The massive group filed into the Invincible rather quietly, as the event was something no one was particularly looking forward to. Most everyone remained silent, except for the members of Tantalus, somewhat oblivious to the potential importance of what may occur. Baku and his crew were the first on board of the giant blue airship, and the team scrambled around it, working with the controls.
The Invincible had been parked in a custom-made hangar behind the kingdom, thought by some to be its final resting point. Garnet had never thought she would need to use it again, so she had built a giant structure around it, almost a coffin to seal it away. The only real way to get out was to go straight up, something not easy for a several-foot-long airship to do.
Tantalus hopped into the control note, not surprised at all that the ship was completely deserted and was probably in need of a little fine tuning. The five members of the group had taken the duty upon themselves to pilot the rest of the group to the arrived destination, their little way of saying sorry about the whole crashing into the castle thing. The others walked on slowly, settling onto comfortable areas of the ship they had remembered.
Garnet and Vivi had gotten on the ship asking if Zidane was on yet. Everyone responded by saying they hadn't seen him, and a little search began that went on for nearly an hour. Finally Baku had suggested going without him, but as soon as he had said that Zidane was seen walking across the long, wooden plank connecting the ground to the floor of the ship. He had changed back into his normal clothes, and his head was hanging down, lost in thought. He appeared to almost be in some kind of trance. Garnet, seeing how much pain he was in, advised for no one to talk to him and for Tantalus to get going. She remembered the directions the soldier had given her by heart, and she decided to stay in the control room to help guide the pilots.
Vivi had considered following Garnet into the control room, but finally decided against it, thinking Garnet needed to be alone with her thoughts like Zidane did. He found himself wandering around the ship aimlessly, looking for someone to talk to. Right now silence was the last thing he wanted, as it meant thinking about things he wasn't particularly interested in talking about. Unfortunately for him, everyone else seemed to be the same way, and had already formed conversations. Steiner and Beatrix were engaged in a political conversation with Freya and Fratley on the middle level, and the little mage decided even if he did butt in, he probably wouldn't know what anyone was talking down. He headed downstairs.
Vivi saw Zidane hanging over the rail, still lost in thought. They were outside, and could see the clouds and green land underneath them pass in a quick flash. He saw the giant power source glowing behind him, and he saw Quina admiring it, roasting a piece of meat on the edges to cook it. Once again, the black mage decided not to interrupt anyone, and he headed back upstairs.
He was nearly knocked over by Eiko, who was charging by crazily. Vivi followed her into the next room and found her talking with Mikoto. He was ready to walk in and join in, but after the heard the word 'Zidane' he stepped back. That talk could get nasty.
Vivi walked back onto the main hall, too afraid to talk with anyone but dying to talk to someone, anyone. At that moment he found the last member of the entourage climb down a ladder, alone as always. Vivi sighed with relief and trotted over to him.
"Hello, Mr. Amarant. How are you doing?"
The green-skinned man looked at the child and grinned. "Vivi, don't ever call me Mr. Amarant again, alright?"
Vivi gulped. "O...Okay. So, where have you been the last three years?"
Amarant sat down on a chair. "Oh, here and there. I've been all over the place, just passing by and taking a good at everything."
Vivi nodded. "Yeah, I did that for a while, too. Did you ever see anything interesting?"
Amarant looked up at him. "You kidding? I saw all kinds of crazy stuff. I went to little villages with no one living in them but these weird people who were hardly a foot tall; I met up with some guy wearing armor shaped like a dragon. And he was carrying a spear, like Freya does."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was pretty cool, and we stuck together for a week or two. He had been wandering around the world too."
The bridge in the conversation left the two thinking of something to say. Finally Vivi glanced at something stuffed in Amarant's pocket. "You play cards?"
Amarant stared, then broke out laughing. "Are you kidding? I won that tournament in Treno a couple of years back."
Vivi gasped, obviously impressed. "Really?"
"Sure. You want to play?" Amarant smiled, though Vivi was unsure if it was a sincere smile or bait.
Vivi shrugged. "Why not? I've got some cards in my pockets, I think..." He started digging through his coat, and finally fished out some rumpled cards. "Here we go!" He sat down next to Amarant, and laid his cards on the table carefully.
"Good. Just remember, Vivi; I've never lost a card fight."
"Well, I probably wouldn't stop that streak." Vivi said.
The game began and after several rounds Amarant lay back in his smugly. Though Vivi was easily one of the best card players he'd seen, the cards he was using were next to nothing. Finally the last move was laid out, and it happened to be Vivi's. He appeared to be backed into a quarter, and he was down 7-2. Amarant grinned and looked at his opponent.
"Your move, Vivi."
"Ummm...Oh, here's something." Vivi placed his last card down, and miraculously he got a two-card combo on Amarant, resulting in a 5-5 draw. Amarant nodded, approving of the match.
"Good game, Vivi. I haven't tied for years now."
"Thanks." Vivi said nervously, unsure how to take the praise he was not used to. He got out of his chair, but tripped over the table leg. He landed flat on his face. Amarant got out of his seat and helped him up. He hoisted Vivi onto his shoulder and set him back down.
"You okay there, little guy?" He asked.
Vivi nodded, rubbing his left hand, which had been bruised by the fall. "Yes, thank you, Amarant, but you didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, but I wanted to." Though it was an innocent statement, Vivi was shocked to see what happened next. He saw a twinge of red color envelop Amarant's cheeks. He was actually blushing! Vivi was tempted to burst out laughing, but he caught himself in time. Inside, Vivi was relieved. For some time he had been debating whether the way Amarant acted was really how he behaved, or just an act. Now he had an answer.
"Well, thanks. Come on." Vivi plopped back into his chair, smiling as he lay back on the seat and tossed some cards on the table. "Let's have another game."