Final Fantasy IX, A Novelization: The Reason and Right to Exist

by Windwillow

A novelization of the classic send-off to Final Fantasy on the PS1. Totally improvised chapter by chapter, for the whole fic, including Tetra Master nonsense? I'll probably mangle it... But like FFVII I'll try my best. Contains mild language, violence, and suggestive themes.

14. Showdown at Memoria

Start Date: October 28, 2024
Windwillow

Final Fantasy IX: The Reason and Right to Exist

Finale

Chapter Fourteen: Showdown at Memoria

Garland's mistake and Kuja's malice had doomed Terra to destruction, and now all that remained were the charred embers inside the core of the planet. Its devastation had also affected Gaia itself, with the dead Mist made up of Terran souls now scattered to the four winds all across the blue planet. Their spirits, the same Garland had hoped to infuse into Gaian bodies, now hung in the air like dead fog. The aftermath of Terra's destruction had included the internal decimation of Gaia's core, and with Terra gone the Iifa Tree had begun to die.

The Invincible emerged from the portal to Terra stocked with both Zidane's group and the dozens of Genomes that Garland had produced for the people of Terra, but with the destruction of the red planet these poor creatures would never receive the souls they'd been made to inherit. They still had their own personalities, such as they were, and had room for growth as new living beings, but the Genomes were literally starting from scratch and it would take years for them to develop into true human beings. After the devastation of Terra and their flight from the red world, Zidane and his friends piloted their new airship to the Black Mage Village to drop off the Genomes to their new, temporary home. It was clear that the Genomes would outlive their benefactors, but it was Vivi's hope that in watching the Black Mages struggle to make use of the life they had left that the Genomes would find some sort of base to work with for becoming human beings. Inside the Black Mage Village's graveyard, Vivi met with Merlin and Zidane to discuss the events that had brought them to the present situation.

"Thank you for letting the Genomes stay here... they'll need a home until they really get their acts together," Vivi said brightly. As the realization of the black mages' mortality suddenly struck him the young boy solemnly shook his head and sighed. None of them would live to see their wards blossom into fully-fledged Gaians. "Even if you guys... won't stick around as long as they do... You can show them what it means to live on Gaia as humans."

Merlin shook his head and sighed. "I think it'll benefit both races," he said proudly. "It's better for us to leave behind a legacy and better for the Genomes to know how to properly exist as living beings on the face of this planet. Both races were made for less than noble purposes... but growing and living spites Kuja and this Garland fellow outright. They can't hurt us anymore."

"I was skeptical at first... but you guys really have your act together! It's great seeing these jokers learn from the best," Zidane said brightly. The more he thought, however, the tighter his fists became. Kuja still remained as the final and ultimate threat. There really was no other option but to dive head first into his stronghold and struggle against his world-bending might. "But this isn't going to be easy. We've got to take Kuja out once and for all. Everyone's getting ready to head to the Iifa Tree soon. This'll be the final battle, the final piece to the puzzle, and God damn it we intend to win."

Parallel Perspective: Alexandria's Finest Warrior Spreads Her Wings

Alexandria seemed to be in mortal chaos with the return of the Mist and the influx of powerful monsters that battered down the gates of the city. The populace, already weary from the wars they'd suffered, had begun to retreat into a hopeless isolation from the rest of the world. So many of their citizens died during the Battle of Alexandria, and so many more had fallen at the Battle of the Iifa Tree. With Gaia now on the cusp of collapse, the remaining Alexandrian knights and the Knights of Pluto had united to form a new, blended army to rebuild the country.

The waters around Alexandria Castle remained as beautiful as ever, however, and as Beatrix stared out at the sea beyond her sight she quietly shook her head in shame. Her sword arm had fully healed, but even with the bones and tendons mended she had her doubts whether she could contribute anything to the battles to come. The beautiful general turned her eye to the castle, whose crystal had begun to be reconstructed, and quietly muttered the name of her friend. Though Beatrix lamented she was surprised to find the Knights of Pluto assembled before her, armed and armored, and the general turned to see the almost mad determination in their eyes. They hadn't given up yet.

"And what's your problem...?" Beatrix mumbled spitefully, drawing her legs to her chest and rising to her feet with a contemptuous huff. The man she loved was about to go head long into Hell and there was nothing she could do about it. She was utterly helpless, utterly worthless, and Steiner deserved much better than she could provide. "Your captain's going to give his life and you all are smiling? What's wrong with you folks?"

"We received a transmission from Lindblum an hour ago, ma'am! Advance scouts have determined that there's an anomaly on the Outer Continent, and they're preparing to launch an attack!" Laudo crowed. "Regent Cid has given orders for the entire fleet to prepare for war, and he's requesting Alexandria's assistance! Your orders, ma'am? We're all ready and willing to lay our lives down for our captain's honor!"

Beatrix hesitated before saying anything else. If they hadn't given up hope, how could she surrender? The general inched her fingers towards Save the Queen and drew it in a sudden flourish, then slashed at the sky with all her might. Her vicious blade shot high into the sky and carved open a massive gash in the Mist, cutting through to the morning sun high above, and though Beatrix was stunned she couldn't help but wonder what she was waiting for. Why was she wasting even a single moment worrying?

"I swear, Steiner..." Beatrix chuckled. "I'll support you and guide you through wherever you need to go."

Parallel Perspective: Lindblum's Final Preparations

Lindblum, rather than suffer in tragedy like Alexandria, had finally begun to rebound from the battles it had endured against Brahne. Most of the city had been rebuilt and the Industrial District was now fully operational, and with the return of Mist their entire airship fleet had suddenly become active once again. Cid immediately sent out scouts to explore the newly opened world and discovered the massive orb of Memoria situated high above the Iifa Tree. Inside his throne room, Cid met with his wife, Baku, and Doctor Tot, who were all gathered around the royal seat with a firm determination in their eyes.

"There remains a war to be fought... but we know nothing about the enemy," Cid lamented. "Brahne, Kuja... What in the world comes next?"

"The enemy is a mystery, but our allies aren't," Doctor Tot said slyly. "Whatever else, we have to support them."

"I agree wholeheartedly," chuckled Cid. He turned to his wife and cocked his head. "And will you...?"

"I'll join the battle, yes," Hilda said smilingly. "Your fleet's finally found its final war. Everything in one go... all or nothing."

"My idiot son would never ask for help, so it's on us to back him up!" laughed Baku.

"Does he even see you as his father at this point...?" Cid chuckled. "You've beaten and bruised him more than once."

"The fool knows I love him," Baku shrugged. "Tough love."

"Sir, the Viltgances are fully stocked and ready for battle!" declared a Bishop who stumbled into the throne room.

Cid put a hand to his face and sighed, though he did so with a smile. "It's time to end the war Brahne began. The whole world suffered because of her greed, but in the aftermath Alexandria has a bright new ruler to enlighten the coming age, a reformer with a heart made of gold," Cid chortled. "We might even have a new prince if Zidane plays his cards right. This is a direct order from your leader, soldiers of Lindblum! Every ounce of military force we possess will depart for the Iifa Tree to aid our saviors and ring the bell of salvation!"

Parallel Perspective: Eiko and the Chocobo Shack

Inside the Chocobo Shack in the Black Mage Village, Eiko met with Hocus, Pocus, and a handful of Genomes as they gathered around the chocobo chick. "We've finally decided on a name for the chocobo!" declared Hocus proudly. "Bobby Corwen! I hear it's derived from the legendary chocobo Boco, who traveled the world once with his rider. Maybe Bobby Corwen will one day ride all around the planet."

"That's a fine name," Eiko giggled.

"Is that thing a monster...?" asked a confused Genome.

"Yeah, it's a vicious monster that'll eat you up if you misbehave!" Eiko sneered as she put her hands on her hips and leered at the Genomes. As she realized that the quaking Genomes had taken her seriously, the summoner groaned and put her face in her hands. She honestly hadn't expected them to take her at her word. Their unbelievable naivety was stunning even to a simple child like Eiko. "Kidding, kidding, God! You guys need to get along with more than just black mages. Chocobos, humans, moogles... Everyone will need to work together to create a new future for themselves!"

"What kind of future do we have? We don't have souls," sighed the Genome on the right.

"I can use my own to teach you!" Pocus chirped. When he saw the Genomes stare back impassively, the black mage cleared his throat and scratched the back of his hat. True enough, he didn't know much about being human, but he clearly knew more than the Genomes did and with his gentle, caring nature he was eager to see them into their new world. "Beings without souls must surely have as much potential as beings with souls. We'll all work it out together, trust me!"

"I... thank you for your generosity..." mumbled the Genome in the center as it bowed to Pocus.

"We're just looking to the same thing... become human," chuckled Pocus.

"They'll create quite a world for themselves..." tittered Eiko as she turned to the door and her face twisted into a scowl. Now all they had to do was see them through it. The Genomes would carry on the work of the black mages in pursuing the goal of becoming human. Though the black mages wouldn't live to see their work come to fruition, the Genomes first had to pass the first test: survival. As long as Kuja was out there, there wasn't any hope, and that had to be rectified. "Let's go make it for them."

"Do you think any of us could ever become as spirited as her...?" sighed the Genome.

"Just try and you'll make it!" chirped Hocus. "Everything's possible! Now, what to name you...?"

Parallel Perspective: Quina at the Item Shop

The idea that anyone would have an item shop in a remote, non-human village seemed outright to make little sense, and it made even less sense to the Genomes who had come to the Black Mage Village as their final refuge. As two of the Genomes perused the stock of items in the store, one of them quizzically tilted its head and stared at a large shelf full of potions, tonics, and ethers.

"Why would items be sold here?" it mumbled. "No one comes here. It is illogical."

"Ahem. Now we do actually have people to sell to. We'll gladly do so at a fair and honest rate, as well," No. 48 said proudly. "You know, one day our village will belong to all of you folks and it'll be your job to man the stores and the Inn. When you inherit our village, then you can expand your operations to cover the rest of Gaia, including the Mist Continent. We have several berries and herbs here that no one on the Mist Continent knows about, and several doctors and cooks would doubtless love to peruse our wares."

"Other people live on this planet?" asked the second Genome. "Why come to this shack as opposed to a factory?"

"Food is same wherever people cook it," Quina said plainly. "If it made with love, everyone enjoy it."

"What... is food?" gasped the first Genome. "We only consume supplements for nourishment."

Quina rustled around in their apron and withdrew a large rack of wild boar that s/he had caught during the rest period of when the team returned to the village and slammed it down on one of the counters in the Item Shop. One of the Genomes reluctantly reached for the chunk of meat and ripped off a piece of pork, swallowed it, and gasped at the taste of the meat as Quina watched in amusement. S/he hadn't expected the Genome to take to meat as quickly as it had.

"You get food now?" asked Quina.

"It stimulates my oral cavities!" the Genome remarked.

"They taste buds," Quina groaned. "Stimulate body and heart."

"Are the two organs connected?" asked the second Genome.

"Body and heart same no matter how people say them," Quina said proudly. "All serve purpose to make body feel good. You want cocktail?"

"C... cocktail...?" mumbled the Genome. "You want us to consume a creature's tail? What if it is poisonous?"

"This not make sense..." mumbled Quina. Making sense wasn't their bag, either, but... "Me go make world taste good for you."

"Taste... good?" gasped the second Genome.

"You taste much," crowed Quina. "Learn much, eat much. Me go kill Kuja for you and we eat together."

Parallel Perspective: Amarant and Freya at the River

As Amarant watched from behind a house, one of the Genomes stared dazedly at the running water on the small river inside the Black Mage Village, marveling at the fact that it moved on its own. It had never seen anything of the sort and it was fascinating to the Genome. Bran Bal had no seas or lakes, only stale repositories of water that were used to keep the Genomes alive. Seeing moving water and its gentle beauty, watching as the fish danced through the river, was beyond perplexing to it.

"Does this water ever still...?" wondered the Genome.

"Water flows," shrugged No. 72.

"The water of Bran Bal was always still and tasteless..." sighed the Genome.

"Would you like to try cooking a fish?" asked No. 72.

