"That Garland… what are you going to do with such a horrid child?" Mikoto sighed, settling down upon a pillow at Vivi's side. She had managed to catch the tail end of their discussion earlier though she had not said anything until that moment. "You try to be gracious to him, and he is just all the more contemptible in return."
"I…" Vivi paused for a moment. But the words came of their own will. "I will keep trying. I want to be his friend."
"Parsnip!" She grumbled. "He is not worth your time."
"I think he is."
"He's nothing but a miscreant."
"I won't give up on him. I just know somewhere inside there's a poor lonely boy who wants a friend. I could see that in him every time he was with Mr. 44. I want to help him."
"Do as you please, then." She motioned widely with her arms. "Let him bad-mouth you, bad-mouth me, bad-mouth the others, let him even take items of your own possession from your home and run off with them. If I'm not mistaken.. that would make him a thief?"
"Um… Zidane was a thief." Vivi pointed out.
Mikoto became so quiet Vivi was almost sorry that he had said that. He was about to apologize to her when she turned to him.
"So what are you planning to do then?"
"Um… whaddaya mean?"
"There are things that need to be done. I'm am just pondering on what you plan to do."
"Oh… you mean the s-stone? And the broken barrier?" Vivi shook his head. "With everything else going on, it's hard to remember so much anymore. But.. y-yeah… the barrier is important."
"You will try to fix it then?" She asked. Her words were so intent he became curious.
"Of course."
"And you will take Garland to help?" "Uh… yeah.. I guess.""Then.. you must take me as well." She stated matter-of-factly.
Now Vivi was really confused.
Mikoto has nothing to do with the breaking of the seal. Why does she want to come along so badly?
He must have not said anything to her because the girl had turned to stare at him, a shimmer of determination in her blue eyes.
"You will not deny me this."
It wasn't a question.
"Uh-uh…" Vivi tugged at the brim of his hat.
"If that cretin is accompanying you… then I must go as well." Mikoto added forcefully. "I do not trust him."
"Mikoto.. I don't understand why you don't like Garland so much." Vivi finally answered."You could not. Us Genomes have our reasons."
"Just because of his n-name?""No. Not that." She shook her head. "But his choice of distinction does not help."
"Then what is it?" Vivi was really curious now. "The way he looks.. the way he feels… just his being in particular..""So you don't like him cuz he's different from you?"
"No. Give me time to further myself, Vivi."
He grew quiet.
Mikoto's eyes flashed, and her voice grew low. "There were stories back in the realms of Terra. Stories of our Master…" She spat the word into the air in great distaste. "Garland.. the Dark Wizard. We did not know him all that well, for little time did he spend among the soulless vessels of Bran Bal, his creations and ultimate design. We simply did his will or did nothing. That was the only way. However, there were a few of his creations such as Kuja, Zidane, and myself who were granted more… free will… than the others.
"Kuja and Zidane were gifted with their spirits and powers for reasons you well know. Myself? I was created to oversee the other Genomes of Bran Bal and to make certain Master Garland's wishes and plans were carried out in an orderly fashion. That was my only reason for being. Nothing else."
Mikoto paused, tail flipping slightly. Vivi could tell she was not proud of this. She did not seem to like talking about it either. But Vivi knew it was important to get bad feelings out in the open. It helped to deal with them. And Mikoto seemed to have a lot of secret bad feelings.
"There was another, though." She said slowly. "Another like us, with a free will granted, Master Garland's rumored "final creation". Even I knew little about this last being. Except it was seemingly an improvement even over Master Garland's other creations."
"Even over Zidane?" Vivi was concerned.
"I do not know." Mikoto shook her head. "I can not be certain that this "final creation" ever really existed. But it was supposed to be a shadow being, an alternate form of ourselves. A sort of dark Genome, ultimate servant of destruction and secret emissary of Master Garland himself. Though what the true purpose of its creation was is beyond my knowledge."
"So what are you saying?" The little Mage asked.
She turned to him. "I think Garland might be the Master's "final creation" given free will. And I think we are supremely blessed with the fact that the "final creation" has no memory of its purpose or plan in life. Otherwise…"
Mikoto said nothing more.
Vivi stared down at the floor.
"Is this true?"
To think of it… another creature with the strength and power of Zidane.. or Kuja.. a dark emissary of Master Garland.. was scary.
