Filling In The Blanks
A/N: This chapter will prove to be pretty interesting as well :D But it'll raise a lot of questions - I'm just warning you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9. Maybe a character or two, but no one as cool as all these guys/girls!
Quick Random Thought: Nothing like staying up late to write FF9 :P
Chapter 1: A Perfect Reality
Cerulean eyes glanced over to the redhead grinning at his kill.
"Who knew this job could potentially mean action?" The redhead looked up and smirked at him.
The blonde grinned back. He couldn't stop grinning despite the odd feeling inside of him. He knew it was him - but younger, if only by a little bit. And he had no idea who this person was, but it felt so real... Like it had happened before.
"It's weird..." He blurted out before he could stop himself. But even realizing that he was talking to this stranger as though they were old friends, he kept speaking, "Who knew that Baku could pick something fun for us?"
"I thought this was supposed to be punishment!" The redhead laughed, his green eyes dancing slightly in the golden sun.
"Apparently, he favors us much more than Marcus and Cinna..." He joked, grinning mischievously, walking over to where the shorter one stood.
They watched the creature begin to disintegrate in the sun, as though there were no trace of it ever being there. To everyone else, the sun was a beautiful thing. It gave hope in those times of despair where it seemed as though nothing in the world would go right. But to the evil creatures stalking around in the night, catching their victims off guard and murdering them without so much as a sound, it was a terrible thing.
It was a dangerous business being out in the night, and they knew they had to be getting back soon, or else they would be in trouble themselves for no one would come out to search. They couldn't - no one was allowed to leave, no matter the circumstances.
"Blank..." The blonde started, his blue eyes curious with the twinkling sun.
"Yeah, Man?" The redhead spoke, sheathing his dagger in its place before turning to face him.
"How long do we have until it gets dark?" He questioned, his eyes darting in a few different directions; because of this, Blank cocked an eyebrow.
"I don't know... Maybe a half an hour," he shrugged nonchalant and turned to see just what his best friend was talking about, "why? What's going on?"
With a shaky hand, the young teenager pointed at a threat far greater than the one they just faced. "This shouldn't be punishment if it's way out of our league..." The tone was scared and much different than it had been a few moments ago - or any time the redhead had ever heard his partner speak.
In the shadows of the alley, silver glimmering eyes seemingly glared right at them, as though they'd be the next prey. Not fully understanding the feeling, the blonde shivered.
"Zidane... They won't come at us in the light. We need to hurry..." His friend murmured taking a step backwards.
"It's a forty-five minute sprint from here. We've gone too far off of our mark," he bit his lip, making an unconscious decision. "Blank I want you to go..." He muttered, out of the enemy's ear shot.
"What?" Blank gasped, turning and all the while stumbling to stare at Zidane, "Are you crazy? He or it or she or something will kill you!"
He shook his head, "It'll kill both of us if you don't go... See if you can get help. I'll lead him in a different direction."
"You're crazy..." The redhead whispered, horrified at such an idea. "You can't... Zidane, we need you back at -"
"You're wasting time!" He barked, now trying to be harsh to make him go.
He realized it most likely wouldn't work, but as his best friend, it was his duty to try and lead this thing off, whatever it was. Even though, inside his head somewhere deep back, he knew this was a dream, it felt like the most real thing he had ever experienced.
"Please..." He whispered, eyes gleaming with - what was that - moisture? "Go..."
"I'll bring someone back... I promise..." He mumbled, turning on his heels and dashing away, tripping but catching himself quickly again.
Zidane took off in the other direction, slowly watching the sun set below the horizon. As the first rays of darkness hit the ground he was stepping on, he knew he was in trouble, hearing the beating of rapid footsteps on the thick stone. After what seemed like the quickest time of his life, he was attacked, as he and whatever his attacker was skidded across the hard and cold pavement, his mind went blank.
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Shooting up in bed, Zidane found himself panting heavily, sweat dripping onto the blanket he was covered with. Glancing around the room, he shook his head clear of the weird thoughts he was having.
"What a dream..." He mumbled, dropping his head to his chest.
When he lifted it again, he looked at the glass of water spilt onto the wooden table next to his bed. Trailing the stream of water with his eyes, he notices it fell onto the papers on the ground. Groaning, he rolled out of his bed, and onto the floor to see what the damage was.
Shuffling around the soggy material, he noticed his script for the play downtown was completely ruined. Sighing and plopping completely to the floor, he wondered what his play would have turned out like. There was a contest at the local theater, for a new and original play to be preformed. There was a one-hundred gil entry fee, which Zidane had already paid, and high hopes for the person who won.
His original idea, along with his raw talent for acting, had been absolutely stunning, and coming from his friends and family, he figured there would definitely be a possible chance of him winning. Shaking his head, he knew it was too good to be true.
After the sudden rush of emotions and curses coming from the water, the reason this had happened in the first place floated back into his mind. The dream...
It had felt so real, and he was almost sure that had happened before...
"But that's impossible!" he chuckled to himself, shaking his head, "there's no way that could have happened. I've been living in the same spot almost my whole life, and nothing like that has ever happened to me..." Rolling his eyes, he forced himself up, and walked into the bathroom.
When he looked in the mirror though, he hadn't been looking at someone he thought he knew. Azure eyes were bloodshot and puffy, skin pale and flushed, and clothes rumbled. His hair was an absolute mess, and he looked nothing close to his normally charming self that flashed smiles of pearly white teeth at girls to melt them into a puddle.
