Brahne's Story

Disclaimer: I own nothing of FFIX but this story!

I have put that it's three years later and I've used a reputable story source but obviously not everything's exact so just bear with it. I try my best o;) I enjoyed writing this chapter- it was nice to have a bit of light relief after all the dark doom and gloom of previous chapters! ...


12. The Oglop and the Bandit

It had been three years since Dr.Tot had sent his note of warning to Lindblum Castle in the hope that Cid, the ruler of Lindblum, would take notice of it and keep an eye on the young princess. Three years and nothing much in that department had happened which was either good or bad in the old tutor's opinion. He wanted Cid to act on his words but there were still times even now when he would shudder at the thought of the devastation his warning would cause if it was ever revealed that he had written it. Maybe the fact he had heard nothing was therefore a good sign? Cid was keeping a silent eye on Alexandria but had not pursued the question of who had written the anonymous note.

Still, Dr.Tot couldn't help but be frustrated by the lack of knowledge outside Treno. He expected there to be word of terror in Alexandria but nothing was even whispered in the back allies. There seemed like there was nothing to tell for surely if there had been a murder or a kingdom had been taken over he would have heard about it through some vibrant conversation in a local pub. Instead his ears were greeted with the usual humdrum story of how nothing was being done to stop the youth of the city buying things they couldn't actually pay for in the auctions. It was enough to drive the sanest man mad but there was nothing he could do but hope some outsider to the city would have some news for him.

The truth of the matter was that Brahne was keeping a low profile, for the moment at least. There was a time and a place for her to cause chaos, terrorize a few neighbouring kingdoms, but right now her priority was tracking down all the crystals she needed. No one in Alexandria Castle could really suspect a thing and had no real reason to; Garnet had grown to truly despise her time at Alexandria and was more concerned with dreaming of the outside world the way she had always done while Steiner and Beatrix acted under Brahne as their ruler the way they had always done. In short, there was nothing alarming about the last few years at Alexandria apart from the sight of the monstrous Queen having some fits.

At least in the Kingdom of Lindblum there had been a bit more drama. Cid had had his own trauma to deal with, being turned into an oglop by an angry wife who had then stolen his prize airship was hardly him having a good few months! He had, however, received Dr.Tot's note all that time ago. It had alarmed him that was for sure but there was nothing to suggest that Garnet was in any danger. Still with it on his mind, he instead had put it away in a drawer with the intention of consulting it if such an occasion ever arose to read it again.

Years later and it was still in the drawer mustering dust. A few months after that and finally it was lifted out of its resting place by a guard.

"…Is this what you wanted, Your Majesty?"
The young guard carried the note to his ruler's chambers, approaching Cid the Oglop as if he was a ticking bomb.
"I-I'll just put it down h-h-here, shall I?"
He dropped Dr. Tot's note next to the strange creature with much disgust ridden on his face.

"Thank you," the oglop said finally after a good few minutes. The guard seemed glad of this closure; he practically ran out.
Cid had no time to feel depressed at the reaction of his own guards to his appearance, he had more important things to concern himself with. He looked down on the words Dr.Tot had written so long ago that the parchment had become frayed and the ink had ran and began to think.

Recently, there had been some strange things reported out of Alexandria. Stories of the Queen had travelled to Lindblum ears that Cid could not ignore. If the rumours were true and the Queen was beginning to act in an unusual manner then this note had sudden relevance.
"Protect.. Garnet… Protect… Garnet," he muttered quickly. His chain of thought stopped for a moment when the question of who had written such a note entered his mind but it was quickly dismissed when an idea formed. He summoned another guard.
"How many bandit groups do you think you could track down?" he asked.

>

The chamber door opened later into the night and a burly figure stepped in. The strange man who had entered looked about eagerly, his whiskery pink beard twitching like an overgrown rat. He turned things over and prodded at random objects that looked interesting. His reason for doing so became apparent when he quickly swiped a gold ring that been hiding underneath a crease in a table cloth into his pocket. He looked quite pleased with himself; a smile emerged…
"…I'd put that back if you want paying…"
And then it disappeared.

