Start Date: March 9, 2024
Windwillow
Final Fantasy IX: The Reason and Right To Exist
Chapter Three: Dancing the Black Waltz
Following their escape from Evil Forest, Zidane and the others set up shop just outside the infernal place using a Tent from Monty. Everyone was exhausted, Garnet the most as she was still recovering from being infected with the Plant Brain's spores. She quietly drifted off to sleep, leaving the others time to ruminate on everything that had happened. Blank's sacrifice left a deep scar on Zidane's heart, with even Steiner feeling responsible for his loss. Vivi remained largely silent and simply stared at the fire, almost as if entranced - or, perhaps, he was still traumatized.
"This is all your fault, you damned thief! Wash your neck and prepare for the axe!" Steiner boomed.
"Oh, bite me," retorted Zidane. "I'm not in the mood for your self-righteous garbage." While Zidane tended to the fire Steiner, in a childish attempt to get back at the tailed thief, slowly picked up a rock and swiftly tossed it at him. It was when Garnet awoke early and was nailed by the rock that Zidane brutally beat the knight to a bloody pulp, while the princess simply healed Steiner as well as herself using her white magic, largely not offended by the action as she'd expected Steiner to act childishly around her thieving savior.
"Where are we, anyway...?" mumbled Garnet. Steiner quickly staggered to his feet and saluted, prepared to give his report, but to his outrage the runaway princess ignored him and turned to Zidane. Although it took a moment she suddenly realized that they were down a man and moved to comfort Zidane, but he simply shook his head and she dropped the matter. "I'm so sorry, Zidane..." she murmured. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah... Keep breathing," Zidane said, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"You'll be executed upon our return to the castle, you vile knave! I hope you're prepared for the gallows!" Steiner snarled as he took a bite of some meat that they'd scavenged from around the campsite.
"Don't worry, Zidane. You won't be hurt because we aren't returning to Alexandria," Garnet said curtly. "It just so happened that they tried to kidnap me... I wanted to leave the castle on my own. I'll seek asylum in Lindblum, just as I wanted to do in the first place..." she murmured. Steiner moved to argue, but a single glare silenced him and he grumpily ripped off another piece of meat, falling to his seat with a low grumble.
"The Mist will kill us all. The only chance we have is going back to Alexandria," Steiner grumbled.
"And you'll get us there how, exactly? You're just as powerless as the rest of us," Zidane snapped. "If we die here, it'll be together. I won't leave the princess no matter what, so don't start with some tirade about me being a villain again. It makes my ears ache... Besides that," he said with a hint of bile in his voice, "they'll have sealed off North and South Gate by now. We're surrounded by tall mountains and bloodthirsty beasts... My suggestion is that we all get some sleep for the night and then worry about what to do in the morning."
"You dirty-" choked Steiner.
"Just give it up, Steiner..." groaned Garnet.
Steiner frantically stumbled to his feet, snatching up his sword as he did so. "I'll stand guard!" he insisted frantically. "None shall pass beyond my blade!"
"I feel so very safe..." Zidane muttered. "Not."
Scene One
When morning came the light only vaguely alighted, the darkness of the Mist largely shrouding the sunlight. That was how it was under the Mist: eternal darkness, hopeless regrets, and monsters vile and powerful enough to chill your soul. That, and they could eat your body from the inside out if they wanted to, assuming that the monsters were willing to give you the dignity of a quick death. As Garnet quietly rose from her slumber and exited the Tent she sought out Zidane and found him at the petrified entrance to Evil Forest.
Staring down the vines that sealed the forest, Zidane bit his lip and tightened his fists. He'd never asked for Blank to act like a God damned hero. "Jackass... It should've been me..." mumbled Zidane.
"Zidane?" Garnet's words startled Zidane and made him jump, though when he turned around he saw not the fire in the princess's eyes but two hollow embers, dimly lit torches like his own empty sockets. "Is there... any way to revive him?"
Zidane spitefully shook his head and pounded his fist against the stony thorns. "Doubtful. The whole place is petrified, and even if we found him and used a Gold Needle on him the damn thing would de-petrify the monsters too. Hard to think that we have a chance against them..." he muttered. With a sigh he leaned his back against the petrified thorns. "He'll figure something out. He always does."
"'He?' Who is 'he?'" wondered Garnet.
"Baku, the leader of the Troupe... My father. He always finds a way, but this one has me stumped. Revive Blank and you revive the monster holding him. No, that's not a smart move," sighed Zidane. "Dammit, Blank. I'm going to give you a black eye next time I see you."
"Perhaps Doctor Tot could help? Ah, but he's in Treno now. I think he mentioned something that would work... but to get it..." She paused and shook her head. There was no way she could she condone thievery, even if it was what had rescued her from the palace. Then again, a debt is a debt... and if they were going to steal it in the first place, all the better to lend them a hand and keep them from snatching anything else. "Never mind. Baku will find a way, I know it."
"You know something?" Zidane asked bitterly. "Care to share?"
"Every time a door closes, a window opens. Have faith in your father, Zidane. You folks being who you are might make all the difference..." muttered Garnet.
"Who we are? Ha... I see what you're getting at," said Zidane, a bit more brightness in his voice. "Don't worry. We aren't the violent type. All we do is get in, get the goods, and get out. No one gets hurt. Anyway..." he sighed as he unfurled Blank's map, "there's a cavern to the south that might lead up through the Mist. We can't use South Gate or North Gate, so that's probably our best chance." Zidane felt a soft poke on his pant leg and immediately leapt into Garnet's startled arms. After a few uncomfortable moments he retreated and apologetically slunk to the side of their new comrade: Monty. Garnet simply groaned in irritation but said nothing.
"Below the Mist you won't find any moogles for the diary or tents. Use this, kupo," said Monty. He handed Zidane a small flute decorated with the head of a moogle. "This is the Moogle Flute. Play it anywhere on the world map and one of us moogles will come running, so then you can use as many tents and write as many entries as you like. I gotta warn you, though," he said reluctantly. "Monsters below the Mist are twice as nasty as the ones up top. Watch your backs, kupo."
"You have our thanks, sir," said Garnet as she bowed to the moogle. Monty extended his hand to her but, finding her stumped, instead turned to Zidane and shook his hand. Zidane quickly stashed the Moogle Flute in his pocket and turned to leave, though Garnet caught him by the sleeve and stopped him. "I don't get it... Why was he trying to punch me?" she asked quizzically.
"You're... serious, aren't you?" deadpanned Zidane.
"Of course I am!" Garnet huffed. "Is this some sort of thief's trick or something, like a salute?"
"I... am not even going to try..." Zidane mumbled.
"Tell me!" screeched Garnet, her fists balled and her lips pursed. "Come on, tell me!"
Scene Two
Departing the safety of their campsite would be a risky proposition, but it had to be done at some point. After packing up their belongings and stashing the Tent inside Zidane's vest, the party left the entryway to Evil Forest and headed towards the southern cavern. It would be a long, arduous journey, however, with the possibility of monster attacks coming from every corner. Below the Mist, there were no safe havens, except perhaps for Burmecia. After a few hours Vivi reluctantly plopped to his seat to rest and noticed a small apple hanging from a tree up ahead.
"Oh, an apple!" gasped Vivi. He quietly stumbled to his feet and dashed over to the apple tree, totally devoid of any sort of caution.
"Don't do it!" screeched Zidane. "There's a Goblin behind the tree!" Indeed, a figure popped out from behind the apple tree. Notable rogues and bandits, Goblins were diminutive humanoids half the size of a normal person, dressed in rags and carrying a long dagger. These predators were violent and savage, very much willing to cut a person's throat just to earn a nickel. Vivi shrieked and skittered backwards as Steiner and Zidane drew their weapons, but before either of them could act the Goblin was knocked back by an unknown force.
The trio pivoted around to find Garnet holding onto a strange object. It was the arm-length rod that she'd spirited out of the castle, though instead of being shaped like a sphere on a staff the object instead seemed to unfold like the petals of a flower to reveal a glowing central core. Garnet smilingly snapped it closed and laid the orb back to her shoulder to rest, leaving her friends to stare in shock. None of them had ever fathomed that their ever-so-precious princess was capable of biting back against monsters.