"I look like shit..." He mumbled, turning his back on the image before him, and walking towards the windows in his living room.
His eyes scanned the luscious grass that swayed in the wind of a clear blue sky with the sun's golden rays shining down on the flowers that dotted the area. So his neighbors took better care of their yards, with accessories and one even had a fountain, than he, but it didn't matter much to him. He had never been a gardening type. But the scenery wasn't what caught his eye that morning.
Throwing open the door and grinning ear to ear, he shouted, "Hey, Eli!"
A girl with wavy blonde hair bunched up into a braided bun turned around. Her eyes were a brilliant green, and her lips shined far greater than any ruby. Her name was Elouise Kindle. She was a strong leader on her own, with a quick wit and an even quicker temper. Although she had a sweet and caring side to her, what showed through in her personality was the great determination in bettering people's situations around her.
"Zidane!" She walked over looking professional, but he knew better; she was excited to see him awake before three in the afternoon. "What are you doing awake so early? You look awful!" Leave it to Elouise to be extremely blunt.
Zidane scratched his neck nervously, "I had another one of those weird dreams..."
"For God's sake Zidane, not again!" She began to walk with him, and he knew to follow considering she always took him to get food in his system before the start of his long day.
"I don't know why..." He sighed slightly glum, "they're more frequent now than they ever have been... It's so weird - they feel so real."
"They aren't obviously real though; you know that, don't you?" She questioned, skeptical of what exactly he believed.
"Of course... I don't..." He turned away, his eyes setting downcast, eyelashes casting a shadow over the brilliance in his irises.
"Alright..." Elouise turned, knowing quite well that he was reluctant. She didn't know what he was going through, so she couldn't say quite for sure, "Let's go get some breakfast." She smiled and took his hand, pulling him down the street of Alexandria.
Despite the large size of the castle, and the town that surrounded it, there weren't as many people as you would expect there. The only truly busy place, where one would have to wait in order to move would be the central part of the city - the market.
Colored signs for inns and candy shops, and flower shops were all over, with people and set up booths. Children played in the streets merrily, and parents talked as they watched their child have fun. People snuck around in the corners, picking up spare gil off the streets, and even black mages stood perfectly still in random dotted (or so they thought) areas, partially out of the way.
A small Bermecian girl with lavender hair in two pony tails played with a hippo doll on the ground, smiling and mouthing words to herself. That's when a young boy ran around her in circles, snatching up the doll and dashing away with it, laughing all the while. The girl jumped up, easily landing on her feet and darted after him, gaining speed as she weaved around people, compared to him slowing down.
"Onions! Five onions for five gil! The best quality!" A man at a red, slightly discolored booth waved the round vegetable in the air.
"Get your gysahl greens here! Great for beginners of chocobo tracking! The sale today is 18 gil a bushel!" An old woman with four arms and flowing red hair held out several bushels of the plant, smiling with her crimson lips curling upwards.
The woman's voice was drown out by the clanking of short, wooden swords in front of her stand, as two boys laughed and hit them against each other, pretending to be in a world not of their own. Until an older man, who looked quite like one of the boys with shaggy brown hair, and even browner eyes picked one up, the two of them laughing, and patting the other boy on his head.
Zidane couldn't help but smile as he was dragged through the crowd, and up onto the side of the fountain, looking over the heads of hippos, Bermecians, humans, elves, gnomes, giant dogs, bears, and other peculiar creatures who had come to adapt to the ways of a kingdom such as that. He loved the city he had grown up in, and he had not wanted to go anywhere else, unless it was somewhere that could get him a better head start in an acting career.
But he knew that most likely wouldn't happen for a while. He needed to get some gil before he began his plans to set out for Lindblum, and on top of that, had to go through the hassle of getting their ruler, Kuja, to agree with it. He shook the thought quickly out of his head. It was rare that once someone was in a city, that they could ever leave, unless it was migration to a larger one. No way would he let a stupid kid of only seventeen go to the great city of Lindblum.
Glancing forward, his eyes locked on the back of Elouise, who was chatting to someone at a booth. He tilted his head to the side, examining her slightly pale skin. She was beautiful - almost everyone that they knew thought so.
"Then again..." Zidane mumbled to himself, knowing quite well his voice wouldn't be heard above all the chatter. "Everyone thinks Eli and I should be together..." He looked at the girl thoughtfully again, a slight blush coming to his cheeks.
To think of himself with Elouise Kindle was crazy. She was more a sister to him, and a best friend, than she was anything else. Of course the thought had floated across his mind, when he was thinking of quitting his dreams, opening a supply store, settling down, and having a few kids. But Elouise wouldn't want him to do that, and he didn't want to stick her in that position either.
"Come on Zidane!" She smiled, throwing him a freshly grown apple from the stand, Elouise's last pit stop, "Our breakfast awaits us!"
He smirked at her, and ran trying to catch up, swinging off of things, being absolutely crazy, because he was happy. He knew that no matter the choices that came along, he'd still have his life, and his friends... He'd know everyone and everything forever, and that didn't upset him.
His life was perfect...
At this point though, the dream swept briefly through his mind again. He couldn't remember it as vividly as he did in the earlier morning, but he did know that perhaps from the feeling he was getting...
This reality was too perfect?
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A/N: Okay! I know these chapters don't really tell you a lot, but they are important :D I hope you enjoyed, and please REVIEW! Thanks so much!
-zesty-