"Who is there?" the stranger enquired, grudgingly removing the ring from his pocket and putting it back on the table. "Show yourself!"
No reply came and the stranger barked his order again.
"I said show yourself!"
"Fine," the voice spoke once more, "but I hope this does not get in the way of my request for you…"

The stranger waited.

He waited some more.

He grew impatient.

Then, the squishy oglop of Cid bounded onto the table.

"AAAAAAARGH!"
The stranger jumped back, knocking over the table and sending Cid high into the air so that the poor oglop landed on him.
"OGGGGGLOP!"
"I know! I happen to be it!" Cid yelled back at him.
"A T-TALKING OGLOP?"
"No… I'm just a master at lip sync. Course I'm talking! Would you put me down?"

The man stopped. He looked at the oglop suspiciously but said nothing for a while, his mind still assessing the creature in front of him.
"…Is this my punishment for trying to take that ring? Cause I put it back," he barked in a way that was gruff but wasn't threateningly so. "Take me to your.. your ruler. I've got an appointment to meet!"
"You're looking at him," the oglop smiled in a bizarre way that only an oglop could.
"What? Don't be so damn st-!"
"Look, I got something for you," Cid started. "Take it or leave it but there'll be a good payment…"
The man's rat-like ears pricked up at the mention of money.
"Go on. I'm listening…"

Cid bounced from the stranger and onto the table leg that was up in the air from being turned over.
"You see Mr…"
"Call me Baku…"
"Ok… Mr. Baku…"
"Just Baku…"
"Ok then… You see Baku I am growing increasingly concerned about the Kingdom of Alexandria. It seems that the Queen has been acting rather peculiar and I am worried for the Princess. I need your help to secure her safety. I think I would feel better if she was with me in Lindblum."
"Better? With an oglop!… well that Queen must be bad…" Baku commented.
"…Yeah… yeah whatever," Cid muttered quickly, obviously unimpressed and eager to press on. "The matter at hand is whether you and your troupe will kidnap her. What do you say?"
"I say that it better have a good sum of money attached to it…"
"You needn't worry about that…you speak to my Minister and he'll give you half now, half later if you sign on the dotted line right now."

Baku gave Cid the suspicious look he had previously shown in trying to believe the ruler of Lindblum was really an oglop.
"…There's only one real condition," Cid pressed on, "I'd rather only you knew the reason behind this. The less people who know the better, you get my drift?"
Baku nodded.
"Bit of a secret operation then."
Then he smirked a little.
"…You got a plan?"

"Indeed I do," Cid replied, happy his bandit seemed up for the job. "I think we need a good distraction. We need the Queen's attention diverted and what better time than on her daughter's birthday? You see I was thinking that there's this play…"
"PLAY?" Baku yelled, "Look, Mister, I'm no performing monkey. You need a distraction, use yourself!"
The oglop gave an unexpected smile.
"Seems we're on the same wavelength after all. Once the play is underway you can use oglops to distract the audience. Then, your chosen men can get in there and kidnap the princess!"

Baku was thinking, his beard was twitching and he was biting his lip.
"I don't normally don tights… but then again I don't normally have conversations with talking oglops either."
"…So will you do it? Will you sign the contract?"
He paused further before delivering his final answer.
"….Yes, ok then, Tantalus will do your kidnapping"- and he signed on the dotted line- "but I tell you I'm not doing the oglop job!"
"I wouldn't expect it!" Cid announced cheerfully.
"And don't think we work for pickles!"
"I didn't think that at all!"
"And don't think we won't be asking for our money if this falls through!"
"I'd expect nothing less…"

Baku reached the door and his whole face seemed to glow all of a sudden.
"Nice doing business with you," he smirked.
"And you, Baku…" Cid smiled back.

As the bandit left, something shiny fell through a hole in his pocket. The ring he had originally tried to steal glimmered in the light having escaped from a second attempt at being thieved. Cid grinned at the sight of it
."…You are good to do business with…"- he bounced down to the shining ring- "but you certainly aren't half as smart as you think you are."