The Black Wind Howls—
"Magus"-(Chrono Trigger)
Mother Terra
Chapter III
That evening, Zidane stared at the fireplace in the royal chamber. But out of the corner of his eye, he watched Garnet carrying Hunter over to a window, so he could watch the snow's descent.
But once Garnet moved away, he returned to stare at the fire—and the royal portrait of himself and Garnet, which was one of the few times Zidane had ever worn the robes of nobility.
"Zidane?" began Garnet.
Garnet's voice almost made Zidane jump out of his skin. "Oh, hey, Dagger!"
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah…You just startled me that's all."
Garnet shook her head. "I don't think so. I think there's something more to it."
"Wh-what? What do you mean?"
"You broke tradition tonight."
"Tradition?"
Garnet nodded. "Yes, you're always with me when I put the baby to bed."
"Oh," Zidane began, while scratching his head; "I guess my mind must've been somewhere else."
Again, Garnet nodded. "And that's why I'm worried. Something's on your mind. What is it?"
"Oh…it's nothing."
"Is it about what happened today?"
Zidane conceded with a smile. "It's hard for me to hide anything from you, isn't it?"
Garnet returned the smile. "Much like it's hard for me to hide anything from you."
Zidane kept his smile and nodded. But then he became serious. "Well, yes…it is about what happened today."
"Is it something that you didn't tell me?"
"No, I told you everything that happened."
"Then what's the problem?"
"…I'm worried."
"About what?"
"About what happened today."
"But you didn't seem worried earlier when you came home."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why're you worried now?"
"…Well…I'm not worried about myself…I'm just worried about those around me."
"Why? Why're you worried about us?"
"I pissed off those guys today…And I saw that one genome use magic. I know that he did that to give me a warning."
"A warning for what?"
"…I'm not sure."
"Zidane," began Garnet, while she took his hands into hers and kissed them; "you're too paranoid."
Zidane was stunned. "Paranoid?"
"Yes! We have the best security in the world. Nothing's going to happen to me, Hunter, Mikoto, Vivi, and all those we care for."
"…Dagger?"
"Yes?"
"Does Regent Cid have the best security in the world?"
"Huh?"
"It's a simple question. Does he have the best security in the world?"
"Well, I guess I was being a little too explicit when I said that we have the best security in the world. We have one of the best, but so does Uncle Cid, and…"
"And four years ago Lindblum was taken by an army of black mages."
"That's not going to happen!"
"But it can."
"Damn it, Zidane! Listen to me!"
Zidane gasped. It was not often for Garnet to be so forceful with him.
"Nothing's going to happen! You said that you saw their leader use magic—or at least you thought that you did—but did you see any of the others use magic? No, you didn't! And even if all of them could use magic and wanted to harm us here, do you really think they could defeat our armies and our technology? Now, you referred to the incident in Lindblum four years ago that both of us tragically watched, but I also remember the use of eidolons along with the army and technology. They don't have that, and you know that none of the black mages'll help them."
Zidane said nothing.
"Worrying doesn't do any good. Before I met you I used to worry all the time, and you helped me not to worry. So what I'm asking you to do, Zidane, is to follow your own advice and not worry."
Zidane turned from Garnet. Then he sighed, nodded, and faced her again. "You're right, Dagger." And he smiled. "Whenever I need a good kick in the ass I can always count on my wife."
Garnet returned the smile, but soon their attention was diverted.
From the nursery, Hunter gave his parents a sharp cry.
Garnet giggled. "I think we woke the baby up."
Zidane kept his smile. "I think we did too, but this time I'll go with you to put him back to sleep."
With snow over his boots—and melting on his hair and coat—Nuri smoked a cigar under the moon. He stood near the area where he and Zidane had their confrontation hours earlier.
"Ah, there you are, Nuri," a genome said, who charged towards him.
Nuri turned. "Ah, Goldwin." Nuri took another puff. "Good evening, as the Gaians say."
"How can you be out here? The black mages tell me that this is snow, and it comes when the temperature gets cold. I prefer the house that we're staying in with the fire."
Nuri nodded, and took another puff. "Once the restoration's complete, we'll be getting used to weather like this."
Goldwin paid no attention to Nuri's words. Instead, he looked at the cigar. "What is that you keep putting in your mouth?"
Nuri continued to smoke. "This is called a cigar. The black mages introduced me to them. It took me a while to get used to them though. I used to cough every time I took a puff, but then I got used to them. They're quite good actually; would you like to try one?"
