Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Winds ❯ Old Enemies ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Well I've got more reviews and I'm happy! Here's chapter 3, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3: Old Enemies

She giggled as she wrote another passage in her diary.

He's so cute, and I think today he even winked at me! I think I'm in love!

Ai blushed profusely and laid her head in the little pink, sighing contently. But her moment of peace didn't last, for her head was instantly yanked out her diary, and rammed into Chobi's hard beak. She pulled him off and chased him out of her room, throwing her diary in the process.

Yu made his way up the stairs to call his sister to lunch. He sighed, summer break was great, but he was often bored. He was a sensitive boy, and didn't get along with some of the "tougher" crowd at school. "Onee-chan!" He was entering the room when he got plowed over by a screaming chocobo. "Ow…" Chobi had grown in the past two years. Yu deduced that he was full grown, just by the way he communicated. When they first acquired him, his "words" were simple, and he often had trouble understanding. But now he was very intelligent, and learned a lesson the first time. Though no matter how many times Ai had hurt him, he couldn't resist chewing on her hair. Ai looked down upon Yu, fuming.

"You keep your dumb animal away from me!" She then moved his feet out of the doorframe, and slammed the door.

Chobi nuzzled Yu's face gently. Yu sat up and patted him on the head. "I'm sorry, did she hurt you? You know she doesn't like that." He heard an "Hmmph" from his sister's room. "It's time for lunch."

"I'm not hungry!"

Yu sighed. The twins were both 14, and puberty was starting to take a hit on both of them. Ai was always grumpy and sensitive, and Yu was starting to notice girls. "Onee-chan sure is scary…" He got up and went back downstairs to eat.

Ai grumbled and picked up her diary. As she bent down she noticed it was open to the passage she filled out two years ago about her adventures in the Inner World. She sat down on the edge of the bed and began reading. Her eyes froze at one small paragraph. Kuria's really Omega! I can't believe I actually talked to a piece of Omega. He's really nice; I think we'll be good friends.

She tried to push the image of the kind yet frightful eyes out of her mind. Many things happened that last day, some that she'd rather not remember. Like the death of her friends. Omega had been absorbed by chaos, including Kuria. "He wasn't evil and horrible at all…Kaze would've killed him if I wasn't there. I wonder where he is now…since chaos was destroyed, is he gone forever?" She looked to Pochepoke for comfort, and it smiled at her from the comfort of her pillows.

"How is everything progressing?"

"Wonderful your highness, Pisto is out conquering for you, and Helba is looking for "him".

Kumo glowered, "You mean he's still alive?"

Oscar bowed deeply, "Yes my lord, he has eluded us for some time now."

The Tyrant balanced Shiroi Kumo's sword on his hand, "Though he feeds the chaos with that gun of his, he's more trouble then he's worth. I want you to do something about him." A smug smile crept onto the Count's face. "He'd make good use in the capture of Omega…don't you agree?"

Oscar moved around excitedly, "Of course your highness, a splendid idea!"

Ai woke up again and looked at the clock. It was only two in the morning, and she'd woken up periodically throughout the night. She sighed and tried to go to sleep, but the moonlight shone straight into her face from the window. She got up to shut the curtains and shielded her eyes from the moon. The moon was close to full, and the stars twinkled brightly. She looked at her calendar. "The full moon's only a few night's away…and on the night of the full moon the subway would come… But it's gone." Ai sighed again. There was very little chance that Cid would spend so much time rebuilding Elizabeth when he had Sylvia to work on. Either way she wanted to return. "I can't leave the house at this time of night…" Her resolve was strong and she made her decision. I'll go tomorrow."

Yu on the other hand was still asleep. Trapped in a nightmare. His body pitched back and forth under the blankets, whimpering and sobbing. He watched as his parents stared at him, uninviting, obeying the little tyrant. "Who's that?" All the Count did was smile happily and lick his lollypop and eat his fill. Then the little child extended his lollypop and innocently asked, "Wanna lick?" The young boy woke up and gasped. That was a day he would never forget, but wanted to. Not only had his friends died, but every time he pleaded with the evil little child, he just looked at him happily and said, "That feels good". Yu never wanted to return there, not for anything. His parents were home and vowed never to leave to the Inner World without them. He couldn't ask for anything else.

