Although I'm so flattered and pleased that people have reviewed, did you have to give the game away with mentioning the owl kuja thing:laughs: Nevermind, I'll forgive you as long as you review this chapter as well…without giving anything away! Oh! Lookie here! More characters are introduced hurrah!

Chapter six

It was the cry of a bird that had saved her life.

The shrill shriek had caused her to stir from the desk where her studies were thrown across in a disorderly manner, and slip to the open window to take a look outside. The view had stunned her, as it always did. The towering turrets of Lindblum wore a necklace of spacecrafts that droned and hummed like insects about the city. People went busily about their business below, caught in a contrasting display of gentle shadow and golden-red light as the sun set on another day. She saw the bird, which soared gracefully among the throng, calling sorrowfully into the evening sky.

The young girl took in all this in a few seconds and would of observed it longer if the unfamiliar hiss drew her away from the window in surprise. There was a flash in the corner of her eye as the sun caught hold of its shiny surface. She turned and stood still for a moment taking in the hilt of the dagger protruding from the wall beside her desk, encrusted with jewels.

If the bird had not cried, she would be dead.

Realization grasped her with hard fingers and she dropped to the floor, just as another hiss rung above her head. She cried out in horror and rolled to the side of the bed hoping for protection. Cautiously peering out toward the door a flash of black caught her eye and then he was upon her, clawing and swiping at her throat with a dagger. She lay on the ground with him on top of her, holding back his hand with all her might as the weapon blinked inches from her neck.

He was covered in black material from head to toe, a slit open at the face where his eyes pierced the girl with a single-minded gaze that gave her nightmares for weeks after. She squeezed her legs free and kicked him as hard as she could then crawled away from him. Clambering up, the terrified girl ran for the door and twisted the handle. It was locked. She screamed for the guards.

She didn't hear them come for her attacker had recovered and had come up behind her. He made an attempt to stab her but she pulled away and he barely missed, catching her flowing robe instead, pinning it to the door. The girl cried out in alarm as she bounced back then struggled to tear herself free of the dagger's bite. He grabbed her pale arm roughly and flung her against the door, raising the dagger for another attempt. As it came down with a frightening whistle she ducked and it became lodged in the wooden door. The intruder cried out in anger and she guessed that was his last one because he tried desperately to free it, still gripping her arm and pushing her against the door. She screamed again and punched him in the face, hearing the satisfying sound of bones breaking.

His head snapped back but his grip on her did not falter. He wedged his weapon free and looked at her with eyes burning with rage. He took her by the throat this time and she felt the air being sucked out of her. Tears leaked from her eyes as she the dagger flashed down once more.

With an unexpected and seemingly distant crash the window to her left shattered and sprayed the struggling couple a shower of glass. Her attacker seemed just as surprised as she and the lunging dagger ceased its descent. The girl was overcome with confusion when the black-clad man was thrown off her, hitting the other side of the room with a dull clunk. Another man loomed over him, but her eyes were so blurred with tears she could not make out his face. The two men began to fight ruthlessly and she listened to the assassin's screams while she stripped herself of the robe she wore to be free of the dagger's blade. She was faintly aware of a presence behind her and felt the desperate breath of the attacker against her neck.

Suddenly the door behind her fell open with a crack and three or more guards came tumbling in. She fell atop the assassin and felt an odd pressure against her side. The soldiers pulled her off of him and she found herself being pushed out into the hallway in a great hurry.

The corridors seemed to spin past and she tried to cry out with a mixture of confusion and anger but found her mouth dry and her throat cracked and sore. An intense throbbing had begun on her right side, and then without warning it erupted in to indomitable pain and exploded her senses. She screamed and dropped to the floor, only to be scooped into someone's arms and rushed away to another room where she passed into darkness.

XX

'Darling, darling! Oh! I think she's waking up! Don't stand their gibbering like an idiot; get the doctor! Sweetie, can you hear me? Please wake up… Oh! Yes! She is, darling, she's waking!'

