Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters.
Chapter 93: A Crack in the Foundation
"I think this would be a nice pumpkin!" Mae giggled. "Help me carry it, and I'll have Mama show us how to make pumpkin pie before you leave!"
Eiko smiled at her, pulling off her glove and running her hand over the cool, smooth surface of the vegetable.. "I'd like that," she decided. "What about you, Vivi?"
The two girls turned to see the mage, frozen in place as he stared into the field.
"What are you –" Eiko turned to glance in the same direction as the mage, hoping to spot what he was seeing; Mae followed suit.
The mayor's daughter let out a yelp and sunk into the dirt, tears misting her vision immediately. Her stomach churned at the gleam of armor in the light – unexpected so late in the evening.
"It's getting a bit late for you three to be outside!" The voice was high pitched and slightly accented, but unrecognizable, even after all of the places Eiko and Vivi had recently traveled to..
Vivi stood, trying to act brave and trying to remember the power he felt from his fight with Zidane. His grandpa's letter rang out in his head, and he forced the fear to the back of his throat.
"Getting a bit… dangerous, wouldn't you say?" he prodded again.
They were still a ways out – fifty yards at least, but the voice carried on the wind, giving a feel that they were lurking ever closer.
Vivi grabbed his staff from the dirt beside him. He had had some sort of intuition to bring it with him out to the garden, and he now understood why. From the way these three men stood, moving almost carelessly through the tall grass, he guessed that they'd waited to advance and make their presence known until Ruby left, hardly ten minutes before.
"Eiko," the mage started in a low voice. Her eyes flickered to him, but she didn't want to give away that they were speaking. "Go back to the mayor's house. You have to warn them that Kuja's scouts know we're here."
"I won't leave you here by yourself –"
"You have to warn them, or we could be overwhelmed. Please, Eiko. You weren't there when Dali was destroyed the first time, so you have no idea what they're capable of… I don't want that to happen again, especially when all of these people have worked so hard to rebuild."
She slowly backed up, "Be safe," she whispered to him.
"Mae," Vivi got her attention, and the nine year old girl looked up in fear, her large hazel eyes wet with tears. "Run. Don't go the same way as Eiko, in case it's a trap. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'm scared," she whispered back to him.
"You have to be brave… Run to the furthest building away from the pumpkin patch… Tell the people inside. You have to warn them so they can warn others… you have to stay safe, Mae, or I can't forgive myself. You're taking a stand now, you're helping people survive."
"That's so much," she told him, so unsure of herself.
Vivi felt unnaturally calm. He was afraid, yes, especially since neither girl had moved yet, and the men were creeping closer. It was a slow, but steady movement, and he mentally kicked himself for not being more influential as a makeshift leader.
"You have to be brave. Both of you…" Power built in his hands as he sucked in a breath. His hands shot out from his sides, and a blizzara spell burst from his palms. A thick wall of ice circled around Eiko and Mae's paths forward, and the mayor's daughter let out a frightened wail.
The men saw the spell and began racing now.
"You have to go now!" Vivi yelled at them, his tone sharper than he'd ever heard himself speak. He stepped forward and ignited fire in his hands, throwing it forward with all of his strength.
Mae stumbled to get up from the pumpkin she'd latched onto, and ran away crying. Eiko cast a protect spell at Vivi, and told him one more time to be safe before she started moving backwards.
The three men dodged his fast moving fireball and charged, swords drawn as they raced towards the mage.
Vivi threw up a wall of ice on both sides of himself so they could only attack him head on. He shot off random slow spells, and only hit one of the men. Immediately, he fell behind, hardly a threat for at least a few more seconds than the other two. Vivi tried his hand at bio spells, though he hardly ever used them, and cursed himself for it now. They hit their marks, but had no effect because they were so weak.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" The first that had spoken before taunted again as he swung at Vivi.
The mage ducked, and the man's sword hit the wall of ice, shards of the frozen water spiraling away as they chipped from the main block. The soldier growled in slight frustration as Vivi shot another fira spell.
It hit the second man on the leg, and he fell into the grass with a grunt. The first came back with another hit, but the mage backed up and hid behind the wall of ice that had originally blocked Eiko off from the men.
Vivi's hands were shaking as he cast a thundara spell straight through the ice block. It exploded into hail-sized pieces and rained down on the men. They griped about it but were unharmed. Though, it did distract them long enough for Vivi to shoot another thundara spell, hitting the most aggressive of the three in the chest.
