Ripples in a Pond
Chapter 10
Rating: PG
Warnings: Monster slaying. And dust.
Pairings: Seifer/Zell, light Irvine/Selphie and implied Squall/Riona. The chosen threesome isn't named to avoid spoilers.
Summary: All bearings are lost when SeeDs experience an unfortunate crash that sends them on a planet where technology is at its beginning and monarchs still rule. The only thing they can do is try and keep their heads over the water and go with the flow, less they drown.ff8-ff9
Notes: Many-times rewritten chapter. The beginning gave me headaches, but I'm fairly satisfied with this version. I've also finally decided whether to capitalize magic, GF, abilities, races and such names. I know I've been hopping between yes and no all over the place, but I'll be slowly updating chapters to even it out. What you see in this chapter will be how it goes for the remainder of the story.
Zell wondered bleakly what sort of deity hated him so much to make him go through not one, but two shipwrecks in only a few days. Muttering to himself, he concentrated on keeping his legs moving, greatly appreciating the haste spell that made the scenery and the people running with him barely a blur.
Not that he had much of a choice with that big, multi-colored ball hovering over the wreck of the ship, searching for its enemies. Zell figured they only had Diablos' encounter-none ability to thank for having remained undetected so far, but he wouldn't push his luck. They'd discovered the hard way that very powerful monsters or enemies could sometimes find them anyways.
Still, he'd very much like to know where the hell they were running like this. Zidane was leading, surprisingly fast despite his shorter legs that should have put him at a disadvantage compared to, say, Seifer, but he hadn't spared a moment to explain where he was headed, if he even had a fixed destination. There hadn't been any time. It was run or die.
Behind them, there was the sound of an exploding magical surge of energy followed by an earth-shaking grind of metal. Zell picked up the pace with a cringe. Whatever the hell Ozma was, its destructive power reminded him of Ultima Weapon, and he didn't like being reminded of Ultima Weapon. That had been one of the first time Zell had truly felt death breathing down his neck, as if he was already half dead, and he hadn't felt much for biting it in an abandoned research center, who-knows-how deep undersea.
He didn't feel much for dying on this planet either.
A growing cloud of dusty red dust was steadily enveloping their merry little troop and he wheezed, rubbing it from his eyes. With the speed of haste, they'd quickly moved from grassier to dustier ground, and they moved fast enough to produce quite the cloud, which would only make them more visible from overhead. Zell cursed again. Now he could barely even see four feet in front of his nose!
Still, he closed his mouth, squinted his eyes against the dust, and followed the blurry shapes before him, hoping that Ozma wouldn't notice them, that they'd manage to escape wherever Zidane had in mind.
Mountains had started to flank them on their right side, pinning them beside the sea on a narrow strip of dusty land, when Zidane slowed down, bringing them to a halt. Zell didn't know how long they'd run, but the haste had faded not too long ago and the wind burned in his lungs. Breathing heavily, he looked back over his shoulder. Beyond the slowly settling cloud of dust, Ozma had disappeared behind the horizon. Zell breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but couldn't help to wonder at the lack of a proper chase, no matter the Diablos' encounter-none.
"Doesn't look like it followed us," he exhaled, getting his breathing and heartbeat back under control.
Not too far, Squall nodded, but he wore his relentless scowl of confusion and expectation under the dust and sweat and exertion. "Apparently, but why didn't it? We were an easy target." His question was directed towards Zidane and his friends, who would know the monster better. Squall was the one currently junctioning Diablos, but he knew as well as anyone, if not better, that encounter-none was not infallible.
Zidane only shrugged. Under the layer of dust, his face was flushed from the mad run, but he still managed to look content enough. "Maybe it was only after the ship." His shoulders slumped and he turned towards that engineer, Cid. The older man was wheezing, hands on knees, his refined clothing covered by a fine mist of red dust. "I'm sorry, but it looks like we lost both ships now."
