Aww. . . . I didn't get to the real good part yet . . . It'll come next chapter. . . which might be a week from now. Thank you to those who read and do all that other stuff. . . . . Yepsies, please enjoy and review only if you wanna. . . . Thankies!

Chapter 2: Dirty Business

The daylight shifted through Alexander's crystal. Alexandria had flourished under the reign of King Zidane, Queen Garnet, and with the help of Prince Topaz, who had started to take part in the lives of Alexandrians when he was only ten.

Today was not a special day. Not really, thought Topaz. He stared out of the window at the crystal monument that had been erected for the loss of a sister Topaz did not remember. His pale hand reached to touch the black horn on his head. His eyes were as black as his hair and horn, yet his skin was like the moonlight, brightening everything else up.

Just because he was a prince did not mean that the girls flocked around him, ether. He was a handsome boy, or at least his mother told him so, but the eligible women always strayed away from the odd horn. But he didn't mind. He felt as if the horn enhanced his looks. Not really . . .

Moog, Topaz's moogle companion, entered the room, his old fuzzy ball bouncing slightly. With a slight bow, the moogle's small voice with a normal moogle lilt, Moog announced something that made Topaz feel better.

"Dr. Tot is here, Paz. He said the Eiko will be on her way soon."

Moog sat beside his best friend on the window sill. Dr. Tot came in, laughing a bit.

"I hear that the ball did not go as planned."

Topaz shrugged. Yep. That was it. The ball. Topaz knew he could handle just about anything concerning politics, magic, or fighting, but he just lacked the social skills that charming prince's should have. The ball had been a fiasco, even King Zidane was rather shocked at his son's lack of skill with women.

"I am to be King one day. Why rush marriage? I have other things on my plate right now," said Topaz. Tot nodded, his nose making a deep angle.

"Well, I have just the thing to cheer you up! Are you ready to fulfill your duty as a Summoner?" asked Tot. Topaz looked up. He had been studying about the mystical stones and Eidolons and the recorded history of Summoners for the past five years.

He could feel his heart beating in his chest, thudding as if it were about to burst. He nodded his head, rather conservatively compared to his feelings. Tot chuckled.

"Eiko is on her way with the items that contain the Eidolons. Your mother and father think that it is time that you follow your forefathers."

"But it is mother who is the summoner."

Tot and Moog had a great laugh at that comment made by such a serious Prince.

- - - - - - - -

The steam from the engine of the Valefore airship made Arrow's hair stick to the back of her neck. Engine rooms were not ideal for stowing away in. Her anger was insurmountable, but she refused to lose to the darkness in her heart. Perhaps she was already losing.

It had only been two days since her departure from Burmecia. She had been raised by the Burmecian and Cleyrans after she had separated from her mother. It had taken eleven years since she had seen or heard the voice of her wonderful and strong mother.

The day had been an especially windy one, the ancient winds from the Cleyra Tree were regenerating from the war rather nicely, or at least that was what Arrow had heard from Wylan. The Rat faced creatures were caring, yet they did not let emotion completely rule their actions. They had taught Arrow their weapon use as well as teach her the standard weaponry skills, making her a well rounded warrior. She was enjoying one of her lessons when a moogle named Mog flew up the trunk in a hurry.

"There is a strange woman! She is asking for bow and arrows!" yelled the furry beast. Arrow's teacher told her that the lessons were over for the day. The elders had warned Arrow to stay in the tree, but Arrow was not exactly the obedient type when it did not suit her. She followed them down the trunk, unnoticed by those who it mattered.

Arrow remembered with a bitter smile how her tail had been spotted at the last moment as she hid behind a rock. She could see the rainy city Burmecia in the shadow of the mountain range, but it was so far away. Chocobos had aided the great Lady Freya and Sir Fratley to come to the trunk of Cleyra in half the time it would a regular Burmecian. They were armed and ready for attack, causing the tree dwellers some panic. Arrow felt it too, but her curiosity piqued more than her panic.

A look was all it took to silence Arrow's thoughts. Freya and Fratley saw through Arrow's hiding spot. They spoke only to her, with such urgency and force, that Arrow thought she was being sentenced to death. The extra chocobo was soon being mounted by the monkey-tailed child. The ride back to the city of eternal rain was a blur to Arrow. Numb by the rain and ride, Arrow barely noticed that she was walking inside the palace she had always wanted to explore.

When she was brought to the throne room, there was a chair in the center, just in front of the throne where King Puck and his bride sat. Arrow did not know what to think of. There was such a thick air of tension, Arrow could feel it choking her.

