Brahne's Story

Disclaimer: I own nothing of FFIX but this story!

This is a bit dark at the beginning, its really a kind of metaphor show how Garnet feels at the loss of her parents. I have no idea why this fanfic is this dark. I'm no fluffy writer but I normally write happy stuff! … I suppose it's just because it's really a tragedy all the way through and, sounding like an English teacher, it's imagery to reflect that hoho.

Anyhow enjoy this chapter. This, as you will read, is set some years after Brahne is locked away… I had a brain freeze so that's why it took me a while to get this out! So sorry 'bout that…

P.S Contains one swearing word!


 7. The Girl who saw Evil

The sky above the dark forest had become an ink black veil that had fallen to mask the stars. Twisted branches like dead arms climbed up to the moon giving it the appearance of a graveyard full of bodies shining in the moonlight. Through a dark gravel pathway a girl was running so fast that the surrounding bushes were purple and black blurs. She herself was pale, her eyes looked as if they had been put in a colander and had been drained of all colour with only tears to dribble down her cheeks.

"MUMMY WHERE ARE YOOOO!" she was crying, just a little child lost in the woods. "DADDY…. I'M SCARED!"
But no one but her was in sight. The pathway seemed to go on forever, mud was plastered up the girl's legs that were scratched and bleeding from running through the prickly bushes but she had nowhere else to go but forward.
"MUMMY PL-!"

She hadn't noticed a black twig was sticking out of the ground when she tripped over it and fell through a clearing in the trees, breaking her horn on her head. She felt a sharp excruciating pain throb through her head that made her scream so loud some ravens flew out of the top of the tree in front of her. With her mind still fuzzy and aching from the fall, her eyes scanned from the bottom of the tree up to the top. It was more uglier than any of the other trees put together, disfigured with moaning grey bodies integrated into its bark and with branches like bony fingers tapping the grey clouds. As her young eyes looked higher up, they became wide and filled with horror at the gruesome sight that lay before her. Hanging off the end of the thickest branches, two frayed ropes slowly revolved the hanged bodies of the King and Queen, their grey eyes were staring lifeless into the distance.

"MUMMY? DADDY?"
The little girl's face crumpled into an unrecognisable mess and, frightened, she tried to double back over the damp soil instead falling over. Clambering over the remains of dead bodies, she….

"AAAAAH!"
Princess Garnet woke up screaming, her hands frantically touching her forehead that was drenched in sweat. It had all felt so real that, even after a few minutes, she still could not erase the thought of herself as the little girl in the nightmare. Even though she knew it was just a dream (she was safe in her bed, she didn't have a horn, and she certainly wasn't a little girl anymore but a young teenager) it had got her thinking about her parents. She knew her father had died from illness but her mother? She remembered the beautiful Queen often, combing her hair and singing to her. She remembered her long brown hair, her deep brown eyes and her scent but, most of all, she remembered her mother's sadness. Little Garnet didn't see her mother very much, the Queen was always busy she was told, and therefore she had been under the close protection of Steiner, a promising young knight. Then, one day not long after the King's death, the Queen had simply disappeared. Where to nobody knew, it had been a great mystery to all but people had suggested she had been overcome by grief and shut herself away.

For a girl of such a young age, the loss of both parents had been devastating but it made her into a strong young woman. Although she was only thirteen, she had become mature before her time and this made her come to despise her lack of freedom. She dreamed about exploring what would one day be her kingdom, she dreamed about meeting the people who would someday come to her for advice and she dreamed about learning new things the outside world could teach her when, in reality, all she really got was….

"Princess!"

Like someone had somehow heard her thoughts, in rushed Steiner with an expression upon his face that looked like the young girl had just been kidnapped by a giant beast and thrust out of the window.
"What is going on? Are you alright? Why did you scream? What happened? Is there anything-"
"Steiner… I just had a bad dream that is all," the princess said without much energy. "Everything is fine…. "
She slid out of bed and looked out of the window to the far distant lands past Alexandria and sighed.
"….anyway I would have thought you would have more important things to deal with what being promoted to Captain of the Guards and now, being a part of the Alexandria New Government…"
She tried to keep her tone conversational but it failed spectacularly. She couldn't hide her irritation at once again being treated like a child. Apparently she was too young to join the government that had been formed to run the country after the disappearance of Brahne. Fortunately, Steiner was completely oblivious to this.

