CHAPTER 5:

THE TREE, THE MONSTER, AND THE BOUNTY HUNTERS

Harry didn't like the Iifa Tree. True, it was an impressively large tree, but there was something ominous about its massive size, the tendril-like roots biting into the ground, the Mist that wafted from it, and the fact that it seemed rather alien. Admittedly, none of the others present liked it: only the Dwarves considered it sacred. Eiko and Harry, however, felt a touch of the diabolical about the Iifa Tree. The fact that there were many strong and vicious monsters roaming the area, presumably spawned by the Mist, didn't help.

Harry and Eiko, with Carbuncle's help, dispelled the barrier around the Iifa Tree, and they made their way through the Mist, fighting off the monsters that attacked. Last night had bonded the five adventurers together quite well (Quina having opted to stay behind at Madain Sari and catch fish to cook and eat). Already, they were working as a great team, with Harry conserving his energy by working in tandem with Vivi to use Black Magic, instead of wasting Eidolons on these creatures. Dagger and Eiko usually used White Magic to support and heal them, occasionally bringing out the Eidolons. Phoenix and her fire-based attack was particularly effective on the undead hordes this place seemed to breed. Zidane, meanwhile, attacked the enemies, occasionally stealing items of use from them: some of the Zombies seemed to have once been people, and weapons, armour, and healing items were amongst those things he stole. Most weapons and armour were of little use, save to sell at Conde Petie or at the Black Mage Village, but they didn't mind.

They eventually found themselves within the interior of the Iifa Tree, a dark and gloomy place where strange lights played around from below. A strange lift took them down deeper within the tree, and after some further walking, they found a leaf that took them on an even deeper descent at great speed. And yet, they didn't feel said speed.

Eiko got Mog out as Zidane and Garnet speculated on their final destination. Harry listened to Eiko's Moogle 'sister'. He had gotten used to Mog, though he didn't like her more skittish ways: he was shy and a bit frightened, but Mog seemed to be a coward.

"There's a whole lot of life within here," Mog said in her language. To the others, she would have just said a seemingly random combination of the syllables 'Ku' and 'Po'. "Like, there's more than I have ever sensed before. I don't like this. It feels…wrong."

Mog's words were reported to the others. Garnet frowned. "Do you think any of Kuja's agents are here?"

"Could be," Zidane muttered. "But what connects Kuja and the Mist?"

Garnet looked around. Clinging to the walls of the chamber they were descending were various creatures. Zombies, a few Stropers, and even a Zombie Dragon. "Look at all these monsters," she mused. "Could the Mist be spawning them?"

Zidane shrugged. "I dunno. The Evil Forest and Gargan Roo had their unique monsters as well."

Harry and Eiko looked at each other. "But if the Mist spawns these monsters…" Harry started.

"…Why does the Mist only appear on your continent?" Eiko finished.

"I guess there's something that channels the Mist. Actually, I travelled quite a bit, and the Mist Continent is probably the most populated of them." Zidane frowned.

Harry noticed that Vivi was standing a little way away, by himself. "What's wrong, Vivi?" Harry asked, walking over to the Black Mage.

"Umm? Oh…sorry…it's just…I've been thinking…" the boy said quietly.

Zidane and Garnet shared a look. "The factory beneath Dali," Zidane murmured quietly.

"What was that?" Eiko asked.

"A place where they manufactured Black Mages using the Mist," Garnet explained.

Harry gasped. He remembered the Black Mages mentioning that they had been manufactured. "Oh, Vivi…"

"It's okay," Vivi said, in a tone that suggested otherwise. "I'm…not upset anymore. About being made…"

"Vivi…" Harry said quietly. "You're a bad liar." He hugged the young Black Mage. "But what is it that worries you?"

"There's a link between the Mist and the Black Mages, not to mention Kuja," Vivi pointed out.

"That machine filled with Mist," Zidane pondered.

"And the eggs we saw," Garnet mused.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence, until they reached the bottom of the pit. Or nearly the bottom. They were on a vast, wooden structure protruding from a pit filled with green light, and dripping with humidity. "Don't need Mog to tell us that there's life down here," Zidane murmured.

The group investigated, but Zidane, to his disappointment, didn't see anything that suggested Kuja or his lackeys were around for the moment. Before he could discuss what to do next, though, Harry heard Mog yell, "Something's coming! Something's coming from above!"

The room began shaking, and then, a wall seemed to come alive. Then, a massive creature appeared in front of them, a bizarre, eldritch thing like a parody of a tree carved out of wood, and with a skull-like face glaring down at them. A deep, tenebrous voice slid into their heads. So, it wasn't Kuja I sensed, but woodboring pests in the form of intruders. Its hollow eyes looked down at Harry. And it seems that Kuja is not the only traveller from a far-off realm that Soulcage has met.

Once they got over the surprise of the creature speaking to them through their minds, Zidane yelled, "Are you the one who makes the Mist?"

A sardonic chuckle. Mist is not the product, but the dross and clinker of the refining process. It is discharged through the roots.

