…Long ago, before the world was populated by what we call humans, there were simply the Gods. They were beings of pure energy, on a frequency we could never reach. And as such, they were very different from us.
They created this world with no apparent purpose; no drive. It simply happened one day that we came into existence, and the Gods were aware that it was their doing. But despite the ambiguity of our origins, the Gods were possessed of a great love for us. And so they kept us here, to watch us grow and change with time. To keep us from harm, if need be.
Harm took the form of Necron. He was a pure being, just like the Gods, but not of the same light as them. Necron was built of the negativity of humans; their desire, greed, and hunger. He lived on that, and it made him terribly strong. Stronger, even, than the Gods themselves. Necron used this power to whittle away at the people of the planet; to eat up their love and good will.
It happened on a grander scale than Necron could’ve imagined. The ensuing influx of power was too much for the being to handle, and as a result it knocked him back into the farthest reaches of existence.
So there he waited. The Gods grew tired of the planet they’d made, and wandered off into space, never heard from again. Necron bided his time with the corruption of other worlds; other peoples, and when the opportunity showed itself he returned to the planet and struck. The resulting force leveled the world, causing a great shift inside it. It was then that our planet, Terra, birthed what is now Gaia. It was then that your planet was born, and ours doomed to implode.
But Necron was defeated again by his own power. He stayed closer to Gaia, watching and waiting for his time to deal a deathblow to it’s core. He chose to strike when the wars raged not long ago. He was defeated…by the power of humanity.
Defeated but not destroyed.
And that is what you must watch for, Dagger. Necron’s power grows regardless of circumstance. It’s unlikely he can ever be destroyed. And his pride has suffered a crippling blow because of what you and your friends have done. You must be wary.
Dagger had stared intensely ay Kuja through his entire story. She’d stayed up a while longer that night talking with him, making plans and smoothing out matters between them as well as she could manage. Chance had never left her side; a bond had formed from the moment Kuja’d told the doll of his purpose. He even climbed into Dagger’s lap before the end of the night, to sleep.
She marveled at him. Chance did indeed have a few of Zidane’s personality triats in him. Perhaps simply a coincidence, but neither Dagger or Kuja agreed with that.
The others awoke rather early. By then Dagger had retired and Chance had joined her, curling up beside her like her own child. Vivi was first to wake, and he was full of questions, but Dagger saved it until everyone was awake and alert. Then it began.
Freya swore to Dagger that the little guy would be spying on them all, or would kill them while they had their backs turned. Eiko simply stared at Chance with a puzzled expression on her face. Vivi…was another story. He took to Chance immediately, and they were talking and laughing together before the end of the morning. Dagger smiled at the two of them as she watched, content with the bond that had formed there. Kuja smiled as well, unable to contain his pride at either Chance or Vivi.
And then the time came to leave for Oielvert. Chance was ready as could be; he and Vivi skipped out of the palace after both hugging Kuja goodbye. Freya stepped out while no one was looking, negativity pouring from her. Eiko simply stood, quiet, while the others said goodbye and then followed them silently out of the palace when the time came.
Outside, Chance was all questions. He’d never seen the sky, or the water, or even felt real wind on his face before; the world was new to him.
Vivi was reminded of the first few days of his life…
"What do you suppose it is?"
"I dunno. Why don’t you open it and see?"
Creak, slam.
"What in the name of…it’s a doll!"
Light…
"I have a feeling this is more than a doll. I mean, this big? And it fell out of an airship. Who’d buy a huge doll like this?"
"One of those weirdos from Alexandria, maybe? Or even some of the nobles around here. I bet the duck lady’d buy one, just to say she’s got one."
"Naw, she’s only interested in those stupid coins…what the hell’s THAT?"
Footsteps…? Is that what you call those?
"You! What you do with open coffin! Dead no taste good."
"Hey, you filthy Qu, this is no coffin. There’s a…thing inside it."
Warmth…somewhere close.
"Hmm. It not human. You two no need it. I take it, maybe it grow up and taste good some day. Shoo, or I spork you!"
"Ah! Get away from me with that pointy thing! Run!"
And that was all he remembered. The next thing Vivi knew, he was living day to day with Quan, or grandpa as he called him. They got along well, even though Vivi always felt like he was going to get eaten. But one day Quan began to get sick, and Vivi was concerned. He went to see doctors in Treno, but they all said the same thing.