The young girl's eyelids seemed to be made of lead but she pried them open eventually, waiting while the room blurred in and out of focus. A distorted figure spun above her but she recognized the outline to be her mother. Then just as two other figures joined her, she began to see clearly again.

'Ah, you are awake,' an unfamiliar man said to her. He had a bristling moustache and melancholy eyes that held only the slightest enthusiasm for what he did. 'You made a reasonably quick recovery; I thought you wouldn't wake for hours. Considering the shock you went through and the wound you received; you should be thankful.'

'Oh, My little Eiko, I was so…so…' Eiko's mother broke down into fitful sobs and her father, who loomed over them all, patted her on the back and smiled lovingly down and his little girl.

'How many fingers am I holding up?' the doctor asked, waving three crooked fingers in her face.

'Three,' she replied. Then she asked, while the doctor shone lights in her eyes, 'what happened? I hardly remember. I know I was attacked by someone… but it all happened so quickly…'

'Do not worry yourself over that man; he has been taken to the dungeons to be questioned.'

Tortured for information you mean, she thought, but said, 'Oh. I think I recall another man being in the room with me – before the guards came crashing in. He saved my life. Where is he?'

Before her father could reply the doctor prodded her side. She cried out in agony as stars burst brightly before her eyes. She felt her consciousness slipping away but she struggled against it and fought her way back to concentrating on the situation. Turning on the doctor she screamed, 'What in the eidolon's names do you think you're doing?'

'Now, now, Eiko, dear,' her mother cooed softly, patting her hand. 'Doctor Turnell is only doing his job. You were badly hurt.'

Eiko twisted herself to look at her throbbing waist and saw fresh bandages covering some sort of wound. She recalled distantly the odd, biting pressure against her side as she had fallen atop the attacker.

I fell on his dagger. That's just my luck, she thought miserably and lay back down again as pain clouded her vision.

'Give her this medicine three times a day,' she heard the obnoxious doctor instruct her father. 'It will help heal the wound and fight infection. Make sure the cut is washed and the bandages are changed daily. She must rest to ensure a fast recovery, and feed her plenty of healthy food and make sure she drinks plenty of water.'

'Yes Doctor Turnell, of course.'

'We cannot thank you enough for helping our only child, please you only need to ask and we can give you whatever-'

The doctor raised his hand. 'What you have given me is plenty. I could not possibly ask for more. As long as Lady Eiko makes a decent recovery then that is all the payment I need.'

Her mother sighed with gratitude and her father bowed swiftly and led him from the room.

'Mother,' Eiko said quietly when they were alone, 'did someone try to assassinate me?'

Hilda fluttered her hands in a motherly manner and sat nervously on the edge of Eiko's bed. 'Oh I hardly know, dear. If he did I could not possibly phantom why; you are such a well behaved child!'

Eiko thought this was a rather naïve thing to say but she smiled nonetheless. Her father re-entered but she guessed he knew as little as she, so Eiko pressed her earlier question. 'Who was the man that assisted me? I couldn't make his face out in the confusion. I'd like to thank him'

Regent Cid looked distant then scurried from the room bellowing orders to 'retrieve his daughter's savior', which was followed shortly by an oddly familiar plod-plod-plod of heavy footfalls from outside. Eiko suddenly became quite unnerved. She didn't know exactly who her 'savior' was but she wanted to emit a certain flow of authority, so he saw her as something other than the cowering creature from earlier. She shuffled into an awkward sitting position beneath her bed covers and tried her best to straighten her back. This lead to electrical out bursts of pain weaving up her side and back, so she slouched a little but held her chin high.

Regardless, she lost all sense of nobility when she saw who entered; she could hardly believe her eyes!

'A-A-Amarant? Y-you…s-saved me?'

The red head had not changed since she had seen him ten years ago. He still towered above the rest of them, having to duck his head as he entered the room. His head was still thickly crowned with a mop of untidy hair, his skin was still as white as milk and he still wore a sour expression that had almost become his trademark. His long, muscular arms dangled down to his torn gray pants and his dark blue shirt hung loosely off his bulging torso.

