It wasn't supposed to end this way. Kuja had warned Zidane to get away from the Iifa tree quickly. He hadn't. Zidane had come back...to save Kuja, he'd said. Now, as Kuja felt consciousness slip away from him for a moment, he heard a loud noise...he bobbed back up just in time to see what seemed to be both their dooms racing at them in the form of a lot of the Iifa Tree's roots. This is it...Zidane, why were you crazy enough to come back for me? Kuja thought. But just then, a strange thing happened. The roots hit in such a way that there was a temporary dome over them; then there was a flash of light and then he felt the familiar shiver of a magical transport.
If anyone had been there, they would of thought the roots had smashed them both, for that was how it looked from the outside.
Kuja leaned up on one elbow. They seemed to be in some underground cavern. There were more roots along the walls, but they weren't thrashing. At one edge of the room, there was a shelf...and a ball of light. Kuja smiled a bit. He remembered that Garland had mentioned there was something like this that was a way to control the tree. Could that light be what he spoke of? It has to be! he thought. He lay back down; that had taken quite a bit of effort. He realized that he was still dying...slowly. He could feel his strength gradually slipping away, little by little. I'll probably die in a few hours. I don't know how long I have left...
Zidane looked at Kuja. "What the heck happened? Thought we were gonna die there for a second..."
"If I'm not mistaken, I think this is a cavern Garland mentioned to me once. He said, 'There is a light at the heart of the Tree...that can control it, maybe even stop it from destroying both worlds. That is, if someone is willing to step into it and use it...' he mentioned it was hard to find though."
Zidane's eyes widened. "Then I'd better try..."
"NO!!" Kuja cried. "I'm not sure what that will do to you...it might kill you..."
"I have to! My friends may not know about this, but...they wouldn't want Gaia to be destroyed. Neither do I. It would be worth any price..." Before Kuja could say one more word, he'd ran to the light...and disappeared into it. There was a cry, and then silence. Neither did Zidane come out, which worried Kuja a little.
I hope he's okay...Kuja thought. Oh yes, Kuja had been raised among the Genomes, which he'd hated. They were so...cold and hollow, most of them. He hadn't wanted to be associated with those...empty shells. But both him and Zidane were different...If only I could go back in time and do things differently...I'm just no good...Zidane's truly better than me... But it was too late, he knew that. Death was coming and he wished he had more time. He laid his head to one side, sadly.
Just then, there was a flash of blue-green light at the far end of the grotto. A woman stepped out. Kuja couldn't help but stare, for she was unusual. For one, her clothes were of a much older style; it seemed like she had stepped out of an old painting. Second, her green eyes, which were exactly the color of emeralds, were just...not natural. Her white blond hair was pulled back; she appeared to be human. She was carrying a silver bow with crystal tips; there were very few people who used that weapon.
She spotted him, grabbed a silver arrow out of her quiver, and pointed it at Kuja. He heard her mutter something about 'chaos slime should just die'. Wha? I'm not that! He could see her arrows were as unusual as her bow. The shaft of the arrow she had pointed at his chest was silver; the point was either diamond or crystal; and the fletching seemed to be made of spun crystal. Kuja didn't admire it for more than a second, though. He didn't want that arrow in HIM! So he said, "Lady, please don't shoot me. I'm...dying...already...as...it...is.". He knew already he had nothing left to cast a spell to defend himself. He had used almost everything he had to give Zidane and his friends a way out.
She didn't loose the arrow, but she held it back, ready to fire. She snarled, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't, Garland's patsy..."
Kuja's eyes widened, realizing what this lady must be thinking. He said mildly, "I realize now I was wrong. He played me like a puppet on a string because I wanted to destroy him and surpass his power...he tempted me to hunt for great power...to serve him...and cause chaos...even though I wanted to destroy him..."
The lady's eyes widened. She took the tension off the string (she didn't take the arrow off the string, though) and came over to Kuja and inclined her head toward them. She hummed a tune; Kuja felt as if he was being looked at in the most minute way. After a moment, she smiled, sighed with relief, and put the arrow away.
"You're telling the truth. You're as much a victim as Zidane. Worse, as Garland made you think you were doing what you thought was right when you were wrong. On his own head be it, then. I don't have time to deal with you right now, but I will."
