Diary of the Rose of May
Note: I do not own this Squaresoft game or the characters. I've only written this for the pleasure of others who love Fanfics! It might not be funny or superexcellent, but it's my second fanfic and I'm trying. Anyway, just to let you know. It starts out like it's written in a diary then goes to a story mode kind of thing. So ya! Thank you and enjoy General Beatrix's POV! PLUS I DO NOT OWN "CRY" BY MANDY MOORE!!!
Dear Diary,
I'm sorry I haven't written in here in a while… Wait… Why am I apologizing to a book? Anyway, I'm actually starting to enjoy staying in Treno. Although when I told Freya what happened to Fratley, she seemed quite depressed... as was I... But besides that everything seemed alright. And, like I promised Dr. Tot, I'm… actually getting along with Steiner. Just in these few days… I've seen a new side to him…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Treno, Choco Hotel, Day 17 in Treno…
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Beatrix awoke with a deep yawn. She sat up in the bed. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! The sound was coming from the door.
"What is it?" She said groggily.
"Wake up sleepy head! Are you coming to breakfast or what?" a voice called from the other side of the door.
"Breakfast can wait…" Beatrix yawned.
"It's ten thirty in the morning! I don't think it's going to wait for you through lunch!" The voice shouted.
"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" Beatrix shouted.
She slowly crawled out of bed and pulled her clothes out of the drawer. She changed into her red dress, gloves and high heels that she despised so much. She grabbed her sword leaning on the wall and strapped it to her leg underneath her dress then exited her room to find Freya waiting for her.
"Where's Steiner?" Beatrix asked, noticing he was missing.
"I woke up to find that he was gone. So I'm assuming he went for breakfast." Freya told her.
"Ahh, I see. Let's go."
"Wait! What about your… ya know…"
"What?"
"Your eye patch… You might want to hide it. The city is crawling with Alexandrian soldiers today."
Beatrix touched the cold metal over her right eye, "You're right. We don't want to get caught… But how am I going to cover it?"
"We could use a sash." Freya suggested.
"No, that would bring too much attention to it."
"We might be able to cover it with make up."
"Seriously, Freya, I don't think anyone on this planet can hide THIS with MAKEUP."
"Fine. I guess we'll just have to put a bucket over your head." Freya shrugged.
"FREYA!!!"
"Calm down, Beatrix, I was only kidding! Here, I have a better Idea."
Freya walked up to Beatrix began to mess around with her hair. Freya suddenly pulled a comb from her pocket and began to brush it over Beatrix's eye-patch.
"There. That'll have to do for now." Freya smiled, placing the comb back in her pocket.
Beatrix walked into the bathroom and look into the mirror, "Brilliant, Freya! You can hardly see it!"
"Heh, I normally don't do hair. It's not my thing, unlike most women."
"Same. Come, we'll be late for Breakfast."
"Weren't you the one who said, Breakfast could wait?"
Both of them laughed as they exited the hotel room.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Treno, Steiner in his noble clothing walked over to the large green door of Lani's house. He knocked on the door. …No answer. He noticed a note by the doorknob.
"Ho? What's this?" He wondered as he ripped it off the door and began to read. It read:
"Dear Sister Bea and friends (or at least I'm assuming it's you),
In case you are coming for some advice, like you did yesterday, well, bad luck for you because I'm Splits Ville. I got a job from that crazy fat queen in Alexandria. I know you're like on the run from her and all, but I need the money from whatever the hell she wants. So anyway, I'm going to be gone for a couple of days or even weeks at least, so you're on your own!
Signed:
Lani"
Steiner scratched his chin, "…'yesterday'…this must have been written almost 15 days ago! Looks like Miss Lani won't be able to help me then…"
He shook his head and began walk away. He decided to go back to the Choco hotel to see if everyone else was up. So he took a short cut through a dark alley, where we was being followed. Steiner continued through the alley unknowing of what was following him close behind. Suddenly, Steiner's trained Pluto Knight ears noticed the extra tapping of footsteps coming from behind him. Steiner turned on his heels to face the follower. No one…? The alley was empty… or was it? Steiner turned around again, but this time began to pick up his pace. Suddenly he heard the footstep behind him again, they too had began to get faster. All of a sudden, the one who was following him attacked Steiner from behind, knocking him to the ground. Steiner turned to find an everyday alley thief standing above him. He grabbed Steiner by the collar lifting him up to his feet.
"Alright, penny bags, had over your cash or I take your life!" The thief threatened.
Steiner glared into the thief's eyes, "You won't be receiving either today my dear scoundrel!"
Steiner pushed the thief to the ground having him let go of Steiner's collar. The thief got to his feet and tackled Steiner to the ground beating on him with his fists. Enraged, Steiner forced himself to roll over and he was the one to do the beating with his powerful fists. After taking various hits to the face, the thief kicked Steiner off of him having him land in the middle of a busy street of walking nobles. The thief jumped to his feet, pulled out a deadly looking knife and hurdle himself at Steiner. He sat on Steiner's chest and raised his knife high! Nearby noble noticed the struggle, and the knife being pulled, and began to scream and panic! Steiner quickly grabbed the thief's wrist with the hand that held the knife and resisted it from coming anywhere near his throat. He squeezed the thief's wrist so hard that his hand dropped the knife and the two of them began to wrestle and beat on each other like wild animals.
Meanwhile, Beatrix and Freya were taking a walk after their Breakfast. They were talking about their interests, when suddenly they came upon a crowd huddled in the middle of the street. Screams, cries and yelps of nobles came from the nobles as the watched what was happening in the middle of the huddle. Beatrix and Freya look at each other and decided to see what was going on out of curiosity. They both pushed their way through the pack of nobles to the center of the group. Freya and Beatrix gasped at the sight. Steiner and a thief were beating on each other with their bare fists on the ground.
"What are you all gawking at!? Somebody help the man!" Freya shouted at the nobles.
