Chapter Twenty-Seven

Bella and Sarah found themselves at the Eidolon Wall as the sun began to break over the horizon. The rocky ruins were bathed in pinks and oranges. Distantly, the roar of the ocean could be heard, washing over the smoothed down stone. The two sister's sat beside the wall, gazing to an inscribed note directed at their mother.

To my beloved daughter, Sarah
My life changed when you were born
You made me happy
These are things I want you to know.

Sarah reached out and gently ran her hand along the rigid engraving. Overhead, a bird squawked. The two princesses were quite a sore sight. Scrapes, scabs, dried blood, and grime covered their faces and necks. Their hair was knotty and tired and growing frizzy with all the accumulating oils. Bruises adorned their arms and legs and pooled in rings beneath their glazed tired eyes. Never before had either of them been so tired. Or so wound up.

"Can you believe it's been ten years?" Sarah's voice was hoarse and scratchy as she looked to Bella beside her. Her younger sister held a blanket over her shoulders. She licked her scabbed lips and shook her head. "Sometimes... it doesn't feel that long ago." Sarah lowered her eyes. "But then some days... it feels like an entirely different lifetime."

Bella shifted, causing some rubble to rattle. "Do you think our lives would have been much different if Mother had lived? Do you think... all of this still would have happened?" The princesses felt so hollow as they spoke. Inside, they reeled and grappled with their new realities and their new truths. Sarah was quiet for a few moments, picking at some dirt gathered beneath her nails.

"I don't know..." Sarah finally said. She lifted her head, squinting against the broadening daylight. The gentle breeze blew a knotted lock of hair against the flushed frame of her face. "Maybe it's best we don't go down that route."

Bella nodded rather dully, hunching her neck into the security of her blanket. "Sarah, I don't really know how to unseal the Iifa Tree. Kuja only told me I was capable of it. What if he's fooling us?"

"We won't know until we try," Sarah shrugged, watching the sky slowly lighten. Bella guessed she was maybe too exhausted to think that far ahead. But the very entanglement of the situation had Bella just as confused and overwhelmed. "Mother and Daddy took all kinds of chances when they were younger. Sometimes we just have to trust our gut and hope everything works out in our favor."

Bella shifted on the ground, allowing the blanket to droop on her wiry shoulders. "I didn't want you to get involved, Sarah. You have a pre-determined path of righteousness. You're meant to lead the throne. You don't need the burden of my destiny, too."

"Bella," Sarah looked to her. "You're not destined to be the Goddess of Mass Destruction. You're meant to lead Alexandria with me."

"But why did you come this far for me?" Bella asked. "Why are you going with me?"

Sarah smiled softly, despite her lips cracking and bleeding. "Because... I want to."

"Even though you might get hurt?" Bella seemed so utterly confused. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Bella," Sarah reached for her younger sister's hand. "When our mother died, I made a promise to myself that I would never let anything happen to you or Alex. Or even Daddy. I felt like I needed to make that promise to mother, so she wouldn't have to worry. So she could move on to the afterlife and be happy and at peace."

Bella was quiet for a moment, running her tongue over her rigid lips. "Do you think she's at peace?"

After a beat, Sarah nodded. "I like to think she is, yes."

"Me too," Bella cleared her throat. "I just hope she's not disappointed in me."

"It's not good to think like that," Sarah said. In the next moment, she pulled herself to her knees, despite her entire body aching. She felt a slight tinge in her temple, but she looked to Bella, motioning for her to copy. "Come on, Bella. You're a Summoner just like Mother was. We should pray to the Eidolon Wall like she did in her youth. It may bring us comfort. Maybe even guidance."

Bella was still, sitting meekly amongst the rubble. "I... don't want to be a Summoner sometimes, Sarah. It's dangerous. And in a way, I was apart of the unraveling. I don't want to do any more damage than I have to."

"You won't, I promise," Sarah tugged her wrist and Bella complied, coming to kneel beside her sister. "I'll pray with you, too." Together, the girl's tilted their heads down and closed their eyes. In their minds, their thoughts felt rather discombobulated. But the silence was something of bliss. Sometimes at the castle, they felt overwhelmed by the abundance of silence in the vast castle with long empty hallways and forlorn decorations. But here in the Eiodolon Wall, the silence was happily accepted, as they hadn't realized their lives had been so absent of it recently.

