ooc ☸ background: short version
DISC 1
Zidane’s story starts when he is part of the scheme to capture the Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. Under the guise of performing the play "I Want to be Your Canary", the Tantalus group is able to successfully kidnap. It helped that the princess in question actually wanted to be taken and ever since first meeting her on that staircase to her room, Zidane finds himself wanting to stay by her.
Things don’t go as smooth as they initially hope, however. When the Queen Brahne discovers her daughter on the Prima Vista and it is trying to flee, she orders her soldiers to attack. Though the airship is able to escape, it does not come out unscathed and it soon crashes into the Evil Forest. Zidane finds himself having to save the princess with the help of Steiner and Vivi, and in the process learns the ability Trance (to be explained later in the Abilities section).
They are able to save Garnet with the help of Blank, but they soon find themselves running from an army of plant monsters. Worse yet, the forest was starting to petrify. While the main party manages to escape, Blank was caught while trying to save Zidane and is left behind.
It is after all of this that Zidane tells Garnet he'll help her out, and after a night's rest (and a visit from the Moogle), they trek out to the world and head to the Ice Cavern. Both Vivi and Garnet tell Zidane that if they reach the top of the cavern, they would be able to be above the Mist and could cross through the South Gate border crossing into Lindblum. It's just a matter of making it through. Near the top of the cavern, a strange blizzard is blowing that causes them all to sleep. Zidane, however, is awoken by the sound of a bell chime and rouses himself to investigate. He finds himself face to face with a strange looking black mage called Black Waltz No. 1 and learns that he is the cause of the blizzard.
After Zidane defeats the Black Waltz, he returns to the group and rouses them to continue on their journey. He doesn't tell him what he found at first since while he thought it strange, he didn't think it was necessary at the time. Outside the cave, they can see the small village of Dali. Zidane tells Garnet she'll have to act less of a princess and more of a casual common girl if she wants to continue on her journey. She complies and renames herself as "Dagger". (For the rest of the application I'll refer to her as Dagger.)
They stop by the small village of Dali and learn that things aren’t all that it appears to be. When Vivi mysteriously goes missing, a bit of investigating reveals that the village had an underground facility that was producing black mage dolls - and all under the supervision of the Alexandria kingdom.
Black Waltz No. 2 appears, but upon its defeat they board the air cargo ship that was being manned by the black mage dolls. While Steiner plans on taking it to Alexandria, Zidane takes the control and steers it to Lindblum. This brings the third and final Black Waltz to them and after blasting the dolls, it's the party's turn to fight.
Once the Waltz is defeated, they continue onto South Gate -- the airship part of the border crossing to get to Lindblum -- but not everything goes to plan...again. Cue a highspeed airship chase as Black Waltz No. 3 chases after the group and the two plow through the quickly closing gates. They make it through the first gate, but before they cross the second, No. 3 pretty much sets his own airship cruiser on fire and KABOOM it explodes. The gang manages to still exit the gate and come out of the ordeal relatively unscathed.
Once in Lindblum, they seek audience with the Regent Cid, only to learn he was turned into an oglop and his wife, Hilda, and the Hilde Garde -- the first airship to be built without having to use Mist -- was taken. But before they talk more, the group splits for lunch. Finding castle food a bit too high class for his tastes, Zidane goes down to the city and hits up on his one of his favorite local pubs.
At the pub, while trying to hit on one of the waitresses, he reunites with an old friend of his: Freya, a Dragon Knight from Burmecia. After some catching up, he is reminded of the Festival of the Hunt that is being held there. After wandering for a bit, he returns to the castle to check on Dagger only to learn that she had gone missing.
As he joins in on the "SEARCH FOR THE PRINCESS" escapade, he hears her singing. Drawn in by her voice, he disguises himself as a guard to get past to use the lift and finds her hanging around one of the towers singing. It's pretty romantic. After a few scenes, Zidane has a blond player moment and refers to an offer he made with the waitress back at the pub. Dagger gets a bit miffed, but he quickly tries to rectify it by saying that if he wins the Festival of the Hunt, they would go on a date. She's hesitant, but agrees. It's also during this scene that she requests the sleeping weed the group had planned to use to kidnap her with.
[Here we run into a bit of a stickler. Vivi, Freya, OR Zidane can win this, but it wouldn't affect the storyline whatsoever; just changes who the title goes to. I'm picking Zidane :| Though if anyone were to apply for the other two, they are more than welcome to change it. Would make for some lulz xD]
After the Hunt, celebrations are cut short when an injured Burmecian soldier arrives and tells Cid that the Kingdom of Burmecia has been attacked by black mages. He dies shortly after giving his message, and Zidane offers to help Freya. Vivi also pipes in, but when Dagger speaks up wanting to join, Zidane immediately rejects. This leads to a bit of an argument before Cid breaks them up and suggests they eat and rest first before deciding what to do. However, during the meal, they all end up passing out asleep.
Except for Dagger and Steiner.
Yes, the princess drugged everyone's food and along with Steiner the two head off on their own to try and stop Brahne. When the remaining group revives, they realize what happened, with Zidane being the most concerned about Dagger. Hoping they’ll catch wind of her while traveling to Burmecia, The group must head out on their own on foot to Gizmaluke's Grotto.
This part actually isn't NECESSARY at this point in the game, but at Qu’s Marsh Zidane learns that Vivi's "grandfather" is also a Qu and Quina joins just for the chance of discovering food better than just frogs. I’m going to go ahead and have Zidane meet Quina here, though if anyone were to app the character, they could change it completely. There is a point in the game where Quina will join the party even if you never visit the marsh beforehand.
After encountering Zorn and Thorn and their troop of black mages at the Grotto, and after defeating Gizmaluke, they reach Burmecia, the realm of eternal rain. However, they find the kingdom in ruins and when Zidane and Freya finally reach the palace where the king would be, they find not the king of Burmecia, but Queen Brahne herself and the Alexandrian general Beatrix. Listening in on their conversation, they learn that not only did he manage to escape, but that the kingdom had fled to the City of Illusions, Cleyra.
Not too long after, a mysterious man -- later to be revealed as Kuja -- appears on the scene. When a Burmecian soldier appears to try and fight them, Zidane and Freya jump in (Quina and Vivi popping in soon after) and engage in the fight with Beatrix instead. However, the group is easily defeated as they are currently no match for the general. The final scene shows Kuja noting that Zidane "could be a problem" before mounting his silver dragon and ascending to the sky.
DISC 2
Hidden and protected by a large, magical sandstorm, the group enters Cleyra and find the survivors. Things are relatively peaceful…until the Harvest Festival ceremony is performed. The strings of the magical harp snaps and almost immediately, sightings of Alexandrian soldiers are made. The group is able to defend the village but are saved by Sir Fratley.
Beatrix appears and steals the red jewel that powered the harp. They chase after her and once more engage in battle. And of course they lose again. They do manage to follow her by catching a ride with the black mages who use a teleportation spell up to the airship, Red Rose (Quina does not follow them and instead returns to the marsh). In the process, however, they witness the destruction of Cleyra. By this time, Brahne had extracted the eidolons from Dagger and had summoned Odin, the god of death. With one mighty attack, Cleyra is completely obliterated.
On the ship, they learn that Dagger is in the castle and that Brahne plans to execute her upon returning back home. This sends Zidane in a bit of a frenzy since he's been worried about her the whole time. Vivi comes up with a plan to use the teleportation pots to send them to Alexandria so that they could arrive before Brahne and off they go.
When the trio reappears, they are reunited with Steiner whom had managed to escape his own imprisonment with Marcus. Together they rush to where Dagger had been held and save her before Brahne. There is a seal placed on her, however, but Beatrix is able to undo the seal and join their side. During their escape, they get trapped in the same cage that had imprisoned Dagger, Steiner, and Marcus earlier (not detailed) and the jesters appear. All is not lost as Marcus and the newly unpetrified Blank arrive to help bail them out. The trio heads down to the Gargan Roo tunnels and hop aboard one of the Gargants to head to Treno.
