Chapter Three – Fighting Old Allies

"Finally," Garnet muttered. Stepping lightly off her ship, she looked and beheld Oeilvert. This was the place that Zidane had come and lost his sanity. Garnet had no love for the place, but she came to find out the reason that Zidane had declared war on Gaia. As she stepped up to the massive door, she gazed at it in wonder. Before, when they had still been married, Zidane had told her all about Oeilvert. Nowhere in his story did he say that the entire door was made by stone. Quickly, she put two and two together.

"Vivi!" she hissed. Vivi must have used his Break spell on the door and petrified it. But it mattered very little to Garnet. If she wanted something, she could be just as stubborn as Zidane.

"Ifrit!" she summoned. At once, the fire demon fell from the sky as he always did. But, noticing that there was no enemy, Ifrit turned to glance at her. Garnet swore that she saw confusion in the eidolon's eyes. She gestured at the door.

"Break it down."

Understanding now, the eidolon turned to the door and smashed it apart with one, powerful punch. Its job done, the eidolon disappeared to wherever eidolons went when they weren't summoned. When the dust cleared, Garnet started forward, but she was only able to take one step before forced to stop again. There, leaning against the ruined frame of the door, stood Zidane. He had his Ultima Weapon out, but he didn't have it up.

"I thought you would never show up," he said with his usual playful smile. Garnet held up her Whale Whisker to defend herself.

"You know what I come here for, Zidane," she said. "So move, unless you want my eidolons to move you."

"Empty threat, Garnet," Zidane said unconcernedly. "Your magic cannot pass into Oeilvert. The moment magic passes beyond where the door had been, it is instantly contained and destroyed. If a mage walks in here, then their magic is contained in their bodies and not let out."

"So come out here and fight me one on one," Garnet challenged Zidane. "Unless you're no longer a man as well."

"I am no longer a man," Zidane muttered, walking away from the entrance of Oeilvert and walking towards. "I am a god. And now, you will die!" He stopped about a hundred feet before her.

The two former lovers glared long and hard at each other, their emotions churning within them. Then without warning, both of them tranced! Zidane brought forward his Ultima Weapon into an attacking position, and Garnet steadied her Whale Whisker.

"Let's dance," they both shouted and lunged towards each other.

Steiner gasped for breath; his energy was spent after fighting Genome after Genome. Though none of them were nearly as good as Zidane, they possessed incredible strength and stamina, making each one a very deadly fighter. However, the last wave had just been beaten away from the gate of Lindblum, giving the defenders a chance to breath. Wearily, Steiner extracted a hi-potion from his diminishing supply and gulped it down. Instantly, the healing medicine cured his wounds and replenished a small amount of his sapped energy. Having dealt with himself, he began to tend to his comrades.

Steiner and the rest of the Pluto Knights had been stationed at Lindblum with a hundred or so female Alexandrian soldiers. As backup, the Lindblum soldiers inside the massive city. Before this current battle, they had fought several small skirmishes, but the enemy seemed to only fight halfheartedly and was easily driven back. But, Steiner understood what they were doing. Zidane was testing the forces that protected Lindblum; he was testing to see if he stood a chance of capturing a very key city. Despite being a thief and a very young one at that, Zidane was an excellent strategist. He had proved it during their travels. And to think that Steiner had once trusted him!

The Alexandrian forces had become confident and arrogant. The only thing that had prevented their demise today was the arrival of one person; she was the greatest female general that had ever walked in Alexandria: Beatrix. Her unexpected arrival to check up on them had been their saving grace.

Now he watched as the one-eyed general, the love of his life, walked through the decimated troops, healing those who needed it and offering praise and advice to depressed soldiers. Her skills as a white mage were impressive; she did not have as many spells as Garnet or Eiko, but in battle, she was very helpful. Beatrix noticed his gaze and walked calmly over to him. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she smiled at him.

"Impressive work, Captain," she said with a smile. "I saw some of your swordplay from over there." She gestured to a place further down the line. "I have to admit, some of your skills have improved to the point that they are better than mine. Half of these soldiers would not be here had you been missing."

Steiner replied evenly, "Beatrix, do not put yourself down so hard. If half of these soldiers are still here because of me, then the other half and the entire city are still standing because of you."

Steiner received another smile for his effort. He loved her with all his heart, but her smile is what attracted him in the first place. That and her incredible sword skills. But then, the smile became a frown, and Steiner involuntarily felt himself tense up. Even though many years had passed, he had still not forgotten the time that their blades had been drawn against each other. This had been years back, when Beatrix was still blinded to the Queen's greed. Steiner and the other had long since forgiven her, but he still involuntarily flinched whenever she frowned. However, this time, he noticed that she was not frowning at him but rather at the bodies of the dead Genomes.

"What is it, Beatrix?" Steiner asked, concern in his voice.

Beatrix looked at him with worry evident in her eyes. "Cid was watching the battle in his airship. He just reported that the retreating Genomes were heading from Pinnacle Rocks. He couldn't get closer because Black Mages would fire spells at his ship that could tear it apart."

"But I do not understand why that troubles you," Steiner said. "Now that we know where their temporary HQ (A/N: headquarters) is, we can strike while they are weak."

