A/N: Okay, there've been some questions as to how Eiko got into the library and not get spotted by Bonneville. Sorry, I should've explained that earlier. Well, I wanted it to be like, you know, she was wandering around the castle, playing with her new camera, and she hears someone coming and decides to play a game. (You know how little kids are. So, she climbs up into a book case, because I'm imagining just a few dusty old tomes scattered here and there, and she peeked her camera out of a crevice in the wood or something.

Another matter I need to address, like, didn't Eiko notice how Dagger was fighting the first time? Okay, I guess I should've explained this as well, anyway, she was dead scared for Dagger, and probably about to leap to her defence, then she saw her put up a fight. She kept on filming, not really thinking, cause, I mean like when you're scared, you don't really think right? So, when all the drama was over, she realised that something was wrong with the picture. So, she checked the camera again and it dawned on her.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Dagger pulled on her orange jumpsuit and brushed her hair with amazing speed. Right after Eiko had given her that look in the library, the 'Tell me what the hell is going on before I show the others what happened' look, she'd excused herself and ran to her room to make herself decent. Zidane, Steiner and Beatrix, assuming that she probably needed space, had left her at that.

She bit her lip and felt like screaming. She truly didn't know what to do. Nobody was supposed to find out yet! Nobody! It was supposed to be kept in the dark until she had brought Vivi back! I have no choice, she decided inwardly. Making her way silently to where she instinctively knew Eiko was going to be, (call it a Summoner's bond) she found herself at the Gardens that had been given to her by her father. Sure enough, the blue haired figure was standing there, staring down at a grave.

She could tell that Eiko sensed her presence even though she didn't turn around, it was by the stiffening of her shoulders and the set of her jaw. After a heavy and awkward silence, she just said very simply, "Tell me."

Dagger's eyes darkened at the tone of her voice, she could tell that something was bothering her companion, she was worried for something, but she couldn't quite say what. "Turn around, Eiko," she said finally, in a voice of steel.

Slightly disconcerted, she obeyed, never having heard such a tone from Dagger before.

"What I'm going to tell you now, will not leave this garden," she said firmly.

"I can't promise you that," replied Eiko expressionlessly. Before Dagger could say anything, she quickly added. "I know something's been going on, I know you haven't been mourning and all that crap! I can tell these things, Dagger! You didn't learn how to bloody fight like that by sitting around and contemplating the meaning of life!"

"What I've been doing, I've been doing for all of us," said Dagger, trying to stay calm.

"I don't know what you've been up to, but it isn't good!" yelled Eiko. "You disappear suddenly for months, you come back thin and pale, you draw away from us! You think I haven't noticed? I may be a child, but I'm not blind!"

"Do you really believe that you know so much?" shouted Dagger, beginning to lose her temper. "You don't have the faintest inkling of what I've been going through!"

"Then why don't you bloody tell me?" screamed Eiko. "You're all holed up, Steiner and Beatrix keep saying how strange you're acting, you've abruptly appeared with fighting skills that even Zidane probably couldn't top and-"

"Fine!" she yelled angrily, the stress and anger finally getting to her. "You really want to know what's been going on? Fine! I'll tell you then! Ever since I've left the castle, I've been training with Garland, yes, the evil psycho who tried to murder all of us who's supposed to be dead! I've been pummeled into pulp day after day after day! And do you know why! Because I just want this one person, this one damn person to come back! I want Vivi back!" she took a deep breath, her face was flushed and her chest heaving. She looked and Eiko's stunned face and continued. "And if I have to go to a demented ninny to learn to do so, then so be it!"

"You're joking," whispered Eiko after a tense silence. "Please tell me you're joking."

"No," she said, feeling strangely empty, aware that if Garland were there, he would've been furious with her. Rule number 4: Never lose your temper, it only leads to mistakes.

"You aren't going back there."

"Yes, I am," she countered. "And nobody's going to stop me."

"For Madeen's sake! Listen to yourself!" hissed Eiko. "You think that we don't care about you? We've been worried sick! You know why? Because I had a premonition!"

"What?" said Dagger confusedly, the stubborn look gone from her face.

"A foretelling of the future, Summoners get it sometimes," said Eiko, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "You were in trouble, something dark was about to happen and someone kept trying to stop it. I didn't get it at first, but now, now that I've hear this… this insanity! I can tell, any idiot can tell, that what you're doing is obviously part of it!"

