!
Warning:
Graphic violence ahead
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March 29th, 1820, Radio Tower District, Alexandria,
16:39 P.M.
"... Amarant," Freya stammered, almost choking on the name.
The bounty hunter stared at her through his glowing red visor. His armor completely obscured his features, but his voice was unmistakable.
"I get it now..." Beatrix grunted, tightening her grip on Save the Queen. "He sold Bishop all the intel she needed to bypass our defenses!"
"You're wrong! He'd never do that!" the dragoon replied. "He must be under some form of mind control!"
"Whatever the reason, he stands between us and the only way to save the kingdom," the general said.
A loud rumble echoed across the city as another section of Alexandria Castle crumbled into dust. Beatrix gasped and shot a bewildered look at Freya, who was paralyzed by indecision.
"I'm sorry, Freya..." she said, rushing past her. With feline agility, she jumped off the roof onto a nearby lamppost and slid down alongside it.
"Nice trick, hag..." Amarant sneered.
"Bounty hunter!" Beatrix yelled, pointing her sword at him. "Surrender the tower peacefully and we shall consider our past alliance while deciding your punishment!"
The monk let out a wry chuckle.
"You're not the smartest negotiator, aren't you?" he answered, straightening his posture and folding his arms.
"No, but I'm the deadliest one, Coral," Beatrix retorted, infusing Save the Queen with energy until it glowed. "This is your last chance. Surrender now or die!"
"Sharp tongue, for a dead woman," the burly warrior replied, waving her closer. "Let's see if you can live up to your boasting!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" the general exclaimed, brandishing her sword. "Attack! "
With Beatrix leading the charge, her unit abandoned cover and rushed toward Amarant.
"Heh, Idiots." the bounty hunter muttered under his breath. He then pointed his finger at the incoming Alexandrians. "Give 'em hell, boys!" he roared.
Ten magitek armor-clad Treno soldiers jumped through the fire wall at once and unloaded a fusillade of ice stakes on Beatrix's team. The Alexandrians reacted forming a shield wall and standing their ground.
"Not gonna work!" the paladin exclaimed as the projectiles hit an invisible wall and shattered; her knights had enchanted their gear with Shell spells beforehand.
"Keep firing!" the bounty hunter ordered with a cruel smirk. He drew several chakrams from his back-mounted holster and aimed for his enemies' legs.
"Father Berlioz, give us strength!" Sir Osbern yelled as his dragoons entered the fight raining spears from above, forcing Amarant's team to cease fire and disperse.
"Great, more flying squirrels..." the armored giant thought, dive rolling out of the way. He counterattacked by throwing his discs at the knight, but something that looked like a falling star intercepted them at the last second.
"Amarant!" the 'comet' howled, hurtling toward the bounty hunter.
"Oh? Look who's here!" he said, bracing for impact.
WHAM!
"Ooof..!" he uttered as Freya slammed into him, sending them both tumbling through the flames and into the radio tower complex's inner patio.
"What's wrong with you?!" she shrieked as she rose to her feet. Tackling him had felt to her like headbutting a rock, and the resulting dizziness warned her about the finitude of her Trance.
"Heh... about damn time," the bounty hunter said, standing up with alarming ease. "You look radiant today."
"Have you lost your mind, brute?!" Freya squawked, balling up her fists. "Why are you doing this?! I thought we were friends!"
She stared at his strange armor, looking for clues on what had happened to him. It covered his whole body and looked nothing like Alexandrian or Burmecian military garb. Its most unsettling piece was the helmet, whose faceplate lacked any features beyond its thin red visor. Hadn't his voice been so distinctive, she would have mistaken him for another of Bishop's machines.
"Friends? What on Gaia gave you that impression?" he retorted, grinding his claws against each other. "Now come. It's past time we finally settle our score!"
With a quick flick of his wrist, the bounty hunter hurled three chakrams at Freya and charged at her immediately after. She barely had time to deflect the rings before he got into striking range, claws ready to tear her apart.
"So fast..!" she thought, dodging his uppercut by the skin of her teeth.
"Gotcha!" he said, sweeping her legs with a spinning kick. As she fell sideways, he pointed his palm at her torso and sent her tumbling with an energy blast.
"Ngh! You bastard..!" Freya groaned, getting back up. She heard a clicking sound and several metallic spheres sprang upward from beneath the dirt.
"Surprise!" the bounty hunter exclaimed with a savage grin.
