Hello to all my readers...I just wanted to say I apologize as this chapter is sort of long and draggy...or may appear that way at least...I promise some action will come soon!!! Enjoy!!!
Katana777- Thank you for your review and comment on Genie, I kinda found him easy to portray since he has a wacky and funny attitude towards things. I will also check out the website you mentioned, thanks for the suggestion(it's greatly appreciated).
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A day had passed since Quisits and Irvine had arrived at Gaia, one of the many few worlds unaffected by the heartless. It was a day since they had met a new ally, who had helped them in escaping the unknown creatures who had attacked them. During that time, Quitis and Irvine had gotten to know Freya very well and were glad to hear about her world. In return they passed down information of the many worlds they have visited, their own world and the heartless they've encountered. This all intrigued Freya, as she never knew so much life existed out of her own. Of course, all this exciting news had to carry something bad along with it, and finding out about the heartless was the worst of it all.
"How do you defend against darkness itself?" Freya asked, in a discussion with Quistis.
"Good question, usually we just hit with everything we got and it usually does the trick. That is until more come and then we're just screwed after that." Quistis responded in a sarcastic manner, "However, I have been trying to find a way to permanently defeat the heartless, but I haven't found one yet. To make matters worse, heartless come in many different forms making it harder to kill them."
Freya nodded with every word spoken, gaining a more deeper knowledge on the heartless. She remembered when they fought against Kuja, how things were back then. Times were tough and it seemed as every great kingdom and nation was failing. The world began to rot back then, and now it seemed like there was a chance that something worse could happen to this peaceful world. Freya knew the effects of losing something most important to you more than anyone. If it came down to fighting the heartless to protect this world, she would give her life in battle. She would not let her world fall into enemy hands again, no matter what the sacrifice.
"So is that Alexandria?" Irvine asked, looking out the window.
Freya got up and walked over beside him looking out too. From outside the window a large kingdom could be seen, with thousands of houses and shops all centered around a large castle. Freya knew this town all to well and she knew that castle all to well. It had been three years since she had been her last and spoken with either Garnet or Zidane. She knew that Steiner and Beatrix still served here and Eiko lived along with Zidane and Garnet. She hadn't heard anything from Amarant and Quina, but she personally couldn't careless about those two. Vivi had disappeared about a year ago, still unaware if Zidane and Garnet were continuing their search for him. To be honest though, she was glad to be back since Alexandria always felt like a second home to her. She couldn't wait to see Garnet or Ekio again, as well as Zidane. They had a lot to catch up on over the past years.
"That's Alexandria, hasn't changed much since I've been here last." she answered, "There is a docking port to the left for airships, you can dock the ship there at no fee. Once we land, I have friends that might be able to aid you in finding your friends."
Quistis smiled slightly and continued on to the dock Freya had pointed out. Slowly she docked the ship along the port corner and turned off all controls, preparing to enter yet another new world unlike her own. The hatch door opened and the three stepped out greeted by several flight attendants and engineers at the dock. Freya nodded to them recognizing a few of them as she began to lead Quistis and Irvine to the castle entrance. Both Quistis and Irvine took in their surroundings and admired the beauty of the tall stone buildings and the flying airships zooming by in the sky above them. The architecture was completely different here, but amazingly beautiful. Inside the castle was just as beautiful, with large fountains on either side of the walkway and paintings and red curtains hung up on the walls. Above them was a mural of mixed colors displaying two angels playing the harp. Guards also stood on either side of every entrance, seeing that was castle was well protected. That fact that they let Freya and them pass without a word meant Freya must have been a good friend to whomever ruled over Alexandria.
"Freya!" came shout from in front of them.
A preteen girl wearing a combination of yellow, orange and a pink suit came running up to them. She had short blue hair which had a bow tied on it and a small black horn stuck out from the middle of her head. As soon as she approached Freya, she smiled up at her with the biggest smile anyone could put on. Freya smiled back recognizing the girl as Eiko, and was amazed at how she had grown since she last saw her.
"Good to see you again Eiko, you've grown quite a lot." Freya said with a smile.
"You bet, I'm eleven years old now and guess what..." Eiko said, building up the excitement, "I'm apart of Beatrix's elite solider squad and counselor to Dagger and Zidane."
