A few minutes pass by in order for Garnet to regain her composure when concerning Zidane...of whom she continued to heavily slap silly. Eventually...his face had ended up like a big red tomato. "...Ahem! I hope you have learned your lesson, cretin." says Garnet, coughing to herself. "...I-I-I'm sorry..." says Zidane, struggling to say those words properly whilst his face is swelled humongous. "Please don't worry, your highness. The rest of us are not at all like this fiend here." says Cinna, making sure that the blame stays all focused upon Zidane. "S-S-Screw you Cinna..." says Zidane, still struggling to speak properly.

"Still at any rate, you were right Zidane. This IS princess Garnet of Alexandria! for a while, I thought you were just trying to ditch the operation and head back home to Lindblum. Baku would have pummelled you all the way there instead if you tried something like that." says Cinna, his words sending a sizzle down Garnet and Zidane's spines...since the latter actually did try to let Garnet escape without either the kingdom or Tantalus knowing about said escape. Zidane's face at last swells down back to normal and he pretends to not know anything whilst massaging his cheeks, the same going for the princess.

"...A-Anyways Cinna. Did you hear anything from Blank maybe? is he back on the ship yet? once he is, we'll set out!" says Zidane, as he plans to think things through for later on, once the Prima Vista has left it's stage port of Alexandria Castle. "Yeah, though we've got a slight problem...actually, call it a huge one." says Cinna. Before either Zidane or Garnet could ask what the problem was...a loud voice could be heard echoing throughout the airship. "PRINNNCESSSS!" it belonged to none other then the loyal captain of Alexandria...Steiner.

Steiner's Theme by SonOfDephts-da:embed id="yTMnBxqhmls" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

"!? That voice!" says Garnet, recognising the very loud sounding voice. "!? Oh crap, there's a knight onboard the ship!? why didn't you tell us Cinna!?" says Zidane, chewing Cinna out. "Look! I was just about to get around to that part! THAT guy is the problem we're facing now! unless we get rid of him, we'll be in a whole debacle with Alexandria!" says Cinna, warning Zidane of the ramifications if nothing is done. "Geez...oy vey. Princess, what do you want to do?" says Zidane, shocking Cinna by asking Garnet these words. "H-Hey Zidane! what are you-!?" Zidane covers Cinna's mouth, refusing to let him speak and more importantly...wanting to hear Garnet's answer. "...This airship...it's heading to Lindblum, correct? I...have certain business there. If...if maybe...you can please escort me there...I am sure that you will be greatly rewarded for your efforts." says Garnet, mentioning some kind of "reward".

This greatly catches Cinna's attention "WE WILL-!?" shouts Cinna before his mouth is covered again. "...Alright. If that's truly where you want to go...then, for us Tantalus, it will be like two birds with one stone. This works out perfectly for both us and for you your majesty. Don't worry! I'll get you to Lindblum no matter what! that is my oath to you!" says Zidane before he cheekily smiles, causing the princess to slightly blush under the hood and as a result, tighten the hood down so that Zidane does not see her expression. "Y-Yes, I suppose it IS beneficial towards you band of renegades, our destination being the same and all..." says Garnet, facing away from Zidane.

"Huh?" Zidane was confused by what the princess had meant with that statement. "Uh, Zidane? what's this about an oath? also, THE KNIGHT IS HEADING TOWARDS THIS ROOM!" shouts out Cinna, trying to have two separate conversations at once. Because Steiner was approaching from the main entrance, Zidane was struggling with what to do in this crucial moment of time. Cinna breaks free of Zidane's weakened grip and calls out to both him and the princess, saying "Zidane! your majesty! this way! I'll get us all out of here!" says Cinna, deciding to let bygones be bygones with Zidane for now, wanting instead to help both him and princess Garnet escape from Steiner whom was closing in on the meeting room.

"!? Cinna wait! what have you got in mind!? that room's just a dead end!" says Zidane. "Just shut up already and go through it! trust me, I've got the Prima Vista sorted out like the back of my big thumb!" says Cinna, giving a literal thumbs up. "...The thumb you use to suck on in your sleep?" says Zidane, catching Cinna out. "!? WILL YOU CEASE WITH THE NOISE AND GET A MOVE ON, MONKEY MAN!?" shouts Cinna, starting to lose desperate patience. "...Alright, my bro of Tantalus. I trust you, so princess? will you trust me as I trust my brother?" says Zidane, not wanting to waste anymore time. "HURRY! THE CLANKING IS GETTING NEARER!" shouts Cinna once more, hearing Steiner's footsteps increasing with each pace.

