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year 5, quarter 3
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Vivi didn't know how long he had been a prisoner in Kuja's lair for now. He wasn't allowed to go outside, so he only had as many times as he gone to sleep to guess on. Even then he really wasn't keeping count. The little mage's flickered open, the large yellow orbs scanning the room as he did every time he woke hoping that Kuja wouldn't be standing over him prepared to do something awful. He gave a sigh of relief as he wiggled himself off the makeshift mat he had made for himself. His little bed consisted of a couple of books and papers that he had found littering about the place. Vivi wanted to put them back in Kuja's room for him, but he was too scared to go in there.
He had been doing very well staying out of Kuja's way. He would listen for footsteps and would waddle away as quickly as he could. The lair was comfortably big, so that most days Vivi didn't even really need to sneak about. Still, there had been a couple of times that he was too preoccupied that the he would see Kuja's shadow at the last possible moment. Each time that happened he would yelp and sprint for the nearest exit his heart pounding and his wide eyes somehow even louder. Thankfully he had always escaped in time.
A couple of days into his captivity, Vivi had made his way through the lair to the entrance. A part of him wondered if Kuja had been lying to him about being stranded in the desert. Using all of his might he was able to swing the heavy door open and was almost toppled by the hot wind and sand that came billowing in at him. Panic set in as he quickly closed the door against the raging sandstorm pushing his whole body against it until he it sank back into place. Vivi looked at the sandy mess on the floor and knew he needed to clean it immediately. He didn't want Kuja to think he had tried to escape.
Vivi didn't know why he was thinking about that as he remade his makeshift bed. He was gonna do the same thing he did everyday. Vivi left his little cell adjusting his nearly torn hat. He knew there was a spare set of robes in the trunk, but they weren't his clothes. They were like all the other mages'. Vivi liked his clothes, and he would keep them tattered and all.
First, Vivi would try and listen to see if Kuja was in or out and about in the world. He couldn't tell today, so he would keep his guard up all the same. His next daily routine was to tidy up anything that he might have disheveled the day prior or looked out of place. He didn't want any traces of him to be showing, as he didn't know if it would set Kuja's temper off or not. Next, he made his way to the kitchen of the lair. It would make his Grandpa unhappy to see the way Vivi was eating now. He only dared to partake in the loafs of bread that he found in there. He didn't think Kuja would like it much if he ate any of the nicer delicacies that he sometimes saw in there. After he had his share, Vivi would do a doubletake around the kitchen to make sure he wasn't being washed before sneaking off with some of the raw meat from the cold magic box.
This was always the riskiest part of his day. Vivi didn't know why he had thought to it in the first place, but something compelled him to do so. It was one of the two things Kuja had told him specifically not to do. Meat in hand Vivi made his way down to where Kuja kept his dragon. Vivi knocked on the door to let it know he was coming in before entering. The first time he had done this he thought he was about to be the snack instead of the food he brought. It snarled and snapped a hot steam poured from its maw before Vivi's was able to break free from his nerves and throw the slab of meat its way. "I thought you might be hungry," he explained as it ate the meat. Still Vivi left before it was done just in case its hunger hadn't been satiated.
This had become a daily occurrence now. Well, everyday the dragon was there. Sometimes he'd come to an empty room, and he'd assume Kuja was out and about. He wondered if the dragon was lonely being cooped up all alone, and he wondered if it was being well fed enough. Slowly but surely Vivi would stay a little bit longer each time and ask the dragon how it was doing albeit knowing it couldn't respond in kind. He hadn't dared show up without the meat though. He didn't want to make it sad by coming without it, and he felt a little safer with something else as food.
Vivi was going to see what happened if he stayed past the dragon finishing his snack today. "How're you today?" he asked as the dragon feasted. "Have you been out to stretch your wings lately?" It was nice to talk even if it was to a dragon that might eat him. To be honest, Vivi was terribly lonely and this was his favorite part of the day now.
I mean, it's not like he's empathizing with Vivi. Kuja doesn't know empathy. Absolutely not.
Why should the world exist without me?
The black mage was driving him mad.
