Chapter VI
A Choice of Power and Companionship

”Dammit, move quicker!” Tailz said, while he went in and out of focus with his speed.

”I’m going!” Silver replied, running around as well. Tailz had healed his wounds so he was able to walk again, after the battle ended. The Priest had fled many hours ago, and since then, they had spent what felt like an eternity sitting in silence. But just a moment ago, Silver had heard someone coming this way, and now they were both scrambling to eliminate the signs of battle. Silver was collecting any sign of the battle lying around, like Tailz’s broken scythe- blade, and putting them out of sight. He glanced over at Tailz to find him moving with blurry speed, collecting wood and throwing it in a pile in the center of the fight area.

”Make sure your weapon doesn’t have any blood on it.” Tailz spoke out loud, without slowing down. “I’m not sure how the Monk’s would react to that. How far away are they now?”

Silver stole a peek over the rubble surrounding most of the battle site. “Should be here in about a minute, Tailz. They will come from the west into the rubble’s opening at the south.” He took a quick look around to make sure all signs of the clash were out of sight, then he sat down on a rock. Tailz moved around still, throwing any kind of fuel he could find on the pile in the center. Then he, too, sat down.

”Light the fire, boy.” Tailz said. Silver nodded and held his outstretched hand to the pile of burnable materials. Soon enough, his hand glowed red and a fire rose from the ground beneath the gathered fuel, igniting it instantly. They relaxed for a quick moment and waited for the Monk’s to approach. Tailz looked over and noticed Silver was breathing heavily, and had tensed up. “Relax.” He told the boy just as the Monk’s appeared at the south entrance mentioned.

”More travelers on the road!” One of the dozen Monk’s exclaimed to his crew. They were all dressed in the traditional Monk robe, only they were in yellow, and no runes or writings covered them. “May I ask why you stop so close to the Ruins?” The obvious leader with grey hair asked Tailz.

”We must rest.” Tailz replied. “Even if so close to such a place.”

”You are indeed courageous, sir, staying so close to this place with your son.”

Silver looked at the Monk. “I am not his son.”

The Monk bowed. “Oh, pardon me.”

Tailz smiled. “You are forgiven. He is just an accomplice that I am teaching, and learning from. An apprentice, if you wish.”

The Monk’s all showed happiness on their faces. “That is quite honorable sir! I haven’t heard of such an act in many a day! But I will warn you, a killer from Kalm was seen heading this way, so please be on your guard.”

Tailz nodded his head. Silver stood up. “We shall. Thank you for the information.” He shook the Monk’s hand.

”Yes, I imagine you want your rest. We shall be on our way then. May you be blessed on your quest with your student. Teach him the holy ways!” All of the Monk’s bowed. “Goodbye.” The Leader said, and then they left.

”The holy ways, heh.” Tailz whispered to himself as the Monk’s left. He closed his eyes to allow silence back in this part of the world once more.

”Apprentice? ‘Teaching and learning from?' What was Tailz talking about?” Silver thought for a few minutes, until it was clear that those Monks were well out of hearing range. He could not stand the silence when such questions needed to be answered, so he opened his mouth to ask Tailz what he just said.

”Before you speak...” He spoke with his eyes still closed, and yet kept Silver’s mouth still open. “You must think on it. This snap judgment may break all your free will.” Tailz laid on the ground and stared at the day sky. It was nearing sunset, but it was still a few hours off. “Keep watch.” Tailz slowly passed his left hand over his face, and a trail of black mist lingered above the path of his hand.

Silver looked at Tailz. ”Why? What are you doing? Meditating? Practicing that black mist spell?”

”I’m getting my rest.” Tailz said, closing his eyes. Silver continued to stare at the man lying down, until Tailz said “Draw a portrait. It will last longer.” and snapped him back into reality. ”Well, at least part of him is human. Or is that some kind of charade? Could he be some kinda fiend bent on getting apprentice’s and then murdering them, or even eating them? What if I say yes, and this is true? But if I say no, he might kill me off the bat! Am I just choosing my length until death?”

