Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters.
Chapter 66: The Worst is Behind Us
There was an air of uneasiness as they rounded the final corner. Despite the storm, Zidane could swear he heard screams and shouts from the city far above them, and he winced every time thunder crackled menacingly above.
Lightening tore through the air, giving them flashes of light, all four of them just a bit too late to turn and make out the outlines of the murky marsh they were headed, before the light disappeared. The most frustrating part was that the brightness was so often that their eyes never got quite adjusted to the darkness, making it infuriatingly difficult to find their wits.
Immediately, they wouldn't be able to see if someone was there waiting for them. Out of pure reflex, the blonde grabbed his dagger, unsheathing it almost silently. Cinna took this as a queue to pull his mace from behind his back, gripping it tighter than he needed to.
"Be ready for anything," Steiner whispered almost silently behind them. The genome's eyes narrowed as he crept forward.
A particularly loud snap of thunder shot overhead, causing Tot to wince in the back, squeezing his eyes shut.
Soon after came the quick flash of lightening. Zidane's eyes trained in hard, sweeping the area as quickly as he could. His hand tightened around the hilt of his dagger as the light slowly faded in front of his eyes.
He was silent for a few more seconds, knowing that if anything was hiding, it would have jumped out at them by now. Another burst of lightening confirmed his belief that nobody was there, but it did reveal something else.
There was a divot in the stone just big enough for them to squeeze in. It was low to the ground, but seemed sturdy enough. That's not what caught his attention though… Inside was a pack and a piece of parchment held down by a large rock. Before telling anybody else what was going on, he made a quick dive for cover, cowering out of the rain now that he had somewhere dry to go. The others followed swiftly after realizing that he wasn't being killed.
"Look," Zidane told them, brushing the dust off of the piece of paper. They squeezed together, trying to read what it said. They had to do it in chunks, due to the lack of lighting but it said something about how Baku and Marcus were moving ahead. It gave an exact direction of the marsh, and inside the pack were a few saved food items and warm blankets.
Cinna grinned goofily, rubbing at his head before dropping his hand to the ground. "They knew we would be stuck in the rain…"
"You have very intelligent friends these days, Steiner…" Dr. Tot praised with a partial grin, hoping that if he sucked up enough, he would be able to reap a small reward.
The knight ignored his attempts to suck up, and felt at the ceiling of their small cove. "It seems sturdy enough if we want to wait out the rain…"
Surprisingly, his eyes fell to the blonde, wondering what his next move would be. Zidane was flattered that Steiner was giving him a sort of leadership position, but it also meant he couldn't abuse it. No matter how on edge it put him being so close to Lindblum with a raid going on above them, they were in no position to move again that night. They were too cold, hungry, tired, and he didn't think that Steiner would be very up to moving with his shoulder.
"Let's at least rest up – we can wait until it's light enough out to follow Marcus' instructions." He saw the others' shoulders sag with exhaustion – and relief.
"It seems like the worst part of this mission is behind us with all the crazy monsters in Ipsen, and the raid in Lindblum…" Cinna mumbled sleepily, pulling open the pack and passing out blankets.
"Yeah…" Zidane chewed his lip as he watched the food get handed out next. There was a growing doubt in his stomach that he blamed on hunger, trying to keep his mind off of the inevitable. "Thank god…" He said, though he didn't even sound convincing to himself.
He felt Steiner's eyes on him for a long while, but he never looked in the older man's direction, too fearful of what exactly he would see in those all-knowing charcoal eyes.
Though the storm never lightened once through the night, with the morning came a little more visibility. Beatrix hadn't let her out of her sight once she'd entered the small cabin that sheltered far too many people.
But, it was as though Quale hadn't noticed how many were in his house, and without even batting an eyelash, welcomed Ruby and Dagger – the last of the newcomers for the night, and set a steaming cup of stew (she still didn't know what exactly was in the stew she'd eaten last night) in front of them. Cold and hungry, they didn't question it as blankets were draped on top of them.
The brunette woman would not let the three of them back out into the storm to keep lookout, though Blank had gotten into a legitimate argument with her about it. He'd stormed off, out into the little encampment he had helped set up outside. The thick moss and tall rocks made creating a shelter easy, and with everyone's help, they'd created a makeshift canopy – at least to keep out the looming rain and wind on two sides.
