and consented to it. Soon, the warden was leading them through a locked checkpoint, and began to take them through a hall in the prison.

It took some five minutes of walking through the blank, whitewashed halls before they finally made their way to the designated room. Once there, the warden produced his key card to open the area. Bahamut watched as Shinza slowly inhaled and exhaled, staring ahead with an empty look. He could feel her anxiety and fear grow, but she controlled it. She didn't regress or back down. After what seemed like an eternity, the warden finally opened the door. The threewalked in.

The room was very basic. It had windows with artificial light, but not much else. Just two chairs had been set up, one for Shinza, and the other for her father. Across from themwas a locked and reinforced door. Shinza breathed uneasily as she saw it, knowing what was going to come from behind it. She stood there silently for a moment as the warden locked the door behind them and moved in front of it. Bahamut himself watched her…saw her stare blank and empty in front of her at the door. After a little while, he moved in close to her and spoke.

"…Do you want me to leave the room?"

Shinza hesitated for a moment. But then, she merely shrugged, although she didn't look away. "There's no reason… You know everything too now."

Bahamut paused at that. However, he gave a nod soon after. "Alright. I'll just be standing in the back."

Shinza didn't reply. The esper lingered on her a moment. In his mind, he silently wished her the best. Then, he turned and walked to the back wall. He turned and put his back against it, crossed his arms, and waited. Shinza herself continued to stand silently a bit longer. But then, she inhaled deeply, and made her way over to the chair. As calmly as she could, she turned and sat down in it. He eyes looked up and focused on the door, and she waited.

The room was silent for a few minutes. It seemed like hours to Bahamut and Shinza. He wanted to see her be done with this as much as she did, after all. This was the last door to her old life she had to shut, the last restraint she needed to free herself. And the esper hoped she could do it.

At last…he came.

The door slowly opened across the room, making Shinza stiffen. Two guards walked in. Behind them, backed by two more guards, was an Ettecan prisoner. He was dressed in the bright yellow colors they made the inmates wear so that they were easy to spot if they tried to escape. He had binders on his hands and ankles, and both of these were chained together. He could barely move forward. His head was bowed, but Bahamut could make features out. He was one of the oldest and roughest looking Ettecans he had ever seen. Ettecans did not grow facial hair, but they did groom themselves to remove excess peeled skin during night times. This man did not, and it hung off of his lower face in what was the Ettecan equivalent of not shaving. His ears weren't as upright and springy as normal Ettecans either. He was overweight and unattractive, and his face was wrinkled from age and time. His hair was graying, though it still had some black in it. Although he didn't look up at first, Shinza still stiffened as she saw him. It was only after a few moments that she was able to somewhat relax.

The guards led him over to the chair and sat him down in it. Once there, they surrounded him and braced him, keeping him from being able to escape or move. Then, they temporarily undid his restraints. He didn't attempt to run or break free at this point. He resigned himself to his fate. Once he was undone, his arms were twisted behind the chair and chained to it. His legs were chained to its posts as well. He was made so that he couldn't possibly get out once there. Once that was all done, the officers moved to the side. They kept an eye on him, but did no more.

Silence lasted in the room for a short time. Bahamut kept his arms crossed, and patiently waited. The man kept his head down. Shinza managed to look at him. Now, it seemed as if she couldn't look away. She just stared at him, her face blank and expressionless. The esper looked back to the man. This was the infamous character in all of Shinza's horror stories. This is the one who had ruined her life. Bahamut, ever since finding the Dragoon, lacked any compassion for sex offenders. And the truth of the matter was, he wanted to slaughter the man before him with his own two hands more than once. However, he controlled himself for now. And part of what helped him control himself is that this man wasn't the normal proud, arrogant individual that he constantly found himself pitted against. This man…he was so much smaller and weaker…more mortal. This monster that haunted Shinza…this thing of evil…on seeing him in real life, he quite honestly didn't think him worth his time. He only hoped Shinza reached the same conclusion.

The silence was at last broken. But it wasn't by his friend. It was a much lower, rougher, and slang-accent-laced voice, that came from the bowed head of the inmate.

"…Hello, Shinza."

The scientist didn't answer. Shestared back at him without a word. As for the man…he didn't look up at all. He licked his own lips now. On seeing that, Bahamut wondered if he was the one who taught her that… The man was clearly nervous. He wasn't arrogant or domineering. He was quiet now…withdrawn. Compared to Shinza, it looked like he was the one in fear. He nearly cringed before her, refusing to look at her. Was he afraid that her testimony could give him a longer sentence? Or did he actually feel remorse for what he had done? One thing was certain…he knew why Shinza had come.

"I…heard about…you on the news…when I had my HP privelages…" The inmate continued, slowly and hesitantly, making the feeblest attempt at sounding enthused. "You and that…that alien critter… I guess you've done pretty well with yourself…"

Shinza didn't answer. Her face never changed. At last, the man risked a look up for a moment. When he saw that her face was still expressionless, any attempt at being positive was crushed. He bowed his head back down, and looked twice as small and low. Now, he breathed uneasily. Bahamut looked over him, and smelled his scent. It was laced with fear. But fear from what?