"What... is a fish...?" gasped the Genome.

The Genome conversed with the black mage for several minutes, both of them going back and forth talking about fish, water, and rivers, and as Amarant looked on in amusement he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Freya smiling back at him with a grin that didn't amuse him very much. He'd watched the hopeless game play out and it certainly didn't give him much hope or satisfaction. Now, dealing with his arch nemesis would only sour his mood.

"So? How do you think things will unfold?" asked Freya.

"It's like a child teaching a toddler to walk," Amarant grunted. "It's sad, seems hopeless."

"Does hope have to be a certainty?" Freya asked dryly. "The potential of growth is worth more than the rate at which something is learned."

"I learned things the hard way..." mumbled Amarant.

"You have just as much to learn about being human as they do," chuckled Freya as she jabbed her finger on Amarant's chest.

Amarant angrily grabbed at Freya in rage, but she quickly caught his hand, twisted his arm and wrenched it over her shoulder, where she nestled in closely to his breast and laid her head to his heart. As she snuggled in to his chest, Amarant's emotions fluctuated between shock and outrage. Even so, there was a tiny part of him that wanted to welcome the feeling. He and Freya had been like oil and water all along, but the idea that she wanted to bury the hatchet was both relieving and irritating.

"What... the hell are you doing?" Amarant choked.

"You may be an impossible bastard, but you have friends now," chuckled Freya. "We'll teach you how to live a happy life as well."

"My life would be much better without you in it," Amarant said with a sly grin, shortly before Freya took her fist and slammed it into his nose, staggering him and knocking him back several paces before storming off. Although normally he'd be angry, the bounty hunter just wiped the blood from his face and gave a toothy grin. "That punch didn't have half as much force as it usually would..." he chuckled. "Maybe we are starting to like each other... sort of."

Parallel Perspective: Final Preparations for War

Steiner and Dagger stood at the door of the Black Cat Synthesis Shop and watched as a Genome conversed with the owners of the hut shortly before leaving and departing to the front of the village where they watched the other black mages speak with a number of Genomes. The black mages were doing their best to engage the Genomes in conversation, and while at first it seemed hopeless after a few minutes of talking the Genomes began to talk back with a bit more sincerity, which brought smiles to both of their faces.

"This is our fight, not theirs," Dagger affirmed. "Ours and no one else's. They shouldn't have to worry about fighting."

"But why not let Regent Cid assist us...?" asked Steiner. "I'm sure he could help us."

Dagger shook her head and cleared her throat as she turned to Steiner and massaged her pendant. It had gone through a lot of trauma, just like she had, and had seen the battles first hand as much as the princess had endured them. Both the jewel and its bearer had endured death, suffering, and sorrow, much of it at the hands of the princess's own mother, but now the issue wasn't atonement - it was survival. None of the warriors had any intention of rolling over and dying for Kuja, and wouldn't let their loved ones die either.

"This isn't his war to fight... it's ours," Dagger said firmly. Certainly, Cid and his fleet could do wonders against whatever beasts the bastard would throw at them, but she reasoned that they didn't have to bear the cost of the wars that her mother had instigated. "We bear the sins of Kuja and my mother and we're the ones who have to resolve the differences between Gaia and Terra once and for all. They shouldn't need to concern themselves with our battles... Let them rest in peace back in their beds."

"Agreed... we'll leave them in peace while we create the peace," Zidane said smilingly as he approached.

Mikoto approached from behind Zidane with a scowl on her face, something that didn't seem to affect Zidane very much. "You all are insane. You don't have a semblance of a prayer against Kuja," she said coolly, folding her arms over her chest with a sharp huff. "Kuja destroyed the entire planet of Terra in a single day's time. That kind of power isn't something wishes and optimism can overcome. You don't have any chance, so I suggest that you not even try."

"If you don't have any hope," Steiner growled, "then that's your problem."

"Every last one of you will die an ignoble death," Mikoto said calmly.

"Aww... Does that mean little sister is afraid for big brother?" Zidane asked dryly, putting his hands on his hips. "Sweet."

"I-I don't consider us brother and sister!" hissed Mikoto.

"So what do you consider Zidane to be?" shot back Dagger, a question for which Mikoto had no answer.

"Please take care of the others... and if none of us return, then hunker down and enjoy your time together," Zidane said coolly.

"I don't have to 'enjoy' anything," Mikoto growled testily.

"You've got a soul, right? Then start listening to it!" beamed Zidane. "I've got faith in you, Sis. Take care of them because I might not be around to do it." Though she seemed dumbfounded, Mikoto slowly nodded her head before turning to leave just as Zidane turned to Dagger with a more solemn look in his eyes. She'd been through a lot as well and deserved a chance to rest in peace with Cid and the others. "You've got the choice not to fight too," he said coolly.

Dagger shook her head and grit her teeth at Zidane's offer. It wasn't like she could just walk away now, not after everything they'd gone through together. Whether she would admit it or not, if Zidane died, she intended to die with him. She was right on the cusp of admitting to herself that she loved the thief. The idea that she would bare her belly and roll over for a two-bit piece of garbage like Kuja was a thought that she absolutely refused to entertain. She wasn't weak anymore.

"This isn't just my battle any longer. That beast used my mother's soul to attain Trance, and when he got it he destroyed an entire world... and now threatens another," sighed Dagger, putting a hand on her hip. True, Garland had been the one who had wiped out both Madain Sari and Alexandria, but it was Kuja that was the impetus for both events and he was the one who needed to be put down. "I still bear my mother's sins on my back. I'll see this through to the end, whether it ends the way I want it to or not."

"You've become very mature, Princess..." Steiner murmured.

"Yeah, I'm shocked too," chuckled Zidane.

Zidane's words ended up being his undoing when Dagger took her boot and slammed it hard into his kneecap, which dropped him to his back shouting out in pain. As he struggled, the princess angrily put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at him. For a long time he'd acted like he'd believed in her progress, now he didn't even trust her to grow? It was outrageous.

"I'll show you just how much I've grown, thank you very much!" she snarled. "And you'll be proud of me, too!"

Once he'd nursed his wound, Zidane quietly shuffled to his seat and tucked his arms behind his back, something that shocked Dagger. She expected him to curse her out. "I'm already proud of you, Dagger," Zidane said coolly, to Dagger's shock. With a soft sigh he scratched the back of his head and gave a toothy grin. "You've proven yourself in battle after battle, and I know that you're going to be a fantastic queen," he said smilingly. "And I want to watch you every step of the way."

"I still have something to tell you... but I'll say it when everything is over," smiled Dagger.

"Wouldn't that be too late?" Zidane asked dryly.

"If we lose, it won't matter... so we'll make it matter!" Dagger chortled. "I'll tell you on the other side if we die, trust me."

"Then I guess that means we have to survive so I can hear you confess your love for me!" snickered Zidane, though Dagger quickly slapped him hard in the face for his audacity before storming out of the Black Mage Village with a red flush on her face. Zidane brushed away the red from his cheek and smiled, and as he rose to his feet and dusted off his pants the thief adjusted his daggers and cast a smile at Steiner, who smiled back. "It's time to end the war. Let's go make the future a better place for everyone we love... like, say... Beatrix."

"Oh, shut up..." grumbled Steiner.

Scene One

The time for battle had come. With their goodbyes said and their prayers made, the team made their way to the Invincible to prepare for the final battle at the Iifa Tree. Though Zidane was afraid that Vivi would be too scared to fight, the black mage affirmed that this wasn't just his battle - he'd fight it for all the black mages and his friends. All of them had reasons to fight and intended to fight... but not all of them shared Zidane's optimism. They'd all seen Kuja's unfathomable power. What was the point of fighting against such an enemy? It would be a colony of ants trying to eat an elephant from the leg up.

"I can't help but agree with this Mikoto character... this is a fancy way of committing suicide..." grumbled Amarant.

"Oh, hush!" Freya hissed. "Stop being so pessimistic!"

"I consider it realistic," shrugged Amarant.

"Well, you're hopeless, so whatever," groaned Freya.

"What did you just say about me?!" Amarant roared.

"The truth!" Freya snarled. "You're an impossible bastard and I still want to throttle you!"

"Yeah?! I'd be glad to put my hands around your throat too, rat-face!" hissed Amarant.

"Call me that again and Kuja will wish I'd treat him the way I'll deal with you!" Freya snapped.

"Uh... yeah... Those two are hopeless..." mumbled Zidane. "Good grief. I hope they don't kill each other before we get Kuja..."

"This is a battle to take back what Kuja's stolen from us," Steiner said resolutely.

"In other words, you want to avenge Beatrix? Very romantic of you," chortled Zidane.

"Stuff it!" snarled Steiner as he swiped at the thief with his blade.

"Stuff it back in your pants, all of you! We have better things to do than bicker!" Eiko snapped.

"You can stay behind if you don't want to wet your pants, pee-wee," Amarant snickered.

"Oh, the hell you didn't!" barked Eiko as she stormed towards Amarant with her racket drawn. Before she could do any damage, however, Freya snatched her by the wings and yanked her into the air kicking and screaming. With a shrill shriek of rage Eiko struggled and flailed to no avail, a fact that filled her with even more anger - this time aimed at Freya. "And you! Let me go!" she hissed. "I don't need you screwing with me too, lady!"

Zidane groaned and stuffed his face in his hands, shook his head, and grunted out a nasty word that caught his friends' attention immediately. When they all turned to him, the thief put his hands on his hips and leaned in to look at the ragtag bunch with a wide smile on his face. As the apparent leader of the band, Zidane had long been the focal point, the center of the axis that kept the team together, and now it fell to him to bring his friends together for one, final battle.

"We have bigger issues than the ones we make between ourselves," he said dryly. They'd fought across four continents and a parallel world to get there, battled unbeatable monsters and struggled against forces that could destroy the whole world. "If we survive this, then you guys can kill each other, I don't particularly care. But I want you folks to understand that this isn't just your individual feuds any longer. It's a fight for everything and everyone we hold dear. So... Let's go raise some hell, guys!"

Once everyone had calmed down, Zidane piloted the Invincible to the Outer Continent and the Iifa Tree in particular, where they found a massive purple orb floating above the tree. Despite the terror he felt in his bones Zidane grimly directed the airship towards the purple sphere, though when he began to fly towards the orb he was shocked and horrified to find that they weren't alone anymore. Dozens, if not hundreds, of massive dragons had flown from inside the sphere and were now making a bum rush towards the Invincible.

"Abandon ship!" Eiko shrieked.

"Oh, shut up..." mumbled Amarant.

"Damn... We'll need to head out on the deck and fight 'em head on!" Zidane groaned.

"And we'll do that how, precisely?!" Freya barked. "There are too many of them!"

"Hell if I know," shrugged Zidane. "Maybe we are doomed."

"You monkey-tailed little son of a...!" rasped Freya.

"They're almost here! Run, God dammit!" screeched Eiko as she dove for cover.

Just as the Nova Dragon reared back its head to prepare its breath attack, its head was promptly removed and the image on the Invincible's screen began to flicker and wane. Zidane, although shocked, waved his hand over the control panel and the ship's camera panned to the side. There he watched as dozens of airships, all the Viltgances in Lindblum's airship fleet, ascended from below the Mist and began to lay waste to the dragons using their artillery.

"H-How did they know to come?!" Dagger gasped.

"Dad would never let an opportunity like this pass!" laughed Zidane. "C'mon! Let's bust through!"

Leaving behind the Lindblum air force to decimate the hundreds of Nova Dragons, Zidane directed the Invincible past the battle and soared directly towards the sphere above the Iifa Tree. As the airship departed the battlefield, however, two of the Nova Dragons split off from the main flock and soared towards the Invincible. The two monsters zoomed towards the party, intent on stopping their ascent, but just as one of them opened its mouth to attack it was rammed from below by a large object.

The party watched in amazement as from the Mist beneath the queen's Red Rose soared up from beneath, catching the Nova Dragon directly on the flank and battering it with enough force that the beast burst into pieces. As its remains fell to the ground below and the second Nova Dragon turned towards the Red Rose, Steiner shouted out his friend's name and reached towards the general's imperiled airship. Even if there was nothing he could do to save her, all Steiner could do was pray that she'd found the will to live and fight again.

