Chapter 6

And so was the Mist. As if he had purposely dissipated the vile black substance. The very element that had caused his ultimate death.

As was the horrible wolf-beast. The cavern had been capsized by the force of the eruption, the writhing vortex of dark sorcery that had pounded the very matter of their beings. Garland had grabbed her, hoisting her up on his back, hunched double in attempt to sprint. Mikoto was taller than he was, but he seemed to be quite capable of bearing her weight. The boy never failed to astound her.

The three of them had made their way out of the spell's radius in time. She was sure that it had been in Mr. 78's design that they would. After all, no matter what darkness that had inhabited him in the end, Mr. 78 had been their friend.

The explosion had been massive, pulling the rocks down from overhead, a stony waterfall. They had sought refuge behind a vast set of stalagmites. But even then, the strength of the dark tempest leveled them against the far wall, blinding them with the horror of nothingness. The death magic that sucked everything away. And in the end, everything was gone. The wolf, the Mist, and Mr. 78.

"He is gone?" Vivi spoke her thoughts aloud.

"No… I won't believe it!" Garland struggled to his feet, then stumbled. "I won't believe it! I just won't!"

Vivi said nothing for a moment.

"It.. was the Mist, wasn't it?" Garland's voice was choked. "It was the Mist that caused that to happen."

"He was afraid of the Mist." Vivi agreed. "Remember he asked about it?"

"Dammit!" Garland pulled himself up hand over hand up the wall. "If I had known the Mist would cause that to happen to him…"

"We didn't know…" Vivi pushed himself to his feet, brushing himself off. "How could we know?"

"It's my fault! I jumped down here into the Mist.. I forced him to follow us." The boy weakly slid down, dropping into a pitiful heap on the stone floor.

No. It is my fault. I fell into the Mist. If I had been more careful, we would not have had to go down there.

"Garland…" Vivi reached out to him slowly. "You c-can't blame yourself…"

The boy flung the little Mage's hand away with an animal-like snarl. He was shaking, be it with rage or grief, he seemed to find strength in his emotions, and launched himself to his feet. "No! But I sure in hell can blame Mr. 299… Damn the bastard for screwing with those Mages! Damn him for screwing with Mr. 78!"

There was a strange light in his eyes, as if they were on fire, brilliant blue. It was a terrible look that Mikoto had never seen before. She shriveled away from him. Vivi had done the same.

"I'm gonna fuck him up..." He growled. Then whipped around to face the cold darkness of the cave, voice howling in a raging scream. "Do ya hear me, Mr. 299? I'm gonna fuck you up! You are so gonna pay!"

This cannot be real.

It was beyond comprehension.

How could that be?

Why did this happen?

The Mages in the village talked of death. But she never really understood.

She could only see the material things. The monuments built to the passed Mages upon the Sacred Hill.

She could only wonder why the Mages placed their friends under the earth once they had stopped moving.

But she could not understand. Why would they dwell over something so seemingly trivial?

After all, if they were gone, they did not care for monuments or ceremonies in their name.

What did they care about? They were dead.

There was a warm feeling, wet upon her cheeks. She had not even noticed it until now, when a drop had fallen, to splash sticky upon the back of her hand. She looked at it, then her vision blurred. A deep hollow feeling choked her, filled her chest. It was hard to breathe, impossible to see.

But the others felt. Even Garland, who could only handle sorrow by transforming to fury. And Vivi. Who was so strong, finding peace within his own silence. Was it so wrong to hold these feelings? What did it mean that she had them?

Why did they keep interrupting her thoughts?

A shifting vision behind her eyes. Mikoto suddenly remembered the silence of the Sacred Hill, of the monuments built to those who had passed. So they would not be forgotten. Because people had loved them.

"G-Garland.. you… shouldn't do that… you'll hurt yourself.." Vivi's little voice carried through the air in a soft echo.

The boy ignored the protest and slammed his fist into the rock with all his strength. A heavy grunt issued from his bared teeth. Then he did it again.

"I-I… want to go see…" Mikoto's voice trembled.

She could not see them for the tears, but her voice had somehow drawn their attention away from their own grief. The sound of soft footsteps on the stone floor drew nearer. She could hear Garland's heavy breathing, as if he was in pain. Maybe he was.

"Mikoto, are you crying?" Garland had asked that. She was surprised that he could so easily pull himself from his anger to be concerned for her.

"I want to go see…"

"Did you get hurt?" Vivi asked. She felt him near, a kindly presence. One that gave her strength.

"I want to go see Mr. 78."

There was silence.

"Please!" She added, a shocking sound.

"Mikoto's right." Vivi said finally. "We should go back to make sure…" He broke off.

To make sure he's dead.

The words went unspoken, but were very loud in her mind.

"Okay." Garland answered. His voice was cold.

The two of them aided her on either side, carefully supporting her in attempt to walk. Her vision was still blurry, and it made it all the more difficult. The pulsing ache in her leg grew to an awful burning pain as she ventured to place weight upon it.

Mikoto bit back the sharp cry that welled within her.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Garland offered. She could tell at once he was not being debasing.

"No… I am fine. I want to walk." Mikoto answered.

The basin had been cleared of all Mist. It was just as she had thought. A great silence drew across the cavern, the occasional loose stone plunging to land with a quick bouncing tic-tic across the floor. The sound of water had even grown more hushed, as if in tribute to the previous battle. The stench, akin burned flesh, was heavy in the air as they drew near.

Then it caught her eye. A tiny glimmer of gold in the middle of all the gray. Not knowing what had come over her, ignoring the terrible pain, Mikoto broke free from her friends, limping briskly towards it.

"Mr. 78!!" Her voice echoed. It was loud to her ears, across the silence of the void.

Her breath was short, wispy, a pounding in her chest. Was it her heart? It felt like it might burst at any moment. What was this feeling? Was there a word that could attempt to describe it? Her hands reached forward of their own accord.

Mikoto stumbled, but forced herself to keep moving, eyes never leaving the glimmer in the darkness. Faintly she could make out the calls of Garland behind her, but all thought was in moving forward, not what was behind. Her vision was still blurred.

"Mr. 78?"

What had it been? What had she seen?

The sound of water was very loud now. The stone sloped down in a peculiar way. As if it had been melted away in the height of the storm. She tripped, tumbling down, a tiny cry of dismay. The air was forced out of her lungs as she hit the ground hard, sliding forward upon her stomach. For a moment she simply allowed herself to lay there, choked and blinded by tears and shock.

Pulling her head up, she saw the golden shimmer.

Slowly, she crawled forward, one hand reaching out to grasp…

She pulled back.

It was a hat. A pointed Mage's hat, the yellow chocobo plume burnt away to nothing. And not too far away upon the ground, was Mr. 78's wooden staff.

Nothing more.

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