Disclaimer: If you believe I own FFIX, then you're beyond all hope.
AN: I was going to take down this story. I seriously was. I had only gotten ONE review, and I got no joy from that. It was only telling me to write longer chapters when I just write until I get to a certain point and stop. It's not my fault if they're too short for you. At the time I was thinking, did no one like my chapter!? Then a few days ago…came this story's salvation. Ookami no Anubis. Thank you so much for reviewing. I'm glad you love my story when I had but all lost hope. The chapter is dedicated to you so you can read more. I hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry about the delay.
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I watched as the boy's eyes fluttered open. He sat up.
"Wha?" he murmured groggily.
"You guys are lucky." I sighed.
Vivi looked at me dazedly.
"We are?" he asked.
"If we didn't have some medicine on hand, you'd all be dead. Some of the monsters in this forest reproduce by planting seeds in other animals. And when the seeds sprout, it's hasta la vista: you become beef jerky."
I didn't want to scare the kid, but he shouldn't have the facts kept back from him.
Vivi trembled. "Um…A-Am I gonna die?"
I grinned, "No. As long as you drink this, you'll be fine. Here."
I handed him the purple vial. He drank it hastily.
"Ugh...eeyuck…"
I had to chuckle at his disgust. "You expected it to taste like candy?"
"No, but…I didn't think it'd be that bad!" Vivi stuck out his tongue as if trying to air it out.
Mikane stumbled into the room.
"Cursed plant things…I hate not being able to walk straight and the antidote is repulsive!" she muttered.
I offered her a hand that she accepted gratefully. I helped her over to the bed Vivi was sitting on.
"You feeling better, Vivi?" Mikane grinned.
He nodded. "Yes…thank you, Miss Mikane for saving me."
"I believe that's the first time someone's ever called me miss," Mikane laughed, "Just call me Mikane, okay?"
"Okay…Mikane."
I smiled at the chatting pair and left. There was something I needed to speak with Baku about…
I headed up the stairs. Baku would probably be there. And there he was.
"Baku?"
"Yeah?" came the gruff reply.
"It's about the princess. She's still out in the forest. Do you think I could take Mikane and—"
"Forget it," Baku interrupted, "Monster born out of mist are crawlin' everywhere."
"But we wouldn't—"
"If you and Mikane, my best fighters, get wounded, how are the wounded supposed to be carried safely out of here? You would have to cover us. Going out there now would be suicide. My boys come before the princess, you know. It's too bad…"
I felt my anger rise. Not that I was in love with the princess or anything but she didn't seem like a bad girl and hadn't done anything wrong.
"So we're just going to let her be eaten!?" I demanded.
"We're gonna stay put 'til everyone recovers. You better not set one foot outside this ship. You got that!?" Baku growled.
I stomped back to Vivi's room, not even dignifying Baku with an answer. He was such a blockhead! Couldn't Baku see it would be a simple rescue?
Mikane was waiting for me, arms crossed. Vivi stood behind her, staring at us curiously.
"Let me guess," she nodded wisely, "you faced off 'King Baku' and he put the order on ya. 'No leaving the ship!' Right?"
I grumbled a yes.
"But what about the princess? What if…what if she gets hurt?" Vivi asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, Vivi. I'll get her back. I promise you." Mikane said, trying to cheer him up.
"Me too," I added.
"Thank you, guys," he smiled and went back to rest on the bed.
We walked outside the room. Mikane closed the door quietly.
"Y'know…" she confessed, "I don't know if I should've made that promise. I don't even know if I'll find her!"
I nodded in agreement.
"But he looked so worried and sad," she continued, "I just wanted to make him feel better. Do you know if he even has anyone to go back to after we get out of here?"
"No."
"I don't think he does. All alone…he should have a family. I mean, he's just a kid! I went through the whole child aloneness thing and I'll tell you, it wasn't fun."
I stopped and stared at her. I hadn't known that. Mikane never talked about her childhood if she could help it. I knew that at the moment she was babbling, like she always did when nervous.