"...Oh alright already! let's just go before he gets here!" says Garnet, Zidane nodding his head before taking her hand and then following Cinna to the next room...supposedly a dead end. After the three leave the meeting room, does Steiner enter it. "PRINCESS! PRINCESS GARNET! please! tell me that you are alive and well! if naught, I'll HANG all these brigands for their offensive actions towards the kingdom of Alexandria! pretending to be an acting troupe for your birthday celebration, only instead to try and whisk you away from your mother-queen Brahne. Tis an outrage! an OUTRAGE I say! !? wait, I am digressing. Princess please! I must know if you are indeed alive! please call out! do not worry, I shall take care of these thieves that would hold you hostage. Or I am not Adelbert Steiner, captain of the Knights of Pluto! furthermore-" Steiner just rambles on and on at this point.

"...Oy vey, this guy sure loves to hear himself talk, huh." says Zidane, watching out the circular glass window, as he sees Steiner pace back and forth in the previous room. Mainly just talking to himself, Garnet then notices Zidane so close to the window and tries to pull him away from it. "Hey! get away from there! you want Steiner to spot us!?" says Garnet, trying to pull Zidane by the arm. "Steiner? that's the name of captain o rust-buckets next door? why is he wearing such cheap looking armour?" says Zidane. "...I-I don't know, I guess that's just a personal preference of his..." says Garnet, having heard most of the awful sounding things concerning both Steiner and the armour that he wears. Like Zidane, the Female knights of Alexandria also call Steiner "captain rust-bucket" amongst other things.

"VOILA! I've got it!" says Cinna, as he presses some kind of contraption that opens a secret trapdoor! "!? A secret passage!? Cinna when have you been working on this!?" says Zidane, as he looks down the trapdoor. "Since Baku unfairly chewed us out a while back. I made this just in case me, you, Blank and/or Marcus wanted to escape Baku's wrath since he goes on a monologuing tirade. More importantly though, it's to help us get out of a great bind such as this one. This passage leads directly under from here to the engine room." says Cinna, explaining the trapdoor's purpose. "Seriously!? Cinna you rock!" says Zidane, complimenting Cinna. "Hehe, aw shucks, you're making me blush." says Cinna, getting carried away.

"Can we PLEASE focus!? we need to get out of here before Steiner spots this room! HUP!" says Garnet, casting both hesitation and fear towards the winds and jumping down the trapdoor, not caring where it leads so long as she and the others are not caught. "W-Woah...she's one daring princess." says Cinna, commending Garnet. "I know right? anyways she's right. We've spent too much time bantering here. We need to leave-now!" says Zidane, jumping right after Garnet. "...Sheesh, don't these skinny people know that I am a bit more plumb then most? ah well, here goes!" says Cinna, closing the hatchet after jumping in the trapdoor, following both Garnet and Zidane in sequence.

Steiner had finally noticed the next room after rumbling before bursting right through it, sword in hand. "AH-HAH! PRINCESS I FOUND...y-you?" says Steiner, expecting to find Garnet and the thieves holding her captive. "W-W-Wha!? there's...there's no one here!? but that's...not possible! this room is a dead end! surely...they couldn't have magic themselves away!? that kind of magic doesn't exist! wait, hmm? HMMMM!?" Steiner was not the captain of the Knights of Pluto for show, just so everyone knows. He was given his position due to extensive training of knighthood, one characteristic of that being...he possessed keen eyes and hearing. With the former, he was able to spot a kind of bulge sticking out, one that Cinna forgot to hide away before leaping downwards.

Steiner touches the bulge and just the slight touch is enough to summon forth the trapdoor! "!? A TRAPDOOR! those FOUL miscreants! they shall pay for these actions of theirs, I shall dearly see to it!" before Steiner could jump down though, one of his knights somehow miraculously bursts onto the scene! "C-C-Captain! s-sorry for taking so long! I-I managed to catch up!" says the knight, acting scared around Steiner. "!? W-WHAT!? well...TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH! look, you see this hole? the princess and her captors jumped right down it! those devils...making the princess do something so-so-so fearful! it makes me shudder how she must be feeling from all this. Therefore, I shall give chase!" says Steiner, resuming to plan and jump.

"W-W-Wait captain! let me go first! I-I shall make sure it's safe for you!" says the knight. Before Steiner could object to this, the knight makes the plunge anyway...getting himself stuck in the hole, as it were. "WHAAAT!? since when is a knight of MINE so careless!? … bah! forget this! I shall find...another way!" says Steiner, storming away to elsewhere. The knight in the hole however says to himself lastly "...That's cause I ain't a knight of "yours", o sir rust-buckets. Hehe...can't believe that sucker actually fell for my act!" says the "knight", as he takes off his helmet to wipe off sweat. Revealing himself in truth to be...Blank! still wearing his disguise.

TO BE CONTINUED.