Start Date: March 29, 2024

Windwillow

Final Fantasy IX: The Reason and Right to Exist

Part Two: War of the Jewels

Chapter Six: The City of Eternal Night and the Castle of Sand

South Gate's reconstruction had continued to advance, with crews brought in from all over the world to repair it. While everyone looked towards the future a dark cloud had begun to gather over Alexandria, with a rain of daggers eclipsing Burmecia and the beginning of a storm inching towards Lindblum. Despite the present calm a dark future awaits, all resting on the shoulders of a runaway princess riding a cable car to Treno.

"Ahem... Miss Dagger, we'll soon arrive at Summit Station," Steiner said as he approached Dagger. When he found her to be sleeping he smilingly shuffled into the seat across from her. He leaned back in his seat, head dangling from the chair, as his thoughts began to wander. He'd never anticipated doubting Queen Brahne before. Steiner reasoned that everything was a misunderstanding and that once the princess met with her mother everything would be resolved.

But that Burmecian soldier... he had no earthly reason to lie... No. This is all a misunderstanding. I believe that.

"Zidane!" Dagger gasped, lifting herself stock still in her seat. She turned to her retainer and, seeing the worry on his face, smiled and shook her head. "Everything was just a bad dream..." she sighed. But even if it was just a nightmare... Seeing Zidane with a huge gash in his chest chilled her soul. She could hear the rain as it fell, beat against the stones around Zidane, but reasoned that everything was just her nerves getting the better of her.

The duo departed the cable car and entered Summit Station, where they both quickly hurried to the edge of the station to watch as Alexandria came into view. As they stared down at her kingdom Dagger affectionately snuggled her head onto Steiner's chest, and he smilingly returned the gesture by tugging her closer to his heart. They were almost home.

Scene One

Steiner and Dagger departed the cable car and entered the rest stop, where Steiner went to order a cup of coffee. As he ordered Dagger saw a moogle at the back of the room and slowly tiptoed up to it. She softly whispered in its ear and the moogle produced the Moogle Diary, and as it finished writing Steiner turned around with his cup of coffee just as it slammed its book shut. Steiner briefly opened his mouth to argue, but said nothing when Dagger politely asked him for a cup of tea. Although he was suspicious, the knight turned and ordered a cup of tea for his princess.

"I can hear the whistle blowing... A cable car just left," remarked Dagger.

"Crud! I missed my ride!"

It didn't take long for Dagger to recognize the voice as Tantalus' Cinna. She hurried out of the rest stop and peeked outside just in time to see Marcus and Cinna bickering about something before entering the rest stop from the other end. Dagger quickly ducked back inside the cafe and found Steiner confronting the thieves. While Cinna was timid and defensive Marcus simply stared Steiner down, his hand resting firmly on the pommel of his own sword. He wasn't afraid to throw down if Steiner started something.

"Why are you rogues here?!" snarled Steiner.

"To eat bundt cake. Duh," Cinna snapped. Marcus swiftly kicked Cinna in the shin and sent him spiraling to the floor clutching his injured leg, and Cinna weakly staggered to his feet and gave Marcus the finger. "Stop hitting me!" he screeched.

"You're the reason I missed the car in the first place, you jackass..." mumbled Marcus. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Dagger and quickly swiveled around to meet the princess with a shocked expression on his face. "Why the hell are you here?!" Marcus croaked.

"Put that down," Dagger said curtly as she batted down Steiner's sword. As he began to sulk she heard another whistle in the background and recognized that the car heading to Alexandria had arrived. She watched as Marcus bolted from the cafe and quickly moved to join him outside, with Steiner in hot pursuit. "Marcus! You're going to Alexandria too?" she called out cheerfully.

Marcus said nothing and simply entered the cable car. A disgruntled Dagger quickly dragged Steiner by the arm and essentially threw him inside the cabin, and as Marcus found a seat in the back she similarly shuffled into the seat adjacent to him. Steiner, meanwhile, simply sulked over to a nearby bench and plopped down on it with a sad sigh. His princess certainly wasn't giving him much respect at the moment...

"What are you doing in Alexandria, Marcus?" asked Dagger eagerly.

"Treno... This leads to Treno. We found a way to save Bro..." mumbled Marcus.

"Oh, so you know about the Supersoft!" Dagger tittered, but quickly realized she'd made a mistake and backed away.

"And you know that how?" Marcus grilled. When Dagger remained tight-lipped the thief groaned and sunk back in his seat with a deep, heaving breath. "God... Princesses are a serious pain in the ass..." muttered the thief. "Where did Zidane get to, eh?"

"We... separated in Lindblum," said Dagger quickly.

"Lover's spat?" chuckled Marcus. One stern glare from Dagger quickly put an end to his comedy and caused him to back away from the princess. He could tell that she wasn't one to let other people fight her fights. "I guess it's only natural that you'd ditch him the first chance you got."

"W-We parted on good terms!" Dagger insisted.

"You drugged the moron and ran..." mumbled Steiner, shortly before Dagger whacked him over the head. "Why did you hit me?!"

"Oh? Do tell," said Marcus curiously.

"We... had a disagreement..." muttered Dagger.

"Then our discussion is finished," Marcus said curtly, turning to the window and silently turning his back on Dagger.

Dagger bit her lip, fighting back her emotions. It wasn't like she meant it like that. There was a good reason why she left him, she reasoned. It was only because he was treating her like a child. But she had business with Marcus now. The only way she could make up for Blank's situation was to help fix his petrifaction... and if Marcus wouldn't even listen to him she wouldn't be able to tell him anything about the Supersoft. She knew that it existed, knew that it belonged to Mr. Bishop, the Synthesis store owner... Would he really deny her the opportunity to right the wrong she was responsible for?

The cable car suddenly came to an abrupt halt, with the conductor hurrying outside to check what had happened. When he emerged all the color had drained from his face and the engineer quietly muttered: "A demon... in a pointy hat..."

That was enough for Dagger. She quickly darted past both Steiner and the conductor, hurrying outside to check out the situation. Marcus and Steiner both followed close behind. Dagger quickly found the cause of the disturbance: the Black Waltz No. 3, having crashed into the cable car and dented its front. The Black Waltz was moving erratically, electricity crackling across its body, and though it didn't seem able to form words it reached towards Dagger.

She quickly snapped open her racket and prepared to fight. A concerned Steiner leapt in between the two, and though he attempted to restrain Dagger he was barely aware that the Black Waltz was swinging its staff at him. Before it could connect Marcus drew his sword and parried it, then kicked it to the ground. The Black Waltz stumbled to its feet unevenly and thrust out its free hand, which sent a massive wave of lightning out that blasted Steiner and Marcus to the ground.

When the Black Waltz reached towards Dagger again she quickly retracted the petals of her racket, lifted it high, and slammed it down hard on the construct's head. This cracked the Black Waltz's head open like a walnut and dropped it to the ground, its twitching body still crackling with electricity. Dagger weakly stumbled back and into Marcus' arms and Steiner finally disposed of the doll by kicking it off the tracks. He turned back to find Dagger and Marcus conversing, and when he said something she bit her lip and stepped back.

"What did you say to her?!" gasped Steiner.

"Please... don't..." Dagger murmured weakly. This seemed to satisfy Steiner, who quietly sheathed his sword and joined the others back in the cable car. The vehicle whirred back to life and began its ascent once again, leaving Dagger and Marcus to talk. They sat across from one another, a deafening silence separating them, until finally Dagger decided to take initiative. "I know already... that my mother attacked Burmecia..." she whispered.

"And how do you know that?" asked Marcus.

"Because... a dying Burmecian told me so. He used his last breath to whisper: 'Alexandria' and 'dolls'..." she said softly. Marcus quietly shook his head and Dagger nodded hers. "I'm under no illusions as to what my mother has done. When I talk to her, I hope I can clear up the matter..."

"We both know it won't work," Marcus shot back.

"That's... I have to try..." insisted Dagger.

"You're gonna follow me, right? Fine, whatever. I never signed up to babysit a noble but I guess it can't be helped... and if you have the information I need, that means that we're partners," Marcus said forcefully, extending his hand. Dagger quickly took it and shook, and a smirk crossed the thief's face. "I see Zidane's taught you a few things. Did he teach you anything else?" he asked. Dagger quickly withdrew her hand and shuffled away. Marcus quietly put a hand to his head and sighed.

"It... is a shame things turned out the way they did..." mumbled Dagger.