Cid straightened painfully, puffing like a bellows –obviously he wasn't made for long physical exertions- and looked towards where they'd left the crashed ships. His eyes were filled with a kind of pathetic sorrow and loss. He sighed deeply and turned back. "No matter, it is better to lose a ship than all ours lives. We must be grateful."
Zell didn't think he sounded all that grateful.
"Whatever it wanted, it's not after us, but we'd better find someplace to take cover before it changes its mind," Squall pointed out.
Some of Zidane's cheer returned at this. "Of course! And I know just the place. See, right over there, just before the mountain range?" The genome pointed towards the north-west. Zell scanned the dim stretch of land until he thought he could make out a prominent shadow that stood out against the mountain's background. "That's Fossil Roo," Zidane continued. "It's a long underground tunnel that runs all the way between this continent and the other, close to Lindblum. We can take cover there, and then cross it back to Alexandria."
Cid tugged at his moustache with a frown. "But that would take days!"
Zell could imagine that any tunnel connecting one continent to the other would take a whole lot of time to cross by foot. Still, he was mightily tired of being stranded and lost.
"Better that than staying here doing nothing until Ozma finds us," Zell said, and he self-consciously dusted the Ergheiz. "So are we moving, or what?"
Zidane nodded, his hands playing against the corded hilts of his strange daggers. "Let's go."
---
"I'm sorry, but I really can't go with you."
Zidane threw his hands up, obstinate. "Of course you can! And you have to! It's way too dangerous outside!"
Vivi shook his head. The dim interior of Fossil Roo threw the black mage's face in complete shadows.
"Maybe, but if I don't go back to the village, who will warn them of Ozma? Besides," he continued before Zidane could reply, "if I go, I'll be able to send a message to Alexandria so they know what happened."
Zidane studied his friend for a few long moments before smiling grimly. "I don't like it, but it makes sense. There's no stopping you, is there?"
Vivi nodded gravely. "I have to do it."
The genome sat back on his heels with a deep sigh of resignation. "I guess so. But at least wait until Freya and Eiko are back."
The girls had gone off a little ways deeper in the cavern in search of the small pond of clear, safe water just before the entrance. If they had any wish to survive this trek, they'd need provisions of water. They'd managed to grab a few meager rations on the run out of the Invincible, but they wouldn't be enough by themselves.
Leaning against the wall in companionable silence, Zidane stared upwards at the shadowed ceiling of the cave, not really seeing anything in its shadows. Now that he could safely assume that they had escaped Ozma unscathed, his thoughts were turning back to Dagger. She'd be worrying about them, and would worry even more when Vivi sent his news. Zidane felt a sudden longing to see her, to hold her and not care whoever looked, because now nobody could do a damn thing about it.
"Dagger is going to kill me," he mused aloud with a small smile, startling Vivi.
The mage looked at him silently for a moment. "I don't think so."
Zidane lifted an eyebrow. "No? Alright, maybe not kill, but she's going to be angry I made her worry like that," he amended with a quiet laugh.
Vivi echoed his laughter with a shake of his head that made the top of his hat bob. "Maybe, but I really just think she'll be happy to see you safe."
The mention of safety burst Zidane's tiny, growing bubble of happiness and nostalgia quickly enough. He sobered and let his hand stray to the comforting weight of one of the Ultima Weapon's separated daggers.
"I don't know about that. Don't you think there's something off about Fossil Roo compared to the last time we were in here?" Zidane looked around carefully, studying the rock. It looked normal enough, but he couldn't help feeling something off about the whole place.
The black mage played with his hat and scrutinized the surroundings. "Fossil Roo's never been really safe, but I think I understand what you mean. The air isn't the same," he finally answered.
"That's it!" Zidane exclaimed, and now that it had been identified, it was easier to analyze what he felt about Fossil Roo. The air was heavier even than before, more humid and heavy and it had traces of a stink that was oddly familiar, but that Zidane couldn't identify. A thought suddenly crossed his mind and he jumped up in alarm. "Damn it, it could be bad air! We have to get out of here!"
