Chapter 37: Alexandria

Today, Vivi and I decided to do a little shopping. We stopped by the item store and purchased some hi-potions. I knew that we would need them later. After that, we entered the weapon shop and we both purchased some 'Magic Armlets.' After that, Vivi and I decided to go down to the tavern

Vivi and I were walking near the tavern when we saw a bunch of people run out of it. One of them ran into me and fell to the ground. He got back up "Sorry about tha-" that's when he looked at us.

"Michael, Vivi, hey!" it was Blank.

I spoke "hey!"

Vivi spoke "hello…" he paused.

"I haven't seen you two since you left Alexandria Castle! How are ya guys?"

Vivi spoke. "Well, a lot of things happened, but we're doing fine. How about you? What have you been doing since we left the castle?"

"Me? Let's see…" Blank thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, it's been crazy since you guys escaped! Rusty, that rat chick, Freya, and...What's her face, that girl general of Alexandria..." he paused.

"Beatrix" said a voice from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Marcus approach us.

Blank didn't notice him, and continued talking. "Yeah, the three of them got totally worked. Marcus and I had to carry 'em out on our backs!" that's when he saw Marcus over my shoulder.

He was surprised "M-Marcus?"

Marcus spoke "We gotta get goin' before Ruby gets mad at us again."

Blank nodded "Oh yeah, she hates it when we're late."

He turned and looked at us. "Sorry, guys. I'll see you later!" after that he ran off with Marcus. Vivi and I entered the tavern.

As soon as we entered the tavern, we spotted Zidane sitting at one of the tables. Vivi wanted to call out to him, but I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "I think he wants to be left alone, Vivi."

Vivi looked up at me. "How do you know?"

I smiled. "I can tell just by looking at his posture that he's depressed. He needs to sort something out for himself. We can't help him, Vivi. This is something he has to deal with on his own."

Vivi didn't look convinced. "There's got to be something we can do, we're his friends?"

I nodded. "Yes, we are his friends and there is something we can do. We can offer him our support, but that's about all we can do right now. I think we should come back later, though." Vivi nodded and we left the tavern.

We decided to check out the new mini-theater that had recently opened. When Vivi and I arrived at the theater, we saw Blank and Marcus loitering outside.

Blank spoke "yo, Michael, Vivi! Can you guys do me a favor?"

Vivi spoke. "What is it?"

Blank spoke. "I want you guys to see Ruby's play with us."

Vivi thought about this for a moment. "hmm…sure, I like plays."

Blank nodded his head. "Cool. What about you, Michael?" I thought for a moment, and suddenly realized that I had to get to the castle.

"Afraid not, I need to head to the castle. Vivi, after you watch the play I want you to come to the castle. Oh, and if you can, bring Zidane, too."

Vivi nodded. "Okay, but why do you need to go to the castle?"

I spoke. "I forgot something, and I need to go get it." He nodded and walked down the stairs into the mini-theater. I walked off to the dock area.

As soon as I got there, I saw Baku get off the boat. He saw me. "Michael, so you're still alive. Gwahahahaha!"

I smiled. "Nice to see you too, Baku."

He spoke. "You headin' to the castle?" I nodded. "Well, don't let me stop ya. I'm headin' into town." After that he walked off. I boarded the boat and departed for the castle.

As soon as I reached the castle I saw Beatrix near the dock. I got off the boat and, approached her. She turned to face me. "Michael, why are you here?"

I smiled. "What, I can't walk on the castle grounds anymore?"

She shook her head. "No, the princess has given you special permission to visit the castle grounds whenever you like."

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought that was what she said."

Beatrix spoke. "I've seen how you train that mage friend of yours."

I looked at her. "You mean Vivi, and I'd appreciate if you would use his name."

she nodded her head. "I will my apologies."

I waved it away. "No problem, so you've been watching us."

She nodded. "Yes, and I must say, you're not a bad trainer."

I smiled. "Coming from you, that's quite the compliment."

"So, why are you here, anyway?" she asked.

I spoke. "I'm going to meet Vivi here. I'm hoping he'll bring Zidane along. It might do him some good to see Dagger again."

Beatrix frowned. "I'd prefer it if she didn't see him."

I lost my smile. "Why, because you don't think the princess should have a relationship with a thief? Because if that's it I'm afraid it's too late."

She looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't traveled with them as long as I have. You haven't fought along side them in battle like I have. I've seen the way they look at each other, and though they won't admit it to themselves I can tell that their relationship runs deeper than simple friendship."

Beatrix spoke. "You're saying they love each other?"

I shook my head. "no, they haven't quite reached that point yet. That won't start until they admit it to themselves, but when they do finally admit it they'll each have my full support."

Beatrix thought about this for a moment. "Well…I'm not sure."