Scene Two

Upon leaving Summit Station it would take another three hours before reaching Treno, a journey during which all three wanderers did an equal share of the fighting. Dagger's racket downed just as many monsters as the boys' swords, a fact that impressed Marcus and distressed Steiner; he was still overprotective of his precious princess. After a long and harrowing journey the trio finally entered the City of Eternal Night, Treno. Guarded by two soldiers, the gate to the city was otherwise undefended and even the most unsavory of characters (such as those in question) would be let inside.

Treno was a beautiful, well-known city of nobles. Almost half the population were worth upwards of ten digits, with the other half made up of dirt-poor peasants who lived off of the scraps of the upper classes. The Treno Action House was frequented by the richest of the rich, and, in the center of town was a massive clock tower that belonged to the most elite ruling family in the city. When its bell tolled midnight, all bets were off for both your pocketbook and your life - the brigands would scarcely leave more than scraps if they caught you.

As they entered the city Dagger's party found a host of noblemen wandering around, taking in the sights and contemplating what to purchase next. In addition to them and the two guards a number of less-than-savory folks loitered in the area, one of which tried to sneak up and snatch Dagger's pocketbook and left with a few less teeth than he started with; when he tried to approach her from behind she simply backhanded him in the face, to Steiner's horror (and Marcus' amusement).

Marcus breathed in the dank air, rich with the scent of wine and fine foods. "We'll need to find the Supersoft first," he resolved. He turned to Dagger with a suspicious eye and adjusted his sword. It was clear that she knew more than she was saying. "Any idea where to look, partner?" he asked dryly.

With a soft chuckle Dagger stretched her limbs and scratched her head, knowing well where the Supersoft was because Doctor Tot had once told her of it during an idle conversation. "I'll take care of my business," she resolved as she turned to Marcus with a smirk, "and you'll take care of yours. Remember... Neither of us are supposed to know anything, right?"

"You're one sneaky little witch..." laughed Marcus, turning away and heading towards the slums. As he did so Steiner turned to grab hold of him, to arrest him, but whiffed and hit air. Disgruntled, he turned to find Dagger and watched as she disappeared from his sight faster than he could seek her out. With a weak whimper Steiner then hurried off to find his precious princess, a task that would be more dangerous than he'd expected it would be.

Parallel Perspective: The Princess and the Pickpocket

After ditching Steiner, Dagger went to wander around town in search of Doctor Tot. During her travels she watched as a throng of thugs roamed the streets in search of pockets to pinch. She watched multiple attempts, several successes, and a strangely indifferent attitude from the nobles. Apparently, they were so rich that losing a few thousand Gil would scarcely make a difference. In fact, they often carried multiple Gil pouches, hidden across their bodies to discourage thieves.

Although she dismissed the thieves as rogues and amateurs, Dagger startled when she caught sight of a four-armed man reaching for her pocketbook. Despite her best efforts the thief wrangled her money from her waist and took off, leaving her to chase after in desperation. In the end she couldn't find the thief but ended up in front of the Auction House, which she entered to find that a set of rare Fairy Earrings were up for bidding. As the count climbed higher and higher she caught sight of Kuja atop of the balcony, watching over the auction, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I just found danger..." whispered Dagger. "It's him."

Parallel Perspective: Reuniting with the Boss

Marcus' route led him to the slums. There he found two children playing a game of Tetra Master. When one of them, a small boy, tried to cheat the young girl he was playing with bopped him on the head, grabbed her cards and ran away with the cheater in hot pursuit. To pay him back for cheating, she'd also taken his cards. Watching with indifference Marcus entered the local Inn and found Baku waiting for him, rubbing his nose and finally sneezing loudly as his mate approached him.

"We found the Supersoft," boasted Baku. "Bishop has it."

"I already know... Dagger knows about it," Marcus groaned. "She knows more than she's saying." When he looked at his boss's confused face Marcus quickly realized that he'd used her code name by mistake. "The princess... she's calling herself that now. I'm sure that she knows where to find it."

Baku moaned and pounded his fist against the wall, startling the Innkeeper and causing him to recoil in fear. "Dammit. Zidane was supposed to babysit this little punk, not us..." he growled. "We don't have much choice but to play along. Stupid girl..."

Parallel Perspective: Buying a Sword, Finding a Fight

Steiner's wanderings brought him to the local armory. After perusing the shelves he picked up a serrated blue blade, a Mythril Sword, and carefully examined it. The blade was far superior to his own Iron Sword, and fortunately enough he had just enough to purchase it. He brought it to the counter and traded money with the clerk, then removed his original iron sword and placed the Mythril Sword on his back. The clerk offered to buy his Iron Sword for five hundred Gil, which Steiner agreed to.

While he traded his money with the clerk Steiner heard a low grumbling and looked down to find a large shadow creeping around in the cage below. "Why is there a monster here?!" croaked Steiner.

The clerk flashed him a grin and stored Steiner's blade away in a cabinet. "The boss likes to watch fighters duel with the monsters he brings home from the auctions," explained the clerk. "Are you strong?" When Steiner proudly nodded the clerk reached for a lever and moved to pull it. "Good! Go prove it."

The lever, when pulled, dropped Steiner into the cage below where the monster, a Griffin, awaited him. Although its body was that of a fowl mixed with a lion, that was too lame to describe a Griffin. Its feathers were thick and black and it had nasty claws and Griffin swung its mighty claw at Steiner, barely avoiding a hit. Steiner swiftly drew his new Mythril Sword and lifted it in front of his body in preparation for a counter attack.

The Griffin flapped its huge wings and cast a violent wind spell at him, which knocked Steiner back several paces and forced him to dig his sword into the floor to keep from falling over. After he finished skidding he dragged his weapon from the ground and swung it at the beast. Although the strike whiffed he quickly grabbed hold of his sword's grip with both hands and a blue aura surrounded him. When the Griffin tried to attack again Steiner hopped back and swung his sword at the monster, creating a shock wave that struck and staggered it. He followed by decapitating the Griffin and fell to his back exhausted.

When the clerk led him back up the stairs Steiner angrily smacked him over the head as punishment for his actions. "You almost killed me, you little nincompoop!" he boomed. Unaffected, the clerk tossed him a sack and when Steiner opened it he found fifteen thousand Gil inside. "I-I can't take this!" Steiner squeaked.

"You won the fight, you get the prize," grinned the clerk. "You wanna give it back?" Steiner quickly stepped back and shook his head, cleared his throat and gave the clerk a stern salute before rushing out of the store. That left the clerk to nurse his head wound and turn his head up above to the viewing area where the store's owner had watched the fight. "That satisfactory, Sir?" he asked.

"Yes... Even if he did look like a tin can the fellow put up a hell of a fight!" chortled the owner. "I wanna see him take on my next one sometime soon."

Parallel Perspective: Preparations for Piracy

By the time Steiner limped into the Auction House Dagger had already seen over a hundred thousand Gil paid for a number of items. When he came in beaten and bloodied, she hurriedly went to work mending his scars. The damage was fairly severe and took a few minutes to totally heal. When asked where he got his wounds Steiner remained tight-lipped but did say that they won't need to worry about traveling money for quite some time.

Dagger sighed and patted Steiner on the shoulder once she'd finished healing him. "We need to find Marcus now," she said resolutely. "I need to tell him where to find the Supersoft to heal Blank."

"But, princess!" protested Steiner. "They'll steal it!"

As she giggled and playfully stuck out her tongue Steiner's heart dropped. She was well aware of that fact and seemed to endorse it. "And before you start yakking at me about morals and dignity... I owe these people," Dagger said forcefully. "And I intend to pay back the people who got me out of Alexandria safely."

Upon entering the Inn at the Treno slums, Dagger and Steiner were met by Baku and Marcus. Baku bluntly asked whether Dagger would be stealing the Supersoft with them, and to Steiner's horror she happily agreed. When she added that she was bringing him along as her security detail his face dropped even lower. Baku laughingly shoved Steiner and praised him for expanding his horizons, with Steiner angrily retorting that he would never condone thievery. When Steiner turned desperately to Dagger for backup and saw only a playful smile, he finally gave up, hung his head, and prepared for his first foray into thievery.

Scene Three

After a short boat ride where Dagger very sternly ordered Baku not to steal anything but the Supersoft the party arrived at Bishop's Synthesis Shop to steal said Supersoft. Leaving Steiner behind to guard their rear Dagger and Marcus sneaked inside the shop, exchanged a glance, and then began to carefully rummage through as many boxes as they could find in search of their quarry. As they searched the sound of an old man's mutterings drew Marcus' sword to his fingers, though for Dagger it drew her towards the source of the voice.

