Kailynn and David's POV
"I-I still can't believe the queen would do such a thing..." Steiner said.
"Better believe it. She threw you in a cage," Marcus said, "We have to get out of here..."
Kailynn looked around the vaulted room from the bird cage they had been forced into. "This gives 'I Want to be Your Canary' a whole new meaning huh?" She joked.
David snorted, "Completely."
"This is no time to joke we need to get out of here," Marcus said.
"All we need to do is sway back and forth and the momentum will get us to the ledge," David said.
"Good idea!" Steiner said.
"And then we need to get our stuff back before the guards catch us and throw us in a more airtight cell."
Steiner frowned, "Yes… That would be wise…"
"Okay, left!" Kailynn said.
The four swung left and right, sometimes messing up and having to start over a bit. Soon they had gained speed and crashed into the bridge. The four crawled out and onto the walkway when they heard the guards call out, "What was that noise!? Go check the prisoners!" David winced as he booked it to the storage room where they held his personal effects.
"Incoming!" he heard Marcus yell behind him and watched as two guards came rushing to his companions. He made it to the storage area nearly sliding on the stone when he met a guard inside.
"I'm sorry about this," he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him, using his free fist to slam into the back of her helmet and knock her out. He grabbed all their weapons and rushed out, tossing them towards them as they fought. He cried out as a blade punctured into his side and he turned and hilt smashed the woman as the blade dropped from his side and clattered on the stone in a puddle of his blood. His blood pooled into the grout as he staggered into the storage area and rummaged through his bag for a potion. He blinked away the dark spots in his eyes as his trembling hands nearly dropped the flask he was holding. He brought it up to his mouth and greedily took a drink before the others ran in and equipped themselves
"Good show, David," Steiner clapped him on the shoulder making him wince, "You'd make an admirable Knight of Pluto."
"Yeah, not today though thanks…" he heaved in a breath and took another potion, clearing his eyes and head from the fog. He shook his head a bit as he drank the strong tonic and followed his companions across the platform and to the upper chambers. There weren't many guards chasing after them, they probably figured that since the majority of them were men that they wouldn't stand that much of a chance against their matriarchal army. For once David was relieved that people had underestimated his ability as he climbed the ladder to the top chamber and the four of them reached a circular staircase that rose out of the ground when triggered.
Tessa and Lailah's POV
As Tessa walked inside the sanctuary of the cathedral with the others, her eyes were drawn to the harp in the corner. She saw the glittering gem resting inside the crescent moon, and walked up to it awestruck. "It is our precious magical jewel, it keeps... Kept... The sandstorm in place," The High Priest explained sadly.
"It's beautiful," she awed as Lailah smiled at her softly.
"Yes it is," He agreed, "But now..." he sighed and made his way to Freya and Fratley the two Burmecian Dragon Knights.
Without really thinking about it she walked up and touched it, no one told her to back off so she didn't really think anyone was paying attention when she realized what she was doing. When her hand met the cool stone it seemed to sparkle even brighter, and her hand felt tingly again like when she touched the opal, but slightly different, it was much less soft and comforting and more smooth yet demanding. She smiled as she sensed something inside of it, a presence just like Shiva. "Do you remember which Eidolon this is?" Lailah asked.
"You don't like him." She didn't know how she knew this or why she said it but the look on Lailah's face told her the assumption had been correct.
He looked irritated as if the Eidolon were standing in the room. She supposed he might have been considering he was a spirit but she shrugged it off, "... We don't really get along..."
"Is he…" she searched for the word that fit the feeling she was getting from the two of them, "… Pretentious?"
He couldn't help but snort, "In a way yes, but don't worry about it," he ruffled her hair and smiled, "He's not a bad person... He's just a tad bit annoying…" the look on his face said a bit more but he nudged her to the others, "Come on."
"Okay," she realized she had missed the majority of the conversation between Freya and her long lost boyfriend when she saw her staring at the floor crestfallen. Tessa knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around her in a comforting gesture, she was afraid she had chosen the wrong course of action wen she felt Freya startle beneath her. "Do you not like to be touched?" Tessa pulled away a bit.
"No its fine…" she murmured.
"... He cannot even remember me..." Freya said softly.
"I know... I'm so sorry..." She squeezed her tighter when an idea popped into her head. She shot up quickly and started running after Fratley, "Wait! Fratley! Wait a moment!"
He stopped and looked back at her, "Yes?"