"You were alone?"
Mikane seemed to realize she let something slip.
"Yeah…" she sighed finally, "I don't have any memory of my early childhood and I've never found my family."
Her eyes took on a dreamy cast.
"But I believe they're out there somewhere. And someday…I'll find them!"
With a grin, Mikane ran ahead, going to check on the knight. I followed, thinking about what she said.
"PRINCESS!!!" Steiner groaned in the locked room.
Mikane peered through the window.
"He's unconscious." She reported.
"Then what do we do now?" I asked.
Mikane paused, then brightened.
"Let's go tell Baku we're leaving no matter what he says!" she cheerfully suggested.
"What!?" I gaped.
"We have to find the princess; we promised Vivi. And I think Rusty would kill us if we let her die." She added, unconcerned.
"But-But…just going up to the boss and SAYING that to him!?"
"Sure. Why not? We'll take Vivi and Rusty with us."
I shook my head.
"Mikane, you just like to flirt with danger, don't you?"
"Naw…" Mikane smiled slyly, tail waving, "Just you, hon."
She kissed me on the cheek and dashed off. I stared where she had gone.
"Huh…What…???" I babbled.
After a few minutes of standing frozen, I decided to go after her. What she said didn't really register in my mind. Who knew what my friend was thinking. Crazy as heck, who could predict what she would do next? I shook my head to clear my thoughts and ran through the left door.
When I entered Baku's room, he and Mikane were arguing. It was one of those meaningless arguments. Mikane was the only person who could pull Boss into one.
"OH YEAH!!??" he roared.
"YEAH!!!" she shouted back.
"REALLY!!??"
"YEAH!!!"
"OH YEAH!!??"
"YEAH!!!"
Seeing this was going nowhere fast, I interrupted.
"Um—"
"SHUT UP, BLANK!!!!" Baku ignored me.
"YEAH!!!" repeated Mikane.
"Mikane—"
"YEAH!!!"
I rapped her smartly on the head.
"Hello, broken record? We have business here, remember?"
She frowned.
"I was getting to that!!"
I wasn't fooled. "No you weren't."
"Okay…maybe it slipped my mind." She confessed.
She turned to Baku.
"Boss, we're snatching the black mage and rusty knight and gonna go get the princess."
"WHAT!!??" he bellowed.
"Bye!"
She started to leave, but Baku yanked her back by her tail. I winced, that had to hurt. She screeched.
"&$#&#!!!!!"
I gaped. I had NO IDEA what she had just said. Was it even Gaian?
"You're not leaving so easy—" Baku started to say, but Mikane, furious, rammed the hilt of one of her daggers into his head.
Baku fell like a rock.
"NO ONE," she hissed, "TOUCHES THE TAIL."
I found myself agreeing as I made a mental note. Never tick Mikane off.
"Blank. Come." She ordered, purposely stomping on Baku's head as she left.
Very disturbed by her mood, I followed without another word. She kicked open Steiner's cell/room door. He looked up and I noticed he was holding Cinna's Garnet doll. Mikane, also seeing this, smirked.
"Playing with dollies? Steiner, I'm ashamed of you."
Steiner seemed outraged.
"Silence! A scoundrel like you could never understand! I'm just…" Steiner paused. "…overwhelmed with concern for the princess! If only you rogues hadn't kidnapped her...This is all your fault! If anything should happen to the princess, I will have your head!"
"Geez. Temper, temper, Rusty." She laughed. "And to think I was gonna take you along to look for Garnet."
Steiner totally lost his head.
"RR…RUSTY!!!!??? I AM ADELBERT STEINER, CAPTAIN OF THE KNIGHT OF PLUTO, AND I WILL NEVER WORK WITH YOU CONNIVING THIEVES!!!!!"
My patience with this buffoon was wearing thin so I added my comment.
"You're a captain!?" I snorted. "From that cheap, weak, rusty armor, I wouldn't guess you were even a private!"
Rusty swelled up in anger.
