Ripples in a Pond

Chapter: 13
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some very mild battle violence, I guess? Nothing, really.
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: This one was a big, huge writer's block until I decided to change the POV. Then it went nicely. I actually like the last two scenes a lot. Can you spot the foreshadowing? -snerk-

"Has his fever broken yet?" Quistis asked as she settled across the fire with a suppressed sigh of weariness. She was covered with dirt and looked as tired as Zell felt himself.

Zell shook his head. Beside them, Seifer had laid down in a tight bundle of coat despite the thick, humid air, and he was so still he could as well be dead.

"If anything, it's worse," Zell said, recalling how hard it had been for Seifer to simply walk, how he'd been raving with fever and babbling incoherently. He'd never thought he'd feel this way, but Zell missed Seifer's more violent sickness. At least then his eyes had been alive.

Quistis stared at Seifer in silent thoughtfulness. "I don't understand what's wrong with him or why Treatment fails so completely, but I have a guess about how it happened."

"The battle? We all heard the songs, but nobody else got sick," Zell pointed. He looked at Quistis looking at Seifer. She looked frazzled beyond exhaustion. He leaned back and foraged in his capacious pockets until he found a bit of hard bread. Their rations would barely last them a day or two, but he still tossed the morsel to Quistis. She looked like she needed it.

She caught it with a small nod of gratitude and started nibbling at the hard fare. "Not the singing," she eventually said. She leaned her arms on her knees. "The water. He's the only one who came in complete, prolonged contact with it."

Zell snickered. "Fell in, you mean."

"Yes. And it all started soon after that. The water must have been poisonous."

Nobody knew what was wrong with Seifer, what sickness or poison he was stuck with. It had just happened, and now they didn't know how to help him. A shiver ran up Zell's spine and he looked over at the dark entrance of Fossil Roo. It had been almost a shock to step out of the tunnels and into the pale light of the night. The air was heavy and hot from the swampy area, but despite that it seemed cleaner, somehow. Zell was definitively glad to be out of there.

"Could make sense. I'm only glad Lindblum isn't far," he breathed. Seifer was getting so weak Zell had had to carry him once or twice already.

This time it was Quistis' turn to chuckle. "I imagine. We're all willing to help, but it looks like Seifer has other ideas."

Glowering indignantly, Zell sat back against a rock and crossed his arms sulkily. "The idiot is a bastard even when he's unconscious."

"Amarant didn't volunteer, but he didn't refuse to help either."

He shook his head. "Seifer's not their responsibility."

For some unfathomable reason, Seifer had lately decided that he wouldn't be approached or helped by anyone but Zell. His reactions to anybody else were even more violent than before -- Squall had found out the hard way. The only other person he tolerated, if reluctantly, was Amarant. Why that was, Zell couldn't fathom, but it did nothing to help please him.

Quistis smiled thinly. "True, but don't be stubborn if he ever becomes too much to handle."

"I guess I can always knock him out if it comes to that," Zell laughed humourlessly.

As if understanding that he was the subject of the conversation, Seifer rolled towards the fire. Slowly, his eyes cracked open, hazy and burned by fever, but oddly conscious. He stared blankly into the flames.

"Hey man, how do you feel?" Zell asked, leaning forward. He wanted to check Seifer's fever, but he decided to wait until he was sure the man wouldn't lash out suddenly. It had happened before. The Brothers' Defend was more useful than it had any right to be.

Seifer looked up. "We're outside?"

Zell nodded. "A short while ago. We're spending the night here before heading out to Lindblum." He didn't point out that Seifer had technically been conscious when they'd first stepped outside.

Moving like a very old man, Seifer sat up, huddling in his coat. Zell had never seen him look so weak and vulnerable. He hated it.

"Here." Zell handed Seifer a small water vial. The gunblade master chucked it down wordlessly.

"Try and get some more rest," Quistis suggested gently. "The night's still young."

Seifer shrugged dismissively. "I'm fine."

Zell shared a long look with Quistis. "Lemme check for fever," he said more as a warning than anything. He removed a glove and leaned forward to check Seifer's brow. It was hot enough to cook an egg on. He whistled under his breath.

