Chapter 8: One After Another 

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Nothing like a warm evening.   

Bobby Corwen itched very much for a stroll outside, as the air in his hut was turning stale in the humid heat.  He fluffed his feathers and gave a good kick to the door of his quarters, flinging it open.  Hopping out, he gaily sauntered over the bridge and across the other straw huts. 

Nothing like an evening stroll on a warm evening. 

The setting sun bathed Bobby Corwen and he felt energized.  His ears perked up a little when he heard a voice exclaiming his disappearance.  Being the witty bird he is, he decided to make a dash for it out of the village.  Once out of the village, he looked back and warked.  Camouflaged by a scene of dried vegetation, the Black Mage village was protected from any possible intrusion.  Raising a feathered yellow eyebrow, the chocobo flapped his wings as he skipped further away from the safe havens of home in sheer curiosity. 

Nothing like an adventure while taking an evening stroll on a warm evening. 

After a while of nothing but barren land around him, Bobby Corwen got a little tired and hungry.  Standing there and tilting his feathered head, he wondered if it was time for him to go home for dinner.  Then, he saw a flash of white light in the sky not far away.  Eyes squinted, the chocobo could see a glint of green flying towards him.  He ducked, rolled over and played dead.  Realizing that nothing was happening after a while, he hopped back up on his feet.  His eyes caught sight of a pretty green pebble the size of his toe beside him.  His stomach growled, hungering for some delicious gysahl greens, and this glowing green pebble did not look half-bad as an appetizer. 

Nothing like a little snack on an adventure while taking an evening stroll on a warm evening. 

With the pebble between his beak, he jumped in shock when he heard a shout from behind him. 

"No!  Don't you eat it, you stupid chocobo!"  Kuja cried as his silver steed swooped down and intercepted the chocobo's path.  Dismounting so quickly to the point of clumsiness, the tall Genome hastily reached for the chocobo's beak. 

Bobby Corwen warked angrily.  No one tries to steal food from him.  He pecked Kuja's hand away with the tip of his upper beak.

He tilted his head upwards and with a jerk, he swallowed the Life Stone.  The satisfaction of the shiny pebble being his made him do a little victory dance. 

Kuja stood there, stoned.  He felt as if he could break down any moment.  He was never defeated by anyone before, except for his battle with Zidane.  Now he had to lose to a chocobo in a fight for a small green pebble, which he had fought so very hard for. 

Not planning to stick around anymore in this boring landscape, the lively chocobo whistled, and cheerfully headed in the direction of the Black Mage Village. 

The Silver Dragon strode over to its master, alternating glances between the leaving chocobo and his silver-haired master.  The dragon nudged Kuja in an attempt to snap him out of his daze.  Whining a little as it failed to get any attention from its master, it sat there, waiting for the other two Genomes to catch up with them. 

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After sending two Genomes to observe Bobby Corwen in his hut and ordering them to report the slightest unusual behavior, Kuja, Zidane and Mikoto went back to the inn.  

After a round of explanation to his clueless younger siblings, Kuja stood and left the table, unable to stand the dirt on his skin any longer. 

Zidane directed his questions to Mikoto instead, now that the eldest of them was not available for consultation. 

Tapping on the table with a finger, the blonde asked, "So the Life Stone Kuja was after was some solidified Gaian Life energy?" 

"Apparently so." 

"What would we need that for?" 

Mikoto seemed to have it all figured out, and scholarly answered, "It would seem that you have a piece of Gaia Life energy in you too, just like Bobby Corwen.  Perhaps Kuja was trying to get the Life Stone so that we can have more leads on how to get rid of that green stuff in you." 

"So now that the chocobo swallowed the Life Stone, it'd be in a situation as me," the monkey grinned, "but the feathered village mascot here looks perfectly fine to me." 

Mikoto rolled her eyes and folded her arms. 
"You have totally forgotten about the flu episode, have you not?  I must remind you that we are made of Terra's life force, not Gaia.  The Gaia life force you have within you caused so much trouble to your health!" 

Slightly taken aback by the younger genome's tone of authority, Zidane held up his hands in submission.  He stood up and went into the bedroom of the inn.  Taking off his boots, he lay down on the bottom bunk of a bed there and rested.  Suddenly feeling very tired from the whole day's events, he drifted to sleep.   

******* 

Kuja came out, his hair damp from a thorough bath.  A towel hung around his neck, he walked to the inn's table and sat beside Mikoto, contemplating his options. 

"Mikoto, I'm going to observe the !@XD#%! chocobo who swallowed the Life Stone first thing in the morning." 

"Bobby Corwen?  I'll go with you." 

"Before you sleep, my dear, please go wash up.  You smell of perspiration and dirt." Kuja wrinkled his nose a little and shooed his sister off. 

"Wait for me tomorrow morning, you hear?" 

"Yes, yes, my dearest sister." 

