Chapter 5 – All for love
1 "Whoa hey there rusty, you seem…a little too cheery for my liking." Zidane
Beatrix knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard. She had trekked from Alexandria to Dali to Maiden Sari and still nothing.
"I'm sorry Beatrix I wish I could help you" Eiko said compassionately.
"No its ok…I just need SOMETHING to base my life upon…and I can't find it."
Beatrix was losing hope, but she knew there were a couple more places to go.
"Beatrix…? Do you know where Mognet Central is? I'm pretty sure they have a complete archive of people who may have visited there or have used their mail system."
Beatrix's eyes lit up. New hope had arrived and she had not even thought about Mognet Central.
"My god your right! Eiko what would I do without you?!" Beatrix exclaimed, making Eiko jump a little.
"Okay, okay calm down killer, but crash here for tonight I don't want you to leave without a goodnights sleep and some good food."
Beatrix agreed but looked at her a little funny.
"Did you say GOOD food?" Beatrix mocked.
"Hey watch it! I can marinate it with my spit if you aren't careful." She snapped back.
"Calm down killer I was just joking."
Shaking her head Eiko walked Beatrix to her room.
^^^
The boat ride to Mognet Central wasn't quite as long as she expected, the forecast had called for some occasionally fierce winds, but it had been sunny and calm since morning. Her day had started out the way she wanted. As she arrived at Mognet Central she could not believe what she saw. It looked more like an amusement park than the world's only postal service. Mognet Central was electrified on top of the building in tie-dye colors with a fake plastic moogle spinning inside the "o" in Mognet.
She walked into the flashy entrance while being greeted by many friendly moogles. She ran the service bell on the counter and Mindy Moogle…as it had indicated on her nametag, was at her service.
"What can I do for you young lady?" asked Mindy.
"Yes, I was wondering if you have the records of people who have used this service." Asked Beatrix nervously.
"Why yes of course! Please wait a moment."
Beatrix had slowly broken into a cold sweat and was tapping her fingers fiercely. She was never this nervous, not in battle, not in anything.
Mindy came floating back with a piece of paper in her hand. She handed it to Beatrix.
"We do have archives and unsent letters, but the limited space in this facility has prevented us from storing such papers…but we did have them shipped to Esto Gaza. It is in some sort of large safe or warehouse, on this piece of paper I've provided you with the key, if the key does not work use the combination written on the bottom left hand corner."
Beatrix hit almost 5 waves of emotions and almost forgot if she had been told something good or not.
"Wait…so there are archives?" she managed to stammer.
"…yes, do you need me to explain once more?"
"no that's…not necessary thank you very much."
As she was about to sprint out of the doorway, she caught herself and sensed something strange.
"Wait a second…why are you giving me a key and a combo for you secret archives?" Beatrix asked with a tone of suspiciousness.
"It is not secret at all, they haven't been touched in ages, it might even benefit us for you to investigate…because for all we know they are all deteriorated."
Beatrix was satisfied with Mindy's answer and started to turn around when something had hit her.
Investigate….? Steiner…Shimmering Island…I need to tell him I'm ok…how long has it been?
"Excuse me…one more thing, I want to send a letter to Kupo in Alexandria."
***
Steiner had declined to go back to the castle and went down into town to calm down and reflect. As he walked down to the marketplace he saw the great citizens of Alexandria selling and haggling left and right. Families everywhere…families, a family is what Steiner desperately needed. He was 32 closing in on 33 and he wanted to start a family before it was too late. But he was missing part of the puzzle…which was Beatrix.
Steiner took a right into the alleyway leading to the ocean so he could sit on the dock and think to himself.
[I]Why do I get so depressed? I have a job to do, but I'm not doing it….I don't need to do anything anymore, I rarely have to give orders to my Knights, they always know what they are doing and I feel so…insignificant.[/I]
Steiner felt a light tap on his shoulder, he was a bit startled but regained his composure and slowly creaked his head around. He looked to find a moogle.
2 A moogle…haven't spoken to one in quite a while
"You've got mail…..! sorry I always wanted to say that, but yes you've got some mail from a….General Beatrix?"
Steiner nearly fell of the pier, his jaw was touching the creaky wood beneath him, letting out gasps of air he managed to blurt something out that was barely audible.
"ek….heh….Th….thank y…ou" He was shaking.
"Hey buddy no problem just watch that cholesterol or your gonna have a heart attack…joke, yea so I'll see you around then."
With his hands shaking and his body breaking out into a cold sweat he tried to open the envelope very carefully. He finally pulled out the letter.