Finally, after a good night's rest (and maybe partially due to the fact she'd woken up before Beatrix), Dagger was up and creeping outside, poking at Blank who was one of the few who'd slept under their shelter that night. Many people simply preferred being indoors through the storm.
The two of them crept out into the rain, wandering through the mist of the storm, until they reached the redhead's position the night before. Making themselves comfortable with blankets and a small breakfast, they sat and waited.
"Do you think they're okay?" Dagger whispered, loud enough for only Blank to hear.
The redhead bit his lip, wondering if he should lie or not. He had originally given Zidane and company much more credit, but with every hour passing… He wasn't so sure. But there was a small chance all of them had agreed to wait out the storm… Marcus and Baku had told them about the small cove they'd left ridden with supplies – that was the hope he was banking on.
"I think that we can wait just a few more hours before we start panicking," he replied, though that didn't help quell her nerves at all – he hadn't really answered the question.
"Steiner told me that they'd be right behind us…" She stiffened, "I should have stayed and helped them –"
"It wouldn't have done any good for you to be there too… If they did get captured, it was a good thing you weren't there." She flinched back at such blunt words, but knew he was only trying to tell her that it was for the better she went – so that she didn't blame herself.
"And what of Zidane? You think it was a good idea he stayed back so long?" She countered, her eyes fiery.
He puckered his lips in thought for a moment, his eyes sweeping the terrain ahead of them. The gears slowed in his head as he let his own opinions settle into his thoughts. "No, I don't think so. Honestly, I think Zidane should have gone shortly after me…" He shook his head, "Why he wanted to stay back so long was beyond me, but nobody was going to force him to do otherwise, and you know that."
Her shoulder slumped when she realized that Blank was absolutely right. She figured nobody had wanted the genome to stay behind so long, and yet, he sat on the sidelines, pretending to be completely oblivious to everyone else's beliefs.
"I'm sorry," Blank uttered, a little begrudgingly, but far more gentle than he'd been just moments ago.
"For what?" She asked him, turning her gaze onto him and tilting her head.
He watched her face, etched in concern, and attempts to be patient. He sighed; Dagger was always trying to be patient – for everyone… As he stared at the way her hair had grown out so much since Dali, or the way her eyes still held so much power, though so much had happened to her and her makeshift family, he wondered if she'd ever stop being patient.
"I know my harshness isn't something you need right now."
She let on an all-knowing smile – almost motherly as she nudged against him, "Everybody's got to let it out eventually… We'd all go insane if we didn't take it out on each other a little bit…"
"You think so?"
"Kuja's not around to take it out on, so…" She trailed, a grin replacing the thoughtful frown she'd had only moments ago. Blank laughed out loud.
"Thank you," he said then.
"For what?" She repeated, the smirk never leaving her face.
He offered a genuine smile to her, before shaking his head. "Being the one who has to remind us all of that."
Without an answer, she turned her head back towards the front, Blank mirroring her movements, as they continued to watch for their missing teammates.
"I will never understand other creatures' bitterness towards the rain…" He stared out over the tops of the trees, balanced on his perch. "It brings life and calm…"
"Perhaps we are the creatures they will never understand…" Fratley turned towards Freya, leaning against the tree trunk next to him, staring out into the open fields beyond the marsh.
They had found the highest tree, and turned in the direction of their home. Their city. Bermecia lay somewhere beyond the mist, nestled into the mountains on the very northern part of the continent. Even the sharp eyesight of the Bermecians couldn't see it, but they knew it was still there – no matter how abandoned it was.
There was silence for a moment as they listened to the rain, not showing any signs of letting up anytime soon. Freya tipped her hat back, letting the drops slide off the back. Her hair was wet, and her clothes clung to her. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.
"Do you think they're still out there? Everybody?" She whispered harshly, hoping Fratley would give her the answer she wanted.
"I have heard… rumors…" That caught her attention. Her ice-blue eyes turned towards him, wide with curiosity. "Especially in Lindblum…" He turned towards her, a smile dawning on his features. "I have heard that Cleyra is standing again…"
"What?!" She gasped, almost falling from the tree branch. "Cleyra?! But how?! Who?!"
He smiled gently at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Before I reunited with Steiner, I was in Cleyra."