"I took it from the castle before I left. It's called a racket, a tool that charges and shoots bullets of air like a slingshot," explained Garnet.
"Y-Y-You stole it?!" Steiner shrieked.
"What's wrong with that? I needed something to defend myself with," Garnet reasoned. As she stared back at the blank faces of her traveling companions, the princess chuckled and playfully stuck out her tongue. "Okay... So technically, it's illegal. The same is true of a princess leaving the palace without her family's permission. I guess breaking one taboo doesn't make it any better to break another, but... Well, there you have it."
"You know what?" chuckled Zidane. "I knew I liked you for a reason, girl." Having departed around noon, it took another six hours to reach their destination. Said destination was a huge cavern that was dug into the side of the mountains, which hopefully led up to a place up above the Mist. Once there the quartet of travelers gathered together in front of the cave's entrance, where they found a thick, icy mist (normal mist) seeping out from inside.
"Um... Have you guys heard of the Ice Cavern?" Vivi asked timidly. "It's a place where beasts of the ice element gather to do bad stuff to people. I hear it's a dangerous place."
"Yes, but I've heard that it's also quite beautiful," retorted the princess. "How did you hear about it, Vivi?"
"M-My grandpa told me... He knows lots of stuff..." mumbled Vivi.
"What a scholar he must be!" Steiner remarked proudly. "We ought to seek his counsel one day!"
"He... died a little bit ago," Vivi said hurriedly.
"You... You have my apologies, Master Vivi..." muttered Steiner.
"I-It's okay," insisted Vivi.
"If we're done yakking, I suggest we go inside," said Zidane calmly. "The faster we get in and out the less chance of us ending up dead."
Upon entering the Ice Cavern the party found themselves in a wintry wonderland, filled with blue and white flowers as well as large crystalline constructions that resembled crystals but weren't. Instead, they were more like flowers except made of a strange substance that seemed to be a bridge between a flower and a crystal. These crystal flowers were well known by the Treno nobility as status symbols as well as decorations for the more elaborate banquets that the elites threw.
"How lovely! Seeing these beats reading about them anyday!" gasped Garnet, moving to examine the crystal flowers. "It's remarkable! Crystal flowers are actually flowers while also being a mineral in composition!"
"Princess, we must make haste!" Steiner insisted.
"Oh, hold your water!" retorted Garnet. "I want to look, and I intend to look!"
"Well, I suggest you look quick. It's beautiful in here, yeah, but if we get eaten by a Yeti or something it doesn't matter how pretty the place is," reasoned Zidane.
Scene Three
The next room in the Ice Cavern was a wide open area, with three separate paths leading to different chambers. Each of them led to the same place but they also all had their own dangers, both monsters and traps. Garnet hurried towards the central path but Zidane shoved her back just in time to evade the dagger of a monster. Jolly and deadly, the Cave Imp carried both a dagger and a flask filled with liquor, and was capable of breathing ice at its enemies.
"A monster!" gasped the princess. She quickly opened her racket. "Shall we fight?"
"Idiot! There's more than one!" croaked Zidane, just as one Cave Imp gave way to four. Zidane swiftly drew his daggers and clashed with the first Cave Imp, struggling to push through until he finally knocked its legs out from under it and stabbed it with one of his daggers, which caused it to burst into a puff of purple smoke. Garnet watched, intrigued, as the monster of the Mist met its death, and it was incredibly interesting for the young girl.
"It just went poof!" Garnet gasped. While she marveled at the demise of the Cave Imp, however, the other three darted towards her before she could prepare her weapon. Both Steiner and Zidane, however, deftly drew their weapons and slew the beasts. Again a thick purplish smoke accompanied their destruction, further baffling the princess. "What just happened?!" she choked.
"How could you put yourself in danger, Your Highness?!" Steiner gasped.
"Shut it, Rusty. When a monster spawned by the Mist dies it does... well... that," explained Zidane as he sheathed his daggers. "Monsters are manifestations of Mist, and when they die their Mist is released in a large burst. It isn't poisonous, but it smells horrible. Mist itself isn't poison, but it does spawn disorder and negative emotions," he said softly. "Monsters made of Mist are mean as hell."
Parallel Perspective: A New Weapon
After passing through the central road, they encountered a room with a large chunk of ice that seemed to be clumped together in a crystalline formation. Zidane nudged Vivi with his foot and the black mage quickly got the idea, laying his hands on the ice and pulsing heat through it that caused it to melt and reveal a treasure chest. The tailed thief strolled up to it and kicked it open to reveal a steel boomerang, which he quickly took and stashed on his belt.
"What is that?" gasped Garnet.
"It's a boomerang, a ranged weapon that returns to the wielder after it's thrown. I don't have any real ranged weapons, so this ought to shore up my defenses a bit," said Zidane. "Without this, I can't hit anything far away or anything that flies."
"It's so shiny..." Vivi swooned.
Parallel Perspective: Jelly Troubles
Further down the path Zidane came across a strange, jelly-like creature. Jiggly and jelly-like, the Flan was composed of a strange mixture of compounds that made it next to impossible to wound physically. He swiftly drew his dagger and slashed at it, only for the weapon to be repelled. The Flan quickly turned around, revealing a violent-looking face before it jabbed its head into Zidane's gut. When it retreated and prepared to attack again Zidane flinched, but it suddenly burst into flames and dissolved in a puff of Mist. Zidane whirled around to find Vivi with his hands outstretched, still smoking.
"Fool! Flans are immune to weaponry!" Steiner scolded.
"I could've handled it just fine on my own!" insisted Zidane.
"Stupid crook!" retorted Steiner.
"Rusty piece of junk!" Zidane spat back. When Garnet whacked him on the back of the head and glared him down, however, the thief quietly relented and bowed his head in apology (to the princess, not Steiner). He lifted his eyes and trained them on the steely gaze that Garnet wore, causing him to swoon and release a soft sigh. "You're so gosh darned cute..." he muttered.
Scene Four
The party continued on until they reached a larger area with three of the same frosted walls that Zidane had found the boomerang in. Vivi chose one at random and blasted it, but was startled when a monster emerged from it. It seemed to be a large face with two tusks, one that happened to have two spindly legs holding it up. The expression on its face was one of sorrow, perhaps having looked in a mirror shortly prior. Vivi let out a shriek and covered his face with his hands before Steiner drew his sword and cut the monster in half down the middle.
"T-Thank you, Steiner!" gasped Vivi. Garnet cheerfully patted Vivi on the back and moved towards the now-open road, only for a second monster to emerge. The Abominable Snowman had seemingly lost its legs and learned to float. Most of its body was its twisted, toothy maw, with two thin limbs attached on either side. The princess wasted no time in drawing her racket and whacking it with its blunt edge, which knocked it off kilter and allowed her time to open the weapon and blast it into a puff of smoke.
"Princess! How could you put yourself in danger like that?!" Steiner shrieked.
"She looks like she can take care of herself pretty well," shrugged Zidane. "Might want to watch out for her."
"You despicable rogue! You-" Before Steiner could follow through with his threat Garnet glared him down and he quickly and shamefully retreated and bowed his head in penance. Once they'd passed through all the chambers the party reached a diverging road, one way to the left that looked normal and the other with a strange icy mist to the right.
"Should we just go right?" asked Garnet quietly.
Zidane shook his head and sighed. "The whole mist thing just screams danger. We ought to see if the left path has a way out first," he said plainly. The party hurried down the left path and found a moogle frozen in ice on a pedestal. Vivi casually lit the ice on fire and brought down the wrath of the moogle, who clamped onto his face and shoved him to the floor kicking and screaming. "Maybe you should've waited to ask?" mumbled Zidane. "I guess it's a bit rude to just ignite moogles on fire at random."
"The hell did you do that for?!" shrieked the moogle. It quietly jumped off of Vivi's face, dusted off its legs, and bowed its head. "Sorry, kupo! The name's Mois! There was a funky monster up ahead, kupo! Froze me solid it did, kupo!" tittered Mois. "Strange dude, though... It had on a straw hat and carried a bell. No idea what it's problem was, but it certainly ruined my day, kupo!" it spat angrily. "On top of that, Stiltzkin waltzed right past me! I'm going to send him a nasty letter, kupo!"
