(Author's note)
I'm back on the site if anyone still remembers me here; well, if you don't then I guess it is my own fault for not making myself known here haha. My name before was Holy Blader, but after the hiatus, I'd think this name was such a lame name, so I changed it. Anyways, those to whom my name rings any bell (I guess it doesn't because I changed it but yeah): I'll be remaking my old FFIX story because the first version had some horrid grammar mistakes and by the time I'm here (it's been 4 years ever since I have written that) my English is a lot better, I suppose. So.. without further ado... oh, a disclaimer! Sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX nor it's characters; I only own my OC's presented in the story.
So without further ado NOW, I think it's time for the first chapter of newly remade "Final Fantasy IX, Following The Storm".
Chapter 1
A breathtaking sunrise filled the Mist Continent with light, the name of which didn't mean anything anymore after the fall of Iifa Tree, just like every morning to this date. Garnet til Alexandros XVII, the Queen of Alexandria, stood in front of a mirror and prepared for the Tantalus' performance. Her black hair was clipped at the top, as a small, gem-encrusted barrette was resting upon it, and tied into a dolphin tail braid with a blue ribbon. She wore her ballroom gown, covered in white and blue lace, as well as the matching gloves and a golden tiara on her head. Her brown eyes were complemented by the light-blue makeup and barely noticeable pink rouge on her lips. The girl was 18 years now and she still couldn't forget the events that have taken place during her adventure with the thief. He saved her life so many times, and she never thanked him for it. Now he's gone, and it was all because of Kuja again...
"Dagger, wait for me. I will be back."
And with that he hurried to collapsing Iifa Tree after his brother, as she watched from the airship rising above the thick mist. She promised herself, she would see him again but she never did. It's been two months since he entered the tree to find Kuja and never returned. The Iifa is no more and so, Kuja and his brother are no more.
"Your Majesty?", a certain voice has interrupted her thoughts as she turned around to face the person who was calling out to her. In the doorway, stood a tall woman. Her hair was chestnut colored and she was wearing an Alexandrian armor with the red cape. One of her eyes was covered by a leather band, presumably a blind eye. In her hand, she held a light reflecting sword with a small ruby at the top. It was Beatrix, a woman that once served her adopted mother as a general of her troops.
Brahne twitched uncontrollably as she was speaking to Beatrix.
"Those rats have turned tail and escaped to the sandy tree", an androgynous man with long lavender hair stood beside them and commented.
"Beatrix! We will invade Cleyra and you will bring me that gem of theirs."
Beatrix nodded quietly and slowly made her way for the exit of the Burmecian palace, but the thief along with Burmecian Knight named Freya blocked her path.
"I, once, defeated a hundreds of men single-handedly. You are nothing but vermin to me.", she said as she removed famous Save the Queen from her sheath.
"It's time, Your Majesty.", Beatrix said softly as she stared at Garnet's puzzled face. "Is there something on your mind?"
"No, Beatrix. Everything is alright."
Garnet slightly pulled her dress up so that the train wouldn't be dragged along through the floor. She stopped for a second, as if in deep thought and then gasped.
"I nearly forgot.", the girl exclaimed while she began to search the beautifully decorated drawers and after few seconds, she took out a small pendant with a heavy gemstone hanging on the end of the chain. Beatrix sighed as she watched her Queen being so absent-minded. They walked through the marble floor of the hall and watched paintings of Brahne and generals of different time periods which hung on the walls. As they departed for the throne room, Beatrix immediately broke her walk and listened carefully.
"What is it?" Garnet asked.
"Something is off here. Stay on your guard, Your Majesty."
Then, she recognized a familiar metal clanking sound echoing throughout the chamber. It was Captain Adelbert Steiner, the Queen's knight and Beatrix's lover. He ran across the hall, huffing and gasping for breath. Beatrix looked at him and then put her palm next to her face.
"I'm sorry for being late, Your Majesty.", he said, still trying to catch a more solid dose of oxygen to his weary lungs. "We are supposed to watch the performance together, isn't it right, Beatrix?"
The woman nodded and then went ahead, still looking for any signs of threat. Suddenly, she felt a heavy weight pushing her to the floor as she turned around. Much to her surprise, she saw a big, four-legged dog with beige fur and large, flaccid tongue. It's black, beady eyes were staring at her as it was making it's advance to attack.
"A Bandersnatch!?", Beatrix yelled, being caught off guard by the monster. "Where are the guards when you need them? Okay... I will deal with you personally."
She was glad that her sword was already unsheathed, so that she didn't to lose any more time. General tightened grip on the hilt of her blade, preparing to be attacked. As she was anticipating it's move and getting into an appropriate stance, a wave of blue energy whooshed across the chamber. It cut the Bandersnatch's backside and once again she heard a whooshing sound followed by familiar voice. "Shock!", the tendrils of magic, sharp as her sword itself, rushed through the space with unimaginable speed slicing Bandersnatch's body in half. Beatrix spun around to see Steiner.
