Something to See
SakuraRibbons: Yay! I'm on chapter four!
Quina: What yummy yummies are on chapter four?
SakuraRibbons: There's no food in chapter four, Quina.
Quina: Noooooooooooooo! (Hangs head)
SakuraRibbons: Ummm…yeah. Here's chapter four! (Gives Quina a riceball.)
Note: Italics are Dagger's thoughts.
Chapter Four
Dagger's POV
Right now, I'm in my airship. I had Choco land close by to it. Since I'm in the Esto Gaza area, the best place to start would be in the Black Mage Village. When I decided to go to Esto Gaza for the 'date' I wanted to pilot this thing on my own, so, I'm riding this airship by myself. My heart suddenly starts feeling the same way. No, I'm not alone. I have the Kingdom, my friends, and Zidane…I'd be just plain selfish to want more. I land the airship and go into the village.
Inside, I see nothing has changed except for the new black mages running around. "Dagger, is that you?" Vivi Ornitier starts walking up to me and then trips. "O-oh, s-sorry about that," Vivi adjusts his hat. "Hi Dagger! Why are you here?"
I smile at Vivi. "Umm, well, the thing is…you may not believe this but…ummm can we talk in private?" I say quickly.
"Yeah," the little black mage takes me to the inn, which is empty. "What's wrong?" he asks sitting down on the bed.
"Vivi, this may be hard for you to hear, but, Kuja is back," I study his face. (A/N: What face?)
"NO! Dagger, please tell me this is a joke!" Vivi jumps up.
"Vivi, Zidane is with him right now. That's why I'm here. Zidane wanted me to spread the word to our other team members," I manage to calm Vivi down a bit. "He also asked me to bring you all to the Iifa tree."
Vivi looks at the ground. "Alright, I'll come with you," he says softly. "Let me go tell the other black mages." He is about to walk away but I stop him.
"Vivi, can you get Mikoto too?" I ask.
"Okay," he says and walks off. I feel really bad for the little guy. Kuja made the black mages for war and Vivi was the prototype. His feelings must be pretty messed up right now. A minute later, Vivi and Mikoto walk up to me.
"Hello, um, Dagger," says Mikoto. Her hair is slightly longer and she looks a lot better than she did in Terra.
"Are you two ready?" I ask. They both nod their heads. "Then the next area we should go to is Burmecia. Freya will come for sure."
Vivi waves goodbye to the other black mages and we get in the airship. "Dagger, what's going on?" Mikoto asks. I put the ship on auto-pilot and we all sit down.
"Here is what's happening. Zidane protected Kuja and Kuja managed to stay alive. Zidane told me to gather everyone and bring them back to the Iifa Tree so Kuja could explain things properly," I finish.
"Still, I wonder why he hasn't died," Mikoto said. "All Angels of Death die at a certain age and…" she suddenly stops.
"What!" I cry. "Zidane…has a fixed life span! That's impossible!" I yell. Tears start pouring down my cheeks. "No…Zidane just can't die…I need him…" I can't finish.
Vivi looks horrified. "How come he never told us?" he says quietly.
I look at Vivi and sniff. "Vivi, I don't think Zidane knew about it."
Mikoto shakes her head. "Yes he did, Garland said that Kuja would die when Zidane got very powerful. But, I am here too, so that means…"
"It means that when you become powerful enough, Zidane will die," I say finishing the sentence for her.
The airship stops moving. "We're here. Let's go greet Freya…" I say slowly. "Also, can we keep what I learned about Zidane today a secret from the other team members?" I ask
. "I think that would be best," Mikoto states.
"Me too," says Vivi. We get off and cover our heads with a few blankets. The rain was pretty heavy and since it rains in Burmecia all the time, I knew that we'd be soaked. "Freya? Freya where are you!" Vivi yells. It's so…empty right now. Everything here is so lifeless. No monsters, no Burmecians or Burmecian soldiers, no nothing…
"Mikoto, can you sense if anyone is here?" I ask the genome.
"I can sense that there is life here but they are not close by," she says her eyes blank.
"Mikoto? Are you alright? You're a little pale," I say jumping over a large puddle.
"I'm fine, but this environment reminds me of Bran Bal," she mutters. How can this remind her of Bran Bal? I know that it's empty, but, in Bran Bal, all the genomes were soulless except for her and Zidane.
"Mikoto, Vivi, and Dagger, we meet again," I jump up in surprise. "What brings you to my humble home?" Freya Crescent walks up to us slowly.
We take the blankets off our head. "Well, we have news to bring to all our comrades," I say as we go to a room and all sit down on the cold, yet thankfully dry floor.
"Well, what's going on?" Freya asks looking concerned.
"Freya…" Vivi says softly, "Kuja has returned."
Her eyes suddenly widen. "The man who destroyed my homeland, is back?" she says bowing her head. "Freya, I don't know what to say but can you come to the Iifa Tree to see him?" I ask. "I must tell the other Burmecians," is all she says and leaves.
"I'm surprised," Mikoto says suddenly. "The reactions from your team are different than I imagined."
"Why's that?" I ask giving her a sideways glance. "Kuja is the man who brought Gaia to war and ended many innocent lives," she points out while standing up. "I thought that your friends would be mad and act differently than they are now." I pondered that for a moment. It's true. So far everyone was pretty calm although pretty shocked none the less of Kuja's return.
"I brought an old friend along," Freya has come back and with her was an annoyed looking Amarant.
"Amarant!" Vivi cries. "Why are you here!"
He looks at us all pretty hard. "I got bored. Life was uninteresting and Lani only made things worse. So, I came to Burmecia." Amarant had the same tone in his voice. His, uncaring voice.
"Well let us press on. We still need Steiner, Eiko, and Quina," says Freya. I frown.
