11 Assurance

Following the discussion with Cid, Andrew was relieved to be allowed to retire for the day, feeling as though a tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Unfortunately, what followed caused him to feel even more pressure, as, rather than residing in a separate room, he was tasked to stay on the base level of Lindblum's two-tier guest bedroom, one level below where Garnet was staying...

Leaning over the railing of the second level, right above Andrew's bed, Garnet, providing him a tantalizing view from below, tentatively asked, "Hey, Andrew...if you're not too tired, can we talk?"

"Want me to come up there...?" droned Andrew, reluctant to rise from his remarkably comfortable bed. Compared to the ones in Tanalus's hideout, formed from straw and wood, it may as well have been a cloud.

"I could come down there..." proposed Garnet, prompting Andrew to rise. However, instead of walking around and climbing the stairs to the second level, he leaped the four or so meters separating the floor he was on and the railing Garnet was leaning over. His actions startled the raven-haired Princess, but she quickly recovered, smiling as she stated, "You're quite nimble."

"It's thanks to my tail," explained Andrew, curling his tail into an S-shape and waving with the tip. He was still getting used to it, but after a month of practice, it had basically become an extra, albeit clumsy, hand.

Catching Andrew a little off guard, Garnet swallowed nervously before asking, "May I...touch it?"

"If you want..." replied Andrew, butterflies feeling his stomach as he just went with the flow of things. Most of his memories from his past life had actually disappeared, so he genuinely couldn't remember the last time he interacted with a girl so...innocently? He wasn't sure how else to describe it...

Grabbing Andrew's tail, Garnet blinked in surprise, remarking, "It's softer than I was expecting..."

"Yeah, I try to wash it every day. If I don't, it gets bristly and starts to itch..." explained Andrew, his voice low as he observed Garnet's actions, doing his best not to allow his eyes to wander to the exposed skin above her blouse. She didn't have much in the way of cleavage, but just glancing at her collarbones felt amoral...

Squeezing Andrew's tail, Garnet looked up to meet his gaze as she asked, "Does it hurt when I squeeze it...?"

'Why does this line of questioning feel so dirty?' pondered Andrew, even as he outwardly replied, "Not really. I can dangle from it, and if I have a counterbalance, it can lift around 200kgs..."

Raising her brows, Garnet muttered, "That's impressive..." while giving his tail a stronger squeeze, discovering that the interior was flexible but like a steel cable.

"How mysterious..." whispered Garnet, following the line of Andrew's tail to where it fed through his pants. She quickly looked away, but as her gaze naturally met with Andrew's, the tips of her ears became red as she released his tail, turned around, walked a few steps away, and suddenly asked, "Can I trust you, Andrew...?" while facing away from him with her hands linked above her perky, round, incredibly eye-catching butt.

Tearing his gaze from the tantalizing sight, Andrew replied, "Of course," in a firm, unyielding tone, adding, "Even if I weren't your Knight. But, since I am, I would follow to the depths of Hades if you had a good reason to be there."

"And if I didn't...?" asked Garnet, half-turning to stare back at Andrew with visibly reddened cheeks.

"Then I would toss you over my shoulder and run in the opposite direction until you came to your senses," replied Andrew, doing his best to maintain a serious expression despite getting goosebumps from his own words.

Adopting a faint smile, Garnet turned away, not surprising Andrew when she proclaimed, "I want to stop Kuja and save my mother, but I doubt my Uncle would permit me to leave the castle. As such, we shall sneak away during the banquet following the Festival of the Hunt..."

"It's not to return to Alexandria, is it...?" asked Andrew, feeling a strange sense of deja vu as something very similar happened in the game. Garnet, believing she could persuade her mother to stop the war, drugged nearly everyone at the banquet using Sleeping Weed. Then, alongside Steiner, the Captain of the Pluto Nights, she snuck back to Alexandria only to give her mother the weapons she needed to commit genocide...

"No," replied Garnet, turning to face Andrew after sitting on the edge of the bed, explaining, "You mentioned that the Mist, which powers Kuja's weapons and most magical technology, was produced by the Iifa Tree, located on the Outer Continent to the North. I wish to end the war and hinder Kuja's ambitions by slaying the beast at the base of the Iifa Tree..."

"That's...not a bad plan..." admitted Andrew, hopping onto the floor and leaning against the railing as he added, "The only problem is, there's no way we could achieve such a feat ourselves. We need Zidane, Freya, and at least one more, a young Black Mage from Alexandria named Vivi. I saw someone matching his description during Tantalu's rendition of 'I Want to be Your Canary,' but I didn't know his importance then. Nor the fact that the youth next to him was Burmecian's runaway Prince, Puck..."

"Do you think you can convince Zidane to accompany us?" asked Garnet.

"Unquestionably," replied Andrew. "The bigger issue is convincing Freya and ascertaining the location of Vivi. If her country is attacked, Freya is duty-bound to go and assist her people. As for Vivi...I genuinely have no clue where he could be..."

"I see..." muttered Garnet, creasing her brows. But, no matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn't think of a convenient solution to their problems.

"Then...what do you think of accompanying Freya when she journeys to Burmecia?" proposed Garnet. "If we assist her in aiding her people and explain the situation, she should help us track down, defeat, or at least hinder Kuja's plans, no?"