"That's wonderful to hear." Freya responded, seeing that Eiko hadn't changed personality wise, "Eiko, I have some people here that would like to talk with Garnet and Zidane. Are those two in or busy at all?"
"Last time I checked, Dagger was going over some important paper work and Zidane was sleeping as usual. They'll probably stop what they're doing to see you though, its been so long since you've been here." Eiko replied, "I'll lead you two them, follow me!"
Eiko turned and took of at a high speed, as Freya, Quistis and Irvine chased after her. After catching up to her, they came to an elevator where they all got on and rode to the top floor. The ride was short while Eiko shook her hips back and forth to the music playing and took off again as soon as the elevator doors opened. Freya couldn't understand how such a person could have so much energy, then again she was getting old so maybe it was just her age. After all, she felt like she was getting wrinkles already at the age of 27. The four of them finally came to large hall that led to a throne. On the throne seat sat a girl in blue dress, with short black hair and dark eyes . On both sides of her stood a man clad in all armor and an older woman dressed in brown and with a sword hilt attached to her hip. The girl in blue was filling out paper work but stopped as soon as she saw Eiko come running in. She smiled and then looked to see three others following her, surprised that one of them was Freya.
"Dagger, Freya came to visit." Eiko shouted jumping in the air with joy.
"Freya, its good to see you after such a long time." Garnet said, getting up to greet her old friend.
"Queen Garnet, it is good to see you as well." Freya responded, bowing as Quistis and Irvine did the same.
"Now I told you before to stop with all the formalities, we're friends after all." Garnet said with a laugh, "Steiner will you go wake Zidane and tell him of Freya's return."
Looking quite unhappy of his new task, he frowned and nodded to Garnet before flashing a smile Freya's way and walking off to Zidane's room. Freya smiled back watching the man she had gotten to know walk off, then turning attention to Garnet. It had only been three years, but Garnet had grown into a fine, respectable woman. It was greatly noted that she ran her kingdom well, as well as all of Gaia, since Alexandria was Gaia's capital. The people were happy and there hadn't been any conflicts since the fight with Kuja. Garnet was certainly fit for leadership, though she could not say the same for Zidane.
"Garnet, I will get directly to the point of why I am here. These travelers behind me are from another world and have come here seeking their friends." Freya explained, pointing over to both Quistis and Irvine, "However, they also tell of an evil far greater then we have faced. It is possible that this evil has invaded or will invade our world. I figure if we help them, then we may be able to stop this new threat from destroying our world. I trust these traveler's and their words, as we were both attacked a day ago by a unknown enemy."
"I see, well I have to say I have never met anyone from another world before. However, everyone is welcomed in my kingdom and those seeking aid will be helped. I will be glad to help you in your search for your friends." Garnet said, "Though I am interested in this evil you talk about, if it is that serious then we must act on it right away. If you two could provide us with information, it would be appreciated."
"WOW!" Eiko shouted, "You two are aliens, though you look to normal. I would have figured you be giant, green, slimy, one-eyed creatures with tentacles and long tongues."
"Ten...tacles?" Irvine mumbled, confused and wide-eyed by the girl's comment.
"Yes of course, we'd be happy to help you any way. Thank you for your help as well." Quistis replied, smiling, "I forgot to introduce myself though, I am Quistis Trepe and this is my friend Irvine Kinnaes."
"Oh excuse me, I'm Queen Garnet of Alexandria but you can call me Garnet if you like. This is my assistant and head knight, Beatrix and you've already met my esteemed counselor, Eiko." Garnet joked with a laugh, "The man from before is Steiner, he is the leader of the Pluto Knights in Alexandria and is fourth in command."
Quistis nodded and smiled again, as she then spotted Steiner approach with a younger man following behind. The man looked tired and yawned loudly as he dragged his feet across the floor, his arms swaying from side to side. His short brown hair was sticking out in all places, as if it had a fight with the pillow he was sleeping on, and he wore white and pink-dotted pajamas. He looked up at them and perked up into full awareness as soon as he say Freya. Quickly, he ran over to her and before she had a chance to get away, placed her in a giant bear hug.
"Freya, it's so good to see you again." Zidane said, releasing her from his grip.
"Hello Zidane, as usual you haven't changed." Freya muttered.