"Stay here till I finish my bath, and don't you run off without me like the last time!" 

With an exasperated wave, Kuja muttered some complaints under his breath of his fellow Terrans being long-winded. 

"I heard that!"  Mikoto nagged as she walked off to the bathing quarters behind the inn, swinging her tail in a light gait that showed some sort of pleasure in annoying her older brother. 

Kuja stood up and was planning to walk out of the door when the Black Mage at the inn counter reminded, "Miss Mikoto told you not to leave, I thought." 

"Then I shan't leave.  Buy me some bottles of ether and potion from the Item Shop," Kuja said, as the Black Mage helpfully agreed and went out the door. 

"Looks like my life is completely dominated by these two young Angels of Death..." With a wry smile, he made his way to the rocking chair near the window of the inn.  Moving the chair to face the window, he settled his aching back down carefully.  Leaning back on his chair with folded arms whilst rocking gently, he let his mind sink into the tranquility of the laid-back village as night started to sink in. 

********* 

Sounds of panic, hustling and bustling jolted the sleepy man out of his chair.  Wondering how long he had slept in that chair, Kuja rubbed his eyes and stood up. 

His thin cotton shirt and pants did not do much to shield him from the cold.  The stabbing ache from the wounds he had gotten earlier that day only made him shiver more.  The night smelt wet, dampness hanging dense in the air.  He rubbed his hands together for warmth as he went out to investigate the situation. 

It all came from the chocobo hut.  Black Mages crowded outside, all muttering and panicking.  As the tall genome squeezed his way through the mages into the hut, he saw Mikoto talking to Bobby Corwen's foster parents.  

"What's going on?" 

A genome holding a report came up to Kuja and explained her observations, "the chocobo is reacting weirdly to the foreign object in its stomach.  It would seem that its attempt to digest the Life Stone is causing complications.  Neither can it seem to bypass the digestion stage and pass out the Life Stone." 

Walking close to the chocobo, Kuja put a finger to his lips, deep in thought.   

"Will...will he b, be, be...all right?" Foster parent of Bobby Corwen number one asked Mikoto. 

"I do not know..." Mikoto looked down, unable to face the frantic Black Mage. 

Kuja hushed Mikoto harshly and then knelt down in front of the chocobo.  Bringing a hand down to the stomach of the chocobo, he took a few deep breaths.  Bobby Corwen lay on its side, atop the stack of soft hay.  Rubbing circles on the bird's stomach, the pale man concentrated. 

All turned their attention to Kuja, hoping that he knew a cure for the chocobo's plight.  Mikoto went near and observed Kuja.  She softly asked for an explanation, almost in fear of disrupting him. 

Kuja's hand glowed mildly and he left his hand there, beads of cold perspiration forming on his forehead from his attempt to control the Life Stone within the sick bird. 

"I found the Life Stone.  Now I'm going to turn it into Mist." 

"But Mist is poisonous to all Gaian beings!"  Mikoto protested, alarmed. 

"Refined Mist is not.  I will further refine it from Mist, and hopefully, this chocobo will merge its own life energy with the new-found life energy formed from the Life Stone itself."  

Clasping her hands together, Mikoto could only hope.  She was not only worrying for the chocobo, but for her elder sibling as well.  It was too obvious that Kuja was going through a difficult process for his weariness showed. 

It was only after a whole hour before Kuja stopped and took his hand away from the chocobo. 

"I had to make sure the new life energy within it does not take over its existing one, for if it does, it would die or become a monster." 

"How would you do that?" Mikoto inquired. 

"By confining the it into a ball, then letting that ball of refined mist release itself into the rest of the chocobo's body bit by bit.  That way, the chocobo's body can absorb the life energy into its own." 

"S, so,...how...how is Bobby Corwen now?" Foster parent of Bobby Corwen number two stammered. 

"Let him rest.  If he looks fine to you in a few hours, then he's perfectly cured."  Kuja answered weakly, his voice wavering from fatigue.  He shivered a little, feeling the chill in the air once more. 

Mikoto glazed her eyes over her sibling sadly and helped him back to the inn where they might get some rest. 

"Honestly, I didn't know that method would even work in the first place," Kuja smirked wickedly. 

Mikoto sighed, not able to decide whether to get angry or just exasperated. 

"You're too grumpy-looking, dear." 

Mikoto shot a glare at Kuja, but realised that her older Terran sibling was too tired put on a proper 'evil-ala-Kuja' look. 

"You're working too hard," the young girl murmured as the older man's arm slung over her shoulder. 

The man only shrugged lightly and smiled.  In the middle of the night after this ordeal, the sky was bleaker than usual.  The moon and stars were blurry and weak, for the dark violet clouds shadowed them. 

And from the door of the inn, Kuja and Mikoto heard sounds of sneezing and coughing.  Without second thought, they rushed into the bedroom as fast as they could, all weariness forgotten. 