Parallel Perspective: Through the Gates

Aboard the Red Rose, the airship quaked as the Nova Dragon approached it. While the Knights of Pluto warned that the ship would break apart if it took another hit, Beatrix remained silent and stepped out onto the deck of the airship. The Nova Dragon took the challenge and zipped high above the Red Rose, its mouth opening wide as its devastating breath attack began to charge. Beatrix casually turned towards the Nova Dragon and lifted her sword in front of her, parallel to her face. She gripped tightly onto Save the Queen, reared back, and as a monstrous storm of pink energy engulfed her body, Beatrix raised her blade and swung down with all her might. The attack easily chopped the Nova Dragon in half, dropping its remains to the ground as she cast a look to the Invincible, gave a two-fingered salute, and swept her sword towards the airship's final destination.

"Through the gates of Valhalla, Steiner!" Beatrix barked as she winked at her friend. "I believe in you!"

Scene Two

"B-Beatrix! You came!" Steiner gasped.

"Quite the woman you fell for," Zidane snickered.

"And you're one to talk!" shot back Steiner.

"Mind your own business!" Dagger hissed as she took her boot and shoved it into Steiner's kneecap, dropping him. Steiner struggled to recover from the vicious blow, though Dagger's anger hadn't cooled yet. Protector or not, Dagger wouldn't put up with any of his nonsense if the knight tried to insult her. Besides that, it wasn't his business anyway - he had Beatrix to worry about, not her. "Pay attention and fight!"

The Invincible zipped past the Red Rose and the Lindblum air fleet in a direct beeline to the purple sphere, and as its tip penetrated it the entire airship created a massive flash of light than completely swallowed the Invincible and pushed it forward. They soared through a field of multi-colored bubbles and streaks, only to find a final obstacle awaiting them. Zidane quickly gestured to the others and everyone headed to the teleportation device, where they used it to manifest just outside of the airship in front of the Nova Dragon. One of the many draconic guardians of Memoria, this beast was three times the size of any three of them put together, with large, crystalline wings and a frame that was large enough to chill their souls. Its size and strength were doubtless as monstrous as it appeared.

The Nova Dragon let out a bellowing roar and swung its claw, but Steiner and Amarant stepped up and managed to hold back the mighty blow. It was a monstrous force they encountered, however, and the dragon nearly overwhelmed their combined might. While her friends restrained the dragon's claw, Freya vaulted high in the air and, gripping her weapon in both hands, descended rapidly to skewer the Nova Dragon through the eye and blinded it. With a shriek of rage the Nova Dragon threw Freya off of it and zipped into the air, its breath attack quickly beginning to charge, but it never got the opportunity to do so when a titanic blue serpent burst from the Mist below.

As the Nova Dragon charged its attack, Leviathan kicked up a violent storm with its tail and wings. The Eidolon's powerful tsunami erupted from beneath its body and zoomed towards the beast, quickly enveloped it, and simply crushed it to bloody bits with a tremendous amount of water pressure before Leviathan shimmered and vanished from sight in a flourish of white lights. With the battle over, the path ahead opened up: a rocky paved road that seemed to lead towards a monstrously large castle situated in the sky. The air was thick with Mist and everyone was nearly overwhelmed by the sheer force they'd endured to reach their destination, but otherwise everyone was totally intact. Not only that, but when the light faded they felt their bodies and minds stitch themselves together to full strength.

"Where is this...?" Dagger gasped.

"Our destination, obviously..." heaved Freya.

"Hey!" Zidane gasped suddenly. "Do you hear that voice?!"

"Now you're hearing things? Lovely," Amarant droned. "Get it together, monkey-butt! We have a fight to finish!"

Zidane... You can hear me, correct?

"I wish I didn't, but yeah..." mumbled Zidane. "What the hell do you want?!"

You've entered Memoria, a conglomeration of memories across time and space.

"Whose memories...?" Zidane grumbled.

Your memories, and the recollections of the ghosts of those long since passed. You'll find the full truth of what you're seeking within, but I bid that you hurry as quickly as you can. There isn't much time left.

"Time?" gasped Zidane.

Fool. Before Kuja obliterates all of existence... past, present, and future. There isn't a second to hesitate.

"Who the devil are you talking to?!" rasped Dagger. "Are you hiding something?"

"It's Garland..." sighed Zidane, to the shock of his friends. "He's saying something about memories and ghosts from the past - some of them our memories. I hope everyone can handle what comes next if that's the case..." He cast a quick glance to Dagger, who quietly nodded her head and tightened her grip on her racket. Though Zidane had his doubts, he still believed that Dagger could fight through her pain. "Everyone, follow me very closely. This could end badly in any number of ways."

"And the party?" Freya asked briskly.

"Fool. Everyone," grunted Amarant. "As usual."

"At least you understand by now..." sighed Steiner.

"Oh, shut up!" Amarant snapped.

The next few minutes of traveling through Memoria was chilling. Every wall, the ceiling, and the floor beneath seemed almost to be alive and writhing with the ghosts of some very unpleasant spirits. It was almost like the whole place was alive and active, a chilling prospect when you considered that you were literally walking into the unknown depths of a hellish wonderland. There was no telling if, or when, something would just jump out from behind a column and attempt to consume you. As they continued through the nightmarish castle, the party watched as the sky beyond the windows of Memoria continued to flicker and flash with all the colors of the rainbow. Eventually they passed through a room with a long stairwell and an even larger pendulum, swinging around the room like a nightmarish clock face.

While descending the staircase, the party sensed malicious intent and quickly realized that they weren't alone. Three Ahrimans, or Veterans, dove from high above the party and tried to dive bomb them. Immediately the warriors wielding weapons drew them and slashed at the monsters, though they quickly darted out of the way and attempted to consume the weaker members of the team - Eiko, Vivi, and Dagger. The rest of the party would have none of it, however, and immediately became entranced, cutting down the monsters and leaving their corpses to fall to the abyss beneath while Eiko began to hyperventilate again. When Amarant chuckled the summoner whacked him in the knee with her racket as punishment, receiving a glare that moistened her underwear in return and quickly resolved to let the matter slide.

They progressed through another series of corridors and a long staircase leading back up the castle, crossing bridges and passing hallways as they progressed. Their travels eventually culminated in a large courtyard with a platform whose floor was marked with the Kanji for "fire." As the party approached the platform it suddenly burst open and from below its stone a monstrous burst of flame blasted them backwards and signaled the arrival of the Fire Fiend, Malirith. The demon was just as menacing as it had been at the Fire Temple, though this time its aura radiated with even more malice than before.

"Great, an old friend..." grumbled Amarant, folding his arms over his chest. "Someone else do it. I'm sick of that thing."

Though Freya whacked Amarant over the head for his indifference, she was shocked when Steiner and Quina did indeed step up onto the platform with their weapons drawn. Zidane attempted to protest, but Steiner waved him off and gripped tightly to his broadsword with both hands firmly held together. It fell to him to protect the others this time. Beatrix had done her part and now he would do his. Even if the odds were against him, Steiner resolved to make Beatrix's faith in him a reality.

"I won't let a half-baked, sword-wielding scumbag threaten the people I care about," Steiner growled. Despite his own terror at the demonic swords woman before him, the knight silently vowed to step up and protect his friends. It wasn't like he had a choice. Dagger needed him, and so did Zidane (though he would never admit to himself that he was fighting for the thief). "I'm the swordsman here. Let me handle that thing."

"Quina too!" insisted the Qu as s/he lifted their fork to their shoulder. "Besides, look tasty. Me cook like barbecue."

An infuriated Marilith expelled a massive amount of flaming breath at the two, but Quina stepped up and breathed out an even larger amount of explosively pressurized water that pushed against and finally broke through the Fire Fiend's attack. The Marilith let out a shrill shriek of anger and slithered forward, using its six swords to engage both Steiner and Quina in a furious barrage of steel and flames. The battle was fierce but clearly the Fire Fiend had the advantage with its multiple arms and great battle experience. As s/he began to tire Quina stepped back to catch their breath, leaving Steiner alone to tussle with the Marilith's six swords, which he did with remarkable skill given the opponent he was facing. When the Fire Fiend raised all six of its swords at once for a single attack, Steiner grit his teeth and tightened his grip.

"Now!" Steiner boomed. "Push me at the damned thing!"

Quina took in a massive breath of air, felt the wind pressure inflate their lungs, and then belched out a titanic surge of air pressure directly at Steiner's back. Dagger desperately reached out to help her protector but Steiner instead hopped slightly, laid his boots against the typhoon, and then pushed off against it with incredible force. The next blow he delivered would prove to be the finisher, a single chop straight down the Marilith's center that cut it in half vertically. Realizing that the battle was over but refusing to let itself die alone, the Fire Fiend continued to slash at Steiner even as its two halves dropped to the ground. In this it was wholly unsuccessful, however, when Amarant and Freya bounded forward and swept their weapons at the six swords, disarming them from the Marilith's hands and leaving it to immolate itself in a tornado of fire and wind.

As the cyclone began to wane Steiner dropped flat on his face, to Dagger's horror, and remained there for several seconds before slowly dragging himself to his feet. He heaved out a haggard breath, turned to Quina, and proudly saluted the Qu, evoking a hearty belly laugh from the cook. Eiko, however, looked on in envy and began to fume. She hated being shown up like that, and desperately wanted to prove that she wasn't any weaker than Quina was - s/he was so ridiculous and had proven themselves in mortal combat, and surely an adult like her could triumph as well.

"I'll take the next one..." grumbled Eiko.

Scene Three

After defeating the Marilith, the party continued on through the complex until they reached another large chamber. Dagger silently turned her head to the left and was horrified to find a sight she didn't expect to see at all inside a ruined castle: the sight of Alexandria Castle far in the distance. Suddenly, her mind's eye flashed back to the Battle of Alexandria and the princess seemed to be swallowed by her own thoughts as she dove inside a vortex of shining light.

Dagger fell through a large bubble and ended up back in Alexandria during the battle, where while floating she watched as Bahamut proceeded to decimate the city. She looked on in horror as she watched her beloved country be destroyed, but in another flash of light Dagger's senses changed from Bahamut's rampage to the vision of Alexander eradicating the Eidolon. When that problem was resolved the unholy eye of the Invincible appeared in the sky and eradicated Alexander, and with a loud cry the princess sunk to her knees with a shriek of terror and secreting tears.

"What happened?" Quina asked quizzically. "She just go boom."

"You weren't there that day... You never saw the battle unfold," Zidane mused. "You don't have any memories of it." The thief quickly dashed to his princess's side and grabbed her tightly in his embrace, slowly guiding her to her feet as he wiped the tears from her face. "Nothing can hurt you now..." he whispered as he stroked Dagger's sweaty hair. The princess quietly forced back her fear and allowed her friend to guide her to her feet, albeit shakily. "It's been over for a long time."

Kuja, in his attempt to seize Alexander, began the battle and tried to overthrow me using the Holy Avenger. However, I was also there and used the Invincible to wipe out the Eidolon before he could use it against me. The Battle of Alexandria ended in Kuja's crushing defeat, a setback equivalent to what had happened a decade prior...

"What the hell are you talking about, you old fart?!" roared Zidane as he held Dagger tightly in his arms.

You will soon see in just a few minutes. Be patient.

"Dammit, Garland!" Zidane snarled.

Before the party could do anything else a flash of light in the center of the room scattered them and they watched as a massive figure manifested in the chamber's center. Titanic and muscular, the Behemoth was three times the size of any of them put together. It was a hulking purple beast and a danger of the highest order. The massive monster let out a titanic roar and scattered the party to all corners of the room as they prepared for their desperate counter attack. Zidane grit his teeth and muttered a curse before drawing his daggers and placing himself between the Behemoth and Dagger.

