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All was still that night when the days of evil ended. The people of Alexandria never thought everything was safe, but only Zidane and I knew there was evil still lurking in the shadows. I am Raenne, one of the soldiers of the Knights of Pluto, known to be the weapon of destruction. I was staring in the sky, looking for any sign of evil. I was at the throne of the beautiful Queen Garnet at my post, when Zidane came running in and spoke to me, “Any sign of evil yet?” I turned to him and said, “I’m afraid there’s none Sir. I know there is, but they’re not showing up.” Zidane crossed his arms and said, “Please stop calling me ‘sir’, and I know they’re here. I wonder why they won’t show up?!”
Garnet stood up from her throne and went over to us to listen what we were saying. “Can you stop it? I mean nothing’s really happening right? We’re all safe. We have the eidolons to protect us, and I assume that nothing greater than the mist could be harmful to us. The mist is forever gone now.” Garnet returned to her seat and Steiner and his big heavy armor came through the door to the throne. “Both of you are dismissed. You may now leave the throne room.” Steiner commanded, “But…” Zidane said, and Steiner pushed us out of the room. “Hmph! Still as stubborn as ever…”Zidane mumbled, and slowly walked away from the door of the throne. I followed him and soon ended at the bottom of the stairs that rolled out from the throne.
“Hey!” Eiko said as she flew in the hallway, “Any good news lately?” Zidane sat on the stairs and thought. Nothing came to him. “I guess not. Zidane better be cooling off for a while. You have been working too hard as well Raenne. Why don’t you go out? To Ruby’s mini-theater perhaps. Vivi’s over there right now having fun.”
“I guess I should. See you two later!” I waved and went on my way to Ruby’s mini-theater. As I was heading down the stairs, there were two people pushing me back out. “Move it!!! She’s gonna yell at us again!” the person who was pushing me yelled, and then I noticed that it was Blank. “Make a run for it Marcus!!!” Blank cried, and he dashed away just before Ruby got sight of him. Marcus was in deep trouble as he heard Ruby’s sermons from far away. “MARCUS!!! Y’all always have to be late! Late!!” Ruby yelled, and Marcus then dashed off as fast as he could away from the mini-theater.
When the stairs to the mini-theater was clear, I went inside. Cinna and Vivi were sitting on the table at the middle of the room, while Ruby was at the corner of the stage still disappointed. I sat on the table where Cinna and Vivi were, and I asked, “Did you notice anything strange today?” Vivi sat up straight and answered, “Nope. You and Zidane should really stop this. There isn’t anything strange happening anyway.” I looked up to him and said, “Maybe you’re right. I should stop it. I’m worrying everybody.” I stood up from my chair while Ruby asked me from a far, “Aren’t you gonna stay here and watch?” I headed slowly towards the stairs and said, “No. I think I’m going to rest. I’ve been thinking too much.”
I went out of the mini-theater, and saw two Alexandrian soldiers running around. “What’s the problem?” I questioned one of them in confusion, “Is there something wrong?” He pointed out to the sky and I saw that it wasn’t clear. It could only mean one thing…the mist.
Without hesitation, I ran as fast as I could to get to the castle. I saw people looking up into the sky. All of them seemed confused and worried. I soon reached the castle in time, and got up to the throne. I saw Zidane, who was looking at the sky. He saw me and shouted, “Raenne, come over here! I knew something was going to happen!” Garnet as well stood up. She wanted to take a look of what was happening. “Zidane? I don’t understand. Why is the mist back?” Garnet worried, and I knew that she would be worried of her kingdom as well. “Dammit!!! There must be something wrong!” Zidane said, “How come the mist is here! Has the Iifa tree been revived or what!?”
Garnet ran out of the throne room. She had been struck with shock. Her kingdom would feel the wrath of evil once again if the mist were here. I knew that evil would always come along with mist. I went and followed Garnet. It seemed that she had gone to her room. And there I found her, sobbing in tears on her bed. “May I come in my Queen?” I humbly asked her, and with a few hand gestures from her, I was able to come in. “Raenne, please sit down beside me.” Garnet asked, and I did. “I have to find out the source of the mist. We have to embark on another journey I guess.” She said, and started singing her song. She opened her window and a gentle wind came in her room. It soon started to become foggy, as if the wind was turning into mist. “Raenne…” Garnet whispered silently, “Help…me…” she fainted and fell on the ground. “SOMEONE!!!! HELP!!!” I cried, and Zidane came in.
