Disclaimer: This is so pathetic. I own nothing of Final Fantasy XI, and (let's face it here, people.) I get so much fewer reviews for this stupid fic compared to my Harry Potter one, yet I'm still writing this, why? Ugh.
A/N: Sorry people, I'm in a very, very bad mood right now. I was planning on putting this on hold till I was done with the other fic, but fate just hates me. I've been completely kept out of the computer for so long, (dumb lock.) and I have no inspiration, plus I lost my draft.
I am a sad, bitter person.
Oh, and I have no internet connection until way, way in the distant future, when you will see this, I would have just gotten the bloody thing back.
Am sad.
And bitter.
And sad.
And am making you listen to my griping.
So I'll shut up now.
Dagger lay facedown on the bed of flowers for several long, luxurious minutes. She was glad that she had restricted practically anyone but and herself and her close friends from coming up here. For the first time in months, she let herself enjoy the sunlight gently kissing her skin and the breeze caressing her face.
Abruptly, she gave herself a mental shake. She ought to sneak into her room and change into her usual orange jumpsuit, she decided, shuddering to think of what Steiner would say if he saw her like that. Her face split into a large grin, remembering that she could be back with her companions in a few minutes. After that long, painful time in the cave with only a demented idiot who tried to destroy the world and his sad creation. Not that Arbron was bad or anything, she admitted, just a little depressing to be around.
Picking herself up reluctantly, she made her way towards the castle, getting past the guards unseen was almost laughably easy now. She made a mental note to train the guards again when Zidane and Vivi were back. There was never any doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be able to do it, it was merely a question of when. She had already sworn earlier on that she would do anything to achieve her goal, and hadn't she proved her dedication by spending all that time painfully training? No matter what the price, no matter what the cost, she decided.
Slipping silently into her room, she changed quickly before clipping her hair back and stashing the Rod in her closet. Flopping onto her bed, she hummed quietly to herself. Soon, she was singing like she always did, walking to the window and listening to the doves coo around her. Suddenly, the door burst open. In a flash, she was up and preparing for hand to hand combat.
"Your Highness!" gasped Beatrix as she came in, surprised by Dagger's fighting stance.
"My Queen!" yelled Steiner, rushing up and embracing her tightly.
"I knew it!" said Beatrix triumphantly. "What did I tell you Steiner? No one else in the land can sing like that! And when I said that I heard her up here, you told me that I was hallucinating! Who's hallucinating now, Captain?"
"C-can't breathe," choked Dagger, turning slightly blue as the sharp edges of his armor dug into her skin.
"You're Majesty! Where have you been? We've searched everywhere for you and not a trace was found! I've been worried sick! My Queen, are you alright? What have you been doing? Where were you!" wailed Steiner, still crushing her.
"After such a long while, you're finally back, Your Highness!"
"C-can't breathe…" she gasped again, vaguely thinking that she should have struggled earlier before allowing herself to be captured. The mentally giving herself a shake, she'd been spending too much time discussing battle tactics with Arbron. Captured. Honestly.
"Well, yes, I'm really quite touched by this meeting too… After all, we've been worried sick! Did you know Lady Eiko had a premonition-"
"No… seriously… can't b-breathe!" she squeaked, interrupting him.
"Oh, sorry," he said sheepishly, letting go off her.
They stood at the side of her, both bursting to know where she had been and what was going on. She took several deep breaths, stalling for time, trying to come up with a convincing story. After all, she couldn't very well say, 'Actually, I've been training with the guy who tried to kill us".
"I know that you have a lot of questions," said Dagger, trying to sound regal. "But I must ask you not to ask me or harass me for the truth… I… I've been away for a purpose… and… well… I just… needed to get over th-their death…" she let out a sniff, knowing that it was wrong to go gaining pity through such means, but she had no other choice.
She saw Beatrix and Steiner exchanging a look, their faces softening as they always did during such situations, immediately making her feel guilty for tricking them.
"Well… if you're sure what you're doing is really helping, Your Highness…" said Beatrix gently, large hazel eye turning to her.
"Yes, I'm sure," she answered, allowing a small smile to creep up her face when she thought of the future. In the meantime, she was sure both of them would tell the others to lay off. "So," she said briskly. "How has the kingdom been, Beatrix?"
"Everything has been running smoothly," she replied, snapping back to her General-like self, "There has been no trouble in the streets, the citizens are peaceful, taxes have been paid and good relationships are continuing with Lindblum, Burmecia, Dali and so on."
"Wonderful," she said, she was about to dismiss them when her senses perked up. She wouldn't have noticed it before, but after her training, it was easier to pick up things that weren't being mentioned, for example… "How about things inside the castle?" she asked casually.
