Madain Sari could be seen in the distance, as the Hilda Grande X neared it's destination. The airship moved quickly over the vast green forests below, leaving a small trail of steam behind it that dissolved into the air within seconds. Aboard were four passengers all on the same path, to find their friends and a way to stop the heartless. They were unaware though of a mysterious man tracking them, following them directly to Madain Sari. His mission was simply to eliminate Irvine Kinneas, so he wasn't a bother if ever to come in contact again with Rinoa. Destiny might have held a cruel fate for Irvine, but only time would tell. The ship finally made it over the plain cliffs of Madain Sari and set down gently on a plain surface not to far from the Wall of Eidolons. The four of them stepped out onto the plain rocky surface and surveyed the area, to see nothing but dust and rock out in the distance. Irvine stepped over to where the edge of the cliff was and looked down. It was a long fall from where he stood, close to a fifty feet fall. Anyone knocked down that wouldn't have a chance of surviving.
"So this Madain Sari, kinda boring." he said, walking back to the others.
"Wait until you see the Wall of Eidolons, thats a real treat to behold." Zidane said.
"Sounds like an art exhibit, can't wait." Irvine responded with a smile.
Zidane led the group down the steep rocky surface, until they eventually reached ground point. In the distance a large stone building sat, with a unique design unlike anything Irvine had ever seen. As they approached it, the stone structure almost looked like a small mountain with a dirt pathway leading to an entrance. Irvine didn't hesitate to go in as he ran past the entrance only to see a colorful display of art. All along the walls were drawings of creatures, beautiful drawings and any like he had ever seen. He spotted a drawing of a large black dragon and looked at it before realizing who it was.
"This creature, this is Bahamut." Irvine said, pointing to the dragon.
"You have Eidolons on your planet?" Zidane asked, surprised that Irvine recognized the drawing.
"Well yeah, I guess so." he replied, "Though we call them GFs or Guardian Forces. Bahamut is one of the Guardian Forces that can be summoned. Now I can't summon him, but I know Quistis can."
"Guardian Forces and Eidolons, they are the same summons. We just both have different names for them, and different people who can use them on our own worlds." Freya added, "Interesting"
"So these Eiodolons, what are they exactly?" Irvine asked.
"Summons, creatures that can be called forth by a race called the summoners. As you heard previously, summoners have been wiped out on our planet save two people. Those last remaining summoners are Alexandria's Queen Garnet and Eiko Carol. Besides those two, no one else is able to summon on our planet." Freya explained, "The drawing on the walls, like Bahamut there are different summons each with their unique ability and trait. Some are ordinary summons and some are powerful, like Alexander."
Alexander, yet another name Irvine recognized among the many creatures that could be summoned on this planet. He looked back at the drawings and realized that a few more were ones from his planet as well, like Odin, Shiva and Ifrit. It was all very interesting to see how worlds so far apart and different can be so close by sharing just one thing. If only Selphie could see this, she'd probably give him that look, the look where her eyes would glisten and her smile lights up the room. When he found her, he made note that he would take her here and show her everything that he had seen. He'd be glad to see that heart warming smile once again.
"Well, where do we start?" he asked, turning to Zidane.
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Xaldin approached the entrance to Alexandria and walked in looking around at the large kingdom before him. The streets were busy with people rushing back and forth doing different things and children off to the side playing jump rope, hoop scotch or ball. The kingdom was so huge, he wasn't sure where to start looking for Quistis Trepe. Orders were to only kill Gaia's citizens if necessary, but seeing as how it might take forever to find here, he decided on the easier path. He would just make her show herself by killing as many people as possible, to him these people's lives weren't even worth the misery. Walking up to the center near the fountain, several spears began to appear around him and with a flick of his wrist they flew around striking anyone in their path.
People began to fall dead and suddenly a panic erupted as people dropped what they were doing and ran for their lives. The guards at the entrance saw Xaldin and grabbed their swords as they rushed towards him. However their effort proved to be useless, as Xaldin quickly struck them down with his spears in a matter of seconds. He then turned and noticed a large castle in the distance, probably built in the center of town. His best bet in finding Quistis was probably in there, as he began to his way to the castle continuing his onslaught.
Meanwhile, Garnet, Quistis, Beatrix and Eiko all sat in the study room throwing ideas back and forth. A solid plan had not been decided yet about what to do if the heartless came. Garnet was about to speak again when a soldier came rushing in though the doors. She was out of breath, but wasted no time in getting out what she needed to say.
"Queen Garnet, Sir Beatrix, an unknown enemy has entered town and started to slaughter our citizens and knights. He has already killed many of our men and women, and even the children. We've been told he is headed for the castle, but we are unclear of what his motive is." the female knight reported, "Please Queen, we must get you out of here right..."
The knight stopped as a solid, silver spear was driven through her body. She fell to the ground dead, as the spear left her body and retreated to its owner who stood at the doorway. Beatrix quickly rushed in front of Garnet and pulled out her sword ready to defend her at any cost. Eiko rushed to Garnet's side and the two looked on in horror at the dead knight in front of them. Xaldin looked down at the dead knight and stepped over her entering the room. His eyes searched the girls, identifying the one in pink as Quistis Trepe. There was no longer a need to kill anyone else, as it was getting troublesome to fend off some many guards and knights.
"Quitis Trepe, I'm sorry to say but today is the day you die!" Xaldin said with a devilish smirk on his face.
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Teams organized by Zidane were spread out everywhere along Madain Sari, Everyone was hoping to find some clue, some trace of heartless, Vivi or Irvine's friends. Nothing was turning up and they had been searching for well over an hour. Suddenly screams could be heard in the distance, as both Zidane and Irvine along with their group rushed to see what caused them. When they got there they saw a whole team all along the floor unconscious and injured by what seemed to be bullet wounds. Both looked up at the man in a black cloak who stood next to them holding two unique looking weapons. He grinned and looked over at Irvine pointing his gun towards him.
"You must be Irvine, huh? Let's get the show started then." Xigbar laughed, "It ends here!"
