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Chapter Nine: Cleyra
Blank blinked awake. His muscles were sore and ached, as if he had just run ten miles, and he could feel new wounds all over his body. He struggled to get up, and the first time he fell to the ground. The second time he managed to stand up, and walked as if drunk towards his comrades, but then he fell to the ground.

"Damn…" Blank muttered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a potion, which he then drank. It tasted bitter, but he could instantly feel results.

This time he managed to stand and stay up, so he walked over to Vivi, dropped to his knees and shook the young mage, "Vivi… you all right?"

Blank continued this for a little bit, and became very worried that Vivi might have died. And if Vivi died, Freya might have died, and Felix too. But then the boy uttered a small moan, and slowly opened his eyes. Blank took out another potion and handed it to Vivi, "Here, drink this. Hopefully it'll help you feel better."

Vivi nodded and then drank it, and said, "Thanks Blank…"

"Feeling better?" Blank asked.

"A lot… though I think we should rest here for a while longer…"

"I know what you mean," Blank nodded, and then turned to Freya.

He shook Freya awake, and once he saw movement, and then she took a potion out of her pocket and drank it. "You all right, Freya?" Blank asked.

"Damn!" Freya exclaimed. "We lost…"

"Yeah," Blank nodded and looked around for Felix, the next person he would help. "Hey! Where's Felix!"

Freya instantly jumped up and looked around, while Vivi stayed sitting down and looked around. "Do you think he's ok?" Freya asked.

"… I don't know…" Blank muttered. "He's so strong I wouldn't be surprised, but at the same time, I think, since he's so strong, that man might have killed him."

"He was awfully powerful," Freya muttered. "Did he ever show power anywhere near that before?"

"No," Blank shook his head. "He was never so powerful… why didn't he tell us he was that strong? Why didn't he use that strength earlier, like at Gizamaluke's Grotto?"

"I wish he had," Freya replied.

"Shit! We have to leave now," Blank suddenly exclaimed. "Claire, Randall, and Steiner are at the entrance of Burmecia! We have to go and help them!"

"Right!" Freya exclaimed and they rushed out of the palace, barely noticing that Vivi was following them very slowly.

Blank ran through the entire town, despite the painful protests from his legs. About halfway through the town he noticed that Freya was no longer behind him, probably got worn out. But he was far too concerned about Claire, he told her that he wouldn't leave her anymore, and if she was gone… well, he wouldn't go through that failure phase again, but he would definitely regret not staying back with her.

Once he reached the entrance of the town, he dropped to his knees, in pain and in dismay. His legs trembled and the muscles seemed to wiggle in pain underneath his skin. His dismay, of course, was that no one was here, Randall wasn't here, Steiner wasn't here… and Claire wasn't here.

"Damn it…" Blank muttered. "Claire… I pray that you're safe…"

"Is she here?" Freya asked once she arrived, being followed by Vivi.

"No…" Blank muttered. "Claire… nobody's here…"

"It's not you're fault, Blank," Freya told him.

"I know," Blank said as he struggled to stand. "It was their choice, and a wise one at that, to stay out here. But I have to save them, I can't abandon them."

"We will not abandon them," Freya told him. "But first we have to go to Cleyra. I'm certain that the queen's forces have probably all ready planned for an attack, if not are all ready attacking."

"…" Blank nodded. "All right, but we should rest first. At this rate, by the time we reach Cleyra, we won't have any energy to climb it. And then we have to wait outside it, in that sand storm."

"Right," Freya nodded. "… Actually… I believe we left our sleeping materials with Randall and Claire…"

"…" Blank thought for a minute. "We could always sleep in Burmecia…"

"N-No way…" Vivi muttered. "It's creepy in there…"

"Indeed," Freya replied. "All those bodies… I don't believe I can handle sleeping in that place…"

"It's that or we sleep outside, make your choice," Blank told them.

"I say we sleep outside…" Vivi muttered.

"Likewise," Freya replied.

"All right," Blank nodded. "There will be a total of nine hours rest. We each sleep six hours and stand guard three."

"Agreed," Freya nodded.

