Chapter 8

Memento

Having seen the concentration of Esthari in the town square, Thalassa, along with Gerra and Fujin, had pre-empted Steiner's assault. The entirety of White SeeD had ridden with a force of five hundred chocobo riders. Their GFs had recovered enough power to hit the formations with a tri-elemental attack, swiftly breaking the spirit of the leaderless defenders as the chocobo riders pushed toward the statue of Axtius.

Afterward, Thalassa watched Agricola's brusque death at the hands of Shadow. She did not approve of its manner, though she held Agricola responsible for the deaths of Ptolemy, Viviana, and anyone else who had fallen during the siege. She would not be shedding any tears over it.

She had the Major's vintage revolver, which had been recovered by Prompto. Prompto was obsessed with firearms from all generations, having a handsome collection back at Home, although he had been thinking of the crew upon finding the Sepultura. The gil sold from it could feed the crew for months, and so Prompto had turned it in to his Captain. Intriguingly, there was only a single bullet inside. Thalassa had intended to return that bullet to Agricola with extreme prejudice, and she was now wearing it holstered on the front of her white tunic.

Following the Major's death, the Deputy Governor had been apprehended in the lobby of the town hall, the score of soldiers around her throwing down their weapons in surrender. There was no sign of Governor Chrysanthe throughout the whole building. In the meantime, two of the Knights of Pluto forcibly marched Gorgo from the hall, to where Steiner and Beatrix waited at the foot of the Axtius statue.

Thalassa believed the raven-haired Gorgo to be beautiful, with a figure many women would covet. Though the Deputy Governor's unlined face belied the age Thalassa knew her to be. Gorgo was thrown in front of the two monarchs, landing degradingly on all fours with her face scraping upon the stones, causing some jeering from the male Centrans. Gorgo raised herself defiantly, looking at the king and queen rebelliously with those grey eyes. Yet she remained on her knees.

Like Thalassa, Gorgo was named for one of the Original Four. The Children of Fate had encountered Sorceress Gorgo with the onset of Time Compression, and the ruthless Queen had attacked them on sight, petrifying her father in his fighting stance. Thankfully, Rinoa had seized one of Zell's gloved hands before they had been thrust into a completely different place and era, and Eden had been able to reverse the spell.

'You are Gorgo?' Steiner asked simply.

Gorgo looked between them.

'Governor Gorgo,' she corrected. 'And you trespass upon my Province!'

Beatrix moved forward and placed one edge of her magnificent sword on the side of Gorgo's neck, who inched away from it. Though Beatrix's sword arm slowly followed her, pressing her face back toward the ground.

'Do you wish me to part you from your head! Mysidia is in the shire of Yorn, within the Kingdom of Centra! You kneel before Steiner of House Christophe and Beatrix of House von Heiligeberg! You will address us both as "Your Majesty"!' Beatrix was now pinning her down by her neck. Her sword had drawn blood. 'Do I make myself clear?'

'Yes, Your Majesty!' Gorgo croaked desperately, tears now streaming down her scuffed face.

'Where is Chrysanthe?' Steiner demanded now.

'At Palamecia, Your Majesty!'

Thalassa approached her. 'And why is she no longer the Governor, Gorgo?'

Gorgo wheeled around to look at her as soon as Beatrix stepped back, her eyes flicking to Thalassa's facial tattoo, as did the eyes of many upon first meeting her. Gorgo's eyes widened when she realised who Thalassa was. That tribal marking was easily recognisable, as Ultimecia had paraded Zell's head around in the weeks following Balamb's fall. It had been a symbol of her greatest victory over SeeD, her magic preventing the head's decay for as long as she desired. When Ultimecia had finally grown bored of its flaunting, she had returned to Balamb's capital and thrown Zell's head from the pier. Grandma Dincht visited that section of pier each morning, and whenever Thalassa had infiltrated the city, she had joined her.

'I had Chrysanthe arrested on count of high treason,' Gorgo answered flatly, all bravado now gone from her tone, then she added, 'Ma'am.'

'On what grounds?' Thalassa pressed.

'She planned to defect to the west,' Gorgo responded, 'to be with her Cowardly Lion, ma'am.'