She walked toward the light and paused before it. She unstrung her bow and put it in her quiver. Then she raised her right arm and began to sing; it seemed like a call. Kuja summoned as much strength as he could and leaned up on one elbow to get a better look. A great rushing reddish-colored wind blew in. Kuja sensed this was the elemental power of fire. It swirled around her. Then another came in from another direction, this one blue. It was the elemental power of water! Another wind of power, this time green with pinks in in it. Kuja sensed this one was Air. Hot on that one's heels came a brown wind, which was the power of Earth. A dark wind blew in; this was the element of Darkness. Finally, a wind, with crystalline sparkles in it, blew in. This, Kuja sensed, was the power of Holy, or the Spirit element. Kuja was surprised and almost didn't believe what he was sensing; he'd been told that this was impossible, that no one could control all six elements at once without being destroyed.
Then the song she was singing changed. In the whirlwind of power that she was in, he saw a glowing silhouette of a woman, then energy swirled around her, creating a robe. It had long, wide sleeves that went down to her wrists. The robe itself also went down to her ankles. Not only that, it was pure white, including the sash. Her hair came loose and swirled around her face. Then she moved the arm she'd had sticking up to her side, then crossed both arms over her face. A pair of almost transparent bird wings sprouted from her back and covered her face and body, so he could not see her distinctly. A moment passed, then the wings exploded into a thousand feathers. The feathers swirled around her. First thing he noticed was that her ears had changed; they became pointed. Her clothes shifted to a beautiful gown. The glow itself disappeared gradually. It started disappearing from the top of her head first and then rippled down her body, down to her feet. She then removed her arms from her face, while a slight halo of power shimmered around her. She didn't look much different, except...she definitely was no longer human. She was...something else. She now had a very...alien cut of gown on (tho it was one any princess or queen would be proud to own) and had this very thick chain around her neck. Her eyes now also slanted a bit, not to mention the beforementioned pointed ears. Uh oh! Kuja thought. I remember Garland mentioning something about pointy-eared people once. Guardians, that is! He said they were evil...but he was wrong about a lot of things. She could of killed me right there, but she let me live. I'd better just make up my own mind about this, and not let Garland's ghost dictate things...He did say they were very powerful, which I am inclined to believe after this.
She turned away from Kuja and toward the light. She reached for the chain around her neck and sang out two distinct words. It shimmered and changed into a staff, with a star in circle on its top. The first star had a second star that was inside it, but it was blackened and badly crazed. She sighed, muttered something about "needs to be done now, don't know if what little is left of Terra will survive this" and began to sing again; it seemed like another call. The only words that Kuja caught were "woo cavartii di toiana". What is she doing now? Kuja wondered. As the last notes died away, she waited a moment. Then there was an answering call that seemed to be from twelve others. There was a blinding flash of light, and then twelve other people of her kind stood next to her. Six of them were men and six of them were women. The lady that had confronted Kuja bowed and went to one knee.
"Shistk va bixt, Nora. Oi hiok nv tive." one of the others said. She nodded and rose.
"Vesta, shi vaato ti Iifa takv fakt. Ni batov shii!"
The lady that had been addressed as Nora nodded. She raised her staff; the other twelve sang out the same two words that Nora had sung out earlier while grabbing not quite as ornate chains from around their necks; these changed into very simple staves, nowhere near as ornate as Nora's. They all gathered around the pool of light and raised these staves so they touched and pointed at the light. They began to sing. This sounded like a command. There was a soft gasp; Zidane fell out, on his back. They ignored him for the moment and continued the song.
Something began to happen to the light as well; it was beginning to slowly, ever so slowly, change shape somehow. A few minutes passed; the singing was disturbed by a shattering. The inner star on Nora's staff shattered into a thousand pieces and fell on the floor. Still they continued on. Suddenly there was a big flash that blinded Kuja for a second. When the flash cleared the pool of light had been replaced with a crystal tree. Zidane was laying not far from it.
Nora nodded at the other twelve. "Sa, sa. Iv et finbis."
"Sa. Muvis ga. Wua abkt hon?"
"Mmm, miv yv cvahe fiok ba ecgdwb lov lolk?" She motioned toward Kuja.
They seemed to think a moment about the question and discuss it a bit, then one of them said:
"Sa, ek es necuvvaro. De bi. Woku avok tek orhar?"
"Yv toke ma iv. Ga, avd bi boklyssrd bi woo hikarii!!" She bowed.
The twelve then raised their staves, sang a few quick notes, and disappeared.
Nora then came up by Kuja. "Sorry about that, had to ask."
"Ask what? And who were those people?"
"That was the Council Of Twelve, the rulers of my people. I asked them if I could attempt to change your fate so you wouldn't die today..."
