Chapter 16: Preparing for Burmecia

After the hunt we boarded the air cab and returned to the castle. We arrived at the castle and rode the elevator to the upper level. We all entered the throne room.

The regent was sitting, or rather standing, on his throne. Artania was standing to the regents left. Dagger and Steiner were also in the room. I left the others and approached the throne.

The regent hopped off his throne and hopped towards me. He addressed all of us "that was marvelous! All of you!" he said.

Artania turned to face me "257 points! Congratulations!" I just rubbed my head, modestly, not saying anything.

Cid approached me. "We grant you the 'Master Hunter' and your reward." Cid handed me a piece of paper and 5,000 gil.

I took the objects "thank you, Regent Cid."

Vivi spoke. "Congratulations, Michael."

I turned to him "thanks-" before I could continue I sensed someone was approaching.


I turned to the stairs and saw a Burmecian soldier limping up the stairs. He was a wreck from what I could see. His left leg was badly mangled. He also had many burn marks over his body, and I noticed that his eyes had been burned out of their sockets. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The others turned to see the mangled soldier. He spoke "regent…please forgive my intrusion…I bring urgent news…from our king" he said, barely getting the words out.

The regent approached him. "The king of Burmecia?" he questioned. Artania stopped the regent and whispered to him. There conversation was brief. The regent walked over to the solider. "Continue."

The soldier told him the news. "Our kingdom is being attacked by some unknown force! We are severely outmatched! Please send reinforcements immediately!" he said, struggling slightly to speak. Cid looked surprised at this news. The Soldier continued "The enemy looks like an army of mages wearing…steeple-crowned hats" he said, still struggling. Zidane, Vivi, Dagger, and Steiner were all surprised at this news. I did my best to look surprised since I already knew what was going on.

Cid began to speak "The king and I are old friends. We will send reinforcements to Burmecia immediately."

The soldier looked relieved "Thank you, Regent! The king...and all of Burmecia will be most grateful! I must...return now..." he tried to continue, but he let out a groan and slumped to the floor.

Cid looked shocked. "Take him to the infirmary."

Freya knelt down at the soldier's side and checked his pulse. "It's too late. He's gone..." she announced. "It's a miracle he even made it this far. I can't believe this is happening..." she paused.


The guards came in and removed the Burmicians body from the throne room. We all gathered at the throne to discuss what should be done. Artania spoke, "this is a problem... because of the festival; there are hardly any men left in the castle. It will take time to mobilize" he announced.

Cid looked troubled by this news. "We have no choice... call back the 4th aerial division patrolling the border."

Artania didn't like this news. "But if we recall the 4th, we will lose our eyes over Alexandria" he said.

Cid looked annoyed " gwok-gwok Burmecia is our ally. We must help them."

Freya was mulling all this over in her head "steeple-crowned hats... They might be Black Mages, like Vivi."

Vivi had a look of disbelief in his eyes "it can't be…" he paused.

I placed my hand on Vivi's shoulder. "Don't worry, Vivi. We'll find out what's going on."

Dagger spoke "could it be Mother…!"

Freya looked over at us "I must go now. I cannot sit and wait for the reinforcements" she said, determined to leave.

Zidane turned to her. "I'm coming with you."

Freya looked at him. "No, this doesn't concern you."

Zidane looked offended. "What's this, I'm a stranger all of a sudden? I'm not gonna sit back and watch your home get destroyed, alright?"

Freya was surprised at this response "…thank you, Zidane."

Vivi spoke next. "Um, c-can I come, too? I wanna find out who they really are."

Zidane looked at him. "Sure."

I spoke next. "I'm going too. I'll gladly help you guys out, besides I wouldn't feel right knowing you guys are risking your lives out there without me."

Dagger spoke. "Alright then. Let's go to Burmecia."

Steiner looked shocked at those words. "Princess! This is a foreign matter! It has nothing to do with us!"

Cid turned to her. "Steiner is right. We don't know if Alexandria is involved."