"Listen…" He finally spoke up again. "I…I know it probably won't do any good…but I have to say it… I told the…the prison therapist about what I did…back when they put me in for anger control or something… And…and I'm wanting to get better…and…"

"I came here to say one thing to you, dad." Shinza finally stated. Now that she spoke, her voice was cold and sharp, though not emotional. When the man heard it, he immediately went silent. He seemed to grow small again. But Shinza didn't care. She glared at him just the same, as if her face could radiate that same voice. There was a moment of silence in the room, seeming to put an end to her father's pandering.

"What you did to me…" She finally spoke aloud. "It didn't end when you put your clothes back on and left the room. And it didn't end when I ran away from home either. It kept going. I saw it in all of my nightmares. I felt it whenever I saw a man looking at me. No matter where I went…no matter what I did…I could always remember those days. I could always remember how I felt…how low…how dirty…how filthy…how worthless. And I kept feeling that way until that was what I believed I was."

The man licked his lips again. He bowed his head lower.

"I lost most of my life because of what happened at home. It nearly ruined me. But I managed to get out. I managed to make something of myself. I managed to see my problem and overcome it. I managed to love myself as a person and let other people love me. I learned what love is. And I finally gained the strength to come here and talk to you again for the first time in twenty years."

Shinza hesitated a moment here. Then…she slowly leaned off of the back of her chair, and toward her father. She lowered her head and extended it, but kept his eyes facing forward. This was just to get closer.

"…So the least you can do is be man enough now to look me in the eye when I tell you this."

The man swallowed. Bahamut sensed something in him…something he didn't expect. Pain. Sadness. However, he managed to slowly exhale, and then did what Shinza asked. He looked up, and he managed to look her in the eye. While his gaze was quivering and weak, Shinza's was strong and irresolute. She never batted an eye as she looked to him, and she never looked away. He was the one who had to struggle to not break down.

"I've carried you for over twenty years, dad. Today, I'm putting you down. I'm laying this to rest. I am shutting the door on that part of my life, and the rest of it I make for myself. That's my responsibility. It always was, irregardless of what happened to me. I didn't ask to be raped by you, but it was always my duty to free myself from the consequences. I've done that. Those days don't have a hold on my life anymore.

"And because of that…I came here to say I forgive you for this. So you don't have to live thinking that I am festering a grudge for what happened, or that I want to see you suffer for it. I didn't come here to add more charges to your record. To me, it will be like it never happened. You don't need to fear me for that.

"But I also came to say this. You're no longer a part of my life, regardless of who you are now or what you become in the future. I'm placing you behind that door and locking it. Because even if I forgive you…I'm not foolish enough to think that we'll ever be a real family. And I'm not going to try and attempt that. There is no place in my life now for you. The most loving thing I can do for both of us right now is to make sure we never see each other again. And if you think about that for a moment, you'll know it is the truth.

"I'll be happy for you when something goes well for you and you do something praiseworthy. I'll trust you're doing the same. When you die, I won't desecrate your ashes or tell the people at your funeral how horrible of a person you were. But if you think that you're ever going to get the little girl back who ran away from home…I'm sorry to tell you she's still a missing person."

Silence after this. Shinza and her father continued to look to one another. Shinza stayed calm and cold. Her father continued to swallow and tighten his throat. In the end, he licked his lips once…and then finally bowed his head and looked away. As he did…Bahamut and Shinza both saw it. A tear dropped from one of his eyes on his now hidden face and splashed against his pant leg.

The scientist never reacted to it. She merely turned to the warden and gave a nod. They were finished.

The guards moved forward, and moved to surround Shinza's father to unhook him and take him back to his cell. As they did so, something came over him. Bahamut thought later…it was a rare insight. A moment in one's life when someone knew this was their last chance to ever do something, and with all the bravery they could muster they forced themselves to do it in one burst. So it was with Shinza's father. Just before they surrounded him again, he managed to look up to her one last time. His eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything…"

Shinza never changed.

The eyes of her father pleaded with her one last time, before he bowed his head in futility. He let the guards undo his chains, stand him up, and then restrain him once again. Once he was tied, he was turned away and led back out. He moved slower this time, and had to nearly be dragged by the officers that guarded him. But they finally managed to pull him back out. His head stayed bowed the whole time. As he went through the door, Bahamut heard a few fading sobs before the door was shut behind him, and all became silent once again.

No one moved. The room was silent and quiet. Shinza still looked up and at the door without moving. Her face hadn't changed. Bahamut stared at her. That had been nothing like he expected. He was a bit surprised it had turned out the way it had. He hoped that it was positive in the end. At last, the warden began to move again. He was ready to leave, after all. He walked down to Shinza's side, obviously to tell her it was time to go.

On seeing this, Bahamut moved first. He quickly went to her side, beating the warden to it. Once he was there, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. His face turned to concern and looked down to hers. The warden saw this, and immediately withdrew. He felt Bahamut was better at handling this. As for Bahamut, he bent down slightly.

