Chapter 7 PEWAT
Right off the bat I'm going to thank those of you who keep coming back for more. You're the ones who make it all worth while writing this thing. Thank you to: KurosawaSae, MysticSpiritus, Tony WildRiver, definitely my wonderful beta Undeniable Mystique, and Love at Last Sight. I know it's been short so far, but I'm just glad that I have people who enjoy it and keep coming back for more. You make me happy. D
Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX. Unfortunately I have no remotely witty quip to add to that. Because I'm not remotely witty. Sad Face Oh well. Time to read, yes? This was a quick update. I hope you're happy, and your happiness leads you to reviewing
Queen Garnet Til Alexandros XVII strolled through the meadows high atop of the plateaus of Alexandria. Her walnut locks flowing in the breeze, the grass bowing with the wind as if in honor to the Queen. Her mind was full of thoughts not in her own voice. It was a small voice, a large voice, a far off voice, a very near voice. So many things that had been said, and in all probability were being said, by other people, and the voices kept flickering through her mind.
Would she really abandon her kingdom? Who would rule in her absence? Who would know how to find her? What had led her out into the wilderness? Why was she doing this? Where was she even going?
Dagger sighed as the questions were repeated over and over inside of her. She had wandered for nearly a full day. She guessed she had traveled a minimum of fifteen miles so far. The sun was low in the sky, threatening to disappear below the peaks of the mountains not too far off. She hadn't prepared for the trip. She'd left her Whale Whisker within the confines of her room, and the only magical amplification item she had on at the moment was the Mage's Cloak.
Sure, she could use simple healing spells and summon Eidolons without a rod or a racket but it always worked so much better with one. She could do it all so much more easily without focusing on what she wanted to happen.
She mentally kicked herself for rushing out so quickly without such a vital tool. She wasn't worried about monsters; the monsters near Alexandria were all such weak things. She hardly considered them a threat. However, she did worry about bandits, thieves, gangs. Sky pirates. They had become much more prevalent during the reconstruction era of all the major nations. They had a strong presence in the mountains of Alexandria, and most were based out of Lindblum.
This new breed of scum would buy a ship legitimately, then soar across the world in the new-fangled steam driven airships. In these hard economic times any means of generating profit that would go straight to the reconstruction of a kingdom was better than nothing. The Lindblum Air Authority gladly handed out ships for large sums that could rebuild entire city blocks. They had no idea their brash actions would cause such dire consequences. More of a nuisance really, the Lindblum Airforce could easily defend against any attacks.
However civilian airships had a much harder problem with defending against the new threat. The citizens were outraged that these hooligans would be allowed free reign. Lindblum had to up security measures along trade routes and jet-streams. However, the pirates just moved their activities to other nations, even other continents. Despite the good relations between all three nations in these new and historic times, Lindblum had no jurisdiction to enforce its law and rules on pirate ships that jumped the border, and completely ignored the rules of the North and South Gates.
Early into the new threat Alexandria was nearly powerless to enforce any type of law on these people who thought they were above the law. Arrests had been made, threats too, and through the use of their small number of ships the Alexandrians were able to protect the main points of interests for the pirates. However they couldn't defend every location and every route. Now, after ordering nearly three dozen ships from Lindblum the Alexandrians built new, larger airship docks, and awaited the arrival of the airships and the day in which they could defend themselves against these terrorists who stood by no nation.
It was in these rural and isolated locales that pirates would set up camps, shanties, or simply landed in makeshift docks high in the mountains. It was in that precise type of location that Garnet was in now that these pirates survived, and it was these pirates that presented the only conceivable threat to the Queen, and the only one that really, truly, worried her.
She could scare them off with a show of force, Bahamut, of course, could do the job, but she could only do that so many times, and without a stock of ethers, and no tents to rest in, she decided the use of a devil like Ifrit was a much better idea.
Dagger looked around her surroundings. She knew the horizon was ten miles away, Zidane had offered her that small nugget of information. He was full of such things. She could always gauge distance and time of travel to their next destination when they moved on foot. She looked back and could make out the very tip of the Alexandrian Sword poking over the horizon, the color of the sun and sky burned the sword red-hot.
She turned from her kingdom and made off for the mountains, night would quickly be falling, the mountains offered protection from the elements, for both her, and others. She had enough light left, and time. She could be five hundred feet up the mountains by the time night had finally settled. She decided all she needed to do was find a cave, maybe some fallen trees to lie under. She had no qualms about it. In order to keep herself strong, healthy, and aware she would do whatever necessary: sleep anywhere, eat anything, (nothing poisonous, of course), go anywhere. She would do anything it took. Her resolve to find Zidane surpassed her want to destroy Necron two years previously.