Before he could move to urge everyone back outside, Amarant stepped away from the wall he had been leaning against and blocked his way.
"It's too late now," he rumbled almost nonchalantly. "And if we leave, what do you plan on doing instead?" Amarant continued, staring at Zidane from under his wild mane of hair. His eyes were sharp and unforgiving, making him feel almost like a fool.
"I don't know, but it's better than just dying in here if the air's poison," Zidane retorted. Their small altercation was starting to draw the others' attention.
Amarant uncrossed his arms. "We don't know about that. You would risk Ozma instead? Any of the few ships passing around here we could board are going to meet with it. What to do then?"
Zidane hissed a frustrated breath. Amarant made sense, but he still didn't trust Fossil Roo. They were caught in a nasty situation. Risk death through air poisoning, or risk death through Ozma. Both were such equally charming situations.
"Whatever you decide to do, you should go look for Freya and Eiko first. They've been gone a long time," Amarant continued impassively, leaning back on his heels, waiting.
Stung by the reminder, Zidane could only blink once or twice before reacting. He didn't exactly like having to be reminded such important little details, but he'd rather that than forgetting about it until it was too late. Idiot! He was being such an idiot, forgetting about Freya and Eiko, so wrapped up had he been about Dagger!
"Come with me. There might be trouble," he said and promptly spun on his heels, jogging deeper within Fossil Roo. Amarant's muted, heavy footsteps followed him, preceding most of the others'.
The tunnel quickly fell into heavy darkness once the entrance had been blocked around a curve in the rock; Zidane couldn't remember it being quite so dark during his last crossing. The air grew stuffier, but otherwise not any worse. It was a poor relief. A few moments later, Zidane heard water splashing under his boots and he stopped, frowning deeply. The water was supposed to be farther in the tunnel.
"We need more light," he said quietly, somehow afraid of raising his voice. Before him, he could just make out a wide blackness thicker than the shadows; calmer. It was that small pond he remembered, but it was bigger than he recalled. Over it hung a still atmosphere of foreboding he did not like one bit.
Something flared behind him, and Vivi moved forward, his staff glowing faintly from a small, cold flame. It cast dim, dancing shadows on the vine-covered walls, grotesquely highlighting the pointy-nosed masks that had spouted gouts of water in one last puzzling obstacle before the final switch, back when he'd first crossed Fossil Roo.
"Over there!" someone whispered loudly, and Zidane drew his eyes back down from the wall to scan the surroundings. He quickly spotted the subject in question; two forms were laid out on a thin ridge just above the water, one tall and one small.
What the hell were they doing there?
"Freya! Eiko!" Zidane called, but his instincts already told him that something was wrong with the girls; they were perfectly still, probably unconscious. Was it air poisoning after all? But he didn't feel any worse for breathing it all this time! "They're out cold!" he cursed before hurrying forward, sloughing through the water until he was knee-deep in it, intent on getting to them.
"Watch out!"
A bright flash of red light blew scorching hot air against his cheeks. Zidane staggered backwards, flailing for his balance, and drew his daggers. With a few quick practiced twists of the wrists, he had the full Ultima Weapon assembled, its pale blades shining dully even in the near-complete darkness.
"What is it?" he yelled, stepping backwards slowly, carefully, head swiveling to try and find the source of the fire spell. The remains of the light still sparkled in his eyes, and it had momentarily ruined his night vision; he'd be almost blinded until he grew accustomed to the darkness once again.
"In front of you!" another voice warned, but Zidane could see squat. Vivi's staff had been extinguished. He raised his weapon defensively, his heart so loud in his ears it deafened him.
"What's it doing now?" he blinked his eyes rapidly, but just as he was starting to make out the line of the water from the wall once more, he heard a gurgle that sounded disturbingly like laughter, a splash, and then a powerful pull rocked him from his feet and sent him sprawling back on the hard tunnel floor.