"Thank you for helping my friends, but also..." She looked to Lailah and could tell he understood immediately. He nodded and walked over to Fratley.
"I can help restore your memory," Lailah said.
"You can!?" Freya shot up, her tear stricken face tearing a number on Fratley.
The look of heartbreak, the pain of hurting someone else, rang on his face as he considered her carefully. His eyes flicked to hers seeing the hope filled their, he looked away as the pain of not remembering someone who loved him dearly squeezed his heart. He may not remember her, but the last thing he wanted was to see her hurt and unhappy. He wanted to see her beautiful smile resting there once again… After a long moment he considered Lailah and nodded, "Thank you. What can I do?"
"You'll have to rest for a while," he said, "But when you wake you'll have your memory back," he looked at Freya, "And Freya?"
"Yes?" her breath caught in her throat as she trembled. The look on her face re Tessa of her own, fearing that the good around her was merely nothing more than an illusion, a dream…
"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask a difficult favor of you."
"A-anything! Just please..." Her heart beat faster.
"Freya... We need your help so you may not be able to return for a while," her emotions were still a mess, but she nodded. He turned to Fratley, "When you wake, your people may still need your help," Fratley looked to his lover, worry filling his expression.
"I understand," he nodded, "I may not be able to remember you," he told Freya as she walked up to him her fingers twitching longingly to touch his face, "But I pray for your safety," he smiled at her sweetly, "We will see each other soon, I'm sure."
Fratley's tension eased slightly when he saw the a soft smile grace her face, "And I you," she could no longer hold herself back, she wrapped her arms around the man she loved holding him so close to her heart in fear he'd slip away, her heart melting when he returned the embrace.
After giving them a moment Lailah put his hand on Fratley's shoulder, "Ready?" The two nodded, so Lailah placed his hands on Fratley's head and closed his eyes. Tessa watched the light disperse from his hands and imagined Zachriel was doing the same. Almost instantly, Fratley collapsed, Freya and Lailah caught him as he fell and gently set him on the floor. Zidane walked up and crossed his arms, "Maybe you should've let him rest at the inn first," Zidane said.
Lailah shook his head, "Here will be fine," he said as he picked him up and set him on a pew nearby. Freya got something soft to lay under his head and sat next to him.
"Hmm... Well, I'm sure things are going to get interesting from here on out..." He muttered.
"Very..." Freya said stroking Fratley's face. "We will meet again soon," she smiled at him.
They heard a scream. "How very touching!"
The group turned to see Beatrix holding her blade to the priests throat as he whimpered and tried to crawl away. She swung her blade around catching the stone with it to toss it up and catch it with her palm as the blade swung down to his throat once more, the movement was so fluid that Tessa stared in awe. She prayed that one day she would be an even greater swordsmen than Beatrix and Cloud. "Have mercy!" he shrieked as her blade lingered.
"Hmph! Pathetic rodents! You fail to grasp the true power of this jewel! And now that I have it I am through with your city!"
"Stop!" Zidane and the others chased after her but Lailah made her stay behind.
"I can help!"
"I don't want to risk it again."
"Why?"
He glanced over the people in the room watching them. He set his hand on her head and knelt to her height, "She's willing to kill anyone," he said quietly, "And you can't tolerate lightning or fire."
"But the mages and black waltz shoot lightning."
"... I just don't feel comfortable with it… Alright? Please don't argue with me on this. I know you can fight, but right now I need you here. A lot of these people are hurt," she looked around at them, "Sometimes you can't be the tank and you have to be the healer. They need us." She nodded and went over to the most critical patient and knelt beside them, it was a young girl about her age with severe lacerations and burns.
"If I had noticed people were hurt I would have come by sooner. I'm sorry," she laid her hand on the girls shoulder lightly making her wince. Her father was going to step in when light poured from her hand and his daughter started to relax. People looked around them in awe as her wounds started to sew themselves together. She felt when the work was complete, the girl's body having smoothed beneath her magic. When she opened her eyes she saw people gaping at her, "Is white magic not that common?"
"Not complete healing like that," the girl's father said as he picked his daughter up in his arms and held her close. "Thank you. I was worried I was going to lose her…"
"You're welcome," she nodded before going to the next critical patient and so on until she reached the end; a little boy had a paper cut on his pinkie from a few days prior and really wanted it healed. She smiled at him and healed it before giving it a kiss, the little boy through his arms around her and thanked her, when they heard a commotion outside.