"It's ok, we called some guards!" A noble man told her.
"What kind of guards?" Beatrix asked.
"Alexandrian Soldiers! They'll take care of that thief!" the noble man smiled.
"Look! Here they come!" A noble woman pointed to a bunch of knights head their way.
Freya and Beatrix looked at each other, exchanging worried glances. They decided to take action. Beatrix ran in and kicked the thief off of Steiner while Freya dragged the old knight out of there. The thief jumped up in recoil and ran at Beatrix. Beatrix kicked him to the ground picked up the knife laying on the ground and jabbed it into the cloth of the thief's shirt, leaving him unharmed, yet pinned to the ground. The Alexandrian knights came to the scene and stared at the display.
"We saw the whole thing! Those were some pretty extreme moves for a noble, Miss." One of them told Beatrix, not seeing through her noble disguise.
"You should consider joining our brigade." Another suggested.
"Oh me?" Beatrix said, trying to disguise her voice in a high pitch tone, having the thought that if she talked normally they would recognize her voice, "Oh no. I'm too busy…uh… knitting and doing my hair. I was just trying to help out my… husband here."
"Yeah…Well, you should consider it. Come on girls! Let's get this get this miscreant out of here! The sooner we do this, the sooner we can look for the General, Captain and that rat!" the one Beatrix knew to be called Nicole told the other soldiers.
With that the Alexandrian Soldiers dragged the thief out of there. Beatrix turned away from them with angered eyes at their betrayal. She walked past the crowd of nobles looking for Steiner and Freya. She found them a little bit down the road. Freya had leaned him up against a lamppost. His face was all roughened up and tiny river of blood drooled down the side of his mouth. Beatrix walked up to him and kicked him in the shin.
"Can we not leave you for a few hours to be on your own without picking a fight with a thief?" She sneered at him.
"It wasn't my fault! He attacked me!" Steiner protested.
"So what? You could have easily gotten away in minutes! But you decided to beat him at his own game didn't you? Just like the other time?" Freya asked staring down on him.
"What if I did?" he shrugged.
"Steiner! How could you! You not only risked getting killed, but you drew attention to yourself! What would happen if my soldiers recognized you?! What if that Thief got the upper hand? What if we weren't there to save your ass?! You are no longer in protective armor Steiner, you have only the linen clothes on your back and your flesh and blood to protect you now!" Beatrix shouted.
"You think I don't know that?!" he shouted.
"What gets you so worked up about thieves anyway?! Sigh… I just don't understand you Albert Steiner…" Beatrix sighed.
"No, you don't." Steiner told her as he rose to his feet and walked away in the direction of the hotel.
"…Do you think I was too hard on him?" Beatrix asked Freya.
"On a child? Maybe… On a grown man? …Who knows…" Freya told her as they followed him to the hotel.
Later that day, Beatrix and Freya were on the couch continuing their conversation on interests…
"You were in the festival of the hunt?" Beatrix asked.
"Yes I was. A came in second place!" Freya smiled.
"Really? I thought someone like you would have come in first!"
Freya laughed, "I'm flattered that you'd think that. I would have, but I was beaten by Zidane."
"My, my, this young thief must be an extraordinary person!"
"Heh, you don't know the half of it. He is as strong willed as my Fratley…"
"Fratley? Sir Fratley?"
"Yes."
"You know Sir Fratley?"
"Know him? We were in love!"
"No wonder he was in Cleyra!"
"Yes, I've been searching for him for so long, and he came to help Cleyra the same time Zidane, the others and I were. He had left on a journey to challenge strong warriors and help other villages and people in need. The irony is… even though I found him… he doesn't even remember who I am…"
"Freya… I'm sorry…"
"So how do you know him?"
"He came to Alexandria… long ago… I met him on the way back from battling against an army of mist monsters…"
"Yes? Go on."
"He told me he had been searching for me, and challenged me to a duel of his spear against my sword. Heh, he was a grand fighter, yet no match for me… but he didn't care. He wanted to finish the battle knowing he did his best. But… we strayed to far and were getting too close to the edge of the cliff… I warned him we had to stop, but he wouldn't stop. He lost his balance…" Beatrix paused, "I held on to his hand for dear life… unfortunately, it wasn't good enough… he knew my grip was getting weaker, but he just kept smiling. Before I knew it… he fell."
Freya gasped and clasped her mouth with her hands. Beatrix turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Could that have been the cause of his amnesia…?" Freya whispered.
"Freya, I'm sorry… I'm not sure if it was the fall that caused him to lose his memory, but let's just be glad that he is alive." Beatrix told her.
"Excuse me… I need to be alone…" With that, Freya retired to her teal room shutting the door behind her.
Beatrix was left alone on the couch. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Beatrix carefully brushed off her dress and walked over to the door. She opened a tiny bit and pecked out with her good eye. She found, standing there, an Alexandrian soldier! Beatrix gasped and shut the door. The knight continued with another knock. Beatrix fixed her hair so it would cover her eye patch then open the door once more.
"Excuse me if I startled you, Miss. But I have urgent news that I must deliver to all Nobles in this area." Said the soldier, who Beatrix recognized as Amanda.
"Oh!" Beatrix said in her fake high-toned voice, "What is it?"
"We, the soldiers of Alexandria, are performing a throe search of Treno streets, so we advise all members of your household or hotel room to stay indoors. We are searching for 3 betrayers to the royal crown of Alexandria who are armed and most likely dangerous!" Said Alexandrian Soldier Amanda.
"Well, I'll let everyone know to stay in. Ta, ta, Amanda." Beatrix fake smiled while closing the door.
"Wait! How did you know- … my name?"
Beatrix leaned against the door with a sigh. She walked over the teal room and knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Freya answered not opening the door, "I thought I asked to be alone!"
"Freya, this is no time to be rude!" Beatrix called to the inside of the teal room; "An Alexandrian Soldier was at the door! She told me that we should stay indoors until further notice till they catch the so call, 'Betrayers to the Crown', F.Y.I: us!"
