Author's Notes: Hello all! I'm terribly sorry about the slow updating on
this story. I really don't like when I have no time....er, when I don't
really feel like writing either. I can't help that I get stages ::rolls
eyes:: And sorry Eika ::blush:: I promise to try harder. Anywho, this might
be the chapter where EVERYTHING is revealed! Hope you like it!
Title: Memories Long Forgotten Author: KaBunny E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13
Chapter Twelve: The Past ( realized "Power" wasn't the right name....cause it's mostly about Dagger's memories)
~*~Dream~*~ (Just a prewarning.....this may be confusing, but it will be explained later)
Dagger slowly opened her eyes and felt the small haze upon her head start to fade. Only one thing cause such a thing.....sleeping weed. She then heard the heavy breathing and felt the stumbling prescence of the being upon whose back she was on. She blinked the haze away and opened her eyes completely.
Something flew by her head and she could feel the cold emanating off of it. She glanced back suddenly with a gasp of fear. She saw the large pointy hatted men with glowing yellow eyes following the two of them diligently through the woods. She squeeked in fear as she squeezed her eyes shut and grip the person's shirt to whom she was riding.
"Are you awake Princess?" the male voice questioned. It was deep, soft and quite soothing.
"Y-yes," she murmured out in a voice that she didn't really recognize as her own.
"Do you think you could run? I'll be able to protect you from behind," the man said. She was sure she had heard his voice somewhere before.
"I'll....I'll try, sir," she managed, shuddering in fear.
He stopped abruptly and leaned down. Garnet hopped off his back, feeling suddenly much smaller than she should. Everything seemed much larger. Was she smaller or was it her imagination? She shook her head and glanced up at the smiling man. He wasn't so young and his face looked strained from all the running, but his eyes were soft.
"Now go, Princess! You must get away from here," he replied, urgently. He gave her a soft push forward and she began to run.
Just as she took off she heard a grunt behind her and took a chance at seeing what had happened. She skidded to a halt as she turned back to watch the man fall. She screamed and started running back to him. "Counselman! Counselman Garland!" she called, but stopped abruptly as one of the mages appeared over the wincing man.
"Go.....get out, now!" he managed to yell. She hadn't realized it, but tears had started falling down her face as she turned and began running again.
Garland (Yes.....THAT Garland...) winced in pain again, but managed to smile probably the only true smile of completeness in his entire life. "She cries for me, the murderer. I hope....she finds....eternal happiness....for-," he murmured, his last sentence dying on his lips.
The mage over him had struck him with a blast of fire, not caring of what the man had to say. He was merely upholding the Black Mage Village's rules. Now, for the child. "Cho....search the forest further....she couldn't have gotten much farther," the mage answered, glancing at the othe rmage who had appeared beside him.
"Yes sir!"
~~~~~~(Not done with the dream yet)
She glanced at the cool water and saw reflected back at her, the face of a child. She was young again. Garnet shook her head and splashed some of the cool water on her face. She gasped in fright as she heard approaching footsteps.
She got to her feet quickly and took off charging through the river. Suddenly, she was falling and then there was blackness. It was a long while before the darkness lifted, but it eventually did. This time when the princess opened her eyes, she felt a sharp pain run across the right side of her forehead all the way down her jaw and she couldn't help but moan.
"I see you're awake," a male's voice muttered. She then felt a cold sensation placed over the burning spot on her forehead and she sighed, slightly content for the moment.
She reached her hand up and held the rageto her forehead as she sat up. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and turned to the man, who was leaned over a fire. He had a large mass of curly red hair upon his head that hid his eyes from view and a red goatee. He seemed lanky and thin, but something about his appearance made her believe that that was just a deception to fool those of incompetant nature.
Dagger nodded and gave a him a weak smile which died quickly as another shot of pain rang through her jaw. She winced, but turned back to the man. "What.....what happened?" she asked in the same childish voice that she ahd not recognized as her own.
"I found you in the river with that gaping wound on your head. I'm the one who should be asking you that question," he answered, not turning away from the fire to look at her. A few moments of silence sat between the two, but eventually the man voiced a question that had been lingering on his mind for some time. "Who are you?"
