To steal from a lost memory

The crisp morning air of Gaia was shattered soon by the sudden appearance of a large rune in the sky that moved, the outer ring of it spinning clockwise while the inner part spun counterclockwise. The speed of the rotation grew faster and faster causing the multicolored rune's details to become blurred before finally the two spinning parts snapped into place, then splitting down the center of the inner part a portal opened as the inner rune was opened up like a giant gate.

Soon the Airship called the Invincible burst out of the portal and into normal space as the portal snapped shut and disappeared behind them, inside Zidane was standing behind the main wheel while Iki was busy playing with Shade's air after the two girls had sit down. The little dragon girl using her wings to flutter around so she could fix Shade's long locks into a single ponytail that had a cyan colored bow holding it, Iki then said "Hehehe thanks for letting me play with ya hair Shade, you much nicer than mean old daddy...never lets me play with his hair or his tail..."

If Shade looked at the other female Genomes she would notice they too had cyan colored bows and such in their hairs or on their tails...obviously Iki loved to fix up hair while Zidane sighed and said "Hey I told you, I'm a guy I don't look good with bows in my hair like that or on my tail......that and you tried to give me pigtails.....Yaaa no way hun." Zidane shook his head a bit before looking back at their target destination, in front of them towering over even the tallest of mountains stood a tree that was covered as much ground as a city with a trunk large enough to be a castle and the top being even larger with thick roots stretching out for a fair distance in every direction.

Zidane's tail was tense and the hair slightly frayed while his grip tightened around the steering wheel to the point his knuckles would be white if one could see them, he took a deep breath though and tried to relax even as the very thing that nearly destroyed him and had become his brother's tomb slowly came closer to view. The Invincible soon took up position in front of the tree a mile off though the tree took up most of the forward view, Zidane then turned to face Shade and she would see some of his color had drained out of his face and from his once bright eyes which Iki noticed.

This caused the little girl to quickly move over to her 'father' of sorts and hug his leg which did seem to lessen the lack of color he had as well as making him smile a bit, he picked her up and hugged her to his chest a bit while the other genomes watched their captain. They knew that being here was difficult for him but they also knew he would help Shade, even if they didn't know one another for more than a few hours.....Zidane always helps others..just how he is. He then said to Shade "We'll be here for a few moments......need to do some adjustments to the Airships portal generator.....where we have to go only been open once.....and that was back when this world was nearly destroyed forever." As he said that the genomes in the cockpit went to work doing the needed adjustments while the others in the rest of the ship did the needed rewiring, Zidane figured they should get a meal in first since Memoria never was a good place to try and have a picnic at.

So walking toward the exit of the cockpit and toward the kitchen area of the airship he stopped to look at Shade and said "Come on we need to eat while we can.......Memoria is going to have easy enough time trying to kill us without the added bonus of us fighting on an empty stomach. Which personally I don't know what would be worse, dying or not having a good meal before I bought the farm........eh I'll just say both are equally bad no...Hehe...."

Shade remained casually poised within her seat as Zidane controlled the flight of his airship. She slouched rather relaxed with her ankle resting across the knee of her other leg, and the side of her chin resting into her palm with her elbow propped up upon the armrest. Although feeling slightly tired due to the fact she actually sat still for longer than 30 minutes to acknowledge the feeling, Shade was also a bit anxious to get started simply to get the mission over with. She didn't mind so much having the little dragon like girl fussing so much with her hair. Being around Fury's daughters so much of late had Shade accustomed to little girl behavior and doting attentions. Fact was, as surprising as it came to Shade, Iki's brushing through the usual frayed and tussled locks of hair proved to be rather relaxing and soothing to Shade's nerves, and so she remained silent as the little girl carefully styled it into a single ponytail while her chipper little voice thanked her. Hearing Zidane's reply to Iki's words, Shade slowly tilted her head to look over her shoulder and mutter softly for only Iki to hear. "If he continues to be such a bore about his precious hair, I'll lend you hand someday."


She said nothing more when she casually turned back around only to catch a view as to what was ahead through the cockpit window, but her attention was more upon Zidane's body language. His body grew tense and ridged as the fur upon his tail seemed to rise up and grow stiff. When the ship landed and he turned, the confirmation of the Genome's uneasiness was obvious by the pale shade over his natural complexion and by Iki abandoning her playful chore to approach him and hug his leg with comfort. That's when Shade slowly stood up from her seat and silently walked forward to examine what apparently effected her new companion so deeply. The tree in itself was far more massive than any other natural structure Shade had ever seen, and by what research she had done of so many worlds, she knew what this tree represented within this world of Gaia thanks to Kaleb's internet downloads within his Coral Q summons. Her brow furrowed for a moment as she turned back around now see Zidane embracing Iki within his arms, and kept completely silent during their brief sentimental moment.


She nodded to his words in regards to the ship maintenance and followed him as mentioned having a meal before they departed. Apparently her stomach heard his offer as well as it gave a slight rumbling noise and a hungry pang through her gut, reminding Shade she had yet to eat anything at all that day. To distract from the embarrassing sound, she commented on the threats within Memoria that Zidane spoke of. "I'll be honest, Zidane...the most research I've done was based solely on the history and events of Gaia, not so much of it's fiends or dangers of late. So you may need to refresh my memory as to what all we may be up against."


Her gaze remained fixed to the floor as she continued to walk beside him, taking in the feeling of subconscious security of her sword's presence pressed against her hip. With a much lower, yet softer tone, she spoke again. "And I want to thank you, Zidane.... for offering your help. I know being here isn't easy for you..." Taking into account of her own disturbing memories and personal pain, she could easily relate to Zidane's own and truly appreciated his efforts.

When Iki heard Shade's offer she had giggled a bit before then giving Shade a hug around the neck and whispered back "Kay, thank you Shade. It'll be fun to see daddy 's reaction when we jump him if he doesn't wanna play, hehehe." but after the whole incident with Zidane's reaction to the Iifa tree the little girl was more focused on keeping her dad relaxed and not trying to remember the bad memories of the place. But Zidane was good at sucking it up most of the time if it was to make sure he could help a person, even more so to help a person that is like a sister to a friend so by now Zidane had recovered a fair amount for that very reason.

