The faint glow of the morning sun shone upon the Kingdom of Alexandria. The young queen slept beneath the white silk sheets of her bed. As the sun's rays fill the room, Queen Garnet's eyes slowly flutter open. Her sleepy smile soon fades as she sees the bed's other occupant missing. She sits up, scanning the room for her lover, only to find that she was alone in her bedroom. She brings her hands down onto the bed in frustration. "Zidane Tribal, where are you?"

Zidane had already begun to creep through the castle, keeping an eye out for any guards who were making rounds around the castle. "So far so good…" he said to himself. Zidane had only taken a few steps along the upper floor of the main hallway when the clanking of armor was heard, heading towards him. "Great, the last thing I need is to deal with Rusty." He quickly dashed into the large dining room; his back to one of the support beams as the clanking began to fade out of earshot.

"Heh, I still got it." Zidane braged to himself.

"Zidane?" asked a familiar voice.

Zidane jumped, turning around to see a squat figure, a large pink tongue hung out of its mouth. "Zidane, what you doing in here?" Quina asked with his/her usual cheerfulness.

"Oh, hey Quina." Zidane scratched his head. "I, uh, came here to grab a bit to eat."

"You want tasty meal? I cook something good for you." Quina offered. "What I make you?"

"Uhhh, how about your specialty?"

"You want delicious frog stew?" Quina asked energetically.

"Yeah, that." Zidane reluctantly agreed.

"Okay, I go make stew. You wait here." Quina complied, turning around and entering the kitchen. Zidane sighed, having avoided getting caught by anyone wise enough to know Zidane was leaving again.

"Sorry Quina," he apologized, though Quina had already left, "but this is important." Zidane slipped out of the dinning room and continued to head towards the docks.

Meanwhile, Garnet had gotten into her royal dress and had sat down at her table in her room. The bedroom door opened, and a young woman with dirty blonde hair and a metal headband covering her right eye entered the room. "Good morning my queen." Beatrix said with a bow.

"Please Beatrix, there's no need to be so formal." Garnet kindly said to her general.

"Very well." Beatrix agreed with a smile. She looked around the room. "Where is Zidane?"

Garnet crossed her arms. "I wish I knew."

"Shall I have my troops look for him?" Beatrix offered.

"I would appreciate it. Would you have Steiner also look for him?"

"He is off patrolling the castle," Beatrix said, "but if I see him, or any of his Knights of Pluto, I will inform them to search for our runaway."

"Thank you Beatrix." said Garnet with a nod.

Zidane had managed to slip past the soldiers wandering about the castle and make his way to the docks. At the end of the stone bridge, Zidane saw a man his age, seemingly sewn together, with a large leather band on his head.

"You're late." complained the man.

"Heheh, sorry Blank, you wouldn't believe how busy this place can be." Zidane apologized.

"You ready to go?" Blank asked, his arms crossed, leaning against the stone archway.

"Yeah, let's get out of her before someone sees us."

"It's a good thing Cid let us keep the Blue Narciss, just wish he hadn't messed with it." Blank laments, remembering how parts of the Blue Narciss were used to make the Hilda Garde III.

"Hey, it runs," Zidane retorted, "that's all I care about."

The two began to walk down the stairs as a large man in armor watched them from a distance.

"Is that Zidane?" Steiner ponders to himself. "What is he doing here, and with that friend of his no less." He puts his hand to his chin, tilting his head upward, his mind wandering. "Wait, are they going somewhere?" He begins jumping up and down, his armor clanking about as he did. "How dare he abandon the Queen yet again!" Steiner began to run towards the now departing ship. "Someone stop that ship!" Steiner ordered, but the two thieves had already set sail, riding out into the ocean…