However, due to some monsters in the tunnels, they end up passing Treno and crash into the Pinnacle Rocks instead. There they encounter Ramuh, the thunder god, and after a trial, Dagger acquires him as her first summon and they exit out and see Lindblum castle. By this time, Brahne has already launched a fleet against them and the kingdom is under attack. But things only get worse as the queen once again uses an eidolon -- Atomos -- to cause even more death and destruction. Seeing Dagger collapse in tears, Zidane's resolve to help her and defeat Brahne hardens. They then quickly head to Lindblum to see the damage and find the Regent Cid.
In the aftermath, they go to find Cid and learn about Brahne and the man Kuja, whom they believed is the cause of everything. They also learn that in order to find him, they would have to go to the Outer Continent. Since all of the air and naval ships are unavailable, they have to find another way and head to a rumored excavation site located in Qu’s Marsh. There they encounter Lani the bounty hunter but are able to get past her and out onto the different Continent.
They first city they manage to find is Condie Petie. In this strange village of dwarves (with Scottish accents/dialect), the group discovers that the people are actually not afraid of Vivi. In fact, they keep talking to him as if they see his kind every day. While there, one of the black mages actually appears, and the group gives chase. From the dwarves, they learn there is actually a village of black mages deep within a forest where even the owls do not go. Determined to figure out what exactly is going on, the group leaves and head over to find the Black Mage Village.
Once there, they are surprised to learn that it's full of black mages that behave just like Vivi. Instead of soulless golems, they are "aware". They check out the place for a bit, each going their own way, until Vivi runs to the inn upset. He basically learned how the black mages "die", or "stop".
During the middle of the night, Vivi heads out to do some self-reflection. Dagger notices and tells Zidane. He tells her that Vivi is just trying to figure himself out and that they should let him be; that the village may be a place that he could call "home". This brings Zidane to tell Dagger his story, though in a roundabout sort of way. The "There was this man" kind of thing.
Zidane had always wondered and yearned to figure out where his birthplace had been. For years he had wondered. He had been adopted by Baku and one day he had decided to try and figure it out for himself; to try to find out his past: where he was born, who his parents were, etc. Things he could only see in his dreams. And apparently there was this blue light that was to serve as his only clue. Unfortunately, colored lights aren't exactly the best clues to go by. When he returned home -- or rather, the Tantalus base -- Baku pretty much walloped him. Despite that, when Baku smiled, Zidane had realized that he had a home. Even though it wasn't his birthplace, it was a place where he felt he belonged; where he had people he could consider family.
Their next destination is set to be the other side of the mountains, meaning they have to get pass through Conde Petie to a place the dwarves call Sanctuary. In order to do that, they must undergo the ceremony -- which is basically getting married and then the Sanctuary is the honeymoon. Dagger agrees to marry Zidane (much to his surprise) and Vivi and Quina get hitched up. As they pass through the Mountain Path, they encounter the girl Eiko and her moogle, Mog. They also learn that she has the ability to summon eidolons and stop by Madain Sari before heading to the Iifa Tree.
Madain Sari is filled with moogles, and they later learn that it used to be a village of summoners. They are also told that the Iifa Tree is sealed by two eidolons. They stay for the night, and during the middle of the night, Zidane finds Vivi still awake and feeling a bit on the depressed side. Though he gives Vivi advice, he also tells the black mage that he doesn't have to do everything the way he does it. He tells him that in the end it comes down to two choices: You either do, or you don't. And that he should do what he wants and feels right. This of course makes Eiko -- who happens to be eavesdropping -- confirm that Zidane is the guy for her.
And then Zidane tells Vivi of an age old ritual done between male friends: "Letting yourself go under the stars." At this point, Eiko flees.
Eiko joins them when they leave for the tree and helps unseal the entrance. While traveling through, they discover that the lifts only respond to Zidane, though they don’t think too much of it. It does give a hint that Zidane is a bit more “special” than anyone may have originally thought.
Below they find themselves standing on the top of a huge ass harp, but they don't really realize it. All around them the walls are bright green, and below is this really sparkly, pretty water. After some inspection, there's a large rumbling and Eiko points out that the walls are moving. Soon this tree humanoid thing -- Soulcage -- appears and tells them that the Iifa Tree does not necessarily produce Mist, but that it is more of a by-product that disperses from the roots and stimulates the fighting senses - making it the cause of war for civilizations. While the Mist is not on the Outer Continent, the roots, which are on the Mist Continent, release the Mist into the air. Soulcage tells them that Kuja is using the Mist to create weapons of war -- the black mages. It also tells them that if they wish to stop the Mist, they would have to defeat it.
Which of course they do (cheap trick, use a Phoenix Down and give it a poke and it's dead in like 5 seconds :|b). This clears the Mist everywhere -- the Iifa Tree and the Mist Continent. (I can see clearly now the Mist is gone~). They hope that Kuja will show up because of this and take him down when he arrives. However, Moco (one of the moogles) arrives to tell Eiko that something important was stolen from the village. Instead of letting Eiko go off on her own, the group decides to go back with her.
After discovering that the village’s jewel had been stolen, Eiko is kidnapped by Lani. Though they make a trading deal, a red haired man appears and helps them out. Zidane is then challenged to a one-on-one fight with the guy and wins. Though the man asks for him to kill him, Zidane lets him live. Zidane then checks on Eiko, where he learns that Mog is a girl. This surprises him quite a bit as he always assumed the moogle was a he.
Zidane then goes off to find Dagger and as usual he hears her singing and finds her sitting in a boat. Cue the romance. After some talking, Zidane mentions that everyone is following his own path. When Dagger asks him why he chose to come with her, he notes that what she said was a line a play. After giving her a quick sum of it, he reaches the line that Dagger had unknowingly said. She then asks what the character said and Zidane responds, "'Only because I wanted to go with you.'"
And that's when the boat just mysteriously starts to move. During the small boat ride, Dagger looks to the summoner village and has a flashback of her past. The images are too much for her, causing her to faint into Zidane’s arms and forcing him to return and bring her back up.
After recovering, Dagger tells Eiko and Zidane a little bit about herself: how she has no memories of her past, she was raised in Alexandria from the age of 6 or so, and that she believes she was born in Madain Sari. She doesn't remember much, but she tells them that a huge hurricane hit the village ten years ago.
The only reason I'm including more detail about Dagger than probably necessary is due to the fact that Dagger is important to Zidane and he pretty much is involved with what happens with her. He cares a lot for her, especially when he realizes that she technically lost two mothers: her biological mother who had died, and then her adoptive mother who changed so much.
Before they leave for the Iifa Tree, Eiko decides to permanently join the party. The red-headed man who fought Zidane earlier - Amarant - also shows up to say a few words to Zidane. He wonders Zidane had spared his life, and Zidane tells him to just join the party if he wants to understand why. All that taken care of, they head back to the Iifa Tree.
They soon hear and see the silver dragon, signaling the arrival of the man they had been waiting for: Kuja.
After ascending the trunk, they confront him, asking why he was making weapons of war and instigating them. Their "talk" (it was more of Kuja talking without really answering) is cut short when Brahne's fleet arrives by sea. It seems Brahne has decided to try and take out Kuja herself.
As the two duke it out, Zidane tells the group they should split, but Dagger doesn't want to leave her mother behind. The two get into an argument and Dagger runs off, leaving the group behind to chase after her. Unfortunately the eidoloin is Leviathan, the sea serpent, so it's of no use. Brahne then summons Bahamut, the king of dragons. Needless to say, he's pretty kickass and does a shit ton of damage. But it all backfires when Kuja makes the eidolon go berserk with the help of some giant eyeball (the identity of which will be revealed later) and turn against Brahne and her fleet. Everything is practically destroyed before the eidolon disappears.
