Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's note: So even though I don't update for a while, I can still get a whole bunch of reviews. You guys are great, you know that? For that, I'm trying to squeeze in more writing as much as I can into my schedule.

Chapter 10: Escape from Alexandria!

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I don't know if Beatrix wasn't at her best, if she was freaked out by my new "eye condition" or if I was just good, but so far, she hadn't been able to lay a hand on me. Her every swing was blocked, then countered by Kaiten, only for her to dodge it and fall back.

"Why didn't you die the last time we fought?" she demanded, backing away again.

"I dunno," I said simply. "I'm just a persistent bastard."

"Finally, something we can agree upon."

"My turn," I heard Kaiten say. I soon lost control of my arms, but could see the short swords powering up.

It was a really weird sensation, losing only partial control of my body in a battle, but so far Kaiten had kept his word. I worked defense and he'd play offense when he could. Still, as long as we worked together like this, we had a chance at winning.

As the charge in the swords finished, Kaiten let out an Arc, aimed straight for Beatrix's feet. She avoided them, of course, jumping over them or to the side like the elite knight she was.

You're aiming at her feet? I had to ask. Why not her chest or head?

"It's called training your enemy," Kaiten explained. "Do the same move enough times and they'll start to act however you want them to."

Ah. Nice trick.

"Just do it enough times and she'll think I'll be aiming for her feet again. That's when we go for the chest or the head."

Kaiten finished the last of his Arcs and settled back, giving me total control again. I fell back into a defensive stance, ready to take Beatrix's next attack.

I didn't have to wait long. Beatrix shifted her stance and held one side out to me, standing in a fencing stance. She held her sword in one hand and kept her other hand behind herself.

"How do you keep coming back to irritate me demon?" she asked.

"Demon?" I replied. "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"For someone to die by my hand so many times, but come back to fight me again? How could you be anything else?"

Beatrix charged again, but with only one hand, she gave up a lot of control. I was able to block and parry every attack with some degree of ease. She focused on cutting up my sides and head. She even ended up setting a rhythm, tapping against me defense a few times every second. I got so used to it that I forgot all about her extended hand behind her.

"Host! Pay attention!"

Beatrix brought her hand forward, glowing a bright blue. I barely had enough time to counter it before Kaiten brought my second blade down and powered up an Explosion. It caught Beatrix's surprise attack just as she cast Holy. The blue, chained magic didn't last long before it was negated by the energy at the short sword's tip.

"See what I mean by training an enemy?"

Fine, whatever, I said, admittedly sulking that I had been tricked.

As her magic faded, she gripped her sword with both hands. Now she had the same control as before and tried to pound her sword into me with a few well-aimed thrusts. I was barely able to parry them away before the next strike came.

"Keep your guard high!" Kaiten told me. "I'm taking over the legs!"

Okay!

Beatrix threw in another slash, which I quickly caught and threw up high, just as I lost the feeling in my legs. Beatrix cut straight down, but I caught it as Kaiten went low and went for a leg swipe. It didn't work of course, but it did force the general to back away, giving me enough time to recover for a split second.

I got back on my feet as fast as I could. Beatrix came in from the front. I stopped her blade between my two swords. She was breathing hard, but didn't look as tired as I felt. The adrenaline and the battle were starting to wear me down. I slowed my breathing only a little to give the image that I was doing better.

"I will not let you through to harm the queen," Beatrix said bravely.

"I don't care about your fat queen," I told her, breathing more heavily than I wanted.

"Then what do you want?" Beatrix asked, pushing me back a few inches. "Why are you here?"

As she pushed me back, my anger began to unlock. I struggled against Beatrix's sword, pushing her right back. Our blades were so close to our faces that I was amazed that neither of us had been cut yet.

"I want you…" I began, as I forced Beatrix back. "To back… the hell off!"

With one final push of effort, I knocked Beatrix back and her sword to the side. I charged up my short swords and two Explosions formed at the tips. I rushed forward just as Beatrix was putting up her guard again and crashed my blades into hers. Small blasts went off each time our weapons connected, knocking Beatrix back and apparently hurting her a little. As she reached the far wall of the room, I took a big swing into the ground, smashing up the floor and sending dust and splinters heading the general's way. She was caught up in the flare and fell back.

