Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters.
Chapter 59: Tantalus
"We all agreed on morning," Steiner said firmly. His confident voice did nothing to ease the worried expressions of over half of his party.
"And that gives Kuja a what – eight hours plus of a head start?" Blank cocked his head to the side, balancing in his cross-legged position. His hands held onto his ankles, tucked in front of him, for support.
"Zidane was the one who suggested it," the former knight tried to argue, but that didn't stop the redhead from standing.
"I can't sit here and wait if it means my best friend might be being dragged away from us as we speak…" He spun and faced the whole group. "Coming Dagger?"
When she made a move to rise, both Steiner and Beatrix reached out to her with counter statements already tumbling (very ungracefully) out of their mouths.
"He's right," the girl sighed, wrapping herself in her arms. "If we don't do something now, we might lose both of them…"
"That's no reason for you to go out and search for them, Dagger…" Fratley told her, standing, "Let us go – you're needed more here to convince the people of Lindblum to fight with us."
She opened her mouth to argue with him, but slowly closed again, slumping in defeat. Fratley was absolutely right. She watched as Tantalus slowly got up to move out the door, but froze on the spot when voices rang out from outside.
"Dammit! Ouch!"
"Are you okay?" Another voice whispered.
"I can't remember if this is the place… Fuck!"
"We'll find it soon, don't worry," this voice sounded scared and unsure, but trying to be brave.
"I don't know, I really have no idea –"
Blank, closest to the door, swung it open with a slightly irritable grin on his face. There, almost directly outside the door, stopped a terribly dressed Zidane and Vivi, whose expressions held that of a deer in headlights, caught red handed snooping outside of the house.
"And here we were all worried!" A flood of chatter rose in relief when Blank threw up his hands. "Get inside you assholes!" The two quickly complied. "Where have you been?!" He demanded.
"Sheesh, mother," Zidane glared playfully, "We got held up!"
"By what?!"
"Sorry getting in here wasn't a walk in the park like it was for you!"
"We actually didn't walk at all," Vivi told them, and that peaked nearly everyone's interest.
"Tell us what happened," Beatrix said calmly, shifting in her spot on the wooden chair. Dishes were stacked neatly behind her on the counter, everyone too tired from an actual decent meal to want to clean up, since that's all they'd done the whole day in preparation for the next couple of weeks.
"We hid in some crates to get into the city," the blonde shrugged, "Vivi and I got split up, but then we found each other again through some old lady –"
"Someone saw you?" More than a few of them were on their feet in seconds.
Zidane held his hands up in a surrendering position, "She was good! She was… good…" He nodded, "The sewing shop a few blocks away… That's where we were taken. The owner's name is Sally – she recognized us pretty quick…" He shrugged, "She supports our cause."
Beatrix clutched her chest in relief as the new sunk in to her mind the fastest. "Thank God!"
"That wouldn't have ended well…" Cinna stroked his beard before turning back to the two still hovering in the doorway, "Is that why you two are dressed ridiculously?!"
That earned a few more snickers, causing Zidane and Vivi to stand rigid. "Sally gave us the clothes… It worked, we're here, aren't we?!" the blonde defended them, but that didn't shut anyone up.
"I'd like to meet her," Beatrix said on a more serious note.
"Me too!" The requests were popping up quickly, and Vivi nodded.
"She told us to bring you all back tomorrow to meet her," He smiled a little, though nobody could see it. He clutched the pointy hat in his small hands, "She wants to meet the people who still give hope to Lindblum."
A pregnant silence fell between the group as they stared at each other. The woman knew of them? They must have been getting popular…
Dagger slowly sat back down on the ground, and patted the spot next to her, silently inviting the two dreamers to take a seat. Eiko, Ruby and Marcus were all perched up in the loft, the purple haired girl barely able to keep her eyes open.
Steiner and Fratley sat on the bench they'd pulled up, after it had been knocked down for so long. They'd dragged it over towards the living room more. Beatrix sat in one of the kitchen chairs, having scraped it across the floor to close in on the small group of friends and allies.
