Zidane's Story

Still incredulous at his unbelievably good luck at having Tifa on a date, Zidane caught himself stealing glances at the incredibly attractive lady striding at his side.

"So… ummm… Tifa?" Zidane said, trying to strike a conversation. "What are you doing alone? It's dangerous for a girl to be walking around alone in a world like this y'know?"

"I got separated from Squall." Tifa said, smiling sweetly at him, "I'm glad I met you though."

"Oh… Squall..." Zidane said with a note of disappointment evident in his voice. While Zidane liked the brooding Squall as a friend, he never appreciated the girls' attraction to the handsome, stoic figure. I'm supposed to be the lady-killer around here, Zidane had so often thought. Recently, he even heard rumors of the girls putting him on top of the bachelors list. He had heard Prishe earn her bragging rights when she got to partner up with Squall for one round of those regular patrols, and had heard Tifa swoon over his impressive features as he dived into a lake for swimming training. Being a thief allowed him to eavesdrop on important information without being caught; but surely, these were not his choice of topics to eavesdrop upon.

"I prefer to be around you though," Tifa said abruptly, as though she could read his mind.

Zidane stopped in his tracks and turned in shock to face Tifa's smiling face, trying to read if she was saying that merely to cheer him up. But whatever message there was in her twinkling red eyes was imperceptible. So, Zidane merely shook his head and said, "You don't have to lie to me you know? It's obvious you liked him."

"Maybe I did," Tifa replied, "But it doesn't mean I don't enjoy being with you." As she said those words that Zidane had longed to hear, she placed her hands on her knees and bent down to close in on the shorter Zidane.

Zidane had never had Tifa so close to him before. Her face was barely two inches away from his. What are you panicking for? Zidane thought to himself. Wasn't this always what you wanted? Weren't you used to having girls swoon around you? Yet he sensed something amiss, although he could not place a finger on what it was.

"Let's just forget about Squall for now." Tifa said as she placed a finger on Zidane's lips. "It's just you and me for now."

In what seemed to happen in a split second, Zidane had found himself in Tifa's embrace, with her lips locking onto his. And in the heat of the moment, Zidane felt everything seeping away from him; his conscience, his memories, his knowledge… Nothing else mattered to him. He did not even bother trying to retain them. Little did he know, by the time that passionate kiss ended, he would be nothing more than a puppet.

…

Ultimecia got her wish. She had one more puppet to control. The more puppets he has, the less of Cosmos's irritating minions there will be. Smiling through her surrogate body, she stared at the soulless eyes of Zidane Tribal who said in a hollow voice, "Your wish is my command, my lady."

Pleased with her creation, Ultimecia decided to try out her new toy. She looked around in search of possible test subjects, and her eyes fell on a lone wanderer at a distance. Chuckling to herself, she did nothing more than nod to the blonde thief at the wanderer's direction, and Zidane was off.

…

Bartz was wandering alone. He had been separated from Laguna earlier. Laguna's lack of directional sense probably sent him along a stray path as Bartz turned his back on him for a mere second. The night was chilly. Bartz was not afraid of being alone or of the dark, but it would have made him feel better if he was with a friend.

Hence, his heart leapt for joy when he saw Zidane walking towards him. "Zidane! Zidane! Zidane!" Bartz cried joyfully at the sight of his best friend, waving and jumping at the same time. Wait, he suddenly stopped. Something's not right. Zidane definitely did saw him, he was facing his direction. But walking as though he did not recognize his best friend's presence was something uncharacteristic of Zidane.

As the long haired thief drew nearer, Bartz began to shiver. There was something odd, something evil about Zidane's presence. Sure enough, as the distance between them closed, Zidane summoned his dual daggers and flew in Bartz's direction. Bartz barely managed to block him with a sword he summoned in the nick of time.

"Zidane?" Bartz asked, confused, as the two locked weapons.

"My lady desires your annihilation." Zidane said flatly. "And I will do just that."

"My lady!?" Bartz exclaimed, pushing Zidane away from him. "Are you mad Zidane!? Who are you talking about!?"

"No explanations needed." Zidane said as he drew his daggers once more and charged forward. The clash of metals rang in the quiet night, creating a cacophony unperturbed by any other sounds around it. Again and again their weapons meet, but no victor seemed to emerge.

