Disclaimer: Neither I nor Asirainis own Final Fantasy IX nor it's canon characters. If you do not recognize the character they are OC.
Distant Memory
Disc 1, Part 1
Brahne snapped her fan as she watched the Prima Vista disappear into the distance, her final efforts to stop the abduction of her daughter failing spectacularly. She ordered Zorn and Thorn to retrieve her at all costs. "I need that pendant among other things." She explained. They knew what else she needed from Garnet.
Once she was alone to consider the matter, she called out. "Sir Kuja. I require your assistance."
A man with shoulder-length silver hair, adorned with a few feathers, appeared before her. His violet mantle and white sleeves stood proud on his shoulders. He bowed exaggeratedly yet still managed to come off as servile. "You summoned me my Queen?"
"Yes, how is the project progressing?" Brahne asked first. She always asked for an update.
"It is progressing nicely. I should think you will see the first fruits of your labors by the end of the week," Kuja promised. "But I know that's not why you really summoned me." He remembered a jolt he received earlier in the evening. It was a jolt he was familiar with. Perhaps Brahne would know what it was.
Brahne growled. "Garnet has been...kidnapped...or run away. I don't know which but she took the pendant with her. And her...eidolons. At least you were able to extract the weaker of her summons a few nights ago but I need them all!"
Kuja nodded. "I have three of our toys ready to go. The three special ones you requested. Would you like me to send them out for a ...test run? They could bring back Garnet back."
Brahne agreed. "Yes, let me see what my money has bought me. Go to it Kuja. Succeed and I may purchase yet more of your fine creations."
Kuja bowed and teleported out of the castle and back to his own mansion in Treno. There he pondered the sensation of earlier. Should he seek out its cause? What if it meant him harm? What if it was sent by Garland? What if it was Garland? At the same time, he felt no instinctual sense of urgency.
Alex appeared in the middle of a deep dark forest. It looked nothing like the forest in which their vehicle crashed.
"Mom? Dad?" She called. "Where are you?"
Her head was pounding as though she'd bashed it against a rock and her skin felt hot, a searing hot. Her feet stumbled too and fro. "Mom? Dad? I'm scared." She fell down next to a tree stump bearing a spring. She could make out a small Pom-Pom sticking up from another hollow stump nearby. Darkness took her and she could hear voices. Feeling hands that she couldn't see pulling her but she wasn't moving anywhere. She opened her eyes and she was still laying against the stump. "Mommy...Daddy...I'm scared...where am I?" Darkness once again cloaked her and she fell into a dreamless state. She was vaguely aware of a small creature flying over to her before losing consciousness completely.
Airlia groaned as she awoke. Her body felt like it was on fire, and yet the only thought on her mind was… "Garnet? You okay my princess?"
She felt a gentle gloved hand on her forehead, "Airlia, you shouldn't have tried to shield me from all of that." The princess gently chided her handmaiden who only shook her head.
Standing up, she saw the wreckage, the gaping holes in the wooden floor from where the bombs had struck. Garnet grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the main floor where they could flee the Tantalus. "We need to hurry… We have to get away."
Airlia nodded as her head cleared. However, a young mage came out to see them. "Oh, hello! I'm Vivi, and you are?'
Garnet gave him a friendly smile. "I'm Garnet, and this is my handmaiden Airlia. We were going to see if we could find out way out of this forest. Want to come with us?"
He nodded as his floppy tall hat bobbed with the movement. Airlia knew, dressed in his blue coat and his obscured face, he had to be a mage of sorts. Yet something didn't feel right about him. She knew he was no threat, but he wasn't … Airlia pushed the thought away as they hurried into the forest.
As they walked into the forest, Airlia frowned. "Something's wrong… The forest is angry… no not angry… something worse. We need to get everyone out of here Princess."
