"Dagger.. you're awake." Zidane commented in relief as her eyes began to open.

It was now morning in their small camp. Steiner had been overwhelmed with relief that she was alive and had eagerly asked Zidane how he had found her. His eagerness had dissipated, however, upon learning that there had been no trace of Beatrix.

Zidane had watched with sadness as the broken man took to her as he had in their fight with Kuja. Back then he had thought it was annoying and honestly kind of creepy. But after getting to know him better, he realized hit Steiner's way of dealing with stress and maybe have things be just a little bit more back to normal. Even now he was now trying to boil some water to make a light stew from a mu he had killed and a few local herbs that Zidane had grabbed as an afterthought.

"Zidane?" She asked dreamily.

"Yea, its me." He smiled.

She smiled in return and sat up, more easily than Zidane had expected. She looked around their small camp and then back to him. "Where are we?"

Zidane chuckled lightly. Out of all the things that had happened and everything that was still going on, she wanted to know where they were. She had to still be out of it. "We're about two days from Lindblum."

"Oh." She replied dazedly. "Did we come all this way by ourselves?"

If she's this out of it, it must have really hit her hard. Damn. "Uh.. No, Rusty should be back in a min; he went to get more wood for the fire." He couldn't shake the feeling of worrying about her. Did she even know about Alexandria? If she did know about it the pain would no doubt hit her soon, and hard.

"Is something wrong?" She asked softly. Her voice snapped him out of his daze. "No.. I mean yea, are you ok?"

She looked down at her hands for a moment as if unsure. "I think so, I'm not hurting anywhere."

Zidane sighed and ran his hand through his golden blond hair. "Shit.." he knew he was gonna regret this. "That's not what I meant… I mean are you ok? Do you even know about Alexandria?"

"What about it?" She jerked up suddenly.

"Dammit.. I'm an ass."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no easy way to say it, Dag. The whole castle is gone and everyone in it; we barely made it out alive." He replied solemnly.

"But I… That's not true!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "I was just there, I just.."

"I'm afraid its true, your highness.." Steiner said sadly from behind her. He walked over and dropped a small pile of wood next to the fire. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Zidane jumped in.

"I… I was to have a meeting with a man named Damian.. I went to the meeting and waited for him to arrive and then.. I woke up in the field not far from here. I thought maybe I had dreamed all of it and sleep walked somehow.."

"Do you remember what happened to Lady Beatrix?" Steiner asked pleadingly.

"I.. she was standing beside me when he…" Her face grew pale. "He… attacked us. Beatrix tried to fight him off, but he was too strong.. he said he had two others helping him."

"Two others?" Steiner asked.

"Yes, I remember now! He said they were like him and that they were not from here. He said that you had met one of them!"

Zidane felt a horrible realization dawn on him. "Dammit! He must have been talking about Rasler, and the other guy.." he commented disgustedly.

"I told you we should not have trusted that lunatic! He was behind this all along! How else would he have known what was going on unless he caused it!" Steiner roared furiously.

"You followed them!? Where are they now?" Garnet asked, her voice a mixture of fear and surprise.

"Yea.." Zidane started regrettably. "One of them led us out of the castle and helped us fight this fiend in Treno… At least I thought he did at the time, but now that I think about it, he didn't really do much. Something was seriously going on with him. We're headed to Lindblum now to try to find the other guy and get some answers. But anyway, we'll deal with that when we get there, how did you make it out of there Dag?"

"I'm sorry.. I can't remember." She replied apologetically. Maybe the necklace had worked? He thought. "What are we going to do? Zidane, there has to be something we can do stop them and fix this! You always think of something."

He wanted to tell her that he didn't know, that he felt powerless to do anything, but in the end he simply smiled and told her everything would be ok, of course he had a plan. Truth be told he didn't know if going to Lindblum was going to solve anything, but she could hope couldn't she? He never liked lying to her, but this time he just couldn't help it.

The three of them ate the meager stew, then headed on toward Lindblum. He still couldn't believe that she was holding herself together as well as she was, he had always known dagger was one of the strongest women he knew, but she never ceased to amaze him. A part of him still worried that she was going to end up having a breakdown, but at least he'd be there for her, he reckoned. He wasn't the only one that was relieved to have her back though, he noticed Steiner also didn't seem as down as he had before. Hell, maybe they could do this, even get Beatrix back too. It was during these thoughts that the ground began to shake.