"What do you mean?" I ask. "I mean, let us round up our team and go to the Iifa Tree!" I smile at her. "Thank you Freya."
Later On
Well, now we're going to the south of the Mist Continent. I actually don't know if we should call it the Mist Continent anymore. After all, there's no more mist! Anyway, this ship is on its way to Lindblum. Eiko, Steiner, and Quina are the only ones left.
"Hey Dagger," Vivi comes over and sits down in a chair. "Ummm…I wanted to ask you about Zidane's…condition." I look at the little black mage curiously.
"Alright, but…basically, he'll die when Mikoto gets powerful enough," I say in a hollow voice. Why do these things always have to happen to me?
"Well, I was thinking, Garland created Mikoto to be an Angel of Death but he never used her, so, Zidane might be okay," he replies looking at me with his big, bright, yellow eyes.
I smile. "I considered that fact too and I'm really hoping that's the case," I say laughing slightly.
"What is Zidane's condition?" Freya comes up to us with Amarant not far behind. Oh no! It was supposed to be a secret! What should I do? I guess I'll have to tell them.
"Well, I guess I'd better tell you both," I say. "In Pandemonium, Garland was telling Kuja that his life would end soon. He said Kuja would die when Zidane got to his full power. Well, Mikoto, Zidane, and Kuja are all angels of death. So, they are probably built the same way. If Kuja dies when Zidane reaches maximum power, then Zidane dies when Mikoto gains maximum power," I finish my explanation but can't stop the sudden flow of tears.
Freya sighs and pats me on the back. "Dagger, don't worry. Zidane is a strong person and we'll all help him find a way to survive." I look up at Freya, smile, and wipe my eyes.
"Thank you Freya. That means a lot," I say softly.
Amarant suddenly speaks up. "Hey, I need my rematch with that stupid punk. So, I need him alive so I can kill him myself."
I laugh again. "If you kill him, I'll ask Aunt Hilda to turn you into an ant." Amarant actually cringes at the thought and stalks back to the other side of the airship. I feel the airship stop moving. Then, I pilot it into the dock. Our group shuffles out. We all look kind of strange. A genome, a dragon knight, a little black mage, a guy with red dreadlocks, and a girl in an orange jumpsuit leading them.
"Queen Garnet?" It was Artania. I give him a bow. "Hello Uncle Artania! How is Lindblum holding up?" I look at him and see that his eyes are kind of hazy. "Uncle, are you alright?" I ask.
"Your Highness, didn't you know? Regent Cid and his wife Hilda were abducted. They are both missing." Artania says quietly. He shakes his head. "I'm sorry Your Highness. I am hopeful however, that we can find them soon."
I'm shocked. Who abducted them? I need to tell Zidane about this. "I hope they are alright," I say. "As Queen of Alexandria, I will also help you find them." My uncle thanks me and says that if we want to see Eiko, she'll be in the guest room. I lead the group up to the guest room.
"Eiko? Are you here?" Freya calls out. A small, seven year old girl waves down at us from the top of the stairs.
"Hi guys!" Eiko Carol slides down the banister. "I take it that you've found about mother and father," she says looking down sadly.
"Don't worry Eiko. I promise that we'll all help find them," I reassure her. She smiles and looks around.
"Why are you guys all here and where's Zidane?" I sigh heavily, take Eiko up, and sit her on the bed.
"Well Eiko, I hate to tell you this now, but…Kuja…is back…" I say giving her a sad look.
She jumps up in surprise and yells, "THAT JERK IS BACK? HE'S PROBABLY THE ONE WHO…"
"Eiko!" I cut her off. "Please, Zidane asked me to take you all to the Iifa tree because Kuja wants to speak with us. Will you come along?"
She thinks about that for a minute and nods. "Okay, as long as you guys help me find mother and father."
I smile at the little purple haired girl. "Will do."
Later On (again)
Right now, I'm heading towards the Alexandrian castle. I told everyone else to stay in the airship. Steiner and Quina should both be inside the castle. Quina is here because Quale suggested that he should cook in the castle for a while. It wasn't hard to find them because Steiner was yelling so loud, the ground shook.
"YOU IMPOTENT FOOL! THIS FOOD GAVE ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE CASTLE FOOD POISONING!" I look around and see Steiner yelling at Quina.
"Maybe you have bad taste," Quina says shrugging."
"Ummm…Steiner? Quina? What's going on?" I ask looking back and forth at both of them.
"Prin- I mean Your Highness! You have returned already? Did that monkey-boy do anything to hurt you?" Steiner takes out his trusty Excalibur. "If he did, I'll cut off his tail!"
I give him a sad smile. "Actually, it's quite the opposite. But anyway, that's not what I've come to tell you about. Please follow me." Steiner and Quina exchange confused looks and follow.
I lead them back to the airship and head inside. "We're off to the Iifa Tree." I say simply. Everyone in the airship turns to us and says 'hi.' I put the ship on auto-pilot again and turn around. "Alright, here is the deal. Most people here know this but, Kuja has returned and is outside of the Iifa Tree with Zidane. Kuja is going to explain everything to us when we get there."
Only Quina and Steiner looked surprised. I look at Mikoto and she nods. "Also, I've found out that…Zidane…has a fixed lifespan." I hear a few gasps. They were probably from Eiko, Steiner, and Quina. "Please don't mention it to Zidane that I have told you. That is all." I finish and turn around ignoring everyone else, feeling my tears coming back again. Come on Dagger! Stay strong! You have to believe that he'll be fine. I sigh and feel the ship land. "Let's greet Zidane."
TBC
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Authors Note
Yup! I've finished another chapter! This is my longest. Over 2,000 words. Next chappie will be when they see Kuja. This will be the beginning of my plot. By the way, please send any comments/suggestions my way. I accept flames too! (Just don't be too mean!)