By Robertdogwood@aol.com
Final Fantasy IX characters and locations from said game are owned by SquareSoft.
Original Plot and Characters Copyright Robertdogwood 2002
PG-13 for language and slight nudity
Chapter Seven
The 'Tantalus' hideout was within walking distance of the Inn. As Amarant, even with his long legs, had to struggle with maintaining the quick steps that Zidane was taking, he attempted to fathom what machinations Baku and his gang could be involved in and how this related to the disappearance of Garnet; that is, if indeed it did. The man whose fiery-hair matched his temperament just couldn't or wouldn't believe that 'Tantalus' would independently become involved in political intrigue in another country such as Alexandria. Amarant also would never believe that as mercenary as Baku was that he would ever become involved in any kind of plot for money that would harm Garnet and therefore Zidane. He realized that 'Tantalus' would be loath to become implicated in any kind of shenanigans that would do damage to their relationship with Cid, who appeared to give them full license to do as they please in many areas.
I can't get to the depth of this, Amarant thought as he and Zidane stepped down the long staircase that led to the area where the hideout was located. Some hideout! He snorted to himself. Hidden in plain sight is more like it.
It was true that calling the building a hideout for Baku and company was a misnomer. There was nothing hidden about it, unless it being located in a less traveled part of town was considered an advantage. It was correct that 'Tantalus' had attempted to let itself be known as a acting troupe, but it was also correct that it was an open secret to most of Lindblum that they were also highwaymen and adventurers of the first order.
There was also a concession made to further confuse the public with representing their building as a fortune stone shop. Incredibly, as far as Zidane was concerned, they never had any stones for sale when someone wandered in by mistake expecting to see a store as advertised throughout the countryside.
I just don't get it, Zidane thought. That whole store thing is just so lame. Who does Baku think he's fooling anyway?"
Zidane, as of yet, had not developed the necessary insight which would come with age to realize he was really angry at the fact the evidence seemed to point to his foster father and his old friends having been instrumental in the kidnapping of his beloved Garnet. At this point, he was still more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt under two conditions; one being they adequately explain why the hotel key that had been in the possession of one of them was doing laying under a pile of trash that had once been his belongings and the other condition was that they help him search for Garnet. At the very least, they needed to share with him whatever information they might have come across during their criminal jaunts.
The two men turned right after stepping off the stairs and walked down to 'Tantalus' headquarters. As soon as they stepped inside, Cinna called out, "Hey! It's Zidane."
The Nero brothers, both of indistinguishable species, greeted him. "Good to see you, Zidane. Good to see you, Zidane," they each said separately, while waving their arms up in the air for emphasis. Zidane smiled and nodded, but didn't speak. He was always slightly ill at ease with them. They were just a little too weird, even for his taste.
Marcus, his old comrade, stepped forward and gripped Zidane with his right hand halfway up his old friend's right arm while Zidane mirrored his behavior. "Well met, Zidane," Marcus greeted. "How goes it?"
"It goes not well," Zidane answered while glancing around the room. "Where's Blank?" he wondered.
"He's been out of town for some reason. None was ever volunteered by him or Baku, although I've heard he's back. He's probably paying his respects to Ruby before returning here," Marcus explained.
Ruby had moved back to Lindblum soon after she and Blank had gotten engaged. She had opened a little dinner theatre and appeared very happy the last time Zidane had talked to her.
As if he had heard Marcus mention his name, Baku stepped out from his private room near the back. Always appearing slightly larger than life itself, he sneered and asked, "So what's the grand occasion of the Royal Prince visiting us?"
Zidane realized it would be useless to attempt to be civilized with Baku when he was in one of his moods. "I've come to see if you all have any information that could help me explain why a room key from the Inn here in Lindblum and checked out to one of the gang was discovered under a huge pile of my and Garnet's torn up bedroom on the night she was abducted."
Baku flushed bright red from anger. "I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you, but for your information none of us have been near that Inn for months. Why would we stay there? We live here, for God's sake. Now I have to go, I have a job to do."