"Do you think that means that the man with the straw hat is what's causing the mist?" wondered Garnet. "Should we turn back?"
"We don't have much of a choice, Garnet... It's the right road or nothing," Zidane sighed. "Just keep your eyes peeled for scarecrows and hope for the best."
Scene Five
The right path would be just as dangerous as Mois had implied. Fighting against fierce, icy winds the party progressed slowly through the biting cold. It was almost as if they were fighting their way through a rain storm, except this time it was horizontal with ice rather than rain. The journey was rough and painful, the icy wind piercing their skin as if with daggers, though they continued on all the same. Their destination was just beyond the danger zone... and the danger zone was dangerous enough that not getting out of there wasn't an option. They'd already tasted a sample of what the Mist's foul monsters could do and the dangers that they posed... waiting for a second helping would be tantamount to suicide.
With Zidane leading the way the quartet plodded through the icy needles that bit at their flesh. As they struggled Vivi slowly began to fall behind, a fact that Garnet quickly realized when she turned and watched him fall face first over a small cliff. She quickly vaulted over the cliff, danger be damned, with Steiner in hot pursuit, leaving a very distressed Zidane to follow as well. When they found Vivi he was face down in the icy cold, silent and unresponsive. Zidane slightly prodded him with his foot to no effect. He turned around to find Steiner already unconscious and Garnet close to passing out as well. Zidane frantically reached for the princess just as he too began to succumb, finally losing control of his faculties and falling unconscious next to the others.
Upon hearing the soft tinkling of a bell, Zidane slowly returned to consciousness and rose to his feet. The others had already begun to frost over. The more he listened to the bell the clearer it became: the source of the ringing was the problem that he had to dispose of. He wordlessly vaulted over the cliff and landed safely, and followed the sound of the bell with diligent determination. What he found was a large, frosted waterfall with no discernible inhabitants.
When he heard a bell tinkle he quickly turned his eyes to the sky and found the source of the ringing. While it resembled Vivi to a degree, the monster was hunchbacked and carried a bell and had two sagging wings on its back that likely wouldn't allow it to fly. With a sharp movement the creature vaulted high into the air and landed deftly in front of Zidane, a wicked gleam in its eyes.
"You should be asleep, boy..." it growled menacingly.
"Sorry, I have insomnia. I tend to sleep walk... and sleep fight," snarled Zidane as he unsheathed his weapons. "Bring it on, you sorry excuse of a scarecrow."
The mage rang its bell and a thick glacier formed behind it, with a loud roar signaling that there was a creature within. What emerged from the glacier was a large, monstrous sort of creature whose body shape could scarcely be defined by any normal species. It was three times Zidane's size and had two long, scaled fins and moved atop a serpentine trunk. The Sealion, a monster summoned by dark magic and related to the same Mist monsters that they'd fought along the way, let out a low hiss and steam spewed from its face.
Zidane mouthed a curse as the Sealion threw its fin at him, narrowly avoiding being hit by back flipping away from the attack. When the Sealion prepared for a follow up Zidane swiftly returned his right dagger to its sheath and grabbed hold of his boomerang, drew it, and hurled it at the monster. The boomerang soared through the cold air and slashed at the monster's face, drawing blood before the weapon circled back around and Zidane caught it and brandished it as if it were a third dagger.
An enraged Sealion breathed out a massive burst of icy wind at Zidane that immediately frosted his body over completely and sealed him up in a column of ice. Although the mage sneered when Zidane shattered the ice and emerged in Trance its eyes opened wide. With a cocky smirk on his face Zidane swiftly darted forward with his dagger extended and swung at the creature, cutting open a large gash in its chest. As the mage staggered from the brutal blow he followed up by blasting it with a healthy dose of explosive energy that both mauled it to death and shattered the waterfall behind it.
Again the Sealion roared and swung with its fin, though Zidane effortlessly back flipped away and, taking his left dagger in a reverse grip, dug it into the ice beneath him. From the point where the weapon had struck a strange set of runes formed in a semicircle that quickly blossomed into a fiery wave of energy not unlike what he'd used to kill the mage, swallowing the Sealion in a massive field of white flames that finally incinerated the beast. Zidane dropped to his knees as his Trance was dispelled, and he wiped the sweat from his brow as his energy began to give out.
"I never intended to fight that thing..." heaved Zidane.
"Defeated No. 1 you did, but never shall you kill the second Black Waltz!"
"Who's there, huh?!" Zidane shouted fiercely, turning his eyes to up above the now surging waterfall. Seeing no one he spitefully retrieved his dagger and returned it to its sheath, stashed the boomerang on his belt and looked up at the source of the voice - seemingly nothing. "Hurt Garnet and I'll break your sorry neck!" he snarled. With no other option he quietly turned to leave and returned to the site where the incident had begun and found, to his pleasure, that the others had thawed out and now huddled together for warmth.
"What the devil just happened?!" screeched Steiner.
"Good morning to you, too, Rusty," chuckled Zidane.
"You sneaky monkey! You did something to the princess, didn't you?!" Steiner roared.
"Relax, Steiner! He's fine," said Garnet flatly. Turning to Zidane with a more sinister glare in her eye, however, she quietly narrowed her eyes at him with enough intensity to moisten his armpits. "Right?" she growled.
"Hey, what are you accusing me of?! I'm just the one who woke up first and I would never do anything so vile!" Zidane protested. "We just need to get out of here as quickly as possible, okay?"
With the princess's doubts (more or less) assuaged the party progressed through the cavern, which they now found was devoid of the icy cold wind that had caused so much havoc in the first place. When asked for an explanation Zidane quickly lied and claimed that he didn't know, and Garnet declined to pursue the issue. Once they'd crossed a small frozen river they exited the Ice Cavern and found themselves in a glorious place: a cliff overlooking a small village, completely devoid of Mist. As they exited the cave Garnet excitedly stretched her limbs and took in a deep breath of fresh air.
"The air smells so beautiful! And there seems to be a village down there somewhere," Garnet said cheerfully. "Things are looking up for once."
"You know what, I think I've actually been to that village!" chuckled Zidane.
"What did you steal?" asked Vivi innocently.
"I don't just steal stuff! I'm an adventurer, too!" spat Zidane. After quietly bowing his head in apology to the startled black mage he turned to Garnet and sized her up. "And you need to start going incognito ASAP. If you go around proclaiming that you're the princess, they'll be on our trail like nothing else. My suggestion," he reasoned, "is that you adopt an alias. Come up with a new name."
"Knave! The princess needs no such thing!" Steiner boomed, pushing Zidane nearly off the cliff and dropping one of his daggers to the ground. "And you will address her as Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII until you're hanged at the gallows!" he roared.
"Aw, stuff it. I don't take orders from any tin soldiers like you," retorted Zidane.
"This armor is one hundred percent steel! The finest in all of Alexandria!" snarled Steiner.
"Well, it looks to me like all you're missing is a key on your back! Why don't you get wound up somewhere else and start dancing around like a monkey?" Zidane shot back.
"You are the monkey!" screeched Steiner. Before the two could come to blows Steiner quickly realized that the princess had snatched up Zidane's dagger and had begun to examine it, swinging it softly to get a feel for the weapon. "Princess, you mustn't swing weapons around!" he shrieked. "They're very dangerous!"
"Hey, Zidane... What is this called?" Garnet asked quietly.
"That? It's a dagger. All blades that size are called daggers," explained Zidane. "The next size up are short swords, and their average length is-"
"If I'm cutting ties with my name, I might as well sever it for real... Call me Dagger from now on," Garnet said with a smirk. Steiner moved to protest but Garnet glared him down and he retreated, shortly before she tossed the dagger back to Zidane. He caught it and sheathed it in a single swift motion, sharing a smile with Dagger for the first time. "Thank you, Zidane. I like the name."
"Very sharp of you," Zidane chuckled.