It wasn’t that it had disobeyed his orders, but rather that it hadn’t. Every time that Kuja wandered through those cool and echoing halls, he dreaded hearing the rustling of clumsy feet or the shadow of someone trying very hard not to be seen. The mage was like a child, overwhelmed with both curiosity and fear and too impotent to put either into action. On occasion, Kuja would find a book out of place or some trinket or another turned the wrong way. Once, he felt the the shuddering of one of his magical seals and froze in his work, scowling as he went to yell at the mage for attempting to escape into a deadly wasteland, but when he got there, the door was closed again and the mage was nowhere to be seen. At least the mage wasn’t stupid then.
Or not as stupid as it could be. Its own naivete left him with no delusions of any innate intelligence in his own creation.
Kuja tapped at a table in his library, clicking his tongue impatiently as he tried once again to read the same line his eyes must have glazed over three times now. It was a book of both magical history and incantations that Kuja had no doubt were either beneath him or completely outdated. Such lore had always fascinated him in its own, often useless way, but not today. No, today his mind lingered on scuffling in the shadows and the quick retreats he’d pretended not to notice that morning. The mage was many things -- powerful for its age, too ignorant to realize the limits of its pure sentimentality, oddly persuasive in its immaturity -- but stealthy was not one of them. It had all the grace of a swan out of water, making every retreat an embarrassing assault on his senses.
And yet…
The same scene played like an echo behind his closed eyelids. Even now, hours past, Kuja was a victim to his own unfocused mind, and not even his spellbooks could capture his attention. Something about that mage toyed with his imagination in the worst of ways, eliciting emotions in him that made him want to strike the bumbling puppet with sharpened nails. But why?
There must have been something fundamentally wrong with the mage. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Perhaps its overwhelming weakness in the face of captivity. It didn’t deserve to live, didn’t deserve his mercy because-
he’d never received it himself
-because the world itself was cruel and only the strong survived. Yes, that was what disgusted him. Not his own reactions, but the mage’s pure helplessness like a canary trapped in a cage if that canary was manufactured and hideous to behold. In other words, useless. Why did he keep the mage around at all? One spell, and that artificial life would be extinguished.
The mage simply knew too much. Its wealth of lost knowledge piqued Kuja’s curiosity. There could be no other reason.
With a sigh, Kuja marked his place in the book’s weathered pages and closed it, rising to replace it on the shelf. He’d been struck by a rather odd idea, one that he both derided and could hardly believe it hadn’t come sooner. He would check on the mage. Just observe it to see for himself how its soul had reacted to captivity. Perhaps the mage would surprise him in its resilience, but mostly likely not.
And so for the first time since the mage had entered these halls, Kuja closed his eyes and searched for it. His natural psychic inclination picked up on the flickering of a foreign soul in seconds -- the vessel of a black mage was far less secure than even genomes meant for spiritual possession. He scowled, trying to place it. The mage was somewhere to the west. Somewhere past his spell forge, past his workshop, past the teleporter leading to…
His jaw clenched. To his dragon’s keep. Had he not specifically warned it to keep away?
Kuja started with a hurried step, wondering faintly as to his own concern. Would it not be better to let the mage kill itself? Would it not save him the trouble of keeping it alive? But he hurried anyway, taking a side path that would cut through the waste towards his teleporter. But why?
It could only be to protect the mage’s knowledge. Any other reason was pure nonsense.
He tensed at the familiar magic of teleportation as he was swallowed by nauseating blue light. When it faded, he blinked into a different light -- that of the sun, warm and natural. His boots clicked on the stone of a natural hollow as he started towards the dragon’s keep. He could hear slow breaths and the ripping of flesh. Kuja’s stomach turned. He was too late.
But no, was that the mage’s voice? ”How are you?” It was such a casual question that Kuja stopped and blinked in the face of it. ”Have you been out to stretch your wings lately?"
Kuja gaped at the open sunlight. Was it talking to his dragon?
He closed the distance, stepping into the dragon’s hollow to see that, indeed, the dragon was ripping at natural meat rather than the manufactured flesh of a puppet. She was pleased with herself, Kuja didn’t need his psychic connection to know that, and her eyes closed in ecstasy as she bit once again into her bloody prize. Kuja had seen the expression too many times in his first dragon, Cornelia. He’d brought her the corpses of monsters he’d slaughtered on the way, speaking to her in hushed tones as she nearly purred at his touch…
Kuja spotted the mage just a little out of the dragon’s reach, clutching its hands nervously even as its eyes brightened towards the majestic beast before him. Kuja tilted his head at it, crossing his arms before speaking. ”I told you not to come here.” After a moment, he stepped towards the dragon, admiring its graceful plumage before touching at the soft feathers of her neck. She hardly noticed him through the delight of her food, but made a soft chirp of acknowledgement nonetheless.