Darting out from behind a stack of boxes Dagger gracefully bowed her head to the individual in question. More of a nose and mustache attached to a burgundy scholar's robe, the old man Dr. Tot wore ridiculously stereotypical spectacles and had a nifty top hat that rounded out his diminutive form. Upon seeing the princess's cherubic countenance staring back at him the good doctor startled, then his hand went to his chin for contemplation.

Hearing the commotion Steiner barged inside the store and, upon finding Doctor Tot and Dagger conversing, his face changed from horror to happiness. "Doctor Tot? I haven't seen you in years!" gasped Steiner. "How are you doing, Sir?"

Still wary, Marcus kept his hand near his sword. "And who is this old fossil?" he asked brusquely.

"Doctor Tot, a learned scholar," Steiner stated proudly. "He once tutored the princess."

As the conversation advanced Dagger finally decided to rip off the band aid and gave Doctor Tot a wicked smile and a naughty wink, signaling that she was up to no good. "Can you steal the Supersoft for us, Doctor?" she asked cheerfully, to Steiner's absolute horror. He couldn't believe that she would actually ask point blank for the doctor to commit a crime. She seemed to relent when she realized what she'd just said and Dagger quickly began to backpedal. "I-I mean... It's for a good cause, I assure you!" Dagger protested. "It's to save a friend!"

From beneath his long nose Doctor Tot cracked a rather sinister smile of his own and agreed, telling them to wait for him at his home in the western part of Treno. After briefing Baku they arrived - Dagger, Marcus, and Steiner - and awaited Doctor Tot's arrival. The scholar arrived and opened the door, inviting them into his "humble abode". It was far from humble! There were stacks of books, a plain bed, and most notably a huge broken globe with a large telescope contained within it. When Tot asked who to give the Supersoft to Marcus brushed past Dagger and reached out, taking the item from the doctor's hand. Steiner was, of course, outraged, though Dagger seemed more amused than anything else.

Doctor Tot gestured towards the globe and bowed his head in deference. "This is my home, doubling as my observatory. Here I study the movement of the stars and planets, while also keeping up with the most recent scientific developments," said the doctor. He brought Dagger up inside the globe, where he showed her the many notes he'd etched on the inside of the structure. "It's been eight years... too long. My present field of study is astronomy, while also providing information on astrology to my benefactor."

Dagger tilted her head in confusion and looked through the telescope, watched the stars dance their elegant dance, and turned back to Doctor Tot with a confused expression on her face. "What's the difference between astronomy and astrology?" she wondered.

"Ha ha ha... It's complicated. Trying to explain the Zodiac to you in one sitting is too tall a task for even a scholar of my stature. To put it simply, astronomy is the study of the stars. Astrology is the study of our relationship to the stars. One is scientific, the other a tad more... up for interpretation," explained Doctor Tot. "All twelve constellations each relate to different times of year, while also relating to the personalities of the people born under each star... It's complicated, like I said."

It was all too much for her. When she finally decided to move on Dagger sighed and stretched her neck. "I need to meet my mother," she said decisively. "We have to talk about-"

"-Burmecia, right?" interrupted Doctor Tot, to Dagger's shock. He sighed and shook his head. "Rumors travel fast. I doubt it's a good idea for you to speak to her, if she is indeed the instigator of the whole matter, but if you desire it I shall help you," said Doctor Tot. "I'll take you to Gargan Roo."

Parallel Perspective: Eyeing the Canary

The auction was finished for the night. With the room cleared of customers the auctioneer, a close confidant of Kuja's, met with the man himself at the auction hall's meeting room. "Has the business in Burmecia been decided?" asked the auctioneer. Kuja sighed and nodded. "It is such a shame that they needed to be exterminated..." he sighed.

A wry smile crossed Kuja's face. "The queen always protects the interests of Alexandria," he said coldly. "The king was planning an attack and had to be... removed from office."

"So, Cleyra is next?" wondered the auctioneer.

Kuja nodded and turned to leave but suddenly halted and turned back to the auctioneer. "Did you see that beautiful young girl in the crowd during the bidding?" he asked softly. The auctioneer nodded and Kuja's smile changed from polite to sinister. "Our lovely little canary shall return to her cage, all without me lifting a finger."

Scene Four

Doctor Tot's home connected to Gargan Roo, an ancient transportation hub located deep below Treno that led directly to Alexandria. They descended a ladder inside Tot's home several meters until they finally reached a wide open area with two paths, one north and the other west. Steiner was reluctant to allow Marcus to join them but Dagger gently overruled him. When Dagger approached the northern route two monsters jumped out, Pythons. They were large, serpents the size of a normal human, with a long trunk and nasty looking fangs. Dagger fell to her seat in shock, though Marcus and Steiner easily dispatched the two serpents with a single slash of their swords.

Steiner returned his sword to his back and offered his hand to his princess. "Are you alright, prin... Miss Dagger?" he asked gingerly.

As she rose to her feet a slim smile crossed Dagger's face. "I will be, when we're in Alexandria," she said smilingly.

"Gargan Roo is a long-forgotten transportation system linking Treno to Alexandria. It was built well before the advent of airships," explained Doctor Tot. "I have, unfortunately, forgotten how it works..." The group proceeded through the right route and found a strange lever that, when pulled, did nothing. When they entered the left route and found a pull lever hanging from the ceiling Tot's memory returned to him. "Ah, yes. This will summon the Gargant..." he said plainly.

"G-Gargant...?" Dagger mumbled.

"Gargan Roo is shaped like a circle, and when you pull this lever the Gargant will come and circle this area endlessly. The Gargant is a strange beast, not created by Mist, that lives deep beneath the Mist... But to demonstrate, please pull that lever," Doctor Tot said. Dagger reluctantly approached the pull lever and finally yanked down on it. That immediately summoned a strange noise and its originator: a bizarre, multi-limbed insect with a large carriage hanging from its back. Dagger quickly shrieked and jumped back into Tot's arms. "The Gargant pulls the trolley between Treno and Alexandria."

"I-It's... it's..." stammered Dagger as she began to shake.

"Yes, it is quite hideous. When I pull the switch that is down that corridor the Gargant will stop, you will enter the carriage, and after I pull the lever again it will begin its journey to Alexandria," said Doctor Tot. He slowly set Dagger back on her feet and stretched out his hand, which Dagger took in both of hers. "I shall always be on your side, princess. Even if the world itself threatens you, you have my allegiance. Go. Speak to the queen. You might be the only living person who could make a difference."

Dagger returned his words with a warm smile before the trio climbed inside the carriage. Once the Gargant had finished its meal it again began to circle around the complex, leaving Doctor Tot to hurry to the pull lever. When he pulled it down hard the Gargant changed paths and headed for Alexandria, leaving the good doctor to give a grim smile. He didn't know whether she had even the faintest chance of persuading her mother. The fact of the matter was, however, that she had to try.

The trip went smoothly at first, with the Gargant skittering through the tunnels at top speed. "I can't even see Treno anymore..." muttered Marcus. "How far is this thing going to carry us? Will it even listen when we tell it to stop?"

With a grim smile Dagger turned away to watch the Mist flow beneath the trolley. There was a sudden crash that jostled the trio, and when Dagger saw the source of the problem, the one that had left the Gargant stone cold terrified, she quickly vaulted out of the trolley and dashed towards the source of the problem. It looked like a cross between an immature worm and a large snake. On its face were two thick suckers, which pulsed back and forth as if they contained something nasty within.

Dagger deftly drew her racket and prepared to fight, with Marcus and Steiner hobbling beside her to join the battle. As the Ralvularva began to slither forward Steiner put himself between the beast and the princess and the Ralvularva suddenly spewed out a mass of purple gas that struck Steiner and brought him to his knees, overwhelmed by the vile toxins that now pulsed through his blood stream.

While Steiner struggled to remain conscious the Ralvularva loomed above him and prepared to attack. Dagger clapped her free hand onto Steiner's back, and by using her white magic the venom was flushed from the knight's system. The Ralvularva finally slung its fangs at Steiner but both he and Marcus intercepted it and held it back long enough for Dagger to sling an air bullet straight between its eyes, causing it to flee and allowing them to continue on their journey.

After a few more minutes they finally reached the Gargant station that connected to Alexandria and Dagger quickly hurried from the carriage with Steiner and Marcus close behind her. Steiner quickly picked up speed and moved ahead of Dagger. When she recognized where they were, she desperately stretched out her hand to catch him but failed when a huge prison cage burst from the ground before them. Dagger quickly grabbed Steiner's wrist and turned to leave, but they were soon sealed in by a second cage wall.