They find Brahne's corpse on the beach outside of her escape pod and return to Alexandria using it, taking the queen with them so that she could be buried back in her kingdom.
DISC 3
Zidane is found moping around the local pub with the Tantalus gang. He's mainly down because Dagger will now be the new queen of Alexandria and that pretty much means he won't see much of her anymore, being a commoner plus a thief and all. But after a few words from the Tantalus gang and Baku himself, plus Vivi piping up just innocently asking if they could visit her, Zidane clears himself out and agrees to visiting Dagger before she ascends the throne.
Freya and Amarant join along the way and they meet Dagger in her full royal attire. While everyone else is able to offer words of congratulations, Zidane has nothing to say. He tells them that anything he had prepared to say would have been a lie and that it wouldn’t truly convey how he felt.
They later meet up with Dr. Tot, who had taken some interest in Eiko and wants to learn more about her past and Madain Sari. The group decides to go back with them to Treno, where a card tournament that Zidane wants to participate in is being held.
During the tournament, Zidane discovers that the champion is none other than Erin, one of Lindblum's lead pilots. Though really it's Regent Cid, but he's still an oglop at this point so he can't really play. However, the reason why they were there was to test the Hilde Garde 2: an airship powered by steam rather than Mist.
Before they can talk any more, Eiko runs in crying out with bad news. She believes Dagger is in danger and so they take the Hilde Garde 2 to Alexandria. On their way over (with the Hilde Garde 2 rocking up a storm), Eiko hears Dagger’s voice and...well she jumps off the ship, much to Zidane's horror.
The young girl lands safely by Dagger, however, and together they summon the legendary eidolon, Alexander, who pretty much destroys Bahamut who was attacking the kingdom at the time. Though things were looking up, it doesn’t last for much longer. Kuja does the same thing that he did when Bahamut was summoned by Brahne: call on the giant eyeball (in actuality an airship called the Invincible) and try to take Alexander. While we get a lot more plot and insight about the game, the only thing I will note is that is relevant to Zidane himself is the old man on the ship -- Garland -- knows Zidane and will be further explained later. He is also the reason why things go from bad to "oh shit we're doomed".
Garland basically uses his power to make Alexander collapse and get speared by the giant crystal on tip of Alexandria castle. This causes everything to topple and fall.
And guess who saves Dagger? Our hero Zidane, of course and he comes in near last minute to grab her and swing away on a flag. After apologizing to Dagger, they hightail it out of there. Just in time, too. Garland fires a giant laser beam that hits the kingdom dead on, causing a giant explosion that obliterates the whole area.
Zidane wakes up and finds himself in the Lindblum castle guestroom and is greeted by Blank. He asks where Dagger is, and once Blank tells him she's up by the telescope, he goes off running to find her. When he gets there, however, he's given the silent treatment. But not in terms of the "cold shoulder" kind. She responds but doesn't actually say anything. Taking her silence as signs of annoyance, Zidane leaves her alone and heads back down the tower to find Blank waiting for him to tell him to go see Cid.
Zidane's a bit tense because of how Dagger treated him, so when Blank pries/teases a little he blows up just a bit. But he goes to see the regent to learn that they have found some information regarding the attack on Alexandria. Cid informs them he witnessed Kuja escaping on the Hilde Garde and for even more of a shocker, there were black mages on the ship -- black mages that could talk.
They were about to learn how they might be able to fix Cid's oglop form from Doctor Tot when Eiko runs in telling them she thinks Dagger may have lost her voice. Concerned, the group heads to the guest room only to find that Garnet truly has lost her voice. Doctor Tot tells them it's more of a psychological reaction from all the grief the girl has suffered, so all they can do is wait. At this point Zidane asks him how to change Cid back into a human so he can make the new airship, and they reconvene back with the regent. Unfortunately the only real cure is for Hilda to reverse the effect, but Doctor Tot recalls a possible solution. A potion could be made if they could find the three necessary ingredients and mix it at a certain ratio. He’s a bit doubtful, but everyone is willing to give it a try so long as it isn’t lethal.
Determined, Zidane goes into town to try to find them. After finding and mixing the potion, however, they find that it doesn't work. In fact it turns Cid into a frog. They hold a meeting and upon Vivi's suggestion, decide to use the ship they stole from Alexandria - the Blue Narciss -- and head to the Black Mage Village.
There they discover that only 3 of the mages stayed behind: Mr. 288, the one who could be considered leader since he is the most knowledgeable, and the two who were looking after the chocobo egg. After a scene where Vivi shows his own maturing, Mr. 288 tells them that Kuja's desert palace is on the other side of the continent under quicksand, and that's where they head to next.
Zidane finds himself in a cell with Cid. Kuja soon speaks to them, informing them that the others are in similar cells and that these aren't ordinary ones. The floor opens slightly to reveal molten lava beneath them and Zidane has no choice but to comply with Kuja's demands. Finally able to meet with the man face to face, Kuja tells Zidane that he must travel to Oeilvert, as magic is apparently rendered useless there. There he must retrieve the Gulug Stone.
Once there, they find a large hologram of a planet with writing appearing in front. Zidane is actually able to make out some of the words, though he says it's more like it's talking to him than him being able to read it. Further in, there are more holographic displays. Four show the development of various airships, the Invincible being the latest. Another shows of a civilization on a planet called Terra and how it both rose and fell to decline. A final large hologram depicts two identical planets merging with one another.
They then come into a room that is covered with broken talking faces. Creepy. Talking. Faces. At any rate, they are given a brief lesson about the attempt to revive the world of Terra and are told that they were constructed so that the history isn't lost. While they're confused on what it all means, Zidane pushes it to the back and focuses on completing Kuja's task so that they could save their friends. After retrieving the stone, they return to Kuja.
[At this point it splits to the remaining group left at Kuja's place]
Told to come in alone, Zidane goes to Kuja with the stone in hand. There he finds a caged pit and inside are his friends who stayed behind. A dirty trick, but one that almost makes Zidane gives the stone over to save his friends. However, everyone had actually escaped and arrive just in time to burst in and stop Zidane. Kuja still manages to take the stone with his magic and that's not all. Zorn and Thorn managed to kidnap Eiko and they escape via a teleportation pad. Unable to use the pad, the group hurries back down to the Blue Narciss and give chase. They arrive on an ice covered continent.
After entering the city of Esto Gaza, they learn that Kuja and his black mage army had passed through here and were headed straight to Mt. Gulug. They also learn a little about the Shimmering Island, but with Eiko’s safety their primary concern, they push forward and head into the now dead volcano.
They find Zorn and Thorn performing the same eidolon extraction ritual they had done on Dagger and the group quickly run down there to save her. Before they get to her, however, Mog pops out and reveals her true form: the eidolon Madeen. Kuja escapes and the group is left to find Zorn and Thorn.
They are about to leave when they hear a voice behind a door. They find none other than the woman they had been looking for: Hilda. She tells them that Kuja pretty much told everything about his plan to her and she is more than willing to share it with them.
They return to Lindblum and after Cid returns to human, they hold a conference and learn about Kuja’s plans. First they learn that Kuja plans to use the world for an even greater power and that he wasn’t even of this world -he is from another world called Terra. They learn that the Shimmering Island connects Gaia to Terra, but that path is sealed. However, Kuja had told Hilda that there was a place where the seal could be broken and that was at Ipsen Castle. Cid then informs the group that they would be able to use the Hilda Garde 3 as soon as it was finished, and Steiner comes running in that Dagger is missing. After a few moments, Zidane offers that he might know where she is and tells the gang to hang tight.
