Chapter 9: A New Planet ----------------------- All Golbez could see was blue. Everywhere there was blue. There was the answer, he was looking at the sky. He got up and looked around. The Wild Chocobo was in ruins; fragments covered the northern half of the plains region he was in. To the south was a cave; north was a river and another continent. Golbez somehow felt empty. Like he wasn't really there. "Oh yes," Golbez muttered. "No magic." It was a few seconds later that he realized his armor and mask were also missing. No magic, no way to hide behind his mask. Now, for one of the first times in a century, besides his meeting with Cardia, Golbez was not wearing his mask. The armor was no problem to replace... Golbez searched the wreck for these items, but couldn't find anything useful. Even the food was gone, probably eaten by wild creatures. Where would Golbez go next? Not very much north that Golbez could reach; he'd have had to swim across a river. Swimming was not one of Golbez's best skills. South was a cave that might be inhabited. South it was. About twenty paces away from the wreckage of the ship, Golbez spotted a creature approaching. Pulling out his sword, he ran up to face the challenge. "Ha! Take that! Die! I'll get you!" Golbez hadn't fought with a sword in a long time, though; the creature hit the sword out of his hand. "Well, I guess it's worth a try... FIRE 3!" The fire that came from the spell wasn't enough to pass as Fire 1. Whatever Golbez was fighting, though, didn't seem to like fire. It backed away. "You're not getting away! METEO... FIRE 3... ... ... FIRE!" The sparks that appeared must have been the effects of the spell. "ICE... LIT... FIRE... uh... gulp..." The beast started coming towards him again. Suddenly it stopped, turned and ran. "I guess I showed you!" Golbez shouted at the fleeing creature. Then Golbez noticed the shadow that covered him. Slowly Golbez turned around. "You? I thought you were... Are you all right? I haven't seen you in centuries!" How long had it been? 1032 years? That seemed like a long time ago. He hadn't even KNOWN Cecil then...