From one angle Zorn entered with a smug expression on his face, with Thorn close behind bearing a similar smirk. An enraged Steiner drew his sword and brandished it at the clowns, sheer rage sketched on his own face. "Release us! Now!" he boomed.

Zorn shook his head and smirked. "You're all under arrest," he said flatly.

His counterpart titled his head and sneered. "To Queen Brahne, you shall go."

"Take me to my mother!" insisted Dagger desperately. "I've come to make her stop this!"

"Indeed... But it won't be a pleasant meeting," grinned Zorn.

"W-What...?!" choked Dagger.

Thorn cackled and called for an escort of soldiers. "Under orders, we were: retrieve the princess, however it took. If other casualties should occur," he sneered, "then so be it, she ordered."

"Queen Brahne would never say that!" snarled Steiner.

"You've become dispensable... and both will be imprisoned until your executions," chuckled Zorn. "The princess is to be brought to Queen Brahne unharmed, as we were ordered."

Marcus grit his teeth and muttered a curse beneath his breath. He'd never signed up for this. All he'd come for was to save his brother. "That fat queen just damned us all..." he growled. "And that dipstick refuses to admit it..."

Intermission

It had been a massacre. All four of them - Zidane, Freya, Vivi, and Quina - had been easily defeated and badly wounded by General Beatrix of Alexandria. The rain continued to fall as they mended their wounds, using four of the eight potions they had to heal their cut wounds. Even then it wasn't enough, and they had to use the next four to finish the job. All of the four friends gathered around the central palace of Burmecia, with Freya in the center, and assessed their situation.

Zidane hacked up a bit of saliva and staggered, nearly falling to his knees and was forced to grab hold of a nearby statue to keep himself upright. He looked at Vivi and Quina, who both were heavily demoralized and all eyes turned to Freya as she remained on one knee and continued to breathe heavily. Zidane stretched out his hand and Freya took it, allowing herself to be dragged to her feet by her companion. As she did so she weakly returned her spear to her back.

"They're heading to Cleyra..." Freya muttered bitterly.

"Cleyra? Where is that?" asked Vivi.

"The Vube Desert, to the west... I only pray that we can climb the trunk in time," sighed Freya.

"Trunk? What kind of place are we heading to?" Zidane wondered.

"You'll see when we get there," said Freya. She turned to leave and briefly staggered, but caught herself by jabbing the floor with the butt of her spear. Even after two potions' worth of healing she still wasn't in anything remotely resembling fighting shape. Beatrix's sword had cut deep, though not as deep as the scars that had etched themselves onto her heart from watching her beloved kingdom fall. Weakened, demoralized, and confused, all she could do was continue to move forward.

You won't kill Cleyra, Brahne... I swear it on my title as Dragoon. You will pay.

Scene Five

West of Burmecia was the Vube Desert, where Cleyra lay cloaked inside an impenetrable sandstorm. To get there the party had to fight their way back out of Burmecia, battling Vices and Magic Vices the whole way through. Upon exiting the ruined city they turned to the Vube Desert, though before they got there they were ambushed by two Lizard Men at the entrance to the desert. The creature was a hybrid between a lizard and a large human, except much more monstrous than that combination implies, and also carried a battleaxe in each hand.

The battle was short but intense. The four axes wielded by the two Lizard Men clashed against two daggers, a spear, and an oversized fork. In the end after a grueling melee the heroes emerged, mostly unscathed though heavily winded. They persevered through the grueling desert conditions until finally reaching their target, the trunk of a massive tree larger than anything they could comprehend. The sandstorm around it was biting, swirling knives of dust that licked at their skin. Freya quietly assessed the situation and became increasingly distressed.

"God... The sandstorm is receding! If it continues to falter, Cleyra will be vulnerable to attack!" gasped Freya.

She shouldered her Mythril spear and turned her eyes up to the high, nearly invisible branches that constituted the tree of Cleyra. It was a mighty structure, but without the barrier of sand it would be only a chunk of wood for the Alexandrians to plunder. After crossing through several branches united together in a long bridge, they found a sandy chamber with a wall sealed by solid stone. Vivi and Quina looked on as Zidane stretched his limbs and prepared to assault the wall. Freya, however, reached to the side and flicked a switch that slid the door open just as Zidane dove through it and landed hard on his head. He quickly scolded an apologetic Freya before continuing on.

Next up was a long, rocky road where they were ambushed by a Carrion Worm. It looked like a large, bloated green larva of some sort of creature that might one day have turned into a butterfly. Right now, however, it was bound to the ground and butt ugly. They weren't only poison on the eyes, but filled with vicious toxins as well. The Carrion Worm breathed out a mass of poisonous gas at Vivi, who Zidane knocked aside just in time to avoid taking the hit. Unfortunately, Quina ended up ingesting it.

Although their friends were horrified, Quina munched on the poison for a bit and, finding it nasty, spat it back out with a massive blast of water that coated the Carrion Worm. Vivi quickly moved to fry it and as it dissolved into Mist Freya hurried to Quina's side to check them for injuries. Quina was mostly unaffected, though s/he spat out a batch of venom to the side and took a bite out of a sand dune. S/he found the taste unsatisfactory as well and retched it back up as well.

Next the party found themselves inside a huge, sunken chasm filled with nothing but sand. Seeing the lone tree Vivi slowly approached in search of fruit, only for Zidane to yank him back just as the sand around them began to congeal into a single creature. From the sands below a large mass of thick sand lifted up and formed the image of an imposing human with significant heft. In its center was a strange, pulsing red core. Sand Golems, tied to their central core, were nearly indestructible unless the center core had been destroyed.

The Sand Golem thrust out its fists with multiple, massive punches that Zidane and Freya nimbly evaded. They searched for an opening and, finding none, turned to Quina. Quina belched out a huge mass of water that doused the monster, only managing to solidify it into a massive chunk of mud - still living mud, with harder fists to punch with. When the Sand Golem threw a punch at Freya she deftly jumped atop its arm and stabbed it through the eye.

To Freya's shock the sand simply wrapped around her weapon and yanked it away before the Golem landed a brutal punch that Freya only narrowly managed to block. She was still sent flying a good ways but managed to right herself before she found herself seriously injured. Zidane gestured to Vivi, who nodded and blasted the mud with a massive burst of fire that knocked Freya's spear free. She quickly snatched it up and, noting the nature of the beast, used her spear to skewer the core. Immediately the Sand Golem crumbled to dust, though it feebly managed to restructure itself for a brief period before Quina stabbed it with their fork and completely shattered the core to bits by finally dooming the monster for good.

They passed through the sand-filled chamber and continued up a hill until they found a ledge with a small hole in the wall. Lacking a better option Zidane reached into the gap and clicked a button that released a huge amount of sand from up above. This enabled them to backtrack and cross through the chamber even more filled with sand, and they continued on until they reached the moogle Monev. Monev beckoned Zidane over and unfurled a letter written to him.

I'll meet you in Alexandria. Prepare to fight.

"That stupid... She's putting herself in danger again!" snarled Zidane, punching his fist to his left palm. "After I told her not to do it, she freaking did it!"

"If you remember," Freya said slyly, "she was smart enough to drug us all and sneak out on her own. She clearly has the wits to get by."

Zidane bit his lip and held back his anger, then turned to Monev with a pained expression on his face. He beckoned the moogle to open the Moogle Diary and jotted down his own message to send to Dagger:

Don't be an idiot.

After crossing a rickety bridge the party found themselves in an even larger cavern filled with sand. Vivi hesitantly inched forward, but suddenly two large Sand Golems erupted from the floor. Now knowing their weakness, Zidane and Freya took out their cores and allowed Vivi time to freeze them solid in ice. Quina walked up to the ice and took a lick, got brain freeze, and angrily shattered the Sand Golem to bits before turning to their friends and sticking out their tongue in a strange slurping motion.

The next room was filled with quicksand vortices blocking them from proceeding. Vivi smartly cast a frost spell on the entire area that froze the sand solid, creating a long flat plane of slippery ice to cross over. Although the three sane ones carefully proceeded Quina took a large step on the glacier and s/he slid straight into a wall. S/he quickly recovered, but took a look at their reflection in the ice and angrily stabbed it with their fork before moving on.