She opened her mouth to say, 'Princess Garnet til Alexandros, Dagger for short', but something came out instead which made Dagger realize that she was just watching her past through her younger eyes, helplessly. "I'm.....I....I don't remember!" Garnet said truthfully. She looked at her lap for a few moments, confused, before looking up at the man, the emotion written on her face. "I don't remember, honest."
The man just nodded and reached over to throw another log on the blazing fire. He rolled the half burnt log with a poker before finally turning to look at the young girl. "I can ony watch over you for awhile. I do not know when I will be needed again," he said, his voice level, calm.
"Can....can I know your name?" she questioned, tentatively.
"Amarant," the man answered, simply, turning away from her once more to stare in the flames of the soothing fire.
"It's a pleasure to meet your acquintance," Garnet replied, the old habit surfacing quite easily.
Amarant glanced at her one last time, his face drawn into lines of confusion. 'Who is this girl?' he thought. The question haunted him as he learned to know her over the years.
~~~~~~(Not done YET! It's still the dream sequence....thought you ought to know)
"Ya got a name, kid?" Baku questioned, wrapping his arm around Dagger's shoulder and smiling down at her.
'I remember this! It was two years ago when Armarant sent me to live with Baku!' Dagger thought, mentally beaming. She felt herself answer with the realization once againt hat she was only a watcher of her past. "No sir. I seem to have no recollection of myself before I came under the care of Mr. Amarant," she answered, looking up at the much taller Burmercian seriously.
Baku arched a brow at her as he released her. He turned back to Amarant, the confusion on his face. "Then....that have you been calling her, Amarant?" Baku questioned, as Dagger/Garnet turned to look back at the two.
The redhaired man shrugged and Baku seemed to fall into thought. She saw him reach to his belt and run a hand along the hilt of the dagger that he later gave to her to protect. "I have a name for you! From this day forth, let it be known.....you are dubbed Dagger, by the leader of the infamous group named Tantalus," Baku said and Dagger smiled at him.
She had been named for the first time in a long time. She was not longer 'girl' or 'you'. She was Dagger, a new performer in Tantalus.
While the newly dubbed Dagger was listening to Baku and Amarant talk, the old Dagger glanced back as she saw a flicker of light bounce past her. She was blinded as she turned back and she felt something pulling her, calling her back to the realm of reality.
~*~End Dream~*~
~*~While Dagger was dreaming....back with Zidane~*~
~~~~~~
"So you don't know what happened?" Freya questioned, running along behind Zidane, Vivi trailing after her.
"No. It's like I said. She went pale, said she was frightened, and went limp," Zidane replied, pushing out air in a fashion that said he was slightly annoyed.
"Where are we going?" Vivi asked, out of breaht as he was much shorter than the long legged Freya and agile Zidane.
Zidane stopped abruptly, causing Freya to almost stumble into him and receiving an irritated look from her. He took a deep inhale of air and suddenly both his two followers knew what he was doing. Zidane turned back to look at Vivi then up to Freya. "We have to find Beatrix and Steiner first, but I smell Kuja, some other man, and a smell that reminds of the forest near the Black Mage Village," he answered, looking down the halway in which the smell was emanating.
"Do you think that Dagger's sleeping weed would have affected Steiner and Beatrix too, do you?!" Freya inquired, suddenly looking taken aback.
"Maybe so," Zidane murmured, looking up a different hallway. "A faint smell of perfume is coming fromf down there, but I'm not sure if it Beatrix. I couldn't smell her while we were outside and that jail was so clammy, but I remember smelling something similar."
"Then....that's the way we'll go, but this time, I lead and Vivi brings up the end," Freya said, taking a few steps forward. She stopped when Zidane began to protest.
"But-"
"Zidane.....you are at disadvantage because Dagger is on your back. Let Freya lead," Vivi responded, catching his attention by pulling lightly on the man's glove.
Zidane sighed as Vivi gave Freya and slight nod as to tell her to start moving. She turned back around and lead the way through the weaving halls by Zidane's spoken directions. Eventually her nose began picking up the scent and a little while afterward, Vivi began to smell it. Soon, they reached a door where the smell had been emanating from.