In Alexandria, Zidane eventually encounters Beatrix and receives a garnet to give to Dagger. She also hints that the princess might be at her mother’s grave, so Zidane runs there and finds her. He gives her the garnet while also giving her a pep talk in the process through the form of a story he made up on the fly about the garnet. He’s also happy to hear her voice again. She also pretty much steals his dagger and Zidane witnesses her cut off her long hair and when she turns and looks at him, he smiles and gives her a nod of approval. Together they return to Lindblum to get the gang and retrieve the Hilda Garde 3 which had been completed just then.
When they arrive, Amarant tells Zidane that going in a group is pointless and makes a bet with him that he would be able to get to the key first. Zidane lets him go and while some stay behind, he and the rest go in. After managing to get through the upside down castle, they reach a room that has four mirrors on the wall. Amarant is also there waiting and heads back ahead of them.
Zidane takes all four mirrors, finding that he was the only one able to read the words that were on the back. This causes a guardian monster to come forth, but after defeating it they return back to the entrance. When they see Amarant hadn’t returned, Zidane sighs and goes back in for him. When he finds the guy, Amarant is confused as to why Zidane helped him to begin with, but Zidane just tells him it doesn’t matter. Together they had back to the entrance and discuss the information on the mirrors on the Hilda Garde 3.
The monster they fought had hinted they would have to do everything at once, so the group splits up into four parties of two to take care of each shrine - Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Zidane gets stuck with the “leftovers”, Quina, and together they head into the Earth shrine. Each shrine has a guardian monster but everyone is able to get past it and join back together.
The portal now unsealed, they fly the Hilda Garde 3 into the strange vortex of souls and they are sucked into it and ascend into Terra. There, Zidane pretty much learns everything about his past.
After following a mysterious girl that looks eerily like Zidane, they reach Bran Bal. There he encounters several individuals that look exactly like him: blond hair and tail. He also notices that there is the same blue light that he had seen in his dreams. The girl later tells Zidane that the people there - and himself - were created by Garland (the old man mentioned before) and are called Genomes. He learns that the role of the Genome is to become a vessel for the souls of Terra, and when he questions why he isn’t like them at all, she notes that he is special. Just like them, he has a special role in Garland’s plan.
[SPOILERS - The truth about Zidane is revealed at this time]
The planet Terra survives by assimilating with other planets, and this is what was being attempted now. When the blue light becomes red, that would mean that Terra had consumed Gaia and the souls would take over the Genomes. Garland had apparently tried to use force before in attempting to assimilate the planet before, but it failed. He had to wait until the people of Gaia learned how to use the powers of the eidolons. He also needed to disrupt the cycle of souls, and Zidane was supposed to help him do that. The girl then tells that Garland is waiting for him, and there Zidane learns even more about his past.
Through Garland, Zidane learns he had been created to disrupt the souls of Gaia, but things did not go as planned. He learns about Kuja’s history and that Kuja is actually something like his brother. Garland believes that Kuja had actually be jealous and even felt somewhat threatened when Zidane was born. Zidane was actually created to be a more powerful genome to replace Kuja when he came of age. So Kuja discarded Zidane by dropping him onto Gaia, the world he would destroy. This was an act that Garland had not expected. He then continues to blather on about the whole cycle of souls and how Terra would assimilate into Gaia as mentioned before. Zidane also learns that the Iifa tree is the soul divider between Gaia and Terra.
Zidane continues to follow Garland into an observatory and sees the planet. Garland calls him his angel of death, something that Zidane doesn’t want and instead wants to live on Gaia with his friends. He then tells Garland that his only motive as an “angel of death” would be to punish the ones who brought pain to his friends - meaning instead of destroying Gaia, he would destroy Terra. Garland is basically disappointed and messes with Zidane’s brain so that he becomes more like the soulless Genomes found in Bran Bal.
He then goes into a bit of an emo period. Though his friends try to help him, he continually pushes them aside, not understanding why they would want to help him and that they just didn’t understand anything that was going on. He goes through a bit of an identity crisis and starts becoming one of the angsty Final Fantasy main characters. It is Dagger who is able to snap Zidane out of his stupid stage, Steiner and Quina arriving soon after. Seeing the others still left behind, they return to help them out and it’s then that Zidane realizes he needs everyone’s help.
They then confront Garland, and after the fight Kuja appears. They then fight him, but during the battle Kuja goes into Trance and defeats them. Though Kuja says Zidane is deserving of his love, Zidane pretty much denies him as even being related. He kicks Garland off the platform and gloats about his powers. However, Garland isn’t quite dead. He can still “talk” and his voice is heard saying that Kuja will die regardless due to his limited lifespan. At this point, Kuja goes a little crazy and Zidane actually pities the guy a bit.
But his focus changes when Kuja goes berserk and starts to destroy Terra, forcing them to hurry to escape. He does have another cute moment with Dagger, thanking her for everything she’s done for him, before they had into Bran Bal to rescue the Genomes. In the process, he finds the girl from before and learns her name to be Mikoto. After finding her and convincing her to come with them, they board the Invincible. They are able to make it out and burst out of the ocean of Gaia.
However, they notice something disturbing. The whole world is covered in Mist and they wonder what Kuja is planning.
DISC 4
They bring the Genomes to the Black Mage Village and they are now living with the black mages. When discussing about plans to fight Kuja, Mikoto interjects saying that there is no hope and that Kuja is too powerful. Zidane however tells her that they would be able to take him down easy and starts to call her his little sister.
They then head toward the Iifa Tree where a large portal could be seen above it. As they try to enter it, an army of silver dragons appear and start attacking the airship. However, the cavalry arrives by the aid of both the Lindblum and Alexandria forces. Thanks to their help, the group is able to get through and enter into Memoria. There they once again hear Garland’s voice, who tells them they would be able to witness the entire truth.
They enter and witness several memories, such as Alexandria’s destruction. At one point, Zidane actually witnesses one of Dagger’s memories: the one with her and her mother escaping Madain Sari. Confused as to why he is able to see her memory when he doesn’t recall it all. Everyone experiences this sense of déjà vu when they come to a memory of when Gaia was just an ocean, and Garland tells them that everyone has a shared memory as the souls are born from the planet and return to it.
They then enter a completely new realm: the realm of eternity and the crystal, the source of everything. Garland tells Zidane that he must defeat Kuja and protect the crystal. When they do reach the crystal, Kuja is waiting for them and quite intent on destroying it. By destroying the crystal, he would then destroy everything. Zidane pretty much tells him to shut up and that they would defeat him.
Zidane and the others eventually beat them, but it doesn’t end there. They are teleported to the final dimension: the darkness of eternity. There they meet Necron, an ultimate being that exists to return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life. It’s pretty confusing, but he disagrees with Necron, saying that he does not want to give up now and he is not afraid to die.
When they defeat him, Necron notes that the will to live is powerful…but he will always still exist as there will always be fear and death. They then appear in front of the Iifa Tree whose roots have come to life - a violent reaction that Zidane remembers Kuja saying. Though it doesn’t look good, the Hilda Garde 3 arrives to pick them up. However, Zidane is able to hear Kuja’s voice and unwilling to just leave him behind, he tells the rest to go on without him. He feels that he might have done the same things Kuja did and because of this he feels he has to save Kuja, or at least try to. Though his friends offer to go with him, Zidane decides to do this alone.
To Dagger, he says the abduction is over and he can't take her any further. She thanks him for what he's done and asks him to promise to come back.
After everyone boards and he watches the airship depart, he runs through the tree. He finally finds Kuja, and they have a bit of a brotherly bonding time. Kuja then finally says the finally realized what it meant to live, but it was too late. When Zidane notices him not moving, he yells at him to not die on him. At this point, the roots are heading right toward them and Zidane shields Kuja’s body with his own.
