March 29th, 1820, Market District, Alexandria.
10:15 A.M.
"Good morning, Ms. Olson!" a little Burmecian girl in a red dress said, looking at the elderly baker with her round, innocent eyes.
"Oh, hello there, Ari!" the old woman replied with a tender smile, "How's everything going? I've heard that you're doing great at school!"
"Yes! My teacher says that I'm very smart!" the girl exclaimed, filled with pride, "And guess what! Daddy is so happy that he'll take me to the Royal Garden tomorrow!"
"Ah! That's terrific, young lady!" the baker commented, handing Ari a delicately glazed cupcake, "Here, have a reward for all your hard work!"
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Ms. Olson!" the kid yelled, bouncing all around the place, holding her sweet treasure in a small, fuzzy hand.
"Enjoy it! You've certainly earned it!" the old woman said, "Oh! What did you need, by the way? I almost forgot to ask you, tee-hee..."
"Um... daddy sent me to buy a loaf of bread and some biscuits... but I can't remember how many biscuits he wanted..." the girl in red replied, giving her pouch of coins to the shopkeeper, "How many biscuits can I buy with this, Ms. Olson?"
"Let me see..." the baker said, adjusting her glasses. She counted the gil and put the bread and the biscuits into the girl's basket, "Do you need anything else, my dear?"
"No, that's all! Thank you very much!" Ari exclaimed, turning to leave.
"Have a nice day, sweetheart!" the old lady said before going back to work.
Skipping down the cobbled streets of Alexandria, Ari left the Market District and headed toward Little Burmecia, the neighborhood that hundreds of refugees called home. It had the distinction of being the biggest public housing project in Gaia and it had been lovingly designed by an Alexandrian-Burmecian team of architects with the rainy kingdom's aesthetics in mind.
"Huh..?" Ari muttered, skidding to a halt. "Is that Soren..?"
Sitting near a fountain in one of the city's squares, a young demi-rodent child sobbed, hugging his knees. He was the only surviving son of a Cleyran family that had moved to Alexandria a few years ago, and most importantly, he was Ari's best friend.
"Are you hurt, Soren?" she asked, rushing to his side.
"Ari..?" the boy croaked, meeting his friend's pale blue eyes, "No, I'm not hurt... I'm just... sad."
"Sad? What happened?" Ari worriedly asked, "Was Mr. Becker mean to you again?"
Soren felt a lump in his throat.
"We are... leaving the kingdom..." he stammered, much to Ari's shock.
"You're..? But why? When..?" she stammered, unable to think straight.
"Today. Dad said something about needing to get out of the city before sundown," Soren explained, hitting the stone fountain with his fist and hurting his hand in the process. "I don't understand... I wanna stay here! I'm tired of traveling!"
Ari was devastated and furious at the same time; Soren was too important for her, and if his family wouldn't listen to him, then she would make them listen to her.
"Come with me! I have an idea!" she said, extending her hand to him.
March 29th, 1820, Little Burmecia, Alexandria.
10:40 A.M.
"Um... Ari, why are we doing this?" Soren asked, staring nervously at the wooden fence.
"We can't go through the front door, silly. If dad finds out you're here, he won't let you stay," his friend replied. "Now help me climb, please."
"O-okay..." the boy said, giving her a leg up.
"The coast is clear!" she exclaimed, sitting atop the fence, "Here, grab my hand!"
Soren obeyed and climbed over the wall with her help.
"That's my super secret hideout!" the girl whispered, pointing at a small storage shed in the middle of her backyard, "C'mon, dad could come back at any time!".
They silently lowered themselves into the garden and made a run for the structure. Ari unlocked the door and held it open for her buddy, who quietly followed her inside.
"Um, Ari..." the boy said, having realized that the place was too small and simple to truly serve as a hiding spot, "I don't think this is gonna work."
"What do you mean?" she asked, pushing a crate away and uncovering a hidden trapdoor, "Ta-daaa!"
"Whoa! Is that a secret passage or something?" Soren exclaimed. "Where does it lead to?"
"Dad built it to store potatoes but he doesn't use it anymore, so I've turned it into my secret base!" Ari explained, opening the hatch to reveal a stinky, stone-lined underground chamber, "C'mon, get in!"
"O-okay..." he stuttered, taken aback by the stench that came from below. "Guess I can't go back now..." he thought as he climbed down the stairs into the dank cellar.
"Watch your step! I'll be there in a second!"
"It sure is dark in here!" the boy exclaimed seconds before stepping on something soft and slimy, "Eww! What is this?!" he squawked, lifting his small rat foot and rubbing it against the wall.
"It's just moss, silly!" Ari said, bringing a lit candle into the cellar, "Well, what do you think?"
The boy opened his mouth to complain, but decided to be nice instead. "It's awesome, Ari! It even looks like a real dragon's den!"