From the entrance of the sacred grounds, Eiko watched, completely still. From the inside, she was chewed up alive by guilt and shame. But she admired the princesses of Alexandria that, despite everything, somehow found it in themselves to pull through. To not mope about, no matter how extenuating the situations. That's the part of their father that truly shined through. Eiko sighed and turned away to leave the girl's in peace. She walked down towards the courtyard, looking to the meager space that surrounded the crumbling fountain. She remembered the days she would play tag with the Moogles, who distracted her from her grief and her hunger and her loneliness. Eiko had grown self-reliant amongst these ruins. Or so she had thought. She gazed towards the small lone adobe hut that had once been her's. The chimney was puffing. Slowly, she began to it, kicking rocks from her path. That's where Zidane was. And she felt like she needed to see him.

...

Zidane crouched towards the ground, scrunching the loose floor mat crooked on the floor. He gazed intently at Fauna's slumped body, dangling from the table leg like a wilted garment. Behind him, Beatrix stood against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, watching with a pensive look. A beat later, Steiner appeared with coffee, handing it to the war general. The captain glanced towards Fauna. Zidane's tail was tense behind his back.

"Wake up," Zidane said. Fauna didn't stir. He reached out and tilted her head up. "Wake up." He demanded again, giving her a curt shake. Slowly, her eyelids began to flutter and her bleary vision greeted her. "Rise and shine," Zidane said.

Fauna sat back against the table leg, her red hair falling in a mess around the frame of her crusty and grime smudged skin. Tensely, she looked around the room, to each facing staring back at her, full of stone. "You didn't kill me...?" Fauna gazed at Zidane.

"Nah," Zidane shook his head. "'Cause then we wouldn't get to have what's up there." He pointed at her head. "You have information and I want it, Fauna. So talk. When did this all begin? Do you remember who you were before Kuja replaced your soul?"

The question was loaded and Fauna nearly winced at the words. Beatrix furrowed her brow, studying the now nervous quiver of the woman's body movement. "I don't know what you're asking me. I've always been this way, Zidane. Kuja has always been there. He's like... a father figure to me."

"But he hasn't always been there," Zidane shook his head sharply. "Kuja's been gone for seventeen years, Fauna. Think. Go deep in your brain and think. You had a childhood. A family. You were someone else before all of this. How long has it been since then?"

"You're talking utter nonsense," Fauna shook her head. "I was no one else."

Zidane sighed, looking over his shoulder. "Beatrix?"

The war general promptly handed her coffee back to Steiner and reached for her backpack. She rustled about, pulling out a rolled up piece of parchment. She placed it into Zidane's hand. The king gave Fauna one more look before he unraveled the paper, holding it up towards her. She held her breath, staring at it as if it burned her.

"That's you, right?" Zidane looked at the parchment. "Drawing is pretty close. You even both have the same beauty mark beneath your right eye. It says you went missing sometime in the late spring this year. On the thirteen birthday of Princess Arabella, nonetheless. Says your name is Alura Weitz."

A jolt of pain wracked through Fauna and she convulsed sharply against the table leg. Zidane stared at her, grounding his teeth together. Kuja was intercepting the information and the memories. If she couldn't be Alura Weitz, he would have to talk to Fauna.

"What are your earliest memories with Kuja?" Zidane asked, dropping the parchment to the ground. The portrait of Fauna stared intently at everyone in the room, as if it had moving eyes. Fauna let out an uneven breath, looking to Zidane with wet eyes. How mysterious and elusive she had been all those months ago. So devious and deft, so well put together, like she was invincible. And now here she was at the breaking point, like all those who followed in Kuja's wake, righteous or evil.

"I spent time with him at the Iifa Tree," Fauna said, very softly, as if Kuja would hear. "He would tell me that I would have all the brothers and sisters imaginable. That I would never be alone again after what happened to my own siblings." Her face pinched as she was shocked again. Breathing rigidly, she continued. "He taught me how to be powerful. To never doubt myself. He brought forth promises of community and unity. A sacred group of people who would never turn me out as a black sheep. He told me of a true place to belong. I thought he was bringing the best out in me. And his ideas began to make sense. Why did so many people have to suffer in the world?"

"But he's making people suffer now with his vile ideas unleashed!" Steiner interjected. Beatrix placed a hand to his arm.

"I see that now," Fauna said, shaking again with another flare of pain. "I did not feel much of anything until I had Arabella by her coat on the pier. For once in my life with Kuja... I was not in control. I could not stop myself from the will of his obeys. I thought I was simply to guide her there. Kuja always promised Arabella was not the crux of his plans. But he lied to me. And he proved it by recklessly endangering our lives with his magic boasted through me. And I still feel the effects. I want to hurt all of you, but I think I know that's futile..."

"What did you put inside of Sarah?" Zidane asked. Fauna dipped her head for a moment.

