Author's Notes: Here's a short chapter! Yeah, you might wonder in the last chapter, Egil didn't go into his Trance. Well, I decide to disable his Trance for the moment, unlike what I did in the original story. IMO, having him going Trance so early is just overpowering him. Anyway, that's just me.
I do hope you guys enjoy! I'll try to update as much as possible before I go out for my vacation.
Disclaimer: I don't own FFIX. Square does. If I do, this would be real.
Chapter Five: Through the Mist
It was dusk by the time we finish setting up camp for tonight. Apparently, those Tents are quite convenient. They are carried around in small spheres the size of a marble. When Zidane threw the mini sphere at the ground, it expanded and transformed into a tent for two. He set up another one while Vivi and I went out to gather as much woods as we can from whatever we can find around the sleeping Evil Forest. Steiner, as always, kept to his duty in overseeing the Princess's rest.
We sit around the campfire afterwards. The atmosphere is all gloomy and dark. No one dares to mutter a word, save for here.
"This is all his fault!" Steiner begins accusing Zidane all of a sudden. "Have you got nothing to say, you filth?"
Zidane merely ignores the knight while staring into empty air with a deadpan face. I just sigh and pat him on his back. We are all depressed by what happened to Blank, especially Zidane. And with Garnet not waking up, the atmosphere got a lot tenser.
"I hope she gets well soon…" Vivi says.
"…Oh…"
As if on cue, the princess slowly opens her eyes.
"P-Princess!" Steiner cries out in jubilant as Garnet slowly sits herself up. Zidane comes back to his senses and gets up to where the princess is, as does Vivi and I. Everyone was worried after all.
"Steiner? How did I survive? You brought me here?" Garnet asks.
"It is my sworn duty to protect you at all cost," Steiner boasts proudly, placing his right fist over his chest.
"Yeah, right," Zidane interjects, "It was actually me, Vivi and Egil that got you out of there, Princess."
"I thank all of you." Garnet gives all of us a comforting smile. Her smile is so radiant and warm, as expected from the princess of Alexandria.
Vivi, as usual, reacts shyly and begins adjusting his hat for no reason. Cute kid, he is.
"You're welcome. Glad you're okay," I reply.
Steiner, however, reacts in rage. "That monkey deserves no praise!" He points at Zidane, "None of this would've happened if you and your band hadn't abducted the princess! And how dare you claim to have rescued her? When we get back to Alexandria, I will-"
"Steiner," Garnet interrupts, "I left the castle out of my own will."
If only I have a camera now, then I can capture a photo of how bewildered Steiner looks in response to Garnet's statement.
Zidane snickers, "What a coincidence, huh? We went to snatch her, and she wanted to get snatched!" He says with a triumphant tone at Steiner's face.
"Impossible!" Steiner exclaims.
"It is true," Garnet justifies, closing her eyes.
"So, what do you say, Rusty? Friends?" Zidane says, extending his hand to shake Steiner's. "Come on! Let's enjoy this camping trip while it lasts."
"Camping—You imbecile!" Of course, being Steiner, he refuses to shake Zidane's hand and growls in return. "Surely you must know something about the Mist! The vicious monsters it spawns! The abnormalities it stirs in the mind and body! Princess, we must leave this dangerous place at once!"
"You got to be kidding me. She hasn't even fully recovered yet!" protests Zidane.
"Silence, who asks for your opinion?" Steiner counters.
"Alright then, tell me. How do you plan to get out of here? We're standing in a valley surrounded by tall cliffs. And last I heard, both North Gate and South Gate were sealed off," Zidane replies, crossing his arms.
Steiner opens his mouth, trying to find words to counter Zidane's but ends up failing so.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Zidane grins triumphantly.
"Grrrrrrrr…" Steiner growls.
"The man's right, Steiner," I support. "Travelling during the night is a lot more dangerous. You'll never know what comes out at night."
The fact is, I'm scared as hell to walk in the dark. I watch too much horror movies to be afraid. Who knows what kind of hell spawns will follow us in the night? And next thing you know, one of your companions is missing.
Anyway, while Zidane and Steiner quarrel on, I approach Garnet and greet her.
"How're you feeling?" I smile.
"My head is still a little heavy… But some rest will do," she replies. "I apologize for the trouble."
"Whoa, there's no need for apologies there. We're just doing what we can."
Garnet smiles, "You seem like a really good person, Egil."
That made me blush alright. How long has it been since someone last complimented me like that?
"Thanks," I answer shyly. I can't help but scratch the back of my head. I always do so whenever I'm nervous.
"….Very well!" Steiner finally admits defeat with a heavy sigh, "Until the princess recovers, I will guard this place with my life." He then walks away.