He flew backwards and collapsed on the ground, trying hard to catch his breath and slow his heart after the electrifying shock. The one with the burnt up leg threw a dagger from his boot at the mage, catching his jacket, but otherwise missing him.
With quicker thinking than he thought possible, Vivi plucked the dagger hastily from his jacket, and electrified it, like Steiner had shown him how to do with his sword. He flung the weapon back at the man who'd thrown it, and it hit him in the arm. He let out a shout as he fell to the grass again.
Vivi sent off one last fire spell, scorching the ground in front of the soldier with the slow spell on him, to stop him from advancing. The mage was going to send one last thunder spell to each man, hopefully knocking them out, but movement stopped him in his tracks.
"Mae!" He called out, his voice swallowed in despair.
"You three are worthless!" Another man barked, appearing from behind the closest building. Two more men appeared with potions in their hands, feeding them to the fallen soldiers. Vivi tried to blast off a few more spells, but they were weak with worry and exhaustion. His magic power was nearly spent, and his hands trembled too much when he saw Mae tucked under the man's arm, unconscious.
Said soldier held up a richly colored stone. It shined brightly in the faltering sun, nearly blinding the mage. When his eyes finally adjusted, a water spell had been activated, and a powerful wave slammed over the garden, sending Vivi tumbling.
His world spun around him as he tried to regain his feet. The water sank relatively quickly into the ground again, and he stumbled to stand, his staff gripped in one hand as one last thundara spell began loading in his left hand. He braced himself in the dirt, knowing from all of the moisture of the spell, all of them would most likely be electrocuted. The mage only hoped it wouldn't be enough to kill himself.
Before he could cast the spell, however, dark light surrounded and fell over him, and he gasped, feeling himself planted in place. His spell was draining away from his hand, and he saw his feet turning a stony grey.
"A petrify spell should keep you busy! Who knew you'd be such a pest! I thought you were just a stupid kid!"
"Where are you taking Mae?!" He demanded, surprising himself as his legs turned to stone underneath him. He hardly had time to quiver in fear.
The soldier nudged Mae's cheek underneath his arm, and her head lulled to the side. "Tell your shitty resistance members that if they want the mayor's daughter back, they're going to have to play by our rules!"
"I don't understand," Vivi ground out in frustration. Why couldn't he be better? Why couldn't he do more to help? Why was he the one needing saving?! His waist petrified, and no longer could he struggle against the oncoming chill of the stone.
"An eye for an eye!" He barked with a laugh. "If you want the mayor's daughter back, there's only one person who can come get her! We'll give her back if Zidane Tribal comes to Alexandria to get her!"
Vivi didn't have time to reply. His mouth was petrified, and before he could fear for his dreamer friend, his eyes glazed over in a stony prison, and his world went black before his golden eyes.
Despite their attempts to keep the latest catastrophe on the down low, word spread fast about Mae's abduction. Vivi had only just finished explaining the entire story, recounting the steps of his battle in hopes of someone telling him he did his best, and nobody blamed him.
Ruby was the one who told him that, and he saw her eyes shining with tears. If she didn't blame the mage, then she most definitely blamed herself. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze; she returned the gesture.
As soon as Vivi had finished the tale, Zidane had pushed off of the wet dirt and paced through the muddy grass. Clouds were rolling in thickly now and Freya worried that their troubles were about to be double by a storm that matched the one that boomed over Qu's Marsh as the resistance escaped from Lindblum.
She was the only one keeping a keen eye on the genome as his restlessness took him further and further away from the group. Everyone was still trying to calm down Mae's family, civilians, Vivi and Eiko, or catch up themselves.
"Zidane!" she called out to him, also catching the attention of at least half the group. Blank stood from his spot on the ground and turned his body towards the blonde, wondering too why he was so far off. "You should probably stay close. We do not know where those soldiers are, and if there are more."
"Halfway to Alexandria by now," he said to no one in particular. Freya's sharp hearing picked up on it, and she took a few steps towards him. Now, everyone else was staring at the blonde's back, wondering what he was doing. "I have to go," he called back to the group, turning his head and giving them his profile.
"What?" Cinna leapt up, "You can't –"
"I have to go get Mae! Kuja hasn't ever been afraid of killing civilians before – why would she be any different?!"
"Are you stupid?" Blank barked at him, hurrying to step forward. "It's obviously a trap!"
"I know," Zidane nodded, turning back to the prairie. "But I have to go! I can't risk the safety of her just to save myself!"
"Are you listening to yourself? It's a set up! You'll be killed in minutes! You must think about this clearly!" Steiner told him, "We have to make up a game plan!"
