Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ FF IX: Hidden Flames ❯ Aftermath ( Chapter 1 )

Hidden Flames


By MorrisonQuote

“Soldiers, hold the damn line! We shall not be disgraced by failing to protect the Theatre District from a single beast!” Leonis, the commander of the Lindblum City Guard shook his spear at the cowards that attempted to flee from their positions, smacking those that tried to push past him. “Come on, you sons of bitches! It ain’t that tough!”

“Like hell it isn’t! You’re going to get us killed!”

“Nonsense, you pussy! I’ll beat it down myself, if you’re too yellow to do it.” Shoving aside the fleeing soldiers, Leonis reached the hastily-erected barricade, which was being supported by those few soldiers brave enough to do it. On the other side of the barrier, the invading monster beat at the wall, its bear-like claws curled in boulder-size fists and its lion head roaring in primal rage. The rest of its body resembled a large lizard, and the color of its scales could be briefly described as ‘crap’. He walked through a narrow opening between the barricade and a nearby building, and stood just out of visual range of the attacker.

“I’ll be able to sneak behind the bastard and ram my spear up his ass. Perfect end for you, shit-eater.” As he was edging around the beast, though, his foot smacked an iron fitting which had come off one of the houses, the metal of his armor reverberating against it. The sound brought the beast’s attention to him, its head turning almost completely around to see him. It growled and lunged, its claws extended and its mouth open. Leonis did a forward somersault, thrusting the spear up as he curled. He grinned as he heard a howl while he recovered from the maneuver, spying the green blood that spattered the cobblestones of the street. His gaze came to beast itself, which was clutching at its wound with one claw, trying to hold in the blood that merely leaked from between its fingers. Thinking it too wounded to defend itself, he ran at the monster, his spear level with the ground, planning to run it through at the chest. Just before making contact, though, the creature sprang into what looked remarkably like a defensive stance. It dodged to the left, one leg going through the masonry of a house, and it backhanded him into the buildings across the street, then attempted to free its imprisoned limb. His adrenaline prevented him from feeling many of his bones being broken in the impact, and he couldn’t understand why both of his arms refused to support his weight. He saw the beast pulling its leg out of the rubble, then making its way toward him, and his hands fumbled as he tried to grab his spear. His right hand finally wrapped around its shaft when he was lifted off the ground, himself wrapped in the enormous hand of the beast. He saw a golden opportunity to save himself when it opened its mouth to bite him in half. He brought his spear point forward and sent it through the roof of the beast’s gaping maw, attempting to thrust the cold steel into its brain. As expected, the monster dropped him, clutching at its head as its own blood dripped from its lower jaw. Leonis saw another figure in his peripheral vision, drawing his attention away from the wounded animal. Not seeing the familiar glint of sunlight off of armor, he cursed at his luck that a non-combatant was stupid enough to venture outside.

“You goddamn civ,” he cried, blinking in the pain he suddenly registered, “what the freak are you doing here?!” With his failing eyesight he saw the figure perform a complex hand gesture, and the ground shook under him. Giant crystals suddenly shot from the ground, throwing the creature into the sky, where it fell and was ultimately impaled on the ice. The figure walked over to Leonis, and he recognized the blue trench coat, pointed hat, and pitch black face.

“And since when am I a civ, Commander Leonis?” Vivi’s eyes grew brighter, his equivalent of smiling, and he bent down to help him to his feet.

“Since you look like one, being without military uniform, as usual.” Leonis found that his left leg was hurting horribly, and leaned on Vivi even more as he was led to the barricade.

“Well, I guess I should try wearing it every once and a while, then. I have to say, though, that in a situation like this one, it’s almost completely useless, and very uncomfortable. Hey,” Vivi shouted at the barricade, pointing at the face of a soldier who had peeked out from behind it, “your commander needs a medic, soldier. Get moving!”

“No, you don’t have to. You’ve saved me too many times in that suit you’re wearing. I see someone coming toward me with my life in danger and I’m likely to start stabbing things.”

“I guess I’m the exception?”

“Yeah, you’re the sole exception.” Vivi managed to squeeze them both behind the barricade again, where a medic stood waiting. They stripped him out of his armor, revealing a muscular man in his early forties, his body scarred almost everywhere possible. His face, although only half-shaven, since he was interrupted by the alarm, was unblemished, and his blonde hair grew straight on his head, cropped short in military-style. His hair was so fair that no one could notice the grey ones beginning to take root except him, and his skin was beginning to wrinkle with age.

“Keep this up, commander, and eventually we won’t be able to patch you back together.” The medic commented as he initiated the bone-mending procedure, wrapping the broken limbs in enchanted splints that would speed his recovery.

“You’ve succeeded thus far. You can do it one more time.” Leonis winced as his arms were led into their splints, trying not to yell out in pain.

“You’re getting kind of old for encounters like this, commander.” Vivi said, looking out at the damage done by the appearance of the monster. “Maybe you should try finding yourself a nice, quiet job as head of the Castle Guard. Gods know it would be easier on your body, and I doubt Cid would even blink before he agreed.”

“Hell will freeze over before I do that. If I weren’t here everyday to whip these boys into shape, they’d only be experienced in running full speed with their tails between their legs.” Speaking of retreating, Leonis thought to himself, I have some unfinished business with a couple of cowards. “Vivi?”

“Yes?”

“Could you track down Private Crowley and Sergeant Grisham?”

“Yes, sir. Right away.” Tearing himself away from the sight of the wreckage, he departed, and Leonis submitted completely to the medic, feeling his bones ache as the natural process of bone-knitting was accelerated beyond its limits. He heard footsteps again and he opened his eyes, seeing Vivi accompanied by the two soldiers who had tried to run.

