CHAPTER 1:
Approximately fifteen years after the original events of Final Fantasy IX.
The same musical lyric that had so shaped the lives of the people she loved floated over Eiko on that soft Alexandria summer morning. She was visiting Queen Garnet and Prince Regent Zidane at their castle, more for a diplomatic visit than a social one. Regent Cid was getting old, and so were most of the other courtiers in Lindblum. Because of this, Eiko had been making many of the decisions for Lindblum for the past few years. One of these decisions had been to make a call upon Alexandria to talk to Garnet and Zidane about what needed to be done with the current situation in Lindblum.
The castle itself hadn't changed much since the last time she had visited, or since any time before that at all. The only big difference was the added graveyard in the castle that had been dedicated to those who were loved and passed away. Zidane had insisted that Kuja's remains be put in the castle graveyard. Garnet had protested at first, but she soon gave in when she saw how much it meant to him. Eiko never had been able to understand their relationship, but that didn't matter all that much.
A lot of things had changed, though. For instance, Vivi and his family had moved into the Black Mage Village about ten years earlier, and they were all living quite happily on that continent. They visited Lindblum and Alexandria very often. Freya and Sir Fratley went back to Burmecia with the other rats and rebuilt the city into a very glorious, and very rainy haven for their people to live. Of course, the population was about what it had been when Brahn and Kuja had practically wiped out the race. Rats multiply quickly, Eiko learned. As for Amarant, he had disappeared after Zidane made his stunning appearance back in Alexandria. Eiko hadn't seen him in Lindblum, but there were rumors floating around of his affair with a certain bounty huntress. As for Garnet and Zidane, they were happy enough, with three children.
Ah, yes, the children. Eiko smiled. The castle was full of them. Not only did Garnet and Zidane's children run rampant, but Beatrix and Steiner also had a daughter. Ruby and Blank had a very young child; they finally got their act together, and the gardens were always filled with laughter.
Eiko took out her flute and began to play along with the melody of the music. As the voice singing dropped into harmony, the sound blending over the garden shifted into a strange minor key, which hadn't been the intent. Eiko pulled her flute away from her lips and looked at the sky. She shivered. Something was coming, something very dangerous… something worse than Kuja could have ever been.
She ran down from the balcony, her ladylike dress of yellow and pink flying. She wore dresses only because Regent Cid felt that it was necessary if she was going to represent the royal family of Lindblum. But when she was being casual, she wore a more fitting jumpsuit of the same colors. Her tastes hadn't changed any since she was six.
"Princess Eiko!" someone called as she ran down the stairs. Eiko paused a moment to look around. A young woman of fifteen was running toward her. She seemed to be in a panic as well, her light brown hair was windblown and her blue eyes were wide with panic. "Princess Eiko, was that you playing out there?"
Eiko smiled fondly at Dagger, Garnet and Zidane's oldest daughter. "It sure was. What's wrong?"
"I-I don't know. I just feel something strange… something evil in the air. I was just running to talk to Mother and Father about it. Did you feel it, too?"
"Yes," Eiko nodded. "Something very strange is happening, and we must find out what it is so we can be prepared. Let's go to your parents together."
Dagger nodded. "I hope that we're wrong, and that it isn't as bad as it feels."
"I agree," Eiko whispered. "Let's pray that we are very, very wrong."
Garnet and Zidane were waiting with Beatrix and Steiner in the throne room as Eiko and Dagger ran in. The halted quickly, and both tried to smooth their hair out and appear presentable before their superiors. Eiko curtsied gracefully, "Your Majesties."
Garnet just laughed. "Don't you think that after all these years, we could spare the 'Your Majesties', Eiko?"
"Yeah," Eiko blushed. "But on to more serious matters…"
"Like your twenty-first birthday next month. We are planning to all be at Lindblum to support you and the coronation of Lindblum's first queen. I love Uncle Cid desperately, but he's just getting too old to rule," Garnet said imperiously.
Eiko and Dagger looked at each other curiously. There was a long pause before Zidane finally said, "That isn't what you wanted to talk to us about, is it?"
"Uh, no, Father," Dagger responded. "Actually, we wanted to talk to you about this really bad feeling that both Eiko and I got when we were outside. I was singing the lullaby, and she began to play it on her flute. All of a sudden, the music changed, but neither of us had changed it. It turned minor, into a sad, angry tune."
"Our lullaby?" Garnet asked.
Eiko nodded. "Yes. There's something really evil out there. I'm surprised you didn't feel it, Garnet. I mean, both of us have the heightened senses of summoners. Dagger, too. It's strange that you didn't feel anything."
"Yeah, it is," Zidane agreed. "Garnet, dear, you've always been able to sense things like that."
Garnet sighed wearily. "Maybe I'm just getting older. I haven't used any of my eidolons in ages. It could be that I'm just out of practice."
"I doubt it," Eiko argued.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, since a summoner's powers are born into them, so it wouldn't make since for you to lose your powers when you're only thirty-one," she pointed out.
"She's right," Beatrix made her first comment for the evening.
Steiner put his arm around his wife. "I would have to agree. Whoever is causing this must have found a way to block her Majesty's summoner intuition. I trust Princess Eiko and Princess Dagger's judgments, though. We must investigate."
Dagger and Eiko exchanged glances again. "Sorry, Steiner, but you're getting a little old for this sort of thing. How about you let Eiko and I try our luck at it. We have our resources."
"Absolutely not!" Steiner objected immediately.
"You still sputter too much," Zidane muttered under his breath.
"It's not your decision anyway," Eiko said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Aren't you a little old to be doing things like that, Princess?" Steiner retorted.
"Maybe so, but I'm cuter than you, so it's allowed."
After that remark, there was a long pause while Garnet and Zidane both thought about all the aspects of sending their eldest daughter and Eiko, who was like a sister to them, on a dangerous quest.
"I don't know…" Zidane said after a while.
Garnet put her hand on his arm. "Dearest, let them just try and figure out what's wrong. I know what I would have done if something like this happened and Mother had tried to force me to stay home."
Zidane smiled fondly at her. "All right. But no getting involved. Just investigate."
"All right!" Eiko and Dagger exclaimed at the same time.
"First stop should be Lindblum to get one of the airships," Eiko continued. "And then, second stop, Treno. I'm sure that Doctor Tot could lend us a helping hand in this matter."