"That thing is just bleeding hatred..." Zidane hissed. The Behemoth seemed to be an amalgamation of bad feelings, malice made into meat. There was only one source of enmity that Zidane could think of as its origin. "I think I know why it appeared... Dagger's grief and anger manifested that stupid chunk of meat. Garland knew about it, too, that worthless sack of dirt. If he weren't dead, I'd throttle that bastard."

The Behemoth again roared and lashed its claw at Zidane and Dagger, but the princess surged into Trance and carried Zidane out of the line of fire before dropping him into a ready position on the floor. Unfortunately, when the Behemoth swung its claw its body continued to move and the beast's massive tail moved with it, and its tail struck and knocked Eiko hard into the far wall before it continued on to do the same thing to Amarant. Another roar signaled the Behemoth's follow-up, a massive breath attack that threatened to wipe out both Eiko and Amarant. With Eiko and Amarant prone, they could do nothing but prepare to take the Flare head-on and both silently cursed their luck. Before the Flare could connect, however, Vivi and Freya jumped between their friends and the Behemoth and prepared their own counter attack.

The Flare was met by Vivi's own Flare spell and a large gust of wind pressure created by Freya's thrust, a double attack that pushed back the Behemoth's attack for just a few seconds. That gave Steiner the opportunity he needed. The knight bounded high in the air, raised his sword, and dug it into the beast's back, causing it to roar in pain as its breath attack redirected to the ceiling. With the Behemoth staggered, Freya used her spear to deflect what remained of the beast's Flare breath before jumping high in the air. She flew until she touched the ceiling, put both her rat-like feet on it, and then descended with such force that her spear punctured the Behemoth from the jaws to the bottom of its body, literally splitting the massive beast in half and leaving its remains to slump limply to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Man, Vivi... and Freya! Thanks for the help!" heaved Eiko. She dragged herself out of the wall and shook off the dirt that covered her body, dusted off her jumpsuit, and pumped both fists triumphantly as Vivi stood to the side and blushed. He wasn't much of a romantic, but Eiko's cherubic glee stoked a wee bit of passion from the black mage's Mist-driven heart. "You guys helped a lot! I owe you guys a whole bunch!"

When Amarant struggled to right himself the bounty hunter gruffly muttered a word of thanks, one he didn't expect anyone would hear. Freya did, however, and she quietly approached her comrade and jabbed him in the chest with her finger playfully, prompting a grunt and a foul word from her nemesis. While he knew that she now had the upper hand against him, it certainly didn't bring him any satisfaction.

"That means you owe me, redhead," Freya snickered, waving her finger in Amarant's face. Amarant seethed as she sneered at him, felt the anger bubble up inside his heart as he realized that she was right and that he did owe her. To be indebted to his arch nemesis was humiliating, infuriating, and more than that it was just plain wrong. "I intend on making you pay me back whenever I like. It'll be great having a sword to hang over your sorry head."

"I could've gotten out on my own!" Amarant barked.

"Yeah, right! You were as vulnerable as a newborn baby!" crowed Freya.

"You rotten, rat-faced-" choked Amarant.

"Call me rat-face one more time and I'll make you pray to God that the monster got you!" Freya hissed.

"Yeah, you'd have been vaporized, dude," chuckled Zidane. "Just thank her and move on." Amarant angrily turned his fury on Zidane and shook him violently back and forth by the shoulders, but the thief seemed impassive and totally not offended, something that infuriated the bounty hunter even more. As Amarant's fury began to wane Zidane cracked one of his signature smiles and nearly popped a blood vein on Amarant's face. "C'mon, play nice!" he chided.

"Oh, bite me..." Amarant grumbled.

Scene Four

The party continued on through the halls of Memoria while watching the castle's shifting architecture, the walls still quaking as if there were something living inside it. One of the next rooms contained several hauntingly spectral floating objects, several geometrical and others shaped like demonic creatures, though when they continued the next room seemed to contain a massive river, or lake... or ocean. It was hard to tell what kind of body of water it was. Zidane kept in the lead in the expectation that Garland would try and throw another monkey wrench in their plans but suddenly caught sight of a boat below the bridge he was on and watched as a woman robed in white attempted to set out to sea during a horrific storm. She had her young child with her, seemingly both being doomed to oblivion, and though the thief reached out to them Dagger caught his arm and he turned to see her shake her head at him.

"Those are my memories... when I set out to sea with my birth mother," Dagger said coolly.

"How the heck did I see a memory I never experienced...?" mumbled Zidane.

"I'm supposed to know?" shrugged Dagger. "It isn't like this place makes sense in any conceivable way."

Gaia's Eidolons were too big of a threat to leave alone. I had little choice but to dispose of them as quickly and cleanly as possible, so ten years ago I took action and wiped out the village of the summoners using the Invincible. I at least tried to be thorough enough that no one suffered much.

"You had no right..." Zidane growled.

As Garland went silent Zidane quietly muttered a curse before gesturing to the others to follow him. In the next room was a bridge that led upwards to a monstrous red eye, with a violent storm swallowing the entire space as if it were the center of a tornado. Zidane reached for his daggers but Dagger clapped a hand to his shoulder and halted him. With a haggard breath in, the princess stared at the cyclone with unbearable hatred and grit her teeth at the instigator of her suffering.

"We both know what that is... the Invincible," Dagger murmured contemptuously. That airship had stolen both her childhood and her new family, ripped apart both her mothers into shreds of flesh and now, even if she did own it herself now, it was a wretched heirloom from an ancestry she wanted nothing to do with. "I saw it ten years ago, and then I saw it ten years later when Kuja attacked Alexandria. I swear that I'll see the damned thing in my nightmares for the rest of my life, too."

These aren't the girl's memories, Zidane. They're yours.

"How?! I was never at Madain Sari!" snarled Zidane.

During its initial summoning, its power was so frightening that the summoners resolved never to call it again. They took its summoning stone and broke it in quarters, scattering to the four corners of the known world to keep the Eidolon from ever being unleashed again.

"That thing protected Alexandria..." Zidane growled. "What made it so scary?"

Oh, you have no clue of how vicious the Holy Avenger could be when angered. When it was first summoned, Alexander decimated the whole of the summoner tribe's initial homeland in a hail of holy fire. Thereafter the tribe split the jewel into four and departed to the Outer Continent to eke out a new life amongst the moogles and monsters. At the very least it was more amenable than the idea of the Mist Continent's kingdoms seizing control of Alexander. They knew that it would wipe out as many people as it could were it summoned again by a greedy heart.

"What is Garland saying now...?" whispered Dagger.

"He's blowing smoke," Zidane snarled. "I can feel it. He's trying to mess with me."

A low groan echoed throughout the stormy nightmare as the Invincible's eye slowly closed itself, shortly thereafter giving way to a massive figure that descended from the ceiling: Tiamat, the Wind Fiend. The massive dragon dropped to the floor and let out a loud bellow, and though Vivi and Steiner attempted to step forward Eiko instead put herself between the monster and her friends although she was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. Eiko's fear, having ruined her underwear and chilled her heart, nevertheless had to be put aside for one simple reason: she refused to let Quina outshine her.

"I said the n-next one was mine..." Eiko muttered weakly. "T-This one can't be as scary as it looks, r-right?"

"You just pissed yourself. Admit it," Amarant snickered.

"If you have enough time to insult me, you have the time to help me!" Eiko hissed. They'd had a long history together, none of it pleasant. Despite that, if they could ever mix together in any capacity, this would have to be the time to do it. She desperately needed backup to fight the Tiamat, and since he was the finest physical example in the party that made him the ideal partner. "Make yourself useful, you jerk! The last one nearly killed you, but with m-m-me... me, I-I'll show you just how p-power... powerful I can b-be! I'm an adult and I want to do adult t-things!"

Eiko's "courage" amused Amarant enough that he decided to step in and quickly moved to Eiko's side to fight the Tiamat. The Wind Fiend roared and swung its massive claw at Eiko, but before she could even panic Amarant became entranced and deflected its attack with a single blow. Tiamat didn't take kindly to being halted and angrily breathed out a sharp gust of condensed air pressure at the duo. Now it fell to Eiko, and this time, she really did intend to step up. Eiko quickly clapped her hands together in prayer and as the green flames surrounded her both Golem and Fenrir alighted from the rocky earth. The Golem stepped up and threw its mighty body against the Tiamat's breath attack, which managed to hold it back long enough that Fenrir was able to initiate its own attack. Neither Golem nor Fenrir had had much time to shine and now was the time for them to do just that.

Fenrir let out a bellowing howl, creating a barrier of air pressure that struck and clashed with Tiamat's own. The two beasts, one an Eidolon and the other a Fiend, pushed against one another's attacks with incredible force. When Fenrir's attack began to peter out, Eiko stepped up with an entranced Amarant and also emerged in Trance herself. Finally the Eidolon lost its breath completely and disappeared with the Golem, leaving Eiko and Amarant alone to fight the Fiend.

The Tiamat's breath attack burst through at the duo with incredible force, but both prepared their counter attacks. While Amarant cupped his hands to his side Eiko clapped her hands together and created a large mass of holy light that, like Amarant's attack, began to surge out from both of their bodies like a monstrous mass of energy that rivaled the Tiamat's. In fact, perhaps it even exceeded it in intensity. Amarant violently thrust his hands wrist-to-wrist against the Tiamat's attack, which sent a huge blast of white light surging from his fingers that clashed with the wind pressure. Eiko's own power surrounded her in a ring of energy that encircled her entire body, the sheer holy power overwhelming her childish frame, though when the summoner threw both hands forward her Holy spell met and assisted Amarant's blast in blasting a mortal wound through the Tiamat's chest.

As the Wind Fiend fell to the ground with a loud thud and began to fade away, Eiko's Trance ended and she dropped to her knees drenched in sweat and breathing loudly enough that she thought that her own heart would give out on her. The summoner weakly stumbled to her feet and cast a look of scorn at Amarant, but slowly stretched out her knuckles and bumped fists with the bounty hunter. They'd done it. Even if they hated one another, they'd done it together. Now, they had one tiny, minuscule bond that neither of them really wanted to have between the two of them.

"Thanks, man..." Eiko heaved.

"I took pity on you 'cause you looked so sorry," chuckled Amarant.

Eiko, who was still entranced, furiously batted Amarant's fist away and blew a huge spell in his face that blasted him far back into the distance. The bounty hunter landed and beat against the ground before finally falling flat on his back with a loud sigh. While it didn't seem to outwardly anger him, none of those assembled expected that he would possibly let it slide - Eiko had made a mistake. In her anger she'd forgotten who the alpha was in their relationship. Doubtless that would come back to bite her in the ass.

"How do you like that, huh?!" Eiko roared as she stuck her tongue out at Amarant. She'd acquired an unnatural (and unhealthy) courage from fighting with the bounty hunter, and in the haze of her victory the summoner failed to take into account that he was still the more powerful and aggressive of the two. "Piss me off and I'll make you regret it, you sorry sack of crap! You ruined a perfectly awesome moment!"

The bounty hunter laid on his back for a few moments before he began to laugh and quietly pulled himself to his seat. As Amarant dragged himself to his knees and slowly began to lift himself to his feet the redhead cast a look of such scorn at Eiko that the summoner almost immediately withered and fell to her seat in terror. Her underwear had long ago become a casualty. By now, the sweat that seeped from her armpits now threatened to ruin her shirt as well.

"Good work, pee-wee," Amarant chuckled, more sincerely than even he expected. He quietly raised his hand to his face and gave a two-fingered salute, an act that at first reassured Eiko. Then, of course, Eiko realized that it was a skin-deep gesture and Amarant was both ready and willing to maim her for her audacity. The look on his face proved that he'd had more than enough of her lip. "You really can act like an adult when you really put your mind to it... Sort of. You still pissed yourself again."

"Hey!" Eiko shrieked. When Amarant stared her down, however, she quickly retreated and slumped to her knees in fear. She was well aware that she'd pushed her luck far enough and silently bowed her head in apology to the redhead, however much it hurt to do so. Her teeth grit, she tightened her fists and breathed out a curse beneath her breath, low enough that she hoped Amarant wouldn't catch it. "Okay, so maybe I wet myself... So what?!"