"You're burning up, man. Sure you don't want to sleep?"

His question was met with yet another shrug, though this one seemed more helpless. "I can't sleep."

"Nightmares?"

Seifer's shoulders shook with a mirthless chuckle. "Tonberry King doesn't speak, just stares. I guess it's unnerving enough to pass for a nightmare."

That nonsense again. Since Seifer had first mentioned speaking with Cerberus, the subject had cropped up a few times again, and each time Seifer seemed more intimate with the GFs in his mind. Zell had tried to see if it was true, tried speaking with his own junctioned GFs, but he'd come up with squat. It was hard to believe Seifer was telling the truth.

Zell grimaced dubiously. "You didn't really meet Tonberry King, did you? You just saw him in a dream."

Seifer granted him a perfectly blank look that radiated 'chickenwuss' waves. "Him, Eden or Cerberus." Seifer added something about moody bastards under his breath.

Over the fire, Quistis was shooting him nasty shut-up glares. Zell threw his hands up in frustration and gave up.

"How do you meet them?" she asked, just curious enough, but not too curious as to sound suspicious.

It was a moment before Seifer spoke. He looked into the fire, considering the question, his eyes hooded and shadowed with bone-deep exhaustion.

"I don't know. Sometimes when I go to sleep I just…slip through."

"Slip through?"

A nod. "Into their domain."

It was getting too late for this. Zell yawned expensively, feeling his sore muscles twitch in weak protest. If Seifer was relatively lucid right now, he knew better than to assume it would remain the case. Tomorrow would be a long day, the only respite being that they were finally outside and didn't need to worry about finding torches and fuel anymore.

"Maybe it's a dream. Just forget about it and sleep, you don't want me carrying you if you faint from exhaustion," Zell snipped good-naturedly. If it came to it, maybe he'd ask Amarant for just a little help after all.

Seifer looked up, a slow, devious grin forming on his lips.

"Don't think you could handle it?"

He hadn't denied the fact that it might happen. This unconscious acceptance of his state wasn't really reassuring coming from Seifer. Somehow, Zell figured the man should be denying it with all his soul, or at least denying needing help, Zell's most of all.

Still, Seifer was goading him into indignation. Zell was too tired to bite, but he was not going to completely refuse either.

"I sure can. It's how I carry you that you might not like. I won't care about making you too comfortable."

"I'm not going to give you a chance to try," Seifer replied. He reached over with his arms and tightened his coat around his shoulders.

"I'm glad to hear it." With yet another yawn, Zell let himself slip to the ground, feeling the familiar sores and bruises complain about yet another night sleeping on rough rock. He ignored them with old practice and turned his back to the fire. "Try getting some more sleep, and if Tonberry King annoys you again, just smack him like you'd normally do."

Seifer murmured a half-convinced reply, but Zell stopped paying attention when Quistis started talking again and instead let himself fall asleep.

--

Zidane hadn't believed it'd be possible to miss Fossil Roo. He'd just been proven wrong.

Sitting with his elbows propped on the back of his chair, one foot jingling nervously and unable to keep that twitch out of his tail, Zidane watched the intricate carpet laid out over the just-as-fancy tiles. He felt like pacing, but kept his peace. He doubted Cid would appreciate being interrupted.

As much as this meeting was important, Zidane couldn't put his mind to it. They were now safe in Lindblum, bathed and rested and fed, but the last thing he felt like discussing was the what now. Fossil Roo had been good for that. There had only been the struggle to survive and find their way, with no time or energy he could waste on worrying. Now he was back in safe, comfortable territory, and had no such luxury.

There was too much to think and worry about. The problem wasn't just what to do with Squall's company anymore, but also Ozma, Fossil Roo, the Black Mage Village –where was Vivi now?—, the Invincible, the Ragnarok and all the possible repercussions it could all have on trade and economy, and shit but Zidane didn't like that side of ruling a kingdom. He had no talent with it either. He'd been raised a thief.

Then there was Seifer, and they had to do something about him fast. According to Zell, his fever had abated to less aggressive levels, but it hadn't broken once. Being sick so long had left Seifer a shell of man, thin and beyond weak and to all purposes near the end of his rope, yet he still managed to find the energy to lash out violently against anyone undesired approaching him. Zidane had ended up asking Amarant to go with the palace physicians to avoid an accident while they checked on him, even if Seifer had been unconscious for a long time now. Zell deserved a break.

