I am like a flag in the center of open space.
I sense ahead the wind which is coming, and must live
it through.
while the things of the world still do not move:
the doors still close softly, and the chimneys are full
of silence,
the windows do not rattle yet, and the dust still lies down.
I already know the storm, and I am troubled as the sea.
I leap out, and fall back,
and throw myself out, and am absolutely alone
in the great storm.
-Rainer Maria Rilke, "Sense of Something Coming"
IXIXIXIXIXIXIXIXIX
She wasn't scared for herself in what she might see. Mostly, she was scared how to others would take it, how it would shake them till there was not a shred of hope left for Alexander's Angel's, how everything would fall apart before her eyes.
It scared her, the sheer fact that anything scared her at all. Lilia was, for the most part, fearless, but dreaded seeing anything happen to her friends or family. She knew that any hurt, any maiming or any death, would destroy any of the parents inside. She knew it was a bad idea for them all to get involved, especially those inexperienced in combat. The chances of one of them getting hurt or dying was marginally greater, the more of them there was.
Still, neither her parents nor the others' parents died during Kuja's tyranny decades ago, so it was a good sign of longevity for the lines.
Lilia arrived at the theater square where the horns seemed to sound, and found that it was mostly vacant, save for a few bodies circling. It was the men of the resistance versus Alexander's Angels. Everyone was waiting for the first person to make a move, and then charge. Lilia was out of uniform at that hour, and none seemed to recognize her outside of it. Still, she always kept her sword with her, which to one man, was a dead giveaway.
She knew she was found. She felt a light rushing of wind behind her back and quickly turned around, sword swinging over her shoulder to meet the blade of a large, burly man with sleeves of tattoos. He looked rather like a Trenian gangster.
"Ay, 'ere she is Boys! The Gen'ral's daughter! Wanna try ya hand?" he shouted, Lilia backing up after the last clash to see six men inching towards her, expressions reading sinister.
"Oh, brother," Lilia whispered under her breath, rolling her eyes and flipping her hair before taking the first one head on, almost immediately managing to jam the sword into his throat, the next immediately taking his turn, with Lilia ducking out of the way of the horizontal swing. She overhanded the blade into a slash that cut his leg off; the next attempting to bash her head in, but she was again far too quick. She forced her body around and slashed him across the chest, blood spraying onto her clothes, the man rolling onto the ground in screeching agony before he met his end.
The three that were left, including the man who led his group into their doom, started to back away in fear.
"They all misjudge me by looks," Lilia started, making clear she wasn't going to let them back off. She flipped her hair once more. "Just like they've done to so many of us pretty Alexandrian soldiers…but when will you thugs learn?"
She swung her sword around and around her right side, a classic Alexandrian flourish.
"This is a woman's world!"
There was not another word, not another second of warning. Immediately she brought her sword over her head and leapt into the air, much higher than any of the men anticipated, and sliced open the head of the ringleader. The other two she finished off rather quickly, then turned her attention back to what was going on in the square. She spotted Bentley successfully winning a knife fight in the distance; Fredryck skewering a Lindblumese man with a spear, Zerrick artfully dodging a variety of attacks and mugging them in the process, and the rest of the crew, she could not find. All she could do was hope that they were ok.
Another man came bolting at her, and she finished him off with a chest stab without a second thought.
"Wait a minute," Lilia said as she realized someone was missing, throwing her sword back into its hilt in preparation to run. "Where is Crystal?"
With a pang of dread that refused to quit until she was seen, Lilia scoured the streets high and low for the princess, killing a few in the process. Everyone seemed to know who she was, and wanted a piece of her. Once she had scoured every street she could think of, she stopped and hid in an alleyway for a moment, trying to reassess where her friend might be. She became lost in worry when she heard sniffling behind one of the dumpsters. With a shimmer of hope, she checked for who was making the noise, sword at the ready, just in case. Her stomach dropped. She did not see Crystal, but an abandoned young girl who had gotten separated from her parents in the fray. The girl was trying to sob quietly, and did not see Lilia at first.