Scene Five

After Eiko and Amarant had (sort of) reconciled, the team continued on through the halls of Memoria until they reached a large portal. They passed through it and found themselves in a room covered in outer space, with two planets colliding in the distance. Zidane saw that one was red and the other blue, and quickly pieced together the fact that he was far back in the past and watching as Terra and Gaia first collided with one another. The surface of the larger blue planet was laid waste to by the smaller red one and Zidane watched as the two worlds slowly merged into one - the red planet forced itself through the blue planet's crust and, as the wound closed, the world stood dead and destroyed on its crust, a treeless wasteland. Meanwhile, the two moons of Terra and Gaia both took up orbit around the new planet, where they settled in as the scene slowly faded to black.

Five thousand years ago, Terra attempted to assimilate Gaia directly, with dreadfully sorrowful results. Gaia's crust was ruined and its civilizations decimated, while Terra itself was forced inside of its child planet and became the core of Gaia. Terra had become a planet within a planet, connected by way of the Shimmering Island to Gaia's surface. In order to restore the crust I planted Terra's Iifa Tree, and while at the same time it regenerated Gaia's surface it was designed to shunt the souls of Gaia through its roots as Mist.

"So you caused everything!" Zidane snarled. "The destruction itself, and then the Iifa Tree!"

I cannot deny that truth. The forcible union destroyed the civilizations of both Gaia and Terra, and thus both worlds had to spend millennia rebuilding. In the end, Terran souls went into stasis while Gaia steadily restored itself from ruin to a lush, beautiful blue world.

"Yeah, so you can kill everyone on the damned planet!" roared Zidane.

I must disagree. The souls of Gaia remained... as Mist. Over the next five thousand years they continued to exist as my tool for fomenting war and destruction. Then, of course, they really were dispensed and disposed of... that much is true. But for a few thousand years I allowed Gaia's souls to exist and serve my own purposes.

"You lousy bastard...!" Zidane choked. "How many lives do you have to destroy to satisfy yourself?!"

The image of Gaia and Terra reappeared for a few moments before a shining star burst from the two battling planets and slammed into the floor of the room, soon reappearing as a massive monster. A massive, hulking beast of a humanoid, this beast's shoulders and wrists were spiked and it carried a sword even longer than its arms. The Iron Giant let out a loud bellow as it appeared and Zidane shouted out another curse as it lifted itself to its feet. This one would be even more of a hassle to deal with than the Behemoth, for the simple reason that it was even larger than it had been.

The Iron Giant lifted its massive blade and hurled it at a vulnerable Dagger. Before it could strike both Zidane and Steiner became entranced, however, and slung their weapons against the titanic sword. With great effort they finally managed to repel it, but it simply pivoted on its heel and swung it again. As its sword began to approach closer and closer both Freya and Vivi became entranced and stepped up to face the beast. Bubbles of nuclear energy flickered between Vivi's fingers as he tossed the light into Freya's spear and she quickly leapt high into the air to meet the Iron Giant's attack. Both Freya's Flare-infused trident and the beast's mighty blade met one another in mortal combat and, finally, she managed to deflect the attack again.

When this time the Iron Giant raised its sword for an overhanded strike, neither Vivi nor Freya had enough strength to fight back again. As the Iron Giant swung down with its huge sword Steiner stepped up entranced and, with great effort, caught the beast's attack and held it down for a few moments. Zidane next became entranced as well and threw as much of his power at Steiner's sword as he could manage, finally pushing through and shattering both the Iron Giant's sword and the Iron Giant itself. The entire party slumped to their knees to catch their breath, leaving Zidane to glare up at the sky with incredible contempt.

"You could have warned us, dammit!" he hacked.

I didn't send it. Kuja did. It wasn't my prerogative.

"Oh, you dirty... Next time, you'd better give us a heads-up!" Zidane barked.

Scene Six

In the rooms following the chamber where they'd fought the Iron Giant, the party experienced a number of strange phenomena like upside down stairways and haunting statues that resembled humans mixed with demons. When they opened up the next door the team experienced the strangest thing yet: they seemingly entered the undersea world itself, complete with fish swimming all around the area as if they were floating in the ocean.

"So many fish! Me cook!" Quina swooned as s/he leapt into the water and began to swim wildly around the sea floor. As s/he swam and swam the fish seemed so tantalizingly close, but when Zidane grabbed their ankle and yanked them backwards the Qu began to tread water and angrily stuck out their tongue at their friend. "Hey! Me trying to catch fish!"

"You're imagining everything... there aren't any fish," Zidane droned. As Quina realized that Zidane was right s/he immediately fell to their rump and slammed on the watery floor with a loud thud. "The fish are imaginary. Stop trying to catch them."
"But me hungry...!" whimpered Quina.

After calming down Quina, Zidane led the party through a door into a large courtyard full of water, not like the previous room, however - there were clear foot holds and a bridge leading up above. The party ascended the staircase and approached the bridge, but as they came closer and closer Zidane began to fall behind and slowly lowered his eyes to the sea beneath them.
"Once, the ocean was all there was..." muttered Zidane. "Neither land, nor beast."

"Just how are you supposed to know this?" Eiko grumbled.

"He's right," sighed Vivi.

"Agreed," Freya said coolly.

"They can sense the same thing... the same memory," Zidane mused. "Somehow, we all have the same memory of a primordial ocean..." The more he thought, the clearer his thoughts became, and the closer he came to a conclusion the more obvious it became. The ocean was the mother of the world, from which all life derived. Somewhere, somewhere deep within its depths, lay their genesis. "Everything began in one, single place..." he whispered. "Everything has an origin..."

As the team carefully crossed the bridge to get to the other side, two large tentacles reached up from the ocean below and tugged Eiko and Dagger down by the ankles, shortly followed by the others. When the party dove into the sea they were greeted by the source of the tentacles: the Water Fiend, Kraken, whose limbs had the summoners tight by the leg and was dragging them closer to its toothy maw. Before the Kraken could pull the summoners any closer, however, two large bolts of lightning struck and seared its tentacles, allowing Eiko and Dagger to swim away as Vivi and Freya stepped up to fight the Water Fiend. Both were floating as if in midair, treading water as if they were kicking off the air itself. Freya gestured for the two summoners to move aside, which they did as she and Vivi began to swim towards the Kraken.

The Kraken lashed out its tentacles at Freya, who relentlessly slashed and diced at them with her spear to little effect - each time the limbs would simply regenerate itself. Soon the onslaught became too much and the Water Fiend caught Freya by all four limbs, holding her high in the oceanic sky as it slowly dragged her towards its fangs. Freya kicked and struggled as best she could, but nothing she did could shake the Kraken's tentacular grip. Freya sharply exhaled as she surged into Trance, ripped herself free, and used her new trident to slash off the tentacles that had held her legs, quickly gliding to a halt next to Vivi as he swam towards the battlefield. The Kraken again regenerated, but as its tentacles lashed out at the two warriors Freya thrust out her spear and dug her heel into the watery depths as Vivi became entranced as well and began to charge a new spell.

The black mage thrust out both hands and nuclear energy peppered the area surrounding his fingers, quickly coalescing and converging on Freya's trident. Vivi's Flare bubbles swirled around Freya's weapon and, as she reared back her trident, the energy began to expand and formed around her body in the form of a massive, pink dragon. The dragon quickly flew forward when Freya thrust her spear at the Kraken, and as it opened its mouth wide the nuclear creature swallowed and consumed the Water Fiend completely, the fangs closing to leave only a small wisp of smoke. Vivi and Freya's power slid out of their bodies like water from a sieve, dropping them to their backs as they began to float limply on their backs. Although the two warriors were winded and had lost much of their energy it wasn't anything that Eiko and Dagger couldn't fix. The two summoners indeed swam towards their friends, each took a single patient, and together they mended their wounds and restored their stamina to prepare for the next fight.

Scene Seven

It took half an hour to pass through the chamber where the team had fought the Kraken, having had to climb up from the fake ocean and make their way back across the bridge that led forward. In the next room was a room filled with clocks and eerie wisps of light, though when the team passed through they entered a chamber dominated by a titanic ball of fire that hung far in the distance, a huge orb of molten magma that crackled with black lightning. A long ladder that led up hung in the far distance.

"Is that a moon...?" mumbled Zidane. "No. It has to be something else..."

That orb is the origin of Gaia. Five thousand years ago the entire planet was nothing but a mass of molten lava, which would one day harden and form the crust of Gaia itself. Then the seas formed, and then the land, and in time life began to flourish again. However, during the forced assimilation this was again Gaia's fate. It was quite a beautiful cataclysm, one that took millennia to be repaired...

"Great news. What's the ladder for?" Zidane droned.

Gaia was at the peak of its prosperity while Terra developed into what it believed was the pinnacle of creation. Their hubris doomed them from the start and the planet began to decline, just as Terra did. I was created to act as steward for the coming age and to guide Terra into the future, an artificial being immortal and unaging, destined to exist for as long as it would take to restore Terra to its own pinnacle.

"Did you not hear me?!" snapped Zidane. "What's the damn ladder for?!"

I suggest you watch out from above.

Zidane quickly realized that there was a figure falling from above and barely managed to jump back in order to evade being hit by it. Stilvas were multi-limbed monsters resembling scorpions, though with four thick limbs and a tail shaped the same as its legs. It was truly monstrous, the size of a small bus, and there was no doubt that it would bar their path with malicious intent. The Stilva was an arctic beast found in the deepest corners of Gaia's frozen wastelands, a being enchanted with the elements of fire, frost, lightning and water. If it had somehow found its way to the Mist Continent, the Mist Continent might not be there for long.

The Stilva breathed out a massive wave of multi-colored bubbles the size of livestock, a barrage of light that converged on the party and consumed them. The monster exhaled a soft wisp of breath as it watched the scene unfold, though when the smoke cleared it was surprised to find that the party had survived. They'd surged into Trance and pushed back the breath attack just in time to remain alive. Now fully entranced, each of the warriors charged up their own best attacks. While Zidane and Amarant prepared their long distance attacks, Freya and Steiner lunged at the Stilva. Vivi, Eiko, and Dagger slung their greatest power at the beast, and as the heroes converged on the Stilva they finally managed to obliterate it until there was nothing left and the party quickly slumped to the ground winded and totally exhausted.

"Y-You shouldn't have done that...!" Zidane rasped.

Why yell at me? I warned you like you asked.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it..." heaved Zidane. "You dirty rat..."

Remember: You're approaching Kuja's stronghold. Expect even more intense battles.

"What on earth can he have left to throw at us...?" gasped Dagger.

"The Fiend I fought with Quina... the Lich," Zidane groaned. "The two of us won, so eight of us ought be a simple battle..."

"No. It'll be you and I fighting..." Dagger sighed. "We're the only ones who haven't tackled a Fiend."

"You're out of your damn mind!" choked Zidane.

"We came here together and we'll fight together! I didn't follow you across four continents and into a parallel world just to let you do all the fighting!" insisted Dagger. She'd gone through so much with Zidane. Now it was her turn to step up and fight by his side, leaving the others a chance to rest. Besides that, despite all her softness the princess almost relished the idea of a good fight. "Besides, everyone else already had their turn... They're exhausted, and it's on us to fight for them, especially if Kuja and Garland pull another stunt like that again."

"You stupid... Fine. We'll fight together," chuckled Zidane. "Prepare for the worst."

"Ha ha... I expect nothing less," Dagger giggled as she stuck her tongue out playfully. "It's the norm with us."

Scene Eight

There wasn't just one ladder to climb, there were actually two to reach the next platform. It seemed to be some sort of massive elevator, with windows and a keypad inside the structure. Eiko promptly strolled forward to activate the button but was suddenly yanked back by the wings by Zidane just as the elevator changed into a nightmarish, hell-like platform and the Lich appeared to attack her. Eiko let out a loud shriek as Zidane stepped up and clashed with the Lich with both his daggers, a powerful blow that he felt deep in his bones. After an initial struggle the two launched into a series of vicious attacks, dagger meeting lance in a seemingly endless duel, though the battle quickly came to an end when the Lich's weapon tore open a large gash in Zidane's shoulder and dropped him to his back, bleeding badly.

