The Gemini
Chapter Two
Author's note: I call Amarant "Salamander", because that's his Japanese name and I like it better. As with Freya to Freija. So nyeah.
Eiko was Happy. She was so happy, the word needed to be capitalized. She had a family once again and Zidane was back. Of course, she had known he was to come back but now he WAS. She could even touch him. Like she would ever get a chance what with Garnet holding on to him like a leech.
Or was did she want to be called Dagger again?
After Zidane left, Garnet didn't want to be called 'Dagger'. Eiko remembered well the last time she had called the Queen by that name. It was just a causal thing, a phrase like, "Hey, Dagger!" Some simple sentence that Eiko had called out to her friend. Normal words everyone used.
Garnet had turned to look at her. Her deep brown eyes were filled with pure emotion . . . Anger, grief, recognition. She looked eternally lost and confused, as if she was locked in a labyrinth with no key. As if she was being forced to wander halls endlessly with this horrible look in her eyes.
"Don't call me Dagger. Not until Zidane is back."
Eiko had shook her head, said "Dagger, Zidane isn't coming back. And I've been calling you Dagger ever since I met you, why should I stop now?"
There, that look in her eyes again. That look would boar into Eiko's brain, would be imprinted in her memories. The look was so twisted, so passionate. It was almost inhuman, that look. Pure emotion . . .
"Please, Eiko. Please."
Eiko had nodded, and then skipped undaunted, as a six-year-old should. Everyone knew she wasn't a normal six-year-old, though. She had lived by herself for a year, with no humans to take care of her. Well, the moggles watched her, but they obeyed her, too. In that alone, she was more adult then other girls her age. Add on to this mature feat the fact that she had helped save the world and you have a fully aware and mature adult stuck in a six-year-old's body with a six-year-old's brain.
But that was then, Eiko thought to herself, thinking about what Garnet's nicknames. Now would be now. Who cares about what she wants to be called? She's so happy! And Zidane is finally back!
It had been awful for Eiko to keep the secret of Zidane's return from her "sister". She told Garnet everything. Everything! Everything from what the dirty jokes the boat craftsman told to the idiotic things that make life special. Garnet was her confidant, her diary. In turn, Garnet told everything to Eiko. They had no secrets, nothing kept hidden from eachother. If one did try to conceal something from another, the other would know immediately.
That's why Eiko had avoided Garnet for the past week. Garnet had known something was up, and Eiko thought that she had hurt Garnet with her neglect.
So the young Summoner stood up, about to walk over to Garnet and tell her that she was sorry, explaining why she hadn't spoken to her for so long.
Garnet stood up at the same minute, and then had done something odd. She ran out of the room, away from Zidane. Of course, Zidane followed her . . .
Eiko knew something was terribly wrong.
*****
"What the . . ."
Zidane blinked. Two Daggers. One was the Dagger he had met once, when he kidnapped her, a princess, and the other was the Dagger he had come to know and love. The Dagger that appeared at Dali.
Both Dagger's turned at the exact same time.
"Zidane."
"Zidane."
They had both spoken at the same time, the same voice, but not the same tone. Queen-Dagger was regal sounding, merely acknowledging Zidane's presence. Zidane's-Dagger had said his name friendly, lovingly.
The Genome stumbled backwards. "What the hell happened, Dagger?"
Zidane's-Dagger smiled. "I left her."
Zidane was confused. "Left her? Left who? Yourself? But if you left yourself . . ."
Dagger shook her head, slightly annoyed. "No, Zidane. I didn't leave myself. I left Garnet."
"What are you talking about? You ARE Garnet! I just call you Dagger because I like that name better and it fits you . . ."
Dagger sighed. "Zidane, you called me Dagger because that's who I am. That's who you know. You don't know Garnet! Garnet is Stiener's. Garnet is Beatrix's. Garnet is Alexandria's. Dagger- me- is Zidane's."
*****
Steiner stared at the door. This was the door that led to Garnet's thinking room . . . That's what Garnet called it, at least. No one could go in there without the Queen's permission. Not even Steiner or Beatrix, her two closest advisors. No, this was the Queen's room and was forbidden to anyone but the Queen.
"Can't you just break the rules and go in there? She isn't going to kill you!" Eiko said, impatient. This was the room Zidane and Garnet had burst into.
"I respect my Queen's wish for privacy!" Steiner answered back, clenching his fists. Dammit, he NEEDED to find out what was wrong with Garnet!
"Steiner." This was Beatrix's voice. Beatrix's smooth, commanding, beautiful voice. The Pluto Knight turned to look at her, his hard expression softening.
"We should go in, Steiner. It's the best thing for the Queen. Even if she wants to be private."
Steiner nodded. There was no arguing with Beatrix. Not for Steiner, at least.
He grasped the doorknob and twisted it.
It didn't move.
He turned it harder.
No change.
He threw his whole body into it, curving his himself along with the direction he tried to twist it. It still didn't move.
The armor-clad man turned to face the rest of the group. "I can't move it."
Salamander scoffed. "Let me try," he said, and took the doorknob. He couldn't move it, either.
*****
"How did this happen?"
"Does it matter, Zidane?"
"Yeah! We have to reverse it, somehow. Dagger, you can't be two people-"
"I already WAS two people! Didn't you see? When I met you, I was Garnet. When we got to Dali, I was beginning to be Dagger. I turned back into Garnet at Lindbulm. When my mother died, I didn't know who I was. Brahne had raised Garnet, created Garnet. But when Brahne died, I had no reason to be Garnet! I didn't know who I was supposed to be. So I chose. I truly became Dagger- that's what I was doing when I cut my hair! Can't you see that? I was planning on giving the throne to someone else when I did that. I wanted to be with you. But when you left, I became Garnet again. I became Queen.
"Now Alexandria is used to Garnet as Queen. Garnet needs to be Queen! But you came back! I could be Dagger again. Zidane, you didn't fall in love with Garnet. You feel in love with Dagger. Well, here she is!" Dagger moved closer to Zidane and took his hands into her own. "Zidane, I want to travel with you. Run away with you. Garnet is Queen, not me."
Zidane shook his head. "Dagger, you aren't two people! You're sounding insane! You aren't some sort of schizophrenic! You're . . . you're my Dagger. How did this happen? We gotta get you back!"
"She's right." This was the first word Garnet had spoken to Zidane for a long time. "She loves you. Go travel with her. Be with her, Zidane."
Zidane took a few more steps backwards, running into a couch. His speech was directed towards Garnet. "But you're Dagger, too! You came from the same person! Don't you love me?"
Garnet laughed softly. "Even if I did love you, you could not marry me. I'm the Queen. Zidane, do you truly want to become a King? I can not imagine you upon a throne."
Zidane fell onto the couch. She was right. He couldn't marry Dagger if it meant for him to be the King. He loved Dagger very much . . . But King?