Demyx hurried through the familiar landscape, not pausing to take a breath, with an ominous crack sounding from his ribs every time he moved. And then his foot caught in a tree root and he tumbled down the grassy slope he was on. Lying in a ditch, Demyx cursed silently, no energy left to get up. His breath came out in shallow, short pants, and eventually his vision blurred into one blank, black square.
Pearl looked down the hill at the figure lying at the bottom, enveloped in a black cloak, his chest rising and falling unsteadily, and laughed to herself. She used one hand to flick her shoulder length brown hair away from her face, and the other rested on a duel pistol at her hip. She drew the pistol and flew down the hill, a pink plait streaming behind her as she leapt into the air and landed next to Demyx smoothly. “Topaz. It’s abut time I met you.”
Demyx suddenly became aware that the stinging feeling in his ribs was back, and so assumed that he was awake again. He tried to scratch his head with his right hand, but it was tightly secured to his left behind his back. Opening one eye, he scanned the surrounding area to see it was night time. A fire crackled nearby, and a figure sat near it, shining a silver gun. Demyx could feel rope binding his hands together, and looked down at his feet to see a thick rope around his ankles, too. He grunted unintentionally, and the figure by the fire cocked her head.
Pearl stood up, drumming her fingers on the barrel of her pistol. “You’re awake,” she laughed at Demyx. “It’s about time, too. I was getting bored. It’s nice to finally meet you properly, though, Topaz. I am Pearl.” Demyx gasped inwardly. This was the legendary Pearl, the Emperor’s new plaything, supposedly the most evil woman ever to live? And she was standing right in front of him, holding a pistol and talking to him calmly. “Hey!” came a sharp voice from behind Pearl. “Hey Pearl! Leave him alone! Just leave him! I’ll take him back, but He wants you right now!” Pearl cursed, and whipped around to face Garnet.
Garnet was clutching at straws. If Pearl didn’t believe her, she’d be in trouble, and Demyx would be, too. If Pearl DID believe her, she’d go to The Emperor and find him not wanting her at all, and she’d come and find her. Though, Garnet being a white mage, it was difficult to truly harm her. She’d be safe. Demyx wouldn’t. Pearl had a look of complete rage in her eyes. She kicked the ground hard, scattering twigs and pebbles everywhere (as if they were in order, anyway) and ran off, her short skirt flying in the wind. Demyx just sat there, a look of shock clear on his face. “I never knew… Who would’ve thought…” He gazed up at Garnet, who was busy trailing off several Cure spells. “I never would’ve believed that… that Pearl was… Yuna…”
Zidane ran, ran without looking, bashing into several passers-by as he did so. He stopped after several minutes of random running. Looked up. “Alice’s Herbs and Healing Supplies”. He walked in. Alice looked up at him. Smiled. “Well done, Zidane. I can trust you indeed.” Zidane was too confused. He didn’t even question what she was saying, just drank it all in slowly as the turmoil within him burnt itself out. “I knew I could trust you. That was harsh of me, setting up that scene, but the fact you’re here know is testament to the fact that you didn’t open the package. If you did, you’d be in the Palace Medic room, with third-degree burns over your face.” Zidane looked at her quizzically. “The parcel was a fake, Zidane. THIS is what you came for, and due to the rarity of Ginseng, I had to know I could trust you. The sprig is free, Zidane. I know why you need it. Take it, before I change my mind.”
Pearl dashed through the forest until she came to a small clearing. Seeing no-one around, she hitched her skirt up slightly and removed a small metal device from beneath a fold within it. She placed the device on the grass, pushing a blue button on the side. The device sprang open, revealing four more buttons. She pushed them all: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue. Spring! Eight Buttons. Purple, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Green, Red, Black, Blue. A light shone from the centre of the object, and within the light a throne seemed to appear. The man sitting on the throne was cast in shadow, but Pearl could tell from his posture he was not happy to hear from her so soon. “My lord. I received a... messenger, saying that you requested my presence?”