Zidane then heard the sound from Shade's stomach when he offered food and smirked a bit even when Shade tried to distract him from it, to that he just shook his head a bit and then said to her "Well there are many different things that live in that place, if I remember right the ones there are....Veteran, Stilvan, Iron Man, Chimera, Behemoth, and Ash.....the last four are the most dangerous, the second one is kinda dangerous, and the first one is the least dangerous...so if we run into Veterans we can just kill them and get on our way.....Stilvans I would like to avoid but they shouldn't be too hard.....but the last four I reallyyyyy rather not fight other than the one Iron Man we must kill for the sword of course. But I will say this......the most dangerous out of all period is a Chimera....so if we see one hide or run like hell.....those things nearly killed me and my friends a lot in the past.........oh and Shade......*smirks a bit*.......nice try trying to make me not notice your stomach grumbling."

Zidane chuckled a bit as he walked off with Iki right beside them but just as he got out the door he heard her thank him and such which caused him to turn to look at her with a bright smile and said "Hey don't worry about it, you are like a sister to Kaleb based on what he said to me and so as his friend it only right to consider you as a friend as well. Now come on food won't fix itself you know." Zidane led the way to the kitchen of the airship and it looked rather well made, it looked a lot like the kitchen one finds in a well kept castle though there were parts that looked odd due to all the magitech mixed into the look.

Zidane walked over to the oven and turned it on allowing mana to fuel a fire under a metal mesh before he grabbed a pan and put some veggie oil in it, he set the pan on the eye of the oven and let it heat the oil up a bit since the flame wasn't set too high. He then grabbed a bowl and a empty clear plastic bag he got from the other more advance words, he then called over to Shade and said "Mind getting me four eggs out of the fridge over there, and Iki get the fish out of the freezer okay?" The little dragon got to work getting the fish while leaving Shade to get to get the eggs, as Zidane worked though he then said over his shoulder "Hey Shade, if you don't mind me asking. How did you and Kaleb become so close anyway, I mean no offense but umm......well....how to put it..............well you don't seem like the type to enjoy the company of such a manic guy." Zidane wanted to get a little small talk going since hey might as well learn a little bit about the girl he helping right?

Shade's ears and mind had to struggle a bit to keep up with Zidane's listing of fiends and each with a listing of how they should be handled or not. His animated explanations still made the unpleasant conversation interesting, and Shade nodded in acknowledgement when he stressed they should run for their lives should they cross a Chimera. Those of her own world weren't all too pleasant either....

After a slight roll of her eyes to his added humor about her stomach, they ventured into the kitchen of the ship where Zidane went right to work. She was no stranger to kitchens, or fixing her own meals, but she obliged the Genome with silence since he was pretty much her host at the moment and retrieved the eggs as requested. When setting them on the counter beside him, she continued observing the room as he asked about how she and Kaleb came to know each other.

With quite a faint twitch to her lips, Shade leaned her hip against the counter while subconsciously reaching out and checking each egg for any cracks as she spoke. "True..... our personalities may seem to clash.... but I'm sure you're well aware as to how persistent Kaleb can be... when he wants to be..." Memories flooded through her mind from the very beginning, which wasn't what one would call a normal encounter.

"He came across my path at a rather.... unfortunate time." She paused for a moment, slowly rolling one of the eggs around within her fingers while struggling for words. Talking of personal matters never came easy to her, but this was a friend of Kaleb's, so Shade knew Zidane could be trusted. "I had lost my memories and... well... let's just say I wasn't the most pleasant being to be around.... yet for some odd reason, Kaleb took interest in me even when I nearly killed him." She thought back to Zidane's comparison and even offered him a twitch of a smile at the corner of her lips. "So I'd say it's a good thing he's a maniac kind of guy, because of his insistence of friendship, he found a way to regain my memories, and for that, he saved my very life."

What eggs she found smooth, she placed back in the metal basket, where those that were cracked and damaged, she tossed in a nearby trash bin. "After that, it was pretty much fate that led Kaleb to to throw me in every, and any possible mishap or crazy mission thereafter. But I will say this...." She saw a small spice rack sitting on the counter and slowly nudged it closer to Zidane for him to reach if he needed it. "I don't regret anything that crazy nut drug me through and I'd even dare say, I'd do it all over again to have him as a friend."

When Shade placed the eggs on the counter Iki had as well came back with the fish requested, the little dragon girl using her wings to flutter in the air so she could place the plastic bag of pre-sliced and cleaned fish on the counter with the eggs. Zidane was prompt to put the fish meat in the sink once he had put the other items in their respected places, he then plugged up the sink and let it fill with hot water to help thaw out the fish which wasn't too frozen but frozen enough to be fresh. With that going on he then grabbed the bowl he got and started to crack open the eggs into the bowl, after all four were done he grabbed a whisk and started to whip up the eggs rapidly while his tail reached out and grabbed the salt to sprinkle some into the mix as he stirred, and did the same with pepper and a small hint of sugar as the tail was just long enough to then turn the water off in the sink as it filled up enough by now.

Zidane was of course paying close attention to what Shade said and so he did respond "Ya the guy is persistent as hell, kept asking and asking for me to show my trance state to him a day or so after we became friends till I finally did......had to then let him take pictures..............which was just odd.........he acts like some fanboy or something for some reason when he himself could easily be one of the strongest magi I ever met." It was then that Zidane heard the part about her memories being lost and such which caused him to think back to when he nearly lost his memories forever back on Terra, he then looked over at Shade and said "Hey we all have highs and lows ya know, and loosing memories is........is not enjoyable even if the process is stopped before it can do its job....So it not uncommon for one to be....uhhh not very friendly after such a thing. Glad you ran into him, he is pretty good at cheering people up and making others happy."

Zidane then remembered a few things that Kaleb told him of how he helped Shade get back something very important from an evil man from Gaia, it was then that he finally figured the entire story out and it did help he had access to records......such as a certain Android he knew getting control of a world at one point. Then again Kaleb's bouncer of sorts Zenon didn't exactly keep such an information low key when past topics get brought up, thus while Zidane had his back to Shade while putting the bowl of egg on the counter he then said "So let me guess......you had a run in with my father/creator Garland to cause your memories to go huh....and I don't freak out Kaleb didn't tell me that he was very vague on many points. Just figured it out due to your story, his, some stuff I read up on once I became world leader, and Zenon's rather foul mood toward his past.......Sorry that a being from my race's original home world caused you so much harm, just it was a bit hard to believe that the old man came back."

