Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ sore kara... ❯ yami to no torihiki da ( Chapter 27 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: awwaw 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.27.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 183 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.27.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 183 | Status: Completed
Standard disclaimers apply.
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
yami to no torihiki da
The three of them stepped into the chamber with slight hesitance, crowding around the coins which laid there, waiting to be picked up. Eventually it was Squall who bent down to collect them into his hands, taking out the one he originally had to compare them. Cloud waited patiently for his verdict, while Zidane had that impeccable smile plastered across his face.
"Well?" Cloud looked expectantly at Squall after he lowered the coins, indicating he had finished his examination.
The dark-haired SeeD regarded his brighter-haired comrade, then confirmed, "They're of the same make."
"........." Zidane was glancing around, looking jittery, "... Let's go," he remarked tersely, already beginning to make his way out of the room.
While his two other companions wondered what was going on with him, that slight moment of pause they spent resulted in the most disastrous of consequences.
A towering block of green overlaid with linings of gold and embedded with precious stones of every sort descended from a space above them which had been invisible until now. It made strange beeping noises and from where they were Cloud and Squall could see something akin to a progress bar literally lighting up the torso of this monstrous entity.
"Intruders detected." A digitized voice sounded out, and with that the Valia Pira landed with a heavy thud on the weak metal floor of the room. "Enhancing defense systems."
"Guys, get out!" Zidane's shrill command jerked both Cloud and Squall from gawking at the sheer size of the palace's defense mechanism. Figuring that obeying would result in better health for them, though, they began scampering towards the exit where Zidane was.
It wasn't a breeze, considering how the middle of the room slowly opened up to reveal what was underneath it.
Piping, red hot lava, boiling maliciously, waiting to consume something.
Cloud let out a small 'eep!', while Squall took a split second to go bug-eyed. They hadn't reached safe grounds yet, and they did not want to know what would happen if they plummeted down into that pool of thick heat. Not interested in really finding out who was the one making the floor open up, all they cared for was to run with their whole soul until they exited the room with the enemy and a floor waiting to launch them into lava.
"Come on!" Zidane was making wild waving movements, as if believing it would help speed his friends up.
Carefully side stepping the by-now thin ledge of sharp metal slowly dissolving into it's sides, the two mercenaries won by a hair's breadth and flung themselves to safety just as the entire ground was rendered non existent. The Valia Pira, being inanimate and unable to feel fear, dropped down into the lava like a rock.
The three of them stared at the huge, gaping hole which was the floor of the chamber. Zidane was the first to break away from looking, as he gave his attention instead to the remote controller lookalike thing at the side of the door, doing something there which made the floor close up again.
Squall pointed.
"What was that?"
And asked.
Zidane blinked, turning to look at the darker-haired boy.
"You mean the floor? Or that green thing?"
"............................" went Squall, "that, and how you knew the coins were here, if you don't mind me asking..."
A few more knocks on the keypad and Zidane had the door shut up good and proper. "Well, isn't that obvious?" He grinned, putting his hands on his waist. "I've been here before. This cell," Zidane pointed at the so-said cell with a blank look on his face, "was where some over-enthusiastic villain who has since changed for the better kept me imprisoned for a some time."
There was a short pause.
"Aa," Squall nodded, as if seeing the light, "No wonder you came straight to this door when you saw it... ..... ............ ...................... !!?!??!" There was a flurry of movement as he staggered to his feet and trained his finger on Zidane's general direction. Unable to really form coherent words, Squall's speech was abound with '!!!'s and '???'s. Even Cloud had this strange look of wonderment in his eyes, albeit his expressions betrayed nothing spectacular.
"You..." Cloud finally found his voice, "... you remembered..." he barely spoke that out in a controlled whisper, "... and time isn't racing forward... ?"
The golden-haired genome answered that question with a smile beyond his sphere of maturity. "Don't tell Kuja!" He spoke with a low voice, still smiling his eyes into tight slits.
"Don't tell me what?" A strong voice called out from the other side of the catwalk, belonging to the one and only silver-haired villain of many poses. All the others spun around to see him there, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. He had a wry smile on his tired face.
"Kuja!" Cloud and Squall exclaimed, both visibly glad to see that their mode of transport had apparently returned to them. Zidane was surprisingly repressed for someone as exuberant as he usually was. He did, however, offer a very wild grin to his fellow genome, which ended up looking more scary than friendly.
Shrugging that weird imagery off, Kuja beckoned for them all to gather. "Well, how did it go?" He asked, stealing quick glances around the surroundings, as if looking for something, "Did you find the coins?"