"We Genomes tend to believe it." She stated firmly.
"And that is why you do not like him?"
"Who could befriend a creature of darkest magics?"A shiver ran through Vivi.
"Us Mages… w-we're… made of dark magic.. of the evil mists. You know that, right?"
She did not speak.
"Yet… we have proven that our creation does not determine what we will become." The tiny Mage rose to his feet. "Me.. and all the other Mages… Zidane.. Kuja… we were all made for one reason. To h-hurt and destroy. Some of us did… but some of us also fought to make our o-own purpose. Like Zidane."
Mikoto bit down on her lip.
"Garland is the same. Even if he is the "final creation" as you think he m-might be, he still has the power within him to decide who he becomes as a p-person."
"You believe that?"
"Yes. I d-do. And I think more than any other reason, that is why it is important for him to have friends." Vivi told her, reciting something that he remembered hearing Zidane say once, "'When you have someone to care for, sometimes you do things differently than if you were all alone and only making choices for yourself.'"
"I do not believe that having friends could make a difference."
"If Zidane were here, I think he'd tell you otherwise." Vivi said simply.
Mikoto looked up at him quietly. "One day, you will have to tell me all about Zidane. Everything. So I might understand him better. Know him. Before I meet him next time."
"I think Zidane would approve.. if you tried to be Garland's friend. I know he would have tried like I am trying if he were here." The Mage tilted his head. "Zidane was nice to everyone."
"Hmm…."
There was a heavy sound at the front of the house. The door burst inward, a flurry of Mage and Genome exploding into the room from the night outside. It was Garland and Mr. 78.
Both Vivi and Mikoto could only stare at the two in surprise.
They seemed to be both out of breath and shamefully spouting out broken words in a leap-frog of sentences. Vivi couldn't understand anything that was going on. Not until Mr. 78 shoved the shattered relic of Une's Mirror towards Vivi with a shamed hunch to his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Vivi…." The Mage sounded to be on the brink of tears.
Garland almost pushed him over. "It was all his fault! I swear! I didn't do it this time!!"
"The mirror is… broken…?" Vivi reached out to gather the remaining pieces between his hands.
The two of them suddenly became very quiet.
Vivi looked up at them.
"I did it Vivi… I'm terribly terribly sorry. It was such a pretty m-mirror.. please don’t be m-mad at Garland. It wasn't his fault. I'll m-make up for it somehow. I really will. Just ask m-me anything.. anything at all, I'll do it. You know I will. I really m-mean it Vivi. That m-mirror had to be worth a lot to you. You got it from somewhere far far away didn't you? I bet there isn't another one like that anywhere. It was so clear and pretty and you could even see those weird ghosty things at the graveyard and all. Never seen them there before until I looked in that m-mirror though. So I bet it was really a special m-mirror and all, so you must be sad and--"
"Mr. 78."
Mr. 78 paused at the sound of his name.
Vivi had never heard someone talk so fast in his whole life. But he had heard something in the middle of all that which was important.
"D-did you say… ghosty things…?" Vivi asked.
"Um… yeah." Mr. 78 nodded. "The mirror was really pretty. Forgive me."
"You saw it…?" Vivi took a step closer.
"The m-mirror?"
"No… the ghosty things?"
"OH… THOSE! Yeah… I saw them but only when I was looking in the m-mirror. I'm sorry I dropped it. When Garland told me they were the spirits of the M-Mages… I… just… dropped it… It was my fault." The Mage hunched his shoulders again.
"It's okay. About the mirror. Really." The little Mage patted Mr. 78's hand. "I'm not mad. Don’t worry."
"It was kinda weird though." Mr. 78 tilted his head.
"The mirror?"
"No.. the ghosty things.""Oh really? Why?"
"It was like from another level of existence… like it was here… but not here. Just barely reaching over to our side." The Mage told him slowly. "But it sure was shiny."
"Uh…." Vivi shook his head then sighed.
"Listen Vivi…" Garland stepped closer, his eyes were big and lit with worry. "I'll tell you how it all happened…"
Thoughts of what Mikoto had told him earlier rang through Vivi's mind.
Is she just exaggerating on simple rumors? Or could Garland really be the 'final creation' all the Genomes are afraid of? And if so…
Vivi found himself suddenly more determined to become Garland's friend.
"Tell me all about it." The little Mage said to him kindly.