She looked to her dad who was peeking out the window and he nodded to her. The two said their goodbyes and left, running outside to join the others as they asked the mages for a lift to the Red Rose after they had seen Beatrix pull the same move. The five were lifted into the air having to watch helplessly as a loud thundering ripped open the sky; a burning bubble of light escaping from the darkness as a beam of red light was brought forth to the Earth releasing an ogre of a man who sat on a six legged stead which bounded across the heavens. The horse galloped forth in the vertical stream as the ogre thrust back his arm and threw his deadly blade through the massive tree.
Tessa cried out incoherently as she watched the tree break apart into a fiery explosive mass. When the dust had cleared she looked on in shock as a pinkish purple aura consumed the resting tree to cling there like a bubble of gelatin, preserving the Ancient and its occupants. Her tears stung at her eyes as she could still fear the terror of loss. Even after Odin and Sleipner had ascended back to their domain the towering Ancient stood there, a silent sentinel encased in a perpetual dome of light.
As the team arrived on the Red Rose they dashed to the railing, "What was that?" Zidane asked.
"A feint. He had to make it seem as if he'd completed his job, or else Brahne would just attack again," Lailah explained.
"Very clever. So the bubble is a screen of illusion," Freya said.
"Perception filter?" Tessa asked.
He smiled at her, "Exactly."
The party listened in on Brahne's plan and gave Serino her letter from Mopli, Zidane punched something nearby, "Brahne's going to behead Silver!"
Footsteps came to their ears along with Beatrix's voice, the team scurried behind the staircase before they were noticed and followed her off the ship. "Tessa! Are you okay?" Kailynn asked.
"I'm fine."
"You're covered in blood!"
"Oh!" she checked her shirt, "That's not mine. I was working wound care…" she remembered the poor girl and her family.
"Hurry! We have to save Silver before Brahne beheads her!" Zidane said.
"What!? The queen would never-!" Steiner started.
"You still believe that?" Marcus asked, "Let's get going! I still have to rescue Blank too. So I'll be leaving you guys here."
"I'm going with him! You stay safe okay?
"She'll be okay," Lailah assured her before she ran after Marcus.
"I'll help you guys," David said.
"Who're you?" Tessa asked.
"David."
"Tessa." His dimpled smile rose a blush to her cheeks and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Lailah scowled and stepped between them while Zidane shouted, "Hurry! The guards will be up here any minute now!" They followed him out the door and into the bright sunlight of Alexandria. Birds nested above them in the rafters, lazily cooing to one another the grass swayed in the breeze drifting along the sweet smell of honeysuckle. It was beautiful, but after what they had just witnessed it felt so tainted… Tessa shook her head to clear her thoughts as she was bowled into from the side.
She fell into David who caught her before shifting to stand before her, he drew the sword from his sheath eyes narrowly gazing at the woman in front of him.
When she lifted her blade he parried it with his weapon, used a disarming maneuver and hilt bashed her making her drop. It was all one swift movement that made Tessa's heart flutter. "Are you alright?"
She swallowed and nodded, before Lailah grabbed her hand and drug her along after the others. The party was able to avoid most of the Alexandrians but at some points they had to fight until they were knocked out. They weaved through so many distractions on their way to the Ceremonial Chamber when they rushed into see Zorn and Thorn using the extraction process on the Princess.
Tessa went to rush in but David and Lailah stopped her, "I can fight!" she glared at them.
"Not these two," Lailah told her. You need to stay far away from the queen and her cohorts for a while."
Her eyes suddenly went wide as she looked out onto Garnet's lifeless body on the altar and gulped, "I'm not sixteen yet…" she murmured.
"No, you're not," he said ushering her to a corner of the chamber.
They watched as chaos unfolded before them; Meteors raining from the roof, light flares, fire blizzards, lightning, and a soft green glow of rejuvenating energy as the Jesters healed each other. The battle only lasted a few minutes as the jesters gave up and cowered in a corner, "Damn you! We will get you for this!"
"Matters not to us. Finished with Garnet, we are."
"You are too late!" They said as one. The party watched as they booked it out of the room leaving them to tend to Silver, "Silver, I'm here," Zidane knelt next to her, concerning lighting his features, "Silver!"
"PRINCESS! NOOO!" Steiner wailed, "I will never forgive myself!"
"Her heart is still beating," Freya said.
Zidane jumped up, "Lailah, can you heal her?"
"We should bring her upstairs."
Zidane opened his mouth to argue but nodded instead, "Alright," he picked her up gently, "Okay, we'll figure out our next course of action upstairs."