"It's not insanity!" she protested. "I want my friend back, is that so much to ask?"

"If you're asking from Garland, it is!"

"Basically, you're telling me to stop."

"Yes!"

"And I'm telling you that that is not happening!"

"Garland has obviously twisted your mind!" said Eiko fiercely, trying to make her see sense. "He's using you for his own evil bidding! Don't you get it? He's controlling you!"

"For you information, he hasn't done one thing to me except help me get nearer to reaching my goal!"

"I don't care, you're stopping this nonsense right now!" she shouted, stamping her foot childishly.

"Dammit! Don't you care about Vivi at all?" she yelled back. "Don't you give a-"

She stopped speaking because of the look on Eiko's face. It was one that should never have been on a child so young, a mix of bitterness, anger and overwhelming sadness all rolled into one. Her horn began to grow, and she Tranced.

Eiko raised her hands and flecks of lights gathered until it became a huge ball of fire, Dagger crouched into a defensive position in case she decided to attack her. Instead, she turned towards the forest near the castle and flung it there, letting it land with a huge explosion. She gave Dagger a look that almost made her want to back away before letting the Trance wear off.

"Don't you dare say that," she whispered dangerously. "Don't you dare even try to imply that I didn't care for Vivi, because I did… more than you'd ever know."

"What d'you mean?" asked Dagger nervously.

"Do you really need me to spell it out?" she shrieked, seeming to be on the verge of losing control. "I loved him! I loved that mage! I loved everything about him, the tilt of his hat, the glow of his eyes, the-"

She stopped speaking suddenly, as though she were afraid that she'd said too much.

"How could you?" choked out Dagger. "You're a child, do you even know the meaning of love?"

"Do you, Dagger? Does anyone?" asked Eiko bitterly. "Love knows no age. I loved him."

"But-"

"Think of my life, Dagger. I've always had it in such a light note, haven't I?" said Eiko with a laugh that didn't suit her features. "I lost my parents when I was but a baby. I had only my grandfather who died several years after, then, I was taken in by moogles. I know that you lost you parents as well," she added, looking up. "But tell me, did you live in wasteland that was once your home? Did you stay there every single painful day, remembering how everything that mattered was snatched away from you? You wouldn't understand, Dagger," she said, shaking her head. "You had the bliss of being ignorant. You didn't have to remember.

"Then, all of you came along," she continued. "I saw Zidane, true, I did have a crush on him, but I never wanted to admit to myself that I had no hope with him. I wanted to believe that he'd always be there for me, that I would never have to be alone again. I guess that I never realised how the best thing was already in front of me… Vivi…"

Dagger stared at her, she seemed lost in thought now. "When none of you were paying attention, he talked to me, we played games, he told me about his life, and I told him about mine. We had a connection, I suppose, I just never understood, being too wrapped up in my own little world… There was one night when I did get and inkling of what was to be, we were in the Forgotten Continent… it was freezing, and I was far from used to the temperature. At night, he would always come over to me with a blanket in hand, and he'd listen to me chatter about everything and nothing.

"I figured it out later on, that this was the one person who understood me. He alone knew what would make me smile, what to say, and when not to speak. I adored his awkward little ways, and every time I was with him, I'd feel that finally… finally I wouldn't be alone. Then, he was torn from me, nobody much paid attention to how I felt, all of you supposed that I was a child who wouldn't understand what Death meant, it's laughable really."

Dagger glanced down, speechless.

"I've killed Dagger, for all my youth, for all the battles I've been in, for all my power. All of you seem to forget, I've killed, I've helped to kill. I'm far from innocent and mindless. Vivi understood that."

She looked at Eiko, noting bleakly that it wasn't right for one who was so young to have to endure so much, to speak like that. Only then did she really see the façade that she'd been putting on as the annoying happy kid.

"I think that it's safe to say that I want Vivi back more than anyone else, but I don't want him back through a way that I know would revolt him," her purple blue eyes bore into Dagger's own soft brown ones. "We Summoners have a saying. Do you remember it? 'Heal the wounded, Cure the sick, but let the dying rest'."

Dagger nodded numbly, the words seeming strangely familiar. At last, she found her voice. "I'm not giving up now, Eiko," she said quietly. "I understand you better now, but I'm not giving up," there was a fierce glint in her eyes as she looked at the younger girl. "I've been through too much, I just hope that you can understand that."

