As always, thanks for commenting!

So, apparently, the owner of the Auction House goes by the simple name of "King", which might be Kuja himself in-game. Guess in this AU, it can be "Queen" instead.

There's also a mention of homophobia in this chapter, but it's from another character's point of view. I'm in no way agreeing with that character and I do not endorse homophobia in any way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX and its characters. Square Enix owns them.

Chapter 8: King

There was something strange about that meeting with Josephine Tribal.

The smile she would always display by their presence, as Zidane put it, was not the only fishy detail. That smile had more to it than meet the eyes. The old lady was not simply smiling at them out of a generic happiness, sadness or even madness. It was the type Kuja had only seen on his little brother so far, one sharing its care for the others. Josephine bore that same sweet smile like she was a loving mother or some sort of caregiver.

Well, she did tell about the loss of her lover from a long time ago, a young man who appeared to be the spitting image of Kuja, supposedly. The concept of marriage seemed to have taken such an importance on her that she still remembered her fiancé after all these long years, enough for her to be stuck with the thoughts of that deceased man. Unfortunately, the man she had proposed to was killed in a war.

The same kind of war Kuja planned to impose on Gaia. How ironic…

It was a challenge to make a conception on how one could never get over the death of someone from so long ago. The past was the past, and nothing could be changed. All events that had led everyone to where they were right now were the fruits and mistakes of their past. To Kuja, the only path to follow was to move forward, to try and forge their lives to reach a better end.

How dumb of Gaians to keep on with the memories of the dead and their own terrible pasts. It will only hurt them.

Yes, he recalled all these tortures Garland had shoved upon him for disobeying and nothing will wipe away these awful memories. However, he no longer gave them any concern now that they were out of Garland's reach, at least physically. It was useless to dwell on his past and all he wished was to gain the ability to throw these memories away into some endless abyss.

Yet, it still hurt to think about the past.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted off until they were drawn on his bratty younger brother. Kuja will never forget about all these great times spent with him, wherein they were enjoying their lives together despite Garland's constant monitoring. But these memories were still kept within him because Zidane was thriving in his life right now.

Yet… what if Zidane was lost too? This was a possibility among all the many millions life's choices, just as Kuja had been near to lose him in Madain Sari when they had faced that powerful Eidolon dragon, more than a year ago. Having in mind Zidane's fearless attitude when facing danger, that was an event that might occur at any time during his life. Despite that fateful event that nearly cost Zidane's life, Kuja had never really imagined what should happen if his little brother was to be lost and then become part of the cycle of souls, again.

Or, if dying on Gaia meant that his soul will turn into a lost byproduct among the Mist…

Wait, how did his thoughts escalate to this? Kuja shouldn't even be thinking about this! What should matter to him was the present, and nothing more. They were alive and they were planning a war, that was all.

So, that was it. The Gaians had the bad habit of recalling their bad memories, which in turn affected their lives in a way or another. It seemed remembering their loved ones, whether they were alive or dead, could either hurt or soothe them. He wasn't sure what to think of that concept and how he will find this useful.

However, that finding about that deceased lover was certainly interesting.

That Lady Queen, the very wealthy owner of the Auction House, seemed to project an odd affinity with the brothers. Despite having won the Tetra Master game against Zidane, she paid them for coming to play with her, unlike the other nobles who would refuse to pay if they claimed their victories against the kid. During the course of the same week, she invited them again to try taking on the prodigy. Yet, following her advice from the last game, Zidane paid no heed to her attempts at speaking, refusing to lose focus again. This time, Zidane won the game, but he was quite shocked to see that the old lady was not concerned by her defeat. However, during the game, Kuja listened to her and he went further into the discussion. Lady Queen asked them few questions, mainly from which noble house they came from (they still wore noble's attires, after all).

Of course, Kuja did all the answering to allow Zidane to concentrate on the game. Besides, Zidane was always lost listening to her. The young man couldn't exactly tell her the truth of their origins, but he did tell her that they were no nobles and that they came from a prestigious palace on the Outer Continent. Few Gaians on the Mist Continent knew of that remote continent, but since there was no means to reach a dead continent, that geographical knowledge was simply lost over time to most Gaians. For now, Kuja and Zidane simply set up a camp in a nearby wood with a Moogle tent.

