For story purposes, Quina will not be in this one. I'm kind of planning ahead, and I know for a fact that I don't need him/her...

To view how Melodi looks, either look for her name in my profile, or go here:

www. Swirl3y. Deviantart gallery/#/d3f4e6w


Chapter XII:
And so the bird sings the song of death.

Zidane, Mel, Vivi and Freya made their way out of the grotto and towards Burmecia. The soldier that warned them about Gizamaluke died, and Mel was starting to feel the pressure. Seeing dead people all over the place was reminding her of home, but she didn't want anyone to see it. It was a weak point that she never really worked on, since she never really thought war would break out. It was stupid of her to think that, and she was regretting it. She had to keep herself under control if she didn't want to worry her comrades, but it would be hard with the stench of blood everywhere.

Zidane, Vivi and Mel walked towards Burmecia, and noticed a bucket of apples dropped on the floor. Zidane looked around, and sighed. "So...this is Freya's home..."

Mel looked around; it was almost like seeing the same thing twelve years ago. She slowly walked around, and took a deep breath as she spoke. "This is horrible..."

Zidane called Freya over, and she walked in. She stared at her home, and frowned. "It's been five years... I've been away for so long. Not a night went by when I didn't dream about home."

It was the same for Mel, but the chances of her ever returning home was impossible... It wasn't even on the same continent. She sighed, and looked at Freya as she spoke. "The time has come to serve my kingdom as a Burmecia dragon might once again!"

"I'll do what I can to help!" Zidane said as he looked over to Freya.

"Me, too!" Vivi added. Melodi had her back turned against everyone, and continued to look at the kingdom of Burmecia. Zidane and Vivi turned towards her, and they wondered what was up. She quickly realized what was going on, and turned to everyone.

"We should hurry," she said as she looked towards Freya. The Burmecian nodded, and they all made their way into the town. Zidane kept his eyes on Melodi though, and wondered why she was suddenly being back to being quiet. He looked around the town, and it was gloomy. He wondered if the negativity was getting to Melodi, since it was getting to both Freya and Vivi. He knew he had to keep the team running on high spirits, since being down all the time was helping anyone.

When they walked towards the centre of the town, the two jesters appeared. They sprouted out some nonsense and called out their mages. Zidane, Mel, Vivi and Freya all prepared for the attack, and they knew it wasn't getting any easier for the young mage with them. It wasn't hard to get rid of them, and with a few attacks plus a few spells they were down. The jesters cackled, and everyone just stared as they talked. Something they said caught Melodi's ear though.

"The general will punish you for this!" the blue one said. The pink one followed after. "Yes! Very scary, it is, when the general gets mad!"

They ran away, and the gang started to follow. Melodi was a little worried what they meant by 'general'. The only general she knew of was General Beatrix, and everyone had a right to be scared of her. She was merciless, unforgiving, and at one point Melodi looked up to her because of her strength and status as a female general. She hadn't heard much of the general when she stopped talking to Dagger, but she assumed she was just as fearsome as before.

They made their through destroyed buildings, and climbed a few stairs. When they reached a big step of stairs, Freya stopped everyone and spoke. "Burmecia's royal palace is beyond these steps. It must be in ruins, just like everything else. I can't bear to see it like that..."

"I understand, but we can't go back now," Zidane replied. "We have to find out who's behind this."

Vivi also added that he wanted to find out who the mages were and why he looked like them. Zidane nodded, and told Freya that everyone was scared, but they needed to face reality. Melodi looked over to Zidane with a sad look, since he spoke the very truth. Someday she needed to face her demons and go back home, but with everything going on, and the fact that her home had no mist surrounding it, she wasn't sure if she could go back. It was a miracle how she made it to Lindblum, but...

"Do you really know what you're doing?" Melodi heard Freya speaking to Vivi. She was bent down on one knee, and looking at the young boy. "The answer you seek may forever change your life for the worse."

Vivi wasn't sure how to answer at first, but he desperately wanted to know just who he was. With a short silence, Zidane heard footsteps, and warned everyone. A Burmecian soldier and his family appeared, and he didn't look pleased. "Are you in league with the black mages!?"