Squall flashed the two coins he had in his hands with a small curve of his lips.
"Hmmmm!" Kuja's eyebrows went up and down in mock surprise, "Didn't think you'd find it so quickly! Well anyway, let's get back to the Invincible. I think there's a way we can find out where the sorceress is and go to her."
"'kay..." Cloud had arrived at that circular platform with weird markings and was mulling around in it, "... but how do we get back to the land from here? I mean... we kind of got sucked into this weird place by quicksand and I honestly doubt that even if we found the exact spot we fell down from that we would be able to climb back up the same way..."
"Who said anything about climbing?" Kuja turned his lower lip and stuck his chin up. Beckoning for the others who were slowly making their way over, he commanded, "All of you stand within this circle. I'll do the rest." He smirked, striking yet another one of his over-confident poses. All the other three managed to hide their sweatdrops considerably well.
Heeding his advice, though, soon they were snugly fit into the circle of arcane symbols. They looked at the one who had charged them to do what they were doing and waited for further instructions.
In a quick blip and flash, they were turned from staring at Kuja with his uncomfortable smile to the inwards of the Invincible, pulsating with readiness.
They managed to do nothing by gape.
Kuja himself teleported in less than a second later and caught sight of his companions looking terribly confused. He stifled all incoming giggles. "Not that hard now was it?" He winked.
"..." Squall was quick to recover, "... whatever.." he shrugged.
Just as Cloud was about to say something, Zidane let out the biggest yawn he had ever, strolling casually towards the residential rooms of the large airship - ignoring the fact that he wasn't supposed to know the ship so well, having only explored it from the control room to the observatory and nothing more. "Sorry dudes, I think my head has a date with a pillow somewhere... don't mind me!" He waved, indicating that they could go on discussing whatever they wanted to, for his time was with the bed and not in menial talks for now. "I'll rest up a bit and catch up later... g'night!"
They continued to stare until he vanished into the darkness, and until the sound of a door turning on it's hinge to slam shut indicated that he was no longer within seeing or hearing range.
Kuja shrugged. He had seen enough of Zidane's antics to know how jumpy he could be at times. He retreated into the control room anyway. "I'm in line for some rest myself," he told the Cloudy Squall team, "maybe you guys should take a break. We can regroup when we're all ready to talk..."
When the doors to the control room slid shut, Cloud and Squall exchanged glances among themselves.
It looked like there was more between Zidane and Kuja than they had initially thought it to be.
-------------------------------
Zidane, for his part, was curled up in the warm sheets of the ship, eyebrows knitted tightly together in concentration. Even in the well controlled room temperature of the room, he was unable to stop beads of cold sweat from rolling off his forehead to stain the sheets.
His reason for discomfort was not leaving him to rest in peace.
.
He sat up from trying to fall asleep, still reeling from the pounding headache he had gotten since they exited the desert palace. There was something in him that was welling up from within and it threatened to tear him inside out. Zidane coughed, and propped himself up against the bedpost with a pillow for back support, never having felt more irritated and helpless. He closed his eyes, hoping that the pain would just concur a few more times and then leave him.
As he sat there, battling with the stinging spasms, a shape slowly formed from his shadow behind him, which the moonlight cast through the full-length see-through glass windows of the rooms in the Invincible.
Zidane warily turned to see who the new presence was, although he had a rough idea who it could possibly be. Confirming his fears he widened his eyes as a reaction, the soreness in his body fleeing from him for a moment. "YOU!" He cried out, voice lined with irrtation. "Wha- What do you want now?" The pain quickly returned after his outburst and he had to concentrate on battling it instead.
From the darkness, the chosen form of Necron stood, eyeing his mortal avatar with something less than contempt. "I will be departing from your hostage," he spoke out in a disembodied voice, "when the seal is broken and when I am free to travel the darkness once more."
"No way!" Zidane struggled to get to his feet and stood with his back against the window so he could face Necron. "We had a deal! I won't let you do that!"
"Our deal - as you put it - ended," Necron pointed out, "the moment you regained the remembrance of your life."
"That was unintentional!" Zidane tried to reason, "I certainly didn't will for it to happen!"
"Whether or not you willed it to happen, a fact is a fact," Necron explained, "When I first chose to vassal you it was for mutual benefit - you needed power to survive and I had to prey upon a dimming life to foster my continued existence. Memories was the price you had to pay, and captivity was mine."