Outraged by the knowledge of the brothers sleeping in the wilderness, Lady Queen offered them a shelter for the night in the guest room, but Kuja declined the offer. After that incident with that obsessed, sex driven noble who had mistaken them for prostitutes a while ago, he could not trust her now. However, Kuja's refusal didn't deter Lady Queen from appreciating their presence and her caring stance toward them did not change. Keeping her motherly smile, she paid them for the game as promised and let them go.

Few days later, she invited them for a third game and, as expected, Zidane won again. However, this time, she requested them to stay for dinner. Whenever food was involved, Zidane was always too happy to join. After all, neither Zidane nor Kuja could cook. They had been used to all the disgusting synthetic food of Terra, plain roasted meat from their preys or simple fruits found in the Gaian wildlife, which were just enough to keep them sustained. Anything cooked by talented chefs of noble houses were quite the addition to their diet.

When they saw the food on the table, Zidane was so pleased he crouched over, his tail wagging contently left and right. He was about to jump on the great feast on the table, ready to devour all he could like a feral animal until Kuja intervened from within their connected minds. "Remember to use the utensils," he told his brother.

Frozen on the spot, Zidane eyed Kuja with a gulp, horrified by the idea of using useless tools to eat such amazing foods available to the open. If Kuja had not stopped him from reaching the food, the boy would have already shoved some down his throat. Calmly but awkwardly, Zidane sat on one of the chairs, taking the one just besides his brother. His hands slowly made their way toward a fork and a butter knife and the boy stared at them in confusion, unsure how he should even use them. Wanting an answer, he drew his eyes to Kuja who, despite his refined allure, was having a hard time trying to hold a fork appropriately.

Having lived isolated from Gaians for so long had taken a toll on them. As Kuja struggled to pick the food on his plate with his fork, Zidane laughed at him, now tempted to go with the easy path and use his own hands instead of these complicated eating utensils.

But unlike the other nobles who had observed the brothers eating, Lady Queen appeared rather amused by their lack of proper eating etiquette. "I can teach you how to use the utensils," she began without having reached for the food once. Zidane glared at her, wondering why she still hadn't touched the food in such hungry moment. "Perhaps the culture on the Outer Continent differs from the Mist Continent and that you don't need them on the Outer Continent?"

Kuja was uncertain how to give an appropriate reply to the question, but Lady Queen's suggestion made him grasp at a startling awareness. Both brothers lacked the manners and etiquettes needed to communicate properly with the other nobles, and thus possibly the leaders of the world too. If this old lady was willing to teach them everything to act as proper nobles, then it was all about convenience for them.

"I… suppose we can use some help," Kuja responded with a polite chuckle. "You quite are right, Milady. We do not use utensils often at home. Perhaps you can teach Zidane some manners too."

"For someone who comes from the outer world but not from a noble house, you speak like a gentleman," Josephine complimented on Kuja before she went back to her flustered, eccentric attitude. "Oh! You both are so amusing and kind! If only I could have you as children of my own, I would rotten spoil you with everything! If I ever had boys with my fiancé, I'm sure they'd look as handsome and humble as you both!"

This was strange. The Genome brothers never had thought about the idea of having parents before. There had been some ancient period, somewhere vague in the depth of Kuja's memories, where he had once considered Garland like a father figure. That past disgusted him as the hate he had for his master was now so anchored into his core that the simple thought of the old man horrified him. Now, to Kuja, he had merely been raised by his master once upon a time, and nothing more. And despite having been wholly raised by Kuja, Zidane did not see him as a father, but rather as an older brother as they were created by the same android creature.

Maybe the boy wouldn't act so different now if Kuja had been his father.

Kuja did not know why, but all these family notions brought him some warmth.

"Nevertheless, I'm curious," the lady began, still having not touched the food while Zidane had already begun eating most of his plate without paying attention. "How old are you? You both look too young to be sleeping outside in simple Moogle tents. The wilderness is dangerous outside this city and predators lurk around everywhere."

There was no need to lie about Zidane's age. Despite having been created as a one-year-old infant, his physical growth process went at a slightly slower rate than a normal Gaian Human. However, Kuja was made an adult from the start. If he'd tell anyone that he was a fifteen-year-old person, no one would believe him. He had to come up with something.

"This is a rather sudden question," the young man commented, and Kuja could see the shine in the lady's eyes leaving a little. Nonetheless, Kuja kept up with his usual charming smile. "I am twenty and Zidane is seven."

"This is such a great age difference between two siblings," Lady Queen admitted. "What of your parents? What had become of them?"