Zidane protested, but the soldier called him a liar, and added that they had a black mage with them. Both Mel and Vivi told them they were telling the truth, but he still called it lies. Freya got up, and looked at the soldier. "He's telling the truth!"

The soldier gasped when he saw Freya, and she greeted him calmly. The soldier was about to ask where she had been the past five years, but he stopped and told them that the mages were swarming the entire place. He told them to leave, but Freya told him that she was staying. She was going to fight and protect her home and her king at any cost.

"Let's go to the palace," she said. Zidane nodded, and they all proceeded with caution. Melodi was still feeling the pressure of bodies and blood all around, and with the message the two jesters left, she was feeling nervous. They made it towards the entrance to the king's throne room, but it was blocked. Freya fell on her knees, and Zidane sighed as he frowned.

"Freya, I'm sorry, but from the looks of this, I don't think the kings made it," he said as he continued to look around. When she didn't reply, he turned around and suggested they look around. As they started to walk, Freya suddenly got up and jumped all the way towards the top. The rest looked up at her, and she looked down.

"There's someone inside the palace!" she exclaimed. "What are you waiting for? Get up here."

Zidane sighed, and dropped his shoulders. He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the giant statue beside him. "You make it sound so easy..."

As he started to climb, he looked over to Mel. He motioned her to follow, and she was already climbing the statue. He did the same for Vivi, who tried to jump, but landed on his face instead. Zidane sighed, and scratched his head. Mel sat near him as she climbed, and smiled a bit. "I'll help Vivi up the statue. Go on ahead and we'll meet you guys there."

He nodded, and wished her luck.

ȶ

Zidane followed Freya towards the throne room, and noticed queen Brahne, and young women standing there. Freya told him that she knew the queen was behind all this because there were rumours flying around that she had her eyes on the kingdom. Zidane looked at the young women, and also mentioned that it was Beatrix, Alexandria's general. Freya looked at her. "That's Beatrix? The cold-blooded knight who knows no mercy."

Freya was brought back to the time Fratley left. He had talked about Beatrix, a warrior who was stronger than most. Her swordsmanship was incredible, and Fratley didn't know if his spear was enough to protect their kingdom. He had stated a while ago that he was going on a journey to get stronger, since Burmecia was at peace. Freya couldn't do it, she couldn't live without him, but he insisted that she would be fine. A promise was made that day, a promise that he would return.

However, he never returned, and Freya only heard rumours of his death. She was never one to believe it, not until she saw it for herself.

Freya shook her head, and Zidane asked if she was alright. Although she said yes, she was hurting inside, and Zidane knew that. She still couldn't get over him, no matter what she did. She didn't reply to any of his questions, but instead watched as a man approached the two females.

ȶ

The mysterious man chuckled as he found the rain pleasant. It felt as though the raindrops blessed their victory, and he chuckled some more. The queen smirked, and fanned herself as she spoke. "This is a great victory for us. Kuja, your black mages made this conquest so simple."

Their only concern was finding the king of Burmecia, and ending his life. She didn't want any of the citizens rising as long as they had their king's life in their hands. She looked over to Beatrix and asked her what was taking so long, and Beatrix turned to her as she shook her head. "I don't know, Your Majesty. I've ordered Zorn and Thorn to search the perimeter, but there's been no word so far. I will join them and lead the search right away."

Kuja scoffed and told her she was wasting her time. Beatrix turned to him and asked him what he said, and he chuckled. He told the two ladies that the Burmecians had most likely gone to another place for shelter, specifically Cleyra. The queen growled, and expressed the difficulty they would endure reaching the place. She turned to Kuja, and demanded he do something with his powers. The bard chuckled and bowed, and told her that he would present a marvellous display of it.

ȶ

Zidane and Freya continued to listen in to their conversation, and Zidane didn't like what he heard. Freya wanted to know who Kuja was, but Zidane had no clue. He was more interested in Cleyra, and why it was such a mystery. It had been in isolation for a hundred years, and if the Burmecians had escaped there then they were safe for a while. They continued to talk about Cleyra for a while, until they saw a Burmecian soldier run up to the queen. They both saw, and quickly ran to aid the lonely soldier.