Dagger looked to Zidane. "But if Black Mages are involved... Zidane, you know what I'm talking about. If Mother is behind this, I'll make her stop! I promise!"

Zidane thought about this for a moment. "...I think you should stay here."

Dagger was shocked by his answer "what?" she yelled in disbelief.

Zidane continued, "We don't know what to expect there."

Dagger wasn't convinced "I've already faced great danger coming here! What's the difference?" she asked.

Zidane tried to explain. "Dagger, this is war. A lot of people are going to die."

Dagger countered "I know that!"

Zidane tried a different approach "...How did you feel when you saw that Burmecian soldier die, just now?"

Dagger looked startled by this question. "…I felt sad, of course."

"Just sad? Weren't you scared, too? Obviously, you haven't realized how dangerous it's gonna be... You could get killed. This is no time to be talking about convincing your mother of anything." He said.

Dagger still looked a bit defiant "but…" she paused, not knowing what to say.

Cid spoke "now's not the time to argue."

Freya nodded. "He's right. We must head to Burmecia at once." She turned to Cid "will you open the Dragon's Gate?"

Cid turned to her "Of course. If you're going by foot, leaving from that gate is the best way. Let us eat while we gwok wait for the gate to open."

I spoke. "If you guys don't mind I think I'll take a bath first before I eat. You guys can start without me." Cid turned to me and looked at my blood stained cloths and body; most of it from the monsters I killed.

He nodded. "Very well, Michael. The guards will take you to the bathroom. You may join us in the conference room for dinner after you are finished."

I nodded my head. "Thank you, regent." I turned to the others. "I'll see you guys later." I said, and exited the throne room.


The guards lead me to the bathroom. Once there they helped me remove the multiple splinters that were lodged in my back. It was a painful process, but I bared it well enough. Once the splinters were removed, and the water was drawn, the guards left me.

I removed my clothes and got into the bath. The water was warm as I slowly eased my body into the water. Once in, I began to wash the blood off my body. As I sat there in the tub I began to think. 'So…we're finally heading to Burmecia…this is going to be a long day.'

After washing away all the blood, I got out of the water and dried myself off. That's when I looked at my clothes. The blood could easily be washed out of my 'Leather Plate,' but my white pants were completely stained with blood; they were ruined.

'Well…I better find some new pants' I thought. I took my 'Leather Plate' and washed it off in the bath tub. Having thoroughly cleaned it I dried it off and placed the plate back on. I moved over and retrieved my underwear placing it back on. I walked over to the door and poked my head out.

I noticed a guard; he turned to me. "Can you find me some new pants? My old ones are ruined." The guard nodded and walked off to find me some pants. I was waiting for ten minutes when the guard finally arrived with a pair of blue pants. I immediately placed them on, thanked the guard, and walked out of the bathroom.
I was heading towards the conference room when I saw two figures exiting the room…it was Dagger and Steiner. I was right in front of them, standing in their way. Dagger looked at me in surprise.

I smiled at her surprise "didn't think I'd get finished so soon, did you?"

She quickly regained her composure. "Michael, please stand aside. I'm leaving." she said.

I continued to smile at her. "Planning on going back to Alexandria to convince your mother to stop what she's doing?" I asked.

She was shocked at my question. "H-how did you-" I cut her off.

"you only talked about convincing your mother in the throne room a little while ago. It was kind of obvious to me. You obviously didn't want to sit around and do nothing, so what else could you do?" I asked.

She regained her composure again. "I'm leaving, Michael, and you can't stop me." she said.

I nodded. "And I have no intention to stop you. In fact I wish you luck, but don't be too surprised if you fail to convince her to stop what she's doing. She could have been planning this for years. I fear it might be too late to stop her now."

Steiner didn't like what he heard. "How dare you speak ill of the Queen, Master Michael! She would never commit such an atrocity!" he yelled.

I shook my head at Steiner's reasoning. "Steiner…stop being so inflexible" I said, calmly.

Steiner turned red in the face "WHAT!" he bellowed.

