The Reunion

Chapter Five - The Plan

Hey all. It's been quite a while since I updated, but I'm finally back and ready to write more. Hope you all enjoy.

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The sun loomed high in the cloudless sky over Alexandria Castle on Thursday afternoon. Zidane and Garnet were ready to head to the Outer Continent to meet Mikoto for the big plan. At first, Zidane told Garnet about the original plan that he and Mikoto came up with, but they changed it before Zidane went back to the castle on Monday. The original plan was for them to send a moogle who was willing and brave enough to fly up near the Iifa Tree in hopes of getting a letter to Necron. However, Zidane figured this wasn't the best way to get Necron's attention, not to mention it would mean possibly sacrificing an innocent moogle.

"I wouldn't want to do that to any moogle," Zidane said about this plan to Garnet on Tuesday. "It would just be cruel, plus I know we can get Necron's attention by other means."

So, the final plan that Zidane and Mikoto both came up with on Monday was for Zidane and Garnet to meet up with Mikoto at Conde Petie on Thursday around 3:00 P.M. Afterward, they would go to the Iifa Tree to inspect it, in hopes of being able to hear something from Necron. Zidane didn't want Garnet to go at first, and tried convincing her not to, in case anything dangerous happened.

"Dagger, you need to stay put at the castle. If something did go down, and you got hurt or even worse...I would never be able to forgive myself."

Garnet, however, was as determined as ever to go with him and Mikoto.

"Zidane...I'll be fine. Plus, from hearing of the plan if we do get to speak to Necron, it sounds logical and I don't think he will do anything at the current time."

Zidane stared back at her. "Well, according to Mikoto, I don't think he can do anything yet."

Mikoto briefly mentioned this statement on Monday, but never elaborated on it anymore afterward. This made Zidane feel slightly nervous and confused, because didn't Mikoto mention beforehand that Necron was gaining in power and could be at his most powerful yet...? At the same time, though, it also put him at ease a little bit, because Mikoto did sound pretty sure about this, and she was usually right.

So here they were, Zidane and Garnet, about to head off on the old airship - the Red Rose - in order to make it to Conde Petie and meet Mikoto. Zidane kept going over in his mind what the full plan was, how it was to be executed, and what to do if it was met with resistance. He hoped for Garnet and Mikoto's sake that nothing did go wrong, and while he was still reluctant about letting Garnet come with him, he knew that she would deny the idea of staying at the castle while Zidane could possibly be in danger. They also still didn't want to alert anyone else about Necron's return... not until the plan was executed and everyone was there during the weekend reunion. It would just stir up too much trouble right now, and Zidane figured it's always better to tell everyone face-to-face and while they're all together instead of sending letters to people and having them possibly being intercepted as well.

"Ready?" Garnet asked Zidane, making him come out of his thoughts.

"Oh...yeah, let's get movin' so we can get this over with," Zidane replied, and while he still felt reluctant, there was still some confidence in his voice.

They began walking to the Red Rose, which was located at the Alexandria harbor. There was just enough room for it to be placed in there, and a little hatch above the airship could be opened to fly out of. Before reaching the harbor, however, they crossed paths with Steiner, who, as usual, was wearing his armor, and looking stern.

"Off to see the dwarves?" Steiner said in a voice that told Zidane and Garnet that he didn't really understand why they would go to Conde Petie. "Why even bother? I never really met them, but they weren't that important in our journey, were they...?"

"Well...," began Zidane, "They did give Dagger and I our first 'unofficial' marriage, and without that, we wouldn't have been able to get to Madain Sari or the Iifa Tree at the time. So...yeah, I would say they were pretty important to our journey."

"Pshh...if you think so," Steiner gruffly replied.

Zidane and Garnet waved bye to Steiner, kept walking on, and got on the statue that would take them down to the harbor. This was, of course, not the reason they were going to Conde Petie. The dwarves really weren't that important, but this was where Mikoto wanted to meet, and they needed a good excuse to tell Steiner and Beatrix, so as not to stir anything up before the weekend.

After descending to the harbor on the statue, walking along the pathway, and entering the room with the Red Rose, Zidane turned to Garnet one more time.

"Are you sure you want to go...? You have one last chance to turn back now..."

"Zidane...," Garnet straightened up, speaking in as much of a confident voice as she could, "I'm sure that I want to go. I want to stay with you. I know that you will protect me should anything happen."

Zidane smiled at her and gently carressed her hair with his right hand. "Dagger..." was all he could reply with. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he felt so much calmer with her being with him.

