Myshu: haha... yeah i TOTALLY knew about... Terra being red and Gaia being blue. I TOTALLY knew that. I was just um.. testing everyone. :runs into corner and cries: Thanks for pointing it out though! I would've carried on making that stupid mistake otherwise.

Chapter Eleven
A n g e l s . A n d . G o d s
"The soul at its highest is found like God, but an angel gives a closer idea of Him. That is all an angel is: an idea of God."
-Meister Eckhart

"Wh-what on Gaia was that!?"

The castle had ceased its shuddering and the extent of the damage was revealed. Ornaments decades old and priceless china had been reduced to a shattered mosaic of sharp fragments on the marble floor. A crack had snaked its way up the wall to their left and rendered the stone asunder. One of the chandeliers had been torn completely from the many hooks that suspended it and had exploded in a spray of glass upon impact.

Freya, Mikoto, Eiko, Steiner, Beatrix and Amarant had fought valiantly to maintain their balance and dignity while the tremors dismantled the castle and Alexandria (though they were blissfully ignorant of the state of the town) but had failed miserably.

Sprawled atop Steiner with shards of glass embedded in pale skin, Beatrix, who had been arguing with Eiko moments beforehand why entry through the double doors to see Zidane was prohibited, groaned and sat up. She stared at aforementioned doors, only to discover all that remained were two lengths of splintered wood, hanging from broken hinges.

"Dear gods, the castle!" she heard Steiner hiss, which forced her to reconsider the uncomfortable position in which she found herself.

"What… happened…?" she murmured, removing her bulk from Steiner and gingerly pressing fingers against bloody wounds.

The others bore scrapes such as hers though none severe; mercifully the larger shards of glass had penetrated elsewhere, but the fragments crunched beneath her boots (how she thanked her thick soles) like bones.

The group salvaged their balance and stood, stared through the obliterated doors.

Gold.

The first noticeable thing: gold. It radiated like the sun, burning, furious. And Beatrix could sense the immeasurable waves of power, as palpable as the glass beneath her feet. What had Freya been saying about Zidane becoming a god? Surely this was…

The group moved as one through the gaping hole, splinters jutting like teeth of a monster at their sides, and stared across the grand hall where Garnet's throne had previously been situated (now a good thirty feet from its previous location, as if tossed by a giant's hand).

Hovering three feet above the floor, which had cratered under the immeasurable power, the intricate tiled design ruined, was Zidane and Garnet, locked in embrace and kissing with heated intensity. The state of the decimated hall was shocking enough, but Zidane, features practically extinguished by the golden glare emanating from his body, paled the severity of the disaster in comparison.

"Is that… Dagger?" Eiko whispered.

Mikoto stepped forward, cocked her head. "No. It is Murmur. Any trace of Garnet… is gone."

Steiner tore his gaze from the kissing couple, face twisting into a mask of utter confusion and despair. "What is this you speak of? Her Majesty is right there!"

"That is not Garnet. Not anymore. It is merely the shell of Garnet. Her soul has vanished and now… only Murmur remains."

"Rubbish!" Steiner scoffed. "My eyes do not –"

"Enough, Steiner," Beatrix intervened. "I believe her. Think about it; Her Majesty has been acting most strange of late. The imprisonment of Zidane, her upkeep of his cell's condition, her perpetual sour mood. What they claim makes sense. Look with your heart, not your eyes."

Steiner bowed his head, submissive. "I just… didn't want to… believe…"

"I don't understand," Freya said. "Garnet… is she…?"

The silence spoke for itself. Steiner dropped to his knees, Beatrix swiftly following.

"And… Zidane? Does this mean that… that he…"

"Has become," Mikoto supplied and any further explanation was cut short by another explosion.

0000

Murmur tilted her head as to subtly end the kiss. She'd never felt so invigorated, so alive. His hands, locked about her waist, were beacons of power; she could feel the immense energy pulsing through her bare skin, infecting the blood in her veins with the most delicious of poisons. If only Garland could see her now! How the old fool's face would fall!

"We have company, kami," she whispered.

Zidane didn't break eye contact (his eyes were flecked with gold; stray fragments of power swimming in azure iris' that were quickly turning amber) but nodded faintly, expression grim and somewhat neutral. Perfect.

"It would be most unfortunate," she went on, "to have any… interruptions. Would it not?"