"What is this?" Steiner asked.

"Shit, what now!?" Zidane exclaimed. Garnet grabbed onto his arm and watched as the ground cracked and split a stone's throw ahead of them. With a breaking roar, rubble and stones shot from the ground in a powerful geyser, and from it, a huge black dragon screeched into the sky.

"Hole shit!" He yelled. "What kind of fuckin dragon is that!?"

"Um… I hope we don't have to fight that thing." A wide eyed Garnet commented.

The dragon whirled in the air, then spread its massive wings and flapped easily in the air facing them.

"Looks like it's not gonna be our lucky day." Zidane stated dryly.

It let out another loud screech as if in pain and dove toward them. "Here it comes!" Steiner yelled, sword ready as always. Zidane barely had time to dive both himself and Dagger out of the way before its sharp wings sliced through the air where they had stood. Steiner had swung his blade at the dragon, but its speed and force was too much, his sword cut a notch into the top of its wing but he was knocked backward and winded in the process.

"Dammit Rusty, you can't fight that thing head on! We'll have to think of something else!" The dragon turned around in the air and came back for them again. This time however, the Dragon landed before them and opened its mouth. Fire danced between its sharp teeth and spilled out onto the ground below. "This doesn't look good; Dag, can you summon Bahamut?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the dragon. "Alright.. Ill try." she responded. Zidane watched as she called upon the eidolon. He couldn't help but grin thinking of how powerful the dragon king was. But it did not come. The dragon unleashed a torrent of fire toward them, ignoring the fallen knight. He grabbed her arm and yanked he roughly behind a nearby rock. "What happened Dag?" he asked hurriedly. "I.. I don't know.. I'm sorry Zidane."

"S'ok, I just gotta think of something quick. Stay here." He pulled his dagger from his belt and ran toward the dragon, dodging its spurts of fire as he went. He was tired from the heat of the flames, but he ran and slid under the dragon's head, nearly scorching his tail in the process but also managing a shallow cut on the dragon's underside. He rolled to avoid its claws as it angrily brought them down to crush his head. He had barely recovered from rolling when its tail whipped toward him. He swung his dagger toward the large tail as it impacted. He managed to slice off the end of it, despite it being covered in scales. Unfortunately, a spike from the tail still managed to impale into his upper arm, nearly knocking the blade from him.

He wasted no time laying around in pain. He grabbed the tail with his good arm and yanked himself atop its back. The dragon screeched in protest and took off into the air, trying to dislodge its unwanted passenger. Despite having to concentrate on holding on, which he did impressively, he managed to find a small gap between its scales and stabbed into it over and over again. It flailed around in agony, and after what seemed like decades, crashed into the ground in defeat. Sending Zidane rolling across the ground.

Steiner wasted no time in rushing over and delivering the final blow. He looked toward Zidane with only a slight hint of amazement. "And you tell me not to attack it head on! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

Zidane dusted himself off, and inspected his wounded arm, which throbbed furiously. "Hey, it worked didn't it?"

Garnet walked hurried from behind the rock, and seeing that the dragon was dead, rushed over to his side. He looked at her, a worried expression on his face. "Are you alright, Dag?"

"What do you mean? You're the one that needs healing." she scolded. "What were you thinking!?"

Maybe he was over-thinking things, she seemed to be fine now. Either way, sure they had lost Alexandria, but they could rebuild a new one; at least they were still together. So he just flashed his usual trademark grin, and let her use her white magic to heal his wounds.

The rest of the journey to Lindblum was mostly uneventful. Steiner and Garnet talked about things that had happened and he told her more details about Rasler and the Fiends they had fought. Surprisingly, it was Zidane that was uncharacteristically quiet, though they did not seem to notice. When they arrived, they were a little surprised to see Lindblum on lockdown, but thought that was probably a good idea after what happened to Alexandria.

They were greeted upon their arrival by Minister Artania, who was very happy to see them again. "Greetings your Highness! It is so good to see you!" He exclaimed happily.

"It's good to see you too, uncle Artania!" Garnet replied, hugging him. He broke from the hug and looked at her apologetically. "I'm terribly sorry to have to do this, but I was told to verify that all our visitors are who they say they are. Even though I know it is you, may I please see your royal pendant?"