Scene Six
The span of land that awaited the party once they'd departed the Ice Cavern was a monstrously large space compared to Evil Forest or the Ice Cavern with several forests and a huge mountain in the distance near the village to the west. These plains were rife with wildlife and flora, luckily having only a few monsters. The Carve Spiders were especially nasty but were a rarity in the Dali area. A few hours of exploration found a path to South Gate, but Dagger vetoed the idea under the reasoning that Brahne would certainly have feelers there. Steiner argued of course, but was overruled by his princess's iron will.
Vivi noted that he'd come from that area, a space around Treno, and suggested that they visit his grandfather's cave one day. After giving them the information on where Quan's Dwelling could be found they entered a large forest area and Vivi asked to rest, so the party decided to delay their travels towards the village for an hour. Vivi blissfully plopped back against the trunk of a particularly large tree, let out a sigh, and quietly bowed his head to rest.
"We need water," reasoned Dagger, "so I'm going to go see if I can find a spring."
"Someone must go with you, Your Highness!" Steiner insisted desperately.
"I'll be fine! I can take care of myself," Dagger shot back, also throwing a glare at Steiner that immediately silenced the soldier's attempts to rein his princess in. Although Dagger headed out alone Zidane still followed after her at a reasonable distance as not to agitate her further. She moved through the brush and passed through a glorious verdant wonderland, finally finding a friend playing near a tree. Although it looked like a cute woodland creature, the Mu was anything but. True enough it couldn't do much damage, but if you chip away at something enough with your incisors it's going to eventually fall apart.
"Aw... You're adorable!" swooned Dagger, reaching down to take the Mu in her arms.
"That's a monster!" Zidane shouted as he drew his dagger and moved to Dagger's side. "Get away from it!"
The Mu did indeed bare its fangs and chomped onto Dagger's ankle, which caused her to cry out as the bite drew blood from her leg. The runaway princess kicked the monster off her leg and sent it flying into a far tree, and as it again snarled and pounced at her Zidane lifted his dagger and cut a wide gash in its back that resulted in the Mu's death. Zidane deftly sheathed his weapon and turned to Dagger in the expectation that she'd congratulate him, but instead received a stony glare that moistened his underpants and sent a chill down his spine.
"You didn't have to kill it!" snapped Dagger.
"Uh, hello? It attacked you!" protested Zidane. The princess simply bent down and laid her hands on her injury, and within moments the laceration and bleeding had gone away. As she rose and turned to continue her search for water Zidane grabbed hold of her sleeve and tugged her away from her search. "We can get some water when we get to the village!" he insisted.
"Right... and how much money do we have to rent a room?" wondered Dagger innocently. Seeing Zidane's reluctance she narrowed her eyes at him and smacked his hand away. "We have enough to rent a room, don't we?" she asked, a bit more forcefully. "I don't want to camp out under these conditions. Not that I've ever gone camping, come to think of it..."
"Relax, relax! I have enough for a room," Zidane said quickly. "If you want to double up in bed, I'd be glad to-"
"Seriously?" Dagger growled.
"Hey, you can't blame me for asking, right?" whimpered Zidane.
Parallel Perspective: On a Coffee Break, Company Isn't Welcome
Along the way to the village of Dali the site of Observatory Mountain to the east of the town was too juicy a target to pass up, so the party stopped in to visit Morrid. Observatory Mountain was a lookout space for the cargo ship that serviced Dali, with Morrid being in charge of the observatory and under the pay of the crown. An older man, he enjoyed his coffee breaks and often sought out rare types to sample. When the party entered and asked for an audience he quickly shook them off and returned to his coffee.
"We are on an important mission!" Steiner roared.
"Good for you," shrugged Morrid. "Now get lost."
"Y-Y-You worthless-" stammered Steiner.
"Relax, Rusty," Zidane scolded, smacking the knight on the back of the head to quiet him.
"And you! How dare you-" Steiner choked.
"Give it a rest, Steiner..." muttered Dagger.
"Yes, Your Highness!" said Steiner with a dutiful salute. Zidane chuckled a bit and although the soldier shot him a nasty look he said nothing, on account of not wanting to upset his princess.
Scene Seven
The village of Dali was a small settlement in the far western area of the Kingdom of Alexandria, traditionally known for their pumpkin exports and well known for its quaint charm by travelers searching for a change of scenery from Treno and Alexandria. When the quartet entered the village Vivi's eyes immediately widened and narrowed in on the windmill in the back of Dali, though Zidane caught him by the scruff of the neck and kept him from moving forward.
"But I wanna see the windmill!" Vivi whined.
"It's nearly night," Zidane said flatly. "We can visit in the morning."
"Aww... 'Kay..." mumbled the black mage. Inside the village Inn, as the party entered they found a pleasant enough environment. To their left was a fireplace and further to said left was a moogle, with a spotted cat laying asleep on the mantle. Up ahead with his head bowed, sawing logs, was Hal the Innkeeper, who was notorious for slacking off. Not only that, but he was one of the only two villagers who hadn't been wrangled in the black mage manufacturing trade and he was losing both faith and capital as a result.
"Not much of a businessman, huh?" sighed Dagger.
"I shall wake the sorry sap up!" boomed Steiner. "He must-"
"Oh, shut up, Rusty," Zidane groaned as he walked towards the desk. He rapped his knuckles on the desk, which startled Hal awake and nearly gave him a heart attack. When the Innkeeper finally came to and stared up at Zidane's charming visage he was more ashamed than anything else. "Do you have a room, man?" he asked cheerfully.
"Room? Of course! I have just the place for a traveler's weary bones!" crooned Hal. "We have a deal for first time customers, and-" When the Innkeeper locked eyes on Vivi, who stood just to Dagger's right, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "H-Huh?" he croaked weakly.
"Keep your eyes to yourself!" Steiner snarled, moving between Hal and Dagger in a protective fashion.
"I-I wasn't... I don't... I mean... Sorry... We have one room open. It's a four-bed with its own well, and it costs a hundred Gil a night for four people," Hal said quickly. Zidane quickly tossed the Innkeeper his cash and turned towards their room, but seeing Dagger's apprehension he softly patted her on the back and guided her inside. As everyone departed to their bedroom, Hal quietly sunk back in his seat and began to chuckle.
My brother might finally reconcile with me if I send him the defective runaway...
The room that the party had rented was a comfortable one, albeit rustic by the standards of the runaway princess. There were indeed four beds located at the four corners of the center, which ringed a small well that provided free water to renters. Dagger desperately dove at it and took in a deep drink of the water, only to balk and cough up saliva to the side. She turned to Zidane with a strange sense of what could best be described as confusion and contempt.
"This water isn't filtered!" Dagger protested.
"Of course it isn't. The only people with filtered water have silver spoons stuffed up their..." When he received a blank stare from Dagger, Zidane quickly backed down and lifted his hands to defend himself. "Okay, forget I said anything..." he mumbled.
"Where will I change clothes, though?" Dagger croaked, who had come to the point of desperation.
"Anywhere you want!" Zidane tittered lecherously. Dagger quietly glared the thief down, with such intensity that he began to sweat. She may not have been overly violent, but the threat of danger was enough to warrant caution. "I was kidding, god!"
"You weren't and you know it," Dagger said with a slick grin. Even so, she didn't seem to hold any real animosity and so Zidane gratefully decided to not push his luck any further.
"May as well ask... Why were you so determined to get snatched? You said that you were planning to leave the castle anyway, so... What's the reason that you decided to ditch the queen?" asked Zidane, putting his hands over the back of his head. "You don't look like the type to run off looking for a suitor."
"If the Theater Ship hadn't crashed, it would've arrived at the neighboring regency of Lindblum..." Dagger said hesitantly. She didn't intend on folding her entire hand. Until she met with Cid and sought his advice she didn't have any reason to say anything more.
"So you had business in Lindblum? What was it?" Zidane wondered.
"I can't tell you," Dagger said quickly.
"Can't or won't?" shot back Zidane.
"Please don't force the issue..." mumbled Dagger. "I have a good reason but I can't... won't tell anyone until I see who I need to see."
"Not like it was my business in the first place. Consider the question closed, then," said Zidane cheerfully. "I'm not one to force a lady to do anything she doesn't want to do."