He made no outward gesture of concession, but flicked his eyes toward the group. The floor erupted in an explosion of tiles, rocketing into the air with a deafening roar before sprinkling down as concrete rain. The intruders screamed, more shocked than hurt, and Murmur tightened her grip round Zidane's waist, ecstatic.

"Excellent. Let us move on, kami. The time of reaping is at hand."

His gaze shifted back and the piercing power washed over her countenance like a sheet of silk.

"Where?" he whispered. The castle trembled.

"The dead tree, love. Where the souls await to be divided."

"Iifa?"

"Yes. Incapable of dividing it may be, but Terra's souls wait with bated breath behind the gates of its roots. You will tear open the portal and the Terran souls will overwhelm Gaia's, only then may the reaping begin."

"Will… Gaia's souls be there, too?"

"Yes. Both streams are at your disposal; they congregate at the roots of Iifa where the gate to the Eternal Stream awaits."

"The Eternal Stream?"

Murmur's smile was that of pity. "Oh, love. Garland was a fool to let you slip from grasp. You know so little. The Eternal Stream is the place where all souls go once death claims them. The Iifa Tree stopped that process and discharged them as Mist. Now it is dead…" She shrugged, further explanation unnecessary. "Enough time has been wasted. Let us proceed."

Zidane said nothing but tightened his grip on Murmur and ascended, slowly at first, face tilted toward the roof. He held Murmur close and raised a hand. The ceiling exploded outward, any stray rubble rebounded off a field of power Zidane created, and they flew through the hole.

He took a moment to hover over the town, drinking in the destruction instigated by his hand. He absently noted that seeing was somewhat unnecessary; he could sense every soul that dwelled below, and even recognise some: the boss, Blank, Ruby…

He could sense the dead too, freshly killed at the expense of his power. He could see the blue souls drifting toward the Iifa like leaves coasting down stream. He heard their mournful whispers and somewhere he heard Mikoto, too, but he pushed her thoughts aside. She was irrelevant. They were irrelevant. All of them.

The town itself was a mess. The flash flood had washed away stalls and their respective owners and animals, children, plants alike. The dark clouds still circled overhead, thick and bruised. Thunder rumbled from their brooding depths. There was fire below, too, and crumbled buildings where earthquakes had shaken the very foundations of the earth.

He did this. All of this.

Zidane didn't waste a backward glance as he gathered his energy and soared into the distance, Murmur smirking in his arms.

0000

"I can't believe it!"

Steiner cradled the unconscious Beatrix as Amarant hoisted Freya to her feet in an uncharacteristic display of assistance. Eiko was running circles around a mound of rubble, Mikoto staring distractedly at the gaping hole Zidane had just made in the ceiling.

"Believe it or not," Amarant said, "monkey-boy is taking this reaper thing a little too seriously for my liking. I say we follow 'im and bust his gods-damn head open and –"

"Oh shut up, you fool." Freya dusted herself off, picking out a shard of mosaic embedded in her cheek. "I don't really understand what's going on but the Zidane I know – the Zidane we all know – wouldn't do a thing like this without reason. He must be… controlled in some way."

"Possessed," Steiner concurred, "in the same way Her… Her Highness…" His voice faltered.

"Your presumptions are incorrect," Mikoto said. "He must make a conscious decision to become kami. He is perfectly sane and in control."

Eiko charged up to the female genome and shouted wildly: "Then what do we do? Where did he go? What's he gonna do?"

"There's little we can do. Zidane is… immortal. We wont be able to kill him, let alone stop him. As for the latter, he goes to the Tree of Life, the gateway to the souls, where he will open a portal for the Terran souls to enter Gaia. Then the reaping will begin."

The little group fidgeted, tried to think, and failed.

"I guess all we can do is follow and do anything we can to help," Steiner decided. "The Queen she… she kept the Invincible in the dockyards… if it's still in tact –"

"It's the quickest airship on the planet!" Eiko yelled. "Let's go!"

"What nonsense you speak!" Mikoto snorted. "What 'help' do you think you can give? There's no stopping him now."

Freya strode past her, lance in hand. "Well, that's your opinion. And besides, I'd rather be doing something than sitting around and waiting for the world to end. Are you coming?"