Of course, Thalassa thought. She knew somewhat of Laguna's third and final love, heart wrenchingly left behind when the president had been forced to flee Esthar following Ultimecia's emergence. She had heard Laguna mention Euthalia a couple of times. Her father had met her.

At the sound of some angered cries, Thalassa glanced behind to see Sophia running towards her, along with the square jawed Galbadian man she had conversed with upon the plains upon their first meeting.

'Your Majesties, we call for retribution!' Sophia cried. 'Chrysanthe would never have ordered us to be shot! It was her!' Sophia accused, pointing her sword at Gorgo, who looked even more terrified of the escapees than she did of Beatrix.

The Galbadian, called Fynn, looked desperately at the two monarchs. ''Please, Your Majesties! This woman has committed genocide against our people! She should be executed on the spot!'

'I did no such thing!' Gorgo protested.

'Lies!' Fujin said immediately.

Fujin was correct; Leviathan had alerted Thalassa to Gorgo's aura. It was impossible to deceive a Guardian Force. Steiner looked at her for confirmation, and Thalassa nodded. Gorgo had indeed given that order.

'It was her,' Gerra added minimally.

Steiner gave Gorgo a harsh look, and everyone waited on his verdict.

'I cannot allow such a foul presence to linger in the Kingdom,' he ruled. 'You may fancy yourself as a reincarnation of Sorceress Gorgo, but you are little more than a deceiver. A serpent in human form. However, I am not a butcher. You will be executed cleanly, which is more than you did for those miners.' He gestured to two of his Knights. 'Minerva, Weimar, hold her down!'

The male and female Knights obliged, seizing Gorgo roughly from either side.

'Please, Sire, if I may,' Thalassa said. 'If we kill her in cold blood, we're no better than she is. We can use her as collateral before moving on Palamecia.'

'Thalassa!' Sophia cried. 'My compatriots were gunned down right in front of me! I was only spared because their bodies shielded me!'

'A better justice can be done,' Thalassa implored. 'We can deal with her the way the Kingdom would have. Let her stand trial, along with any prison staff that escaped and are still at large. Gorgo can give us the staff manifests. If they're found guilty, which they will be, they can all go to the gallows. They can be the first wrongdoers to be executed after the Restoration, having committed genocide within its borders.'

Sophia's jaw was wired shut, as was Fynn's. None of the escapees looked happy with the notion, yet the thought of a better exaction of justice was making them reconsider.

'For now, Gorgo is better to us alive,' Thalassa said. 'If anything, it might make the garrison at Palamecia consider surrender.'

'So it shall be,' Steiner decided. He stared Gorgo down once more. 'You have Thalassa, Daughter of the Armageddon Fist, to thank for your life. Rest assured, you will be hanged within the Gladiola Square at Lenown Castle. May you spend each medallion of the coming days reflecting upon the atrocity you have committed, until the noose tightens upon your neck.' The king looked to Minerva and Weimar again. 'Bind her!'

Euthalia gazed vacantly at the ceiling of her holding cell. She had managed to get some sleep, though she had no way of telling the time. Aside from a firm bed, a corner basin and a cold, uncomfortable metal toilet with a fixed seat, the room was bare. Her e-cigarette had run dry hours ago, the last fumes scorching her throat, and she had forced herself to place it beneath the bed to resist the temptation to draw on it again.

She was to be executed. Euthalia's one consolation was that with the port of Mysidia in enemy hands, her trial would be delayed until the duration of the invasion. She could only hope to survive if White SeeD and their allies were victorious. Then, she could then claim political asylum. Thalassa Dincht was acquainted with Laguna. Perhaps Euthalia could even gain passage on the White SeeD Ship, sailing directly to Wilburn Heights. She clung to that hope, as it was all she had left.

Euthalia thought about the Sepultura, left behind when she had been arrested. The revolver had belonged to Laguna. Laguna had won it from the young landlord of Shining Bomber in Dollet City, Daryl, almost forty years ago. Daryl had inherited the bar due to the untimely death of his parents during the First Sorceress War. Becoming wholly dependent on his own tipple with that sudden overwhelming responsibility, in addition to possessing a gambling addiction, Daryl had almost driven the Bomber into bankruptcy. When Daryl had lost his entire monthly takings to Laguna in a series of Triple Triad games, he had upped the stakes with the Sepultura. The revolver had belonged to his father during that lawless era following the Fall of Jadis, before the onset of the First Sorceress War. Though Daryl had been highly drunk and cared little for the sentiment, going all-in to try and reclaim his lost earnings. Laguna had won again. He had kept the Sepultura throughout his entire presidency of Esthar.