”It isn’t that complicated.” Tailz said. Silver broke from his frustrated thoughts and noticed those two eyes looking at him. “It is a choice of power and companionship.”

Silver looked at Tailz with confusion. “Companionship? Why do you say that?” Tailz showed his eyes closing as his means of replying.

”Is he lonely?” Silver thought, looking at the sky like Tailz was. ”Someone with that kind of power, lonely? That is absurd, Silver! Then again, I don’t know who this is, and…”

Silver continued to debate back and forth between who Tailz was, and whether this was a decision he wanted to make at all. Tailz took numerous glances at the young swordsman as he thought. “Guess he won’t jump right in after all. He might be worth some effort over time.”

White shook Amarant by his shoulder, forcing him awake. “What?” He said in a quiet voice. For the past half an hour or so, he was lifeless in slumber. White pointed out the window.

“You see that crater down there?” Amarant rubbed his eyes and saw the crater of White’s mention, surrounded by a thick forest. “Yeah. Our destination?” White nodded. They circled around the crater, then headed away from it. Amarant looked around but didn’t say a thing.

Soon enough, White landed on the outskirts of the southern island. “I think your about three kilometres off, White.” Amarant told the Mage. She looked at him and smiled.

”I realize that. I need to explain many things before we arrive.” She shut down the Mini Chocobo. “So, as we walk, I inform.”

Amarant looked kinda disappointed at this prospect. “There is that much to talk about?”

”I doubt we will finish before we arrive. There is quite enough to explain, but I believe most of it will be you trying to understand.”

Amarant opened his door and got out. “Alright. But couldn’t we have just parked by that crater and sat in the plane?”

White shook her head. “You need the exercise anyways.” She said with a sly smile.

Amarant just walked out in front of the plane, watching White put on a hiking bag on her back, then she walked beside him. “Let us begin. A walk of past, coming towards an uncertain future, like any future. You ready for all of this?”

”I don’t know, but I need to have this knowledge. Tell me what you will.”

They began walking towards the Crater, though somewhat slowly. “We will not walk very quickly, for like I said, we have a lot to discuss.” Amarant nodded his head, and waited for White Magic to begin.

She started not by speaking, but with a deep breath. “There is much history in this world, and quite a lot of it deals with this item your friend seeks. We must start at the very beginning. You have heard about the Cetra, so we will not go into their history. We will, instead, start with their demise. Have you ever heard of the entity called Jenova?”

”Heard of her!?” Amarant said with enthusiasm, then went silent for a brief moment. “No.”

White showed a smile. “Although I appreciate the sentiment, I greatly feel this is no longer the time for jokes.”

”Sorry. But I have not.”

”I didn’t think so.” White replied. “Few really have, unless you were heavily associated with ShinRa. She was-”

“Wait a second!” Amarant interrupted with. “ ‘Unless you were heavily associated with ShinRa?’ Then how did you come about this information?”

”I was greatly interested in the Cetra, and since ShinRa had many files on whatever information they could scourge up on them, I know a lot about them. I read every file that ShinRa has on them, hoping they would help in the healing arts. Alas, most of the information ShinRa kept dealed with black arts and violence, but they had a ton on the Cetra, but for what reason, I cannot say.”

”We all have our secrets. Keep on talking.”

”Anyways, Jenova was referred to as ‘The Calamity from the Skies.’ Many years ago, when the Cetra still thrived on this planet, she crash-landed from the sky. Her impact left the Northern Crater, a scar for the world.”

White looked at Amarant and noticed his interest. “You say ‘scar’ for the world will never heal it, correct?”

”In more ways than one. That wound is quite dire, just from the size of it, but it pales in comparision to another act she did. Alone, she started what I have called The Jenova Chain.”

”A ‘chain?’ “ Amarant said out loud, but almost just to himself. “Where did the chain start and end?”

”It started with the Cetra, and it has never ended. Unlikely will the day come when The Jenova Chain will reach its final link, and be finished.”

”Tailz?” Silver said, walking up to the figure lying on the ground. The black mist was still above his face, and Silver hadn’t seen him move for the hours he had spent deciding. "Are you asleep?"