Beatrix noticeably stiffened before exchanging another look with Steiner whose face had turned into an obvious frown. "Well… there has been this very tiny little annoyance," began Beatrix. "I really didn't want to bother you just as you've come back… but…"
"Go on," encouraged Dagger, narrowing her eyes.
"You've got another suitor," she blurted out.
"What? Again?" she asked incredulously, her anger stirring. One would think that after viciously throwing out multiple digits would be suitors, they would get the hint. All of them, completely idiotic and insensitive, trying to be the gallant hero to the so-called damsel in distress. Not a single one out them paused to think about whether she still felt anything for Zidane. Not a single one out of the fifty three-
"Fifty five, actually," piped up Steiner. "Another one came while you were gone, but we got rid of him."
"Huh?" she said, before realising that she'd been talking aloud. "Then why couldn't you just throw this one out like you did the rest?" she demanded, coming back to her senses.
"We tried, Your Highness," said Beatrix tiredly. "But he's extremely stubborn and absolutely refuses to leave. He arrived two weeks ago and has been working all of us to the bone with his stupid slightly raw salmon for dinner with the exact dashes of seasoning and a bit of asparagus on top, not to mention his idiotic bath with two drops of jasmine oil, another of rose and-"
"What we're trying to say, my Queen," cut in Steiner as Beatrix continued to rant. "Is that his father is the highest Duke in Treno, and he believes that you'll fall for him the moment you see him."
" 'And let's not forget that I want my suit ironed from right to left not up and down'," mimicked Beatrix angrily.
"I'll see him later," said Dagger tiredly, already feeling a headache coming up, finding herself thinking how much easier it was to kill a blood-thirsty monster than it was to find a diplomatic way to get rid of a spoilt brat. "In the mean time…" she added, turning her eyes hopefully to them.
"Will you two train with me?"
……
Dagger stretched experimentally, glad to feel the pain in her joints. Beatrix and Steiner had been startled by her request, but they didn't refuse to comply. They held back at first, but when they saw how she fought, they had no choice but to take her seriously. They were good, she reflected, but not as good as I remembered them to be. They trained for several hours without magic in a purely physical battle until Beatrix reminded her about her suitor.
Which was why she was here now just after her bath, trying to pick a dress that looked like it wouldn't strangle her.
Finally, after much consideration, she grabbed a sleeveless light blue one with no train. Pulling it over herself and adjusting the corset, she let the full skirt swoosh around her ankles and fiddled with the tiny pearls on the square cut collar. To her delight, she found that the corset wasn't nearly as tight as she remembered, months of hard exercise would make you lose weight, she reasoned.
Slipping on a pair of sandals and her usual pearl tiara, she headed toward the guest room where the other fifty-four idiots had stayed. As she approached, she heard yelling.
"How many times do I have to tell you people! My bed must be covered with cerulean blue sheets! What kind of fools are you to give me deep blue! Now get out of sight and get it right this time! And don't forget my mid afternoon snack at two fifteen! And don't you dare use low quality caviar!" snarled a haughty voice.
"Y-yes sir, I'm sorry sir!" squealed a scared looking maid before scurrying off.
Instantly, Dagger felt a huge sense of dislike for the man in that room, treating people like trash in her castle! Determinedly, she marched in, getting ready to give him a piece of her mind.
As she stepped in, she saw a young man of about twenty with his back towards her. He was tall, about slightly over six feet, which was considerably more than her 5'5.
"It's about time you're back!" he growled, still not turning around. "What kind of service does a guest get in this dump? Hurry up with my sheets."
"On the contrary, I believe that you only dismissed my maid a minute ago, I would highly doubt that she'd be back as fast as this," replied Dagger evenly, finding it harder to speak diplomatically and to control her temper than before. "And I don't believe that it's polite for you to refer to my home as a dump, good sir." She couldn't resist adding.
"What do you mean your home?" he demanded. "I'm going to rule this place soon, and I'll have the entire staff replaced. Just who do you think you are anyw-" he stopped as he turned around, taking in the petite, beautiful figure in front of him who was trying desperately not to scowl.
"I, as you ought to know, am Queen Garnet til Alexandros," said Dagger regally, eyeing the man in front of her. He was certainly handsome, with his broad shoulders and tall frame, his deep brown hair had streaks of gold in it and his gray eyes were flecked with blue. However, no matter how good-looking he was, she would never ever let him get even the slightest bit of affection from her. "Also, I do not appreciate the way you are treating my staff."
He got ever his shock and stepped forward confidently, flashing her a smile that showed off his pearly whites. She refused to step back, but let the disgust she felt show openly on her face. "Garnet, darling," he purred.
"Don't call me that."
"Baby, you should be glad to meet me, your knight in shining armor is finally here to rescue you," he continued.