"Shinza…it's time to go."

The woman didn't answer or look away. She continued to stare forward silently.

"…Alright."

"Will you be alright?"

Shinza again was silent. Bahamut stared at her. Then, slowly…he saw a single tear come from the corner of her eye and roll down her cheek. Without changing her cold expression…she raised up a finger and wiped it away almost instantly.

"…I'll be fine."


They were back a few hours later. The entire visit had only taken about ten minutes. However, the impact was long awaited. Shinza needed a bit more time to steady herself, but she did not cry again. After she relaxed for about a half hour, she was composed enough to leave. Bahamut took her back out and back to the transport, and he drove them back to their apartments. After worming their way through the usual crowds, the two of them managed to reenter the hall they lived in, and returned to Bahamut's room.

As they arrived, Bahamut noticed that a message had been left for him on his doorway. He came to a halt when he reached it, and looked it over. After doing so, he gave a smile. Shinza moved in a bit closer and looked at it, and then back to him.

"What is it?"

The esper turned to her with the same smile. "It's here."

With that, he turned back to his door, swept his key card, and then opened it. He readily walked in, and Shinza followed after him. Once they were in the room and the door slid shut behind them, they only had to move a few feet forward before they saw the device that Bahamut had ordered. Both of them stopped, for both were a bit surprised at how it looked, although Bahamut did in fact know what it was.

In the center of the room, installed in the same place where Bahamut had meditated at the onset of his new discovery, was a long, black capsule. It was about eight feet long, and three feet in diameter. It looked rather simple in structure. All that it had was a hinge and crack alongside of it, where it would split in half and open up. It was a rather ugly, misshapen addition to the otherwise picturesque room. Bahamut beamed at it in pride, eager to see it where it was. Shinza, on the other hand, was a bit puzzled as to what its purpose was. In the end, she turned to Bahamut again, pointing at it.

"What's this?"

"A sensory deprivation chamber." Bahamut responded. "Inside, you lose all five of your senses. It becomes nothing but your mind floating alone in an endless void. I read about Ettecans using them. Because the only thing in it is yourself, the only thing you can focus on is your own mind. Some have reached totally new insights while inside them. Others were shown to use parts of the brain that were supposed to have atrifuted long ago in infancy. It's the best way, in my opinion, to reach a new part of my mind that I've been unable to contact using meditation alone without the use of drugs."

Shinza turned back to the chamber at this. She looked at it a moment. With its smooth design and black color, she had to admit she felt a bit uneasy about it. She always felt uneasy when it came to matters like this. Bahamut was already on a level she didn't understand, and things like this were so mysterious that they frightened her a little. A part of her wished he would drop it, even after seeing the success that they had this morning, knowing that it meant yet more discoveries for their race. However, most of her was still eager to see this thing through. And she was happy that this wasn't a drug, after all. She still hesitated a little, but in the end she turned back to Bahamut. "So when will you try it?"

"Right now." Bahamut answered, his voice growing a bit earnest. Immediately, he reached up, seized his clothing, and began to remove it starting with the torso. "I was going to wait a while, but after what I saw this morning I'm eager to master this. I want to get underway immediately."

Shinza hesitated again. However, Bahamut was already moving toward the chamber, finishing his torso as he moved and going down to his pants. He began to take them off as well. After a moment, Shinza began to walk toward him again.

"...Why are you in such a hurry?" She finally managed to ask. She was a bit surprised she had asked that question herself, yet it stood. And it was a concern of hers. She hadn't seen Bahamut eager about anything in a good long time. But he was enthusiastic now. He was actually moving quickly to get in there, and he seemed somewhat excited about it. "Why don't we call in Dr. Folle? Or Dr. Maester? He probably wants to see the potential effect of your new neurons. This could be documented...or... I mean, why do you want to see the future so badly?"

Bahamut hesitated for a moment at this. He had finished with his shoes and pants and was at the capsule. However, he turned back slightly to Shinza at this, giving her a profile. He paused as well, breathing slowly. In the end, he spoke up with far less earnest and more thoughtfulness.

"...There's something about what I've been seeing." Bahamut answered. "Something about my visions. Something about that one I keep seeing the world through the eyes of. He has something to do with me. I know it. If he didn't, then I wouldn't be seeing the world through him. Until about four years ago, I thought my life was over. I thought I had nothing left. I thought I was just some leftover relic who hadn't faded yet along with my age. But then I started seeing this. Then, I started seeing the future. I started seeing this person. And when I saw him..." He hesitated here, and swallowed. He shook his head. "...I knew I had something else in my life. I knew I had a new purpose. But now...I have to know what it is. I have to find it out. I have to know who that person is and why I keep seeing him. This might be the only way."

