From the Eyes of the Child
Is…this what it feels like…to be killed?
This burning in my chest…
The nausea in my stomach…
My vision is cloudy…
Am I…dying again?
Everything happened so fast. Why am I in so much pain?
…
The last thing I remembered when I woke up was sitting on the train with White-hair and Pointy-hat. I’d just remembered someone from my past. Mr. 33 was his name, I think. Pointy-hat hugged me, and everything after that is blank. I woke up in a bed in the castle here. White-hair was watching over me. He told me Pointy-hat had gone to get Boco from the yellow pony. I didn’t even know Boco was here…
I tried to relax, not knowing exactly where I was at the time. I tried to sleep, but my mind was a jumbled up mess of questions and pieces of memory. But there was a new image in my head. A man in a suit of rusty armor kept popping up when I tried to search the void. I tried to focus, but I just couldn’t.
I heard a faint, gruff voice call to me from nowhere in particular. “Steiner,” it said. Steiner. The word felt so familiar, but so foreign.
And then it clicked. The face and the name clicked. The man was named Steiner! I felt a surge of energy pass through me, and before I knew it, I was sitting up in the bed, staring at White-hair. He looked really happy, but I can’t remember why. After that, Pointy-hat returned and they swapped positions. Pointy-hat looked confused by something, but I couldn’t tell what.
I must’ve fallen asleep. Everything between that moment and waking up the next morning is blank. When I finally did wake up, all of the ponies were gathered around me. The baby dragon was sitting on the purple pony’s back. Boco—weird, I didn’t notice him at the time, but looking back he had to have been there—was sitting comfortably on the yellow pony’s back. Pointy-hat and White-hair were there too. They all looked really concerned.
Another pony walked in a few minutes later. The ponies all looked extremely shocked and started to bow. The new pony was much taller than them. Her hair was…weird. It was like a rainbow, but it was really light in color. Her body was solid white, except for the sun on her side. Two large wings were folded by her sides and a long horn was sprouting from her head. She must’ve said something to everyone, because they all left after another minute or two. She was the last one to leave, closing the door behind her, leaving me alone.
This is weird, isn’t it? I don’t remember any sounds being made, but the images are there. Surely they were talking while they were there, right? Why would they have been quiet?
But…I was all alone. For the first time since I woke up in that hospital, I was alone. So, of course, I started to think about things. I tried to focus on remembering stuff about Steiner. I guess my brain just wasn’t having any of it, because each time his face came to me, my head would throb in pain. And the more it hurt, the more I wanted to try and remember. I felt that if my body didn’t want to remember it, it had to be important! I was probably just being stubborn.
As I tried to think and remember, I started hearing voices. They weren’t familiar at all, but I was definitely hearing them. Since I don’t remember hearing the tall pony’s voice, I must’ve imagined the new voices. I might’ve been deaf when she was in the room. I can’t remember.
But the voices sounded…evil. They sounded evil enough to make me scared. I realized I couldn’t actually move anymore when the voices got really loud. I tried to get up and find White-hair or Pointy-hat, but I couldn’t budge. I couldn’t speak, either. I was completely disabled for some reason! I don’t know why…and at this rate I probably never will.
As the voices got even louder, I started to see things. I thought maybe I was just having a nightmare, but everything felt real. Three weird figures started to appear in front of me. They all looked exactly the same, except each one was much bigger than the previous. They looked almost like demons, like evil versions of Pointy-hat! They had large black wings on their backs and their bodies looked like black feathered gowns!
And the eyes…
Solid crimson slits where Pointy-hat’s golden would’ve been. I…
I wanted to run. Whether they were real or not didn’t matter; I wanted out of the room! But…I just couldn’t move.
The smallest of the three started to speak. His voice was muffled and wispy as he laughed, “Is this the one He wanted, Number 3?”
The largest had a loud, menacing voice. “Of course it is! I’d never forget this doll in a million years!” His voice boomed and echoed around the room.
“Good. He’ll be pleased to see him.” The middle-sized one cackled with pleasure in his voice.
The small one waved his arm, and I suddenly found myself hanging in the air. I still couldn’t move, but it was more of a limp paralysis than a petrified stiffness. He groaned, “Let’s be off then, before they return.”
“Agreed. He’ll be displeased if we bring unwanted guests,” the second creature scoffed.
The third of the group sent me a dark glare. He sighed, “You truly are an interesting creature, doll. The first to gain consciousness and the last to die! He’s very interested in you.” Before I knew what was happening, a burst of white light swallowed the room. I felt an intense heat wash over me. The three demons were the only things still in view.
They stood stiff, not so much as breathing. I started to wonder just what would happen to me. But…I was more worried about the others in the castle. I wondered if the demons would come back for them. I hoped not.
The middle one finally groaned, “It’d be a shame to leave without having some fun, wouldn’t it?” His companions sent him thoughtful glances.
The small one laughed, “You know, Number 2, I agree. And you, Number 3?”
The large one remained quiet for a minute more before finally answering, “I agree. But let’s be quick; we don’t need the Genome disturbing us.” Genome? I had no clue what the beast meant, and I had no chance of asking.
They all nodded in agreement and the white light faded away. Suddenly, almost like the blink of an eye, we were floating high in the sky, looming over a town of what would have been pretty gold and white. Instead, fires and smoke consumed entire buildings, the work of the monsters that managed to make it in before the purple barrier was created. The three demons cackled joyfully at the sight of the destruction. I followed the largest one’s eyes to a rather large hedge garden just off to the side of the large castle building.
He cheered, “You have ten minutes to have fun, brothers! After that, He’ll need the doll.” Without hesitating for even a second, the two smaller demons opened their wings and dove down to the city below. It only took a moment for the explosions to reach my ears.
