King's Field
"Sacrifices"
By: Melissa McClendon



Part Two:


Main Hall of Verdite Castle


"We're almost out of here, your majesties ." Veyrac announced, carrying Lyle in his arms as he and Gigi approached the huge double-doors leading to the outside courtyard .
" Gigi, where will we go ?" Lyle whispered quietly, shifting around in order for Veyrac to open the doors.
" To my Uncle Leon's house. That is where I told Silviera to take your mother. He lives in Quist ." Gigi replied as she placed her hood back over her head and walked out into the courtyard with Veyrac. An explosion erupted not far behind them, causing Gigi to turn around and face the billowing flames. This can't be good... Her piercing violet gaze watched the fire die down long enough for a lone figure, tall and masculine to walk through the magically induced element. " Alfred..." She whispered in disbelief.
" Your highness, we must leave !" Veyrac shouted, pausing to wait for her.
" Gigi..." Lyle pleaded weakly, peering out at her from where Veyrac had a hold of him.
The princess remained perfectly still, her breathing becoming shallow as she continued to observe the King of Verdite's approach. He knows the danger that his son will present if he escapes in this manner... He has already killed Queen Noel... He will not hesitate to kill Lyle... Alfred was getting closer with each step, the fires seeming to bow before him and quickly rise up again, seeming to strike at the heavens.
" Princess !!" Veyrac growled in fear, seeing the king within mere yards of Gigi.
She was about to follow the warrior until she suddenly detected a slight change in the atmosphere surrounding them. What is it?... Gigi ignored the protests of Lord Veyrac and the screams of Lyle, all of her attention remained soundly on Jean Alfred Forester.
" Gigi !!!" Lyle cried out, reaching for her only to be pulled back by Veyrac's strong arm.
Time had seemed to have dissipated to a stop for the Princess of Granatyki, all conscious thought focused to penetrate the soul of the approaching man with her own. Speak to me, Vallad... What evil has made its way into the land of Verdite and its Holy King?... In what could quite possibly mean her death, Gigi closed her eyes, everything falling into place like one of Orladan's puzzles. It is not Alfred anymore... The demon within killed Noel... And intends... to kill Lyle... and Alex... Leon... Her spirit was suddenly torn from his, causing her to open her eyes. " I will not allow you to destroy all I hold dear..." She whispered in a low voice, allowing only Alfred to hear her.
" You forgot one, little mage ." Alfred hissed back at her, stopping within mere steps of her. " I will kill you first ."
Gigi managed to flash him a wicked smile, lowering her hood in preparation. " It won't be the first time I've heard that ."
" We shall see ." He stated flatly and without warning, the flames which had receeded behind him rushed forth.
" Princess !!"
" G-I-G-I !!!" Lyle screamed at the top of his lungs as he witnessed the princess collapse to the ground, enveloped by the flames.
Veyrac covered the prince's eyes, himself glancing away. " Foolish girl..."
" Olivier ! " A powerful voice boomed from the castle gates.
The middle-aged knight hesitantly looked back to see Alexander making his way into the courtyard at a breakneck speed. **Get away from here... Now...** A soft voice echoed in his mind. And, with one last glance towards the growing flames where Princess Gigi once stood, he ran with Lyle in tow towards Alexander. Meeting the knight and Prince of Verdite half-way , Alexander quickly turned around and ran with them to the exit.
Once they were past the gates and at the edge of the Quist forest, Alexander stopped and looked back toward the castle. Realizing they weren't followed, he turned to face Veyrac. " Olivier, I'm so glad that you're alive. And Lyle, safe and sound. " A pleased expression crossed his face.
Veyrac sighed, looking from the now unconscious Lyle to Alexander. " It was all thanks to your wife..." He replied sadly.
" Where is Gigi ?" A sickening fear suddenly developed in the pit of his stomach when Alexander realized his wife wasn't with them nor had he seen her when he arrived at Verdite Castle. Veyrac was deafeningly silent, almost dreading to tell his young friend of the tragedy only moments ago. " Olivier, where is my wife ?" The prince demanded, his silver eyes portraying his fear.
" I... I believe she is dead... Only moments ago..."
" W-what ?! How ?!" Alexander choked out.
" Alfred was pursuing our escape. She stopped and just stared at him, even though he meant to kill us all... I do not understand why she did that... Damn it... I should have saved her... I should have protected her... But the flames engulfed her so fast--"
Alexander's mind had been racing with memories of his precious wife, the girl who's father he had saved in the Big Mine on Melanat that had turned into a strikingly beautiful Archmage only a few short years later. Their's was a match foretold by destiny. The first time he looked into those mysterious violet eyes , even though she was just a girl then, it was as if Vallad himself had ordained that Gigi Budwell would be his future bride. It was Fate that brought me back to Melanat, and to her... And now Fate has taken her away from me... The prince was about to break down into broken sobs when Veyrac had mentioned flames, he paused. " Flames ?" The word brought to mind the battle between Gigi and the spirit of the Archmage Thedek, who had challenged her to see if she was truly worthy to control all of the elements, a feat only achieved by Ichrius and Orladan. He too thought Gigi had died that day when he watched her body become enveloped by Thedek's magic-induced flames, only to see her emerge victoriously.
" They were a magic summoned by Alfred--"
That was all Alexander needed to hear before he was running like a madman back towards the castle. " Gigi !!"