Freya reached a hand up to open the door, but Zidane set a hand on hers and took a step forward as if to step infront of her. He motioned both of them away from the door and they all wandered down the hall a little ways. "What the hell is your problem now?!" Freya growled, anxious to get out of this castle.
"Blood....a lot of it is spilled behind that door. I just want to make sure that you know there is no turning back from this point," Zidane stated, looking from one of them to the other.
Freya rolled her eyes at Zidane's untrustworthy nature and made her way down the hall toward the door again. "You should know by now that a Dragoon never backs down from her word," she whispered back.
The blonde man glanced from her back to Vivi whose eyes seemed to be shining with a smile. He started making his way back over to the door and turned back to Zidane when he realized that he wasn't being followed by him. "Come on, Zidane," he called back to him, quietly as he made a waving motion.
Zidane smiled softly and followed Freya and Vivi through the door. The smell of blood was overpowering and he had to take a step back as if he had braced himself against a strong wind. He crinkled his nose and stepped around the stiff Freya and the frozen Vivi. He saw what caused their sudden abrupt stopping.
A pool of blood had dripped off the bed and onto the floor off the fingertips of the rather large woman who was lying on the bed. She was face down in the white satin bed spread which was now crimson with her own blood. Zidane felt remorse and grief of the greatest kind wash over him as he looked down at the delicate hands wrapped aound his neck. "Dagger....," he murmured, his eyes watering over. 'She'll.....how can she make it through this? Who would do such a thing? How...?'
"You like my artwork?" a dark voice asked from the blackness of the hallway.
All three of them turned around quickly as Kuja stepped into the light wearing his self-confident smile and dark mysterious eyes of an extremely dark blue shade. His light colored clothing seemed untouched by the mess that was once the queen, but the long curved sword he was holding was dripping the gore.
Zidane glanced back intot he room and saw the drippings lead out the doorway. 'How could I have missed that?' he thought, suddenly angry with himself. He glared at his brother. "You had no reason! How could you?! Why Brahne?! Why'd you have to kill Dagger's mother?!"
"Uhn....," Dagger murmured, falling out of her dream and seeing the wavering form of Kuja infront of her. "Z....Zidane?"
"Ah, I see the princess awakes.....my plan seems to be following through perfectly," Kuja responded, smiling maliciously at the four. "I have no time to play with you children right now. I have a wedding to plan.....ta-ta."
"Kuja!" Zidane growled, stepping forward as his brother disappeared in a whirl of blue light. "Damn it!! Damn it all to hell!!"
"Zidane," he heard whispered into his ear as the arms around his neck tightened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merry Christmas! ::giggles:: I know it's not that late....but it's getitng there ::rolls eyes:: Ah, well....I hope you like this chapter, but I know I didn't exactly reveal ALL the truth...but ::points at next chapter's name:: ALL the truth is definitely revealed in the next chapter....I hope, eh heh heh. Anywho, hope this cleared SOMETHING up and if it didn't...I can answer questions, well, SOME questions. Catch ya later!
Stay Tuned for Chapter Thirteen: Truth..........How will Dagger take the truth of the fact that she is now queen? How will Zidane take it? Why did Kuja kill Brahne? What's up with this marriage thing he mentioned? Where is Eiko? Where is Steiner? Beatrix? What about Fratley? Why did Zidane smell Black Mages from the Village? Who was the mysterious 'other man' he smelled? Also.....how does Garland tie into everything? Why was he running from the Mages? Why was Dagger with him while she STILL remembered who she was? How does Kuja tie into everything? Why is he doing all this planning? Why is he teamed up with Fratley? And the dreaded thought.....will everyone live through this mess? So many questions and so little answers. Dagger remembers a voice from the past that ties pieces together! Also.....wasn't Zidane adopted, but why wasn't Kuja adopted? I mean, Kuja IS the older brother, right? Shouldn't he have been put up for adoption too?
