{---Tsurai Jidai Nai---}
{---Painful Era Dead---}
Beatrix stood in an abandoned room, panting, trying to remain standing, her original battle
already over.
/I KNOW I can do this!/ She slashed at the new imaginary opponents that clouded her vision.
Spell after spell, swipe after swipe. As her made-up challengers faded from her sight,
a much worse scene replaced them...her parents being slaughted by a strange girl with golden
hair and cold silvery eyes...her siblings, both of them.
Slowly, she colapsed, leaning heavily on the rusted old sword that had belonged to her
father before her. Suddenly, warm, sticky red blood gushed from a cut on her forehead, causing
her already distorted vision to cloud with the crimson flood. Beatrix felt her sword snap in
half, dropping her like a limp doll to the ground. The glowing ruby hues faded to dull, blank,
black nothingness as she felt herself sliding into unconsiousness...
---
Mayani grinned, faceng her little sister Beatrix. "Ah, give it up, squirt. There's no way you can
beat me."
"Mayani! Kotai! Beatrix! Dinnertime! Your father's waiting!" Karanei Sharaki called to her
three dirty, tired daughters. Her husband Jaremomaru grinned at the sight of them as they
entered the small cottage that the family lived in.
"You three are the future of Alexandria! Always fighting!"
"Clean up for dinner, right now. And Beatrix! How many times do I have to tell you to
WEAR YOUR ARMOR! You won't get so badly injured if you wear it!" Karanei shouted angrily.
"Mama! How can I become stronger if I let the Holy Armor take the hits for me?" Beatrix cried
out. "I'll never get any stronger unless I can stand Mayani's attacks! And anyways, she
and Kotai don't have to wear armor! And I hit just as hard as they do, it won't be fair if I have to-"
"All right, all right," Karanei sighed. "Don't blame me when you injure yourself so badly
that you never fight again."
"But I don't WANT to fight," Beatrix explained patiently. "I only want to beat Mayani."
"Why?" Jaremomaru interrupted, curious.
"I have a bet with Uncle Rosi. He bet that I couldn't beat her until I was 12." Beatrix
said innocently. Kotai and Mayani snickered, as Karanei exchanged a look of disbelief with
Jaremomaru.
"Wash up, and wear the armor." Karanei said firmly.
---
Silently, a cloaked figure walked through the pathways of rural Alexandria, seeking a particular
cottage.
A long-nailed, carefully manicured finger ran down the town list. /There it is...Sharaki.
Garland should be pleased. Rabbit, you annoying pest, you die tonight./
---
Beatrix stirred in her sleep. /Somethng isn't right./ She slid out of bed, and walked blindly down
the hall outside the back door of the cottage. She wandered by the light of the full blue and
red moons to the nearby forest, deeper and deeper until she was hopelessly lost.
Whispers chased her...`poor little rabbit, family will be dead, only her baby sister will live`...
`wonder who'll hold the sword next`...`it's getting rusty`...`the little redeyes will need a new one`
...`the silver wench invaded our land, she must pay`..maybe the little redeyes can help us`...
`she doesn't want to fight`...`maybe we can posses her`...`use her body as our own`...
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Beatrix shrieked out, clutching her hands to her ears, falling to her scraped knees,
sobbing, thrashing about wildly. As the whispers slowly faded into the deadly cold night air, so did
the sobs of the little redeyes.
---
As Beatrix neared her house, she saw a light on. Creeping to the window, she saw a blonde girl with
manicured fingernails and disdainful silver eyes speaking with her father. Pressing an ear to the
window, she heard the end of the conversation.
"Just give the eldest, Mayani. Then we won't feel the need to destroy your country."
"I said no, witch!" Jaremomaru roared. The girl's eyes narrowed angrily. Beatrix felt something...
this girl was stronger than she appeared...Papa was in danger...got to save him...
"PAPA!" she shrieked, throwing herself through the glass, and trying desperatley to shield him
with her body. The cold liquid silver eyes widened.
"Now, Sharaki...this one holds just as much, if not more promise. Tell you what: I'll take the redeyes
and leave you, Alexandria, and rabbit - Mayani - alone."
"No!" Jagemomaru shouted.
"So now you die, fool." Jagemomaru spun around and threw himself over Beatrix, hitting the floor.
Bright silver and blue spells shot through the house, seeking out the remainder of Beatrix's family
and dragging them forward into the kitchen. Four beams of blue light, with strange silver writing
wrapped around them aimed at Mayani, Kotai, Karanei, and Jaremomaru.