"No, Dagger, I can't," said Eiko curtly. "But I know that I can't make you stop, so just do what you want. But… be careful…"

With that, she brushed her glistening eyes on her sleeve and left.

Dagger groaned and sat on the ground, thinking about how messed up things were. If Eiko were to tell anyone about this, there was sure to be one heck of a hullabaloo.

She heard a crunch beside her.

Immediately, she stood up and turned around, there was Zidane, his eyes flaring with barely controlled rage.

"You heard," she said simply.

"Yes," he answered in the same tone.

They stared at each other, Dagger braced herself for what she was sure to be unpleasant.

"You- she- … how… you- Garland!" he spluttered. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "You- When? Why!" he asked desperately.

"After Vivi's funeral," she answered quietly, knowing that it was best to just stay calm. "He approached me, offered me a way to bring you and Vivi back, I agreed. The rest… I believe that you have some idea."

"B-but! How could you positively be so… so stupid!" he shouted furiously.

"Oh, I'm sorry that if it's stupid that I want one of my friends back!" she said, her nerves already frayed. "Look! I've already had this damn conversation with Eiko, and I'm not going to have one with you! You can't control what I do, or what I choose to do! So this is none of your bloody business!"

"It is my bloody business if it involves a bastard who tried to take destroy Gaia!"

"I won't and can't take this anymore!" she screamed, running out of the Gardens away from him.

Before, Zidane would easily have been able to catch up with her, now, he could barely keep her in sight as she rounded the halls and corridors. He arrived out of breath in front of her room to find her holding up a long black and white staff, atop it was a blue sphere that looked vaguely familiar. She ripped the Alexandrian pendant off the necklace that she'd been wearing and gripped it in her hand. Zidane stood still, unsure of what she was about to do. Fingering a rather large dent at the base by the scythe, she thrust the jewel into the hole. There was a huge flash of light before the metal writhed on her staff, molding so that the jewel fitted it perfectly.

With a look at Zidane, she Teleported away… and…

She was gone.

Dagger's mind whirled as she landed on the stone floor of her room in Garland's lair. She sat on her bed and gazed at her staff, unsure of what she had just done. She had noticed the hole there a while ago, and it had occurred to her once or twice to put the jewel in, but she hadn't unsure of what the two powers would do together. It was already bad enough that she'd mixed black and white magic together, but to add the jewel into the mix? That was nothing short of reckless! She didn't know why she'd done it… to prove a point to Zidane… she supposed.

She just stayed there, holding up her staff and examining it. The snakes were still there, their ruby eyes glinted up at her, and so was the clash of white against black. Suddenly, the door to her room opened, and Arbron came in, looking impassively at her. She looked up at him and thought she could see a hint of joy in his eyes.

"I'm back," she said easily.

"I know that," he replied before taking in her weapon. He breathed in sharply. "What did you do to it?"

"This?" she held it to him so that he would have a better look. "I … altered it… summoner tradition."

"Garland isn't going to be happy," he said pointedly.

"Screw him," she answered. Then she got up and took out her fighting outfit from her closet. "Let's fight."

Arbron raised an eyebrow but nodded with a grin as she entered the bathroom to change.

"Dagger," he called through the door. "Welcome back."

……

The scene that Zidane was now facing was far from pretty. Steiner was hyperventilating, Beatrix was murderous, Freya and the rest were stunned. Ironically, only Eiko seemed calm.

"I knew that there was something wrong with her," said Amarant.

"Wow, thanks for telling us now," said Freya sarcastically.

"We have to do something!" growled Beatrix. "Send out search parties to scour the Mist Continent!"

"How you know Queen not in other continent?" Quina demanded.

"Teleportaion can't bring you across other continents," said Zidane wearily.

"Her Majesty is in danger!" yelled Steiner. "That low life piece of scum must have altered her mind! He's controlling her! He's making her do this against her own will! He-"

"Far from it," said Eiko bluntly. "She's doing it because she wants to."

"Why you little-"

"She's right," said Beatrix, "We should have realised that something was going on. Remember how good she was when she wanted us to train with her? The both of us could barely keep up."

"There's no point analyzing the should haves," said Freya, "The real question is, what do we do now?"

"Simple," said Zidane grimly. "We find the bastard and kill him for once and for all. Maybe that'll shake some sense into her."

"Think for a moment," interrupted Amarant. "What if the psycho really is helping her? What if he's teaching her how to bring the dead back to life?"