Baku poked at the fire they'd started not that long ago. It was warm out still, yet everyone felt more comforted by the fire. They weren't used to such a thing, living under ground. The others were all sprawled out leisurely on the floor, chatting quietly, and yet, loudly enough for everyone to hear if they wanted to listen.
Mostly, the stories were about Tantalus and their mishaps and mischief in Lindblum – stories everyone earnestly wanted to hear. It brought a little light into their situation.
Zidane rolled over and tucked his head into Dagger's lap. She brushed through his hair lovingly with her fingers and smiled down at him. His eyes never left her face, despite being called upon to speak more than once.
"Zidane!"
"What?" He finally tore his eyes away from her, not even batting an eyelash at the lovey-dovey harassment he was getting from others in the room.
"Do you remember that?"
He scrunched his face, now feeling a little embarrassment. "Remember what, exactly?"
Cinna and Marcus groaned, face palming.
"Don't bring it up if he doesn't remember!" the apricot-clad thief whined, rocking back and forth on the floor.
"Nobody wants to hear this story!" Marcus agreed, letting his head fall onto the rail that kept him from toppling to the ground.
"What?!" Zidane asked.
Dagger was the one to answer, the smile never leaving her face. "Do you remember when you guys tried to get Cinna to date a girl?"
His eyes squinted at his teammates as he tried to remember. "Was she a redhead?"
"Redder than Blank's hair!" Zenero called out in delight.
"Really tall and thin?" The blonde questioned again.
"Way taller than Cinna, and way thinner too," Blank grinned impishly, evil sparking in his eyes.
Steiner and Beatrix's heads swiveled back and forth, watching the banter continue. They were much older than everyone else in the room, besides maybe Baku (who was a complete kid at heart anyways), and Fratley, who seemed to level out to their age in Bermecian years. Yet, both enjoyed seeing all the light hearted concerns from everyone else in the room… It helped them escape, if even for just one night, the horrors that would come for them sooner or later.
"Hey!" Cinna whined again, rolling over on the dusty wooden floor. "She wasn't that –"
"Don't deny it, she was drop dead gorgeous, and you were totally in love!" Marcus finally joined in, and Cinna's eyes widened like a kicked puppy – he had been betrayed by his only ally in this argument.
"I'm totally telling Mikoto you just said that!" He lashed out, leaping up and pointing his finger in Marcus' general direction.
He shrugged, "That was six years ago, Cinna… She's not going to care."
"Well… Uh, well!" The thief stuttered, unsure of what kind of comeback he should have yell back.
Zidane turned his head so the back of it was once again on Dagger's lap. Her fingers still combed through his hair affectionately, sitting cross legged on the floor. Her chocolate eyes were dazzling, even in the grungy light of their old hide out, as she watched her friends bicker back and forth.
"Well come on!" Eiko groaned, suddenly awake again, "Somebody tell the story!"
"I've got it!" Blank volunteered almost instantly – probably just waiting for someone to want to hear it just as much as he wanted to tell it. "Six years ago in Lindblum, when the streets were still relatively free, and Tantalus could run around without being too recognized…"
Zidane closed his eyes. The memory started to reveal itself as soon as Blank began to tell it, and a smile lit up his face. He sighed happily, remembering with more and more clarity.
"Just talk to her, Cinna…" A twelve-year-old Zidane nudged him a little bit. "She's not going to bite you."
He cringed and watched the girl, at least four years his superior, lean over the stand to pick up her purchase. All eyes were captured by this girl, her silky crimson tresses falling over her shoulders.
"There's no way she's just sixteen…" Blank mumbled, leaning forward in anticipation as she bowed, if possible, further over the stand.
"Boys!" Ruby barked, causing all of them to jump, and stare off into space conspicuously. She put her hands on her hips, flicking her dirty blonde hair from her face. "Leave that poor darlin' alone!"
