FFIX - Script - 2.8 - Iifa Tree

Iifa Tree
[The group arrives at the Iifa Tree...well, near it, as it ominously looms in the distance. The words "Iifa, the Ancient Tree of Life" appear on the screen. Mist is floating everywhere, since ie emanates from the tree]

Dagger
"There's Mist here...!"

Zidane
"So this place really must be the source of the Mist."

[Vivi walks onscreen and falls down]

Eiko
"You okay?"

Vivi
"...I-I'm fine."

[Zidane walks forward and is hit back by a magical barrier]

Zidane
"Whoa!"
"What was that?"

Eiko
"That was the seal."
"It shouldn't hurt you, but are you alright?"

Zidane
"Yeah, it didn't hurt."

[He puts his hand forward, and the barrier appears again]

Zidane
"Hmm..."
[Choose between "Poke again", "Body slam", or "Ask Eiko". You have to choose "Ask Eiko" eventually]
"Did you say they used the power of an eidolon to seal this place?"
[Eiko nods]
"Amazing. How do you break it?"

Eiko
"I'm going to ask the eidolon to come back."
"The summoner's horn allows us to communicate with eidolons and wild animals."
"I'll break the seal now."
"Watch!"

[Eiko walks up to the seal and does many arm movements to correspond with her communication]

"Boom boomb boom!"
"Boom boomb boom!"
"By the light of our spirits!"
"I call upon thee!"
"Answer my call!"
"Wherever your soul may be!"

[The barrier vanishes]
[Received Ruby!]

Eiko
"Finished! We can go inside now."

Zidane
"Thanks!"

Vivi
"Was that the spell to break the seal?"

Eiko
"Nope."
"All I do is focus my thoughts into my horn."

Vivi
"Then why were you...?"

Eiko
"That was just for show!"
"The spell is actually much longer, but the eidolon asked me to hurry it up."

Dagger
(I didn't hear anything...)

Zidane
"Alright. Let's go!"

[The group runs to the Iifa Tree, reaching it, and then entering it. Eventually, the group comes to a room with a circular platform in the ground]

Zidane
"What's this...?"
"Looks old. I wonder who built it?"

Eiko
"This way! Hey, are you alright?"

Vivi
"A-Aren't you guys scared of heights...?"

Eiko
"Gosh, you look so helpless."
"Why don't you stay here and let us handle the rest?"

Vivi
"No, I'm going with you guys!"
"I have to."

Eiko
"Then don't leave my side, okay?"

Vivi
"O-Okay. Thanks."

Zidane
"Eiko, do you know anything about this place?"

Eiko
"Nope. This is my first time inside the Iifa Tree."

Zidane
"This place looks ancient..."

[He taps on the platform; it begins to glow. "!" reactions ensue from the four characters]

Zidane
"What the..."
[Choose between "Touch it again", "Try standing on it", or "Ask Eiko". "Try standing on it" is the best approach]
"Alright, then!"

Dagger
"Zidane..."

Zidane
"I'll be fine. Don't worry!"

[Zidane jumps on the platform; it begins to descend. He manages to jump up in time, hanging on to the floor]

Zidane
"......"
"Here it comes again."
[He jumps down onto the platform. It comes back up into its spot. He walks off]
"It works. I'm gonna see where it takes me."
"I'll call you guys over if everything is alright."

Eiko
"I'm coming with you!"

Dagger
"Me, too."

Vivi
"M-Me, too."

Zidane
"Okay, we'll all go."

[Everyone jumps onto the platform. It begins its descent. It stops on a floor below them. The group make their way down into the depths of the Iifa Tree, where they come to another larger green platform, which descends to the bottom of the Iifa Tree]

Zidane
"Everything up there looked withered."
"This place looks totally different."
"It's so bright I can't see the bottom..."
"I guess we should try to get to the bottom of this!"

[Eiko jumps onto the platform. Nothing happens. She gets off it]

Eiko
"Hey, Zidane. I found something here."

Zidane
"Hmm... Maybe it'll move like the last one..."

Eiko
"It didn't move when I got on..."

Zidane
"You stood on it!?"
[Eiko nods]
"Well...."

Eiko
"Why don't we all try getting on?"

[They all get on it]

Zidane
"When I got on, I felt it respond."
[It begins to move]
"I guess we're in luck!"