After a few seconds, the dust hung heavy in the air, and Beatrix wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Holy…" Zidane let out from the back of the room. "Trevor, you did it!"

"Guh," was all I could say. I fell to one knee and tried to catch my breath, barely hanging onto my short swords as I recuperated.

"She's down. Now we can get Dagger out of here," Freya said. "Someone help Trevor so we can get out of here."

"I've got Dagger," Zidane called out. "Rusty, you get Trevor, ok?"

"Me? Assist that scum? You must be joking."

"No… I'm fine…" I breathed heavily. "Just gimme a minute…"

"Take a break," Zidane scolded. "If Steiner helps you we can get out of here much sooner. There are still guards to worry about."

"I know…" I gasped. "But still, I—"

"DEMON!" came the cry from the dust. I only had a second to look as Beatrix charged back and slashed upwards into my chest. I was luck that I was wearing chain mail, or I would have been killed.

"Climmhazard!"

Now, the chain mail didn't matter. The heat and fire of the blast knocked me back so hard that I was knocked off my feet and landed back by the others on the other side of the room.

"Never step into this land again," Beatrix ordered all of us. I leaned up and saw her turn to me, glaring with hatred. "Your pathetic powers are useless against me."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Zidane said, stepping forward. "You're the general of this kingdom. As the general of Alexandria, what is your sworn duty? Isn't it to protect Dagger—your Princess Garnet? Who do you think is sleeping over there?" Zidane pointed to Dagger on the parlor couch, still passed out from the spell she was under.

"It can't be… Princess…" Beatrix slowly realized. She wandered over to the couch's side and kneeled down. "So it was true. The queen really did mean to kill her."

"WHAT? No!" Steiner bellowed. "The queen would never do such a thing!"

"Steiner, it is time for you to accept the truth," Beatrix said boldly. "My heart is set. All this time I have been mistaken."

"I hate to say it, but the lady's right Rusty," Zidane said. "You'd better learn to accept it."

"Citizens of Burmecia, please forgive me," Beatrix muttered in prayer.

"It's too late to seek forgiveness!" Freya snapped. "But you can still save Dagger. I tell you this because I acknowledge your powers. Now help your princess."

"I don't know if I can," Beatrix admitted. She ran her hand softly over the leather patch over her eye, as if remembering an old war wound. "…But I will give it a try."

Beatrix pinched her fingers together and concentrated powerful dispelling magic between them. She gently cast it over Dagger, but with no obvious result.

"Irrevocable is the spell we have cast!" Thorn cried out in his Yoda-talk again.

Beatrix tried the spell again, but with the same effect.

"It is useless!" Zorn taunted.

This time, the magic worked. A thin light passed around Dagger's head and her eyes fluttered open. She groaned as she forced herself up, rubbing her tired head. Everyone looked either elated or relieved, except for the jester twins, whose jaws were hanging out on the floor.

"Princess, are you alright?" Beatrix asked, helping her sit up.

"Oh my head…" Dagger complained. "What happened?"

"Dagger!" Zidane couldn't help but shout. He ran to her side immediately and nearly pounced on her in a hug, but held himself back at the last second. Vivi cheered, Freya looked happily from afar, and Steiner nearly broke into tears. I just smiled and considered kicking Thorn again.

"You're all here," Dagger said, happy but confused.

Our victory was short-lived as another voice, louder and more repulsive than almost any other I had ever heard before.

"What is all this ruckus?"

We turned and saw Queen Brahne finally enter the room. Our escape seemed impossible as the enormous blue woman, fatter than anyone else in the kingdom, blocked the doorway. Quite literally too.

"The princess has been awakened, your Majesty!" Zorn said, running to the queen's side.

"Kidnapping the princess, they are, your Majesty!" Thorn said, doing the same.

"Have you extracted all the eidolons from her?" she asked apathetically.

