Author's Note: Greetings everyone! This is the next to last chapter. What I wanted to let everyone know about this chapter is that I tried to make it better than the final conflict between Zidane and Haldan in A Time of Peace. A Time of War. Hopefully, I have done so. As always, I ask you to continue to read and give critical reviews.

Kill the king.
He'll rule no more.
Strike him dead.
The people roar,
'Kill the king.
Take his head'

"Kill the King"—Rainbow

Mother Terra

Chapter XVI

Although it was never dark on Terra that did not matter to Zidane right now. The hallway had no light, and Zidane did not have a torch. "Well unless there's some monstrous cat I have to fight I should be all right."

Eventually Zidane came across a faint ray of light. "It's a door. Nuri must be on the other side. How should I go about this?" Zidane reclined against a wall, crossed his arms, and stared at the ceiling. "I'll open the door slowly, and if Nuri's on the other side I'll strike! And if he's not, then I'll stalk him. Nuri may know about my past with Kuja, Haldan, or my relationship to Terra; but he knows nothing about my history as a thief."

Zidane opened the door with a dagger drawn, but Nuri was not on the other side. Nor was he within eyesight of Zidane.

Zidane took the role of a hunting fox. Finally he discovered his prey. Nuri sat, with his back to Zidane, smoking a pipe.

"Got him! He's caught off guard. I'll slice his throat before he realizes it!"

Zidane became an assassin, and Nuri acted oblivious to the threat on his life. But as Zidane went to strike, Nuri moved, and struck Zidane with a right cross. Because he was caught off guard, Zidane lost his dagger. It was picked up by Nuri and tossed away.

Nuri smirked. "Well, well, I had a feeling that you might escape. I know about your past as a thief."

Zidane was shocked.

And Nuri chuckled. "By the look on your face it appears as though you underestimated me. I'm not stupid, Zidane; in fact, I'm far from it! Most of these dumbass genomes out here are nothing but pawns, but I'm an intellect. For example, I'm sure you're wondering how I was able to dodge your attempt to kill me?"

Zidane was interested.

"Well, it's quite simple, really. Look around."

Nuri gestured. There were mirrors along the walls. "I put these mirrors here intentionally. To protect myself in case you tried to sneak up on me and kill me."

Zidane returned to his feet. "I admit that I was a fool for underestimating you in this sense," and then he unsheathed his other dagger, "but I promise you that I won't make the same mistake twice!"

Nuri smiled. "Then I take it this is the final battle?"

"What do you think!"

Nuri chuckled. "Well then, if you win I can accept my fate, but can you accept yours if I win?"

"…Yes."

Nuri smiled, and shook his head. "I don't think you understand me. It's true, of course, that if you beat me my life will end. But I don't want to kill you. I can't kill you. If I win you have to unquestionably help me restore Terra, got it?"

"…Fine."

Nuri continued to smile. "Excellent…"

But Zidane would not give Nuri a chance to gloat over what he wanted. He slashed his dagger at Nuri's face. Nuri dodged, but did not counterattack.

"I don't understand. He's not stupid. Why isn't he trying to mount some offense? He can't dodge these blows forever."

Nuri continued to dodge. And Zidane attacks became slower and slower. Eventually, Zidane gasped.

Finally, Nuri counterattacked—a punch to the side of Zidane's head. The punch was not strong and would not have knocked Zidane down had it not been for Nuri wearing him out.

"You're not too hard to figure out. Without those daggers you have no other attacks. That's the difference between you and me. You're one-dimensional; and I'm multi, which I'm sure is something that shocked you. I can do a little more than just magic—oww!"

Nuri was silenced by a cut on his shin. He fell back, and placed his hand on the wound. Blood seeped through it.

"While I may have underestimated you earlier, now you're underestimating me!"

Nuri returned to his feet; but whenever he moved, he grimaced.

"Now I've got him! He can't move!"

Zidane went for a finishing blow. And while Zidane was right that Nuri could not dodge his attack like he could earlier that did not stop Nuri from using a blast of fire. The blow caught Zidane in the shoulder. He fell, clutching his shoulder, and screaming. Nuri followed his attack with a kick to the head. Zidane bent over backwards, released his dagger, and was barely conscious.

Nuri grinned wickedly over his body. "Well, well, it looks like I'm the victor. Now then, you will keep your vow and help me, won't you, Zidane?"

Zidane groaned.

"What's that?"

No answer came. Instead the door opened.

On the other side stood Garnet, Steiner, Vivi, Eiko, Freya, Quina, Marcus, Blank, and Cinna.

"Zidane!" exclaimed Garnet.

"Don't take another step!" glared Nuri. "The battle's over. I won."

The party's lips quivered. They interpreted the sentence 'I won' to mean that Zidane was dead.

"What!" Garnet said.

Nuri grinned. "Yes, that's right. I won the battle. And as an agreement between gentlemen we made some stakes for this match. If I won the match Zidane agreed to help me restore Terra. And guess what? I won! Therefore, he has to help me."

"That may be an agreement between you two," Steiner said, "but that doesn't mean we have to honor it!"

Nuri glared.

"We outnumber you by about ten-to-one. You can't defeat us. Let him go, and come with us," Steiner flashed his blade, "or else!"

Nuri grinned. "'Or else' what? You'll kill me? That's what you would do if I came with you anyway, so what's the difference? Even if you do kill me it doesn't matter. My plan won't die with me. Someone else will come and take my place. Just like I did for Garland."

"Who? The genomes that were loyal to you? They have either been killed or surrendered. And we captured Goldwin and Aldous. They'll eventually be executed for kidnapping two members of the royal family, even though they're trying to claim that they helped Zidane."

"Steiner," began Zidane.

The party gasped as Zidane rose to his feet. One side of his blonde hair was soaked with blood, and his shoulder was badly burned.

"It's all right," Zidane added with a smile, even though he staggered. "We had an agreement. And the agreement said that if I lost I would help him restore Terra. I can't go against an agreement."

Garnet's lip quivered. She could not believe what Zidane was saying.

"However," continued Zidane, and with the speed of a ninja he gutted Nuri, "the agreement also said that if I won your life would end, and nowhere did I say that I surrendered!"

Nuri staggered. He tried to remove the dagger from his stomach, but could not. "You…bastard…! You…tricked me!"

"I'm a thief, remember?"

Nuri continued to stagger. He came upon a window and was finally able to remove the dagger. But it was too late. With his final piece of life, Nuri looked at the sky. It was his way of saying goodbye to his beloved planet before he breathed his last.

Zidane picked up his bloody dagger, and turned to the party. "Guys, you're late."

Garnet's lip quivered again. And finally she cried, when she embraced Zidane.

Zidane stroked her hair. "It's all right now. We can go home."

"Zidane," Freya began, "how on earth did you do that! I didn't even see the blade in your hand."

"You helped me, Freya…All of you helped me actually. While you guys were talking with Nuri, I was able to gather my wits. I saw the dagger at my side and was smart enough to hide it. It's something Baku taught me as a kid."

Cinna smiled. "The boss'll be happy to hear that."

Zidane turned to Steiner. "By the way, Goldwin and Aldous were telling the truth. They did help me escape."

And then Zidane turned to Garnet. "Pardon them please. I could tell this time that they sincerely understood their mistakes. It wouldn't be right to kill them. If you have to punish them, give them a small prison sentence."

Garnet paused, but then she sighed. "Very well, they're free to go."

Zidane smiled, and kissed Garnet. "Thank you. I'm sure they'll follow us. They want to live on Gaia now…Shall we go to the Black Mage Village pub?"

The party cheered.