“What happened!?” Zidane asked me in a panic, “Dagger…is she okay?” I carried her onto the bed and lied there motionless. “She started singing her song,” I explained, “ and soon the wind was turning into mist or something. And she fainted. I don’t know why.” Eiko came in the room and saw Garnet on the bed. “The queen, is she okay? Maybe I can wake her up.” Eiko walked towards the bed and took her flute out. Her blew at it and said, “Cure!” Eiko cured Garnet in an instant, and she woke up.
Garnet rose up from her bed and asked, “Is everything alright? Why do I feel kinda dizzy?” Eiko said in anxiousness, “You fainted Dagger. I felt sooo worried, I thought I was gonna be alone again or something!!” Garnet patted Eiko on the head and she said, “You know I’ll never leave you, the very last of the summoners. I wouldn’t miss the fun for anything!” Zidane stood up from the bed. He walked around in curiosity and didn’t know what caused all this trouble. And then, he stopped. “Dagger, can you sing your song one more time?” And she started singing. It felt peaceful as I closed my eyes. But when I opened them, mist flowed all over the room. “The mist! That’s it!” Zidane said, “Dagger, your singing makes the mist appear!” Garnet looked up to him and said, “The mist came in earlier than now. It couldn’t be my singing.” Zidane thought again and again, and finally caught up an answer. “Dagger, your voice. It could be the only thing that’s creating the mist. Don’t speak. We need to ask someone who could help us.”
“Why not the black mages. I bet they know how to do something about it, or at least give us information on what this is.” I said, and Zidane helped Garnet stand up. “Alrighty! I’ll set an airship from Lindblum to take us to the black mage village.” Zidane said in a hurry, “I can’t see Gaia in peril once again. Do you think the Iifa tree has been revived? It’s just a hunch.”
“I’m not sure. Let’s just get to the black mage village fast. The queen may not be the only one in danger.” I anxiously said, and I exited the room, while Eiko came along outside with me. “Raenne, do you think Dagger would be alright?” she questioned me, “I think she would be. Come on, let’s go down stairs.” Both of us walked down the stairs. But while we were walking, Eiko asked me, “Raenne, where do you come from?” I stopped to think. No one has ever asked me that question before. So I answered, “Eiko, I really don’t know about that.” Eiko looked confused. She didn’t know what I meant. She stopped walking, while I walked some more. I was troubled by her question since I really didn’t know where I was from.
I ended up at the library. I sat down and looked up at all the books. “Hey Raenne!” it was Freya who said that from the other side of the library, “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the throne room at your post?” Freya went and sat beside me. I looked at her in depression and said, “The queen has been worrying about the kingdom after her little accident a while ago, now I…” I felt that I didn’t want to tell her about what Eiko asked me and what it troubles me. So I stood up and turned away. “Raenne, you better rest now. There’s a new day ahead of us.”
“I shall. See you tomorrow Lady Freya.” I said, and I went to my room. It was quite big, with a bed at the corner, a window that showed me Alexandria, and a small table next to a cupboard. I lied down on my bed and fell asleep.
* * *
Next morning, I felt brand new. And I knew there was something more than the journey were expecting…
“Good morning Raenne.” An Alexandrian soldier said, as he came in and woke me up. “Oh! Is the queen alright?” I asked the brave soldier, and before he closed the door, he answered, “Yes she is. Zidane and the others are waiting outside of Alexandria. You can head there right away.” I stood up from my bed and opened the window wide. I felt the breeze of the wind come through the window. “Everything feels so normal than yesterday. I wonder what happened.” I quickly went out of my room, and headed into town.
As I looked at the townspeople, they all seemed so calm. I guess they had to accept that the mist was back and no one could ever change it. But I think they’re wrong. We had to change it some how. As I came closer to the exit, an Alexandrian soldier walked beside me and said, “You’ll need a boat to reach the airship. I’ll be stirring the boat to the other side.” I got on the boat and when I looked up into the sky, I saw a phoenix fly by. I rubbed my eyes, and then it was gone. Must’ve been my imagination.
