Brahne's Story

Disclaimer: I own nothing of FFIX but this story!

Well... this is my final chapter :( It's been fun but all stories must come to an end. This chapter will bring you up to the beginning of the game (which will answer your question Dazz Combo) After this chapter I will upload another one answering all reviews I have ever had.


13. The Forgotten Queen

A torn envelope fell to the floor, emptied of its content. The letter, which had been carefully slid inside its outer pouch and stamped with the Lindblum royal emblem, had been ripped out of its two day resting place by eager hands. Brahne sat in the Royal Chambers, her pallid fingers gripping the parchment tightly and her eyes quickly scanning the letter with much interest.


For the attention of HRM, (she read in her mind)

I am writing in advance to wish Princess Garnet a wonderful sixteenth birthday and to present her with my gift on behalf of my kingdom and myself. With your approval of course, I would like to put on a spectacular show of "I Want to be Your Canary" in celebration of this upcoming occasion to be held at your castle. Please reply to this letter with your thoughts for I will need time to arrange such an event if you agree for it to go ahead.

Respectfully yours,

Regent Cid

Regent Cid…

The reader finished on the last line with many thoughts. Firstly, she questioned her blank mind about the writer but, feeling her brain wander onto the more pressing issue, she found herself instead search frantically for a piece of a parchment. This was no easy task for Brahne since anything she touched liked to break in her monstrous hands. She frowned, her face collapsing into an avalanche of skin, and called upon a castle guard to write for her. Her simple mind came up the most basic of replies but it was sufficient enough to answer the Regent. The play would go ahead.

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"Garnet!"

Steiner ran up the Grand Hall stairs feeling warm rays of sunshine upon his back from a nearby open door. A pleasant breeze had found its way into the castle bringing with it the mood of Alexandria. A sense of celebration, restlessness and excitement seemed to be everywhere for today it was Princess Garnet's long awaited birthday, today was the day that the play Brahne had permitted a month ago was to go ahead. Both inside and outside the castle, delirious celebration and hard preparation went strangely together. The kitchen cooks had never worked so hard yet not one complained, in fact they seemed almost honoured to be preparing food for guests, while the citizens of Alexandria enjoyed the early morning sunshine, taking the opportunity of good weather to claim last minute tickets for the play.

Only one person seemed to be missing from this joyous picture. Garnet had stayed in her chambers for the morning. Although the fine morning sunshine had lit up Alexandria Castle so that it became almost magical in appearance, Garnet still could find nothing particularly wonderful about her life here. This morning she had spent particularly long gazing at the white birds that flew through the sky, her heart longing to be that free. What wouldn't she give to be out in the world experiencing that life the birds had. Without care, without direction, without authority…without having to act in a certain way. She felt her heart sink knowing she had to sit through an entire play pretending to be happy when all she really wanted to do was get out the kingdom to experience life as a commoner, not sat twiddling a fan immersed in diamonds.

"How will that make me a good Queen?" she asked a bird that flew onto her bed. Her question seemed unanswered. The bird poked around for a while before spreading its gleaming white wings and heading to the window again. Then, it became nothing more than a white speck in the distance discreetly leaving behind the answer.

"It won't," the Princess said sadly to herself as she watched the little bird disappear from sight. She stood up, her large brown eyes reflecting the Alexandria scenery that shimmered in sadness on her iris, as a few things happened in a quick succession. The first came as a sudden feeling of decisiveness; her heart dropped and lifted in a space of a few seconds, suddenly excited by a prospect in her mind, while an unexpected wooziness caused her eyes to feel blurry. She stood on the spot, feeling her mind flicker a second's worth of some distant ruin, somehow justifying her previous decision. It seemed impossible at first but slowly her mind began to latch onto the idea of leaving Alexandria. In the next minute, any impossibility about it seemed to go and, in a sudden rush of energy, she threw some items onto the bed.
"There must be some way out and I will find it," she concluded, tucking a white cape under her pillow. With a sudden feeling of happiness, she left her chambers empty just as Steiner called her name.