Baku rudely brushed by Zidane knocking him sideways on his way through the room and out to the Lindblum streets. Zidane glanced at Marcus, who was gazing sheepishly at the floor. Just then Blank walked in and exclaimed in a tone of surprise, "Zidane! What are you doing here?"
Zidane turned to his close friend, who he really considered his brother and embraced him briefly before stepping back.
Blank, who knew Zidane better than anybody alive, realized he was very perturbed to behave in a such a fashion. "What's wrong? Did you finally get real stupid and leave Garnet?"
Zidane's mouth dropped open momentarily before he spoke. "Wherever did you hear anything about that?"
"From Ruby, of course. Ruby knows everything going on anywhere. No only does she have people visiting her theatre from all over the world, but she has a steady Moggle clientele also. And you know they know everything."
"Well, I'll be damned," Zidane softly muttered. Zidane pulled his good friend over near the corner away from the other occupants.
"What's going on here, Blank?" Zidane inquired baldly.
Blank barely moved his lips when he answered, as he felt under close scrutiny by the other gang members in the room. "I don't rightly know, Zidane, but something doesn't feel right. Baku send me out of the country on what turned out to be nothing but a wild goose chase. When I return, Ruby tells me she's hardly seen Marcus and when she does, he doesn't say anything. I just don't like the feel of it, Zidane."
Zidane nodded and suggested, "Let's go talk to Ruby."
"Good idea," Blank agreed.
"See you later, Marcus," Zidane called out. Marcus grimly nodded.
Stepping out of the would be theatre, beside Blank and Amarant, Zidane asked his redheaded comrade. "Did you notice anything odd back there?"
"Yes, Zidane," Amarant sighed. "I noticed that when you mentioned Garnet had been kidnapped no one was surprised."
Steiner was much relieved to observe their airship was circling Lindblum in a holding pattern waiting a turn to land. As badly as he felt he needed to find Zidane, he realized he needed sleep even more than that. Waiting patiently as he had done for most of his life, Steiner was able to just place his mind on hold and basically slip into some sort of a shallow meditative state.
"Thank you again so very much," the older woman expressed to Adelbert, as she stepped out in the aisle from her seat.
"You're quite welcome," Stein replied, snapping out of his relaxed condition. He suddenly realized that Zidane might have arrived in Lindblum tired also and may too have gone to the Inn.
Maybe things are starting to look up, Steiner thought as the line slowly began to move forward.
"Vivi, can we both be the Queen?" Quina asked.
Vivi. who so very rarely had a unkind word or even thought towards anyone, hoped that Lady Beatrix would return quickly.
"No, Quina," he sighed. "We both-."
"That's what I thought," Quina interrupted. "I'm Queen and you're King, right?"
Good grief! Vivi thought. "No, Quina," he said again. "We-."
"Oh, I get it," Quina interrupted yet again. "I'm the Queen, but you're the Royal Prince, like Zidane, right?"
Vivi decided this was probably going to take quite a while to straighten out so he might as well be comfortable and he slowly crossed the room to where a small chair was located and sat down. He sighed deeply and then began, only to be interrupted again but this time by Lani striding into the room.
"Hey, guys! What's cooking and where's Beatrix?" the strong young woman asked.
Before Vivi could explain, Quina questioned, "Is that a way to talk to a Queen?"
Puzzlement crossed Lani's attractive features. "Has Queen Garnet returned?"
"No," Quina replied, shaking her long bill as she spoke. "I Queen until she returns."
Observing the look of confusion and some frustration present on Lani's face, Vivi spoke quickly hoping to forestall any further interaction between Quina and practically everybody else in Alexandria. "Beatrix went out on an errand and unfortunately left us in charge.
Lani threw her head and laughed deeply in full appreciation of Vivi's meaning and plight. "I'm hungry. I think I'll go rustle up some grub while I wait for Beatrix to return."