Dagger struggled not to punch him there and then, her fury flared inside her, hating the way everyone thought that she needed to be protected. "Really?" she said through gritted teeth. "I'm afraid I don't see Zidane here. And as I see no reason for your visit, I ask you to leave."
"Honey face, let's not have any pretending around us," he cooed. "I am Duke Thomas d' Bonneville. All women are attracted to me as I know you must certainly be now."
"In case you didn't hear the first time, Bonneville, get out of my kingdom," she hissed, abandoning her diplomatic approach. "I feel nothing for hopeless snobs like you but loathing. I've said it before, my heart belongs only to Zidane."
"Zidane?" he repeated disdainfully. "That riff-raff? My dear, even you know that he's dead and gone. Now don't worry, sweetie, I'm here, so don't be coy."
"Look, you," she growled, restraining herself. "I cannot think of any way to make clearer that I want you as far away from here as possible, so if you had any sense at all, you would leave, and you would leave now."
She prepared herself to forcefully throw him out when something he said stopped her, "Darling, I know you're just shy… but you do know my father don't you? High Duke Rufus Matthew d' Bonneville? The one who I believe is donating a large sum of gil to make orphanages for your kingdom?"
That halted Dagger right in her tracks. She remembered him all right, ever since the attack of Bahamut on the city, many children had been left homeless and parentless, feeling responsible, she had tried to scrape together enough funds to build orphanages for them. Hearing of her plight, the High Duke of Treno (who was every bit as annoying as his son) had come forward. It had taken her months of diplomatic meetings –not to mention stress pills- to convince him that it was a worthy cause. She should have known that there was something else to it.
She hated the smug look on his face as he saw her hesitate, knowing that he had gotten her right where he wanted.
……
"Garnet!" squealed Eiko happily, clinging on to her friend firmly.
"Eiko, Freya, Frately, Quina, Amarant…" gasped Dagger in delight. "You're all here!"
"Dagger," said Freya warmly, stepping forward. "Beatrix sent us a message about your… uh … pest."
"Me off holiday," nodded Quina in agreement. "Hear man no like cooking! Give him oglop stew! If he no like, I eat!"
"Somehow Quina, I doubt he'll taste good," said Dagger with a wry smile.
"Princess," greeted Amarant coolly, even after almost two years, he still called her that. "You've gotten thinner… paler too; I assume you were somewhere dark? It may be just my imagination, but you seem to be holding back slightly."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied just as evenly, cursing his bounty hunter skills. But she couldn't help thinking that he was right, despite the fact that seeing all of them together like that gave her a warm glow, she couldn't help feeling nervous, it reminded her of Epitaphs. If she had been closed off before, it was nothing compared to what she was like now.
"Amarant…" said Frately with a warning tone in his voice; it was obvious he thought that she was still in mourning.
"Anyway," said Freya quickly, wanting to change the subject. "Tell us about him, why can't you get rid of him like the other wannabe's?"
Dagger let out a long heavy sigh. "He's blackmailed me. Not outright of course, just subtly. As long as I can't figure out a way to get rid of him while keeping good relations with his father for the sake of the orphans, he stays."
"I know," piped up Eiko. "Why don't you act like a total slob? He wouldn't want to marry a girl like that, he'd think you weren't lady-like enough."
"Now there's an idea," agreed Freya.
"And let the word get out that the Queen of Alexandria doesn't have manners to save her life?" asked Amarant. "Sorry twerp, but that ain't gonna work."
"Well then, if you're so smart why don't you think of a way yourself?"
"I could definitely-"
"People!" yelled Dagger; losing that already short hold she had on her temper. "Why don't you guys go to the guest rooms? I'm sure you need to rest."
……
For the next week, no brilliant suggestion was produced, and Duke Thomas stayed, bossing the staff around like he owned the place, which he was still firmly convinced that he would one day. Eiko returned to Lindblum as Hilda and Cid were worrying, Amarant needed to go on some trip or other, Freya and Frately to Burmecia to help the rebuilding. Privately, Dagger was glad, she found that the further away she stayed from them, the easier it was not to let them get close to her.
She also didn't need further monitoring of her situation. The only way she knew of to release her increasing frustrations with the spoilt brat was to sneak out in the mornings for training. She had breakfast at the plains of Alexandria as Garland taught her to, the venting out her anger on whatever beast happened to pass by, regardless of whether it was about to attack her or not.
Taking out her Rod about a week after she had returned one morning, about to go out again, she noticed something curious. The handle, which had been smoothed and unmarked before, had something beginning to protrude from the end with the scythe. There were two, and they were several inches long already. Upon closer examination, she saw that it was the heads of two snakes, with tiny rubies for eyes. They were entwining themselves around her Rod, just starting to cross over each other.