Zidane’s story starts when he is part of the scheme to capture the Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. Under the guise of performing the play "I Want to be Your Canary", the Tantalus group is able to successfully kidnap. It helped that the princess in question actually wanted to be taken and ever since first meeting her on that staircase to her room, Zidane finds himself wanting to stay by her.
Things don’t go as smooth as they initially hope, however. When the Queen Brahne discovers her daughter on the Prima Vista and it is trying to flee, she orders her soldiers to attack. Though the airship is able to escape, it does not come out unscathed and it soon crashes into the Evil Forest. Zidane finds himself having to save the princess with the help of Steiner and Vivi, and in the process learns the ability Trance (to be explained later in the Abilities section).
They are able to save Garnet with the help of Blank, but they soon find themselves running from an army of plant monsters. Worse yet, the forest was starting to petrify. While the main party manages to escape, Blank was caught while trying to save Zidane and is left behind.
It is after all of this that Zidane tells Garnet he'll help her out, and after a night's rest (and a visit from the Moogle), they trek out to the world and head to the Ice Cavern. Both Vivi and Garnet tell Zidane that if they reach the top of the cavern, they would be able to be above the Mist and could cross through the South Gate border crossing into Lindblum. It's just a matter of making it through. Near the top of the cavern, a strange blizzard is blowing that causes them all to sleep. Zidane, however, is awoken by the sound of a bell chime and rouses himself to investigate. He finds himself face to face with a strange looking black mage called Black Waltz No. 1 and learns that he is the cause of the blizzard.
After Zidane defeats the Black Waltz, he returns to the group and rouses them to continue on their journey. He doesn't tell him what he found at first since while he thought it strange, he didn't think it was necessary at the time. Outside the cave, they can see the small village of Dali. Zidane tells Garnet she'll have to act less of a princess and more of a casual common girl if she wants to continue on her journey. She complies and renames herself as "Dagger". (For the rest of the application I'll refer to her as Dagger.)
They stop by the small village of Dali and learn that things aren’t all that it appears to be. When Vivi mysteriously goes missing, a bit of investigating reveals that the village had an underground facility that was producing black mage dolls - and all under the supervision of the Alexandria kingdom.
Black Waltz No. 2 appears, but upon its defeat they board the air cargo ship that was being manned by the black mage dolls. While Steiner plans on taking it to Alexandria, Zidane takes the control and steers it to Lindblum. This brings the third and final Black Waltz to them and after blasting the dolls, it's the party's turn to fight.
Once the Waltz is defeated, they continue onto South Gate -- the airship part of the border crossing to get to Lindblum -- but not everything goes to plan...again. Cue a highspeed airship chase as Black Waltz No. 3 chases after the group and the two plow through the quickly closing gates. They make it through the first gate, but before they cross the second, No. 3 pretty much sets his own airship cruiser on fire and KABOOM it explodes. The gang manages to still exit the gate and come out of the ordeal relatively unscathed.
Once in Lindblum, they seek audience with the Regent Cid, only to learn he was turned into an oglop and his wife, Hilda, and the Hilde Garde -- the first airship to be built without having to use Mist -- was taken. But before they talk more, the group splits for lunch. Finding castle food a bit too high class for his tastes, Zidane goes down to the city and hits up on his one of his favorite local pubs.
At the pub, while trying to hit on one of the waitresses, he reunites with an old friend of his: Freya, a Dragon Knight from Burmecia. After some catching up, he is reminded of the Festival of the Hunt that is being held there. After wandering for a bit, he returns to the castle to check on Dagger only to learn that she had gone missing.
As he joins in on the "SEARCH FOR THE PRINCESS" escapade, he hears her singing. Drawn in by her voice, he disguises himself as a guard to get past to use the lift and finds her hanging around one of the towers singing. It's pretty romantic. After a few scenes, Zidane has a blond player moment and refers to an offer he made with the waitress back at the pub. Dagger gets a bit miffed, but he quickly tries to rectify it by saying that if he wins the Festival of the Hunt, they would go on a date. She's hesitant, but agrees. It's also during this scene that she requests the sleeping weed the group had planned to use to kidnap her with.
[Here we run into a bit of a stickler. Vivi, Freya, OR Zidane can win this, but it wouldn't affect the storyline whatsoever; just changes who the title goes to. I'm picking Zidane :| Though if anyone were to apply for the other two, they are more than welcome to change it. Would make for some lulz xD]
After the Hunt, celebrations are cut short when an injured Burmecian soldier arrives and tells Cid that the Kingdom of Burmecia has been attacked by black mages. He dies shortly after giving his message, and Zidane offers to help Freya. Vivi also pipes in, but when Dagger speaks up wanting to join, Zidane immediately rejects. This leads to a bit of an argument before Cid breaks them up and suggests they eat and rest first before deciding what to do. However, during the meal, they all end up passing out asleep.
Except for Dagger and Steiner.
Yes, the princess drugged everyone's food and along with Steiner the two head off on their own to try and stop Brahne. When the remaining group revives, they realize what happened, with Zidane being the most concerned about Dagger. Hoping they’ll catch wind of her while traveling to Burmecia, The group must head out on their own on foot to Gizmaluke's Grotto.
This part actually isn't NECESSARY at this point in the game, but at Qu’s Marsh Zidane learns that Vivi's "grandfather" is also a Qu and Quina joins just for the chance of discovering food better than just frogs. I’m going to go ahead and have Zidane meet Quina here, though if anyone were to app the character, they could change it completely. There is a point in the game where Quina will join the party even if you never visit the marsh beforehand.
After encountering Zorn and Thorn and their troop of black mages at the Grotto, and after defeating Gizmaluke, they reach Burmecia, the realm of eternal rain. However, they find the kingdom in ruins and when Zidane and Freya finally reach the palace where the king would be, they find not the king of Burmecia, but Queen Brahne herself and the Alexandrian general Beatrix. Listening in on their conversation, they learn that not only did he manage to escape, but that the kingdom had fled to the City of Illusions, Cleyra.
Not too long after, a mysterious man -- later to be revealed as Kuja -- appears on the scene. When a Burmecian soldier appears to try and fight them, Zidane and Freya jump in (Quina and Vivi popping in soon after) and engage in the fight with Beatrix instead. However, the group is easily defeated as they are currently no match for the general. The final scene shows Kuja noting that Zidane "could be a problem" before mounting his silver dragon and ascending to the sky.
DISC 2
Hidden and protected by a large, magical sandstorm, the group enters Cleyra and find the survivors. Things are relatively peaceful…until the Harvest Festival ceremony is performed. The strings of the magical harp snaps and almost immediately, sightings of Alexandrian soldiers are made. The group is able to defend the village but are saved by Sir Fratley.
Beatrix appears and steals the red jewel that powered the harp. They chase after her and once more engage in battle. And of course they lose again. They do manage to follow her by catching a ride with the black mages who use a teleportation spell up to the airship, Red Rose (Quina does not follow them and instead returns to the marsh). In the process, however, they witness the destruction of Cleyra. By this time, Brahne had extracted the eidolons from Dagger and had summoned Odin, the god of death. With one mighty attack, Cleyra is completely obliterated.
On the ship, they learn that Dagger is in the castle and that Brahne plans to execute her upon returning back home. This sends Zidane in a bit of a frenzy since he's been worried about her the whole time. Vivi comes up with a plan to use the teleportation pots to send them to Alexandria so that they could arrive before Brahne and off they go.
When the trio reappears, they are reunited with Steiner whom had managed to escape his own imprisonment with Marcus. Together they rush to where Dagger had been held and save her before Brahne. There is a seal placed on her, however, but Beatrix is able to undo the seal and join their side. During their escape, they get trapped in the same cage that had imprisoned Dagger, Steiner, and Marcus earlier (not detailed) and the jesters appear. All is not lost as Marcus and the newly unpetrified Blank arrive to help bail them out. The trio heads down to the Gargan Roo tunnels and hop aboard one of the Gargants to head to Treno.