Zidane remembered the last time he saw the old sage like automaton in Memoria, the spirit of the man helping him and his friends stop Kuja which made believing the old guy could of actually done all those evil deeds. Zidane knew Garland was not very kind since the guy did vaporize the summoner race but to do it all over again even after coming back from the dead....the very thought caused Zidane's fist to tighten a bit but he then let out a long sigh before chuckling a bit to himself. His shoulders moving slightly with the laugh as he then said "But hey......who knows....if that old fart could come back even after getting kicked off a high building and then getting blown up with a planet......the maybe my brother will come back at some point. Though I hope his personality will have improved........*shakes his head* Anyway sorry I rambled a bit." Zidane refocus on his task at hand and took the fish meat out of the sink and then out of the bag, he placed two slices into the bowl of egg and mixed it around to get it evenly coated.

After that he put the fish into the batter bag and shook it only to repeat the first two steps again to double coat the fish, he then laid them down in the pan were the crackle and sizzle of oil cooking could be heard as well as the delightful smell. Zidane then looked over his shoulder at Shade and said "Oh ya and ya know what, I understand how you feel about that stuff. Life has its ups and downs and while things would be nice to change around, I think that no one would really want to change any part of their past no matter how bad, crazy, or nutty it has been. Since hey......change one part of the past and you might not meet some of the wonderful people you know today right?" Zidane flashed a grin at Shade then went back to fixing up some more of the fish like he did the first two, as he did Iki had fluttered off to get a large plate that she covered with a few layers of napkins and placed it on the other side of the oven away from the mixing stuff.

She then fluttered over to Shade and gently landed on her shoulder, the girl using her wings to help lessen the weight a bit so that she only added about ten pounds to that shoulder. She then asked "So daddy will I be coming along to help you and Shade get the one thingy from Memoria?" To that Zidane tensed up as he wanted to say no but he didn't want to face the pouty face of doom......he prayed that Shade would handle this.

Yet another twitch played at the corner of Shade's lips as her gaze wandered about the kitchen while listening to Zidane. She had nearly forgotten Kaleb's obsession to certain people within the realms, but when reminded, she was none too surprised to hear that her friend pestered the Genome to demonstrate his powers. "No doubt Kaleb made sure to get your autograph as well.... she added casually while slowly pacing around the room.


She still inwardly flinched when the Genome mentioned Garland. It was a part of her past Shade never came to terms with, and it never dawned on her the connection between the cyborg and Zidane until he mentioned it. With her present company distracted by his cooking, there was little chance the Genome noticed Shade had turned her head a bit to rub at her temples and forehead. ...I really have to refresh my head on the histories of all these worlds. Nor did Shade find any words to say to his own. She knew her new friend was simply trying to lift the spirits over the sensitive issue, and although she wasn't one to speak light heartedly, Shade did have an appreciation of those who did. Much like Jayda. For now, she simply nodded to his words, even if she didn't agree with a part or two. "Maybe one thing or two.... " And then left the topic to drop at that.


The growing aromas within the room were a delightful distraction from the conversation. It was distinct proof that Zidane obviously had an experienced cooking hand, and by this point, Shade didn't care what he was preparing as her stomach lurched at the chance to dig into the upcoming meal. Without warning, the petite dragon imp came fluttering back to Shade and sat upon her shoulder. Shade thought nothing of it until the girl spoke up about tagging along. Her steel colored hues shifted back to Zidane, who apparently chose to leave Shade to handle the situation, which left her right eye to twitch a bit out of annoyance. He was this girl's "daddy" after all....


So after a heavy sigh to buy her a moment's time, Shade dove into her "aunt" skills she so swiftly had to learn when Fury and his little girls came into her life. While heading to a small island table, Shade reached up and carefully brought the girl from her shoulder to stand on the table top. Now Shade could already tell this little being wasn't one who would appreciate being talked down to like a child, and young ones read body language as well as any other adult. So Shade simply turned while crossing her arms and leaned her lower back against the edge of the table, tilting her head while speaking to Iki. "After that long list of fiends Zidane just lectured about, you really think a responsible and loving father like yours would put your life at risk by letting you come along? Would you want to see your father sad and blaming himself should you get hurt?"


Shade expected the child may argue. Iki seemed more the bold type like Alivia back at home, and so, Shade had a back up plan should the child prove to be argumentative. Still, she managed to sneak another "I'll get you for this" glare at Zidane through her thick bangs shrouding over her eyes.

Zidane had heard the part about Kaleb asking for a autograph and to that Zid simply shrugged and then said "Well ya he did ask for that, but I'm use to giving out Autographs.......Though I'll admit I'm more use to the ladies wanting my autographs instead of guys..........but eh price of being as famous and awesome as me I guess hehehe~" As Zidane more or less got a bit high on his ego Iki looked at Shade with a slightly bored look and rolled her little eyes a bit, the girl obviously knew her daddy needed to not get a big head so she then said "But daddy I haven't seen you sign any autographs for ladies in a long time....."

Zidane quickly went rigid when he heard that before he turned to look at Iki and then said "Why must you ruin my dreams....?" "Cause you get silly when you dream." replied Iki before she stuck out her tongue going nyaaaa as she did so. This caused Zidane to narrow his eyes and then said to her "OH is that so huh, well then I'm going to make a lot of veggies for you to eat and make sure you eat every last one of them." Upon hearing that Iki's tongue quickly went back into her mouth and she had a look of horror on her face, she then flew to Zid and hugged his leg tightly while rapidly shaking her head before saying "Noooo no nasty veggies Daddy, I'm sorry I'm sorry. I'll be good I promise!" Zidane smirked a bit as he cooked then had his tail move down to poke her nose slightly and he then said "Gotcha~" he then started to snicker as Iki looked dumb founded for a moment before figuring out she was tricked.

She was then quick to let go of her Dad's leg and then huffed a bit and said with whine "Daddddyyyyyy that wasn't funny....." "Hehehehe yes it was, you should of seen your face hehehe~" replied Zid as he cooked while Iki just huffed a bit more before moving over to Shade and hugging her leg as she said "Meanie daddy....." As Zid saw that he then said "Awww well if I'm a meanie then I guess I shouldn't give dessert after this too huh~" Iki quickly said "I mean funny daddy, daddy really funny." The little girl's eyes shifted a bit while Zid struggled to keep from laughing as he loved his little girl, she was just like him in a lot of ways with her quickly changing opinions of him at the drop of the hat. But he soon calmed down after Iki and Shade started to talk about her going, he was going to try and avoid drawing too much attention to himself for now.

