Final Fantasy IX Sequal, "Forever Fantasy"

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“Vivi! What are you doing? Not that way!” Eiko yelled as the poor black mage tried desperately to keep up with her.

“Eiko wait! *huffpuff* Where are you going?” he called. Vivi had been chasing Eiko around the castle for the last five minutes and they had now finally made it to the front door. Vivi slumped against the doorframe and stood catching his breath. “What’s all this about…?” he huffed.

Eiko currently wasn’t listening, but she was talking to herself. “This is going to be so great! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before! Teehee!”

“Eiko!” Vivi asked again, “where are you taking me?” At just that moment, the castle Dragon Boat arrived at the dock to take them into town.

“C’mon Vivi!” All further questioning was cut drastically short as Eiko pulled Vivi into the boat and headed for town.

“Wow! I love seeing the castle like this!” Eiko said as she gripped the railing.

“Yeah! The sword is really pretty!” Vivi nodded.

Eiko sighed and looked suddenly downcast. “What’s the matter, Eiko?” Vivi stood beside her, wondering why she looked so sad.

“Every time I see that sword, I think of Alexander…” she sighed again.

“Alexander?” Vivi pondered a moment “Oh! You must be talking about the Holy Eidolon!”

“Yeah… Alexander is gone… and it was the very spirit of the castle! Sure, the castle was rebuilt and looks even more beautiful now, but it’ll still never be the same,” Eiko gazed out over the crystal waters.

“I know how you feel, Eiko… I felt the same way a few years ago; about my Grandpa and all my Black Mage friends who stopped… I’ll never see them again, but you know what? The time we spent together will always be right here…” Vivi pointed to his chest, “I’ll never forget them, and besides! There are many new Black Mages, just like me, and I’m father to them all!” he giggled.

“That’s true… That old, nerdy Dr. Tot sure was smart, huh? He learned from you how to make new Black Mages without using mist! It’s amazing…” Eiko was back to her old self again.

“Yeah! I was so happy…” Vivi nodded, watching the castle move farther away and the town creep closer.

When the Dragon Boat finally arrived at its destination, Eiko and Vivi got off and he followed her towards the Town Square.

“Eiko? Why are we headed for the… OH NO!” Vivi screeched to a halt, “ARE YOU TAKING ME SO I CAN JOIN THE TOURNAMENT!!??”

“Oh Vivi! Don’t be so neurotic! I was going to enter you in the Magic Division because I have so much faith in you!” Eiko said, sounding as sappy as they come. “So come on! You’ll do great!” Eiko was about to continue on her way when she noticed that she was suddenly alone. “Vivi? HEY VIVI! Where did you go!?” Eiko looked around, bewildered. Vivi was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh great! Now we’re gonna’ be late! Oh!! Where did that meanie go!?” and with that, Eiko ran off to search the town.

Meanwhile, Vivi was running as fast as he could to get away from Eiko’s pursuit. Not looking where he was going, he accidentally tripped and fell, landing in the dusty road. As he picked himself up, brushing dirt from his clothes, Vivi noticed that he had wandered into a part of Alexandria that he had never been before.

“Huh? How come I’ve never seen this..?” Vivi said to himself as he looked around with curiosity.

Before him was a long, dark alleyway with creaky and dilapidated looking houses lining either side. Vivi looked over his shoulder and saw the bustling streets of Alexandria. He also saw Eiko running in his direction.

“Ahh! I gotta’ hide!” Vivi had no choice but to advance down the corridor. He plucked up his courage and dashed head long into the gloom.

After a moment, Vivi had to rest again, “Phew… I’m not the fittest mage around…” he said to himself. “I’d better find a place to hide for a bit,” Vivi looked from side to side, getting his bearings.

“Ah! In there!” he ran into an old, seemingly abandoned looking shack. Once inside, Vivi took stock of his surroundings. The house was beyond all repair; windows were cracked and broken, the roof was sagging drastically low in the middle, full of holes that the sun filtered gently through. Debris of broken wood and roof tiles lay strung about and discarded furniture that looked to have been badly burned lay upon the floor in heaps.

“Wow.. this place is falling apart…” Vivi commented to no one in particular as he then took it upon himself to search for some bit of treasure to be found, if any.