Garnet nodded in silent agreement having felt the creeping fear from the forest. However, she screamed when Airlia pushed her out of the way, narrowly avoiding the cage that came around her handmaiden. "Airlia! No!"
Airlia remained unconscious as the plant creature jumped up into the trees. Garnet turned to Vivi, "We have to run. We need to get help to get her back!"
The mysterious mage nodded in agreement as they turned back to go to the Tantalus to find help to recover the woman.
Steiner groaned as he looked through the ship they had been on. His princess was missing and Airlia with her. He cursed his luck that they ducked out of the ship before he could find them and reprimand both of them. Airlia had to be the one who convinced Garnet to leave the palace. He would bring them both back to the palace and Airlia would have to face her punishment.
However, before he could continue his thoughts Garnet came racing through the ship, "Airlia's gone! She's gone!"
Steiner frowned as he halted his princess. "Princess, what do you mean she's gone? Did she run away?"
Garnet's indignant look came first before she slapped him. "How dare you?! She was grabbed! Some plant thing tried to grab me and she pushed me out of the way."
Steiner rubbed his cheek. It didn't hurt, but his pride did. He would have to do better around his princess. "I'm… I'm sorry princess. Let's go look for her."
She nodded as they hurried back towards the ship when the sandy blond came from around the corner. "Well I'm going with you. None of you are experienced in this forest. We will have to work fast to find her."
Before Steiner could interject an objection, Garnet nodded. "That's a good idea. I'm Garnet."
He smiled as he tapped his chest with his thumb, "I'm Zidane. Now does Rusty have a name?"
The knight growled as he put a hand on his sword. "Rusty?! Why I am Steiner, leader of the Knights of Pluto. You, knave will be punished when Garnet is returned home."
Garnet silenced Steiner as the mage gave a small look at Zidane. "Mr. Zidane, I'm Vivi. We'll take you to where Airlia was grabbed. Can you help us find her?"
Zidane nodded, seeing the plea in her eyes. He knew instantly the moment he looked into the cute girl's face that he wouldn't refuse the princess.
They quickly left the forest, heading for the site where the princess had seen the handmaiden get grabbed by the strange creature. Frowning, he saw tracks. "C'mon guys. I know where this thing is heading."
Following the tracks, he stopped, puzzled when the tracks just ceased. Looking around, they found a grassy area with a young woman - badly injured - on the ground. Garnet cried out as she ran to the girl and brushed some of the brown hair away from her face. "It's not Airlia, but she is badly hurt. Zidane, is there a source of water near by? We can't go back to the Tantalus to treat her wounds."
He nodded, "Yeah, there's an oasis nearby. Rusty, would you kindly carry her?"
Steiner growled but before he could say anything, Garnet spoke up. "She may have seen the creature with Airlia. Please Steiner. Zidane is our resident tracker right now and he needs full mobility."
The man snorted in distaste before picking up the unusual woman. Her long blue gown draping over his right arm while his left held her upper torso and head. He tried to make sure she wouldn't be jarred as Zidane showed them to the oasis that was only two minutes nearby.
When they arrived, Steiner laid her on the ground while Garnet took out a cloth and soaked it in the water. She had to clean the wounds to heal the injuries.
A little while later; the strange woman felt water being splashed gently on her face, a piece of cloth wiping along her. She felt a sticky, tacky liquid now on the side of her forehead. She opened her eyes slowly and groaned.
"Good, she's waking up, I think she'll be okay," a female voice said, relief in her tone.
"Be wary Princess," another voice, a male's, warned. "Who knows if she's not really some disguised monster."
"Shut up Rusty," a sardonic, teenaged boy said. "But she looks a lot like you Garnet."
Alex's eyes snapped fully open at the name 'Garnet.' She looked into what had to be a mirror. "You...you're Garnet Til Alexandros, Princess of Alexandria!" She said softly, yet unpleasantly excited. She looked around slowly. "Zidane...Steiner...Vivi?" How...where am I? What happened to me? Ohhhh…" she moaned.