"Even Ruby thinks she's cute!" Blank whined, planting his hand on his face and slowly sliding it off. His eyes shined in mischief when she glared at him.
The arguing duo didn't notice when the girl let out a tinkling laugh, sounding more like bells than anything else. She turned with a sharp eye to look at the group of boys, and winked at one of them, though no one knew who.
Marcus, being the oldest, knew very well that the girl wasn't interested in any of them, and when he locked eyes with Zidane, he knew the blonde also understood that fact. But boy were they going to pass up the chance to make Cinna spill his heart out? Nope.
"I think that she just winked at you, Cinna!" Marcus told him in a hushed, but excited voice.
"Wh-what?" He stuttered before glaring at him, "I think she was winking at you. Actually, I'm almost one hundred percent sure!"
Marcus scoffed, though some part of him was flattered that Cinna thought so. It must have been the hormonal teenager in him. The war had made them all grow up – far beyond their years… And yet, at times like these, their age leaked out in their actions and thoughts.
"Come on Cinna, you're the cute one!" Zidane prompted him, an excited grin overtaking his face. "Go talk to her!"
"What?!" Cinna gasped, choking on his own breath, "One," he started, crossing his arms, "you do not think I'm the cute one, you think Blank is the cute one –"
"Cinna!" Zidane whined, stomping his foot. The plumper thief held up his hand in prudent arrogance.
"- and two, I am not going to talk to her!"
"It's not like you're proposing!" Blank joined in, and as if acting as one, all three of them gave Cinna a giant shove towards the girl, who was stopped at another stand closer to them this time.
He yelped and stumbled forward with more force than the three boys intended. With a wince and wide eyes, they watched as their friend bouldered into the girl, crashing into the stand and putting a gaping hole into the front of the wooden counter.
"Uh oh…" Blank mumbled, and suddenly, the three of them were gone like the sneaky thieves they were, leaving Ruby staring dumbly at the mess. For a moment, she didn't realize they'd abandoned post, but once she did, she didn't waste time booking it either.
All of Cinna's support was gone before he could even sit up.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked, so obviously trying to stifle a laugh.
"Ugh…" He snorted from the ground, yanking his head and shoulder from the hole. The stand owner didn't look particularly pleased. "My head! I think I'm bleeding! I need a hospital!"
The girl couldn't help it anymore. These kids – who she saw every once in a while on the street – were always trying to get this poor guy to come talk to her. It'd been happening for a week, and she played along, pretending that she didn't notice that they were so blatantly talking about her.
But, instead of letting Cinna have it, and yelling at him, she let out a howl of laughter. His cheeks burned red when he realized that she was laughing, but at him! A mortified expression crossed his face, and his shoulders slumped.
She tried to sober up when she saw his reaction – really she did, but only contained it to a fit of giggles instead. Slowly, she bent down towards him and extended a hand. "Let me help you…"
Cinna's face, void of all future facial hair, his baby fat still prominent in his face, and his armor just a little too tight on him, got even redder still, as he clutched her hand. She heaved him up with little to no effort – or at least if it cost her any energy at all, she didn't say anything – single handedly sparing his feelings.
"Th-thanks…" He mumbled at her, trying to avoid her gaze.
"You're… Cinna, right?"
Suddenly, his head snapped up and his eyes bored into hers. They were dazzling, his face a little too hopeful.
"You know me?!"
She bit her lip. She didn't want to burst his bubble by saying that she had heard his name yelled by his friends more than once in the past week as they watched her – the one standing in front of her crushing so obviously hard. She wracked her brain. Where had she seen him before? Or what had she heard that could give her an edge?
"You're in that…" She chewed on the inside of her cheek. She was going to take a chance with this one. "Theater group, right? Tantalus?"
His face shined, "Yeah! How did you know?!"
"I've watched a couple of plays," this time, she wasn't lying.
