CHAPTER 12:

LACRIMATION(1)

After Alexandria Castle, Harry was amazed to see yet another palace, Lindblum Castle. He had been brought here after their escape from Alexandria. Zidane was still unconscious, and had been laid to rest in one of the bedrooms. Eiko had wanted to see the sights of Lindblum, in an attempt to forget what she had seen, and Freya had opted to escort her. Vivi had opted to stay in the castle, as many in Lindblum remembered the attack of the Black Mages on the city. Steiner had opted to stay in Alexandria for the time being, having lost track of Beatrix during their battles against the Mistodons, while Amarant and Lani were currently enjoying a trip to one of the bars. The red-haired bounty hunter, however, gave Harry a dark orb, the Dark Matter, and told him to give it to Garnet when he had the chance. Quina, who had fled Alexandria with the others, was currently helping out in the kitchens. The Qu was easy to bribe with Gysahl Pickles.

Harry, however, was worried about Garnet. That was why he opted to stay in the castle, so that he could find her. Eventually, he found her at a small observatory garden, near a massive telescope, looking out across the city morosely.

"Hi, Garnet," Harry said, approaching the melancholy girl. Hearing no reply from her, he said, "It's a nice place, isn't it?"

Garnet nodded. But Harry followed her gaze and saw the ruins of an entire district of the city.

Anima materialised, and stared at the ruins. "That wreckage…it has Atomos' smell all over it. That's where Brahne…never mind."

Harry stared in horror. Atomos was one of Garnet's Eidolons, one of those stolen by Brahne and Kuja for their own ends. Eventually, he wrapped his arms around Garnet in a hug. "Garnet, I'm so sorry. You…you shouldn't have to have that happen to you!"

As he wept, he felt Garnet gently stroke his hair. He heard her quietly sobbing. For a moment, the two summoners stood there, crying, before they separated. Garnet kneeled, her dark eyes searching Harry's own. And then, they heard Anima mutter something. "Oh, oh my. Why didn't I see it before?"

"What?" Harry asked, turning to his Eidolon, who was frowning in thought.

"There's something about Garnet's smell that seemed familiar. I thought it was because she was a summoner of Madain Sari, but…now that I see you two together…" Anima approached, and gently took a hold of Garnet's face, and then of Harry's, searching them both. She sniffed gently, before she said, "Garnet…I know you have lost much last night. Alexandria has been partially ruined, and many are dead. But…I have some good news to tell you. When you came to Madain Sari, you didn't just find kindred. You found kin!"

Garnet's eyes and mouth widened comically. "…What?" she asked, in a hoarse voice, barely above a whisper.

Anima looked at Harry, and then at Garnet. "I think…in fact, I am certain that you and Harry are family. Look at your faces, your hair, they're so alike, even separated by age and gender and experience. You're not siblings, I would be able to tell, but you're close. You're cousins."

Harry stared at Garnet, who was staring back in shock. "We're cousins?!" Harry demanded.

"Harry…is my cousin?" Garnet asked, in her hoarse, rasping voice, as if her very larynx didn't want to cooperate.

"If there are means in this world of testing parentage, I would put money on that fact," Anima said.

Garnet looked at Harry. Her voice was still a rasp, but she said, "Cid has a test. Given how many affairs he has had, he needs it, in case he has fathered a bastard."

Harry blinked. He didn't understand, like Garnet did, what having an affair entailed, and only thought the word 'bastard' was a really rude one Zidane liked to say. Anima whispered what she meant, as tactfully as she could to the young summoner, and his eyes widened. Shaking that from his mind, he said, "Well, let's take it, eh?"

Cid did need a distraction from his work on trying to start work on the Hilda Garde 3. So he helped Garnet and Harry take the test, using their blood, and a special spell used by one of the court mages. To their astonishment, the test confirmed what Anima suspected.

Cid stared at the paper in his audience chamber. "I don't believe this. Harry, your father was the brother of Garnet's mother. You two are indeed cousins!"

Garnet whirled to look at Harry, before sweeping him up in an embrace, spinning around, laughing. Oh, her normally musical voice was a cracked, braying thing at the moment, but there was no disguising the joy she felt, not with her laughter, and the tears of joy running from her eyes. Harry laughed and cried alongside her. He had family! Actual family! "Garnet, this is wonderful!" Harry cried out to her.

Garnet nodded, smiling. "I'm not alone! I mean, I knew that when I first came to Madain Sari, but…I was an only child. I grew up alone, surrounded by adults. I have a cousin to be a big sister to!" She clutched Harry to her, and wept copiously into his shoulder. Harry did the same.