Suddenly a cluster of four explosions blew up, throwing blood and disassembled body parts
in every direction. Five screams of ultimate terror rocked the house. And only one of the five humans
survived.
---
Slowly, painfully, Beatrix stirred, recovering slowly from the injuries she had inadvertedly given herself.
/The dream again...what I wouldn't give to forget that.../
Beatrix looked at her broken sword and almost cried. She reached up and pulled back the eyepatch covering
her right eye. Looking in the reflection the sword gave her, she gasped inwardly at the sight of her
scarred, disfigured eye.
/A reminder of that night...the only lasting injury I suffered./ As soon as she covered the ugly sight
again, she realized that was a lie. "No," she said out loud, to nobody in particular. "I suffered more
than physical pain that night. And I still don't even know who destroyed this eye..."
More memories, more recent ones, snapped her into the vivid, unrelenting cruelty of memories.
---
11-year old Beatrix threw herself into a sitting position, having already rolled her father's melted,
destroyed corpse. The bodies of Mayani, Kotai, and Karanei lay, their faced left untouched by some
form of evil, cruel magic. Expressions of pain, terror, and utter suffering were stamped permanently on the
faces of Kotai and Karanei. Mayani's face, however, was peaceful and calm, her eyes
tranquil and serene. "Beatrix..." the corpse murmured. Then, Mayani's pretty face faded away to
nothingness. Beatrix disolved into tears and sobs.
"Hush now, little redeyes," a soft voice whispered. "It will be all right."
"Who-are-you?" Beatrix sobbed out.
"I am Shiva, the Ice Eidolon. I am here to help you. Listen, my little redeyes: a long, hard road stretches in front
of you. Your future will be riddled with disappointments and failure. But you will become an honored warrior
in the army of Queen Brahne, fall in love, and help to speed the death of she who slaughted your family."
"Who-killed-them,-Shiva?" Beatrix gasped, her sobs subsiding.
"Her name is Trani. She...I cannot tell you much, little redeyes. She is powerful. I will give you instructions
to aid you in revenge."
"Tell me," Beatrix said, surprising even herself at how level and calm her vioce had become. Shiva laughed.
"Take your father's sword, and heal yourself. Salvage the Holy Armor, and synthesize to an eyepatch.
When you have mastered White Magic, I will give you Save the Queen. Goodbye, little redeyes.
Never lose hope or determination." And with that, Shiva faded away, and Beatrix fixed her thoughts
on one thing: revenge.
---
A small rabbit hopped into Beatrix's lap as she was examining her broken sword, trying to see if it
could be mended. She cast it away as a hopeless cause and chuckled at the sight of the innocent animal.
"You know, rabbit, for years I struggled with White Magic. Of all the basic magic forms: Red, Blue,
Black, White, White is the hardest to learn. You must be pure of mind, heart, and soul."
The rabbit's dark eyes stared back into hers.
"It has been six years - I'm seventeen years old, rabbit. And I still haven't mastered Curaga. I think it,
among certain other things, is beyond me." She sighed. Six years and all she knew about
Trani was how her voice sounded, what she looked like, and her name. "I think I'll give up the
revenge business, and try to become General." Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation
she only felt when she'd mastered a new White Magic spell. "Curaga..." she breathed, immedetly
using the spell to rid herself of her horrendous injuries.
"Hello Beatrix." the same soft whisper that was Shiva's voice murmured. "Here, as promised, is your sword.
It will enable you to use Seiken, a powerful form of sword magic. You can use all White Magic, and any
Seiken skills until the day you begin to seek revenge." And with that, Shiva disappeared.
Beatrix chuckled. "Thanks, Shiva...looks like next time we meet, Steiner, the tables might turn a little bit."
She smiled down at the rabbit, which was hopping away, to a den of some sort presumably.
"I think now is the time to bury all of what happened that night. Painful Era Dead. Gone. Forever." Beatrix
said thoughtfully. "I am now the Holy Knight Beatrix. Beatrix Sharaki is dead."
---
{---owari---}
I challenged myself to write a different sort of fic than I usually write. My stories usually have humor and an
air, at least most of the time, of happiness and...fluff.
But I wanted to focus on Save the Queen, Seiken, and Beatrix's White Magic skills, because, as far as
any of us know, Beatrix isn't a White Mage.
This story ties in with my other FFIX fictions, Melodies of Life and Melodies of Life 2. Also, Beatrix will
be brought into the spotlight for the duration on MOL3 and 4.
Just to let you know. If you read MOL2, you'll recognize Trani near the end.
