The new Cleyra settlement was almost indistinguishable to the old Cleyra settlement. Practically every building was the same, the water wheel was working in the same way as before. It was as if Brahne had never come at all. Inside this new Cleyra, Kildea was giving a guided tour to a group of Burmecians who were planning on living inside the city.
"This is the observatory, where our citizens used to come to relax. This is where we would observe our protector, the sandstorm, and here we would pray to it." Kildea explained whilst motioning to the window of the observatory. The group of Burmecians looked out at the sky, where the great twisting sandstorm once raged. The dance had not been performed, although Kildea was planning on restoring the sandstorm once the Burmecians had moved in for definite.
"Excuse me..." A small Burmecian child tugged at Kildea's robes. "Can I ask you something?"
"Please hold any questions you have until the end of the tour." Kildea said simply with a little smile. The child frowned, but returned to his mother, who was still admiring the view. Kildea then addressed the group again. "Let us move on."
The followed her to the small windmills in the higher regions of the settlement. Kildea began to explain how the windmills pumped up water from the ground and into the city for them. Once again the child tugged at her robes, desperate to ask his question, but she told him once again to hold the question until the end.
Finally Kildea reached the last stop on the tour, the cathedral. The group of Burmecians stopped outside and admired the large, blue, ceramic building.
"This is the cathedral, where the High Priest used to reside and govern our fair city and bring peace to our souls. May he rest in peace. This is also where the jewel is kept with the harp that will power the sandstorm." Kildea explained. "That concludes the tour. Any questions?" Kildea looked at the small child, who was about to tug her robes a third time.
"I have one!" The child chirped. "Are you going to wake up?"
"What?" Kildea asked, not making sense of the question.
"I said are you going to wake up?" The child repeated, only this time his voice seemed to go deeper.
Kildea felt her body being shaken, and blackness filled her vision. She opened her eyes again to see Blaine shaking her awake. She sat up and Blaine stood back from her hammock.
"Come on! Get up!" Blaine said firmly. "We need to get ready quickly or else the boat will go without us!" He then left her and went downstairs.
Kildea sat up and gave a yawn. That was a pretty peculiar dream, although she had dreamt of Cleyra nearly every day since its destruction. She wondered if that dream had been a vision of the future. Although why would the Burmecians need a tour of Cleyra if they were to be the ones who rebuilt it?
She cast the thought aside and decided to change some of her clothes for her journey. She had been forced to buy clothes from Lindblum to replace those that had been burned to nothing in Brahne's attack on Cleyra. After she had finished dressing herself she went to look for Blaine. He hadn't got far; he was at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the balcony, wearing a rather hefty backpack.
He acknowledged her presence with a nod and motioned to another corridor. "Come on, we need to get going." He stated before leading her through various waterlogged passageways and outside onto a stony path which lead down the back of the mountain the library was built into. The path took them to a small dock at the bottom of the mountain, where a rather large boat was docked. They could see various people getting into the boat having finished their research in the vast library.
The two Burmecians got onto the boat and placed their bags in a rather small wooden storage hold. They sat down in the wooden cabin in the centre of the boat as the last set of passengers got onto the boat. When everyone had got on the boat and settled down, the captain untied the boat from the dock and the small ship sailed out into the sea.
Alexandria was at peace, the citizens were focused on the task of rebuilding the homes and buildings destroyed by Bahamut and Kuja's mist monsters. Queen Garnet was doing her part to help with this effort, hoping to restore Alexandria and lead it into a brighter future, together with her boyfriend Zidane, who had been reunited with her a few months ago.
After consuming her breakfast, Garnet proceeded to obtain her morning mail from the castle's moogle. As usual she had a sizable pile of letters, consisting of the usual business plans and notes and matters she would have to attend to. After reading and replying to a few of her usual business letters she got to a letter that was sealed with the mark of Burmecia.
Garnet's first thought was that this was a letter from Freya, but she remembered Freya's handwriting and realised that it was different. That, and Freya was not that likely to stick with the formality of addressing her as "Queen Garnet Til Alexandros XVII" Curious, Garnet opened the letter and began to read:
To Queen Garnet Til Alexandros XVII
I hope this letter finds you well. I am Blaine, one of his majesty's royal advisors. I understand that your mother, Queen Brahne Til Alexandros (RIP) took the jewel that resided in Cleyra by means of force. I write this letter to ask that you give us back possession of the jewel, as I believe it may be useful in aiding the restoration of our kingdom. I am making my way to Alexandria in hopes that you may give me the jewel in person. I also hope to resolve any other issues you may have with our city and ensure a peace between our two nations. I hope that you will write back to me to inform me of you decision.
Yours truly,
Blaine
Garnet folded the letter and put it back into its envelope after reading it. It didn't surprise her that the Burmecians wanted the Cleyran jewel returned. She had already given the Falcon Claw back to Cid and wondered when she would have to give back the Cleyran jewel. She had wanted to give it to Freya after the group's reunion at the play a few months ago, but Freya had been in such a rush to return and help with Burmecia's reconstruction she didn't have the chance.
Taking a small piece of parchment, Garnet began to write her reply.
To Blaine of Burmecia
I would be more than happy to return the jewel of Cleyra to you in person. I am hopeful that Alexandria can restore its peace with Burmecia and I hope this will be a sign of our intentions to your nation. I look forward to your arrival and I will have you escorted to the castle. I wish you the best of luck with the restoration of Burmecia.
