| It has always been best to rest before a big event. Who knows if or when you will have another chance? -Dragon�s Words; vol. 5, pg. 42 Part 55 Ipsen�s Castle was odd. The weakest weapons in our inventory had to be equipped or they did absolutely no damage. Or at least not enough to matter. Of course, I didn�t have to worry about that, but it�s still important to know. I can�t say much more about the place other than it was one of the strangest castles I�ve ever been in. The mirrors were even stranger and as Zidane read the inscription in each one out loud, I tried to match them up with a place in the world. Fire and Earth were pretty easy to guess; I knew of a semi-active volcano northeast of Esto Gaza and there was a place on the Outer Continent that had perpetual earthquakes. Wind was a bit more difficult, but I remember a place with high winds emitting from a cave. Water was most difficult; I couldn�t even hazard a guess. � You three stay here.� [What?!] Tiovex and I cried, leaping to our feet. � Stay here and keep Vanel from following me.� [I�m not stupid,] Vanel grumbled. � No, you�re not. You�re stubborn. And I know you�ll follow me even if I tell you not to.� Vanel declined to answer, prefering to turn her back on him and humph in anger and worry. Zidane sighed and knelt, scooping her up and petting her. � I�m sorry, Vanel, but I need you here.� [Why?] [If Kuja attacks,] he whispered, glancing at the others who waited nearby, [I want to know I have the best protecting everyone, okay?] [Flattery will get you everywhere.] Zidane rolled his eyes. � Except with you.� He set her down. � I�m sorry, but I know we�ll all be okay. I mean, they�re just Element Guardians. How tough could they be?� I snorted. [Watch your tongue. The Elements are strong. Remember what the wind did to your wing.] � Yeah, but that was the actual element.� [The guardian controls the element. Watch yourself.] � Okay.� We waited for a little over an hour and went through three of Vanel�s declarations to go look for whoever was in the nearest shrine before Zidane returned. She was on him in a second, telling him how much she had worried and other such things. Zidane looked at me. � You�re appearing anti-social.� I shook my head. [I knew you could do it. It was only a matter of time.] � I appreciate your confidence.� The twittering in my stomach gentled to a buzz as we retrieved the others. The buzz finally died to nothing once Garnet and Eiko, the last to be picked up, had returned unscathed. Or relatively unscathed. They all had scratches. � Shimmering Island is next,� Zidane reported. � Everyone should get some rest.� � You will too, right?� Garnet stressed, familiar with Zidane�s way of forgetting to rest (though I don�t know how that�s possible) or blatantly ignoring fatigue to do something else. � Of course.� � I�ll make sure he does,� I assured her. She nodded and left with the others. Zidane wandered around a bit to check on everything and then, yawning, went down to the bunk room and entered. He laid down for a while, but then snorted and got up, stumbling tiredly over to my corner and laying with me, his head on my spiny shoulder. He fell asleep almost right away and I placed my head on the small of his back in a comforting, reassuring way. I woke to whispers and just listened, knowing it was only the others. � That�s so cute.� Eiko. � It�s adorable.� Garnet. The rest of the comments were similar, except for Amarant, who grumbled something about a baby in a man�s body. [Wake up, Kitiane,] Tiovex urged softly. [We�ve reached the Shimmering Island.] I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Zidane, feeling the large intake of air, mimicked my waking breath and stretched where he lay. He rubbed at his eyes and blinked sleepily. � . . . Huh? Why�s everybody up so early? Don�t we still have a few more hours to sleep?� To the laughter of the others, I replied, [No, Ziaden. We�re at the Shimmering Island. Unless you�re not going, you should probably get up.] He yawned and got to his feet. � Okay,� he murmured tiredly. � I�m awake.� Erin slowed the Hilda Garde 3 as a tornado-type funnel of color swirled from the island. As the airship got closer, crew members started reporting bad readings. Tiovex and I nodded at each other and dashed out onto the deck, leaping over the rail and flying closer with extreme caution. �What are you doing?!� �We�re checking ahead,� I answered calmly, hoping to calm him. �Come back!� �We�ll be just fine, Ziaden. We won�t get close enough to get pulled in.� That was a bit of a lie, however, because we were getting sucked in, but it wasn�t too strong for us to get away. The airship sped up slightly and overtook us. We took the hint and landed on the deck where the others stood. Zidane gave us a scolding in front of everyone, threatening to clip our wing membrane if we tried anything like that again. The Hilda Garde 3 entered the spiral and it lifted everyone on deck upward. All of us who had them spread our wings and let the whirlwind current carry us across worlds. We landed in a dark, foreboding realm. We were here. Terra. <--Part 54 Part 56--> |