"With Steiner on patrol, I think we'll be fine," I thought out loud.
"Sounds good to me," Zidane chuckles, "Alright let's get some rest."
I enter the tent to find Vivi already sound asleep. Poor kid must have been really exhausted. As I lay down on my back, I can't help but think about what the future holds.
I still have a long, long way ahead of me.
I wake up next morning to find the air surprisingly fresh and cool. However, the foggy effects of the Mist are clearer in broad daylight. I still can't really see the sun through the thick Mist covering above. Perhaps we need to get to higher ground for that.
Vivi is still asleep, so I thought it is best not to disturb him. Outside the tent, Steiner is snoring loudly while standing. And I thought only animals like giraffes or horses sleep while standing.
Zidane and Garnet are both awake and are talking to each other by the stony walls surrounding the Evil Forest. I figure by now Zidane probably would have told Garnet about what happened to Blank. I don't feel like disturbing their moments together, so I sit down and double check all my equipments and items. Better safe than sorry.
"Morning, Egil," Vivi greets as he walks out of the tent.
"Hey, you're awake. Morning to you, too," I reply with a smile.
The little black mage turns around to check on the others. He chuckles lightly at how Steiner is snoring.
"Do you think Zidane's gonna be okay?" Vivi asks worriedly, sitting down beside me.
I pat him on the head to assure him, "He'll be fine. He's a tough guy."
Vivi nods in return, looking more relieved. "Look, there's something coming!" He then points out something white and furry flying towards us.
Zidane and Garnet notice the incoming object as well and quickly run back to us.
It's Monty, the moogle that we met back inside the forest.
"You made it out!" Zidane says.
"Yes, kupo!" Monty lands on the ground and nods. "I'm impressed, kupo! First time I've seen anyone escape from Evil Forest. You all must be strong, kupo!"
I'm strong, huh? I silently did a happy back flip inside my mind.
"But don't get cocky, kupo. Lots of strong monsters ahead," the moogle warns.
"You wanna come with us?" I ask out of curiosity. Having a moogle on the team seems like a pretty cool idea. So, why not?
"No thanks, kupo! I have other business! So goodbye," Monty gives us a wave and then speeds off flying in an unknown direction.
"I hope he doesn't get chomped by a monster or something," I thought out loud, wondering how moogles always wander around the world in the game alone.
Vivi looks horrified at my idea of Monty having his head bitten off by a monster. Garnet quickly shushes me and says, "Don't say scary things like that!"
"Right, sorry about that," I apologize. "What about the tents? We just leave them behind?"
Zidane looks at me with a puzzle face. "Yeah, the thing decomposes into the ground after a day of use. You never use one before?" he explains.
"Not really," I shake my head. I quickly make up something, "I usually spend the night in an inn."
"Yeah, people nowadays don't travel the Mist Continent by foot anymore," Zidane says. "Let's go then!"
Steiner is still sleeping as we prepare to move out. Zidane skits to the knight's side and kicks him in the butt, causing Steiner to wake up in surprise.
"What the! Who goes there?" Steiner asks stupidly. Zidane was swift enough to avoid being caught. I can't help but hold my laughter seeing Steiner all goofy like that.
"Hey, Steiner! Come on, we're leaving!" I call out to him. Zidane, Garnet and Vivi are moving ahead already. I'll make sure this bloke here doesn't get lost. After all, Steiner has a bad sense of direction.
"Princess! Wait!" Steiner immediately runs past me and chases after Garnet.
"This is going to be interesting…" I smile to myself before running off to catch up to them.
We have been travelling through the Mist for two days. It wasn't easy for us to navigate our way even with the scroll Blank gave us (which turns out to be a map). Sometimes, the Mist got so thick that we are forced to stop our progress and set up camp. Next thing we know, we are surrounded by Goblins trying to mug us. Of course, we made short work out of them.
Zidane pointed out that, according to the map, the only way out here is through a cavern that will lead us to up the tall cliffs. I know what type of place we are heading to, alright. And it isn't exactly one of my favorite places in Gaia.
To help pass the time, the lot of us happily exchanged stories of our own, save for Steiner who claims that the entire conversation is overly childish. Then again, I didn't really talk much, not about where I come from of course. At least I've finally got the chance to properly introduce myself to Garnet.
Zidane was mostly boasting of his awesome journeys throughout the Continent, something like stealing treasures from the riches of Treno or picking the pockets of street thugs, both to which Steiner strongly consider as serious act of crime. On the other hand, Vivi and Garnet are completely absorbed by Zidane's tales. Vivi was particularly excited about it.