Shinza paused after hearing this. Bahamut himself hesitated, still turned partially to her. Neither of them said anything for a short time. There was nothing that Shinza could say, and there was nothing more for Bahamut to say. However, the Ettecan did understand him more now, and why this was so important to him. This was his ambition and desire just as hers had been to end things with her father. She had to move on with her life, and make it her own. But Bahamut was still seeking his purpose...still seeking his reason for being. And he still had to find it. This was his only alternative now, the doorway into the next part of his life. In the end, she knew there was no way she could dissuade him. She bowed her head slightly and held for a brief time. But after that...she managed a slow nod to him. She said nothing else, just silently acquiesed.

Bahamut saw her do this. Once he was certain she did, he looked up and away from her again. He finished removing the last of his clothing. After that, he opened the capsule. Shinza looked up again and watched him. He turned back to her again, and stared at her once more. She looked silently back, but said nothing. In the end, he turned away and back to the open capsule andclimbed in.

The interior of the capsule was filled with liquid. It was water like, but Bahamut wasn't sure if it was water exactly or some other loose fluid. This was what he would float in, robbing him of his sense of touch. Once shut in the capsule, he would be robbed of sight, smell, and hearing as well. Taste was a given. Bahamut hesitated himself. After all...this was a bit nerve wracking for him too. He had never tried something like this before...and he hadn't fully recognized his need to do this until now. But now, it was clear in his mind, and he realized his true purpose in finding this new power. He had to be able to see what else there was for him. He had to find out if there was nothing more to his life. In the end, he stepped into the capsule. The cold water made his Ettecan body tingle. However, he adjusted quickly, and slipped the rest of his body inside. He adjusted himself and went down into the water, and shifted so that he was now floating. With that done, he slowly breathed, and looked back up through the open capsule.

He saw the ceiling of his room for a brief moment. But then, Shinza moved to tower over him. She looked down on his body for what had to be the first time in her life. Even when in the tank, Bahamut had always looked down on her. But now, the roles were at last reversed. He looked up to her now, and slowly gave her a nod. When he did, she moistened her lips once more, and then reached up and took the lid. Very slowly, she closed it down on him. He looked out and watched the light slowly be narrowed...and shrink down into afine line before blotting out and being swallowed into darkness.

With that done, Bahamut found himself immersed in a black, silent void...floating through nothingness for eternity.

The esper slowly inhaled and exhaled. He didn't do anything at first. He just let his body adjust to the temperature of the water. That took a few minutes, but once it was complete, he truly began to feel like he was weightless and floating. Once there, he was truly nothing more than an entity in a world of nothing. He truly was just alone with nothing but his mind. His essence...his consciousness...that was all that existed. All else was gone, and all else didn't matter. Only he did.

Bahamut was used to spending considerable energy and effort separating himself from the world. However, that was no longer necessary. Here, he was already alone. He was already a unit. It was almost as if he was forced into meditation without even trying. This helped. This gave him far more power to work with. And now that he had it, he was ready to get underway. With his mind isolated, he began to focus on it and started to concentrate, slipping into his meditative trance again.

It came much easier this time. In no time at all, he was in a position to reach out and touch all people around him. He continued to focus. Now, if he wished, he could see the individual moves, features, and thoughts of each individual for miles. He continued to increase his power after that. But he did not turn it outward. He turned it inward, toward his own faculties. He appealed his keen intellect and power solely onto his own mind, turning his introspection to focus only on himself. Once there, he easily delved into the portions he was more familiar with. His integral knowledge from the Planet... His history... His subconsciousness... All of these he had been in before. He filled out every corner of his mind, going into each part and parcel it was subdivided into. He continued to push, until he was everywhere within it.

However...he still hadn't found it. He still wasn't in the part where the visions lay. That eluded him. Focusing again, he forced his control farther, moving it through his mind more vigorously and fiercely than before. He tried to push out into new areas, expand his consciousness into somwhere new. But it didn't help. He had tried things like this before, but it didn't work. He had more power this time, so he tried to push harder. He tried to increase his strength and move out into new portions. He tried to break through the blocks he had been through before. But still, he felt nothing. He went nowhere else, and didn't expand into any new section of his mind. No matter how hard he tried, or how much he worked, he couldn't do it. He was frustrated again.

Bahamut hesitated a moment. He had to try something else. Everything had begun when he had seen the dreams...when he had taken the drug. The crazy visions came from there. He considered that a moment... At last, an idea came to mind. What if he could remember the dreams? Trace them back to how they originated? Where they originated? It was worth a shot. Perhaps he had the power to do so now that he was in here.

The esper focused again. This time, he focused all of his attention onto his memories. Specifically, the visions he had seen before. Some of them were now fixed in his memory after what had happened, and now he concentrated only on them. He drew on them totally, and let them fill his mind. He recalled every detail he could about them, tried to immerse his consciousness totally in them. After a few minutes, it filled him. With that done, he hesitated a moment, building his strength, drawing on all of the new powers that he had to bear. He focused them all together for one gigantic push. Once gathered, in breathed in deeply, and then acted.