"Hey, how do you know who we are?" Steiner asked. "Who are you?" He drew his sword, ready to cut down this girl who dared to look like the princess.
Garnet stopped him. "Steiner stop it. She's hurt and probably scared."
Alex trembled as she fought to figure out what had happened. "That's right! My dad crashed the car! I must be unconscious and this is a dream..." She whispered to herself. "It's all a dream." And that's why she felt like every bone in her body had been broken at once then healed.
"Are you okay?" The little boy Mage asked her shyly.
Alexandra let her conclusions sink in and nodded. "Yeah...ummm...I'm Alex."
Steiner was skeptical. "Alex is no name for a girl."
Alex looked at the captain with a disapproving look. "It is when it's short for Alexandra."
Garnet found the name similar but Alexandra was a fairly common name. "How did you know all our names? I guess mine I understand because I am the princess of Alexandria but..."
Alex shrugged. "Because I'm dreaming. Of course I know your names. But something's different. You're supposed to be a prisoner of the big plant monster at the center of this forest. But I guess dreams don't always have to make sense do they?"
Garnet sighed heavily, "Airlia, where are you… you'd better be okay."
The strange woman shrugged, "Who's Airlia? I know all of you, but that's a new name to me."
The princess shook her head, "My handmaiden. She tried to protect me from the impact of the ship crashing, then we tried to find out way out. She got grabbed by some plant trying to protect me... I'm worried."
The sandy blond teen sighed. "Don't worry about a thing Princess! I promised I'd help you find her." He jabbed his thumb at himself in pride.
The knight jumped up and down furiously. "You will not. We need to return to the castle immediately princess!"
The woman dressed in orange slammed her foot down. "Steiner! We are not leaving Airlia to die out there!"
The group gathered together as they started following the path ahead, eyes open wide to find the missing woman. Steiner growled low as he heard something and reached for his sword. Unsheathing it, he saw a strange brown plant creature with a cage and an unconscious Airlia laying there. "Foul creature! I demand you release her immediately!"
Alex frowned, "Like that's going to work Rusty!" She wanted to help but she didn't know how. It would be different if she had a controller in her hand.
Steiner shot a glare at the strange girl. "Watch it woman." He lept at the plant cage and swiped his sword.
The Plant Cage dodged and ran away deeper into the forest. Garnet's eyes watered in worry for her friend. Zidane frowned, "Way to go Rusty. We have to corner it, so that we can free that girl… Airlia." He recalled the name that Garnet had mentioned and seeing the reaction, it had to be her.
Alex went as fast as her weak legs could go. "Come on, don't just sit there. It's this way!"
Zidane looked at her as she fell to her knees. "I don't know what happened to you but you're too hurt to lead the way. Garnet, can you stay with her. We'll save your friend, I promise. Won't we Rusty?"
Garnet nodded as she focused on her powers. She had long known of them, and worked in secret to develop it. To her, they had to be a gift to be used only when necessary. and yet she never knew when her people might need to be healed.
"Just follow the path, it'll take you to a nearby cave. There's a giant pink plant there. Wear silk shirts if you have them," Alex panted. After they left, she looked at Garnet. "And we can't stay here. We have to get out of this forest." She fought to her feet again.
Garnet nodded warily as they followed the men through the forest. Something about the girl was familiar, and yet different… Still, as she sent another wave of the weak healing magic over the girl, it had to be enough.
Zidane, along with Vivi and Steiner raced through the forest and found the cave that she had spoken of. They saw the brown plant join with the pink blossom and Zidane frowned. "She was right." He unsheathed his twin daggers. "Vivi, can you and Steiner burn that thing while I steal those two things I see it hiding?"
Vivi nodded tremblingly. This was a big plant. He focused on the power deep inside him. He only had cause to seriously use it a few times before, all of them coinciding with this...incident. "Fire!"