“What poor examples of the armed forces. Private!”

“Yes, sir?”

“Let’s see…” Numbers flooded through his brain, calculating a just punishment for the new recruit. “Fifty percent pay cut and reduced rations for three months for cowardice.” He saw the private’s dismay on his face, but he took it without protest.

“Yes, sir. I understand, sir.”

“And Sergeant?” Grisham stepped forward reluctantly, his fear causing him to shake, making his armor rattle like a dinner bell.

“Yes, sir?”

“Hand me your crest.” Looking down at the sergeant’s crest which was nailed onto his armor, Grisham took out a small knife, and began to pry it loose from the plate. He grunted, and the crest popped out. He handed it to Leonis, who flicked it into a pile of rubble.

“Consider yourself discharged, civ. Dismissed!” He winced when he shouted, feeling a sudden, stabbing pain in his chest. “Medic, seems I’ve got a broke rib or two.”

“Or four, you mean. You’re a right mess, you know. You have to go to the castle infirmary for treatment. I can fix the small stuff, no problem, but you’re beyond that, now.” The medic had not looked up from his work the entire time the soldiers were being punished, and had only just noticed that the ex-sergeant was still standing there, his face pallid and drawn. “Need something?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” The former soldier awoke from his stupor, and walked away at a slow pace, looking around him as though he had just seen everything. Vivi watched him as he went, wondering what had caused him to turn tail. Looking around the barricade, Vivi saw the monster’s carcass resting in a puddle of blood and water, and wondered what had instigated it to infiltrate the city.

“Beautiful one, isn’t it? Has to be the biggest one that’s ever gotten in. Now we can figure out how these beasts are getting into the city.” Leonis grinned at his words, envisioning a path of destruction leading him to some grievously damaged sewer pipe which had somehow gone unnoticed in the city’s five year restoration.

“What I want to know is why monsters are coming into the city. When they’re not in groups they tend to avoid heavily populated areas like this. What’s inspiring them to do this?”

“Who knows? Not our problem. Our job is to kill the bastards, then submit their dead bodies to the bio labs for study. Speaking of jobs, where the hell were you? You’re typically the first on the scene whenever there’s an attack.”

“I was actually talking with Cid about one of my projects when I got the message.”

“Projects?”

“Well, they’re more like hobbies, but it’s suspected that they might have practical applications, so I get paid to do them.”

“So what were you talking about? Increasing your budget?” Although he held Vivi, who had been invaluable in controlling the monster breakouts that occurred within the city from time-to-time, in high esteem, Leonis didn’t hold a high opinion of what he called ‘intangible’ research, which was to say, any research that didn’t have a specific, practical job for the end result.

“No, actually, I was asking him to stop paying me since they weren’t going anywhere.”

“And what did he say?”

“He’d stop paying me personally, but he wouldn’t stop funding the materials or texts I use.” A twinge of regret registered in Leonis’s ears as he listened to Vivi’s plight.

“Dear lord, am I hearing you right? You actually sound disappointed that he didn’t cut the whole thing!”

“That’s because I am.”

“There are people whose careers are dedicated solely to convincing the regent into releasing such grants, and you’re trying to get yours revoked!”

“If they stay official government projects, I’ll have to keep dealing with the beaurocracy. And sure, I may get all my material free, but I have to go through mountains of paperwork to get even a pen, and it always takes forever to get what I order.”

“So then why don’t you just buy what you need off the street?”

“Because if I’m using anything short of air and water I have to have a form for it, otherwise I get arrested for unethical procedure.”

“Sounds to me like Cid wants to keep an eye on you. Just what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to vaporize mana.”

“What for?”

“For mist. It’s getting scarcer every day, what little pockets are left, and some people still use it for machines, like farmers who can’t afford new steam reapers.” Vivi’s eyes shrank and dimmed, and he turned his head away from Leonis. If only that were the real reason I was looking, he thought. Shortly after Necron’s defeat, Vivi started looking for a way to extend the lifespan of his fellow mages. Around the time of Zidane’s surprise return to Alexandria, he had discovered that as he or another black mage inhaled mist, their bodies drew out the mana contained within it. That mana was then cannibalized by the body and converted into lifeforce, the loss of which resulted in the inexplicable deaths that fell upon the mages after roughly a year of living. This discovery is what had prevented him from attending the play, instead sending his various children to go in his place. He had been attempting ever since to find a way to materialize mana and transform it into a gas, which could then be used as a substitute for mist, when he wasn’t busy fighting off monsters, both within Lindblum and within its politics. Sadly, though, he did not share this with anyone other than Zidane and their companions, since public opinion held the black mages largely responsible for the events set in motion by Kuja and Garland, especially after discovering that they were self-aware and had a village on one of the outer continents.

“That’s rather noble.”

“Yes, and funding me only slows it down.” Spying three figures approaching from the distance, Vivi was barely able to make out the blue crosses of medical personnel attached to two of them and the silver-winged badge of a military messenger. The two medics seemed to be carrying something large and ungainly between them as they ran, trying desperately to keep pace with the messenger. Stopping in front of Vivi and Leonis, the messenger bowed before removing a small slip of paper from his breast pocket, reading it, then tossing it on the ground.

“Sir,” said the messenger, “these men are going to shuttle you to the castle infirmary. Master Vivi, you’re to accompany them to the castle; the regent will be holding a meeting with both of you in the infirmary when you arrive.”

“Why?” Leonis asked, unable to think of a time when Cid had come to speak with anyone outside of a briefing room or the royal chambers.

“He wouldn’t say. All I have been told is that it is critical that you both be present meeting.”