1 Chapter 1: New Found Doubt
"I told you these women get in your head and twist it like a fuckin….." Baku
Zidane's crown shimmered in the early morning light, Alexandria was nearly finished and all paranoia of a newly born evil was distant. Alexandria has been slowly rebuilt to perfection, looking even more glamorous and beautiful as it had once been. The castle was now a perfect off-white tint glimmering in the sunlight, much of the interior of the castle had been remodeled and had been completely ripped of any items or pictures that had anything to do with Brahn and her evil doings. New carpet was installed in every room and the new plush red was soft and squishy under your feet. The mass amounts of rooms in the castle had been quite a burden and the royal committee had figured they had to take advantage of the surplus, special visitors from all over the world could now stay in these rooms. Although the committee knew that it was quite a dangerous decision they also knew that all of the gil that would be poured in would go straight to the rebuilding process of Alexandria and in the long run would be worth it.
At every hallway and courtyard the knights patrolled…yes the knights, the newly restructured Knights of Pluto, led by none other than Sir Rust-a- lot…er Captain Steiner. The Knights were in shambles and were described no less than idiotic by the committee and by the public, therefore something had to be done. Zidane had brought in the Chief commander of the Lindblum Army for somewhat of a "motivational speech." The commander was disgusted at the sight of the disgrace of human beings in front of him, from that point on the commander vowed to bring Alexandria's army to the top. The commander held a "tryout" or mini-camp if you will, at Alexandria and men and women from all over the world came to participate. The training was rigorous and the separation from weak and strong were very obvious from day one, only 30 members were to be elected to the Knights of Pluto and the competition was slowly growing stronger. By the end of the camp many understood that it wasn't pure athleticism and strength that would be the key to be apart of the Knights, it was wit and strategy and patience that scored the real points. The attendants were put through activities such as solving puzzles and reconassaince missions. As a result of these seemingly ridiculous tests, many had left in search of a more smash-mouth form of violence. This is exactly what the commander had hoped for and he knew that the ones remaining were the complete warriors both cerebral and physical he was in search for. The commander put together the now daunted Knights of Pluto, and in the process mentoring Captain Steiner to be the leader he was meant to be.
With Alexandria in a full-fledged sprint towards greatness, King Zidane and Queen Garnet had done an amazing job of putting the half ruined city back together. It had been 3 years and they have both been Moogle Magazine's Man and Woman of the Year.
"Jesus Christ Zidane what the hell are you doing here?"
"Come on boss that's the greeting I get nowadays?" Zidane retorted sarcastically.
"Well I haven't seen ya in bout' a year…well personally anyways, I've been starin at your ugly face on pictures for too long."
"I love you too man…so what's been goin on around here?, if you wana kidnap me sometime soon that'd be great" Zidane stated with somewhat of a weary tone.
"I told you these women get in your head and twist it like a fuckin--"
"no no no nothing like that, its just I miss you guys and I miss eating with my hands you know what I'm saying?
"well hey you got yourself into it" remarked Baku.
"Well I don't think I had a choice but to save the world, the people who saved the world aren't going to go unnoticed for too long Bak" Zidane's wit and smartassness was coming back to him.
"So what are you trying to tell me Zidane?"
"…well I mean I love Garnet and I love the city of Alexandria, but the whole being the king part isn't soaking in yet, I'm used to roaming free and cussing and burping and….you know all that good stuff, and now I'm startin to get that ugly royal accent, but I can't just visit you guys every week so you can keep me in check, I'm way too busy for that. God I hate being busy." Zidane was now looking at the ground observing the swinging shadow of Baku's key chain, realizing that this had been the first time he had opened himself up in quite a manner.
"You know Zidane I love how you sidestep the real meaning, you don't have to sugar coat for me, you don't wana be king, you wana be able to scratch your balls and not be on a tabloid the next day, you want to be able to say this food tastes like shit without being reprimanded….the list goes on my friend, and all I'm wondering about is how your gonna deal with this"
Baku's friendship with Zidane was so close and Zidane knew that whatever Baku had to say was real and true, if anybody else had told Zidane something like that, Zidane would have simply ignored him and called him crazy.
"I'm still workin on that"
***
Garnet sat in her room gently combing her beautiful milk chocolate brown hair, simply observing herself in the mirror. She had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing a silk white robe that hung down to her ankles. She wondered when the last time she hadn't worn make-up was, Dali…when Zidane was teaching her how to speak basically a totally different language to her. Somehow she felt comfortable not putting on her basic elements of fake beauty that day around Zidane, another trait in him that she loved…he loved her for who she was, not for her beauty…well not completely anyways. The day was still young, 7 A.M. to be exact, Zidane had left her side about an hour ago to revisit his old buddies. Under normal circumstances she was never alone like this, and never really had time to think or relax. She was grateful for this, but she knew that it couldn't last long, because the world isn't perfect and there's always somethi…….
"Your majesty I hate interrupting you at your leisure, but you need to come to the Round Table immediately!" Steiner shouted outside her door, afraid if he walked in he might catch something inappropriate, including a hand in the face.
My goodness perhaps I'm clairvoyant!!
"Yes Steiner let me slip into my wardrobe and I'll be joining you shortly"
"Thank you your majesty, but please hurry" Steiner stated with an amusingly stressed tone.
Maybe I'll just join them in my pajamas…although I don't think the nobles would think too highly of me. I hate worrying about what other people think of me, and I hate being busy.