"I'll take the first shift," Blank told them. "Then Freya, and then you, Vivi, all right?"

"That's good…" Vivi mumbled.

"All right," Blank told them. "Get some rest, I'll wake Freya up in about three hours."

"Ok, Blank," Freya and Vivi replied, and then they lied down. They were on the ground with nothing for comfort except their hands for pillows, their muscles ached especially from the run down to the entrance, but they fell asleep quickly enough.


After nine hours, they all felt rejuvenated, and so they headed to Cleyra. They battled few monsters, which wasn't too surprising since Cleyra was only about an hour's walk from Burmecia. Once they reached Cleyra, they were amazed to see the humongous sand storm covering the majestic tree.

"I've heard of the sand storm… but I guess I never really… believed it…" Blank muttered.

"It's amazing…" Vivi added.

"Indeed it is," Freya replied. "It's stood here for so long, because of a spell held at the sanctum of the town."

"Have you ever been here, Freya?" Blank asked.

"No," Freya replied. "A lot of the people of Burmecians don't appreciate the Cleyrans… The Cleyrans separated from Burmecia because they wanted to live more peacefully. There's nothing wrong with that, but a lot of the Burmecians thought the Cleyrans were weak. I'm not surprised if the tension between the Burmecians and the Cleyrans is gone now."

"Yeah…" Blank nodded. "I imagine a lot of the Burmecians escaped to here."

"I hope they have…" Freya murmured. "I want to protect them… I won't let Cleyra fall like I did Burmecia…"

"It wasn't your fault, Freya," Vivi muttered.

"…" Freya was silent, but then nodded. "Let's go…"

"All right," Blank nodded.

The way to the tree was rather odd, but made Blank believe that an attack here would be easily noticeable. There was just a thin rickety bridge that lead to the tree which seemed like it barely held the three's weight. So if the Alexandrians had been able to cross this, it would take hours, if not days, to get all their soldiers across.

Then climbing the tree was even more awkward. The paths were covered with sand, probably coming from the sand storm outside, and then there was a very small path where you had to pull a device to get the sand to flow down below, so they could cross. There was no way the Alexandrians would be able to fit all their soldiers in the small path and not in the room where the sand came down.


"Damn…" Steiner mumbled. He shook the bars of his prison. "Let me out! I'm the captain of the Knights of Pluto!"

After being arrested, they were brought aboard the queen's Red Rose, which was hidden behind Burmecia. Steiner and Randall were thrown into prison, but they hadn't seen Claire since boarding the aircraft.

"We know who you are," the prison guard told him. "And we don't care."

"I'm an official from Lindblum," Randall told them. "Arresting me could be considered an act of war!"

"Do you think we care?" the guard chuckled. "Do you think Lindblum stands a chance against Alexandria's military?"

"…" Randall was silent. The guard was probably right. Burmecia is supposed to have some of the best warriors in the world, and Alexandria was able to conquer it so quickly. Especially with the king being a frog, they don't have their air force. If Alexandria were to attack them, Lindblum wouldn't stand a chance.

"Where is the princess!" Steiner demanded. "I protected her for so long! I deserve some sort of explanation!"

"I don't even know that," the guard told Steiner. "So just shut up and sit tight in your cell. I'm sure the queen will do what's right."

Randall slightly chuckled at that comment.


"Finally!" Blank announced once they reached the town. From what they could see now, the town was gorgeous, it was built on a gigantic tree, and the tree had brilliantly green leaves and magnificently beautiful branches. There were small fountains across the town that allowed the tree to keep it's beautiful colors.

There were two people at the entrance of the town garbed in a white robe, both of whom smiled at the three. "Welcome to Cleyra," the first said.

The second then smiled at Freya, "You must be Lady Freya, correct?"

"That's right," Freya nodded.

"The King of Burmecia wishes to speak to you," she smiled. "He is at the sanctum at the top of the tree. Would you like me to go with you?"

"Please," Freya replied, then turned to Blank. "Stay in Cleyra, I will meet up with you later."

"I plan to," Blank nodded.