Dear Captain Steiner,
My curiosity has sent me to the ends of the earth, and finally I may be able to find out the truth. I must find my origins and my birth parents… it means so much to me and for me to leave you for so long was very hard. But I had stopped by at Mognet Central and wanted you to know that I am ok. I hope things are going well in Alexandria and you are being the mighty enforcer that you are. I miss you very much and hope to contact you again in the near future. I'm off to Esto Gaza in search of an abandoned file archive so wish me luck. Its good to contact you again, but until next time, farewell.
Your True love,
Beatrix
***
Zidane had woken up before Garnet and took a little walk down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He was walking down the winding stairs when he spotted Steiner.
"Whoa hey there rusty, you seem…a little too cheery for my liking." Zidane said with a smirk.
"You have no idea what has just happened!"
Zidane was now getting a little suspicious as to how fast his mood swung. Steiner rushed up the stairs to his room slamming the door behind him.
3 Right…he just get laid or something?
Zidane's suspiciousness was instinct and as the thief and sneak he was, he creeped up to Steiner's room and pressed his ear as close to the crack in the door as he could.
"This is amazing she will be soo happy to see me!" Steiner said with a slight wisper.
"Love is calling me and I must answer!"
Huh….? Oh…Beatrix.
Zidane heard some rustling of clothing and a…bag of some sort.
4 What the hell does he think he's doing?
Zidane quickly kicked the door open and saw that Steiner had all of his armor and weapons in a bag.
"Zidane! Please do not infringe upon my privacy rights!" Steiner shouted wide eyed.
"What do you think your doing? You can't just leave!" Zidane was now getting hot.
"How do you know I was going to leave? Why are you coming to conclusions?"
"Then why are you packing your bags like you've been put on a death sentence?" Zidane countered.
"Ok…yes I plan on leaving, but I have no reason to be here, my job is done!" Emotions running from Steiner's mouth.
"Did you talk to the Committee for a leave of absence? Did you plan on asking me that you were going to abandon your duty to protect the queen?!" Zidane was getting very agitated and was taking deep breaths to calm his anger down.
Without answering, Steiner bolted out the door. Steiner was gone, and his chances of coming back were slim, the committee would not tolerate such behavior and he would likely get tortured and killed.
5 All for love…will it be worth it?
What's happening to us…? The kingdom is slowly deteriorating.
1 "Whoa hey there rusty, you seem…a little too cheery for my liking." Zidane
Beatrix knew it was going to be hard, but not this hard. She had trekked from Alexandria to Dali to Maiden Sari and still nothing.
"I'm sorry Beatrix I wish I could help you" Eiko said compassionately.
"No its ok…I just need SOMETHING to base my life upon…and I can't find it."
Beatrix was losing hope, but she knew there were a couple more places to go.
"Beatrix…? Do you know where Mognet Central is? I'm pretty sure they have a complete archive of people who may have visited there or have used their mail system."
Beatrix's eyes lit up. New hope had arrived and she had not even thought about Mognet Central.
"My god your right! Eiko what would I do without you?!" Beatrix exclaimed, making Eiko jump a little.
"Okay, okay calm down killer, but crash here for tonight I don't want you to leave without a goodnights sleep and some good food."
Beatrix agreed but looked at her a little funny.
"Did you say GOOD food?" Beatrix mocked.
"Hey watch it! I can marinate it with my spit if you aren't careful." She snapped back.
"Calm down killer I was just joking."
Shaking her head Eiko walked Beatrix to her room.
^^^
The boat ride to Mognet Central wasn't quite as long as she expected, the forecast had called for some occasionally fierce winds, but it had been sunny and calm since morning. Her day had started out the way she wanted. As she arrived at Mognet Central she could not believe what she saw. It looked more like an amusement park than the world's only postal service. Mognet Central was electrified on top of the building in tie-dye colors with a fake plastic moogle spinning inside the "o" in Mognet.
She walked into the flashy entrance while being greeted by many friendly moogles. She ran the service bell on the counter and Mindy Moogle…as it had indicated on her nametag, was at her service.
"What can I do for you young lady?" asked Mindy.
"Yes, I was wondering if you have the records of people who have used this service." Asked Beatrix nervously.
"Why yes of course! Please wait a moment."
Beatrix had slowly broken into a cold sweat and was tapping her fingers fiercely. She was never this nervous, not in battle, not in anything.
Mindy came floating back with a piece of paper in her hand. She handed it to Beatrix.
"We do have archives and unsent letters, but the limited space in this facility has prevented us from storing such papers…but we did have them shipped to Esto Gaza. It is in some sort of large safe or warehouse, on this piece of paper I've provided you with the key, if the key does not work use the combination written on the bottom left hand corner."