Now that she came to think of it, she did vaguely remember feeling hard nubs a few days ago… She was running her fingers up and down its length, admiring the fine craftsmanship when she felt those bumps… but she had been too distracted to notice, because she felt guilty for… for… for what? Then it came to her, she had gone in search of breakfast, when she'd seen a rather scrawny Bandersnatch, it didn't attack her like most of her other victims did, it just stood there, and then began to back away. Her instincts took over and she rushed at it, slashed it twice and watched it bleed to death. She didn't feel remorseful then, instead, she felt an odd sort of glee knowing that she had that kind of power.
Staring at the weapon, she recalled something else…
"Garnet? Are you paying attention?"
"Yes, Doctor Tot."
"Good. Now, as I was saying, the tribe of the forgotten summoners used to perform this ritual. It seems rather like synthesizing, but with magic, soul and love of the summoner instead of fire and metal. The summoner has to take two purely magical weapons or items, and then perform a procedure that may take as long as several months, depending on how complicated and powerful the weapons are. Now, it goes like this…"
As though she were following somebody's instructions, she lay her Rod gently on her bed, then searched for her Whale Whisker, Tiger Racket and … after a moment's hesitation, Vivi's Octagon Staff that had been left in her possession. For some reason, she just wanted the little mage, to in some way, be part of this. Slipping of to the private garden her father had bestowed on her, she arranged them in specific positions, planting the butts firmly into the ground, forming a circle around her. According to Doctor Tot, this allowed the earth magic to flow through them. And since this was where Vivi, her adoptive and biological mother was buried, she figured that it was chock full of magic.
She sat in the middle of the circle, and then focused her mind on the four items surrounding her, trying to remember the chant.
"Power of Earth, against thy wind,
Power of Fire, against thy water.
I call upon thou,
For your strength, I will bow.
This sacred chant, from thy lips,
A song from old,
When magic bold,
For weapons pure,
To heal and cure,
To destroy and ravage,
Causing ultimate damage.
For Magic whole,
For magic strong,
For magic lacking,
Right from wrong.
For power mighty,
For power clash,
Held together,
In thy stash.
Weapons four,
I make thy own,
In holy circle,
So like home.
None alike,
None the same,
None so different,
All shalt I claim.
Too dark, too light,
Two black, two white,
A substance to fight,
A way to defend,
An anger to hold,
A joy to lend,
A hope of told,
A fear to send,
A fire to burn,
A water to quench.
To hold as one,
All this power,
For enemy and traitor,
To fear and cower.
May thou harmonize,
And join together,
To serve you mistress,
For now and forever.
Two Heal, two destroy,
To help, to die,
To serve thou mistress,
For truth, for lie,
To serve thou mistress,
Until thy death,
To give thee might,
Wilt thou bequest.
She repeated it over and over again, her voice husky and quivering with some unknown power as she spoke. The four Rods around her began to glow faintly at first, then appeared to pulse. In the distance, she could here other summoners like herself, the mummer of their ancient voices chanting in her ears, pollen and sparkle began to swirl around her in the breeze that she was creating, circling her, leaves and tiny flowers were caught up with it.
She was in a half dreamlike state, unable to be sure how long she'd been sitting there, hours perhaps, when suddenly, beams shot out from her weapons, they headed upwards, and directly above her, they collided into a ball of flame, ice, wind, water and thunder. Dagger felt herself tense, she knew that it was unusual and rare for one to combine white and black magic, and there were bound to be some side effects.
Before she knew it, the ball was gone, instead a long dark shape was spinning to the ground before landing firmly on one end at huge patch of flowers. Immediately, she knew that that was where her original mother lay. She rose without hesitation, walking towards it calmly. She stared at her creation with delight and wonder. It was the length of the Reaper's Rod, the scythe and blue sphere still in place, but along its length, instead of the glossy black, it looked as though white and black had crashed together. Part of it was the former, and the other, the latter. She couldn't help thinking that it looked very like there was a battle between dark and light.
When she looked closely, the original words 'For Death, There Will Be Life' shone as brightly as ever, but underneath it were the words 'But For Life, There Will Be Death.'
She twirled it just like she had the first time she saw it, the balance seemed to have improved, when she swung it, wind came out like it had for the Tiger Racket. The snakes, she noticed, were also a clash of the two colours. She swung it around several times just for the enjoyment, she looked at it intently, before she knew it, she whispered, "The Staff of Hades."
She gazed at her new weapon for a while before returning to her room and setting it carefully in her closet. As she looked at all her expensive gowns, she felt a jolt of surprise. She had been so wrapped up in her own problems and thoughts that she hadn't even realised it. The play was a week away, the members of Tantalus, Vivi's kids, Eiko… everyone would be there… and a certain somebody she didn't even know was alive.
A/N: Hey people, end of this chapter… I meant to have the play in it, but it just grew sooo… long.