"Um.. Sure." Garnet replied, and tugged the pendant delicately from her blouse. It glistened in the light of the room. "That is indeed the Falcon Claw. Again I apologize for asking." He bowed and motioned toward the elevator. "I believe the Regent will be returning soon, perhaps in the meantime you would like to rest in our guest rooms?"

"What the hell's goin on?" Zidane asked with concern.

"Along with the news of what befell Alexandria, The regent received word that a great danger was coming and that everyone might not be whom they claim to be. So, he decided to ere on the side of caution so that another catastrophe might be prevented. We had feared that you and Her Majesty might have fallen as well, but I'm sure the Regent will be overjoyed as well to see that you are all well."

"You said that Uncle Cid had left, did he say where he was going?"

"Ah yes, he and the others left to investigate Alexandria to see if there were any survivors, including yourselves." He replied thoughtfully.

"Others?" Steiner asked.

"I believe it was Lady Freya, Lady Eiko, and a Sir Ramza."

"Ramza?" Zidane started. "He's the guy we're looking for!"

"The regent may be in danger!" Steiner jumped in.

…

"Why won't this stupid thing open?!" Eiko yelled, beating against the large door of the black structure.

"Did you truly think it would be that easy?" Ramza replied.

"Well she said she was gonna be waiting for us! The least they could have done is left the stupid door open!"

"There has to be another way, Eiko" Freya reassured.

The three had been trying for the past few hours, without success, to get to the underworld where Beatrix had said she would be waiting for them. Ramza was frustrated at not being able to open the door to the spire, but was mostly able to keep it in check. That is until Eiko also became impatient and began complaining every few minutes.

"Why do we gotta go to the stupid underworld anyway? If she wants to fight why can't she just come to us? And aren't you supposed to be an expert on how to get there?"

"I've told you three times already, in my time there was no door blocking the way! Nor a tower for that matter!" Ramza countered.

"You poopie head!," She replied, sticking out her tongue. "You probably just don't want us to get there."

He looked at Freya in desperation. She chuckled. "Be nice, Eiko. What do you say we head back to Lindblum? Maybe we can come up with something there? We're obviously not doing much good here."

Ramza sighed in defeat and agreed.

When they arrived at the airship they were greeted by Cid, who was eager to hear news of what had happened. After he commanded the airship to depart, they told him of Alexandria's condition and what had happened of Beatrix. "Is there a chance that the real Beatrix could still be out there?" He asked.

"I'm sorry to say that I do not believe so, from what I've seen these creatures possess the person and kill them as they take over. I have yet to hear of someone being replaced instead of being possessed."

"That is grave news indeed. How are we to know who is possessed and who is not?"

'My companion and I possess bracelets that help you to see when these fiends are present and slightly enhance your other senses. I do not know where these bracelets came from, or what their original purpose was. I only know that they have saved our lives on many occasions."

"How far away do they work?" Cid asked. "May I see it?"

"Of course." Ramza replied, taking it off and handing it to him. "Unfortunately only a few paces away, and they only help you to see the fiend for but a moment and it seems to not be as effective if there are more than one."

"Hmm I've never seen anything like it.." he pondered. "but with enough time we might possibly be able to create more of them. The only problem will be figuring out what spells it is enchanted with, I cannot read these engravings."

"Neither can I, but you may study it for as long as you need to, if you think it might help to stop these fiends."

…

"Have you seen Zidane?" Garnet asked Steiner who had insisted on standing guard in the guest room she was staying. "No, I have not seen him in a while. But I would not worry, I am sure he went to check on the other thieves." Now that he thought about it, it was odd that he hadn't tried to have alone time with the que- Garnet.

"You know, you don't have to call them thieves."

"I know they have proven themselves to be decent people, but the fact is they are still thieves." It wasn't that he hated them, in fact he had grown to like Tantalus, probably more than he should have. It was simply that they were just so different than how he had been raised. The things he would never even consider doing they often did just for laughs such as running through the castle, paying no heed to rules or order. Hell, half the time they acted like misbehaving children.

"Alright." She replied softly.

He had expected her to argue with him, as she always did, but she did not. She had been acting a little strange lately. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but who was he to judge her? She had been through more hard times in her life than anyone that had ever lived before her. He reckoned.

"Shall I go look for him?" He asked, knowing that she would more than likely want him to.