Freya smiled at him, and then followed the white-garbed woman through the village. The remaining woman then walked up to Blank and Vivi and said, "Would you like a tour of the town?"

"No thanks," Blank replied. "I'll find my own way around."

"I-I would like a tour…" Vivi told the Cleyran.

"All right, then," the woman smiled and led Vivi up through the town.

Blank sighed as he looked over the beauty of the town. Claire would love this place… Blank thought. She truly would, it was so beautiful, almost as beautiful as she is.

Blank sighed again and walked through the town, and ran into some Burmecians how were arguing about something. Blank noticed the man had a large carriage with several weapons, and so he asked, "Do you sell weapons?"

"Yeah," the Burmecian said. "Trying to get some cash so that my family and I can go buy a new home somewhere."

Blank smiled and nodded, then asked, "What swords do you have?"

"Well, I got this one here," the Burmecian said, showing Blank a sword that was clearly sharper than his own. "It goes for 1600 gil."

"All right," Blank responded and handed him 2000 gil then took the sword. "You can keep the change."

"Th-thank you!" the man exclaimed.

Blank nodded then headed further up the town, basically randomly walking around as he didn't know where to go. However, through most of his travel around the village, his mind was filled of thoughts of the princess. He hoped she was all right, hoped that she was still alive. He assumed, if the Alexandrian soldiers captured her, she would be safe, at least for now. He still felt like he needed to do something, he still felt like it was somewhat his fault.

But that feeling wouldn't stop him from doing what he needed to do, not anymore. He would protect Cleyra, and then he would find Claire.


Steiner and Randall waited impatiently in their cells, until Zorn and Thorn entered the prison room of the ship. The guard instantly stood and saluted the clown twins, but they turned to Randall and Steiner.

"Any orders from the queen of what to do with these two?" the guard asked.

"Orders there are," Thorn told him.

"The queen ordered us to tell you to execute them," Zorn added.

"What!" Steiner bellowed. "Impossible! The queen would never order such a thing!"

"This is an act of war!" Randall shouted. "I am a Lindblum official!"

"Care, we don't," Thorn replied.

"Thorn, let us leave," Zorn said, then turned to the guard. "Bring them to the execution room."

"Yes, sirs!" the guard saluted.

"No!" Steiner shouted as the twins left.

The guard then walked up to Randall's cell, chuckling, "Too bad, now we'll have to fight Lindblum… oh well…"

Once the guard unlocked Randall's cell, Randall smirked, the guard noticed this and asked, "What you smirkin' at boy?"

"You're demise!" Randall exclaimed, aimed open palmed at the soldier, and a lightning bolt struck his chest, causing him to fall back unconscious. Randall picked up the guard's keys and rushed over to Steiner's cell.

"Stop what you're doing!" Steiner shouted. "Once we talk to the queen-"

"We won't be able to talk to the queen, Steiner," Randall told him. "Don't you understand? They are going to kill us! They don't care about us!"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Steiner asked.

"I don't know why they're going to kill us…" Randall muttered as Steiner's cell became unlocked. "But I assume that means the princess is in deep trouble…"

"The princess?"

"Yes, now make a choice, Steiner," Randall told him. "Either join Claire's side or Brahne's side."

"…" Steiner was silent for a moment. "I'll… I'm on the princess's side!"

"Good," Randall exclaimed. "Now let's go!"

They rushed out of the room, only to find that there were two guards outside the door. "The prisoner's are escaping!" the guards exclaimed.

Randall quickly zapped one with a lightning attack, and Steiner punched the other in the face, making him stumble back and fall to the ground unconscious. They were on the outside of the ship, they could see below them barrels and several black mages seeming ready to go into the barrels for some reason.

They glanced around and then Randall noticed something, a large sandstorm, "Steiner! That sandstorm!"

"What about it?" Steiner asked.

"That sandstorm protects Cleyra!" Randall exclaimed. "They're planning to attack Cleyra now!"

"No… Steiner mumbled. "I… don't believe it…"

"Where's the queen's chamber?" Randall asked.

Steiner pointed ahead, at a room in the front of the airship, "Down there."