Well, he had to come up with another quick lie. "They both lost their lives shortly after Zidane's birth. Our mother died when she gave birth to him." This part earned some clueless glare from the child who had actually listened what Kuja had said, but he immediately went back to his food. Kuja will have to explain later that this was all a lie so they could pass as simple Gaians. "Our father was caught in a violent storm and taken away soon after. Zidane and I grew up together since then."

"Oh… This is such a sad tragedy," the woman expressed with a heartbroken pout over her lips. She even shed a tear to this generic made-up tale.

On their fourth meeting, Lady Queen surprised them with another dinner without involving any card game. Of course, with the success of their latest sumptuous dinner with the amazing food, they accepted to come. After Josephine and Kuja's boring speech of everything, the most unexpected came out of their discussion.

"Kuja, Zidane, would you like to be part of the Tribal House?"

Learning of Josephine's past love had been more than fruitful. He had been charming the lady more than enough with praises and beautiful words. The old woman had been too kind with them, always offering them the smile they had never gotten from their creator, teaching them nobles' ways and offering them shelter, which the brothers had always refused so far. She was all the opposite of what they knew of Garland, like a true, caring mother.

If only they had experienced a normal Gaian life with a caring parent or two, everything might have led them to a completely different path. Perhaps right now, they wouldn't even be trying to conceive a war to bring death upon the world.

If only…

Yet, this might be too late to save them from their Angels of Death madness.

The request had to be expected which Kuja saw as the most convenient asset for his plan to meet a leader. However, he hadn't expected it to come so soon. No matter, the timing could not be more perfect and this might propel them to their goal to be free and to rule the world faster than ever.

"Huh… what?" Zidane questioned the woman's request, not even sure how this was entitled to him.

"My, this is a rather… unexpected turn of the tide," Kuja said, acting like he was shocked. "Do you mean you want us to work for you?"

"No, no, of course!" Lady Queen insisted, trying to keep her dignified posture and blocking part of her enthusiasm. "I mean… if you want… You both grew up without any parents, and… I want you to… be part of my family…" The breathing slowing down, she had to take a greater inhalation to avoid choking. "I'll make you comfortable at home, I'll teach you everything you'll need to know to be a proper noble and… and…"

"You want to adopt us. Is that what you mean?" the young man said, softening his shock and giving her the softest of the gazes.

The woman blushed as she commented. "Adopting… I guess you could mean that…"

Coughing under his breath, Kuja lowered his gaze. This undecided act was everything but the truth. He could not tell her an answer right now as this will raise too much suspicion. He had to act humble and uncertain. "We'll… have to think about this," he said, his smile slowly leaving but his soft side remained. "I cannot decide now. I will have to speak with Zidane first."

The rest of the dinner went toward the awkward direction, with them discussing how being part of the Tribal family should be like and how they will become wealthy and noble. Her obsession with the brothers seemed to go a little too worrisome. Even when Kuja tried diverting the conversation to something else, the subject was always drawn back on how they will settle well in her family. It was clear her mind had been set from the start on having them as her own sons, even if there was no blood relation between them. All this felt unhealthy and strange, but Kuja knew he had to take advantage of that.

Well, as long as her obsession will not turn into something involving a need for sexual perversion, they will be fine. If it ever came to such vile things or if something was getting in their way, they will simply dispose on that. No Gaians could take on them, after all.

Behind everyone's back, Kuja had already taken his decision. It was now time to explain Zidane what they were getting into.

And this was how the Genome brothers became nobles of Treno.

It took about a week for Zidane to fully grasp the concept of family. It was an idea that had already been familiar to him thanks to the sibling love he shared with Kuja, despite not being related by blood, technically speaking. He never had any thought of an extended family beyond having a brother. This was a difficult task picturing a family with children, parents, grandparents and beyond when Genomes such as them were artificially created and not naturally born from two parents. Even his Genome family in which Garland called them all siblings altogether was long forgotten by the child who barely recalled his time on Terra anymore.

Because they were part of Josephine Tribal's noble house, they adopted her surname. They were now known in Treno as Kuja Tribal and Zidane Tribal. Josephine Tribal had become a new "mother figure", though none of the brothers called her a mother, at least not yet.

Both brothers adapted quite well in their new lives as nobles, though Zidane's ill-mannered ways gave Lady Queen some troubles at first. The bratty boy thought life under the Tribal house was boring, with receiving knowledge from a personal tutor and learning how to act like a noble. Zidane would rather slip outside and explore the nearby woods alone. Once, his trip ended as far as to the Southern gate which was about an hour of run away from Treno's limits. No one was able to find him and everyone worried of Zidane's disappearance except Kuja who reassured his new servants that his brother was going to be fine.