"There's no time to come up with a damn plan!" now Zidane turned fully around, gesturing largely to the empty, open lands in front of them. "Mae is in danger! I'm going! I couldn't live with myself if she died, and I don't know how you guys could!"
"Do not say we don't care!" Beatrix told him, marching forward to match Blank's distance from the genome. "But we have to play smart! Might I remind you what happened the last time you decided to go running off into Alexandria alone!"
He did remember, the torn look on his face said so. His hands balled into fists at his sides as he bit his lip and stole a glance over his shoulder again. "I'm sorry. Don't come after me hastily this time… Make your plan and follow me…" he turned and began walking through the grass, guilt rising up his throat. "But I have to go now."
"Zidane Tribal, I command you to stop!" His cerulean eyes flickered back, turning his whole body with them. He knew that voice, but not the tone.
Dagger stood, having abandoned her position in the grass faithfully next to Vivi. Her gloved hands were balled into fists and pressing hard on her thighs. Her porcelain face shone in the light, and her dark eyes glimmered with a sense of superiority. "As leader of the resistance, and heir to the Alexandrian throne, I command you to stop!" She yelled, her voice unwavering.
He said nothing to her as his eye contact, never vacillating, challenged her command. He seemed to be saying to her, you never play that card, so why would I listen now?
"Don't be a fool!" She told him sternly, not bothering to get any closer to him. She didn't care if she said it in front of everybody or not. "It's so obvious it's a trap! Not just for you, but for the rest of us too! Kuja is using you and the other dreamers as a tool of war! So why wouldn't he use you to bait out other people he wants to kill too?!"
"He could have killed Vivi! But he didn't! He wants me! And he will stop at nothing to have me, not even killing the mayor's daughter!"
"So he's got a bigger grudge against you than the rest of us!" She yelled at him, her stance never faltering. "But you cannot jeopardize what we've been working so hard on – and the people we're trying to protect – by going out on your own! As leader of this resistance, I forbid you to leave without my consent!"
He narrowed his eyes at her, but knew he had already lost. He turned back around, listening to the grass rustle around his boots as he walked proudly back towards them. Blank glared at him as he passed, but the blonde ignored him – and everyone else – until he was in front of Dagger.
"I promised I would protect you. I promised I would try to come back to you when this mission is over," he told her just loud enough so nobody else could hear. "Because you were the one who asked and the fact I have these promises to you are the only reasons I'm staying…" then he continued to walk away, though his shoulders sagged with sorrowful defeat instead of an angry, inflated ego. She couldn't help but watch the way, in his smugly prideful stride, that he still have to limp, even after all the time that had passed since he fought Kuja the first time. She closed her eyes to stop tears from flooding down her cheeks, and turned back to the prairie, hoping that they could still move fast enough to save Mae.
"We'll leave under the cover of nightfall," Beatrix explained, sitting at the table with a glass of rich cider. She gripped it too tightly, but tried hard to keep the rest of her body relaxed. The last thing anyone needed right now was another resistance member who was showing signs of weakness. "We'll make it to Alexandria before morning so we hopefully have time to stake some of it out."
"We can't use the river," Steiner added with a stressed sigh. "Which means we'll have to make it through the Ice Cavern."
"Why can't we use the raft?" Cinna asked, tilting his head to the side.
"A couple of reasons," the ex-knight leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "One is that there are too many of us, and bringing more than one raft will blow our cover. The second being that the river is probably still swarming with guards, especially closer to the city, since they followed us back to Dali last year."
"Starting a fight on the water would give us a huge disadvantage," Beatrix said further, running a hand through her hair.
"Speaking of fighting," Steiner began, "Do not engage. I do not care if we have Mae or not, if we have to fight, we need to leave. We cannot afford to lose any of our highest trained recruits because of an army. That would be stupid, simply put."
Zidane's chair scraped across the floor, attracting all attention on him. He stood up, clearly jumbled and shaky from being called out by Kuja's men. Despite all of the insistence that he not leave right away, nobody really blamed him for how he felt; had it been Steiner or Blank or even Beatrix or Freya, they would have wanted to leave right on the spot as well. Nothing was worse than having a verbal target finally sewn to your back.
"When did protection suddenly become about us?"
"What do you mean?" Baku asked, letting out a puff of smoke. The mayor had dug him up a pipe as soon as they made it back to the house and Baku was leaning on the tobacco inside to calm him down; Zidane was going back into the fray, and after everything that had happened, the Tantalus leader was not okay with that.
"We're going to skip out on a fight because we're afraid of getting hurt?"
