Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ On Folded Wings ❯ Awakening ( Prologue )

A Final Fantasy 9 fanfic

Author's Notes: This story ties into the main story of Final Fantasy Nine. I was thinking about this for awhile now, and decided that I should try it out. What if, when Kuja first created Vivi as the prototype model for the Black Mages, did he also create a second prototype model for the Waltzes? And the second model also got lost along the way… This story takes place some time after the battle at the Ilfa Tree.

On Folded Wings
Prologue - Awakening
By: Raven Star

~Eleven Years ago~

On board of an airship, two figures dressed in red and blue jester outfits are sitting huddled together in one of the chambers of the airship as they watched their boss pace around the room in a rage, flinching simultaneously when he turned his attention on them every few seconds.

"Kuja's mad at us," the jester dressed in red said as he turned to look at his twin, worriedly.

"We are in trouble, yes," the other one said, as he glanced back at Kuja.

"Trouble, yes we are." The first one muttered.

"Is your fault we lose prototypes."

"Your fault it is!" the second one exclaimed indignantly as he glared back.

"ZORN!! THORN!! That is enough!" Kuja's voice roared, as he finally stopped in front of the two jesters, causing the two to flinch back in fear, as they saw that look in his eyes, "I can't believe the two of you. You've both already cost me that first one by letting it fall off the airship.

"Not our fault this time!" Zorn exclaimed, trying to think of something that'll get them out of the trouble they were in, "Prototype fall off of airship during the storm."

"And what was my prototype doing above decks during that storm?" Kuja exclaimed as he shot the duo death glares, that caused both of the twins to cringe in fear at the anger they could see blazing in their bosses eyes, "When she should have been below decks in the cargo hold, with the other three I'm working on?!"

"Um..." Thorn said, a huge sweatdrop running down the back of his head, as he fidgeted a bit, not meeting Kuja's eyes, "You see..."

"You see..." Zorn echoed, as he also fidgeted, "We were only *borrowing* the prototype, and were planning to bring it back..."

"Bring it back we were," Zorn insisted, seeing Kuja's glare intensify by the second, "but one thing led to another and..."

"I thought so." Kuja snapped as he glared at the two once more, his heated gaze intensifying by the moment, as he placed his hands on his hips, "The two of you better hope you find it soon. Or else."

"We will find the prototype!" Zorn cried, as he backed away from Kuja. "No need to worry."

"Find it we will!" Thorn added in, as he also backed away. "Worry not needed."

"See that you do." Kuja said menacingly, as he glared at the two jesters in anger, as a small evil smirk started to creep up his features, as a thought came to him, "And as a reminder..."

The two brothers both let out loud yelps, when one of Kuja's hands started to spark with a Thunder spell, and they both bolted for the door, Thorn making just barely made it out the door before the Thunder spell hit both him and Zorn from behind, leaving the two crumpled, moaning in pain on the floor.

"Just remember this the next time I leave the two of you in charge, and make sure it doesn't happen again," Kuja said casually, strolled over to them and stepped over them on his way out of the room, "Or else next time I won't take it so easy on you."

"Yes sir," Zorn and Thorn moaned out simultaneously, just before fully lost consciousness.

~New Port Island, ~

It was mid morning on a small tropical island southeast of the Northern continent. On one of the beaches you can see a small figure, dressed up in black robes with a pointed hat lying a feet away, a pair of long black wings that looked to big to fit on it's body were folded across it's back, lying face down on the soggy sand.

After a few moments, the figure slowly started to stir, as it awoke from what seemed to have been a long sleep, as it slowly tried to push itself up with a slight groan, before managing to flip itself over onto it's back, allowing it's wings to cushion it, as a pair of glowing amber eyes peered up at the morning sky in confusion.

What happened to me? Where am I? Who am I?

As she lay there trying to remember what happened, she suddenly realized that she could hear voices coming from somewhere nearby.

"Hey, Is it awake?" an unfamiliar young voice asked, "Do you guys think it's some kind of new monster, Kyle?"