"I know, right? And you can stay as long as you want!" she said, overjoyed. "I know it's a bit cramped and dirty, but when I grow up, I'm gonna be a dragonslayer just like dad, and I'll have my own secret base with all my weapons and stuff and I'll invite you to play in it every day. It will be great!"
"Oh, that's cool Ari..." Soren commented. Being of Cleyran descent, the whole dragon hunting business was more than a little off-putting to him.
"That's not all!" the girl exclaimed, opening a small wooden chest and taking a folded sheet of paper from it, "Here, take this candle, I'm gonna show you something!"
Her friend obeyed and held their meager light source while Ari unfolded her mysterious treasure; it was a crudely drawn picture depicting a Burmecian warrior in red armor wielding a strange, three-pronged spear.
"Do you know who this is?" she asked, pointing at the illustration.
"Um... a dragoon, maybe?"
"Oh, she's not just any dragoon, buddy. She's THE dragoon, Freya Crescent!" Ari explained, "When I become a knight like her, I'm gonna meet her and we'll be besties and I'll ask her to teach me her clan's secret technique, the Cherry Blossom! She's sooo cool!"
"Dad says that she's a bad person..." Soren said, prompting Ari to stare blankly at him. "He says that she's a traitor and a criminal. I've even heard that she murdered King Puck in his sleep a week ago!"
"No... you're wrong!" the girl in red replied, clenching her fists so hard that she hurt her palms with her pointy claws, "She would never do something like that! My dad says that she's the greatest hero ever! If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be alive in the first place!"
"I'm just repeating what my dad told me..." the boy explained in an apologetic tone. "Maybe the adults got it all mixed up and it's up to us to find out the truth..."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Ari inquired, realizing much to her chagrin that she had accidentally crushed her precious drawing. "Aw, shucks!"
"Well... mom told me that Freya is here, in Alexandria."
"WHAAAAT?!" the girl yelled, grabbing Soren by the collar and shaking him back and forth, "Where is she?!"
"Agh, let go!" the boy squawked, wresting himself free from her grasp, "Ahem... she's in the Royal Castle right now... maybe she's visiting Queen Garnet and King Zidane."
"For real?!" the girl in red exclaimed, glancing at her ruined picture and then back at her friend, "We need to talk to her before she leaves! That way we'll know which one of our parents is lying!"
"Um... I don't think they'll let us into the castle with these clothes..." Soren commented, staring at his second-hand pants and gaiters.
"Nonsense! I just know they will let us see her!" Ari retorted, folding back her drawing and storing it inside her leather pouch, "C'mon! We need to be back here before dad returns!"
"This is a terrible idea..." Soren sighed as he followed his friend back to the surface.
March 29th, 1820, Alexandria Castle.
09:55 A.M.
"What are you..?" Mikoto muttered, studying a tiny black chip through a magnifying glass. She had found it hidden deep within the black waltz core and was particularly intrigued by it, given the fact that it seemed to have no function at all.
As a way to please her and to honor the memory of the late Professor Tot, Mikoto was allowed to spend most of her time in his old laboratory whenever she visited Alexandria. She had taken the liberty of furnishing it with instruments and machinery well beyond Gaia's technological level and as a result the room was heavily guarded and its contents zealously kept secret by Garnet and Zidane.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Not now! Working!" the genome shouted, grabbing a screwdriver and preparing to dismantle the mysterious device.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Are you kidding me?!" Mikoto hissed, getting up and stomping off to the door, "What do you need? I'm busy right now!"
"Uh... auntie Mikoto? It's me, Tot..."
The scientist blinked twice and opened the door immediately. "Oh, hello, Sigma... I-I mean, Tot!" she greeted him, slapping herself for her slip-up.
"Huh? Who's Sigma?" the small genome inquired, staring at his aunt with those round, curious eyes of his that reminded her so much of her beloved black mages.
"Uh... Sigma is... ah... a dear friend of mine!" she lied, smiling nervously, "I got confused because you look so much like him!"
"Oh! I'd like to meet him one day!" the young prince piped up, much to Mikoto's dismay.
"Uhh... sure! I guess..." the scientist stammered, mentally kicking herself, "Wait, what brings you here, little Tot? Because you're Tot and totally not Sigma, hehe... ughh..."
"Oh, right, mom's leaving for Burmecia, so I came here to tell you that in case you wanted to say goodbye." the boy replied, "I'll be going now, wanna come with me?"
Mikoto stared at the soul core on her table for a moment and sighed, disarmed by her nephew's cuteness. "Alright... lead the way." she said, closing the door behind her.
With a thunderous sound, the royal hangar's doors opened up and out came Garnet's personal airship, the Wind Rose. Assembled in Lindblum under the near-obsessive supervision of regent Cid himself, it had been conceived as a symbol of Alexandria's new political era.