"That's exactly right," Beatrix said, her tone warning.
"When did protection start involving us more than the people we're trying to save? When did we start putting ourselves before the people the resistance swore to protect? That's why it's called a resistance, isn't it? Because we resist – no matter the danger?"
"This is a special situation, Zidane," Dagger told him softly.
"I know," he said quietly, deciding it wouldn't be the best to pick a fight with his team. However, he still did feel the burn of Blank's glare from where the redhead leaned angrily up against the wall. "But it's true, isn't it?"
"We were supposed to be gone already," Freya told him quietly. She folded her hands together on the table, her slender fingers weaving together over the old oak. "This mission has technically been completed with no casualties for the most part, and we want to keep it that way. We do not have the man power, nor the strength to engage an army right now, as skilled as we are."
Zidane sighed, "I just wish it could be different."
"All do," Quina added from his seat. His forehead puckered like he truly felt sorry for Zidane, and the lack of waggling from his tongue gave further evidence of that thought.
"That brings us to the next order of business," Dagger began, unfolding a piece of parchment and smoothing it out on the table. "Not all of us can go."
"What?"
"You mean not all of us are going to get Mae back?" Cinna asked.
Dagger gave a slow nod, and Ruby, right next to her, closed her eyes with a questioning look on her face. Steiner spoke for the raven haired girl, "Cinna, Baku, Zenero – we need you three to head back to the airship. Skip Qu's Marsh altogether… In case something goes wrong, we need the airship ready."
The two boys blinked in surprise, glancing at their leader. Baku didn't object to the idea, but he would never agree out loud that that was the best thing, because that's not what he wanted either. He believed they were going to need help in Dali, but also knew that a quick escape was more important.
"Marcus, Ruby and Quina, you three need to head back to Qu's Marsh immediately. Head down through the South Gate. Ruby, you'll pose as Tawn's partner to get everyone through, because they would recognize you in a heartbeat, so you're the one who needs to be covered up the most. It'll just be faster to get through there. Tell everyone what's happened, take the map, and start leading people through Fossil Roo."
"Do not get hasty," Dagger added to Steiner's second order, "There is nothing pressuring you to move any faster than we originally planned. Don't let people get lost, and don't let people get hurt."
Ruby nodded, though Marcus didn't like the idea of being out of the battle. Quina's star-pupils flickered between his two new team members with apprehension.
"Eiko, I want you to go to the airship with Baku."
"What?!" she spluttered, clearly expecting to go with the rest of them. "But I can help!"
"No," Dagger shook her head. "It's too dangerous."
"You can't make me stay… I'll follow you on my own if I have to!" The will in her eyes startled the older girl, and she bit her lip, deciding that if they found Mae, but if there was some reason they needed to stay, Eiko would be the first one she'd send to escort the mayor's daughter back.
"Fine," she mumbled. "But keep up, and don't go wandering off."
"I won't," she promised with a nod. "We have to get going though… It's almost dark!"
"Let's collect our things and be off then. Any goodbyes you want to make, make them quickly!" Steiner advised before getting up and moving towards the door to the basement. Everyone followed, except Zidane.
He moved to the basin of water and poured himself a cup, obviously nervous and distressed.
"Hey," he wasn't surprised to hear the tone of low irritation in Blank's voice.
"What's up, Blank?" he asked, not bothering to keep up a chipper façade for the sake of his friend.
"What the hell was up with you today?" The redhead asked with another glare.
"What do you mean?"
The shorter of the two shook his head with mild disgust. "You were just going to leave today, without saying anything?"
Zidane shook his head, "Don't you start with me, Blank. I will not have Mae's blood on my hands! I didn't ask anyone to come with me –"
"Stop playing hero!" Blank bit out, his tone icy. "Look up from your narrow road of trying to prove yourself, and see that none of us want you to die! None of us want you to sacrifice yourself – and nobody is asking you to do that!"
"The moment I became the icon of rebellion in Kuja's eyes is the moment sacrifice was thrust upon me!"
"Get down from your high horse!" Blank sneered at him, the venom in his voice coming out with every word. "You're being reckless, and just plain dumb! Are you asking for a death wish?"
"Stop acting like you're right," Zidane shot back, his tone just as sharp. "Stop trying to tell me that I have this self-righteous attitude when I'm only trying to help! I thought you knew me better than that! I thought you knew I don't go seeking glory."
"You sure aren't acting like it with your lone-wolf attitude lately! We're a team, and dammit, I'm not going to let you go die because you want to shine!"