[Screen changes to show the descending platform, surrounded by a sort of neon-green mist]

Zidane
"Whoa..."
"It sure freaked me out at first, but there's no wind or anything..."
"I guess that glowing powder is stopping the wind somehow."
"You okay, Dagger?"

Dagger
"Yes..."
"I wonder where we're going."

Zidane
"Yeah...me too."

Eiko
"Maybe Mog can tell us something!"
[Mog exits her dress]
"What do you feel, here inside the Iifa Tree?"

Mog
"Kupo..."
"...Kupo? KUPO! POPO!"

Eiko
"Really?"

Mog
"Kupo!"

Eiko
"Alright... Thanks!"

Mog
"Kupopo!"

Zidane
"Well? What's the word?"

Eiko
"Um, Mog senses a lot of life beneath us."
"Moogles are faeries, so they sense life everywhere, but Mog says there's a whole lot here!"

Dagger
"I wonder if agents of Kuja are down there..."

Zidane
"But what's the connection between Kuja and the Mist?"

Eiko
"!?"
"Incoming!"

[Battle vs. 3 Zombies]

Eiko
"There are so many strange monsters here in the Iifa Tree!"

Dagger
"Could the Mist be causing it?"

Zidane
"Beats me... The Evil Forest and Gargan Roo had unique monsters, too."

Eiko
"But if the Mist comes from this tree, how come it only appears on Zidane's continent?"

Zidane
"I guess there has to be something that channels the Mist."

Dagger
"Yes, but the question is, why?"

Vivi
"......"

Dagger
"Zidane..."

Zidane
"Hmm? What's the matter?"
"...Vivi?"
"What's wrong, Vivi? You've been lost in thought for a while."

Vivi
"Oh, Zidane... I've been thinking about the Mist."
"Do you remember the...factory we saw in Dali?"

Dagger
"Yes, the factory where black mages were being made?"

Eiko
"Huh? Black mages?"

Dagger
"They look a lot like Vivi."

Zidane
"Dagger!"

Dagger
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

Vivi
"It's okay. I'm not upset anymore about being made and everything."

Zidane
"Vivi..."

Vivi
"Anyway, that factory had a lot of Mist inside, right?"

Zidane
"Oh, yeah... There was a huge machine filled with Mist."

Dagger
"That's right. And there were those strange eggs we saw."

Vivi
"There's gotta be a connection between the Mist, Kuja, and... the black mages."

Dagger
"......"

Eiko
"I'm so confused."
"!?"
"Another one's headed this way!"

[Battle vs. Dracozombie]

Zidane
"Hey, I can finally see the bottom."

Eiko
"It's so deep!"

Zidane
"I don't know what's down there... but we'll soon find out!"

[The platform ends its journey. Everyone gets off]

Eiko
"Come with me!"
"Are you gonna make a helpless little girl like me go all by herself!?"

Zidane
"Wait! There might be some monsters lurking there!"

Dagger
"Say, Zidane..."
"Mog said he sensed life down here. Do you sense anything?"

Zidane
"Yeah, but you sense it, too, don't you?"
"We don't even need Mog to tell us that there's life down here."

Dagger
"You're right. I can tell there's something down here."

[Eiko and Vivi are on the edge, looking down at the bottom of the Iifa Tree, where bright neon-green light radiates from the liquid down there. Zidane runs down, past Vivi and Eiko, to a wall which the player can't see from the angle the screen is portrayed in]

Zidane
"Is it moving...?"
"Just my imagination."
"So much for Kuja. None of his lackeys are here, either."
[He goes to the edge and looks down, like Eiko and Vivi]
"Or maybe we have to go down there?"
"I definitely sense something down there."

Eiko
"Zidane!"

Zidane
"What's up?"

Eiko
"M-Mog's saying..."
"Something's coming from above!"

Zidane
"From above!?"
"Dagger, come here! Now!"

[The ground shakes, the vibrations causing her to fall down]

Dagger
"Aaaa!"

Zidane
"Dagger!!!"

[Zidane runs to her]

Zidane
"Are you alright!?"

Dagger
"I'm sorry! I was just startled. Is something wrong?"

Eiko
"Over there!"

[Eiko and Vivi run to the wall that Zidane had looked at]

Zidane
"It's them!"
"We'd better go, too! Can you stand?"

Dagger
"Yes, let's go."