The blue form looked at Zidane, who had his face contorted in all directions to show how much - or how little, he understood of that expoundation. Figuring it was pointless to dwell on what he had already spoken, the eternal darkness continued, "You are regaining life - and my powers are beginning to clash with your vitality. That is why you are suffering. For gratitude to you for housing me while I was yet weak, I am willing to depart into another avatar before my contradicting forces chokes your being." The bluish figure turned to glance in an unknown direction, beyond the walls of the room. "I can sense a life nearby, far more dim than yours. Once the sorceress' seal is broken, I shall have enough negativity to advance to my next stage of existence."
"I'm not going to let you do that..." Zidane coughed, finding it difficult to breath but struggling on nevertheless, "... if I die, then you won't be able to cause anymore nuisance to the world, would you?" He smiled bitterly. "Then I'd rather die than let you go back to your old ways, buster."
"Strong words for a boy," Necron nodded, "but useless, nevertheless. For I am the Eternal Darkness - and death will only free me from my confinement."
"Well at least I can keep you confined for the rest of my life!" Zidane growled, unhappy at the turn of events and the lack of foresight on his part.
"That will not be for long as well," the blue thing was increasingly getting amused at Zidane's ability to contest his theories, "for a mere mortal cannot house my form for an extended period of time." He paused to let Zidane decide that for himself. "You know better than I do what's happening to you now. I would advise against trying to go against the odds."
"Aw, shut up!" Zidane groaned good naturedly. He slumped against the window and smiled up at the ethereal figure. "I hope you haven't forgotten that we trashed you real bad once."
"........" Necron kept silent. "No doubt, you intend to tell me that you alone can do it again?"
The boy giggled, putting a hand up and shaking it, "Not me alone, buster!" He managed, with much difficulty, to look at Necron straight in his face, "The four of us and the one of you!" He corrected with an evil grin. In an instance he had to wipe it off his face, for the pain of staring at a powerful source was too much for him to bear, not forgetting he had other wracking problems to worry about. He recoiled against himself and pressed up against the window, unable to carry on.
"The determination to live is amazing," Necron slowly dissolved back into the shadows he had manifested himself from, "especially yours, Zidane Tribal."
Not able to do anything but to open a single eye to watch Necron slurp back into himself (kind of disgusting if you really think about it, but we'll skip that XDD), Zidane then closed both eyes tightly and wrestling against the unbearable torture churning inside him.
Before he slipped out of this surreal dream he heard the voice of Necron one last time, as he said, "You have done well so far, and I will hold back the Darkness until I am unable to. May you have broken the seal with your friends until then. Remember that I will keep finding reason to bring all existence back into none. Remember too, the immense power laid within you should you need to draw on it. Your strong will is amazing. May your journey be smooth..."
"Cut the crap Necron..." Zidane stifled a laugh, never one to let the other party have the last word, "... you're rambling... go to sleep..."
.
Zidane's calm, relaxed features snapped into awareness when he suddenly opened his eyes to find himself staring at the indistinct ceiling of the room he had fallen asleep in.
The ship continued to cruise slowly over the continents, nondescript but familiar looking, in every sense of the phrase.
Zidane got off the bed and slowly made his way to peer out of the windows, putting a hand on the pane, as if believing that if he did that he would be able to touch the land once again. His solitary figure slid down, little by little until finally his knees touched the floor and he leisurely shut his eyes to feel the coolness of the window calming his nerves.
Slowly, he lowered his head into his knees and sat in a fetal position.
"Dagger..." his mumbled in a coarse, dejected voice, "... I don't know if I can make it back alive to you... ?"
A close circuit camera moved silently on it's hinges, zooming in and then out of the room. It returned to it's original position, and it's lens flared shut, for it's mission was complete, and the last of it's transmission was already on it's way to the control room, where the person who had requested a security camera check on this room sat in gloomy silence.
From his point of view in the room with the red globe, Kuja remained impressively impassive. He knew it hadn't been entirely ethical to spy on Zidane while he was resting, but yet if he had not, he wouldn't have known that the boy had seemingly regained enough of his memories to say the name 'Dagger'. Apparently his nickname for the lovely princess. Slowly he stood and approached the red orb.
"If you're not ready to tell me," Kuja smiled, making his motives undiscernable, "then I'll play along with you, my dear brother..."
The night would pass and dawn would arrive soon enough. Then it would be time for decisive action.