"Cleyra? But I thought –"
"Hush…" He couldn't tell her he was there trying to find her a ring, so he just smiled, taking her hand in his. "I was there when it was ambushed. The only one having traveled beyond the path from Bermecia to Cleyra, I helped them retreat…" He nodded slowly, "They took refuge in Treno until the time was right to return."
"I can't believe it!" She gasped, and a grin spread over her face. "So our brothers and sisters have survived still?"
He nodded, "Indeed… It seemed they found another stone to keep their sandstorm fortress in Treno… It wasn't the exact same one, but there was some help for them in Treno, and they were able to find one that worked in the same sort of fashion."
"I cannot believe this news… There is still hope…"
"More people are fighting than you think, Freya…" He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "We have a chance if we can all ban together…"
She glanced at him for a moment, blinking when drops of rain hit her cheeks. She let on a rare smile, and then leaned against his shoulder. Shifting his weight, he wrapped an arm protectively around her.
"I wish moments like this could stay forever…" She murmured into him, happy that they were back in each other's company again. "You and I have been split up for such a large part of our lives together…" She trailed, knowing he would understand the rest of her sentence. They'd been split up for so long, that she wished all the precious time they had together lasted longer than it did.
He turned his head, still staring out to the distance, and pecked her head, pressing down on her cardinal-colored hat.
"I love you, dear Freya."
"I love you too," she said back to him, a smile evident in her tone.
Blank visibly winced when Dagger went through her next coughing attack. The rain still wasn't letting up, and he feared the girl had been exposed for too long. She had started shaking awhile ago, and though he tried not to notice, it was really becoming difficult to stop himself from saying something.
Her coughs were becoming more violent, and her silent breaths of air sounded more like wheezing with every moment. He would sneak glances at the girl, and her eyes were glossy as she stared into the mist, looking like she was worlds away.
"Dagger," he started, biting his lip. He was afraid of what the girl would say to him – probably be angry and hit him, and he already got enough abuse from Ruby – when he suggested she go back to Quale's dwelling.
"Hmm?" She asked him quietly. Her head turned towards him, and his eyebrows knit together under his bangs when he realized how ghostly pale she was.
"Maybe you should go back… You look like hell."
She crossed her arms, suddenly appearing ten times healthier than just moments ago. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Uh… I just mean… We don't want you dying of some sort of a sickness…" He reached his hand out, but let it drop before he could place it on her shoulder. "Zidane and Steiner and Cinna would want you to be safe –"
She already went back to ignoring him, arms crossed in an irritated gesture as she hunched forward and glared towards the invisible shape of Lindblum.
"Dagger, I didn't mean it like that!" He whined, puffing a frustrated blow of breath out of his nostrils as he folded his own arms over his chest in stubbornness. "Just think –"
"I see them!" She suddenly shouted, causing him to topple off of his tree stump-chair. She was up in an instance, wading through the weeds, trying to get closer without running out in the open.
She made out all three figures, and anxiety ridden excitement entered her body. "Zidane!" She shouted, hoping to get some sort of a reaction.
The mist was still blinding against the marsh, but the blonde could never mistake that voice for anyone other than Dagger. His head perked up, and he swept the area with his eyes, trying to locate where it had come from. The swamp was still a ways away, but with a little bit of squinting, he could see a figure racing forward.
"Was that –" Cinna started, before he snapped his mouth shut, upon hearing Blank's voice as well.
"Be careful, dammit! Let's wait to see –"
Before the redhead could finish, Zidane was tripping over himself running. Never before in his life had he been so happy to be back in the presence of the two most important people in his life. As he raced towards the girl, she became sharper in his focus, and as soon as he was within an arm's reach, he swept the girl up into his arms, breathing in her scent and burying his face in her hair.
"Hey," she laughed, gripping him tightly. He felt colder than she did, but that didn't stop her from clinging to him, though her whole body, wrought with sick that she was trying desperately to deny she had, tried to get away from him.
"I'm glad you're safe," he told her.
"What, no hug for me?" Cinna huffed with a grin. The three others had caught up to the duo now, and Blank was only a few yards away.
Dagger's eyes fluttered open as she pulled away from Zidane, ready to make a smart remark before she saw Steiner's arm. "Steiner!" She gasped, moving towards him, "What happened?"