With all the effort he could muster, Bahamut forced his consciousness deep into his dreams and visions. He aggressively drove into their center...tracing them back through time to their source. He forced himself to be filled even more so with the memory. He twisted his own mind and autosomic reactions, all to the one goal of totally reproducing the response. Feeling the effects of the drug again. It didn't work at first, but Bahamut didn't give up. He kept pushing harder and harder. He concentrated until he began to sweat, struggling to get more from the vision.

At last...he began to feel it. He felt his head become lighter. Feeling this, he pushed even harder. He began to feel his body swimming. He continued to focus, gritting his teeth and straining his mind. The visions...slowly began to come to life. They started to move randomly through his own random neural firing. They began to distort. Their colors became more vivid. Yet he kept pushing through them. He pushed himself...forcing himself by them even as they came to life. He went deeper and deeper. The dreams continued to come to life around him. They continued to grow more real. They took over his reality. They started to paint his world. But still he went on. He warped his body. He made his hair grow spiked. He made clothing appear around him. He started to hear the voice again...and it joined in with all the others. And through it all, he pushed harder into the heart of this world...the source of it all...where it all came from. As he yanked more of it out...his mind slipped more into that new realm. He pushed harder and harder...forcing it out...forcing himself into it...

Then, it happened.

Bahamut gasped as suddenly his senses returned. He could hear and see...and he saw as the world around him shattered like glass. As if everything was in slow motion, the world around him fractured and slowly flew apart. The glass shards that surrounded him slowly rotated around themselves as they flew away into the black surroundings. The sound of ringing and breaking echoed sharply in his ears as the world gave way into chaos...

Suddenly, he was falling. He felt the wind slap against his face and push up along his body as he fell down into the black oblivion. The glass shards were blown away behind him as they flew off into nothingness, and he continued to plunge headfirst down into the darkness. He looked down over his body, and was surprised. He could see himself again. And he wasn't nude anymore. He was wearing his regular clothing. And he wasn't an Ettecan anymore. He had turned into a human. He looked up again, and he felt the wind on his face as he fell. It was growing in power as he plummeted into the blackness. As he continued to fall, he began to see the world ripple around him...as if he was cutting through the air... He moved faster and faster, and yet he did not see where he was going. He only went deeper and deeper into the empty darkness.

Then, he saw something up ahead. He was moving fast now, the peak of a free fall. But he saw something in the blackness ahead. Though he wasn't anywhere near any light, he saw a ripple in front of him. Water...a layer of water... He was falling into a sea...a sea that stretched infinitely in all directions in this black world. He winced, and braced himself for the painful impact and the icy feeling of the cold water. Moments later, he struck it and plunged deep into it. However...though water went up around him...and though he felt the medium in which he fell grow slower and slower...he felt no water against him. He didn't feel cold. And when he breathed, he could inhale and exhale as if he was in air. He didn't know what was happening or where he was... All he knew is that he was still falling now, and that now he was falling as if he was falling into water...slowing down as he went deeper and deeper.

At last, there was a light in the darkness. Far below him, he saw a blue disk of light. He began to fall to it rapidly, although he was slowing down still. He saw other colors show up on it as he fell, indicating that there were designs or some pictures on the disk. However, he was falling too fast. Despite the slowing of his descent, despite feeling like he was going to come to a halt, he was still too fast. He was going to crash. He was going to land headfirst on the disk. It was coming too quickly...

Bahamut at last tried to stop himself. He tried to right himself before he hit it. The moment he tried...something unexpected happened. His body flipped in midair, his arms stretched out, and his toes pointed. His whole body altered to intercept the ground as best as possible. Not only that, butdespite the feeling he was slowing down in liquid, it slowed down even more now. It was like an invisible parachute had spread itself out and halted him. Now, as if he was a leaf slowly floating to the ground, his bodytouched down on the blue disk. His feet clicked as they both went into place, and then went down torest as their sound echoed through the empty void. He had arrived in a new place.

The esper was stunned. What had happened? Minutes ago, he had struggled to unlock a new area of his brain. And now...he found himself here...lost in some dark place in a different form. Had he succeeded? Was this a new area of his mind? If it was...he had never experienced anything like it. He didn't feel like a simple mind anymore. He had his senses. He could move and act and feel. He felt he had gone someplace, not just found something. And that...that was the most bizarre sensation of all. Had he gone into a new world? If so...where was he? What had happened? How had he gotten here?

The esper looked down to the floor on which he stood. It was the blue disk. But now that he had a better look at it, he saw that it wasn't just a disk. It was a large, circular pane of what looked like stained glass. And as he had seen from above, there were images on it. Not just any images either. The one in the center of the glass was the symbol of Bahamut's wing, the symbol of his own wing in all of his hallucinations. Not only that, but it was surrounded by images of other people...all of them from his dreams. Shinza...Dr. Maester...the three candidates...and even the person who he saw the world through the eyes of. Sadly...he was no better than a stain glass version of Bahamut's sketch. He could see nothing else of who he was. The esper studied these images for a moment, and looked around him. The blue disk was much larger than he thought. It was about a hundred feet across at the widest point...

"So there you are at last."