Demyx felt a lot better. Garnet had healed him well, but it had taken a lot of energy, and he still wasn’t back to his best yet. They knew they had to rest, but they also needed to get away from that spot so that Pearl couldn’t catch them up quickly. “So what do we do then?” Demyx breathed nervously. Garnet was scanning the horizon and so didn’t answer immediately. “…Well, I would suggest that we find somewhere nearby to hide away until we feel ourselves again.” Demyx nodded slightly. “But where is that ‘somewhere’?” Every word cost him more energy.
Garnet’s shoulders slumped for a minute, but she composed herself quickly. “I shall scout around quickly, and report back as soon as possible. Stay here, do not move, I will be back as soon as possible.” Demyx didn’t want her to go; he felt powerless on his own – what if Pearl was to come back? But he didn’t have enough breath left in him to protest. Besides, Garnet had already strode away. She had an air of permanent control around her, and was clearly used to getting her own way.
Zidane held out his hand shakily for the sprig of Ginseng and his fingers closed gently around its stalk. It seemed fragile, but he slipped it into his pocket anyway, thanking Alice profusely. He would be angry at her trick later; now he had to go and save Cid. As he ran out of Alice’s shop, he barged into Rikku, but didn’t stop to apologise. “Like, owwie!” Rikku yelled, but Zidane kept sprinting. He ran through the castle, ignoring the hollers of guards, and burst into the King’s room.
“Here, Cid, I got the plant! I got it! Everything’s okay!” Zidane shouted. Then his eyes alighted on Cid. His skin was grey and papery, and as Zidane walked to his bedside, Cid coughed. His whole body shook, and his breath was wheezier than before. “Oh…I hope this works,” Zidane murmured as he thrust the plant into Cid’s slack jaw, helping him to chew it.
The Emperor was not pleased. Not by a long shot. Pearl was being… irritating, to say the least. He had sent her on a simple errand, find Topaz, remind him of the importance of his task by any means necessary and leave. Now she tele-messages him asking what HE wanted? He hadn’t asked her to dawdle! “Pearl. What on earth are you talking about? I did not send for you. I simply asked you to report back once you have reminded Topaz of his mission.” Pearl was taken aback. She stepped back slightly in her image, and her jaw dropped. “But I was informed that-” He cut her short. “I don’t care who informed you or what you were informed of. You are to do the task set to you and report back. Now go, before I take away your newly-acquired status.”
Garnet returned to the campsite. Demyx was lying on a short log, breathing deeply. His pain was returning, the wounds were internal as well as external. She sat down. “Demyx, I’ve found a place we can hide. It’s a small cave just on the edge of the forest. We should be careful though, I was abducted by plants in this forest once… if you see any shadows, dive out of the way. If you hear anything that sounds like tree rustling, dive out of the way. There’s no breeze here, ever. And most importantly, if you see any creatures with orange heads that walk on pincer, you have to-“ BANG! Garnet cried in pain. Blood leaked from a hole in her foot. Pearl jumped out from the shadows. “You… You’ll pay for making me lose His trust!”
Demyx looked up at Pearl, the terror clear on his face. Her rage had transformed her. Her eyes were points of fire in her pale face, and every muscle in her body was tense. Garnet was crouched on the floor gripping her bleeding foot and whispering ‘Curaga’ repeatedly. Eventually the bleeding slowed, and she rose again. Yuna pointed her pistol at Garnet, but she stood there defiantly. “Go on then. Shoot me. Do it! Come on, shoot me – what are you waiting for?” she cried. Yuna was clearly thrown; and looked away for a minute.
Garnet seized her chance. Tugging Demyx up by the arm, she launched herself into a sprint through the thick trees. Every so often her eyes would dart backwards, but she couldn’t see Yuna. She tore through the forest, oblivious to the Demyx’s grunts behind her. Demyx struggled to keep up, but he focused more on fighting to breathe. As a result, he was bashed into logs and trees and roots, and was being practically dragged through the forest by Garnet.