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Steiner and Beatrix stood in the hot summer sun on the castle balcony and watched the Red Rose rise magnificently in the air. It turned to the north and headed off to the Outer Continent, flying gracefully away. All of a sudden, Steiner began to laugh. Beatrix turned to look at him puzzlingly.

"What's so funny?"

Steiner stopped laughing long enough to speak.

"'What's so funny?"' Well, I just find it quite hilarious that they are going to ask the dwarves of all beings to come to the reunion. They didn't really do that much, from what I've heard and seen."

"I've never personally met them," Beatrix replied back, "But judging from what Zidane and Garnet said about their experiences there, they sounded like the whole first 'unofficial' marriage was important to them. So... let them go invite the dwarves. Our job is to look after the castle while they're gone, and to make sure everything is clean for tomorrow."

"Yes," Steiner agreed, "One more day! Can you believe it? I really can't wait!"

"Nor can I," said Beatrix with a smile. "It should be great."

After standing out on the balcony a little while longer, enjoying the warmth of the sun, Steiner and Beatrix went back inside the castle to finish the cleaning for the reunion.

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"We're almost at Conde Petie, Dagger!" said Zidane as they began to reach the Outer Continent.

As they prepared to land, they discussed how nice it was to be able to fly airships without mist nowadays. Technology had advanced a pretty good amount in the last five years, and the capacity for airships to not have mist to fly was unveiled by Regent Cid about two years ago. Not only fly for a very long period of time, but to make trips faster and easier, as well. No violent shaking on the airships or anything like that. That was how it was in the years previous to not having the ability to fly without mist. Airships could only fly for very short periods of time, and they would shake badly. Now, however, almost every airship could fly greatly without mist, including the older airships, which just needed the new engines put in them.

Zidane landed the Red Rose close by the location of Conde Petie. They didn't have to walk very far before they were staring up at the entrance of the village of dwarves. Mikoto, however, was waiting for them to the left of the entrance.

"Let's get this over with," Mikoto said in a ready voice.

"Couldn't agree with you more," replied Zidane. "Ready, Dagger?"

"Yes, definitely," she answered.

Mikoto looked at them both. "Okay," she said, "Then let's head there by the way that we talked about."

Zidane, Garnet, and Mikoto went into Conde Petie. They did the usual greeting of "Rally-Ho!" to get into the village, then proceeded to walk through it. The dwarves were pretty simple creatures. Their talk of food and their simple lifestyles made Zidane think of Quina. "Man, I haven't seen him/her in a really long time. I did send out an invitation to Quina, though, so maybe s/he will show up at the reunion. I hope so, anyway."

When the three of them got to where the exit of Conde Petie was that led to the Conde Petie Mountain Path, a short, chubby dwarf was standing there.

"Rally-Ho! What's yer business?" asked the dwarf.

"We need to get through here in order to visit the Sanctuary," answered Mikoto. "Before you deny our access, I just want to say that these two-" she pointed at Zidane and Garnet "-were married by you guys a long time ago. I am simply here to go with them as a friend."

"Good going," thought Zidane. He had informed Mikoto of his and Garnet's marriage at Conde Petie earlier in the week, and had hoped this would work with the dwarves nowadays. The dwarf, however, just stared at all of them for a moment, as if they were crazy, before answering.

"Well, if ya really wantae go ther, I ain't gunna stop ya. Ther's ben violent reactions at the Sanctuary lately, and I dunno who would wanta go ther, but I'm gunna go 'head and let ye three pass. Dun say I didn' warn ye though."

The dwarf stepped aside, and Zidane, Garnet, and Mikoto began slowly walking again. It was Zidane who spoke first.

"Violent reactions...again...?" he said slowly, then, turning to Mikoto, he asked, "Did you know anything about this?"

"No, I didn't," answered Mikoto, "But we can't turn back now. Let's just go there and see how bad it is."

As they walked the Mountain Path, fear began to wail up in Zidane. Not fear of going to the tree, but fear of something happening to someone. He didn't, under any circumstances, want anything to happen to either Garnet or Mikoto. Maybe he should have told their other friends about this? Before leaving the path and seeing the tree, Zidane stepped in front of them and began walking ahead.

When Zidane stepped off the mountain path, he really didn't know what to see. Maybe Memoria hovering above the Iifa Tree again? Possibly Necron appearing in mid-air? But what he saw were the vines, flailing back and forth all around the tree. It was quite possibly as bad as the violent reaction of the tree from five years ago, if not moreso. Zidane turned around to face his wife and his "sister."