He scratched his head in response.

'A-ah…I… I hardly know what to say! I-it's been so long!'

'Thank you would be nice start,' he said in his deep, rumbling voice.

'Oh! Of course. I'm sorry. Thank you. If it wasn't for your help I'm sure my attacker would of overpowered me and I would be dead.'

This made Hilda tremble and go quite faint. Cid held her steady while Amarant looked down at the couple with amusement twinkling in his dark eyes. He turned back to Eiko and shrugged.

'W-why are you here?'

'I heard a rumor,' he hesitated and his eyes flicked toward Hilda and Cid.

Eiko cleared her throat. 'Mother, father, please would you be kind enough to leave the room for a moment?'

Regent Cid opened his mouth with a frown and seemed like he was going to object, but his wife caught him by the elbow and led him out the door with nothing but an anxious glance toward her adopted daughter and the menacing man beside her.

Now they were alone in Eiko's splendid chamber Amarant continued.

'No more than a few days ago I was in Alexandria, I'd decided to go traveling again, to see how much the world has changed in ten years. You'll have to believe me when I say there is a lot of tension there at the moment. I wasn't exactly ecstatic about lingering around for long and I was just on the outskirts of the town when – of all people – I walked right into Captain Adelbert Steiner himself. He was doing his rounds or something – I'm not sure, but anyway, he seemed just as tense as the entire Kingdom put together. To put a long story short, he told me to leave for Black mage Village to meet Zidane.'

'Zidane?' Eiko couldn't keep the shock out of her voice. No one had heard from Zidane for years. 'What's Zidane got to do with this?'

'I'm not sure; I don't think that Steiner really knew himself. But either way, after what he told me, I'm more than curious to find out what's going on.'

Eiko sat there thoughtfully for a moment. 'You said Alexandria is tense; why?'

'You have not heard?' He sounded surprised.

'No.'

'It's Queen Garnet… she's lost the plot apparently. She sent Steiner on some bizarre mission to take over Burmecia and to personally destroy Freya.'

Eiko was shocked. 'I thought Burmecia was an ally of Alexandria's? Whatever would she want to take it over for? And Freya? Why would she personally want Steiner to destroy her?'

'Even Steiner doesn't know. But it's the fact that she has sent mercenaries out to hunt Freya down that worried him. That is why he wanted everyone who Garnet might see as a threat to congregate in the Black Mage Village to discuss what's goin' on.'

'So Steiner didn't kill Freya… I'm not surprised. And what about Burmecia?'

Amarant shook his head. 'They couldn't capture it.'

You're kidding!' Eiko exclaimed, 'an army like Alexandria's should of demolished Burmecias! How is that possible?'

'Zidane was there.'

'Zidane?'

'According to Steiner he's acquired god-like powers. He took out three-quarters of the army by himself.'

Eiko gasped. 'But he's married to the woman that runs the army!'

'Not anymore; she ended it suddenly one day when he returned from a mission, claiming she was in love with another. Of course, Zidane went straight to Mikoto and has been living with her since – a broken man it seems. Garnet murdered her so called 'new love' moments after Zidane left – or so that's what they claim happened.'

Eiko's head was spinning with all the information, racing to keep up with the pace. Such a normal day had fallen into such a twist of dark and unexplained events. She marveled at how drastically life can change over a few moments, as it usually did for her. Yet still…

'What does all this have to do with me?' Then as quickly as she had asked the question, the answer popped into her head: 'The assassin! No… She didn't? W-we are friends! Would she…would she have me put to death so ruthlessly?'

Amarant didn't seem to care about their friendship. He just shrugged carelessly and said, 'All I know is that she obviously still sees you as risk, and in her eyes, all risks need to be exterminated.'

'How am I risk to anyone? And to what scheme am I a risk to?'

'You're probably a risk to her because you are a summoner. Why that would risk her plan…I don't know. That is why we're going to the Black Mage Village to meet the others.' He sighed in annoyance, 'Y'know how much I hate all that team work crap but… I think this is big and as much as I hate to admit it, I think we're gonna have to be together again on this.'