Hehe....I SO gave you ALL the pieces. I would like to see if any of you figured anything out. Review me or e-mail me any pieces you think that you've connected. Just a hint: think about what I said about Garland's voice and how it's familiar.
TTFN! ~KaBunny
Title: Memories Long Forgotten Author: KaBunny E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13
Chapter Twelve: The Past ( realized "Power" wasn't the right name....cause it's mostly about Dagger's memories)
~*~Dream~*~ (Just a prewarning.....this may be confusing, but it will be explained later)
Dagger slowly opened her eyes and felt the small haze upon her head start to fade. Only one thing cause such a thing.....sleeping weed. She then heard the heavy breathing and felt the stumbling prescence of the being upon whose back she was on. She blinked the haze away and opened her eyes completely.
Something flew by her head and she could feel the cold emanating off of it. She glanced back suddenly with a gasp of fear. She saw the large pointy hatted men with glowing yellow eyes following the two of them diligently through the woods. She squeeked in fear as she squeezed her eyes shut and grip the person's shirt to whom she was riding.
"Are you awake Princess?" the male voice questioned. It was deep, soft and quite soothing.
"Y-yes," she murmured out in a voice that she didn't really recognize as her own.
"Do you think you could run? I'll be able to protect you from behind," the man said. She was sure she had heard his voice somewhere before.
"I'll....I'll try, sir," she managed, shuddering in fear.
He stopped abruptly and leaned down. Garnet hopped off his back, feeling suddenly much smaller than she should. Everything seemed much larger. Was she smaller or was it her imagination? She shook her head and glanced up at the smiling man. He wasn't so young and his face looked strained from all the running, but his eyes were soft.
"Now go, Princess! You must get away from here," he replied, urgently. He gave her a soft push forward and she began to run.
Just as she took off she heard a grunt behind her and took a chance at seeing what had happened. She skidded to a halt as she turned back to watch the man fall. She screamed and started running back to him. "Counselman! Counselman Garland!" she called, but stopped abruptly as one of the mages appeared over the wincing man.
"Go.....get out, now!" he managed to yell. She hadn't realized it, but tears had started falling down her face as she turned and began running again.
Garland (Yes.....THAT Garland...) winced in pain again, but managed to smile probably the only true smile of completeness in his entire life. "She cries for me, the murderer. I hope....she finds....eternal happiness....for-," he murmured, his last sentence dying on his lips.
The mage over him had struck him with a blast of fire, not caring of what the man had to say. He was merely upholding the Black Mage Village's rules. Now, for the child. "Cho....search the forest further....she couldn't have gotten much farther," the mage answered, glancing at the othe rmage who had appeared beside him.
"Yes sir!"
~~~~~~(Not done with the dream yet)
She glanced at the cool water and saw reflected back at her, the face of a child. She was young again. Garnet shook her head and splashed some of the cool water on her face. She gasped in fright as she heard approaching footsteps.
She got to her feet quickly and took off charging through the river. Suddenly, she was falling and then there was blackness. It was a long while before the darkness lifted, but it eventually did. This time when the princess opened her eyes, she felt a sharp pain run across the right side of her forehead all the way down her jaw and she couldn't help but moan.
"I see you're awake," a male's voice muttered. She then felt a cold sensation placed over the burning spot on her forehead and she sighed, slightly content for the moment.
She reached her hand up and held the rageto her forehead as she sat up. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and turned to the man, who was leaned over a fire. He had a large mass of curly red hair upon his head that hid his eyes from view and a red goatee. He seemed lanky and thin, but something about his appearance made her believe that that was just a deception to fool those of incompetant nature.
Dagger nodded and gave a him a weak smile which died quickly as another shot of pain rang through her jaw. She winced, but turned back to the man. "What.....what happened?" she asked in the same childish voice that she ahd not recognized as her own.
"I found you in the river with that gaping wound on your head. I'm the one who should be asking you that question," he answered, not turning away from the fire to look at her. A few moments of silence sat between the two, but eventually the man voiced a question that had been lingering on his mind for some time. "Who are you?"