-------------------------------
yami to no torihiki datta
18/12/2002
[XD fanfics!] http://www.tougenkyou.net/xd/
[The VnYmaGCC!!] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VnYmaGCc/
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
yami to no torihiki da
The three of them stepped into the chamber with slight hesitance, crowding around the coins which laid there, waiting to be picked up. Eventually it was Squall who bent down to collect them into his hands, taking out the one he originally had to compare them. Cloud waited patiently for his verdict, while Zidane had that impeccable smile plastered across his face.
"Well?" Cloud looked expectantly at Squall after he lowered the coins, indicating he had finished his examination.
The dark-haired SeeD regarded his brighter-haired comrade, then confirmed, "They're of the same make."
"........." Zidane was glancing around, looking jittery, "... Let's go," he remarked tersely, already beginning to make his way out of the room.
While his two other companions wondered what was going on with him, that slight moment of pause they spent resulted in the most disastrous of consequences.
A towering block of green overlaid with linings of gold and embedded with precious stones of every sort descended from a space above them which had been invisible until now. It made strange beeping noises and from where they were Cloud and Squall could see something akin to a progress bar literally lighting up the torso of this monstrous entity.
"Intruders detected." A digitized voice sounded out, and with that the Valia Pira landed with a heavy thud on the weak metal floor of the room. "Enhancing defense systems."
"Guys, get out!" Zidane's shrill command jerked both Cloud and Squall from gawking at the sheer size of the palace's defense mechanism. Figuring that obeying would result in better health for them, though, they began scampering towards the exit where Zidane was.
It wasn't a breeze, considering how the middle of the room slowly opened up to reveal what was underneath it.
Piping, red hot lava, boiling maliciously, waiting to consume something.
Cloud let out a small 'eep!', while Squall took a split second to go bug-eyed. They hadn't reached safe grounds yet, and they did not want to know what would happen if they plummeted down into that pool of thick heat. Not interested in really finding out who was the one making the floor open up, all they cared for was to run with their whole soul until they exited the room with the enemy and a floor waiting to launch them into lava.
"Come on!" Zidane was making wild waving movements, as if believing it would help speed his friends up.
Carefully side stepping the by-now thin ledge of sharp metal slowly dissolving into it's sides, the two mercenaries won by a hair's breadth and flung themselves to safety just as the entire ground was rendered non existent. The Valia Pira, being inanimate and unable to feel fear, dropped down into the lava like a rock.
The three of them stared at the huge, gaping hole which was the floor of the chamber. Zidane was the first to break away from looking, as he gave his attention instead to the remote controller lookalike thing at the side of the door, doing something there which made the floor close up again.
Squall pointed.
"What was that?"
And asked.
Zidane blinked, turning to look at the darker-haired boy.
"You mean the floor? Or that green thing?"
"............................" went Squall, "that, and how you knew the coins were here, if you don't mind me asking..."
A few more knocks on the keypad and Zidane had the door shut up good and proper. "Well, isn't that obvious?" He grinned, putting his hands on his waist. "I've been here before. This cell," Zidane pointed at the so-said cell with a blank look on his face, "was where some over-enthusiastic villain who has since changed for the better kept me imprisoned for a some time."
There was a short pause.
"Aa," Squall nodded, as if seeing the light, "No wonder you came straight to this door when you saw it... ..... ............ ...................... !!?!??!" There was a flurry of movement as he staggered to his feet and trained his finger on Zidane's general direction. Unable to really form coherent words, Squall's speech was abound with '!!!'s and '???'s. Even Cloud had this strange look of wonderment in his eyes, albeit his expressions betrayed nothing spectacular.
"You..." Cloud finally found his voice, "... you remembered..." he barely spoke that out in a controlled whisper, "... and time isn't racing forward... ?"
The golden-haired genome answered that question with a smile beyond his sphere of maturity. "Don't tell Kuja!" He spoke with a low voice, still smiling his eyes into tight slits.
"Don't tell me what?" A strong voice called out from the other side of the catwalk, belonging to the one and only silver-haired villain of many poses. All the others spun around to see him there, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. He had a wry smile on his tired face.
"Kuja!" Cloud and Squall exclaimed, both visibly glad to see that their mode of transport had apparently returned to them. Zidane was surprisingly repressed for someone as exuberant as he usually was. He did, however, offer a very wild grin to his fellow genome, which ended up looking more scary than friendly.
Shrugging that weird imagery off, Kuja beckoned for them all to gather. "Well, how did it go?" He asked, stealing quick glances around the surroundings, as if looking for something, "Did you find the coins?"