Oddly enough, whenever Zidane was lost, Kuja was the only one capable to find him. Of course, no one knew his secret on how they'd always find each other if one was to disappear in this strange, periodic game of hide-and-seek.

Another bizarre aspect was how the servants seemed to like Zidane's carefree attitude which differed him greatly from most of the other noble children. Zidane didn't particularly like to be around the servants, but he didn't treat them any different from everyone else, whether they were nobles, poor folks or servants. To him, they were people, simple as that, and that was all that mattered to him. However, with time, Zidane learned to live around without paying attention to any of them until one would call him on behalf Lady Queen or Kuja to come for dinner, to take a bath or to partake boring lectures. At first, the boy would not listen, but after few scolding from Kuja, Zidane learned to listen to the servants with more respects than any normal nobles would offer them.

Over the first months, they were taught how to speak and act like a noble, which didn't seem like a problem to Kuja who had a natural way of speech and mannerisms. It probably was something Garland had implemented in him during his creation. However, while Zidane learned to be tamer during the more convenient moments, he could not stand quiet for long. When they visited other nobles, when Kuja and Josephine would go on speeches forever, Zidane would slip out of the places and wander outside, even once having to fight two criminals intended on ridding him of his riches when they had noticed he was a noble child. Normally, Zidane would kill them out of defense and fun, but Kuja had advised he better just beat them to not cause any unnecessary ruckus. After long days, they were finally able to use proper utensils like true gentlemen, though Zidane sometimes skipped them by using his hands, much to Kuja's despair. Lady Queen mocked that the boy will never find a girlfriend when he will grow up if he kept up with such manners, a comment that Zidane ignored because, as a child, finding a mate was the least of his worries.

As Zidane was still too young, Kuja was the only one who was taught how to foresee their Auction House for any counterfeit objects and the value of things as this will be the business they will eventually have to take over in their later lives. Thanks to this, Kuja learned more about monetary value, a fact that might be needed later.

Surprisingly, Kuja discovered a new hobby he shared with their new "mother" which involved fashion. Kuja had already drawn his interest in types of clothes before, but this time, both him and Lady Queen took their sweet time before their wardrobes, struggling to find their best outfits for the day. He began to force some attires upon Zidane who contested at first but then decided that Kuja was the better connoisseur in cloths, so everyday, he'd let Kuja choose outfits for him. Sometimes, Lady Queen and Kuja teamed up together to comb each other's hair, even Zidane's who would always pout and sulk in defeat whenever they combed his hair and tail. Obviously, Zidane had no care for appearance.

When he noticed few servants and Lady Queen taking time to apply makeup on their face, Kuja became intrigued. He had noticed people with makeup before, but he didn't realize the idea could be applied on him to make himself more appealing. The first day Kuja tried to apply makeup on his visage was a disaster, but he was taught from another servant and Josephine how to properly make himself more beautiful with it.

Lady Queen had first been joyful to see Kuja's excitement over fashion and appearance, but the joy was slowly turning sour when she realized that such passion for fashion and makeups was an attitude more akin to women. With Kuja's seemingly lack of interest in women right now, their "mother" was worried that her new "son" might divert to another path she did not want for him. That fashion idea seemed to have gone too far when one day, Zidane began to call his big brother a girly girl, which did not bother Kuja at all, much to her shock.

Kuja couldn't be into men, couldn't he?

No, that was a thought to be tossed. Kuja seemed too perfect for this.

Thanks to Lady Queen's experience with Tetra Master, Zidane got to learn more advices and new strategies. Kuja was taught more about the other noble houses and the royalty across the Mist Continent. All this knowledge will surely come in handy in time, sooner or later.

Soon, they weren't simply known as the Tailed Brothers, but as full-fledged nobles of the Tribal House, one of the most prestigious houses of the entire Alexandrian country. For them having rose from nobodies to powerful nobles in such a short period triggered other rumors about them, mainly that they descended from powerful gods out of this world. No normal folks on Gaia should be able to accomplish such a feat.