"Hey!" Lilia said, putting a hand on her tiny shoulder. "What are you doing in this alleyway? Where are your parents?"
Her eyes sparkled, bloodshot with tears.
"They…they…my dad….I saw them…"
But she could not finish her sentence. The girl felt it then safe to cry loudly, curling up into a ball and shrinking away from Lilia.
"Hey, hey…shhh…don't cry now, alright? Everything is gonna be ok. Where do you live? I'm going to take you back home. Is your mother home?"
The girl shook her head in an affirmative motion and Lilia picked her up to carry her home.
"I say, where do you live?" Lilia asked once more, carrying her towards the nearest residences. The girl sputtered out the number and street of the home, and Lilia was surprisingly able to deliver her to her mother without getting attacked. The woman was waiting on the doorstep for any sign of her husband and child, and when she saw Lilia carrying her back, the worried expression painted on her face was washed over with relief.
"Thank goodness!" She exclaimed, hand outstretched over her chest. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack!"
She grabbed the young girl and threw her onto her hip. She smiled and nodded at Lilia, grateful.
"Thank you so much," she said, kissing her daughter on the forehead, immediately trying to get a better sense of who the hero was. When she realized who she was looking at, her face lit up with shock. "My goodness, you're Lilia Steiner! It is an honor to meet you!"
Lilia shook her head in modesty. "It was no problem at all, m'am. Please keep your daughter out of the streets until the fighting has ceased."
The woman nodded again in agreement, when Lilia noticed her face twist into dreaded concern, as the realization washed over her that her husband was not present.
"My husband…my lady, have you seen him?" She asked, half expecting the worst answer she could receive. Lilia didn't want to be the one to break the bad news to her, as she would let her subordinates handle these matters.
"No m'am…I have not seen him. I found her alone. Please stay safe out here."
It was all Lilia could bear. She turned her back on the mother and child, searching for clues about Crystal's whereabouts with her eyes and ears. She made it halfway back to the town square when a deafening silence fell upon her ears. There was no more battle roars or clanking swords, the sounds of pattering feet and bodies hitting the ground. No, only a mellow lull, a droll humming of nothingness.
The Major knew this portended nothing good.
She studied the silence for a moment more, before turning back to head towards the town entrance, a warrior's intuition guiding her there. She felt there must be something amiss on the edge of town, if nothing was happening in the center. It was the place where the enemy could most easily enter, and she knew well that the guard set up around the outskirts was the weakest of all the soldiers.
It was a vantage point for intruders.
Knowing this, she dashed to where she suspected there might be trouble. Her pulse raced with dread, thumped through her temples and blurred her vision, so that she could only see her destination in her mind's eye. A worry filled her entire body as she thought, very faintly through her tranced state, what might happen to her if she failed to protect Crystal, her sworn duty, her reason for living.
There was no time to think on it.
She finally came to the entrance of the town, at first not able to see anything but Crystal's back to her. Relief flooded her instantly, and she grabbed her from behind, on the shoulders.
"Crystal! Why did you leave the square? Do you know what could have—"
The princess's face had no registry that she even acknowledged Lilia, that she had heard what she was saying. She realized the girl had been staring at something, distracted by it, taken by it, even possessed by it. She spun around to face the threat, expecting something quite large to leave Crystal at its mercy, but instead found a strange, faceless warrior clad in armor that was so foreign looking that it gave her an instant fright. The figure wore a large, round hat, many patterned robes and a cape that resembled a Samuri's uniform, and a large, round, lion-like canine had been walking beside it.
"W…who…what…is that thing?" Lilia asked slowly, backing away when the warrior stepped closer, hand resting on its hilt, steps even. For the first time in her life, she felt truly afraid of a potential opponent.
"I…I do not know…" Crystal answered, a vacancy shrouding her tone.
"You are not ok," Lilia realized, taking her shoulders once more and turning the girl's body to face her. "You've got to go back to the castle."