Zidane started paying attention when he heard someone mention the fallen ships. Squall was shaking his head in response to what Cid had said.

"The Ragnarok is not going to fly again, not without drastic amounts of repairs, and nobody here has the knowledge or equipment to do anything about it." His voice was matter-of-fact, detached, but even if Squall was good at hiding what he felt, Zidane could still hear the note of weary resignation buried underneath.

Cid looked angry. He huffed in his moustaches. "The Invincible might not be beyond recovery, but with Ozma around, we're going to crash more ships than we're going to save any."

Ozma. Now that was one bouncy nightmare Zidane had wished never to see again.

"We'll have to do something about Ozma," he said with displeasure and apprehension. "The northern continent is relatively deserted, but if it decides to cross the ocean it could be disastrous." They would have to send warnings to all the merchants sending ships up north, maybe even forbid trade until they could deal with Ozma. If they even could. They'd tried defeating it, once, and had had their asses handed to them. He didn't know how it could be any different the second time.

"But why is it here?" Cid demanded with a touch of barely restrained anger at the world in general, gesturing sharply with one hand. "It was never inclined to descend before. Why now?"

Zidane shrugged, but noticed how Squall looked questioningly from one man to the other. He didn't wait for him to ask.

"Ozma used to sleep in the sky," Zidane explained, a little awkwardly. "On something called the Chocobo Air Garden, only accessible with the birds." Squall didn't look surprised to hear about chocobos, at least, and if the mention of the Air Garden had prompted a raised eyebrow, he was still listening seriously. "We bothered it once and were badly beaten, but to all purposes it just went back to sleep afterwards."

"Something might have happened to its resting place," Squall mused.

"Might be," Zidane agreed. "I'll have to go check, but the Air Garden moves around and you never know where it'll be. It could take me weeks to find it, but there're more urgent things to worry about right now."

Cid tugged at one moustache sharply, his eyes cast in a frown. "There are two ways to reach Ozma without it having the advantage: Fossil Roo, or by seaway. Neither are safe options anymore, yet we haven't perfected the ships that can fly without Mist enough to pitch them against it, not if the Invincible was taken down so easily."

"Is the monster problem growing?" Squall asked, no doubt referring to that little encounter they'd had on the trading ship heading for Alexandria. Vivi had told Zidane that the captain had been worried about exactly that detail, and a few reports had already made their way to Alexandria's official offices.

The regent grimaced with aggravation. "We've had more and more warnings from northern traders about the safety of sea travel. The reports have been stacking up while I was gone, it seems."

"Would you cross Fossil Roo again?" Squall's voice was sarcastic. No wonder.

Cid shook his head vehemently. "Not in the state it is in." He raised a finger. "However, I am not willing to tempt a crossing that could sink a fleet without us knowing what's attacking."

"In short, we have to investigate the sea monster uprising to decide if we can defend ourselves against it before we try anything," Zidane resumed, his foot jingling even harder. "But it doesn't even make sense that they'd be there in the first place!"

Predictably, Squall looked up in puzzlement at that statement. "Why?"

"Monsters are –were—created by Mist," Zidane grouched. "It constantly hung over the land, but it dissipated over large bodies of water. That's why travelling by sea was always safe before."

Squall crossed his arms and didn't bother hiding his displeasure. Zidane probably didn't look any better.

"So, to access the ships, we need to take down Ozma; or rather we need to take it down just to be safe. But first we have to take care of Fossil Roo, a tunnel connecting two continents, or the general monster uprising of a whole ocean." Squall looked up at the ceiling, his expression closed and dark. "How do you plan on doing any of that?"

Feeling annoyed and exhausted already from what lay ahead, Zidane decided he wouldn't mind a confrontation. "Actually, I have four chocobos that could fly us there. But after failing the first time, I doubt anyone will want to test that strategy again. You're welcome to try, though."

Squall glared, but Zidane had been on the receiving end of Kuja's admittedly much more disturbing stares enough that he wasn't impressed in the least. Finally the taller man broke the stare and shrugged.