"Your Majesty, we have carried out the final inspection successfully. The Wind Rose is ready for takeoff," a rather plump man in blue overalls exclaimed, approaching the royal couple.
"Good job as always, Horst. Thank you," Garnet replied courteously.
"Have a pleasant flight, ma'am." the technician said with what the queen interpreted as an unsettling, almost dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Huh..?" the summoner muttered, arching an eyebrow. She held the chief mechanic's gaze for a moment, looking for that strange spark, but it was gone.
"Is everything alright, ma'am?" the man asked with a disconcerted expression.
"Yes, thanks... please, carry on." Garnet answered, deciding that it wasn't the time to let her paranoia get the best of her.
"You okay, Dag?" Zidane inquired, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I was just... thinking." the queen said with her eyes still fixed on Horst's back.
"One Gil for your thoughts." the genome joked, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Um... nothing important, actually..." the queen muttered, "I'm just a little nervous and seeing the Wind Rose isn't helping me at all."
"Dag..." Zidane said, but he immediately decided not to finish his sentence. The summoner's feelings towards her late step-mother were... complicated, so it was better to simply remain silent and listen to her.
"... When uncle Cid offered me to retrofit the Red Rose with one of his new engines, my answer was no," Garnet said, staring at the enormous royal airship, "I wanted to get rid of the past in every way I could... I devoted both my life and my resources to make amends for all the misery this kingdom caused... and look at how's that worked out for us. It's a little frustrating, isn't it?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty." Steiner said, approaching the couple with Beatrix by his side. "... But this isn't over yet. We can still make things right, and I'm sure we will."
Beatrix stepped forward and kneeled before the summoner, humbly lowering her snowy head. "Your Majesty, you have my word that I'll give my life in a heartbeat if that's what it takes to help you on your quest for peace," she affirmed.
"Thank you, guys... no queen could ask for more faithful knights than you two..." Garnet replied, both flattered and a little disturbed by the general's declaration.
"Mom!" Tot yelled from afar, running towards the group. Mikoto was following him with a bashful expression: she hated both farewells and crowds with a passion. The young prince quickly covered the remaining distance to his mother and clung to her, refusing to let go.
"Hi there, sweetie..." the queen said, wrapping her arms around her son.
"Hello, mom..." the kid purred, "I brought Aunt Miko with me, she wanted to say goodbye too."
"G-good afternoon..." the scientist said, visibly distraught by the amount of people around.
"Hi, Mikoto! Did you sleep well?" Garnet asked, warmly smiling at her sister-in-law of sorts.
"Um... actually I've spent the whole night working on the heart." she stammered, sheepishly scratching the back of her head, "I kind of... lost track of time."
"Really? Oh, you must be so tired!" the monarch commented, amazed by the genome's addiction to work despite being already familiar with it.
"Naw, I'm fine. I was literally made for this," Mikoto said, waving off her concerns.
"Anyway, thank you for everything you've done for us." Garnet replied, offering her a grateful smile, "If it wasn't for you, we would still be walking in circles by now."
As the queen finished her sentence, something fast and furry landed next to Zidane.
"Show-off..." he said, realizing that their surprise visitor was none other than Freya, who had just jumped from atop the hangar.
"You're one to talk," the dragoon countered.
"Point taken," Zidane conceded, "Where were you? You just vanished all of a sudden!"
"I went back to my room for this...", the Burmecian explained, drawing a small envelope from one of her pockets, "I wanted you to have it, Garnet."
"Oh, thank you, Freya! That's so..." the queen said, opening the package. Her eyes widened as she realized what it contained and she looked back at her friend in shock. "No... no, I can't have this... this is way too important to you!"
"Yes, but you are even more important to me." the dragon knight replied with a subtle smile.
Garnet held Freya's old mythril pendant in her hand and stared at it for a moment. It was made in the shape of a stylized cherry blossom and it had a small rune carved on its backside.
"This symbol... it meant 'love' in ancient Burmecian, didn't it?" the summoner inquired, remembering the time she got curious about the dragoon's amulet and asked her about it over dinner.
"You have a good memory! It means 'true love' or 'unconditional love', the kind that we share with those we consider family," Freya explained, "It's a truly powerful rune... may it shield you from all harm, my friend."
"I... I don't know how to properly thank you... all of you..."
"Uh... Your Majesty... I hate to interrupt but..." Steiner said, pointing at the Wind Rose. The pilot had already deployed the airstair and was waiting for them to board.
"Well... guess it's time to go..." Garnet said, letting out a sigh.
"When will you come back, mom?" Tot asked, still clinging to his mother's robe.
"I'll be back in two days, honey," she said, stroking her son's raven hair, "Take care of your dad, okay? He may seem lazy but you just never know what kind of crazy stunt he might pull all of a sudden."