"So? We stay inside and we don't get caught."
"It's not that easy…"
"Why not?"
"Where is Steiner?"
"He changed back into his armor and said he was going for another walk, wh- …OH NO!" Freya swung open the door.
"Exactly! We have to find him!"
"By the gods! Leave it to that man to pick a bad time for a walk." Freya groaned.
Beatrix marched into the hot-red room and quickly changed into her uniform. Freya poked her head in after Beatrix was just fastening the last buckle.
"What are you doing?! You can't run around without your disguise! You'll be caught!" Freya protested.
"Look, I refuse to run around in that skimpy dress! Especially when my soldiers are crawling around here after our heads!" Beatrix told her.
"I guess I'll take your word and change myself."
"Alright. But I'm going ahead. If we do not meet up again on our search, we'll meet each other here at 8 PM alright?"
"What time is it now?"
"4 PM. Plenty of time."
"4 hours, huh? Alright then."
"I shall take my leave. See you then, Freya." Beatrix said as she grabbed her Save the Queen, opened her window and jump out into the street.
Beatrix landed gracefully on her two feet and ran quickly into the shadows of a dark alley with the Grey sky above. Hoping she wasn't seen by any soldiers. She crept through the darkness, a darkness so deep she could hardly see what was in front of her feet. This caused her to stumble. Once she made her way to the other side of the alley, and peeked her head around the corner. On every street corner were at least one or two Alexandrian soldiers pacing up and down the granite roads. Beatrix let out a curse under her breath. She was sure that back down the other side of the alley was just as heavily watched. She looked behind her to see a guard about to enter the alley behind her, yet unknowing that Beatrix was there. Once again, Beatrix cursed under her breath, knowing that she had know choice but to make a run for it or get caught by standing there pathetically. She took a deep breath and ran into the street, knocking over two guards and headed for an alley down the street.
"What the heck!?"
"What was that!?!?"
"Was that the General?!!!!"
"It's the General!! Notify the others!!!!"
"What does she think she's doing?!"
"Follow her!!!"
Beatrix ran through the alley, hearing these comments being shouted behind her. She could hear the patter of feet behind her and the panting of breath close behind. She ran into the street at the other end of the alley. Three Treno guards immediately turned around, hearing the shouts of the soldiers following Beatrix.
"Look! It's that renegade General that Queen Brahne is after!"
"If we catch her we can get the reward!"
"Attack!"
"Not today!" Beatrix shouted as she ran toward the three guards, jumped into the air and kicked the middle one to the ground and landed on his chest.
She kicked the poor guard in face with the instep of her foot then jumped off and ran down the street.
"My apologizes!" She called back to him.
The Treno guard helped their fellow guard to his feet, then looked to the alley to find a large group of Alexandrian Soldiers emerge from the darkness of the alley.
"Where'd she go?!" Cried their leader, known as Nicole.
"She kicked over our friend and ran down that street!" said a Treno Guard, pointing behind him.
"Thanks. Come on girls!" Ordered Nicole.
"Hai!" Cried the soldiers, following their leader down the street.
Beatrix looked back at all the soldiers who were in pursuit of her. She looked in front of her trying to figure out a way to escape this predicament. She ran past the card stadium and up the steps and head to the Weapon Shop suddenly she tripped and fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet to find that she had tripped over a moogle and a dog! They stared at her oddly, then turned around. Suddenly the moogle let out a loud "Kupo!!!" and it and the dog ran off quickly. Beatrix looked up to see the soldiers coming her way. She looked around swiftly or a way to escape. She knew if she continued to the Auction House, that she'd be cornered. Suddenly she looked to where and old man stood. He was looking down at what seemed to be a body of water. "Perfect!" Beatrix thought. She ran past the old man and dived into the water. The old man stared as her body hit the water.
"Tsk, tsk. So many young people committing suicide over gambling bets." Mumbled the old man.
The soldiers ran up to the old man, "Have you seen a woman around the age of 28 walking around here?"
"Have I seen a what?" The Old man asked.
"HAVE YOU SEEN A WOMAN PASS BY HERE?!"
"Yes, actually I have."
"WHERE DID SHE GO?"
"She jumped in there." The old man pointed to the water below, "It leads to the ocean. She's probably dead by now I reckon."
"No…" Whimpered one of the Soldiers.
"General…" Whispered another.
"She was that determined to defy the queen and keep her freedom." Nicole shook her head, "Come on. No use searching for her now. Let's find the Captain and the rat!"
The soldiers left at a marching pace. Once they were gone, Beatrix's head rose from the water gasping for air. She was glad that they left, she could hold her breath for much longer. She began to search for a place to climb out when, suddenly, she began to move backwards. The current was stronger than she thought. All of a sudden before she knew it she was pulled under the water by the current. She watched as the water pulled her down and far away from the weapon shop. She struggled to the surface for air. She kicked her legs hard till she surfaced and reached for the first thing she saw. A branch. She held on for dear life and pulled herself out of the water. She knelt on the wet ground, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she rose to her feet and looked around where the water had taken her. She was in a cemetery. The Treno cemetery. The ground was almost covered with grave stone monuments.
She walked past each eerie gravestone after another. Suddenly she heard a strange sound. Crying… She walked over to where it was coming from to find a figure standing before two gravestones. She quickly hid behind a large monument and peeked around it to watch the figure. She tried to make out the figure in the darkness of the night. Once her vision focused on the figure she gasped. It was the person she lest expected it to be, yet had been searching for! Captain Albert Steiner. The man was staring at the gray sky of the late afternoon in front of two dusty gravestones. She stared as the grown man who she had never seen expressed such an emotion in her life as a Soldier to the queen. He tore his eyes from the sky two the grave stones before him. He knelt down and dusted off the names. What was written on the gravestones made Beatrix want to cry herself… They had the words, "Mr. and Mrs. Steiner" engraved on them. Her judgement of him completely changed. He wasn't some heartless, sexist beast that she made him out to be… he had feels like every other ordinary person. Beatrix's wet hair dripped like the tears on Albert's face. Suddenly, for some reason, she stepped out from behind the monument where she hid. He immediately heard her footsteps, wiped his eyes and turned to her. Staring into her deep blue eye. He blushed lightly.