The mountains were very near now. The rocky behemoths rose above the landscape as she walked closer and their bases came within view over the horizon. She gauged she was ten miles off. Maybe another hour walking at this pace she would be there before it got too cold.
Her journey continued uneventfully. She made an attempt at keeping herself occupied by summoning small charms between her hands. Pocket sized entertainment in the palm of her hand. It did very little to end the repetition. She was very bored. She had the will and the determination, and she would do everything in her power to find Zidane, but the journey away from Alexandria and to the mountains seemed like it would take years. It was just monotonous. One foot in the front of the other, over and over, nothing ever changed at this stage in the game.
Game. She let out a noise that sounded like a combination between a sigh and a small chuckle. She repeated the word in her head. Game. This was no game. Abandoning her throne was not some maneuver that would award her several points and put her in the lead; neither was rappelling down a wall using a tapestry; nor was sprinting across rooftops. In all seriousness, this was as far from a game as anything she had ever done had come. If Zidane was still alive, his very life could hang in the balance, if he was not…well…then her own life could hang in the balance.
Dagger did not want proof. She didn't want evidence of his survival, nor of his death. She wanted to find Zidane, be it in death or life. She wanted either to live with him happily until their own ends came, or she would find his body, and put him to rest; maybe then, she could rest as well.
The sobering thoughts took hold of Dagger, she drew a deep breath and looked toward the sky as it grew darker. The streaks of red, orange, and gold pulling back behind the mountains, on the other side was the deep blue, quickly turning black, billions of stars like pinpricks in a black blanket letting the light in. Now the moon and Terra began rising into the sky too, from below the horizon, below the cliffs the two rose higher into the sky.
Finally, she was within running distance of the base of the mountains, where she stood now the foothills began sloping up to meet the cracked and rocky bases. She walked a few steps up the hill then turned and sat down.
She pulled the cloak's hood down and allowed herself to take in the magnitude of the beauty of the night sky. She laid back and watched the stars, countless in number near the horizon, but thinning as she looked straight up, where the sky was still a dim salmon color.
They wouldn't be this vibrant for long. Once the planets caught the glow of the Sun and reflected it back twice as strong, they would outshine the lights of the stars, galaxies and nebulas hanging so high above her head.
Dagger drew another deep breath and continued resting for a while. A look of disappointment came to her face; she realized she couldn't stay here forever. She stood up and continued back up the hills. She kept on her way, finally grass met rock and she was climbing the mountains, she looked around and quickly found a large gaping black hole a few hundred feet up and to her right.
She decided it was there that she would spend her first night away from a castle, or a palace, in two years. She smiled at the thought. Again memories filled her head. She felt as though she was trying to live in the past, and she honestly wished she did. She had wished for her adventures and travels never to end. Never in her entire life had she been as happy as when she had traveled with her friends. Nothing since then had ever compared to that happiness.
Now all she felt were sorrow, and coldness, where happiness, warmth, and a feeling of contentment had once rested. Sure, the world had been on the brink of oblivion but she didn't mind. Call it selfish, but she was happier then than ever before or after.
She was soon at the entrance of the cave; she cast a small charm between her hands and used its glow to light her way. She continued slowly into the cave, cautious as to what she might find. She traveled a mere fifty feet and found a bed of moss. She thought it strange.
How could moss grow in such a place? She quickly accredited it to the dampness. It was not lichen, it was soft; it was certainly moss. It was thick, she guessed it grew between the cracks in the floor of the cave, and gathered its sunlight early in the morning when the sun would undoubtedly pour into the opening in the wall of mountains.
Dagger pulled her cloak off and balled it up; a makeshift pillow. She sat on the moss, a sad expression played on her face. If anyone had seen her at this moment it would be obvious she was thinking about Zidane.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away and laid her head down to sleep.
XxX
Dagger was startled by voices in the darkness. She had been sleeping peacefully on the bed of moss, it was surprisingly soft.
"C'mon, Dagger, get up it's time to go!" The voice called happily.
"You fool! Leave the Princess alone! She'll make ready when she pleases!"
"Geez Rusty, bust a friggen hinge, I just wanna get going." The voice replied.
"Gah! If it wasn't for the Prin—"
"It's all right, Steiner, I'm awake." Dagger said, opening her eyes and rising up.
"Daggerrrr! Wake up!" the voice seemed a little annoyed now.
"I just said I'm aw—"
"I told you to leave her alone! She's obviously exhausted from yesterday's battles! Now leave her be!"
"Steiner, be quiet, I said I'm awake. We can get go—"
"She can't sleep now! We have to get to Kuja's hide out! For all we know he might be leaving right now! We have to catch up! She has to wake up!"
"What are you talking about?" Dagger asked, "Kuja's dead. His palace is destroyed. And I am awake!"
"I understand that, you hooligan, but if our healer is not up to the challenge then we had better let her rest so that when the time comes she can heal us properly!"