The Lich reared back for the finishing blow but slowly realized that it wasn't alone, turning just in time to watch the Eidolon Atomos rise from beneath the dark abyss beyond. Atomos began its attempt to inhale the Lich, though the Earth Fiend fought as best it could and finally managed to cut through its massive mouth. Upon turning back to its quarry, however, it was met by the sight of Bahamut's fangs and was promptly incinerated by its massive breath attack.

A smiling Dagger healed Zidane's flesh wound and exchanged a fist bump with the thief as the Lich's remains burned into unholy hell fire and drifted to the winds. The hellish platform where they'd fought the Lich flashed back into a more amenable structure, one with a large door that led further beyond. Vivi weakly wiped the sweat from his face and fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the battles that they'd been forced to endure since arriving in Memoria. He had barely anything left.

"What comes next...?" Vivi rasped. "That door doesn't look pleasant..."

"Do we have a choice?" hacked Zidane.

There certainly didn't seem to be much of a choice. The party hurried over to the door and found that it led into what seemed to be a starry oblivion. Though Eiko and Vivi fidgeted even they realized that they had to move forward and so the entire team leapt off the platform and into the dark abyss beneath. When they landed their consciousness faded to nothing, all their senses blank and null. Slowly, Zidane cracked open one eye and found that they'd reached a sort of crystalline wonderland. They seemed to be inside some sort of massive, crystal garden covered with gemstones that jutted out from all directions as it led further down through the path. As the others similarly came back to their senses Zidane stared out into the distance and noticed a large, rotating golden orb far in the distance.

All memories come from the same place, their origins... the origins of life. A child has a parent, that parent has a parent, and one goes down the line to the source of all existence: the Crystal. Kuja seeks to destroy that Crystal, and thus erase everything in existence... past, present, and future. There will be nothing left in all of creation if he erases the Crystal. And I also suggest that you move quickly before the Crystal Guardians get you.

"Great, more monsters..." muttered Zidane.

Please protect the Crystal from Kuja and his madness. I cannot follow you any longer...

"Garland...? Damn it, Garland, talk to me!" Zidane snarled.

Farewell...

"Dirty bastard... Guess all we can do is keep going..." sighed Zidane.

With no other choice they continued on through the crystalline garden, marveling at the wonders of the cavern and its gemstones. It really was rather beautiful. Eiko traveled at the back of the pack, weary and dispirited from everything they'd gone through. When she slowly turned back, however, the summoner watched as crystalline manifestations of the Four Fiends began form behind the group. Eiko let out a horrific shriek, which alerted her friends to the danger they were in, and the entire team quickly beat feet through the Crystal World as fast as they could. They dodged and weaved as the Four Fiends slashed and jabbed at them, narrowly evading the elemental attacks that they threw into the mix and eventually they came across one final portal. Since literally anywhere was better than where they were, the entire party quickly dove inside the gate just before the Fiends nearly consumed them.

They stepped through the gate and entered a new world altogether. It was a massive space filled with clouds and rocky crags, with a huge golden Crystal suspended in the distance inside a large bubble of silver light. Eiko slowly hacked out an expletive to calm her nerves when she saw Kuja staring down at them from the center of the chamber, and though it took every ounce of courage she had the summoner slowly advanced with her friends until they caught up to Kuja. It was almost time for the final battle. There was no running, no hiding. All that remained was mortal combat and horrific suffering, for them and for Kuja.

Kuja chuckled and began to applaud the party. "Excellent job coming so far, to the edge of oblivion. I commend you for defeating the Four Fiends I resurrected to kill you," he said coolly, turning back to the distant Crystal with a wild glory in his eyes and threw his arms in the air theatrically. "Marvel at the origin, the central point of all life in the universe! And scream in terror as I obliterate it! I'll make sure that nothing exists without me!"

"There are plenty of reasons to exist without a half-baked piece of crap like you!" Zidane snarled, drawing his daggers as he steadily approached Kuja. "I could list 'em, but since there are too many people and things living in the world I'd just dry my throat before I finish listing every living being that's ever existed! We don't need you! Get lost and go crawl in a hole and die or something."

"It's not like you have any hope anyway. The Soul Divider of the Iifa Tree will soon begin to self-destruct in a glorious explosion of pure, evil energy! Nothing on Gaia will remain, and the planet will be totally assimilated by Terra!" Kuja crowed. "Even if it fails, Gaia's souls have been lost forever. None of them will ever return to Gaia. Since there's no hope, why not surrender to the executioner's mercy? Hold hands together as I erase you and I promise you won't feel a thing."

"The world won't die..." heaved Vivi. "Gaia's souls, Terra's souls, the world will always remain and life will go on."

"My puppet speaks like quite the man!" Kuja cackled. "But life is nothing but a waste of time."

"Go crawl in a hole and die, where you belong..." Zidane growled. "Leave us out of it. You don't have the right to play God."

Kuja bit his lip in anger and swung down his hand, causing the crystal world to shift into a desolate wasteland with dark clouds in the air and dirty soil on the ground. From beneath the platform a monstrous being began to ascend, the final servant that Kuja had to throw at them. Kuja's twisted pet resembled the Gizamaluke. It was serpentine in nature like that creature and was also winged, but with pulsing red veins and an exterior skeletal system this being was far more intimidating. A thin stream of acid dripped from between the Deathguise's fangs as it prepared its attack. It would never have the chance, however. As the party wearily drew their weapons the sorcerers held hands and shut their eyes tightly, a thick aura surrounding their bodies as two columns of light formed both in front of and behind the Deathguise. From one portal Madeen emerged and from the second Bahamut emerged, and together with their holy wrath the Deathguise was utterly erased from existence just as Kuja intended to do to everyone else.

As the Deathguise's shreds burned to nothing Kuja and the world he'd greeted them in reappeared. The sorcerer testily put his hands on his hips and grit his teeth, angered at their insolence before raising his hand towards the party. The light between his fingers flashed and flickered as the monstrous warlock released a barrage of powerful energy blasts, the same as he'd used to obliterate his home planet - an Ultima attack that he intended would end the battle in one single go. All eight heroes disagreed with Kuja's assessment and emerged fully in Trance, and together they linked hands as their auras flared up with a light even brighter than Kuja's attack. Gold and silver light shone from between their fingers as their auras expanded to meet Kuja's final attack, and though the barrage was slowed it didn't seem to stop. Steadily, however, the party's combined Trance started to force Kuja's spell backwards until it finally broke through and swallowed Kuja completely. Kuja's mangled body hung suspended limply in the sky, his upper torso having been ripped open and his ribs exposed from a devastating wound that would prove a fatal one.

"There will be no more!" the sorcerer roared as he threw his arms in the air. "I'll obliterate everything, you and the Crystal!"

Kuja charged all the power left in his mortally injured body, tightened his fists, and threw out all four limbs with such force that his skin began to peel off. The final death throes of the wicked one shattered the sky and ground, swallowing the party and Kuja himself along with the precious Crystal. As the light faded and everyone's consciousness faded to nothing all Zidane and the others could hear was Kuja's deranged laughter as existence began to break apart and crumble into dust - the final death knell for the world and everyone who cherished it.

Or had it? Zidane weakly opened his eyes and found his battered body on the dirty ground along with his friends, all of them badly charred and mortally injured as they lay awaiting death. He cursed Kuja for what he thought would be the final time before weakly lifting his head upwards and watch as a large tower began to form in the sky. It seemed inconceivable, but as Zidane realized that he wasn't dead yet a monstrous form began to manifest in the sky.

It was a monster, pure and simple. The creature was some sort of titanic demon, blue in color and wrapped in rings of white light that encircled the entirety of the devil as it coiled up into what seemed to be a humanoid form with two arms and a face. It was sort of a face, anyway... the entire left half was totally gone and what remained on the right side was a scowl twisted into an expression so sinister that Zidane felt all the blood in his body go cold as he stared up at the abomination.

"Who... the hell... are you...?" Zidane rasped.

This is the final dimension, the furthest point of space-time before everything returns to zero. All life begins in emptiness, growing from a feeble seed into a mature being that dares dream for existence. It all begins with anxiety, the fear of death, and from it sprouts hatred and suffering. Kuja demonstrated the will of all existence: to become nothing. There will be no consciousness, no pain or suffering. All will become calm and serene, the still waters of the River Styx swallowing the world and everyone who falsely claims to desire life.

Biting his teeth, Zidane spat out a curse and scratched his nails against the dirty ground. "I never wished for anything of the sort!" barked Zidane, struggling against his damaged body. He could barely move, barely think or barely breathe, but every ounce of will in his soul cried out for salvation - the salvation of everything and everyone he held dear to him. "You don't have any right to obliterate us! Who the hell are you?! No one gave you the right to play God with all of existence! Even Kuja was at least charismatic... You're just a gigantic black hole."

Then, what is your wish...?

"To live... live with my friends... and Dagger..." heaved Zidane.

Nonsense. I'll put an end to your nightmare soon. I'm afraid it will hurt.

Even if he had nothing left, there was no choice but to fight. Zidane feebly stumbled to his feet and staggered backwards, though as he nearly fell the thief snatched up his daggers and slid into the most ready battle position he could muster. Hopeless or not, he had to try. Even if the Crystal was destroyed, he at least remained. So long as his will existed, so long as his love for his friends existed, he would use every ounce of power he possessed to fight.

Zidane weakly heard a sound and realized that it was Dagger's song, turning to find the princess standing but staggering. She slowly dragged herself forward but quickly fell to her knees with no power left, though Dagger suddenly realized that she had felt a sharp pang in her heart and turned around to see all of her friends glowing bright silver. Steiner, Quina, Vivi, Eiko, Amarant, and Freya - all of them, despite the fact that they weren't moving, were shimmering. Slowly Steiner and Vivi managed to stand as well, even though they had no idea how they could do so.

"Dagger... Never give up..." Eiko whispered.

"Vivi... I give you good meal..." whimpered Quina.

"Steiner... Fight through the pain..." Freya murmured.

"Zidane... Put up the kind of fight you always bluff that you can..." Amarant groaned.

All four of their fallen friends faded away into glimmers of light, shining sparkles that surged inside the bodies of the four who remained. Each particle shone brightly, every neutron and proton charged with hope, and with the souls of the heroes who they'd fought with all of the four - Zidane, Dagger, Steiner and Vivi - emerged from their shimmering cocoons bathed in golden light that gave way to a new form of Trance, the final form empowered by the will to live. Necron raised its hand and Zidane and his friends slowly glided upwards into its tower, where they assumed a battle position for the final time. It was all or nothing.

The devil stretched forth its hand and released a storm of fire, frost, and lightning at the heroes with an intensity that none of them had ever fathomed possible. Vivi threw forward both hands and met the blasts spell against spell, which pushed the attacks back long enough for himself and his friends to dive out of the way of the fatal barrage. The incarnation of darkness's fingers flickered with red light, peppering the heroes with a massive burst of nuclear energy. Steiner, however, raised his sword and sent out a compressed wave of energy that struck and dispersed the spell. When Necron released an equally vicious burst of holy energy, Dagger wearily lifted her hands and released her own attack, a barrage of holy light that met and canceled out Necron's attack.

Now fully empowered, Zidane lifted his daggers and soared at the devil with both daggers drawn. His weapons met Necron's arm and struggled for a moment, but finally gave way and he was thrown backwards into Dagger's warm embrace. The princess's warmth filled Zidane with the power he needed, and as he dug his heel into the empty sky the thief charged his body with as much energy as he could muster. When Necron released a cyclone of black flames that threatened to swallow them Dagger wearily stretched her arm out towards the attack and shut her eyes tightly in prayer. The powerful typhoon, empowered with darkness and infernal heat, suddenly was met by a darkness that was equally as powerful as the Eidolon Ark manifested before Dagger.