Crystal fiercely pushed her away and turned her back to the warrior, intent on looking on, seeming to not care about Lilia at all.
"No…I must…understand you…" she droned in monotone, pointing at the figure. Her hand stretched out to greet it.
She was under some sort of spell, and Lilia wondered both if she had a chance to break it, or if she was next.
"I am due what I am owed…do not take it personally, my dear. It is my job," the figure warned in a bass tone, in a very matter of fact way. Lilia understood that whatever it was, it was hired by someone, and aimed to kill the princess.
"Crystal, move out of the way!" Lilia demanded, pushing Crystal out of the way, and drawing her sword to strike a match with her opponent. The figure stopped moving forward, and its dog began to growl viciously, baring teeth and squatting into a pouncing stance.
"…It is not you I am after. I will only warn you once…move aside."
"What are you? And how can I hear you if your lips are not moving?" Lilia asked the figure, who had no discernible mouth on its face. It became obvious to her that whatever she was facing, was not human, nor any creature of this world.
"You are not from this world." Lilia stated, backing down slightly, unsure of what she was up against. "You are a warrior from another!"
"Indeed…a warrior, you might say. I do not know what Gods you call to action in this dimension, but I am not here to ask questions," the figure stated, positioning its katana to fight. "I was hired to do my job and return to my world."
"Who on Gaia would hire you from another world? What is the purpose of this?" Lilia asked, incredulous. "What is your name, warrior?"
The figure hesitated for a moment, then decided it noble to answer.
"The entity's name is Yojimbo. I am a Fayth from the distant world of Spira. I have come for a mission, as I am no longer needed on my planet."
"Spira? A planet not even in our galaxy? How would you be able to manifest such a body here if you are only in spirit?"
"That is enough questions," Yojimbo interrupted, entering into final battle stance. "Move aside, or die!"
Lilia placed both body and sword in her signature stance, taut and ready to spring on her opponent.
"Nay, you shall be the one facing imminent death today!" Lilia declared, making the first move. She attempted to start with undercutting the warrior, but found it blocked quicker than she expected. This forced her to anticipate its move faster than she would normally, and she felt panic strike her heart when it performed a move that she just barely blocked, as she was wildly unfamiliar with its fighting style and technique. She skid backwards, dust kicking up behind her as her breathing became more forceful.
"You do not fight like you are from this planet. How is this to be a fair fight if I do not understand your technique?" Lilia questioned, trying to buy some time to figure out its weaknesses based on his body language.
But it did not give anything away. Instead, the figure simply laughed, standing quite still so that she could not read anything about it.
"That is because I am not of this planet, as I have told you. When you murder for hire, there is no such thing as fair or foul play. Only death," it explained once more, crouching into stance again. "You will soon be with the souls of the dead, and return to the planet. Not so different from any other world in the universe. Maybe in your next life, you will be a bit more prudent in your endeavors, silly girl."
Lilia gritted her teeth, not buying his words.
"Today is not the day I die, fool. You will not come to my home and make a mess of it!" She stated resolutely as she charged in a rage, attempting to hit it hard with stock break to knock it unconscious, but it moved away so quickly that Lilia didn't have even a second to register what was happening before she was struck in the back with a reverse side of the blade, the air shooting from her lungs as she landed hard on the cobblestones. She tried desperately to restore the balance in her lungs, gasping for air in a way that she'd never experienced. The ground below her was spinning round and round as she propped herself up onto her palms, realizing blood was dripping from the corners of her mouth. She felt a small wind fly up behind her, and a small noise like a whistle accompanying it, and she realized immediately that if she didn't move, she would be dead in mere moments. With the greatest strength she could muster, she rolled out of the way as the warrior slammed its katana onto the stones where she lay seconds ago. Her pupils dilated as she watched it raise its sword once again to swing down on her, the light of the stars in the sky above filling her green eyes. She rolled out of the way once more, but this time knew she had to get up and fight or die. She gathered her broadsword as she placed her weight on her calfs, and sprung up to greet its katana. The way the blades met was awkward.