However, due to some monsters in the tunnels, they end up passing Treno and crash into the Pinnacle Rocks instead. There they encounter Ramuh, the thunder god, and after a trial, Dagger acquires him as her first summon and they exit out and see Lindblum castle. By this time, Brahne has already launched a fleet against them and the kingdom is under attack. But things only get worse as the queen once again uses an eidolon -- Atomos -- to cause even more death and destruction. Seeing Dagger collapse in tears, Zidane's resolve to help her and defeat Brahne hardens. They then quickly head to Lindblum to see the damage and find the Regent Cid.
In the aftermath, they go to find Cid and learn about Brahne and the man Kuja, whom they believed is the cause of everything. They also learn that in order to find him, they would have to go to the Outer Continent. Since all of the air and naval ships are unavailable, they have to find another way and head to a rumored excavation site located in Qu’s Marsh. There they encounter Lani the bounty hunter but are able to get past her and out onto the different Continent.
They first city they manage to find is Condie Petie. In this strange village of dwarves (with Scottish accents/dialect), the group discovers that the people are actually not afraid of Vivi. In fact, they keep talking to him as if they see his kind every day. While there, one of the black mages actually appears, and the group gives chase. From the dwarves, they learn there is actually a village of black mages deep within a forest where even the owls do not go. Determined to figure out what exactly is going on, the group leaves and head over to find the Black Mage Village.
Once there, they are surprised to learn that it's full of black mages that behave just like Vivi. Instead of soulless golems, they are "aware". They check out the place for a bit, each going their own way, until Vivi runs to the inn upset. He basically learned how the black mages "die", or "stop".
During the middle of the night, Vivi heads out to do some self-reflection. Dagger notices and tells Zidane. He tells her that Vivi is just trying to figure himself out and that they should let him be; that the village may be a place that he could call "home". This brings Zidane to tell Dagger his story, though in a roundabout sort of way. The "There was this man" kind of thing.
Zidane had always wondered and yearned to figure out where his birthplace had been. For years he had wondered. He had been adopted by Baku and one day he had decided to try and figure it out for himself; to try to find out his past: where he was born, who his parents were, etc. Things he could only see in his dreams. And apparently there was this blue light that was to serve as his only clue. Unfortunately, colored lights aren't exactly the best clues to go by. When he returned home -- or rather, the Tantalus base -- Baku pretty much walloped him. Despite that, when Baku smiled, Zidane had realized that he had a home. Even though it wasn't his birthplace, it was a place where he felt he belonged; where he had people he could consider family.
Their next destination is set to be the other side of the mountains, meaning they have to get pass through Conde Petie to a place the dwarves call Sanctuary. In order to do that, they must undergo the ceremony -- which is basically getting married and then the Sanctuary is the honeymoon. Dagger agrees to marry Zidane (much to his surprise) and Vivi and Quina get hitched up. As they pass through the Mountain Path, they encounter the girl Eiko and her moogle, Mog. They also learn that she has the ability to summon eidolons and stop by Madain Sari before heading to the Iifa Tree.
Madain Sari is filled with moogles, and they later learn that it used to be a village of summoners. They are also told that the Iifa Tree is sealed by two eidolons. They stay for the night, and during the middle of the night, Zidane finds Vivi still awake and feeling a bit on the depressed side. Though he gives Vivi advice, he also tells the black mage that he doesn't have to do everything the way he does it. He tells him that in the end it comes down to two choices: You either do, or you don't. And that he should do what he wants and feels right. This of course makes Eiko -- who happens to be eavesdropping -- confirm that Zidane is the guy for her.
And then Zidane tells Vivi of an age old ritual done between male friends: "Letting yourself go under the stars." At this point, Eiko flees.
Eiko joins them when they leave for the tree and helps unseal the entrance. While traveling through, they discover that the lifts only respond to Zidane, though they don’t think too much of it. It does give a hint that Zidane is a bit more “special” than anyone may have originally thought.
Below they find themselves standing on the top of a huge ass harp, but they don't really realize it. All around them the walls are bright green, and below is this really sparkly, pretty water. After some inspection, there's a large rumbling and Eiko points out that the walls are moving. Soon this tree humanoid thing -- Soulcage -- appears and tells them that the Iifa Tree does not necessarily produce Mist, but that it is more of a by-product that disperses from the roots and stimulates the fighting senses - making it the cause of war for civilizations. While the Mist is not on the Outer Continent, the roots, which are on the Mist Continent, release the Mist into the air. Soulcage tells them that Kuja is using the Mist to create weapons of war -- the black mages. It also tells them that if they wish to stop the Mist, they would have to defeat it.
Which of course they do (cheap trick, use a Phoenix Down and give it a poke and it's dead in like 5 seconds :|b). This clears the Mist everywhere -- the Iifa Tree and the Mist Continent. (I can see clearly now the Mist is gone~). They hope that Kuja will show up because of this and take him down when he arrives. However, Moco (one of the moogles) arrives to tell Eiko that something important was stolen from the village. Instead of letting Eiko go off on her own, the group decides to go back with her.
After discovering that the village’s jewel had been stolen, Eiko is kidnapped by Lani. Though they make a trading deal, a red haired man appears and helps them out. Zidane is then challenged to a one-on-one fight with the guy and wins. Though the man asks for him to kill him, Zidane lets him live. Zidane then checks on Eiko, where he learns that Mog is a girl. This surprises him quite a bit as he always assumed the moogle was a he.
Zidane then goes off to find Dagger and as usual he hears her singing and finds her sitting in a boat. Cue the romance. After some talking, Zidane mentions that everyone is following his own path. When Dagger asks him why he chose to come with her, he notes that what she said was a line a play. After giving her a quick sum of it, he reaches the line that Dagger had unknowingly said. She then asks what the character said and Zidane responds, "'Only because I wanted to go with you.'"
And that's when the boat just mysteriously starts to move. During the small boat ride, Dagger looks to the summoner village and has a flashback of her past. The images are too much for her, causing her to faint into Zidane’s arms and forcing him to return and bring her back up.
After recovering, Dagger tells Eiko and Zidane a little bit about herself: how she has no memories of her past, she was raised in Alexandria from the age of 6 or so, and that she believes she was born in Madain Sari. She doesn't remember much, but she tells them that a huge hurricane hit the village ten years ago.
The only reason I'm including more detail about Dagger than probably necessary is due to the fact that Dagger is important to Zidane and he pretty much is involved with what happens with her. He cares a lot for her, especially when he realizes that she technically lost two mothers: her biological mother who had died, and then her adoptive mother who changed so much.
Before they leave for the Iifa Tree, Eiko decides to permanently join the party. The red-headed man who fought Zidane earlier - Amarant - also shows up to say a few words to Zidane. He wonders Zidane had spared his life, and Zidane tells him to just join the party if he wants to understand why. All that taken care of, they head back to the Iifa Tree.
They soon hear and see the silver dragon, signaling the arrival of the man they had been waiting for: Kuja.
After ascending the trunk, they confront him, asking why he was making weapons of war and instigating them. Their "talk" (it was more of Kuja talking without really answering) is cut short when Brahne's fleet arrives by sea. It seems Brahne has decided to try and take out Kuja herself.
As the two duke it out, Zidane tells the group they should split, but Dagger doesn't want to leave her mother behind. The two get into an argument and Dagger runs off, leaving the group behind to chase after her. Unfortunately the eidoloin is Leviathan, the sea serpent, so it's of no use. Brahne then summons Bahamut, the king of dragons. Needless to say, he's pretty kickass and does a shit ton of damage. But it all backfires when Kuja makes the eidolon go berserk with the help of some giant eyeball (the identity of which will be revealed later) and turn against Brahne and her fleet. Everything is practically destroyed before the eidolon disappears.