As they continued to scale the trunk the party entered an area open to the outside, almost like a balcony. There Quina waddled around as usual, until s/he was caught in the mouth of a massive Zuu. The bird was monstrous, with a torso much smaller than its neck and wings. It was three times the size of a normal human, and incorporated aspects of a mutant black flamingo in its head.

The Zuu munched on Quina for a few seconds, but found them unpalatable and spat them back onto the ground. Vivi quickly charged a spell and infused Freya's spear with frost magic, which she used to skewer the Zuu through the heart. The blow dropped it limply to the ground, its monstrous body coming to rest overtop of Quina's body. S/he slowly lumbered to their feet and, finding that s/he didn't want to have a bite, Quina took their foot and kicked the Zuu's body off of the platform.

Just up ahead was a single, solitary ladder. This led to the top of the trunk, the storybook realm of Cleyra. The whole city was covered in plant life, bright greens and blues, with beautiful architecture and lush bodies of water tended to be the oracles of the sun and moon. They entered first an area close to a massive sand pit, where they were met by two female Burmecians dressed in green robes. They were the oracles Kildea and Satrea, apostles of the forest gods.

Satrea met Freya as she ascended to the city and gracefully bowed to her. "Lady Freya? We've been awaiting you," Satrea crooned in a soft, soothing voice. "The king of Burmecia and the high priest are waiting for you in the cathedral." While Freya excitedly hurried off with Satrea, Kildea turned her attention to her friends and beckoned them to join her. Only Zidane took the offer, with Vivi and Quina striking out on their own.

Parallel Perspective: A Tour of Cleyra

Zidane was taken on a thorough tour of Cleyra, courtesy of Forest Oracle Kildea. She led him throughout the beautiful city, showcasing its wonderful architecture and introducing him to a number of oracles. All priestesses were female, with only the High Priest being male. Kildea directed Zidane to the northern part of the city, where he was introduced to a huge windmill used to pump water from the roots below.

Kildea gestured to the windmill and pointed out its connection to the river that ran through the city. "We use this windmill to pump water from the trunk, using the power of the sandstorm," she explained in a soothing voice, almost ticklish in its lightness. "By drawing water from the trunk and roots we've been able to sustain our civilization for over a century. Water being the most vital of resources, this was the first problem our architects devised when Cleyra was established."

"Well... that takes care of water... but what about food?" asked Zidane. "Do you eat the monsters we fought on our way up?"

"Oh, heavens no! Our civilization is isolated, but we still have to seek out food the same way as any other city. We send out parties to hunt and fish in the area around the coast of Cleyra, and they then carry their bounty back up the trunk for us to enjoy!" explained Kildea. "We actually have special routes built into the trunk that allow us to bypass the monster-infested portions of the tree."

Zidane groaned and hung his head. "It would have been nice to know that before we went through all that hell!" he growled. He quietly shook off his grumpiness and put his hands behind his head, stretched his neck, and flashed the oracle a toothy grin. "Looks like you folks have everything figured out, huh?"

"That is one way of looking at it," Kildea said curtly. "We have no visitors and no excitement whatsoever. Minus the books we brought with us and reread constantly," she sighed, "there is no entertainment here. Isolation is... well... to coin a phrase you humans use, it is a bitch."

Parallel Perspective: I Didn't Hurt Anyone!

For reasons beyond the comprehension of this author, Cleyra apparently had an Inn. Who would use it, when they would use it, and why, is all up in the air. Regardless, this was the spot that Vivi gravitated to during his exploration of Cleyra and it was here that he found the group of Burmecians that he'd met back in the city itself, the soldier Dan and his family. As soon as he caught sight of the black mage Dan immediately drew his sword and laid it at Vivi's neck.

"Surrender!" he boomed, to Vivi's horror and fright.

"B-But I didn't hurt anyone!" Vivi protested.

Dan steadily put the pieces back together and remembered their meeting in Burmecia, then retracted his sword and placed it back in its sheath. Now he remembered: Freya had called him her friend, and her word was good enough for him to take at face value. "I apologize, son..." he murmured, his head bowed. Vivi quietly nodded his head and adjusted his hat, seemingly to show that he had no ill will. "How did you get to Cleyra?"

Vivi tilted his head and scratched his hat. "We went through the trunk," he said plainly.

"What a shame! The Cleyrans guided us through their secret passages, so we could avoid the monsters," Dan said sadly. "I never knew that you'd have to fight your way up against those wretched beasts."

"You mean I could've-!" croaked Vivi. With a sigh he threw up his hands and adjusted his hat. "Well, that sucks. I didn't want to fight all those monsters."

"Y-You fought your way up?!" Dan's wife gasped. "Against all those nasty monsters?!"

"I-I didn't do it alone," Vivi said sheepishly. "My friends helped me get here. Zidane, Quina, Freya..."

"So you did fight alongside her!" choked Dan. That changed everything: not only did Freya give him a good recommendation, but he'd actually made it through the monster-infested tunnels by fighting his way up. "You're a remarkable young man. I'm so sorry I doubted you!" he said, his head bowed in gratitude. "Any friend of Freya's is a friend of ours."

"Ha ha... She's a good person..." chortled Vivi. "I just want to rest now. Can I find somewhere like an Inn?"

Parallel Perspective: Nothing to Eat!

Cleyra's people survived mostly off of fish that their scouts pulled from the coast to the west. And, since there were never any visitors, there was never any need to establish any sort of cafe or restaurant. Everyone was simply given an equal share of food and water, the minimum for comfortable sustenance. While in theory that was an idealistic dream of equality, to a gourmand like Quina it was nothing less than horrifying blasphemy.

Quina slowly waddled through the town and ended up at the place where the oracles of the city went to watch the sandstorm, a soothing experience that was one of the few things that they had to actually do in Cleyra. "You know where find yummy-yummies?" s/he asked eagerly. "No find yummy-yummies, get sad."

"Um... We... have no..." stammered the oracle, to Quina's horror (and fury). When s/he began to rampage around, rummaging throughout the city in a desperate attempt to forage for food, the two oracles ran away screaming in terror. For Quina, running away and screaming in terror wasn't necessarily a bad thing... It was all typical. Qus were rarely welcomed into any civilized society, which was why they had to survive on the dregs of the swamp. There, at least, they found some yummy-yummies. They weren't sanitary to eat, but with their enhanced digestion Qus could eat pretty much anything to survive.

Scene Six

When Zidane's tour ended he departed for the Inn, where he was met by Vivi and Dan. The two had buried the hatchet and had begun to talk openly of happier times, while Zidane scaled the stairs where he met the moogle Mopli. Mopli produced a letter for Zidane from Ruby, the actress who they'd unintentionally left behind in Alexandria. Uncharacteristically for Ruby, there was a distinct lack of some of the more unsavory southern sayings that she had so often regaled the Troupe with.

Hey, y'all! I started a little theater in Alexandria. If you find a good actor, send him my way, okay? And by the way: why the hell did you leave me here?!

Typical Ruby, Zidane thought. She'd always been rough around the edges but was a talented actress. Her starting a side gig was actually sort of heartwarming. Ruby had always been a prima donna, even amonst the actors of Tantalus, and was sometimes excluded from their performances because she was so difficult to deal with. The idea that she now had her own theater was a welcome one. For once, she wouldn't have to deal with any of the boys rough housing around the stage.

There's that Lowell Bridges hack in Lindblum... but sending him there isn't likely... the freak loves gaudy performances and would never slum it...

Zidane exited the Inn and found Dan desperately clawing at Night Oracle Donnagan. "There's a kid being mauled at the sand pit! We have to help him!" he insisted. The oracle nodded and turned away, though as he walked he did so at such a sluggish pace that it became clear he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. Dan turned to Zidane and beckoned him to join him down south. "You can fight, right?!" Dan shouted brusquely. "Then we need to fight!"

Dan led Zidane down to the southern part of Cleyra, where Quina and Vivi had already gathered together. They hurried through the sandy pits and found a huge hole of quicksand occupied by a massive beast. The beast that emerged from the sands, the Antlion, had two massive horns and two equally menacing mandibles, and a strange acid seemed to bubble from its maw. In its mandibles was a struggling young boy, dressed in rags and wearing a floppy red hat.

Vivi recognized Puck immediately and desperately yanked on Zidane's pants leg, attempting to get him to help save his friend. Although Zidane doubted what use he could be, he nevertheless drew his daggers and slipped into a fighting position. But, how would he do any damage? Sure, he could sling Rune Tooth at it but what if the weapon caught the kid instead of the monster? He wasn't angry enough to Trance, and doubted that Vivi had it in him to fight such a monstrous opponent.

