| Extreme measures must often be taken for those who will not listen. -Dragon�s Words; vol. 7, pg. 66 Part 60 � You are a menace,� Steiner put in, � but not in the way you are making yourself out to be.� � Whatever, Rusty.� � You have never killed anything or anyone that hasn�t deserved it, Zidane,� Garnet said gently. � I�m sure it�s happened indirectly because of me.� They all stared at me. I tried my hand. � Zidane, you better quit holding yourself back. I�m tired of your griping and moaning about being created and being a killer. I�m absolutely sick of it. You�re playing along exactly as Garland wants you to. You�re degrading yourself and breaking yourself down so he can pick up the pieces and put you back together so you will be his slave again. And if Kuja catches you like this, he�ll kill you.� � Good. It�s about time somebody wanted me dead.� I all but slammed him down onto his feet. He would�ve collapsed, had I not been holding him up. His tail laid out on the floor as though it were dead. I bared my fangs and snarled right in his face, making him draw back weakly. � How dare you, boy! If it had not been for me, you would�ve been dead before the day was through! I have put my life on hold for sixteen years! I have stopped time for sixteen years! I have turned the world upside-down, and I have done it all for you! How dare you take such gifts and toss them aside as though they weren�t worth half a gil, you ungrateful brat! How dare you!� His eyes flashed angrily. He shoved me back, stumbling backwards himself, and yelled, � What do you know?! You have no idea what it feels like to find out that your whole life has been nothing but a damn lie!� Somehow, his anger triggered a magical reflection of some kind. The spell hiding his wings shattered and turned me into a human. � You have no idea what it�s like to find out that you�re just a toy to be used and then thrown away!� � Then give me an idea!� I shouted back. � Tell me why it�s making you act this way! You�ve never kept anything from me before, so why are you starting now when everything�s so vilely twisted and everyone is out to get you?! I thought I was your mother, your ally! Not some thrice-damned spy!� Part of a puzzle seemed to fix itself in his head. His previously angry eyes became shiny and tears tracked slowly down his face. He took two steps forward just before his legs gave out. I caught him and knelt on the floor, stroking his soft blond hair. My wings spread out and around, encompassing even his wings, and drew him an inch or two closer. � I . . . I�m sorry . . .� he sobbed. � I�m just . . . so scared . . .� I soothed him as best I could, knowing he wouldn�t hear half of what I was saying over all the noise he was making. � It�s all right, Ziaden. It�s all right to be afraid. But we�re not your enemies. We�ll protect you. Garland will never get his hands on you as long as we�re around, I promise.� There were nods from the others, even though Zidane wasn�t looking at them. � Trust us just as we trust you. In this world we can only rely on each other.� He quieted and I thought he�d fallen asleep, but then he pulled away to look me in the eye and smiled through his tears. � You�re right.� He scrubbed at his eyes rather clumsily, so I pushed his hand aside and brushed the tears away. � Let�s go save Tiovex.� I nodded and let him go. He got to his feet, not as shaky as before, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before running off down the walkway. Pausing at the far end, he turned and gestured for us to follow. � Come on! Are you guys gonna stand there all day? We have a friend to rescue!� I shook off my surprise and followed, breaking the spell over myself and recasting the Vanish spell on Zidane�s wings. Until the right time, neither Garland nor Kuja could know of them and I intended to keep them a secret. We came out into an open room to find Garland standing over Tiovex, who looked dead already. I bounded forward, snarling, and grabbed Tiovex�s horns, dragging him away from the human. Vanel, Eiko, Garnet, and I began healing work as soon as we�d gotten him behind ally lines. He woke a bit later, exhausted and still half dead. [Am I in heaven?] [Not hardly. Unless you�d call a hellhole like Pandemonium �heaven�. Why?] [I was just wondering, because I�m being seen to by all these beautiful ladies. Made me a tad curious, is all.] Gelgameth appeared in his line of sight. [Whoa, hold on a minute. Backwing, here. You aren�t a girl.] [No, Sire, I�m not.] [What are you doing here? I thought I told you to watch Swiftwing for me.] [An urgent message from Regent Cid of Lindblum.] [Oh? Could you give it to me later? We�re in a bit of trouble right now.] [Of course, Sire.] Tiovex carefully stood, then shook, staggering for a moment when he was through. [Whoops! Have another shot, Hariq.] There was a roar as that silver dragon landed in front of Garland. Tiovex stumbled forward a step. [That bastard is going to die for taunting me like he did!] [Oh, shut up,] I snorted. [You couldn�t kill a newborn hatchling in the state you�re in.] [Watch me!] He skittered toward it. [Moron!] I cried, following him. Gelgameth and Vanel trailed after me and we lined up, taking to the sky to be closer and more prepared for battle. It wasn�t that difficult a battle, to be honest, because the silver dragon was only a stupid ground dragon. Next was Garland. After helping Gelgameth bodily shove Tiovex to a safe-ish area, I turned and ran back to help. Zidane mentally turned to me often for guidance and I�d do the best I could. �Now what?� I frowned. �I don�t know. A Trance would be nice, I suppose.� He rolled his eyes. �Yeah, pick something I can�t do on my own.� Just then, there was a group attack and my suggestion was brought to life. Zidane chuckled nastily. �Well, you got what you wanted.� �And out of you, no less. Two miracles in one.� �Tsh. Right.� He fixed his unwavering gaze on Garland. � Die, asshole!� <--Part 59 Part 61--> |