"You are no match for me," the figure said, more emotionless than ever. "The beings on this planet are incredibly weak."
"That is where you are wrong!" Lilia retorted, dodging another one of his stabs only to have their swords collide once more. "Just a different skill set!"
"Once that is unmatched to mine," the figure said before almost disappearing into thin air. Lilia thrashed around wildly, unable to understand how it was so quick. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a distortion in her scope of vision, and caught the warrior before its sword busted her open, a defensive stronghold required over her head. The warrior bore down upon her with such ferocity that she could barely hold its weight, and felt her feet slipping below.
"This was your ultimate test in life…and you have done well so far…but this is the end for you…"
With all her strength, she held the warrior off as long as she could, finally understanding that she truly was no match for them. She felt her muscles giving into fatigue, her legs slipping away from her in numbness, and her mind went blank.
It was over. She awaited death.
Then, the weight was lifted. She could feel her legs again. No more pressure, no more pain in her palms or arms. She opened her eyes and found herself in the defensive stance, with no one above her attacking. She peered down to the ground incredulously, the figure holding their hands over their ears.
A melodic sound filled the gentle breeze in the air.
Lilia looked behind her and found her sister had come out of nowhere, Celtic Harp in hand, playing behind her, a melody that was as rapturous as it was dangerous. She had been taken quite aback at the sight, and the lack of fear or panic present on her face, though she must knew her younger sister had almost died.
"I…I didn't know you were a bard!" Lilia shouted across the space between them, eliciting a smirk from the elder sister, before her face returned to its natural stern default.
"This is no time to banter. I can only hold him off with this melody for a few minutes. Since he is not of this world, it affects him adversely. Crystal," she shouted over to the princess, who appeared to have snapped out of her trance. "You need to summon! There was a spell placed on you before that prevented you from acting…I don't know from whom or where but you must act now before it hits again!"
"Right!" Crystal shouted, stepping forward and holding her arms out in her summoning stance. "OH, GREAT DRAGON KING…COME FORTH, BAHAMUT!"
The clouds in the sky henceforth ashened, ascended, and a large, black hole observed the large dragon-beast barreling through it. It was quite the sight to behold, and gasps were heard all over town as they watched him float down from the realm he came from. The beast breathed in, fire speckles collecting before his mouth, before omitting a fire beam that reduced the sleeping warrior to ash. The dragon roared before disappearing back into his space-warp, and Crystal was left staring at the ashes. Something glittered inside them, and she walked over slowly to observe.
At this time, she heard the voice of Steiner echo through the houses of street behind her. Beatrix, Garnet and Zidane, who had recently come back from his trip abroad, had followed him.
"Princess! Please! Stay away from the dust of the monster! You do not know what it contains!"
Zidane sniggered and slapped Steiner on the back. "Calm down, Rusty, I don't think she's going to catch a disease just from studying it!"
"You do not know what strange counter-spells are left behind in the dust of the monster! Do not encourage your daughter to make foolish decisions!" Steiner insisted, shaking his fists. Zidane shrugged and smiled at his daughter, whom he knew was more than capable of handling herself.
"It was not a monster, but a fierce warrior…" Lea explained, motioning to the harp in her hands. "I had to stave him off with music."
"With music?" Beatrix asked, perplexed at the idea. "You mean to say…"
"Yes. I am a bard, it is true," Lea finished, observing the instrument proudly. "I have learned how to funnel white magic from my mind, to my fingers and into the instruments, and the instruments change the magic's nature allow defense…"
"W-Where on Earth did you learn about THAT?" Lilia questioned, mildly embarrassed that she had saved her life.
Lea smiled gently, worn out from the questions. "It is an ancient form of powerful white magic, one that people hardly utilize of late, despite it's obvious effectiveness."
"But how did you figure out that this…warrior…would be weak to your song?" Garnet asked, still trying to make sense of the situation.