Garnet shared about her experience in Alexandria Castle, how she grew up learning the customs an rules of the castle, how she was taught to act and speak in royal manner and so on.
"There was one time when I got hold of a small cutting knife from the kitchen," Garnet was talking about one of her naughty moments when she was young. "I then took it out to the corridors and play with it. And when Steiner saw it, he got very panicked and knocked down all the knight armors in his way towards me. I found it funny though, and ended up making Steiner upset."
"I was worried, princess!" Steiner argues. "It was a dangerous tool for your age at that time! You could have hurt yourself!"
Zidane laughs to that, "So Rusty was already butting around when you were young, huh?"
"Silence, thief!" Steiner barks. "It is my sworn duty to protect the princess of Alexandria!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've heard that from you a thousand times by now," Zidane rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Steiner, it was a long time ago. Let us not argue about it," Garnet says, trying to hold back her own laughter.
"But princ—"
"Oh, look! It's the cavern!" I interject Steiner as soon as the cavern come into sight to stop them arguing.
Cold Mist is pouring out from the cavern's entrance. As expected, the cavern is located at the feet of a mountain. Due to the thick Mist, we can't make out how high the mountain is. But I feel that it's going to be a long way up.
Everyone was busy gazing up at the mountain until Vivi speaks up, "U-Um…"
"What's up, Vivi?" Zidane asks.
"Have you ever heard of the Ice Cavern?" questions Vivi.
I have heard of it, alright. In fact, I have played the game through it.
"Sure… is this the place?" Zidane ponders.
"I think so… It's supposed to be near Evil Forest."
"I've heard of it," Garnet chimes in excitedly. "It's supposed to be a beautiful place covered in ice."
Ice. That was the keyword to this place. "Drat, I didn't expect it to be this cold here," I thought out loud as one of the cold breezes sends a chill down my spine.
"Don't worry, Egil," Zidane pats me on the back, "We can always ask Vivi to use his Fire spell on you."
"Very funny, Zidane," I reply sarcastically.
"U-Um… My grandpa told me about this place," Vivi continues on. "He said the cavern takes the travelers to the top of the Mist."
"Bravo!" Steiner praises, clapping his hand. "Master Vivi's grandfather must be quite a scholar! We must thank him upon escaping the Mist!"
Vivi merely smiles weakly in return. "My grandpa used to teach me many things, but he passed away…"
"Oh… forgive my indiscretion," Steiner quickly apologizes.
"Don't worry about it."
"Well, why don't we all go inside?" Zidane suggests.
Before I could argue him out of it, Zidane drags me into the Ice Cavern along with the others. I can immediately feel the huge drop in temperature the moment I step inside.
The path in front of us is full of icy ledges piled with snow. Plants and flowers made of crystal ice decorate the surroundings. Generally, everything inside here is made of ice, snow or something cold. Despite being one of the coldest places ever, Ice Cavern is a very beautiful place. A masterpiece of nature, you can say.
"Oh! What a beautiful place!" Garnet gasps in excitement. "Seeing the actual cavern is much better than reading about it!" She quickly approaches one of those icy flowers and begins observing it. "How pretty… I wonder what kind of flower this is."
"Princess! Please don't touch anything!" Steiner's overprotective nature immediately took over.
"Relax, Rusty, we're not in Evil Forest," defends Zidane. "Anyway, let's get going. I'm freezing here." He hugs himself and shivers.
And so, we continue to move on with Zidane leading the way. He couldn't stop bickering about the cold in here and kept complaining how he should have brought thicker clothes. After all, Zidane wears only a sleeveless vest for his upper body.
"Wish I can grow some fur over my chest right now," the monkey-tailed bandit mumbles.
As I walk on, my legs keep on getting heavier and heavier. Could it be fatigue from the cold of this place?
"Guys, my legs are getting tired already. How about a short break?" I suggest. Now I'm practically dragging those boots. They feel like they weigh a tone.
"Now that you mention it, my legs are getting kinda heavy, too," Zidane says.
"Me, too," Vivi adds.
"Same here," Garnet chimes in.
"Wait… Something's not right here," I thought out loud. My legs are getting more and more sluggish. The weigh just keeps on increasing. I look down at my boots and I gasp in horror. Damn it. Why haven't I notice it sooner?
"Everyone, stop moving!" I cry out.
Everybody halt in their spots. They, too, begin to realize the situation we're in.
Zidane runs a hand over his face, saying, "This isn't good."
Adhering to our feet are little monsters called Flans. They are yellow, jelly-like creatures with orb-like eyes and an ugly mouth.
And there are a lot of them, probably over a thousand. I lost count as more of them begin to surface from beneath the pile of snow.
I hate this place, too.