It was not long afterwards that Freya and Eiko came back, Vivi and Amarant in tow (Eiko having taken a shine to the young and timid Black Mage, taking him under her wing), and Eiko was overjoyed to hear the news. "Wow, you're related to the princess?!" she yelped.

"We're cousins, Eiko!" Harry said. "I have family!"

"That's great!" Eiko cheered. "Congrats, you two!" Then, she put her hands behind her back, swaying a little bashfully. "Umm…but aren't I like your family?" she asked.

"Well, yes," Harry said. "You're my bratty little sister, aren't you?"

"I'm NOT bratty!" Eiko said, poking out her tongue for emphasis.

"This is splendid news!" Freya said. "And given what has happened, any good tidings would be welcome."

"Huh. Cousin to a princess," Amarant remarked. "Lucky kid. Harry, did you give Garnet the Dark Matter?"

"Oh, not yet, sorry!" Harry said, plucking the orb out, and handing it to her. "It's Odin's focus. Amarant's friends took it off Kuja."

Garnet took the orb, and then looked at Amarant. "You have my sincerest thanks, Amarant. Has Dr Tot recompensed you and your friends?"

"Tot's given them some money as an initial payment. I think Steiner's getting money from what is left of the royal treasury at Alexandria, and I've asked Yojimbo to consider contributing," Amarant said, crossing his arms. "By the way, I forgot to tell you, we confirmed just before we had to leave Treno that the King family are all dead. Kuja's been running the show for some time. Tot told me that you were looking up laws to depose him, so if you can, well, there's your opening. I would've told you earlier, but, well, it's been a busy night."

"Again, you have my sincerest thanks, Amarant," Garnet said. "Where is Lani?"

"She's gone to look for an acquaintance," Amarant said. "She met him during the Festival of the Hunt, apparently. An airship mechanic who worked in the Industrial District. Given what Atomos did to that area…"

At this, the atmosphere became more subdued. Garnet walked over to the table, and sat down, putting her head in her hands. Eventually, she stood, tears still streaking her face. "If Kuja's intention was to take control of Alexander, then why destroy that Eidolon?"

"Remember what 288 said at Black Mage Village," Harry said. "He said that Kuja had a boss called Garland. Maybe Kuja wants to beat his boss. And Garland found out. Maybe it was Garland in charge of that ship at the time."

"Wedge said he heard the place Kuja came from, this other world, was called Terra," Amarant said. "Not that that's much to go on."

Cid shook his head. "Once Steiner gets back, and Zidane wakes up, we'll put together a plan of action. I'm also bringing Dr Tot in from Treno, once he's done with work there. I need him to find a way to reverse this transformation, gwok-gwok!"

Steiner came back from Alexandria. Beatrix had disappeared, as far as he could make out, and Steiner, having begun to form a friendship with the general, was saddened. The next day, a few days after their flight from Alexandria, Zidane woke up while under the watchful eyes of Harry and Garnet. "Dagger!" he exclaimed. "Harry! Wha…what happened?"

"You had a spirited debate with a wall," Garnet said, her voice back to normal after that hoarse rasp it was a few days ago. "The wall won." Her face fell. "Zidane…Alexandria Castle, along with much of the town, has been annihilated."

Zidane's face twisted into a snarl. "Bastard…that bastard Kuja," he growled, his hand clenching into a fist. He looked around. "This is Lindblum, right? How did we get here?"

"We got onto a ship at the castle's port," Harry said. "Beatrix is still missing, but everyone else we know made it out all right. Garnet had a pretty rough patch, but…Anima told us something great! Zidane, Garnet and I are cousins!"

Zidane's eyes widened comically. "Wait, what? Seriously?!"

"Cid did a blood test and everything!" Harry said.

"Hey, that's great! I'm glad for you two!" Zidane said with a grin.

"I also have good news, Zidane," Garnet said. "I have learned that Kuja has long since usurped the King family of Treno. No heirs of the family are left, according to Dr Tot, or any of the family."

"How is that good news?" Zidane asked, puzzled.

"Treno is still part of Alexandrian territory, and thus falls under Alexandrian law. I can strip Kuja of his titles as a noble, and give them to someone infinitely more deserving," Garnet explained patiently. "Not only does it take away one of Kuja's powerbases, but I will also be able to have someone I trust as my eyes and ears in Treno."

"Hey, that's great news!" Zidane said with a grin. One that was matched by Garnet, who had a slightly more vicious bent to her smile. "Umm, Dagger, why are you smiling like that?"

"Because, Zidane, I intend to grant you those very titles. How do you feel about etiquette lessons?"