Mikoto paused, shifted on the spot a little awkwardly. "Fine. But I have no doubt that any attempts to inhibit his actions will be futile." She paused. "Or at least, if he feels merciful, result in death."

0000

He couldn't help himself, really. With such ridiculous power at his expenditure he simply couldn't resist to… well, expend it. Flying unaided was an experience that sent heady waves of pleasure coursing through his veins. He felt weightless, invincible. He raised a hand and a field exploded in a wall of mud beneath him and he couldn't help himself: he laughed. Not a manic, evil laugh, just one of utter joviality. Having such power was… invigorating!

Zidane found flying surprisingly easy. It required a simple balancing act of power. He released a steady amount downward, which elevated him from the ground. A burst of energy directed right propelled him left and a burst of energy left propelled him right. It demanded little concentration and he picked it up quickly.

"I am so glad you changed your perspective on things." Murmur's admission tore him from his fun. "I was so… worried you would remain adverse to the plan forever and the Third would have to substitute."

Zidane spared her a glance and revulsion overwhelmed him. He could drop her now. Send her to the ground. Destroy her. But now was not the time and besides… he needed her.

She stroked his cheek, the other clinging to his vest. Her hair – Garnet's hair – haloed her pale face and quivered in the wind, soft as feathers on his bare arms. The smirk had temporarily vanished and an airy, somewhat guileless expression had taken its place. She was still beautiful, but she wasn't his Garnet, and because of that he forced himself not to flinch at her touch. What she had done sickened him, though he refused to let it show.

"Is the power so great, kami?" she whispered, fingers trailing down his neck.

He averted his gaze to the landscape blurring beneath them and thought hard of Garnet, his poor, sweet Garnet, who had unwittingly victimised herself to save him. Gods, he missed her already, but he strained his perception and strived to imagine that the real Garnet was cradled safe in his arms as the continent whisked away beneath them, giving way to a landscape of inky waves.

"Yes, love," he replied. "It is. I… I'm so glad you gave it to me. I can't believe it myself. It's incredible."

She smiled knowingly, lovingly. Zidane prayed the gods give his acting skills strength and carefully injected fragments of his power into Murmur's being, essentially drugging her in a hope to dull her senses enough to buy his act.

"We'll rule Gaia when this is over, kami. You and I. You will be god of the new Terra and I'll be at your side, your angel."

Zidane bit down a snort of laughter; managed to maintain an impassive façade. He wondered then, now he was a god, whom did he have to pray to? Himself? Ridiculous. There were infinite higher orders above him, he imagined, and therefore was he not more an angel than a god? It is not for the angels to decide the outcome of the reaping; they merely reap. His power was immeasurable, yes, but he was no god.

Best not entertain such thoughts to Murmur though, he thought; let her dwell within her twisted fantasy. It wouldn't last long.

As he flew he left behind a radiant arch of gold that eventually faded and disappeared. Directly beneath him, the sea dipped beneath the onslaught of his power, creating a long, shallow depression that trailed in his wake just like the golden arch. Even the clouds dinted slightly. He was curious to test the extent of his power but had enough modesty to guess that such an assessment could lead to the very destruction of planet. It would be like Kuja and Terra all over again.

Beneath him, he could see the souls of Gaia drifting slowly toward the Outer Continent, toward the Iifa Tree he guessed, where they would join the Eternal Stream. They moved slowly but purposely, with direction, like a leaf falling from branch to ground. He wondered if the journey was instinctive or if the souls retained enough thoughts to guide them. Perhaps the pull was magnetic; they were unable to resist. Being the newly fledged keeper of these souls, he wondered if he should know such things.

His reflections were shattered again by Murmur, who had the audacity (or sheer arrogance) to kiss him. Zidane returned the gesture obligingly and she moaned into his mouth as a bubble of power eased into her system, courtesy to Zidane's subtle adjustments. She went weak against him, grip slackened so he had to use both hands to support her limp form. Thrown off by the alterations in weight, he attuned his power to aid equilibrium and rocked unsteadily from side to side.

"Your power…" was all she could whisper when he broke the kiss. Her voice was thick and her eyes lustful and heavy-lidded.

He allowed himself a small, satisfied smirk that she, in her drugged state, failed to acknowledge and continued toward the distant Iifa.

Short chap, I know. Apologies. But review! :-) I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter will be up, so apologies in advance for that, too.