"MORE IMPORTANT THINGS!" he cried, as if she had gone and caused him great offence. "Princess, your safety is my prime concern!"
Garnet gave a weak smile to him, one that looked as natural as a funeral director smiling, and turned back to gaze at the white doves that hooted good morning as they affectionately nibbled her fingers in search of grain.

Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue with white doves gliding through the warm air enjoying a gentle breeze. They looked down upon Alexandria that was bustling with early risers who were busy buying up the market stalls. Garnet sighed dreamily at the outside world watching the green of the grass, the colours of the city and the blue of the sky merge together when her eyes sharply focused on one thing. In the distance, a silver speck was coming towards the castle. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes but it was still there, coming closer and taking the shape of a dragon. A feeling deep down in her stomach told her something was wrong….

"Steiner," she said suddenly, "Steiner… there's a dragon coming near the castle!"
The Knight raced to the window and his face wore the same expression he had had when he thought Garnet was in trouble.
"Stay here," he commanded, much more seriously than usual.
"But-"
"Garnet, please for your own protection stay in this room!"

Steiner ran out, shutting the door and subsequently locking it.
"For your own protection stay in this room…" Garnet imitated him once he had gone, feeling anger erupt in the pit of her stomach. What right did he have to keep her in this room? She was old enough to know what was happening in a country that would one day be hers. She wasn't a child who needed protecting from every little thing.
"I have a right to know… " she said to herself as she picked the lock with a hair pin. "I don't need to be wrapped up like a baby…"

Much to Garnet's surprise, the door came open quite easily making way for her to quietly creep downstairs and hide behind some large barrels. She peered through a convenient hole in one of the larger barrels seeing Steiner surrounded by his Pluto Knights confronting a very odd looking man. He was slim with long silver hair and wore weird garments of clothing that looked as though he'd just left a fancy dress party.

"I have come to see the Queen…" he was saying.
"Well the Queen isn't here!" Steiner fumed. "We haven't seen her for goodness knows how long!"
"She is here," the man replied quite simply.
Steiner turned the colour of a nearby red rug and looked as if he was about to bring the whole castle down in his anger.
"What? What are you going to do? Have your pitiful knights come arrest me?" the slim man taunted, noting the Knights arming.
"…as a matter of fact…"
"The Knights are going to come and lock me up for coming to see Her Majesty? What bad manners…"
"… well I think you will find…"
"I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to invite my friends to come pay a visit too…"
"…HUH?"
"Well if you are going to give me such a hostile welcome I really should return the gesture…"

The door exploded at the end of the man's sentence and suddenly some weird creatures burst into the room. They were identical with large floppy hats, black empty faces with yellow eyes and their hands held balls of flaming magic. Steiner's eyes widened and he ordered an attack at once but the creatures were too quick. They fired at the Knights toppling them over like a stack of loose dominos, disarming them and making them fall on their backs like insects shaking their arms to try and get back up again.
"Urgh…" Steiner said in defeat, feeling his arms turn to marshmallows.

Garnet was also immobile, her arms and legs were frozen and only her face could move its muscles. She was still crouched behind the barrels, still peering through the hole at the shambles that was the Pluto Knights. They were sprawled all over the place, groaning while the slim man walked around them shaking his head as if he expected them to put up more of a fight.

"Dear oh dear… what a mess…. " he muttered to himself, eventually looking up from the pile of Knights to face Steiner who was toppled over the stairs.
"Well it's been fun, " he sneered and he made his way down to the basement stairs. "But you weren't much company… I believe my special guest is down here…"
Steiner tried to pull himself up but the magic was too strong and it pinned him down again.
"YOU BASTARD!" he yelled at top voice. "WHOEVER YOU ARE - YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL THIS SPELL IS OVER!"
But the man had already disappeared down the stairs.


Pointless ending time: come read and review! read and review! ...