"Fuck off," Zidane told him, his eyebrows mashed down over his eyes in anger. "I'm only trying to protect those who need protection!"
"And we're only trying to protect you. So stop acting so hurt like we're ganging up on you!"
The blonde dropped his wooden cup into the basket of dirtied dishes and stormed away, clearly not ready to finish the fight with Blank. The redhead ran a shaky hand through his hair, wondering why he had snapped so harshly at his best friend when they were leaving for a mission.
Both of us just need time… he tried to tell himself. No. Blank changed his mind. Both of us need to be done with this fucking mission… He shook his head, disappointed in the way their conversation went.
"Try not to be so hard on him, darlin'," Ruby appeared from around the corner and stared at the redhead with a soft look. "Ya know how Zidane never likes when people are in danger 'cause of him."
"I know," Blank bit out, still seething from the blonde's harsh words. "I know I shouldn't have done that. I just…"
She grabbed his hand and pulled him up for a kiss. It lasted for a moment before she pulled back and smiled. "Just remember that you two are two peas in a pod!"
He chuckled, "Thanks Rubes," he told her, even though her pep talk did nothing to help him.
"Y'all be careful. You especially, sugar."
"You too," he said, squeezing her hand distractedly one more time before she moved to wait outside for Marcus and Quina.
Zidane was the last one he had to say goodbye to. Baku scratched his beard and sighed, walking forward through the small throng of people to see the blonde. The emotions in his broken sapphire eyes were enough for Baku's words to die on his tongue.
"Be careful, you little shit. I don't want another repeat of Terra, and Treno, and every other place you fuck up." Zidane let on a smile, happier now that they were leaving to rescue Mae.
He clasped hands with Baku, forearms up so their elbows touched too. "Good luck with the ship, Baku. Don't crash it with your senile old age."
"You fuck."
"Have a little faith, Baku. Zidane's been as resilient as a cockroach so far," Marcus nodded to the two. He had overheard Blank and Zidane's fight, but it hadn't been the first time Blank had picked a mean argument with someone, so he didn't think too much of it.
"That's for damn sure!" Cinna laughed from behind them. "But I just wanted to say bye to him, you know, in case he comes back not remembering us again!"
"Ha ha," Zidane rolled his eyes, "I'm glad you guys think my disappearance is a joke now."
"Nah," Cinna scoffed. "We just know you won't be as stupid this time."
Zidane gave a half salute, and moved forward by himself, to meet everyone else. Dagger shot him a look, and he gave her a shaky smile, still unsure if he approved the hour head start Kuja's soldiers had on them, but knowing now that the fight was over, and that he needed to focus on what was going to be happening on their way there.
"Zidane," Blank mumbled, and the blonde glanced at the redhead standing awkwardly next to him. "I'm sorry about being such a jackass –"
"S'okay, Blank. I know you've got my back," he muttered, though his voice fell a little flat. Both of them were stressed, and both of them were still angry for assuming things about each other and he really hated that he was constantly the one the redhead took it out on.
But Blank was worried. Ever since Kuja had started directing his forces as Zidane, the blonde was always hoping to strike out on his own and leave others behind so they didn't get hurt. His perception of a team had altered, and Mae was his breaking point. He was cracking under pressure, and with his foul words, Blank had hoped to make him see that his team was going to be behind him, no matter what – but it was only going to drive the blonde away. When they saved Mae and had time to talk again back at their hideout on the Outer Continent, he would explain himself, and they would be fine.
He took in a deep breath. Everything was going to be okay. Their mission was almost over – just one more small detour.
To Alexandria.
"Let's move, everyone," Beatrix told them, her hand on the hilt of her sword, feeling the part of a cliché even before she spoke, "we have a little girl to rescue."
The run was brisk, even for Zidane. He couldn't help but constantly glance back at Eiko and Vivi, struggling to keep up with the fast pace. He, Blank and Freya were the only ones accustomed to this speed, and his eyes caught Dagger's chocolate ones as she puffed, hardly going faster than Vivi and Eiko.
But determination was running high in the group despite the silence of their movements. No one wanted to make a lot of noise because all were on edge. They had no idea if Kuja was planning an ambush, or really intended for them to get all the way to Alexandria. With so much uncertainty, one small whisper could be the end of them, and nobody wanted that fault on their shoulders.
The Ice Cavern approached quickly and they only slowed down to rest a little as they climbed the mountain to the pass. The temperature dropped the further up the mountain they got, and snow covered rocks started to dot the area around them.
