Eiko: ''Mmmm Zidane.... come over and sit next to me... OW! what was that?''

She sat up groggily, angered by the rude awakening to see the man in armor standing above her.

Eiko: ''What was that for Steiner?''

Steiner: ''S..I..L..E..N..C..E..''

Eiko: ''Hmm? I'm just gonna wake everyone else up.''

As she went to stand, the point of Steiner's sharpened blade touched her throat.

Steiner: ''N..O..''

What's the matter with him? He can kill me right now! I got to think of something to do...

Closing her eyes, Eiko let loose a barrage of blue beams of holy light and hit her nearby target. Steiner, was stunned, and shoved back from the magic. Taking the oppurtunity, Eiko crawled hastily to the edge of the room, and leaned against a wall. A secret door opened, and she fell back into the darkness...

Steiner: ''G..O..N..E.. G..O..O..D.. E..N..O..U..G..H..''

Steiner then proceeded onto Freya, who he carefully picked up and led to a room seperate from the Princess, his original intention before he woke Eiko up. After sealing the door Freya was in, he went on to wake the princess up.
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Now my slave, don't panic... I will just be in control of your body for the time being...

The clank of metal was heard as the heavy door creaked open and the young queen comes into view.

Oh how beautiful she is... just like I was in my younger days... her hair glimmers like the night... her skin is smooth as a baby's...

By this time Garnet had noticed a darker shadow than usual hanging ominously above her, even with her eyes shut. As if almost in a dream, she fluttered her eyes and finally sat up, looking at Steiner, her knight.

Garnet: ''Steiner! Your ok! Where is everyone?''

Steiner: ''They were killed my dear, I saw it all happen. We are in a underground prison of Regent Cid's. Something strange is happening! I overheard a few guards, they were talking about a raid on Alexandria!''

She was taken aback at Steiner's last comment and gasped in confusion.

Garnet: ''Oh my! I... don't understand... What would cause Cid to do such a thing?''

Steiner: ''I have no idea why he would do this, but we must go, to warn Alexandria and form a plan of attack before they get the first strike!''

Garnet: ''This is all so sudden... I don't feel well... and''

Steiner: ''No time to waste! Just hold on to my neck!''

Before Garnet could contemplate what was happening, Steiner grabbed her harshly and picked her up and ran out the twin doors. Through the dank corridors they went, all identical to each other, in a maze pattern, the whole time Steiner confident of himself. After some time, they arrived at a platform with a small airship in the hangar.

Steiner: ''Ah! Are way of escape!''

Within moment, Steiner had placed the weary Garnet into the passenger seat and was already taking off.

Garnet: ''How do you know how to fly this airship?''

Steiner: ''I always... ooh... I picked this up lately.''

Garnet: ''I didn't know...''

The princess looked at Steiner suspiciously, not knowing what to think of him. He had been talking oddly... and how did he know how to get out through that maze? She quickly dismissed the thoughts as unbased.

Steiner: ''Judging from where we are.... it should take us around 2 days to reach Alexandria...''

Garnet: ''How do you know...?''
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Zidane: ''What are you doing Amarant?''

Amarant: ''C..E..A..S..E..''

Zidane: ''Wha?''

Quina: ''Ooooh Amarant is meany!''

Amarant turned around and stared at the clueless Zidane, who was now in a battle stance next to Quina, ready to attack Amarant if the time should come. Seeing this, he dropped Cid on the ground, who grabbed his throat and was doubled over in pain from the cold air finally reaching his lungs.

Amarant: ''D..O.. N..O..T.. S..T..A..N..D.. I..N.. T..H..E.. W..A..Y.. O..F.. M..A..S..T..E..R..''

Zidane: ''I don't know what your talking about Amarant, but I can't stand for this! Your going down!''

Quina: ''Yes, me get back at you for hurt!''

In what seemed like a second, Amarant's claws teared into Quina's robust stomach. Caught off guard, Quina fell to the floor and tried to reach for the wound, but could not, his arms were too short to reach his full belly. Almost instantly Zidane was on guard and blocked Amarant's next blow, which was heading for Zidane's neck.

This is just like what happened with Vivi... Amarant is super powerful too...

Even before he could finish that thought, Amarant was on the attack again with vicious slashes, which Zidane was defending blow by blow. He knew if one of those DID hit him it would be over. Out of nowhere, Amarant through a sword at Zidane, which he ducked in the nick of time. Unfortunately Quina was not so lucky, and he took the blow right in his tiny, unproportioned leg.

Quina: ''OOOh! You dead! You DEAD!''

Although his big talk came with anger, it did not fix his current situation, which left him helpless on the ground. In the mean time, Zidane and Amarant had just finished another round of attacking and defense. This constant battling was wearing Zidane down, but seemed to have no effect on Amarant, not even the slightest sign of slowing down.

Amarant: ''D..I..E.. G..I..V..E.. I..N..''

Zidane: ''NEVER!!!!''

A pink glow surrounded Zidane as his anger built, within a few moments, his body was engulfed in the light, and his appearance had changed.

Amarant: ''T..R..A..N..C..E?''

Colors appeared all around the two, and the colors formed into swirls of energy, an explosion followed as it hit Amarant full on, and made him fly back into the castle wall, flying right through it. With smoke in the air, everyone hung on end, waiting to see what had happened. As the dust settled, a shadow could be seen and Amarant stepped back into the room, with visible bruises and cuts, but it did not stop him.

Zidane: ''My god... I can't beat him...''

Amarant: ''...''

With that, Amarant charged toward Zidane.
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(Took awhile to put up... not that anyone noticed. ^_^)