DISCLAIMER: If I owned Final Fantasy IX it'd be recreated for the PS3 with voice acting AND have a sequel by now.

"Ugh..." I sigh as I open my eyes. I notice I'm laying on my stomach on a couch in a room with very little light, the light coming from tiny windows. I turn over and sit up, swinging my legs over so I'm sitting normally. Then I lean back and put my left arm over my forehead. I have a headache so painful it's pulsing. I can't recognize where I am. Wait... how did I get here? I then remember those people grabbing me and knocking me out. My eyes widen and I bolt back up. Were they trying to kill me? What if I'm supposed to be dead right now? What if they're gonna kill be later? Or what if I'm being held hostage? This is not good! But wait, there's no way they'd know I'm not the princess... So they kidnapped me thinking I was the princess! Did Garnet know about this already? Is that why she wanted to switch places? No... I don't think she'd do anything like this. Oh, I can see it now: The kingdom will rejoice knowing that the princess is in fact still alive and everything in Alexandria will go back to how it was before this. And where will that leave me? Dead. Hmm... Garnet better order a statue or something to be made in my honor because if it weren't for me, the monarchy would've been destroyed! Ugh! Get ahold of yourself! There's no way I'm dying without a fight. But-

All of a sudden a nearby door to my left starts creaking open slowly and I plop back down on my stomach, facing away from the door. Playing dead won't help much but it's a good start. Someone is tip-toeing towards me, making creaking sounds. What do I do?

"Princess?"

That's a man's voice... it sounds familiar...

"Oh, Princess!"

The man is now at my side, shaking me violently. He shakes me with such a force that my shoulders start to stiffen and become very painful.

"Hey!" I blurt out, sitting up in the process. "Calm down! I thought you were the enemy, here..."

I rub my right shoulder and look up, and become surprised at who it is in front of me.

"S-Steiner?"

"Shh! Yes, Princess, it is I, Adelbert Steiner."

Oh, thank goodness I'm not alone. So the creaking sound must've been his armor. But... how did he get here? Where is 'here'? What happened? My feel my breathing and my heart rate become faster and Steiner tries to calm me down.

"Princess! You were not physically harmed! Everything will be okay! I will get you out of here!" Steiner starts to get up but I grab his left arm and pull him back down.

"Wait," I say an octave below my normal voice. "Where are we? What happened? Do not try to get me out before you explain what the heck is going on!"

He looks shocked to have heard me-or the supposed 'Princess' rather-to have talked like that. I kind of am too but I swear I can't even think straight!

He opens his mouth to speak but then we hear footsteps coming towards this room. Steiner gets up and tries to pull me off the couch by grabbing my left arm but it's too late. A group of people are now in the room, blocking the door. One of them lights a candle that lights the entire room. Steiner is still grabbing my arm so I pull away. I look over to the group of people and notice who they are: the man with a purple beard, the pink guy with a hammer, the tough guy who I notice is in fact wearing a bandana, the red-head with the skimpy clothing, and... the boy with the tail. Tantalus.

Steiner decides to break the eerie silence by shouting at them. "HOW DARE YOU PUT THE PRINCESS TO SLEEP AND THEN KIDNAP HER! YOU WILL GET THE DEATH PENALTY FOR SURE!"

The red-head rolls his eyes. "What're you gonna do? Try to get her out of here? Well there's no way because we're flying and if you jump, you both die. And you can't have the princess dying, can you?"

Steiner widens his eyes in realization and sits down and starts to grumble. "I'll think of something."

"Well you don't have to think hard," Purple-Beard spoke up. "We have no intention of killing either of you. Although if you cause too much fuss and try to smuggle her out then we might have to rough you up a little."

I breathe I sigh of relief and it must've been loud because everyone's looking at me expectantly. I remember my whole ordeal and look at them fiercely. "What is going on?" I accidently speak an octave lower again, but I don't care. "Tell me right now."

Purple-Beard sighed. "Well, you look pretty, uh, freaked. So here's the scoop. You already know that this is Tantalus. I am the leader. We-obviously-kidnapped you. We were to perform the play 'I Want To Be Your Canary' for your birthday and the plan was to distract everyone with the play while Blank and Zidane," he explained, pointing to the red-head and then to the boy with the tail. "were gonna do the real kidnapping."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," I interrupt, confused. "Then what was with the guard?"

Before Purple-Beard could talk, Blank interrupted. "That was me. The plan was for me to go on the balcony and get you out by saying you needed to see something or... something... Actually, to tell you the truth, I didn't think about what I should say so when you came out you kinda saved me from being caught..."

He trailed off after looking at me, I guess. I know I must not look content at the moment. I can feel anger and annoyance building up within me like a raging fire. I don't know what I look like but I know it ain't a pretty sight. I almost blurted something but then Zidane interrupted, continuing the story.

"Anyway, so you came out and we panicked. So I hurried and ripped some cloth off of my shirt and poured some sleeping weed on it. Blank decided to grab you and... well... you should remember what happened next..."