”Never started.” Was the answer he received. The black mist faded away, and Tailz looked at Silver. “I assume you know your path.”

”Yes. I will accompany you.”

”You will not.” Silver said nothing and let Tailz rise to his feet. “I will not be your friend. I will be your Master, and your trainer. Call me what you will, but you are following, not accompanying.”

”Alright, Master Tailz.” Silver said.

”One or the other. I’m not in politics.” Tailz said, dusting himself off as he spoke.

Silver paused for a moment, unsure of picking the name, or the title. “Fine, Master.”

Tailz stood up straight and looked right into Silver’s eyes. Silver noticed that his eyes had a faint green glow to them, as if they were not natural.

”The beginning is now.” Tailz said. “Who are you?”

”I call myself Silver.”

”So be it. Who are you really, though?”

Silver thought for a moment. “I would rather not reveal my old name, Tailz.”

”That is the choice of many. In truth, though, who are you?”

Silver was confused by the same question. “Human?”

”You are a geomancer, and a swordsman.” Tailz replied, showing no emotions.

”I am.” Silver agreed. “But that isn’t who I really am.”

”It is not? Think for a moment: names come and go, they change throughout the ages until only a mention of it can be heard, and then it is often thought to be false.” He walked closer to Silver, until he was standing only a few inches from him. “The actions that a person does will always live on, given that they are great enough to remember.”

Silver realized at once that this man, this stranger he allowed to be his Master, was wise in more ways than just combat. “I understand. Then, I am a Geomancing Swordsman.”

”No one interested in your history will want to repeat that.” Tailz took a few steps back. “I believe a shorter title, such as Geo-Knight, would be far more suitable.”

”Geo-Knight?” Silver said, rubbing his chin. “I can agree with the Geo part, but the Knight? I have never been knighted, nor have the training…”

”Because you don’t have the official title means you do not have the worth of a Knight?” Tailz cut in with. “To be a ‘Knight’ requires bravery, honor, and determination. The end and beginning attributes you have, even if they border on stupidity.” Silver somewhat glared at Tailz with that remark. “The in-between you will be trained on.”

”How can a cold-blooded killer have honor, let alone claim to know about it?” Silver said quickly, as if trying to prove that his new Master was not as wise as he was showing.

”I know more about it then you believe, whereas you know little of it. You told me that with that pathetic sneaking maneuver.”

Silver sighed, knowing he was bested. “I know of honor, but I mirror what I receive: and that is little to none.”

Tailz smirked. “It is often the more vulnerable and trying man that excels and survives in the end. Honor is the actions to be fair, even if you greatly outnumber or outskill your opponent. Honor is the patience to let your enemy try and take you down. Honor is letting your opponents die with it, as well as by it.”

”Isn’t honor mainly doing the right thing? You are a killer! How can you expect to teach me on doing ‘the right thing?’ “

”You tried to kill two men in the short time that I have known you. How can you call that ‘the right thing?’ “

Silver grew angry at that comment from Tailz. ”I was trying to bring you both to justice! You killed a man in Kalm for calling you a fool, and that man that just ran off was…” Silver fell silent, looking at the ground.

”Someone from the past? A old rival? I don’t care; it doesn’t matter. Just remember that 'the right thing' changes for each person.” Tailz unsheathed his short sword and stuck it into the ground to lean on it. “Alright, here is the real reason I need an Apprentice. I know you think I don’t need the help, and I’ll be damned if I want to admit it, but being alone on this quest will surely kill me.”

”And what quest is that?” Silver said, not taking his eyes from the ground.

”To obtain the Black Materia of course. Did you not hear such a statement from men in Kalm? Or do you always blindly go after men to bring them to justice?”

Silver glared at Tailz. “What does it matter your purpose for killing that man? You killed him, and justice should be served unto you!”

”Then why are you standing there without a weapon in hand? Why not kill me and allow your justice to come forth? Why even accept my offer to follow me, if you want to judge me so?”

