The Reunion

Chapter Three - The Visitor

There was a short pause as Zidane tried to think of who would possibly want to see him at 9:30 in the morning. When he couldn't think of anybody, he turned to Garnet.

"Who would want to see me this early...?"

Garnet looked at Zidane. "I'm not sure... the person's face was covered in a cloak. Steiner was heading outside to clean up when the person began knocking on the door. She sounded like a female, though."

Zidane was still holding the crumpled up pieces of paper that he had been picking up. "Alrighty... tell them that I'll be there in just a minute."

Garnet went back to tell the person while Zidane finished collecting the rest of the papers. He put them in the trash can that was in the corner of the Royal Chamber, and as he was walking out of the room, began to think some more:

"Hmm... a female voice... I wonder, could it be Freya? It's been a while since I saw her... maybe she wants to talk about her invitation...? Or about what I have planned for Sunday?"

He walked out into the hallway, then down the spiral staircase. The castle doors stood slightly ajar as he pushed them open all the way and walked outside.

"Hello, Zidane." It certainly was a female's voice, and she was dressed in a large brown cloak that resembled the cloak Zidane used when he played Marcus in "I Want to be Your Canary" and made his big return. Zidane wouldn't have known who the person was if the cloak was his only clue, but he recognized the voice almost immediately...

"Hey, Mikoto! It's good to see you!"

Mikoto, another genome like Zidane and technically his and Kuja's "sister", pulled the hood of the cloak down. She had only aged a little in the past five years, but still had a young-looking face.

"Zidane... it's good to see you too. How long has it been? Three, four years?"

Zidane paused for a second. "Yeah, something like that. So, how have you been holding up at the Black Mage Village?... or do you even still live there?"

"Yeah, I'm still living there", said Mikoto. "The genomes and black mages who are left have really come to understand each other. It's a really great feeling to see them getting along like they do."

"Well, good", said Zidane with a smile, but at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder just how many genomes and black mages were left. He knew all of their life spans were different... some lived much shorter than others, while some of them lived very long lives.

"So...uh...", Zidane began, "did you just come here to see me, or is there another reason?...and why are you wearing that cloak?"

"Well", said Mikoto, "I will go ahead and answer your second question. I'm wearing the cloak because it has been so long since I have been out of the Black Mage Village. I wasn't sure how the people of Alexandria would treat me."

Zidane gave her a half-confused look. "Well, you don't have to worry about that, Mikoto. I mean, technically I'm king of Alexandria, and while there have been kings in the past who don't get around much, I try to make it to the town square in Alexandria and to Lindblum every once in a while, so the people shouldn't think it strange to see our kind around." Zidane paused, then asked, "By the way, while we're on the subject of getting around, how did you get here?"

"Bobby Corwen", Mikoto replied quickly. "He has really learned how to fly good."

Zidane remembered the little chocobo egg that hatched one time at the Black Mage Village. The black mages had decided to call him 'Bobby Corwen'. Zidane was glad to hear that he was still alive.

"Anyway", said Mikoto, interrupting Zidane's thoughts, "the reason I came here was to talk to you about the reunion that you're having this weekend."

"Oh yeah", said Zidane, remembering that he also had sent an invitation to Mikoto. "What do you want to know? Because if it's about what I have planned for Sunday, I can't tell you yet. I can tell you Sunday morning, though, since you won't be part of the group that takes part in it."

"Don't worry, Zidane", said Mikoto with a slightly sad tone in her voice, "I think I kind of know what you're planning that day. And yes, that's also what I came to talk to you about. It involves Kuja and-"

At that moment, Steiner came walking around the corner with his armor clanking loudly, a large dustpan in his hand. He headed toward the castle doors.

"Don't mind me, I'm just getting the outside of the castle cleaned up, it's quite a mess. Excuse me, Zidane... oh, nice to see you... Mikoto, I believe was your name?"

"Yes", said Mikoto. She turned back to Zidane as Steiner went inside the castle and gave him a look that told him she had something important to talk about.

"Alright", said Zidane, "What do you say we go to the Alexandrian Pub and talk about this over hot cups of coffee?"

Mikoto nodded her head. "Yes, I guess we could go there."

Zidane ran to tell Garnet that he would be in town. He then got Mikoto to take her cloak off before going, assuring her that no one would give her any strange looks, and if they did, then they would have her "big brother" to answer to.

"So, that was Mikoto who came to see Zidane? I wonder what she wanted to talk to him about?"

"I don't know, my queen", answered Steiner. "Zidane should be back soon though."

