The Reunion
Chapter Seven - Danger on the Horizon
Author's Note: Hey everyone, I realize it's been a LONG time since I've last updated. Over three years, in fact. There were quite a few times where I wanted to come back to this story and finish it up, as well as begin other stories for FF IX, but then I got busy with life. However, I'm back and I'm now planning on finishing up this story, as well as begin others. No more long breaks from me. So to those of you who are still here and remember this story: welcome back. To those who will be reading this story for the first time: hope you enjoy! New chapters will definitely be added more often. So, let's get to it...
The evening came swift as more people began to show up at Alexandria Castle. Baku, Blank, Marcus, and Cinna all showed up in the Hilda Garde 3 a little while after the Hilda Garde 5 had shown up, and Ruby arrived straight from the town of Alexandria shortly after that. Quina was already in the kitchen preparing what s/he called "a succulent meal," while Puck looked on warily. He didn't know what to think of the Qu's cooking, but he was getting hungry nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, and Beatrix were taking Eiko, the members of Tantalus, Cid, Hilda, and Ruby for a little tour around Alexandria Castle. Most of them had seen the majority of the castle before, but Steiner thought it would be a good idea to have a sort of "grand tour" of the castle before dinner was ready. Eiko was excitedly running ahead of them, looking around at all of the castle's intricacies. Little had changed since her last visit, but she was happy to go along with the tour. "At least it's better than sitting there with that 'Prince Poo' and getting hungry from watching Quina cook," Eiko thought to herself.
Elsewhere, in the castle library, Freya and Amarant were conversing with each other. They decided to stay in some place quiet for now, and they had become good friends over the course of the adventure five years ago.
"Long time," Amarant said to Freya. "What have you been up to these days?"
"Well, I've mostly been in Burmecia," said Freya. "I helped with the re-building, and right now we are trying to rebuild Cleyra. Sir Fratley does most of the helping with it though." Freya gave a long, hard look at Amarant, then said "what about you, Amarant? What have you been doing the last few years?"
Amarant sat down at one of the library tables across from Freya before speaking. "Not a whole lot. I've mostly been residing in Treno. Every now and then I will visit Lani. She lives in Lindblum these days. I told her if she gets a chance, she should come to this reunion. I know she's not really into these kinds of things, but neither am I."
Freya chuckled. "So, you and Lani, huh? I wouldn't have thought you two would have gotten together."
"It's not really like that," said Amarant with a stern look. "We are just friends, though the relationship is sort of complicated. We tried working as a couple one time, but seeing as we are both loners, it just... didn't really work."
"I see," said Freya. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Zidane came in and told them it was time to eat.
"About time," said Amarant. "I didn't eat most of the day because I was waiting to come here and have a big meal."
The long table in the dining room was set with all kinds of food, ranging from chicken to potatoes to honey-baked ham, as everyone chose a seat. Zidane was at one end of the table, while the members of Tantalus, Ruby, Cid and Hilda sat on one side. On the other side sat Eiko, Freya, Amarant, Puck, Quina, Steiner, and Beatrix. Finally, at the other end of the table sat the Queen. Before anyone could dig in, Zidane stood up to make a little speech.
"Thank you all for coming," he started. "It's hard to believe that it's been an entire five years since all that has happened in those days, and I'm glad you all could make it. This weekend will be filled with much reminiscing, recalling of memories, and just spending the time that we have with each other. I have some very important news about this Sunday-" Zidane's voice trailed off as he stared across the table at Dagger. She was staring at him intently. Finally, Zidane spoke again, and said "However, that can wait until later. Let's go ahead and dig in, as I know many of you are starving, including me!"
The feast was on. Everyone loaded up their plates, including Puck, who's skepticism of Quina's cooking quickly vanished. It was a delicious meal. There wasn't a whole lot of talking going on throughout the meal, but toward the end of it, when a dessert of coconut creme pie was brought out by the castle's cooks, Regent Cid finally spoke up, and when he did, he spoke directly to Zidane.
"Zidane," he started, "I was curious about that letter you sent me yesterday, about informing everyone not to fly around the Iifa Tree. I was just wondering if it had anything to do with the violent reaction of the Iifa Tree's vines, or something else. Tantalus was quite curious about this as well."
"Yeah, I figured you would ask me about that," said Zidane. "Trust me, I will explain it all in just a little while. Let's go ahead and enjoy the rest of our dessert."
"Okay..." said Cid with a puzzled expression on his face. The members of Tantalus all had the same puzzled look as well, especially Baku. They were just as curious as Cid to know just what the heck was going on.
After the feast was over, Quina offered to help clean up, but the castle's cooks said not to worry about it and that they would take care of everything. In the meantime, everyone else headed down to the library, as Zidane had instructed them to do so after the meal ended. He decided it was best to tell them now of the news of Necron, rather than put it off any longer.
Everyone except for Zidane and Dagger were in the library, and Eiko kept telling everyone that she had gotten them all gifts. "Even me?!" exclaimed Ruby happily. "Yup!" Eiko replied just as happily. "I wouldn't forget about you!"