"Beatrix! What are you doing here?! You're all wet! And in your uniform!" Steiner blurted out hoping she never saw anything.
"I jumped in the water way to get away from my soldiers." She told him leaning against the gravestone she had hid behind, "I'm wearing my uniform because I didn't want to run around looking for you in that tight dress."
"Looking for me? Why?"
"It seems that the Alexandrian soldiers think they pin pointed our 'location' and have advised all the nobles to stay indoors until further notice. For they don't want to be responsible for anyone else to get hurt when they are taking action against the 'betrayers to the crown'."
"'Betrayers to the crown'? Us? WE ARE DOING THIS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CROWN!" Steiner bellowed.
"True. But you and I both know now that the soldiers are under the queen's command and are more loyal to her than to you and I. Just the way I've trained them." Beatrix let out a chuckle, "Did you know that they are calling us renegades now?"
Steiner chuckled lightly, "Heh, renegades indeed."
There was a pause…
"Well…" Beatrix spoke up breaking the pause, "Enough about that. What I'm wondering now is, what you are doing here instead of at the hotel?"
Steiner turned to face the gravestones, "Because of them."
"…I… see… Who are they? Your grandparents?" Beatrix asked, hoping she wasn't being rude in asking.
"…They are my parents…"
"Y-your parents?!"
"…Yes…"
"What happened? I thought you lived in Alexandria all your life!" Beatrix asked in a concerned tone.
Steiner gave her an uneasy smile, "They were nobles of Alexandria. After they enlisted me in the Knights of Pluto at age 15, they went to celebrate in Treno… But that's not all what happened…"
Beatrix winced at those words. She felt sorry for him. She was afraid to ask him to go on, but he did anyway.
"They were murdered." He told her looking back at the gravestones, "A thief attacked them for their money. When they refused, which I assume, he attacked my mother. My father probably tried to defend her but was struck down… then the thief finished off my mother…" his fists tightened, "I was in the middle of my duties when I heard the news… I was called down there to identify the bodies… I never cried so much… I was so over come with grief I wanted to quit being a Knight of Pluto… but I didn't. Ever since I've despised thieves!"
"Steiner…" Beatrix whispered, not knowing what else to say.
He turned to her, his eyes watery and full of hurt, "No child should have to bury their parents at such a young age…"
A tear escaped his eyes. Never had Beatrix seen a grown man cry. Many feelings burst inside of her. Not just sympathy, sadness and grief… but something else… Beatrix walked over to the big guy and gave him a hug. She didn't know why, but it was one of those strange feels that told her to. Steiner was surprised at first, then returned the hug, smiling. After a moment, Beatrix pulled away and gave him a light smile. He smiled back.
"We better head back." She told him, looking to the side and blushing.
"Yes… quite." Steiner said, also blushing.
"Well, can you lead the way back? I do not know where to go from here." Beatrix admitted.
Steiner nodded and led her out of the cemetery. Once they made it to their hotel where Freya was waiting eagerly.
"You're early getting back." Beatrix told her.
"I'm not early. You're just late." Freya smiled.
"I had a little run in with my soldiers."
"So I heard. So you found him."
"Yes."
"Where was he?"
"I'll tell you another day. Right now we should sneak inside, before we all get caught." Steiner told them both.
"Right." Freya nodded.
After a while of Freya jumping up and down trying to get Steiner into the window of the hot-red room, they were all safely inside.
"What took you so long to get me up here?!" Steiner asked Freya.
"I'm sorry… huff, huff…Your armor! …huff… I'm not used to jumping with so much weight!" Freya exclaimed.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to change out of this, I'll be right back." Steiner exited the hot-red room and headed to the bathroom.
Freya collapsed on the bed letting out a sigh of exhaustion. Beatrix sat down beside her and stared up at the ceiling. Freya suddenly, a thought came to her mind. Freya turned onto her stomach and looked at Beatrix.
"Can you sing?" Freya asked.
Beatrix looked down at her with a surprised look on her face, "What brought this up?"
"That day where we came up with those fake names. I told them I was a Spear collector, Steiner was the armor collector and you told them you were a vocalist. Which means you sing for a job. So, can you sing?"
"…A little… I'm not as good as the Princess but I'm still a bit good I guess…"
"Really? Can you sing right now?"
"Now?!"
"Oh come on! Steiner's not here to criticize, and I wont interrupt. So come on, sing!"
"I'm not sure…"
Freya gave her an impatient look.
Beatrix smiled, "Alright. But don't laugh if I'm bad…"
"I won't, you can trust me."
Beatrix strode out to the middle of the room. Beatrix began to sing…
"I'll always remember… It was late afternoon. It lasted forever, and ended too soon. You were all by yourself, staring up at a dark gray sky… I was changed…" She paused.
Freya nodded for her to continue. And she did…
"In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside. It was then that I realized, that forever was in your eyes… the moment I saw you cry… the moment that I saw you cry… It was late in September, and I've seen you before… You were always the cold one, but I was never that sure… You were all by yourself, staring at a dark gray sky… I was changed. In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside, it was then that I realized that forever was in your eyes… the moment I saw you cry…"
She paused, then began to sing again:
"I wanted to hold you, I wanted to make it go away… I wanted to know you, I wanted to make your everything, all right.... I'll always remember... It was late afternoon... In places no one would find... In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside, it was then that I realized, that forever was in your eyes… The moment I saw you cry…"
Freya sat up and clapped, which made Beatrix blush a bright red. But what made her blush even more, was noticing that Steiner was standing at the door with his arms crossed, staring at her in awe.