"Oh my gosh! This is – I can't – wow! So do you like want to go out sometime?!" He asked her excitedly, "I mean… I don't mean go out and sleep with me, but… wait, did I say that? I meant – go out and shop! Wait… I don't – uhh –"
She blinked, a little overwhelmed at his blunt style. "How about…" She turned him around and pointed her to a watch tower above the city, "If you can sneak in there tomorrow when the sun is the highest in the sky, we'll go on a little date? My treat!" Her tone was chipper and supportive, and he was spluttering.
"S-seriously?!" He gasped.
She bent down and kissed his cheek, "See you then!" And with that, she disappeared.
Cinna, a ridiculous grin on his face, stood in the middle of the busy square, staring off in the direction she disappeared to. "When the sun is highest in the sky…"
"Cinna! Buddy!" Blank grinned as he jumped down from a building gutter, eyes gleaming. "Way to go!"
Marcus, Ruby, and Zidane soon followed, all with Cheshire smiles.
The two other boys fist bumped with a wink, "All in a day's work!"
"What?! You guys pushed me, then abandoned me!" He shrieked, still flustered from the girl's suggestion. "You didn't do shit!"
"We're the reason you even talked to her," Marcus told him, sounding far more smug than he should have. "You should be thanking us…"
"Yeah! A date when the sun is highest in the sky!" Zidane's grin was the biggest of them all.
"When is that, anyways?" Cinna glanced up, watching the sun. It was at a strange position in the sky… Ever since Kuja had taken over mostly everything, the sun had a weird pull to it – probably because of the dark man's magic.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and find out!" Blank said, patting him on the back.
"You better hope it doesn't rain!" Marcus spluttered, igniting hooting laughter from everyone but Cinna. His ears turned red with embarrassed anger, and he huffed before marching off, abandoning the rest of his crew.
The joke eventually died down, via Baku's request ("Damn kids, shut the hell up before I beat you with your own fists!"), as the same thing repeated over and over to spark laughter got real annoying real fast.
That is, until the next morning, when they all poked their heads out the window to see the streets completely dead. Wind howling so loud and strong, that if you stepped outside, you'd be blown away. Rain pelted the window noisily when the wind blew, further adding to the storm.
Cinna was behind the rest of them, having been dreading going to the window. Slowly, they all turned to him. Instead of looks of pity, they had looks of strangled laughter. All was silence, a warning look spread over Cinna's face.
Zidane made one choked snort of a laugh, and then everyone had burst out into tear-evoking laughter.
"I hate you all…" He mumbled, before climbing back up the latter and burying himself in everyone's blankets, not to be heard from the rest of the day.
"Ha. Ha. You guys are super funny!" Cinna crossed his arms, obviously still very sore about the subject.
Beatrix had the best grin on her face, turning between the boys sitting in front of her. "And you really didn't go out looking for her?"
"If Cinna's fat ass could be picked up off the ground by the wind, I doubt a girl like that could go out in that rain!" Marcus hooted, igniting another round of chortles.
"You are such a fucking ass!" Cinna growled, flopping down on the floor. "Oh, but I will never forget that beautiful scarlet hair, or those legs," he sighed.
Dagger glanced down at Zidane, a dazzling expression on her face. "Did you even think so, Zidane?"
"Ahh, well…"
"He was a total lady's man back in the day! I don't care if we were just twelve, he had girls flocking better than Marcus did!" Cinna was quick to rat him out. He made a face at the loud thief, and then turned back to the raven.
"I can explain!" He yelled in mock alarm.
She rolled her eyes, a smile dancing over her features, "Whatever!"
"Alright idiots," Baku started, pushing off from his place closer to the fireplace, "We should get some rest… It's late, and I don't think we want to be sleeping on the job so early in the game."
Beatrix stood and stretched, pulling Steiner up with her, "He's right, I think we should probably head to bed!"
Marcus carefully moved Eiko, who hadn't been able to keep her eyes open during the story, so that she was comfortably surrounded by the mound of freshly cleaned pillows.