"I have had enough! You can't trust this brigand, Princess! He put you in danger in Evil Forest, and he shouldn't have any say in where we go!" Steiner boomed.
"If you remember, Steiner," Dagger said wryly, "he saved all of us... you, too."
"T-That's... Um..." stammered Steiner. Finally he hung his head and gave up. There wasn't much he could do to argue against that logic...
"I'm more than willing to take responsibility for my actions... But this self-righteous crap needs to stop. You have no business judging me. As far as I'm concerned, since we're all in the same boat we should all have a say," Zidane said. "You don't bother me, I don't bother you. So just stop marking your territory, okay?"
"How dare you?! I alone will protect-" choked Steiner.
"What is your plan to bring me back to the castle? Oh, that's right: you don't have one," Dagger said curtly. "Besides that, I never intended to go back in the first place," she said forcefully. As Steiner stewed, she quietly pointed to the furthest bed and chuckled. "He's got the right idea," she sighed, watching as Vivi had passed out. "We need to call it a night."
"Now that that's taken care of," chuckled Zidane, "find somewhere to rinse out that tin can of yours. It reeks."
"You dirty-" Steiner croaked. As he turned to Dagger and found her very disgruntled, however, the knight quietly grumbled and began to remove his armor to prepare for bed.
Scene Eight
The night passed uneventfully with no difficulties. Although Zidane wanted to try and cuddle up with Dagger he knew the limit of what she'd tolerate and begrudgingly remained right in his own very comfortable bed. When morning came the quartet separated, leaving Zidane as the only one left in their room. Zidane finally awoke around nine o'clock and, after stretching, quietly pulled his clothes back on and adjusted his daggers. As he did so, however, the beautiful song that he'd heard in his dreams echoed in his head.
"Was that Dagger...?" Zidane murmured. "It was so damned beautiful..."
Parallel Perspective: A Black Mage's Troubles
Vivi was the last to depart from the Inn, doing so about half an hour before Zidane left. He was excited to examine the windmill in the back of the village, something he'd heard stories about from his grandfather but never thought he'd see in person. Then again, most of the things in the world that he'd heard about Vivi never expected he'd see personally. After wandering the Inn for a few minutes he branched out to explore the village itself and came across a giant well in the center of town.
"Wow..." Vivi breathed. He quietly climbed on top of the rim and stuck his head down deep inside, but pulled out just as he feared he might fall in and drown. When he raised himself up Vivi watched as three young children stared at him in awe and, after they ran away, he hopped off of the well and turned towards the windmill in the distance. "Why did they run away...?" he mumbled.
Parallel Perspective: A Princess's Perseverance
"Hmm... There must have been casualties from what happened..." Dagger murmured to herself as she entered a small pumpkin patch. She quietly turned her eyes to the sky and used her arm to shield herself from the sunlight, sighed, and reluctantly lowered her gaze to examine the pumpkin patch. She'd never had a pumpkin before. For that matter she'd never been at a pumpkin patch before. For the matter of that matter she'd also never been on a farm in the first place. "I was the one who started it all... I just hope that they don't hate me for it... I needed to get to Lindblum to see Uncle Cid, and..." She paused and shook her head. "No. It's all my fault. They got hurt because of my selfishness."
"Outta my way, kid," snapped an old lady in rags, brushing Dagger aside as she entered the pumpkin patch.
"O-Oh, my apologies..." muttered Dagger. "I just-"
"Whatever. You young folks are a pain in the ass," the old lady muttered under her breath. She quietly withdrew a vial of something and began to pour it on the crops.
"I-If I may... What are you doing, ma'am?" asked Dagger.
"Killing the bugs, fool. They're feasting on the crops otherwise," retorted the old woman.
"Killing? You're committing murder?!" choked Dagger indignantly.
"You youth these days are way too eco-friendly for my stomach to take..." groaned the old lady. As she tended to the crops a lone Oglop popped out from behind a pumpkin and, after bouncing around a bit, hopped into Dagger's hands. The old woman sat perplexed and looked at the princess strangely as she examined the Oglop. "Most kids are scared of Oglops," she muttered. "You're a strange one."
"Oh, I just..." stammered Dagger. Her thoughts immediately went back to the reason that she'd adopted her alias: to fit in. The more she pondered it the clearer the answer became, and finally she let out a shriek and tossed the Oglop far into the distance.
"You... probably didn't have to pitch it like a baseball..." the woman mumbled.
Parallel Perspective: A Knight's Diligence
Upon waking and replacing his armor Steiner set about the village to find a way back to Alexandria Castle. His travels brought him to a small cafe in the back of the village, where he searched high and low in every crack and crevice for any clues that might help him in his duty. The more he searched the deeper his despair darkened, however. How would he ever be able to face Queen Brahne again? As his thoughts wandered he suddenly felt a soft tap on the back of his armor and jumped. When he turned around he saw a cute young girl dressed in peasant's clothing staring back at him with a smile on her face.
"What are you doing here?" asked the young girl, Slai.
"I, uh... I'm looking for a job..." Steiner said quickly.
"Cool!" tittered Slai. "Can you clean the cafe up a smidge?"
"Yes, ma'am!" said Steiner with a stern salute. "Cafe cleaning duties will be completed with concise consistency!"
Am I being too kind, or forgetting my duty? I doubt there's any information here. But... hmm... It is a knight's duty to serve the people of the kingdom. I must be diligent and assist the populace to the best of my ability.
Scene Nine
After stretching a bit more Zidane exited his room and entered the lobby, where he found Hal sleeping again. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sap's poor businessman's skills and his eye turned to his right, where he caught sight of a moogle sitting there humming to itself. With a smile on his face he made a hard about face and reached towards the moogle, tapped it on the shoulder, and caused it to jump a bit.
"Hey there, little guy! Can I use the Moogle Diary?" Zidane tittered. Gumo nodded cheerfully and rustled around behind himself and did a swift flip that caused both himself and a huge book to land right in front of Zidane. The Moogle Diary was a way of recording a person's progress in life, and could also be used to send letters to others via Mognet. "I want to record some stuff... Can you send this to the folks at Tantalus?" he asked hopefully.
Gumo nodded and picked up a quill pen. "Yep, kupo! It goes via Mognet all around the world!" he quipped.
"'Mognet?'" wondered Zidane. "The heck is that?"
"Oh, Mognet? It's a moogle-to-moogle delivery service, kupo! Mail gets sent all over the world via moogle couriers and it's used to keep moogles in touch with other moogles! In fact, Stiltzkin came not a day before and mentioned something about two weird jesters fiddling around in the Ice Cavern..." explained Gumo. "It might take a while to get the letter out, kupo. Artemicion's deliveries have been really spotty lately."
"Well... Whatever. It all started at Alexandria Castle, where a certain young buccaneer spirited away a swooning princess, brought her into a state of bliss, and... uh... Okay, so I lost her in a forest... an evil one. But that's secondary! I rescued her from that too! But then my friend Blank butted in and sacrificed himself, that jackass... Tell the boys that he needs some serious disciplining when they rescue him," explained Zidane. "I wanna take a crack at him first, though."
"Signed... and... sealed, kupo!" Gumo tittered as he finished the letter and stuffed the book back somewhere that no one could ever seem to find. There was never any explanation from the moogles how they manifested their Moogle Diaries, and they were in fact quite tight lipped about it.
"Thanks, man. And, uh... Does that Innkeeper dude have narcolepsy or something?" asked Zidane quizzically. "He seems to sleep a lot."
"Hal? No, kupo. He just argues with his brother so much that it keeps him up at night," Gumo replied. "Kind of a jerk, too, actually... his brother, kupo. Hal's just a doofus."
After finishing his chat with the moogle Gumo, Zidane threw open the door to the Inn and basked in the hot morning sun. Compared to the chill that the skin takes when surrounded by Mist the warmth of the sun was a godsend. Zidane quickly went about his usual duties: searching for available (or vulnerable) ladies. He ended up finding no one but Vivi, who was loitering over by the village's windmill. With a wicked smile on his face Zidane slowly crept behind Vivi and tapped him on the shoulder, causing the black mage to startle and drop to his seat.