"Arrow, child of Gaia, the one whose mother and father are unknown, here you stand before the great king of Burmecia--"

Fratley's clear voice was cut off by the King Puck he was trying to introduce.

"I don't want to hear that right now. As you see, only this ort is here," the king said. He stepped down from his throne. He approached Arrow, his eyes feirce. "Do not lie to me, the KING of Burmecia!" he yelled. Out of stubbornness, Arrow tried to hide her shivers of fear as she shook her head.

"Who is your mother?" asked the king, his tones much more soft, his words holding even more power than before. Arrow's brows furrowed and she turned to look to Freya, a woman who she had once imagined to be like after her mother, but Freya was stone cold. Freya's anger was even more evident than the king's.

What angst, Arrow thought, trying to settle her nerves.

"I. . . told you. Lani, a bounty hunter with a huge ax." Arrow replied. Her voice echoed her fear. The King sucked in a breath.

"See, Freya? The orphan doesn't lie." Puck said. Freya gave a rough blow of air.

"Would you like to see the one you call mother?" Fratley asked, his words trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of the Lady Freya and the King. Arrow's eyes grew bigger than her smile.

"Mother? Momma?! She is here? Where? Why was she gone so long--"

King Puck waved his hand. Lady Freya forcefully walked ahead of Arrow, leading her to the infirmary. The sight that was before Arrow cause her to hit the opposite end of her previous emotional state. Lani was in the infirmary bed, two healers bent over her, making her drink restorative potions.

Her red lustrous hair had silvery streaks in it; her muscles had gone through dystrophy; her body was run haggard by a desert, as her cracked lips detailed; scars lined every visible surface of skin from unknown causes. She was dying. Arrow rushed to the bedside of her mother, grabbing her hand.

Holding her daughter's face in her hands, Lani smiled, her lips cracking more and more, blood seeping out.

"I have missed your beautiful eyes every day that I have not been able to look upon them," Lani said. The tailed-girl hugged the bounty hunter and saw all of the scars lining her back. Arrow's eyes became sharp.

"Can we have some privacy, Lady Freya, Sir Fratley?" Arrow asked. Lani's eyes met Freya's and the two exchanged an unspoken hatred. But Arrow was focusing on her mother.

"Who did this?" Arrow asked, once Freya and the others had left the room. "Who is responsible for your pain, Momma?"

Lani fell back into her pillow and closed her eyes. "I--" she was choking on her words, her teeth grinding together. "Zidane—monkey tailed bastard son of my—His son . . . the old man. . . ."

Lani gave a yell, making Arrow yell in surprise. She shouted for no one to enter, once hearing the door knob move. "his . . . son . . . you. . . The magic of Zidane's—GAH! Family . . . his lineage. The magic in Topaz is combined from Garnet too. . . Get . . . . GET!" Lani was yelling over and over Zidane's name, mixed with Topaz and Garnet.

The healers rushed in, sedated the screaming woman. Arrow was lead out of the room by Freya and Fratley. King Puck offered her a room in the castle. Arrow took his offer, yet she did not sleep in a bed that night. She had something she had to do.

In the dead of the night, Arrow slipped out of her window, the sound of rain mixing in with her footsteps. The chocobo was not even startled when Arrow mounted it and rode it out of the city.

Lindblum had come with the sun and within the hour, Arrow had bumped into a great patron. The strange Qu helped her get on board an airship. Once Arrow had mentioned Zidane's name, then the Qu named Quina talked to the Genome crow pilot. He was only a year older than Arrow, but he gladly let her on. He had told her to hide with the engines, because his boss would fire him otherwise.

And so here the vengeful girl was, holding in her hand the pendant from Lani that was dangling at the end of her tail. Her daggers and other weaponry was firmly equipped even in the steam of the engine room. She was going to get the bastard King Zidane. One way or another.

All she knew was that it was his fault that Lani had been tortured. And the son of the bastard would suffer too. When the ship docked, Arrow waited for the crow pilot to come back.

"Hey, we're here. My boss, Baku, has gone up to the upper decks to speak with the regent's daughter Eiko before the performace. . . It's a real good classic. . . Perhaps you would like to see it? I'm playing the lead, Marcus. . ."

Arrow thanked him and told him that she might take him up on that. Which was a blatant lie. Who knew if she was going to live after such an attempt on the King's life.

- - - - - -

WODODODODO!!! Exciting, ain't it? . . . .(gets smacked over the head with a gyshal pickle)