I must maintain perfect concentration... Wait for the moment of weakness... Strike... Strike...
Gigi was growing weaker by the second, the strain of concentrating all of her powers in one massive counter-attack while being shrouded in Alfred's dark flames were taking its toll on her fragile form. She wasn't going to last at this rate. He... assumes I am just a girl... an apprentice that got in his way... I must use this to my advantage... Give me strength, Vallad... Please...
The knight and the boy had gotten away, but that was of little consequence to Alfred. Atleast he killed that foolish girl who had been helping them. Veyrac and Lyle would fall into his hands soon enough, as would Alexander and everyone else. The day's events were just a minor setback, the once Holy King would still emerge victorious.
To cleanse the soul with holy fire... Purchased with blood.. Use magic against the one who casts... Almost time..
Pleased with his work, Alfred let his guard down and turned around to return to the main hall.
Now... Gigi closed her eyes, clinching her fists in agonizing pain as tears seeped down her face. Alfred noticed that the flames had suddenly began to die down and quickly turned around. A figure running towards him from the gates suddenly caught his eye.
" Alexander..." He hissed, a feral grin crossing his lips.
...Alex... No... I can't... Gigi lost her concentration then, realizing that her husband's life would now be endangered. Her hunkered form appeared as the flames seemed to have been absorbed into her clinched fists. Alfred paused, looking at her in disbelief. Blood began to drip from her hands where she had dug her nails into the palm in pain. " Val...lad..." She choked out, slowly opening her hands. Gigi screamed as the flames burst forth from her body, hitting Alfred and slamming through the huge double-doors to the main hall. He was finally stopped by a stone pillar.
Struggling into a standing position, Gigi opened her eyes in a haze of tears, her entire body shaking. "...To... seal with blood..." Ignoring Alexander's pleas, she brought her hands up, blood driping from the torn flesh, and waved them in front of the entrance. A slight gush of wind forced the doors shut and a flash of light placed a magical seal on them. Using her last ounce of strength with that spell, Gigi collapsed.
Alexander as already by her side then, catching his wife before she could hit the ground. Taking her into his arms, he brushed the hair out of her face and tried to wake her up. " Gigi... Please answer me. Tell me everything is alright... Gigi..."


Several days later, the house of Leon Shore


*~* Prince Austin Lyle Forester,

In the manuscript enclosed, I have set forth with great effort to provide you with any resource that may be of importance to your impending quest. I know not what may come about after I have gone, and I am sorrowful that I will be unable to speak with you again in the human form. Unfortunately, since you have now taken up this letter and set your eyes upon it, the prophecy has called into necessity that you go forth into the land of Verdite to reclaim your birthright as Prince... the situation has deteriorated as I have foreseen.

By this time in your life, my most trusted friend Leon must have unfolded the woeful tale of what had happened to the man who was once your father... Leon swore on his soul that he would watch over you should anything ever happen to your father or to me.

I do not envy you for the quest you must embark upon, Lyle, but I will be watching over your progress, and, by my halidom, I will be there for you when the hour is at hand.

Be of strong mind and courageous heart, young Prince, for you carry the last blood of the Houser line... it is up to you to bring about peace. I was a companion to your father in the years of his training as a knight. I know of the hidden well of power inherent in your bloodline. When the time of your destiny approaches, you must find the strength to persevere.