"We have, your Majesty!" the jester twins replied enthusiastically.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Brahne shouted. "Take Garnet and throw her in prison."

"Yes your Majesty!"

"I won't allow that," Beatrix said. She stood and drew her sword again, standing between the jester twins and us.

"Oh? Are you defying me as well Beatrix?" Brahne asked with half interest.

"Your Majesty, it is my duty to protect the princess," Beatrix tried to reason. "I beg you reconsider. Please do not harm the princess."

As the queen's glare revealed that she didn't intend to listen, Beatrix did one of the coolest things I had ever seen and told us, "All of you leave here at once!"

I was ready to get up and leave anyway, but not before Freya jumped down next to Beatrix, holding her spear out defensively.

"I'm staying," she announced. "Zidane, go. Now!"

"You two are joining forces? How amusing," Brahne laughed. She stopped suddenly and turned to the jester twins. "Get rid of them. I need to get my beauty nap."

"A nap wouldn't be nearly enough," I heard myself calling out. "You'd need a beauty coma!"

Brahne stopped sharply out of irritation, then turned back to Zorn and Thorn.

"Make sure to torture that one especially."

"Yes your Majesty!"

I blinked a few times before I realized that Kaiten had just taken control for a moment. …Are you happy now? I asked him.

"Quite satisfied actually."

Hehe. That was good.

"But the fusion cost more energy than I thought it would. You're on your own for a while."

Got it. We should be fine.

"Good fighting."

"Trevor, let's go!" Zidane suddenly yelled. He, Vivi and Dagger were running down the fireplace.

"Wait for me!" I called as I ran after them, jumping down the staircase into the dreadful under dwelling of the castle. Steiner came running up behind me calling out the same thing.

We ran down the darkened tunnel again, making our way down the staircase as quickly as we could. Steiner's clanking armor was almost deafening as it echoed off the bare walls. It was so loud, I didn't get a chance to hear the Black Mages coming.

A heavy door swung open and three Class A Black Mages stepped out. They crossed a bridge that connected the stairs to the opposite wall between the group, separating Zidane and Dagger on the lower end of the stairs and Vivi, Steiner and myself above them.

"Dammit! Black Mages!" Zidane warned us.

"KILL!" the mindless warriors called out. They looked like their weaker counterparts, but they were carrying staves, which allowed them to channel their energy much more effectively. We had to be careful.

"Zidane, get Dagger out of here!" I called down at him.

"What about you?"

"We'll be fine! Go!"

"Trevor-" Dagger started. Zidane grabbed her hand and continued running down the stairs.

"There's one for each of us," I told Steiner and Vivi as the Black Mages walked off the bridge and came walking towards us. "Steiner will have to take out the closest one, so you take out the one in the back, ok Vivi?"

I looked down and saw Vivi channeling a spell already. Before I knew it, he launched it and an explosion erupted out of the wall, aimed at the stairs. A fountain of fire blasted open the wall and kicked the stone stairs away, taking the Black Mages away with them. I saw them fall to the platform down below, the rubble burying them.

"…Or Vivi could do that." I had to remind myself just how powerful this kid could be.

"Aah…" he gasped. "That really wore me out."

"An impressive show Master Vivi," Steiner noted.

"Only now we don't have any stairs to go down," I pointed out. Although Vivi's attack was successful, he blasted away more stairs than I could jump across. We were stranded.

"What do we do now?" Vivi asked.

Steiner was dumbfounded and didn't provide any answers. I looked around and saw that the bridge the Black Mages had crossed over was still up. It was only a few feet away.

"Alright, we can make it if we jump," I said.

"I can't jump that far," Vivi said nervously. He gripped the sides of the stairs tightly, trying not to think of the fall.

"Then I'll carry you."

Before the little mage could protest, I grabbed him and held him on my back. He reached up and held onto my neck tightly. He was surprisingly strong.

"Guk… Not so tight," I gasped as he choked me.

"Sorry."