”But it seems I needn’t have wasted the breath. I suppose you have a way with animals. Or perhaps just a stupidity brazen enough to approach her.”
Why was he talking? It was mystery even to him. But for once, he didn’t feel particularly hostile towards the puppet before him. Perhaps it was simply his mood.
”To answer your question, she comes and goes as she pleases and more often hunts for herself than not. But she’ll never turn down a treat. Dragons are intelligent creatures and graceful ones at that, but they are still beasts at the end of it all. Food goes a long way to earn their affection.”
Kuja glanced at Vivi, nearly expressionless in his own disinterest. ”And her name is Ava by the way. If you're intent on speaking with her, then you might as well do it right.”
Vivi smiled as the dragon fed on its snack. Some of his favorites memories were of sharing snacks with his grandpa and his friends. He hoped that it liked it well enough. He was proud of himself, being able to do something nice for something else even as he could do little else. He rocked on his heels as he waited for the creature to finish. He was hoping that they could just enjoy each other's presence, but he was still ready to run if it decided that the snack hadn't been enough.
All the joy and hope he had felt vanished and was replaced by fear and dread as he heard Kuja call out to him. Oh no. Oh no. He had been caught. Vivi began to furiously rubs his knuckles together. What was Kuja going to do to him? His eyes were lit with fear as he got his nervous shakes. He didn't even have a reason or justification for breaking one of the two rules he had been given. He waited for the magic to hit, and he closed his eyes waiting for the impact. It never came though.
He opened his eyes slowly wandering what was going. Kuja was just talking. To him? Vivi didn't really trust this. Was Kuja just mocking him, luring him into a false sense of security before he would strike. Vivi began wriging his hands together now as he took one small step forward. "I thought," he began meekly trying to explain to Kuja why he'd come to see the dragon, "I though they might be lonely."
Vivi listened to Kuja explaining the dragon's habits to him. He was glad to hear that she was allowed to go and come as she pleased. Vivi wished he could go, but the thought struck him just then. If he were to leave, where would he go? There was no one waiting for him, and he didn't have a home. Hadn't Kuja said he was making more mages in the woods? Maybe he'd go there and try to talk to them. Keep them from whatever evil Kuja was creating them for.
It was weird for Vivi to see Kuja being affectionate to something even if it was his dragon. "Ava," Vivi mimed his eyes filling with wonder again. "That's a pretty name!" He decided to continue the conversation. He thought if he could keep Kuja talking it might distract him from whatever punishment he had ready for him. "Have you two been friends for long?" Vivi inched ever closer still worried that in one fell swoop the dargon would bite him in two. Still though, he thought them friends now too, so he hoped Ava wouldn't do that. She really was pretty and her feathers looked so soft.
"Can I pet her?" Vivi questioned. It had escaped him before he could think to stop himself. Vivi didn't think Kuja would be the type to share, so he looked at his shoes before looking up to Kuja his eyes filled with a mix of hope and fear.
It's not like Kuja's using the dragon to talk about himself or anything. Shut up.
Why should the world exist without me?
”"I thought," the mage started nervously before pausing, wringing his hands. ”I thought they might be lonely."
Kuja paused, hand still still twisted in the dragon’s feathers. What an odd claim. He continued stroking the dragon’s neck with an amused smirk. ”She is the only of her kind, I suppose.” He looked up thoughtfully. ”Though I highly doubt the solitude bothers her. Dragons are largely independent creatures. Even in the wild, she wouldn’t socialize much with her own kind.”
His dragon gave a short huff as she finished with her meat, yawning before licking at her paw. An aura of satisfaction washed over him in a psychic wave and he gave her a pointed look. So easily won over by something as trifling as raw flesh.
”Ava, that’s a pretty name.” The mage was still here, and apparently getting bolder. Kuja hummed to himself.
”After Lord Avon,” he said. ”I’m partial to his works.”
"Have you two been friends for long?" The mage crept forward now, cautious as though any step could be his last. Whether his fear stemmed from the dragon or Kuja himself, he couldn’t say.
”Long enough,” he said. ”Though friends is a tad sentimental. A horde of them slept dormant under the city of Torensten. I activated the gate and found her among them. A silver dragon. It must have been a stroke of sheer fortune.” He pressed deeper into her feathers, scratching at the roots. She gave a satisfied coo and closed her eyes.
