Garnet til Alexandros

I can't remember the last time I was able to see color in the sky. The world has grown gray to me since this last heartbreaking year. Has it truly been only one year or perhaps more? I lost all sense of time. My feet continue to kick up dirt on this lonely trail, my legs marching all on its own – purpose escaped my body days ago. My clothes are tattered and dirty, my skin and hair hasn't felt the liberation of soap and water in weeks and my mouth is so dry my tongue is beginning to feel like sandpaper. My eyes fall to the floor without a fight, filled with despair and weighed down with exhaustion – I simply stare at the ground I am aimlessly walking on. There is nothing left behind me worth going back for

and -

For a moment I avert my attention to what is in front of me and stare upon the long and lonely path that merely stretched out over the hills – not a town in sight or a soul to take pity on me.

There is nothing before me – nothing.

So, what's the point in continuing down this road? I pause in my tracks as the question fully registered within my fractured mind. My arms dangled at my side, my once white blouse now discolored in a putrid tint of yellow. My eyes once again found itself at the ground, never brave enough to glance at the bright morning sky above me. The unforgiving sun beamed its rays down upon me, steaming the top of my head and forcing drips of sweat down my dirty face.

One part of me is frantically trying to search for the answer to my question while the other part of me simply wanted to fall to my knees, give up and die right here. It was as if I had two different people screaming in my head. It was the only sound audible and I began to realize just how far my mind has gotten lost. Tightly, I stammer my eyes shut, trying to drown out the voices.

'Be quiet.' I whisper to myself mentally; no longer do I have a voice to shout it to the world that betrayed me. Yet, the war within me raged on and within moments, the weaker side of me started winning.

'Your kingdom is gone. Your friends are all probably dead. You're the last Summoner alive – you're all alone. End the suffering and just give yourself up to the wolves that are already on the scent of your trail.'

A more sinister tone began to chant inside of my head, sending a burning sensation straight to my heart.

'Stop!' I scream silently inside of myself, desperately trying to find salvation from the demons that took form from all of the doubt and anguish that now bruised my once strong and valiant character. Tears began to form at my waterline as memories of the fateful day I lost everything and how all else fell through the cracks ever since then ran rampant in my psyche.

I pressed the palm of my hands against my ears as if it would save me. A futile attempt it was.

My knees became weak as the painful memories started to press into my mind, forcing them to buckle and fall harshly on the ground. A sharp ringing sensation now fills the voices that haunted me before and only got louder. The agony pulsating through my entire already weak body was too much for me to bear. I felt myself losing consciousness, my body began leaning back and the sky above was only visible to me in a blur just before I felt all the limbs in my body go completely limp.

I am no longer the powerful queen of Alexandria.

The woman known as Garnet til Alexandros and even as Dagger, has long since been lost within the ashes that became of my kingdom and of the fond memories of the time when -

- He was still at my side.

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I uploaded anything on here. This is a story that's been stuck in my head for about 3 years. It will be extremely mature. I know FFIX has very colorful themes that doesn't make it seem as dark as the actual themes are meant to make the story...but I am going to change that.

I will make mankind act as they would in our world. This fanfiction will of course be VERY fantasy based. All of the elements within FFIX will still be present - do not worry.

But this will act as a direct sequel to the game [excluding the ending. I have chosen that Zidane never returned after bidding Dagger farewell at the Lifa Tree.]

There will be certain triggers and very dark themes present so that is why I will be putting this under the MA label. I truly hope you enjoy this idea of a fanfiction as several others have when I presented them this story in it's skeleton form.

Reviews is VERY welcome.