FORGOTTEN MEMORIES
Chapter 7
"Come on! Quit it! We gotta go to the ship! It's departing the shore soon..." Daleck focused on his own outfit, as he had the same uniform as Jehuty.
What's going on?
"Well I'm not waiting for you. I'll be at the boat, and you'd better get your butt over there."
Have I gone back in time?
"See ya." And with that, Jehuty ran off.
Just then, the phone rang. Daleck picked it up, hesitantly. "H-hello?"
"Go to the museum." Daleck sat in silence, still holding the phone in his hand.
"The museum..."
"Yes, go now!" And he heard a click. Daleck slowly hooked the phone onto the receiver.
Maybe I should go to the museum this time... maybe it holds a clue as to what's going on.
At the museum, Jehuty slowly walked up to the doors. He noticed a sign close by indicating that it was closed for the day. But still, he placed his hand on the handle and gave it a little tug. To his surprise, the door was unlocked. As he slowly opened the door it made a faint creaking sound. The light from the outdoors shined brightly in the darkened lobby of the museum. Daleck took a step in and shut the door from behind him.
Why am I doing this? This is illegal! Who knows what I'll find here...
He decided he'd better hurry if he wanted to go on his first mission. Just then, he heard an anonymous footstep. He looked behind him, to his side, in front of him... no one. He continued to walk slowly, every footstep he made echoed in the immense lobby. He then heard glass shatter. Daleck ran towards the first room from the lobby to see what the commotion was about. He saw a figure dressed in black reach in and steal an object... an object that he'd seen before... It was the pendant piece.
"What are you doing!?" Daleck yelled. "You don't know what could happen if you..."
Just then alarms began setting off. The figure stuffed the pendant piece in a bag, and ran towards him.
"Hey! Let go of that!" He noticed the figure was running towards him. "What-!" Daleck shielded himself, however the person ran right past him. Trying to pick up any evidence of who this person could be, Daleck noticed a bracelet on the person's right wrist. It was a sort of intercom device... and it was sparkling blue... the figure turned around.
"Hey kid..." He was surprised that the criminal was talking to him, and... that it was a female. "Get out of here." Daleck looked around to notice that the alarms were still going off. "No, get out of Alexandria." The female took off. Daleck stood for a moment, dumbfounded. Little did she know that he had the last piece... however he would never want her to know, as it would have grave consequences. Daleck ran out of the museum, and to the Alexandria boat where he would begin his first mission. As he looked back he saw cops storming the museum.
Daleck felt faint, and his vision went white.
Not again...
In a medieval day Alexandria, Dagger lived with Zidane and the Tantalus group aboard the Prima Vista. It was night time, as it always seems to be in Treno, and once again, they were performing the memorable play, "I Want To Be Your Canary." This time, for Treno. Cornelia ran onto the stage... her role was played by Garnet.
"Marcus? Sweet Marcus, I fear I love thee more than I should!"
A cloaked man approached her and responded "Wilt thou be happy, married to a lowly peasant such as I?"
"Prithee, call me 'princess' no more!"
Baku, offstage, was whispering to Zidane.
"That's a fine little actress you got there..."
"Dagger sure is something." Zidane replied.
"Does... does she miss the castle? At all?"
Zidane sighed. "I don't know. Sometimes I think she does... but I really don't know..."
What Zidane didn't know is that Dagger constantly worried about Steiner and Beatrix.
"Marcus, wilt thou truly cherish me, the king's only daughter?" I wonder if Steiner is ok... if he can handle this... "Or is such a desire to dear to wish for!?" He sure is stubborn... I hope he's not making a mess of things... "After our nuptials, shall I become no more than a puppet?" What will happen if there's a crisis? Will Alexandria be ok? "A mindless puppet, never to laugh, never to cry? I wish to live my life under the sky." Beatrix will take care of him... I know she will... "At times, I shall laugh, at other times cry." But then again, Beatrix has had a brush with death... If that were to happen again, Steiner would not function... Alexandria would perish... "For no life is more insincere than that lived as a masquerade." Is my life a masquerade? Do I belong here?
"So much consideration thou hast given it! But worry not! Cast away thy trappings of royalty, and I shall swaddle thou in a gown of pure love! Never again will I part from thee! Pray, my love, make me thy canary to keep forever in the cage of thy bosom! Let us embark on the first ship tomorrow, before dawn can tell of our elopement!"
Dagger was staring at the ground, she had forgotten her lines. In fact, right now, performing was the last thing on her mind.
"Dagger..." Marcus, aka Blank whispered.
The sky then turned red, and lightning struck everywhere. Clouds were rolling by at the speed of light.
"N-no... NO!" Dagger yelled. This was all too familiar. Zidane ran over to her and embraced her.
"What is this?" Zidane questioned.
"It's Knights of the Round, Zidane..." Dagger sobbed. "Something's wrong at the castle!"
"Let's go!" Zidane and Dagger, along with the rest of Tantalus ran to the Prima Vista as the folk of Treno ran in circles, screaming.
The ship took off and headed for the castle. As they flew by, Dagger witnessed each Knight gallop towards the castle.