"I sworn to protect you, after all.", Steiner proudly said.
"Then get ready to protect us both. Here they come!"
Two other Bandersnatches stood in front of the dead one's body and growled at the knights. One of them charged at Beatrix, trying to headbutt and then licked her. But, as the monster was making a move, Steiner focused his energy on the sword and then directed it at Bandersnatch. Bright light erupted at the dog, draining it out of it's power. "Climhazzard!", Steiner yelled, sheathing his Excalibur to the side, as well as making the monster explode from heat. After the heatwave subsided, Bandersnatch stood up weakly only to be struck down by Beatrix's sword. As the time passed, the two fought off the monsters, deflecting their attacks. Unfortunately, after the death of one dog, two more kept coming. It was an endless flood of enemies.
"We won't hold them off much longer.", Beatrix said, being exhausted from fighting the monsters.
"We've sworn to protect Alexandria and that is what we are doing. I humbly thank you for your assistance, Beatrix.", Steiner replied making Beatrix blush a bit, as much as she hid it; it was still visible. The two huffed and puffed, taking shallow breaths every now and then. One of the monsters made it's move and headbutted Beatrix's weapon out of her hands. Seeing that, Steiner attempted to run to her side but was knocked over by another Bandersnatch.
"Beatrix! Ugh.", Steiner groaned, being pressed to the floor by the big dog.
Beatrix pinned to the wall as well, without her weapon, braced for the attack. But suddenly, she felt a freezing aura around the chamber. Few inches above the floor lingered a thin cover of ice and snow as the cold breeze shot around the room. It took the monsters' attention from two knights as well. Then in that very moment, three ice spires shot from behind the chamber's doors. They stabbed into Bandersnatches and were stuck in their still lively bodies. The following second, Beatrix heard a bizarre sound, as if someone was snapping their fingers. These ice spires that severely damaged the beasts exploded, tearing them apart.
Steiner and Beatrix could see Garnet behind the door, running to them and dismissing Shiva as well. "Curaga.", Garnet said, bathing Steiner and Beatrix with wave of warm energy, revitalizing them.
"Right in time, my Queen.", Beatrix said with a slight cynicism in her voice.
"There's no time to celebrate now. Look!", Steiner shouted staring at two more Bandersnatches running at them with high speed.
"This is going to take a while.", Garnet exclaimed, sighing at the beasts.
Meanwhile, at an unknown location.
"Hey, come on! We're going to get late! You don't want to be late for your soccer match, do you?", a slim, brown-haired girl yelled at someone. She had green eyes, some freckles around her nose and a black earring of small size clipped into her ear. The clothes she wore consisted of a black crop top with her stomach showing a bit, also her navel piercing was visible because of that. The girl also sported a black mini-skirt over which a silver belt was hung, along with some black leggings and black boots.
She was 17 years old and she was pretty hyper for her age. As she walked down the road, some other person made themselves known about as they replied at her nagging.
"No? We still do have time, you know.", a guy around her age slowly hopped from one leg to the other, following her. He was wearing a denim vest, under a green t-shirt with a lion emblem on it; some brown cargo pants tucked into hiking boots and a handkerchief on his left bicep. On his face rested a pair of glasses.
Then a sound of lightning strike reached ears of them both as they were making their way home from the school. The rain came lashing down at the streets and unfortunately, the two teenagers as well. "Come on, even the weather is telling us to hurry up.", the girl complained.
"Abbie, can you stop whining, please?", the guy sighed and then went ahead.
"I'm entitled to whine as much as I want, when I am in your company, Jerry.", Abbie retorted with a sly smile, "Now come on, we are going to get soaked because of you."
The two hurried back home. "You want some dry clothes?", he said and then gave Abbie his two-sizes-too-large-for-her shirt and she put it on herself as soon as she got it. Then, they marched upstairs to his room and turned on the TV. As Jerry was skipping through the channels, it seemed that everything went blank because of the lightning storm. On every single channel, the black and white dots danced on the screen. "It's pointless.", Abbie said.
"Really? Then maybe we ought to play something?", he replied, looking through his desk and then took out a CD case in which rested a disc named "Final Fantasy IX".
"You are going to play this old game? It's almost 10 years old already."
"Old but gold.", Jerry kept replying to her snarky remarks and put the disc in the station starting it.
"It is going to suck, I assure you. Even playing Call of Duty is better than this.", Abbie whined as always. Jerry grabbed the gamepad and smiled, awaiting the Playstation logo to appear on the screen. As soon as it loaded, the opening music reached their ears, accompanied by thundering sounds outside. Suddenly, a surge of electricity shot through the console and was conducted through to the gamepad, shocking Jerry. He blacked out. "Jerry! Jerry!", Abbie said and took the gamepad to her own hands which resulted in the same. The random bolt of lightning was conducted right to her fingers as she fell lifeless on the floor.
Alexandrian Castle
"Phew. We finally beat those monsters.", Garnet sighed.
"It was no mere feat. They were quite a nuisance, I'd say.", Steiner replied, walking around and resulting in the clanking sound to be resonating all around the chamber.