Lea shook her head. "I've done many years of reading and research on the subject but have not had a chance to use it…save for the concerts. I bewitch and endow my instruments with magic."
She realized what had come out of her mouth, knowing it was uncharacteristic to admit to such, and whipped around, blushing, to face her parents, who chose to ignore the admission of guilt. Crystal took this opportunity to turn back around and search through the ashes where she swore she saw a glimmer of a jewel. Sure enough, (and despite Steiner's reprimands) when she reached into the pile she found a citrine stone present.
"Hey everyone! Come look at this!" Crystal encouraged, signaling for the group to come forth. She picked up the stone and allowed them to observe the strange ringlets of rainbow light that bounced off the glossy, orange surface.
"It seems he's left a present for you…can you summon him through this jewel?" Beatrix asked, flipping her hair.
"It would appear that is why the stone was left! No summon is really from this realm, so they all need a passageway into the world. The stones are this passageway, as are the horns, until you have pure state of mind and a clear summoning channel through your body," Garnet explained, gently taking the jewel from her daughter and observing it in the light of the fading sunset.
"Psht…why would you want to summon THAT guy though? Bahamut incinerated him in a second…" Lilia insisted, still hurt that she lost the battle.
Crystal shook her head in disagreement. "I don't think this summon was intended for large scale combat. It appears he was summoned for a very specific mission, but it is astonishing just how easy he was to defeat…"
"And somebody would have had to summon him! Who could have the power to summon besides the two of you and Eiko? And why on such a small scale as this summon?" Zidane stated, starting to catch on to the set up. Lilia grimaced and crossed her arms at the idea that she was almost defeated by such a "weak" entity.
"It was intentional. Whoever was able to summon this knew that we would, as a whole, be able to defeat it," Garnet deduced. "But I still don't quite understand how it was summoned."
Zidane kicked a bit of dust on the street, placing his hands to his face in deep thought. "Well, it would either have to be an actual summoner summoning, or a mechanism…a machine of some sort, like The Invincible."
At that moment, Bentley, Fredryck, and Zerrick followed behind the royals and their guard, huffing and sweating after just having ceased the fight.
"It's over…" Zerrick began, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "All clear."
Bentley ran towards Crystal and scooped her up in his arms, swinging her around and kissing her neck. Her put her down gently and cupped her face in his hands.
"Are you ok? You had me worried sick, I couldn't see you anywhere during battle!"
The questions and kisses never stopped coming. Her showered her with both until she could take no more, and pushed him away.
"Yeah, ok! Babe, I get that you're worried but I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles!" the princess insisted, pointing over to Lilia. "I even saved HER from—
"Ok, enough," Lilia interrupted, throwing an arm over Bentley's shoulder. "Did you find any information this time? Any culprits?"
"No such luck…" Bentley answered, dragging his eyes away from Crystal's solemn face to look at Lilia's.
"But more importantly, who could have set this summon to kill the princess?! We must send out a search team!" Steiner insisted, jumping up and down, desperate for an answer.
Beatrix simply shook her head in response, and everyone turned to listen to her input. "It was a test, more than anything. Nobody would send a summon as an assassin, knowing full well it could be obliterated with a stronger summon, which both the princess and Her Majesty possess…"
Zidane stepped forward to play detective aloud. "It couldn't have been just anyone. It must have been someone with a considerable amount of power to be able to summon."
"Or perhaps it were one of the three summoners we know of? Then what shall we do?" Fredryck added, glancing up at the sky, awaiting the reaction.
"What exactly are you implying?!" Steiner demanded.
"I'm not implying anything. It's just that it's highly unlikely that anyone would be able to summon a being from another dimension without being a summoner…" Fredryck managed to quip.
"That's preposterous. Neither I, nor Crystal, nor Eiko would ever do such a thing…" Garnet chimed in, defending her family members.
"And how do you well know that?" Fredryck questioned, motioning to the queen. "You don't know what kind of people the others are conspiring with in their darkest hours."