"Oh, I can help with that," Quina offered. "Come," she said, while jumping down from the Royal Throne. "I take you to food."
"Good deal," Lani responded.
It was only after the two females had left did Vivi sit back in his chair and breath a sigh of relief. He sincerely hoped that Beatrix would return before Quina came back from the kitchen.
Right at that exact moment the aforementioned Beatrix was being shown into the office of Carlin Phelps, another beautiful, but albeit strong woman. Rising to her feet from behind her desk to pay homage to the female General, who had fought so hard and did so much for Alexandria in their time of direst need, Carlin greeted, "Good day, General."
"Good day, Ms. Phelps," the female warrior replied. "But please call me Beatrix."
"Only if you call me Carlin," the woman politician responded.
Beatrix smiled. "Okay, gladly." "Please have a seat," Carlin invited, while motioning to one of several chairs positioned in front of her desk. "We don't stand on ceremony here."
Beatrix seated herself. She couldn't help but notice that somehow Carlin's desk and chair were much higher than the one she was sitting in. She smiled to herself realizing this for what it was - a psychological ploy to insure the mantle of power. It was the same principle as a judge positioning his or herself higher than the persons brought before the court.
Loath to wasting any time, Carlin ventured while flipping her blonde hair back from around her face, "I take it you're here to talk about Queen Garnet's disappearance?"
Beatrix nodded in affirmation. "And you're wondering," the woman politician continued, "what you can do to gain some control over the situation here in Alexandra before it erupts into something that could not be easily undone?"
Beatrix again nodded yes. "Well, you've come to the right place. Let me tell you what we're going to do," asserted Carlin.
Beatrix smiled and visibly relaxed for the first time since Garnet and Zidane's disappearance.
Freya met Sir Fratley in front of the Inn as planned and she proceeded to tell him of the little bit she had learned. When she had finished, Fratley responded, "Well, that is rather telling indeed, wouldn't you say, Freya?"
"Yes, Fratley. Indeed it is," she replied while looking at him with adoring eyes.
Fratley extended his arm for his ladylove to grasp and asked, "Shall we toddle over to Doctor Tot's?"
Freya laughed while taking his arm in her's. "Why, Fratley, you made a joke. Yes, I think we should."
Their good fortune continued to hold as Doctor Tot was free to see them immediately. Sometimes, on the contrary, he would be holed up in his observatory for days on end with orders not to be disturbed. The good doctor himself showed them into his book lined study. In fact his whole domicile is book lined, thought Freya, who bemusedly realized that Doctor Tot probably had more books than the Burmecia Public Library.
After seating themselves, Freya commented, "You're looking well, doctor."
"Yes, quite," he replied. "And you two are also."
Sir Fratley shot his lady love a glance that spoke volumes concerning getting to the point. Freya shook her head slightly at him letting him know that it was expected of them to start the conversation with small talk in polite society. But she certainly sympathized with Fratley and understood the urgency of the situation so she launched into the reason for their presence. Of course, Doctor Tot already had heard of the Queen's disappearance and even had a theory of his own.
"What is it?" asked Fratley. "If I may be so bold to ask."
"I think things are not what they seem at first glance," he explained rather cryptically. Observing the confusion reflected on their faces, Doctor Tot went on to say, "Whatever you first decide is the reason behind it and who's responsible, then look elsewhere to discover if there are any alternatives."
Both Freya and Fratley both nodded their heads knowingly. "Well, thank you, doctor, for your time and your insight," Freya replied.
"My pleasure," the good doctor responded, while showing them to the front door. "Now promise me if anything comes up at all that you need help with to come right back."
"Oh, we will, doctor. Don't worry," declared Freya.
Once they were safely back outside and the front door closed, Sir Fratley asked, "What was that all about, Freya?"
"I'll be damned if I know," she answered.
"Freya!" Fratley chastised her. He was old school and didn't believe females should curse.
"Sorry, I felt the situation called for it," Freya apologized.