The princess's fingers slowly tightened into a fist as the airship's human form held back Necron's attack with its own mighty body. Dagger's fingers finally touched her palm and the two Eidolons she'd dreamed of emerged from a storm of green flames: Leviathan and Bahamut, the ultimate Eidolons. Leviathan gathered its tidal fury and Bahamut exhaled with all the power it possessed as the two gods' attacks met Ark's own blast of shadowy energy. Their attacks merged and swallowed each other up in a colorful symphony of light, but in the end all three Eidolons were shattered to bits... just as they dispersed Necron's final attack and left an opening for a counter attack.

This had to be it... They had nothing left otherwise. From the shattered remains of the Eidolons the heroes emerged and raised their weapons - Zidane's daggers, Dagger's racket, Steiner's sword, and Vivi's mighty fingers. Their bodies became bathed in gold and silver light as a massive circle of light formed behind them that slowly began to expand beyond their weakened bodies. As the four heroes shone with golden light the circle shattered and pushed them towards Necron in their final attack, the last gasp of a dying reality that screamed out for salvation.

Zidane and his friends surrounded Necron at all four cardinal points, each of them raised their weapons, and with a single massive attack they poured every ounce of hope and power they had into a single blow. Their powerful souls combined into one soul as their energy encicrcled Necron and as it converged on the demon it steadily pushed it into a compressed state before finally shattering it to oblivion. As the nightmare and its tower began to break down, all four of their bodies continued to glow brighter until finally they totally lost consciousness and the light swallowed them.

Scene Nine

At the moment of Necron's defeat, the world of Memoria shattered to bits and sent a massive shock wave all across the Outer Continent that would have destroyed the Lindblum fleet if it had remained. The fleet had quickly retreated to the Mist Continent after killing the Nova Dragons, save the Hilda Garde III, who with the Red Rose remained. When the Mist began to clear, however, the Red Rose was swiftly piloted back to the Mist Continent and landed just in time to keep from being sunk by the lack of Mist. Upon Memoria's destruction the Iifa Tree began to quake and roil. Its branches flailed wildly as its roots began to die, but the Iifa Tree would remain for quite some time before totally dying. As large chunks of the tree began to deconstruct themselves eight small orbs began to form on the far platform of the Iifa Tree, and when the eight orbs collapsed in on themselves the eight members of Zidane's party landed flat on their faces - winded, but still alive.

"Is it over yet...?" Eiko whimpered as she cracked open her eye.

"It ought to be," grunted Amarant, who slowly dragged himself to his seat. "Otherwise, I'm going to be pissed."

"Thank God for the end of it all..." Freya gasped.

"Me hungry..." grumbled Quina. "Need yummy-yummies. Badly."

When he awoke Zidane dragged himself first to his knees and then to his feet before realizing that Dagger wasn't next to him. Panicked, he searched around desperately for his friend only to find the princess laying on her back in a cold sweat. He quickly dashed over to her and grabbed her, cradling her in his arms as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Somehow, everyone had triumphed - their hope and love had beaten the darkness and shattered the nightmare once and for all, and everything had begun when the princess started to sing her song...

"Are you alright, Dagger...?" Zidane mumbled.

Dagger slowly inched her fingers together and, finding that they were still there, tightened them in a triumphant fist. "I'm in better shape than the Iifa Tree apparently..." moaned Dagger. While she allowed Zidane to guide her to her feet the princess watched as the massive tree continued to writhe and flail in agony and when she dusted off her jumpsuit and patted Zidane on the back she quietly muttered a prayer that the tree would be dead soon for good. "It looks like the reaction Kuja said would happen... Does that mean that Gaia's done for...?"

"It can't end yet! I never got a boyfriend!" shrieked Eiko.

This time both Freya and Amarant smacked the summoner over the head to quiet her, something she distinctly didn't appreciate and she stuck her tongue out at the two. As they watched the Iifa Tree wriggle and writhe Dagger caught sight of a shadow out of the corner of her eye and to her joy she watched as the Hilda Garde III descended from above, quickly coming to rest on a plateau just next to where the party had materialized after the battle. Having dashed at full speed from the bridge Cid frantically charged onto the airship's deck and clapped both hands on the railing, desperately staring down at the victorious heroes and a sly smile crossed his face. They really had done it. They'd done everything they'd set out to do. After a battle so titanic that it took the lives of hundreds of Nova Dragons and took every single shell of ammunition the Lindblum fleet had, and after facing the incarnation of nonexistence, everyone had come out alright... alive!

"Thank God you're all alive...!" Cid rasped. "We need to escape before the Iifa Tree decides to blow up or something!"

"Sounds good to me," Zidane said dryly. "Let's get the hell out of dodge."

I wish you well, Zidane.

Upon hearing Kuja's voice echo in his head Zidane's eye twitched and he kicked the ground where he stood, infuriated at the sorcerer's audacity. "Just great... Now I've got an errand to run..." he grumbled. It may have been a stupid idea, a very stupid idea, but when Zidane pieced together how they'd survived the conclusion he reached was both horrifying and irritating. Zidane quietly turned to Dagger and gestured towards the airship. "Go," Zidane sighed. "I'll catch up later."

"Why on earth would we...?!" Dagger gasped.

"Kuja... He's still alive..." sighed Zidane.

"Then we have to finish the job!" exclaimed Dagger.

A solemn Zidane cast a look at Steiner and gestured to him, then gestured to Dagger. The knight at first didn't understand the thief's motioning, but when he got the idea Steiner balked at the concept and nearly began to fume in anger. They'd become comrades-in-arms not so long ago, their mutual respect finally coming to full bear, but now the idea that the stupid, monkey-tailed thief would run away and make Dagger cry swelled Steiner's breast with fury.

"Protect Dagger while I'm gone... I've got to go help Kuja," Zidane said bitterly.

"Let him rot!" Steiner spat.

"He's the only reason we're still alive. When we fought that abomination, by all rights we should have died..." began Zidane, breathing in a deep, haggard breath that filled his weary lungs with oxygen. Perhaps they actually had died. All he knew was that they were still breathing and it was only because of Kuja. "After the battle he reconstructed our bodies, stuffed our souls back in 'em, and teleported us out of the Iifa Tree before everything went boom. I don't have any other choice... I'm got to go save him."

"Pull your head out of your sorry ass!" Freya hissed. "You shouldn't have to owe him a single thing!"

Zidane gave a wry chuckle and shook his head, horrified at what he was about to say. "Back then, in Terra... if I'd realized that I was going to die I might have made the same choice as he did... destroy everything," Zidane sighed. Freya immediately balked and the others similarly reacted with disgust but Zidane waved them off and cleared his throat. "Hey, hear me out! I'd have done it if I didn't have anyone else. I do have someone else... all of you. If I'm going to be able to sleep tonight, I need to pay my debts and save Kuja."

"You don't owe that freak a damned thing! Now, get on the stupid airship!" Eiko screeched.

"If I left Kuja to die, I'd be as bad as he is, just as heartless," Zidane shrugged. That wouldn't be right, either... Zidane had claimed the high road, and to surrender that bastard after having been saved by him would only leave him and the others as bad as Kuja was. "Vivi faced his fears and stood up to his own mortality, and now it's my time to do the same. I won't always be around... but I can make my statement on the world and leave an imprint. It isn't like I plan on dying, if that's what you think I'm going to do."

"I-I... didn't make a mistake like that..." mumbled Vivi.

"That's because it wasn't a mistake. You stepped up and proved that you could go to the next level, the next stage in your journey as a human being," Zidane said warmly. "When you faced that thing inside the Iifa Tree you rejected your own fate and decided that you wouldn't be shackled by your own mortality. If I didn't do the same... I could never say that I'd learned anything from you, dude. You've really made me rethink my life and I want to step up to prove I can change it."

"Then take me with you!" Freya barked.

"And I as well!" insisted Steiner.

Zidane shook his head and sighed. "It's too dangerous. Take a look at the Iifa Tree and tell me that it's a good idea to march head long in there with a fully party, because it isn't," he said coolly. As he turned to Dagger and smiled, the princess bit her lip and tightened her fists. There was more than one reason to fight. "Besides, it's my best chance to impress Dagger. I want it to be on my own terms and with my own merits."

"Y-You want to do what...?!" Dagger rasped, a red flush coating her face.

Turning first to the dragoon and then to the knight, Zidane cracked a soft smirk. "Freya, you need to worry about Burmecia. Steiner, you've got Alexandria to consider," Zidane said smoothly, his hands on his hips. His friends had fought across continents and two parallel dimensions, but their hearts would always remain with their homelands. To surrender their hope now would reject all the sacrifices that they'd made over the last several weeks. "I've got to do what I need to do."

"Your head is so far up your rectum that you can't think clearly!" hissed Freya. "Stop acting like an idiot and-"

"I can't just walk away either," Amarant grunted, which caught the attention of all present. "The idiot's made his choice and all I can do for him is to leave him to do what he wants. All I can do is back him up, no matter how mortally stupid his plan is. Zidane taught me a thing or two about this and that, and I'll pay him back by supporting him all the way. He says we're friends, and I don't disagree at this point. Leave him to his own business and be done with the matter."

"So you're even more moronic?!" Freya hacked.

"It's all I can do for the moron," sighed Amarant. "How is backing a friend suddenly stupid?"

"Y-You little...! Stop acting like a man and take Zidane's well being into consideration!" snarled Freya.

"I'll do what I want, rat-face," growled Amarant.

"So you do want to die! I warned you, you twit! Prepare to suffer!" Freya barked as she drew her spear.

While Freya and Amarant began to banter back and forth, Eiko quietly raised her hand and caught the attention of the party. "I-I... I love you, Zidane," Eiko said tearfully, her voice breaking as she timidly began to tremble and let out a weak whimper. "You'd better come back or I'll make you regret it!" The idea was horrifying, but Amarant really did have a point, as much as she wanted to argue. As the summoner pivoted on her heel and turned to leave, Eiko grit her teeth and flashed Zidane a thumbs-up. "Do whatever you want and I'll be there for you!"

"Me serve good meal for you when you get back," Quina said happily.

"So you really have grown up...? Even if it's stupid, it's admirable," chuckled Freya. "Fine. Just promise that you'll come back."

"Thank you for teaching me so much..." whimpered Vivi. "I'll see you again, okay?"

"N-No. Please, don't go...!" Dagger spat tearfully.

Zidane smiled and laid his hands on the princess's shoulders, slowly applying pressure to keep Dagger's body from rupturing. "The abduction's over. I can't take you any further..." he said smilingly. As Dagger's body began to fidget and then started to shake the thief quietly threw his arms around the princess and tightened his grip on her weary frame. It was so much to ask of her, but he had to ask it all the same. "I'm sorry that I'm being so selfish, but... I'll come back."

"I still have something to tell you and I expect you'll be around for me to say it," sniffed Dagger.

"Is that an order?" Zidane chuckled.

"Damn straight, it's an order!" Dagger hissed. "Either come back alive or I'll find you and beat you senseless!"

"Your order means more to be than my fondest dream," Zidane said as he stretched out his knuckles. "I promise. I'll come back. And if I don't..."

Dagger bit her lip and fought back her fury. There wasn't a chance in hell that he wasn't going to come back to her. "Come back, no matter the cost," Dagger rasped as she took her fist and bumped it with Zidane's, tears forming in her eyes. She still hadn't told him that she loved him, something that she'd finally determined for herself. The idea that she wouldn't be able to say the words to the man she loved was absolutely devastating, and even if Steiner would have something to say about it to hell with him. "Promise me, damn it," she whimpered.

"You have my word, Your Highness," Zidane said smoothly. "I'll be there in just a couple of weeks, tops."

"When I tell you what I want to say..." Dagger sobbed, "you'd better not laugh at me."

"Never," vowed Zidane.

After swallowing her apprehension Dagger quietly wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Zidane the most sincere smile she could. "Then... Steiner... Please take me away before I say anything I might regret..." Dagger murmured. Finally backing away from Zidane, the princess quietly bowed her head and tightened her fists, but she'd finally resolved to trust in the man she loved... and she meant what she said; either he'd come back or he'd regret it in the afterlife. "I'll keep my end of the promise and you'll keep yours. Got it?"