Amarant continued to climb even after everyone else had stopped to catch their breath for a few moments. The redhead continued to poke around the jagged rocks and up the path until he came face to face with the dark opening of the cavern. Snow crunched underneath his feet and he shook his head.
"I have a bad feeling about this…" he mumbled as he turned back around.
Freya was right behind him crossing her arms. "I wish there was a better way as well… but we do not have time to scout other options."
"Are you worried?" he asked her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He would never admit that the chill of the ice was making him shiver. Amarant had never been one for jackets.
She tipped her hat back. "Anyone who was not would be crazy," she mumbled, though the way she said it suggested that he not speak of this conversation to anyone else. "Stay alert in the cavern. It is dangerous, and very easy to fall victim to the magic that lures you inside."
"What the hell does that cryptic message mean?"
"Do not fall asleep," Freya told him as she walked back down the path.
He raised an eyebrow, still wondering what in the world she meant.
"Are we ready to move forward?" the Bermecian asked in a voice barely above a whisper. They figured the path through the cavern was safe – nobody could stand guard in such a place without falling victim to its enchantment, so Kuja placing soldiers inside would be meaningless.
Beatrix pressed the cork back into her canteen of water. "I believe so. Is everyone alright?"
"Nothing a little water can't fix," Eiko nodded, though her eyes were heavy. She was feeling guilty, and every single time she took a worried glance at the quiet black mage, that knot in her stomach tightened. "How long now?"
"It's another stretch much like the first one after the cavern… but this should be our main concern at the moment," Steiner said, his eyes trailing up the large mountain. "Luckily, the path was marked a long time ago by Stiltzkin the mail moogle in all of his travels, so that nobody loses their way."
"That means stay together, and stay on the path," Beatrix warned. "I think we should continue conversation through the cave."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Eiko asked.
Dagger shook her head, "It's better to keep each other concentrated, than to worry about Kuja at this point. I don't think the cavern holds much of a threat when it comes to his soldiers." Eiko nodded slowly, though she didn't fully understand; anybody who hadn't been through the cavern wouldn't.
"Now is as good a time as any to start," Zidane said, standing up; the rest of the company followed him. "We've got to get to Alexandria before dawn."
Dagger stopped next to him and gave him a small smile. She knew that Zidane seemed mad at everyone, but she also knew that he didn't mean it. "We'll get to her, Zidane. Don't worry…"
He sucked in a breath, trying to stay calm. He was worried he would carry the weight of Mae's death on his shoulders for the rest of the war, and the way the mayor's wife stared at Vivi with bewilderment and craze would stay with him for a lifetime.
"I know," he told her instead, trying to be optimistic. Beatrix passed and gave him a light squeeze on the shoulder. "I know…" he repeated again, trying to further convince himself, even as Dagger moved on ahead.
He had never been doubtful of anything they'd tried to do, but he was still wondering if waiting to move as a team to Mae was going to prove the right decision. The soldiers still didn't have a very big head start on them – two hours at the most, and that's what Zidane needed to push himself up the rest of the path. They would probably just be getting to Alexandria right now, which meant Mae still had time.
Why would they call out Zidane if they were going to kill her right away? A flicker of a smile came to his face. If Kuja didn't even kill Vivi because he was so hellbent on getting his hands on Zidane, then the blonde suddenly doubted that he would kill Mae before he showed up. His footsteps suddenly became stronger, and he finally returned Dagger's encouraging smile.
His trust would continue to dwell in those who took command of the resistance.
He watched as the first couple of people in line stared into the cavern, peering in with little hope on their faces, but he wasn't worried; if he and Blank made it through without any help in the depths of the night, then their entire group would be able to do.
His eyes slid to the redhead who was sulking just a few feet ahead of him. When their line of fighters started to move again, he bumped in front of Amarant and clasped Blank on the shoulder. The shorter thief looked up in surprise, but a relieved expression overtook his face when he saw Zidane grinning at him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "It was stupid for me to argue with you – to argue with anyone."
"Anyone would have done the same thing," Blank murmured back. "It's cool, dude. I'm sorry for trying to call you out."
"Trying?" Zidane winked, "You did, my friend." Blank snorted and pushed him to the side, but the blonde bounced back and slung an arm around his shoulders. "You just need to stop being such a little asshole to me."
"Get outta here," the thief insisted, pushing him away again.
The genome's chuckle wafted through the quiet atmosphere of the Elite and dipped into the cave, creating an echo that lasted for a few moments.
"Whoa," Eiko gasped, and her voice too echoed down into the depths.