According to the servants, the insertion of the brothers in the Tribal noble house seemed to have uplifted the mood of their Lady Queen. Kuja was told she used to be moody, always on the verge to mistreat her servants and even others in a way or another by threatening them with harassment, sometimes a salary cut or firing them when she was bored. This was something that Kuja could have never guessed, considering her sweet, motherly attitude with the brothers. She had only begun to change when her attention had been drawn to that tailed child prodigy in the card stadium and the intriguing tailed young man accompanying him.

It was only when Zidane once slipped into Lady Queen's personal room that Kuja realized her reason for adopting both brothers into her house. The child spotted a grand painted portrait of a long black-haired young man with a refined feminine face. Zidane was startled by the portrait, thinking it was his own brother without the feather and the silver hair. When he saw the date of the painting, however, he realized this portrait had been commissioned long years before both were even born in this world.

So, it was true. This was the young man who had died in a war decades ago. Josephine Tribal truly loved the man of her past to the point she needed Kuja's presence under her roof because he reminded her of her long-lost lover. It was no wonder the lady was being all sweeter with Kuja and stricter with Zidane.

Having this in mind, for a while, Kuja thought their relation with Lady Queen might become unhealthy.

Still, both brothers began to like this peace of life and they soon enjoyed their times under the Tribal house. The old thoughts of craving for companionship had begun to take a toll on Kuja who was suddenly reminded of the epoch when he had been clinging to his only family figure, Garland, even if there was no love and care between the two. The way Josephine looked at him had been so different than Garland had ever done to the point Kuja was overcome with confusion. Zidane took notice of the change in his brother and feared his softening side.

…

"Do not let him soften."

Alarmed by the voice in his mind, Zidane shook his head.

Who told him that? That very deep voice… This was not Kuja, for sure.

Well, whatever.

…

But times changed too. As the brothers were now fully part of the Tribal's everyday life, they were seen for granted. When the servants exhibited more joy with the presence of the Tailed Brothers, Josephine began to see them with another eye. No longer she was the center of attention. No longer people noticed her. No longer people were interested in her chattering.

And when she noticed that Kuja spent most of his free time reading books, she screamed after him and pretended that books will distract him too much from his duty to take over the Auction House. When she noticed Zidane going back and forth freely inside and outside of their mansion and when he started returning to his old bratty ways, she would scream at him to stop acting like a commoner. The first time she did, Zidane had been so close to tear her apart, forgetting about all the great things she had offered him in the past until Kuja told him to settle down.

Kuja hoped Josephine's tantrum was only a temporary phase, but the servants feared she was going back to her old self, a personality the brothers despised. While this was better than anything Garland had ever been to Kuja, they hated to have an authority screaming nonsenses at them.

But his hopes to retrieve love from a Gaian were lost. The brothers were on their own now.

…

Yet, Kuja still needed Lady Queen's wealth.

It had been so tough telling Zidane to not lose his temper when their mother figure went on a rage, when she screamed at them for whatever reason. They must continue to buy time, even if it took longer than expected, to build up their plan to become independent nobles. This will be the time when she will create a will lending everything to them as her sole heirs to the Tribal noble house.

But then, the unexpected came. The day Zidane rebutted against one of Josephine's crises with Kuja standing behind his brother, she slapped the child hard on the face.

There was a long silence between them.

It was during that silence that the burning rage building from Kuja's depth slowly rose up his throat and then his mind. There came back an old instinct of pure hatred, of treason, where all the great moments spent sharing care and fun with this woman were wiped out of his heart. This was a feeling that hadn't thrived within ever since that meeting with that dragon Eidolon who had been so close to wipe his young sibling out of living existence. That same painful death was all that fucking Lady Queen deserved for hurting Zidane out of nowhere.

His fists were shaking with the need to strike back, whether it was with magic or his own knuckles, and yet…

No, he couldn't give in. Zidane still maintained his quiet composure, and Kuja refused to stoop as low as to kill this woman out of revenge.

From the long silence and the cold glares she was being given, Lady Queen narrowed her gaze with a sudden remorse she had never felt with them before.

What had she done?

"I'm so sorry…!"

That was all she could say before she ran away crying.

…

They could easily get rid of her, which Zidane began to think about, but Kuja assured him they should remain nice and calm before her and treat her as their savior from saving them from becoming wanderers. This was all done so they will get hands on her immense fortune. Zidane hated to play the actor, but when he really put himself in, he was actually as talented as Kuja. After all, despite her quirks and split moods, Lady Queen still loved the brothers above all else, a love that had now turned one-sided. One of the older servants affirmed that strange unpredictable, split personality had begun the day since her fiancé had lost his life.