Vivi's grip relaxed a little and I stood back, getting enough room to jump. I took off and leapt, flying for a few seconds before smashing onto the bridge and sliding. I grabbed onto the ledge seconds before Vivi and I fell to our deaths.

"Aah!" Vivi screamed.

"Hang on!" I told him. My arms strained as I tried to hold us both up. The earlier battle had left me weakened, so I couldn't pull us both up. If I didn't do something soon, we were going to fall to our deaths.

"Vivi, just hang on tightly," I said. He squeezed my neck as hard as he could and soon I couldn't breathe.

I only had a few seconds before Vivi choked me enough to knock us off, so I swung my leg up as high as I could, catching the ledge with my foot. I twisted the both of us up and collapsed. I almost had to rip Vivi's panicked arms from around my throat.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Y…y…yeah…" he said.

It was good that he was trying to be tough, but we still needed to hurry. Who knew how much more time Beatrix and Freya could buy for us.

"You need to hurry!" Steiner called up from above us on the stairs. "The queen will be sending reinforcements soon!"

"What about you?" I called back. "Aren't you coming?"

"No," the knight called out confidently. "Beatrix served the queen all these years, and now she is turning against her… Freya lost her comrades, yet she insists on protecting the princess… The queen will never forgive them. She will kill them both… I will fight with Beatrix and Freya and buy you as much time as I can. Get the princess out of here as quickly as you can!"

Steiner ran up a few stairs before he stopped and looked down at us again. "And if she gets hurt, I will hunt you down, you ruffian!"

I just waved back and turned away. As Steiner faced certain defeat against the Alexandrian army upstairs, we had to get Dagger out.

I ran the rest of the stairs without any complications. Zidane and Dagger were waiting for us, worriedly.

"Where's Steiner?" Zidane asked as Vivi and I finished with the stairs.

"He went back to fight and buy us time," I explained. "C'mon, we have to get out of here."

Dagger was too easily moved though. "Steiner… Everyone's fighting for me." She stood still, looking up the stairs where the battle against Brahne's forces was underway.

"That's right," Zidane said, gently grabbing Dagger by the shoulders. "They're all fighting for you, and for Alexandria. They're giving everything they got, so we have to move on and give all we have too! We can't stop now!"

Dagger looked forward and saw the sincerity in Zidane's eyes. She looked over at Vivi and me, then back to Zidane. "We need to get to Doctor Tot's house in Treno," she said. "He's a scholar, so he might know what to do." She pointed down the darkened hall leading into the underbelly of Alexandria Castle. "We can take a gargant down there. There's a canal that leads right to his home."

"Who's Doctor Tot?" Zidane asked.

"He used to tutor me before he left to study on his own in Treno. He was practically like a second father to me."

Zidane nodded. "Alright, then we'll go to Treno. Come on!"

He lead the way down the darkened corridor, with the rest of us in close pursuit. As little care had been taken into keeping the rest of these back halls clean, it was much better than the gargant station. Mist had gathered in the room and mold was growing everywhere. It filled the place with a stale, wet stench. I almost coughed on it.

"It's down here," Dagger said. "We need to stop the gargant with some food, then we can get on and ride him."

"Good," Zidane said. "Then let's just—"

A wall snapped up in front of us. It looked like someone had strung a whole bunch of barbed wire together and made a fence out of it. It reached the ceiling, cutting off any chance of going forward. Another gate slammed up to the ceiling behind us, getting rid of any chance we had at escape.

"What the hell?" Zidane let out.

"They fell for it!" a nasally voice cried over the wall to the side.

"Really stupid, they are!" came another voice over the opposite wall.

The jester twins, Zorn and Thorn, walked over to the edge of the pit we were now in and began laughing at our pitiable situation.

"Oh no!" Dagger cried. "This is how they captured us last time when Steiner and I tried to get into the castle!"

Zidane turned up at our captors, fists clenched in rage. "You bastards!"

"Bastards we may be, but clever are we," Thorn mocked back. His brother just giggled at the irony of it all.

"Trevor, can't you cut through the wires?" Zidane asked. "You have that magic of yours!"