Note: I do not own this Squaresoft game or the characters. I've only written this for the pleasure of others who love Fanfics! It might not be funny or superexcellent, but it's my second fanfic and I'm trying. Anyway, just to let you know. It starts out like it's written in a diary then goes to a story mode kind of thing. So ya! Thank you and enjoy General Beatrix's POV! PLUS I DO NOT OWN "CRY" BY MANDY MOORE!!!
Dear Diary,
I'm sorry I haven't written in here in a while… Wait… Why am I apologizing to a book? Anyway, I'm actually starting to enjoy staying in Treno. Although when I told Freya what happened to Fratley, she seemed quite depressed... as was I... But besides that everything seemed alright. And, like I promised Dr. Tot, I'm… actually getting along with Steiner. Just in these few days… I've seen a new side to him…
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Treno, Choco Hotel, Day 17 in Treno…
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Beatrix awoke with a deep yawn. She sat up in the bed. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! The sound was coming from the door.
"What is it?" She said groggily.
"Wake up sleepy head! Are you coming to breakfast or what?" a voice called from the other side of the door.
"Breakfast can wait…" Beatrix yawned.
"It's ten thirty in the morning! I don't think it's going to wait for you through lunch!" The voice shouted.
"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" Beatrix shouted.
She slowly crawled out of bed and pulled her clothes out of the drawer. She changed into her red dress, gloves and high heels that she despised so much. She grabbed her sword leaning on the wall and strapped it to her leg underneath her dress then exited her room to find Freya waiting for her.
"Where's Steiner?" Beatrix asked, noticing he was missing.
"I woke up to find that he was gone. So I'm assuming he went for breakfast." Freya told her.
"Ahh, I see. Let's go."
"Wait! What about your… ya know…"
"What?"
"Your eye patch… You might want to hide it. The city is crawling with Alexandrian soldiers today."
Beatrix touched the cold metal over her right eye, "You're right. We don't want to get caught… But how am I going to cover it?"
"We could use a sash." Freya suggested.
"No, that would bring too much attention to it."
"We might be able to cover it with make up."
"Seriously, Freya, I don't think anyone on this planet can hide THIS with MAKEUP."
"Fine. I guess we'll just have to put a bucket over your head." Freya shrugged.
"FREYA!!!"
"Calm down, Beatrix, I was only kidding! Here, I have a better Idea."
Freya walked up to Beatrix began to mess around with her hair. Freya suddenly pulled a comb from her pocket and began to brush it over Beatrix's eye-patch.
"There. That'll have to do for now." Freya smiled, placing the comb back in her pocket.
Beatrix walked into the bathroom and look into the mirror, "Brilliant, Freya! You can hardly see it!"
"Heh, I normally don't do hair. It's not my thing, unlike most women."
"Same. Come, we'll be late for Breakfast."
"Weren't you the one who said, Breakfast could wait?"
Both of them laughed as they exited the hotel room.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Treno, Steiner in his noble clothing walked over to the large green door of Lani's house. He knocked on the door. …No answer. He noticed a note by the doorknob.
"Ho? What's this?" He wondered as he ripped it off the door and began to read. It read:
"Dear Sister Bea and friends (or at least I'm assuming it's you),
In case you are coming for some advice, like you did yesterday, well, bad luck for you because I'm Splits Ville. I got a job from that crazy fat queen in Alexandria. I know you're like on the run from her and all, but I need the money from whatever the hell she wants. So anyway, I'm going to be gone for a couple of days or even weeks at least, so you're on your own!
Signed:
Lani"
Steiner scratched his chin, "…'yesterday'…this must have been written almost 15 days ago! Looks like Miss Lani won't be able to help me then…"
He shook his head and began walk away. He decided to go back to the Choco hotel to see if everyone else was up. So he took a short cut through a dark alley, where we was being followed. Steiner continued through the alley unknowing of what was following him close behind. Suddenly, Steiner's trained Pluto Knight ears noticed the extra tapping of footsteps coming from behind him. Steiner turned on his heels to face the follower. No one…? The alley was empty… or was it? Steiner turned around again, but this time began to pick up his pace. Suddenly he heard the footstep behind him again, they too had began to get faster. All of a sudden, the one who was following him attacked Steiner from behind, knocking him to the ground. Steiner turned to find an everyday alley thief standing above him. He grabbed Steiner by the collar lifting him up to his feet.
"Alright, penny bags, had over your cash or I take your life!" The thief threatened.
Steiner glared into the thief's eyes, "You won't be receiving either today my dear scoundrel!"
Steiner pushed the thief to the ground having him let go of Steiner's collar. The thief got to his feet and tackled Steiner to the ground beating on him with his fists. Enraged, Steiner forced himself to roll over and he was the one to do the beating with his powerful fists. After taking various hits to the face, the thief kicked Steiner off of him having him land in the middle of a busy street of walking nobles. The thief jumped to his feet, pulled out a deadly looking knife and hurdle himself at Steiner. He sat on Steiner's chest and raised his knife high! Nearby noble noticed the struggle, and the knife being pulled, and began to scream and panic! Steiner quickly grabbed the thief's wrist with the hand that held the knife and resisted it from coming anywhere near his throat. He squeezed the thief's wrist so hard that his hand dropped the knife and the two of them began to wrestle and beat on each other like wild animals.
Meanwhile, Beatrix and Freya were taking a walk after their Breakfast. They were talking about their interests, when suddenly they came upon a crowd huddled in the middle of the street. Screams, cries and yelps of nobles came from the nobles as the watched what was happening in the middle of the huddle. Beatrix and Freya look at each other and decided to see what was going on out of curiosity. They both pushed their way through the pack of nobles to the center of the group. Freya and Beatrix gasped at the sight. Steiner and a thief were beating on each other with their bare fists on the ground.
"What are you all gawking at!? Somebody help the man!" Freya shouted at the nobles.
"It's ok, we called some guards!" A noble man told her.
