Chapter 4: A Summon's Dire Message

"D - Did Cal go outside?' asked Eiko somewhatt timidly.

"Maybe the door was ajar," Zentarou reasoned, "and he thought someone went outside, perhaps to enter at a side door. That might explain how he found us so fast."

"But then why leave his sphere?" asked Zidane. "He was winning, so there's no reason for him to leave the game."

"Maybe he went outside to think. Lets look," Freya suggested. "After all, he couldn't have gone far." The group headed outside.

A beautiful crescent moon hung in the sky and was reflected over the water, stars twinkling brightly. The friends scattered to look for Cal, calling out his name, but after fifteen minutes of intense searching they'd found nothing.

"I'm worried," Vivi confessed when they'd gathered back at the castle entrance. "Surely he wouldn't have gone into town."

"I asked the boat guard," Beatrix said. "He'd seen no one." Elfalon suddenly mewled.

/I found a scent!/ He tracked it to a point out in the open, then stopped. /It's stopped. But - he can't teleport, or fly can he/

"No, he can't." Vivi's expression was dark. Garnet suddenly beamed.

"I know! I'll summon Ramuh. He's the wisest of the Eidolons, so maybe he'll be able to help." They all stood behind her, as she called upon the Eidolon. In a flash, Ramuh stood before them.

"I know what you seek, so listen well," he said instantly. "All things return to that of which they are made. It is the natural balance and cycle of life. Your son it being reverted back to his natural components, and in forty-eight hours shall be nothing but Mist, in the form of a new, familiar enemy. Find you now the castle that flies on the shoulders of demons. There in the west is what you seek." And just as abruptly he was gone, leaving all puzzled.

"I don't understand," Nicara finally said. "Of course everything reverts. People are buried when they die, and then break down into natural elements." Vivi abruptly sat down with a moan.

"Vivi?" asked Zentarou, alarmed.

"No... not Calan..." He looked up at the others. "Black Mages are made of Mist. That's what Rahmu said we revert to."

"So wherever Calan is, he's dying?" Garnet sounded understandably alarmed.

"Worse." Vivi's shoulder's trembled. "Rahmu said 'a new, familiar enemy.' How can it be both? New, as in Cal never was our enemy before, and familiar in that we've seen this type of enemy, battled them, before." The Gaia heroes all turned pale, not wanting to believe it, yet understanding all too clearly. The Black Mage choked out a sob. "Whoever's taken him, they're going to turn him into a Black Mage puppet!"

oooooooooooooooo

Author's Post-Note: This is just to give credit to my husband, who gave me Ramuh's answer. He's good at that, isn't he?