The dragoon gasped and tried to leap away as the orbs exploded. The resulting shockwave hit her through her armor, making her flesh ripple.
"Uwaaargh!" she screamed, landing face first on the ground. Hadn't her Trance shielded her, she would have been instantly killed.
"If I were you, I wouldn't move from that spot," the mercenary warned her, tapping his visor. "This place is a minefield, and only I can see where the bombs are."
"I can't believe this is happening..." Freya replied, getting up carefully. "What lies has Bishop fed you to make you hate us this much?"
"Lies? You think I'm some sort of victim, don't you?" the mercenary retorted, drawing yet another set of chakrams. "I went to her of my accord, to get back what you took away from me."
"Huh..? And what is that, if I may ask?"
"Purpose!" he roared, throwing his discs at her with enough power behind them to cut a tree in half.
Freya summoned one last energy spear and prepared to block the barrage. As the weapon materialized in her hands, her soul armor evaporated and fatigue started setting in; she was knee-deep in trouble, and she knew it.
WHOOSH!
The dragoon gasped as a powerful gust of wind blew the chakrams away. She looked aside and saw Beatrix, sword in hand and covered in blood, standing at the gate with the fiercest glare one could imagine. She was panting heavily and her drooping shoulders made her exhaustion even more apparent, but only death would stop her by that point.
"Prepare to die, traitor!" she shouted, drawing strength from her own rage to keep fighting.
"Beatrix, no!" the Burmecian yelled. "The floor is littered with..!"
STAB!
"Freya!" Beatrix yelled, covering her mouth in horror.
The Burmecian opened her eyes wide. "Urk..!" she uttered, coughing up blood. The soul spear in her hand lost its shape and dissolved into mist.
"... See? Attachment makes you weak," Amarant whispered in her ear and then pulled his blades out with a swift motion.
SQUELCH!
"Ack..!" Freya croaked as the claws exited her body, leaving two wide holes in her plackart. Wounded, exhausted and betrayed, she lost her balance and fell to the ground, a freezing cold sensation burning her from the inside. "I knew it..." she muttered. "You're... not him..."
"DIE!" Beatrix roared, taking the bounty hunter off guard with a reckless lunge. He leaped away to dodge her attack, but she managed to hit him, destroying part of his faceplate and splashing red on the dirt.
"Are you insane, hag?!" he howled, covering his bloodied face with his hand. "You almost blew us all up by running like that!"
"Freya! Freya, can you hear me?!" the general shouted, standing between her fallen comrade and the mercenary with her sword ready.
"Careful... there are landmines everywhere..." the Burmecian replied, feebly rolling onto her side.
"Got it. Stay with me, I'll protect you!" Beatrix said, staring Amarant down.
"Rrrgh! I can't believe you ruined my eye, you bitch!" the mercenary howled, drawing a small device from his belt pouch.
"You won't be missing it where I'm sending you!" the general retorted, charging Save the Queen with the last of her spiritual power.
"Bluff as much as you want, you've already lost!" the giant exclaimed. "Just look at the horizon; the entire Treno fleet is at the gates of the city!"
The paladin glanced quickly at the southern sky and did a double take when what she had mistaken for a storm cloud turned out to be a dense swarm of airships.
"They'll never get past our border patrol!" she shot back.
"Are you sure about that?" the bounty hunter said. "We've jammed your entire comms network; it must be fun fighting without it!"
"I've had enough of you!" Sir Osbern yelled, perched atop the compound's perimeter wall. He had his fist pointed at Amarant and the Dragon's Crest on his shoulder shone brightly. "Surrender now or perish, coward!"
"Would you look at that! A real dragonslayer!" the mercenary sneered. "Tell me, Sir Nobody of Burmecia, how many souls do you have in there? One, two?"
"Why don't you look around, scumbag?" the knight retorted. "Even if I had just one, you still wouldn't stand a chance."
"Clever little rodents..." the giant muttered, noticing the rest of the Burmecians. They had discreetly climbed the facility's walls while he was distracted and were ready to fire their spells at him. He let out a wry chuckle and lowered his right hand, uncovering his (her?) bloodied face.
"No way..." Beatrix mumbled, the mercenary's true identity finally dawning on her. "You're that woman... the one who always followed him around!"
"Lani," Freya muttered, staring in horror at her exposed neural implants; her helmet was wired to her head.