Beatrix hit almost 5 waves of emotions and almost forgot if she had been told something good or not.
"Wait…so there are archives?" she managed to stammer.
"…yes, do you need me to explain once more?"
"no that's…not necessary thank you very much."
As she was about to sprint out of the doorway, she caught herself and sensed something strange.
"Wait a second…why are you giving me a key and a combo for you secret archives?" Beatrix asked with a tone of suspiciousness.
"It is not secret at all, they haven't been touched in ages, it might even benefit us for you to investigate…because for all we know they are all deteriorated."
Beatrix was satisfied with Mindy's answer and started to turn around when something had hit her.
Investigate….? Steiner…Shimmering Island…I need to tell him I'm ok…how long has it been?
"Excuse me…one more thing, I want to send a letter to Kupo in Alexandria."
***
Steiner had declined to go back to the castle and went down into town to calm down and reflect. As he walked down to the marketplace he saw the great citizens of Alexandria selling and haggling left and right. Families everywhere…families, a family is what Steiner desperately needed. He was 32 closing in on 33 and he wanted to start a family before it was too late. But he was missing part of the puzzle…which was Beatrix.
Steiner took a right into the alleyway leading to the ocean so he could sit on the dock and think to himself.
[I]Why do I get so depressed? I have a job to do, but I'm not doing it….I don't need to do anything anymore, I rarely have to give orders to my Knights, they always know what they are doing and I feel so…insignificant.[/I]
Steiner felt a light tap on his shoulder, he was a bit startled but regained his composure and slowly creaked his head around. He looked to find a moogle.
2 A moogle…haven't spoken to one in quite a while
"You've got mail…..! sorry I always wanted to say that, but yes you've got some mail from a….General Beatrix?"
Steiner nearly fell of the pier, his jaw was touching the creaky wood beneath him, letting out gasps of air he managed to blurt something out that was barely audible.
"ek….heh….Th….thank y…ou" He was shaking.
"Hey buddy no problem just watch that cholesterol or your gonna have a heart attack…joke, yea so I'll see you around then."
With his hands shaking and his body breaking out into a cold sweat he tried to open the envelope very carefully. He finally pulled out the letter.
Dear Captain Steiner,
My curiosity has sent me to the ends of the earth, and finally I may be able to find out the truth. I must find my origins and my birth parents… it means so much to me and for me to leave you for so long was very hard. But I had stopped by at Mognet Central and wanted you to know that I am ok. I hope things are going well in Alexandria and you are being the mighty enforcer that you are. I miss you very much and hope to contact you again in the near future. I'm off to Esto Gaza in search of an abandoned file archive so wish me luck. Its good to contact you again, but until next time, farewell.
Your True love,
Beatrix
***
Zidane had woken up before Garnet and took a little walk down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He was walking down the winding stairs when he spotted Steiner.
"Whoa hey there rusty, you seem…a little too cheery for my liking." Zidane said with a smirk.
"You have no idea what has just happened!"
Zidane was now getting a little suspicious as to how fast his mood swung. Steiner rushed up the stairs to his room slamming the door behind him.
3 Right…he just get laid or something?
Zidane's suspiciousness was instinct and as the thief and sneak he was, he creeped up to Steiner's room and pressed his ear as close to the crack in the door as he could.
"This is amazing she will be soo happy to see me!" Steiner said with a slight wisper.
"Love is calling me and I must answer!"
Huh….? Oh…Beatrix.
Zidane heard some rustling of clothing and a…bag of some sort.
4 What the hell does he think he's doing?
Zidane quickly kicked the door open and saw that Steiner had all of his armor and weapons in a bag.
"Zidane! Please do not infringe upon my privacy rights!" Steiner shouted wide eyed.
"What do you think your doing? You can't just leave!" Zidane was now getting hot.
"How do you know I was going to leave? Why are you coming to conclusions?"
"Then why are you packing your bags like you've been put on a death sentence?" Zidane countered.
"Ok…yes I plan on leaving, but I have no reason to be here, my job is done!" Emotions running from Steiner's mouth.
"Did you talk to the Committee for a leave of absence? Did you plan on asking me that you were going to abandon your duty to protect the queen?!" Zidane was getting very agitated and was taking deep breaths to calm his anger down.
Without answering, Steiner bolted out the door. Steiner was gone, and his chances of coming back were slim, the committee would not tolerate such behavior and he would likely get tortured and killed.
5 All for love…will it be worth it?
What's happening to us…? The kingdom is slowly deteriorating.