"Discharged through the roots? Why would you do that?" Garnet demanded.

To stoke the fires of aggression, which leads to the fires of war, and the ruination of civilisation. Kuja merely puts it to further use. You know of what I speak, puppet, it said, its eyes on Vivi. Weapons like yourself. Dark spawn of the Mist: Black Mages.

As a cry of anguish wormed its way from Vivi, Harry stared up at the creature. "What do you mean, traveller from a far-off realm? Is Kuja from Earth?"

No. He is from another realm. But you stink of walking from another world. As does the tailed boy, for he is kin with Kuja.

Zidane's eyes widened, and Garnet gasped. "What?! I'm not that bastard's kin!"

I cannot lie, and I can see in your eyes that you believe me anyway. Destroy me, and no more Mist shall flow, and no more weapons like this puppet shall be born. Tell me, puppet, will you deny that which gave rise to you?

Vivi, who had been rather too quiet up until now, glared up at Soulcage. "No more," he whispered. Then, he shouted. "I won't let you make any more instruments of murder!"

"And it might just get Kuja to come here," Zidane said.

"Yeah! Let's kick his rear!" Eiko yelped.

Soulcage chuckled. I am the Soulcage. I have seen the end of my millennium-old life…and it is not now. To attempt is the height of futility, foolish mortals.

"Eiko? Attack Plan Omega?" Harry asked.

"Yep," Eiko nodded, calling out Carbuncle, who cast Ruby Light on them.

"What's Attack Plan Omega?" Zidane asked.

"Cover him, and you'll see," Eiko said with a smirk.

I told you, it is futile! Soulcage snarled.

It took some time for Harry to gather the energy needed. While technically he could summon Anima in less time, Attack Plan Omega was basically 'protect Harry while he pours more energy into the summon'. So he needed time to make sure Anima was overpowered. In that time, Zidane danced around the massive entity, distracting it, while Garnet alternated between using Ramuh and his Judgement Bolt attack and using Potions. Vivi initially cast Fire magic, until the burning onslaught of leaves that resulted, halted only by a quick used of Ice magic, stopped that. He stuck to Ice magic after that.

You are the merest flea-bitings, Soulcage taunted. No matter what you can do, you can't stop me. Any last words before I send you to the grave?

"I have a couple," Harry said. Suddenly, an anchor dropped from the sky, plunged into the ground, and pulled out the eldritch form of Anima. "Anima? Oblivion."

Soulcage's last words were rather interesting, before it devolved into pained screams. It said, in a mildly surprised tone that belied the fact that it realised it was screwed, Well…I did not foresee this.

Shortly after Soulcage perished screaming, pummelled to death by Anima's brutal attack, the adventurers were forced to flee as the area began to shake and rock, and they made it out of the Iifa Tree in time to watch the Mist seem to vanish in a shockwave that left clear air in its wake.

Eiko looked around in awe. "The air's so clear now." She looked at the Iifa Tree. No longer wreathed in Mist, it now looked merely strange, even beautiful in an unusual manner, than sinister and alien.

Harry looked at Zidane. "Do you think this has cleared up the Mist Continent?"

"Maybe. And with any luck, Kuja will be here soon…" And then, he noticed Vivi, sitting a little way away by himself.

"Did I do the right thing?" Vivi asked quietly. "We're made from the Mist, that Soulcage thing said. I didn't want any more Black Mages to be made for war, but…there'll be no more Black Mages. They must hate me."

"No way!" Eiko snapped. "If they hate you, they're idiots. They'll understand, Vivi, you shouldn't lie to yourself."

Harry looked at Zidane, who was looking across the roots of the Iifa Tree. "Zidane?"

"Sorry, just thinking about what that creature said. It said I came from another world…that I was kin to Kuja. So…yeah, knowing that I'm related to that war-mongering bastard…though that talk of me coming from another world…well, let me put it this way: if that monster wasn't trying to psyche us out, if it was telling the truth…" Zidane shrugged. "If the people of my world are anything like Kuja, then I don't want anything to do with them(1)."

"He doesn't have a tail," Garnet pointed out.

"He could hide it, either with magic, or tucking it away. He doesn't have much room with that thong he wears, but I think he could manage it," Zidane said off-handedly. "Maybe you can ask him when he gets here."

"Eiko!" Mog chirped from Eiko's dress. "Moco's coming this way!"

And soon, Moco was there, flustered and flabbergasted. "Eiko, Harry! Someone has stolen the sacred stone!"

Eiko and Harry gaped at each other, before Eiko turned to the others. "I know you want to wait for Kuja, but we've got a problem at Madain Sari! Harry and I have to get back!"

Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi shared looks, before they nodded. "Kuja can wait. It might be a while before he gets here. He may not even be on this continent," Zidane pointed out. "We'll come with you."

The five adventurers returned to Madain Sari swiftly, and Eiko and Harry were quickly escorted to their house, where the sacred stone of Madain Sari was kept. Eiko stared, muttering, "It's my fault…because I broke the promise."