"What about me?" asked Puck curiously.
"Oh...um..." began Eiko. "Well, no, sorry. I did kinda forget you."
"No worries," said Puck, who looked sort of hurt nonetheless.
"Well, when do we get these gifts?" asked Cinna. Though Blank and Marcus had tortured him about Eiko getting him an "awesome" gift, they never did mention what it was, so his anticipation had risen as the weekend got closer.
"Hmm... probably tomorrow," said Eiko.
"I dunno how long we are staying though!" said Cinna. He was hoping the gift giving would go down tonight.
"Don't worry, I'll give the gifts out early in the morning!" shouted Eiko.
As everyone continued to talk or just sit in silence, Zidane and Dagger finally arrived. Everyone was either sitting at one of the library tables or standing around the room. It was quite disorganized, but nobody cared, least of all Zidane. He just wanted to get the news of Necron out of the way and off his chest, and now was the time to do so.
"Alright, everyone..." Zidane began. Quiet filled the room as Zidane continued. "As some of you know, the vines of the Iifa Tree have begun to violently react once again. And... there is a reason for this."
Silence still filled the room. When nobody else spoke up or asked anything, Zidane decided to continue. "I got a visit from my sis Mikoto on Monday after she got her invitation. For a little while now she has sensed the presence of Necron around the Iifa Tree.
There were a few gasps around the room, but still, the room was mostly silent. Zidane continued. "One of the letters I sent out was intercepted by him that day and Mikoto overheard Necron. He said this weekend would be a good time to attack during the reunion. HOWEVER," Zidane raised his voice as a few people started to say something, "Dagger, Mikoto, and I went to the Iifa Tree this past Thursday in order to try and speak with Necron. And... we did."
"So THAT'S where you went?!" Steiner exclaimed. "You told Beatrix and I that you were going to invite the dwarves to this reunion!"
"Yes, well, we didn't want to involve anyone else at the time. I really wanted to tell you guys, but that just didn't feel like the right time. I would much rather have told all of you when we were sitting together like we are now. Anyway, let me continue..."
All eyes were focused on Zidane as he continued with the story. "As of this time, Necron isn't powerful enough to move beyond where he is located inside the Iifa Tree. His physical body is somewhere inside the tree. However, if we were to wait, then over time, Necron WOULD become more powerful and eventually be able to roam this world. However, he can't hurt anyone else until he gets rid of those who defeated him five years ago. Of course, those people would be myself, Dagger, Steiner, Freya, Eiko, Amarant, Quina... and Vivi, if he were still alive."
Zidane debated with himself for a few seconds on whether or not to add the last line about Vivi, but in the end, decided to do so. After all, Vivi would not wish to be forgotten.
"So... what then?" asked Amarant. "What did you talk with Necron about?"
"I made a pact with Necron," said Zidane. "This pact is something I thought long and hard about, and in the end, I could find nothing else for it. This Sunday at 5:00 PM, the original members who defeated Necron will go to the Iifa Tree. We will enter it and destroy him once and for all. Necron is placing a sort of magic barrier around the tree so that no one else can enter or come near the tree. That's why I sent that letter to you, Cid, so that you could inform everyone not to fly near the tree. Necron says instant death shall come to anyone who does so, though I don't know how true that is, or just how powerful Necron currently is for that matter."
"But... that's crazy!" exclaimed Blank. "Why would you make a pact with Necron in the first place? Why not just go in the Iifa Tree and sneak attack his ass?"
"Yeah!" shouted Cid. "You could have informed all of us and we could ALL have gone and took him out!"
"It's not like that!" said Zidane. "Even though I don't know exactly how powerful Necron is at this moment, I do believe he knows, or at least senses, when someone is around the Iifa Tree. And even if he has to deal with the original members who defeated him first, I'm pretty sure that he could and would kill anyone who tried to enter the tree. See, he can't leave the tree yet, but he CAN kill those who come close to his territory!"
"This is crazy!" yelled Freya. "I can hardly believe that Necron would try to come back after all these years!"
"Yeah!" said Steiner, who nonetheless looked pretty frightened. "What if we don't choose to show up? Then what?"
"You don't get it!" yelled Zidane, who was starting to get a little angry. "Necron WILL eventually become powerful enough to leave the Iifa Tree, and none of us are going to live forever. We will all eventually die, then Necron is free to go after all of Gaia. He doesn't care about anything, he just wants to return everything to this 'zero world' he mentioned five years ago, where there is no life. Necron is essentially death! I know you all care about this world, and I don't want to not do anything about it only to die so that Necron can destroy Gaia. We must take care of him as soon as possible, which is why I chose this Sunday after our reunion. It also gives us time to do what I have planned Sunday, and as for any of us not showing up, Necron says whoever doesn't shall die. It's all part of the pact I made with him, but I had to do something!"
"I can't believe this," said Amarant. "First you don't bother telling ANY of us about Necron, then you make a pact like that with him? That's insane."