"Now there, we can't lose our heads," Cid spoke, and he leaned toward Zidane with a meaningful stare. "We have faced stranger odds before and triumphed. We only need to take it one step at a time."

Squall looked from one man to the other, frowning a little as he missed the full implications of what Cid was alluding to, but this time Zidane ignored him. The regent was right; they couldn't panic. They'd all lived in a monster-choked world before, and it wasn't all that better still. They only had to figure out what kind of monsters lived in the water to know what defences they needed to tempt the crossing without killing themselves before they even reached Ozma.

"Right, baby steps! Where do we start, though?"

"With what's most urgent right now," Squall interrupted, voice low and intent. "Seifer needs to see a doctor, the best one you have, and now."

Though the tone was almost insolent in its authority towards Cid, the regent didn't show any sign that he minded. He was used to characters with no respect for proper etiquette.

"Our physicians are qualified, but this looks like something new to them," he replied mildly in response. The examinations had not been positive, and aside from trying to break his fever, the doctors weren't able to do anything else.

Thinking of doctors suddenly brought a name in the forefront of Zidane's mind. He grinned at the thought.

"Dr. Tot."

Both men looked at him, but Cid's face registered comprehension. He nearly bounced out of his seat.

"Of course! He's one of the most knowledgeable man of science I have ever encountered! If Seifer can be helped, Dr. Tot will know how."

Squall's flinch was small but still present. He hadn't missed Cid's 'if'. "Where can we find this Dr. Tot?"

"In Treno. Moving Seifer might not be an excellent idea, but it'd be best to bring him to Dr. Tot's laboratory, he'll be better equipped to help him."

"With an airship, barely half a day's travel," Zidane added helpfully. It wasn't always easy to remember that Squall knew about nothing of their world, that everything had to be explained to him.

Squall considered for a moment before nodding. "We have to get him there as soon as possible, then."

"I'll provide an airship," Cid offered and received Squall's nod of thanks with a small smile. "It can be ready to leave as soon as this evening."

Cid made as if to rise to send the orders right there and then, but Squall raised a hand and shook his head. "Make it ready for tomorrow morning. Zell will have to go as well; I'm giving him one last night to rest."

Zidane opened his mouth to offer Amarant's help again, but shut it with a click. He couldn't be sure the man really would agree to help, not if he was running on another agenda, and besides, it was only half a day's travel by airship. Two might just be too much.

"It will be done," Cid agreed gravely.

"Say, Treno is right over the airway towards Alexandria, isn't it?" Zidane mused aloud.

The regent blinked, then grinned fondly. "Yes. Just a few hours away from the city."

"I should get back to Garnet. She'll want to know what's happening, and I can't keep her out of any decisions we take."

"Of course!" Cid thought a moment, then nodded. "I will come with you. If we send a mail by moogle within the next hour, it will arrive before us and warn her of our arrival."

Caught off guard, Zidane blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Alexandria is farther north than Lindblum. As a prime stop for traders, it will have the newest, most accurate news about the monster problem. It might help us find a lead to start from," the regent reasoned.

Zidane repressed a smirk. The man had said they had to take it one step at a time, and that was exactly what he was doing. No wonder he could rule Lindblum so well, his little hitch with Hilda aside.

"Good plan!" Besides, he couldn't wait to get home again. They'd barely had any time to celebrate their wedding as it was, and he missed her.

"It will be ready tomorrow at dawn," Cid said as he rose, already mumbling to himself about the preparations.

Zidane stood up and stretched, sensing the end of this meeting. When Cid got like that, it was usually safe to assume they were dismissed. Squall copied him, but he didn't look relieved. Mustn't be, when he had to trust people he still didn't know all that well with a deathly sick partner. Zidane would not have liked being in his shoes.

"Thanks, Cid," he said sincerely. He'd stopped counting the number of times the man's help and airships and other resources had saved their butt.

"Without you, I would never have survived through Fossil Roo. This is the least I can do. Thank you, Zidane," Cid replied seriously, fixing Zidane with eyes full of open gratitude. He turned to Squall. "I must thank you as well, you and all your friends. I might not have been much use in the tunnels, but now that we're back in Lindblum, I will do everything in my power to find a cure for Seifer and help you get back to your own planet."