Back in the clearing, Pearl shot into the sky. A black crow fell to the floor in front of her with a soft thump, and she smiled a little. She would find Topaz and Garnet, and erase them. And then she would work on gaining His trust back. Everything would be fine; how could it not be with a shot like that? She strode through the trees in the direction Topaz and Garnet had taken, making no effort to rush. They would tire, and when they did…Pearl felt shivers of excitement when she considered all the ways she could hurt them…
Of course, Pearl hadn’t always been ruthless and vile. She’d had a mother, and a father, and a home… and then Sin came. Sin killed her mother, and her father fought to vanquish it. He succeeded. Ten years later, Sin returned, and Pearl (Though she was known as Yuna back then) began her own journey to vanquish Sin. She also succeeded, for good, Sin was gone forever. However, the victory was bittersweet; she lost her love while doing so. Over the next two years, she honed her skills, until they were needed again. She defeated another foe, Shuyin, and saved the world once more. But that’s when things started going wrong. Rikku left her, to seek a fortune of her own. Paine, her newest friend, decided to live a secluded life in the country. Yuna was left on her own. Nothing was as fun anymore. One day, she accidentally shot a young bird whilst doing target practise: The poor thing flew in front of the target just at the wrong time. And… she smiled. She didn’t know why. Maybe she’d gotten tired of everybody leaving her… so she shot another, this one on purpose. Another death. Another smile.
She followed Garnet and Demyx, her huntress’ intuition leading her to their tracks in seconds. She picked up the pace slightly. A gentle stroll would do the trick. Her Master had supplied her with magical ammo: any she used would be replaced straight back into her guns. Bang! She shot a nearby tree. Crash! A branch snapped with the force of a bullet. A bird cried out with its last breath. Run, Run, Run, as fast as you can. The chase is on.
Zidane had stayed by Cid’s bedside as he chewed the stringy plant slowly. It was agonising; watching him chew and chew and chew. And finally he swallowed. Cid took a deep, shuddering breath, and his body fell limp. Zidane’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the old man lying there, motionlessly. “No…wake up! I got the plant, you have to wake up!” he cried, shaking the king by his shoulders before he collapsed to the floor in a heap. He felt so guilty; if only he had gotten the stupid plant faster, the king would still be alive, and…
“What’s the matter Zidane?” Zidane’s head jerked up in shock at the sound of the familiar voice. “No, it can’t be…Freya?” he said quietly. He turned around slowly to look at the woman standing in front of him, with green eyes, the traditional garb of a dragon knight, and a long, grey tail. “Did you forget about good old items when all else fails?” Her voice was calm, but her eyes betrayed her true emotion. The rat person from Burmecia stopped herself from crying; it had been so long since she had seen her best friend.
“I was actually sent to escort you out of the building. It seems you caused somewhat of a disturbance, Zidane. And a young girl by the name of Rikku is searching for you. When she bumped into me – quite literally – she said something along the lines of, “He is, like, so totally mean! He whammed right into me and just, like, kept on running or whatever; he didn’t even say sorry or something!” She seemed rather upset with you.” Freya said all this whilst taking a small bottle of a green fluid out of her pocket. She unstoppered it and tipped the precious liquid into the open mouth of the King. Eventually, his breathing returned, and Zidane fell into Freya’s coat.
Freya stood with Zidane by the now peacefully sleeping King, chewing on the words she so wanted to say. She had missed Zidane so much, and now seeing him again made her absolutely certain of something; she was in love with him. But she knew it was one-sided – Zidane was in love with Princess Garnet, after all. Freya knew, deep in her heart, that she and Zidane could never be together, and so she had to leave him as soon as possible. She rationalised her feelings this way, and finally pushed Zidane back gently.
“I have to go now, Zidane. Let’s meet again soon, okay? I’ll let the other guards know that you meant no harm, but I would suggest that you apologise on the way out.” Zidane shook his head; she couldn’t leave so soon! “No, wait – Freya, hang on a minute! Don’t leave, come with us! Join the Signo Squad, please?” Freya lingered by the doorway and looked back sadly. “I would love to, Zidane. But I can not. There is something I must do. Now, I beg your leave.” As Freya left Lindblum Castle, the hope in her heart flickered and eventually died.