I spoke. "If they do love each other, I don't think they'll let a little thing like stature stand in the way."

Beatrix sighed. "Maybe you're right. I need to get back to my duties, and my offer still stands for a rematch."

I smiled. "I haven't forgotten, but I'm not strong enough to beat you, yet."

She nodded. "Face me when you feel you are strong enough, farewell." After I said my goodbyes she turned and left.

That's when I pulled out a folded piece of paper that I had snatched from Beatrix and stuck in my pocket when she was distracted. I opened the letter and smiled as I read the text 'When the night sky wears the moon as its pendent, I shall await you at the dock.' I smiled 'this is gonna come in handy. Yes, indeed' I thought

"Michael, we're here."

I was shaken from my thoughts, and looked over at the docks. Vivi was there as well as everyone else. I hid the letter and smiled. "hey, guys. So you all made it."

Vivi walked up to me. "We're gonna go see Dagger."

I nodded. "Alright, I'll tag along, too." We walked towards the entrance to the castle.

As we approached the entrance, we heard a girl scream. I looked up and saw Steiner throw Eiko out of the castle. We walked over to her and Zidane spoke. "What happened, Eiko?"

She turned around and saw us. "Zidane!" she ran behind him, and looked back at Steiner. "Oh, it was horrible! He called me a liar and a loudmouth and a brat!"

Amarant spoke. "He's right."

Eiko immediately turned to face him. "What did you just say? Do you want to repeat that?"

Amarant turned away from her muttering, "Man, I hate kids…"

Freya walked up to Eiko and knelt down to her level. "Calm down a little. What is your name?"

Eiko turned to look at Freya. "Me? I'm Eiko! Eiko Carol of Madain Sari!"

Freya didn't understand. "From Madain Sari? Why, I've never heard of it."

Eiko looked surprised. "Don't you know anything? Madain Sari is a-" Steiner cut her off.

"Silence! What are you all doing here? This is the royal castle! You do not belong here!"

Vivi spoke. "Hello, Mister Steiner." Steiner turned to look at him and me.

He smiled. "Master Vivi, Master Michael! A pleasure to see you two, again."

I spoke. "We came to see Dagger."

Steiner thought for a moment. "The princess…if that is Master Michael's wish, I shall arrange a meeting."

Steiner ran off to tell Dagger. While he was gone, I turned to Freya. "So, Freya how've you been? I haven't seen you in a while."

She smiled at me. "It's good to see you again, Michael, and as for how I'm doing, I'm doing well."

I nodded. "good to hear. Blnak told me it was pretty hectic when you guys made your escape."

She nodded. "Yes, indeed. When we got to Gargan Roo. The Gargant wouldn't come, so we had to walk down the tunnel."

I was surprised. "So how did that go?" I could tell that the others were listening in on the conversation.

Freya spoke. "Well, during our trip we were confronted by two large snakes. One was green and the other was white."

My eyes widened. 'they faced Ralvurahva and Ralvuimago at the same time.' I thought. "So how did that go?"

She spoke. "Well, the battle wasn't easy, but we did manage to kill both creatures."

I sighed in relief. 'Well, at least they're both finally dead.' I thought.

That was when I heard the sound of rusty metal moving. We all turned to see Steiner running back towards us. He spoke. "Follow me; I'll escort you to the princess."

We nodded and followed Steiner to the area under the walkway that lead to the royal bed chambers. Steiner turned. "You all wait right there!" He ran up the stairs and approached the door to the bed chambers. He spoke. "Princess, we are ready."

Dagger walked out from the room, and Beatrix accompanied her. She was wearing the same white-silver dress she had at the beginning of the game. I had to admit, she looked beautiful.

Dagger spoke. "Thank you for coming, everyone."

Eiko spoke. "She looks beautiful…" she paused.

Vivi spoke. "Wow…you look beautiful!"

I spoke. "spectacular!"

Freya spoke. "Splendid!" Freya turned to look at Zidane. "Zidane? Have you nothing to say?"

He shook his head. "No."

Steiner spoke. "Princess, we must go now."

She waited a few seconds then nodded her head. "Alright." She turned to leave, but Eiko stopped her.

"Dagger, wait!" Eiko ran up the stairs and approached Dagger.

She spoke; all of us could still hear her. "Dagger! Is this the last time we're gonna see each other?"

Dagger spoke. "Oh, no. Of course not. I won't be able to wander around the world with you anymore...but I'll never forget our journey together."

Eiko looked sad. "Dagger... I wanted us to remain good rivals forever."

Dagger looked confused. "Rivals? Eiko, you say funny things sometimes." She realized something. "Oh, there are some things I wanted to give you. Let's trade the jewels as a symbol of our friendship. Two of my jewels..." she handed Eiko two of her jewels.

Eiko spoke "two of my jewels" she handed Dagger two of her jewels.

