Brahne's Story

Disclaimer: I own nothing of FFIX but this story!

At the moment it's a bit of a build up to events with Brahne so be patient with me please! The woman will become evil (and incredibly ugly) but I need to develop a solid why and how. This (>) is an asterisk because I apparently can't get one!


2. Haunted

The sun had come back out to warm Alexandria once again. People were rejoicing, becoming ever more restless to see the Princess within hours of her miracle return unaware that, inside the castle, her secret identity was being erased forever. Sweeping the little girl's hair off her face to take a closer look, the King had noticed the girl possessed a little horn and, in panic, had ordered it to be removed before the formal addressing to the kingdom. Waiting outside the chambers, the King and Queen stood, listening to the screams. Brahne screwed up her eyes and looked away.

"Do you think we are doing the right thing?" she asked, her mind a cavern of thought."This is all wrong I'm sure of it..."
"How can giving a little girl a home be wrong?" the King assured her and he held her close. "Just relax..."
"I just get the feeling something's wrong with this…"
Brahne sighed and bit her lip in uncertainty, her mind filing through guilt and a selfish desire to hold on to her precious child, as the door of the chamber opened.
"Ah… at last," the King smiled and he looked from the open door of the chamber to his wife, "Brahne… I would like you to meet our latest members to the Alexandria family. This is Zorn and Thorn."

Brahne looked up from where her husband had been protecting her in his arms and her brown eyes peered up at the two jesters in front of her. For some unexplainable reason she felt instant distrust. She didn't know why but there was something about them that made her feel uneasy. Both had gaunt white faces with heavily made up eyes but one was dressed in a blue jester outfit, the other in red. They looked back at her and for a moment the jesters and the Queen stared into each other's eyes. Brahne shivered.

"How is the girl?"
The King looked into the chambers and Brahne broke away from the eyes of the jesters.
"The girl is fine," the blue jester informed him.
"Fine the girl is" the red jester repeated.
Brahne listened hard but she could not hear what the jesters had said. Her conscience was torturing her and every word that came from the jesters seemed like a million miles away. She had to see the girl.
"I want to see her now," she said suddenly and, without looking again at the jesters, she rushed into the room.

Inside, the little girl was sleeping, her eyelashes were like black butterflies fluttering their wings and she was breathing silently. Light from nearby candles were casting shadows over her as she lay safe in her cocoon. Brahne sat on the bed beside her and gently sweeped the princess' hair off her forehead, which was now red and missing the horn.
"Goodnight my sweet Garnet," she whispered softly, every word soothing her grief like a lullaby and filling her heart with meaning.
Next to her, the candles flickered emitting a soft orange glow over the room. Brahne felt her eyes open and close and soon she saw the light flicker no more as the room fell into darkness…

>

Brahne was holding a bundle of joy in her arms. It was a soft, velvet material that was wrapped around the child and from it, came loud crying. Brahne began to rock her gently and, folding back the material, she looked down to soothe her. It was a blur. Just a faceless blur yet it wouldn't stop crying. It cried louder and louder until Brahne began to sob with it.

"Mummy, why are you lying to yourself?"
A voice of a little girl said sadly.

" Mummy, why won't you let me rest in peace?"

"Mummy, why are you pretending?"

"Forgive me! I just want you here!" Brahne cried at last and she looked all around her. "It was all wrong! You were taken from me! It was my fault, I should have looked out for you!"
The little Princess Garnet appeared faintly, her eyes glazed over and streaming with tears.
"Nothing you could have done could have saved me, mummy. I promise you, I am happy"

Brahne shook her head and desperately continued to rock the faceless baby to stop her from crying.
"You won't leave me again!" she cried, her eyelashes dripping tears. " You will be protected this time. A Knight won't leave your side!"
Princess Garnet showed no emotion. Her face was as blank as a puppet floating with silent strings. She was fading slowly.

"I won't fail you again…" she whispered as the girl disappeared. She looked down again at the bundle. The blur was becoming something… Brahne's head was pulsating as she folded the material back again to reveal an ugly creature with pallid green skin and a black band over its eyes…
"Seize the power Brahne!" it hissed menacingly. "You can bring the real Garnet to life and soothe your pain! You know the little girl is fake! You don't need her, just take all you need to get the power and then the real Princess Garnet can live! "

>

"GARNET!"
Brahne was crying when she woke up, her long hair was matted with the tears and she was gasping for air. The room felt like it was closing in all around her and she was going to be crushed with emotion. She wanted to scream, cry and run from her fear but, like a vice was gripping her, she lay on the bed motionless and the door opened. It was Zorn and Thorn, their pockets sprinkling dust from where they had been casting magic, only disturbed by the Queen's cry.
"Is there anyway we can help?"
"Help in anyway can we?"
"We heard your cries"
"Heard your cries we did"

Brahne took deep breaths, reminding herself it was only a nightmare, and sat up on the empty bed.
"Where is Garnet?" she asked the jesters.
"Dr Tot has arrived to continue her teaching…"
"Arrived to continue her teaching Dr Tot has"
Brahne nodded and threaded her fingers through her hair as she looked into a nearby mirror.
"Thank you," she told the jesters. "I am fine. You may both leave now."

The jesters did as they were ordered and Brahne was glad of this. She wanted to be alone. Her eyes did not leave her reflection, they watched as she lifted a hand and stroked down her face. Her dream was still echoing in her head and it wouldn't leave. Over and over it played like a memory haunting her and she wanted it to go away but the more she tried to forget, the stronger it became visually. She walked down the castle's halls with it in mind before she came to the castle library.

"Look Dr Tot!"
Her heart leaped at the voice of Princess Garnet from behind the door but then it became filled with guilt over what she had done to the innocent child. There was a strong chance the new princess would never remember her true identity. She was a teddy bear Queen Brahne could cuddle and soothe the pain- the child was now empty, without a past. To everyone in the kingdom she was Princess Garnet but, in Brahne's heart, she was like a reflection in the mirror. The girl looked like her daughter but that was all. She was just a reflection now.

The next night and every night after that she would continue to cry at the mercy of the voice in her dream. But she could control her desire to hold her deceased child in her arms once more. It was just a dream, a hope she had in her heart at night and, by morning, it had faded. Soon, however, her desire to have her Garnet back began to burn stronger. Sometimes she'd comb the living Garnet's hair and she was so proud to have brought such happiness to a child but, at other times, her mind would change and she'd think that just a little bit of power was what she needed to bring her closer to her dream. Just that bit closer so that she could touch her daughter's hand or hear her sweet voice. It was on one stormy night she knew that she was going to go to any lengths to get it.


The next chapter will be pretty dark therefore there might be a chance the rating will go up. I'm not sure as I've not written it yet! I'll update very soon anyhow 0;) Thanks so much for reading. Please R&R, it helps me a lot