I blinked. I actually hadn't though of that. "I don't know," I said. "It's worth a shot."

"Trevor can use magic?" Dagger asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it's some kind of soul magic," Zidane explained.

"It's called Chi," I said, pulling out a short sword and placing it parallel to the fence. "And it's not soul magic."

I powered up the sword and unleashed the magic, but not before—

"Ah, ah, ah!" Zorn called from above. He threw his hands in the air while I was charging up and cast a white, protective light over the fence. As my Pulse tried to cut into the wire, the magical shell surrounding it came into effect and negated the magic.

"They cast Shell!" Dagger explained.

"They can cast it on objects too?" I asked.

"They can cast it on anything! We can't cut through!"

Now I was really pissed. "Get down here so I can cave your face in!" I demanded of the jesters.

"Nope, nope!" Thorn called down as Zorn cackled. "Stupid, we are not!"

The cackling stopped as a man in a bandana ran up behind Zorn and landed a strong kick to the head.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"Marcus?" Zidane asked.

"Zidane, you alright?" came a new voice from Thorn's corner. The blue jester was knocked out and was lying on his side.

"Blank!"

Blank stood before us once again after being unpetrified from the Evil Forest. I could still remember how he sacrificed himself so the rest of us could get out of the rampaging woods. I could only laugh at how well this turned out.

"We came here straight from Evil Forest," Blank said.

"Man, I love you guys!" Zidane laughed.

Marcus disappeared from sight for a moment, only to show up after a second as the gates lowered.

"Zidane, you can ride the gargant downstairs," Marcus said as he came back.

"You guys…"

"Get out of here!" Blank said, drawing a large broadsword. "We'll take care of this. There's more bad guys coming!"

"I owe you guys big time!" Zidane turned to the rest of us. "Let's get outta here."

We all nodded. Leaving before the army showed up sounded like a very good idea. We charged downwards once more. I thought about staying back and kicking the crap out of the jesters, but we didn't have time for it.

As we ran, the smell got worse. Mildew grew on everything in the unkempt gargant station. I wouldn't be surprised if I lost my footing from the slick mold.

"So this is Gargant Roo," Zidane thought aloud.

Walking into the small station, I was amused at how much it looked like the metro stations I used to ride with my father when I was a kid. It certainly explained the excess mildew at least.

"Dagger, are you alright?" Zidane asked.

The princess didn't say anything. She just folded her arms and kept to herself.

"Never mind, forget I asked. You have a lot on your mind."

"Hey!" Vivi said suddenly. "There's something coming!"

A rapid knocking, like a dozen pencils tapping at a chalkboard at once, started coming closer and closer. After a few seconds of waiting, the largest incest that I had ever seen in my life came barreling down a hanging rail. It was dark blue and larger than a pick-up truck. It was carrying a carriage large enough to hold eight people easily beneath itself.

However, I only registered it as a giant bug.

"Oh god…" I muttered as I cringed reflexively. If I felt this bad before even getting on the carriage, then Fossil Roo was going to kill me.

"Is this a gargant?" Zidane blurted out. "It's huge!"

"…Giant bug…"

"We're riding this thing?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah, let's get going," Zidane said. "We have no time to waste." He pulled a switch adjacent to the doorway and a small tray dropped from the ceiling in front of the gargant. It stopped in place and began eating the grass and herbs that had been left for it.

"What kind of loving god would create a bug this big?" I pondered, still mortified.

Zidane smacked me upside the head. "Snap out of it Trevor. We have to leave!"

"Uh…right." I quickly regained my composure and stepped into the carriage, where Vivi was already sitting.

Yeah, this is about what I'd expect from a subway, I thought to myself.

"Dagger, what are you doing?" Zidane asked as he stepped into the carriage. "Let's go."

"I…" she began saying shakily. "I don't know what to do anymore…"

"Oh come on," Zidane said, with a hint of impatience. He stepped off the carriage and confronted her. "Why do you think everyone stayed behind? Yeah, they're fighting for you, but deep down, they know that they have to fight."