Squall almost looked surprised by Cid's words. They didn't ease the stiffness in his shoulders, but his eyes did soften a little, letting them glimpse a little of the worry and despair that gnawed at him.

"Thank you," he said softly, then turned and walked out of the audience room. Zidane followed suit after one last grin over his shoulder.

--

Fossil Roo was eerie, and dangerous. Ichiro found it had the air of a great beast holding its breath before releasing a devastating attack. Somehow, it did not disturb him as it seemed to be doing the others. Vivi and Mr. 110 walked with the hunch of the mage on the edge of casting, peering intently in the deeper shadows created by their staff lights. Ichiro was content to let them do the searching and worrying as he walked and tasted the feel of the tunnels on the back of his throat, like a stench on the wind.

They had found signs of Vivi's friends' passing early on. Abandoned camps, for the most part, but also occasional signs of struggle. Those always put a strain in Vivi's pose. Ichiro didn't understand why. They had found no bodies.

The black mages were glad not to have met monsters so far, but Ichiro was disappointed. He knew the tunnels were full of life, it fairly thrummed with it, and he was sure seeing the monsters would help him understand this strange place. The more he walked, the more he felt aware, like he had been sleepwalking through the world and had just now woken up in a strange place. It was unsettling yet reassuring and fulfilling. Ichiro had never felt anything of the like before.

"Ichiro? Is something wrong?" Vivi called back, his voice hushed as if speaking loudly would matter here.

The genome realized he had stopped walking, staring in the black water streaked with orange from the torch's light.

"The monsters are hiding. Why are they not attacking?" he wondered aloud.

Vivi shook his head negatively. "I don't know, but let's be happy they aren't."

Ichiro disagreed. He was not happy; he wanted to see what type of beast would thrive in these tunnels filled with air that clung to him like oil.

Under the mage's urging, Ichiro finally pulled his gaze off the water and turned back to follow Vivi.

He felt them before the black mages. Dark intentions, bubbling closer, and they felt exactly like Fossil Roo. They belonged.

Ichiro turned just as the first two heads broke the water's surface. Away from the light, all Ichiro could see were bulbous bodies, popping out everywhere. Before the other two even noticed, the monsters started singing.

It was an aggressive, fast-paced whistling like wooden flutes. Ichiro was not bothered, but the two black mages jerked as if they had been hit. It must be an attack of some kind, then. Silently, Ichiro raised his hand, and concentrated.

The thunder spell lit up the cave in successive bursts, each fork finding its intended target. The thunder slaps echoed against the walls, powerful and too close and deafening, but Ichiro ignored them as easily as he had the monsters' music. It was too weak to bother him, too pathetic. He controlled that power.

There was not much left of the monsters when the echoes finally died down and Mr. 110 held his lit staff over the water, revealing their charred remains. Silence was again complete, except for a faint ringing in his ear. Vivi stood flabbergasted, watching the corpses and Ichiro alternatively.

"Where did you learn that spell?" he finally asked, his voice awed but suspicious as well, suddenly.

Where? Ichiro had always known. It only felt as if he'd forgotten he could through disuse.

Mr. 110 retreated away from the water, visibly shaken. "I told you his magical abilities were improving. It is innate in him."

Ichiro put the discussing black mages out his mind –It is innate in black mages too, but we still have to learn our spells somewhere!-- and stared at the shadowed forms bobbing over the still water. He was disappointed. He had been expecting more of the tunnels' inhabitants. Their weakness felt like a betrayal. He did not understand why, but he was sure they should have been more.

He began walking again, behind the black mages. He paid attention enough to understand the name of the spell he had used, thundaga. Vivi sounded upset that he had cast it, as if it was abnormal. It did not feel like it was, quite the contrary. Like all the other new spells he was slowly discovering he had the ability to use, it felt like another piece of an unknown puzzle had clicked in his mind.

Tail lazily swishing with his stride, Ichiro soon dismissed the whole incident from his mind.

If this was all Fossil Roo had to offer, it was a waste of his time to further give it any thought.

TBC