Email me w/C&C at katra@afacentral.com
Luv,
Katra Winner
{---Painful Era Dead---}
Beatrix stood in an abandoned room, panting, trying to remain standing, her original battle
already over.
/I KNOW I can do this!/ She slashed at the new imaginary opponents that clouded her vision.
Spell after spell, swipe after swipe. As her made-up challengers faded from her sight,
a much worse scene replaced them...her parents being slaughted by a strange girl with golden
hair and cold silvery eyes...her siblings, both of them.
Slowly, she colapsed, leaning heavily on the rusted old sword that had belonged to her
father before her. Suddenly, warm, sticky red blood gushed from a cut on her forehead, causing
her already distorted vision to cloud with the crimson flood. Beatrix felt her sword snap in
half, dropping her like a limp doll to the ground. The glowing ruby hues faded to dull, blank,
black nothingness as she felt herself sliding into unconsiousness...
---
Mayani grinned, faceng her little sister Beatrix. "Ah, give it up, squirt. There's no way you can
beat me."
"Mayani! Kotai! Beatrix! Dinnertime! Your father's waiting!" Karanei Sharaki called to her
three dirty, tired daughters. Her husband Jaremomaru grinned at the sight of them as they
entered the small cottage that the family lived in.
"You three are the future of Alexandria! Always fighting!"
"Clean up for dinner, right now. And Beatrix! How many times do I have to tell you to
WEAR YOUR ARMOR! You won't get so badly injured if you wear it!" Karanei shouted angrily.
"Mama! How can I become stronger if I let the Holy Armor take the hits for me?" Beatrix cried
out. "I'll never get any stronger unless I can stand Mayani's attacks! And anyways, she
and Kotai don't have to wear armor! And I hit just as hard as they do, it won't be fair if I have to-"
"All right, all right," Karanei sighed. "Don't blame me when you injure yourself so badly
that you never fight again."
"But I don't WANT to fight," Beatrix explained patiently. "I only want to beat Mayani."
"Why?" Jaremomaru interrupted, curious.
"I have a bet with Uncle Rosi. He bet that I couldn't beat her until I was 12." Beatrix
said innocently. Kotai and Mayani snickered, as Karanei exchanged a look of disbelief with
Jaremomaru.
"Wash up, and wear the armor." Karanei said firmly.
---
Silently, a cloaked figure walked through the pathways of rural Alexandria, seeking a particular
cottage.
A long-nailed, carefully manicured finger ran down the town list. /There it is...Sharaki.
Garland should be pleased. Rabbit, you annoying pest, you die tonight./
---
Beatrix stirred in her sleep. /Somethng isn't right./ She slid out of bed, and walked blindly down
the hall outside the back door of the cottage. She wandered by the light of the full blue and
red moons to the nearby forest, deeper and deeper until she was hopelessly lost.
Whispers chased her...`poor little rabbit, family will be dead, only her baby sister will live`...
`wonder who'll hold the sword next`...`it's getting rusty`...`the little redeyes will need a new one`
...`the silver wench invaded our land, she must pay`..maybe the little redeyes can help us`...
`she doesn't want to fight`...`maybe we can posses her`...`use her body as our own`...
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Beatrix shrieked out, clutching her hands to her ears, falling to her scraped knees,
sobbing, thrashing about wildly. As the whispers slowly faded into the deadly cold night air, so did
the sobs of the little redeyes.
---
As Beatrix neared her house, she saw a light on. Creeping to the window, she saw a blonde girl with
manicured fingernails and disdainful silver eyes speaking with her father. Pressing an ear to the
window, she heard the end of the conversation.
"Just give the eldest, Mayani. Then we won't feel the need to destroy your country."
"I said no, witch!" Jaremomaru roared. The girl's eyes narrowed angrily. Beatrix felt something...
this girl was stronger than she appeared...Papa was in danger...got to save him...
"PAPA!" she shrieked, throwing herself through the glass, and trying desperatley to shield him
with her body. The cold liquid silver eyes widened.
"Now, Sharaki...this one holds just as much, if not more promise. Tell you what: I'll take the redeyes
and leave you, Alexandria, and rabbit - Mayani - alone."
"No!" Jagemomaru shouted.
"So now you die, fool." Jagemomaru spun around and threw himself over Beatrix, hitting the floor.
Bright silver and blue spells shot through the house, seeking out the remainder of Beatrix's family
and dragging them forward into the kitchen. Four beams of blue light, with strange silver writing
wrapped around them aimed at Mayani, Kotai, Karanei, and Jaremomaru.