She opened her mouth to say, 'Princess Garnet til Alexandros, Dagger for short', but something came out instead which made Dagger realize that she was just watching her past through her younger eyes, helplessly. "I'm.....I....I don't remember!" Garnet said truthfully. She looked at her lap for a few moments, confused, before looking up at the man, the emotion written on her face. "I don't remember, honest."
The man just nodded and reached over to throw another log on the blazing fire. He rolled the half burnt log with a poker before finally turning to look at the young girl. "I can ony watch over you for awhile. I do not know when I will be needed again," he said, his voice level, calm.
"Can....can I know your name?" she questioned, tentatively.
"Amarant," the man answered, simply, turning away from her once more to stare in the flames of the soothing fire.
"It's a pleasure to meet your acquintance," Garnet replied, the old habit surfacing quite easily.
Amarant glanced at her one last time, his face drawn into lines of confusion. 'Who is this girl?' he thought. The question haunted him as he learned to know her over the years.
~~~~~~(Not done YET! It's still the dream sequence....thought you ought to know)
"Ya got a name, kid?" Baku questioned, wrapping his arm around Dagger's shoulder and smiling down at her.
'I remember this! It was two years ago when Armarant sent me to live with Baku!' Dagger thought, mentally beaming. She felt herself answer with the realization once againt hat she was only a watcher of her past. "No sir. I seem to have no recollection of myself before I came under the care of Mr. Amarant," she answered, looking up at the much taller Burmercian seriously.
Baku arched a brow at her as he released her. He turned back to Amarant, the confusion on his face. "Then....that have you been calling her, Amarant?" Baku questioned, as Dagger/Garnet turned to look back at the two.
The redhaired man shrugged and Baku seemed to fall into thought. She saw him reach to his belt and run a hand along the hilt of the dagger that he later gave to her to protect. "I have a name for you! From this day forth, let it be known.....you are dubbed Dagger, by the leader of the infamous group named Tantalus," Baku said and Dagger smiled at him.
She had been named for the first time in a long time. She was not longer 'girl' or 'you'. She was Dagger, a new performer in Tantalus.
While the newly dubbed Dagger was listening to Baku and Amarant talk, the old Dagger glanced back as she saw a flicker of light bounce past her. She was blinded as she turned back and she felt something pulling her, calling her back to the realm of reality.
~*~End Dream~*~
~*~While Dagger was dreaming....back with Zidane~*~
~~~~~~
"So you don't know what happened?" Freya questioned, running along behind Zidane, Vivi trailing after her.
"No. It's like I said. She went pale, said she was frightened, and went limp," Zidane replied, pushing out air in a fashion that said he was slightly annoyed.
"Where are we going?" Vivi asked, out of breaht as he was much shorter than the long legged Freya and agile Zidane.
Zidane stopped abruptly, causing Freya to almost stumble into him and receiving an irritated look from her. He took a deep inhale of air and suddenly both his two followers knew what he was doing. Zidane turned back to look at Vivi then up to Freya. "We have to find Beatrix and Steiner first, but I smell Kuja, some other man, and a smell that reminds of the forest near the Black Mage Village," he answered, looking down the halway in which the smell was emanating.
"Do you think that Dagger's sleeping weed would have affected Steiner and Beatrix too, do you?!" Freya inquired, suddenly looking taken aback.
"Maybe so," Zidane murmured, looking up a different hallway. "A faint smell of perfume is coming fromf down there, but I'm not sure if it Beatrix. I couldn't smell her while we were outside and that jail was so clammy, but I remember smelling something similar."
"Then....that's the way we'll go, but this time, I lead and Vivi brings up the end," Freya said, taking a few steps forward. She stopped when Zidane began to protest.
"But-"
"Zidane.....you are at disadvantage because Dagger is on your back. Let Freya lead," Vivi responded, catching his attention by pulling lightly on the man's glove.
Zidane sighed as Vivi gave Freya and slight nod as to tell her to start moving. She turned back around and lead the way through the weaving halls by Zidane's spoken directions. Eventually her nose began picking up the scent and a little while afterward, Vivi began to smell it. Soon, they reached a door where the smell had been emanating from.