"Oh…no thanks."
Again Nuri nodded and inhaled the tobacco. "I understand."
Goldwin returned the nod. "This is a nice place, isn't it?"
For the third time, Nuri nodded. "Yes, the people're very friendly. Someday we'll have to return their hospitality."
And again, Goldwin returned the nod. But then he began to pace. "Do you think we'll be able to accomplish our goal?"
"You mean the restoration of Terra?"
Goldwin nodded.
"Oh, of course!"
"But…we don't have Zidane to help us. I thought you said earlier that we needed his help?"
Nuri continued to smoke the cigar. "We do."
"But he clearly stated that he wouldn't help us."
Nuri took one final puff, before he put his cigar out and placed it in a trash can. "I know what he said. He just hasn't been convinced properly."
"Convinced properly?"
"Oh, yes! He just needs the right motivation."
"What do you mean?"
"You heard him today, didn't you?"
Goldwin nodded. "Yes, I heard him."
"And from what you heard what would you say he holds most dear in the world?"
Goldwin placed his chin between his thumb and first finger. "I'd say his friends and family."
Nuri clapped his hands and smiled. "Exactly! Now since it'd be impossible for us to convince all his friends, we're going to convince his wife and son to convince him to help us."
"Huh?"
"We're going to kidnap them, and take them to Terra."
"Wait! Isn't kidnapping wrong…and stupid at the same time?"
"Our goal's to restore Terra. We must do so at all costs! It'd be wrong if we were to torture the queen and the prince, but that'll not happen. As far as if this is stupid, I'm not leading anyone into battle; we're all equals. But if you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it."
"…I don't really have one. But if we're going to do this, how're we going to succeed?"
"Our first goal is to get some boats and sail to Alexandria, and that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Once we arrive, we'll have easy access to the Castle. We'll say that we're friends of Zidane from the Black Mage Village. They wouldn't know the difference."
Goldwin nodded. "That seems easy enough, but there're a couple of questions that need to be answered. First, how're we going to get in there if Zidane's around? Second, the Queen of Alexandria knows how to summon eidolons. And third, even if we can get to the queen and the prince, how're we going to get them out of the Castle?"
"…Sorry, I don't have all the answers…not yet, anyway. But in the case of Zidane the answer's obvious. We'd have to do this when he's away."
Again Goldwin nodded. "That makes sense, but wouldn't word reach Zidane if we were staying in Alexandria? He seems very personable. He doesn't seem like a person who's locked up inside the Castle."
"…You're right, once word reaches the Castle of genomes in the city, Zidane'll be interested to see us…But the good news is that Zidane couldn't have recognized all of us today. So what I'm going to do, is ask a pair of the genomes who weren't in the front of the group to go to Alexandria. Through radio contact, I'll be able to stay in touch with them and learn all the latest."
"Then how'll the rest of us be able to arrive?"
"We won't."
"Huh?"
"This'll be a one or two man job. And these one or two men'll kidnap the queen and prince, and bring them back here."
"And how're we going to get them out of the Castle?"
"…Like I said before, I don't have all the answers. Give me some time to come up with an answer to that question, alright?"
Goldwin nodded.
"Now, as for the queen's use of eidolons, we have a collar that stops a summoner from calling them…"
"But how're we going to put that collar on her? Are we simply going to ask her, 'We need you to put this collar on, Your Majesty?'"
Nuri smirked. "We'll use the prince as bait. We'll tell the queen that if she doesn't put that collar on, something'll happen to her cute little son."
"Wait! I thought you said earlier…"
"I know what I said, and we're not going to hurt the prince. We just have to scare the queen into believing that we are."
"And if that doesn't work?"
"…Then we hit the queen over the head, and put the collar on her."
Goldwin was stunned. "But that'd be hurting her, right?"
Nuri smiled and nodded. "Yes, it would be…But you have to be a little liberal sometimes."
Goldwin was again stunned, although this time it was by Nuri's smile.
"Naturally you and everybody else don't have to follow my plan, like I said earlier. But if you don't like what I've proposed, then I need an alternative plan."
"…I really don't know one. But even your plan has its faults. You still don't know how to get the queen and prince out of the Castle unnoticed."
"And I told you, give me time on that. There was something that I saw in this village that might answer that question, but I need to look more into it."
"What is it?"
"Let's talk about it later. It's cold outside; and I'd like to site by a fire, smoke a cigar, have a drink, and eat some supper."
