A massive ship had parked itself right in the middle of Alexandria's
courtyard, as though it were some sort of shipyard. Massive throngs of the
upper-class men and women had gathered about the ship, watching attentively
from their seats. And from the rooftops, sat the lower-class Alexandrians,
peering over the castle wall, so as to see the ship.
Close to the ship sits a silent man. Long, crimson dreadlocks flow from the top of the mans head, covering his eyes from being seen. Sitting atop his muscular build is a thick, green leather shirt, sleeves conspicuously absent.
Strapped onto his hand was some sort of weapon. It seemed to be carved out of a black stone, perhaps onyx. set in the middle was a ruby, a single rune visible within it's scarlet depths. Stretching out from it were three long blades, made of an unwavering metal, runes running up and down them.
About his waist was a large, tattered satchel. Holes had begun to open up in the satchel, and a small glint of metal could be seen when light had the spot.
As a man and a woman on stage held each other in a sweet embrace, his hands clapped together. Though he seemed to be genuinely happy for the two, he was rather unconsciously doing this, his mind swimming with thoughts.
"Zidane and Garnet. Those two sure seem happy...this must be love...but love...just what is love? Is this 'love' something i've ever experienced? And is it truly the mine of happiness it is made out to be? Or is it just a facade, doomed to a pro-longed depression after the fact? Pah...what am I bothering with these thoughts for, the only ones don't view me as a criminal or an object of fear and hatred are Zidane...Freya...and all the others..." The tall man thought to himself, still joining in the applause.
As the scene had ended, the two walked off into the back of the theater ship, sitting themselves down at a small table to talk with one another in peace. Zidane had lain his hands across a dusty old map.
"Wow...It's still here..." Zidane thought aloud, smoothing the old parchment down.
"What is it? Oh...I see..." Garnet had responded, as her eyes trailed alongside a red line, leading from Linblum to Alexandria, a small paragraph stating operation procedures scrawled in just above the city, pointing to the towering castle.
Amarant rose from his seat, and headed off, only to feel a tiny, gauntlet covered paw gently hit his shoulder.
"Amarant?" The bearer of the hand queried. However, Amarant had just remained silent. He knew in his mind that whoever was behind him was going to ask the question anyway, so no need for formalities.
"I noticed you started clapping...but soon after, you just stopped. Why was that?"
Amarant had spun around to see one of his better friends. Freya. The question had caught him off guard. Had he really stopped clapping? In his mind, he was sure he had been clapping, but then, he wasn't really paying attention.
"It's...well...nothing really..." He responded, and with that, he walked on, leaving his crimson-armor clad friend standing there. Standing there that is, until the crowd started telling her to move, all the while shoving her along.
His feet tapped lightly upon the stone as he headed towards the ship. Just outside the ship, he found a large group of people, dressed pretty much the same. All clad in tall hats that shrouded their faces, and blue cloaks. Their eyes glowed as mana flowed through them.
"Amarant!" The tallest one had shouted, rushing over, slightly stumbling as he did so.
"Did you see where Freya went?" He responded, hardly even acknowledging him. The tallest one, Vivi, sighed a little. Though taller than his sons, even with his hat, he hardly reached Amarant's height.
"I'm right here Amarant." A feminine voice said from out of nowhere, causing Amarant to turn around to face the voice.
Far off, a loud clanking could be heard, as a man and a woman ran along-side each other.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the others, aren't you, General Beatrix?" The man said to Beatrix, keeping up a running pace. He was getting far too old for this.
"Aldebert, please just call me Beatrix. We aren't in formal company, you can talk normal." Beatrix responded, clearing some of her bouncing, brown hair out of her face.
"Here come Steiner and Beatrix" Vivi stated, straightening his hat.
And just as he said it, the two had arrived, Steiner hunched over, drawing in sharp breaths, Beatrix clearing some more of her hair out of her face again.
"Master Vivi, Where is Zidane and Princes...er...Queen Garnet?" Steiner said after finally regaining his wind.
"Here they come." Beatrix said innatentively as she watched the two step off the ship.
The two stepped towards them, Zidane's arm wrapped about Garnet's waist.
"Vivi, Rusty, Freya...Amarant. You're all here. But where's Eiko and Cid? Or Hilda? Or Quina, for that matter..." Zidane asked of the gathering, his tail moving on it's own, as though a sentient being.
A distinguished looking couple headed across the threshold, a woman in an expensive dress, pearls embroidering it's sheer opal form. A man ran alongside the woman. He wore a long red cloak, but his most distinguishing feature was a large, upwards-curving mustache. Walking between them was a small girl, a horn poking out from with short strands of azure.