"Does it really matter?" asked Eiko. "She's hardly even the Dagger we love anymore. She's been so strained and stony lately, like she doesn't want any of us near her. He's killing her, not physically, but mentally and spiritually!"

"He isn't doing her any good," declared Zidane. When all eyes were on him, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I saw her just before she left. She was holding this Staff, it looked… well… I can't really describe the way it looked. That isn't important. But the feeling I got from it, when I looked at it, I could sense the turmoil, like there was a fight going on. And… I didn't mean to mention this, but there was this blue sphere on top of it."

"What so special?" asked Quina. "Is good food?"

"Hardly," said Zidane with a grim laugh. "I remember why it looked so familiar. It contains the blue light that was in Branbal."

"You mean that blue stuff that the Genomes kept staring at?" asked Beatrix.

"Yep."

"You think she realised it?" wondered Freya.

"Who knows?" said Amarant icily. "The thing is, that blue glowing gunk obviously plays a part in Garland's sick plan, and I'm betting my new claws that it isn't good."

……

"What did you do to it!" hollered Garland, making Dagger cringe as he gazed disbelievingly at her staff. Arbron gave her an almost sympathetic look.

Almost.

"Umm…" she tried, racking her brain for an explanation. Truth be told, she never really did consider Garland's reaction. "An old summoner ritual?"

Garland stared at her, so she used it as an opportunity to continue before he started shouting again.

"See, I mixed two white weapons and another black one, and I kind of got that," she quickly added as he started to open his mouth. "But I swear, the two snakes were already there before I did anything!"

Garland shut his mouth and looked at her strangely. "Snakes?"

She nodded and pointed to the base.

Garland examined them with an unreadable expression, then he checked the staff over again. He frowned at the new silver words that was on its surface, and at the violent clash of dark and light. After what seemed like forever, he handed it back to her.

"We'll begin studying magic now," said Garland calmly, as though the confrontation that they'd just had hadn't even happened.

"Huh?" said Dagger. "Just like that?"

"You're ready for it," he answered. "Your physical strength will be able to balance with your magical one when I'm true with you. Soon, you'll be able to do what you came here for."

She felt a flare of hope in her heart.

He looked back at Arbron and beckoned him over. "I'm afraid that he isn't particularly skilled with magic though," said Garland. "So you'll be fighting against creatures most of the time."

Dagger nodded, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Now, this is what I want you we are going to do," he instructed as they walked towards the dome for training. "So far, you know only Healing Magic and Summoning, I want you to learn Black as well."

"What?" she said in disbelief. "I'm a White Mage, I can't-"

"If I say so, it can be done," said Garland firmly. "I have yet to finish. As you are unable to do Black Magic, you'll be combining your Eidolons with the different skills. For example, Ifrit and Firaga, you'll need to learn how to combine them so that the damage that can be done will at the very least triple when you summon him."

"Oh…" she muttered, unsure of what to say.

He opened the strong doors and let them in. It was the same bright field that she had first seen when she had come, in the middle of it was a single Dragon.

From the control panel, she saw Garland signal her to summon something before it attacked her. Feeling rather worried as she hadn't summoned anything for a long time, she waved her Staff about and called,

"Breathtaking beauty of frost and cold,

Come to thee as has been told,

Follow thy summons, follow thy plea,

Come to your mistress,

Come to me!"

With a huge gust of wind and snow, Shiva, Goddess of Ice, emerged from the ground, the place she stood freezing instantly. Whirling her hands, she pointed at the Dragon and attacked, allowing sharp glaciers to fall violently on it before disappearing in a tornado of snowflakes. When everything cleared up, Dagger looked over, the monster keeled, but just barely. The power of the Goddess had hardly reached a damage of 3000 despite the fact the dragons were weak against ice.

Garland appeared before her, and he didn't seem too happy.

"That was pathetic," he snarled. "What went wrong? Even that little girl could have done more damage than that!"

Dagger bristled, "I'm a little rusty," she snapped. "I need practice!" She decided not to mention that that single summons had already left her weak and shaky.

"There's something wrong…" he mumbled, "Something I'm missing…"

"I just haven't practiced!" she protested. "I'll get better!"

"Hardly, my ever foolish pupil," he replied. "Almost two years ago, you used your magic just about everyday, and it was barely any better than that attempt before!"

She opened her mouth to answer back, but snapped it shut when she realised that he was right.

"Have you never wondered why the little girl's summons were always more powerful than yours?" he asked slowly.