"I don't know what it does, honestly," Fauna replied. "I just know it's different from yours. More... advanced. Kuja wanted to use it on Arabella, but he changed his mind at the last moment."

"Why?"

"I don't know what he's planning, Zidane. I've been captured. That's why I say you need to kill me. It would be better than letting Kuja do it himself. He has already robbed me of my life, anyway."

Zidane stood up and walked a few paces. Beatrix's eyes darted between the pained Fauna and the tense Zidane. The king shook his head. "There has to be way to revert you back. We have to make you Alura Weitz again."

Fauna convulsed in pain. "Please, stop saying her name!" She wailed.

The room was quiet besides Fauna's short breaths and sniffles. Beatrix pursed her lip, gripping her mug tightly. After a moment, she brushed out of the room, towards the balcony out back. Steiner shuffled his feet before he decided to follow after her. Zidane crossed his arms over his chest, listening to Fauna's cries. Inside, he was utterly conflicted. She was in no condition to travel to the Iifa Tree. But he couldn't leave her here. She couldn't fend for herself. And Kuja's power was overtaking her. She could get loose and come after them under Kuja's control. But killing her was completely out of the question. In a way, Fauna was also a victim swept up in Kuja's chaos. She most likely didn't go willingly with him under normal pretexts. He had misguided her like he had done to so many before. Zidane could only wonder why her, though? A normal Alexandrian girl whose family had been victims of the same plague that had taken Dagger from the kingdom. Was there a correlation? Zidane blanched at the thought and a hot pain flashed across his forehead. He gripped his head, staggering into the cool adobe wall. Memories of Dagger in her decline assaulted Zidane. He staggered into a shelf on the wall, sending the books tumbling to the ground.

Eiko entered in the next moment and gasped sharply, coming to Zidane's side. She was able to ease him down to the ground as a sweat came over him. "Oh, Zidane, no! Not right now! Fight it!" Eiko dashed towards the table, grabbing a bucket of water. Hurriedly she began flicking it over Zidane, whose breathing had become labored as he laid on the floor. "Zidane, don't give in! Please!" Eiko had tears in her eyes now as she doused his face in cold water, running her hands along his jaw. "We have to stop him, Zidane. No more suffering, please, please...!" Zidane's tired eyes looked to her, but she could see he was fading. Eiko's eyes darted over her shoulder towards Fauna, who only watched from where she was confined. "What do I do?! Please, tell me how I stop it."

Fauna only shook her head. "There's no stopping, Kuja."

...

Beatrix stared off towards the waterfall, holding her mug at her chest. She heard the familiar heavy footsteps of her partner and his broad shoulders filled the corner of her eye. She glanced to him and they were silent for a few moments, letting the roar of the waterfall fill the space between them. Despite sharing no words, there seemed to be a mutual conversation between them. Their troubled and tired eyes said it all. But Beatrix sighed and set her coffee down.

"We're in over our heads, Steiner."

The captain turned his brown eyes out towards the horizon of soft pinks of dawn cascading over the rigid line of debris. In his fifteen year marriage to Beatrix, there were very few times where Beatrix was ever wrong. But still, he didn't want to believe that they weren't capable of this. They couldn't give in to that thought. For Steiner, failure absolutely was not an option. Not if he wanted to uphold the spirit of Dagger. Not if he wanted to protect the country he had sworn his servitude to. He had to protect what there still was. The princesses were everything to him and his allegiance to Zidane would never waver. But when he looked at Beatrix, he saw how apprenhensive she was. For the first time ever, Beatrix was doubting herself. The touted fearless war general was unsure of her step.

"You never finished your thought back in Alexandria," Steiner looked to Beatrix. "What happened to your father, Beatrix? Why now, of all times, does that come back to haunt you?"

Beatrix sighed and shook her head, seemingly frustrated with the very thought. "Don't you remember when my father was the war general alongside Brahne's father? The Righteous War. The Prosperous War. Does it ring a bell?"

"... General Lafayette Divaron. But, you don't share the same surname."

"Of course not," Beatrix said, bitterly. "I bare my mother's maiden name."

"Your father's glory may have been spoiled in the Prosperous War, but this is different, Beatrix," Steiner shook his head. "You're not doing this for honor. We're doing this for ourselves. To put to rest what keeps us awake at night."

"When the rage boils over, will I know right from wrong anymore?" Beatrix furrowed her brow. "Will I be no better than the blind general who followed the Queen in the first war? What if I'm not good enough to stop this, Steiner? What if I cannot protect the princesses? What will my oath have been sworn on?"