"Garnet!"

Steiner ran up the Grand Hall stairs feeling warm rays of sunshine upon his back from a nearby open door. Having been busy all morning, he had had hardly a second to take a breath never mind wish the Princess a Happy Birthday. Knocking twice on her door without hearing even a twitch of movement, he turned the door knob and wandered into the chambers. As he expected from the lack of sound in the room, all was empty. Light poured in from the window creating spotlights on the walls; the room looked airy and empty but there were signs the Princess had been here earlier. A litter of objects were still sprawled over the sheets from where Garnet had pulled them out. Steiner left them as they were, leaving the chambers and shutting the door behind him.

He wandered down the corridors aimlessly, feeling the eerie echo of the halls send shivers up his spine. There was something about these halls that he didn't like, it was if a ghost of some forgotten figure walked down here often. He felt a strong melancholy presence as he approached the castle library and, although he wouldn't admit it to himself, he was glad to hear movement of a real person inside. Garnet sat reading, only disturbed as Steiner entered.

" Found you at last, Your Highness," he said importantly. "I wanted to wish you Happy Birthday!"
He stood tall, his hand to his head.
"Thank you," Garnet laughed, "Whose order are you following may I ask?"
Steiner's face turned serious, he never was good at taking jokes.
"O-O-Order? Princess! This is a personal visit! I reassure you that my birthday wish-"
"Steiner," Garnet interrupted, "I… I… know."
She felt the second part of her sentence waver; her head began to feel woozy like when she was in her chambers. A strange, faint flicker flashed in her mind.

"Princess? Princess, are you ok?" Steiner cried out, and he rushed to support her.
Garnet lifted her hand from her head, feeling the strange numbness in her head fall away. She looked at Steiner.
"I am fine. Just a headache that is all," she reassured him and herself. "I will take something for it before the play begins."
"Yes, Your Highness. Good idea," Steiner replied and he stood up, seemingly satisfied with Garnet's response. However, just to make sure, he stood back as if to survey Garnet before speaking again. "Well… I will have to leave but I hope that you will get ready for the play…"
"I will," Garnet said automatically, her attention more on the book she had been reading when, after a long pause, she looked up and said: "…soon."
Steiner smiled at the ending of Garnet's sentence and left, shutting the door as he did.

Garnet smiled too, Steiner was such an easy person to please. She sat up from the stool she had been perched on and closed the book she had been reading. The cover was dusty but the words clearly read:

ALEXANDRIA LEGENDS VOLUME I

Or did they? Suddenly, her eye sight went blurry and the letters seemed to jumble up. Her mind seemed to be draining of all knowledge, it was as if someone had just stolen her brain and replaced it with that of a six year old. She squinted her eyes, trying to understand what the letters read…
"That's the one dear."
She felt her heart freeze and her head pound. The candles that lit the old library began to flicker, before becoming dull. Garnet spun around, her eyes making out a dark figure. In the dim lighting, a faint outline of Dr. Tot sat scribbling notes at a desk. He wasn't there before…

She looked back down at the book. Her hands… they were… small and not yet fully-grown. Childlike.
"Am I a weeeeally good girl now?" she heard herself say to the old tutor, carrying him the book and placing it next to him, in expectance of a sweet treat.
"Yes, a very good girl," Dr. Tot praised her and he gave her the reward that had been harbouring in his pocket for a while before continuing. "I'm very busy today Garnet. Could you be extra good today and quietly look at the pictures in the books?"
Garnet couldn't stop herself. Her mouth spilled out: "OK!" and she raced over to the bookshelves. She looked at pictures of monsters that scared her, of castles in fairytale kingdoms, of old doctors that looked as funny as Dr.Tot but the one picture she liked most, the one that filled her heart with happiness when she looked at it was one with the title "Bahamut" underneath it.

