Author's Note: Yay, a new one! I hope you enjoy it. Reviews and criticism enjoyed and appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: Squeenix, oh Squeenix, wherefore art thou Squeenix? Oh right, in the hands of someone who's not me. Oh well… Guess what means I can't order the sequel to FFIX I want…
II
To Covet"He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it- namely, in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain"
-Mark Twain
As a child on Terra, Kuja always wanted what he could not have. If he could not have it, he would strive and work until he could, fight whatever foe was necessary. When young Sebastian was born, Garland had told him what he could not have. Kuja would never have the power Sebastian would wield; he was only a temporary fix until the baby genome grew into the power Garland gave him as an Angel of Death.
Kuja would not accept this, and endeavored to get rid of the child. But he couldn't kill Sebastian, oh no… Garland had placed protection on him that even Kuja could not do away with. So he simply dropped him on Gaia, the doomed planet. If he could not have the power Sebastian would obtain, and if he could not kill the boy, then perhaps simply leaving him in a trash can in the city of Lindblum would be enough.
After then, he resumed his role as the Angel of Death. He went on doing as Garland asked, all the while plotting to overthrow his father. It was while on a trip to Alexandria to sow the seeds of war did he first see her.
He was looking out the window as the elephant lady droned on about his proposition, bored out of his mind. He associated with Brahne purely for the benefit of Terra, as Garland had told him. There was a lovely garden below them, and he amused himself thinking of how he would rule it, and this land, as soon as he discovered how to get Garland out of the picture.
She was small and a little on the thin side, sitting under the shade of a large blooming lilac tree. Her hair was very long and a dark, chocolate brown, hanging loosely about her shoulders and dancing in the lightest of breezes. The young girl looked quite bit younger then him; sixteen at the most. Her hands skillfully threaded through a small embroidery loop. From what he could see, it looked like the girl was making embroidery of the garden. 'Impressive…' Kuja thought, raising a hand to his chin. Her clothing was elaborate and pearly white, much like Brahnes was but with a more reserved and less gaudy tone. She reached up to sweep her hair over her shoulder, looking up at the sky with an almost sad, longing glance. She was absolutely beautiful…
"Who is she?" Kuja asked, interrupting Brahne's explanation of Alexandria's defense and how his weapons and magic could enforce it.
The large queen looked somewhat startled at the interruption, "Who?"
"The girl in the garden, your majesty," He hated calling her that… but mental poison works best with civility and courtesy, not sharp words and anger.
Brahne all but waddled her way over, peaking out the window before returning to her seat, "That is my daughter, Garnet."
"The summoner from Madain Sari?" This drew Kuja's interest even further. If she was indeed the queen's daughter…
Brahne nodded, "Yes; her sixteenth birthday is in around six months."
"You can extract the Eidolons from her then, Brahne," He smirked, eyes never leaving the curvy form of the princess. 'Such beauty…' Kuja mused, his smirk widening.
"Will the process harm her?" Brahne asked in a worried tone. His smirk faltered for but half a second; it would take more then a week to turn the queen completely, it seemed.
"If she is asleep for it, no," Kuja reluctantly turned his gaze away from Garnet to look at the queen, "I expect that she is betrothed?"
To his surprise, Brahne shook her head, "No; I would rather her chose a husband for herself. A husband and king willingly chosen is usually a better ruler then one forced on the kingdom. I would know; I chose my late husband against the will of my father, and Alexandria has never had a better monarch."
"Very true… my condolences about the king, your majesty," Kuja turned back to the window. Garnet was not walking through the garden's edge, running her hand along the walls like they were the bars of a cage and she was looking for a weakness. 'A beautiful canary in a cage…'
"Now, about your payment—"
"I need none," He cut Brahne off, "Just give me her."
"What?"
"Allow me Garnet's hand, and I will give you whatever you wish free of charge."