And so while Shade was busy giving Iki the talk about why she couldn't come Zidane was quickly getting the next batch of fried catfish fixed up as he knew there was going to be a lot needed for them to get all full on the tasty fish. As he did so he easily ignored the glares directed at him from Shade, but if she saw his face she would see he was smirking a bit at this and was not bothered a bit by her actions. All the while though Iki had crossed her arms and pouted a bit as Shade explained to her why she couldn't come with them, she then said "But I don't want my daddy or you getting hurt either.....so I wanna come to help, and I can fight too...I'm really strong Shade. Pleaseee can I help, please please please please please~" By now Iki had her arms still crossed and was pouting but this time her lower lip trembled a bit and her eyes looked watery and big, more or less she was using her puppy dog pout to try and win this little conversation and to add to it she sniffled a slight bit.

Through Iki's entire dramatic pleading, Shade watched her with a placid expression. She had experience in dealing with the young, due to the first years at Balamb Garden starting at seven years old, but Shade was more equipped with dishing out the disciplinary measures to those who were caught in the wrong. It was more or less the Instructors who dealt with the children's begging..... or whomever was working the Cafeteria...


Nor did Shade's two nieces use such tactics to hopefully get their way. Alivia played on Raven's or Shade's intelligence, using tactical words or interrogating questions that left either one of them speechless, or with a "Where did she come up with that!?" expression across their faces. Serenity, in all her shy and laid back demeanor, had a knack with the guilt. Even when absolutely silent, her eyes alone laid it on thick and left one feeling like the most horrible adult in the world.


So in this particular situation with a wide eyed, pleading, dragon imp little girl, Shade raised a single dark brow over her left eye and feigned as if she were pondering over the possibility to allow Iki to tag along. Shen raised her gaze nonchalantly to the ceiling as her arms slowly crossed over her chest, while her peripheral vision paid close attention to the ever so quiet Genome. "I'm afraid it's not up to me, Iki... no matter if I feel it's too dangerous or not..." She slowly returned her gaze back to the little girl as her head motioned in Zidane's direction. "A parent always has the last say in these matters, so the decision for you to go, or stay, is entirely up to your father" Her tone enhanced the last word, so Zidane himself would hear that Shade wasn't about to let him off the hook so easily.


He could play quiet all he wanted, but that wasn't going to leave Shade to make any parental decisions for him. So with her chess piece moved in "check mate" position, she casually reached across the counter to grab what remained of the eggs to put them back in the cooler.

Iki stopped her pout attack once she heard Shade start to talk up but was a bit disappointed by the older woman's response before hearing the talk of Zidane being the one to make the final choice, Iki then just pouted a bit and said "Ya but daddy always does what a pretty girl says, so he will listened to you Shade......one time when daddy was looking at hunts he saw one monster and said no about hunting it....but then a pretty girl said to one of her friends how she would love to have a scale from the same monster......daddy quickly took the job and did it to get that scale for the girl......not sure why daddy weak to pretty girls but it works..." Zidane tensed up at that as he did the finishing touches to the food while mentally he yelled 'IKI SHADDDAAAAAAPPP.'

His tail swayed still as he worked even as he dealt with the thought of Iki spilling the beans about all that he's done for pretty girls, his face was slightly red too from a blush and he was making sure Shade didn't see how embarrassed he was at this. All the while Iki went back to trying to get Shade to help her convince Zidane to let the girl go, all that Zidane knew was he REALLYYYYY hoped Shade could figure a way out of that cause he was pretty sure he actually would let Iki come if Shade suggested it. Zidane though quickly finished off the process needed to make the food he had and said "Food's done lets get to the dining area."

In Zidane's hands was a plate filled with fried fish that had steam rising off them and there and when Iki saw that she moved over to grab a basket and filled with with three apples, three bananas, and three oranges for them to be eaten with the fish. She carried it easily though and walked beside Shade as she helped lead the older woman to follow Zidane, who was currently making his way down the hall and through a doorway to the dining area. Once they got there though Shade would see a nice well furnished room with crimson red carpet, solid cherry oak wooden chairs and a large table made of the same thing that was fit for an entire crew to eat at and them some. One of the walls though was made up of glass that had a wall metal behind it but after Zidane set the fish down at the head of the table he moved over to the wall.

He then whispered a few words and the metal pulled away from behind the glass like it became liquid metal once more and allowed the entire side of the building to show the outside, this allowed a lot of light into the room and let people see the clear blue sky and some clouds as well as in the distance the ocean and a few far off landmasses. Zidane then moved back to the table and pulled chairs out for Iki and Shade before he himself sat down, Iki by now had moved to the head of the table as well and sat the fruit basket down before sitting to the right of Zidane while the chair beside her was for Shade. Zidane wasn't flirty enough to make her sit beside him.......YET and so wasn't going to try at the moment, he then looked up at Shade and said "Come on take a seat, got to eat it before it gets cold you know." on the table were already the dishes needed for the three to eat so there was no need for anyone to get up to get forks, knifes, or anything else as there were also some lemons placed around for scents and as well as to be used on the fish if needed along with salt, pepper, and other condiments.

Zidane was going to avoid the Iki coming or not issue but the little dragoness was not going to be distracted.....she would get Shade to help her if the lady would......the girl was not going to risk being left all alone in this world. She was the last of her kind so her only family was Zidane and by god she would keep him safe if she could help it.

Throughout the child's revealing confession about her father, Shade simply listened without interruption, nor did she bother to correct the little imp about Shade herself being anything considered pretty. Iki simply didn't comprehend that it was a type of female one such as Zidane had a weakness for, and Shade was nothing like those damsels in distress, or those using their talented facade of charms and suggestive sways upon another to eagerly fulfill their bidding. Of course Shade would know of such tricks, having to suffer such antics during her lifetime friendship with Brix Dincht.


Thankfully, nothing more of the issue was said as Zidane and Iki began gathering the prepared meal and heading out of the kitchen to another room. Shade followed quietly while her sights drank in parts of the airship she had yet to see. Once within the dining hall, she waited patiently as the settings were prepared and Zidane raised the metal curtain to reveal a breathtaking view of his home world. She took a moment to revel in the sight while reminded so much of the beauty of her own world, even though the two planets were a striking difference from each other by their technologies and way of life. But just like Shade's own world, Gaia beheld it's own dark threats and dangers as well.