They find Brahne's corpse on the beach outside of her escape pod and return to Alexandria using it, taking the queen with them so that she could be buried back in her kingdom.
DISC 3
Zidane is found moping around the local pub with the Tantalus gang. He's mainly down because Dagger will now be the new queen of Alexandria and that pretty much means he won't see much of her anymore, being a commoner plus a thief and all. But after a few words from the Tantalus gang and Baku himself, plus Vivi piping up just innocently asking if they could visit her, Zidane clears himself out and agrees to visiting Dagger before she ascends the throne.
Freya and Amarant join along the way and they meet Dagger in her full royal attire. While everyone else is able to offer words of congratulations, Zidane has nothing to say. He tells them that anything he had prepared to say would have been a lie and that it wouldn’t truly convey how he felt.
They later meet up with Dr. Tot, who had taken some interest in Eiko and wants to learn more about her past and Madain Sari. The group decides to go back with them to Treno, where a card tournament that Zidane wants to participate in is being held.
During the tournament, Zidane discovers that the champion is none other than Erin, one of Lindblum's lead pilots. Though really it's Regent Cid, but he's still an oglop at this point so he can't really play. However, the reason why they were there was to test the Hilde Garde 2: an airship powered by steam rather than Mist.
Before they can talk any more, Eiko runs in crying out with bad news. She believes Dagger is in danger and so they take the Hilde Garde 2 to Alexandria. On their way over (with the Hilde Garde 2 rocking up a storm), Eiko hears Dagger’s voice and...well she jumps off the ship, much to Zidane's horror.
The young girl lands safely by Dagger, however, and together they summon the legendary eidolon, Alexander, who pretty much destroys Bahamut who was attacking the kingdom at the time. Though things were looking up, it doesn’t last for much longer. Kuja does the same thing that he did when Bahamut was summoned by Brahne: call on the giant eyeball (in actuality an airship called the Invincible) and try to take Alexander. While we get a lot more plot and insight about the game, the only thing I will note is that is relevant to Zidane himself is the old man on the ship -- Garland -- knows Zidane and will be further explained later. He is also the reason why things go from bad to "oh shit we're doomed".
Garland basically uses his power to make Alexander collapse and get speared by the giant crystal on tip of Alexandria castle. This causes everything to topple and fall.
And guess who saves Dagger? Our hero Zidane, of course and he comes in near last minute to grab her and swing away on a flag. After apologizing to Dagger, they hightail it out of there. Just in time, too. Garland fires a giant laser beam that hits the kingdom dead on, causing a giant explosion that obliterates the whole area.
Zidane wakes up and finds himself in the Lindblum castle guestroom and is greeted by Blank. He asks where Dagger is, and once Blank tells him she's up by the telescope, he goes off running to find her. When he gets there, however, he's given the silent treatment. But not in terms of the "cold shoulder" kind. She responds but doesn't actually say anything. Taking her silence as signs of annoyance, Zidane leaves her alone and heads back down the tower to find Blank waiting for him to tell him to go see Cid.
Zidane's a bit tense because of how Dagger treated him, so when Blank pries/teases a little he blows up just a bit. But he goes to see the regent to learn that they have found some information regarding the attack on Alexandria. Cid informs them he witnessed Kuja escaping on the Hilde Garde and for even more of a shocker, there were black mages on the ship -- black mages that could talk.
They were about to learn how they might be able to fix Cid's oglop form from Doctor Tot when Eiko runs in telling them she thinks Dagger may have lost her voice. Concerned, the group heads to the guest room only to find that Garnet truly has lost her voice. Doctor Tot tells them it's more of a psychological reaction from all the grief the girl has suffered, so all they can do is wait. At this point Zidane asks him how to change Cid back into a human so he can make the new airship, and they reconvene back with the regent. Unfortunately the only real cure is for Hilda to reverse the effect, but Doctor Tot recalls a possible solution. A potion could be made if they could find the three necessary ingredients and mix it at a certain ratio. He’s a bit doubtful, but everyone is willing to give it a try so long as it isn’t lethal.
Determined, Zidane goes into town to try to find them. After finding and mixing the potion, however, they find that it doesn't work. In fact it turns Cid into a frog. They hold a meeting and upon Vivi's suggestion, decide to use the ship they stole from Alexandria - the Blue Narciss -- and head to the Black Mage Village.
There they discover that only 3 of the mages stayed behind: Mr. 288, the one who could be considered leader since he is the most knowledgeable, and the two who were looking after the chocobo egg. After a scene where Vivi shows his own maturing, Mr. 288 tells them that Kuja's desert palace is on the other side of the continent under quicksand, and that's where they head to next.
Zidane finds himself in a cell with Cid. Kuja soon speaks to them, informing them that the others are in similar cells and that these aren't ordinary ones. The floor opens slightly to reveal molten lava beneath them and Zidane has no choice but to comply with Kuja's demands. Finally able to meet with the man face to face, Kuja tells Zidane that he must travel to Oeilvert, as magic is apparently rendered useless there. There he must retrieve the Gulug Stone.
Once there, they find a large hologram of a planet with writing appearing in front. Zidane is actually able to make out some of the words, though he says it's more like it's talking to him than him being able to read it. Further in, there are more holographic displays. Four show the development of various airships, the Invincible being the latest. Another shows of a civilization on a planet called Terra and how it both rose and fell to decline. A final large hologram depicts two identical planets merging with one another.
They then come into a room that is covered with broken talking faces. Creepy. Talking. Faces. At any rate, they are given a brief lesson about the attempt to revive the world of Terra and are told that they were constructed so that the history isn't lost. While they're confused on what it all means, Zidane pushes it to the back and focuses on completing Kuja's task so that they could save their friends. After retrieving the stone, they return to Kuja.
[At this point it splits to the remaining group left at Kuja's place]
Told to come in alone, Zidane goes to Kuja with the stone in hand. There he finds a caged pit and inside are his friends who stayed behind. A dirty trick, but one that almost makes Zidane gives the stone over to save his friends. However, everyone had actually escaped and arrive just in time to burst in and stop Zidane. Kuja still manages to take the stone with his magic and that's not all. Zorn and Thorn managed to kidnap Eiko and they escape via a teleportation pad. Unable to use the pad, the group hurries back down to the Blue Narciss and give chase. They arrive on an ice covered continent.
After entering the city of Esto Gaza, they learn that Kuja and his black mage army had passed through here and were headed straight to Mt. Gulug. They also learn a little about the Shimmering Island, but with Eiko’s safety their primary concern, they push forward and head into the now dead volcano.
They find Zorn and Thorn performing the same eidolon extraction ritual they had done on Dagger and the group quickly run down there to save her. Before they get to her, however, Mog pops out and reveals her true form: the eidolon Madeen. Kuja escapes and the group is left to find Zorn and Thorn.
They are about to leave when they hear a voice behind a door. They find none other than the woman they had been looking for: Hilda. She tells them that Kuja pretty much told everything about his plan to her and she is more than willing to share it with them.
They return to Lindblum and after Cid returns to human, they hold a conference and learn about Kuja’s plans. First they learn that Kuja plans to use the world for an even greater power and that he wasn’t even of this world -he is from another world called Terra. They learn that the Shimmering Island connects Gaia to Terra, but that path is sealed. However, Kuja had told Hilda that there was a place where the seal could be broken and that was at Ipsen Castle. Cid then informs the group that they would be able to use the Hilda Garde 3 as soon as it was finished, and Steiner comes running in that Dagger is missing. After a few moments, Zidane offers that he might know where she is and tells the gang to hang tight.