Bahamut snapped up immediately to the sound of the voice, and tightened himself for a fight. He soon received a surprise. A moment ago, he had looked around the window and seen only himself. But now...another had joined him.

A young boy stood with legs crossed and arms folded behind his head, smiling at Bahamut. He was dressed in somewhat unusual clothing...too much, in Bahamut's opinion, with reds, whites, blacks, and oversized yellow shoes. However, his clothing was far closer to the kind that would be found on Gaia, not on Etteca. Another look up at his face confirmed he was a human. His hair was sharply brown spiked, and spread out in all directions.He had blue eyes, full of youth, energy...and some sort of inner light to them that Bahamut was not accustomed to. He had never seen anything like it before. On seeing it...he wondered if the boy was human. If he was, then he was not one of the average throng. Yet he doubted he was. He looked different. He looked...like he was of some other world.

The boy calmly uncrossed his arms and legs, and began to walk forward. He smiled at him, and let out a small laugh. "You've kept me waiting for nearly 5,000 years, Bahamut. I was wondering when you'd get here."

Bahamut stared back for a moment. His face stayed expressionless and cold. "How do you know my name?"

The boy chuckled again at this. "I should, Bahamut. I've been inside this part of your brain ever since the day you were born. I've been watching you since then...and it's been quite a while. This whole time I've been waiting for you to come to me, and I was wondering if you ever would."

The esper didn't change. "And who are you? Or what are you?"

"That I can't really say." The boy answered with a shrug. "You see...I don't know how I got here. And as far as you're concerned, I only know that you're not in my plain of existence. In the realm of what you call the real world, I'm not a real player. I'm on a different level. Perhaps I was born when you were born. Perhaps I share the same mother. Or perhaps I am a different race of creature all together. Perhaps I have little to do with you, and what I am merely goes from person to person like I came to you. Perhaps a greater power brought us together. Asking me who or what I am, therefore, is useless. And pressing the matter is the same. All I can tell you is that you succeeded in your goal at last, and came to the part of your mind that you left locked for centuries."

Bahamut hesitated again. He looked over the young boy. Externally, he didn't appear to be capable of anything, special knowledge or technique or anything else. However, Bahamut didn't truly understand where he was right now either. From what he heard, it sounded as if he had succeeded in his goal. But where was he now? What was he now? Why was this place different from the rest of his mind? And why did it have this boy here at all?

"You appear to be a befuddled as I am." Bahamut finally responded to the boy. "Do you have any idea why you are here?"

"Well of course I know that." The boy responded. "I wouldn't be waiting for you if I didn't know that."

The boy was silent after this, and continued to smile at the esper. Bahamut waited for a moment, but he said nothing else. After a short time, the esper crossed his arms and frowned. "Well...are you planning on telling me?"

The boy kept smiling. He leaned a bit forward at this, and crossed his own arms in front of him.

"Let me ask you something first...do you know why you are here?"

Normally, Bahamut would have considered this beating around the bush, and would have responded with an appropriate amount of irritation. However, in the silence of the chamber, and the sudden sharpness of the voice of the boy, the esper found himself startled. The response seemed so uncharacteristic of this boy...that it did manage to catch him off guard. Yet in the pause that followed, the boy stared at him and looked to him challengingly. He kept his carefree smile...but his eyes were far more fierce and focused. The esper hesitated, but in the end drew himself up as well. His own look became hard and focused.

"To see the future...and to find out what my purpose is."

In response to this, to Bahamut's surprise, the boy smiled wider and snickered. It seemed as if he almost thought the idea was funny. He drew himself up again from where he was, and began to walk. As he did, he made his way around the glass window, but kept away from Bahamut. He folded his hands behind him and continued to smile at the esper.

"Let me show you something, Bahamut..."

With that, the boy brought his arm out from behind him, revealing a small fist sized rock in his hand. The moment he brought it out, he flung it right at Bahamut's forehead with considerable force. The esper was surprised for the briefest fraction of a second at this sudden act. However, his senses were far too sharp to be able to be caught off guard so easily. He never even showed any sign of surprise. With a calm face, he reached up a hand long before the rock reached him, and snatched it out of the air. With a dark frown, he lowered his hand and let the rock fall to the ground, glaring at the boy all the way.

The boy raised an eyebrow to this. "Very good. Now then...a rock will hit you in the back of the head in two seconds."

Bahamut stopped frowning at this, and blinked in confusion. "What...?"

Even as Bahamut was puzzling over this statement, as the message was registering in his brain what this meant, he sensed something approaching from behind. He heard it whistle through the air, and he sensed the impulses and vibrations on the wind. However...it didn't matter. The sentence that told him it would come, and his moment to recognize what was said...was all the delay he needed. He was unable to stop the rock before it sailed to the back of his head and connected, producing a nice smacking sound.