In death as in life--

ever your friend,

Prince Alexander Thornton Regginis of Granatyki*~*



Alexander afixed his symbol to the letter before raising his silver gaze up to look at Leon. " My friend, this letter and manuscript are for Lyle when he is of age. Will you make sure he receives it ?"
Leon took the documents from Alexander's grasp. " Of course I will ." He replied sadly.
" Also... If you find time in the near future, enclose a written history of Valicia ."
" I understand..." Leon stated, placing the documents safely inside a wooden chest and locking it.
Alexander sighed, noticing the way his friend was acting. " What is it you're thinking, Leon ?"
" I know what you are planning... And why I know I cannot stop you, but please.... Think of Gigi..." The half-elf pleaded, concern for his adopted niece and best friend swelling in his throat.
Alexander glanced away, he had seen to everything in preparation for his trip to save Alfred, everything except his wife. " Gigi will be fine... I'm going to ask Olivier to escort her back to Granatyki where she'll be safe--"
" Damnit, Alex! Stop trying to be the hero for once! I know she won't tell you because she wouldn't want to worry you... But damnit Alexander, somebody has to make you come to your senses! Verdite is not your responsibility. You are not the one who will cleanse this land..."
" I know that, but I must protect its people until Lyle--"
" The people of Verdite are more resilient than you think ." Leon stated flatly.
Alexander didn't understand what Leon was trying to tell him about Gigi, whatever it was... She was hiding something from him. " What is it she isn't telling me about ?" He whispered.
I'm doing this for Gigi... And I'm doing this for him.. I can't let him throw his life away... Leon took a deep breathe, pacing himself. " Gigi is with child, Alexander. I know that when you leave, she will not tell you because she will not want to burden you and your god-forsaken quest ."
" Gigi..." How could she have not told me all this time?... She must have known before she left Granatyki or how else would Leon have known?... How could she have so carelessly risked her life like that?!! She nearly died fighting Alfred!! Damn her... Alexander ran a shaky hand through his light brown hair, feeling an emptiness develop in the pit of his stomach knowing that not only had he come within a breathe of losing his wife, but his child as well. This changes everything now... I didn't want to leave her to begin with. If I had a choice at all, it would be to spend out the rest of my days in her loving embrace... But I can't... I can't abandon my destiny...
" Now do you understand, Alex? You cannot make her a widow just as soon as you had made her a bride. You can't throw your life away, not like this ."
Alexander was silent, everything seeming to delapidate around him. " I understand, Leon... I understand that now its even more important that I do this, so my child will grow up in a peaceful land, without having to worry and fight like I did, like Gigi... I must pave the way for Lyle and the reign of the Golden Kings. This is the fate that Vallad has dealed me. I must fulfil it..."
Leon sighed and shook his head. " I pity you, my friend... May Seath have mercy on your soul..."


Her mother's eyes... Her smile... My daughter will be the most beautiful princess to ever grace the halls of Granatyki Palace since her mother... A faint smile crossed Alexander's lips in the darkened room, but the smile soon faded. I'll never see my daughter... Never hold her in my arms... Watch her as she takes her first steps, or hear her call me... I'll never see her mother again...
 " Are you going to leave without saying good bye ?" Gigi quietly whispered, finally breaking the silence that had locked the bedroom for so long.
Alexander glanced over to the bed where his wife's small form rest, still recovering from the past few days. " I was just thinking...How long have you been awake ?" He got up and walked over to the bed to kneel beside her.
" Long enough..." Gigi replied, her sleepy violet gaze looking up at him.
" I didn't want to wake you. You look so peaceful when you sleep..." He smiled at her, taking her bandaged hand in his.
Gigi sighed, looking away from Alexander. She wasn't in the mood for charades. " I don't want you to leave, Alex, but I know you can't stay..."
" Gigi, my love..." He gently caressed her face. " I would want for nothing more than to stay with you forever, but... I must face Alfred and try to save him. I must find the reason behind all of this..."
" I understand, Alex. Let me go with you ."
" W-what ?" Alexander looked at her in disbelief, hardly believing she would suggest such a notion in her condition, especially since she just came from there.
" I know that together, nothing can stop us. Together, we can stop the demon controlling Alfred and bring the true King of Verdite back. Please Alexander... I don't want to lose you ." Gigi was near tears, but only because she knew what was going to happen if she didn't go with him.
" If it were just you and I, I might have considered it, but there is more than just you and I that we must worry about now, Gigi. It is for the honor and duty of my friend that I must do this. It is my destiny to go forth to Verdite Castle and face Alfred. Your fate lies down another path..."
" But it is not your destiny ." Gigi choked out, the tears flowing freely now.
Alexander took her in his arms then, holding her closely to him, perhaps for the last time. " That is for Vallad to decide..."
Gigi stopped crying then, realizing nothing she could say or do would dissuade him. He was enslaved by fate and went to embrace his destiny, which was not the one he imagined. " Then... Promise me something."
" What is it ?"
" Promise me that I'll see you again ." Gigi looked up at him, awaiting his reply.
Alexander smiled and gently kissed her. " I promise, my love. You will see me again ."