"I'm just looking!" Vivi screeched.
"Looking for a sweetheart, you mean?" chuckled Zidane.
"N-No! Nothing like... that," said Vivi quickly. He was unable to hide the fact that there was a faint red tint to his face, however.
"Well, if you want advice then I suggest you come to little ol' me. I'm hot to trot with all the ladies in Lindblum!" Zidane boasted. "I've had a few sleepovers, if you get my drift."
"R-Right..." Vivi squeaked. He quietly turned back to the windmill and stared up at the rotating wheel, marveling at the simple beauty of the device. As Zidane turned to leave the black mage reached out and grabbed a hold of his sleeve, tugging him back in place to find Vivi looking quite distressed. "Did you hear something?" asked Vivi softly. "I heard something like a 'kweh'..."
"A chocobo makes that sound! But I guess it shouldn't surprise you... chocobos are all over the place," explained Zidane, resting his arms behind his head as he stretched his neck. "I'm sure you've seen one, right?"
"What's a chocobo?" asked Vivi innocently.
"Seriously? You gotta get out more, man," Zidane muttered as he turned to leave. "Come back to the Inn when you're done looking."
While Zidane moved to leave Vivi sighed and turned back to the windmill. A sudden 'kweh!' pierced his ears just before two hands took hold of him, one around his waist and the other muffling his mouth. As the villager dragged Vivi away he struggled as best he could, but Zidane had already left earshot and so the black mage was quietly ushered inside the windmill.
Parallel Perspective: A Princess's Conversation with A Commoner
Dagger quietly ushered herself inside the Dali Item Shop, which was run by a young woman named Eve, and began to peruse the shelves. Compared to the rich boutiques she was used to the shop was pretty bare bones, selling only silk and leather clothing in addition to a few odd pieces of equipment and a healthy selection of medicine. As she turned to leave, however, Dagger caught sight of the beautiful young shopkeeper and suddenly stopped cold in her tracks.
Maybe if I can talk with someone normal... can I learn to talk normal?
"Excuse me, Miss? I'd like to talk," Dagger said politely.
"About what, ma'am?" asked Eve quizzically. "I know all my items inside and out and if you want a description..."
"Oh, no, no! I just want to talk. You know... talk," mumbled Dagger.
"Well, ain't you a strange one. I've never met a lass like you, girl," Eve said smilingly, to Dagger's confusion.
"Ain't?" ... "Lass?"
"Hey, Eve! I got some news ta talk 'bout!" yelled a mischievous young boy named Yacha, who had barreled his way inside the Item Shop and slid to a stop in front of the shopkeeper. "Me 'an Bow got into a tussle and I need some advice!" he said quickly. "Do ya got a minute?"
"Tussle" ... "Ya got a minute?" Fascinating!
"You got eyes on your face, boy? I'm with a customer," sighed Eve.
"Oh, please! Just go ahead and talk amongst yourselves! I'll just listen," Dagger said eagerly. A bit too eagerly, as the villagers both looked at her like she was insane. "I-I mean... um..." she stammered. "I've nothing to do, you see..."
"Sure, I guess..." Eve muttered, to Dagger's relief.
I must learn how these people talk! Zidane is counting on me...
Scene Ten
A short time after talking with Vivi, Zidane entered Eve's store to look for some medicine and found his dear princess scanning the aisles instead. With a mischievous gleam in his eye Zidane quietly tiptoed up to Dagger and gingerly tapped her on the shoulder. Dagger's knee-jerk response was to turn around and smack him in the face, a blow that staggered him and nearly knocked him off his feet.
"O-Oh! Zidane!" croaked Dagger. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
"Oh, love is a sweet touch on the cheek!" Zidane swooned. Dagger quietly glared at him and gave him a second, softer smack to bring the thief back to reality. "Okay, so maybe I tried too hard. What are you doing here, Dagger?" asked Zidane. He quietly nursed his cheek and brushed the red from it, as whether he wanted to admit it or not her attack hurt a lot more than some of the combat injuries he'd taken over the course of his career.
"What's up, Zidane?" tittered Dagger. With a chuckle she flashed a toothy smile to her captor and gave an awkward thumbs-up. "Everything cool?"
"Okay, I'm glad that you're trying... but dial it back a bit on the lingo," groaned Zidane.
"How was my acting during the play? I want some feedback from a real pro," tittered Dagger, to Zidane's amusement. She really was a quick study. He'd performed I Want to Be Your Canary dozens of times, went through all the motions and memorized the dialogue. For Dagger to muck with the story on the fly, and actually make it make sense, was a tremendous achievement. Ruby herself would've floundered and Zidane doubted whether he could have improvised as well as the princess had.
"What did I do then? You more or less rewrote the play on your own..." Zidane chuckled. Dagger giggled and stuck her tongue out playfully, stretched out her knuckles, and Zidane awkwardly bumped them. "You really are good at this..." he mumbled. "Head back to the Inn whenever. I already told Vivi to wait." Dagger nodded eagerly and pivoted on her heel to meet Eve's gaze, then gracefully bowed to the shopkeeper before leaving the store. This left Zidane with a bit of a quandary: you can take the princess out of the castle, but you can't take the castle out of the princess. He still had a lot of work to do. As he turned to leave Zidane caught sight of a deck of cards to Eve's left and smilingly produced a deck of his own and laid it on the table. Eve smiled and tapped the counter, causing the grid to appear.
Zidane went first. After scanning his hand he took a card and laid it in an isolated corner, with its arrows pointing outwards to provide a perfect defense. Eve carefully selected a card and slid it into place to attack, causing a bizarre red creature dressed in a bow tie to materialize. The Ragtimer playfully shuffled a deck of cards, drew out an iron one, and tossed it at Zidane's defensive card, only for a large city to emerge where a monster was supposed to come out of. The card bounced off and the Ragtimer quietly bowed its head to Zidane's card before changing color to blue.
"Hold the phone! Ragtimer is my best attacker!" Eve protested. "Your card isn't even a monster!"
"Cards are both offensive and defensive," grinned Zidane, "and there are more cards than just monsters in the game. And my Lindblum card," he boasted, "is the strongest defensive card I have. You never had a shot."
Eve scowled and snatched up another card, laying it on the board in a corner. Zidane quietly took another card and placed it in another corner. Scenting blood Eve laid a new card on the board and another attacker materialized. Cartoonish in nature, this being looked like a cat that had been ripped straight out of a comic strip with its long, rubbery legs and exaggerated stare. The Gimme Cat hissed and hopped at Zidane's card, but this time it turned blue before it even touched it.
"You're cheating!" Eve croaked. "My card attacked and yours didn't even show up!"
With a smirk Zidane flipped his card around and a model of the Tantalus Theater Ship, Prima Vista, materialized from the image. "Your card couldn't fly, so it couldn't touch my card," he said with a smirk. "Meaning, it lost the battle automatically."
"You lousy... Fine, I surrender," snarled Eve. She spitefully took her Ragtimer card and handed it to Zidane. "But I want to see your last card! Is it another defensive one?" she insisted. Zidane quietly flipped the card around and Eve's eyes widened as she stared down the battleship airship Viltgance, the primary military unit of the Lindblum Air Force. "How did you get a card that rare?" Eve croaked.
"I... won it," Zidane said quickly. He didn't want to admit that he'd stolen it.
Scene Eleven
With Eve's Ragtimer won Zidane triumphantly returned to the Inn, where he passed by Gumo and an unconscious Innkeeper and entered their room to find Dagger waiting for him on the bed with a smile on her face. With nothing else to do they passed the time by having Zidane regale her of his adventurous tales as a brigand and member of Tantalus, the countless exciting (and often illegal) stories where Zidane possibly exaggerated a few parts of his own involvements. As the hours ticked by, however, there remained no sign of Vivi or Steiner.
"Shouldn't Vivi be back by now?" wondered Dagger.
"He'll be here, no need to worry... But I've been wondering. What do you think of life outside of the castle?" asked Zidane.
"Oh, it's thrilling! I've never gotten to rub elbows with commoners before!" Dagger tittered, shortly before she realized how she'd made a mistake in phrasing her words. "I-I mean... Seeing life from a normal citizen's perspective is enlightening! I'll surely remember it when I ascend to the throne!"