Butterflies had broken free of their cocoons and were fluttering around Eiko's stomach. She felt queasy with excitement and nervousness. She had not been involved in anything of this sort since the war and now the opportunity had aroused itself she realized how much she longed to be free in the spacious, wild countryside, to be independent again, to have an adventure, like when she lived with the moogles at Madain Sari. Her eyes shone in anticipation and she nearly leapt out of bed.

'When are we going?' she asked.

Amarant laughed sardonically and shook his great mass of red hair. 'I'm not traveling with you, girl! I'm leaving now!'

Eiko was deeply hurt and alarmed by this. 'Now? B-but why did you come here in the first place then? Why not just go straight to the village?'

'Because,' he sighed, 'I knew that over-protective father of yours would never of told you any of this; you've got a right to know because your life is in danger. He thinks he can protect you, and I'm sure he can to a certain extent, but… I'm sure you're aware what would of happened if I weren't there today.'

'Then surely I'd be safer traveling with you!' Eiko argued. 'We can take Hilda Garde! If father came with me he'd make such a commotion and I've got no doubt that he would attract more attention than needed. Please wait just a while, then we can go together.'

XXXXXXXXXXXX

'Well then, what would you like to know first?'

Most people would of found this peculiar experience awkward and a somewhat difficult situation to adjust to. But Zidane wasn't 'most people', and although he found a thick layer of new emotion bubbling like an inferno at his surface, he knew his priority was saving the woman he loved. He only hoped that there was something worth saving. Perhaps there wasn't anything wrong with her and she had just stopped loving him? He would make a fool out of himself if he marched up to her trying to rid her of some madness that didn't exist.

But he knew that Garnet was a magnanimous woman who would not recklessly attack an ally and sentence an old friend like Freya to death. Plus, his love for her was profound and he didn't doubt the passionate affection she returned. He wanted her back badly and would walk on water to get it, even if it meant relying on his reincarnated brother to do so.

After a moment of thought, Zidane said, 'Is my wife insane as they say?'

'No.'

Zidane's heart sank and splintered.

'She is being manipulated,' Kuja continued.

'So she isn't insane?' Zidane cried, his transient grief withering away in the light of hope.

'Not yet, but by the way they seem to be driving her I would not be surprised if she does go insane.'

'What is wrong with her? Who is manipulating her? What do they want with my wife? How did she become-'

'One question at a time, brother,' Kuja remarked coolly.

Zidane looked at the ground and stroked the dark stubble on his chin. 'Alright, who is manipulating her?'

'The Eidolons.'

Zidane jumped back. 'What? The Eidolons? I thought they had vanished!'

Kuja laughed sardonically. 'Don't be foolish! Whatever made you think that? Just because they are masterless doesn't mean they just disappear!'

Zidane ground his teeth, infuriated by the mocking laughter of his brother. 'Garnet no longer has her pendant, how are they bound to her?'

'Because of you.'

'Me? I had nothing to do-'

'You had everything to do with it, my brother.' The owl paused a moment before continuing.

Zidane heard Mikoto shuffle beside them. She was kneeling in a sea of weather-torn roots, her hands on her knees. She was staring with a blank expression down at the soil and was very still and quiet.

Even though she had kept this secret from him, Zidane still found his words earlier to be true; he couldn't be angry with her. No matter the circumstance she was still his sister and would always hold a place in his heart, rivaled only by the love he felt for Garnet.

'Didn't you ever wonder,' the beautiful owl continued, his voice crisp and clear, 'how your wife felt when you left her?'

Zidane scratched his head. 'Left her?'

'All those time before, when you went on those assignments of yours?'

'I dunno. She never seemed to mind too much; she never said anything. Yeah, she seemed a little down but she seemed to cope alright without me.'

'That's where you're wrong, brother. Every time you left her another part of her fell away. A streak of sorrow formed within her heart and singed her soul. She began to doubt your love for her, and every time she did, that sorrow grew larger and larger until it evolved into hatred and loneliness. She wanted you back but didn't want to confine you to the palace, that's why she let you leave again and again without every muttering a word.'