_________________________________________________________________________________


Epilogue




The shores of what was now called Lake Noel in honor of the late Queen of Verdite were not nearly as restless as the woman whose soft violet eyes gazed upon them. Her back pressed against the vigilant stone cliffs, she seemed to be staring beyond the lake, beyond the distant horizon where Verdite prayed for the soul of a hero and the soul of a king; those beautiful lavender orbs were entranced by the past, a past in which only her heart would remember.
Memories of her distant home of Melanat raced through her mind as she tuned reality out, caring only for the past and not for the future. Cursed with the gift of sight, she prematurely witnessed the deaths of all she held dear, all save herself for it seemed that while Vallad saw to it that all her loved ones died, she should remain cast in the forged chains of mortality, damned in knowing that Verdite would fall but she could not prevent the will of gods.
Her thoughts went back to her father, and of a childhood where she wanted for nothing save his safety. A sad smile crossed her lips, memories of Leon's stories and his gifts of fresh flowers from his mother's garden and finally, the Seath's Tear. Both were lost to her, but only briefly. To her rescue and to theirs came the handsome and gallant Prince of Granatyki under the vow of retrieving the Moonlight Sword and liberating the residents of Melanat. Little had either realized, but even as a child she had fallen in love with him that day. And she would still love him when she died....
" Damn you, Alexander... We make our own destiny, we do not go to embrace it, that is the difference... You say for honor and duty, but it was not your duty... It was not your destiny... It was the boy's..." She closed her eyes, tears making their way down her alabaster cheeks. " What good is knowing the future if you cannot not change it?.. I want to die with you...."
Suddenly, she opened her eyes and between a haze of tears, looked down at her still flat stomach. " No... I still have a duty... And a destiny... As to what it is... The future has yet to unfold..." With a serene resilience, she turned around and looked at the stone cliff. Bringing her hand up, she waved it across the facing with a silent incantation. Satisfied with the message, she found it soothed her troubled soul and gave her hope.

*~*To Alexander,

I am taking my son and going to Granatyki.

Gigi*~*


Her hand falling back to her side, Princess Gigi Budwell Regginis of Granatyki began her soujourn home, her thoughts not on the past, but on the future, on her future and that of her son's, Prince Alexander Leon Regginis. She would never let him forget his father, the hero of Melanat, Verdite, and Granatyki nor would he ever forget his uncle , the half-elf Leon Shore, a gentle man who would sacrifice his life for the sake of a legend.
" I cannot assume he is dead... He promised me I would see him again..."


~fin~

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Author's Notes: This was originally one large fic, but due to size, I broke it down into two seperate parts. I'm sure most of you realize that this fanfic was based off of a popular RPG dating back to the dark ages of the PSX, a popular game that never received much blitz in the fanfiction world to my knowledge. Anywho, I've wanted to write a fanfic about it for years now, since the first time I played it, but never could put a decent story together. But one day I was just running around killing monsters in the Lake Noel region in King's Field II when I suddenly noticed writing on a cliff near the exit. I read it and discovered it was a note to Alexander, the hero of King's Field, from another character, Gigi, also of King's Field. For some strange reason, this one line note inspired me to write a story about Gigi and Alexander before the events that take place in this story. That idea, however, is entirely on its own and I may not ever post it on the net. As for "Sacrifices", this is the first fanfic of a series of four or five stories I would like to write, depending on how well this one is received. I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it so I'll be inspired to finish working on the next two fanfics featuring Commander Silviera and Leon Shore. As always, I appreciate comments and critiques on this or any of my fanfics, feel free to e-mail me. Thanks and take care!!

~Melissa "Dei" McClendon

 The RPG Fanfiction Headquarters

By the way, a lot of people have been asking me about the Noel Chandler fic I had been working on, most of it is finished but I'm not sure if it will be in the near future. I either plan to go ahead and rewrite it or just call the project off. I felt that it was seriously lacking and when I asked a close friend to look it over, they agreed. This hurt my already faltering self-esteem, so I stopped working on it (mainly because of writer's block) and haven't looked at it since. I'm looking at writing a Nall fic from Lunar: Eternal Blue next, but I may just go right back to working on the Noel Chandler story. If anyone is interested in helping with it, feel free to e-mail me.