Suddenly a cluster of four explosions blew up, throwing blood and disassembled body parts
in every direction. Five screams of ultimate terror rocked the house. And only one of the five humans
survived.
---
Slowly, painfully, Beatrix stirred, recovering slowly from the injuries she had inadvertedly given herself.
/The dream again...what I wouldn't give to forget that.../
Beatrix looked at her broken sword and almost cried. She reached up and pulled back the eyepatch covering
her right eye. Looking in the reflection the sword gave her, she gasped inwardly at the sight of her
scarred, disfigured eye.
/A reminder of that night...the only lasting injury I suffered./ As soon as she covered the ugly sight
again, she realized that was a lie. "No," she said out loud, to nobody in particular. "I suffered more
than physical pain that night. And I still don't even know who destroyed this eye..."
More memories, more recent ones, snapped her into the vivid, unrelenting cruelty of memories.
---
11-year old Beatrix threw herself into a sitting position, having already rolled her father's melted,
destroyed corpse. The bodies of Mayani, Kotai, and Karanei lay, their faced left untouched by some
form of evil, cruel magic. Expressions of pain, terror, and utter suffering were stamped permanently on the
faces of Kotai and Karanei. Mayani's face, however, was peaceful and calm, her eyes
tranquil and serene. "Beatrix..." the corpse murmured. Then, Mayani's pretty face faded away to
nothingness. Beatrix disolved into tears and sobs.
"Hush now, little redeyes," a soft voice whispered. "It will be all right."
"Who-are-you?" Beatrix sobbed out.
"I am Shiva, the Ice Eidolon. I am here to help you. Listen, my little redeyes: a long, hard road stretches in front
of you. Your future will be riddled with disappointments and failure. But you will become an honored warrior
in the army of Queen Brahne, fall in love, and help to speed the death of she who slaughted your family."
"Who-killed-them,-Shiva?" Beatrix gasped, her sobs subsiding.
"Her name is Trani. She...I cannot tell you much, little redeyes. She is powerful. I will give you instructions
to aid you in revenge."
"Tell me," Beatrix said, surprising even herself at how level and calm her vioce had become. Shiva laughed.
"Take your father's sword, and heal yourself. Salvage the Holy Armor, and synthesize to an eyepatch.
When you have mastered White Magic, I will give you Save the Queen. Goodbye, little redeyes.
Never lose hope or determination." And with that, Shiva faded away, and Beatrix fixed her thoughts
on one thing: revenge.
---
A small rabbit hopped into Beatrix's lap as she was examining her broken sword, trying to see if it
could be mended. She cast it away as a hopeless cause and chuckled at the sight of the innocent animal.
"You know, rabbit, for years I struggled with White Magic. Of all the basic magic forms: Red, Blue,
Black, White, White is the hardest to learn. You must be pure of mind, heart, and soul."
The rabbit's dark eyes stared back into hers.
"It has been six years - I'm seventeen years old, rabbit. And I still haven't mastered Curaga. I think it,
among certain other things, is beyond me." She sighed. Six years and all she knew about
Trani was how her voice sounded, what she looked like, and her name. "I think I'll give up the
revenge business, and try to become General." Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation
she only felt when she'd mastered a new White Magic spell. "Curaga..." she breathed, immedetly
using the spell to rid herself of her horrendous injuries.
"Hello Beatrix." the same soft whisper that was Shiva's voice murmured. "Here, as promised, is your sword.
It will enable you to use Seiken, a powerful form of sword magic. You can use all White Magic, and any
Seiken skills until the day you begin to seek revenge." And with that, Shiva disappeared.
Beatrix chuckled. "Thanks, Shiva...looks like next time we meet, Steiner, the tables might turn a little bit."
She smiled down at the rabbit, which was hopping away, to a den of some sort presumably.
"I think now is the time to bury all of what happened that night. Painful Era Dead. Gone. Forever." Beatrix
said thoughtfully. "I am now the Holy Knight Beatrix. Beatrix Sharaki is dead."
---
{---owari---}
I challenged myself to write a different sort of fic than I usually write. My stories usually have humor and an
air, at least most of the time, of happiness and...fluff.
But I wanted to focus on Save the Queen, Seiken, and Beatrix's White Magic skills, because, as far as
any of us know, Beatrix isn't a White Mage.
This story ties in with my other FFIX fictions, Melodies of Life and Melodies of Life 2. Also, Beatrix will
be brought into the spotlight for the duration on MOL3 and 4.
Just to let you know. If you read MOL2, you'll recognize Trani near the end.
Email me w/C&C at katra@afacentral.com
Luv,
Katra Winner