Brahne's Story

Disclaimer: I own nothing of FFIX but this story!

9. Into the Past

"Y-Y-You what?" Dr. Tot gulped, finally beginning to realise the full horror of his situation. Here he was trapped in his own chambers, on his own chair with a strange madman he did not recognise and some murderous jesters who were taking great pleasure in tormenting him. They were dancing around him manically, their eyes flashing, like a gathering of witches around a cauldron full of prize ingredients.

"Yes! We killed him!"
"Killed him we did!"
they were chanting, cackling, chorusing.

"I… don't understand," Dr.Tot said weakly, his eyelids feeling suddenly heavy so that they pressed down on his tired eyes. "Brahne said she had killed him. Brahne-"
The jesters stopped. Even though they had stopped dancing around, their eyes still flickered a menacing red making them just as unpredictable as when they had been circling the poor man.

"That was the most ingenious part!" Zorn cried, as if he had just found a solution to the world's problems. "She believed herself to be the murderer!"
"But she was covered in blood, she was frantic, she told me what happened-"
"Delusions, my friend. All the work of some mind tricks. We had used her own guilt, her own grief as a basis for her nightmares so; I asked myself, how could we use that further? The answer is within a puff of Thorn's smoke…"

Dr. Tot turned his head towards the red jester, who had been chanting quietly under his breath all the time Zorn had been speaking. If Thorn had looked terrifying before, he definitely looked the most grotesque he could ever have gone at this moment. His eyes had rolled back into his skull; his pallid skin had stretched over his bones like rubber that had been pulled and pulled, and his cheekbones had become hollow cavities. It was as if he was gasping for breath in a room full of carbon dioxide.

Now Dr.Tot wanted to cry out loud again or rather his head wanted to but his throat was too busy absorbing every inch of saliva he had. Instead, it was his eyes that reacted first to this harrowing sight. Closing them so tight that his whole face became contorted, he felt a chilling wind brush over his face. In the space of a second, his mind seemed to have raced backwards so far that when he had opened his eyes again, he felt that he had left his soul in his chambers and here was his body watching an event from the past.

It was the night of the murder. He knew this because he watched himself retire to his chambers early, his hands gripping some of the paperwork that would eventually pile up on his desk in towers. Outside, the storm was only just beginning to brew; there were slight outbreaks of rain and a wind was slowly but surely beginning to pick up speed.

The Dr. Tot from the future, who was watching this, suddenly became aware of two shadows on the stone staircase that led to his chambers. Of course, the Dr. Tot of the past had closed his doors for the night and so was completely unaware of any other presences but his own.

"Ssh!" one of the shadows whispered, leading his companion up the stairs. "We don't want to attract any attention to ourselves."
"Attention to ourselves we don't want to attract," the second shadow replied, also in a whisper, unmistakably the voice of red jester, Thorn.

The pair stood just beneath the stairs, hidden from view in the murky shadows. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen. A few moments later and it looked as if what they were waiting for had come at last. Queen Brahne was walking along the corridor towards her chambers; the floorboards creaked under her with every step.

The evil jesters stood motionless for a while, waiting to hear her close the door that came quite soon after she had entered the room. Then, they ascended the stairs, deliberately avoiding every floorboard that would groan under their weight. They could hear heavy blasts of wind and rain were pounding at the castle walls. This was just the type of weather they needed to cast their spell.

"I'm sorry..."
Brahne's distraught voice whispered from inside. She felt the air turn cold. Her arms became rough with goose pimples. Her nightmare, or rather the jester's spell, was once again taking hold.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed into the air and she fell back onto the bed, desperately climbing backwards to try and hide under the warm blanket.
"No!"
"No!"
Then, there was a loud noise. Brahne spoke no more.

The door of her chambers opened. Zorn and Thorn slid in quietly, closing the door behind them.
"She's out cold," Zorn whispered, running his finger through an ooze of red blood from where Brahne had hit her head against a nearby dresser. " You will cast the spell and I will do the deed. Remember, she must be led into the Royal Chambers when I give you the signal. We must act fast."

The red jester nodded, his eyes closed in concentration, while the blue took a candle of the dresser. Brahne stirred like she was in a live dream. Her head tossed and turned, imprinting in her bewitched memory a vision of herself taking a candle of the dresser.

Zorn quickly made his way out of the chambers and down the stairs (this time however he had completely forgotten what floorboards creaked and what ones did not meaning he was creaking a lot.)

"Creeeeeeeeeeeeek."
He slowly pushed a door open and went inside a hall where Knights lined each side. He inspected them closely, finally selecting a sword from the shiniest Knight he saw, the one that belonged to Adelbert Steiner. Sliding it from its sleeve, he stroked its surface in admiration.

Finally, he stepped towards the door and towards his destination. As soon as he had slowly opened the door to the royal chambers the heat hit him. The King had obviously left the fire on; it was crackling in the corner casting shadows over the walls. Zorn smiled at them, enjoying the way they danced like monsters at a ritual dance, before he crossed over to the bed.

Below him, the King slept quietly. He was smiling in his sleep, occasionally he would say some inaudible words or he would snore gently, but mainly he was enjoying his sleep in peace.
"How sweet…" Zorn whispered in a tone that didn't match his words, it was like a snake's hiss before it bit its unsuspecting victim. The King tossed over, seemingly oblivious to the jester's presence, or was he? Suddenly, without warning, his eyes opened.

Zorn, initially alarmed, tried to find a place to hide but it was too late, the King had seen him.
"Zorn…" he whispered sleepily, his eyelids struggling to keep open. "What are you doing up at this time of the night?"
His voice was not alarmed nor was it scared; it was concerned. Full of trust and curiosity in equal measures.

Zorn looked at him emotionless, his eyes cold and ruthless as if all mercy had been driven out of them, and raised the sword.
"Zor-"
He plunged it into the King, feeling it excite his whole body. Like his veins were being filled up with sudden bursts of life, the jester took deep breaths letting his achievement sink into him. He watched the King bleed one last time before closing his eyes and whispering in some ancient language a command to his companion jester.

The door opened and in came Brahne as if she was sleepwalking. Her eyes were glazed over and she was thrusting her arms into the air reinacting what her mind had been programmed to believe, that she had stabbed her husband. The King tried to reach her; his hands were grappling at his wound in the hope that it would somehow stop the bleeding, before he fell. The jesters looked on with glee before they disappeared out of sight.

"Brahne… Zorn… killed…. me…" the King gasped with his final breaths, the blood trickling from the bed to the carpet. But Brahne could not hear anything. Her eyes just stared on; she was still under the spell.
"Brahne! Help… me!" the King choked helplessly before he lost all energy and slumped onto the carpet that was stained a rich red.

Brahne continue to look but soon emotion entered her once cold eyes, her mind's prison was lifting and all her thoughts were returning slowly but surely, showing on her face. First she felt numb, then the emotion flooded into her soul, then pain exploded in her head until her heart felt on fire. In hysterics, she rushed to his side and cradled him in her arms. She was crying furiously, the idea that she had killed her husband paining every piece of her heart, while the King looked at her in confusion but most of all, love.

Just to make absolutely clear here that Thorn cast a spell that sent Dr.Tot's mind back into the past so he is watching these events in his head. I think I made that clear but y'know just to make sure! This chapter ties up the loose ends of chapter 3: Murder at the Castle. Also the revelations that the jesters have been using magic to create Brahne's nightmares is hinted at in Chapter 2: Haunted. For banter, you could go spot it lol. R&R