"Touché," the monkey king commented, shrugging nonchalantly.
Garnet softly pecked Tot on the forehead before standing up and pulling Zidane into one last, heartfelt embrace.
"I'll help you babysit your father, little one. I'm already used to it," Freya joked, resting her hand on the young prince's shoulder.
"Oh yeah, tough gal? Lindblum '97, remember that one? You still owe me a bag of candy!" Zidane retorted with a crooked smile, "And let's not forget about Oeilvert! If it wasn't for yours truly, you'd be lacking a..."
"Okay, that's enough!" Freya exclaimed, cutting him short, "We'll compare scores later!"
"You two will never change..." the queen said, letting out a chuckle. She then kissed her husband and they spoke in whispers for a moment before she started heading toward the airship. As Steiner prepared to follow her, something soft stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Adelbert, please be careful out there," Beatrix said, holding her husband's hand, "And remember, when defending against magic..."
"... Always deflect, never absorb," Steiner replied, completing her sentence, "Thanks, Bea. I-I umm... t-take care of yourself!"
"I love you too, silly," the general said, leaning in for a last kiss.
"Ready, Adelbert?" Garnet asked once the Pluto knight caught up with her at the bottom of the airstair.
"Always, my queen," he answered, throwing his bag over his shoulder.
March 29th, 1820, Alexandria Castle.
11:00 A.M.
"Hmph... where did I put that thing..?" Mikoto mumbled, searching her pockets for the key to Professor Tot's laboratory. She was carrying a dish with two sandwiches in her other hand (Quina had insisted that it wasn't good for her to work on an empty stomach), making finding the little bronze item a truly daunting task. "... Aha!"
She unlocked the door, trying not to forget all the different theories that she had concocted on her way to the lab about the mysterious black chip's function.
"Hi there, did you miss me?" the genome said, turning on her work lamp and putting the strange artifact under its light, "Let's see what makes you tick..."
The terran scientist carefully dismantled the device, constantly checking for booby traps as she progressed. "Hmmm... looks like some kind of radio receiver..." she thought, recognizing a cleverly designed inbuilt antenna, "Could this mean that these things are meant to be controlled remotely..? But how? These cores should be too unstable to follow orders!"
Disturbed by the idea of someone developing such a sophisticated targeting system in a world where people still traveled on chocobos, Mikoto decided to take a little break to clear her mind. She tried one of Quina's sandwiches and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.
Knock, knock, knock.
"I'm busy right now!" she yelled, chomping on the second sandwich.
"Miko, it's me, Zid! Could you help me with something?" her brother shouted from the hallway. "It's important!"
She let out a long, annoyed sigh and headed for the door.
"I swear I didn't touch anything! It just started happening all of a sudden!" Zidane said, turning on the radio station that Cid had set up as a direct line of communication with Lindblum Castle. A strange, distorted noise started coming from the speaker, prompting Mikoto to arch an eyebrow in surprise.
"What the..?" the scientist muttered, checking the machine's inner workings for damaged parts, but everything seemed to be fine.
"Is it broken?" the king asked, craning his head over her shoulder.
"No, and that's weirding me out..." Mikoto answered, pensively scratching her chin, "Has this happened before?"
"Hmmm... just a handful of times, but it never lasted for more than a few seconds, so we thought that it was probably nothing."
"A handful of times? So this isn't some random phenomenon..." Mikoto muttered to herself, thinking about possible sources of radio interference. "Tell me something, brother, have you heard anything other than white noise during these episodes? Voices? Electrical pulses, perhaps?"
"Not that I know... oh, wait... does creepy-ass music count as something else?"
"Music? You've heard music on this channel and you haven't told me?!" the scientist yelled.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Miko! I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid!" Zidane said, "Two months ago, I was talking to Cid about an incident with some smugglers at North Gate when I heard something weird... it was some kind of song, playing faintly on the background. I assumed that the old man was listening to music on that new machine of his, you know, the one with the discs? But now that I think about it, why the hell would he be doing that in the comms room? It doesn't make any sense."
"That's for sure..." his sister said, glancing at the radio station. All of a sudden she froze up: she had an idea.
"What's on your mind, Miko?" her brother inquired.
"Keep that thing on and tell me if the signal changes! I'll be back in a second!" the scientist replied, scrambling for the door.
Having fought reality-ending abominations in the past, Zidane wasn't one to be easily scared, but, for some reason, he found the experience of listening to that strange transmission alone deeply unsettling.
"... I have a very bad feeling about this," he muttered to himself.
Author's note:
Sorry people for the extra long wait, but this chapter was particularly difficult to write due to its length and its importance lore-wise. Too many hard decisions had to be made, but I'm satisfied with the results and I hope you'll like what comes next. See you soon!