"It's really nothing, Dagger…" Though he winced as he tried to shift it. "I just… dislocated it."
Before he could finish his sentence, she was conjuring a spell. Her brow creased in concentration, and she grunted, irritated that it wasn't coming to her as quickly as it normally did. Everyone watched with mild curiosity and confusion, but she eventually got it.
"Who's that?" Blank questioned, seeing Tot behind Steiner for the first time. In an instant, his dagger was drawn and he had slipped into a fighting stance. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Relax! Blank!" Zidane gripped his arm and stared at him, bright sapphire eyes shining in the musky atmosphere.
"This is Dr. Shelton Tot… Does he ring a bell, Dagger?" Steiner let on a hard grin and raised an eyebrow at her.
She blinked for a moment, confused on how this had anything to do with her. But his large round eyes, made even larger by his tiny glasses, and large nose with bushy eyebrows did seem familiar. "My teacher," she gasped, hands over her mouth. "Dr. Tot!"
He laughed as soon as she went in for a hug, and returned it daintily. "Ohh yes! Garnet, my dear!" His eyes sparkled, ignoring the flinch from her real name.
"Dagger," she corrected with a smile on her face, "That's what I go by now…"
"It doesn't matter dear," he rubbed her cheek for a moment, "My how you've grown…"
She took a step back, suddenly realizing their surroundings and shivering. "Let's get out of this crazy mist… There are some exciting new people we really would like for you to meet."
She turned and began to lead them, everyone following in a group behind her. Her body prickled with cold shivers, though her forehead started to get hot. She sucked in breath after breath, though each one sounded more unhealthy than the next.
"Dagger?" Steiner questioned, stepping forward protectively. "Are you al-"
She suddenly collapsed, her knees buckling underneath her, and her eyes rolling back into her head as her eyelids fluttered shut.
"Dagger!" They cried in unison, Steiner sweeping down to catch her. The girl felt light and limp in his arms, and despite the small flicker of pain left in his shoulder, he heaved her up bridal style and cradled her in his arms. "What's wrong with her?!" He demanded.
"She's sounded sick all day –" Blank started, worry evident in his tone, "But she refused to go in –"
"Let's go!" Zidane cut in, jerking his head forward. Blank ran forth, leading them quickly through the boggy maze, hoping that whatever was going on with Dagger would pass…
Hoping that she would be okay.
Zidane brushed her bangs out of her eyes. He watched her chest rise and fall slowly, and that made him calm down a little every time he saw it. At least, no matter what was going on, she was still breathing.
They were in the middle of Quan's Dwelling – the makeshift slanted roof bright with the fire Quale made for them. Quina was helping him cook some soup, and most of the newer recruits moved outdoors to give them some room.
Beatrix was leaned up against the wall, looking stressed out, and hiding it terribly. Steiner hadn't been seen since Sally had deemed Dagger ill, and all of Tantalus was sitting in a corner in a rare silence. Vivi was sitting silently next to Zidane, currently distracted with Odin wandering outside. Freya also sat close by, Fratley hovering protectively behind her. Everyone seemed to be focused on Dagger at that moment.
Through all of the exhaustion and weight put on her shoulders since they had moved from Dali to the outside of Conde Petie, she hadn't broken down once. Cried a few times maybe, gotten angry, but never had she stopped and just relaxed a little bit. She was constantly worrying and tiring herself out. Sally decided that it was probably that mixed with the chill of the rain that had her sick, and that she would probably be fine in a few days.
The rain – thankfully – was starting to let up, and that gave Lysandra more room to teach battle techniques… something Steiner and Beatrix were supposed to be helping with. Neither could muster up the strength to put Dagger's condition aside.
"Zidane…" Freya mumbled quietly, causing him to turn his head towards her. He looked tired and worried, and she figured that if Dagger would have been awake to see him, she would have been flattered by how much his care for her showed on his face.
"Yeah?"
"I recall Dagger and Vivi trying something on you when you had a fever after Terra…"
That perked almost everyone's ears in the room.
"Huh?"
Freya shifted closer, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him. He gripped Dagger's hand, his brows knitting together with concern at the clamminess of her hand. "When you got too hot, Vivi would cast a blizzard spell on you to cool you down… when you got too cold, he would cast a fire spell on you –"
"I'm not letting anyone cast magic on her! It could hurt her!"