Steiner quickly guided a teary Dagger up the ladder to the Hilda Garde III and left Zidane with a solemn salute before hurrying onboard the airship. The Hilda Garde III slowly began to lift off, but as it pivoted to return home Dagger shared one more smile with Zidane and winked at him. As the airship departed from the Outer Continent, Zidane clenched his fists and a wide smile crossed his face. This was doubtless the stupidest idea that had ever crossed his mind, but it was also unavoidable if he wanted to sleep tonight.

"I don't care if you want me to or not, Kuja!" Zidane sneered. "I'm on my way, you lousy bastard!"

I'll prove to you that both of us have a purpose...

With a deep breath Zidane slowly took a single step forwards before the Iifa Tree's roots broke out from the ground behind him. As the roots began to converge on him the thief charged head long for the tree and as those roots slammed hard into the earth where he'd just stood Zidane began to pick up speed and bounded across the landscape with incredible agility and skill. This would be his greatest trial yet. While he ran the thief suddenly felt a sensation below his feet and was shocked when a large root burst out from beneath his body. At first he stumbled and tried to escape but when Zidane noticed that the root seemed to be carrying him straight for his destination he chuckled and slid into a ready position as he rode the root towards the Iifa Tree. His ride was as wild as he expected it would be but by following the root and moving past it Zidane bounded from root to root until he finally found the final hole and slid down it to land right next to Kuja.

"Hey, there, handsome," Zidane breathed haggardly. "Miss me?"

"Fool," snarled Kuja. "Why didn't you leave with the others?"

"Oh, so you wouldn't do the same for me?" Zidane asked slyly.

"Of course not, you moron," Kuja snapped. Zidane didn't believe it for a second as he slid to his seat sitting parallel to his half-brother and finally the sorcerer relented and gave as sincere a smile as he could muster. In the end it had been worth it, worth the battle, but the cost he inflicted on the world was wholly unacceptable. He knew well that in death his soul wouldn't wander to the planes of the divine, but rather to the infernal realms. "Did the others make it out safely, then?" he asked smilingly.

"Yep," chirped Zidane. "'Cause of your mercy."

"Too little, too late... at least I redeemed myself a sliver, before I died in disgrace..." sighed Kuja.

"Get ready to leave," Zidane chuckled. "We have places to go and people to meet."

"I don't deserve any mercy..." Kuja whispered.

"You showed us some, now it's on me to return the favor!" Zidane said smoothly. "Whether you want to or not, we're leaving together."

"Ha... You know, when I watched you guys fight that monster I thought I'd had everything figured out... that life was meaningless and that nothing mattered. But, seeing those four sacrifice their very essences to help you fight proved to me that I was wrong," Kuja said smilingly, weakly laying a hand to his face with a soft laugh. "I saw the purpose I'd forgotten... the will to live, the will to exist damned the consequences... for the people who you love. It was so foolish of me to not see it."

"Well, it wasn't like you were very popular..." Zidane said dryly.

Kuja's smile widened as a soft laugh left his lips. In the end, he'd seen his redemption in saving those eight heroes. As he began to slowly drift off to sleep Zidane reached out to his half-brother just as the Iifa Tree's roots began to converge on them. Though Zidane continued to reach out desperately, Kuja's eyes opened wide as he surged into Trance and threw his body over Zidane's. In his final sacrifice the sorcerer had kept the oncoming roots from puncturing Zidane, and though it took all the strength he had Kuja ensured that no harm would come to Zidane.

"Come on, you asshole..." Zidane whimpered. "Don't die on me."

With a soft chuckle, Kuja struggled to hold back the roots that now were embedded inside his guts. "You're the one with a reason to live..." Kuja whispered softly, stroking Zidane's face with the back of his hand. The entire journey, all the battles and all the strife, had seemed so foolish to him at first - the folly of struggling against superior strength, but in his final moments Kuja saw his brother clearly for the first time. In a way, Zidane truly was his superior, superior in morality and in strength, both. He'd long since earned the right to survive. "You need to hear the canary sing again... and I won't let you die before telling that girl that you love her..." he murmured weakly. "Go. I'll see you again, one day."

As he finally expired, Kuja used the last of his power to warp Zidane outside of the Iifa Tree, where he ended up face down on top of a dead root. The thief slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to find that Mikoto had come to join him and he quietly chuckled as he watched her look on impassively at his plight. At first he doubted whether his sister would even speak to him, instead choosing to simply glare him down for the rest of their miserable lives. It wouldn't surprise him with the way Mikoto had always carried herself.

"Have you made any changes to your decision... Sis?" Zidane asked slyly.

Mikoto's blank face, for the first time, shifted from a scowl to a smile as she crouched down to help Zidane to his feet. "Kuja proved that we don't have to just accept the hand we're dealt... We can fight together for a new future, even if it seems an unattainable goal..." she said smilingly, stretching out her hand for Zidane to take. "We have to get you back home to her safely," Mikoto chortled. "Will you take my hand... Big brother?"

Flashing a weak smile, Zidane scratched his nails against the dirty ground and eked out a soft sigh. "Yeah..." Zidane murmured, allowing himself to be lifted to his feet by Mikoto. He dusted off his pants, adjusted his sleeves, and as the two shared a warmer smile than either of them had expected Zidane finally winked at his sister with all the naughtiness of a pink-clad flower girl. "I did promise her, after all, and she said she'd throttle me if I broke that promise. For my sake, I'd better keep it."

Scene Ten

It would be two weeks later when Dagger's ascension ceremony would take place, without Zidane. The occasion would be commemorated with a performance of "I Want to Be Your Canary," with all of Dagger's friends in attendance. Even a reformed Lani, invited by Amarant, would choose to be there on the big day. After spending two weeks with the moogles, Lani's mind had ended up so muddled that when Amarant came and got her all she could do was fall to his feet and beg forgiveness, something that amused the redhead and irritated Lani beyond words.

Unfortunately, two weeks in would be too late for Vivi. He expired shortly after a week had passed and was buried at the Black Mage Village with full honors. Before he'd died, however, the black mage had mixed his own Mist with technology provided by Mikoto and the other Genomes, allowing him to create six "sons" whose souls would be tethered to their shells forevermore with the Genomes' knowledge of creating more copies of themselves. Vivi's will would always live on.

Burmecia slowly began to pick up the pieces of the shattered world that Brahne had obliterated, with Freya and Fratley leading the effort to reunite the scattered Burmecians under the new leadership of King Puck. Though Fratley and the others had faith in him, Freya's experiences with the new royal left a certain amount of doubt in her mind. She and Fratley had slowly gotten back together and, with her shadowy hand behind Puck's back, the dragoon would doubtless lead Burmecia down a new road of happiness.

For the ceremony, Quina was put in charge of Alexandria Castle's new kitchen and given full access to every ounce of food that the country had stockpiled for the new queen's coronation. The Qu had returned to their master Quale with a number of cookbooks provided by the moogles of Madain Sari and the next two weeks had largely been spent reconciling with one another. A quick trip to Quan's Dwelling settled that argument as well.

Though Beatrix resolved to leave Alexandria, Steiner met her at the gates and put himself in between the paladin and the world beyond. They shared a few uncomfortable words, but when Beatrix brushed by Steiner he grabbed her by the arm and confessed his love for her. Beatrix soon affirmed her own feelings and the two reconciled, determining to protect the new queen forevermore. Steiner even produced his own knight's sword: Save the King, a blade that Beatrix found was a fine counterpart to her own Save the Queen.

Eiko was adopted by Cid and Hilda and made into the new crown princess of Lindblum. With a new family and a new home, the summoner had settled in to a new life of luxury and proudly displayed her new jewels - the Memory Earring on her left ear, the Falcon's Claw around her neck, and the Desert Star worn as a bracelet. When the announcement was made that Dagger would be coronated at the performance, she urged Cid and Hilda to hurry to Alexandria on their new Hilda Garde IV and the two royals gladly acquiesced, having fully reconciled from Cid's infidelities.

As the Tantalus Theater Troupe began their performance a noticeably sad Dagger slumped in her throne on the royal balcony with her face in her hands. She'd been crying just before alighting to the royal box. "That idiot didn't keep his promise..." she murmured weakly, her fists tightening in rage as the princess's tears turned from sorrow to fury. She'd made him promise and he'd broken that promise, so all that remained was to meet him in the next world and make his afterlife as miserable as she possibly could. "When I see him again, whether he's alive or not I'm going to thrash his sorry ass from here to the twin moons. I never even got to tell him what I had to say..."

The play proceeded as normal, though Dagger noticed that the lines and scenes had been notably rewritten to create an almost independently produced play. The queen watched impassively as Marcus yearned for his love Cornelia, her thoughts drifting only to Zidane. When "Marcus" cast off his cloak and Zidane revealed himself, however, Dagger's fingers tightened to almost bloody her hands from her nails digging into her palms as she shouted out his name and leapt from her seat to meet her lover. To Dagger's glee both Steiner and Beatrix threw open the doors to the castle and she swiftly dashed down the stairs and into the square where the play was being performed.

There was no in between: Dagger had to see him, tell him. She desperately pushed her way through the crowd, shoving aside the nobles and royal visitors, and when her pendant broke from her neck Dagger hesitated only briefly before charging the Prima Vista with tears in her eyes. Dagger cast off her crown and leapt high in the air to the performance floor, where she jumped straight into Zidane's arms and the two began to embrace tightly. They softly snuggled, but as Dagger's thoughts began to return to her she slowly looked up at a smiling Zidane with a quizzical look on her face.

"How on earth did you survive...?" Dagger rasped. "I heard that the Iifa Tree was totally destroyed."

Zidane chuckled and brushed the hair from Dagger's face as he stared directly into her beautiful eyes. "I had to make it dramatic, obviously," he chuckled. Dagger brashly took her hand and slapped the thief hard on the cheek, although Zidane quickly brushed the red from his face and gave a crooked smile. "I had to listen to you sing your song again... that's what kept me alive," Zidane whispered. "I didn't have a choice."

"Wrong," Dagger murmured as she grabbed the back of Zidane's head and pushed their lips together. Withdrawing, she whispered, "It's our song."

Final Fantasy IX: The Reason and Right to Exist

Complete!

Author's Notes

The story's done. It was first posted on 3/8/24. I really hope you guys got something out of it! It's been a long road and I hope that I've grown a bit as an author during the last few months. We're at over 150,000 words and fourteen chapters of material. If anyone wants to review it'd be much appreciated! I'm always looking for feedback, good and bad. Obviously I hope it's good feedback, but if it's bad that just means that I suck as an author - and I can take that, hopefully, so feel free to unload on me if I gave you crap the whole time.

Another piece done! That leaves only The Magus Cut on my present docket. That ought to last for at least half a year, so if anyone wants to read that - great! It'll be all I'm going to be producing for quite a while. I'm planning on taking a break for a few months before working on producing my next works, which will include Metroid Dread, the Golden Sun series, and FFX.

By the time I start publishing more works I plan on having them completely finished as opposed to an on-the-fly style that I've been using for the last three years. It all started with Chrono Trigger, which I did during the pandemic for fun. From there I wrote FFVII, and then everything snowballed into almost sixteen pieces of work. It's been God damned tiring keeping up a constant monthly schedule, too! I don't want to have to work one chapter at a time every month or two to make the schedule work.

There are a few works that I think might garner more interest than Chrono Cross and the Breath of Fire games... I've decided to novelize FFX and two of the FFVII spin-off games, the prequel Crisis Core and Vincent's story Dirge of Cerberus. I'm also thinking of doing the two Dissidias, and maybe FFX-2 and Final Fantasy Tactics (tentatively on all). My final works will be FFVI and FFVIII, the two Final Fantasies that hold the most importance for me. That's going to be years down the line, though.

Thank you for dealing with all my garbage the whole time! I know I find myself totally insufferable, so if anyone else can stomach me then that's a badge of pride. I'll be working on finishing The Magus Cut, and then everything else is up in the air! That includes, potentially, a series of One Piece stories featuring an overarching antagonist group. That'll be every so often as well.

Ciao, guys. It's been fun.