Zidane sat down; his own legs couldn't support the heavy load in his chest anymore. 'I-I never knew… gods I'm such an idiot!'

'Her black feelings towards you made her very easy to access and manipulate; the perfect opportune for the Eidolons to make their move on her.'

'B-but why…why are they doing this to her?'

'The Eidolons are practically slaves to the summoners; without them they are nothing, for if they cannot be summoned what use are they to anyone? Of course, there are only two summoners left on Gaia now: your wife and Lady Eiko Carol of Lindblum. At the time of the last war Eiko was too young to carry such powerful Eidolons independently so they put all their powers and reliance onto Garnet. So you can imagine the bitterness and betrayal they felt when their sole summoner chose you over them.'

Zidane remembered the day he returned to Alexandria a year after Mikoto had pulled him out of the Iifa Tree half dead. He had gone back to Tantalus and preformed the play 'I want to be your canary' to her, ripping his disguise off at the last moment. Garnet had come running down from her balcony to see him, but on the way her pendant – the link between her and the Eidolons – had been ripped from her neck. She had faced the dilemma of picking it up and continuing with her old ways that she had clung to and relied on so feverantly, or to start a new, stronger life with him at her side. Needless to say which one she had chosen.

At the time, and years after, Zidane had hardly thought about it, let alone the consequences of her abandoning her Eidolons. Now he understood how furious and neglected they must of felt. Similar to the way his wife must have felt whenever he left her.

'They feel used and probably quite lost. They're thirsty for revenge on both you and Garnet and not only that, their bitterness has grown so much they're willing to take out their anger on Gaia by enslaving the planet and it's people.'

'H-how…?'

'Garnet is merely a puppet. I'm guessing that when they have reached an efficient power level they will command your wife to summon them, where they will take over this planet and destroy not only their summoner, but all of Gaia as well.'

Zidane shook his head in disbelief. 'Why is Garnet doing this? Is it to take revenge on me? Does she even know their plans?'

'Zidane, you broke her heart. She feels desperate and isolated; she longs to be rid of these feelings that plague her – the love for you and the hate for herself. The Eidolons promised that if she summons them one more time then they will release her of these emotions and she can rule as queen over the barren world the Eidolons will create.'

Just like Necron, she longs for a world without emotion. 'What…shall I…do? They'll kill her after she summons them!'

'Yes, they will, but she doesn't know that.'

'Then I have to warn her!'

'Do you think she'd listen to you, brother?'

The Genome remembered her tear streaked face and the mad glint that flashed in her eyes as she had raised his dagger above her head, ready to strike him down.

'No…But I can't just sit here and let all this happen!' Then he muttered almost to himself, 'I'm sorry for what happened…I should've listened to her, I shouldn't of left her, dammit! None of this would've happened…'

'It's pointless blaming yourself now, Zidane,' Mikoto said suddenly. She was looking up at him with a soft expression and smiling eyes. 'You hardly knew. It's just your way. She loves you still, anyway. Isn't that the only thing that matters? If the love you feel for one another still exists then I believe there's still hope.'

'Mikoto…'

The snowy-white owl ruffled its feathers and fluttered its wings in an impatient manner. 'So you still love her then?'

'Yes!'

'And you're willing to risk everything to Gaia? Even if it means sacrificing everything you love?'

'Of course!'

'Then you have a big task ahead of you, brother. You are physically strong but emotionally you are very weak. I must train you hard over the next few months before the Eidolons have gathered enough power for the Final Summoning. That is my purpose; the only way I can atone for my sins.'

Zidane stood up and took a long, deep breath. 'What do you want me to do?'

: Sings to self : An explanation on everything finally! Hurray for reincarnated Kuja-owl! Erm… next chapter there will be…the reuniting of nearly all the gang…and an explanation of what Zidane has to do…will it cost him his life? Or maybe Garnet's? You'll have to wait until the next update! Review perdy please!