"Uncle Cid!" Garnet exclaimed, picking her gown off the floor, and running over to him.
"You always have to be late, don't you, father? That's no way to treat royalty! You should know that, you're royalty!" The little girl said to him, mock-snobbily.
"Eiko...called me it again! Ah...thank you." Cid responded.
"You adopted Eiko, Uncle Cid?" Garnet queried.
"No, not just yet. Me and Hilda are going to tomorrow though."
"Wow...That's great news. You take good care of Eiko, she's just like my little sister!"
"Oh believe me Garnet, we will. We will."
The group continued to talk more, and as they did, a heavyset creature dressed in pink and white came jogging up to the group, it's gargantuan tongue hanging from it's mouth.
"Hey Quina." Zidane had greeted the strange being.
"Are tasty munchies already prepared?" The odd being asked, to noone in particular.
"Oh my...I forgot about that! Sorry, Quina, not yet!" Garnet exclaimed, in an overly-apolgetic tone.
"No munchies? Say...I got idea. How about I prepare feast for you all?" Quina said..
"Quina, that sounds like a great idea!" Freya responded.
"Okay. I go make food now!" And with that, Quina had gone into the castle, his footsteps echoing throughout the gigantic hallways as he proceeded into the kitchen.
The troupe followed after, marble floors announcing their presence to the big, open ceilings, their movements revereberating throughout the hall. Aftere a few minutes of walking, passing a couple patched up walls and workers, they reached their destination. Ordrinarily, two soldiers would have opened the door for them, but they were all working on rebuilding the castle, so none were on-hand. Zidane's hand touched upon the oak surface and sent it forward, allowing them passage.
Their movements had now become muffled, their fit now hitting a crimson, plush carpet. They all pulled seats away from the gargantuan table, and they sat, discussing matters, as they waited for dinner.
"Wow...they sure got this place rebuilt fast" Vivi thought aloud, a tone of awe in his voice.
"Well, At the moment, only the courtyard, Throne room, Kitchen, and Dining room are done. The main hall is almost finished though." Garnet responded to him. The red man silently removed the weapon from his hand, placing it on his knee.
"Mmmm...whatever Quina is making, it sure smells good!" Steiner said.
"It sure does Rusty, what do you suppose Quina is fixing anyway?" Zidane made an open question to the entire table.
"I distinctly smell some sort of potatoes. Beyond that, I haven't a clue." Eiko responded, trying her best to sound both classy and informal at the same time.
After a few more minutes of Chatter, Quina came walking into the dining room, followed by the staff of Alexandrian cooks. They quickly served everyone their dish without saying a word and left. Quina took his seat next to the family.
"Tonight I have fix for you, my special-recipe, seasoned bake potato, Corn-on-the-cob bathed in my special-recipe butter, and the finishing piece...my ever-so succulent frog legs! Dig in everybody!"
"Frog...legs...?" Eiko asked to nothing in particular, a little hint of disgust in her voice.
"Try it, it's good!" Quina chirped gleefully, already almost done with his frog legs.
"Well. You never know until you try." And with that, Amarant was the second, other than Quina to take a bite out of one of the frog legs.
"So...Amarant, is it any good...?" Eiko asked him, a look of slight hopefulness on her face.
"Actually...yeah, it's pretty good." Amarant responded, starting to eat the frog legs more quickly. And as he did so, Eiko started to eat hers, then Freya, and soon, the entire table was eating them, and none of them seemed to dislike it one bit.
"Wow Quina, good job" Zidane comented. "Yes, thanks for the meal." Freya said, a little bit of food slightly muffling her voice.
Afterwards, when everyone was done and full, Amarant got up from his seat, and walked silently up the steps, going out a pair of french doors and onto a balcony, without saying a word.
"Hmmm...wonder what he's up to..." Zidane said, almost to himself.
"Don't worry about him, he's just being his usual self." Steiner stated with a slight wave of his hand.
"Well, i'm going to go check up on him, all the same. Kids, just stay here." Vivi said, rising from his seat. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay Vivi." Garnet said, finishing off the last of her potato.
Going out onto the Balcony, Vivi found Amarant leaning on the railing, staring up into the sky.
"Hi..." Vivi shyly said, also looking up at the sky.
"Hi." Amarant responded.
"Just came out for a breath of fresh air?" Vivi queried.
"Hmmm...you could say that...Say Vivi...you didn't happen to see Lani in the crowd, did you?"
"Who?"
"You know...that girl that Brahne hired, along with me...remember, back in Madain Sari?"
"Oh...Her...no, why?"