The mage was standing well within her reach now. Kuja gave him an apathetic look in the face of his gleaming, hopeful gaze. When their eyes met, the mage quickly looked to the ground, staring at its shoes with a nervous fidget.
”Can I pet her?” The mage didn’t look up, but Kuja could hear the anxiety in his voice, hushed with caution. Something odd twisted in Kuja’s stomach and he eyed the boy before giving it a dismissive wave.
”At your own risk,” he said. ”I doubt she’ll attack without my permission, but should you come on your own time, don’t expect the same.” He glanced at the mage and his lips pursed before he quickly looked back to his dragon. Why was he allowing this? He should have put the mage in its place, demanded it leave his presence, and forbidden it from offending his senses any further. But he didn’t. Kuja couldn’t say as to why.
What mood has struck him this morning? It was a mystery even to him.
”Take care not to pull her feathers. She’ll quickly lose her patience.”
"Ok! I'll be super careful." Vivi exclaimed his eyes shining with joy as he shuffled closer to the dragon. Despite his ecstasy at being able to pet the beautiful creature, he was very confused. He had expected a rebuttal, a demeaning laugh quick dismissal, or something even worse from Kuja. Maybe being in his friend's presence, despite him contending to that, had softened him up. Either way Vivi was still rubbing his hands together this time in excitement as he moved closer to the dragon. Today really was a good day!
"Hi, Ms. Ava," Vivi started looking up at the dragon's face. Right up at the jaw that could any moment could open and swallow him whole. He gulped, but he wasn't going to let the fear stop him. Somethings were scary, but he had learned that fear could stop people from living, from experiencing joy. "Kuja, said I could pet you! I just wanted to make sure you were okay with too. I promise I'll be soft!" Vivi thought it would be very rude of him to just start petting her without her permission too.
Vivi reached his hand up to let the dragon sniff him to get his scent and to see if he would be rejected or denied. He learned that was how you were supposed to approach animals. Let them decide. The dragon snorted and sniffed and huffed its hot wet breath on Vivi's hand. Vivi just looked up with hopeful anticipation preparing himself for disappointment. "Yay!!" the explosive excitement eeked out of him as the dragon lowered his head for Vivi to pet. Stopping his excited shaking, Vivi placed his tiny hand on the creatures nose with a very soft pat. "Thank you, so much, Ms. Ava!"
Vivi very softly put his hands into her plumage. "Let me know where you like to be pet!" He gently moved through the feathers doing his very best not to be rough or yank. "I bet you look beautiful in the sky!" Vivi continued to pet the creature making sure to be gentle as his joy filled eyes turned to Kuja. "I bet you guys have a lot fun flying around!" The enthusiasm squeaked in his voice as he continued to pet the dragon as long as she allowed. Any fear he had been feeling, he been melted away by the warmth of happiness that flooded over him. He forgot for a moment that he was prisoner only allowing himself to be in this singular instance.
Somehow, despite his captivity and Kuja’s abuse and the very real threat of danger, the mage beamed with an energy so positive that Kuja could only blink at it, eyebrows raised in surprise. Was it really too stupid to realize its own situation, or was it just too simple to care? With every passing second in the puppet’s company, Kuja felt he understood it less and less, though perhaps that was a unique effect of its malfunction.
”Okay! I’ll be super careful!"
Kuja’s eyes narrowed. The mage sounded like a child, and a young one at that. Ridiculous. It had been manufactured into a mature body with a mature mind just as Kuja had. Its stupidity was nothing but its own making, not a sign of age, but of inherent worth. Kuja had never been like this. Not once since he’d gained his own soul. He’d never looked upon anything with such gleeful eyes, hands trembling with anticipation as he awaited permission to-
"Kuja, said I could pet you! I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it too. I promise I'll be soft!"
Kuja stilled. He’d heard those words before or something like it, from a boy no less stupid or excitable as this one. They shared the same expression, the same naivete, the same nauseating good will. All that the mage was missing was a death wish and a tail.
”I bet you guys have a lot fun flying around!"