While the Plant Brain writhed in pain, Zidane sprinted forward and grabbed the shiny helmet. Garnet looked at her friend, trapped still in the cage. "Steiner, go after the cage! Cut her free!"
He nodded as he rushed the cage and slashed it open. Grabbing the woman, he fled back to the group as Garnet saw her pale face. "Oh Airlia…"
Zidane growled darkly, he didn't like seeing a pretty girl cry, and the pain the other woman was in made him angry. The depth of his emotions grew until he began to glow brightly. His adrenaline was pumping through his body rapidly as he sped back at the creature and grabbed the last item. A small vile of eye drops. Pocketing it, he slashed at the pink flower.
Plant Brain screeched and loosed a storm of lightning over the combatants. Vivi countered with yet another fireball. Plant Brain was both angry and confused and scared. All it wanted was its daily meal. It didn't ask much.
"Hey guys, need some help," a voice said as red-headed Blank joined the fray.
Zidane panted. He had never been more happy to see his brother. "You never could resist a good butt-kicking."
Blank dashed forward and cut deep into the plant, aiming for it's root. "It's a plant. Destroy the root and it's dead." He explained.
Vivi nodded in acknowledgement and aimed his next fire-ball at the root. "Fire!" The fire burned, going deep to completely turn the root to ash. Plant Brain screamed a death knell and fell backwards. Vivi drew near to the dead body. "I don't like killing monsters…" He said simply.
Zidane grabbed Vivi back. "Get away from there! Something's coming out of it!" And he was right. Hundreds of little red plants were coming out of the dead plant's body, as if being born. "Blank, get them out of here, I'll…"
Blank shook his head. "No, you get them out of here. I'll hold them off. You're faster and more 're survival is assured with you." He pulled out a rolled up map. Hidden within was a bottle. "My Special Medicine is in there. Make sure every everyone takes a dose."
Zidane took the map. "Be careful. Come on Vivi, let's get out of here!"
The group fled as Steiner held the weakened Airlia in his arms. She had yet to regain consciousness. Zidane had picked up the strange woman who had yet to really recover from her injuries fully. However, as Vivi turned his head to the side, he saw something strange. "Guys, we need to run faster! The forest… it's turning… it's turning to stone!"
Zidane didn't need any further prompting as the group continued to flee from the forest as vines came alive, trying to stop them in their quest to run. Steiner as he felt the weight of his heavy armor with the unconscious Airlia, he cursed his luck just the one time, the only time in his life. They hurtled themselves through the entrance of the forest as Zidane turned in horror to see his friend was on their heels, but the vines had caught him, turning him to stone as Zidane screamed. He tried to go back for him but knew it was too late. Blank had known what he was doing sending him on ahead.
"Blank!" He felt something strange inside him. Was it grief? No, he had to trust that he could one day get Blank out of there. "Blank..."
Zidane pitched the tent while Vivi gathered firewood and practiced his magic to light it. Steiner stood guard while Garnet practiced her healing magic over the two girls.
Airlia surprisingly woke first. "Princess..."
Garnet gave her a watery smile. "Don't you ever worry me again like that Airlia! I was so afraid you'd die."
The brunette shook her head, "My apologies princess. I just couldn't let it touch you."
Airlia turned her attention to the fallen woman and gaped at the wounds that were slowly healing. "What happened to her?"
The mage shook his head, "We don't know. She was like this when we first met her. It must have been something… something horrible."
Airlia nodded as she turned to Steiner. "I'm sorry Steiner, for my additional weight. It's just something's changed with the queen. Garnet didn't feel safe there any longer. Especially since she cut off contact with Cid from Lindblum. So we wanted to look into what's going on. Then there's the strange jesters that had been coming around the castle."
Steiner shook his head. "Those Jesters are Zorn and Thorn. Her Majesty trusts them and I trust Her Majesty. Your fears are unfounded but I will help you to talk to Her Majesty when we return so we can lay these fears to rest." He explained.