"Enough of this," Lea said, finally. "What we do know if that we must be on the lookout for suspicious activity—from anyone and anywhere. Pointing fingers is fruitless task without facts to back it up, Fredryck."
The Burmecian prince backed down, silenced by Lea's authority, knowing full well she would defend the queen's honor at all costs. He sulked into the shadows of a nearby shop, and Bentley's gaze followed his every move.
"This is unlikely to be the last large-scale, magic attack. We need to be watching for the signs of its presence," Lea said, resolute in her plans. The rest nodded in agreement.
"And we'll hold down the fort in town!" Zerrick exclaimed, glancing over at Lilia for approval. But Lilia was still lost in her thoughts, shaken at how fast she was almost defeated. Beatrix, suddenly feeling a pang of guilt, placed a hand on her shoulder, which she shook off.
"Leave me be. I have much to reflect upon…" Lilia said sulkily, turning her back on her family to walk towards the castle. She was only able to take a few steps before she was stopped dead in her tracks by a quake that shook the ground from underneath her feet, causing her to fall on her back to the cold, hard cobblestones. She felt her tailbone displace itself from the fall, and she yelped in tremendous pain.
"Lilia!" Beatrix and Steiner shouted in unison, and hurried to help their daughter off the ground, both lifting up each arm and carrying her weight on their shoulders. They all turned back around to witness what had caused the disruption, but could see nothing but trees shedding their leaves the distance. A heavy breeze passed through that soon turned into a gust, and everyone squatted down to remain in place against the wind. Slowly, but certainly, they all beheld the horrible reality unfolding in front of them; their fight wasn't over for the day, but only beginning.
Zidane knew he had encountered a foe exactly like this before, and the battle wasn't an easy one. Just the horizon, he could see the head of an ogre, the beast stomping forward slowly, but powerfully. As the beast began to reveal itself, the seasoned warriors urged their children to run, drawing their swords, daggers and staffs.
"No way, pops, I ain't runnin'!" Zerrick yelled, whipping out his own dagger, ready for a big show. Bentley and Fredryck backed him up, while Lea took the reigns from her parents and held onto her sister, who was too injured to move.
"Lea—go! Take your sister back to the castle! She is of no use in her condition and will only find herself dead at the end of this," Beatrix insisted, keeping firm focus on the beast. Lea nodded, and began to walk back to the castle through town, sister and harp in tow.
Crystal and Garnet were the only ones not forming in battle stance. Both were still awestruck by the jewel, yet distraught at how the events of the day had unfolded upon their kingdom. The exchanges glances that not only detailed their misery, but also allowed the other to read their mind. Finally, Garnet whipped out her staff and Crystal began praying to the gods. Garnet smiled, then. She knew her daughter was praying to the Gods, aiding to her strength. She could feel her magic rise, in that moment.
She knew what she had to call on one of her most powerful summons.
The ogre moved ever closer, the impact of its steps cracking the foundations of houses and shops, shingles falling off the roofs, people scattering away from the commotion. Soon, it was in full view, and Garnet decided to make her move before it made its own. She raised her staff and looked up to the heavens, funneling all her willpower into summoning Ark, a summon that could obliterate the ogre, but not harm the city in its wake. Immediately the sky swirled into blackness, the large, red moon shining over Alexandria. The ship flew down from the heavens at the speed of light, pulling out all the blazing stops. Garnet watched her summon proudly, knowing intimately all its moves and exactly how badly it would hurt the ogre. She had worked hard to obtain the summon all those years ago, with plans to pass it onto her daughter. The summon placed itself in position to blast it's mechanics in a deadly ray of force.
Garnet began to notice something was wrong. The ogre took notice of the large ship in front of his face, and visibly angered. With one swipe of his fist, he brought it to the large entity, breaking off bits and pieces of the ship, so that it faltered for one moment. Garnet held her hand to her heart, praying for it to surpass the beast in power, and let out a sigh of relief when it finally released it's deadly ray, a combination of one from the ship, and one from the heavens.