"I don't know, Holly. Just stay back a bit, and get ready to run back to the village to warn everyone, if it does anything," another voice replied, this one sounding a lot older than the first one, as the footsteps hesitantly came closer.

The winged figure gingerly pushed itself up with its arms so it could get a look at the newcomers, wincing in pain when her arms brush against her wings, as her eyes settled on two figures that had been slowly making their way towards her, only to stop when they saw her move.

One of the two figures was a teenage boy with long black hair tied back into a ponytail, dressed in navy blue-green khaki shorts, a white t-shirt, and wore a pair of sandals on his feet. The other was a young girl with black hair tied back into two pigtails, wearing navy blue overalls and a yellow shirt.

As the young mage moved to stand up, she let out a low moan of pain, as she suddenly grabbed hold of her left arm, as she tried to use it to push herself up with, and lowered her head down to look at the injured arm, as she held it to her chest. Feeling something wet and sticky run down her arm, she pulled her injured hand away, to find it covered in a silvery wet substance.

'What…? It… hurts… Why does it hurt?…'

Noticing a sudden movement behind her back, she glance over her shoulder to see the wings for the first time, and saw her left wing seemed to be hanging limply down her back, indicating that it was also injured.

"Hey, it's hurt!" the girl cried out, concern overriding her fear, as she started to move forward to help, only to be yanked back by her suspenders by the boy, who proceeded to push her behind him for safety, "Kyle!"

"Holly, stay back! I'll handle this." 'What is this thing?' Kyle thought as he cautiously moved towards the still figure, it's glowing yellow eyes watching his every movement as he approach, 'It looks almost human, yet with those wings, and those eyes, I wonder just what could it be? Maybe I should just try talking to it first...'

"Hello, are you okay?" Kyle asked, as he walked cautiously towards the still figure, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.

The winged mage simply stared at him in silence, as she held her injured arm, as tears ran down her face.

"Okay..." Kyle said after a moment, "Can you tell me who you are?"

More silence met his question.

"Do you know how to talk at all?!" he demanded a few seconds later, his voice sounding harsher than he meant it to be, causing the mage to flinch at his tone, "Look I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help if I can..."

"Who..."

"What?" Kyle asked, as he stared down at the mage in surprise, uncertain if he had actually heard the

"Who... are... you?" The mage repeated, her voice coming out in a harsh croak , the surprise evident in her voice as her golden eyes widened in surprise on her darkened face, at the sound of her own voice. 'Is that my voice?', golden eyes closed a moment, as she took a deep breath, before opening again then stopped as she looked down at her hands. "Where... am... I?"

"So you can talk, so you can't be some kind of monster," Kyle said, putting his hands on his hips, only to get smacked behind the head by the girl with him as she came closer. "Ow! &#!@^ Holly!"

"Kyle, don't be mean! And I'm going to tell mom you cursed at me." Holly exclaimed, sticking out her tongue at the older boy, as she pushed past Kyle and knelt in front of the winged mage, "Hi, my name is Holly Ann Ashlocke, and that's my idiot brother Kyle. What's your name?"

"I'm..." the mage said, her voice still sounding hoarse from misuse, as she continued getting used to speaking, as her golden glowing eyes blinked, then closed for a moment, as if she was thinking of something.

"Is something wrong?" Holly asked in concern, as she watched the strange creature's movements worriedly, "Can you tell us what your name is?"

"I don't know." The mage said, after a few moments later, as she stared back

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kyle asked as he sat down next to the two, "Do ya mean you don't remember your name or you don't have one?"

"I don't... remember." The mage said haltingly her voice becoming slightly clearer as she became accustomed to speaking, shaking her head as if to clear it, her golden eyes narrowing, from under the brim of her hat, "I don't remember anything past waking up here on... the... what is this place called?" she asked as she looked at the duo in confusion.

"It's called a beach." Holly said cheerfully, as she looked at her brother, then back at the mage, "It's where people come to have fun.