"No… It will be alright. I'm sure he will come back soon." She responded.

He only gave it a moment's thought before returning his attention back to the duty at hand. When had his mind started to wander so? It used to be so easy to concentrate on his duties, but now he was always thinking of other things. Was Beatrix still alive somewhere? He didn'y want to openly admit it, but he missed her terribly. Had the thief really gone to find his friends? He had grown to become fond of the thief. He would admit that Zidane, to his knowledge, hadn't stolen anything in a very long time, but he had always been taught once a thief, always a thief. It wasn't like the boy to be so distant, especially around her majesty. Perhaps he was more troubled by things than he let on?

….

"God! I'm so glad we're off that airship!" Eiko exclaimed, bouncing down the airship dock.

"I do apologize, it seems there are a few kinks I need to work out in the new model." Cid commented.

"We made it back in one piece, that's what matters." Ramza replied, looking more than a little pale as he stepped out of the airship.

"Are you alright?" Laughed Freya.

Ramza grabbed the rail of the dock and held onto it tightly for a moment, closing his eyes and taking slow and concentrated breaths. "I… We didn't have airships where I came from.. I definitely prefer having my feet on the ground."

Cid and Freya both could not contain a laugh at this, and continued to chuckle about it as the group made their way down the red carpet of the indoor airship dock. They were greeted by a guard who was eager to share the news that the queen of Alexandria had arrived and was staying in the guest room with her friends.

"That is wonderful news!" Cid exclaimed. "Please tell them to come to the conference room in an hour, so that I can see them and we can all be caught up in everything that has happened thus far." With that, he politely excused himself and headed toward the elevator and his chamber. Freya began to walk toward the guest rooms, but noticed that Ramza wasn't following. Instead, he was marveling at the large area. "I just cannot get used to how massive and detailed this castle is; in my time, castles were not even close to the size. They were built for war and always seemed foreboding, but this castle feels more like a city!"

Freya smiled knowingly, remembering the first time she had set foot in Lindblum. She too had been amazed at how much different Lindblum had been than Burmecia. "You can stay here, I'm just going to check on the others." When she arrived at the guest chamber, she found Steiner asleep in a chair next to the door but no sign of Zidane or Garnet. They must have wanted some alone time she reasoned. With a chuckle she gently shook Steiner awake, who immediately tried to defend his sleeping on the job but was relieved that it was Freya instead of the thief. The mockery he would have gotten would have been infuriating. "Have you seen Garnet or Zidane?" She asked, trying to hold back laughter.

"i.. She.." he stammered around uselessly for a few moments. "She must have went looking for him!" he finally exclaimed, clanging out of the room toward the main hall. As he approached the fountain, a man stood dressed not too differently from how Rasler had been. He was carrying a thin sword that was decidedly not Lindblum issue.

He was one of them! He was sure of it! Her majesty had said that she thought they were all the cause of it, and it made sense; none of this had started until they had showed up and Steiner had learned the hard way not to believe in coincidences. But perhaps it would be better to just keep an eye on him and wait for the opportunity to strike instead of attacking him head on.

"You must be Captain Steiner; my name is Ramza." he greeted pleasantly.

What kind of game is this? Why would he offer me greetings? Treachery! I don't buy it, not for a second. He though

"A pleasure to meet you, Ramza, I have heard about you."

"It will be an honor to fight alongside you against these fiends." He replied, extending his hand. Steiner merely looked at him and offered the most sincere smile he could muster (Truthfully, it would have been hard to tell it from a look of scorn) and nodded his head. Ramza withdrew his hand. "I suppose that is not your custom? Forgive me."

The awkwardness of the situation was broken by the squad of guards coming toward them. The guards encircled them and a confused Freya who had been listening to the exchange.

"HALT! Stay where you are! Relinquish your weapons!"

Ramza and the others slowly drew their weapons and laid them on the ground.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding…" He commented

The guards grew closer, and whisked away their weapons and returned to pointing their spears at them.

"I demand to know the meaning of this! I am no criminal!" Steiner yelled.

"The Regent has been assassinated, and you are the ones that last made contact with him!"

"What!?" The exclaimed in unison.

"Don't play the fool! Throw them all in the dungeon!"

"I don't suppose running would be an option?.." Ramza groaned, as more guards surrounded them.