Kuja gasped. "You can do that?!" He hoped beyond hope that it was true. If I could only have a little more time...maybe I could atone for what I've done...
"Maybe. But fair warning; I can't extend it for long. You are doomed to die young of seeming old age since Zidane has surpassed you in power; I can't completely change the fact. But I may be able to give you a few more months and a more...peaceful death. If I fail, you're no worse off. I admit I don't quite trust you, but I wouldn't wish a painful death like the one you're facing on my worst enemy."
Kuja nodded and laid back down. He guessed this...person knew what he had done, so it wasn't surprising that she didn't trust him if that was true. Nora hummed, which changed the staff back to the necklace that it had been before. She then pulled up her left sleeve and caught hold of a crystal bangle she was wearing. She hummed again; it shimmered and changed...into a dagger, made completely out of crystal. "Hoped I'd never have to use this again..." she muttered. More loudly she said, "Whatever happens, don't make a sound. I'll do what I can." Kuja nodded. She went to her knees, holding the knife with the blade pointed to her head. She then began to sing softly, as if she was speaking to someone very respectfully. After a moment, the song changed. She got up and began to sing more loudly; something about "Ha mai kamii shii di waa...Mii na kari shari taa". The knife began to glow. She kept singing and moving, as if in a kind of dance. Suddenly it seemed to end; she pointed the tip at Kuja. A ball of light came off the knife and flew toward Kuja. It surrounded him; his strength returned in a flash. It faded and Kuja sat up, then got to his feet.
First, Nora hummed and the dagger turned back into a bangle on her left arm. She then said, "I'm afraid you'll only live to see...and maybe speak...to Zidane one more time. There is a limit to what I can do when someone's life is flickering like a guttering candle. However, I've also changed the manner of your death; you will go to bed one night and not wake up again. It will also be fairly painless."
"What are you going to do about him, anyway? He sacrificed himself..."
Nora shook her head. "No, he still lives, physically at least. However, he is stuck between the lands of life and death, not able to move to either at the moment. Because friends used the Cure spell on him many many times today, I cannot heal him instantly since that method of healing has one similarity to the Cure spell; it uses resorces from the healed one's body. His has been drained to almost nothing; it would kill him to quickly heal him now. In any case, I couldn't call him back. He does not know me...yet." Kuja bowed his head. The brother...I hardly knew and threw away like so much trash. I wish I hadn't now... "Never fear, there is a way, though I hate it. There is a friend of his that you've never met that can give him a chance to come back. It will have to be his choice in the end to live or to die, however. Both are equally likely, but in the most likely future if he reaches that friend, he will live. It is not certain, however. There are many possible futures at this time and it's extremely difficult for me to tell which is correct, only the ones that are the most likely."
"Who is this friend of whom you speak?"
"Well..." She waved one arm in the air and sang out four words. A ray of light shaped itself into...a very odd looking man. His hair was blond and stood pretty much straight up; his eyes were blue with a odd glow to them. The strangest thing was his weapon; it was a sword that was almost as big as he was. It seemed he wouldn't be able to use that at all. "His name is Cloud...he hasn't been on this world in years--not since he went back to his home world six years ago. I'll send Zidane to Cloud's world...that world has technology that can keep Zidane alive long enough to decide if he will live or die."
"Why not just bring Cloud here?"
Nora sighed. "He couldn't help alone. Besides, I promised Cloud I wouldn't bring him here without asking him first; there is no time to do that. It must be done, and quickly. However, I won't leave Zidane without any help at all...not this time..." She turned, sang four words, holding her hands a inch apart. A ball of light formed between them; she carelessly flipped that at Zidane. It was absorbed into his body. What is she up to? Kuja thought. She then started singing something else; whatever she did seemed to stir memories in Kuja. Three sparks of light appeared in her hands, then danced around Zidane; they seemed to melt into him. Kuja decided not to ask exactly what she had done other than the obvious since he didn't think he'd get a clear answer out of her.
She fell silent a few moments, then broke into song once again. Some rags that looked like someone had thrown them out appeared before her. At Nora's song, they turned into a couple of sheets of paper. Writing appeared on them at a horribly fast speed. Kuja got a little closer; they were letters. Before he could read a word, they folded themselves over. A strip of sealing wax flew out of nowhere. The end melted, dripping on first one, then the other letter. One note later, and a starred seal was pressed into the wax. Then they turned around. On one, the name Cloud appeared; "Zidane" appeared on the other one. Her song changed; some small cloth bags filled to the brim with something appeared and landed next to Zidane. Then she touched the chain around her neck and once again sang out the two distinct words. It changed into the staff again. She then touched Zidane's cheek. "Forgive me for not asking your permission first.", she murmured.