So, they'll have to bear that old wicked personality of her.

Yet, not too long after, Kuja never expected that Lady Queen's past tale to impact on the most unexpected person on Gaia, on the day he discovered Zidane sitting on his bed in their room, crying.

"Zidane…?"

"Huh? Kuja?"

Between his short words and his erratic breathing, sobs and tears emerged. The sight of his crying brother was a strange thing of the past as the last time the boy had ever cried like this dated from their stay on Terra. From the look of his reddened and hardened cheeks, Zidane might have been crying for some while. "What's the matter?" Kuja asked, trying to adopt his most gentle tone, but obviously, he had never been good at displaying emotions. He kneeled himself to Zidane's level and laid a hand to his cheek, stroking him to soothe him.

Relieved by the move, the child caught his hand and pulled his head to his palm. Looking straight into his brother's eyes with his wide, tearful eyes, he asked, "Y-You going to die?"

"W-What?" the young man could only stutter. That question came to him as a surprise.

"If you die, I'll be alone!"

There was such an odd despair in that voice. Kuja did not understand why and he was taken aback by the sudden rising tone. Left dumbfounded, the older sibling blinked at him for a moment, uncertain what had just happened. The question went so fast and abrupt that all he could think was what triggered that sudden fear into him. "Why do you say that?" Kuja asked, trying to keep his tone calm to not spur anymore panic from the kid.

While Zidane had never been good with words and especially long sentences, he fought to give his best explanation after taking a long breath. "Lady Queen… She… She have friend like you… when she young, r-right?"

Why bringing up the subject of that dead man from the grave? "Yes, she did," Kuja said.

"And… t-that friend… die?"

"Yes."

"And Lady Q-Queen become mad, huh? That what servant s-s-say!"

… Kuja was astounded. Did Zidane really think through all these levels of the lady's descent to madness? For his entire life, he had expected his short attention for complex subjects could never go as far as to analyze emotions of others and see the consequences of these emotions….

Experiencing a life with a soul from this age will allow him plenty of time to develop emotional growth over the next years.

What? What about emotions?

Why bother? You will see for yourself why this Angel of Death is superior to you.

These words he wished he could have forgotten came to haunt him again. Even to this day, Kuja did not understand why Garland deemed Zidane as the perfect Angel of Death despite the boy's obvious flaws… His attention troubles, his slow learning on how to speak properly and his emotive outbursts whenever Kuja or Mahila were involved… When Gaians saw in Kuja from the outset a perfect young man with the beauty of an angel and the speech of the nobles, all the Gaians perceived in Zidane was a bratty, restless child.

Were all these strange aspects sought from Garland, and thus why he was deeming Zidane as the superior Genome? Kuja could still not understand how these flaws made him superior. After all, after meeting with so many Gaians and using Josephine as his main Gaian reference, emotions truly were a bother and, in some occasions, a complete weakness. If Kuja will ever get hands on Lady Queen's fortune one of these days, if he will ever manage to manipulate leaders of the world, that will be when he will succeed to abuse of their emotions, their main weaknesses.

Kuja could think through plans, much better than Zidane had ever achieved. Kuja had the social skill to manipulate people. Yes, the boy was still young, but he might not possess the mindset of a normal seven-year-old Gaian kid. He could even say he was a little behind them, but he couldn't deny that Zidane's emotions were developing faster as he grew, unlike his social skills.

With that much emotions, how was Zidane even better than him? How was Garland right? Was Zidane a success and Kuja a failure?

A shiver ran across his skin. He suddenly began to fear Garland's old words.

"I-I don't wanna be mad!" the child cried, now shaking his head to get these warm tears out of his cheeks and his eyes. Sinking his head deeper into Kuja's palm, he yelled, "I don't wanna see you die! Kuja! Don't die!"

Kuja was not sure how he should approach Zidane's outburst. The young man might be the sole parental figure the child ever had, but in all honesty, he had never been very good at reassuring him. Simply put, Kuja's presence was the only thing that could appease the boy, but he knew words will be needed to soothe him in this dire moment.

Slowly shaking his head, he sighed and put his two hands on the boy's shoulders, prompting the child to look back at him with remnants of sniffles and tears. "I'm not going to die," he hushed to the boy.

"But you can die…" Zidane protested, sniffling one more time.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I will die one day." Kuja felt the sudden tension through Zidane's shoulders and his shaking tail. "Just as you and everyone else. Master Garland had explained this to us. One with a soul is a mortal. You've seen it yourself, when we… disposed of creatures."