The blow, for his human body, was quite painful. A stunning jolt rippled through his brain, and agony filled Bahamut's head. He cried out and grabbed the back of his skull in pain. He held a moment, before recovering enough to growl angrily and spin around to see where it had come from. To his surprise, when he wheeled around...the boy was standing right behind him, one arm crossed behind his back, and smiling and waving with the other. Bahamut's face turned from anger to surprise again. He turned and looked back to where he had been facing a moment earlier...only to see that the boy was no longer there. He turned back once more, only to see the boy still smiling at him and waving. Bahamut's frown returned, but he stopped rubbing his head and turned fully to glare at him.

The boy was unmiffed by this. "Now then…do you understand the point I was trying to make?"

Bahamut glared at him a moment longer. However…he was already considering the things that had happened in the past few moments. As he did, he did begin to see something in them. Slowly, his anger faded. His frown melted into nothingness. He straightened himself up once again, and looked back to the boy.

"The first time you didn't tell me what you were going to do, but I stopped it from happening anyway." The esper responded. "The second time you told me what you were going to do, but it didn't make any difference."

"Close." The boy answered, beginning to walk forward slowly to Bahamut again. "But not quite. Consider yourself. You are a picture of sensory ability. You can see intentions before they happen. You can read muscle impulses before they move. No doubt, you knew that rock was headed straight for your head before it landed. So why didn't you stop it?

"The answer is that you didn't stop it because I told you it was coming. I told you the future. If I hadn't have said anything, you would have sensed it before it arrived and stopped it. But I distracted you when I told you the future, and as a result you were hit with the rock. In other words…my prediction that you would be hit with a rock only came true because I told you that you would be hit by a rock."

Bahamut hesitated and thought about this for a moment. However, the boy spoke the truth, and he slowly began to realize that. He had known that the rock was coming, but he had been so preoccupied with what the boy said that he hadn't done anything about it. As a result…it had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The future only occurred because he knew that specific future would occur. And on hearing that…Bahamut began to realize what the point was.

The boy merely smiled again and turned away, and began to patiently walk around the stained glass, slowly circling Bahamut. "You want to see into the future, Bahamut. But time is like a river. On one hand, you can throw an unmanned boat into a river, and then go ahead to see what rapids and twists it will follow. On the other hand…a river is branched. And time is the most branched river of all. Water is not a constant, but it is always changing. Winds and animals living in the river affect it as well. Even putting the boat into the water itself changed the nature of the river in a small way. And all of these small changes sum up to a different course and a different path. Ironically, it is not the nature of ordered things to be orderly, but chaotic. For all your wisdom, there are even smaller and even larger forces at work you are scarcely aware of frustrating all of your attempts to place the world into an easily examined lab table."

"So you're saying that if I see my future, I'll make it happen. That I'll alter my own destiny just by trying to look at it." Bahamut asked.

"I'm merely describing to you all of your options, Bahamut. You were able to stop the first stone because you didn't know it was coming, and you failed to stop the second because you knew it was. Not knowing the future doesn't necessarily lead to a negative impact. On the other hand,there is no one here, not you, I, or anyone else, to say that a future you would make for yourself would not be better. Self-fulfilling prophecies are double-edged swords, after all.

"To every decision, Bahamut, there are consequences. We make choices to direct ourselves on certain paths, and hope that we can live with the consequences. If you truly wish to know the future, your consequences will be giving up your current future to obtain another. It might be good. It might be bad. But you cannot unsee what you see. You sentence yourself to your fate even by trying to dabble in these matters. But if you are truly willing to take that risk…then I am here to give you your choice and consequences."

With that, the boy froze. He turned and faced Bahamut entirely. On doing so, he extended his arms out to either side.A blinding white flash came from either side of him. Bahamut winced as he saw it, and recoiled back slightly. It hurt his eyes for a moment, but did not last. Soon after the flash occurred, it died down again. And as it did, Bahamut, still shielding himself with one arm and holding back a little, slowly relaxed and looked to either side of the boy. He had something new now. Two giant white sets of doors were on either side of him. Both appeared to go nowhere, and both were sealed and locked tightly.

Yet that wasn't all. Bahamut suddenly realized his hand felt heavier. He looked to his body, and slowly unshielded himself. To his puzzlement, one of his hands now held a gigantic key. It was fashioned almost into what looked like a sword. The esper raised it and turned it in his hands, looking over it. After gazing at it a few moments, he looked back up to the boy, who was still smiling and staring at him plainly.

"What is this?"

"The Key to All." The boy answered. "The reason you have come here. And now that you are here…my time has come. After this, there will be no changing your destiny. Here is the critical choice. You wish to know the identity of the boy in your dreams. You wish to know why you need him, and what you must do with him. "

The boy gestured to the doors again. "Open one of these doors. The door on the left will show you a glimpse into the future. You will learn the identity of the young man, and you must then find him. The door on the right takes you back to the sensory deprivation chamber in the real world, and you will never experience a vision of the young man again."

Bahamut looked again at the key in his hand. Then, he lowered it, and looked up to the doors. Neither of them betrayed anything. They looked identical in every way, with neither one looking any better than the other. The esper looked at both for a moment. Then, he began to raise his key to point at the left door…

"However…" The boy sounded, his voice sharp and warning. It made Bahamut freeze when he said it. "As I said before, there are always consequences. You have another two choices before you that come with these doors. If you open the left one, you'll have the life of Gaia. If you open the right one, you'll have the life of Etteca. Now choose."