ȶ

"Hold it!" Zidane shouted as he and Freya jumped from their hiding place. The soldier ran towards Freya, and she instructed him to protect the king with his life. With a nod, the soldier ran past them.

Melodi and Vivi had started running towards Freya and Zidane when they finished climbing. They ran into the throne room and saw a soldier run pas them. Mel looked ahead and gasped as she saw Beatrix, the queen and a mysterious man in front of Zidane and Freya. Both she and Vivi ran up to the two, and she immediately took out her sword as she glared at Beatrix. "I knew they were talking about you when they said the 'general' would be angry."

Beatrix took out her weapon, and glared back at Melodi. The queen looked at her as well, and scoffed after she had a good laugh. "Well, if it isn't you... the girl who thought she could be friends with a princess, haha!"

"Forgotten my name, have you?" Melodi looked towards the queen and she simply scoffed, why would she need to remember a peasant's name? Melodi continued to look at her and when the queen didn't say anything she growled. "It's Melodi, and you better remember it since we're gonna stop you."

Freya, Zidane and Vivi took out their weapons and stood near Melodi, they were with her all the way and they weren't going to let anyone hurt Burmecia's king. Beatrix began to laugh, and flipped her hair back as she looked at them. "Ha ha ha. I've never been so humiliated in my life."

She took out her sword and prepared her stance, while everyone else kept their guard up. She smirked at them as she spoke. "I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly... to me, you four are nothing more than insects."

She started the battle immediately by attacking Melodi, who blocked her attack in time. Freya came in and attacked the general and left a small gash, nothing serious. She healed quickly, and attacked Freya in returned. Zidane blocked the attack by jumping in front of her, and Vivi quickly chanted a fire spell. Unfortunately, she had a shield protecting her from spells so it wasn't really effective. Melodi ran up to Beatrix and attacked, but she blocked it, but then Melodi quickly ran to the side and punched her arm. Beatrix growled, and quickly healed herself again. Beatrix was getting bored, and smirked as she looked at all of them. "You're no match for me!"

She unleashed her strongest attack on the four friends, and no matter how much they blocked the attack it was too much and they all slouched to the floor. Beatrix scoffed. "Ignorant fools."

Vivi had immediately fainted after the attack, with Mel, Zidane and Freya still conscious, though barely. Beatrix merely chuckled, and commented on how weak they were. The queen simply laughed along with her until she told her that they need to prepare the attack on Cleyra. They both left the throne room, leaving Kuja and the four friends together. He chuckled and walked towards them.

"Now, what do we have here...? Another filthy rat, and... Hmm, this boy could become a problem," he looked over to Vivi and Zidane simultaneously. He looked over to Mel, and brought his finger to his chin. "So... she's the sister of Blade...?"

He continued to stare at them all. Vivi was flat on his face while Mel fainted on her side right beside Zidane, who was leaning on his elbows as he fainted. The only one still struggling to get up was Freya, who watched as Kuja calmly walked over to his white dragon. He merely shook his head and flipped his hair back as he looked at the four one last time. As his dragon rose to the sky, Freya watched. After a moment, she struggled some more until she eventually fainted along with everyone else.

ȶ

"The conductor said we'll be arriving at the summit station soon."

Steiner stood near Dagger as he tried explaining, but she was asleep. He decided not to bother her and let her sleep, but he was worried about how the princess believed everything about Queen Brahne. He knew the queen wouldn't start a war, and he knew the princess would set things straight with her mother.

The train had stopped, and they were at the summit. Dagger immediately woke up, and they left to wait for the train headed to Alexandria. It would take a long while for the train to arrive, so they decided to head to the rest area. Dagger decided to ask how the status of the trains was doing, and when she asked the man, he told her that the ride to Alexandria was arriving soon.

"I missed my ride!" she heard through the wall. She thought to herself and how the voice sounded familiar, so she decided to check it out. When she walked out of the resting area, she saw both Cinna and Marcus standing on the other side arguing about Cinna's ride.

"You were the one who wanted to watch the scenery while eating south gate Bundt cake," Marcus said as he sat down. Cinna ignored him and frowned as he still complained about his missed ride. Marcus promised he wouldn't tell the boss, and Cinna thanked him and suggested they eat another Bundt cake.