When Freya arrived, her spear drawn, she looked at the boy being manhandled and her face immediately went white as a sheet. "Prince Puck?!" she yowled. "You came back?!"

"Shut up and help me, you jackasses!" Puck screamed madly. "I don't wanna die here!" The Antlion took the rat and slung him at Freya, who caught him and he frantically stumbled from her arms and pointed at the beast. "Get him!" he shrieked. "Do your damn job and kill the sucker!"

As Puck continued to argue the Antlion wasn't inclined to wait. It swung one of its massive tusks at the boy again, only for Freya to intercept it and clash with her spear. The battle was unfortunately one-sided, as the Antlion's strength was so far beyond Freya's, and it swiftly threw her back out of the sand pit. Zidane quickly hurled Rune Tooth at the Antlion, which nicked it on the face, but the creature spewed sand in his eyes and he only narrowly caught the weapon before stumbling to his back, clawing at his eyes for relief.

Vivi, who watched the entire spectacle, steadily began to shake, both fear and fury filling his soul. Hurting Puck was one thing, but wounding Zidane and Freya was more than the black mage could take. Through haggard breaths he assumed a Trance, his hat jutting out from his head like Freya's spear, then he threw forward both hands and slung a line of energy at the Antlion.

The spell sliced into the Antlion's mighty body and caused it to seize up, and as it continued to shake the Antlion quickly began to freeze into a massive chunk of ice. Freya, who had by now recovered, thrust her spear into its head and shattered the frozen monster to bits before she swirled around to face Puck and fell to one knee with her head bowed, an act that seemed to irritate the rat child more than anything else. He was never a snob when it came to his title.

"Are you unhurt, Prince Puck?!" Freya choked.

"A bit sore, but good," shrugged Puck. "At least you nailed the little bugger for me."

"You must hurry to the king!" insisted Freya. Puck simply stuck out his tongue at her and ran, though when he caught sight of Vivi he exchanged a hand shake before zooming out of the sand pit. This left a very shocked and shaken Freya, who eyed the black mage with amazement and wondered how he knew the prince. Zidane, meanwhile, was busy applying an eye drop to mend his injured eyes and was too busy to interfere with anything. "H-How do you know him...?!" gasped Freya.

"We met in Alexandria and he made me his friend," Vivi said plainly. A few moments of thought brought a chuckle to the black mage and he began to laugh. "Well, he made me his slave, actually!"

Zidane, who by now had used the eye drops and healed his blindness, overheard Vivi's words and angrily moved to confront Puck. Freya grabbed hold of him and held him back, and to his consternation he was unable to shake her. "Slave?!" he snarled. "I'm gonna slap the little jackass!"

"No, you will not!" Freya said curtly. "Harm the prince and I'll kick you in the ass!"

"Wait... prince? That little son of a gun is royalty?!" choked Zidane. "What kind of royal family do you people have?!"

Parallel Perspective: A Long-Delayed Meeting

Dagger's meeting with her mother would, indeed, be far from pleasant. She was separated from Steiner and Marcus, isolated in her room until she was brought into Queen Brahne's throne room wearing shackles. During the trip through the castle her shock and horror steadily built, her indignant anger bubbling to the front when she struggled against her bindings. With Zorn and Thorn guiding her Dagger was led into Brahne's throne room, where her mother sat on her throne fanning herself. She seemed to be infuriatingly indifferent to her daughter's suffering, something that Dagger immediately recognized as a red flag.

"Hello, dear!" trilled Brahne.

"Hello, Mother," Dagger said spitefully.

Brahne chuckled and snapped her fan shut. She wasn't terribly surprised that her daughter was rather cross at how she'd been treated. "I apologize for the way you've been treated, sweetie! Thorn, release her from the shackles!" ordered Brahne. The jester did so, and Dagger softly massaged her aching wrists, flashing a glare at Thorn that nearly chilled him to the bone. He wasn't aware of how much she'd matured from the docile young plaything that he'd expected to be dealing with. "Please, dear, come closer!" Brahne said cheerfully. "Sit on my lap!"

Reluctant and suspicious, Dagger nonetheless rebuffed her mother by remaining still. "Why did you attack Burmecia, Mother?" she asked cautiously. "I know that you did it. All I need to know is why. This isn't like you."

"Why, why would you say such a thing?" asked Brahne, a bit more coldly. "I never did anything of the sort."

Biting her lip, Dagger shook her head and balled her fists. Something really was wrong. The loving mother that she'd known for all of her sixteen years clearly wasn't reflected in the woman that sat before her on the throne. "A Burmecian soldier said it in his dying words: 'Alexandria' and 'dolls.' He had no earthly reason to lie," Dagger said softly. "Did you really do this...? Please, tell me that I'm wrong..."

"They were the aggressors," Brahne said quickly.

"Then, why not send in Beatrix's army?" Dagger asked pointedly. "Why would you send in black mage dolls to do the fighting? I know the General, and she would never agree to that," she said coolly. As the queen's motherly facade began to crack she grit her teeth and stomped her foot. "I'll ask you one more time: why?!" Dagger felt a soft tug on her jumpsuit and turned to find Kuja staring back at her with one of his signature sinister smiles, and her blood immediately ran cold. "Y-You wouldn't-"

"I need you to give me your Eidolons, dear," said Brahne cheerfully. "I need them to protect the kingdom."

"No!" roared Dagger. "You'll use them to commit mass murder, and I refuse to let that happen!" Now a bit more testy, Kuja grabbed Dagger by the collar and turned her to meet him face-to-face. Now realizing what was about to happen, the princess's eyes desperately shifted from anger and indignation to a crazed plea to make it all stop. "Please, don't!" she shrieked.

"I'm afraid that the choice isn't yours, my dear," chuckled Kuja, as he waved his hand over Dagger's face and cast a spell that caused her to slump limply into his arms. He lifted the princess up to face her mother, her eyes blank and her heart void of hope, and it only made Kuja more and more excited by the moment. Watching the spectacle of the greedy queen torment her own, precious daughter was a damned good show for the twisted sorcerer. "We have the girl... and we have the means to extract them," he said in a sinister tone. As he turned to hand Dagger to the jesters, Kuja smirked and muttered: "God help you, however... You're a terrible mother."

Parallel Perspective: The Extraction

The spell of Eidolon extraction was a sacred, ancient rite that required two things: that there be a summoner with Eidolons to seize, and that she be at least sixteen years old. Any younger than that threatened the life of the victim. Moreover, if they did kill her, her Eidolons would die with her. It was with these two conditions in mind that Zorn and Thorn carried Dagger through a hidden passage from the throne room and into an underground chamber specially designed to enact their evil plan.

"Be sure not to damage the jewels when they're extracted," Kuja ordered coldly. "And be sure that the girl survives."

"The ritual will not harm her," said Zorn.

"Harm her it shall not, but fall into a deep slumber she shall," added Thorn. "Awaken for a week, she shall not."

Kuja put a hand to his chin and smirked. It wasn't like either he or Brahne gave much of a damn. The only reason they were even leaving her alive in the first place was because, for a fraction of a moment, Brahne's motherly spirit flared up again and she demanded that Dagger not die, no matter what. Then, unfortunately, Brahne's greed returned to her and she claimed that the girl was too useful to allow her die. To Kuja that made it even more delightful, that the woman he'd corrupted could fight back even a bit against the spell of greed that he'd cast on her. Brahne's spirit, flawed as it was, was not wholly tainted... yet.

While Kuja stepped back to allow them to perform the ritual, Zorn and Thorn carefully shackled Dagger's wrists and ankles, tying her to a large stone slab at the back of the chamber. One deep breath, and exhale. Two deep breaths, and then three, until finally they'd entered a trance-like state not dissimilar to Trance itself. Kuja could feel the breath leave his body when Dagger's bound body began to levitate, and as Zorn and Thorn began to chant her body began to convulse madly.

Why? Why does she seek our aid?

Bahamut's voice echoed in the two jesters' ears like the thunder of a drum, shaking them to the core and sending them from a meditative trance to a nearly catatonic state. The Eidolons weren't just tools. They knew that they were being used, and as the representative of them all Bahamut simply had to question why.

"She is in mortal danger," Zorn sneered, "and we must come to her rescue."

You're lying. Extracting us requires that you pray to us, to summon our souls from their inter-dimensional boundaries and pierce the aether for the sake of our summoner's will.

"Asking, we are not. Demanding, we are!" snapped Thorn.