Dagger nodded her head. "goodbye, Eiko." She walked back through the doors along with Steiner and Beatrix.

Vivi turned to Zidane. "Why didn't you say anything, Zidane?"

Zidane shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…I tried…" he paused.

That answer didn't satisfy Freya. "And?"

Zidane was frustrated. "I couldn't say anything! I had a whole speech ready for her. But it would've been a lie! How could I lie to her? 'Good luck, Dagger! I'll be watching you from afar.' 'Come find me if you need someone to talk to.' It's a big fat lie! That's not how I feel at all! That's not how I feel...at all."

We decided not to bother Zidane after that. He left the castle, then Amarant, then Freya, and then Eiko. Vivi and I were the only one's left.

I looked at Vivi and reached into my pocket. "This came for you, Vivi." He took the letter and read it.

He looked up at me. "What does it mean?"

I smiled. "It means that tonight, someone will be waiting for you at the docks. Sounds like someone likes you."

Vivi looked curious, and handed the letter back to me. "Who could it be?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, but you shouldn't stand the person up. That would be rude."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll go see the person."

I smiled. "You go ahead, Vivi. There's something I gotta do."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later." He ran off and I smiled to myself.

'I better make sure things go alright tonight' I thought.

After a few hours, night had fallen. I was perched on the castle roof, and had a great view of the dock from here. 'This will be a good spot to watch events unravel' I thought. I saw someone leave the castle. The person walked over to the docks and sat down on the steps; it was Eiko. 'Right on time, now where is he?' I thought. That's when I saw someone approach the dock from my right. I looked down, and saw Vivi approach the docks. I smiled 'good, everything is going well, so far' I thought.

I saw Vivi approach Eiko. I saw Eiko jump in surprise at seeing Vivi. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but at least Eiko didn't run away. That was good. Pity I couldn't hear what they were saying at this distance. O well, you can't have everything.

While they were talking, I decided to start phase two of my plan. I had codenamed my plan 'Matchmaker.' I jumped to the ground, made sure Vivi and Eiko hadn't noticed me, and placed the love letter on the ground right were I knew Steiner would find it. After that was done, I quickly jumped back up to the roof, and continued watching.

After a few seconds, I heard the unmistakable sound of rusty metal moving. I turned to the castle entrance and saw Steiner running over to the docks. I turned back to Vivi and Eiko and saw the two of them hide behind the stairs. Steiner stopped at the docks, looked around, and saw the letter on the floor. He walked over, picked it up, and read it. After he was finished reading it, Beatrix showed up, right on cue.

I smiled 'things are going well' I thought. That's when I remembered what was going to happen. My smile vanished and was replaced by a look of alarm. I turned to my left, and saw Baku walking towards the dock. 'Dang, I gotta take care of him. He'll ruin everything' I thought.

I ran across the roof and jumped behind Baku, careful that I didn't make a sound. I grabbed Baku from behind, and put my right hand over his mouth. He started to struggle. "Will you calm down, it's me" I whispered. I dragged Baku away from the dock.

As soon as we were far away enough, and in the shadowes, I let Baku go. He spun around to face me. "Dammit, Michael! What the hell was that for!"

I put up a hand to silence him. "You were about to walk in on a very romantic moment. I didn't want you to ruin it, so I had to take drastic actions. Now, it would be great if you could walk on a different route, okay?"

Baku nodded. "fine, fine. I'm goin'." He turned around and left. I sighed with relief, and returned to my post.

When I got back, Steiner and Beatrix were in each others arms and making out. I smiled 'I wonder how long they've been going at this?' I thought. After a few more seconds the two of them parted, and walked back into the castle holding each others hands. I watched them leave, and turned my attention back to Vivi and Eiko.

Vivi and Eiko had just come out of their hiding spot. They had no doubt witnessed the whole thing between Steiner and Beatrix. I decided to try and see if I couldn't spruce the romance up a bit. I knew that if I did it on the roof they'd see me. I had to find a new hiding spot. I looked around and saw an open window. I jumped towards the window, and landed inside the room. There was no one inside the room, and it looked like I was in a storage room. I smiled and began to sing.

"Some enchanted eveniiiiiiiiiiiing you may see a strangeeeeeeeeeeeeeer. You may see a strangeeeeeeeeeeeer across a crowded roooom. And somehow you knooooooooooooow, you know even theeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, that somewhere you'll see heeeeeeeeeeeeer again aaaaaand agaaaaaaaaaain."

"Some enchanted eveniiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, someone may be laughiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. You may hear her laughiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing across a crooooowded rooooooooom. And night after niiiiiiiiiiiiiight, as strange as it seeeeeeeeeeeeems, the sound of her laughteeeeeer will sing in your dreeeeeeeeeeams."