At Tantalus Headquarters, the squat, bearded form of Cinna looked at Marcus as they heard a keening wail in the distance. "Did you hear what I thought I heard?" Cinna asked.

The bandanna-wearing thief and actor scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Did you think you heard Zidane screaming in horror and despair?"

Cinna nodded. "Exactly. Haven't heard him scream like that since the Boss tried to have him dressed up in a suit to infiltrate that ball in Treno."

"Should we go and see what's up?"

"Technically, he quit Tantalus," Cinna said with a shrug. "Anyway, it won't kill him. Probably drive him crazy, but better him than us. I'll let Cid's glaziers know, though. Last time this happened, we had to replace a quarter of the windows on the Prima Vista…"

In the conference room, everyone was gathered around the table, with them discussing what had happened to Alexandria. Garnet and Harry still had a bit of ringing in their ears from Zidane's scream, and in a way, Garnet was grateful. It helped distance her from the news about her city, her people.

"I've never witnessed such devastation outside of all-out war," Steiner admitted, concluding his report. "Beatrix is still missing, the death toll is still being calculated, and the castle is almost a complete wreck. I thank you, Regent Cid, for sending over masons and carpenters so promptly to begin the restoration, but a hard road lies ahead regardless. There are few consolations to be gained from this. One is that most of my comrades are still alive and well, as well as Princess Garnet." He had reverted to calling her that, as her coronation proper had been postponed. "The second is that our people have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into reconstruction. Even so, to see Alexandria in ruins is a blow to us all, but especially to myself, and of course the Princess."

"It will take time to restore both of our cities," said Cid's chancellor, Minister Artrania, a bearded man in his fifties. "The resolve of our peoples in hardship is strong, but it will still take longer to heal the wounds to their souls than it will to heal the cities."

"And after all that hardship," Freya said, "we still know little of Kuja and his plans, merely speculation. He may be rebelling against his own liege, but the truth is, through his machinations and actions, all four of the great city-states of the Mist Continent have been laid low. We need more information."

"And what there is paints a disturbing picture, gwok!" Cid said. "Steiner reported that he witnessed Kuja fleeing to an airship. The description matches that of the original Hilda Garde. What is worse is that he had a complement of Black Mages with him…Black Mages who could speak coherently, unlike the ones who attacked Lindblum."

"What?!" Vivi yelled. "Impossible!" He turned to face Steiner. "Please, tell me it isn't true!"

"Forgive me, Master Vivi, but I cannot deny what I saw and heard," Steiner said, kneeling next to Vivi. "I am abjectly sorry you had to hear this, but I know what I saw. I know what I heard. They conversed with themselves and with Kuja just like you would converse with us. The few pieces of conversation I heard suggested that Kuja has offered them a reward should they work with him. Something about extension."

Vivi began to sob angrily. In order to change the subject, Cid said, "Of course, one question is, how did Kuja obtain the Hilda Garde? My wife stole it after turning me into an Oglop."

"Why?" Zidane asked.

"Long story short, my wife found me in bed with a woman I met down at the pub," Cid said with an apologetic shrug. "It seems that Kuja may very well have my wife prisoner, as well as my airship."

"Then we will need to track him down," Freya said.

"We don't even have an airship to look for him with," Zidane said. "Except that dangerous thing…"

"Yes, the Hilda Garde 2 is out of commission," Cid said. "I can't oversee the construction of a new model the way I am either. That is why I have asked for Dr Tot's presence."

"And here I am. My apologies for being tardy, Regent Cid," Tot said, waddling into the conference room. He looked over at Garnet, and smiled. "It's good to see you alive and well, Your Majesty. I am sorry for your loss."

"We all are," Garnet said. "Dr Tot, can you please assist my uncle?"

"Indeed. Well, let's get on with it, shall we?"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

And there you have it, Garnet avoiding losing her voice. There's a couple of reasons for that. The first is that the Garnet of this story is a bit stronger than she is in the game. The second is that someone reached out for her in her grief sooner. And, of course, there's the revelation that Harry and Garnet are related.

Now, in case you're wondering why I did that, how it seemed to come out of thin air…well, that's because it only really occurred to me just before writing this chapter. I was watching the trailer for the Steam HD port, and realised that Garnet, with her hair cut short, could conceivably be a relative of Harry's. In fact, by the time this chapter gets released, you'll be getting a new crossover, where a female Harry and Garnet are twin sisters (not identical), titled Amethyst and Garnet.

The next chapter, which will mostly revolve around Zidane getting Cid's antidote, will be a more humorous chapter.

1. Lacrimations is a fancy term for tears.