"But that isn't the disturbing part," Beatrix muttered. "Cid said that he saw two figures jump out of the quarry when the Genomes got close to Pinnacle Rocks. You know what that means!"

Unfortunately, Steiner did know what that meant. Freya and Fratley must have sided with Zidane and Vivi. Then again, Steiner wasn't that surprised. At the onset of the war, Garnet had pleaded with different nations and races for their help, including Burmecia. However, the Burmecians wanted nothing to do with the war; they only wanted to rebuild their destroyed home. Garnet, in her anger, had ordered that if any soldier found a Bumecian, be it a messenger, a merchant, or a soldier, the Burmecian would be killed on the spot. Garnet couldn't risk having a spy of Zidane's slip into Alexandria or Lindblum. Many innocent Burmecians who had nothing to do with Zidane or the war were killed because of Garnet's orders. The remaining Burmecians now harbored a deep resentment towards Alexandria and Lindblum. The old feelings that had been buried with the death of the former Queen were resurfacing. But that wasn't the worst thing about the situation. If Burmecia had sided with Zidane, then that meant that Zidane had a footing on the Mist Continent!

"They're coming again!"

Steiner and Beatrix whipped around to see that the Genomes were advancing again. But, the sound of the engines caught their attention. Looking up, they saw a crude ship that the Genome soldiers must have constructed. Though nowhere near as advanced as the Invincible, they could carry hundreds of soldiers at once. But this time, the ship was carrying only two warriors. From hundreds of feet above the ground, they leaped off the side towards the ground. Suddenly, voices could be heard from the two descending warriors.

A female's voice shouted, "Cherry Blossoms!"

A male's voice uttered, "Dragon's Crest!"

An enormous spear suddenly shot through the sky to land in the midst of the Alexandrian soldiers. The spear hit no one, and everyone gathered around it to stare at it curiously. Steiner opened his mouth to warn them, but it was too late. Cherry Blossoms swiftly enveloped the soldiers, exploding and killing anything they touched. But, Steiner had much important worries to be concerned about.

"Steiner, what is this devilry?" Beatrix whispered, fear in her voice. Steiner followed his gaze to the ground, and to his horror, found himself standing on the giant seal of Burmecia, as if a god had reached down and drawn it beneath their feet. He wanted to run, but he was bound within the seal by the unique magic of the Dragon Knights. He steeled himself for the inevitable finish to the spell. Like he had witnessed so many times in the past, the seal suddenly became three-dimensional and the dragon imprinted on the seal reared its head up and snapped its jaws around the two knights!

Pain ripped through Steiner like a knife; he could feel the fury and agony of every single dragon that Fratley had ever vanquished. The spell ended the moment the dragon had snapped its jaws shut, but the pain did not. It last a little while longer, and when Steiner could finally see through the pain, he saw two pairs of feet standing before him. Looking further upward, he saw the faces of Freya and Fratley: two of the greatest Dragon Knights that had ever been born.

"Cura!" Beatrix hissed through the pain. White magic countered the pain that had been engulfing Steiner, and he felt himself breathe for the first time since the pain begin. Beatrix repeated the spell, and Steiner was able to get to his knees.

Freya and Fratley's attack had taken Steiner by complete surprise; he had not even had enough time to pull out the Ragnarok. Now, he quickly drew it and held it before him. To his left, Beatrix did the same with her Save the Queen. Before him, Freya stood ready with her Dragon's Hair Spear. Fratley halted before Beatrix, his spear up and dangerous.

"Do you remember me?" he asked Beatrix emotionlessly.

Beatrix snarled, "How could I forget? You were the only person that I ever had to actually fight. You were the first and last warrior that actually stood a chance of endangering my life."

"Do you remember what you said to me then?" Fratley asked again, still without the slightest trace of emotion in his voice.

"Why don't you attack me? Does fear hold you back?" Beatrix replied, easily recalling this memory.

"What was my reply?" Fratley inquired. When Beatrix did not respond, he replied for her. Without warning, he lifted his head so that all could see his eyes, filled with fire. Fratley thundered, "I said to you, 'Let fear propel you forward!'"

As one, Fratley, Freya, and the Genome leaped towards us. In response, Steiner raised his sword and prepared to use one of his lesser-used knight skills.

"CHARGE!" Steiner bellowed. Beatrix and Steiner hurdled towards Fratley and Freya, while their two forces collided in battle once more. And so the blood ran…

A/N: Whew, that took me a good few hours. Well, I'm sorry for the delay but school really is trying to send me to an early grave. I've been enjoying winter break to the max, and then I realized that I haven't written anything in a while. So now, with my last few days of winter break dwindling, I present to you the third chapter! The plot has finally been hammered out, so I hope you will keep reading to find out the reason.

Tacofoolio: Yes you got it right. The scene was FF7: Meteor vs. Holy. Glad you saw it. You're the only person who did. Hope you like this chapter as well.

Lost Mercenary: So it continues…

Ravyn Crescent: Glad you like it. Keep reviewing!

Digidudette: Finally! Someone who understand what I'm going through!

Keep reviewing!