[They run to Vivi and Eiko, who are looking at the wall, which we can now see]

Eiko
"Look! The wall is moving!"

Vivi
"You're right... It's like it's alive!"

Zidane
"Eiko! Vivi!"

[Zidane and Dagger run onscreen]

Eiko
"Zidane! The wall's shaking faster!"

Zidane
"It's here!"

[Some sort of creature jumps down, falling out of sight]

Dagger
"What was that!?"

[The creature rises back up again, towering over the four characters]

"So, it wasn't Kuja."

Vivi
"Huh, what's going on? I can hear a voice inside my head!"

Zidane
"You just said Kuja! Where is he!?"

"I do not know."

Dagger
"What are you doing here!?"

Zidane
"Are you the one who makes the Mist!?"

"It is not produced. Mist is a by-product of the refining process. It is discharged through the roots."

Vivi
"Discharged?"

Dagger
"So it's sent to other continents through the roots, right?"

Zidane
"But why!? Why would you do that!?"

"I contaminate the other continents with Mist to stimulate the fighting instinct."
"This, in turn, leads to war among the leaders of nations, and then to the fall of civilization."
"Kuja merely put the by-product to a different use."

Vivi
"A different use!? What is Kuja trying to do!?"

"I cannot lie. Kuja used the waste product to make weapons. Weapons...like yourself."

Vivi
"!?"

Eiko
"He's really ticking me off! Can I kill him?"

Zidane
"Wait, Eiko! What kind of weapons did Kuja make?"

"Kuja called them black mages, dark spawn of the Mist."

Zidane
"!!"

Dagger
"So the factory in Dali was really..."

"Defeat me, and no more Mist will flow."
"And then no more weapons like this puppet here will be made."
"Answer me, puppet. Do you deny your very birth?"

Zidane
"Why, you-"

Vivi
"......"
"No more!"

Dagger
"Vivi?"

Vivi
"I won't let you make any more instruments of murder!"

Eiko
"Way to go, Vivi! I know it must be hard for you. We can knock off this rat now, right?"

Zidane
"Alright! Let's bust him up! Who knows, it might even lure Kuja here!"

"I have seen the end of my thousand-year life, and it is not now."
'You cannot stop me."
"It is futile even to try."

[Boss Battle vs. Soulcage. And the end of the battle, he collapses and dies. After the battle, the four characters are looking around, as the ground begins to shake]

Zidane
"Uh oh! Let's get outta here!"

[Everyone runs off screen]

[FMV. The Mist around the Iifa Tree stops exiting, exposing its roots. The sky, once cloudy, clears up, over Evil Forest. The Mist vanishes from nearbye Alexandria. A final shot is shown of the Iifa Tree, Mistless]

[Scene resumes with the four characters gathered where they first broke the eidolon seal]

Eiko
"Wow, the air's so clear! The Iifa Tree looks so pretty now."
"Will this clear up your Mist Continent?"

Zidane
"I think so."
"Now, let's see if Kuja shows up."
"...Vivi?"

Vivi
"Zidane... Did I do the right thing?"
"It said that black mages are made from the Mist, right?"
"When I thought about how other black mages were being made for war..."
"I didn't want that to happen, no matter what."
"Now, there'll be no more new black mages."
"I think they'll all hate me."

Eiko
"No way!"
"Listen to me."
"You should never lie to yourself."
"After all, your brothers wouldn't want you to do that."

Vivi
"Do you really think so? Do you think...they'll understand?"

Eiko
"Of course! They're your brothers. It'll be alright."
"Huh? What is it, Mog?"
[A moogle walks onto the screen]
"Moco!?"

Moco
"Eiko!"

Eiko
"What the matter? Why did you come all this way?"
"No way!"
"Okay, I'll be right back!"

Moco
"Alright, I'll go on ahead and tell the others."

[Moco flies off the screen]

Eiko
"You guys are going to wait here for Kuja, right? I gotta go back to the village!"

Zidane
"Wait, Eiko! What's up?"

Eiko
"Someone stole something precious from the village!"

Dagger
"Zidane!"

[Zidane looks at Vivi, who nods. Zidane turns to Eiko]

Zidane
"We'll go with you, Eiko!"

Eiko
"Thanks, but what about Kuja!?"

Zidane
"Madain Sari isn't that far."
"He can wait."

[You leave the Iifa Tree, and return to Madain Sari]



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FFIX

Script