It was now Monday evening. Garnet, Steiner, and Beatrix had spent most of the day cleaning up what was left to clean inside and outside of the castle. Garnet was now speaking to Steiner out on the balcony as they waited for Zidane to return before eating dinner. Beatrix was preparing the meal.

"It's going to be so strange seeing everyone this weekend", said Garnet. "I can't believe how long it has been already."

Steiner leaned against the balcony rail and watched the sun as it was beginning to go down. "Yes, I know what you mean. It will be nice to see them all again. But..." Steiner turned to look at Garnet, "I still wonder what Zidane has planned for Sunday...?" He turned back around, and noticed something coming their way. "Hey, what's that?"

"KUPO! KUPOPO!" A moogle was heading their way, coming from the west. He landed on the balcony beside Garnet and pulled out a letter that was sealed in an envelope. "Delivery to Zidane Tribal and Garnet til Alexandros at Alexandria Castle."

Garnet gave the moogle a slightly surprised look. "Alright, I'll take that. Thanks", she said as the moogle passed her the envelope. She tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter, which was red ink on dark green paper, as the moogle flew off.

"Who is it from?" asked Steiner. Then, very cautiously, he asked, "Nobody is in danger, are they?"

Garnet looked over the letter and laughed. "No, of course not, Steiner. It's from Freya. Here, I'll read it to you." And she began to read the letter aloud to Steiner:

Dearest Friends,

It's great to hear from you. I really like the idea of having a reunion this weekend. I think it will be a great chance for us to all get together and converse about all that has happened in the past. Sir Fratley will be joining us Saturday, and I will be sure to stay over Sunday. I'm looking forward to whatever it is that you have planned, Zidane. Well, until Friday, take care.

Your Friend,

Freya Crescent

"Alrighty, sounds good", came a voice from the door leading back into the castle from the balcony. It was Zidane.

Garnet jumped. "Zidane, you scared me", she laughed.

Zidane scratched his head. "Sorry about that." He walked out onto the balcony and looked at the sunset. "It's good to hear that Freya is coming."

"Well, how did your day go?" asked Steiner. He was eager to know what Mikoto came to talk to Zidane about.

"It went alright", replied Zidane. "Mikoto wanted to discuss something with me about this weekend. We talked about what I have planned for Sunday..." Zidane's voice trailed off.

"Wha-"...began Garnet and Steiner at the same time.

"You will find out soon enough", said Zidane. He turned back toward the door. "Well, shouldn't it be about time to eat?... After you, Steiner."

Zidane let Steiner walk through the door first. Garnet was ready to go next, but Zidane stopped her. He looked her in the eyes with a slightly worried look on his face.

"Zidane, what's wrong?" Garnet asked.

"Dagger... Mikoto also spoke to me about something else. It's so strange that something like this could happen after an entire five years, and I wish I could believe it wasn't true, but-"

"Are you two coming?" Steiner came back out on the balcony.

"Man, he interrupts everything!" thought Zidane angrily. "Yeah, we're coming", he said. Then, he turned quickly and whispered to Garnet, "I will tell you after dinner. This is something very important."

Zidane followed Steiner as Garnet got a very puzzled look on her face. Then, she slowly followed them to the kitchen.

The meal was very good, though Zidane couldn't eat much. He had other things on his mind, and as soon as Garnet had finished eating, he motioned for her to come with him to the Royal Chamber. When she entered the room, Zidane shut the door quickly behind her.

"What in the world is the matter, Zidane?", Garnet asked him. "You didn't eat much at all."

Zidane sighed and lead Garnet over to the bed. "Sit down", he said. "This may take a little while."

Garnet did as Zidane instructed, still as puzzled as ever.

"Alright...", said Zidane, "I guess I will begin with what Mikoto told me." Zidane sat down on the bed as well. "If you remember earlier, I said that I sent out around fifteen invitations. Well... one of those invitations didn't make it to its recipient."

"Wha...", interrupted Garnet, "Why not?"

"Because", said Zidane with a grim look on his face, "It was intercepted."

"Intercepted?", said Garnet loudly. "Who would intercept an invitation?"

"Shhh..." said Zidane, "keep it down. I don't want Steiner or Beatrix to know about this yet. Steiner would just go into a panic and get really worked up, and he is already worked up enough saying that the call of duty could arise at any time."

"Sorry", said Garnet, lowering her voice, "but who would intercept something like an invitation?"

Zidane looked right at Garnet, paused for a moment, then said in a very low voice, "Necron."