"What are you rambling about?! I'm the Flaming Amarant!" Lani shouted, raising the device on her left hand so everyone could see it. "And this is the detonator of the bombs inside the main control building! Move a single finger, motherfuckers, and I swear I'm gonna blow this place up, hostages included!"
"You can't be serious!" Beatrix exclaimed.
"Lani, listen to me..!" Freya said, stopping to wince as speaking worsened the pain. "The real Amarant... would never take hostages!"
"What makes you think you know me that well?!" the bounty hunter retorted.
"Remember... Madain Sari..." the dragoon pressed on.
"Madain Sari..." Lani mumbled as a suppressed memory stirred deep within her mind. "Something happened there... something... something important! Rrgh..! My head! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
A hard choice presented itself to Beatrix. Cutting down a mind-controlled innocent was completely against her principles, but if she didn't seize the opportunity to end their standoff, Freya would bleed to death and Alexandria would be destroyed. "Sorry girl..." she thought, angling her sword to execute a Seiken technique.
"Please..! Make it stop! Aaaarghhh!" the cyberized mercenary screamed, grabbing her head in agony. Suddenly, she stopped moving like an unwound toy. Her jaw slackened and her gaze lost focus. "... I'm... the Flaming Amarant..." she stammered, raising the detonator once again. "I'm the Flaming Amarant... and this... is my purpose..."
"Now!" Beatrix exclaimed. With a swing of her sword, she created a huge wind blade and launched it at Lani. Everyone held their breath as the razor gale crossed the yard, leaving a crevasse on its wake. The bounty hunter came to her senses just in time to jump out of its way, but a powerful force ripped the device out of her hand as she leaped.
"W-what?!" Lani blurted out, staring at her empty palm in disbelief. She raised her eyes and witnessed the detonator float all the way to the compound's front gate, where Mikoto was waiting for it.
"That was way too close..." the genome sighed, levitating the gizmo toward herself with the power of her mind. She had her amplifier mask on and a bright aura wreathed her like a halo.
"Psychokinesis...? But when..?" Freya wondered, recognizing Garland's signature technique. A growing numbness disrupted her train of thought and she felt a short-lived urge to laugh. "Mother Reis... please... help me in this time of need..." she prayed as she lost consciousness.
"Who the hell are you?!" Lani shrieked. Her helmet kept mimicking Amarant's voice, making her breakdown all the more jarring.
"It's over, Lani," Beatrix intervened, lowering her blade. "Surrender peacefully, and I promise we will do you no harm."
The bounty hunter closed her eyes, furious beyond measure. Blood dripped from her wound and onto the ground, staining her boots.
"For the last time..." she snarled, pulling out a small, round canister. "My name. Is. Amarant!"
As the general raised Save the Queen once again, Lani threw the orb on the ground, creating a dense smoke screen. Sir Osbern and his dragoons blasted the area with their spells, detonating most of the landmines in the process, but the mercenary had already made her getaway by then.
"We did it... she's gone..." Beatrix said, sheathing her sword and kneeling to check Freya's wounds. "Oh, gods... Freya, can you hear me?
She didn't answer.
"Freya..?"
...
...
"The betrayer dies at another traitor's hands... a fitting end."
Freya woke up.
"Father Berlioz! Is that you..?" she said, recognizing the god's voice. The pain was gone, so she sat up and looked around her; she was in the middle (if that was even possible) of a boundless, pitch-black void.
"Father, she says..." Berlioz boomed, the sound of his approaching footsteps echoing across the abyss. "Save your flattery, vermin; we both know how little you respect my authority."
Freya didn't know how to react to that.
"Is this it? Am I done for?" she asked, unsettled by the infinite darkness.
"Not yet, but I see you've noticed the beautiful scenery. Less is more, don't you think?" the deity replied with a cruel smile. His voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "This is what's reserved for the weak and the heathen alike; perfect and absolute nothingness."
"Wait... is my father here?"
"Who knows? Who cares? And even if he was, good luck finding him, though..."
Equal parts angry and terrified, Freya took a deep breath and decided to confront him.
"Why show me this? What do you want from me?" she asked in the firmest tone she could muster. Berlioz chuckled, amused by her defiance.
"What do I want? Oh, little mouse, those bombs must have scrambled your brains!" he said. "In case you forgot, we had a deal; you would serve me as my Spear and I'd grant you the power to save Burmecia in return. Does that ring a bell?"
"Yes, I know that," the dragoon replied.
"THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP BEHAVING AS A REIS CULTIST?!" the god of war roared. Massive lightning bolts pierced the darkness as Freya glimpsed a pair of fiery eyes, glaring at her from within a gigantic vortex in the 'sky'.
"With all due respect, Allfather, I've only used your power to oppose our common foe, Ulrich," she retorted, thinking on her feet. "I fail to see how asking Reis for help could constitute treason!"
Berlioz let out a big, sardonic laugh.
"Do you even know how old I am?" he asked contemptuously. "I've been around since the dawn of life, child, so I find it quite offensive when a puny grub like you believes itself capable of outsmarting me!"
"I wasn't trying to..!"
"ENOUGH!" the deity thundered, setting the void ablaze with lightning. "I'm not here to negotiate! I've come to claim your Dragon's Crest!"
"Huh?!" the Burmecian uttered as the vortex in the sky spun faster and faster. The mark on her shoulder activated on her own and Freya felt that a piece of herself was being pulled into the maelstrom. "No, stop it! You're hurting them!" she yelled, sensing the dragon souls' pain as they were forcibly removed from her and consumed by Berlioz.
"They no longer belong to you, pagan," the Allfather boomed. "I hereby strip you of your knighthood and declare our contract void!"
"Wait! What about Burmecia?!" the dragoon asked as her Dragon's Crest evaporated, erased by divine power.
"I shall choose a more loyal candidate," Berlioz replied. "May you wander forever this infinite nothingness."
"No! Wait! Wait!" Freya yelled as the soul cyclone dissipated, leaving her alone in the darkness.
...
"Come on, Freya, wake up!" Beatrix said, struggling to sustain her healing spell.
"She's not breathing... why isn't she breathing..?" Mikoto mumbled. Her eyes started welling up.
"Freya, please, wake up!" the general pleaded as her feeble Curaga fizzled out. "Dammit! Dammit!"
Sir Osbern took his helmet off as a sign of respect.
"My general, more machines are coming our way..." one of the Alexandrian soldiers said. "They'll reach the complex soon."
Beatrix closed her eyes and sorted out her thoughts for a moment. "Lydia..." she finally said.
"Yes, ma'am?" the soldier replied.
"You and Sir Osbern are in charge now," the paladin stated, handing her a crumpled plan of the facility. "Lead Mikoto to the control room and put an end to this nightmare."
"W-what?" Lydia blurted out. "But..!"
"I've spent all my power on that last Curaga. I can't even stand up," Beatrix said, interrupting her. "In my state, I'd only become a liability for you, and we need to act fast if we want to save the kingdom."
Lydia bit back a sob.
"Yes, ma'am..." she stammered, saluting her. The three other soldiers repeated the gesture, trying not to cry.
"Mikoto," Beatrix said, offering the genome a dignified smile. "Zidane was wrong; you're as strong as you're wise."
The genome felt a lump in her throat.
"Thank you..." she muttered, nodding her head.
"Now go teach these bastards not to mess with you," the paladin said. "Don't worry about Crescent, We'll take care of her."
"O-okay..." Mikoto stammered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Good luck, Bea..."
"This way, ma'am, watch your step," Lydia said, leading the scientist and the rest of her unit through the minefield.
Sir Osbern stared at Beatrix with an unreadable expression.
"You're actually gonna do it, aren't you?" he asked, resting his battered spear on his shoulder. "... Torching your soul."
"I see no other way to save her," the general replied.
"Admirable..." the dragoon commented, putting his helmet back on. "Maybe there's more to you than meets the eye."
"Thank you, Sir Osbern," Beatrix replied.
"Brothers, listen to me!" the grizzled knight shouted, addressing his tired but determined comrades. "The difference between our families living or dying lies in how much time we can buy! Barricade that gate and steel yourselves for combat! We'll live to tell our grandsons how we won this war!"
The surviving rat-men let out a fierce war cry and began the preparations for their last stand.
"Freya... I once took everything from you, and yet you saved my life at the cost of yours," Beatrix muttered, turning her own soul into fuel for her final spell. "Now, more than ever, I wish we had met under different circumstances. Goodbye, dear friend... it's been an honor."
The paladin placed her hands on Freya's wounds and unleashed the full power of her white magic. As the miracle transmuted her essence into flesh and blood, a wave of unimaginable pain hit her, but she gritted her teeth and pressed on. Her memories started fading away, consumed by the enchantment, so she desperately held onto the happiest ones to draw strength from them.