Unfortunately, the panic set out wilder on the boy who couldn't stand still. "Kuja!" he cried after him again, gripping to his arms to seek more comfort. "I don't want you to die! I'll be alone!"

Dammit, that kid will never give up… "Foolish brat!" Kuja snarled at him, startled by his own rising temper. His brother's emotional idiocy was beginning to tire him. "Why do you think I'm going to die?!"

"You just say so!" Zidane shouted back before another bawl surged. "Y-You say everyone will d-die! Means you too!"

The older brother sighed again. "Yes, but this won't be now or soon," he whispered, hoping his softer voice will calm him once more, and he was glad Zidane stopped shaking. "We both still have long years ahead. This will be so long that you will even forget we had this conversation. You won't even think about it soon."

Putting up his best familiar smile, Kuja gently brushed over Zidane's cheeks again with his fingers, comforting the child until he was no longer sobbing. The tears crawled slowly, but the boy was now trusting his brother's nice words. Attempting to give away a smile too, Zidane failed to exhibit a true one, but Kuja knew the child was now better. "Promise me… you don't die…"

Slowly pulling his face closer to Zidane's, Kuja hushed, "I cannot promise this, but I can promise this will not happen soon. We will grow older and older together until we will live our lives to their fullest. This, I promise."

"Kuja…" the child called again, gently closing his lids. When he opened them, he put up a weak smile.

Without warning, Zidane bounced and caught Kuja by the neck with his tiny arms to give him the warmest of hugs. The older sibling chuckled from the sudden move before he, too, gently wrapped his arms around the boy, offering him some soft strokes on his back. With the relief rushing through both, the young child brushed his cheek over his brother's shoulder, wanting to stay that way for a long, peaceful while. However, Kuja soon made it clear that they had to part ways by gently pulling him away, but Zidane still hung his arms to his shoulders. Tiptoeing, the young boy approached the man until their noses touched. They brushed their noses like a parent and child would, with their tails rolling around the other, living up to this bliss of experiencing this artificial, yet true life. That sibling fondness always soothed them, knowing they will always be together and never alone in their unfair purposes as Garland's pawns, as long as the old man had his eyes set on them.

The child offered few joyful giggles, now certain that everyone he loved will get to live a long, long time despite everything that had led them to this day.

Life was so great.

"Kuja? Zidane?! Wut the hell are you doing?!"

That loud voice behind had taken them by surprise with Zidane suddenly launching and releasing himself away from his brother and Kuja bended backward from Zidane's jump. They both turned to find the origin of the booming voice that had called them, only to find their noble mother guardian at the door of their room. From the obvious horror plastered on her face, mouth agape and eyes wide with a strange frown, Lady Queen must have been spying on them for some moment.

"Mmm…?" Kuja murmured, not concerned by her presence as he gently caught back Zidane by the shoulders. Yet, Zidane was breathing nervously from the shock of the lady's presence. However, Kuja's eyes were slightly wider in shock when he grasped at the reddened face of the woman who seemed to lack balance on her legs. When the pungent smell of alcohol reached to his nose, he knew the lady was not truly in the best of her shapes.

"Were… Were you ruu… rubbing on each other?" the old woman asked, not even bothering to find better words for it. She appeared distressed of what she had witnessed.

Wondering what ran through her mind, the older brother raised a puzzled eyebrow. Clueless, he answered, "We… were…? Why do you ask?"

"What?!" The shock on her face turned into a blend of disgust and anger as she burst her voice louder. The crimson color of her skin caused by the drinking turned even darker as she garbled her words. "But you're brothers, siblings! How could you… ruuub each other like this?! This is… This is an outrageous act of homosexuality and incest! How the hell can you live with such sins?! You're… You're disappointing me greatly, Kuuuja Tribal and Zidane Tribal!"

Zidane despised that sudden annoying attitude from their guardian. He could not grasp on the gravity of her words and terms she had been using, causing him to be tangled into confusion and fury. His old instincts resurfaced when he began to growl at her. Afraid to see Zidane's feral, murderous side again, Kuja caught him by the shoulders fast as to remind him to calm down which Zidane did, but the growls of his chattered teeth and trembling throat remained.