You rotten... What do you mean to do with us?!

Even in the face of the Dragon King's indignation, the ritual would continue. Although Bahamut's soul began to struggle, Zorn and Thorn waved their hands and cast down his voice into the darkness. As Zorn held onto Dagger's wrists Thorn slowly reached towards her chest, his fingers passing through the princess's body and into an unseen realm. When he retracted his hand he held a shimmering jewel: a Topaz. The jester stashed it away and, one by one, removed from Dagger the gods she held sway over and bound them into gemstones. Bahamut was the last, though as Thorn drew it out of her heart the Eidolon managed to bite back for a moment, nearly causing him to drop the Garnet, though he quickly retrieved it and placed it with the other jewels in front of Brahne and Kuja.

They were so beautiful. Brahne stared down at the stones, leering at the Eidolons sealed inside. Now her heart was totally stained with greed, all compassion she had for the daughter she'd raised for sixteen years sealed tightly away into a tiny corner of her heart. She examined the stones and slowly reached for the Garnet. "Bahamut will rain death on those rats..." she chuckled. Kuja took the Garnet from her hand and stashed it away, to the queen's fury. Instead he produced another gem: Dark Matter.

"Why waste the King of Dragons on them, when the Lance of Gungnir shall suffice to bring them to their deaths?" Kuja asked cruelly. "There is no need to waste the finest weapon you now hold on a den of rats."

"True..." chortled Brahne. "Fine. Odin will do nicely."

Parallel Perspective: Preparations for War

Brahne's flagship, the Red Rose, referred to her favorite flower of the same name. It was by far the pride and joy of Alexandria's fleet, which mostly consisted of naval vessels rather than airships. Lindblum's air force was so powerful that even trying to match it with a host of small airships would have been a fool's errand. In preparation for the final battle Brahne had ordered her navy to gather for an assault on Lindblum, while the Red Rose herself would fly to Cleyra and end that battle for good.

"Your Majesty, our forces are almost ready," Beatrix said as she saluted the queen.

"Excellent!" Brahne trilled cheerfully. "Prepare the black mages for the assault on Cleyra."

Beatrix bit her lip and shook her head. Sending in toys to do a job that her proud soldiers could easily manage tugged at her heart, almost as if it were a direct insult to the military that the General had gathered together to protect Alexandria. "If I may, Your Majesty... Why send in black mages when my forces would easily suffice to take Cleyra?" asked Beatrix.

"Why, I would never put my soldiers in danger!" exclaimed Brahne. Beatrix tilted her head in confusion, so Brahne produced the Dark Matter and Beatrix's eyes widened in horror. "The black mages can get in, get out, and not put any of my soldiers at threat! By using this jewel, I can obliterate the Cleyrans with minimal effort!" she cackled.

"Y-Your Majesty..." Beatrix stammered. "Please allow my troops to-"

"Do your duty!" scolded Brahne. "Your job isn't to doubt or request, it is to follow my orders to the letter!"

Forcing back her emotions, Beatrix saluted and left the bridge. She passed by the many cauldrons with which the black mages would teleport into Cleyra, watched as the wretched dolls were primed and prepped for their murderous mission. Upon entering her cabin and being met by two of her finest soldiers Beatrix grit her teeth and shook her head. Her troops were the best of the best. They had no need to commit genocide to protect the kingdom.

"General, the black mages are prepared for the attack," said one of the soldiers as she saluted.

"Do you support this decision...?" murmured Beatrix.

"I... I have my doubts, General," the soldier said reluctantly. "But I still trust the queen with all my heart."

Beatrix felt the same way. For her entire life she'd dedicated herself to the protection of her homeland. She'd trained endlessly, studied the arts of war. The idea that now her proud soldiers would be replaced by emotionless toys seemed to be an insult to every principle that she had held dear. When Beatrix was summoned to meet Brahne on the bridge again, as she saluted her heart had already begun to waver.

"Do whatever you must to secure the jewel," ordered Brahne. "Kill whoever obstructs your mission."

"Y-Your Majesty...!" gasped Beatrix.

"I only desire the best for Alexandria. The Burmecians pose a threat to us, and I shall not let them have their way with my precious kingdom," Brahne declared proudly. While this briefly calmed Beatrix's fears, the twinkle in the queen's eye quickly extinguished her hopes. "Don't worry about your soldiers. They'll find plenty of use when we attack Lindblum."

"Lindblum?!" Beatrix choked. "Why would we... We have a treaty of non-aggression! Please, Your Majesty, I beg you reconsider! It will throw the entire continent into chaos!"

"I have incontrovertible evidence that you aren't privy to. Cid has clearly allied with the Burmecians. We must protect our own interests, however much damage it might do," said Brahne coldly. "Alexandria's safety and well being is paramount."

Beatrix swallowed her doubts, saluted, and left the bridge. As she approached the black mage depot and watched as the dolls were prepared for their murderous work, however, her doubts continued to multiply. Why would the queen declare war on both of the great nations? Surely, she reasoned, Cid would be too level-headed to attack Alexandria. She had her doubts about Burmecia as well. Seeing the slaughter had filled her heart with both doubt and dread, and watching the Burmecians suffer slashed at her heart as if it were assailed by daggers. Everything, she couldn't help but reason, was because of Kuja.

"She would never..." muttered Beatrix. "She would never..."

Scene Seven

The return of Prince Puck was a welcome one to the king of Burmecia. He'd worried for his safety for three long years, dreaded the news that he'd ended up in a gutter, and the simple knowledge that he was safe was more than enough for the king's heart to rest. The king met with Freya and the High Priest inside the heart of the cathedral, where they prepared to perform an ancient rite that would strengthen the sandstorm and help protect all that they had left.

"Lady Freya, please join the oracles. Your Dragoon's spirit will strengthen the ritual," the High Priest said sternly. Freya nodded and laid her spear against the wall, moving to prepare for the ritual as Zidane entered the room with a smile on his face. She wasn't so happy, wasn't so convinced that everything would work out in their favor. She'd failed Burmecia. Would she fail Cleyra as well?

The ritual began by gathering three forest oracles, who quietly moved into position behind Freya. The High Priest gestured to a fourth oracle, who moved to join Freya, and a fifth sat atop a pedestal where a large red jewel was suspended atop a massive harp. One by one the forest oracles moved their feet in nimble unison, their dancing hearkening back to the beauty of what Burmecia and Cleyra were one, the martial flourish of the Burmicians and the clean refinement of the Cleyrans.

The oracles changed from simple dance to wild, frenzied movement, elegant in its form yet piercing in its intensity. Freya stretched out her arm and it was taken by the fourth and final dancer, their fingers intertwining as they delicately danced in tune to the hymn of the harp. As the performance continued to escalate so too did the rhythm of the harp, yet as the noble movements began to reach a crescendo the strings of the harp suddenly snapped.

Cleyra's tree, secure for a hundred years, lay ensconced inside a cocoon of shifting sand. Blessed were the winds, beautiful were the shrill shrieks of the sandstorm. Yet, as the strings snapped the tree itself seized up and a chill surrounded the massive swirling sandstorm. Slowly, line by line, the sand began to recede. As the magic dissipated the skies of Cleyra were split with blue for the first time in a century, the sight of the sun piercing the darkness that the sandstorm had concealed within. Slowly, steadily, the spell composing the sandstorm stilled, until finally the whole of Cleyra became open to the blue sky.

It was a horrifying realization, one that brought Freya to her knees in horror. Any other day she would relish seeing the sun high in the sky, but here it signaled only that Cleyra was now wholly open to attack from the Alexandrians. "T-The spell broke...?!" Freya croaked. "What... what happened?!"

To the High Priest it was just as confusing. "We've performed this ritual for over a hundred years! From then till now it's never ended this way!" he stuttered. "I fear that there's an outside interference... some magical force that pierced the sandstorm and dispelled it!"

"Oh, I know what happened: Kuja..." hissed Freya. "But to reach inside the sandstorm he'd need to be an inconceivably potent spellcaster! What kind of enemy are we fighting?!"

"The Desert Star, the jewel atop the holy harp, is the origin of the sandstorm's magic," said the High Priest. "Anyone who would want to channel their power through it would need magic at least equivalent to the power of the stone. I fear that the only reason they would attack Cleyra after Burmecia..." he murmured, "is the Desert Star itself! The holy jewel that protects us is also the reason we will be exterminated!"

