| Answers to a question may be closer than you think. The only problem is finding them. -Dragon�s Words; vol. 1, pg. 6 Part 48 [What happened to you?] [Trance,] I answered simply. [And what about Zidane?] [I don�t know. He�s in Trance too, but somehow he changed into a dragon. He made a quick mention earlier about that being where my skin had gone.] [You mean what you were asking me about in Lindblum?] [Precisely.] He fell silent for a while. [What do you know of the royal family about . . . one-hundred d-age ago?] [Just about nothing.] [Tell me what you know,] he coaxed. [I know that it was a huge family that was almost totally one of empresses. The runt of the final clutch was the only emperor hatchling. When he was somewhere around four d-age he disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. One of the meaner sisters was convicted of killing him and was banished from Swiftwing.] [Is that it?] [Well, I heard a rumor that an aide found his body washed up on a beach on the surface . . . but that was just a rumor.] [That rumor is true. They did find his body, though it wasn�t an aide. It was the queen. He was alive still, but he couldn�t do anything on his own.] I felt a shiver run down my spine. [What do you mean?] [I mean that he was a shell. He had everything he needed to be alive, but he just wouldn�t--or couldn�t--function without someone leading him there and giving him instructions. He was a . . . a . . . a zombie. They finally slayed him because no one was making progress.] [But---] [A physician wrote it down that he had no soul left in him. He had no soul, Kitiane. His eyes reflected nothing that may�ve been inside him. He was empty.] [No soul? But that�s impossible!] [Evidently not.] [Hang on. Why are you asking and telling me this?] We reached the Lost Continent, cutting our discussion short. Esto Gaza was a strange place and it was cold. By the time we were about to go in, Zidane had dropped out of Trance and was checking over his wing. � Kiti, is my wing okay?� I did a small check of my own. � It�s still a bit weak. Don�t open it suddenly or use it at all if you can help it.� � All right.� He entered the only building there and went straight up to a human who appeared to be the priest of the temple. � Did a guy come through here a while ago?� The priest burst into this lecture about respect and the Shimmering Island and totally ignored his question. � Look old man,� Zidane snapped, � I just want to know if a man came through here with a girl, a baby dragon, two jesters, and a bunch of black mages!� [I do believe this is one of the few times it�s good that he has no respect for anyone but himself,] Tiovex murmured to me. We stood just outside the doorway, peering in. � . . . Yes.� � Where did they go?� The priest didn�t answer and Garnet turned, motioning for us to come in and exert some power of suggestion over him. Tiovex entered silently and sat beside Zidane, staring intently at the priest. The priest swallowed, but still refused to say anything. I entered and sat directly in front of the priest, glaring up at him. The priest gasped and made some kind of religious symbol in the air between us. � The White One! The Cursed Dragon!� I narrowed my eyes. � That�s right!� I hissed angrily. � Now you better tell us what we need to know or I�ll put a curse to last an eternity on this place!� The priest was very helpful after that, telling us every little detail he knew. Zidane headed up the stairs. � Come on, Kiti! Curse him later if it�ll make you feel better! Right now we have to get Eiko and Vanel!� I chased him up the stairs and into Mount Gulug as Trance finally faded. The place was an old abandoned mine and the floor was collapsed and rotted just about everywhere. I flew, not trusting it. Tiovex, however, happily stomped along at the tail of the group. His foot plunged through the wood several times and all he would do was say � Oops!�, pull his foot out of the hole, and keep going. We finally came upon the spot where Zorn and Thorn were attempting to extract Eidolons from Eiko. Kuja held a snarling, raging Vanel on a chain nearby. I immediately dove toward them, zipping just over Kuja�s head so that he would release Vanel. Vanel leapt over to the twins and knocked them away from Eiko, who slowly recovered and sat up woozily. Vanel stood in front of Eiko, snarling and hissing and being a perfect display of fury. The twins, however, were not impressed even when Mog appeared from nowhere and began to bother them. There was a brief fight, but Mog (who had disappeared somehow) told Eiko to call Madeen. She did so and the fight was over. But Kuja had to poke his nose into it and make some comment that apparently had no relevance to the situation. � Of course, they�re not really twins at all . . .� Then it all became clear as Zorn and Thorn melded into one being. Meltigemini. I�d heard that it�d been sealed up for hundreds of years because it didn�t quite have all its grimlocks in a row, if you get what I�m saying. Hmph. They don�t make seals like they used to . . . Tiovex landed on Eiko�s other side and she smiled. � Good! I�m glad you�re here!� � The others are coming,� we assured her. Vanel finally quit being so violent when she realized Meltigemini didn�t give a hoot. [Why can�t something just be afraid of me for once? Just once?] <--Part 47 Part 49--> |