After a few minutes of unsuccessful snooping, Vivi was about to give up, when suddenly, a slight glimmer caught his eye.
“Hey, what’s that?” Vivi stooped to pick up a small, glittering object from a pile of wood splinters.

“Oh wow! It’s beautiful!” he exclaimed as he blew the dust off and turned it over and over in his hand, watching its many facets sparkle in the low filtering sunlight. “Could this be… an Eidolon stone?” Vivi wondered. It was a jewel, the color of forest green.

“I’ve got to find Eiko! She’ll know,” Vivi completely forgot his predicament and bolted from the shack. On his way out the door, Vivi failed to notice the small nameplate that swung from an odd angle on its old, rusty hinges. There, painted in dark obsidian read the words ‘Xandelor Corubius, Jeweler’.

At that very moment, Eiko found herself in front of the very same alley that Vivi was hurrying out of. “Oh! Where is Vivi!? That poop, I could have sworn I saw him come this way!” While Eiko stood pondering where to look next, Vivi came charging out of the dark and smacked right into her. The pair ended up in a disgruntled heap.

“Ouch! Hey, watch where you’re… oh! It’s you, Vivi. VIVI!!?? Where did you go!? And why did you run away from me in the first place!? That was soooooo rude of you!!” Eiko cried indignantly as Vivi helped her to her feet.

“I’m sorry, Eiko. But, there’s something that I’ve got to show you!” he said excitedly.

“What is it?” Eiko heard the urgency in Vivi’s voice.

“Well, while I was down that alley, I found this house, see. I went inside, no one lived there anyway, and I found this!” Vivi gave Eiko the jewel to hold.

Eiko held it up, peered curiously at it, and then suddenly gasped, dropping the jewel into the dust at her feet.

“Eiko? What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Vivi bent to retrieve the stone.

“I… I.. can’t believe it!” she finally said, looking as though her eyes would pop out of her head.

“What can’t you believe?” Vivi handed it back to her.

“This jewel! Do you know what this is!?” the stone lay in the palm of her hand, “This is an Eidolon Jewel!!”

“That’s what I thought when I first picked it up,” Vivi said, trying to sound helpful.

“But Vivi… this is no ordinary Summon!” Eiko’s eyes, if they were able, grew even bigger with amazement.

“What do you mean?” Vivi seemed puzzled.

“I’ll explain… You see, in my Summoner tribe, important knowledge about all Eidolons has been past down for generations. I, for one, know all the names of the Eidolons that have ever existed! One thing that every summoner knows is that, over all, there are two ultimate summons. There names are Ark and Alexander!” Eiko rambled.

“Yeah, I know… Alexander was Holy, and Ark was Shadow, right?” Vivi said, “but what does that have to do with this?”

“Well…” Eiko said quietly, “There is actually.. one more.”

“Really??” Vivi gasped.

“Yes… and its name.. is Soulcage.” Eiko whispered.

“Wait… Soulcage? Isn’t that…” Vivi started but was interrupted.

“Yes!” Eiko continued, “Soulcage was the name of the beast that we destroyed in the Iifa Tree four years ago! But… that wasn’t the Summon Soulcage of ancient times… I could tell right away when we fought it that it was only a copy, as if someone created him. Remember him saying that he was created to oversee the soul ascension inside the Iifa Tree? Like what Garland was talking about when we went to Terra and Pandemonium?”

“Yeah…” Vivi pondered, “is it possible that Garland recreated Soulcage for that reason?”

“It is… I’m sure of it! But he turned it evil…” Eiko nodded, still looking at the dark green stone in her hands.

“But Eiko.. wait a minute… Why would Garland need to recreate a Summon when he could have just used the real thing itself? And what does all this have to do with that jewel?” Vivi tilted his head slightly out of confusion.

“Let me tell you the legend then,” Eiko motioned for Vivi to follow her over to a wooden bench where the pair sat down.

