| There is always a certain pride one can take in themselves, as long as it doesn�t get out of control. -Dragon�s Words; vol. 4, pg. 30 Part 53 � . . . Mother?� He sat sideways, half-dressed and hair askew, looking for all the world like a child who just had a nightmare. [Yes?] I asked groggily, wondering what he could possibly be doing up at the unholy hour of three-thirty a.m. � Can I stay with you?� [Why?] There wasn�t a lot of room where I was. I was going to need a damn good reason to make me scoot over. � Something�s wrong. I had a dream, but I can�t remember it very clearly.� I shifted back a few inches. [Okay. Lay down. Tell me what you do remember.] He snuggled against me and sighed. � All I remember is this world where everyone had a tail. Just like me. It looked so different from Gaia . . . it scared me. I saw Kuja and he was showing me around, telling me what everything was and what it symbolized. He was speaking in a weird language, like the one those holograms at Oeilvert used, but I could understand every word he said. I can�t recall exactly what he was talking about, but it was apparently about the entire world.� People with tails? Like his? Maybe Zidane wasn�t a dragon after all. Maybe he was from that other world and everyone there had a tail, just like all Summoners had a horn (Garnet�s was removed, if you forgot). And his wings? Maybe they were just a show of age or strength. [I don�t know what to say, Ziaden. However, I can say that wherever that other world is, you won�t be going there alone. If you decide to go at all.] � You think it�s Terra?� [I do.] � Okay.� He nuzzled closer. � That�s what I thought too.� I waited until he was asleep before dozing off myself. [ . . . My my. You spoil that boy, Kitiane.] I looked up at Tiovex, not realizing what he was talking about. [What?] He nodded at my chest. [Look.] I did so, watching Zidane sleep as peacefully as one who�d just had a strange dream could. [So? He had a dream about Terra. At least, I think it was Terra.] Then I stared at Tiovex. [And you want . . .?] Tiovex opened another family book and flipped around momentarily. Finding the picture, he held the book out toward me. [Look at what I found while I was searching for other leads like Ziaden�s.] I gave the violet emperor--whose horns were hardly curled over themselves, proving that he was still a dragonling--a cursory glance and then read the name there, drawing back in surprise. [Sovereign Ajuk Cecin VI? Who�s he?] [Rearrange the letters of his name until you get one you recognize.] [Ajuk . . . Juka . . . Ukaj . . . Kaju . . .] It hit me right then. [Kuja?!] Tiovex closed the book in my face, spraying dust all over me. [It seems that Ziaden wasn�t the only victim. According to record, Ajuk disappeared when he was five d-age and was found on the surface a year later. Completely mindless. He had no control over himself, it seemed. His eyes looked glassy and they were always unfocused. They finally killed him . . .] [Just like Ziaden,] I concluded. [So there�s a pattern?] [So it seems. There were dozens of other dragons who experienced the same thing, but only Ziaden and Ajuk have any true relevance to our situation.] [Are you telling me that Kuja is really Ajuk�s soul in a human�s body just like Ziaden?] [Correct.] Tiovex held up a taloned finger. [Notice, Kitiane. Whoever took their souls did nothing more than switch around the letters in their names. As though they expected no one else to find out.] [If they expected no one to find out, they would�ve left the names the same. I think what the soul stealer was trying to do was keep the project from discovering the truth.] [Hm. You may be right.] [So might you. We will never know until the culprit is found.] We talked for a while longer and I finally noticed Zidane�s shivering and murmuring. At first I thought he was just having another dream, but he began to tremble constantly as though he were cold. I stroked his hair back to feel his forehead. Humans are so frail . . . [What�s the matter?] [He has a temperature.] [What from?] [If I knew that, he wouldn�t be like this.] I laid Zidane out on his bed and ran a few more tests on his temperature. [Is there anything you need?] [Ice.] [I�ll be right back.] Tiovex disappeared, returning with a strange drawstring bag that made a crackling noise when it moved. [Here. Make sure it doesn�t tip over or everything will spill.] I took the bag and placed it carefully on Zidane�s forehead. He moaned in pain or relief--I couldn�t tell which--and woke slightly. � Mother?� [Yes?] � I�m cold.� [That�s probably the ice.] � No. All over. I feel like I�m freezing up.� I laid beside him. [I�m sorry, Ziaden. I�ve done all I can for now. But I will not leave this bed until you�re better.] � Thank you.� [I�m your mother, Ziaden. You need not thank me.] � Yeah, but you don�t have to stay.� [It doesn�t matter that I don�t have to. I want to and I�m going to.] For the next two days he drifted in and out of sleep, usually complaining of being cold. One night, around two in the morning, his fever broke and his shifting woke me. I removed the ice and tiredly tucked the blankets around him again, then curled up and sang until he fell asleep. <--Part 52 Part 54--> |