Screams cried out from below. Terrified ponies, unable to do anything to stop the monsters by themselves, called out for help to a sky that wouldn’t send it. The only help they would get was what was already there, and considering how much damage had been done, I doubted there was much more to be offered. I felt an intense fire light in my stomach. I…was getting angry. Such evil monsters don’t have the right to live!
The large monster’s voice tore through my thoughts like a sword. “What’s wrong, doll? Are you having flashbacks?” Flashbacks? I had no clue what he meant. In fact, I don’t think I wanted to know what he meant… But he willingly elaborated. He continued quietly, “I know He took it from you, but do you remember how helpless you were to save all of your poor brothers from that airship? Do you remember how I ended dozens of their lives before they even began?! Surely you remember how much anger you had at that moment! I mean, a puppet like you, without even a heart with which to feel, managed to Trance because of me!”
My head began to throb horribly! It felt like I was being stabbed by a red-hot knife over and over again! My body started to twist and wrench on its own, the monster’s magic beginning to give way under the struggle. He looked surprised, almost intrigued.
And then it all came back to me.
A sudden flood of memories and emotions and words and experiences and sensations that I never could’ve imagined in my wildest dreams all poured into me like the tides of Madain Sari! I felt an intense rush of energy as I recalled the destruction of Alexandria through the use of the Invincible! I watched from the top of the Iifa Tree as Kuja obliterated Queen Brahne’s entire fleet of ships. I remembered walking through Terra, trying desperately to find Zidane in his time of need!
Everything! Everything came back to me in one swift flood of life and power! I recalled my powers and what I used them for! I remembered Kuja’s old ambitions and his new outlook on life! I remembered Equestria and the ponies and how beautiful the world was when I first arrived! I remembered talking about Lords from Nowhere on the balcony of Sugarcube Corner!
But…above everything else…
More important than what I am and who my friends are…
I remembered…
I remembered the cargo ship as we left Dali, going to South Gate.
I remembered the asshole that attacked us.
I remembered how he attacked the ship and sent dozens of unconscious Black Mages plummeting into the water off the cliffs of the Mist Continent! I remembered his single-handed murdering of so many of my helpless brothers!
“Black Waltz Number 3!” I cried out, rage flooding my every limb. Everything was shoved from my head, anger taking complete control of me! I found myself ripping from his magical grip, a shockwave of energy sending him flying back in pain.
The sound of my cry caught everyone’s attention. The cries for help stopped as the shockwave shook the entire mountainside town of Canterlot. I heard the other two Black Waltzes shriek in disbelief before launching toward their now-injured brother. I felt my anger manifest itself around me, as I Tranced once more for the sake of my brethren! No…it was for the sake of my friends! Friends I never had a chance to meet because of him!
I let out another fury-filled screech, “How dare you think you have the right to be alive! No one, nothing like you deserves to exist!” Before I knew what I was doing, my body moved on its own. The words came from deep within my heart and mind, and I felt the energy wrap around me.
I knew what it was, even if I didn’t know it.
I let out an awful, frightening roar as I pushed myself toward the three evil mages.
With unbelievable speed, I was right on top of them. I was close enough to see the fear in their eyes. There was a fear buried in the crimson of their blood-stained eyes. Demons with no sense of life or morality, no souls with which to fear…feared me.
I punctuated my roar with a calm, quiet word.
“Ultima…”
I was engulfed in an otherworldly energy, something you wouldn’t see if you were lucky. A giant black sphere burst from my chest, growing ever larger until it engulfed the entire sky where we stood. Out of the blackness of the sphere’s edge, chunks of flame-engulfed magical stones bounced around the inside, exploding and filling it with an immense pain.
By the time I realized what was happening, I was on the ground, still Tranced, staring at the fallen and broken bodies of the Black Waltz Brothers. One and Two began to disappear, their bodies vaporizing into the air. Three was still breathing; his body mangled and eyes flooding with fright. I approached him slowly, instinctively, ready to end his life for all the pain he had caused in this world and the last. But something he cried made me stop in my tracks.
He whined like a scared child, “You can’t be real! You can’t really be the doll! You’ve made Him angry now! His plan has been tainted! You can’t fight Him, stop it!” He kept screaming about ‘Him’. He continued his screaming until he started to fade away. He looked up at me with sorrow in his crimson eyes. Whether it was sorrow for his actions or for his death, I may never know.
But his death was punctuated by a final calm speech. The voice of the monster changed on a note, becoming less of a demon and more of a man. I recognized it, though I don’t know from where. It carried dread in its tone, “A memory can never be real. A memory is the past. No matter what changes, the memory can never exist again. If it does, the memory is lost. When it becomes a memory, the reality is shattered. By forgetting a reality and gaining a memory, a monster is born. One who feeds on the emotions housed in memories that aren’t real.” It almost sounded like it wanted to continue, but the body completely vanished before it could.
A tiny ruby was left behind. I went to pick it up, but it shattered to pieces before I could reach it. I suddenly felt a sharp stinging in my chest, and my Trance faded as I fell to the ground. I couldn’t understand at the time what was happening, even with my recovered memories.
But now I do.
I understand what’s happening. I understand who that strange voice belongs to. I understand what it meant about memories giving birth to monsters.
But I…can’t…tell…anyone…
Because…I don’t think…
I’ll…live…long…
…enough…
…
“Vivi!”
“What was that just now!?”
“Vivi?”
“S-Say something dammit!”
“What were those things?”
“Who cares!? Vivi, wake up!”
“Vivi? What’s wrong?”
“…”
“Vivi?”
“…Ku…ja…”