Garnet simply stared at Zidane for a moment. Was Zidane really sure about this? Why would Necron, the evil behind it all five years ago, try to come back now? Was Zidane losing his mind?

"A-Are you sure about this?" stammered Garnet.

"Yes, I was skeptical at first, but once Mikoto told me about it, I became very sure. Necron has intercepted one of the invitations, and I'm not even sure who's it was."

"But... how is Mikoto so sure?" asked Garnet.

Zidane got up from the bed. "This weekend, I am planning on telling the full story of how I escaped from the Iifa Tree that day when I went back for Kuja. For now, however, I can tell you a small part of what happened." He began pacing the room. "When I was coming out of the Iifa Tree after failing to save Kuja, I found Mikoto. She was standing above where the roots of the tree were, on that hill we reappeared at when Kuja teleported us out of there."

Zidane paused for a short moment. "Please continue", said Garnet.

"Alright", said Zidane, "I never have told anybody this since I got back. Mikoto and I are the only ones who know about it. When I finally got up to that hill where Mikoto was, we heard a distant voice, but it was real nonetheless. It came from above the Iifa Tree, where we entered into Memoria from. It was the voice of Necron. He told us that even though we had survived, he would be back. He told us that when our whole group got back together, when we least expected it... he would come for us, and destroy us."

Garnet gasped. Zidane, however, continued.

"Somehow, Mikoto and I can sense when something evil like that is near. It must be part of our Genome-given abilities. We both sensed it that day, and we both heard Necron's voice. For the past five years since that day, Mikoto has sensed Necron's evil; she just hasn't told me until now. She barely sensed it at first, but she could tell that his presence was gradually increasing over time. He was getting more powerful. In the past few months, she has sensed him to be closer than ever. And all this time, his presence has been coming from that same spot above the Iifa Tree. I probably haven't been able to sense anything these past five years because I don't live nearly as close to the Iifa Tree as Mikoto does."

"B-But... how does she know about the interception?" Garnet asked shakily.

"Mikoto was taking a short walk in the forest outside of the Black Mage Village", said Zidane, "when she received her invitation this morning. Another moogle was flying past her while she was reading it. He was heading in the direction of the Iifa Tree. Shortly after she had finished reading the invitation, Mikoto heard, or sensed, the faint sound of the moogle crying for help. "Help, kupo!", it was screaming in terror. Afterward, Mikoto heard no more from the moogle, but she then heard Necron's voice. "A reunion? This weekend?... Now could be my big chance, to get the revenge that I have so been desiring to get for a long time..."

"You can't be serious", said Garnet as she began questioning this whole dilemma again. "That just sounds really crazy... why wouldn't Necron have tried to attack us before this?"

"Well, because he was waiting for the right moment when we would all be together again", said Zidane. "Don't you see? The only other times he could have got us all was either when I returned during the play that night, or during one of the other plays we have had since then, because those were the only other times when most of us were together. But that way was much too risky... there would be too many people around, and I would imagine that Necron wouldn't have been powerful enough. Now, however, I believe he has grown a large amount in power. Before, I don't think he would have been strong enough to attack anyone on Gaia. But after hearing about the attack on that moogle, I think he finally has enough power to make a physical appearance in Gaia. And it will more than likely be this weekend... I'm just glad Mikoto came here to tell me at the time that she did."

Zidane fell silent again, and they both began thinking. A few moments later, Garnet asked another question. "Well, how about if we have more people around this weekend? Necron wouldn't try to attack then... would he?"

"That's not the point, Dagger", said Zidane. "Even if he didn't, he would eventually try to get us. And if we were to wait much longer, I think he would gain enough power to wipe out all of Gaia. For now, though, he wants revenge on us."

"Then what do we do?" asked Garnet.

Zidane went back to sit on the bed again. "There really is only one thing we can do: Wait for him to come to us, meet him with everything we've got, and take him out, once and for all."

Garnet shook her head. "Oh, Zidane... I don't want anything to happen to any of us. I thought all of this was finally over, and if we lose somebody else, I-"

"Dagger...", said Zidane, putting his arm around her, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. I will protect you with my life if I have to."

They sat there in each other's arms for a while. Minutes could have passed, hours could have passed, but Zidane didn't care. All he wanted to do at the moment was stay there with Garnet wrapped safely in his arms.

Eventually, Garnet spoke again. "What are you planning to do? I mean, you don't know when he will attack, do you?"

Zidane wrapped Garnet more tightly in his arms. "Mikoto and I have come up with something... it will be set into motion before the weekend begins..."

The next chapter will be up in the next week or so. I hope you're enjoying it so far.