Silver calmed down, looking at Tailz’s eyes. “You saved my life. I never would have thought such a person could do such an action.” He closed the gap between Tailz and himself. “I want to truly know you, to know why you did such a thing.”

Tailz smiled at this, and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Now that is a reason I can comprehend.”

”You have been sitting there, in silence, for 15 minutes.” Amarant said at White. They collectively decided to set up camp for the night, for White told Amarant they would never finish talking by the time they reached the crater. But as they created a fire, they sat opposite to the heat source, being the farthest away from each other as possible.

”Yeah, I know.” White replied: she was a little exhausted. It didn’t take up much energy to set up their small 2 -person tent, but it just tedious nonetheless to the white mage. “I’m a little worn out, Amarant, and I also been trying to figure out what not to tell you.”

”What not to tell me? Shouldn’t you be figuring out what to tell me?”

”Not really.” White said. “If we had the time, I would tell you everything. But you do not need to know everything just yet. Some information must wait until we get to our destination, and I don’t want to lead up to that until we are actually there.” She looked at Amarant. “Also, some information is better kept secret, unless your knowledge of it deals with life and death.”

”I guess you are right.” Amarant said. They sat in silence a while later, no one even moving. Occasionally, Amarant would throw another log on the fire, but no other sounds were made as they both sat and waited: One for memory, one for information.

”Ok.” White finally said. “I think I know what to tell you know.” She got up and sat right beside Amarant. “A lot of this frightens me, so if you don’t mind.”

”Not at all.” Amarant replied. “This isn’t very settling for me either.”

”In a strange way, that was quite calming.” White thought to herself. She always had this ‘trusting’ feeling around Amarant, and it never stopped since she meet him. “I haven’t spoken anything since I mentioned The Jenova Chain, for it involves many events in history, and like I said, not all of them you need to know.”

”She is sure being selective on what I know.” Amarant made a mental note to himself. “Yeah, you stopped there. Will you continue from that spot?”

”I will. Now, The Jenova Chain started with the Cetra because of Jenova’s treatment of those people. She poisoned them, forever.”

”You mean that literally, or just as a saying?” Amarant butted in with, unable to choose which it was from White’s soft tone of voice.

”Literally.” She responded. “She infected them with a virus, but not one like we know. You see, when she crash-landed here, many of the Cetra saw only a meteor come to the earth. Jenova could not be seen, for she was encased in earth from various debris in space. When the meteor hit, Jenova left the crash site and waited for the inhabitants of this world to come forth. When she saw what they looked like, she went through what we think was a painful self-changing process to look like them, and so she was accepted among them. The Cetra were a little confused as why she didn’t know the language, but they assumed the meteor’s impact caused her to forget it. They went about teaching her, much like you would a child in the ways of language, and she learnt all she could about them. She learned how they live, what they do, and most importantly, she learned how they use Lifestream to create Materia for whatever uses they desire. After that, she does her betrayal.”

”That is when she poisons them, right?” Amarant said, knowing more or less that such a question was not needed.

”Yeah.” White said painfully. “She revealed her true self, and infected many with a virus. Now, I said it was not like any we know for it wasn’t a ‘bug’, so to speak. It was a special kind of energy, part of an attack if you want to look at it that way, that doesn’t kill it’s target. That energy she implemented in their bodies caused them to mutate into horrible life-forms, while it drove the sanity from it’s target.”

”It was too much for them.” Amarant said quietly, but White heard the comment.

”Basically. Up until then, the Cetra were not a fighting people, and so their bodies were not able to handle the trial this energy gave them. Their own body changed due to the energy, and their minds could not take the energy either. Nearly all of those Cetra changed looked upon themselves with ‘new’ minds, and they saw horrible living creatures. Thus, their minds went from gentle to hostile, seeing themselves as no longer ‘human.’ But Jenova did not finish with that. With some of the Cetra still as human, she told them to create a materia to her specifications, or be changed. Some would not do it, but others believed her lie. They created many destructive materias, mostly the Gravity ones. Eventually, they created the most powerful gravity-creating materia ever.” White lowered her tone of voice. “It was then that the Black Materia was created.”