"What kind of guards?" Beatrix asked.
"Alexandrian Soldiers! They'll take care of that thief!" the noble man smiled.
"Look! Here they come!" A noble woman pointed to a bunch of knights head their way.
Freya and Beatrix looked at each other, exchanging worried glances. They decided to take action. Beatrix ran in and kicked the thief off of Steiner while Freya dragged the old knight out of there. The thief jumped up in recoil and ran at Beatrix. Beatrix kicked him to the ground picked up the knife laying on the ground and jabbed it into the cloth of the thief's shirt, leaving him unharmed, yet pinned to the ground. The Alexandrian knights came to the scene and stared at the display.
"We saw the whole thing! Those were some pretty extreme moves for a noble, Miss." One of them told Beatrix, not seeing through her noble disguise.
"You should consider joining our brigade." Another suggested.
"Oh me?" Beatrix said, trying to disguise her voice in a high pitch tone, having the thought that if she talked normally they would recognize her voice, "Oh no. I'm too busy…uh… knitting and doing my hair. I was just trying to help out my… husband here."
"Yeah…Well, you should consider it. Come on girls! Let's get this get this miscreant out of here! The sooner we do this, the sooner we can look for the General, Captain and that rat!" the one Beatrix knew to be called Nicole told the other soldiers.
With that the Alexandrian Soldiers dragged the thief out of there. Beatrix turned away from them with angered eyes at their betrayal. She walked past the crowd of nobles looking for Steiner and Freya. She found them a little bit down the road. Freya had leaned him up against a lamppost. His face was all roughened up and tiny river of blood drooled down the side of his mouth. Beatrix walked up to him and kicked him in the shin.
"Can we not leave you for a few hours to be on your own without picking a fight with a thief?" She sneered at him.
"It wasn't my fault! He attacked me!" Steiner protested.
"So what? You could have easily gotten away in minutes! But you decided to beat him at his own game didn't you? Just like the other time?" Freya asked staring down on him.
"What if I did?" he shrugged.
"Steiner! How could you! You not only risked getting killed, but you drew attention to yourself! What would happen if my soldiers recognized you?! What if that Thief got the upper hand? What if we weren't there to save your ass?! You are no longer in protective armor Steiner, you have only the linen clothes on your back and your flesh and blood to protect you now!" Beatrix shouted.
"You think I don't know that?!" he shouted.
"What gets you so worked up about thieves anyway?! Sigh… I just don't understand you Albert Steiner…" Beatrix sighed.
"No, you don't." Steiner told her as he rose to his feet and walked away in the direction of the hotel.
"…Do you think I was too hard on him?" Beatrix asked Freya.
"On a child? Maybe… On a grown man? …Who knows…" Freya told her as they followed him to the hotel.
Later that day, Beatrix and Freya were on the couch continuing their conversation on interests…
"You were in the festival of the hunt?" Beatrix asked.
"Yes I was. A came in second place!" Freya smiled.
"Really? I thought someone like you would have come in first!"
Freya laughed, "I'm flattered that you'd think that. I would have, but I was beaten by Zidane."
"My, my, this young thief must be an extraordinary person!"
"Heh, you don't know the half of it. He is as strong willed as my Fratley…"
"Fratley? Sir Fratley?"
"Yes."
"You know Sir Fratley?"
"Know him? We were in love!"
"No wonder he was in Cleyra!"
"Yes, I've been searching for him for so long, and he came to help Cleyra the same time Zidane, the others and I were. He had left on a journey to challenge strong warriors and help other villages and people in need. The irony is… even though I found him… he doesn't even remember who I am…"
"Freya… I'm sorry…"
"So how do you know him?"
"He came to Alexandria… long ago… I met him on the way back from battling against an army of mist monsters…"
"Yes? Go on."
"He told me he had been searching for me, and challenged me to a duel of his spear against my sword. Heh, he was a grand fighter, yet no match for me… but he didn't care. He wanted to finish the battle knowing he did his best. But… we strayed to far and were getting too close to the edge of the cliff… I warned him we had to stop, but he wouldn't stop. He lost his balance…" Beatrix paused, "I held on to his hand for dear life… unfortunately, it wasn't good enough… he knew my grip was getting weaker, but he just kept smiling. Before I knew it… he fell."
Freya gasped and clasped her mouth with her hands. Beatrix turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Could that have been the cause of his amnesia…?" Freya whispered.
"Freya, I'm sorry… I'm not sure if it was the fall that caused him to lose his memory, but let's just be glad that he is alive." Beatrix told her.
"Excuse me… I need to be alone…" With that, Freya retired to her teal room shutting the door behind her.
Beatrix was left alone on the couch. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Beatrix carefully brushed off her dress and walked over to the door. She opened a tiny bit and pecked out with her good eye. She found, standing there, an Alexandrian soldier! Beatrix gasped and shut the door. The knight continued with another knock. Beatrix fixed her hair so it would cover her eye patch then open the door once more.
"Excuse me if I startled you, Miss. But I have urgent news that I must deliver to all Nobles in this area." Said the soldier, who Beatrix recognized as Amanda.
"Oh!" Beatrix said in her fake high-toned voice, "What is it?"
"We, the soldiers of Alexandria, are performing a throe search of Treno streets, so we advise all members of your household or hotel room to stay indoors. We are searching for 3 betrayers to the royal crown of Alexandria who are armed and most likely dangerous!" Said Alexandrian Soldier Amanda.
"Well, I'll let everyone know to stay in. Ta, ta, Amanda." Beatrix fake smiled while closing the door.
"Wait! How did you know- … my name?"
Beatrix leaned against the door with a sigh. She walked over the teal room and knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Freya answered not opening the door, "I thought I asked to be alone!"
"Freya, this is no time to be rude!" Beatrix called to the inside of the teal room; "An Alexandrian Soldier was at the door! She told me that we should stay indoors until further notice till they catch the so call, 'Betrayers to the Crown', F.Y.I: us!"