There was the sound of metal against metal, and then Vivi was beside him, blocking the passageway, his staff lighted once again and feebly illuminating the scene in the shallow parts of the water.
Zidane realized belatedly that it was Amarant who'd pulled him back out of harm's way –but if Zidane knew the man at all, it'd be more like he'd pushed him out of his way so he could go and fight-, and jumped to confront the monster, seeing the threat for what it was. The sound of clashing steel came from the man's claws skidding against the thick, oily scales covering the sinuous monster's body.
"Did you cast that spell?" Zidane asked Vivi, jumping back on his feet.
The mage nodded, his stance battle-ready and solid as a rock. "I could probably finish this off quickly if Amarant got out of the water," he said grimly, bright yellow eyes following every movement, waiting for any opportunity that would allow him to cast a spell.
"Leave that to me!" Zidane ran back in the water, and a small panicked voice warned him of possible other monsters hiding in the water, but he roughly ignored it. Battle frenzy thrummed in his veins. Now that he could see better, there was no way he'd just stand back and wait for the outcome of the fight.
He'd barely come close, with water up to his thighs, when something hooked Zidane behind the foot and tripped him. He yelped, but managed to keep his balance. So the thing had longer limbs underwater, didn't it? Nice to know. The genome kept moving until he had water to his waist and was within striking range. He parried one wild blow, then slashed at the monster. He felt his blade connect and cut through the scales with a horrible screeching sound like metal grinding through metal, and he was sure that the cut was shallow. What kind of defense did the thing have to be able to withstand the Ultima's blade?
The fight continued unabated for a few moments, with generous amounts of underwater tripping and narrow dodges, until one of Amarant's claws skidded over the beast's long, flat maw and caught it's eye from underneath, missing the globe by a hair's breath but managing to slice through the inner eyelid. The monster threw its head back with an angry gurgle, seeming to insult them, and sprang backwards to disappear under the deeper center of the pond, undoubtedly gathering for a counterattack. The injury hadn't been serious enough to warrant an abandon.
"Quick! On the ridge, now, Vivi's going to try something!" Zidane yelled, pointing to where Freya and Eiko still lay motionless. It wasn't too high; he swung himself up easily. Amarant was quick to follow in one powerful jump that left him crouching like a cat on a windowsill, ready to pounce right back.
No sooner had they fled the water that the monster's flat, elongated head pierced the water, regarding them with open malice, gurgling malevolently. Its eye was closed and black drops of liquid fell splashing in the water. It rose, revealing clearly a long, flexible neck. It was all Vivi needed. A brighter flash than before, crackling and deafening, filled the cavern with the stinging energy of thunder. Zidane was thrown back on his rump as he covered his tightly-shut eyes with his arms, and for a few seconds all he could hear was a high-pitched ringing in his ears.
After all the battles Vivi and Zidane had gone through together, Zidane could safely say he was accustomed to the impressive nature of the mage's spells. Before he'd even reopened his eyes, Zidane was back on his feet, peering down in the dim aftermath of the thunder spell to see if it had been effective.
The monster was only a charred, black body half-floating in the water, smoke rising from its stiff limbs. With the added potency of the water to carry electricity, the direct hit had been all it took to kill the monster. Zidane returned the Ultima Weapon to its' two daggers form and holstered them. He turned to Amarant.
"We have to bring the girls back down near Vivi's light. We'll be able to see what's wrong with them better," he said and bent beside Eiko's smaller form. She lay on her stomach, and although he couldn't see her well, he could tell that she was breathing shallowly. He gently hefted her in his arms and hopped back down in the water as smoothly as he could, Amarant following closely with Freya.
Zidane had everyone move back up the path until they were just at the bend in the tunnel, far enough away from the water, but still within sight of it so they wouldn't be caught by surprise. Irvine, so far silent, proposed to stand guard at the water's edge.
