CHAPTER 1:

RAT, MONKEY, MAGE, PRINCESS, KNIGHT

The three figures scurried along the rooftops of Alexandria furtively, bathed in the twilight hues of dusk. Two smaller ones and a taller one, with the leading smaller one carrying a ladder. "Are…are you sure we should be doing this?" said the smaller figure, the one not carrying a ladder.

"Look at it this way," the taller figure said in a confident, cocky tone, his footing the surest of the three figures as they dashed across the rooftops. "We are providing a service to the good folks guarding Alexandria Castle. We are making sure that they are aware of holes in their security, if they catch us. Besides, those tickets are ridiculously expensive. Whatever doesn't go into the coffers of Tantalus probably goes towards funding Queen Brahne's banquets. I'd be willing to bet Tantalus gets less of the money than she does. Then again, I heard of what they get up to."

"And what do they get up to?" the ladderless smaller figure asked timidly.

"They call it 'treasure hunting'," the taller figure said, "but they're more of a gang of thieves. Classy ones, though. Some pretty good exploits, too. Apparently they had the stones to break into the King mansion in Treno. Like, literally, the King family apparently used gemstones as keys for their locks."

"Oh," was all the smaller figure had to say.

"We're almost there," the ladder-carrying figure said after a moment's silence. "We must infiltrate the castle in stealth parameters. Don't talk, don't cough, don't so much as fart!"

"Yeah, yeah, Puck, I know the drill," the taller figure said. "Like that time we snuck on board the Hilda Garde."

"And that ended badly, Zidane!" Puck, a short boy with a rat's snout poking out from beneath his fringe, snapped. A tail lashed impatiently.

"Hey, how was I to know that Lady Hilda had gotten pissed off with Regent Cid for having an affair?" Zidane asked. He was a boy in his mid to late teens, wearing blue trousers, a white shirt, and a dark blue waistcoat. A shaggy mop of blonde hair framed a mischievous face, blue semi-feline eyes glinting. A tail poked through a hole in his trousers, though unlike Puck's, who had a rat's tail, Zidane's was like a cat's, or perhaps a monkey's. "At least she landed near Burmecia before evicting us from the airship. She was at least laughing with us about the whole thing, and even gave us pictures of Cid as an Oglop."

"Yeah, but I got grounded by Dad for a month!" Puck retorted. "I had to go through etiquette and diplomacy lessons every day during that time! And you got off lightly!"

"Hey, it was your idea to sneak onto the Hilda Garde," Zidane said. "It is my duty to guard you and make sure you are safe. Anyway, I didn't get off lightly. Had to go through remedial training with Lady Aegis, and she's a hard taskmaster when she puts her mind to it. Seriously, I got beaten black and blue!"

"Cry me a river! At least you got to be outdoors!" Puck retorted. They reached a point where the roofs of Alexandria Town met some scaffolding leading into Alexandria Castle proper, which Puck laid the ladder over as a makeshift bridge. "Okay, you ready, Vivi?" he asked the third member of their little party.

Vivi nodded. He looked rather strange, a small child dressed in green striped trousers, a blue coat, and a pointy hat. Between the hat and the coat, no face was visible, just a sort of solid, absolute darkness, from within a pair of yellow eyes peered out. The effect was surprisingly not sinister, but rather, endearing. And so, the three of them scurried furtively into the castle, albeit not intent on anything more sinister than watching a play. Although Zidane was hoping to get a glimpse of Princess Garnet, who had just turned 16 today, apparently…

Zidane watched as Tantalus played their roles. I Want to Be Your Canary was easily Lord Avon's most popular play, though it wasn't his best in his opinion. It was, after all, effectively an improvisational play, with the same basic story elements: Princess Cornelia, forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Schneider, falls in love with the peasant Marcus. King Leo, a cruel and ambitious man who was greedy for Schneider's kingdom, killed Marcus' parents in order to scare him off, only to inflame Marcus' desire for revenge. There was the treacherous Blank, whose side you could never be quite sure he was on. The play was changed with every performance, with even the starting point into the story changed. Sometimes, Cornelia and Marcus managed to elope. Sometimes, they committed suicide to be together in death. Avon created a number of scenes that theatre companies could mix and match(1).