"No," she answered, frowning as she thought it over. It was true though, why? "I don't see any reason. I'm older and more experienced. We're both Summoners…"

"Both Summoners…" echoed Garland thoughtfully, he stared off in the distance for several long moments until Dagger wondered whether he was sick. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. "She has a horn."

"So? It just helps to communicate with animals."

"Not quite," he said. "Think about it. Animals are part of nature, and so are the Eidolons. She has a stronger bond because of her horn, she can understand and train them better because of it!" he turned to her. "Why don't you have one?"

She remembered the dream she had… memories more like. "I had one," she said. "But it was cut off."

"Let me see."

She hesitantly pushed the hair on her forehead away, revealing a rather strange looking slash where her horn had been. She flinched as she ran his cold fingers over the old wound. After many minutes, he stepped back.

"So…" he whispered, before walking out, his cloak billowing around him.

He left Dagger staring after him, puzzled.

……

For the next few days, he kept in his room, leaving Dagger and Arbron to their own devices. With him busy, Arbron showed her around the library while she haltingly and painfully told him what happened in Alexandria.

"… they just don't understand," she finished bitterly.

"Not many people do," he said, as though it was something she ought to know.

"You aren't very comforting," she said huffily, half joking.

"Wasn't meant to be," he pointed out, giving her a slight grin, making her smile back. Over the days, she'd grown more and more used to Arbron and his strange habits.

Abruptly, Garland burst into the room, he looked at both of them and said, "Come."

Dagger eyed him cautiously, there was the scent of many fumes clinging onto him, his hair looked frazzled and he seemed exhausted and energetic at the same time.

They followed him to another room, inside were two boiling cauldrons and many strange ingredients. On the ground, there were runes, symbols and shapes encircling a five pointed star drawn out of something she couldn't identify. He dragged her over to the first cauldron which was an angry red colour, impatiently, he yanked out a strand of her long hair, ignoring her cry of annoyance. He dropped it into the bubbling pot, causing it to turn silver. Then he went to the next one which was a sickly green and took out a dagger. He used the tip to cut her finger lightly and allowed five drops of blood to ooze out before pushing her away.

As she watched him, Arbron silently handed her a vial of salve to put over the cut. She nodded her thanks as Garland continued muttering over the latter which had turned clear the moment her blood had entered. Picking up a well decorated porcelain urn, he walked over to the star and started sprinkling the water in it over the symbols.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on anytime soon?" she grumbled.

"Hush, you foolish girl," he hissed, "It took me days to get everything right," he pointed to the cauldrons. "That will regrow you horn, and this," he pointed to the urn. "Is the Holy Water straight for an underground river in Madain Sari. It's part of the ritual."

He shoved her none to gently into the middle of the shapes and poured both the potions into separate vials. He gave her the clear one and told her to drink it while he smeared the silver liquid over her scar. Obediently, she swallowed the formula. Immediately, she wished she hadn't. She dropped to her knees and gritted her teeth. The liquid was burning down her throat and the other one felt like it was eating straight into her skull. Garland was standing in front of her, gesturing wildly and mumbling gibberish under his breath, but it only increased her pain.

She couldn't take it anymore and let out an ear splitting scream. The pain was terrible, now all of it was centered on her head, it ached and throbbed, making her feel like it had been cleaved open at the brow. She dimly noticed Arbron rushing to her, but Garland halted him. She shrieked like an animal, feeling pain beyond anything that she had ever experienced. She was sure that Garland had done something wrong somehow… was it supposed to hurt like this? Was it supposed to feel like a million axes were hammering down mercilessly upon her head?

She could wonder no more.

She blacked out.

A/N: Well… I'm not sure what to say about this chapter… I can hardly believe I even wrote it. Truth be told, I wasn't even ready to post for at least another month. At first, I was thinking of updating my Harry Potter fic instead, but I felt sooo guilty for not updating for over a month. But this was pretty fast compared to before, right? Actually, I'm not really sure where to go from now, but I've got a very vague idea… So… give me some time, and I'm sorry to say, but, don't count on an update anytime soon. I've got to think the plot through.

I have to say, I love you guys! I adore the input you give me!

Anyway, I wrote this on the computer in a few hours, so I'm not sure how it is. Sorry if it sucks. Here, I've exposed a different side of Eiko, at least, this is the way I think she should be after her past. Well… review! Sorry if it sucks.