Destiny in the Making: Prequel to Final Fantasy IX
Author's Note: Thanks for stopping by and reading this fic! It's basically about how Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi's story comes together. Hope you enjoy reading! ^_^
Part I: Zidane's Trip
It was a rather sunny day in Lindblum. The wind was steady, the noise was moderate, and the city seemed very pacific. Although the conditions could make a typical city slicker be afraid of the indoors, one group of mischievious thieves, but also talented actors, who called themselves Tantalus, rested inside their hide-out in the Theater District.
Tantalus is led by Baku, an overweight, cocky specimen. He wore a leather helmet, with goggles, a leather vest, a leather belt that held equipment that obviously had its part in thievery, and green shorts with heavy boots. His group of thieves consisted of Zidane Tribal, Cinna, Marcus, Blank, and the 3 brothers Benero, Genero, and Zenero.
Zidane rested on the left top balcony of the room. Everyone else in Tantalus looks up to Zidane as an older brother, and he's also Baku's favorite member. Zidane was lightly tossing one of his daggers into the air from the blade, making it spin, and falling back into his hand, repeating, thinking. Basically, the rest of the group was also slacking, with not much to do.
The hide-out was a mess. Most of the floor on the ground was covered with any random thing a bedroom could be littered with. In the center of the room was a table, where the rest of the group were sitting at. Two balconies, one on each side of the room, held beds and other things for the group. Zidane was on the left one. Overall, the hide-out was quiet. Nobody talked for consecutive minutes.
"Hey, Tantalus? You guys in there?" The quiet setting was interrupted. Then, a small, peach-colored oglop walked in, wearing a royal wardrobe. It was Regent Cid of Lindblum.
"Hey, Cid! What's up?" Baku got up. His talk resembled a gangster.
"I need you guys to do me a favor," Cid started. "I'm going to need you guys to perform a play at Alexandria next week. I'm sure you guys have heard of the story 'I Want to be Your Canary', right?"
Every one of the members nodded.
"Good. I talked to the highest council members of Alexandria about performing a play, and they agreed. But there's a little secret behind this,"
"Cool! I love secrets," Cinna spoke, generously. Blank smacked him in the back of the head. Cinna only leered at Blank, then went back to listening to Cid.
"I've been very suspicious of Queen Brahne lately. Tension has been stirring up between Lindblum and Alexandria. I need you to capture her daughter, Princess Garnet, so I could have a word with her about what's been happening,"
Zidane climbed down the ladder. "But what about just having the Queen send her over here?"
"She won't accept," Cid spoke. "But I have to make contact with her. Things have been tense between us two cities," The members of Tantalus glanced at eachother, making a decision. They turned to Cid nearly simultaneously.
"Sure! We'll take the offer," Baku spoke, confidently, to Cid. "So... we're going to be using the Prima Vista Theater Ship to get there, am I correct?"
"Yes," Cid spoke. "I'll have everything set up for you guys. Meanwhile, you can do some research and plan your skits out. Ruby will join you guys, as well. Happy researching! I knew you'd be good for somethingg" Cid walked out with both of his guards on each side of him.
"Oh, gee, thanks, Cid!" Baku sarcastically yelled out.
"Hmm... I wonder if the princess is beautiful..." Zidane said, half of his mind in a daydream.
"There you go again, Zidane. Thinking about girls," Marcus muttered.
"What's wrong with thinking about girls?" Zidane asked Marcus.
"Nothing, but man, you're obsessed," Marcus pointed out. Zidane ignored the comment and got to work on their new objective, along with the rest of the members. Marcus joined in a few seconds later. Baku, Cinna, and Marcus got to work onto the play script and the costumes, and Zidane and Blank grouped up to plan out the kidnapping. But what Zidane didn't know what that because of this play he was performing, and the kidnapping he was involved with, was not only an act of crime, but a passageway to his destiny...
Part II: Setting of Alexandria
It was another week later. The winds of Alexandria provided a breeze against the warm air. The castle stood tall in front of a lively town, filled with joyful people. Because of the play that will be taking place that day, everybody has been on their feet, getting ready for the big play. But due to royalty issues in the castle, life didn't seem the same as a part of royal ancestry as opposed to life in the busy town.