He’ll be fine if he eats.
But Quan refused to eat. He would always say "there more to life than food," but did that mean that living life to the fullest required starving? Vivi tried every day to make Quan eat, but he always got the same response. "No, Vivi, I eat enough for my life. I done with food, never pay attention to other things. I been…very bad person."
Vivi came back from Treno one morning to find Quan gone, and a parcel sitting on the table in his room. Inside was over two hundred gil and a note.
Vivi,
You take money, go to Alexandria and see play there. Wanted to take you myself, but can’t now. Don’t know where things going now. So many things in life, never thought of, or tried, or looked at. Now, too late for Quan. You have life to look forward to, Vivi. Have much learning and stuff to do. Quan wish you luck, knows you will have fun and make many friends. Be good, stay out trouble.
I love you, Vivi.
~Quan
the only thing Vivi remembered was a hollow feeling in his stomach. Not hunger, or sickness. Well, it could’ve been sickness, just not the kind that makes you cough and sneeze. Vivi sat down on the floor, clutching the note in his hands, and cried forever…or what seemed like forever. He missed Quan already at that point. It made him feel…empty knowing that they’d never talk again; never go for walks in the forests; go to the auction house and make crazy bids, then run like heck.
He cried all day, and only after the sun began to set did Vivi get up and walk back to Treno. He found an airship heading to Alexandria and spoke with the engineer, who allowed Vivi passage for fifty gil. The tiny mage jumped on the offer, and huddled in the belly of the ship all the way to the city.
When he arrived, Vivi was swamped by the people. He waded through the crowd, staring at all the new sights and straining to hear the new sounds. And then someone approached him.
A man with a heavy cloak over his thin frame. His features were all but invisible, but Vivi thought he could spy a beard inside the cowl.
"Are you here to see the play, little one?" the stranger aksed.
Vivi, still not comfortable with talking to strangers, nodded.
"But you have no ticket, I’m afraid. I could sell you one for much less than the booth in the promenade wants. Would you like that…?"
Vivi was too trusting back then…
And the rest was history. Vivi running into Puck, the Burmecian prince, being made a slave and sneaking into the play, and the fateful encounter with Zidane and Tantalus.
The adventure that changed Vivi’s life.
Now he looked at Chance and wondered how he saw the world around him. Vivi was decided. Someone like him saw the sky, trees, water, and everything brighter; more alive and full of unspoken promises that normal people could never see or hear. Chance must feel that way right now, Vivi thought to himself as they boarded Hilda Garde III. He must be so excited to see the newness of the world and have friends to share it with.
He caught up with Chance, who was now in the belly of the ship staring at the steam engine in absolute awe.
"What’s this?" he asked.
"A-an engine," Vivi replied. "It makes this ship move. Takes us places far away."
Chance went to touch the engine, and Vivi flinched, grabbing the dol’s hand and looking at him as sternly as he could manage.
"D-don’t touch it, Chance, it’s hot. It’ll burn you, and that hurts."
"Burn…? What’s a burn?"
Vivi blinked, and smiled in spite of himself. He held out both palms, and summoned a fire spell in one, ice in the other. The ice froze about the lft palm, covering it in crystal. Then he held the ice-covered palm over the flame in the other. In moments the ice was gone, dripping off Vivi’s fingers as water.
"See?" he said. "Fire and hot stuff burns. It melts cold stuff. But people get burned and it hurts. Pain is a bad thing, something you should never feel. I kept you from it this time but…you’ll hafta learn to stay away from pain if you can, okay? I d-don’t wanna sound mean…I only told you cuz I care about you, Chance."
The doll stared at the flame still dancing in Vivi’s palm and actually smiled. Vivi didn’t think it possible…in fact, from what Dagger’d told him it wasn’t possible. How…
"I know, Vivi," Chance said, sing-songish. "I care about you too. I won’t touch the…engine?"
Vivi nodded. "Y-yeah, engine."
"Okay!" Chance squealed. "Let’s go somewhere else! I wanna see the whole ship before we get to the other place!"
He grabbed Vivi by his hand and ran off to gods knew where.
As he was lifted and tugged, Vivi wondered if any of his friends had this sort of experience with him…he hoped not.