“Alright, the legend in my tribe about Soulcage goes… Long ago, the balance in the land was held by the three great summons; Alexander, Ark, and Soulcage. Alexander kept the day bright with his Holy light, giving hope to the people. Ark kept peace from war and brought the shadows of the night, giving calm to the people. Soulcage gave safe passage for lost, dead, and wandering souls back to the Mother Gaia, giving solace to the people. Each Eidolon was sealed in a different area of Gaia, making a Triangle of peace. Ark was sealed on the Forgotten Continent, Alexander on the Mist Continent, and Soulcage on the Outer Continent. One dark night, there was a great earthquake that caused many to lose their lives, happening in such a way that took the people by complete surprise! The morning after, as the light of Alexander brought the day, something strange had appeared in the northeast sky… A Giant Tree that had sprung up overnight! The people were shocked.”

“Upon investigation of this strange, new sight, the people discovered to their amazement that the Tree had appeared and grown right over the place where Soulcage had been sealed. It was as if the mighty Soulcage had ceased to exist. And since then, he was never seen or heard from again… The people named the tree Iifa; The Tree of Life, in my ancient summoner tongue. They believed that Soulcage had become the tree itself, and that the balance had indeed not been shifted. But they were wrong…” at this, Eiko stopped.

“Wow… that’s an amazing story, Eiko!” Vivi said reverently. “What happened to the real Soulcage?”

“No one knows… Eventually, people forgot that there had ever even been a Soulcage Summon. I read a lot of old books as a child, so I uncovered the legend myself.” Eiko said.

“So… Eiko, you still haven’t explained this jewel yet,” Vivi reminded her.

“Don’t you see, Vivi!? Alexander is dead, yet it’s stone still survives, and its presence is still felt within it! Garnet wears it as her Royal Pendant! She also possesses the power to summon Ark from the Pumice, remember? This jewel that I now hold has the power to summon Soulcage, the original, ultimate Undead Eidolon!!” Eiko cried, barely able to keep from screaming.

“But I thought that the Soulcage was dead too! Just like Alexander!” Vivi gave Eiko a skeptical look.

“That’s just it! This jewel is called Alexandrite, and I can tell that it still possesses power! Look!” Eiko held the gem up to the sun, so that she and Vivi could see through it.

“There! See it!?” Eiko pointed.

As Vivi stared hard at the sparkling jewel, he saw a slight flicker of something dark.

“You see that shadow? That proves that there’s a powerful being in there!” Eiko nodded.

“Hey Eiko! Maybe you can speak to it?” Vivi suggested, “I mean, that’s what you can do with your horn, right?

“I’ll try,” she said and closed her eyes, the Alexandrite clasped close to her heart. She stood still a moment and then turned to Vivi, a worried look on her face.

“What? What is it, Eiko?” Vivi asked anxiously.

“Something’s wrong… I can’t talk to it!” she answered, her voice nervous.

“What do you mean, you can’t talk to it?” Vivi wanted to know.

“No! It’s like… it doesn’t want me to talk to it… Wait!” Eiko peered closely at the Alexandrite. “Oh! Why didn’t I see this before!?”

“Huh?? What?” Vivi asked.

“This isn’t even the full piece!” Eiko sighed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vivi was getting tired of being left behind.

“Oh… why can’t you get it!? Ok, you remember Alexander, right?” Eiko asked, exasperated.

“Yeah.. it was that huge building that protected Alexandria Castle with its wings, right?” Vivi replied.

“Exactly. The stone to summon Alexander, though, was broken into four pieces by my tribe many years ago. It’s the same with Ark! We had to find Hades and have him reforge the Pumice from the two broken pieces in order to summon Ark! So you see…There must be another piece of this Alexandrite somewhere. Once whole, either I or Dagger will actually be able to summon the Soulcage!” Eiko looked very excited, “are you sure that you didn’t see anything else in that house?”

“Yes. I’m positive that that was the only thing that was there. The entire place was empty.” Vivi replied.

“That must mean that someone else must have it… Oh! But I wonder who!” Eiko sighed, “Oh well! We’ve got to find Dagger and tell her everything! Let’s go back to the castle!” Eiko leapt up and began running toward the town docks.

“Eiko! Wait up! Awww…” Vivi sighed as he gave chase once again. Suddenly, he found himself chuckling, knowing that he wouldn’t have to compete in the fighting tournament after all!


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