"Those are things that don't need your concentration right now," Steiner gripped her arm tenderly. "Right now we have one purpose, Beatrix. That is to stop Kuja, once and for all. We owe it to ourselves to make the world a place we want to live in. We're more than just civil servants, Beatrix."

"I value my life over no one else's," Beatrix shook her head.

"You told me you were scared of losing me?" Steiner arched his eyebrows. "Beatrix, I'm scared of losing you. I couldn't imagine trying to even understand a life without you. Now is not the time to be conflicted. We have an uphill battle that requires all of our energy. We have to do this together. We need each other right now, more than ever."

Beatrix was quiet for a moment, watching the waterfall foam at the narrow creek down below. Her tired brown eyes lifted to Steiner. "Why did we never have a family? I always thought you'd be quite a marvelous father."

Steiner mustered a smile despite his rather sheepishness. "I have always thought the same of you."

Beatrix sighed, pressing her hands into the railing. "I think I want a change, Steiner. I think I might... want something different for myself."

"What do you mean?" Steiner tilted his head.

"I'm not entirely sure yet," Beatrix shook her head. "I still need time to decide. I just would like to know... would you go with me?"

"Go with you where?"

"Just answer the question, Steiner," Beatrix turned to him. "Yes or no?"

Steiner pursed his lips for a moment before he reached out, grabbing her slender hands. "Yes, Beatrix. I would follow you to the end of the world."

Beatrix gazed up towards Steiner. "Thank you."

...

Alex sat on the floor of her large guest room. Before her, the large glass pane sported nothing but the continuous dreary downpour over Burmecia. It was nothing new. The young pincesses fluffy skirt poofed out around her as she arranged and rearranged her cards on the floor. She alphabetized them, placed them in the proper class, and even ranked them based on power. Usually, her cards would bring her great solace. But as she continually shuffled the deck, it was to no avail to shut out the intruding thoughts in her mind. Every waking moment, she thought of her family. She wondered where her sister's were and what they were doing. She dreamt of her father every night. Alex dearly missed her father's warm touch. She missed his smile and his voice. She truly was a daddy's girl at heart and it was really beginning to show. Every day, she asked herself what she would do if no one ever returned. But she never had an answer and the very thought unnerved her.

There was a curt knock on the chamber door and it opened just a moment later. Alex didn't even bother looking over her shoulder. She continued to dangle her head, letting her curly blond locks fall around the frame of her face as she tilted the glossy cards into the misty evening light. She knew it was Arowyn. The only person who ever paid her any attention. And the only person who would enter her chambers. She heard the muted thuds of boots to the floor and she looked up to see none other than the gentle caretaker whose maternal smile, sadly, offered no relief to the stressed Alex.

"Is it time for dinner?" Alex asked, pushing her hair from her face.

"Almost, little one," Arowyn assured her in her light, almost mystical voice. "First, we have a treat for you."

Alex's face didn't reflect much excitement. Arowyn had been briefed several times before the arrival of Princess Alexandra. She had been coached in the mannerisms and general interests of the youngest heir. What to expect, what she liked to eat, what time she went to bed. Arowyn had come to learn Alex was an excited child, seemingly easily impressed by nearly anything. But since her arrival, she had been a melancholy and moping mess. Rightfully so, Arowyn could only conclude. The nearly ten year old girl had been thrown headfirst into what a lot of people would call the real world. But it seemed so sudden and rash for the young princess.

Alex tucked her cards into her velvet pouch, tossing it carelessly onto the bed as she followed Arowyn out into the dreary hallways. Alex wanted to go home. With her family. The frustration of not being able to was enough to reduce the girl to red faced cries and thrashing fists. She was so unhappy and discontent in Burmecia. She missed the sunshine. She missed playing games. She missed Alexandria and everything about her old life. It all seemed so long ago that they were happy. But it had only been a few months. Alex was lead towards the dining hall and she grew worried they'd planned some elaborate desert for her or even worse, a welcoming party.

But when she entered through the tall archway beside the slender Arowyn, she had to look around the room for a few moments to absorb what she was seeing. Several well-dressed Burmecians lined the long table, with the King and Queen sitting at the head. The women were drenched in jewels and velvets. The men wore long feathers and leather vests to emmulate dragon scales. They had not been served a meal yet. Instead, they all languidly swirled and tasted strawberry wine. It was a feast of nobles, Alex could easily tell. She had been in the presence of a few herself. All eyes turned on her upon her arrival. Alex felt her body flush with embarrassment and her tail grew straight as a rod behind her back. Though they all seemed to smile without a care in the world, Alex was completely unnerved.