It hit the ogre in the heart, the beast yelling out in pain, and falling to the ground, but only on its knees. It appeared to be bleeding badly, but still conscious, breathing heavily in its pain. Garnet took a few steps back, shocked to pure terror that it wasn't dead, anticipating what was next. The beast would make its final blows particularly violent.
"…We…we…have to run!" Garnet yelled to the group behind her, contemplating summoning another summon just finish the beast off.
But something wasn't quite right. She slowly began to feel energy draining from her body. Soon, she became quite sleepy. Beatrix and Steiner flanked her at this moment, swords drawn and ready to fight.
"We will never run, your highness! We will protect Alexandria at all costs," Beatrix insisted, rather incredulous that the queen would tell her to flee from battle, despite any dire circumstances. Steiner stayed silent this time, sweating at his brow, daunted by the beast above.
"I…I just think…" Garnet started to say…slowly inching toward the wounded, angered beast. "We're in…danger here…"
"Dagger!" Zidane said as her came from behind, pulling her shoulders back, realizing she was not being herself. "What's the matter with you?!"
He looked around at the others as he held her back, noticing that Crystal was also acting in a similar fashion, groggily stepping towards the ogre, who was preparing to stand back on its feet.
"Please, snap out of it! You're in no condition to fight like this!"
"This is not good," Zerrick added, aiding his father by holding his sister back. "They're obviously not themselves. Something has taken over their minds. We've gotta get them outta here too!"
Zidane gritted his teeth, and glanced behind him at his two long-term warriors, ready to fight the deadly beast even in their old age.
"I can't allow this. We've all gotta run until we can figure out a way to beat this thing!" he said, picking his wife up and turning to everyone else.
"How did you do it before, huh? Not by running, I presume," Beatrix said, eyes never leaving her target.
"We were able to summon back then! They can't summon in this condition!"
"I do not care of what you have to say. We fight for our kingdom, for our queen," Steiner said to the consort, sure that he and his wife would never run.
"Haven't you two learned anything in these years? Sometimes fighting is futile! Sometimes you just have to take a step back and re-evaluate!" Zidane pleaded with them.
"While this ogre destroys your kingdom, consort? My instincts tell me that your wife would be displeased if her top ranking officers took the cowardly way out…" Beatrix said, trailing off once the ogre finally screeched, and got back to its feet to fight. It was angry, stumbling around, swinging it's fists in the air, targeting first a shop and smashing the roof to bits.
"We've not got a second to argue. Beatrix, now!" Steiner commanded, and the two warriors launched forward to attack the thing's legs. It saw them approach, and raised its arms to swing the two away. Beatrix was able to dodge the attack due to her speed, but the group watched in horror as one of the fists whizzed in the air, whistling straight toward Steiner, who was not fast enough to dodge, only to take the hit.
"STEINER!" Zidane screamed out, sure that it was too late.
Suddenly, the ogre stopped mid-punch. It lowered its fists and gained an even stupider look on its face, almost as if it were confused, or in the wrong place somehow. Then, without a single waste in another moment, the ogre started to burn glowing red, hollering out into the air in immense suffering, before it exploded into large amounts of falling ash.
Crystal and Garnet were immediately released from their trance, and fell to the ground, each holding their temples in pain. The group dispersed in running to each one of them, lifting them off the ground to check for wounds. Zidane tended to his wife with an absent mind, knowing that something, or someone else destroyed the ogre, not his family. He turned his head back toward the entrance, feeling a familiar presence nearby. Sure enough, a slim, boyish figure was walking through the gates, gait strident, smirk painted on red lips, a feather placed delicately and stylishly in stark white hair. Zidane dropped his dagger in astonishment, and the rest caught on, glancing over at the figure approaching, mouths dropping open once realized who the person looked akin to. Finally, he stepped forward into their vicinity, and bowed his head and body in an introductory stance.
"Hello. My name is Kajal Tribal. I am the one and only heir of Kuja Tribal."