"Well, I saw her on my way here, and she said she was going here too, so I was just curious..."
"Oh..." And with that, the conversation had pretty much ended, as the two silenty stared into the night sky.
Close to the ship sits a silent man. Long, crimson dreadlocks flow from the top of the mans head, covering his eyes from being seen. Sitting atop his muscular build is a thick, green leather shirt, sleeves conspicuously absent.
Strapped onto his hand was some sort of weapon. It seemed to be carved out of a black stone, perhaps onyx. set in the middle was a ruby, a single rune visible within it's scarlet depths. Stretching out from it were three long blades, made of an unwavering metal, runes running up and down them.
About his waist was a large, tattered satchel. Holes had begun to open up in the satchel, and a small glint of metal could be seen when light had the spot.
As a man and a woman on stage held each other in a sweet embrace, his hands clapped together. Though he seemed to be genuinely happy for the two, he was rather unconsciously doing this, his mind swimming with thoughts.
"Zidane and Garnet. Those two sure seem happy...this must be love...but love...just what is love? Is this 'love' something i've ever experienced? And is it truly the mine of happiness it is made out to be? Or is it just a facade, doomed to a pro-longed depression after the fact? Pah...what am I bothering with these thoughts for, the only ones don't view me as a criminal or an object of fear and hatred are Zidane...Freya...and all the others..." The tall man thought to himself, still joining in the applause.
As the scene had ended, the two walked off into the back of the theater ship, sitting themselves down at a small table to talk with one another in peace. Zidane had lain his hands across a dusty old map.
"Wow...It's still here..." Zidane thought aloud, smoothing the old parchment down.
"What is it? Oh...I see..." Garnet had responded, as her eyes trailed alongside a red line, leading from Linblum to Alexandria, a small paragraph stating operation procedures scrawled in just above the city, pointing to the towering castle.
Amarant rose from his seat, and headed off, only to feel a tiny, gauntlet covered paw gently hit his shoulder.
"Amarant?" The bearer of the hand queried. However, Amarant had just remained silent. He knew in his mind that whoever was behind him was going to ask the question anyway, so no need for formalities.
"I noticed you started clapping...but soon after, you just stopped. Why was that?"
Amarant had spun around to see one of his better friends. Freya. The question had caught him off guard. Had he really stopped clapping? In his mind, he was sure he had been clapping, but then, he wasn't really paying attention.
"It's...well...nothing really..." He responded, and with that, he walked on, leaving his crimson-armor clad friend standing there. Standing there that is, until the crowd started telling her to move, all the while shoving her along.
His feet tapped lightly upon the stone as he headed towards the ship. Just outside the ship, he found a large group of people, dressed pretty much the same. All clad in tall hats that shrouded their faces, and blue cloaks. Their eyes glowed as mana flowed through them.
"Amarant!" The tallest one had shouted, rushing over, slightly stumbling as he did so.
"Did you see where Freya went?" He responded, hardly even acknowledging him. The tallest one, Vivi, sighed a little. Though taller than his sons, even with his hat, he hardly reached Amarant's height.
"I'm right here Amarant." A feminine voice said from out of nowhere, causing Amarant to turn around to face the voice.
Far off, a loud clanking could be heard, as a man and a woman ran along-side each other.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the others, aren't you, General Beatrix?" The man said to Beatrix, keeping up a running pace. He was getting far too old for this.
"Aldebert, please just call me Beatrix. We aren't in formal company, you can talk normal." Beatrix responded, clearing some of her bouncing, brown hair out of her face.
"Here come Steiner and Beatrix" Vivi stated, straightening his hat.
And just as he said it, the two had arrived, Steiner hunched over, drawing in sharp breaths, Beatrix clearing some more of her hair out of her face again.
"Master Vivi, Where is Zidane and Princes...er...Queen Garnet?" Steiner said after finally regaining his wind.
"Here they come." Beatrix said innatentively as she watched the two step off the ship.
The two stepped towards them, Zidane's arm wrapped about Garnet's waist.
"Vivi, Rusty, Freya...Amarant. You're all here. But where's Eiko and Cid? Or Hilda? Or Quina, for that matter..." Zidane asked of the gathering, his tail moving on it's own, as though a sentient being.
A distinguished looking couple headed across the threshold, a woman in an expensive dress, pearls embroidering it's sheer opal form. A man ran alongside the woman. He wore a long red cloak, but his most distinguishing feature was a large, upwards-curving mustache. Walking between them was a small girl, a horn poking out from with short strands of azure.
"Uncle Cid!" Garnet exclaimed, picking her gown off the floor, and running over to him.