"Let's get moving," Beatrix suggested once more, stepping into the snow. The cavern was quiet, save for the creak of the ice under the pressure of the wind above the cavern. She sucked in a slow breath and let go of the archway leading in.
Her shoes began to slide, but she kept her balance. Steiner was right behind her if anything happened, but she really hoped that wasn't the case. Getting through the cavern needed to be quick, for everyone's sake.
"Does it get any lighter in here?" Amarant called from the back.
"Not tonight," Freya told him. She began walking behind Steiner, her clawed feet able to grip through the snow so she didn't slide. She watched Beatrix's arms flail at the front for a moment before the brunette regained her balance. "The stars and moon cower beneath the clouds; we will not be seeing too much in the caverns tonight."
"What about a torch?" Vivi suggested.
"That might just work!" Beatrix called up. She had descended halfway down the slippery spiral that would lead to the base of the cavern and start of the maze.
Blank scuttled back up, since he had only just started picking his way down and grabbed whatever was closest to the beginning of the tunnel. "Vivi! Catch!"
The mage turned back up to the top, but didn't see the long stick until it landed at his feet. "T-thanks," he stuttered, though he wasn't sure he meant it; any closer and it would have hit him in the face!
Zidane clutched at the side of the wall, waiting for the fire to illuminate the cave. He was waiting for the redhead so they could run down the slope together, hopefully trying to make light of the situation they were in for everyone else. He had full confidence about the ice caverns this time – they weren't soaking wet from a thunderstorm, and though it was cold, it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time they'd entered the cave together.
Vivi ignited the torch, and suddenly a light sprang up and danced up the walls. Zidane turned towards the wall to push off, and yelped, dropping his hands and falling on his butt on the ramp. He began to slide down still facing the wall, his face growing more horrified by the second.
The others whipped around, trying not to fall as their eyes traced his line of sight, hoping to see what had scared him. It wasn't hard to find at all. Blank slid on his knees down to the blonde, gripping his arm so he didn't fall off the edge.
Frozen in the walls were bodies; faces were sunken and purple with frost – some eyes were open and staring, but all were dead, haunting the entrance to the ice cavern.
"Those definitely weren't there the first time we came through," the blonde told the rest of his team.
"Kuja must have done it recently," Steiner murmured, his voice quaking with a pent up rage. "He wanted us to go in with a torch to scare us into using the river."
"He had to have thought we'd scare easily then," Beatrix called back, finally finding her footing at the bottom of the natural spiral ramp. "There are no bodies down here."
"Where did they come from?" Dagger asked, her soprano voice quiet. She picked up her pace, not wanting to stare at the faces of the dead any longer.
The others followed suit. Vivi's eyes were glued to the ground, hoping that he wouldn't see any more than that quick first glance. His stomach churned uncomfortably.
Freya's nails scraped the ice, feeling no dimples or divets in the frozen walls. Her blue eyes traced the people frozen inside, trying to focus on their clothing more than their features. "The clothing looks like cotton, which probably means they are not from Treno; it is rich in nobles and costume dwellers – something like cotton would not be used in the designs."
"Then where?" Blank asked, also trying to keep his eyes down.
"Probably Dali."
"Dali?" Dagger cried, her heart sinking into her stomach.
The bermecian's eyes narrowed in on the finer details before she nodded to confirm her answer. "But it does not seem like he slaughtered just to put bodies here. My guess is that his soldiers cleaned up the dead from Dali after it burned. There are singed edges to the jackets and pants. I believe Lindblum would be too much of a haul for so many."
"That's terrible…" Zidane whispered, though his voice carried and all heard. "Why?"
"Just for us," Blank answered him morbidly. His tone was sharp and low. "If he can't get his hands on us physically, then he'll try to do it mentally."
"It's working," Dagger's voice was sad, and Beatrix immediately wrapped her arms around the girl when she made it to the bottom of the spiral.
"Let's keep moving," Zidane said. "We're going to need our strength, and the faster we get out of this creepy cavern, the better!"
"I agree with Zidane," Steiner nodded. "I will go first through this room; maybe I can block some of the wind."
"Wind?" Amarant asked; Eiko was clinging to his leg, spooked by the walls – haunted by the faces.
"The next room is where all of the myths come from," Beatrix nodded. "Don't lie down."
"Why would we?"
"You will see," Freya told him as she pressed forward after Steiner.
Zidane grabbed Dagger's hand, and she stared at it for a moment with a quiver of fear before she latched onto Beatrix's hand as well. The blonde groped for Blank's hand behind him, and even though Amarant was about to object, Eiko reached for both redheads' hands. The female knight ushered Vivi up front with her, putting him between herself and Freya.