"And you'll be a hell of a queen, I'm sure," chuckled Zidane.
"But... I can't help but wonder where all the adults have gone..." muttered Dagger.
"Probably at the farm," shrugged Zidane.
"No... The only person tending the farm was an... an odd old woman. And the farm was tiny, just a few pumpkins and some assorted crops," Dagger said plainly.
"That can't be right... When I came here before the farm was huge! It was all over the landscape..." mumbled Zidane.
"All I saw were a number of bizarre glyphs and a strange hatch," sighed Dagger. "As if they were making a runway..."
"Airships? Here? Something isn't right... For them to dismantle the farm there has to be another source of income. Add to that the airship runway and it seems like they're... exporting something else," Zidane said pensively. "This isn't looking good. We need to find Vivi now."
"What about Steiner?" asked Dagger.
"Leave him be. I'm sure he's off proclaiming that you're a princess or acting like a doofus like usual. He's just a stumbling block to all this..." Zidane said with a sigh. "Whatever he's doing, it can't be anything worthwhile."
Parallel Perspective: Cleaning Duties, Completed!
At the restaurant that Steiner had found by the end of the hour he'd completed his duties cleaning and stacking firewood. It had been a long and laborious task, not to mention a thankless one, but the final result filled him with nothing but pride. He quietly dragged his aching body out from behind the work space and stumbled to his feet, standing proudly at the desk and saluting with all the glory he had left in him. Meaning, while it was filled with good intentions, it was more or less just pathetic.
"Firewood stacking duties are complete, ma'am!" heaved Steiner.
"Ha ha... You're a funny one. Thanks for helping," Slai beamed cheerfully.
"Now, I would like to see an adult... if I may?" wondered Steiner hopefully.
"They'll be back by nightfall. Until then, I'm manning the shop," explained Slai.
"Do you by chance know of an airship that can carry me to Alexandria Castle? I have... business there..." moaned Steiner. "Important business. While I am not at liberty to elaborate, it would be much appreciated if you-"
"Oh, you're from the castle? Go talk to Morrid on Observatory Mountain, just to the east of the village. He runs the cargo ship's comings and goings, and since there's a shipment today..." Slai sighed.
"Cargo ship? Here? It surely must be to transport crops, I suppose..." mumbled Steiner. He saluted and bowed to the young girl before moving to leave. "You have my thanks, ma'am! I'll see to it that you're rewarded for your generosity!"
As Steiner bolted Slai quietly grabbed onto a bottle of mineral water and took a chug. "So he's helping them make those strange creatures? Scary. But..." Slai paused and quietly lifted the bottle to her lips. "Will I get in trouble for telling someone about the factory?"
Scene Twelve
"Hey, kid! You see a kid with a pointy straw hat around here?" Zidane questioned.
"Me? No! No! Never!" insisted Marin, the girl at the well who had earlier watched Vivi get snatched. Zidane and Dagger exchanged a quick glance and nodded to each other, the child's words seemingly confirming that something untoward had occurred. They searched around for a place to start looking and found nothing but the windmill, so they quickly began to search around it. To get inside they would need a key but searching outside, even if it was all they could do, was better than nothing. As they looked Dagger heard a noise and grabbed hold of Zidane's sleeve, tugging it. She directed him to a small hole in the ground, where she could hear a strange sound - sniffling.
"Vivi?" whispered Dagger.
"Prin... Dagger?" Vivi said eagerly.
"You're underground, right? Hang tight and we'll be right there," Zidane said reassuringly.
"How, though?" Dagger questioned. "The door is-" Being a top-class thief, for Zidane picking a lock was child's play and when he flashed a smirk her way Dagger quietly lifted her hand and they exchanged a high-five before slowly sneaking inside the windmill. Once they were inside it didn't take a genius to notice the gigantic metal hatch in the corner of the room, so they quickly pried it open and descended into the depths.
They dropped down a ladder and reached a platform that required taking a small lift to descend further. As they proceeded, Zidane in front with Dagger taking the rear, Dagger's eyes caught sight of a strange barrel with a cross-shaped symbol on the front and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly moved to examine it but was tugged back by Zidane and shushed. They watched as two men conversed for a bit, bantering back and forth.
"What was it doing running free?" asked one of the men.
"Must be a fluke. At least now that idiot Hal's on our side, so that makes it everyone but the old bag running the farm. The castle would have our heads if we let this thing run free, so... We have to stuff it back in and get it ready for shipping," said the other.
"'Stuff it back'... Oh, you sons of-" Zidane choked, nearly moving to attack the men but was caught by the mouth and dragged backwards by Dagger. They both watched in horror as Vivi was forcefully escorted from the hut by the two men and Zidane angrily clapped a hand to Dagger's shoulder. "What the heck are you doing?" he hissed. "I was going to maul those morons!"
"I've seen the mark on this barrel before... at the castle," Dagger said quietly, to Zidane's shock. "Whatever gets shipped out of here goes to Alexandria, and if Vivi's what they call their product-"
"Human trafficking?!" Zidane gasped. "Oh, I will so kick their sorry-"
"No, I don't think so. They distinctly said 'product,' as if he were a thing," Dagger said bitterly.
"Hate to break it to you, girl, but to traffickers humans are products," shot back Zidane.
"Something's fishy here... Work with me for a bit, 'kay?" asked Dagger.
Zidane, against his better judgment, nodded in agreement and they continued on through the complex until they reached a room with a large machine in the back. Before they could examine it, however, they heard a soft sniffling from inside a nearby coffin-like box and both Zidane and Dagger exchanged horrified expressions before Zidane cracked the coffin open and Vivi fell into his arms, exhausted and nearly unconscious.
"Still think that they aren't traffickers now?" hissed Zidane.
"If they stuff people in boxes they'll suffocate, fool. It kind of defeats the purpose of selling people when they come out of the package dead," retorted Dagger.
"I... Okay, I can't argue with that logic..." Zidane muttered.
"T-They found me up top and scolded me for being outside the box, and then they dragged me down here... and stuffed me inside this box," sighed Vivi. "They said I needed to be loaded on the cargo ship as soon as possible..."
"So, they thought Vivi couldn't breathe? What are they talking about?" Dagger murmured. She quietly turned her eyes to the large machine in the back of the room and noticed that it was an engine used by airships to process Mist into fuel, but this machine was spitting out spotted pink eggs instead. "Y-You don't think..." she gasped.
"Vivi... Will you come with us to see what that machine's making?" asked Zidane softly.
"Uh... Why ask?" wondered Vivi.
"Trust me... This is getting pretty morbid," sighed Zidane.
"Uh... 'kay..." Vivi mumbled weakly.
The trio quietly examined the machine creating the eggs and found that they were being moved via conveyor belt further down, where they discovered a chocobo being used to power the device that transported the eggs. Vivi was excited to see his first chocobo but was silently shushed by Zidane and they continued on down the production line. At the end of the process they watched in horror as what seemed to be dolls were extracted from the machine, dolls with pointy hats and glowing yellow eyes beneath them, that were then deposited inside one of the same barrels that Dagger had seen at the castle.
"T-The parts... are different..." Zidane croaked. "But similar enough to say-"
"They're making them?!" screamed Vivi.
"Why would my mother want black mage dolls...?" murmured Dagger, utterly perplexed and equally as outraged. As Vivi shook and Dagger held tightly to him Zidane quickly realized that there were people coming and swiftly tucked Vivi under one arm and slung Dagger over his shoulder, running towards the boxing machine. "Zidane?! Unhand me!" Dagger hissed.
"Quiet!" Zidane shushed as he stashed the trio behind the machine's entrance.
Although she wanted to argue further Dagger came to the same understanding that Zidane had and quickly muffled Vivi's scream by clapping her hand over his mouth. They heard some unintelligible bickering from outside before a large box fell from the ceiling and trapped Vivi inside it, the same coffin-like box that they'd found him in before. Dagger immediately tried to scream but Zidane shook his head and stopped her, shortly before both of them were also encased in the coffins and wheeled out to the landing strip.