“Raenne!” Zidane called on me as I was getting closer to the airship, “Did you have a good night rest?” I soon got off the boat and queried, “Yes I did.” I observed the airship a lot and started to look at it even closer. “What airship is this?” I questioned Zidane, and as Zidane was helping me up the airship, he answered, “It’s the Hilda Garde 4. Can you believe that this is the latest model? It looks as good as the Invincible!” I ignored him for a while and soon got on the airship. I went on the bridge, and saw Garnet at the side. And in the middle, I saw the very great Regent Cid of Lindblum. “Good to see you again Raenne.” Regent Cid greeted me, “Good to see you regent!” I greeted him back, and then a woman came out from the back.
It was General Beatrix. “Hello Raenne,” She said and drew her ‘save the queen’ nearly touching my face, “Been waiting to challenge you again. But we could do this later.” Beatrix drew her sword back and smiled. I looked at the surroundings of the mist continent. It was so misty that I could barely see Alexandria as we moved farther. I saw a clear path in the mist, and so I decided to follow it.
“Hmm… what’s wrong? The airship won’t move.” Zidane said, and as I heard him, I went to check the engine. “I’m absolutely correct. This engine’s working fine.” One of the crewmembers that were looking after the engine said, and I began to think. No answer came to me.
“Everybody!! Look!” Vivi shouted, and I went as fast as I could to the rear of the airship. Vivi was there holding the rails of the airship, staring down into the ocean below. I approached Vivi slowly, and saw the ocean creating a frightening shape. Zidane, Garnet and Beatrix came here all of a sudden and saw it themselves.
The ocean waves formed into a giant hand reaching high up to grab the airship in thin air. The airship began to shake, and I felt that we were in great danger. Vivi stepped forward with his mage staff and concentrated. “Thundaga!” Vivi cried out, and shocked the water hoping it would calm down. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Garnet closed her eyes and went into a trance. “I shall try.” Garnet said as she put her hands together, “Leviathan!” the great god of the sea was unleashed into the waters. Leviathan created a tsunami, which made the hand disappear.
The airship was able to move again. “Whew!” Zidane said in relief, “That was close.” I calmed down myself, but in a few moments, a whirlpool appeared in the ocean and the airship was being sucked into it. The airship itself bounced and trembled. Garnet was thrown over board, but I caught her hand before she was sucked in. “Raenne,” Garnet said in fright, “Please hold me.”
Her hand was slipping and then she let go. “Nooo!!! Garnet!” I cried out, and then I jumped off the airship to save her. “Raenne!” Zidane yelled, and looked down in despair. He wasn’t able to follow us. Garnet was sucked into the whirlpool of water. I splashed right in the water, but I had a weird feeling that I wasn’t wet at all. In fact, I could breathe underwater! I swam deeper underwater, and saw Garnet reaching for my hand. She took my hand, and held it. Garnet and I sank deep into the ocean and soon we were falling asleep.
* * *
I woke up on a bed, but felt like I was in a crystal cave. The room I was in was sparkling like clear crystal. The room was small, but Garnet wasn’t with me. There was no doors or windows in the room. I had no idea at all why I was here. I saw a world map on the wall. I looked at it and saw an arrow pointing at the middle on the map. I think it meant that this place was in the center of all continents. I must be in some underwater cavern. I wanted to escape by banging hard on the walls. But it seems that I couldn’t. The last thing I could do is cry for help.
“Help!! Anybody here!” I shouted out in desperation, but then I heard Garnet’s voice. “Raenne? Is that you?” she said, but I didn’t know where her voice was coming from. I felt the ground move, and the floor was getting lower from the ceiling. It acted as one sort of an elevator. I got to the bottom, where the sort of elevator, stopped. There was a hallway in front of me. I walked through the hallway, and found Garnet in the middle of it. “Do you know where we are?” Garnet questioned me, and then I answered, “It seems that were in the middle of Gaia underwater. We might find the answer to all this if we walk past this hallway.”
So we walked together past this hallway, and got to the end of it. Everything was still crystal surrounding us. We entered a room at the end of the hallway, and saw a few crystal clear chairs around the edges of the room. In the middle of the room was a girl with her back facing us. She had long black hair alike to Garnet. She faced us and I was shocked to see something so mysterious.
The girl looked like exact copy of Garnet. Garnet was shocked herself. She had the same face and look. But I had a weird feeling that something’s wrong with this girl. The girl said to us in a guilty kind of smile, “Hello Garnet. I am Sarah of the Summoning tribe of Madain sari. I’ve been waiting for you.”
~Dragon-angel37
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Author’s notes: Well, here it is! Chapter 2! Anyway, I’ll try to make chapter 3 right away. I wonder what should happen? Please leave a review.