They moved as a unit through the blustering winds. It howled like a wolf, whistling in their ears so they couldn't hear each other. Dagger tried to simply focus on the feeling of her two companions' hands, but her eyes wanted to close and her mind lulled her to a warmer place.
"Stay awake, Dagger," Zidane's voice sounded like a mutter in her ear when it should have been a shout. She got to thinking about the wind then, and how she wished it would stop.
They tromped straight forward as fast as they could, moving for nearly ten minutes through the wind that liked playing tricks on them before Vivi collapsed in front of the brunette.
"Vivi!" Zidane called to him, breaking off from his teammates to run forward to the mage. Beatrix helped the blonde pick him up. "Vivi, wake up!"
But the mages golden eyes were nowhere to be found. However, when Beatrix leaned close to his face, she could feel the light puff of warmth on her cheek. "He just fell asleep," she nodded. "Magic users are more prone to slumber in this cavern."
"Why?" Amarant asked, staring down at Eiko with moderate worry. Her head seemed to bob, but otherwise, her eyes were still open.
"Sorcerer's sickness," Freya answered, yelling into the wind so her voice would carry back to the others. It sounded ghostly and faint, even though she was speaking louder than she usually did.
"What's that?"
"It is part of the reason we never used this cavern to sneak into Alexandria… Black and white magic is hindered useless for an extended amount of time after leaving the icy caverns."
"Like a silence spell?" Eiko asked. Her voice slurred together; Amarant bent down and picked her up. Blank glanced back at them to make sure they were still there; it was hard to feel any sort of presence besides his own in the cavern.
The redhead recalled, even before Freya could answer his other team member, the warm place he succumbed to the last time he entered the cave. It smelled like the wood of the Prima Vista, and the air was breezy and warm like the sea south of Lindblum. A soft sigh left his mouth as his eyes blinked quickly, trying to ward off the sleep.
Freya's voice jolted him back to reality. "A silence spell that cannot be lifted by any magic or item."
"It's very dizzying…" Dagger muttered.
"This place, or the spell?" Zidane asked her.
She didn't answer though, as she collapsed in the snow.
"Dagger!" Blank groaned as he and the genome knelt to lift her up. "Really?!"
They moved forward more sluggishly than they had before. All three of their magic users were down, and it looked like Blank wouldn't outrun the sleep much longer either. Whatever thoughts filled his mind were not helping his consciousness. Beatrix teetered this way and that as she moved too, cursing the light bit of magic knowledge she'd learned when she was young.
Freya was the only one who withstood the lull of sleep completely. Her feet clipped at the ice, keeping her upright and alert. She thought of Kuja, and how angry he made her, and of Bermecia in its own prison, and Puck – the way his life ended before it even started. She recalled Fratley choosing to stay in Cleyra, when she wasn't entirely sure how their loyalties panned out, and the death of all of those making up the new order of dragon knights in Gizamaluke's Grotto.
The anger is what kept her going. The fury she felt when she thought about why they were going through this wretched cavern in the first place was completely real – the only thing in that magically shifty place that was.
But when she glanced behind her, her eyebrow raised, for it seemed she was the only one who knew exactly what to think about. The others staggered, hardly awake, and if this were any other situation, she might have smiled due to the drunken walk of the mightiest fighters.
She stopped, realizing she was so far ahead, and began summoning a dragon. The feeling made her warm, and sleepier than she was before, but as soon as her ghost dragon shot through the cavern, sliding through each member of her party, they seemed to jolt awake.
"We are almost through," she insisted through her teeth. "Let us keep moving forward to Alexandria – to save Mae."
Zidane blinked up at her with a grin. Thank you his eyes seemed to say, even though he couldn't bring himself to stop struggling enough to tell her out loud.
Slowly, her team was brought out of their haze enough to stumble into the next room, where Vivi, Dagger, and Eiko fell immediately back to sleep.
"At least I woke the rest of you back up…" Freya murmured, the faintest of smiles glimmering on her lips.
A/N: So I'm trying to get through the ice cavern fast. I know it doesn't seem like they're in a big rush to get to Mae, but I hope you liked the chapter enough! I think they all just knew before Zidane did that the soldiers really didn't have a big head start, and Kuja isn't going to kill Mae before he sees if Zidane shows up or not!
That'll make for the next exciting chapter ;) Are you not itching to know what happens?! I'm itching to write it! Hehe :)
Thanks for reading!
-zesty-