Now, with the trunk vulnerable to attack, a counterattack had to be launched to stem the assault of the Alexandrians when they ascended to Cleyra. With this in mind Freya and her friends hurried down the ladder leading to the city and dashed through the chambers of sand, where they were expecting to face an onslaught of Alexandrian soldiers. Instead they were met by another Sand Golem. Freya bit her lip, her rage overtaking her, and skewered the core, causing the monster to dissolve into Mist.

As the sand dropped inert to the floor four large figures fluttered inside the sandy chamber. If a fly had been mutated by some sort of weird virus and given fangs and claws, that would be it. The four Dragonflies descended on the warriors, biting and cutting with their fangs and claws. The weapon-wielding warriors responded with a storm of steel that finally ended with four gusts of Mist dissolving into nothingness, though as the battle ended Vivi's doubt began to flare up.

"Why aren't we fighting soldiers...?" murmured Vivi.

"It just means we have to fight the soldiers and the monsters!" Freya shouted brusquely. "Let's move on!"

Further down the trunk, once they reached the bridge Zidane suddenly stopped in his tracks and began to tremble. Freya caught sight of his hesitation and angrily reached to grab him on the shoulder, though when he grabbed her sleeve first she reluctantly began to think about what was happening. There weren't any soldiers. If the Alexandrians were going to assail Cleyra, they wouldn't have used soldiers in the first place.

"Yeah... They're attacking up top!" Zidane groaned. "We have to hurry!"

Scene Eight

True to Zidane's speculation, the Alexandrians never sent a single trooper up the trunk. With the black mages and their dark sorcery, they instead penetrated the tree from above by using magic bubbles to bring the black mages directly into the city. The black mages suddenly materialized in the center of the town, emerging from multicolored bubbles that flew in from high up above. With the shocked populace looking on the dolls raised their hands and fire flew from their fingers, a barrage of lightning that began to exterminate the Cleyrans at an alarming rate.

Dan was one of the first Burmecians to rise to the city's defense. For his courage he was given a warrior's death, a spear of fire through the heart that incinerated his body and cast the ashes to the winds. With his frightened family looking on in horror the black mages turned their hands to them, only for Zidane's daggers and Freya's spear to carve them into shreds. As the dolls fell inert Dan's family hurried away from the center of the city with Zidane's group in hot pursuit. They didn't intend to let anyone else die. From the route where the family tried to escape two more black mages appeared. They flinched, but were saved when Vivi struck the black mages with lightning and shattered them to bits.

"Go!" Vivi screamed. "Get away!"

Dan's family hurried away just as a group of eight black mages manifested in front of the party. Zidane swiftly began to hack at them with his weapons, Freya with her spear, and Quina gifted them her fork but for every one they destroyed two more took their place and they were forced to retreat behind Dan's orphans. The running battle led them to the cathedral, the final place of respite for the Cleyrans, and as Dan's frightened family darted inside the dome another throng of black mages materialized at both ends of the road.

Freya fought with all her strength, but when a group of three black mages moved to enter the cathedral she was unable to stop them. "Please!" she shrieked. "Someone!" She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine when she watched as the three mages fell back, cut in half, and a sleek shadow passed through the corner of her eye. To her amazement Freya watched as a small army of the dolls were neatly carved and skewered by a shadowy warrior, one whose face she knew well. "Frat... Fratley..." Freya choked.

Clearly Burmecian, this nobleman carried himself with all the grace of a first-class sword dancer. He wore a wide-brimmed brown hat and an earthy-colored set of robes in addition to his ratlike tail. Notable was the weapon he held: a long, bladed pole arm with a blade that seemed sharp enough to rend steel itself. With the Burmecian slashing and hacking through the onslaught, Zidane and Vivi were able to escape inside the cathedral with Quina in tow. Freya came slower, though when the Burmecian gave her a salute her heart went still and she hurried inside the cathedral to join the others.

Once the attack had ended the Burmecian joined the party, Puck, and the king of Burmecia inside the central chamber of the cathedral. Puck proudly gestured to the warrior, a smile on his face. "Fratley," he said proudly. "The finest warrior in all of Burmecia. I found him on my way here, and when I asked where he'd been the poor bastard didn't even recognize me! But when I said the words 'Burmecia' and 'Dragoon,'" Puck tittered, "he hurried here with me as fast as our feet could carry us. Sad to say... He's got a bad case of amnesia. Doesn't remember any of us."

"Pray, Fratley, protect the nation as you have always done!" begged the king of Burmecia.

"My memory may fail me..." began Fratley, "but as a man once called Dragoon I shall fight with every ounce of strength in my body!"

As Fratley left the room Zidane reached out and grabbed Freya by the sleeve. When he tugged and turned to face her he found that her face was drenched with tears. He already knew the reason why: the man she'd sought for years no longer remembered her, or their love for one another. Zidane bit his lip and threw his arms around his friend, though it took several moments for her to return his embrace.

"Don't worry..." Freya gasped.

"Hell yeah I'm gonna worry! You've looked for this guy for five years and now he's got amnesia! What kind of hell are you going through, girl?" croaked Zidane. "You're my friend. Of course I'm going to worry! Don't tell me that you aren't broken..."

"Ha... ha ha... delightful irony... I've searched for him endlessly, heard rumors of his death and refused to believe them. I've fought through forests and scaled mountains, sought him out through every city I could think of... and now he doesn't even remember me! Ha! What a damned joke..." sobbed Freya. She grit her teeth and brushed Zidane's arm away from her, grabbing onto her spear and tapping it to the floor. "I'll be damned if they take Cleyra like they did Burmecia. If it takes my life, then so be it."

Zidane heard a loud shriek and turned to find a bubble float inside the cathedral, swirling about the room until it reached the harp and burst to reveal General Beatrix. The seasoned warrior used her sword to cut the Desert Star from its resting place, snatched it up, and darted outside with Freya and the others in hot pursuit. Finally they cornered her outside, her sword shouldered and her face ashen gray. Beatrix found no pleasure in her mission, knowing that it would end in the genocide of Cleyra and the obliteration of all within.

"Prepare for death!" Freya roared. She emerged from a column of light fully tranced, twirled her spear and charged at Beatrix. The general neatly evaded, parried each of her strokes, and finally struck her in the gut hard enough to knock her out of Trance before leaping inside another bubble that quickly flew away from the city. The blow had knocked the wind out of her, but Freya desperately formulated a plan and vaulted inside the next bubble created by the black mages.

The idea was all Zidane could come up with as well. When the black mages continued to retreat he grabbed Vivi and leapt inside the colored bubbles, and as their bodies dispersed and scattered to the winds Quina shook their head and began to dash down the trunk as fast as s/he could go. High in the sky was the Red Rose, the harbinger of death, as the fat queen Brahne fondled a small black gem and chanted a foul spell. It was over for Cleyra.

Author's Notes

The name of the monster Dagger and her team fight is technically Ralvahuarva. I think, however, that this is a bad mistranslation so I corrected it to make it more reasonable... Ralvalarva makes more sense to me. Originally this chapter was split up into two, one each dealing with Treno and the other with Cleyra. I decided to merge them to make the chapter a bit more meaty... but I don't know how much material I'll have for the next part of the story and the next one might be shorter. Dealing with Fossil Roo is something I've been dreading for quite some time.

Again my depictions of Dagger and Beatrix might be controversial. I've said before, I think, that I don't want to write a robot, and that that's the main reason I changed Beatrix from an emotionless machine into a more tender human being. It's just a whim I guess... Kind of like Tifa, Yuffie, and Aerith in FFVII, I want to create my own characters every now and then. Dagger I think is smart and wily enough that she ought to know exactly what her mother is capable of, even if she doesn't want to admit it. I hope I've tempered it decently enough that while she KNOWS that Brahne has gone mad, she doesn't want to BELIEVE it. Probably didn't portray that right though, and I apologize. I guess back in earlier chapters it was a bit more evident than this one, where she confronts Brahne pretty boldly. It isn't like the depiction is going to change much, but I wanted to make it clear that if I'm upsetting anyone I apologize.

I've been alternating between splitting this up and keeping it as a single chapter for several weeks... and this is the latest iteration. The two chapters split apart aren't terribly long... so as of 5/5/24 this is going to be the final document, minus the reworking I'll be doing to it to tweak it. I've finished up to Chapter 10, the Battle of Alexandria, so I'm making good time. It just depends on how much of a lazy ass I decide to be and if I draw out the work on the project, which is of course well within the realm of possibility. Either way I have another two or three full months worth of FFIX to revise until I need to come up with the chapter itself, so I guess we're more or less good.