"What do you mean?" Dagger asked.

"Sometimes, you can't think everything out. You just have to follow your gut."

Dagger waited a moment before she nodded. "Alright," she said. "I'll try."

"Good," Zidane said, cracking a smile for the first time since our escape. "Now let's get out of here before—"

Just then, the Gargant let out a loud chirping howl. I looked up and saw the food in front of him was gone. Zidane and dagger had spent too much time talking. That meant—

"Guys, get on!" I yelled.

But it was too late. The giant bug began running off along the hanging rail. It started off so quickly that I fell to the floor beside the seat. By the time I could stand up again, Vivi was holding onto the handrail as tightly as he could, with Zidane and Dagger still missing from the carriage.

"Stop you stupid thing!" I yelled at the gargant. It did about as much good as trying to stop a tank with a handgun.

The thief and the princess ran down the platform to catch up. I pulled myself up and held a hand out for them, to grab onto. Zidane reached out too, but it was useless. They were too far and the bug was moving too fast. We left the station before they could get on and left them behind.

"Trevor! Vivi!" Zidane yelled at us.

"Guys!" Vivi yelled.

"MEET US IN TRENO!" I yelled back. "WE'LL WAIT FOR YOU!"

I could see Zidane yelling something back at us, but the distance, as well as the noise of the gargant's claws against the rail, made it impossible to hear.

The station soon faded away as Vivi and I traveled alone down the dark cavern. Our only source of light was a lantern hanging from the front of the carriage. The walls looked like they were carved out by reckless miners looking for diamonds, like a cave out of an old movie.

We gently rocked up and down as the gargant moved. I hoped my nausea was from worry over how the others would catch up and not from motion sickness.

"What are we going to do Trevor?" Vivi asked, more scared than I've seen him in a while. "Where are we going? What's going to happen to Zidane and Dagger?"

"This bug should stop in Treno," I answered after a few seconds. I had to settle myself down for a moment. Without Zidane and Dagger with us, who could say would happen to the storyline? I couldn't lose my edge like that.

"Are the others going to be ok?" Vivi asked.

"They'll be fine," I assured him. I sat back in my seat, opposite him, and tried to relax. "We'll just wait for them in Treno. From there, we'll go see Dagger's old teacher, Doctor Tot."

"Okay…"

I waited a few more seconds as I tried to think of something to cheer him up. After a moment, I came up with something.

"Hey, don't worry about anything Vivi. When we get to Treno, we'll just—"

The gargant let out a panicked chirp and came to a sudden halt. I fell out of my seat again and landed on the floor.

"This stupid bug is just asking me to—"

"Trevor! Look!" Vivi cried out. He was hanging over the edge of the carriage and was pointing straight ahead.

I stood up and looked out into the tunnel. I couldn't see anything at first since my eyes were still adjusting to the dim light, but the growl was enough to explain it to me. The gargant backed up nervously. Slowly, I saw an enormous snake slither before us. It looked like it was big enough to eat the gargant whole.

"Vivi, stay in the carriage. We're not done fighting yet."

"What is it?"

"Just an annoyance," I explained. "I'll keep him busy. Use your strongest magic on it when you get a chance."

I unsheathed my short swords and hopped to the cavern floor. The monster snake approached us; its green scales seemed to give off a slight glow. It flicked its demonic forked tongue at us, inspecting its prey and sizing us up. It seemed to stare at me for a moment before rearing back and opening its jaw wide, giving off an almost deafening roar in the small cave.

"Oh, this isn't going to be fun."

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There, finally finished. It's kind of ironic since one review from Yuleen75 said a quick update would never come when this chapter was already about a quarter of the way done. XD Well, either way, it's faster than my usual updates, so I guess I'm improving.

One note on this boss though: I've always considered a few of the boss fights in FFIX as sort of filler villains. This is one of them, sort of since it doesn't add terribly much to the plot. But it's still important enough to include, I suppose. I wasn't thinking of having too much of a boss fight, but if you guys want, I can expand it accordingly.

Here's hoping I can update faster next time! :D