by Janus Urr
This story takes place after the events on the Hill of Despair in Memoria, where Zidane and friends defeated Necron and restored order to Gaia. Everyone has returned to their own lives and things seem to be calm again, but it doesn’t take much to learn that harmony never lasts all that long…
Black Mage Village. Isolated and quite peaceful, but something seemed to be missing here.
Vivi stared out the window of his home in the midst of the trees and scrub, and he pondered. Mulling over this and that…sure he was—uh, "young," but it wasn’t age that determined wisdom really. That was experience, and Vivi had plenty. Whether he wanted it or not.
His memory was assaulted at times. Pictures flashed through the tiny mage’s mind of his brothers being carved up and chopped down by him and his allies. Vivi didn’t feel very bad about what he’d done…it was for the sake of all of Gaia…but something picked at him about it…he wasn’t sure what.
And what was missing from this place? This was Vivi’s home, the only place he could really call home, ever. He had Mister 56, and 288, and 99, and everyone to make him feel welcome…
Wait. What had he seen in Alexandria, and Lindblum, and Dali…
Children, running around playing, having fun and just goofing off. Vivi thought he’d like to join them at one point, but after what happened in Dali so long ago…
"I’m confused," the tiny mage said without really knowing it. Another black mage was walking by and heard him.
"Confused about what?"
Vivi sighed. "I don’t know…I guess that’s what confusion really is. I feel…funny."
He looked up expectantly. "Do you feel funny, ever?"
The other mage—Mister 87, stopped and stood in Vivi’s window. "Y’know, I do sometimes. Kinda feels…fuzzy? Is that it? Fuzzy…"
"Not really, but…thanks," Vivi offered and stepped outside.
He wandered the village a lot. He knew it well, but that something missing seemed to be what drew the mage to run around at all hours and such. Mister 288 had once gotten mad because of something about Vivi’s safety or the like, but he was able to take care of himself. These guys treated Vivi like he was some sort of king or something. He appreciated them, but it was too much sometimes…
Vivi ended up in the…cemetery. He always ended up here, staring at the grave marker like a scarecrow. A few mages had "stopped" since Vivi had gone from here and faced Kuja and Necron, and the village’s morale seemed to droop, but the mages became their old selves when Vivi returned. He knew they looked up to him, but…
Vivi missed the sound of children playing…
He wandered to the chocobo stable on the other side of the village to visit Bobby, the mages’ pet choco. They’d found another chocobo injured in the forest some time before Vivi’s return and named it Janet Weiss—go figure.
Mister 99 was tending to Bobby’s plumes. He turned to see Vivi.
"Hello?" the mage offered as more of a question than a greeting. "Have you come to see Bobby and Janet?"
Vivi shook his head slowly. "Huh-uh. Just going for a walk. Um…I’ve been wondering something…"
Mister 99 talked with his back turned to Vivi, running a gentle brush over Bobby’s feathers. "What?"
Vivi felt stupid asking such a question, but he had to ask someone.
"Um…Mister 99…do you think…uh..I-If I would…"
The other turned to look at Vivi now. "Do you feel fuzzy or somethin’?"
"Y-Yeah…" Vivi blushed. "But I wanna know…um…do you think it’s possible…if someone could find a way….we could..um..make more of us?"
Vivi had Mister 99’s full attention. "Make…more of us? Like….children?"
"Y-Yeah!" Vivi jumped at the other’s acknowledgment. "Like if I could find out how to make more of us…."
Mister 99 looked at Vivi for a moment, those eyes expressionless.
"I think you’d have to talk to Mister 288 first. He knows everything…"
"N-No," Vivi responded. "I can’t wait to do this. Um, I’m gonna go get some things from my room, and then I’m going to see some friends of mine..You remember my friends? Uh, if I come back with more of us, you’ll know I found a way…okay?"
Mister 99 simply looked at Vivi again…
"I don’t think Mister 288 will like that…"
Too late. Vivi was already running off to retrieve his Mace of Zeus and some Hi-potions for the trip.
AFTER
midnight, the trees looked very spooky in the village. Vivi hurried along toward the entrance, sure to be as quiet as he could minus the frumpiness of his usual attire.He was right at the gate when a noise from behind startled him. Vivi turned to see Mister 288, standing there, gripping his staff.
"You…are leaving?" he said before Vivi could react.
"Y-yes…I need to know something….I think we all do…I think."
The other shifted his weight. "Mister 99 told me. He said he’s sorry, but this is important. Don’t be mad at him."
"I’m not," Vivi replied. "I just..don’t want to be stopped is all. Please don’t stop me…"
He felt like he was going to cry. Mister 288 came forward and put a gloved hand on Vivi’s shoulder to comfort him.
"I won’t. Can I be…honest? Yeah, honest. I think we need some more of us here.
"Look at you, Vivi. You are the youngest of us in mind, and you have the most wisdom. You’ve been all over the world…We need more of you, Vivi. Not just to make sure we survive, but to make sure we have the means to do so."
He scratched his head. "I hope I made sense there…"
Vivi nodded. "Uh-huh. I know. Um, I guess I should go now. But…I really don’t know where to start…"
"Your friend lives near here, right?" Mister 288 inquired. "The little girl who summons really really big moogles?"
"Yeah, Eiko. I almost forgot Madain Sari was near here. I should go see Eiko and ask for her help….but that’s a long way, and it’s over a mountain too…"
Mister 288 glanced back at the chocobo stable for a moment. "Maybe you could take Bobby? Or Janet? They’re both fast and very nice…but we don’t have any of those greens here…"
Vivi brightened. "I’m sure they have some in Conde Petie…I think I’ll take Janet with me…is that okay?"
Mister 288 nodded and walked off toward the stable. "wait here, I’ll go get her."
As Vivi waited he pondered again. This seemed very unlike the mage, letting his young savior go off alone…but look at the content of Vivi’s quest. Mister 288 knew better than any of the other mages the situations that were going to arise in the near future. He had some amazing foresight.
Vivi was glad, at least, that he could go without anyone really worrying that much. He’d felt he had to do this since the first time he’d met his kin and it was about time he made an effort. It just seemed scary that Mister 288 and the others (if any were awake by now) would let Vivi go without a hitch like this…and give him a chocobo to make things easier.
But one thing Vivi’d learned from Zidane; always be thankful for what you’ve got.
Zidane. Vivi missed him a lot, and he missed everyone else too. Dagger and Quina and Freya and Amarant. everybody.
His first family.
The tiny mage brightened. He’d see them soon if all went well.
Mister 288 returned holding Janet’s bridle. He handed the leather straps to Vivi, and the tiny mage took them hesitantly. Chocobos always made him a bit nervous…
"You’re lucky," the bigger mage said. "Janet likes you. She’ll get you far."
Vivi struggled to climb on top of the bird, finding success after a few tries. He took up his mace and settled in for a nice long trip.
"T-thank you, Mister 288," he said. "I promise I’ll come back. No matter what. So if I take a long time, don’t worry, okay?"
Mister 288 nodded. "Okay. But you need to go. Everyone wakes up about this time, and I don’t want you to have any trouble…"
"Okay," Vivi replied and gently kicked Janet in the sides. The chocobo trotted away from the village with not more than a "Wark!"
And Vivi was off. Hopefully to find what he was really looking for. But first he needed to find Eiko…
And Zidane…