Lisa sighed and made herself comfortable on the airship. Her wound was almost gone, and she was itching to go find Kaze herself. She greatly appreciated her friends inviting her warmly on the ship, but she felt like she was going farther and farther away from him. True in the past he was always by her side, though not visible. But in the last encounter they had with Oscar, he hadn't shown up at all. "Where is he?" Her thoughts were interrupted by a curious stare from the resting crewmates, Nav and Merith. Nav sat up in his armchair and looked at her in concern. "Lisa are you alright? You've been quiet lately."

Lisa smiled at him and said, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Nav knew that face was exactly the opposite of what she meant, but he knew he couldn't get her to open up to him very much. Cid came over the PA system a few minutes later, "We will be arriving in the cactuar desert this time for sure! And Nav please come to the engine room. That is all."

Nav grunted and left the room. Merith moved to his chair and repeated his question, "Are you really ok?"

Lisa sighed. She had made somewhat good friends with Merith in the past, and felt pretty safe opening up to her. "It's him…" Merith cocked her head, "Who?" Lisa stared at her friend seriously, "As you can see, from the appearance of the Counts men, he is still alive. I've noticed small traces of destruction everywhere we've been so far. And that person…

Merith recognized Lisa's meaning of "that person" and gasped, "The Black Wind!? How?"

Lisa shook her head, "I'm not sure how he survived, but he's lost his memory like when we first met him…In the Origin of Soil, where I received this wound, I found him. He was buried under the sand. He didn't really talk to me, not like he was the talkative type, but he didn't make any indication he knew me. That's when one of the counts men showed up. That plant woman I'm assuming, because a large carnivorous plant attacked us, and knocked me out. That's all I remember."

Merith absorbed everything and noted her friend's sadness. "I'm sorry, Lisa."

Lisa smiled again, "It's alright, I'm fine."

Merith sighed and got up. "It's about time to check up on everything, I'll see you later." As she left her saddened friend she thought, "Maybe I can convince Cid to try to look for him." She blushed. In the battlefield she was unwavering, but in Cid's company she was often flustered and clumsy.

Lisa watched her friend leave the lounge and wondered to herself, I wonder how things are going between her and Cid?

"Good Hug-hug. It's amazing how much you've grown!", Helba snickered. The flower crawled forward towards the throne, a bundle of black wrapped in it's mutated tendrils.

"It's nice of you to join us…Kuroki Kaze."

Kaze groaned and lifted his head at the sound of the demon child's voice. "You…" His glared heavily at the throne, and was taken aback. My eyes are fooling me… "You!"

The phony Makenshi leaned back in his chair. "Are you surprised? I thought it would be a good time for a reunion…since you're still alive." Kaze glowered. "I brought you here for a reason you know. You don't know what a great asset you are, I'd like you to join my team of Lords."

Kaze's face remained neutral. "Release me."

Shiroi Kumo sighed, "I knew it would come to this. Helba, the herb."

Helba floated off to the next room to fetch her special controlling herb. Makenshi got off his chair and walked directly in front of The Black Wind, and pushed the button under his mask. As the purple mist rolled from his mouth, Kaze's eyes widened. That mist unhinged something in his very soul, whether it be fear or anger, he wasn't sure. But it almost drove him to insanity. Helba returned with the herb, and got close enough to place it in his ear and whispered, "Good night Magun-chan". He roiled, trying frantically to reach for his gun, kicking Helba back in the process.

Kumo smiled slyly, his aqua green eyes glowing in the dark mist, "Just the same as ever, Kuroki Kaze." The dark man finally got a his fingers jammed in between the plant and his trigger and managed to fire a single shot. Hug-hug cried and its vines unwound. Kumo's face contorted a frown as the sword on his back reacted to the gun. "It seems as though there's some left…how disgusting." Finally free, Kaze began his barrage of bullets towards his lifetime enemy. Makenshi put up his barrier and smiled wickedly, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do this." He reached for a bottle at his waist, "Drawn by the tune of the mysterious mist, sleep now! Prelude of White Flame!" He cut the bottle and Kaze was blinded by the flash.

Everything happened so fast. All Kaze could feel was the wound in his shoulder, and the wind raking against body. His hair whipped his face and only one thought passed through his mind as he slipped into the subconscious of his mind. Shiroi Kumo…