"Faster Zidane! Their heading for the castle!"
The ship shook as the barely swiped one of the 13 knights about to destroy Alexandria.
Back at the castle, a panicked Steiner was running around the castle.
"What's going on!? Who did this!"
Beatrix ran to him and slapped him across the face.
"Get a hold of yourself!" She calmed him down as the castle rumbled endlessly. "It's knight's of the round again. Someone obviously got a hold of the pendant."
"WHO!?" Steiner yelled. Beatrix slapped him again.
"We can't worry about that now! We gotta tell our soldiers to evacuate EVERYONE in Alexandria." Steiner stared at her for a moment. "GO!!"
Startled, Steiner ran around the castle, arms flailing, screaming "EVACUATE ALEXANDRIA! GO! SAVE THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN! SAVE THEM! GO! AAAAH!"
Beatrix sighed, then ran to the village to warn everyone.
In the village, soldiers were running around, carrying children and putting them on boats in the Alexandria river. Other townsfolk ran for the exit to get as far away from Alexandria as they could. Beatrix ran around, seeking anyone in need. The red sky reflected on their faces, making for an even more chaotic scene. She heard someone calling her name.
"Beatrix!" Steiner ran towards her. "Beatrix! We're doing the best we can. I told the soldiers to help evacuate. The cooks in the castle escaped, the children are being escorted, we should have enough boats..."
"STEINER!" He flinched when she raised her hand, but was relieved when he discovered it was to put them on his shoulder. "It's ok. We did all we could." People were still running around chaotically, when they all, as well as Steiner and Beatrix, noticed something towards the horizon. It was the Prima Vista ship. "Garnet! What is she doing here!" The ship slowly approached Alexandria. Yet the 13 Knights rapidly approached just next to it, as all eyes focused on that. It was a sight to behold, 13 Knights, each lined up one by one, some on horses, some flying, in a horizontal line, as they all flew in the crimson red night sky toward Alexandria. Closer... closer... closer...
"Steiner..." Beatrix looked up at his face, as he looked down at hers. "Hold me." They embraced as they both stared at their impending doom. The ground began to rumble as buildings and houses collapsed. The Knights now hovered above Alexandria and circled. Their rotations began to get faster, as they generated a blue light in the center. A blue reflection was on everyone's face, as they watched in amazement.
"I love you, Beatrix."
She looked back at him.
"And I love you, Steiner." And they kissed. They kissed for an eternity... an eternity that would only last for a few short seconds, for as they professed their everlasting love for one another, a bright beam of light generated by the Knights of the Round slammed into the ground, as an explosion from beneath perished anything in site. Everything turned to dust... as the bright light destroyed Alexandria.
"NOOOOOO!" A devastated Dagger watched the bright light set Alexandria on flames, as all that was left standing was part of the castle... and bones... However, the light from the Knights of the Round somehow made its way to the Prima Vista, as it rumbled, and crashed into the Alexandria shore. Somehow Dagger survived the wreckage as she clambered to her feet. "Zidane!" She ran to the room where he guided the ship, as she noticed his body covered in blood. His lifeless face seemed to stare at him. "Z-Zid-... Zidane..." she sobbed. She managed to find her way to the wreckage of Alexandria, still sobbing. The red skies remained, as did the Knights of the Round, still circling above. She was guided by a blue light glowing from the wreckage. She picked up the wreckage to find her pendant... broken in two. She picked up the pendant, and walked to the shore.
Garnet faced the demons that caused this and held the pieces of the pendant that caused this. She recited a "spell" that would store the Knights of the Round in each piece of the pendant. They were the words that she remembered long ago from her childhood mentor, Dr. Tot. Dagger cried out, "O Knights of which cause annihilation, cause sorrow no more and return to each station!" A light beamed from each stone, as the spirit of the Knights were sucked into them. When the beams disappeared, so did the red sky, which uncovered the horror before Dagger's eyes. The castle was in ruins. Everyone she ever knew had perished in that disaster. She took each piece of the pendant, and threw them back into the river on opposite ends. Dagger went back to the Prima Vista to say goodbye to Zidane.
She walked up to him, and noticed that broken glass was embedded deep in his skin, thus causing his death. Dagger touched his forehead, and kissed him on the cheek. She shut his eyes, as hers filled with tears. She then grabbed the dagger in his sheath, and stood next to Zidane. She held the dagger with both hands. Dagger then looked down at Zidane, peacefully resting. She looked back up straight in front of her, and held the dagger horizontally in front of her abdomen. A frown spread across her face as tears streamed down. And then came the thrust. Her jaw dropped as the knife hit her skin and buried itself deep within her body. She closed her eyes, fell to her knees, then her head hit the ground. As she opened her eyes, she looked at Zidane's face. She crawled a bit closer to him, and put her arm around him. His face was the last thing she saw before her vision went white.
Dagger's soul escaped her body, and joined her loved ones. A soft wind blew through the shattered windows of the Prima Vista, gently moving the hair of Dagger and Zidane, as they lay side by side.
Thus, was the destruction of Alexandria, and the beginning of a new era.
To Be Continued...