paixaorpg | The Queen's Arrival [Active]

Entry tags:

The Queen's Arrival [Active]

Character(s): Garnet, Open!
Content: Garnet arrives in Paixao.
Setting: Around/Near Joutenheim Gate
Time: Evening, Week 26
Warnings: None.

When she first opened her eyes, Garnet was surprised to see stars shining overhead. She clearly remembered it being daytime last she checked, and she hadn't been laying outside on the grass either. With a confused hum, she pushed herself up from the ground and looked around, taking in the area around her and the vast castle that loomed before her. It most certainly wasn't her castle, that was definite.

Garnet's eyebrows furrowed as she got to her feet and brushed off her skirts, though they weren't exactly dirty at all. How in the world had she gotten to this place? And where were her friends? Her subjects? She could see a line of people forming at the gate just a ways away from her, and what appeared to be guards ushering them inside one at a time. This was far from strange, her journey had taken her over most of Gaia and never had she seen a structure like this one. The decoration of the giants over the gate reminded her of Eidolons, but not ones she had ever used. Regardless, there were people to ask, and she could figure things out from there. If this was some sort of a kidnapping attempt, it certainly wasn't a very good one.

Picking up her skirts, Garnet walked to the gates, and despite her status, waited her turn in line. As she finally approached a guard, she opened her mouth to speak, "Pardon me...?"

The guard cut her off, asking for her name, and after she gave it he welcomed her to 'Paixao'. He handed her something, calling it a journal, and ushered her inside like all the rest. She only just managed to keep her bearings, and once inside and able to stand still, she opened up the device and flipped it over and over, wondering what to do with it. Finally taking her eyes off the journal, her eyes widened at the ornate layout of the city she had just been welcomed into.

"Oh my..." Even without knowing where she was, she could certainly say this area was quite lovely.

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The fog (http://community.livejournal.com/paixaoooc/814594.html) hadn't yet hold much of an effect over Zidane; he was still pretty confident in the people he had met, the people he was slowly remembering, and Paixao as a whole. Not that he as a person knew anything about the abnormal weather, only as much as most others: it came every night, and dissipated by day. Why it was able to appear in a domed city was strange enough, but Zidane chalked it up to magic.

Magic was often a good explanation, after all.

So amidst his nightly stroll, he doesn't know what to do when his eyes catch sight of the familiar figure. The same one who he's longed to get home to. He does a double - no, a triple take - before it really begun to sink in.

Dagger. It's Dagger. But how - it doesn't make sense (Paixao never makes sense) - it's felt like it's been so long, what with Cosmos, Chaos, everything. And now... now...

Was she real?

Zidane choked down the uncertainty. Real or not, he couldn't just brush her aside and keep walking. His joy battled his nerves, and finally Zidane, bubbling with excitement, rushed quickly for her. "Dagger! Hey! Dagger!"

Not that he gives her much of a chance of... anything. He has his arms around her, scooping her into the air and swinging her around in a circle.

In the year since her journey's end, Garnet had not been addressed as Dagger by a lot of people. She got letters from her friends with that name in the greeting, but all of her subjects and servants called her 'Your Majesty' or some other derivative. So when her nickname was called out, she only barely had time to react to that familiar voice before a pair of arms were picking her up and lifting her into the air. She only barely managed to keep from dropping her journal.

"Zidane!?" her voice was high, in both shock and in excitement. Of course, he had only just come back to her before she arrived here, but she had had the worst feeling that upon waking up here she wouldn't be able to find him. But now here he was, holding onto her.

As her feet touched the floor again after being circled in the air, Garnet blinked and took just a moment to look at his face. The look of relief in her eyes spoke volumes as she flung her arms around his neck.

"You're here!"

His smile was as wide as his face could allow. "'course I am. You can't get rid of me that easily." He winked at her and settled his hands up on her shoulders. "Although..." his gaze shifted to look around them, "I've been here about a week now, I guess. Heh, this city's kind of funny like that."

But it gave him Dagger, so he can't complain. Sure it was probably better that she was home in Alexandria, not trapped in Paixao. Still... they weren't alone, at least?

"I'm so glad to see you again, Dagger."

Garnet pulled back enough to see him again, but her hands were still on his chest. Tilting her head a bit in confusion, she glanced up at the ceiling and then back to him. "A week....? But I just saw you." Just before she arrived actually, so how was that possible. Had she been asleep for so long?

"I am glad to see you too.... I was afraid you had disappeared on me again. I didn't think I could wait for you any more than I did." The very moment she had woken up and found him not there, her heart had dropped.

But now that left the question of where exactly 'Paixao' was, and how she had arrived here.