"You two...let me go on ahead. I will try talking to Necron if I can get him to speak. Stay here."

Garnet and Mikoto both objected at once.

"No, we're going with you," Garnet stated confidently.

"As I mentioned before, we can't turn back now," said Mikoto.

Zidane knew there was no arguing with them. He led the way toward the tree, and kept telling Garnet and Mikoto to stay behind him.

As they got closer to the tree, Zidane could definitely sense something...some force...around the tree. It certainly felt like something was there. Something alive. Zidane continued to walk up to the tree, until he stood a few feet away from the nearest flailing vines. Then, in as loud and determined as a voice that he could make, he called out to the tree:

"Necron?"

No answer. "Was I really expecting there to be an answer?" Zidane thought to himself. "As if Necron is actually going to speak to us like this. No, he would just try and kill us right away." However, there was something about the atmosphere, the place, that made Zidane call out even louder:

"NECRON? Can you hear me?"

Still no answer. Zidane began to pace back and forth, while Garnet and Mikoto stared on. Zidane then stared down at the vines, realizing that somewhere down there, Kuja's lifeless body lay. He couldn't save him from death five years ago. And once again, that feeling of uncertainty began creeping up on him. He didn't want anything bad happening to anyone else. As the tension increased, the vines flailing rapidly back and forth, seemingly louder than ever, Zidane quickly turned back to face Garnet and Mikoto.

"Let's get out of here. We have no reason to stay."

"But Zidane...,"began Garnet.

"No, we need to leave this place," Zidane interrupted her. "Let's just go."

Mikoto didn't look like she was about to budge anytime soon. When Zidane was beginning to nudge her back toward the mountain path, the ground began to shake really hard. Garnet let out a scream as the three of them tried keeping their balance.

"Dammit, what the hell is going on!" yelled Zidane. "Hurry! Back to the mountain path!"

He grabbed ahold of Garnet and Mikoto and tried pushing them back to the path. However, before any of them really got anywhere, the shaking stopped and the vines weren't moving as much. The sky, however, was pitch black above the tree.

"Wha...?" began Zidane.

Before Zidane could finish, a cloud of mist came out of the Iifa Tree vines. It surrounded the three of them for a few seconds, then disappeared. However, where the mist was, three mistodons were now standing around them in a circle. They were monsters of the mist, hideous looking and ready to attack.

"Oh, hell!" shouted Zidane. He didn't have a weapon with him, and the mistodon nearest him was baring its teeth, almost ready to strike. However, before the mistodon could sink its teeth into Zidane, Garnet had pulled out a rod. She summoned an eidolon. The sky stayed as dark as it was, but out of it came Bahamut, king of the dragons. Mikoto kicked the mistodon near her and pulled Zidane and Garnet back. As the mistodons approached them, Bahamut came swooping down, using "megaflare" on the mistodons. Where they were was now barren ground, as Bahamut flew back up into the sky and out of sight.

"Whew...," exclaimed Zidane. "How stupid could I be to forget to bring a weapon?"

"Don't worry about it, Zidane," said Garnet. "Let's just get out of here."

But before they could do anything else, or before Zidane could force Mikoto to come along, a booming voice came from around the top of the Iifa Tree.

"Going somewhere?"

It was the voice of Necron, as hideous and unforgiving as the first time Zidane had heard it on the hill of despair. Zidane just stared up at where the voice had come from, but Mikoto stepped forward and spoke.

"Actually, no, we're not. We wanted to make a little compromise with you...Necron."

Zidane was taken aback by Mikoto's bravery and determination in her voice. More or less, it inspired him to step forward as well and speak.

"Listen, Necron. We're not sure what you want, but whatever it is...whatever evil deeds you have planned...we will be there to stop you."

The voice of Necron gave a loud, booming laugh before speaking again.

"What fools! You...stop me? You are underestimating my power. See, you might have defeated me five long years ago, but time passes. People move on. They eventually die. Why don't you see that life is death? Your life will be ended.

"YEAH?" shouted Zidane. His anger was getting the best of him. "We beat you once, and we will do it again! Just show yourself, or are you too afraid?"

"Afraid...?" Necron's booming voice began again. "I felt fear in you when you were standing there a few minutes ago. You fear that your weak, pathetic friends will die. And...you would be right to assume that. Their lives will end, along with yours. I have become much more powerful in these five years. I said that I would return, did I not? The darkness of eternity...back to end the world as you know it. So...where are your other friends? I thought you would bring them along as well, if you figured I had returned.