Zidane pulled out a bottle. "Here Airlia. I'm Zidane. My friend Blank felt we may have been poisoned by the things in that forest. Everyone else has already had a drink except you and this girl here."
Garnet encouraged Airlia. "It doesn't taste good but you need to take it Airlia. Please?"
Airlia nodded as she accepted the bottle and took a small dose of it. She shuddered as it went down, resisting the urge to gag. She closed the bottle and gave it back to Zidane before frowning. "Where is your friend so I may thank him Zidane?"
He frowned as he pointed back at the evil forest, which was now turned to stone. "He was turned to stone while we were fleeing."
Airlia frowned, "We will have to find a way to turn him back to normal." She turned to the girl, "So who is she? Why does she look like the princess?"
"We don't know," Garnet said. "She said her name was Alexandra. Do you really think she looks like me?"
Steiner shook his head in denial. "Of course not Princess. You are a one of a kind."
Zidane rolled his eyes. "Rusty, what are you talking about? She looks like she could be her twin."
Moaning signaled the girl was finally regaining consciousness. She frowned. Alex looked at her arms, then down at her chest. She'd felt a terrible jolt before waking up against her chest. She looked around her and seemed surprised again to see them. The surprise became a mix of disappointment and uncertainty.
"Did we get out?" she asked finally. "Did I pass out again…"
Zidane nodded, "Yeah, but who are you? How did you know all of that from while we were in the forest?"
Airlia frowned, "What do you mean… What all did she know in the forest?"
Alex quickly ran through reasoning in her head. If I tell them this is all from a video game, they won't believe me. Do dreams know when they are dreams? "I am descended from a long line of seers. I had a vision that something was about to happen and was trying to get to Castle Alexandria to warn the Queen."
Steiner's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe your story. I believe you were behind all of it! I think we should…" he drew his sword and Alex shrunk back out of habit.
Airlia glared as she drew her own blade to counter his. "You will not touch her. Remember the code of the Knights of Pluto. Thou shall not strike an unarmed person. She is no threat to the princess nor the queen. And if she saw something important, it may line up with what our own feelings have been. But it's not safe to talk here. We should hurry onwards to a safer location from here. I… I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."
"Alexandra," Alex replied. "But you can call me Alex. All my friends do. What's your name?"
Airlia nodded, "I'm the handmaiden to the princess, Airlia. I feel something familiar in you, but I can't place it. However, you say you're a seer. So I will protect you as I protect the princess until you are able to protect yourself."
Alex smiled. Maybe she didn't know Airlia, but she had a feeling they would be good friends. "So, should we rest for the night before we continue?"
Zidane looked around. "I think that would be smart. Traveling tired would be like hanging Eat Me signs around our necks."
Steiner shook his head. "We must get out of this mist at once. Before we are set upon by herds of vicious monsters!"
"The blonde has the better plan, I think," Alex said, having none of his crap. "If you are worried, you should just stand guard. Some us are recovering from serious injury."
Airlia sighed heavily. "I agree. I have a bottle of special liquid that I was told would help keep monsters of mist away at night. It may not be much, and should only be used sparingly. It was quite rare and fairly pricey."
Zidane nodded as he set up a tent for everyone to rest under. Airlia took the bottle of light blue liquid and just lightly applied her finger to the opening, and as if it were perfume, flicked her finger in each of the major directions. "That should be enough to keep us safe for the night. In the morning, we hike."
Alex groaned at the word 'hike' and looked down at her feet with a sigh. The next day was going to suck. Assuming the dream hadn't come to an end by then. She laid down, trembling to herself. Were her mother and father alright? And why did she like this world so much better.
AN: So is this all really a dream? Or is it something more? Where will we go next? Ice Cavern perhaps? Will this play out exactly like the game or will we break canon like I so like to do? Keep reading and find out. REVIEW!