"Come on... breathe..." she whispered, straddling the line between life and death. She had surpassed all her physical limits by then and only her sheer willpower kept her going. "Come on, Freya, breathe!"
Freya suddenly gasped for air; she was still unconscious, but the hemorrhage had largely subsided.
"Yes! Yes!" Beatrix exclaimed triumphantly. "Once more, with feeling!"
After drawing another sharp breath, the Burmecian's respiration steadied to a nice, regular rhythm.
"Welcome back..." Beatrix croaked, smiling as she collapsed next to her. The warm breeze on her skin started lulling her to sleep but she blinked a few times, afraid of never waking up again. "My love..." she muttered, evoking her husband as she succumbed to exhaustion. "I'm finally... free..."
...
March 29th, 1820, Radio Tower Control Facility, Alexandria,
16:55 P.M.
"Strange... there seems to be no one home..." Lydia whispered, sword in hand. "Be careful, though, there might be more of them lying in ambush."
"Not only that," Mikoto added. "Judging by the minefield outside, we're probably dealing with some kind of demolitions expert, so watch out for booby traps."
The team walked quietly down a series of dark corridors until they found a metal staircase.
"The control room should be on the first floor," Lydia said. "Come on, we're..."
"Wait! Look!" Mikoto hissed, pointing at the soldier's raised foot. "You're about to step on something!"
"Tripwire..." Lydia muttered, realizing that she had been inches away from setting off a trap. She followed the almost invisible thread to its source and gasped in horror when she discovered a rather impressive bomb cluster hidden under the stair. "Holy shit..." she muttered.
"Let me see," Mikoto said. "Wow, they really wanted us dead... just look at how many strings come out of these things, it's insane..."
"What now?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Hmm... does anyone here know ice magic?" the scientist asked. "We could cool them to disable their electronic components."
"Just cool 'em you say?" the third trooper chimed in, raising a blue-glowing hand. "What about flash-freezing 'em?"
"Yes! Encasing them in a solid block would also neutralize the tripwire mechanism! An ice solution, indeed!" Mikoto exclaimed.
"Icy what you did there," the Alexandrian quipped, pointing her open palm at the explosives. "Step back, girls, I've got this."
Cold magic surged from the soldier's hand, forming a crystalline prison around the bombs. With a flick of her wrist, a thin layer of frost also appeared on the wires, making them easier to spot in the dark.
"Great job, Christine!" Lydia said, "Let's go, team, we have no time to lose!"
"Hello..? Is anyone there?" a little voice echoed across the hallway.
"Was that a child?" Mikoto muttered, taken by surprise.
"One of the hostages, perhaps?" Christine suggested, glancing at Lydia.
"Okay, Ratchel, you and Chris go check that out. Stay sharp, more of these things are to be expected," the squad leader ordered, pointing at the frozen bombs. "Helga, stay with us, we'll secure the main control room and stop the radio jamming. Understood?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"All right, let's do this," Lydia said.
17:00 P.M.
"This is the room we're looking for..." Mikoto said, reading the map. "Should we just open the door and enter?"
"Nuh-uh, it's surely rigged to kill us somehow," Lydia replied. "Step back, I'll blast it with a spell."
"Wait, I have a better idea!" the genome said, putting on her amplifier mask. She closed her eyes and focused on the door's structure, scanning it with her mind. "You were right, there's a bomb tied to the doorknob..."
"How do you do that?" the squad leader asked. "I had never seen magic like yours before."
"That's because I am no mage," Mikoto explained as she telekinetically disarmed the trap. "I'm a psychic. My power stems from my brain instead of my soul."
"Well, that's a first," Lydia commented.
"There, I've untied the trigger cord. It should be safe to enter now," the scientist stated.
"Lady Mikoto... could you please open the door with your mind? Just to be sure..." Helga asked.
"Yeah, good idea," the genome replied, moving away from the entrance. "All right, stay back... three, two, one..."
Helga and Lydia covered their ears as Mikoto opened the door remotely. Very carefully, the team entered the room and headed straight for the hijacked radio station.
"Bingo! This must be the pirating device we're looking for!" Mikoto exclaimed, pointing at an obsolete, Terran-style computer hooked to the transmitter.
"Can you shut it down?" Lydia asked, checking the room for traps.
"Yeah, I'll replace it with my own computer in a... uh-oh," the genome said, noticing a rather imposing demolition charge connected to the machine via colored wires. "Uh... girls? I think we have a problem..."