When Dagger returned to the rest area, she immediately saw Steiner arguing with the two thieves. He argued about how they were going to kidnap the princess again, but Cinna was confused as to who he was. "Who's the big tin man?"

Steiner grew even more furious and they continued to argue with each other. Dagger sighed, and decided to walk in the conversation. She greeted the two men, and they greeted her back. They were surprised to see her back on Alexandrian territory, and they tried explaining what happened at evil forest, but Steiner interrupted. Dagger placed her hands on her hips. "Steiner! That's enough!"

She argued with him for a while, and the two thieves started snickering how he was being scolded. The train to Alexandria had arrived, and Cinna walked up to see the train. Although he was going to Lindblum, Marcus was going back to Alexandria so he could go to Treno. Dagger took note of this, and decided to follow him towards the train, with Steiner following after her.

When she reached the train, she saw Marcus getting on and said goodbye to Cinna with promises of saving their bro. Dagger tilted her head in confusion, and decided to ask Cinna why Marcus was going to Treno. Cinna had explained that Marcus received a deal in Treno, but couldn't explain further since the train was leaving soon. They boarded the train, and Dagger walked over to Marcus and asked why he was heading to Treno.

"To save our brother," he answered. Dagger wasn't sure who that was, and he explained further. "There's only one man I call 'Bro.' That's Blank."

He explained that their band went gathering information to cure his petrification, and found that there was an item called supersoft that could cure all forms of it. Cinna was headed towards Lindblum to inform the others, and Dagger nodded. Marcus had asked where Zidane was, and she told him that they separated in Lindblum. He chuckled and mentioned how she got rid of him as soon as they reached Lindblum, but she protested and explained that it was because he kept treating her like a child, which was true. He scoffed, and turned away from her. She sighed, and then asked if there was anything she could help, seeing as she felt it was her fault that Blank turned to stone. He refused, and when she was about to say something the train stopped.

The conductor went to go check, but when he did he screamed and came back yelling it was a demon with a pointy hat. Dagger and Steiner gasped, and they both went out to check it out. Marcus followed only out of curiosity.

"What's going on?" he asked. He noticed something coming out of the train's view, and watched as it walked towards them.

"Mission...retrieve...princess...alive...," the waltz said as he limped towards the three of them. Dagger asked if it was the same one from the cargo ship, and Steiner took out his sword threatening it.

"Tell me something! Why do you want to capture me?" Dagger asked. The waltz started to scream, and they watched as his voice suddenly became distorted. He smirked and chuckled at the princess.

"My, my. If it isn't the princess," he said, looking at her. "It seems this lowly waltz managed to survive."

He looked around, and noticed that it was just her and Steiner. "Why is it just you two? Where are the others? Where is 'Melodi'?"

Dagger gasped, how did the waltz know her name? She stood on her guard, and spoke. "How do you know Melodi? What's going on?"

"These waltzes may be looking for you, but I am simply looking for my dear little sister," he said, smirking at them all. "You see, I need to speak with her. I'd rather do it in person however, but I see she's not here."

He gave out another chuckle. "I'll let you finish off this broken doll since there is no need for it."

The distorted voice disappeared, and the same thing that the waltz said before was repeated again. Marcus took out his sword, and told them it was no use talking to it now that it didn't understand. Dagger took out her rod, and the three of them prepared for battle. The only thing it could really do was attack and cast low level spells, which weren't very strong since Dagger had her healing spells. It also wasn't very hard to get rid of him either, since it took about five hits each from Steiner and Marcus to get rid of the mage. When he died, Dagger stood still, and wondered what the waltz wanted with her. She lowered her head and wondered why the distorted voice wanted Mel. It was all confusing, and she wondered why it was happening.

Marcus turned around, and told both Steiner and Dagger that Burmecia was attacked by an army of black mage soldiers. Dagger already knew, but Marcus continued saying that the mages wiped out the people. When Steiner asked who could've done it, Marcus yelled at his ignorance. Dagger ignored them arguing, and looked ahead. She was going to the castle... she knew her mother would listen to her.