"You always have to be late, don't you, father? That's no way to treat royalty! You should know that, you're royalty!" The little girl said to him, mock-snobbily.
"Eiko...called me it again! Ah...thank you." Cid responded.
"You adopted Eiko, Uncle Cid?" Garnet queried.
"No, not just yet. Me and Hilda are going to tomorrow though."
"Wow...That's great news. You take good care of Eiko, she's just like my little sister!"
"Oh believe me Garnet, we will. We will."
The group continued to talk more, and as they did, a heavyset creature dressed in pink and white came jogging up to the group, it's gargantuan tongue hanging from it's mouth.
"Hey Quina." Zidane had greeted the strange being.
"Are tasty munchies already prepared?" The odd being asked, to noone in particular.
"Oh my...I forgot about that! Sorry, Quina, not yet!" Garnet exclaimed, in an overly-apolgetic tone.
"No munchies? Say...I got idea. How about I prepare feast for you all?" Quina said..
"Quina, that sounds like a great idea!" Freya responded.
"Okay. I go make food now!" And with that, Quina had gone into the castle, his footsteps echoing throughout the gigantic hallways as he proceeded into the kitchen.
The troupe followed after, marble floors announcing their presence to the big, open ceilings, their movements revereberating throughout the hall. Aftere a few minutes of walking, passing a couple patched up walls and workers, they reached their destination. Ordrinarily, two soldiers would have opened the door for them, but they were all working on rebuilding the castle, so none were on-hand. Zidane's hand touched upon the oak surface and sent it forward, allowing them passage.
Their movements had now become muffled, their fit now hitting a crimson, plush carpet. They all pulled seats away from the gargantuan table, and they sat, discussing matters, as they waited for dinner.
"Wow...they sure got this place rebuilt fast" Vivi thought aloud, a tone of awe in his voice.
"Well, At the moment, only the courtyard, Throne room, Kitchen, and Dining room are done. The main hall is almost finished though." Garnet responded to him. The red man silently removed the weapon from his hand, placing it on his knee.
"Mmmm...whatever Quina is making, it sure smells good!" Steiner said.
"It sure does Rusty, what do you suppose Quina is fixing anyway?" Zidane made an open question to the entire table.
"I distinctly smell some sort of potatoes. Beyond that, I haven't a clue." Eiko responded, trying her best to sound both classy and informal at the same time.
After a few more minutes of Chatter, Quina came walking into the dining room, followed by the staff of Alexandrian cooks. They quickly served everyone their dish without saying a word and left. Quina took his seat next to the family.
"Tonight I have fix for you, my special-recipe, seasoned bake potato, Corn-on-the-cob bathed in my special-recipe butter, and the finishing piece...my ever-so succulent frog legs! Dig in everybody!"
"Frog...legs...?" Eiko asked to nothing in particular, a little hint of disgust in her voice.
"Try it, it's good!" Quina chirped gleefully, already almost done with his frog legs.
"Well. You never know until you try." And with that, Amarant was the second, other than Quina to take a bite out of one of the frog legs.
"So...Amarant, is it any good...?" Eiko asked him, a look of slight hopefulness on her face.
"Actually...yeah, it's pretty good." Amarant responded, starting to eat the frog legs more quickly. And as he did so, Eiko started to eat hers, then Freya, and soon, the entire table was eating them, and none of them seemed to dislike it one bit.
"Wow Quina, good job" Zidane comented. "Yes, thanks for the meal." Freya said, a little bit of food slightly muffling her voice.
Afterwards, when everyone was done and full, Amarant got up from his seat, and walked silently up the steps, going out a pair of french doors and onto a balcony, without saying a word.
"Hmmm...wonder what he's up to..." Zidane said, almost to himself.
"Don't worry about him, he's just being his usual self." Steiner stated with a slight wave of his hand.
"Well, i'm going to go check up on him, all the same. Kids, just stay here." Vivi said, rising from his seat. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay Vivi." Garnet said, finishing off the last of her potato.
Going out onto the Balcony, Vivi found Amarant leaning on the railing, staring up into the sky.
"Hi..." Vivi shyly said, also looking up at the sky.
"Hi." Amarant responded.
"Just came out for a breath of fresh air?" Vivi queried.
"Hmmm...you could say that...Say Vivi...you didn't happen to see Lani in the crowd, did you?"
"Who?"
"You know...that girl that Brahne hired, along with me...remember, back in Madain Sari?"
"Oh...Her...no, why?"
"Well, I saw her on my way here, and she said she was going here too, so I was just curious..."
"Oh..." And with that, the conversation had pretty much ended, as the two silenty stared into the night sky.