It took a while for Brahne to accept his proposition. About three months into their negotiations, she was too far gone to care about anything but her own pleasure and power, just as he had planned. Brahne then agreed to the marriage, and Garnet would be informed of it after her birthday celebration and before the Eidolon extraction. Kuja would have his canary and the world soon…
Then she was gone. Run off with the performers at her birthday. Kuja had been gone at the time, preparing below the castle for Garnet's extraction. When news reached him, they were already gone. Whoever said 'don't shoot the messenger' obvious did not know how good it felt to let loose…
Not too long after he saw Sebastian again, to his surprise. Kuja had convinced Brahne to finally attack Burmecia, the weakest of the three great nations. How surprised he had been to see his brother there! He had not died as Kuja had wished, and that damn protection Garland gave him was still there. Apparently, his name was Zidane now, and he looked to be nothing more then a lowborn thief. Why was he there, and with such company…? He could not kill him, but perhaps Beatrix…? No, she would not kill him either. He would have to leave Sebas… Zidane alive again, and it angered him to no end.
Then he saw her again; in the auction house of Treno. Brahne had given him the city, more or less, and he was resting in the balcony when she caught his eye. She looked even more beautiful not, if possible, in her orange jumpsuit and her exhausted demeanor. What had his little canary gone through? She was returning to Alexandria, by the looks of it. Right into back to the cage she hated to much… Kuja wondered why she would. But it was most entertaining, and once she was there, Garnet would become his.
The feel of her in his arms when she returned was electric. Kuja knew Brahne would behead her, in the poisoned state the queen was, but it would only take a few choice words from Kuja to dissuade her. Such was the power he held. But the game was afoot now, and the canary was back with him. Kuja loved beauty more then anything; he possessed everything he saw as beautiful. Garnet would be no exception, and she would be the crown jewel of his collection…
If it wasn't for Zidane.
Oh, how that boy angered him! He had stolen his power, his place on Terra, what was rightfully his, and now…! Now he had taken his canary away from him! That damned Genome would die… die in the most painful manner imaginable. And Kuja's imagination was vivid. He would toy with Zidane, torture him, then deliver his contorted corpse to Garnet as a show of what happens when you anger him. No one crosses Kuja. No one defies him. He wanted everything, and damn it all, he would get it.
Once more the group came right to him. They were all in small cages, but Kuja watched only Zidane and Garnet. Oh how he would destroy Zidane… how he would make Garnet love him as she obviously did Zidane… The look of absolute terror on her gorgeous features when he attacked Alexandria and when he trapped her in the cell were exquisite. He did no think he would ever tire of it.
But he still needed Zidane, so he could not do away with him yet. The protection Garland gave him would protect the Genome from Terras magics in Oeilvert, so first he must go there. He allowed the boy to take three with him, because no one could survive the place alone, and Kuja wanted Zidane alive for what he had planned… but then he chose Garnet. His Garnet. How dare he! How dare…
Kuja allowed it, and he did not see either again until Terra. He did not need that land anymore, and the power he had gotten~! But it was not enough… it was never enough. Garnet did not want him as he desired her, and Garland had finally told him that he would die. It was unforgivable; that he should die and everyone else live!
So he destroyed it. Everyone and everything his touched died. A beautiful terror he had become… he would end it all. Destroy it all because he could not have it all. They would all burn; all die in a flame of glory and retribution! His revenge was at hand!
Then they defeated him. Despite it all, his nemesis and his canary did away with him. He would die here, broken and alone in the confines of the Iifa tree. How tragic it was; like the anti-hero in one of Lord Avon's plays… he did so love his plays…
But then Zidane came. No; not Zidane… Sebastian. In that moment, Kuja saw his folly. Sebastian had returned to him, despite everything. Returned alone; the brothers brought back together. The one he hated; the one he tried so hard to kill was the one to save him. He had saved the group from Necron because he finally felt the guilt that was long hidden inside him, but to actually have Sebastian come back for him…
This must have been what he wanted all along; what he was missing. All he wanted was someone to care, someone to tear him from the cage he was born in. Perhaps that was why he wanted Garnet so… that moment in the garden he had seen the despair on her face from being trapped in the castle. It reminded him so much of himself…
And she had found salvation in Sebastian, her Zidane Tribal. How funny that Kuja would find it in the same person, his own brother.
So strange… yet that was why he used the last of his strength to save his brother when the vines closed in. Zidane had given him the one thing no one else would even attempt.
Hope.