"I'm already awake!" She stated angrily.
"Wake up, already!" Zidane raised his voice, looking at her knees, "Fine! I'll just carry her for now then!" The voice called back.
"Don't you dare touch the Princess! It's not right! You're unfit to handle such a person of power!"
"Watch me." Zidane raised his eyebrows and walked over to her.
She watched as Zidane walked toward her, her chest swelling with excitement.
He bent down and stood up, holding a slightly younger looking version of Dagger. Realization hit her like a hammer blow. She clenched her jaw and her eyes stung. She watched as the three disappeared into a newly forming darkness, a black mist that began raining down, dissolving the simple, yet beautiful scene.
"I said wake up!"
This time a new voice called out, one she had never heard before. She looked around in the darkness but could not find the source of the voice.
"Quit talkin' in yer sleep, get offa mah bed and wake up!" The old voice demanded.
"Where are you?" Dagger asked sleepily, "I can't see you..."
"Try openin' yer eyes, darlin'. That might help some." The irritated old voice told her.
Dagger opened her eyes and blinked stupidly, as though it were the first time she had ever used them.
The person from whom the voice emanated was a very old woman. Her face inches from Garnet's. Garnet was startled and jumped to her feet and backed against the wall.
The woman was pathetically small. Her hunched back only diminished her already negligible height. Her head rose to just below Dagger's bosom.
She wore a patched red smock, her grey hair tied up in a tight bun high on the back of her head. Her face was tight, it looked as if she had just eaten something sour, but there was a kindness to it. Her pants were of wool, thick, soft, and obviously warm. The pants were overlarge for her small frame and rested on the tops of her small, bare feet.
"Who are you?" Garnet asked, a little less afraid of the frail woman.
"That's not importan'. You haven' got much time left, dear." She said, now on her knees, brushing away at the moss as if cleansing it of some unseen filth. The woman spoke with a broken English accent. She'd obviously lived here many years.
"What are you talking about?" she asked her.
"Evereh day he spends there his chances of survival lessen." She said, continuing to brush at the moss, and pushing the cloak to Dagger's feet.
"What do you mean? How do you even know what I'm looking for?" Garnet asked, stooping for the cloak, "and who the hell are you?" she asked, becoming annoyed as her questions continued to be ignored.
"I said it buhfore. I ain't no one importan'. Ya've gotta get goin' though, do ya haff transpertation?"
"Wha—? No, I haven't any means of transportation. I'm on foot at the moment. Why should it even matter?" she replied.
The woman seemed surprised at this, "Ya made et here fairleh fast then. By any means, ya mus' get goin' now. Not much time remains. 'e says the portal will close soon, ya've gotta 'bout a week, maybe less." She said, now pushing the girl out of the cave.
Dagger's boots skidded across the ground as the woman used strength uncharacteristic of her size, "Wait, wait, what are you talking about? Who said the portal will close soon? What portal?!" Dagger was becoming annoyed, none of her questions were being answered by this woman who assumed she knew everything she was speaking about.
"What'd'ya mean, 'who? and wha' portal?'. The portal in the Iifa tree! How else do ya think all o' you were brought back from Memoria?" She stated matter-of-factly, as if it should be common knowledge.
"What? How do you know about Memoria?" Dagger was becoming increasingly confused. She'd finally gotten one answer from the woman but it had only lead to more questions. She had to restrain herself from striking the old woman across her pruny face, "Where does the portal lead, and why is it closing now?"
"The portal! C'mon! Ya've been there! Portal takes ya ta Terra! C'mon girl, have ya any brains in that skull o' yours or is it just filled with pretty hair?" The woman snapped, "He's been tryin' to get in contact with ya for ages, ya've only just realized it now! The remainin' power o' the Iifa Tree is dying. It'll be gone soon, and 'e'll be lost fore'er."
Dagger growled in frustration, "Who," she emphasized the word by shaking her hands, "has been trying to contact me?" She asked the woman, her brow furrowed.
The woman just gave her a surprised and quizzical look, as though the answer should be obvious.
Dagger groaned again, "Fine! Ya know what? If you won't answer my questions, then I'm gone. Sorry about sleeping in your bed, thank you for your hospitality. Goodbye!" She said, marching from the cave in anger, and pulling the cloak on as she left.
She made it to the entrance, jumped off the ledge to the right and began her way up the mountain. It was early morning. Very early. Dagger looked at the position of the sun in the sky and guessed it was around 6 or 7 am, and the sun was to her back.
She continued climbing, the conversation replaying in her mind. The same burning question asked over and over again.
"Who?" She said it out loud. None of it made sense. The woman was obviously senile. She must have mistaken her for someone else. But how did she know about Memoria? And the Iifa Tree? There was no possible way this old hermit who lived in a cave knew anything about it, or had ever seen either of them. It was lunacy.