When the time came to finally enjoy the meal, Shade took her suggested seat next to Iki and began serving herself as her hues scanned about the large room that beheld a natural relaxing aura fit for shared company and dining. The echoes of their movements, be it the slightest creak from a chair, or a clink now and then from a fork or knife, reverberated softly throughout the room as the only sounds heard for a time while the trio enjoyed the labor of Zidane's cooking skills. Shade wasn't much for dressing up her food with various taste additions, so she only added a hint of lemon and salt to her fish before consuming it at a leisure pace.



She made sure not too eat beyond her capacity, stopping at the very moment her stomach felt full enough. Too much would leave her with a lethargic sense, and Shade wasn't about to risk any mistakes on the future venture due to feeling tired. With her final bite eaten, she gave the Genome a nod of appreciation and complimented him on a meal finely cooked. “Your crew is quite fortunate to have a captain skilled in the art of cuisine.” With nothing much else said amongst them, Shade thought it best to look over her weapons as a precautionary measure as she waited for Zidane to finish his full of the meal. Her Wolf's Bane sword was always kept sharp and lethal, and as her hand held the weapon by the hilt for the steel tip to balance upon the floor, a simple flick of her thumb snapped the steel curved teeth to eject from the sides of the blade for her keen inspection. She gave the same detailed observations to her crossbow weapon, making sure the steel arrows snapped into each of the prod slots without a hint of hesitation. Her ears listened closely for the slightest off tune to the mechanisms within the weapon as it loaded the mag of arrows, then withdrew them back into their casing.


Satisfied that her weapons were up to par, Shade casually leaned back into her seat and found her sights resting upon the glorious view once again while waiting for Zidane to give the word that it was time to go. Knowing that this was no simple challenge or mission, she would not see her companion rushed, but calmly wait, since the Genome knew best when to begin against such a creature from his own world.

Zidane was pleased with himself as he ate his food and even more so as he stole quick glances at the other two to see how they were enjoying the food he made, Zidane of course at his fair share of the fish as well as a few fruits to help add to his health since he learned over time that eating different kinds of foods made him feel healthier than just eating one kind. After a while though he could hear Iki making slight coo'ing sounds as she ate and he remembered how much dragons seemed to enjoy eating fish, and the fact he cooked it must of made it all the better for the little one but he was happy she kept her control and didn't scarf it down and ate it piece by piece with a little salt. Zidane himself was sort of favoring the new thing called Ketchup he got from those other worlds, he didn't know why but he enjoyed the flavor it added to his food and liked to use it.

After a bit he did hear Shade compliment him on his food and after he cleaned is face with a napkin he then laughed slightly before saying "Well thanks Shade not often I get compliments from people about my food other than Iki.......eh though the crew is still too emotionless to really grasp the concept of savoring their meals......oh well all in due time I guess. So seems we are all full and there isn't a shred of fish left so I didn't fix too much so nothing wasted, now lets just hope the adjustments to the portal device are done." Zidane smiled at Shade after that before downing a cup of water and then picking up all the dishes they had dirtied, his ability to balance helped but to be honest it wasn't difficult for really many to carry three sets of forks, cloth napkins, knifes, plates, and cups. His tail though then moved out to grab the fruit basket and carried it as well before he headed tot he kitchen, while Iki got up and flew over to the glass wall and pressed the button Zidane messed with last time to close the metal wall which like last time moved like liquid to form the outer shell once more.

Iki then waited for Shade to get up before leading her to the bridge of the ship to check up on the situation with the portal device while Zidane got the dirty dishes, dirty napkins, fruit basket, and garbage put away where they should be. It only took him about three minutes to do so before he got back to the bridge with Shade and Iki, once he got inside one the crew Genomes then said "The adjustments have been completed Zidane, we are ready to open the portal." "Well lets get this over with then, can't keep that monster waiting forever......gonna hurt its feelings at this rate....hehehe" said Zidane with a chuckle as the joke as lost upon the crew but Iki giggled slightly at the light joke. Soon the crew of genomes were quickly pressing out codes and commands on their consoles while the ship started to make a low whirling hmming sound, and to add to it the feeling of being surrounded by a large amount of mana could be felt by anyone inside and caused a tingling sensation over the flesh.

Soon a point of light appeared at the very tip of the Invincible and the point grew brighter and stronger as swirls of colors shifted in changed inside of the light before it suddenly shot out like a blast from a cannon, it streaked across the sky before hitting an point fifty yards above the Iifa tree and disappeared.....then a loud ripping sound followed by an loud boom from an explosion was heard. With that a huge swirling mass of magenta and purple energy burst into being over the tree and the sky darkened as if it was about to rain, yet there were very little clouds int he sky and even with the sun high above it looked dimmed.....as if the portal was sucking in the light and darkening the world slightly. Zidane shook his head a bit as he watched this and then turned to look at Shade and Iki before saying "Well even if this Mission becomes a bust, at least we got to see a cool show haha.......Now Iki I'll make a deal with you.......you can come but if at ANY time I feel you are in danger I have the right to tell you to get out of there and escape. You are to listen without argument and either hide someplace safe or leave Memoria completely.....is that understood?" Zidane stared at Iki intently as he said those words making it clear he was not kidding.

Iki noticed this and looked down for a moment and thought it over for a bit before she looked up and nodded her head and let out a small 'uh huh' sound before hugging his leg once again, Zidane though at the moment reached up with one hand and ran his fingers through his blond hair and sighed a bit before giving Shade an apologetic look at him being too weak to actually say no to the girl. He then picked up Iki and set her on his right shoulder using one arm to hold her legs so she couldn't fall over, he then headed out the exit and said to Shade "Come one time to get to the cargo hold and get teleported outside......and yes outside into open air.....don't worry I got a plan to get into that place cause I'm not driving the Invincible into that portal." With that he lead her down the hallway once more till he reached the middle point of the Airship where a large blue panel with golden markings formed the floor, Zidane waited for Shade to stand on it with him and Iki before activating it and causing the the panel to lower down like an elevator but unlike most types this one had nothing holding it up....it just floated in the air as it lowered.

So after half a minute they were put in the lower half the airship which as a giant cargo hold that was easily able to hold quite a few land vehicles, mounts, pets, or supplies if Zidane wanted to, and sure there was a eighth of the cargo hold filled with supply crates but the rest was pretty empty at the moment. Zidane then tapped Iki's leg to tell her to get off and do her think to which the little one giggled and nodded her head, she fluttered off ten yards away before exploding into red lights while Zid said "Time to see Iki's true form." Sure enough the red light that was hiding Iki's body was shifting and shaping into a much larger form as it grew in height a fair bit, but it grew even more so in length and width till finally the shape became much clearer. When the light disappeared instead of a little girl there stood a dragon a little wise bigger than some types of horses and was covered in light blueish white like feathers, her eyes had only small black slits for pupils to break the solid purple coloration of her eyes.