Seemingly vexed by the lack of a victor, Zidane relented in his attack and jumped away from Bartz. Instead, he began casting some form of magic unknown to Bartz which created purple glimmers on his fingertips. Dumbfounded, Bartz could only stare at him. Zidane had never been one to practice magic regularly. His attacks have always been one that focused on his agility and trademark aerial strikes. Zidane smirked at the thunderstruck Bartz and released a huge white ball of energy in his direction.

The sight of the white energy ball brought Bartz back to his senses. He knew he had to act quickly. As the ball of energy drew closer, he imitated Yuna's summoning and summoned Ifrit's Hellfire to create a protective wall of flames around him. Unfortunately, his idea was not exactly wise, as the energy ball broke into a blast as it collided with Ifrit's flames, sending Bartz flying back.

"Time to finish you off," ZIdane said merrily, a creepy ring of joy tainted his voice. He walked slowly towards the injured Bartz, as if savoring every moment of victory over his dear friend. When he finally reached Bartz, he hung one of his daggers high above Bartz's head and whispered victoriously, "Say good night, Bartz Klauser."

If Bartz hadn't believed in miracles, he sure did now. The instant Zidane's dagger begun to plunge in the direction of his head, a powerful blast of wind knocked him off. Bartz knew that magic even before he laid eyes on its caster.

The beautiful Terra Branford had just saved his life.

"Bartz, are you okay?" Terra asked him, sounding distressed. Right behind her was her companion, Vaan.

"What's wrong with Zidane?" The dirty blonde haired Vaan asked, eyeing Zidane who was trying to get up.

"No idea…" Bartz answered weakly. "We better get out of here…"

"You are going nowhere!" Zidane hissed as he slowly got up.

"Terra, Can you get us out of here?" Bartz asked frantically. He was still panting due to his wounds. "I don't want to hurt Zidane."

"I will." Terra assured him. She had no wish to hurt Zidane either. The obvious choice for them now was to retreat and find out what happened to him. As she chanted, a wall of four tornadoes formed around them, creating a barrier between them and Zidane. Within those walls, she chanted another spell to teleport them out. As the gentle light engulfed them, the three of them could hear Zidane's outraged cry amongst the noise of gushing wind.

As the light flickered, the tornadoes subsided. And they were gone.

Ultimecia walked towards Zidane. She had witnessed the whole scene from the shadows. Although she was not pleased that Zidane had failed to kill Bartz, she was glad that Zidane had turned out exactly as she had hoped. A mere servant puppet that would do anything she commands.

"It can't be helped," she told him, "We'll find another target. Let's go." With a flick of her fingers, she created a black portal and disappeared within it. Zidane obediently followed.

…

Bartz, Terra and Vaan emerged from the glowing light on a snow covered field. Terra quickly cast cure on Bartz's wounds. Fortunately, they were not serious and Bartz quickly recovered. Ifrit's Hellfire had successfully minimized the damage done.

"What do you think is wrong with Zidane?" Terra asked Bartz.

"I don't know," Bartz said, shaking his head, "He just walked up to me and tried to murder me."

Vaan and Terra both looked at him disbelievingly. Bartz himself knew that his story was incredulous, but that was the truth. And both Vaan and Terra could not deny that Zidane's behavior was indeed bizarre.

"Not only that," Bartz continued as he was reminded of the great white energy ball, "His magic powers were incredibly powerful… The blow that knocked me back… That was no move of Zidane's."

At those words, Terra suddenly shuddered. Vaan and Bartz both turned to her with concerned looks. "Maybe…" she slowly said, "he was being controlled…" And she shook even more at those words; her expression was that of fear mixed with disgust.

"Well, we've got to find out," Vaan said as he stood up, "And we have to warn the others first. They'll be able to help us keep a lookout for information. Can you walk Bartz?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Bartz replied as he got up, "Terra? Can you handle walking some more?"

"Yes…" She said softly, still shuddering slightly, "We cannot waste time warning the rest."

Snowflakes were dancing against a backdrop of night sky as the trio begun to walk. With Vaan and Bartz ahead, Terra took one last look back at the snow covered field before following them, at the same time convincing herself that it was going to turn out fine…