At this moment, Mikoto spoke up.

"So that's how it is, is it? I knew all along, Necron. I knew all along that you couldn't destroy the world or harm anybody in it until you ended the lives of the ones who defeated you five years ago. Garland spoke of you long ago. He said that should you ever be defeated, you would not be able to return anything to a zero world until you killed whoever it was that defeated you."

Zidane gave a sideways look to Mikoto as if to say "You knew that and you never told me?" before Necron spoke again.

"Ah, so you know. You know that I can't harm anyone else or end anything until I end the lives of the eight who defeated me? Well, you are right. I am also aware that you know about my plan to return at the little reunion this weekend. After all, I have great powers. I am, however, willing to compromise as you have suggested. There is a barrier protecting the world from me, but it works both ways. Only the ones who defeated me can cause any harm to me, but I assure you, they won't. So, in order to be fair, I will create a barrier around this tree that only the mentioned ones who defeated me can pass. I will stop the violent reaction of the vines, so that you're able to get by them. Come inside the tree. Inside, you will find me in my physical form, once again. And we will fight, one last time. This will be a fight to the death. Zidane, bring your other comrades. There should be eight...excuse me...seven of you, because one of you happened to die a while back."

At this, Zidane launched into a rage. "Shut up, you bastard!" Then, after being calmed down by Garnet, he spoke again. "Okay, meet you inside the Iifa Tree, I got it. However, there are a few unanswered questions I have for you."

"Yes?" boomed Necron. "I will answer anything for the people that I will soon destroy."

"First," shouted Zidane, "is it possible for you to leave the Iifa Tree at this time? And second," Zidane looked straight up at where Necron's voice was coming from, "What day and time do you want us to meet you inside the tree so that we can kick your ass for the last time?"

"No, I cannot leave the Iifa Tree at this time, but I can and will whenever you and your friends die. I am also aware of your memorial on Sunday, so I will be nice and let you honor the death of one of your comrades. So, be here at five in the evening Sunday. If one of the seven of you fail to show up, this area will be cursed and you must be in it by five, or else whoever is not here will die, at least after we make this fight to the death official. If someone who is not in the group of seven tries to pass the barrier, instant death to them as well. If none of you shows up, you all die and I return to end this world. Is it a deal?"

Zidane stood there, thinking long and hard. He didn't want to put anyone else's lives in danger, and he especially didn't want anything happening to Garnet. But what choice did he have? If he didn't make this pact with Necron, then Necron would eventually return and destroy the world anyway. Zidane and his friends wouldn't live forever. They would die eventually, and where did that put the world after they had fought so hard to save it in the past? The way Zidane saw it, he would have to make this pact and face Necron on Sunday evening at five. He didn't have a choice. It was now...or never. There was also the possibility of Necron getting even more powerful if Zidane were to put it off a while. Without knowing what he was doing, while still being lost in his thoughts, Zidane nodded his head slowly and said "Okay."

"Then it's final. The pact has been made. The barrier gets put around the tree starting in ten minutes, so you might want to get your other genome friend out of here, thought I don't mind if she dies. Oh, and don't even try to sneak attack me. You're not allowed to enter this area again until ten minutes until five in the evening on Sunday. Try beforehand, and death awaits you all. Wait until after five...death awaits you."

Zidane could feel that the pact between he and Necron was made. There was nothing left to do now but head back to the Red Rose...back to Alexandria Castle, and wait. As he turned to leave, Necron's voice boomed once again.

"And one more thing: You better enjoy the time you have left to its fullest, because that's all you get. Your friends' lives are in your hands now. Treat them to a nice reunion before their pitiful lives are ended."

The voice of Necron died away after this. Zidane looked long and hard at Garnet, at his Dagger...and tears began to wail up in his eyes. Was all they had fought for in the past just for nothing? My friends' lives are in my hands. I made the pact. If anything should happen to my friends, or to Dagger, it's my fault. Enjoy the time that I have left...?

And as Zidane began walking back to the mountain path, Garnet and Mikoto trailing behind him, he thought of the plan he and Mikoto had come up with: to fight Necron on Sunday, more or less what he had agreed to, only with a few other people there, such as Beatrix, Fratley, and Mikoto, and whoever else wanted to take part. He didn't want Garnet taking part, though.So much for that, though... But now, the worst part of it came crashing down on him: that he could possibly lose another one of his friends, or even Dagger.

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Well? Please review. Sorry for my long absence. I should have the next chapter up shortly after Christmas and before 2006. Take care!