"Hm?” Kuja’s thoughts had wandered too far. He touched at the side of his head and tried to rid himself of his own foul mood. This had nothing to do with Zidane. ”It’s useful at least and I far prefer flying by dragon than by airship. It’s less troublesome.” Kuja stepped away from his dragon and looked up at it without any particular interest. What on all of Terra was this feeling stirring within him? His lips pursed against it, and he couldn’t suppress a scowl. It was a foreign emotion and one that he wanted to strike away before it could impede his judgment any further. It was a feeling that made him think incessantly of-
Big blue eyes, staring up at him, heels bouncing as fists pounded at the air in anticipation. ‘Please, please, please! Won’t you let me fly? Won’t you-?’
-Terra. It made him think of Terra and his own weakness. Perhaps that was why the sight of this mage so offended him. Kuja had seen enough puppets in his life to loathe the addition of another.
”I was about to go for a flight. This stale air is maddening and I can hardly make progress when I can’t focus.” Kuja hesitated, not entirely sure what he was going to say until the words had left him. ”You could come with me, I suppose. If you chose to. You’d be no good to me completely senseless from boredom.” He gave the mage a dismissive wave. ”I hardly care one way or the other.”
Vivi couldn't believe it at all! Kuja was asking him to go on a ride on Ms. Ava with him?! He could hardly ponder what the man was thinking and gave himself a quick little pinch on the arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Nope, he was definitely awake and this was actually happening to him. Was this really the Kuja that he had known? Perhaps this whole death had softened him up a little bit. Either way, Vivi nodded enthusiastically as he shuffled closer to Kuja to go whatever destination it was that Kuja was planning on going.
"Did you hear that Ms. Ava? We're going to go on a flight, and I'm coming," Vivi cooed up to her. Vivi clamored over to the side of her trying to figure out how he was going to mount the dragon.A nervous hum started from his throat, but it didn't last long as she sank low enough for him wiggle his way onto her back. "Where should I hold on that won't hurt her?" He asked his eyes directed back at Kuja. He would hate to tug or pull or cause her any type of distress. Vivi swallowed his nerves as he waited for Kuja to take charge, he'd never ridden on a dragon before!
The mage was ecstatic which wasn’t surprising. It had taken such a liking to his dragon that it was a wonder it hadn’t already provoked her in its own foolish desires for companionship. Still, there was something slightly disarming about the extent of the mage’s glee and Kuja couldn’t help an odd look as he watched it struggle atop Ava’s back even as she lowered herself to the ground for them. After a moment, the mage settled himself into her feathers, looking to Kuja for guidance as though he weren’t the mage’s creator and captor. Kuja scoffed, arms crossed as he gave him a dismissive wave.
”Anywhere will do so long as you don’t pull out her feathers. Once she’s in flight, you’ll hardly have need of it assuming you keep your balance.” Kuja mounted her easily, settling in his usual place between her shoulder blades with his knees bent to one side. He stroked her neck gently, letting out a short sigh before whispering to her in Terran, ”Take us out, about halfway across the desert. We’ll find a place to land there.” Ava snorted her understanding and spread her wings, rising straight up with a combination of heavy wing beats and aero magic until they were out of her hollow and peering down at the expanse of desert beyond.
Oceans of sand reached out to the far reaches of every horizon. From the top of their rocky plateau, he could see everything from the swirling antlion nests to the east to a roaming colony of cactuars bouncing their way across the north. The sun beat down in oppressive rays of heat, and Kuja tilted his head to revel in it. His dragon took short notice of their surroundings and lept off the edge. They glided steadily until she flapped her wings and they ascended higher into the sky.
The wind swept through his hair and he sighed, running his fingers through it and pushing it back over his shoulder. The mage was still there, holding on and looking around in wonder. Kuja glanced at it before considering the solid blue of the sky.
”When we met,” Kuja started and then paused. What in all of Gaia was he doing and why did he feel the compulsion to do so? He considered his next words carefully, scowling faintly to himself. ”I may have...perhaps...reacted stronger than I would have liked.” He cast his gaze aside. If he pushed the mage off now, would it die? ”I try to keep my reactions controlled, but with what you said…”
About Terra, about Garland, about Memoria, and what happened after...
One moment they were in the hollow, and the next Vivi, Kuja, and Ava were leaving the lair. Vivi held on his as tightly as he dared without applying pressure, so he wouldn't hurt the dragon as he tried to find his center of gravity. The sun hit his eyes quickly violently causing him to wince and shut his eyes at the sudden brightness of it all. Having grown accustomed to candles and the odd magical light source, the sun was like a flare spell to his face. Still the warmth of it lingered on his face causing him to smile even as his closed eyes slowly grew accustomed to the brightness of it all.
