Dissidia Final Fantasy: Unus Mundus

Chapter Nine ~ The Unus Mundus Paradox (Dagger)

The skies were cloudy that evening, yet they were clear enough for Dagger to see the two moons. The red glow had returned to the planet of Terra, their second moon. "Ever since Vivi and Eiko disappeared..." she murmured to herself. "It's returned." Dagger paced around her room in Alexandria Castle. It took a lot of convincing, but she eventually told everyone that she just wanted a moment alone. She looked outside her window and saw the ocean. It seemed to be closer than it used to, and it frightened her. Parts of the land itself were disappearing entirely. "Will Alexandria be next...?" she asked herself.

There was a quick knock on the door, followed by the sound of a familiar voice. "Princess? Lady Freya has arrived."

"Thanks, Steiner." Dagger walked towards her door and promptly opened it, though she was immediately thrown off upon seeing so many people waiting for her. They were all friends of hers—Zidane, Steiner, Blank, Marcus, Cinna, and Freya, and they were right in front of her door. Freya stepped forward and knelt down with her arm across her chest.

"My apologies for intruding," she said before standing back up. "Zidane sent me a letter about Vivi and Eiko, and I had to come. Are they...?"

"They've gone missing as well," said Dagger. "I can only pray that they're okay..."

"They're tough kids," Zidane chimed in. "You're well aware of what they can do. Wherever they are, I'm more than sure that they're just fine." He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall. "I can't help but worry, though... all these disappearances started occurring once the moon started glowing red again. You don't think we're in for another battle like last time, do you?"

"I certainly hope not..." Dagger looked around at everyone. "Steiner, could you see if Doctor Tot is still in the library?"

"Of course." Steiner saluted Dagger and hurried off, the sound of his armor clanking together echoing through the halls of the castle. Marcus and Cinna couldn't help but snicker a little bit. As Steiner turned the corner, a woman with long, brown hair and a bandage around one of her eyes watched him with a bit of a smirk. Her name was Beatrix. She walked towards the gathering and looked up at Dagger.

"Any idea as to what's going on?" she asked, but Dagger only replied by shaking her head.

"I just sent Steiner to see if Doctor Tot wasn't among the people who disappeared," she said. "He knows a lot about the world, so I'm hoping he could shed a bit of light on our situation here, maybe find out where Vivi and Eiko went."

"I see..." Beatrix turned around and looked at the ground. "They're gone too?"

"A lot of people have been disappearing," said Blank. "Even our boss and Ruby disappeared overnight."

"I miss Ruby..." Cinna sighed, almost in a dreamlike state.

"Is that why you three came here?" Dagger asked, looking at the three men.

"Well, truthfully, we wanted to see our old friend," Marcus said, throwing an arm around Zidane's shoulders. "But I suppose figuring out why everyone's disappearing is pretty important too."

Dagger looked around at everyone, realizing that they had all traveled from such far distances to gather in Alexandria. "What about Uncle Cid?" she asked Blank. "He's in Lindblum with you guys... is he okay?"

"Ah, I couldn't say for sure." Blank crossed his arms and shook his head. "You think the regent would bother talking to us?"

"He's turned down my invitation for drinks multiple times," Cinna said, deciding it was somehow relevant to the topic at hand. "He wouldn't even give us the time of day!"