Arowyn reached down, curling her hand around Alex's shoulder. "Deep breaths, little one," She said softly. "No need to be afraid. The noble's don't bite. They're here for you, sweet one. Look, right over there, by the windows."

When Alex turned her head, she was in near awe at what she was seeing. She couldn't believe she had completely overlooked it when she first entered. It was a luxuriously large grand piano. It had a white paint that glistened, almost like a rainbow, beneath the misty light of the rain pelting the glass panes. It could have been a shell of an oyster, plucked from the bottom of the ocean, for all Alex knew. It was absolutely beautiful. It was much nicer than the one's she had played in many other castles when she had been looking to pass the time. And not far away sat a beautiful Burmecian girl, with ashen hair plaited into a fish braid down the nape of her neck. She sat poised beside a harp, awaiting the tinkling of the ivory keys. Alex's head snapped towards Arowyn, her eyes nearly bugging out from her skull.

"You... want me to play piano for all these people?!" Her cheeks grew hot at the thought. "I... I just wanted a piano to practice on. I don't perform for other people!"

"They came to see you, Your Highness," Arowyn said, pressing her hands to Alex's shoulders and guiding her towards the beautiful instrument. "Now is not the time to doubt yourself. We are no strangers to the rumors of your enormous gift. Please, I beg of you... please play for us. To pass the time while we're all so... tense." She chose her words carefully.

Alex thought she might faint on the spot. But she looked towards the girl with the harp, who carefully polished the gilded edges of her instrument. She paused and offered a comforting smile to the young princess. Alex pursed her lips. Her entire body trembled as she looked towards the velvet piano bench. Alex never liked for anyone to listen to her practice. It made her nervous. How could they possibly expect her to play facing nearly thirty noble and royal faces?

Arowyn gave Alex another nudge and finally, the girl strode forward. The bench creaked beneath her. It sounded so absurdly loud and again she blushed furiously as she situated herself and reached her feet down towards the shiny pedals. She took a moment to orient herself with the keys. They were so magnificently clean. Not a single smudge to be found. Alex wondered if anyone had ever even played it. Her brown eyes wandered over the top of the piano and she flushed again as she found several sets of eyes on her. Alex loved being the center of attention. But not like this.

"What shall we play, Your Highness?" The girl beside her asked.

Alex's eyes hovered on the keys for a moment. "I'm sorry, all I know are Alexandrian hymns."

"That is what we shall play, then," She positioned her hands to the strings. "Which song, Your Highness?"

"Do you perhaps know the one... my mother composed?" Alex asked.

The harpist smiled very sweetly. "The Song of Memories, of course, Your Highness. You shall lead."

Alex's entire body shook like an earthquake and the tips of fingers were nearly on fire as she placed her hands down to the keys. She took in an unsteady breath, glancing to Arowyn who watched with a face full of support. Alex had never told her father she had learned this song. She played it in utmost secrecy. In a way, the somewhat melancholy lullaby brought the only sense of her mother she could gather from the darkest corners of her mind. To be truthful, Alex didn't remember much about her mother at all. Not a single scent could procure a memory of her. And without her voice, Alex was realizing she was forgetting her mother more and more by the day. This song was her only connection. She hummed it when she was sad and when she played it on the piano, it sometimes brought forth an unearthly feeling to her. Like she was transcending space and time to be with her mother again, one last time. The feelings that weighed heavily on the princess seemingly seeped through the keys as the notes rang out across the dining hall. Everyone watched, truly mesmerized by the precise and beautiful gift of Princess Alexandra. The room lifted into happier spirits as the older noble's recalled the prosperous feeling post-war with Queen Garnet at the throne. Some were wrapped up in the idea that maybe those were the hey-days and that, possibly, it would never be that good again. But there was hope as they watched Queen Garnet's daughter play the piano, like a second nature, like the air in her lungs, with her heart smeared across her sleeve.

The harp plucked the last string and Alex lifted her fingers from the keys, listening to the last resonations of the piano fade away. She blinked rapidly, as if she was returning to the world and to the room. It only took a moment for the noble's and the royal's to come to their feet in a standing ovation. Arowyn clapped happily, beckoning Alex to her. The young princess came to her feet, though her legs felt like gelatin. Arowyn wrapped her up in a hug, preventing the girl from stumbling about like a fool. Arowyn presented her to the table, where the people clapped and smiled for her. Alex's eyes grew misty with tears as she looked amongst everyone. Soothingly, Arowyn gripped her shoulders and kept her steady. As the tears rolled down her cheeks, she finally was able to grin.

They're clapping for you, Momma. You deserve it.