Baku invited Beatrix, Steiner, and Fratley in to share the enormous bed in his old room, saying he would feel guilty of everyone was cluttered on the loft the whole night. They agreed before he finished explaining his reasoning.
All of Tantalus squeezed together, squirming and hitting each other, and for a moment, Blank felt like they'd never left. Sure, there were a few extra additions, like Vivi, Dagger, and Eiko, but all in all, it was a good change, and he lay sprawled out in the middle (much to everyone's delight) with his hands tucked behind his head, grinning impishly at the ceiling.
To his right, Zidane was already fast asleep, Dagger trying in vain to keep her distance from him, but eventually snuggling into his side. Ruby laid the closest to the ladder, Vivi having collapsed almost right next to her. She had shifted a pillow under his head, balancing it on her knees so he was more comfortable.
Cinna and Marcus argued about who could have the wall, but in the end, Eiko sneakily (but very drowsily) rolled into the spot, the two of them not having the heart to move her. He could hear the quiet drum of voices from the adults below them, slowly dropping off until Baku was mumbling to himself in his sleep.
This was their home – their way of life, and they were back at it. Blank had to admit, as much as he hadn't wanted to be involved in a dangerous mission like this again, it was good to be home…
His real home…
"That's Blank," Baku pointed to the five year old who crouched to himself in the corner, his young but angry eyes glaring at the wooden floor not too far away.
A six year old Zidane peered up at Baku with wide curious eyes. "Why's he so mad?"
Baku shrugged, "We found him awhile ago – probably close to a half a year – in an alleyway across town," he shrugged, "but we don't know a lot about him; he doesn't talk much. Kind of a moody little shit if you ask me," Baku mumbled, not intending for the blonde to hear, but he did anyways.
The genome turned his probing gaze towards the redhead who seemed to grow more irritable the longer Zidane's eyes were pressed upon him, though he never made eye contact.
"Come on, you've got to meet the Zenero brothers! We picked them up just a few days ago – they're a riot!" Baku laughed merrily and wandered off, not bothering to see if the blonde was still with him or not.
Zidane had wandered a long time. He didn't have a place to go, but by chance, he'd stumbled upon Lindblum, and ultimately: Baku, one of the higher ups in the Tantalus Theater Troupe.
There were a lot of people older than him in the group. Those were the really serious actors and thieves… He had been mortified when the second in command had told him that they steal, but then, after it was explained that it was all to help those who needed it, he felt like these people were heroes.
They would start Zidane's training, and all the other young ones, soon enough. Fighting and stealing – when you learned as a kid, was the easiest, because you could get away with more. People had mercy on you because you were young and impressionable.
"Go away!" The blonde jumped, startled when the redhead's voice rang out to him. Excitedly, the genome stepped towards them.
Instantly, the redhead known as Blank flinched back, fear, anger, and a whole lot more emotions mixing together in his emerald orbs. "Stay back!"
"Your name is Blank, right?" Zidane ventured, pretending not to hear the smaller boy in front of him. "I'm Zidane!"
"Cool," Blank bit out at him, "Now leave me alone!"
"Why are you so mad?" The denseness of the blonde was showing through as he innocently scooted closer to the boy on the floor.
He shuffled, trying to crab-walk away, but Zidane was advancing too quickly.
"Leave!" Blank demanded, his voice louder than even he intended it to be. Both boys were startled.
"Did something happen to you?" Zidane whispered, remembering that awful night in Terra when both of his parents were struck down in front of him. The redhead didn't answer, so the blonde tried a new tactic. "Was it your mommy and daddy?"
The redhead stared at him, shocked, as though nobody else he'd ever met shared his same problem.
Zidane nodded in encouragement, a sad sort of smile, far beyond his years overtaking his face. "I had a mommy and daddy, but some mean men hurt them, and now they aren't here anymore."
There was a long silence as Zidane slowly got lost in his own thoughts, forgetting that he was trying to get Blank to talk to him. After an eternity, a voice smaller than the one he heard before rang out.