Even so, he found his mind less on the play, and more on his sister, even with the interesting fight between Blank and Cinna. Well, adopted sister, anyway, but they never treated each other as anything but siblings. Since Freya left Burmecia three years ago, searching for Fratley, Zidane had met her a grand total of five times, twice during his own sojourn to try and find his birthplace. Freya had become a mercenary, but had been glad to meet her baby brother again. She had been less pleased to see that Puck, the Crown Prince of Burmecia, liked to roam abroad himself, though she conceded there were few people better qualified to protect him than Zidane.

Zidane Crescent-Tribal (Zidane Tribal being the name on the note left with him when he was left at the Crescents) sighed quietly. His big sister left Burmecia when Iron-Tail Fratley, a famous Dragon Knight and the man he loved disappeared while on a journey to train. While technically Freya was AWOL from the Burmecian Dragon Knights, the truth was that the King of Burmecia was sympathetic to her plight. Indeed, Freya and Fratley were seen as heroes, and so, were never marked as deserters. And Freya had left Burmecia shortly after the death of her parents…their parents. Zidane was no Burmecian. He had a tail, but he didn't look like an anthropomorphic rat. But he felt Burmecian. His parents had treated him like he was their son, even if he looked like a human with a tail. The King treated him as a Burmecian, as did many others. So he was Burmecian. Even if much of his job entailed babysitting Prince Puck while he wandered the Mist Continent.

Thinking of his sister reminded him of the letter in his waistcoat vest. Yes, he'd have to remember to give it to her once he saw her. It would break her heart, but it was something she needed to read.

He blinked when a trio of figures emerged through trapdoors on the stage, including a girl with a white robe with a red triangular pattern on the edges. He frowned. He had seen Tantalus' plays before, and he knew that their sole female member was Ruby. But this girl was shorter than Ruby, and he thought he could see dark hair beneath the hood of her robe. One of the men who had emerged on stage was a surprise, though: the stocky, armoured form of Adelbert Steiner, the Captain of the Pluto Knights, and Princess Garnet's royal bodyguard. And he looked as shocked to be on stage as Zidane was surprised to see him there.

Whoever the girl in the girl in the hooded robe was, she was a good actress. As she pretended to intercept Marcus' blade and sagged, Zidane heard Vivi sniffing gently in sorrow. He and Puck came across the boy after he had tried to get into the play, only to learn that the ticket (which doubtless cost a lot of Gil from whatever scalper he had bought it from) had been a fake. Puck and Zidane, who intended to sneak in, offered to help him (though Zidane told Puck not to call Vivi 'Slave Number One'). As they got ready to sneak in, Zidane learned from Vivi that he used to live near Treno, in the company of a Qu known as Quan. Quan had died recently, and Vivi had opted to travel to see the play.

Suddenly, there was a shout from nearby. "INTRUDERS!" Zidane whipped his head around, to see a pair of Pluto Knights charging at them. "WHERE'S THE PRINCESS?!" One of them demanded.

"Shit!" Zidane hissed, before grabbing his charges. The nearest escape route, ironically, was onto the stage of Tantalus' theatre-ship, the Prima Vista. They rushed on stage as the characters mourned the deaths of Cornelia and Marcus (the latter of whom had committed suicide for killing his lover).

As the Pluto Knights followed, Vivi yelled, "Don't come any closer!" He then thrust out his hands in desperation, and a ball of flame spat out. The Pluto Knight in the path dodged it, and the Fire spell hit the hood of the girl, who leapt up with a shriek of fright, and flung off the burning robe to reveal no less august a personage than Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII.

Zidane gaped for a moment. It was often said that Garnet was the most beautiful princess Alexandria had ever known, and while he didn't know that for sure, she was certainly very beautiful. Shiny, lustrous black locks of hair framed a gentle face, her dark eyes currently wide in shock. Underneath the robe, she was dressed in orange coveralls and a white shirt. Zidane found it hard to believe that she was related to the rather corpulent Queen Brahne, who even now was staring down at the stage, her shock turning to anger.

"Cinna! Marcus! It's time!" the rotund, pig-nosed Baku, still dressed in his finery as King Leo, snapped. "We've gotta get the hell out of here!"

Cinna nodded, then turned to Garnet. "Princess, better buckle in, it's gonna be a rough ride!"

As the squat, hammer-wielding man retreated backstage, along with his boss, Steiner stared at them all, before demanding, "What is going on?!"

"Steiner!" Garnet said. "I order you not to follow me anymore!"