Squall flashed the two coins he had in his hands with a small curve of his lips.
"Hmmmm!" Kuja's eyebrows went up and down in mock surprise, "Didn't think you'd find it so quickly! Well anyway, let's get back to the Invincible. I think there's a way we can find out where the sorceress is and go to her."
"'kay..." Cloud had arrived at that circular platform with weird markings and was mulling around in it, "... but how do we get back to the land from here? I mean... we kind of got sucked into this weird place by quicksand and I honestly doubt that even if we found the exact spot we fell down from that we would be able to climb back up the same way..."
"Who said anything about climbing?" Kuja turned his lower lip and stuck his chin up. Beckoning for the others who were slowly making their way over, he commanded, "All of you stand within this circle. I'll do the rest." He smirked, striking yet another one of his over-confident poses. All the other three managed to hide their sweatdrops considerably well.
Heeding his advice, though, soon they were snugly fit into the circle of arcane symbols. They looked at the one who had charged them to do what they were doing and waited for further instructions.
In a quick blip and flash, they were turned from staring at Kuja with his uncomfortable smile to the inwards of the Invincible, pulsating with readiness.
They managed to do nothing by gape.
Kuja himself teleported in less than a second later and caught sight of his companions looking terribly confused. He stifled all incoming giggles. "Not that hard now was it?" He winked.
"..." Squall was quick to recover, "... whatever.." he shrugged.
Just as Cloud was about to say something, Zidane let out the biggest yawn he had ever, strolling casually towards the residential rooms of the large airship - ignoring the fact that he wasn't supposed to know the ship so well, having only explored it from the control room to the observatory and nothing more. "Sorry dudes, I think my head has a date with a pillow somewhere... don't mind me!" He waved, indicating that they could go on discussing whatever they wanted to, for his time was with the bed and not in menial talks for now. "I'll rest up a bit and catch up later... g'night!"
They continued to stare until he vanished into the darkness, and until the sound of a door turning on it's hinge to slam shut indicated that he was no longer within seeing or hearing range.
Kuja shrugged. He had seen enough of Zidane's antics to know how jumpy he could be at times. He retreated into the control room anyway. "I'm in line for some rest myself," he told the Cloudy Squall team, "maybe you guys should take a break. We can regroup when we're all ready to talk..."
When the doors to the control room slid shut, Cloud and Squall exchanged glances among themselves.
It looked like there was more between Zidane and Kuja than they had initially thought it to be.
-------------------------------
Zidane, for his part, was curled up in the warm sheets of the ship, eyebrows knitted tightly together in concentration. Even in the well controlled room temperature of the room, he was unable to stop beads of cold sweat from rolling off his forehead to stain the sheets.
His reason for discomfort was not leaving him to rest in peace.
.
He sat up from trying to fall asleep, still reeling from the pounding headache he had gotten since they exited the desert palace. There was something in him that was welling up from within and it threatened to tear him inside out. Zidane coughed, and propped himself up against the bedpost with a pillow for back support, never having felt more irritated and helpless. He closed his eyes, hoping that the pain would just concur a few more times and then leave him.
As he sat there, battling with the stinging spasms, a shape slowly formed from his shadow behind him, which the moonlight cast through the full-length see-through glass windows of the rooms in the Invincible.
Zidane warily turned to see who the new presence was, although he had a rough idea who it could possibly be. Confirming his fears he widened his eyes as a reaction, the soreness in his body fleeing from him for a moment. "YOU!" He cried out, voice lined with irrtation. "Wha- What do you want now?" The pain quickly returned after his outburst and he had to concentrate on battling it instead.
From the darkness, the chosen form of Necron stood, eyeing his mortal avatar with something less than contempt. "I will be departing from your hostage," he spoke out in a disembodied voice, "when the seal is broken and when I am free to travel the darkness once more."
"No way!" Zidane struggled to get to his feet and stood with his back against the window so he could face Necron. "We had a deal! I won't let you do that!"
"Our deal - as you put it - ended," Necron pointed out, "the moment you regained the remembrance of your life."
"That was unintentional!" Zidane tried to reason, "I certainly didn't will for it to happen!"
"Whether or not you willed it to happen, a fact is a fact," Necron explained, "When I first chose to vassal you it was for mutual benefit - you needed power to survive and I had to prey upon a dimming life to foster my continued existence. Memories was the price you had to pay, and captivity was mine."