Kuja stood back, his strict, unemotional expression taking over, keeping Zidane under his grip and staring at Lady Queen with nothing but a frown. Keeping his cool voice to handle this situation, he started, "Milady, how can you make such claims? I fail to see why you call this an act of homosexuality and incest. There is no sexual drive involved. We were merely displaying brotherly bond to each other. Have you observed the creatures of Gaia? This is the most natural way for them to reassure the others."

As far-fetched as this had sounded, this had been nothing but the truth. Casted away from the Gaian civilizations most of their lives and knowing nothing else but the Gaian wildlife and the Terran soulless Genomes, by judging Josephine's reaction, the brothers just realized some of their acquired habits were perceived differently by the sentient creatures. Yes, perhaps among the cultured Gaians, cuddling each other like Kuja and Zidane had done meant one thing, and this was not for displaying a sibling bond, for certain.

But these cultural differences were giving Kuja such a headache with so many conflicts in his knowledge on Gaians. Kuja had seen countless civilized mothers and fathers cuddling their children to soothe them or to maintain their family bond. This was a parental instinct, after all.

So then, why was their bonding act seen as a sin to this woman? Was this because Kuja was Zidane's brother and not a father?

Kuja did not understand Josephine's logic into seeing this as a derogative act, but he could not deny Lady Queen's expression of disgust. He simply hoped this was the effect of the alcohol taking a toll on her, and yet…

"You speak as if we're 'creatures' to the same level as feral animals!" Josephine screamed louder and wilder, like Kuja's words hadn't convinced her of anything. "I don't want to see this disturbing act ever again! Am… Am I clear?!"

This was it. Unable to tame that upcoming instinct, Zidane was ready to launch himself at the woman to tear her apart, if only he hadn't been stopped by Kuja. "Certainly, Milady," the young man responded, still calm, but Zidane could feel Kuja's rising anger when the man's fingers stiffened with fury on his shoulders. "If you desire that we stop this act, we will. I apologize for our unorthodox manners that disturb you. We still have a lot to learn from you on wisdom and culture."

"Atta boys! That's what I want to hear!" Lady Queen commented with a sudden unhealthy joy coming back to her. At last, she left them alone, shutting the door in a loud clasp.

"Don't worry about her," Kuja reassured his brother using their minds. "We can say whatever she wants to hear, but she cannot hear us in our connected minds."

Zidane laughed.

Life was still great, after all.

Zidane had now reached the age of eight and Kuja was now a true adult himself at sixteen, which their guardian thought of mere twenty-one years old.

They spent their latest months enduring Josephine's tantrums and personality splits. However, their long wait of holding on their murderous tendencies was worth everything. After nearly a year and half spending their days under the Tribal House, at last, Lady Queen finalized what Kuja had been desiring from the start.

An official written will lending her immense wealth to the Tailed Brothers, if she was to meet death.

This was it. It was time.

"Zidane, you will dispose of Josephine Tribal."

The following week came with chaos and horror when random folks discovered Lady Queen in a nearby wood, her remains near unrecognizable from all the bite marks and exposed flesh scattered around her death bed in the wilderness. Among the bites of scavenger monsters and the traces of knives wounds on her body, the most obvious cut that had killed her was a nasty wide slice to the throat, where dried blood paint her entire upper body into a dark crimson.

A servant was able to confirm the decaying body's identity from the jewelry found across the murder site. An envelope signed by one of the Auction House guards was discovered close by, where a written letter requesting her presence in the wood for a secret emergency meeting was pulled out. Since then, a certain tall, imposing red haired man became a wanted man across Treno and the whole Alexandria country for the murder of the infamous Lady Queen.

When a funeral was held for her, each servant gave the noblewoman's inheritors a long glare, wherein both Kuja Tribal and Zidane Tribal stood in silence before Josephine's coffin without any visible sadness. They even spotted a tiny smirk over the child's lips.

From then, they knew the terrifying truth.

The Tailed Brothers had murdered Lady Queen for her wealth, all for Kuja to become the new "King" of the Tribal House.

Author's note: I've always wondered where Zidane got his "Tribal" last name, since Kuja doesn't have any last name, so my guess is that he got it from someone. So, in the game, it's probably Baku's last name. Or I've read fics where Kuja's last name was Tribal too. So, maybe all Genomes have that last name? Or maybe Kuja self-assigned that name because, at the end of the game, he wants to feel like he's a true family to Zidane?

Zidane's sudden fear to see Kuja die is based on a moment of my childhood when I realized what death truly was and that eventually everyone will die, including my loved ones. I cried about it for long hours, except that no one saw me so I cried alone. :(