"Good, let's go," Randall replied and rushed down to the room, being followed by Steiner. The top half of the door was made of glass, so Randall and Steiner were able to peek inside.

The queen was there, standing next to a silver-haired man, and Zorn and Thorn were dancing around a table that contained the princess. "Claire!" Randall exclaimed. "She's in the bed!"

"What are they doing?" Steiner asked.

"I don't know…" Randall mumbled. "Who is that silver-haired man?"

"I'm not certain… though I've seen him around the castle before…"

Just then they saw rays of magic rise from the princess's chest, and form into a pitch-black orb. "That's a dark matter!" Randall exclaimed. "They're drawing it from the princess! We have to stop them!"

"Right…" Steiner mumbled.

Randall then burst inside the room, drawing attention from the queen and the man, but not from the two twins. "What are you doing!" Randall exclaimed.

"You're supposed to be dead!" the queen shouted.

"Why, my queen?" Steiner asked. "We have done nothing wrong…"

"Kuja, destroy them!" Brahne demanded.

"No, how about instead they watch the attack on Cleyra," Kuja suggested. "It'll be rather humorous!"

"I like the way you think, Kuja," the queen grinned.

"You sadistic bastard!" Randall shouted. "We refuse to!"

"You don't have a choice," Kuja tittered as he raised his hand, open palmed, at the two.

Their bodies began to feel stiff, and suddenly they lost all feeling in their bodies, except that they could still see.


Eventually, Blank found himself at the sanctum, and so he walked inside. The first room, a room that was like a lobby, had benches across the sides of the building below windows that let in light that was necessary for the building. There was a room beyond this lobby, though there were two guards standing in front of it, both with dull and probably rarely used spears.

"Would you be Sir Blank?" one guard asked.

"Yeah," Blank nodded. "Why?"

"Lady Freya requested that if you were to show up for us to allow you into the room," the soldier answered as he stepped out of the way.

"Thanks," Blank nodded and walked up the steps. In this new room, there were several Cleyrans with white robes, two Burmecian knights, not including Freya, one harp with a shining red jewel on it, a woman in a white dress sitting next to it, Freya, and the king of Burmecia and Cleyra.

"Blank," Freya said as he came in, and motioned him to come over by her. "This is the king of Burmecia," she said, pointing to a Burmecian wearing armor and a blue cape, "and this is the Cleyran king," she finished, pointing to a man wearing a white robe and holding a staff.

"Nice to meet you," Blank nodded to them.

"Freya tells us that you've protected the Alexandrian princess for some time now," the Burmecian king said.

"That's correct sir… did Freya tell you how Claire…" the two kings looked confused at Blank, but then he corrected himself, "or Garnet wanted to be captured? And that he wanted help from Cid against Alexandria?"

"Yes, she told us all of that," the Cleyran king nodded.

"All right," Blank nodded. "Good. So you know she isn't an enemy."

"That is correct," the Burmecian king replied. "In fact, we belie-"

"THE SANDSTORM!" shouted someone from the previous room. Instantly everyone in the room looked out the window and saw that the sandstorm suddenly died down, and they could see Queen Brahne's airship, the Red Rose, hovering just a little ways from the tree.

"The Red Rose!" Blank exclaimed.

Suddenly a Burmecian soldier rushed into the room, and shouted, "Alexandrian soldiers are attacking at the entrance of the town!"

"I'll go!" Freya announced.

"Me too!" Blank shouted.

"Go! Hurry!" the Burmecian King told them.

They both instantly ran out of the sanctum and to the entrance of the town, where they saw that there were all ready several downed soldiers. They also noticed that Vivi was casting magic on the soldiers, but at the rate they were coming it wouldn't hold them off for long.

"Way to go, Vivi!" Blank exclaimed and he slashed down one soldier.

"We must work quickly!" Freya announced as she took down a soldier.

The three, along with the help of some Burmecian soldiers, were able to destroy the surprising small attack. They all congratulated themselves, but Blank and Freya knew better.

"That attack was too small…" Freya murmured.