In Alexandria, Zidane eventually encounters Beatrix and receives a garnet to give to Dagger. She also hints that the princess might be at her mother’s grave, so Zidane runs there and finds her. He gives her the garnet while also giving her a pep talk in the process through the form of a story he made up on the fly about the garnet. He’s also happy to hear her voice again. She also pretty much steals his dagger and Zidane witnesses her cut off her long hair and when she turns and looks at him, he smiles and gives her a nod of approval. Together they return to Lindblum to get the gang and retrieve the Hilda Garde 3 which had been completed just then.
When they arrive, Amarant tells Zidane that going in a group is pointless and makes a bet with him that he would be able to get to the key first. Zidane lets him go and while some stay behind, he and the rest go in. After managing to get through the upside down castle, they reach a room that has four mirrors on the wall. Amarant is also there waiting and heads back ahead of them.
Zidane takes all four mirrors, finding that he was the only one able to read the words that were on the back. This causes a guardian monster to come forth, but after defeating it they return back to the entrance. When they see Amarant hadn’t returned, Zidane sighs and goes back in for him. When he finds the guy, Amarant is confused as to why Zidane helped him to begin with, but Zidane just tells him it doesn’t matter. Together they had back to the entrance and discuss the information on the mirrors on the Hilda Garde 3.
The monster they fought had hinted they would have to do everything at once, so the group splits up into four parties of two to take care of each shrine - Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Zidane gets stuck with the “leftovers”, Quina, and together they head into the Earth shrine. Each shrine has a guardian monster but everyone is able to get past it and join back together.
The portal now unsealed, they fly the Hilda Garde 3 into the strange vortex of souls and they are sucked into it and ascend into Terra. There, Zidane pretty much learns everything about his past.
After following a mysterious girl that looks eerily like Zidane, they reach Bran Bal. There he encounters several individuals that look exactly like him: blond hair and tail. He also notices that there is the same blue light that he had seen in his dreams. The girl later tells Zidane that the people there - and himself - were created by Garland (the old man mentioned before) and are called Genomes. He learns that the role of the Genome is to become a vessel for the souls of Terra, and when he questions why he isn’t like them at all, she notes that he is special. Just like them, he has a special role in Garland’s plan.
[SPOILERS - The truth about Zidane is revealed at this time]
The planet Terra survives by assimilating with other planets, and this is what was being attempted now. When the blue light becomes red, that would mean that Terra had consumed Gaia and the souls would take over the Genomes. Garland had apparently tried to use force before in attempting to assimilate the planet before, but it failed. He had to wait until the people of Gaia learned how to use the powers of the eidolons. He also needed to disrupt the cycle of souls, and Zidane was supposed to help him do that. The girl then tells that Garland is waiting for him, and there Zidane learns even more about his past.
Through Garland, Zidane learns he had been created to disrupt the souls of Gaia, but things did not go as planned. He learns about Kuja’s history and that Kuja is actually something like his brother. Garland believes that Kuja had actually be jealous and even felt somewhat threatened when Zidane was born. Zidane was actually created to be a more powerful genome to replace Kuja when he came of age. So Kuja discarded Zidane by dropping him onto Gaia, the world he would destroy. This was an act that Garland had not expected. He then continues to blather on about the whole cycle of souls and how Terra would assimilate into Gaia as mentioned before. Zidane also learns that the Iifa tree is the soul divider between Gaia and Terra.
Zidane continues to follow Garland into an observatory and sees the planet. Garland calls him his angel of death, something that Zidane doesn’t want and instead wants to live on Gaia with his friends. He then tells Garland that his only motive as an “angel of death” would be to punish the ones who brought pain to his friends - meaning instead of destroying Gaia, he would destroy Terra. Garland is basically disappointed and messes with Zidane’s brain so that he becomes more like the soulless Genomes found in Bran Bal.
He then goes into a bit of an emo period. Though his friends try to help him, he continually pushes them aside, not understanding why they would want to help him and that they just didn’t understand anything that was going on. He goes through a bit of an identity crisis and starts becoming one of the angsty Final Fantasy main characters. It is Dagger who is able to snap Zidane out of his stupid stage, Steiner and Quina arriving soon after. Seeing the others still left behind, they return to help them out and it’s then that Zidane realizes he needs everyone’s help.
They then confront Garland, and after the fight Kuja appears. They then fight him, but during the battle Kuja goes into Trance and defeats them. Though Kuja says Zidane is deserving of his love, Zidane pretty much denies him as even being related. He kicks Garland off the platform and gloats about his powers. However, Garland isn’t quite dead. He can still “talk” and his voice is heard saying that Kuja will die regardless due to his limited lifespan. At this point, Kuja goes a little crazy and Zidane actually pities the guy a bit.
But his focus changes when Kuja goes berserk and starts to destroy Terra, forcing them to hurry to escape. He does have another cute moment with Dagger, thanking her for everything she’s done for him, before they had into Bran Bal to rescue the Genomes. In the process, he finds the girl from before and learns her name to be Mikoto. After finding her and convincing her to come with them, they board the Invincible. They are able to make it out and burst out of the ocean of Gaia.
However, they notice something disturbing. The whole world is covered in Mist and they wonder what Kuja is planning.
DISC 4
They bring the Genomes to the Black Mage Village and they are now living with the black mages. When discussing about plans to fight Kuja, Mikoto interjects saying that there is no hope and that Kuja is too powerful. Zidane however tells her that they would be able to take him down easy and starts to call her his little sister.
They then head toward the Iifa Tree where a large portal could be seen above it. As they try to enter it, an army of silver dragons appear and start attacking the airship. However, the cavalry arrives by the aid of both the Lindblum and Alexandria forces. Thanks to their help, the group is able to get through and enter into Memoria. There they once again hear Garland’s voice, who tells them they would be able to witness the entire truth.
They enter and witness several memories, such as Alexandria’s destruction. At one point, Zidane actually witnesses one of Dagger’s memories: the one with her and her mother escaping Madain Sari. Confused as to why he is able to see her memory when he doesn’t recall it all. Everyone experiences this sense of déjà vu when they come to a memory of when Gaia was just an ocean, and Garland tells them that everyone has a shared memory as the souls are born from the planet and return to it.
They then enter a completely new realm: the realm of eternity and the crystal, the source of everything. Garland tells Zidane that he must defeat Kuja and protect the crystal. When they do reach the crystal, Kuja is waiting for them and quite intent on destroying it. By destroying the crystal, he would then destroy everything. Zidane pretty much tells him to shut up and that they would defeat him.
Zidane and the others eventually beat them, but it doesn’t end there. They are teleported to the final dimension: the darkness of eternity. There they meet Necron, an ultimate being that exists to return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life. It’s pretty confusing, but he disagrees with Necron, saying that he does not want to give up now and he is not afraid to die.
When they defeat him, Necron notes that the will to live is powerful…but he will always still exist as there will always be fear and death. They then appear in front of the Iifa Tree whose roots have come to life - a violent reaction that Zidane remembers Kuja saying. Though it doesn’t look good, the Hilda Garde 3 arrives to pick them up. However, Zidane is able to hear Kuja’s voice and unwilling to just leave him behind, he tells the rest to go on without him. He feels that he might have done the same things Kuja did and because of this he feels he has to save Kuja, or at least try to. Though his friends offer to go with him, Zidane decides to do this alone.
To Dagger, he says the abduction is over and he can't take her any further. She thanks him for what he's done and asks him to promise to come back.
After everyone boards and he watches the airship depart, he runs through the tree. He finally finds Kuja, and they have a bit of a brotherly bonding time. Kuja then finally says the finally realized what it meant to live, but it was too late. When Zidane notices him not moving, he yells at him to not die on him. At this point, the roots are heading right toward them and Zidane shields Kuja’s body with his own.