The airship finally landed outside of Treno. It was a short ride there but to Beatrix it felt like it took forever, she also had not been to Treno for what seemed like an eternity. She ordered the crew to stay on board the ship until she returned and was only taking one solider with her. Beatrix had damaged her sword, fighting near Oeilvert, she was sent to check out the ruins in hopes of finding Zidane. He had been missing for a few days and Beatrix swore to the Queen on her honor that she would not rest until she found him. Beatrix had tried searching the grounds of the Lifa Tree, but to no avail, he was not found.

Even a hint or a rumor about his whereabouts would be simple. It was as if he had vanished into thin air."What if he did?...That would make this whole search pointless...No, I'm glad I'm giving it my all, that way I have no regrets."

"General."

Beatrix looked to the solider who then asked as she realized she had her General's attention, "Are you okay?"

Beatrix flipped her wavy brown hair out of her way, "Yes, let's go."

The soldier saluted, "Yes ma'am."

Together they walked through the gates of Treno, Beatrix paused for a moment before turning left. She had forgotten what this place was like during the day, every night always seemed the same. In fact the town hadn't changed much. Except the ghettos now looked like ghettos. The town was putting money into the Card Tournaments that were held every year and the nobles were putting money towards their home and the auctions, deciding where to put the next statue or whether or not they should add an extra room to their suite.

They passed the Cafe Carta and Beatrix heard a noblewoman whisper to her friend, "Look it's the General of Alexandria."

Her friend whispered back, "Do you think she's here for the auction?"

Beatrix could feel their eyes fixed on her, she was not going to the Auction House and she certainly was not going to play cards. She turned left and headed into the Synthesis Shop. She walked down the halls and heard the nobles bragging about what they bought, things had not changed. Beatrix began to reminisce

It was mid winter in Treno, the only thing that was worth celebrating was the play in Alexandria, the same play that was always performed every year since Princess Garnet's birthday by Tantalus. The Princess was now 4 years old and for the past 4 years Beatrix had gone to the plays with her father, Sir Lionel. Her father was captain of the Knights of Pluto, he served 38 good years protecting Alexandria. Beatrix's grandfather had fought in the 15th war between Alexandria and Lindblum, he served for Lindblum but denounced his loyalty to Lindblum after he fell in love with an Alexandrian, a chamber maid to the late Queen Isabella. He later became an Alexandrian and because he was once served for Lindblum, he had decided to not become a knight again, but instead a blacksmith like his father. Beatrix's father grew up in Treno after his parents decided to move there. There he met Beatrix's mother, Beatrice, who worked at King Mansion.

Beatrix was now 16 and her father had been ailing and wouldn't be going but he encouraged Beatrix to go to watch the play for him. At first Beatrix was reluctant but finally agreed. She knew she couldn't stay with him any longer, so this year when she went to the play, she did not plan on returning. She was going to join the army of Alexandria. Beatrix's father had taught her how to wield a sword when she was 10, they would spar with each other every evening when her father was on leave so she knew what to expect. As Beatrix was leaving she looked to her father, she couldn't believe that a man like him who was once strong could become so sick. It broke her heart to see him like this, which is why she had to leave.

She embraced her father, "I'll see you soon."

Sir Lionel let go of her daughter, "Before you go I have something for you." He knew his daughter too well and wasn't going to stop was choosing this pathon her own. He went back into the house and came out with a sword, "Here,this has been in the family for decades, it was used in the 9th Lindblum War. Of course it's been remodeled over the years, but it has served us well. I'm sure it will help you the same way it helped General Magdalene."

Beatrix did a double take, "G-General Magdalene!?"She was one of the main reasons why Beatrix was going to join the army, she was an inspiration to her and an important figure in the history of Alexandria. She looked to her father, "She's related?"