Zidane then walked over to Iki's real form and gently stroked her head causing the dragoness to croon before he then looked over at Shade and then said "Well come on best get onto her back before we are teleported out, unless you rather try to work out a way to get onto her back while falling.......actually that sounds fun till you think about the sudden stop that waits for you at the bottom........eh." Zidane shrugged a bit while Iki just shook her head a bit at her father's thoughts.

Shade rose from her chair while gathering her weapons, and then proceeded to follow Iki back to the bridge where they awaited for Zidane. Once the Genome arrived and made the carefree announcement to be on their way, his crew immediately set into motion upon the various control panels of the airship. Within moments, the ship ignited a light from the tip and Shade squinted a bit as the light grew brighter and brighter until it shot into the sky. Following a loud blast was a swirling mass in the sky that Shade naturally assumed was the portal they had to venture through.


When Zidane gave Shade a nervous glance for giving Iki permission to join them, she gave him a slight nod in understanding. Surely the Genome knew that Shade would also watch over the girl, but she had a suspicion Iki could very well take care of herself. Now following Zidane quietly, they stood upon separate panels that floated them to the cargo hold. Once there, it was revealed to Shade that Iki was a shapeshifter. Although such had been seen throughout the realms, and Shade having such a creature with the same abilities, she wasn't all too surprised, yet this was indeed the first child shifter Shade had ever come across. She gave a slight smile to Iki with a curt nod of her head. "Quite a dragon you are, Iki. Had I known you had such abilities, I may have very well took your side in joining us from the start."


Hearing Zidane mention they get upon Iki's back, Shade gave a slight shake of her head. "She'll need all of her strength for where we're about to go and what we're about to face. I wouldn't want to burden her with my weight needlessly." With that said, Shade took a slight step back with a faint turn and her stark white wings erupted from her back. There came a slight twitch at the back of Shade's neck, then went still again once her wings went still. She then gave Zidane a nod that was more than ready to proceed to venture into the unknown.

Zidane slightly rolled his eyes in a playful manner at Shade's comment about how she might of very well took Iki's side if she had known, to that Zidane then said "Sure sure double team the young father why don't we *laughs a bit* but fair enough I guess, Silver dragons always were a strong breed but don't let your blood line's strength go to your head okay Iki?" Zidane reached forward to gently rub and scratch the young dragoness's neck which caused her to croon a bit at the affection. It was then that Shade's response to him telling her to get on Iki's back was heard and he looked up to see that Shade grew a pair of wings, to that Zidane's eyes widened a bit before he then said "Oh well aren't you a lucky one.....able to fly on your own and all that.....great now I'M jealous of you. Hehehe.......but to be honest Shade I really doubt your weight would of been even close to heavy enough to be a burden to Iki........A Qu you are not but fair enough."

With that said Zidane gave one of the mechanic genome girls a nod to show it was time and sure enough in a bright flash of light and random terran runes Shade, Iki, and Zidane were teleported from the airship and out into open sky a few feet under the hovering Invincible. Iki had her wings at the ready and was already using them to keep aloft but the two did look over to Shade to make sure she was okay, didn't want to risk her falling in case the sudden shift in location disoriented her a bit. Only after they saw that she was doing quite well on her own did they turn their attention back onto the portal they needed to fly into. After a slight nod Iki took off toward the portal though didn't go full speed so that Shade wouldn't get left behind; since it was obvious that beings that are natural fliers would be faster in the sky than humanoids with flight abilities due to the differences in drag and wing strength. Once they were closer to the portal though Zidane and Iki dove right into the swirling vortex of energy and just when Iki's nose touched the outer most part of the portal, did her body and Zidane's seem to stop in the middle of the air like they were frozen in time for a mere second before suddenly getting jerked into the portal and disappearing completely.

Once inside the portal Zidane and Iki was surrounded by lights as thousands upon thousands of images of Gaia's History shot past them faster than they could even react, everything being a blur of utter confusion that no one should try to focus on lest they go insane from trying to know every bit of Gaia's long history in such a short span of time. Then suddenly everything went black and a slight thump for the two was the only thing that shook them out of the darkness, they looked around a bit disoriented though Zidane was better off than Iki due to having done this before. He shook his head a few times and got off Iki's back to look around while his little dragoness tried to clear her head, she had currently went back to child form once Zidane got off and was sitting on the ground holding her head and looking very dazed but okay none the less. Zidane though was scouting out the area and was pleased to see it was just like before, the two were on a single long and wide path of stone that jutted out of the ground and high into the air. Far far below was a massive city of stone ruins that stretched as far as the eye could see and Zidane was keen on not ever going down there, if the place looked deserted like that it had to be for a pretty good reason and he wasn't planning on finding out why...

Turning he looked toward the very structure he and his old friends had to get through the first time they came here, and still like before it looked like a mountainous expanse of stonework akin to a huge city crammed and smashed together into one super structure. But the oddest part was that near the very top where the massive structure reached the sky stone was flying from the heavens onto the building, the stones attaching to the thing and causing it to grow ever more as if the building itself was still not done and some other worldly power was still hard at work trying to finish it. Shaking his head a bit though Zidane then turned back to Iki and said "Well hope Shade enjoys her trip through the portal......eh Iki?" For now the two had to wait for their third member to catch up...

Memoria Castle

When teleported outside of the ship, Shade was blasted by a gust of wind, whether it was from the Invincible's engines, or the natural winds themselves at such a grand height in the skies. Her wings immediately caught the current as she quickly took in their surroundings and adjusted to the shifting wind until Iki began to lead the way. Shade was able to keep up rather easily, remaining directly behind Iki's dragon form and using the drafting technique so her own wings wouldn't have to slice through much of the air current. But in those brief moments, Shade closed her eyes and took in the peacefulness of the flight and the sense of freedom it gave... two luxuries she rarely found in her life.


The sudden jerk into the portal snapped her back to attention, and by the scant glances of blurred images and sounds within the portal, Shade was reminded of the time rift her team first fell into that brought them to this realm just a few years ago. She kept her attention in firm check, keeping close to Iki as the trio continued through the portal together until everything went suddenly dark. Although it was only for a moment, it was an unexpected shock as everything seemed to go still and silent until Shade opened her eyes to find herself standing before two giant double doors to a structure that appeared to touch the very heavens above them in the sky.