She then straightened up, raised that staff, and began to sing one more time. It seemed like a call. A second voice answered and began to harmonize with Nora; a glow began to form under Zidane. It changed to blue green, and then he...along with the letters and the bags...melted into it, disappearing.
"There, that part has ended for the moment.", she said. "One more thing I must do and then I can rest for a time."
"What is it?" Maybe I can help if she's willing...after all, I have a lot to atone for...
It had not been the best of mornings. First off, Cloud, Tifa, and Vincent were training outside when Loki, Cloud and Tifa's youngest, had wandered into that area of the yard (Which was fenced anyway), which was off limits with good reason. Tifa had spotted Loki before anything bad happened and grabbed him with a "No! You don't come in here!" Like the two year old he was, Loki had a temper tantrum about it. Tifa had hauled him inside to deal with the tantrum. So Cloud had started wacking on the pell. Vincent continued to shoot at a target (he'd just been visiting).
Suddenly, Vincent dropped the gun, grabbed his head with his one real arm, and cried out, "Uh, oh, Ahh!" Then he transformed into Chaos, and his clothes (very uncharacteristic of him, Cloud knew) tore into shreds. Cloud saw the whole thing out of one corner of an eye and heard the roar. Uh oh, that's bad., Cloud thought. What if Arella, our sweet four-year old, comes out? I'd better stop him fast!
Cloud quickly grabbed a net made out of myrthil cables he had lying around (he'd thought this might happen, though he liked Vincent) and threw it over Chaos, doing his best to keep Chaos from flying away. Chaos fought; Cloud stubbornly dug in his heels and held the net down. Chaos managed to get one arm/hand out and claw Cloud's leg--just as Cloud saw Tifa poke her head out of the house. The next minute, she ran out with a big bowl; she threw the contents at Chaos/Vincent. Some of it got on Cloud; it was icy water from the fridge!
Chaos shook himself, and then said "Wha...oh shit..." in the usual voice that kind of sounded like Vincent, only deeper, that Chaos used.
Cloud let go of the net. "Did you have to do that?"
Tifa shrugged. "That's supposed to work on people that faint. Thought since Vincent's mind was kinda knocked out enough that he was attacking you, it would work here, too..."
Chaos/Vincent nodded. "It worked. Thanks, needed that Tifa." He got the net off and shook himself. "It's gonna be hell to replace those clothes, though..."
"You'd better get in the basement before you change back." Cloud said. "Tifa, will you go to the spare room and go get a new set out of Vincent's pack and leave them in the basement?" Tifa nodded and went back in the house. To Chaos/Vincent, he asked, "Why is it going to be so much trouble to replace them?"
Chaos/Vincent sighed. "I have to get those made out of a special material that's really expensive...it's made out of a certain kind of unstable molecules that respond to thought..."
Cloud nodded. "Gotcha. Hey, why'd you transform like that anyway?"
"It happened pretty suddenly. I felt a lot of terrible pain and a scream in my head; next thing I remember was the cold drench. The scream was something like, "Why? Do people really have that much will to live? And why can't I ever win!?" Then whatever it was died and something inside me just...shattered."
"It's okay, Vincent. I think...Zidane won, it's over for good. Remember...six years ago, what I warned you about?"
Chaos/Vincent nodded. "Yeah...you mean it's happened?" He cocked his head, considering that. "Right now, I feel like a great weight has suddenly been yanked off me; the pressure is finally off. I think you're right, Zidane and his friends did it. By the way, did I hurt you?" He pointed at Cloud's clawed leg. Cloud nodded.
"It's not bad, and you weren't in your right mind...."
"Doesn't matter. Soon as I get dressed and can get at my materia, I'll Cure that. It's my fault for coming here..."
Cloud gently touched Chaos's/Vincent's arm. "Don't beat on yourself like that. I'm not afraid of you in either guise, even when you startle me by coming up from behind me after dark. Besides, could've been worse. This might've happened while you were wandering; no telling how much damage you'd of done then, with no Tifa to throw ice water at you."
Chaos/Vincent nodded and shuddered. "You're right, Cloud. But I'll still Cure that." He headed for the basement door. After a moment (and after he picked up the forgotten practice weapon, which he had dropped early on), Cloud leisurely followed, knocking first to make sure that Vincent had changed back and changed clothes. He had. It didn't take long for Vincent to find his Cure materia and use a cure spell on Cloud. Then they went inside.