"Look…this has nothing to do with Tantalus." Mikane was going for a peace effort. "We're doing this on our own. Garnet has to be saved."
"She's PRINCESS Garnet to you, you ruffian!!" Steiner glared. "But you do have a point. If you're lying, I won't hesitate to kill you."
Mikane rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, counting on ya, Rusty."
"Make no mistake. I'm going with you to rescue the princess! I will deal with you personally when this is over!" Steiner threatened.
Mikane and I exchanged a glance.
"…Whatever," we said together.
"It may be difficult with just three of us. We should seek Master Vivi's help as well."
"'Master?'" I inquired.
Steiner growled. "You fool. That black mage has unimaginable powers... I don't want to get him involved, but alas, it can't be helped. We need Master Vivi's powers to rescue the princess."
"Uh-huh." Mikane looked bored.
I lead the way, showing Rusty the way. I was starting to regret sending a bottle of antidote to Steiner. The man was a tiresome idiot.
Mikane pushed past me, going in first.
"Hey Vivi! We're gonna rescue the princess now!" Mikane grinned.
"R-Really!?" Vivi stammered, "That's great! Be careful, okay?"
Mikane stared for a moment.
"Actually, she meant that you were coming too," I informed him.
He gasped.
"I c-couldn't do that! I'm no help! Y-You'd all be better off without me coming."
Steiner kneeled before the boy. I sighed in exasperation. Why did I have a feeling that this was going to lead to insults towards us and a corny speech?
"'Tis not so, Master Vivi. In all honesty, I hold your power in greater esteem than these scoundrels."
"I-I'm not good enough!" protested Vivi, blushing. "Why are you all so set about me coming?"
"Please, Master Vivi." Steiner bowed his head. "For the sake of Princess Garnet and all of Alexandria, I humbly request your assistance!"
Disgusted, Mikane kicked him out of the way.
"Vivi, you're a kick-ass black mage!! You've got power! You really do! Remember when you were using a fire spell on those guards but Garnet was in the way?" Mikane paused as if savoring a pleasant memory. "So come please?"
Vivi nodded uncertainly.
"I'll try…" he said.
Mikane hugged him.
"You're the best!!" she exclaimed, "Come on! Let's go!"
Mikane bounded out the door. I grabbed an extra bottle of the seed remover and stashed it with my other items. I turned back to Vivi and Steiner, who had been conversing in whispers.
"Magic sword…?" Vivi sounded surprised. "I guess I'll give it a try."
I cleared my throat. Vivi left.
"Move it, Rusty." I pointed to the door.
Grumbling, the knight left too. I made sure he got to the right destination and stopped him from going without us.
Mikane and Vivi waited at the hole in the side of the ship that we had been using as an exit. Mikane look annoyed. She held a letter in her hand.
"Read this." She forced it into my hands.
I slowly read it aloud, a habit I'd been trying to break.
"'I said not to think you'd get away so easily. But then again, you two never listen anyway. If you go ahead and do this, you're both are leaving the band. It's your choice. Okay. I already know what you've picked. And what I got to say is don't you dare stop training! Learning new abilities is useful and might even save your worthless hides. Gwahahahaha! Baku.'"
"Can you believe him!?" Mikane was ranting. "Kicking us out!!! I didn't work that hard on memorizing all the plays Tantalus does for nothing!!!!"
I reminded myself that even though it seemed it had always been that way; Mikane hadn't been in Tantalus very long but fitted in very well almost like she was meant to be a member.
With a mutter of "I'll get him later," Mikane turned towards the hollow tree trunk at the edge of the clearing. She pointed at it, the entrance of the swamp-like section of the Evil Forest.
"Let's go!" she declared and ran on.
Vivi trotted after her. Steiner sullenly hesitated, but my swift and precise kick got him moving.
We followed the naturally made path. It led to the center of the forest. A giant hideous plant-thing rested in the middle of the heart of the forest. Garnet was behind it.
"PRINCESS!!!"