After the Cry, Laguna had carried it with him, believing his old submachine gun did not fit his presidential image well. During that hell, an elnoyle had smashed through one of the windows of Laguna's private settlement, while Euthalia was sheltering there. Laguna had killed the beast with four shots from that destructive weapon. He had said the remaining two bullets would be saved for them, in a worst-case scenario, as his soldiers struggled to keep the relentless hordes at bay. Though a few days later, Laguna had disappeared in the night, leaving the revolver on their nightstand.

Euthalia had kept it ever since, though had never dreamed of buying more ammunition for it. In recent times, she had heard the Sepultura series were now highly sought after. Yet she would never have sold it. Not even for a million gil. It was the sole physical memento Euthalia had of her and Laguna's relationship.

The holding cells were completely soundproofed, so the only indication Euthalia had of a visitor was when the automatic door raised. Sweet Shiva! She could have been using that ghastly toilet!

It was Shinra who entered, followed by two sentries who waited outside. Shinra was her trusted aide, and also her go-to computer expert. His intelligence was off the charts. Sadly, Shinra suffered from sun poisoning, and always wore a full bodysuit not dissimilar to the ones Esthar soldiers wore, replete with headgear. Euthalia had never seen his face. She often speculated as to what Shinra looked like, aside from having extraordinarily pale skin.

'Pardon my intrusion, Governor,' he said, as the door shut the sentries out.

His voice always sounded somewhat robotic through his respirator. Governor, she thought. Euthalia felt that his address was unseemly. The soldiers had called her Miss Chrysanthe throughout her entire booking ordeal, since Gorgo had invoked Article Twenty-Three. Though her people had regarded her well before her treason had been discovered.

'It's quite alright, Shinra,' she said, sitting up in her bed, and adjusting her thin, solitary pillow to attempt to ease her back. 'It's lovely to see you.'

'First, I must apologise,' he said. The respirator also gave him a monotone, and with his face concealed, the only tell of his emotions was the sag in his narrow shoulders. 'Gorgo forced me to show her your communiques with Laguna.'

Euthalia leaned forward to place a hand on one of those bony shoulders.

'It's okay, Shinra,' she said. 'You were just doing what you were told.'

'Ma'am,' Shinra went on. 'I was able to put up a smokescreen, and Gorgo didn't see the whole of it. Though she saw enough. Enough to accuse you of high treason and invoke Article Twenty-Three.'

'I'm sure you did what you could,' she said compassionately.

'Afterward, I did an investigation of my own,' Shinra informed her. 'Gorgo overrode your instructions to the Wardens to abandon the mines and munitions facility. She commanded them to kill those prisoners, and then tried to remove all record of doing so. Although she's not as good at covering her tracks as she believes, and I've got hard evidence of what she did.'

'I thought as much,' Euthalia said. 'She said the Wardens defied my orders, which made little sense at the time. But where are you going with this, Shinra? I've been accused of high treason. Gorgo will just be replaced by another of the Empress' choosing, perhaps even Agricola. Provided the Empress even disapproves of what she did,' she finished ponderously.

Shinra broadly shook his head a couple of times. 'No, ma'am,' he responded. 'Major Agricola is dead. White SeeD were able to hold the harbour against him. The Uncrowned King has invaded, and Gorgo is his prisoner.'

Euthalia gasped. Julius was dead? She did not know if she would ever forgive the young Major for siding with Gorgo, but he had been a patriot and an excellent officer. A good, if not idealistic man, with a highly promising future. Euthalia had held the utmost respect for him.

'The invaders have made contact,' Shinra continued. 'There's no one left to lead us now, and everyone is frightened. Of the Riptide and the Cyclone, especially. The Empress has not been informed yet. So, the guards have decided to free you.'

Shinra walked to the door, and it reopened to reveal the two sentries.

'You're free to go, ma'am!' one of them said, and they both saluted her.