She slowly and cautiously raised her hands to lightly press her palms against the surface, not daring to press against the doors just yet since she had no clue as to where she was. The wind was much gentler here, and by far more quiet to the ears then when they were in flight as Shade simply studied the articulate designs on the doors with a studious gaze and felt the solidity of years from the thick wood against her hands, yet either the wood, or the entire structure itself felt as if it were alive, or beheld a powerful energy all of its own. After giving the impressive doors a final gaze, Shade slowly turned in place from where she stood to unexpectedly find herself a good distance away from Zidane and Iki who were situated at the bottom of some floating staircase within the air.


Was this the place they were to find this particular fiend? Or was it within the immaculate structure itself? She decided to venture down the floating steps, and if Zidane approached, she would at least meet him half way and get her answer.

Zidane was able to spot Shade easily once he actually saw her starting to move around since hell she was the only living thing within his line of sight at the current moment, he quickly rushed over toward her as Iki soon followed by gliding over the ground with her wings behind him. Once the two reached her Zidane smiled up at her and then said with a smirk "Some place huh........anyway let me welcome to you to Memoria, the very memories of Gaia itself and contains all that there is to know about my world from birth to the here and now.....current location the entrance." Zidane stopped acting like he was some guide or curator of this place for a moment and got a serious face once more and then said "Now listen to me closely there is another thing about this place you should know, all those little natural things we use to seeing...such as.....say gravity......and junk.....don't be so sure it applies here. I once walked under water in this place with my friends and we could breath as if it was air.....walked through empty space round and round.....and had objects floating around like they were balloons....so just don't fall off anything......*makes sure Iki hears this part* and AVOID flying off the edge of what ever we were standing on....hell don't even fly too far up cause I don't know if you'll be able to find your way back down if you do."

Zidane was unsure about how flying worked in this place since normally you just need to worry about what is below you and stuff but here you just as likely to fly up into land as you are to crash down into it. But after he knew Iki understood he relaxed a bit and walked to the old wooden doors that stood the test of time for Alexander knows how long, he pushed them open and walked the two inside and already they were seeing some stone bricks flying through the air and moving to place themselves into missing spots in the floors or walls. Zidane had to duck once as a brick nearly crashed into the back of his head before it settled into the floor, he then said "Please be careful as this is an construction area.....we advise you to wear a hard hat or maybe a full suit of heavy armor.......if you don't have either one.......you better be damn good at dodging cause these bricks stop for no one and are hard as hell to break or deflect...." Zidane had a serious undertone to his joking to show it was a serious danger but didn't want to make it all moody here, he then looked to the side and there in a corner was a glowing orb that was black with a orange center surrounded by blue. Orbiting around it were two rings of white random letters moving far too fast to be read, Zidane then said "That will be our way out of this place......it is the only thing I know if that can get us out so if I get knocked out or something......just drag my body over to it press your hand to it and let the disembodied voice it has ask you what you want......then tell it to remove us mortals from this realm of memories and we SHOULD be okay.....actually on second thought...drag me to it and then wait for me to wake up I don't know how it reacts to those from other worlds..."

Zidane then turned to look at Shade for a moment and then said "Now.......before we go on once we finally find this thing.....what will the battle plan.....cause while I know what to do if it was just me and Iki.......kinda need to know what to do with you around......never fought against you let alone with you so I have no idea how you fight or what you can do.....which I can be sure you can say the same about me...." Zidane rubbed the back of his head as he asked this though from time to time he had to move to avoid bricks flying around though it was only every so many minutes.....wasn't a barrage but one had to be on their toes around here.

Shade listened to Zidane's introduction of Memoria with a quirk to her eyebrow. Even though she wasn't normally one for humor, she was gratefully amused by the Genome's light heartedness throughout their mission. She gave a nod of respect and also listened carefully to his concerns over their current environment, taking special note that he stressed to Iki herself. "Would it be better if Iki went back to her smaller form? That way she's less likely to get struck, or has a hold upon either one of us should our quicker reflexes have to come into play?"


Shade took special attention to the orb he pointed out as their only means of escape should something go drastically wrong. She gave him another affirmative nod with a stern gaze so he knew she fully understood. Yet another safety net for Iki especially, if they should come across a drastic situation that may threaten the young shape shifter's life.


What Shade didn't expect was Zidane's next inquiry about her own skills. She was never accustomed to talking about herself or what she could do in any given situation. Every one was different, so her choice of actions ranged quite a bit. Her steel hues shifted from the Genome to ground, then to their odd surroundings as she bought herself a few moments to think over his question before speaking with a solemn tone in her voice. "I normally stick to my weapons before resorting to magic, but that all depends on what I come against. I've got a few helpful spells, some that would even help you as well, should you need it. I have a few Guardian Forces to back us up, but again, it all depends on what we find ourselves up against to know which one would have the upper hand."


She arched her eyebrow again and gave half a shrug. "Other than that, I'm a rather low key fighter, Zidane. Nothing flashy. Just the necessities...."

Zidane and Iki looked at one another for a few moments when Shade mentioned Iki should go back into her smaller form, this was because Iki had already gone back to her child form and so the little girl shrugged her shoulders a bit at Zidane's questioning look. The male genome was thus just now blankly staring at Shade for a few minutes while Iki fluttered over to her and waved her hand in front of Shade's eyes, Iki then said "Ummm Shade I already little again.......did the bright light stuff mess up your eyes a bit???" Zidane sort of accepted that for why Shade said that and then said himself "Hehe....guess you going to need glasses at this rate.....actually you would look pretty hot with a nice pair on......go figure..." Zidane shrugged a bit as Iki landed on the ground and rolled her eyes at her dad's flirting, but it all stopped once Shade started to bring up her own abilities.