"Fun...?" the mage asked, confusion filling her voice as she stared back, then flinched when Kyle's hands touched her wings, crying out in pain when his hands touched a sore spot.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to help." Kyle said, trying to calm the mage down, as he tried to see how badly hurt she was, and flinched a bit when his hand came away covered in her blood, "Hold still a sec will you? This won't hurt." He said, as he raised his hands towards the worse of the injuries and cast a Cura spell. "Damn, you've been roughed up pretty badly. What happened to you?"

"I don't remember." The mage said, as she glanced over at him from over her shoulder, as she felt the sudden warmth from the spell, as most of the pain she felt faded away to a dim ache, and let out a yelp of pain when his hands touched her injured wing which was still hanging limply, "The only thing I remember is waking up here on the... beach, and hearing the two of you..."

"Sounds like you might have amnesia, or something," Holly said, as she walked over to the duo, and tugged on her brother's shirt to get his attention, "Kyle let's take her back to town, and see if dad can fix her?"

"Am..nesia?" the mage asked, confusion evident in her voice, as she stared at Holly. "What's that?"

"A friend of our family recently was in an accident," Kyle said as he stood up, and glanced around the beach for any signs of life, "and he couldn't remember stuff either."

"Why would your... dad 'fix' me?" she asked.

"He's our town doctor. Both he and mom practice healing with white magic, in our village." Kyle said, "Do you think you can walk on your own? Or would you like me to carry you?"

"I think I can walk, if you help me up." The mage said, as she tried to stand up with Holly and Kyle's help, and managed to stay on her feet for a full minute before her legs gave out on her, and fell to the soft sand with a thud. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Holly exclaimed as she rushed forward to check her out.

"I just felt weak, that's all." she said, as she reached up to arrange her hat on her head, before resting them in front of her to look up at her companions, a sad look in her glowing eyes, "I don't think I can walk to your village after all..."

"I thought so. So looks I'll just have to carry you there." Kyle said, shaking his head ruefully as he stared down at the mage, before turning his back on them and bent down to a kneeling position, cupping his hands behind his back, as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

After that, the mage soon found herself resting behind Kyle's back, his arms behind his back to hold her in place as she rested on his hands, as she with her hands resting on his shoulders to hold on, and soon the trio were on their way back to the village.

"You know, if you don't have a name, we should give you one, at least until you remember your real one." Holly said thoughtfully, as she followed behind her brother, "How about we call you Ebony? What do you think of that name?"

"I think it sounds like a good name," Kyle said as he shifted Ebony's small frame on his back as he walked along the trail.

"I like it," Ebony said sleepily after a moment of silence as she thought over the offered name, the golden light in her eyes starting to dim a bit, as she yawned. "Are you okay?" Holly asked after noticing the change in Ebony's eyes.

"I'm tired," Ebony said as she looked up from where she was resting her head against Kyle's back, as she stared back over Holly.

"If you're sleepy just go to sleep, Ebony." Kyle said as he glanced over his shoulder at her, as he saw the wary look in her eyes, as she leaned in closer to him.

"I'm not that tired..." Ebony said, protested weakly her eyes flashing a bit, before they became dim again just as another yawn escaped her lips, "I'm just..." she managed to get out just her eyes fluttered close, as exhaustion finally claimed her.

"What do you think going to happen once we get back to the village, Kyle?" Holly asked, as she gently touched one of the sleeping mages wings, "How do you think everyone's going to react to us bringing home a... whatever Ebony is?"

"We'll just tell everyone how we found her. If she was a threat she would have hurt us already," Kyle said as he glanced over at Holly as she walked beside him, shifting Ebony's weight in his arms as he walks.

To Be Continued

Author's Notes:

How do you like my first attempt at a Final Fantasy 9 fic! I've had this idea running through my mind for months, before it started driving me crazy enough to put it down on paper. Hasn't anyone else out there ever wondered whether or not if Vivi was the ONLY prototype Kuja had made? Especially after seeing the Waltzes in the games? ^_^

What do you guys think of it? Do you hate it or love it? Should I continue it?