Bahamut's face nearly turned to shock. Those last words were chilling and hard. The boy was perfectly serious with them. Suddenly…this whole affair had turned into something dark sounding. Each word that the young man said was a fierce warning. And he made it look with each new phrase as if there was no right answer to this game he suddenly found himself in. Bahamut didn't even know what all of these riddles meant. What did he mean the life of Gaia or the life of Etteca? Who was this young man from hisdreamsthat he would change his life so?

The esper didn't know. But he knew the boy spoke the truth. His life would be changed after he opened one of these doors. It would determine his fate and destiny. Right now…he wished he had never started pursuing this. He wished he had remained unaware of his future. Then, it would have been easier at least. But now, he had the future spread out before him, and there was no answer he could give that would mean a perfect answer. There was bad and good to each one of them. He wished he knew what it meant. He wished he knew more of what would happen. But he knew better. The boy had told him all he could. Any more would commit him to one fate or the other, regardless of his desire to choose.

Bahamut looked again at the left door, and again at the one on the right. If he was more of his old self, he might have picked the door on the right. It was the closest he could come to pretending he had never been here. He could try to live his life in search of his new purpose and forget about a way to see them through precognition. And it did seem to be the safest choice.

And yet…the very thing that had driven him to this choice was the young man he sought. It was the person who was in that vision he had to find. And if he said no now, if he abandoned every finding him…then he'd regret it forever. There wouldn't be a day he would wake up and wonder how his life would have been different if he found out who the mysterious man was. He wouldn't be able to deal with that. He had come here for answers, not to learn how to go without them. And in the end, Gaia was his homeworld. It was his mother. And he didn't honestly believe that anything bad could happen to a world, especially not one like Etteca. In the end, he finally could reach only one decision.

Bahamut turned to the door on the left and aimed the key at it.

"You've made your choice, Bahamut." The boy simply answered, his smile gone now…and just a somber look on his face. "Know that when you must deal with whatever comes."

Bahamut didn't answer. He didn't even really hear him. Instead, he saw the end of his key. Suddenly, it began to glow brightly. A bright white spark appeared on the end of it. When it did, the key appeared to take a mind of its own. He felt an invisible force on it pull it up, and precisely aim it right at the door. The esper was stunned at this, and looked to it in puzzlement for a moment. But it was already too late. Once the key was aimed at the door, the spark on the end suddenly exploded in a white burst, and a ringing sound came forth. A thin, bright white beam of light shot out from the end of the key, and fired itself straight at the doors and into the keyhole on them.

As the other door vanished back into the void…and the boy began to fade away with it…Bahamut heard the sound of some cosmic lock all around him being unlocked. As it did, he saw the beam fade…and the two white doors began to slowly open. Bahamut dropped the key to his side, as radiant, pure white light began to pour out from the entrance. It grew brighter and brighter as the doors continued to swing open. The white light filled the darkness and drove it off, and bathed Bahamut in its glow. Soon, he too was glowing, and vanishing into the white light that poured over everything.

And through it all…Bahamut looked steadily forward to see the truth at last.


The door to the capsule suddenly flung open. Shinza cried out and jumped back. She had heard nothing from it a moment ago, and now it practically exploded open again. The moment it was open, water flew everywhere as Bahamut suddenly rose into a seated position. His eyes were wide now. He was heaving and staring blankly ahead of himself. He looked out of breath, and struggled to regain it.

The Ettecan was nervous for a few moments, staying recoiled and looking to him fearfully. But then, she managed to lean forward again. She hesitated a moment, but then placed her hand on Bahamut's shoulder. He didn't react. He continued to pant and breathe hard, staring out. He was wet, but not just from water. His body felt warm and sweating. The woman looked uneasily at him at this.

"Bahamut…what happened?"

The esper continued to breathe for a moment. He looked apoplectic…or possessed by something. However, it didn't last. He finally started to breathe slower, and he began to blink again. His body slowly began to calm down. When it did, he at last was able to turn and look to Shinza.

"…I saw who he was." He stated in an almost whisper. "…I saw what I need to do."


To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This part of the story marks a major division point. Until now, things have been going along in sort of a retrospective, which is why there have been giant leaps between sections, and even from chapter to chapter. There's going to be less of that very soon as the story moves into "the present".

The person from Bahamut's vision makes an appearance in the next chapter, which also marks the beginning of the FFVII part of this story. From here on in, a lot of"The Servant"is going to be told from the perspective of the person in Bahamut's vision. However, it is still Bahamut's story, and he will continue to be a major part of the plotline, even if he appears to fade out from time to time.

Also, regardless of what you just read above, we are still in the portionof The Servant, "The Wyvern Battles". (I warned you it was going to be long, possibly the longest.) However, the next chapter will open the last "mini-storyline" within the overall storyline of The Wyvern Battles, and after it is complete I'll move on to the next section.

See you then!