There, the Black Mage innkeeper was holding a glass of water as a blonde youth swallowed some medicine. 

Horrified, Kuja hurried over, pushing the Black Mage out of the way.   

"What happened?" 

Zidane wagged his tail a little, amazed at the sudden amount of attention he got. 

"Just a little sick.  Nothing much, don't you worry." He grinned his usual fare before a sneeze hit him once more. 

Kuja and Mikoto frowned. 

"All of you, go to sleep.  We've had a busy night.  I'll look after him." Mikoto offered, dismissing the helpful Black Mage. 

Kuja thankfully obliged and went to the bunk above Zidane now that Zidane had taken over his own bottom bunk.  Not that he cared much, just that he might fall out of bed with a very painful thud if something else were to happen once more in the middle of the night.  Feeling like a dead log, he buried his face into the pillow and decided that everything could be left till the next day. 

"What happened to you guys?  Man, Kuja looked so bushed!" Zidane inquired softly. 

"The village mascot had indigestion, got up in the middle of the night and decided to wake the rest of the village with him." 

"No kiddin'!  I didn't even notice it 'til I got up for a drink just now." 

"You were sleeping like a dead Malboro, that's why."  Mikoto dripped sarcasm, as she felt her sibling's forehead for a temperature, and decided that it was normal. 

"Just a normal cold, I hope," the young girl sighed as she went back to her own bed opposite Zidane's and took a light rest. 

******** 

Much has happened, and more will follow later in the night.  There was a popular ancient saying, she remembered, that went "troubles never come alone".  

Mikoto tensed as she heard a soft howl from a distance.  Something was happening again.  She got up softly, and checked both her siblings.  When she felt Zidane's forehead once more, panic arose in her.  Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself to stop all nervousness and fear.  An emotionless mask adorned her child-like face as she swiftly got to work in bringing down Zidane's fever.    

Then the howl came again, accompanied with a low rumble.  It sounded like a gigantic beast in pain.  There was so much anguish in it that she felt her heart thumping hard against her breast.  Then she heard a soft metallic clank.  Raising an eyebrow, she swore she heard some feet shuffling and hushing outside her hut.  There was the sound of wind, a whooshing sound, soft and well controlled. 

"The Angels of Death were created out of a peculiar curiosity and shall live in curiosity," Mikoto smiled at the thought.  She wanted very much to leave the hut and see for herself what was going on, but she could not leave her sick sibling alone. 
 
She soon found a pair of pale blue eyes squinting at her amidst the pale yellow lamplight.   

"Did I wake you?"  She whispered. 

Zidane blinked.  "I can hear the rumbling too.  Why don't you check it out and tell me?" 

Mikoto chuckled.  Now given approval, she took the damp towel from his forehead and rinsed it in the cold water, then soothed his head once more with its soft coolness. 

"I'll be right back." 

Once outside, she saw the Silver Dragon walking towards her.  She could feel that something was very missing from the scenery that stood before her, but she could not put to mind exactly what was missing.*  Dismissing her sixth sense, she decided to politely request for the elegant dragon to give her a ride. 

They headed in the direction of the disturbance. 
To the direction of the Iifa Tree once more. 

*note #1: Mikoto could swore a large, sleek and obvious something was missing... 

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"You sure this thing works the same way as the Theatre ship, Blank?" A man holding an axe waved his unarmed hand in slight panic.  In front of him was a fine lad clad in brown leather, gloved hands firmly gripping the large steering wheel. 

"Heheh.  Watch." 

And the pilot did a 360 degree maneuver.   

"Woah!  This airship is really a babe!  That was smooth eh, wasn't it, Cinna?" 

"Can't you just warn me the next time, bro?"  The aforementioned Cinna yelled, sitting on the floor and catching his breath.  "Say, shouldn't we just ask them for the airship then just taking it?" 

Blank adjusted his headband for a moment and continued his skilful piloting, heading towards the Iifa Tree. 

"Cinna, we're just borrowing it.  We'll return it.  Besides, even if we are stealing it, there's nothing wrong with it.  We're the Tantalus Bandits, remember?" 

The "Invincible Version #3.1 Beta experimental" was a sleek beauty.  After all the improvements and repairs it had been through, it looked brand new.  Mikoto had done a good job in salvaging the old Invincible, as it had suffered so much damage that it had to be reprogrammed after reparations.  The plans of the airship designs she had drawn up during her time in Terra proved to be very useful.*  

*note #2: The plans were actually much more useful after our resident mechanic Kuja corrected it, but all this technical details aside, Mikoto's the head engineer here. ^_^ 
  
"Oh yeah, I've been wanting to ask you something for a really long time."   

"Shoot." 

"How the heck can you pilot with a headband over your eyes?"  Cinna pointed at Blank's fashion statement of a bandanna for effect. 

Blank chuckled.  

"Trade secret, bro.  Trade secret..." 

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- End Chapter 8 -  
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