One of his hands leaves her shoulders to rub at the back of his head. "Yeah... this city's pretty crazy like that. Not only does it seem to draw people from other worlds, it also doesn't have the best concept of time when it does so."

But he's glad, in a way, that she just saw him. It could have meant that in his dealings with Cosmos, time may have gone by with a similarity to Paixao.

"Even after you're here awhile, it probably won't make any more sense." Unfortunately. The people like Timon and Laharl could attest to that.

"Other worlds? So this is not Gaia at all..." The possibility wasn't completely out there for her, considering how they had all traveled to Terra, but she had never expected to do something like that again. For a moment, Garnet pursed her lips in thought, at least now she knew there wasn't some other castle lurking around on their planet she didn't know about. And the whole concept of time was baffling, but she could handle it.

A small smile graced her face then. Zidane, flippant as always. At least it put her at ease even in this foreign place. "I suppose there are always things that can't be fully figured out."

"Though it does leave me to wonder why we're here at all..." If there even was a reason.

"Nope. Probably best it isn't Gaia - I wouldn't want this place here." Too many unsolved problems and troubles. Not to mention the Organization ruling over them from the shadows - the outsiders here had been trying to deal with them for a long time now, and where have they gotten? Nowhere, as far as he could tell.

No, that wasn't true. There was this Castle Oblivion nonsense, which he was still trying to wrap his own head around; he wasn't about to dump it on Dagger right now.

"I'm really not sure if there is a reason. We just end up here and we're stuck." Oops, he meant to add that tidbit with a bit more thought. Ah well, too late now. "But there's hope bubbling through the air."

"Stuck?" It was best to give it to her straight rather than dance around, but it didn't stop the horrified look on her face at the thought. She had her kingdom and her subjects to worry about... she couldn't just up and wander away like she had before. She clutched her hands lightly over her chest. "Hope? How so?"

Of course it was important to keep that light alive. If they gave up nothing would ever get done. She had learned that from him, actually.

He cringes. Well, better to get over with that first, right? No sense saving it. "No one has found a way home in a long time. People just keep arriving and end up... stuck." He gives a bit of a hopeless shrug. His mind flickers back to Timon and Laharl, and he doesn't want to know just how long they've been here. Zidane at least left, somehow, at one point. Not that he could explain it.

"But!" Yes, there was that treasured "but", and excitement gleams in Zidane's eyes. "See, apparently this whole place - and others - are stuffed into a castle, and there's this rumor going around that if we make it to the top..." He spins cheerfully around her. "We can go home."

Garnet pursed her lips still, her expression showing that she had no love for the idea of being 'stuck' anywhere. But she would have to get used to it, apparently, since she was sure Zidane was not playing a trick on her, considering the sincerity with which he spoke. She let out a small sigh, and lowered her hands to her sides.

"How could all this," she fanned her hands out, "fit into a castle?" Alexandria had a humongous castle and the city would never fit inside of it. "How would we get to the top then?"

"Beats me." He scratches at the back of his head. "I'm just going to rule it out as magic." As in, he just plain doesn't understand it, just like he couldn't figure out how to cast a spell to save his life. "I haven't gotten to look around, but..." He turns to look towards the Joutenheim Gate thoughtfully. "Outside the city are these fields, and there's a church that apparently has a stairwell to the next floor." He grins back at her. "And now I've got the perfect adventuring companion."

Though maybe he shouldn't dive in quite so quickly, after all, he's barely settled in himself. "But it's late. I've been living out of a hotel room not far from here. We should get you settled."

It seemed like the easiest explanation to chalk it up to for now, and honestly, as curious as Garnet was she wasn't going to sit and ponder the layout of this city heavily at the moment. Zidane was right, it was late, and even though she had only just woken up here a little while ago, she couldn't say she didn't want to sit down and rest for a moment. Though at his comment about adventuring, she felt herself smile widely. There was nothing she'd like more than to go exploring with him again at some point.

"Would you like to lead the way then? I wouldn't mind finding a place to sit for a little while." She gathered her skirts in her hands, and tilted her head as she thought, "But what about money?" She was not carrying any gil on her at the moment.

Zidane digs into a pocket and pulls out a handful of silvery leaves. "The natives here are kind of weird. As long as it's shiny, they're take it. No need for gil!" Or at least, he's saving his gil until he needs it for something important.

He offers her his arm. He can make a proper escort, mm?

"That's... an odd way of treating currency. At least it works to our advantage though." From the looks of this place, there was plenty around that qualified as shiny. Of course, that also included her jewelry and her tiara, but she would much rather trade in the shiny foliage over her royal jewels if she could help it. Garnet adjusted her crown, and then stepped forward to slip one if her arms around his.