"I know…" Blank muttered, then looked up at the airship. "What are you planning, Brahne?"

"BLACK MAGES!" shouted someone further into the town. All the fighters at the entrance instantly rushed up and destroyed the black mages that had killed a Burmecian family, Blank realized this family as being the one he bought his new sword from.

"How are the mages getting here?" Blank asked.

"Burmecian knights take the left side!" Freya ordered. "Blank, Vivi, and myself will take the right! Work your way to the sanctum!"

"Yes!" the soldiers instantly cried and rushed up the left side.

"Let's go!" Freya shouted, leading the group up the right side of the village.

The mages seemed to simply appear in front of them, but at the time that wasn't what they worried about. What they worried about was destroying the mages, not where they were coming from. That can be taken care of later, for now killing them was all that concerned them. As they traveled up the tree, they saved five citizens, two children who are now fatherless and motherless, two dancers, and one cleric.

Once they reached the top, they rushed inside the sanctum and into the room that held the two kings. Inside, however, they saw two fallen Burmecian knights, the woman sitting next to the harp on the ground bleeding, and the two kings looking frighteningly at the harp. Once Blank, Freya, and Vivi looked at the harp, they saw General Beatrix standing there, holding the jewel and with her sword pointed at the two kings.

"Cleyra has fallen!" Beatrix laughed.

"You!" Freya exclaimed, pointing her spear at Beatrix. "You did this! You destroyed Cleyra! Just like you did Burmecia!"

Beatrix paid little heed to Freya, and instead rushed right past them and out of the sanctum. "We'll get you, Beatrix!" Blank exclaimed as he, Freya, and Vivi quickly followed her out of the sanctum.

There, Beatrix cockily stood, grinning at them. "You wish to fight me?" she asked. "Without your friend, I don't think you'll stand much of a chance."

"We'll see about that!" Blank shouted as he rushed at Beatrix. He tried to strike her, but she easily defended, and nearly hit Blank with a counterstrike, but he was able to jump back quickly enough.

Vivi then hit Beatrix with a thundara, a skill he recently learned, but she seemed to barely notice that he had attacked at all. Freya jumped high in the air and threw her spear down at Beatrix, but instead of hitting her, Beatrix managed to catch the spear, and threw it back at Freya, who was also able to catch it.

"Fools! You don't stand a chance!" Beatrix laughed. "Climhazzard!"

Again, the three were struck down to their knees, and Beatrix, for some reason, decided to spare them.

Beatrix ran a little ways away from them, and suddenly a small ball of pale blue light appeared. "Retreat!" Beatrix announced and jumped into the ball. The ball then vanished and another appeared.

By this time, a cleric rushed out of the sanctum and healed the three. "She got away!" Blank exclaimed.

"Not yet!" Freya exclaimed, pointing to the pale blue ball of light. "She went into that! If we go in as well, we'll be able to catch up with her!"

"A-Are you sure?" Vivi nervously asked.

In response, Freya leapt into the ball of light, which vanished. Blank and Vivi rushed up to the spot, and Vivi exclaimed, "She's gone!"

Just then, another ball appeared, and Blank said, "Vivi, we have to go next!"

"A-All right…" Vivi nervously muttered.

When the next one appeared, Blank leapt in.

"Now I'm all alone…" Vivi muttered.

Then another appeared and after a second of hesitation, Vivi jumped in.

When Blank opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness, except above him, there was light. Blank popped his head to the light, and discovered that he was on some airship. He then jumped out of what he then discovered to be barrel, and Freya had all ready jumped out, and Vivi jumped out a moment after Blank.

"Where are we?" Blank asked.

"The Red Rose," Freya softly responded.

"Freya?" Vivi asked. "What's wrong?"

"Look…" Freya replied as she was looking over the edge of the airship.

What they saw was the beautiful Cleyra in flames. It was burning, every building had been lit aflame, all the people, those poor people who remain in the town, are all on fire. The sight made Vivi step back and cover his mouth, Freya seemed to cause Vivi to be deeply saddened, but for Blank it only made him angrier.