Sir Lionel nodded, "Yes, she's your great great aunt, on your mother's side of course. She was young when she died and didn't have kids of her own but she did have a Magdalene Griffon. Never married, and neither did her sister Prudence. She was the last Griffon and choose to keep her last name. She had a son, and he had a son so on and so forth. Nothing but sons. Then finally the line of sons was broken. Your mother was the first female Griffon in 2oo years. I choose not to marry her so that she would keep her name. We decided to give you the name Griffon so that you could carry on the legacy. Just make sure you have a son so they can carry on the name Griffon."

Beatrix looked into the sword, "So...This is a legendary sword?"

Sir Lionel grinned, "Yup...Just remember."

Beatrix looked up, "Yes?"

Sir Lionel then said, "Follow your blade. You can't go into battle with fear, there will be times when the innocent gets hurt, you have to have courage, courage to fight, courage to complete whatever task you are given. It will be hard but don't let your emotions or your thoughts get in the way of your duty. Do you understand?"

Beatrix swallowed the saliva in her mouth, this seemed like a huge commitment to her, now she wasn't too sure if she could go through with this, she nodded her head, "Yes sir."

Sir Lionel kissed her daughter on the head, "Now go." With that he walked back into the house.

Beatrix stood there for a moment as her father closed the door, she looked at her sword 'Save The Queen' and turned and walked through the gates of didn't take long for her to reach South Gate, from there she headed to Dali and took the last airship flying to Alexandria. In fact it was a blur to her, it must have been the shock of her history lesson. She never thought she was related to the greatest female warrior in history, now it seemed like more was at stake here. Before she was just joining because her family joined or had some kind of connection to the castle. Now she was joining under the honor of General Magdalene, she felt obligated to join. She just hoped she didn't dishonor the family name or Magdalene herself. The airship landed outside of the city, from there she walked in, observing the sights.

Beatrix listened to the excited crowds as they hurried to close up shops, and get ready for the crowd, she walked into a bar to get a bite to eat before going behind the castle gates, you weren't allowed to have food on the Castle grounds. Rules. She ordered a stew and quickly ate it.

Before leaving she heard a local say in a low whisper, "I don't see why they're celebrating, she's not even the princess. I have buddies who work inside the palace and they told me that she died of an illness, she washed up in a boat."

The other man laughed, "Yeah right, they don't let commoners or orphans become princesses, it doesn't work that way. Besides that's just an old rumor, they just want to cause trouble."

Beatrix shook her head, that was an awful lie, it was blasphemous, if she were a knight she would've taken him into custody for even repeating such things. It wasn't long until she reached the castle gates, she got on the boat that led her to the designated area where she would watch the play. She watched as the play started, the man who was opening it this year was a man named Baku. He looked to be in his mid thirties, the original man who started Tantalus had died, Beatrix couldn't remember his name, which probably didn't matter. However this Baku seemed suspicious, she didn't like him. He had young boys working for him, they were probably orphans, they set the stage up for the actors before the play started. They did a pretty good job considering their age. The actors then read their lines in accordance to the novel, they memorized everything, word for word, their speech was flawless, Beatrix was impressed. After the play Beatrix went to the local inn, she somehow managed to get a room.

Beatrix got up early the following morning, she walked up to the female guards who stood next to the boat from the previous night, one of them looked to her, "Can we help you?"

Beatrix stood firmly and stated, "I wish to join the army of Alexandria."

Both guards looked at her trying to determine if she was army material, she seemed a bit too pretty to be a soldier. They hesitated before responding to the recruit, "Take the boat to the Castle, when you get there ask for Celine."

Beatrix nodded her head, "Okay, thanks."

The guard stopped Beatrix before she proceeded, "That's 'Yes ma'am', and don't forget to salute! You would do well to remember that, I hope, or you won't last long here."

Beatrix saluted, "Yes ma'am!" She then continued onto the boat and made her way to the castle.

"I'll never forget my meeting with Celine. It was the first time I ever truly felt...intimidated. She had a certain fierceness about her, the way her cold blue eyes pierced mine, it was a meeting I will never forget."