A couple of hours passed fairly peacefully, only marred by yet another of Loki's temper tantrums (this time, it was Tifa wouldn't let him play with a cookie sheet she wanted to use to bake cookies on).
Cloud and Vincent were in the living room playing a game of chess when suddenly there was a surprised and shocked cry from the kitchen. It was Tifa.
"What the?" Cloud said, nodded to Vincent, and then they both ran into the kitchen, leaving the unfinished game on the table. Tifa was standing so she was facing away from the stove. She was looking a bit shocked. The reason was apparent once they came in. On the floor, lying face down, was Zidane...and he hadn't been there before. His clothes were a mess. Cloud went over to Zidane, patted one shoulder, and called to him; Zidane didn't even react. Cloud then carefully turned Zidane on his back, placed his head so one cheek was near Zidane's face, and started feeling around on his neck for a pulse. In a moment, he stood up.
"His heart's still beating and he's still breathing...but he looks dead. Tifa, what happened?"
"I'd just put the cookies in the oven; there was a flash, and then..." She pointed at Zidane. "He appeared along with these..." She showed him some cloth bags, full of rocks or something, and two letters...one of them had Cloud's name on it! Cloud took that one away from Tifa and undid the wax seal; then he read it. After he finished, he folded it over and muttered, "Nora, why?" He shook his head, sighed, and said, "We'd better get Reeve...we're gonna need a doctor. One that won't talk even if you pried his jaws open."
Tifa's eyes widened. "Why?"
"Nora said in that letter that he's 'caught between the lands of life and death'; I think that means we need a doctor...I hope Zidane's gonna be okay..."
Tifa nodded. "I understand, Cloud. You and him were good friends while you were there, right?"
Cloud nodded. "What's in those bags?"
Tifa opened one and dumped it out. It was full of gems and gold! Cloud laughed.
"That Guardian isn't dumb! Bet she knows we're gonna have to get the doctor...and doctors cost money. Gil wouldn't work, since the gil found there is different than ours..."
Vincent chuckled as well, which was a rare thing for him. "Heh.", he finished with. Tifa grabbed the phone and called Reeve at the office with a quick nod. After a minute, he must of picked up, for she said, "Hello? Reeve? We got a problem here. Do you know a doctor that'll make house calls and'll be totally discreet?" A pause; then she said, "No, I don't wanna talk about it. Mmm-hmm...mmm-hmm. Just a sec, lemme get some paper and a pen..." She put the reciver down and ran into the living room quickly. She came back with a piece of scratch paper and a pen. "Okay, got it." She wrote some stuff down, then said, "Thanks, Reeve. Sorry to bother you." Another pause and then: "Okay, bye." She hung up. Then she grabbed the paper and began to dial.
By the time the doctor had gotten there, Cloud had carefully carried Zidane's limp body to the spare bedroom. Vincent had said he was going to sleep on the couch for now; he thought Zidane needed the bed worse than him. Cloud hadn't protested overmuch; they really had only one spare room. Tifa led the doctor up the stairs into the room. The doctor examined Zidane over carefully and did some tests, then he sighed. He then said, "Goodness. I think I know what this is." He pointed at one of Zidane's arms, which had bruised very mysteriously when Cloud had carried Zidane upstairs. Cloud had sworn he hadn't banged Zidane into anything. "My guess is it's cure shock."
Cloud started in surprise. "Cure shock?!"
The doctor nodded. "And a bad case too. From what I can tell, he's somehow been thrown into a coma...he'll need to go to the hospital..."
"Please, no if you can avoid it." Cloud said. "Let's just say...Zidane here would be rather upset if he woke up there...he might throw a fit..."
The doctor nodded. "You think it would be better for him to stay here?" Cloud nodded. "I think it would be possible to bring the hospital to him instead of the other way around. I'll arrange it." Cloud nodded.
As the weeks passed, Cloud kept his eye on Zidane when he could. He also fought for Zidane with the doctor...some things he and the nurses wanted to do Cloud was dead sure that Zidane wouldn't like. Often when he was home, he sat by Zidane's bedside, talking to him, hoping he'd come out of it.
Tifa was very understanding through the whole thing, thank goodness. When Cloud had first gotten back and she'd found out about the episode, she'd grilled him about it; consequently, she knew exactly how Cloud felt about Zidane. Because of that, she stayed out of it and supported him the whole way.
Cloud kept hoping Zidane would wake up sometime...he didn't want to have to go to Gaia with bad news...