Freya reached a hand up to open the door, but Zidane set a hand on hers and took a step forward as if to step infront of her. He motioned both of them away from the door and they all wandered down the hall a little ways. "What the hell is your problem now?!" Freya growled, anxious to get out of this castle.
"Blood....a lot of it is spilled behind that door. I just want to make sure that you know there is no turning back from this point," Zidane stated, looking from one of them to the other.
Freya rolled her eyes at Zidane's untrustworthy nature and made her way down the hall toward the door again. "You should know by now that a Dragoon never backs down from her word," she whispered back.
The blonde man glanced from her back to Vivi whose eyes seemed to be shining with a smile. He started making his way back over to the door and turned back to Zidane when he realized that he wasn't being followed by him. "Come on, Zidane," he called back to him, quietly as he made a waving motion.
Zidane smiled softly and followed Freya and Vivi through the door. The smell of blood was overpowering and he had to take a step back as if he had braced himself against a strong wind. He crinkled his nose and stepped around the stiff Freya and the frozen Vivi. He saw what caused their sudden abrupt stopping.
A pool of blood had dripped off the bed and onto the floor off the fingertips of the rather large woman who was lying on the bed. She was face down in the white satin bed spread which was now crimson with her own blood. Zidane felt remorse and grief of the greatest kind wash over him as he looked down at the delicate hands wrapped aound his neck. "Dagger....," he murmured, his eyes watering over. 'She'll.....how can she make it through this? Who would do such a thing? How...?'
"You like my artwork?" a dark voice asked from the blackness of the hallway.
All three of them turned around quickly as Kuja stepped into the light wearing his self-confident smile and dark mysterious eyes of an extremely dark blue shade. His light colored clothing seemed untouched by the mess that was once the queen, but the long curved sword he was holding was dripping the gore.
Zidane glanced back intot he room and saw the drippings lead out the doorway. 'How could I have missed that?' he thought, suddenly angry with himself. He glared at his brother. "You had no reason! How could you?! Why Brahne?! Why'd you have to kill Dagger's mother?!"
"Uhn....," Dagger murmured, falling out of her dream and seeing the wavering form of Kuja infront of her. "Z....Zidane?"
"Ah, I see the princess awakes.....my plan seems to be following through perfectly," Kuja responded, smiling maliciously at the four. "I have no time to play with you children right now. I have a wedding to plan.....ta-ta."
"Kuja!" Zidane growled, stepping forward as his brother disappeared in a whirl of blue light. "Damn it!! Damn it all to hell!!"
"Zidane," he heard whispered into his ear as the arms around his neck tightened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merry Christmas! ::giggles:: I know it's not that late....but it's getitng there ::rolls eyes:: Ah, well....I hope you like this chapter, but I know I didn't exactly reveal ALL the truth...but ::points at next chapter's name:: ALL the truth is definitely revealed in the next chapter....I hope, eh heh heh. Anywho, hope this cleared SOMETHING up and if it didn't...I can answer questions, well, SOME questions. Catch ya later!
Stay Tuned for Chapter Thirteen: Truth..........How will Dagger take the truth of the fact that she is now queen? How will Zidane take it? Why did Kuja kill Brahne? What's up with this marriage thing he mentioned? Where is Eiko? Where is Steiner? Beatrix? What about Fratley? Why did Zidane smell Black Mages from the Village? Who was the mysterious 'other man' he smelled? Also.....how does Garland tie into everything? Why was he running from the Mages? Why was Dagger with him while she STILL remembered who she was? How does Kuja tie into everything? Why is he doing all this planning? Why is he teamed up with Fratley? And the dreaded thought.....will everyone live through this mess? So many questions and so little answers. Dagger remembers a voice from the past that ties pieces together! Also.....wasn't Zidane adopted, but why wasn't Kuja adopted? I mean, Kuja IS the older brother, right? Shouldn't he have been put up for adoption too?
Hehe....I SO gave you ALL the pieces. I would like to see if any of you figured anything out. Review me or e-mail me any pieces you think that you've connected. Just a hint: think about what I said about Garland's voice and how it's familiar.
TTFN! ~KaBunny