"I told you these women get in your head and twist it like a fuckin….." Baku
Zidane's crown shimmered in the early morning light, Alexandria was nearly finished and all paranoia of a newly born evil was distant. Alexandria has been slowly rebuilt to perfection, looking even more glamorous and beautiful as it had once been. The castle was now a perfect off-white tint glimmering in the sunlight, much of the interior of the castle had been remodeled and had been completely ripped of any items or pictures that had anything to do with Brahn and her evil doings. New carpet was installed in every room and the new plush red was soft and squishy under your feet. The mass amounts of rooms in the castle had been quite a burden and the royal committee had figured they had to take advantage of the surplus, special visitors from all over the world could now stay in these rooms. Although the committee knew that it was quite a dangerous decision they also knew that all of the gil that would be poured in would go straight to the rebuilding process of Alexandria and in the long run would be worth it.
At every hallway and courtyard the knights patrolled…yes the knights, the newly restructured Knights of Pluto, led by none other than Sir Rust-a- lot…er Captain Steiner. The Knights were in shambles and were described no less than idiotic by the committee and by the public, therefore something had to be done. Zidane had brought in the Chief commander of the Lindblum Army for somewhat of a "motivational speech." The commander was disgusted at the sight of the disgrace of human beings in front of him, from that point on the commander vowed to bring Alexandria's army to the top. The commander held a "tryout" or mini-camp if you will, at Alexandria and men and women from all over the world came to participate. The training was rigorous and the separation from weak and strong were very obvious from day one, only 30 members were to be elected to the Knights of Pluto and the competition was slowly growing stronger. By the end of the camp many understood that it wasn't pure athleticism and strength that would be the key to be apart of the Knights, it was wit and strategy and patience that scored the real points. The attendants were put through activities such as solving puzzles and reconassaince missions. As a result of these seemingly ridiculous tests, many had left in search of a more smash-mouth form of violence. This is exactly what the commander had hoped for and he knew that the ones remaining were the complete warriors both cerebral and physical he was in search for. The commander put together the now daunted Knights of Pluto, and in the process mentoring Captain Steiner to be the leader he was meant to be.
With Alexandria in a full-fledged sprint towards greatness, King Zidane and Queen Garnet had done an amazing job of putting the half ruined city back together. It had been 3 years and they have both been Moogle Magazine's Man and Woman of the Year.
"Jesus Christ Zidane what the hell are you doing here?"
"Come on boss that's the greeting I get nowadays?" Zidane retorted sarcastically.
"Well I haven't seen ya in bout' a year…well personally anyways, I've been starin at your ugly face on pictures for too long."
"I love you too man…so what's been goin on around here?, if you wana kidnap me sometime soon that'd be great" Zidane stated with somewhat of a weary tone.
"I told you these women get in your head and twist it like a fuckin--"
"no no no nothing like that, its just I miss you guys and I miss eating with my hands you know what I'm saying?
"well hey you got yourself into it" remarked Baku.
"Well I don't think I had a choice but to save the world, the people who saved the world aren't going to go unnoticed for too long Bak" Zidane's wit and smartassness was coming back to him.
"So what are you trying to tell me Zidane?"
"…well I mean I love Garnet and I love the city of Alexandria, but the whole being the king part isn't soaking in yet, I'm used to roaming free and cussing and burping and….you know all that good stuff, and now I'm startin to get that ugly royal accent, but I can't just visit you guys every week so you can keep me in check, I'm way too busy for that. God I hate being busy." Zidane was now looking at the ground observing the swinging shadow of Baku's key chain, realizing that this had been the first time he had opened himself up in quite a manner.
"You know Zidane I love how you sidestep the real meaning, you don't have to sugar coat for me, you don't wana be king, you wana be able to scratch your balls and not be on a tabloid the next day, you want to be able to say this food tastes like shit without being reprimanded….the list goes on my friend, and all I'm wondering about is how your gonna deal with this"
Baku's friendship with Zidane was so close and Zidane knew that whatever Baku had to say was real and true, if anybody else had told Zidane something like that, Zidane would have simply ignored him and called him crazy.
"I'm still workin on that"
***
Garnet sat in her room gently combing her beautiful milk chocolate brown hair, simply observing herself in the mirror. She had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing a silk white robe that hung down to her ankles. She wondered when the last time she hadn't worn make-up was, Dali…when Zidane was teaching her how to speak basically a totally different language to her. Somehow she felt comfortable not putting on her basic elements of fake beauty that day around Zidane, another trait in him that she loved…he loved her for who she was, not for her beauty…well not completely anyways. The day was still young, 7 A.M. to be exact, Zidane had left her side about an hour ago to revisit his old buddies. Under normal circumstances she was never alone like this, and never really had time to think or relax. She was grateful for this, but she knew that it couldn't last long, because the world isn't perfect and there's always somethi…….
"Your majesty I hate interrupting you at your leisure, but you need to come to the Round Table immediately!" Steiner shouted outside her door, afraid if he walked in he might catch something inappropriate, including a hand in the face.
My goodness perhaps I'm clairvoyant!!
"Yes Steiner let me slip into my wardrobe and I'll be joining you shortly"
"Thank you your majesty, but please hurry" Steiner stated with an amusingly stressed tone.
Maybe I'll just join them in my pajamas…although I don't think the nobles would think too highly of me. I hate worrying about what other people think of me, and I hate being busy.