"Eiko…you broke it earlier," Harry pointed out, "and it didn't get stolen then."

"But we had to seal that Eidolon, Harry!" Eiko snapped, her vehemence ruined by her hiccupping. Harry knew the signs: Eiko hiccupped whenever she was trying not to cry.

"Eiko, it's not your fault the stone went missing: it's the scumbag who stole it," Zidane reorted. "We'll look for them, see if there are any clues."

"Did the Moogles see anything?" Garnet asked(2).

Moco nodded. The gruff Moogle said, "I saw a woman with dark skin and wielding a massive axe earlier. The Qu recognised her, but went back to eating."

Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi shot each other looks. "That's the bounty hunter who was sent to retrieve your pendant, Dagger," Zidane said. "Lani or something."

Harry frowned. He had seen the sacred stone before, and it resembled the jewel Garnet wore on her pendant. "Maybe she's stealing it because she couldn't steal that pendant," he mused out loud.

"She's probably long gone then," Eiko muttered. "I'm going to go pray at the Eidolon Wall. Harry, are you coming?"

"Okay, but Eiko, what if you're wrong? What if this Lani person is still around?" Harry asked as they left for the Eidolon Wall. Vivi followed them

"Then we'll kick her rear," Eiko said confidently as they emerged from her house.

"Oh, will you now?" purred a voice from above. Instincts screaming, Harry pulled Eiko away as a hand lashed out and nearly caught them. A woman with dark skin and brown hair, dressed in rather revealing clothing, and wielding a large, if somewhat elaborately-designed axe, emerged from hiding above the door. "You move quick for a pair of brats. But you won't get far."

"Vivi! Get Zidane and the others!" Harry yelled. Then, he ran as fast as he could, gathering the energy for a Fire spell.

Lani leapt over them, and blocked their path. "Going somewhere?"

Harry threw the Fire spell at the ground at her feet, and she shielded her face from the flash and the smoke. As she turned to pursue them, Harry yelled, "Slow!" at her, casting the spell.

She dodged the spell. "Nice try," she sneered. "Now get back here, brats!"

Harry would need a moment to concentrate to call upon an Eidolon, but a moment was more than what they had. And by running to the Eidolon Wall, they had made an error. Lani had them cornered. "Like rats in a trap," Lani sneered. "You'll make good leverage for when they come, and I can get the damned pendant."

"Really?" came a deep, bored-sounding voice from above. Harry and Eiko looked up to see a tall, muscular man with flame-red hair and pale blue skin. He was looking down at them, and more precisely, at Lani, with an expression of contempt. The man leapt down, and came between Lani and the two summoners. "Your sense of fair play is lacking, Lani, if you're going to be a hostage-taking scumbag."

"This coming from Treno's most wanted, Red? We're partners on this job!" Lani sneered.

The man dubbed Red lunged forward, grabbing Lani by her shoulders. "Says the woman who attacked on her own not once, but twice. You've already had your turn. Now it's mine." He then dropped the woman, and as the jewel rolled out from her dress, he plucked it off the ground. "Now get out of my sight. I'm here to fight him."

Lani snarled, before she said, "I'll collect the bounty on you one of these days, Amarant!" And then, she clambered up the wall, before fleeing.

Zidane and the others had arrived just before then, and had seen part of the confrontation between the two bounty hunters. "Hey, thanks, mister!"

Amarant, as the man's name seemed to be, turned to face Zidane. "Don't thank me yet, Zidane Tribal. I wouldn't have viewed this job with that much enthusiasm…if it didn't give me the chance to fight you."

"Fight you?"

"Yes. I only saved these kids because I needed to level the playing field. Now, come, face me!"

Garnet looked at Zidane. "You're not going to fight him, are you?"

"Of course. It's another way to impress you, right?"

As Zidane and Amarant tensed, ready to fight, Harry shook his head. That was cheesy, he thought…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Soulcage, Lani, and the introduction of Amarant. Plus, a very different conversation with Soulcage, with some revelations given early, including Zidane's connection with Kuja.

I also hope you like how Harry managed to help Eiko evade immediate capture by Lani, though they still get cornered.

Review-answering time! KaiserUltima: I very nearly went with a bow, but I wanted an unusual, even 'unique' weapon for him. Thus, Lulu's dolls. Harry tends to use magic more, though. The dolls are more like a wand, a focus for his magic.

Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: I'm not writing the scene itself. If you want, you can imagine it happens.

Jostanos: Keep in mind that Kuja knows what a Genome looks like, and he banished Zidane to Gaia. He even says 'This boy could become a problem'. So he recognises that Zidane is the same Genome he banished at the very least. BTW, it was actually my brother who was playing the game. I got it back yesterday (at the time of writing this chapter, though not at the time of me posting it).

1. A bit of foreshadowing. Considering the lengths the Terrans and their agent, Garland, were willing to go to, Zidane is right to distrust them, albeit for the wrong reasons.

2. Why didn't they ask the Moogles in the game? Surely Lani got spotted by at least one of them?