"Apology accepted and you may be right. Shall we be off to Lindblum?"
"Yes we shall," Freya responded with a twinkle in her eye. Intertwining her arm with his, Freya suggested, "Let's to the Chocobos and be off."
Jesse Helot sat behind his desk performing the part of his position that he hated the most; actually having to fulfill the list of things that he had promised he would do for people.
Recognizing the timid knock upon his office door, he called out, "Come in." And sure enough it was his assistant, Tyson Michaels who entered his office.
"Well?" Jesse questioned.
"Here," Tyson replied passing his superior a folded piece of paper. The assistant realized his employer was a firm believer in the old saying - 'the walls have ears.'
Jesse sat back in his chair while perusing the information. He finally looked up and asked, "Is he absolutely certain?"
"Yes, he guaranteed it and he's never been wrong."
"Up to now," Helot commented sardonically. He stood up from behind his desk. "I'm going to go check this out. I want you to stay here in case of emergencies. You know the drill, right?"
Tyson nodded thinking back to the countless times his employer had made him study the directives.
Just before leaving his office, the politician declared, "I'll be in touch as soon as I hear anything."
Lady Hildagarde stood outside of Eiko's bedroom door awaiting admittance. She was a firm believer in children having the same right to privacy that adults did; particularly when the child in question had basically raised herself with the help of some Moggles.
The door opened and Hildagarde beheld the almost always bright shining countenance of Eiko, who was now eight years old going on forty due to the amount of adverse life circumstances she had experienced when younger. According to the little girl, her last two years living with Cid and Hildagarde had been heaven.
"Hello, mother. Come in," Eiko invited sounding almost formal, but she had a twinkle in her eye and the ever present Mog by her side.
"Thank you, my dear," the beautiful older woman replied while sweeping into the room and closing the door.
"Are you aware that Queen Garnet is missing and it is feared that she has been abducted?" Hildagarde asked.
"What?!" screeched Eiko causing the Mog beside her to raise up in surprise.
The dark-haired young Queen remained ducked behind the school desk nearest the door, while the friendly teacher had finally regained her aplomb from her initial stunned condition and reaffirmed her offer. "Yes, may I help you?"
"Oh, I really hope you can," gushed the young Queen. "For starters, where am I?" Garnet had remained crouched behind the student's desk.
The dark-haired young teacher had flushed a deep pink. "Why, this is the Royal Academy," she explained.
"The Royal Academy of what?" Garnet desperately desired to know what country she was in.
"Please, we don't have time for this right now," the woman instructed. She was unfastening the many buttons on her long yellow dress as quickly as possible.
"Here," she declared, after removing the dress revealing her short silken camisole. "Put this on," the teacher directed.
As Garnet gratefully slipped it on over her body, she gushed, "Oh thank you so much."
The young Queen began to nervously button the dress."
"Leave it," the attractive teacher ordered. "We don't have time right now. Just hold it closed, somebody could come in here anytime."
The woman walked quickly to the door, opened it and peered out into the hall. "There's no one here, come on," she directed the young Queen.
The helpful teacher led Garnet out of the room and then down the hallway. Opening the stairwell, the two young women ran down a flight of stairs and then the teacher led the dark-haired Queen back into a hall and down to a room.
Throwing the room door open, she explained, "Here, this is my room. We'll hide in here for a little while until you can calm down and we can get to the bottom of this."
Garnet stepped into the room and recognized immediately that this was the same room she was held in as a prisoner! The young man and the blonde woman were still present. "Well, lookie what we have here," he exclaimed, while broadly smiling.
"Cut out the foolishness, you two buffoons," the young teacher snarled at them, her amiable features suddenly changing to one of malevolence, "and grab her!"
The young man did as ordered and he reached out and grabbed on to Garnet, who suddenly whirled and bolted from the room leaving him holding on to the unbuttoned yellow dress.
"Oh, crikey! We're in for it now," the blonde woman complained.