Garnet seemed unconscious. Rolling her eyes at Steiner, Mikane started to dash past the creature. Steiner yanked her backwards by the only thing he could grab, her tail.
"Stop! It would a disgrace to Alexandria to have the Princess rescued by a lowly thief!" Steiner yelled.
Mikane froze, eyes wide. Then she whipped around to glare at Steiner. The look she gave him was so murderous I was glad I wasn't in his shoes. She was twice as mad at him then when she was at Baku. I swear her eyes turned red.
"&$&!!!!!! &) # $(#$!!!" she screeched, sending some disturbing shockwave attack at Steiner.
Needless to say, he was knocked out. Already heated up, she busted up the Plant Brain. It didn't last long before her wrath. After it was dead I grabbed Garnet and took out the bottle of antidote I was carrying with me. Slowly giving it to her, she stirred after it was drunk.
"What?" she gasped. "Where am I?"
I smiled reassuringly. "We'll get you out of here, your highness."
She seemed to notice I was holding her.
"Please put me down," she said quietly.
I shrugged and set her on her feet. She still was recovering her bearings. Mikane stood off in the distance, arms crossed. Was she still angry with Steiner? Was that why she was acting so strange?
A deep startling shudder ran through the ground. I looked up, alarmed. What could cause a tremor like that?
"Something's not right…" Mikane murmured.
I glanced at her. Her tail was eerily straight and stiff, telling me something was bothering her. All of a sudden, two plant-like creatures jumped into the clearing. The Plant Spiders started to charge us.
"RUN!" Mikane shouted at Vivi who watched them fearfully.
Vivi ran off in that bizarre skipping run. Mikane slapped Steiner, waking him up.
"Get up if you don't want to die!" she told him seriously.
Steiner stumbled up after Vivi. Mikane stared at me. For a moment nothing seemed to move.
"Get the princess to safety," she whispered and I knew what she meant to do.
"NO!" I protested.
"RUN!!" She unsheathed her daggers once more and stood to fight.
I glared at Garnet, motioning for her to go on. Getting the hint, she ran off after the other two. I turned to Mikane.
"Not without you." I said with absoluteness.
Mikane growled. I was complete compared to knock her out and drag her with us if need be. She wasn't getting left behind. Another shudder made us freeze. This one was different. This time…
Slowly, at the same time we looked over our shoulders. Even though Mikane had better eyes than me, we both saw the same thing. Far off, the forest was turning into stone.
If we didn't move, and fast, we were screwed.
Without any argument now, Mikane and I tore out of the clearing. Unfortunately several Plant Spiders delayed us. Ahead of us, I could see the others sprinting out of here.
Mikane shouted joyfully. I yelled happily too. We were going to make it! The open sky was yards before us. We were all safe and—
Suddenly I tripped. Looking back, I saw why. A Plant Spider had lunged and grabbed my leg. I kicked it, trying to get free. It stubbornly pulled me closer and raised one of it's green arms. I remember seeing the green limb coming down fast at my face before everything went black.
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AN: Hm…I'm very evil to leave it there, but I need a vote. Should I do the next chapter from Mikane's POV? Anyone curious to see what's in her head? Oh, and Ookami no Anubis? Don't worry; you'll see Kuja soon. Did you think I'd start the story in his POV then go to Blank's and never switch back? Nah, Kuja's turn will come. I just gotta get through some stuff first. Oh, another thing. Does anyone want me to bring back my sorry-attempt-at-humor author's notes? Sadly, Demon and Saint refuse to speak to me at the moment. I lost all the other people who randomly came as well. I'll give you readers a choice. I'll a) write my notes like this b) bring in FFIX character c) bring in my own characters from fanfics I plan to write after this one d) bring Sora from Kingdom Hearts back. So…please give me some feedback. Should the next POV chapter be in Blank's or Mikane's (Kuja is a choice but that chapter will be short and be somewhere else, I was planning to do a chapter like that soon but I'll let you decide when)? And, what should I do about my author's notes?