Garnet til Alexandros, princess of Alexandria, rested inside her room. The set of curtains on her windows flew towards her, flowing along with the breeze. It would only be a few hours before the Prima Vista would arrive and put on a play, one that Garnet liked the most. Although it should be a day of joy for her, she still felt sorrow. Her head tilted down, to the floor, sitting on her bed, thinking. She still needed to change, into a formal wardrobe, for the big event that night.
The setting wouldn't change until Beatrix opened the door slowly. She looked at Garnet, sitting on her bed.
"Princess, we must get dressed. The Prima Vista won't take much longer to get here," Beatrix spoke. Garnet didn't answer, didn't even look up. Beatrix paused, then walked up to Garnet. She sat beside her, also tilting her head down, then turns to Garnet.
"Is there something wrong?" Beatrix asked. Garnet stood still. Then, she looked straight.
"Nothing... just thinking..." she spoke. Truthfully, she didn't know what she felt like. The pressures of royal life were upon her, and were clutching her away from the real world. Queen Brahne, her mother, hasn't been acting normal lately, and the Princess herself didn't feel satisfied with what kind of person she was. She wanted to be a normal person, one who didn't have to be pressured every day, to be formal all of the time, or to be prohibited from the outside world, the Mist Continent. Nothing felt right anymore.
"Your mother is expecting you. Let's get changed and meet up with her," Beatrix responded. Garnet nodded, and got onto her feet slowly. Beatrix helped her find the correct wardrobe to wear for the night's occasion. She then left, to meet up with Brahne. Garnet stayed in her room, to think again. She sat back onto a chair, lying in the middle of the room. She looked outside, enjoying the beatiful sight of the sky, with the birds as its decorations. It provided warmth to her, bringing courage into her soul. But before she knew it, Garnet shut her eyes, as if the eyelids weighed much more than herself, and fell asleep.
Part III: Small kid in a Large Town
Alexandria stood lively, with everyone running about, talking about the big play tonight. Who would be going? Who would sit in the bar and ignore the glorious event? Everyone showed off their tickets to eachother, unleashing the excitement stored into them. However, one stray black mage stood in the middle of a circular town square, where crowds of townsfolks gathered. He held his head down to the ground, lonelier than ever, taking small steps, not looking where he was going. Kids would tease him, laugh at him, and play pranks onto him.
The black mage walked slowly. His mood was very depressive, simply because he wasn't like anybody else. He was a black mage, a mage with magic powers. He wanted to be like everybody else. He wanted to have friends, to be by his side, and to protect him. But he knew that life isn't easy. It never will be.
Soon, during the mage's walking, he would approach to another child, to where he looked up to. The kid put his sights onto him, looking at him. At first, he felt a little bit of sadness for him.
"Hey, kid... are you alright? What's your name?" he asked.
"I-I guess... Vivi," Vivi answered. Vivi wore a blue coat and wore a normal mage's hat. He didn't actually have much of a face- all that you saw were his eyes, that are yellow oval-shaped pupils, within a black perimeter.
"Vivi, eh? Here... I have an extra ticket that I don't need. None of my family or friends want to go. You can have it," He said. "It's for tonight's big play, 'I Want to be Your Canary'. It should be a hit. I'll see you there, alright?" the kid handed Vivi the ticket and ran off. Not the kind of running you'd expect from someone who just gave a random outlander a ticket to a play everyone is talking about. But not worrying about the outcome of the scene, Vivi turned ecstatic. He had a ticket, he could watch the play. He felt like a big part of the town for the first time. He looked at his ticket, then waited for the Prima Vista to arrive over his head, into the town in front of him.
It wouldn't be much longer before these three characters, and a handful of other adventurers, would ironically align themselves and prepare for by far the largest adventure of their lives. A quest to save Gaia.
THE END
Note: I know, some of the parts in the story are kind of irrelevant, I haven't played the game in awhile, but I do feel familiar with the story quite a bit. Please read and review! I'd greatly appreciate it. ^_^