"So? We stay inside and we don't get caught."
"It's not that easy…"
"Why not?"
"Where is Steiner?"
"He changed back into his armor and said he was going for another walk, wh- …OH NO!" Freya swung open the door.
"Exactly! We have to find him!"
"By the gods! Leave it to that man to pick a bad time for a walk." Freya groaned.
Beatrix marched into the hot-red room and quickly changed into her uniform. Freya poked her head in after Beatrix was just fastening the last buckle.
"What are you doing?! You can't run around without your disguise! You'll be caught!" Freya protested.
"Look, I refuse to run around in that skimpy dress! Especially when my soldiers are crawling around here after our heads!" Beatrix told her.
"I guess I'll take your word and change myself."
"Alright. But I'm going ahead. If we do not meet up again on our search, we'll meet each other here at 8 PM alright?"
"What time is it now?"
"4 PM. Plenty of time."
"4 hours, huh? Alright then."
"I shall take my leave. See you then, Freya." Beatrix said as she grabbed her Save the Queen, opened her window and jump out into the street.
Beatrix landed gracefully on her two feet and ran quickly into the shadows of a dark alley with the Grey sky above. Hoping she wasn't seen by any soldiers. She crept through the darkness, a darkness so deep she could hardly see what was in front of her feet. This caused her to stumble. Once she made her way to the other side of the alley, and peeked her head around the corner. On every street corner were at least one or two Alexandrian soldiers pacing up and down the granite roads. Beatrix let out a curse under her breath. She was sure that back down the other side of the alley was just as heavily watched. She looked behind her to see a guard about to enter the alley behind her, yet unknowing that Beatrix was there. Once again, Beatrix cursed under her breath, knowing that she had know choice but to make a run for it or get caught by standing there pathetically. She took a deep breath and ran into the street, knocking over two guards and headed for an alley down the street.
"What the heck!?"
"What was that!?!?"
"Was that the General?!!!!"
"It's the General!! Notify the others!!!!"
"What does she think she's doing?!"
"Follow her!!!"
Beatrix ran through the alley, hearing these comments being shouted behind her. She could hear the patter of feet behind her and the panting of breath close behind. She ran into the street at the other end of the alley. Three Treno guards immediately turned around, hearing the shouts of the soldiers following Beatrix.
"Look! It's that renegade General that Queen Brahne is after!"
"If we catch her we can get the reward!"
"Attack!"
"Not today!" Beatrix shouted as she ran toward the three guards, jumped into the air and kicked the middle one to the ground and landed on his chest.
She kicked the poor guard in face with the instep of her foot then jumped off and ran down the street.
"My apologizes!" She called back to him.
The Treno guard helped their fellow guard to his feet, then looked to the alley to find a large group of Alexandrian Soldiers emerge from the darkness of the alley.
"Where'd she go?!" Cried their leader, known as Nicole.
"She kicked over our friend and ran down that street!" said a Treno Guard, pointing behind him.
"Thanks. Come on girls!" Ordered Nicole.
"Hai!" Cried the soldiers, following their leader down the street.
Beatrix looked back at all the soldiers who were in pursuit of her. She looked in front of her trying to figure out a way to escape this predicament. She ran past the card stadium and up the steps and head to the Weapon Shop suddenly she tripped and fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet to find that she had tripped over a moogle and a dog! They stared at her oddly, then turned around. Suddenly the moogle let out a loud "Kupo!!!" and it and the dog ran off quickly. Beatrix looked up to see the soldiers coming her way. She looked around swiftly or a way to escape. She knew if she continued to the Auction House, that she'd be cornered. Suddenly she looked to where and old man stood. He was looking down at what seemed to be a body of water. "Perfect!" Beatrix thought. She ran past the old man and dived into the water. The old man stared as her body hit the water.
"Tsk, tsk. So many young people committing suicide over gambling bets." Mumbled the old man.
The soldiers ran up to the old man, "Have you seen a woman around the age of 28 walking around here?"
"Have I seen a what?" The Old man asked.
"HAVE YOU SEEN A WOMAN PASS BY HERE?!"
"Yes, actually I have."
"WHERE DID SHE GO?"
"She jumped in there." The old man pointed to the water below, "It leads to the ocean. She's probably dead by now I reckon."
"No…" Whimpered one of the Soldiers.
"General…" Whispered another.
"She was that determined to defy the queen and keep her freedom." Nicole shook her head, "Come on. No use searching for her now. Let's find the Captain and the rat!"
The soldiers left at a marching pace. Once they were gone, Beatrix's head rose from the water gasping for air. She was glad that they left, she could hold her breath for much longer. She began to search for a place to climb out when, suddenly, she began to move backwards. The current was stronger than she thought. All of a sudden before she knew it she was pulled under the water by the current. She watched as the water pulled her down and far away from the weapon shop. She struggled to the surface for air. She kicked her legs hard till she surfaced and reached for the first thing she saw. A branch. She held on for dear life and pulled herself out of the water. She knelt on the wet ground, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she rose to her feet and looked around where the water had taken her. She was in a cemetery. The Treno cemetery. The ground was almost covered with grave stone monuments.
She walked past each eerie gravestone after another. Suddenly she heard a strange sound. Crying… She walked over to where it was coming from to find a figure standing before two gravestones. She quickly hid behind a large monument and peeked around it to watch the figure. She tried to make out the figure in the darkness of the night. Once her vision focused on the figure she gasped. It was the person she lest expected it to be, yet had been searching for! Captain Albert Steiner. The man was staring at the gray sky of the late afternoon in front of two dusty gravestones. She stared as the grown man who she had never seen expressed such an emotion in her life as a Soldier to the queen. He tore his eyes from the sky two the grave stones before him. He knelt down and dusted off the names. What was written on the gravestones made Beatrix want to cry herself… They had the words, "Mr. and Mrs. Steiner" engraved on them. Her judgement of him completely changed. He wasn't some heartless, sexist beast that she made him out to be… he had feels like every other ordinary person. Beatrix's wet hair dripped like the tears on Albert's face. Suddenly, for some reason, she stepped out from behind the monument where she hid. He immediately heard her footsteps, wiped his eyes and turned to her. Staring into her deep blue eye. He blushed lightly.