With Vivi beside him to provide some complimentary light to the steadily dimming evening glow pouring from the cavern mouth farther away, Zidane knelt beside Eiko and studied her pale features for a sign of what was wrong. She seemed to be sleeping, but if it was only a spell, the jostling ride down the ridge should have broken it easily. Across from him, Quistis was bent over Freya, checking her vital signs with a perplexed frown.
"I'm not a professional medic and I'd never seen her kind before, so it's hard for me to say exactly what's wrong." The woman paused, biting her bottom lip in concentration.
"Do you have any idea?" Zidane wasn't as versed in healing as he knew he should be, especially considering his fighting experience, so he was glad and a little ashamed to have Quistis there to take up the slack. Despite what she'd said, she had the precise movements and sharp eye of someone who'd been around enough sick and wounded to know what she was doing.
"It's too peaceful to be a complete poisoning of some form, but her pulse is rapid and weak, and her breathing's erratic and too shallow to be anything as simple as a sleep spell." The blond woman put a hand on Freya's arm. "She's too warm for zombie, curse or petrify, and her body shows no sign of changing." Quistis' frown deepened in frustration. "It looks like she's been knocked out, but it can't be just that."
Zidane didn't know what the 'curse' affliction was, but he understood the rest well enough. He ran a hand through his hair, looking down at pale-skinned Eiko and being immensely frustrated with himself for not being able to know what was going on. "It's nothing I know either. Could be a heat of freeze case, but they're not nearly warm or cold enough for it."
The cave fell in tense, thoughtful silence. There was a whispered comment here and there, a cursory study of the unconscious girls to see if anything had been missed, but no enlightening discoveries were made. After a few moments, Selphie moved forward. Zidane had almost forgotten about her.
"Can I try something?" she asked, and although the question was for Zidane, her eyes flitted towards Squall, who stood brooding in a corner. His frown deepened, but he didn't say anything.
"If you think it can help, sure," Zidane assured her, looking at the both of them curiously.
"If anything can, it will!" she claimed proudly, and once again she looked back at Squall's steadily disapproving stare. Still he did not speak.
Quistis stood up and took a step away from Freya, calmly meeting her leader's sharp eyes. "Go right ahead, Selphie. We must use anything we have to help Eiko and Freya," she declared firmly, still looking right at Squall.
Now Zidane was more than just a little curious. There was a moment of uneasy tension during which he could practically see the unspoken messages passing back and forth between them. Finally Squall let his eyes slide down and shrugged.
"Alright!" Selphie cheered and she let herself fall to her knees beside Freya. "Let's see if this works."
Zidane watched just as intently as everyone else as the young woman raised her hands over Freya's body and narrowed her eyes in concentration. There was the distinct gathering of magical energy, and although Zidane had been around magic often enough to last him a lifetime, this one felt wholly alien and so unfamiliar it sent apprehensive chills up his spine. A second later the accumulated energy was released in a rainbow halo of light that surrounded Freya, casting her still features in shifting, multicolored hues that popped and dissipated not long afterwards with a sound like thousands of miniatures bells.
With a speed that bellied a certain nervousness, Selphie hopped to Eiko before anyone could say anything and repeated the procedures on the horned girl. By the time she was done, Freya was already stirring back to wakefulness.
"Phew!" Selphie breathed with relief. "What a drainer. But it looks like it worked," she nodded with a relieved smile.
Freya and Eiko awoke and sat up, looking around confusedly. "What happened?" Eiko asked first, looking around at the circle of expectant faces.
"You got hit with something nasty and fell unconscious, but we took care of it!" Selphie provided helpfully, helping Eiko to find her unsteady balance. "How do you feel?"
"Alright, I guess," Eiko answered after some consideration. She mostly looked puzzled. "I can't remember anything."
"We found a monster prowling around. Large and scaly. Does it ring a bell?" Zidane added.