Scene Thirteen
After consulting with Morrid at Observatory Mountain, Steiner made haste back to Dali and found the cargo ship being loaded by two men, who incidentally were carrying a barrel containing all three of his comrades. When the men saw a man in rusted steel armor running at them screaming they quickly abandoned the barrels and dove underground for safety. Steiner finally reached the massive barrel and began to examine it. Upon seeing it rustle and tremble he swiftly drew his sword and jabbed it at the barrel.
"Ouch!" Dagger screeched.
"P-Princess?!" Steiner yowled. As Zidane and Vivi staggered from the barrel holding onto a flinching Dagger he quietly began to panic and reached out to the princess. Zidane quickly batted his hand away and the knight furiously shouted out a curse. "You! What did you do to the princess?!" he roared.
"Dumb ass! You're the one who poked her with a freaking sword!" Zidane spat back.
"I-I did what?!" croaked Steiner. He quickly moved to grab onto Dagger, only to be rebuffed again and pushed nearly off his feet. As the knight captain stumbled and attempted to stand, he stared at Dagger with a shocked expression as she glared him down with enough intensity to send a chill down his spine.
"I'm through talking with you," Dagger said curtly. She quietly brushed off her jumpsuit and nudged Zidane with her foot, catching his attention. "What the heck am I supposed to say to Vivi?" she whispered.
"You're asking me? We both saw the same thing: manufactured black mages being loaded up in barrels and sent to the castle. I'm not sure why they look like Vivi, but I can guarantee that your mother isn't making them to play with them! Whatever they're for, they aren't peaceful!" Zidane said harshly. With a sigh he turned to Steiner and glared him down. "Any idea where this ship is going?" he asked softly.
"L-Lindblum!" gasped Steiner. It was a bald faced lie but it was the best option he had to get Dagger inside the ship.
"Seriously?!" Dagger croaked eagerly. When she saw the hesitation in her retainer's eyes, however, her own narrowed and she bit her lip. "What are you hiding?" she hissed. "You're lying and I want to know why! Now!" While Steiner fumed a strange shadow passed by his vision and then passed by it again, a black figure seemingly teleporting from place to place until it finally came to rest in front of Dagger. The second dancer of death also resembled Vivi, though this time more as an adult than a child. It was thin and lanky, and had two feathery wings on its back that - unlike its predecessor - allowed it to float in place.
"The queen awaits, Princess," the black mage droned.
"You again?!" roared Zidane, drawing both daggers and quickly moving to Dagger's side. "Didn't I kill you at the Ice Cavern?!"
"That was Black Waltz No. 1, and I am the second model. A superior model, may I add. But we still share a common goal: confiscate the princess and drag her back to Alexandria using whatever means necessary!" the Black Waltz said with a low hiss to its voice.
"You never told us about-" Steiner gasped. "That's what you were hiding! You rotten-"
"Shove it, Rusty! And you can go to hell!" snapped Zidane. He flipped his dagger around, moving it between his fingers before snatching it up again. It was halfway between a warm up and the other half a threat. "Come any closer and I'll gut you, you sorry excuse for a scarecrow!" Despite the fact that Zidane had his daggers drawn the Black Waltz silently reached out to Dagger and was rebuffed with a hard slap shortly before she withdrew her racket and activated it in preparation to battle. The Black Waltz scowled and flapped its wings to propel itself backwards, where it prepared a fire spell between its fingers.
"I'm not required to leave the rest of you alive! And I won't!" it snarled.
With the Black Waltz now airborne Zidane sheathed his right dagger and snatched up his boomerang before slinging it at the mage. The Black Waltz simply disappeared from sight, Zidane caught the weapon, and then hurled it again. When he caught it again the Black Waltz materialized in front of his face and slugged him, though the monkey-tailed thief agilely grabbed hold of its arm, lifted it up, and slammed it face first into the ground.
The Black Waltz took a swing at Zidane only for the thief to nimbly somersault out of the line of fire, though the line of fire became all too real when the mage blasted Zidane in the face with a massive fire ball that knocked him to the ground on his back. With the expectation that it could finish the fight the Black Waltz lifted its arm and charged a spell, though when Steiner slashed at it and severed the arm it angrily blasted him back as well.
Gripping its absent arm with its good hand the Black Waltz furiously created a massive fire ball between its fingers and prepared to sling it at Steiner. Before it could, however, its entire body seized up as a tremendous burst of cold air frosted it over into a massive icicle, a spell cast by Vivi. As it finished solidifying Zidane whacked it in the back with a roundhouse kick that shattered the Black Waltz to bits before he dropped to his back and succumbed to his injuries by shouting out and grabbing onto his burning face.
Dagger quickly moved towards Zidane and laid her hands on his face, sending white magic through his body that mended his wounds and erased the burn. "Thank you for helping, Vivi!" she said to the black mage, a smile on her face. A grimmer expression passed as she shut her eyes and shook her head in disgust. "To think that my mother would send an assassin..." she sighed.
"Queen Brahne did no such thing!" insisted Steiner. Steiner was knocked off kilter when Zidane socked him in the face and staggered back. Although he nearly fell the knight angrily righted himself and lifted his sword at the thief.
"It tried to kill you too, moron!" Zidane snarled. Seemingly unable to make a convincing argument Steiner sighed and sheathed his sword. Zidane quietly returned his weapons to their sheathes and turned to Dagger with a smirk on his face. "If this thing's going to Lindblum," he reasoned, "then I say we catch a ride!"
"Agreed!" Dagger said cheerfully. When she watched Steiner's awkward celebration, however, she glared him down again. "And you're celebrating why?" she asked coldly.
"I-I was belatedly celebrating the victory, nothing more!" Steiner shot back.
"Do you want to go back to the Inn for some rest, Vivi?" Zidane asked softly.
Vivi shook his head and hesitantly adjusted his hat. "I just want to get out of here before anyone else stuffs me in a box..." he mumbled. Dagger gave him a silent wink that startled him, though it also pleased him. When she turned towards the cargo ship and stared up at it, however, her thoughts were far less rosy.
He's lying. This thing's going to Alexandria.
Author's Notes
I tried to temper Dagger's actions a bit, because in the original drafts she's really quite rude and brutal. That certainly isn't Dagger, and even if I am reworking her character to a reasonable degree I know that I can't make her go all Terminator on Zidane or anything. The Moogle Diary won't likely be making a lot of appearances, but it might come into play at some point... maybe? Hell if I know, this is all made up chapter by chapter anyway. Expect a more... assertive Dagger than what the game depicts. She won't be overly violent, but for humor she might smack a couple of people every now and then - not commonly I don't think, but next chapter she deals out a tiny bit of justice early on in the story. Hopefully I didn't overdo that part and step past OOC into making a new character altogether.
With Tetra Master I'm trying to give Zidane a distinctive theme to his deck: Lindblum, airships, and thieves. I obviously have no idea where this is going but since I need to use the infernal game at the Treno tournament I had to come up with something. I always hated the thing when I played FFIX, but since it's part of the plot my hands were tied and I had to BS my way through it. If and when I do FFVIII don't expect Triple Triad - my brain might just melt. Cards might come into play at some point, though, incidentally, just not in the form of Triple Triad. Maybe? Hell if I know, I haven't even started writing notes for it yet...
Zidane's weapon... I decided I want to make him have a little mid-ranged battle capability. During the Sealion fight I wasn't sure if Zidane should jump like thirty feet in the air at a gigantic ice demon, so I included the boomerang instead. Having him Trance every battle just doesn't make much sense. I hope I portrayed Tidal Flame decently enough - I love the Dyne attacks and I'm going to try and have some of the others make appearances.
This is written on April 7th, 2024. I've finished up through Chapter 7, and I'll be releasing one chapter a month for the time being. I've worked up through to Bran Bal, so I'm almost there. All I have left is Pandemonium and Memoria, so it shouldn't be long before I finish the game and prepare to write everything down. I'm still working on settling in to a personal style for FFIX, so it's going to be pretty weird to watch me dart between different styles of phrasing and describing things. FFV will be updated at the start of May as usual, and The Andromeda War is going to be updated on April 15th.