The blue form looked at Zidane, who had his face contorted in all directions to show how much - or how little, he understood of that expoundation. Figuring it was pointless to dwell on what he had already spoken, the eternal darkness continued, "You are regaining life - and my powers are beginning to clash with your vitality. That is why you are suffering. For gratitude to you for housing me while I was yet weak, I am willing to depart into another avatar before my contradicting forces chokes your being." The bluish figure turned to glance in an unknown direction, beyond the walls of the room. "I can sense a life nearby, far more dim than yours. Once the sorceress' seal is broken, I shall have enough negativity to advance to my next stage of existence."
"I'm not going to let you do that..." Zidane coughed, finding it difficult to breath but struggling on nevertheless, "... if I die, then you won't be able to cause anymore nuisance to the world, would you?" He smiled bitterly. "Then I'd rather die than let you go back to your old ways, buster."
"Strong words for a boy," Necron nodded, "but useless, nevertheless. For I am the Eternal Darkness - and death will only free me from my confinement."
"Well at least I can keep you confined for the rest of my life!" Zidane growled, unhappy at the turn of events and the lack of foresight on his part.
"That will not be for long as well," the blue thing was increasingly getting amused at Zidane's ability to contest his theories, "for a mere mortal cannot house my form for an extended period of time." He paused to let Zidane decide that for himself. "You know better than I do what's happening to you now. I would advise against trying to go against the odds."
"Aw, shut up!" Zidane groaned good naturedly. He slumped against the window and smiled up at the ethereal figure. "I hope you haven't forgotten that we trashed you real bad once."
"........" Necron kept silent. "No doubt, you intend to tell me that you alone can do it again?"
The boy giggled, putting a hand up and shaking it, "Not me alone, buster!" He managed, with much difficulty, to look at Necron straight in his face, "The four of us and the one of you!" He corrected with an evil grin. In an instance he had to wipe it off his face, for the pain of staring at a powerful source was too much for him to bear, not forgetting he had other wracking problems to worry about. He recoiled against himself and pressed up against the window, unable to carry on.
"The determination to live is amazing," Necron slowly dissolved back into the shadows he had manifested himself from, "especially yours, Zidane Tribal."
Not able to do anything but to open a single eye to watch Necron slurp back into himself (kind of disgusting if you really think about it, but we'll skip that XDD), Zidane then closed both eyes tightly and wrestling against the unbearable torture churning inside him.
Before he slipped out of this surreal dream he heard the voice of Necron one last time, as he said, "You have done well so far, and I will hold back the Darkness until I am unable to. May you have broken the seal with your friends until then. Remember that I will keep finding reason to bring all existence back into none. Remember too, the immense power laid within you should you need to draw on it. Your strong will is amazing. May your journey be smooth..."
"Cut the crap Necron..." Zidane stifled a laugh, never one to let the other party have the last word, "... you're rambling... go to sleep..."
.
Zidane's calm, relaxed features snapped into awareness when he suddenly opened his eyes to find himself staring at the indistinct ceiling of the room he had fallen asleep in.
The ship continued to cruise slowly over the continents, nondescript but familiar looking, in every sense of the phrase.
Zidane got off the bed and slowly made his way to peer out of the windows, putting a hand on the pane, as if believing that if he did that he would be able to touch the land once again. His solitary figure slid down, little by little until finally his knees touched the floor and he leisurely shut his eyes to feel the coolness of the window calming his nerves.
Slowly, he lowered his head into his knees and sat in a fetal position.
"Dagger..." his mumbled in a coarse, dejected voice, "... I don't know if I can make it back alive to you... ?"
A close circuit camera moved silently on it's hinges, zooming in and then out of the room. It returned to it's original position, and it's lens flared shut, for it's mission was complete, and the last of it's transmission was already on it's way to the control room, where the person who had requested a security camera check on this room sat in gloomy silence.
From his point of view in the room with the red globe, Kuja remained impressively impassive. He knew it hadn't been entirely ethical to spy on Zidane while he was resting, but yet if he had not, he wouldn't have known that the boy had seemingly regained enough of his memories to say the name 'Dagger'. Apparently his nickname for the lovely princess. Slowly he stood and approached the red orb.
"If you're not ready to tell me," Kuja smiled, making his motives undiscernable, "then I'll play along with you, my dear brother..."
The night would pass and dawn would arrive soon enough. Then it would be time for decisive action.
-------------------------------
yami to no torihiki datta
18/12/2002
[XD fanfics!] http://www.tougenkyou.net/xd/
[The VnYmaGCC!!] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VnYmaGCc/