"Beatrix! What are you doing here?! You're all wet! And in your uniform!" Steiner blurted out hoping she never saw anything.
"I jumped in the water way to get away from my soldiers." She told him leaning against the gravestone she had hid behind, "I'm wearing my uniform because I didn't want to run around looking for you in that tight dress."
"Looking for me? Why?"
"It seems that the Alexandrian soldiers think they pin pointed our 'location' and have advised all the nobles to stay indoors until further notice. For they don't want to be responsible for anyone else to get hurt when they are taking action against the 'betrayers to the crown'."
"'Betrayers to the crown'? Us? WE ARE DOING THIS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CROWN!" Steiner bellowed.
"True. But you and I both know now that the soldiers are under the queen's command and are more loyal to her than to you and I. Just the way I've trained them." Beatrix let out a chuckle, "Did you know that they are calling us renegades now?"
Steiner chuckled lightly, "Heh, renegades indeed."
There was a pause…
"Well…" Beatrix spoke up breaking the pause, "Enough about that. What I'm wondering now is, what you are doing here instead of at the hotel?"
Steiner turned to face the gravestones, "Because of them."
"…I… see… Who are they? Your grandparents?" Beatrix asked, hoping she wasn't being rude in asking.
"…They are my parents…"
"Y-your parents?!"
"…Yes…"
"What happened? I thought you lived in Alexandria all your life!" Beatrix asked in a concerned tone.
Steiner gave her an uneasy smile, "They were nobles of Alexandria. After they enlisted me in the Knights of Pluto at age 15, they went to celebrate in Treno… But that's not all what happened…"
Beatrix winced at those words. She felt sorry for him. She was afraid to ask him to go on, but he did anyway.
"They were murdered." He told her looking back at the gravestones, "A thief attacked them for their money. When they refused, which I assume, he attacked my mother. My father probably tried to defend her but was struck down… then the thief finished off my mother…" his fists tightened, "I was in the middle of my duties when I heard the news… I was called down there to identify the bodies… I never cried so much… I was so over come with grief I wanted to quit being a Knight of Pluto… but I didn't. Ever since I've despised thieves!"
"Steiner…" Beatrix whispered, not knowing what else to say.
He turned to her, his eyes watery and full of hurt, "No child should have to bury their parents at such a young age…"
A tear escaped his eyes. Never had Beatrix seen a grown man cry. Many feelings burst inside of her. Not just sympathy, sadness and grief… but something else… Beatrix walked over to the big guy and gave him a hug. She didn't know why, but it was one of those strange feels that told her to. Steiner was surprised at first, then returned the hug, smiling. After a moment, Beatrix pulled away and gave him a light smile. He smiled back.
"We better head back." She told him, looking to the side and blushing.
"Yes… quite." Steiner said, also blushing.
"Well, can you lead the way back? I do not know where to go from here." Beatrix admitted.
Steiner nodded and led her out of the cemetery. Once they made it to their hotel where Freya was waiting eagerly.
"You're early getting back." Beatrix told her.
"I'm not early. You're just late." Freya smiled.
"I had a little run in with my soldiers."
"So I heard. So you found him."
"Yes."
"Where was he?"
"I'll tell you another day. Right now we should sneak inside, before we all get caught." Steiner told them both.
"Right." Freya nodded.
After a while of Freya jumping up and down trying to get Steiner into the window of the hot-red room, they were all safely inside.
"What took you so long to get me up here?!" Steiner asked Freya.
"I'm sorry… huff, huff…Your armor! …huff… I'm not used to jumping with so much weight!" Freya exclaimed.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to change out of this, I'll be right back." Steiner exited the hot-red room and headed to the bathroom.
Freya collapsed on the bed letting out a sigh of exhaustion. Beatrix sat down beside her and stared up at the ceiling. Freya suddenly, a thought came to her mind. Freya turned onto her stomach and looked at Beatrix.
"Can you sing?" Freya asked.
Beatrix looked down at her with a surprised look on her face, "What brought this up?"
"That day where we came up with those fake names. I told them I was a Spear collector, Steiner was the armor collector and you told them you were a vocalist. Which means you sing for a job. So, can you sing?"
"…A little… I'm not as good as the Princess but I'm still a bit good I guess…"
"Really? Can you sing right now?"
"Now?!"
"Oh come on! Steiner's not here to criticize, and I wont interrupt. So come on, sing!"
"I'm not sure…"
Freya gave her an impatient look.
Beatrix smiled, "Alright. But don't laugh if I'm bad…"
"I won't, you can trust me."
Beatrix strode out to the middle of the room. Beatrix began to sing…
"I'll always remember… It was late afternoon. It lasted forever, and ended too soon. You were all by yourself, staring up at a dark gray sky… I was changed…" She paused.
Freya nodded for her to continue. And she did…
"In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside. It was then that I realized, that forever was in your eyes… the moment I saw you cry… the moment that I saw you cry… It was late in September, and I've seen you before… You were always the cold one, but I was never that sure… You were all by yourself, staring at a dark gray sky… I was changed. In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside, it was then that I realized that forever was in your eyes… the moment I saw you cry…"
She paused, then began to sing again:
"I wanted to hold you, I wanted to make it go away… I wanted to know you, I wanted to make your everything, all right.... I'll always remember... It was late afternoon... In places no one would find... In places no one would find, all your feelings so deep inside, it was then that I realized, that forever was in your eyes… The moment I saw you cry…"
Freya sat up and clapped, which made Beatrix blush a bright red. But what made her blush even more, was noticing that Steiner was standing at the door with his arms crossed, staring at her in awe.