Yours truly,
Garnet Til Alexandros XVII
Garnet folded up the letter and sealed into an envelope addressed to Blaine and passed it to the castle moogle along with all of her other written letters.
As the boat sailed through the sea towards the Mist Continent, Kildea began to start a conversation with Blaine to pass the time and to get some things clear in her mind.
"Blaine..." She called, and he turned towards her with his ears pricked up. "There's something that has been bothering me. If Burmece does exist and he is supposed to protect the Burmecians, why didn't he do anything when the Burmecian realm was attacked by those demons?"
"Burmece wasn't summoned during the attack." Blaine answered simply. "He is an eidolon; he can only act when he is summoned by another."
"But why did no-one summon him?" Kildea pressed. "Why didn't the high priest call him forth from the jewel when he had the chance?"
"I think that the high priest didn't know of Burmece's existence." Blaine replied. "We may be the only ones on this planet that know all of the legends about the Holy Spirits."
"But how come nobody knew about Burmece?" Kildea retorted. "Why did the Burmecians forget him?"
"Maybe we were frightened of his power." Blaine suggested. "Perhaps we were afraid someone would unleash the dreaded curse within the jewel if they knew about its power. The legend may have not been passed down."
There was a short pause as Kildea took this in. That did seem to be a good explanation. Satisfied with his answer, Kildea decided to ask a different question.
"Do you think that we can really restore Cleyra by calling forth this creature?"
"I'm certain." Blaine stated confidently. "Our motives are pure. He has the power to do it. So why shouldn't it work?"
Kildea didn't say anything in response to this; she just smiled and turned to watch the waves of the sea outside of the cabin window. After watching the sea waves rise and fall for a few moments she decided to turn to Blaine again and start another conversation.
"You now Blaine, seeing as we are going to be travelling together for sometime, don't you think we should learn a bit more about each other?" Kildea asked, her face filled with interest as she looked at his nonchalant expression. "What did you do before Burmecia was attacked?"
"I was one of Burmecia's select few priests. I also acted as an advisor for the King when he needed help governing the city." Blaine replied, his face now gaining an expression of pride. "I counselled the citizens of Burmecia and lived a quiet life in my temple. What about you?"
"I was one of the many priests in Cleyra. I used to meet with them and muse about life outside the tree and try to obtain inner-peace." Kildea replied giving a small smile. "I lived a simple life with my friends in Cleyra. I really miss them..."
"It's alright." Blaine placed a hand on her shoulder as a comforting gesture. "We shall do what they would have wanted. We will rebuild Cleyra in their honour and move on into a better future, but we shall never forget them."
The two continued to talk to each other as their ship sailed across the sea and eventually docked in the port at the Serpent's gate of Lindblum. The two made their way through into the town of Lindblum, where Kildea decided to purchase a few more garments and items whilst Blaine stocked up on supplies and sorted out transport to Alexandria. It was there that he was also found by a moogle who gave him a letter from Queen Garnet, telling him that he was welcomed at the castle to receive the precious jewel.
Blaine was eager to set off for Alexandria that afternoon, and he had found some chocobos for rent. They set off across the plains, passed through South Gate the following day and were arriving in Alexandria the day after. The two Burmecians passed through the city, ignoring the odd looks and cautious glares by the Alexandrians and the female guards.
They walked up to the gate that led into Alexandria castle where they were stopped by two Alexandrian guards. They put their hands to the handles of their blades as a warning.
"Halt! Who goes there?" One the guards asked sternly.
"I am Blaine; I have a letter of invitation from your queen." Blaine answered calmly, waving a letter in front of them.
The guards stood firmly, one of which took the letter from Blaine to check it to see if it was genuine, while the other took a piece of parchment which had a list written onto it.
"This is definitely her majesty's handwriting." The first guard noted.
"His name is also on our guest list." The second guard added. "Very well, you may proceed. There will be some other guards waiting to escort you on the other side of the gate. Your friend can wait here." The guard motioned at Kildea.
"I must insist on her accompanying me into the castle." Blaine retorted.
The guard gave a little growl, but didn't push the issue further and opened the gate with her comrade. Blaine and Kildea proceeded through the gate as got onto a wooden boat with two more guards which began to row the boat towards the Alexandrian castle.
Disclaimer: All characters and locations in this story belong to Square. Blaine and the Holy Spirits (excluding Alexander) belong to me. This is my story, and would form the basis of a sequel for the game if I had my way.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all of the reviews! This story seems to be more popular than my other working title, which you might want to take a look at. All constructive comments are appreciated.
Guardian 1: The reasons why Burmece didn't act during the attack on Burmecia have been explained a little more in this chapter, and I hope it answers your question. I don't know why you and Gabi-hime are offended by Kildea's infatuation. It was love at first sight; it's a simple as that. I also don't know what your problem is with my description either. It's good to set the scene and describe elements in a story, it's a vital part.
Gabi-hime: As I said to Guardian, I don't know why you are so offended by Kildea's infatuation. It's only a small crush. Gizamaluke is a dragon and not really an eidolon, plus I don't think he has the power to give life. That and he has the handicap of being dead. Just what is wrong with Burmece?
Ultima's Angel: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Read on.
Dazz Combo: Nice to see you again. I'm happy you're enjoying it. There may be some action later on, but for now everything will be pretty calm.