"I think it was not a coincidence. Someone must have summoned these because they would never pass the guards on their own.", Beatrix pondered as the three of them made their way through the hall, looking if there are other threats around. Whether, it was summoned or not, they wouldn't be taking any chances. Meanwhile, someone else visited the castle...
Alexandrian Castle – Courtyard.
"Hey! Jerry! Wake up!", Jerry's eyes opened slightly to see a blurred figure of Abbie in front of him. "Thank goodness you are okay, I'm scared."
"Scared of what?", he asked clutching his head which probably hurt from all the voltage that traversed across his body. He sat up and looked around, trying to get some control over his eyes. His vision was still hazy as he rubbed his eyes. Then it hit him.
"Whoa.. We are not in our house anymore, are we?", he said widening his eyes at the sight of a small fountain and marble steps that led to the river. Many trees and bushes surrounded the place which made it look like some sort of courtyard. He turned around to see a giant castle made of solid stone with a crystal blade at the top, "I recognize this from somewhere...", he pondered, "I have this on the tip of my tongue... A big castle with a courtyard and river... No way."
Abbie looked at him, still startled from the events that happened. Moon shone above the castle, making everything look more sinister than it was supposed to be. It was scary, but beautiful at the same time. Jerry stared at the castle, seemingly not able to believe his own thoughts.
"Can it be that we are in.. Alexandria?"
"You mean... we are inside that game you were playing?", she looked at him and then unexpectedly burst in a laughter, "I knew you were crazy, but I didn't think you were that idiotic to think that we could teleport inside a gaming disc. So, Mister "We're in Alexandria", what are we going to do now, huh?"
"I think we should enter that building in front of us.", he pointed at the giant castle and then stood up. The next second, he was making small steps to reach the fortress and left Abbie behind. All he could hear was a loud sigh and footsteps becoming louder and louder. Abbie was following him, because she wouldn't be able to do anything alone. Especially in a place that she doesn't know at all. She thought, "What if does have a right? If we are really in a video game? We will be dying here, torn apart by monsters and whatnot."
The pair of teenagers passed through the big doorway and entered a large hall. On the center of the floor lied a red carpet that was long enough to reach the upper floors. In front of them, there was a stairway which was fitting the castle because it was so grandiose. The stairway was splitting halfway, leading either to western or eastern side of the castle. Above the stairs, on the wall there was a picture of a fat lady in a tiara holding a black cat.
"This seems familiar again.", Jerry said, "Of course... It's Brahne. Everything's clear now, we really are in Alexandria.", although being sure of what he just said, Jerry wasn't certain what part of the game they landed in. It could be the time when the first play of "I want to be your Canary" is performed, or worse... they could've landed during Kuja's siege with Bahamut. If that was the case, they would be dead meat.
In spite of the fact, fright took over them, they kept pushing on. Upstairs, they followed where the red carpet took them and found themselves in a spacious room with chairs arranged in rows. In front of them, there was a platform which seemed to be the stage, "Obviously... It is the scene of where Tantalus used to do their performances."
Abbie remained silent. She tried to cope with her own dark visions of their visit in Alexandria. Every place gave her a solid proof, they might be dead by tomorrow or even today. There was no telling when something is going to ambush them. Suddenly, in that moment, the torches above lit up and revealed a huge throne behind the chairs. It was the throne chamber of Alexandrian Queen. Scene lit up as well, once the Queen entered and sat in her place of honor.
"Everything's clear now."
"Huh?", Abbie looked at him with fright in her eyes.
"BRING MY BELOVED DAGGER TO ME!"
Garnet gasped as she looked down on the scene. The caped man standing in front of the audience was her very own. She charged through and reached the doors. Beatrix and Steiner looked at her and smiled, opening the doors for their Queen. She returned the smile and ran across the hall, almost tripping on the stairs. Barging about the doorway, the girl rapidly moved despite being pushed by the crowds. Making her way and pushing the folk, she lost the most precious thing to her. The crystal pendant that allowed her to summon Alexander along with the other three. She held her hands on her chest while pondering. But she decided to put the past behind her and live for the present. Running at the thief, she cried out his name.
"Zidane!"
Garnet threw her golden tiara on the ground and jumped straight to his arms. He just smiled innocently. Garnet hit him a few times out of anger and then sobbed as if there was no tomorrow.
The crowd in the audience stood up, with Abbie and Jerry behind them and began to applaud, during the time Steiner and Beatrix held up Save the Queen high in the air making sunshine reflect off of it.
"Hm...?", an unknown figure looked at the pendant lying down on the street and laughed, "Everything's according to plan. I don't even need to make any efforts.", they exclaimed in a deep voice. A gloved hand reached for the pendant.
Okay, so I think that is the end of chapter one. It was much fun to write it and I think I did even better than the last time. To anyone who reads that, please leave a review with all the criticism and all the praise you can give, so I can improve. If you liked it, your support would be appreciated. Thanks.