I maintained my cool "Steiner, to you the world is black and white. You can't see the gray area in-between the two. You don't see that some people do good things but may have evil intentions, and you don't see that some people do evil things yet may have good intentions. You have already proven this by how you treat Zidane; he's a thief yet he has a good heart. I'm sure Dagger has noticed changes in her mother over the past year; changes that may lead one to question her motives." Steiner was stunned by my words.

I could tell he wanted to respond, but I spoke up before he could. "You guys had better get going before the others realize that you've left. I won't say a word about your departure or where you're going, I promise" I said, sincerely.

Dagger nodded. "Thank you, Michael…come on Steiner, we must go" she said, and hurried past me. Steiner soon followed. He stopped, however, and turned to me.

"Before I forget, Master Michael, here is your battle robe" he said, handing me my battle robe.

I took my battle robe from him, and put it on. "thank you, Steiner…you even washed it for me." I said. Steiner nodded and turned to leave. He walked past me, but I called out to him.

"Steiner." I heard him stop; I continued to speak "Steiner…remember my words."

He responded, "I shall remember, Master Michael." I heard him leave with Dagger. With them gone I went into the conference room.


As soon as I entered the room I saw that everyone was asleep. I saw Zidane lying on his stomach as well as Freya who was lying on her side; both were sound asleep. I walked over to the right side of the table, and saw Vivi asleep with his face down on the table; still standing up, slightly. I smiled and walked over to Vivi. I gently laid him down on his back in a more comfortable position.

I turned to look at the food, and my stomach growled. I smiled at this, thought 'Why not,' and took a chicken leg off the table. I ate the chicken leg; barely tasting the sleeping weed that Dagger had placed in it. It didn't take long before I felt the drugs effect me. I slowly fell to the ground next to Vivi, fast asleep.


"Miiiiiichaaaaaeeeeeeeel" I heard the voice again.

"Angel…I will find you!" I yelled, as I began running to find the voice.

Then I heard him again "Miiiiichaaaeeel" only in another direction.

I stopped and turned to face the voice. "Stop running away from me!" I shouted, and ran toward were I heard the voice this time.

"Miiiichaaaaeeel" it was in another direction yet again.

"I'm tired of playing around…show yourself!" I shouted. I didn't hear the voice again. "Angel…where are YOU!" I shouted. Then all went black.


I woke up with a start. I looked around the room and noticed that I was the first one up. 'Good thing…I forgot that I would have to explain why I didn't help them when I saw them on the ground asleep. Now, I won't have to.' I thought.

I got up and shook Zidane, gently. "Hey…Zidane, wake up." Zidane slowly started to open his eyes.

He looked at me. "Michael…what happened?" he asked.

I helped him to his feet "I don't know. You tell me. I found you guys like this."

"It must've been some kind of sleeping medicine" said a voice behind me.

I turned around and noticed that Freya had awakened, as well as Regent Cid.

Zidane spoke. "It was sleeping weed."

Cid spoke. "We've been had…" he paused.

Zidane spoke again. "I gave her some because she said she was having problems sleeping." he said.

Freya smiled slightly at this "I'm impressed. There's more to her then meets the eye."

Zidane, however, kicked the floor in frustration "Damn, what the heck is she thinking! Maybe she's heading to Burmecia."

Cid spoke. "Then you might still be able to catch up with her."

While they were talking, I walked over to Vivi. I knelt down and shook him, gently. "Vivi…wake up! We're going to Burmecia!" Vivi slowly woke up; I helped him to his feet.

Freya turned to us. "Let's head for the Gizamaluke's Grotto. Once we pass through the grotto, we will be in Burmecia."

Cid spoke. "You can leave from the Dragon's Gate, located on the Base Level. gwok " We all turned, left the conference room, and went towards the elevator.


We boarded the elevator and rode it down to the Base Level. We found a trolley that would take us to the Dragon's Gate. None of us spoke; there was nothing to say. We boarded the trolley and it took us to the Dragon's Gate. We got off at our stop and exited Lindblum through the Dragon's Gate. We were out in the mist yet again.