"Look Dr.Tot!" she cried happily, pointing at it. Dr. Tot did not reply, his eyes were fringed with concentration and he was scribbling faster and faster. Garnet felt her face frown and, bored; she rested the book in her knees. She looked about her, her head dreaming of the creature she liked most in the world to swoop down from the sky, when a shadow in the halls caught her eye.
"Mummy?"

Brahne was wandering outside, her beautiful brown eyes were crying and she seemed to be staring at Garnet, yet her eyes were glazed over. Even in her childlike mind, Garnet could pick up on the strongest emotions. Hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt….

"Just a teddy bear…" some voice was echoing.

"No identity…"
Hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt….

"Just a reflection…"
Hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt…

"No identity…"
Hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt, hate, sadness, guilt…

Garnet watched her "mummy" disappear and tears tumbled down on the picture of Bahamut.

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Garnet shook her head, feeling it number than ever. She was sprawled over the library floor and the stool was on its side next to her. Slowly forcing herself up, she rubbed her eyes. She was obviously so tired, she thought to herself, that she was having strange daydreams now! She thought no more about it. She left the library and the door closed behind her. Only one soul stayed behind. A ghostly reflection of the beautiful Brahne stood, her hands turning the pages of a book. The jesters' spell was wearing off but there was a long way to go until this chapter was complete and the true identity of Garnet would be revealed.

Garnet sat by the window in her chambers, dressed in a beautiful white dress, waiting for the theatre company to arrive. She was feeling worse; her mind kept flickering. She felt her head violently jerk forward. The flickering continued. Suddenly, her mind was uncontrollable; it flashed from reality to visions faster and faster until all went black.

She felt her whole mind explode with terror.

Waves crashed under a storm's wrath tossing about a battered boat. The furious sea showed no mercy, it pounded the vessel so hard that it was uncontrollable. Inside, two bodies clung onto the sides for dear life; one woman, one child. The child, a little girl, could feel her heart race and her eyes fill with terror. All around her was miles and miles of grey sky and water, it was endless. Death was inevitable…. she could feel it linger in the cold air… death was near… she let out a scream… death was close… a wave, bigger than anything that could ever have been imagined, crashed into the side of the boat…

The Princess' eyes shot open. For a moment, she still felt her heart racing and the memory of that strange vision linger on but, in another second, it was gone. She sighed, wiped her eyes and stood up to embrace the cool breeze that floated in. Outside, the birds continued to fly through the sky, reaching places so far away they didn't show from Garnet's window. The Princess smiled to herself, her whole heart feeling free just watching them glide over the incoming theatre ship.
"I am a bird now," she whispered into the cool late afternoon air.

The wind carried the Princess' voice throughout the kingdom, until it flew through another open window. Down in the castle library, the book that had been mysteriously turning its pages shut. The ghostly figure of the beautiful Brahne began to fade. There was only one more thing left for her to do. The Book of Forbidden Charms, leather bound and ghastly, which had been mistakenly placed in the library after being found by a castle guard was mysteriously destroyed. Then, the Queen's presence faded into nothing but the wind that had brought Garnet's words. As darkness closed into Alexandria and the monstrous Brahne took her position upon a throne, the forgotten queen's existence remained only as a villainous puppet, manipulated and used.

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..And there is the end :( A few points to make: The jesters' spell is wearing off so all Garnet's memories are coming back from when she is young to her forgotten past (the beginning of IX) The memory of her in the library with Dr.Tot has been extended from chapter 2: Haunted.

As for Brahne, even though we know she has been transformed into the Brahne we all know in the game, I thought it would be interesting if her old spirit lingered about in the halls, like a ghost replaying a memory.


My last point is further on in the game Brahne apologises for her wrong doings when she dies so that ties in with my idea that the good Brahne's still in there somewhere ;)

Anyway, thank you for reading. I hardly ever finish a project so I'm proud to put this on my list of things finished... YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Hope you have enjoyed my story and have perhaps got a new perspective on Brahne. My replies to reviews to follow so please get reviewing :D