Once she finished telling them what she does Zidane rubbed his head a bit and then said "Well okay so you are a pretty straight forward kind of girl, I can respect that......just need to remember not to use my Ogre weapon then....." Zidane figured Shade might wonder why that is so and thus he got out his mage mashers and joined them together into one single large weapon, he then slashed the ground and an explosion of darkness burst out around him and hid him for a moment or two before it disappeared. After showing that he separated the mage mashers as it was clear why he shouldn't use it........don't need to risk blinding Shade even for a moment if the two were to both try to use their blades on what ever they fought, he then held his two daggers and let them disappear before being replaced by short katanas that he then put in the holsters. He then said "Figure it be best to use Masa and Mune anyway.....the mage mashers are best against magic users anyway......Iron Giants are more for beating a person to death with their fist or crushing a person with their swords anyway......Speaking of such lets.......try to avoid sticking close to it when ever we find and fight it.......the things are large but they pretty fast as well.....and that sword is dangerous...got a move that can knock a person to near death....can't kill thankfully but it sucks to get hit when all healthy and then feel like you just fought for three hours non-stop..."

Zidane then remembered the Guardian Forces part and thus looked at Shade in confusion for a moment and said "Wait Guardian Forces is what you guys from world 8 call Summons right.......so you can summon huh?.......Good gives us something else to distract the bugger.....more directions it gets hit from the less likely it can focus on any one of us and finish one of us off........so after you figure out enough during the fight please summon something just so we can make the thing mad as hell from getting hit from all sides...a pissed off flustered monster is a lot easier to kill than one that is actually thinking and using tactics...." Zidane then looked at Iki and lightly tapped her head to get her attention before he then said to her "You focus on just hitting it from far away, I don't want to risk you getting hit by the monstrous sword if you were to try and ram into it....it far too large for you to do that to anyway so just blast away at it with your spells and abilities okay?" "Okay daddy I'll just shoot at it." replied Iki with a smile before Zidane then turned to look at Shade and then said "Got any suggestions of your own on what tactics we should use.......cause to be honest I more of a wing it kind of guy than think things out really...."

Shade found herself having to dodge back, or hunch forward in order to avoid being struck by the continuous floating objects surrounding them as Zidane and Iki spoke. The last thing she needed was poked through the eyeball by a random floating knife when they never even reached their destination yet, or confronted this fiend. She found herself having to concentrate a bit harder on Zidane's swift explanation of things when being visually distracted as such, but still managed to nod at certain times so he would be sure she heard and understood what was to come.


The Genome's next bout of information after the impressive demonstration of his blades left Shade's mind swirling a bit. She had to wonder if he had some knack of not having to breath between words and sentences as he spoke, but as she leaned back quickly to dodge yet another floating foreign object, she still grasped most of what Zidane was explaining to her about what tactics should or should not be used against the creatures they were about to hunt. At least.... she hoped she caught all of what he was trying to convey....


At the mention of her Guardain Forces, Shade gave a momentary quizzical look from the name he called her planet, then quickly shook off the curiosity, assuming it was simply Zidane's way of keeping all the numerous planets within the realm straight in his own mind. She awaited until Zidane was finished giving Iki her own instructions before acknowledging his question. "Since you mentioned distraction, I have a GF specifically trained to be the most annoying distraction in battle. He takes form to whatever he sees, some forms having a random skill or two, but even without that, just tricking a fiend to think it's seeing double of any of us, or another of itself would buy a window of opportunity to strike."


She thought for another moment or two while swaying where she stood to avoid more random floating objects. "As for other tactics, Zidane, I think you pretty much covered the basics when you warned me about what we're about to come up against. But I have a binding ability that may prove useful for such a thing."

[Of course he doesn't need to breath much to talk, he was an actor and so needs to be able to talk a lot with just a few breaths XD]

While Shade was having issues with the objects Zidane was okay for the most part since anything behind him was easily sensed before it got close enough to be impossible to doge due to the things not flying too fast through the air. Though he was busy keeping Iki out of harms way by having to move her every once in a while, he was though listening closely to what Shade said about some sort of summon she had that would be handy at annoying the hell out of the monster so he figured she knew best on that regard.

After hearing her explain that he seemed to have covered the basics he nodded his head slightly and then said "Well then time to get going, at least the other areas don't have as much randomly flying objects as this place. Getting tired of playing dodge the brick to be frank...." Zidane had to jump over one series of bricks after saying that. He then ran down a hallway with Iki close behind as he knew the way well enough in this insane place, and soon the trio were upon a inner place that was a bit odd in how between them and the next hallway was a large gaping gap between the exit and entrance with random nicknacks like clocks and candles on candle-holders floating in the space. Zidane shook his head a bit and walked toward a stairway that went UP the wall and would have Zidane upside down in the air, it would make one think he would just fall down but as he started to walk on the stairway he was actually firmly planted on the stone steps. It was like gravity was keeping him on there and he was now walking along the wall on the path that was there, Iki didn't understand for a moment but then tried it as well and sure enough she took was walking along the wall like it was natural. Zidane then said "Don't adjust your eyes you are indeed seeing a genome and little dragon girl walk on the wall without the use of magic or running quickly, this law breaking action was brought to you by Memoria.......Memoria the place that just loves to screw with your mind..." Zidane said the line like he was some commercial guy.

After a few minutes of walking along a very set path on the wall which wasn't exactly direct and kinda hard to follow since people's minds are not exactly use to walking on walls like this, also the random nicknacks in the way had to be moved around since trying to move them out of the way was impossible due to some unseen force keeping them there. When the trio finally got to the other side Zidane stopped long enough for his, Iki's, and Shade's brains to readjust to being right side up before walking outside the sound of heavy rain starting to fill their ears. Zidane then sarcastically said "Oh that can't be right....how could it possibly sound like rain ahead when we are inside......*waits till they near the entrance to the place and then smirks, clearly in front of them was a very rainy area* but yep it is indeed raining inside....*sighs* only in Memoria fokes.....*grumbles*....I hate getting soaked to the bone in cold rain...." Zidane though just got out his item called Marcus's Hood and put it on which to keep from getting too wet, but another thing that happened was his body movements became blurry to watch and the hood's markings gained a faint white glow.

He then walked into the pouring rain and boy was it pouring it was like a storm one tends to avoid getting caught outside in, Zidane then stood in the rain for a moment to allow Iki to dash over to him and hunker closer to him so he could cover her a bit with his hood. He looked over at Shade with an apologetic look and said "Sorry about the heavy rain, would offer to let you do what Iki is doing but....well ya you taller than me and even I would admit you that close would be awkward for the both of us =w='. Though not disliked...heheh..." Zidane was going to wait though for Shade to do what ever she wanted to do, but if she got out into the rain directly she would notice that this water was cold as hell and obviously Zidane was protecting Iki to keep her from getting sick from this. Little kids tend to be more vulnerable to illnesses be they human, genome, mithran, Qu, or even dragon.