What enraged Blank the most was that those people, every single person who was attacked and now burning alive, if not all ready dead, were innocent. They had done absolutely nothing wrong, and the Alexandrians, the bloodthirsty Alexandrians, invaded them for absolutely no reason. The only reason, the only reason that Blank knew of yet, was pure greed, and the want of more land.

"Damn it!" Blank exclaimed. "Goddamn it!"

"I can't believe it…" Vivi muttered.

"Those… Alexandrians…" Freya muttered.

Just then the sky became pitch dark, and instantly the crew knew something was wrong. "Wh-what's going on?" Vivi asked.


"Bwahaha!" Queen Brahne laughed. She was in the front of the airship, the silver-haired man was standing next to her, Zorn and Thorn were a little behind them, but still able to look out at Cleyra, Randall and Steiner were unable to move next to Zorn and Thorn, still able to look at the village, and the princess was unconscious lying on the bed behind Zorn and Thorn. "Are you sure this will work, Kuja?"

"Of course," the silver-haired man smirked. "It is a much better way to get rid of your foes, and you don't even have to waste any of your soldiers."

"Excellent!" the queen laughed.

"Don't do it!" Randall shouted. "You can't! They haven't done anything!"

"Silence," Kuja said, glaring at Randall and Steiner. "You're lucky I gave you the ability to speak, and I wouldn't overuse that ability."

"Queen Brahne, I beg you to reconsider!" Steiner exclaimed.

"Be quiet!" the queen shouted. "Now, Odin! I summon thee!"

The sky above Cleyra instantly became pitch black, and the queen's eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was about to witness, a summon, things alike this hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Why her daughter would be able to summon was beyond her own understanding.

Kuja smirked and slightly giggled once as this had happened. "You sadistic bastard!" Randall shouted to Kuja. "Stop this! Please stop this!"

"Stop this, please my queen, please stop this!" Steiner begged.

Just then, an explosion of darkness seemed to erupt from the center of the darkness. And out of that explosion rode Odin, riding on his horse with a spear in hand. Then he threw the spear at Cleyra, which caused the once beautiful and peaceful village to burst into flames. The eruption of flames caused Brahne to laugh a laugh similar to what it would seem like a horse would do.


"NNNOOOOOO!" Freya cried, falling to her knees.

"Bastards!" Blank exclaimed.

"I… I can't believe it…" Vivi muttered.

After Odin returned to the darkness, which completely disappeared as Odin vanished behind it. Vivi dropped to his knees with Freya, but Blank could barely contain himself from killing everyone on the airship.

"No…" Freya murmured. "I… I can't believe it… Cleyra… Burmecia… it's gone…"

"You're just going to sit there, Freya?" Blank asked. "We have to avenge your fallen comrades! You have to avenge everyone!"

Freya stood, and nodded at Blank. "I will… I shall avenge each one of them right now."

"Great!" Blank exclaimed, then turned to Vivi. "Are you coming, Vivi?"

"Y-Yeah," Vivi nodded. "They were such nice people… I can't believe anyone could do that!"

"Good," Blank nodded. "Now come on, the queen has to be somewhere on this airship!"

The team drew their weapons and rushed to the front of the airship, assuming, and correctly so, that the queen was inside. Once they burst in everyone in the room, except for Randall, Steiner, and Claire who couldn't move, looked at them.

"You again?" the silver-haired man, Kuja, asked. "Where is Felix?"

"That doesn't matter!" Blank shouted. "I can't believe you would do such a terrible thing!"

"Blank!" Randall exclaimed.

"What are you doing here!" Steiner exclaimed.

"Randall! Steiner!" Blank exclaimed, he then looked around the room and saw Claire lying on the bed. "Claire!"

Blank rushed over to Claire's side, dropping his sword as he did, and dropped to his knees and grasped her hands. "Claire? Claire… wake up, Claire!" Blank begged.

"She won't be waking up anytime soon," Kuja told Blank. "Not only did I put her under a sleeping spell, but also we extracted Eidolons from her. She'll probably be unconscious for at least the rest of the day."