"Such a gentlemen," she teased with a soft smile. It was something she couldn't help. Even in this place, his presence put her more at ease.

"For you, of course," he tilts a smile her way. He never will quite get the currency. It made stealing things rather hard, because there nothing that was really worth a pretty penny here - the only people that had other cash were the outsiders. Sheesh. Paixao really was weird.

After a few minutes of walking, pointing out certain landmarks, trying to explain the oddity that was the journal, his joyfulness dips down into a frown as he looks at her. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting in Alexandria?" He'd been kind of stuck helping Cosmos, but he didn't know if that made any difference for her. Time, Paixao, heck... Cosmos is a goddess, she could probably put everything back together all neat and tidily for all he knew.

Edited 2010-12-17 00:51 (UTC)

During all of Zidane's explanations, Garnet listened intently, and inserted questions in where she needed. It was truly a fascinating place, and she wanted to know just about as much about it as she could. Now if there was a library, and she could find it, she would be very content. She would file that away to ask later on.

She tilted her head up to look at him then, looking a bit confused. "Hm? Zidane, you were gone for a year. Of course I waited..." She couldn't imagine not doing so, even when at times it seemed hopeless. "But you came home, and that made the whole time worth it." Though she had to wonder why it took so long, and several scenarios had run through her head. That he may have been injured badly and needed time to recover.

That thought had left her awake many nights.

He nods, understanding. "So you're from my past then, huh," he says, more to himself, and then realizes she didn't have a clue what he was going on about and chuckles a little nervously. But his smile is back.

"I'll always come home, Dagger," he promises. "Always."

"Your... past?" Garnet's eyes widened with curiosity. "What do you mean?" If that was truly possible, then what had happened between the time that he had come back to Alexandria and whatever he remembered? Had he left again? And if so, where had he gone? The grip of her hands around his arm became a little tighter at that thought.

"I know you will. I believe in you." She didn't even have to add the emphasis that she did so with all her heart. He should already know that.

"Ah... I got yanked from Gaia to help a goddess named Cosmos fight against a god named Chaos. And I thought I was finally able to return home, but I ended up here instead..." Maybe Paixao was where he was supposed to be, for some reason or other. At least Dagger was here; he was more than grateful for that. And maybe that was why he made it to Paixao?

Thoughtfully, he reaches into the pouch where his crystal was kept safe and pulls it out. "I guess there's still work to be done. Well!" He winks. "At least I have you, this time."

"It sounds... like a very important battle. You were careful, right?" He was all in one piece, really, but she didn't like the idea of him having to fly once more into battle. Some part of her was not surprised for his selection in such a fight, considering his strength and resolve. At least he had been coming home before he arrived here.

The glint of the crystal catches her eye, making her stare. "That is quite beautiful." Crystals held significance in Gaia, it wasn't out there to think they did in other worlds as well. "If there is work to do, I'm here to help."

He nods at her reassuringly. "Careful as always!" Which... okay, maybe that wasn't too reassuring, but at least he wasn't worse than normal? That was something, right?

"Best treasure in this place, I bet. Well, second to you, that is." He puts the crystal away again. "I've been meaning to explore sometime, but I've been relearning the city. Now with a healer at my side, we'll solve this mystery in no time flat and get back home!"

In theory.

"Good, I am glad to hear that." She would believe him for now, though she was fully aware that he might be less cautious than she would have liked. It was okay, as long as he didn't end up too badly hurt.

Zidane was such a smooth talker. Even though Garnet was able to keep from getting to giddy from his compliments, she did appreciate them all the same. She rested her cheek lightly on his shoulder for a moment, as a small thank you for the treasure comment. "You have such faith, I can't help but believe you."

When she finished speaking, she gave a small yawn of exhaustion. It really had been a very exciting day. Rubbing one of her eyes gently, she smiled sheepishly. "Ah, forgive me."

He smiles at her yawn. "Don't worry, we're almost there, and you'll be able to sleep off the excitement." Although it was probably more surprise for her and exciting - maybe shocked - for him. "I'll give you the city's lowdown when you wake up, sound good?"

Zidane releases her and takes a few quick steps ahead of them towards a building, then gracefully dips into a bow, pointing its way. "Your castle, my queen," he says playfully.

"Yes, that does sound like a good idea. I will pay far better attention if I get some sleep first." There would more than enough to take it once he gave her a tour of the area.

Garnet can't help but laugh softly at that. Any time he played the gentlemen to her, it made her smile. It was really very much a part of his charm. Giving a small curtsy in return, she walks demurely up to the door. "Why thank you, good sir."

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The Queen's Arrival [Active]

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