Zidane had thought about this already. It WAS pretty selfish of him to make a pact like that, as well as a bit 'insane.' Zidane stood there for a moment before speaking again. "I'm sorry... but like I said, I didn't want to just wait until Necron gets powerful enough only to destroy the world anyway. I really, really wanted all of this to be over, and trust me, making a pact like that was something I didn't just rush into. I gave it a lot of thought. It wasn't the most logical idea, putting everyone in danger like I did... but we've all been through so much together. I know that we can take Necron down. I would protect any of you with my life, and even though a few of you wouldn't like to admit it, I know that you would do the same for me! Please understand... we destroy Necron once and for all, and we all go home happy. I didn't want to wait any longer to deal with him. Some of you may say 'what's another few months?' but nobody knows how much more powerful Necron could become, even by the minute. We need to deal with him NOW."
Everyone all around the room just continued to stare at Zidane. It was apparent that all of them were lost in thought about what all that he had just told them. Finally, Eiko jumped up and ran around the table to stand beside Zidane. "I'm with you, Zidane! Let's get rid of Necron once and for all!"
Zidane smiled at Eiko. Her optimism made him feel a little better, then Steiner stood up to stand by Zidane. "Well, it looks like the call of duty has finally risen again. I, too, shall see this through to the end."
"Thank you, Rusty," said Zidane with a smirk. "It means a lot, it really does."
Quina was next to come over and stand with the others. "Where there evil and friends in danger, a Qu shall help destroy evil then cook greatest meal ever!"
"I still can't quite believe all this is happening," Freya said as she stood up, "but I understand where you're coming from, Zidane. We must take care of Necron as soon as we can." She then walked over to stand next to them.
With six of them standing there, Baku began to speak. "Zidane, I gotta admit, that was pretty crazy to make a pact like that, but I gotta say... it also takes balls! That's something I would never be able to do."
Zidane sort of chuckled, but he was more focused on Dagger. She was still sitting at one of the library tables across from Beatrix. Beatrix looked pretty upset, and Dagger was just staring back at Zidane. Finally, Zidane broke the silence. "Dagger... are you with us? You know I would never want to put you in any kind of danger, but I also know how great your white magic and eidolons are. I love you with all my heart and as I've told you before, I will never let anything happen to you. I... would die for you."
Before Dagger could respond, Amarant laughed. "Man, that's too much. But..." Amarant began walking over to where Zidane and the others stood. "I've learned a lot from you, Zidane, and I understand where you're coming from. So I say whatever happens, happens. I'm ready to kick Necron's ass again."
Finally, Dagger stood up. She walked straight up to Zidane and fell into his arms. They stood there for a long while in an embrace. Finally, Dagger said, "I love you so much, and I can't wait for this to be over with."
"Neither can I," Zidane whispered in Dagger's ear. "But in the meantime," he spoke up, "we are going to live this weekend to its fullest. We are going to reminisce like never before and just have a great time."
"YEAH!" shouted Eiko excitedly.
Cid and Hilda looked concerned, but Cid spoke up, saying "I hope for the best, and I understand what has to be done."
Beatrix eventually got up and gave Steiner a hug. "Please be safe," she said.
At this point, Puck was the only one still sitting at a table. The members of Tantalus and Ruby got up to join with everyone else who was standing up. Quietly, Puck got up. He was about to leave the room when Freya spotted him. "Where are you going, Prince Puck?" she asked.
"I'm going to go into town then from there head back to Gizamaluke's Grotto," said Puck. "I... wish you all the best."
And with that, Puck left, as everyone else continued to talk.
It was getting close to 10:00 PM now and a full moon was out. Everyone had moved out onto the balcony. It was a pretty good size, and still would have fit a few more people even with how many were on it already.
"So... is everyone that's here right now staying the night?" asked Zidane. He had one more thing -- one more story -- planned for the night.
Everyone nodded. Hilda mentioned that she was starting to get sleepy though, as did Cid.
"You can sleep in one of the guest rooms," said Beatrix. "They are all made up and should fit up to three people per room."
"Wait before you go," said Zidane. "I've got one last story to tell before the night is over."
"Aww, can't it wait?" asked Cid. "I was looking forward to getting a good night's sleep."
"Ah, sorry," laughed Zidane, "but I'm ready to tell it now. It's the entire story about how I made it out of the Iifa Tree five years ago after I went back to try and save Kuja, as well as how I eventually made it back here."
"Hmm..." thought Cid, clearly debating whether to go to bed at this time or not. "Well, you've caught my attention. I'm staying."
Hilda, however, decided to go to bed, and was sure she would hear the story from Cid anyway. With everyone else -- including the members of Tantalus and Ruby -- ready and waiting for the story, Zidane decided to jump right in.
"Okay, here we go..." began Zidane. "Just remember, no interruptions! Most of you have heard bits and pieces of the story at one point or another, but tonight, I'm going to tell you all everything, and this is the very first time I have done so..."
Sorry again for such a LONG delay between chapters! Please review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will be up pretty soon, I promise, and it shall be what I think happened when Zidane went back to try and save Kuja up to the time that he made his big return during 'I Want To Be Your Canary!'