When Vivi finally opened his eyes he gulped as he peered around. Kuja really hadn't been lying to him after all. There was sand every which way with nary a single oasis to be seen. The heat blistered down on him causing him to feel hot in his clothes. The air was so dry it felt like every time he breathed he was drinking a spoonful of hot sauce. Still, it was outside; it wasn't the same smell of dank dark must that he had been smelling and feeling for so long now. It was fresh and stark, and Vivi let out a small, "wow" as he pet Ava looking and feeling and taking everything in.
And then they were flying. Thankfully Vivi had found his balance as he had to use his hands to keep his hat from flying away into the desert. He would be so upset if he lost his hat. Still it didn't stop him from gazing around. Vivi wondered at what sort of fearsome beasts could survive living out here. He remembered all the ferocious foes he and his friends had battles trying to find Kuja back before. Then he had his friends for support to cross the desert. If he had to do it all alone, he didn't know if he could make it. Still it had its own beauty in a way. The cactaurs provided a nice splash of green against the pale yellowness of everything and the sky was as beautiful as Vivi remembered it to be.
His thoughts of his own peril among the sand were dismissed by Kuja talking to him once more. Vivi stopped looking about and looked foward catching Kuja's gaze for a second before the man's face turned away. "I," Vivi began before looking down to the back of Ava. Guilt swelled inside of him as he remembered trying to destroy them both. He felt sorrow for all the trees and vegetation and homes for the woodland creatures he had destroyed because of his emotions. He had done something very bad, and he was to blame for letting his fears consume him. "I was wrong too."
"It's okay though," Vivi said his face still bowed down in shame over his actions. He remembered how angry Kuja had gotten when he just tried to explain the truth of what had happened. Vivi wasn't going to try to tell him anything new. He just wanted Kuja to know, "Learning new things is scary. It took me a long time to learn that being scared is okay though. It's scary being here without any of my friends. It's scary not knowing where I am or why I'm here." Vivi stopped though. He was talking about himself, he wondered if Kuja just needed to hear what he needed to hear back then in the Black Mage Village. "But it's okay to take the things that scare us little by little. Sometimes we have to figure out our feelings ourselves, but sometimes," Vivi looked back his eyes filled with kindness for a man aside from today had never shown any in return, "it's okay to talk about it."
Kuja knew almost immediately that he’d made a mistake. The mage paused as though uncertain of what it was hearing before going on about how it was “wrong” before bowing its head with something like shame. Kuja glanced at it, scowling before looking forward again. Something terrible was welling inside him, something that couldn’t be lessened by the warm touch of sunlight or the tussle of wind in his hair. Why had he said that? It had been a moment of weakness, and Kuja was anything but weak.
"Learning new things is scary,” the mage went on. Kuja’s nails dug into his palms. ”It took me a long time to learn that being scared is okay though. It's scary being here without any of my friends. It's scary not knowing where I am or why I'm here." The mage stopped and Kuja restrained the urge to slap it right there. But it kept going as though heedless of his own decaying composure. Its instincts certainly weren’t sharp. ”But it's okay to take the things that scare us little by little. Sometimes we have to figure out our feelings ourselves, but sometimes, it's okay to talk about it.”
Kuja was silent for a long moment. Magic crackled at the edge of his fingertips and he placed a hand on top of it to keep himself steady. Once he felt that his most murderous instincts were suffocated, he gave a loud, harsh laugh.
”Afraid? You think I’m afraid?” He gave the mage a disbelieving look laced with every bit of mockery he could muster. ”Next you’ll tell me it’s not my fault that I sent Alexandria to its ruin, that I had no real interest in slaughtering those hideous rats, or that leading all of you to my bidding was merely a product of circumstance!” He laughed again before his eyes darkened. He twirled bits of feather around his fingers.
”I’m not like Zidane. We might share the same blood line, but we don’t share a nature. He might pick up every stray child, rat, and Qu that he comes across, but I honestly couldn’t care less. I’m not a victim, and you’d do well not to mistake me for one.”
Simply mentioning Zidane’s name in relation to him made his lips sour. Zidane, an idiot nothing compared to him always wallowing in his own foolishness. And yet, he’d been the one who fortune had favored. If only Kuja hadn’t flinched at the thought of murdering him with his own hands.
But there was no use in dwelling on the past. Kuja had no intention of making that mistake ever again.