"Who can explain it? Who can tell you why? Fools give you reasons. Wise men never tryyyyyyyyyyyy."

"Some enchanted eveniiiiiiiiiiiiing, when you find your true loooooooooooove. When you feel her call yoooooooou across a crooooowded rooooom. Then fly to her siiiiiiiiiiide, and make her your oooooooooooooown. Or all through your life yooooooou may dream all alooooooooooooooooooone."

"Once you have found her, never let her go. Once you have found her, neeeeeeeveeeeeeer leeeeeeet heeeeeeer goooooooooooooooooooo." I stopped singing.

I poked my head out the window, and looked over towards Vivi and Eiko. I smiled, even from this distance; I could see them holding hands. 'It's a start, and I wasn't expecting anything serious…yet, but this seems like a push in the right direction' I thought. That's when I heard the door open.

I put my head back inside, and turned to face the door. The door opened and I saw the figure…it was Dagger. She looked confused, and rightly so. "Michael…why are you in the storage room?"

I looked at her. "Can you keep a secret?" She looked curious and nodded. I told her what I had done.

When I finished, she looked thoughtful. "Wow…I never thought of you as a matchmaker, Michael."

I smiled. "I am capable of many things. I better get down to the docks. I have to take Vivi and Eiko across the lake by boat, and I intend to take my time."

Dagger smiled. "And I won't hinder you. Have a nice night."

I smiled. "You, too." She walked out of the room, and I decided to jump out the window.

I approached the dock, and Vivi and Eiko turned to look at me. Vivi spoke "Michael, what are you doing here?"

I smiled. "I decided to walk around the castle for a bit, but I'm heading back into town. You two wanna come along?" They both nodded. I smiled "good, the guard's off duty, but I'm sure she won't mind if we take the boat." Little did they know that I had talked the guard into going off duty earlier just so I could row the boat and get them into the boat together. I got into the boat and picked up the oar. As soon as Vivi and Eiko came on board, I shoved off.

While I was rowing, I made sure that I went slowly. I also decided to hum 'Some Enchanted Evening.' I dared to glance over my shoulder, and saw that Eiko had her head resting on Vivi's left shoulder. I smiled, turned from the sight, and continued rowing. After a few minutes we docked at the town dock. We got off the boat and walked towards the tavern.

We walked in and I noticed Freya and Amarant sitting at the counter. Well, Freya was sitting at the counter. Amarant was leaning on it. We walked up to them, and Freya turned around. She looked at Eiko. "Eiko, someone is here to see you." She motioned over to a table. I looked over there as well. That hat, those thick glasses, and that large nose; it was Doctor Tot.

Eiko looked excited "oh! It's the nerdy guy!"

Tot laughed. "You're as energetic as ever."

Eiko nodded. "Yep, I'm always energetic! Didn't you come here to talk to me about something?"

Tot nodded. "Oh, yes. I almost forgot…your village…what was the name…?"

Eiko spoke. "Madain Sari."

He nodded. "Yes. I wanted to ask you a few questions about Madain Sari."

Eiko nodded. "Sure, I'll tell you everything I know. You helped me out, but why don't we go to your place? We can relax there."

He looked surprised. "To my home? My home is located in Treno. It's a bit far from here…" he paused.

Eiko looked curious. "Treno? Sounds like a cool place! I'm interested in sightseeing! I wanna go there."

"I'm coming with you." said a familiar voice near the door.

I turned towards the door and saw Zidane enter the tavern. He walked up to us. "There's a card game tournament going on in Treno right now. I wanna participate."

Vivi looked curious. "A card game tournament? That sounds fun. I wanna go, too…" he paused.

I smiled. "I've never been to Treno. I'll go, too."

Freya spoke. "I'd like to go, as well."

Amarant spoke. "Treno, huh…?" he paused.

Tot laughed. "Quite a party this is becoming. It would be my pleasure. We shall go to Treno." We left the bar and made our way to Gargan Roo.

As soon as we got to Gargan Roo, I noticed that there was still Mist in the tunnel. I wasn't the only one who noticed it. Zidane spoke "there's still Mist here…" he paused.

Eiko spoke. "Kinda looks like the Iifa Tree before we got rid of the Mist."

Vivi looked at Zidane. "I don't think the Mist is as dense as it was before."

Tot turned to us. "Yes, I heard that you all stopped the Mist…the Mist permeated through the roots. That is probably why it still lingers here."

Our conversation was halted by the arrival of the Gargant. I haven't seen this thing since we left the palace. 'I guess the snake never got it' I thought.

Freya spoke. "This is a Gargant?"

Tot turned to her. "Yes. Shall we?" We all nodded, boarded the Gargant car, and left for Treno.

The song I sang in this chapter is "Some Enchanted Evening" From the musical South Pacific. R&R, please