"Eidolons?" Blank asked. "Just what the hell did you do to her!"

"Eidolons are also known as summons," Kuja told him. "Much like the Eidolon Odin you just saw attack Cleyra."

"You used Claire for that!" Blank shouted.

"In a sense…" Kuja muttered. "We used her summons, yes, but what are hers is now ours."

"That's right," the queen replied. "And now she will be executed."

"Executed!" Blank exclaimed. "No! She's you're daughter! You're going to kill you daughter!"

"She committed a crime that is punishable by death!" Queen Brahne shouted. "I don't know why we're even bothering explaining this to you."

Kill the princess!" Steiner exclaimed. "Please reconsider, my queen!"

"Silence!" Brahne bellowed. "Kuja! Eliminate them!"

"Hmm… I'll give them a fighting chance first," Kuja chuckled, and instantly Randall and Steiner could feel the effect instantly.

"We can move!" Steiner exclaimed, and the two quickly ran by the princess's side. "Princess… no…"

"Your own daughter!" Randall shouted at the queen. "I can't believe you would use your own daughter this way!"

"Why!" Blank shouted. "Why would you do something like this to your own daughter? To my Claire!"

"Silence!" the queen shouted. "Kuja! Destroy them!"

Just then, Beatrix walked into the room and asked, "What's going on in here?"

"Beatrix!" the queen exclaimed. "Just in time. Eliminate these traitors!"

Beatrix turned and saw Steiner with them, "Traitors? Steiner?"

"Yes!" the queen exclaimed. "Now destroy them!"

"No! Beatrix, she's wrong!" Steiner exclaimed.

"What are you talking about Steiner?"

"All my life… I always thought that the queen was right… what she said was law… but she's wrong!" Steiner exclaimed. "She's betraying her people! Even her own daughter, Princess Garnet!"

"What…?" Beatrix asked as Steiner moved out of the way so Beatrix could see Claire lying on the bed. "The princess! Is this true?"

"Yes, it's true," the queen replied. "She committed crimes punishable by death, so she shall be sentenced to death."

"And she used Claire's Eidolons to destroy Cleyra!" Blank exclaimed.

"No…" Beatrix muttered.

"Help us, General Beatrix!" Randall exclaimed. "You know the difference between what's right and wrong. Or at the very least you know that killing the innocents is wrong."

"…" Beatrix was silent. "What was your purpose for attacking Burmecia and Cleyra, your highness?"

"I don't need to explain my purposes to you, Beatrix," the queen replied.

"Help us, Beatrix," Randall said. "Help use and your princess. Do what your heart tells you to do."

Beatrix drew her sword, closed her eyes, and shook her head. "I… I thought this was wrong… all my years of training… all used for evil…" she shot her head up and glared at the queen. "I can't allow you to continue! I must fight you!"

"We'll all help you!" Steiner exclaimed.

"No!" Beatrix shouted. "You all have to leave! Use the barrels outside! I'll stall them!"

"You won't be able to handle me alone for half a second," Kuja smirked.

"I'll fight with you!" Steiner exclaimed. "Blank! Protect the princess!"

"Of course!" Blank exclaimed.

"I'm staying too!" Freya shouted. "I have to avenge my people!"

"Thank you!" Randall exclaimed. "Now Blank! We must hurry!"

"Right," Blank nodded, picked up the princess, and rushed to the barrels outside of the room with Vivi and Randall.

"Are you sure what we're doing is right?" Vivi asked.

"They're sacrificing themselves for all of us," Randall told Vivi. "They are doing what they believe is right… no one can ask any more than that of a person."

"A-All right…" Vivi nodded.

"We have to go into these things to escape the airship," Blank said. "If we don't do this, their sacrifice will be in vain. Let's go!"

Blank, still holding the princess, jumped into the barrel.

"You next, Vivi," Randall said. "The faster we're out of here, the better."

"A-All right," Vivi replied, then leapt into the barrel.

"I wish you the best of luck Beatrix… Steiner… Freya…" Randall silently said, and then leapt inside the barrel.


Well, what do you think?

Any good?

PLEASE REVIEW!