"Okay, so you were gonna kidnap me. I understand that. But why? What happened while I was out? Where am I right now? How long have I been asleep? You guys just told me things I could've figured out on my own." I've never felt so annoyed and angry in my life! And for some reason I'm getting flashes of Madame in my mind, pointing out the obvious to me as if I'm some dim-witted girl who can't think on her own! I know they don't mean to do this but I just want answers... Wait, Garnet! How is she? What is she doing right now? Oh man, what is happening in Alexandria?

Now Steiner decides to jump in the conversation. "Right now it is a few hours after your birthday... It is dawn. Oh but yesterday was absolute madness! Me and Beatrix heard you outside the doors and came to see what was going on and we saw them running with you and then we called the troops, informed the queen... Then they tried to get away on their ship and Queen Brahne tried to shoot it down but to no avail... I think there were slight damages to buildings... But luckily I got on to save you!"

He said that last sentence with so much triumph that I could've laughed in his face. But I'm holding it in. These guys are right. He's powerless here. We're on the ship... what was it called again? ...The Prima Vista. Yeah, so we're on the flying Prima Vista so there's no way he can get me out. And I'm pretty sure Tantalus will have their eyes on me... And I've been here for a few hours so I think it's a little too late to try to get away... Not to mention, if I tried it'd be hopeless. They look strong.

"Okay..." I said, finally understanding. "Then where are you taking me?" Steiner looked up at me in confusion and I don't get why. That's a normal question isn't it?

"Lindblum," the guy with the bandana said.

"And so I'm pretty much stuck here until then?"

"Pretty much," said the guy with the hammer.

I lean back on the couch. "Fantastic."

And all of a sudden there's a huge amount of turbulance and the Prima Vista starts to go down.

...

My hands are shaking so hard I can hardly hold my teacup. I put it down so I will not spill. My right arm is slightly injured from last night but it is feeling much better. Oh, last night... it was insane! I was sitting on the roof watching the play and apparently there was some commotion from when that girl left the royal seats. Then some guards were chasing two people and I could not believe that they were actually running away with that girl! Carrying her no less! They knocked her out somehow, I suppose. So they ran to the back of the Prima Vista with the guards right behind them and I don't know what happened but all I know was that the guards were all knocked out once the Prima Vista started taking off. My mother ordered others to try and shoot it down but it didn't work. It only veered off-course, smashing into buildings along the way. Including where I was seated. Sam and Peter fell off and I tried to stay on but I ended up falling as well. Then on my way down I hit my arm on something and before I could assume more damage, Sam caught me. And he offered me the chance to stay with him and Peter and I gladly accepted. There is no way I am going back to Madame Eclair's. It's not like I could bear it either. Besides, this place is somewhat nicer than Madame Eclair's. It is just a small house with a kitchen and dining area on the first level and the sleeping area on the second level up the stairs. At first I was shocked that a house could be this small. All the homes look bigger on the outside. But I couldn't think about that for very long.

I am worrying so much. All I hear is 'The princess has been kidnapped! The princess has been kidnapped!' but she hasn't. I am here. But I cannot say that. Who knows how much trouble I will get in? But what if that girl dies? It would be all my fault! It should've been me that they kidnapped! This is all my fault! It was my idea to switch in the first place! Oh, I hope she's okay... But there is no real way to tell whether or not she will actually be okay... If I go back to Madame Eclair's I do not think I could handle it. I need to tell Mother I am alright! But I still have that fake horn. It will not go away until tomorrow. Yes, I will take care of this tomorrow.

"Hey..."

I snap out of my thoughts and turn to the voice that is trying to get my attention. It is Peter. "Yes?"

"Uhh... How long are you going to be staying with us?"

I am shocked at that question. Why? I do not know. "Well... Hopefully I'll get out of your hair by tomorrow."

He looks disappointed at my answer so I ask him what is wrong.

"Oh, it's nothing, really..." He walks away slowly and walks up the stairs. Sam walks in the door and starts talking to me.

"It's crazy out there. I'd suggest you don't go anywhere today. People are running like it's the end of the world not to mention there's damage."

My face must've looked really worried because he added on quickly. "But not a lot of damage. Easily fixed."

I am relieved. "Sam? I am thinking of leaving tomorrow."

Sam looks at me. "You have family?"

"Uhh... Something like that," I answer.

"Well, until then, you get some sleep. See that mattress and blanket over there? You can sleep there."

I look over at the mattress. It is almost exactly like the mattress back at Madame Eclair's. But I decide not to argue. Even if it is dawn, I am exhausted. "Thanks..." I say. And I walk over and lay down, falling asleep right away.

Author's Note: HA HA! I think I redeemed myself with this chapter. :P This time I thought more about it and tada! But at the beginning there I wasn't entirely sure what room it should be. So feel free to use your imaginations (even though there's that one room at the very beginning of the game where you light that candle but there're no couches in there...). And I know in the beginning of the game when they're gonna kidnap her Zidane was like "And I've got a little something for Princess Garnet's teacup!" (or something to that effect...) but I just don't see how they were gonna go to the balcony and just pour the sleeping weed in her teacup... It just doesn't make sense to me so I changed it a little. :P I think about things way more than I should... Anyway, I'm glad this one turned out! I guess I concentrate better when I'm not listening to music lol... (Well... certain KINDS of music anyway.) But who cares about MY opinion? I wanna know yours! Reviews and/or PMs are always welcome and appriciated!