”So the Cetra created the Black Materia…” Amarant trailed off with. “What exactly does it do?”

”Jenova wanted to destroy the world, but in her image. She caused the world great pain with herself as a meteor, and so she thought that to destroy the world in the same way would be a immortal memorial to her vast cunning against the Cetra.”

Amarant knew what she said, but also knew it had to be plainly said for him to believe it. “I need to hear it exactly. What does the Black Materia do?”

White took a deep breath, and lowered her head. “The Black Materia is the ultimate black magic…it uses immense forces of gravity to find stray pieces of earth in space. It takes those pieces and fuses them together, creating a meteor. Then, it causes the meteor to fall to this planet. Because of this, the spell it creates is called Meteor.”

Amarant’s eyes widened every second as White Magic told him of the purpose of that item. ”But why does Tailz…”

”I will train you before we go anywhere.” Tailz told Silver. “But not today. It is late, and you are no doubt tired. I can tell much has been running through your mind.”

Silver sat on the ground as Tailz paced back and forth. “Yeah, I am tired. So what will training consist of?”

”Many things, several of them at the same time.” Tailz responded, getting a concerned look from Silver. “Do not worry about it much tonight. Remember that every time you normally swing your sword in battle, you already do several things at once: you position your feet, twist your hands, use your strength, and so forth.”

Silver breathed in some fresh air. “Well, when you put it that way, let’s try something tonight!”

”However, if you think it will be easy, you might as well quit now.”

”I know it won’t! C’mon! Let’s try something tonight!” Silver said, standing up and practically shouting it out in pure excitement.

”Great, now I have the kid excited.” Tailz thought to himself, but then he smiled. ”That will soon change.”

Silver, excited as a kid getting his first Materia, waited for Tailz to agree. Instead, he seen Tailz disappear from sight. Silver felt some concern, but still remained quite excited. ”Did he leave? I hope not, he could teach me to be truly powerful.” He looked up at the sky.

”Why am I looking at the sky?” He thought to himself, and then felt Tailz’s short sword against his neck. He realized, too late, that his thoughts had distracted him. And whilst distracted, Tailz had pushed Silver over, used some sort of gravity-magic to keep him from hitting the ground forcibly, drew his short sword, and put its tip against his neck.

”You have just learnt four lessons.” Tailz told him. “If you want to learn something about combat, at least draw your sword. Second, keep a well-enough footing so it is not so easy to push you over. Third, keep your thoughts on the battle, not what you will learn from it or how fun it could be.” Tailz sheathed his sword and walked a few steps away, allowing Silver to get to his feet.

”What about the fourth lesson?” Silver said, wondering what else could be learnt from such an attack. Tailz looked at his Apprentice, holding still. And as Silver looked at the lifeless Tailz, he appeared in front of him. ”What was that?” Silver thought quickly as he took a step back, but Tailz grabbed his neck in a death-grip to stop his movement. Silver went still.

”I hate uncontrolled excitement. Learn to hide it, learn to ignore it, or I will kill you.” Tailz let go of Silver’s neck. “Go to sleep. I will keep watch for a while.”

Silver was shocked. He seemed kinder to him, until the mention of battle and training. He slowly lowered himself to the ground, and fell asleep quickly enough.

White had went to bed. Her admittance to the power of the Black Materia was very exhausting, and she could talk no longer. She retired to their tent, and was quickly sleeping. Amarant noticed her soft snoring, and smiled.

”Why would Tailz go after such an item.” He told himself. “Even if he said it is to answer questions about his change… even if he said only the quest to obtain it will suffice…I have to stop him, or obtain it before he does.” With the realization of important events in Amarant’s head, he knew he would not be silent as he slept. He didn’t want to wake White, nor did he want her to hear everything on his mind. So did he quietly enter the tent, took the blankets meant for him, and sleep outside by the fire.

”Try not to kill him Tailz.” He was telling himself. ”Remember what you said: being alone on this quest will surely kill you.” Tailz walked around the site where the battle had went on with the Priest to make sure no other life was around, then he sat near to Silver.