Eiko thought for a moment. "No. I don't even remember being attacked. How about you, Freya?"
The Burmecian was testing her limbs carefully, looking for bruises. She shook her head. "I don't recall anything either." She looked up at Selphie with a grateful upwards twitch of her whiskers. "You healed us, didn't you?"
"Yep!"
"How?"
Zidane looked across at Selphie. He was surprised, and of course he was grateful for her unexpected help, but he would have liked knowing beforehand that her and her friends could do magic. This wasn't really the time for surprises.
"Yeah, what did happen?" he repeated.
Selphie laughed nervously, looking awkward with the question. "It's called Treatment. It's an ability that can cure any negative status effect. It sure drains a lot, but it's useful," she explained.
"Is it a spell? It felt like it, but it's nothing I've ever seen before," Vivi asked in turn.
Before Selphie could answer, Squall stepped up, looking utterly unhappy with the development. "It's not really a spell. It's magic-based, but it's only a guardian force ability that we can borrow."
Zidane blinked, then blinked again. Beside him, Eiko was making sure they knew she was confused. The genome figured he was in no better state of comprehension. "Guardian force?"
Squall nodded. "They're entities we know well on our planet. In short, they're creatures with strong power we can call upon to help us in battle. We "host" them within our bodies, and in exchange we can use their abilities, like Treatment," he explained slowly, carefully.
He was testing the territory, checking on their reactions. It certainly sounded extraordinary enough, and Zidane could see that Squall would have preferred never to have to reveal this bit of information. He wasn't sure he liked how instinctively secretive the man was about everything, how he seemed to approach everything like a man on a perilous undercover mission. Like following a military protocol, Zidane thought suddenly, and what else could he expect, after all? Squall had explained to him that they came from a sort of well-meaning mercenary organization. Though Garden was a mighty strange word for it, he mused with wry amusement.
"It's not magic, not really, but the trick of a guardian force that Selphie can borrow," Squall finished.
Stunned silence followed those few words. Eiko was speechless for a moment. "You're summoners?" she managed to utter, her voice mixed with a complex set of emotions.
This time it was Quistis who answered. "No. At least not a summoner like you understand it, I think. Anybody can call on a guardian force, so long as they have it junctionned – what we call hosting them in our bodies, and we can exchange the guardians between us at will—and anyone can then use its abilities and profit from the enhancements it grants."
Zidane scratched his neck, his head buzzing with information. He was rudely reminded of how many things he still ignored about these people, but he tried not to be overwhelmed or alarmed. They came from another planet; anything could be possible, and it didn't mean they were suddenly hostile.
"That's the trick you used during the battle against the dragon," Vivi suddenly said, looking at Selphie. She nodded. "But why didn't you call one of your guardian forces then?"
Quistis sighed, her mouth pressed in a thin line of discomfort. "We tried, but we can't. For some reason, since we've crashed here we've been unable to summon guardian forces. We can still use their abilities, but we don't understand why we can't call them forth."
Zidane jumped up. "Well, that's enough information for today! It's too much to think about right now," he declared. He pointed at the darkening tunnel over his shoulder. "We've got other things to worry about. We can always think and talk as we go."
Freya stood up, smoothly brushing dust from her coat and returning her spear to its leather straps at her back. "Zidane is right. And we still need to gather some water; we did find a fresh water inlet that flows to join the pond, since that one is no longer safe. The monster must have attacked and done whatever it did to knock us out while we had our backs to the pond and were studying the inlet to see if it was good to drink."
The genome nodded. "We'll go get some, all of us. Then we move." He looked at Vivi and smiled painfully. He hadn't forgotten the black mage's momentarily delayed resolution. "Can you come with us just until we reach the first of the torches the miners tend? We'll need your light till then."
The black mage was unusually solemn, obviously worried sick for his comrades back at the village. "Of course."
Zidane looked at the hostile tunnel and pond. Somehow, he knew they were in for one rough ride.
TBC