"It didn't hurt you…" She shook her head, "Beatrix and I can be here with some weak cure spells… They won't be as good as Dagger's, but they should be alright…"
He bit his lip, glancing around the room for any sort of support. Everyone averted their eyes however, because they all witnessed how it had worked so well on Zidane. His eyes became bewildered as they landed on Beatrix. "You're going to let them cast spells on her?! Black magic spells?!"
She shook her head, "It might be the only way we can help her right now, Zidane…"
He spluttered for a moment, glancing back at Freya. She had already called Vivi to attention, and the blonde realized he had lost control of the situation. Biting on his lip as to not make another comment, he scooted back and wrapped his arms around his legs, mortified by what was going to happen.
"Vivi, you remember what to do, right?"
He nodded quietly, and scooted closer to Dagger. "I promise Zidane, I won't hurt her…" He flinched when he was spoken to, but didn't try to object the young mage.
Beatrix had wandered over, and both her and the Bermecian hovered, ready to cast cures when they needed. The brunette flexed her fingers. This was going to be difficult – she knew any kind of healing spells her and Freya possessed were nothing near Dagger's weakest ones, and they took such a long time to recharge. One mistake would cost them here.
"Start with a blizzard spell," Freya instructed.
Vivi was careful to only conjure a small amount of magic to his hands, doing his weakest spell and casting it on the girl. Her back arched at the sudden contact, and almost sent Zidane spiraling through the roof, but he controlled himself. After the first moment of initial shock, she settled back down, sighing in unconscious relief.
"Again," Freya instructed.
"Hey –"
"Hush!" She sneered at Zidane, though she didn't mean it as harshly as it came out.
Vivi tried a second time, and this time she let out a teeth chatter and a moan. Beatrix was quick with a cure. The girl relaxed in just a moment.
"Fire," the Bermecian instructed, and as this process continued, everyone in the room inched closer. Quale tried to keep his eyes on the food, but even his interest was peaked.
Vivi did as instructed time and time again, while Freya and Beatrix had a good system going with cures. He was told to do another fire spell, and shot it at her maybe a little too hard in his anxiety.
She rolled with a whimper of pain, and hasty sloppiness had Freya and Beatrix casting a cure at the same time. Vivi was already summoning his next spell, and neither of the two women had a cure ready.
"Wait!" They both cried in unison, but the spell had already been cast.
Vivi covered his eyes, horrified. "I-I'm sorry! I couldn't stop it!" Dagger whimpered and flopped onto her side, her forehead breaking into a hard sweat.
But just as they thought the pain would worsen, the sparkling light of a cure spell floated over her, and everyone turned behind Beatrix to see where it came from.
She was standing a little awkward in the middle of the room, her hands slowly lowering and tucking behind her back. Her amber eyes were averted downward, and her cropped hair fell in front of her eyes. She peaked out from behind her bangs, and squeaked when she realized all eyes were on her.
"Eiko, you can…" Beatrix started with a stammer, "You can heal?!"
She meeped as she was suddenly bombarded with questions. "Are you a white mage?"
"Can you do more spells?"
"How powerful are they?"
"Can you summon?!" They were gaping at her, all waiting for answers as more questions filled the already crowded air.
She backed up, her eyes widening in terror when she realized maybe healing Dagger in front of everyone was a mistake. But if everyone else would have seen Zidane's face, and he was so upset and –
"Leave her be," a weak voice said, and everyone wheeled around to see the brunette girl trying to prop herself up on her elbows.
"Dagger!" They cried, huddling around her, forgetting Eiko for the moment as they showered the girl with a barrage of questions.
This was the little girl's queue to slip out the door going unnoticed. Dagger was doing her part in keeping the promise she made to Eiko, about not revealing that she was a white mage…
There was something in her chest – a fluttering that caused a lack of breath, but made her feel happy, like she could float. Maybe… maybe she didn't want to keep it a secret anymore…
Maybe, instead of just fighting, she wanted to help people.
A/N: Well I'm glad I could fit a little part about Eiko in there! That's always a nice thing to do! I'm glad we're not in Lindblum anymore, but as much as I was looking forward to doing Qu's Marsh, I realize it's going to be just as hard as everywhere else.
Oh joy!
I hope you all liked it and keep reading!
-zesty-