Nodding in affirmation, Andrew answered, "That's definitely a possibility. But it would also bring us in direct contention with your mother and, more notably, Beatrix. In all my visions of her, even when we fight her together, we are soundly defeated..."

"Then we just need to persuade her that what she's doing is wrong," said Garnet, her expression and tone hardening.

Closing his eyes, Andrew exhaled an exasperated sigh before opening them, surprising Garnet as he smiled and said, "It's a bit idealistic, but if that is your decision, I will follow and support you. I'm honestly not sure why you chose me as your Knight, but I plan to give it my all."

"Ah..."

Though she felt gratified by Andrew's words, his comment about not knowing why she chose him caused Garnet to look away. The biggest reason was his potential, but she would be lying if she said there weren't other factors that shaped her decision. The quality of his character was another major element, but none of that would have mattered if he wasn't handsome...

Combing back the bangs framing the right side of her face, Garnet's voice was barely a whisper as she muttered, "There's no great rationale behind my decision...I just thought you looked like someone I could trust..."

"Then I'll do my best to meet your expectations," said Andrew, causing the blush creeping through Garnet's cheeks to become more prominent. He was honestly tempted to ask if she liked him, but feeling that was no different from stepping on an anti-tank landmine, Andrew delayed a few seconds before asking, "Anything else you want to talk about?"

Staring at Andrew from the corner of her eye, Garnet questioned, "Am I preventing you from resting...?"

"I'm definitely tired, but not so much that I would leave you hanging," replied Andrew, shrugging. He had dreamed about interacting with the characters from his favorite Final Fantasy games for decades, so even if he 'were' tired, he wouldn't complain even if Garnet kept him up the entire night. The Gods knew countless people would be willing to trade places with him...

"Then...why don't you lay in that bed?" asked Garnet, gesturing to the bed next to hers, separated by a semicircular nightstand supporting a pair of tapered, potion-shaped lamps. Said bed was typically reserved for 'very' important people, but with Garnet implicitly giving him permission to use it, Andrew made his way over and sat down, surprised by how soft it was.

As if to demonstrate what he was supposed to do, Garnet lay on her side, creating an alluring shape as she observed Andrew, seemingly waiting for him to emulate her actions. When he did, she quietly asked, "Did you see any visions that didn't pertain to tragedies and misfortune...?"

"A few..." replied Andrew, rolling onto his back so as not to be distracted by Garnet's figure as he explained, "I saw you and a girl with a horn repel a powerful Eidolon named Bahamut by awakening Alexander. I also saw Freya reunited with the man she loved, the person she had been seeking for the past five years..."

"It's nice to know the future isn't completely bleak..." muttered Garnet, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling with her right forearm resting on her forehead. Many of the 'revelations' Andrew had made were of terribly tragic events, so while she didn't intend to give up, Garnet felt a little exasperated imagining what they were up against...

"I also saw your wedding..." muttered Andrew, causing Garnet to become fully awake as she turned sideways, propping herself with her right elbow as she asked, "Truly? To whom...?"

"As ridiculous as this might sound, it was my kinsman, Zidane..." answered Andrew, halfheartedly attempting to salvage the relationship between the fated duo. He wouldn't mind if Garnet developed feelings for him, but as it was only a matter of time before he traveled to other worlds, he felt it was a little early to find love.

Staring at Andrew in disbelief, Garnet found herself at a genuine and utter loss for words. She hadn't expected him to provide his own name, but she never imagined he would provide Zidane's. She could tell the latter was a serial womanizer even during their brief encounter. Even in a world where anything was possible, at least according to Andrew, it didn't make sense for her to end up with such a 'base' individual. At least Andrew only snuck glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking...

Undermining his efforts but providing Garnet a sense of relief, Andrew closed his eyes and added, "The future isn't set in stone. If it were, the Prima Vista would have crashed in the Forbidden Forest before reaching Lindblum. We also wouldn't be able to do anything to prevent the near-eradication of the Burmecian people, but we've already ensured at least a few thousand of them will flee to safety. Every action we take from here on shapes the future, so don't get too caught up in my visions. The only way to truly know how events will develop is to live and experience them directly..."

Lying back down, Garnet adopted a faint smile and folded her hands over her stomach, surprising Andrew as she said, "Well...you can rest assured that I won't marry your kin..."

Though he was tempted to ask what she meant, Andrew remained silent and stared blankly at the purple canopy hanging over them. Garnet also wasn't sure what to say, so they ended up lying in silence, each feeling a bit muggy despite the relatively cool temperature of the castle.

Realizing she hadn't taken a bath since her departure from Alexandria two days prior, Garnet sat up, prompting Andrew to glance over at her as she stated, "I'm going to cleanse myself and change into my bedwear. Please turn away and remain as such until I am finished."

Blinking in surprise, Andrew questioned, "Wouldn't it be better if I left...?"

Putting Andrew on the spot, Garnet adopted a smile and simply stated, "I trust you, Andrew," before compelling him to turn away posthaste as she began loosening the cords of her orange jumpsuit, peeling away the shoulder straps. What followed was the tensest moment of Andrew's life as he felt an almost instinctual urge to turn around but continued looking away as Garnet stripped completely naked and spent nearly an hour washing her body and changing into her pajamas...

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