"Well, you'll have to solve it quick, because the border patrol is about to engage the Treno fleet and they look uncoordinated as hell..." Lydia replied, looking out the window.
"I'd like to, but the computer is password-locked and it's wired to yet another freaking bomb!" Mikoto shot back.
"What the fuck is wrong with these people?! How do they even use their own stuff?!" Helga yelled in frustration.
"Can't you do that psychic mumbo-jumbo to dismantle it?!" Lydia asked, unable to take her eyes out of the airship battle. "Oh, shit! the H.M.S. Prima Vista just took a direct hit!"
"Mumbo-jumbo... wait, that's it!" Mikoto exclaimed. "Helga! Cast Blizzara on the bomb!"
The trooper obeyed right away, encasing the explosive in a block of ice.
"Come on girls! They're tearing us a new one out there!" Lydia shouted.
"Shut up and get out! I need to concentrate!" the genome exploded. The two soldiers quietly scuttled back to the hallway as Mikoto psychokinetically disconnected the computer from the transmitter. A throbbing headache caused by overusing her powers started blurring her sight, but she clenched her teeth and pressed on. "Almost... there..!" she muttered, and with a most satisfying click, the device unplugged itself from the radio station without triggering the frozen bomb.
"Yes! Yes, godsdammit!" Helga cheered as the Alexandrian comms network was finally purged of the jamming signal.
"Wonderful work, Mikoto! That should give our fleet the boost it needs!" Lydia exclaimed.
The entire facility trembled for a brief moment.
"What was that?!" Mikoto said, pulling her portable computer out of her backpack and plugging it to the transmitter.
"It's the Burmecians! They're summoning some kind of dragon ghosts to defend the complex!" Helga replied, looking out the window.
"Burmecians don't use the Dragon's Crest unless cornered. I need to shut down those androids fast!" the genome thought as her fingers danced furiously across the keyboard.
"Shit, the machines are about to get in!" Lydia said, drawing her sword. "Helga, stay with Mikoto. I'll go help fight them off!"
"Yes ma'am!" the trooper replied.
As Mikoto worked frantically on her computer, Helga witnessed the brazen army destroy the barricaded front gate and pool into the patio like a tsunami. Fortunately, the minefield delayed them long enough to let the dragoons retreat into the building, carrying Beatrix and Freya with them.
"Oh gods, they're banging on the front door!" Helga shouted.
"Almost done!" Mikoto replied.
"They're climbing the walls!"
"Almost done!"
"Mikoto!" Helga screamed as the automatons smashed the windows and started crawling into the control room.
"Done!" the genome yelled, punching the 'Enter' key.
"ENCODING SEQUENCE," the computer's AI stated.
"Kal! Do something!" Mikoto shrieked as a golem grabbed her by the neck and prepared to gut her with its wrist-mounted blade.
"TRANSMITTING," Kal said, using the radio tower to broadcast the deactivation code to all of Alexandria. The lights on the automaton's 'eyes' went dark and its grip slackened, letting Mikoto fall to the floor. She didn't stop screaming in terror until she realized that the rest of the androids had also ceased functioning.
"... I-is it over..?" Helga stammered, poking one of them with the tip of her sword. It didn't react.
"I... I think so..." the scientist mumbled, trembling like a Flan. "... I'm gonna need a fresh pair of pants."
Helga looked out the smashed window and uttered a long, triumphant holler; they had finally defeated the golem army.
Author's note:
Yes, I know this is a rather bitter chapter. I've based Freya's resuscitation scene on what the game taught me about the differences between gameplay and story during Brahne's death scene. If Garnet and Eiko couldn't save her while being together and at full strength, then white magic must be far less powerful and cost-effective than it looks like during the battles. White Draw wasn't an option either, as the skill is taught to Freya by a Cleyran priest (emerald) and these are Berlioz-aligned Burmecians (not to mention that he's actively blocking Reis' magic out of spite) and Six Dragons is so dangerous to use that it could have crippled the defenders long before the machines got to them. Phoenix Downs and Ethers simply don't make sense to me from a series-wide lore standpoint (as demonstrated by Galuf's death scene during FFV), and even if they did, I highly doubt Beatrix would have been carrying enough of them to cast a spell that Garnet and Eiko combined couldn't do while at full MP (that is assuming that they didn't let Brahne die on purpose).
Stay tuned for the conclusion of the Battle of Alexandria!