"Mine aren't here either."
Sapphire eyes locked on the fidgeting boy, but no words were said.
"We were running… My ma and pa were holding me so tight, because I was what they ran for… that's what they said. And bad men were chasing us – chasing everyone in this place…" He gestured all around him, tears filling his eyes. "And then scary noises boomed around, and then my parents weren't holding onto me or any of our stuff anymore. They were just gone. I tried finding them, but there were too many people…"
The redhead let out an unconditional sob that wracked his body from head to toe. He continued to do so, crying so hard that it sounded almost like coughing. Zidane sat, frightened, in front of him, unsure of what to do.
He remembered the woman on the boat though, from a few years ago, who had comforted him on their way across the ocean, away from the horrible place he'd lost his family. He tried to mimic what she'd done for him.
Crawling closer, he put a comforting arm around the redhead who probably would have stiffened had he not been all wrapped up in crying. "It'll be okay."
"How?! My momma and papa are gone!" He yelled, and even at six years old, Zidane knew this was the first time Blank had talked to anyone besides the mention of his name… and this was the first time he had talked to anyone about what happened to his family. "There's nobody left to take care of me! There's nobody to love me and make sure that I'm okay and that I have things to make me happy!"
Both would look back on this later, and reflect on how much Blank had changed. While Benero and Zenero had always been the hearty twins, Marcus had always been tough, Cinna had always been a goof, and Zidane had always been the most caring of Tantalus, Blank wouldn't continue to be the spoiled brat he was when he first joined the group.
He came from a noble family. They had money which ultimately meant, for the short five years Blank had spent with him, he received virtually anything he desired. His parents' (and that seemed like the whole world to a five year old) revolved around him. When he didn't get what he wanted, he was a brat – throwing tantrums, lashing out. It reflected in his behavior towards Zidane before he broke down.
He didn't know how to fight and wouldn't be good at the training when it started. He wouldn't want to start out at the bottom and work his way up, and he expected to be better than everyone else even though he really, honestly was the worst, he wouldn't continue to be like that for the rest of his life.
The redhead would always be moody, but would never take advantage of things. Zidane was his first friend, and he learned more from the first one he'd ever opened up to, than anyone else in the world – including his parents.
"But you've got me…"
That stopped Blank almost right away. He stared with tear stained cheeks, baffled at the blonde.
"And Baku found you and picked you up, and I know that that means that he loves you too…" He cocked his head to the side, "Baku said there's lots of people in Tantalus, and we all stick together… like a family. So even though it's not your mommy and daddy, you still have people who care, right?"
Blank wiped his nose off on the back of his arm, his orbs shining, "Do you really think so?"
"I just have this feeling," Zidane smiled and stood up, "We should find Baku and keep meeting everyone, don't you think?" He held a hand out in front of him, ready to hoist the redhead up.
For the first time, Blank relied on someone else to help him, and grabbed his hand, the first smile in over six months finally spreading over his lips.
Zidane's eyes fluttered open. The sun wasn't leaking through the halted gears on one wall yet, so he knew he still had time to sleep. Everyone else's breathing was still even, and Cinna was snoring loudly.
His heart ached, and he put a hand over it, wondering if it was because he discovered a very precious memory to him, or because he knew now what happened to Blank's family that propelled him into Tantalus.
Lulling his head to the side, he saw the redhead, still sprawled out in the same position he'd fallen asleep in, and he frowned. Blank put on a tough show, but he was really just as hurt as everyone else.
He remembered hearing about Steiner's older brother, and how the war took him. Dagger's mother, his parents, Blank's parents, Vivi's grandpa, and who knew how many others in their small group had lost their families because of this war. His stomach churned uneasily.
When would the heart-shattering stop?
A/N: So I know most of that chapter was just flashbacks, but I figured it'd be cool to do some more, since I've stopped doing them recently. I also apologize for my too-mature five/six year old writing… I just… can't write kids. Forgive me :P
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Leave some love!
-zesty-