But who? The question captivated Dagger, it was as if the answer hung in the air before her and forced her to climb the mountain to find the answer. She continued after it, this burning shadow of an answer. Something so tantalizingly close, yet unattainable, unreachable.
It had no substance. Maybe the question didn't either. Furthermore, maybe the answer lacked substance as well; in all likeliness it probably lacked anything that would actually help her on her way. She drew her mouth in annoyance. She decided the woman was simply nuts. What she spoke of meant nothing. Yet the question sat at the back of her head, nagging and begging for an answer.
"Who?" existed so that the answer could be gained. Without the answer, it was just an annoyance. It seemed like it should have been simple. That stupid woman, withholding such things from her. What was the point in even saying anything if she would not give Dagger the answers?
A shadow covered Garnet, making her cold. She shivered in the lack of light. She looked behind her to see the sun there, the light burning her eyes.
But how could that be? How could a shadow now cover her? It made no sense. She looked up to see a silhouette of a man. She yelped and quickly looked down.
You're not there, you're not there. She quickly thought to herself. Just leave me alone! I promise I'm coming for you! Just leave me be I'll find you soon! She kept her eyes locked on the ground and she continued to climb.
The shadow did not dissipate, and she chanced another look at it. The silhouette stood there, hands on hips, below that, odd boxy pants.
Dagger bit her lip and looked back down. Leave, just leave. I swear I'll come get you, just leave for now, I can't stand it when you do this to me!
The shadow did not budge from his position, even as she moved up the mountain his shadow continued to stay on her. Then, it seemed to be moving. No longer a motionless sentinel. She looked up to see it waving its arm, beckoning her to him.
At this she climbed just a bit faster, she was scared even terrified. Was this really him?
Who?
Understanding dawned on her.
Who?
Who else? Of course he had! He'd done the same with her! Never noticed it until now? Had he attempted other times? She looked back up to see him missing. Her eyes widened. No! Why had he done it again?!
She then noticed movement off to her left. This time he was further down the mountain, yet somehow the bright light was still behind him, and he still beckoned for her. She changed course and began charging up the steepening mountain.
She slipped on a bit of a grit and she slammed her knee and shin into large rocks.
"Ah!" she yelped in pain, but continued up the mountain. Again she looked to her left to see if he was still there, yet again he had gone missing. Again the shadow covered her, and she looked to the apex of the mountain where he stood. Now using both hands to call her toward him. She was so near to him, she looked right at him, and he stood there, even calling to him. It was surreal.
She could hardly believe her eyes. Soon she was a mere twenty feet from him. Her lungs burned and her muscles screamed for her to stop, but she couldn't. She had to reach him. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she charged up. She kept in mind, that with each agonizing step she took, she was closer to an answer.
She finally did it.
She stood in front him, his silhouette darker than before, and the light behind him brighter than ever. She side stepped him and looked behind, but there was no bright light. She turned and looked at him for what he was.
Garnet gasped and ran to him trying to grab him, but only swiping through the misty figure.
He took a step back, and she took in the sight of her beloved. He was bleeding from multiple gouges in his midsection, where his vest was torn. A large black gaping hole in his right shoulder where it looked like a large spear had penetrated. His face was bruised, and he had a large scrape along his left cheek.
Dagger gasped, her breath stuck in her throat. Her jaw trembled as she tried to reach out to him again, but he took another step back and pointed with his right arm to the north east, out to sea.
Dagger began sobbing uncontrollably at the sight of Zidane, so badly broken, bruised, and bleeding. It appeared his left arm was broken, his fingers too. When he had left he looked perfectly fine. She couldn't understand what had happened to him.
She fell to her knees crying on the soft grass that grew here on the plateau at this height. She couldn't bear the sight of him like this. She closed her eyes to him, and she felt a warmness overcome her, and a tingle on her cheek. She brushed it away and looked back up at the wounded hero who held a misty hand to her face. He gave her a sad smile, and again pointed out to sea. Garnet rubbed her eyes and hiccupped, she too then looked out over the ocean, her eyes still stinging.
A bright flash came from over the horizon; she shielded her eyes against it, the image stayed burned into her retinas. She looked back to Zidane. His hands at his side now. He smiled the same sad smile as before. He raised his right hand, pressed it to his lips and grazed her cheek with his fingers.
Garnet drew deep breaths, attempting to hold back the sobs. She felt the tingle of his hand on her cheek, and watched as his form dissolved into a fine mist.
AWW! What!? A Cliffy!? Chin-Chilla Boy sucks! I hate his username! Honestly! A Cliffy?!
Well leave a review, maybe I'll be nice…
Or I could just stop updating this story too…
Just for future reference, if you have an idea, keep it secret! PM me!
Now…leave a review!