After a moment's dithering, Steiner scowled. "I'm afraid I cannot comply, Princess! This farce has gone on long enough! Pluto Knights, seize the bandits!"

As the Pluto Knights attacked Marcus, who held them off, Zidane remarked, "For a royal bodyguard, you don't take orders very well."

"Silence!" Steiner snapped. "Who are you to speak of such things? One of this crew?"

Zidane glared at the pompous knight. "I am Sir Zidane Crescent-Tribal of Burmecia, Captain Steiner."

Steiner gaped, and then looked at Puck, his eyes widening in recognition, before he stammered, "What…what are you and your charge doing here, then?"

"Watching a play." Suddenly, the Pluto Knights retreated, Marcus laughing, having scared them off. Then, the theatre-ship rocked, and began to rise. "It seems that we're going for a ride as well," Zidane observed dryly.

"Steiner, who is this?" Garnet asked.

"Sir Zidane Crescent-Tribal of Burmecia," Steiner said, torn between respect and annoyance. "The bodyguard of Prince Puck of Burmecia. A noted troublemaker and crude of speech, but also a fine warrior. It is said that those who rouse his ire find themselves despoiled of everything they own, save for their smallclothes."

"Hey, it was just a couple of times, okay! And those guys were arseholes," Zidane protested.

Steiner shook his head. "It matters not. Sir Zidane, I beseech you, please help me stop this crew!"

"Look, it seems like your princess wants to leave with these guys," Zidane pointed out. Suddenly, the concussive boom of cannons filled the air, and Zidane, his charges underarm, had to dive away as a massive harpoon smashed into the stage. Zidane looked back at Brahne, who looked furious, barking orders at her soldiers. "Is she insane?! She nearly hit her own daughter!"

"Her Majesty is panicking!" Steiner yelled. "She's not thinking clearly!"

Another cannon shot out a shell, that burst open to reveal a Bomb, a burning orb of orange and red with eyes and a fanged mouth. The living explosive leered, and then dived at the stage. Zidane threw Puck and Vivi behind some debris, before pulling Garnet and Steiner behind the same debris, yelling at Marcus "DOWN!" Marcus dove for the wings as the Bomb hit the stage. A massive explosion rocked the Prima Vista.

As the shards of wood ceased raining down around them, Zidane, Steiner, Garnet, Vivi and Puck poked their heads up cautiously, coughing on the smoke. "…You call that a panicked reaction?" Zidane asked as the ship began swaying alarmingly. "She nearly killed us!"

"Fear and panic murders rational thought!" Steiner retorted. "I thank you for your assistance nonetheless."

"Don't thank me yet," Zidane said. The theatre-ship was shaking and swaying. Even as they hit the Mist just outside the plateau Alexandria was perched on, Zidane knew that the theatre-ship was about to crash. "Hold on tight!"

With a great banshee scream, the Prima Vista began plummeting through the Mist, towards a forested area. Like dice hurled by a petulant giant, Zidane and the others were flung out by the swaying ship, smashed into unconsciousness. The last thing Zidane heard before everything went dark was an explosion from the Prima Vista crashing…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

Hope you enjoyed this opening chapter. As with the game, Zidane has the skills of a thief. In fact, he often uses those skills to support himself and Puck while they're travelling. You'll also note that Steiner had heard of him, if only by reputation. Zidane is not as famed as, say, either Freya or Fratley, but he is known for humiliating his opponents, and while his face is not known, he does have a minor reputation. This means that Steiner will be less fractious towards Zidane. Part of the reason for that is that Steiner, in the game, viewed Zidane as nothing more than a thief. Here, in this story, Steiner already has some small respect for Zidane, as they have a similar job description, though he is appalled by Zidane's manners.

By the way, the letter I mentioned? It's important, especially when Zidane and Freya reunite in Lindblum.

There'll be a bit of a time-skip for the next chapter, which will be set after Evil Forest gets petrified.

1. In Amethyst and Garnet, I stated this was my personal fanon, regarding I Want to Be Your Canary. I think of it as an improvisation play, like Commedia del'arte. You've got the characters, the basic story, and some key scenes you can use, but you improvise. Keep in mind that we see very different scenes throughout the two times the play is shown, and Brahne doesn't seem surprised when Cornelia takes the blade for her father, commenting that the play is splendid this year.