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Quistis's climbing was impressive, even if Garnet fretted the entire time, and by the time the ladder was up, she was feeling much more confident about proceeding. She noticed that both Bartz and Tellah went with the toad plan, despite Garnet's misgivings, but she made a point to ascend the ladder alone. It was slippery and wet and more difficult than she might have expected, but she'd climbed a rope ladder similar to that to board the airship all the way back in Dali, and she could do it now, even if this one was slicker and caught in a storm. Float helped, of course. She did, however, gratefully accept the hand offered from Aerith. She may have not needed it if she'd tried the final climb up on her own, but it stopped her from having to try and risk falling, and even if she had succeeded, it probably wouldn't have looked dignified, so the help was nice.

The symbols at the cave entrance were a mystery to her, but she wasn't surprised. She felt oddly like she did whenever they had found a Terran artefact back on Gaia, like some aspect of her knew that she was catching a glimpse of a world she could never understand, that there was an entire civilisation, an entire planet, with its own culture, history, language and art, and she had no idea what any of it was. Was it the same thing here? Were those symbols part of yet another world? It was possible. There had been Terran markings in the Water Shrine on Gaia, hadn't there? Or had she imagined those?

The thoughts lingered as they descended into the darkness. Garnet longed for a torch or light of some kind. She wished Vivi was there, with his fire magic, and even his glowing eyes to light the way. She'd never said what a comfort it was to have him along for the ride in the dark, you always could follow the light of his eyes. She'd never asked how he saw. Did he have night vision? It was too late to ask now. Vivi was gone. There had been no saving him. Nothing she could do it. It seemed so unfair, Vivi died and Kuja lived...

Maybe it was the oppressive darkness, with nothing but the repeated clicking of boot heels to keep her occupied, or perhaps it was just her realising how alone she was. Here she was, another adventure, another hole in the ground, another water shrine, but this time, there were no friends. No, more than friends, they had become her family. But these people? They were strangers to her. She didn't feel that special connection. Even if they were friendly enough, it just didn't... seem the same.

The room they found at the bottom immediately returned Terra to her mind. Blue and humming, with channels for energy and pulsating, crystalline light. She almost said something. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Maybe the technology wasn't Terran, it wasn't identical, but it was similar enough. Some kind of magic had brought them to this world, and Terran technology could breach between worlds. Maybe the same thing was happening here? Slowly, her gaze went to the crystal, embedded in the far wall. It was clear that they would need to get it down.

"I don't... understand. These... channels, appear to be leading to something, but how do we fill them? A spell? Water, perhaps?" she speculated, but that wouldn't explain the ones on the wall or how to impact them in any way.

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Garnet felt her stomach knot slightly as Mikoto repeated that this was her task. It took her a few moments to untangle why that had made her so nervous before she understood. Mikoto was here because of Kuja, she was doing something she didn't want to do because of Kuja, and if she was willing to do this, what else was she willing to do? Today it was buying make-up, sure, but tomorrow, it could be destroying Alexandria, murdering Zidane in his sleep, or trying to steal her Eidolons once again. It absolutely baffled her, how Mikoto could happily work for the man who had destroyed her planet, while Garnet, Zidane and the others, who had risked their lives to save Mikoto and her people, were barely worth the genome's time.

The feeling only got worse when Mikoto seemed to ask for something 'low cost'. She didn't even want to spend Kuja's gil! Yes, Garnet had said she'd ask about his gil for him, but she hadn't been entirely serious, and if Mikoto had the opportunity to spend it, she should. How did a genome even understand the concept of money? It was just all so infuriating. To see Mikoto so much closer to a man as evil as Kuja, a man who had done the terrible things he'd done, than anybody who actually cared about her.

Perhaps she shouldn't have done it. Mikoto was clearly nervous, and looking to her for advice, but Garnet needed to step outside. The entire situation was so absurd it was beginning to get to her. There she was, helping an ally of her greatest enemy shop for make-up? She had thought somehow that if she could help Mikoto, she could win her over, get her away from Kuja, do the right thing, not just for herself, but for Zidane too, but in that small moment, she felt like she saw the task was impossible. She gave Mikoto a slightly forced smile.

"I'm sure that it's fine. Heather will help you find the right tone. I'll... wait outside," she said simply, excusing herself and stepping out into the fresh air.

She stood for a moment, almost like a statue, outside the shop. She could just walk away and abandon Mikoto, but that wouldn't do. No, she had to see this through. For Zidane. She craned her neck, looking at the sky, and sighed heavily. She wasn't sure that she could do this. Not alone. Everything she tried just drove Mikoto further away...

...Zidane... Where are you....? I... need you....

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Mikoto really did seem nervous, and it was quite sweet, in a way. Garnet felt sorry for her. She knew what it was like, being out of your comfort zone, and embracing a situation that should be ordinary but to you was daunting. She'd felt that way the first time she had to share a room in an inn, or the first time she had to eat out for food. And going to a tavern for the first time she thought she might cry if she didn't put on a brave face! So she understood, but somehow, Mikoto saying she liked her skin how it was broke Garnet's heart even more.
"Don't worry, Mikoto, if you decide to go through with it, it'll just be a light cover. It helps reduce the shine of your skin, stops blemishes showing, that kind of thing. We won't be hiding your natural skin, it is very nice. And remember what I said, you don't have to do this. If you don't like the idea, you don't have to do it at all," Garnet said, trying her best to be supportive. Being raised a princess, Garnet didn't think twice about wearing make-up, but when you tried to explain it to somebody who was quite literally an alien, she was realising that it must sound absurd. 'Oh, well, you see, we apply a powder like a paint that is already the same colour as our skin anyway all over our face'. It wasn't exactly logical sounding...

"Oh no, I'm fine, thank you," Garnet smiled politely as the shop assistant approached her. She felt quite pleased with herself, like she was being quite savvy. She was handling this shopping situation like a pro; which she supposed she was now, but it still made her feel good when she thought about how far she had come. "But this is my friend, Mikoto. She's never worn any kind of make-up before, but would like to try some. Perhaps you could assist her? I think she may need some guidance," Garnet offered with a polite smile. Better this store assistant than Garnet after all, and truth be told, Garnet would feel more relieved in handing over the situation to a professional. Oh, she'd remain there to support Mikoto, but she was finding the entire process rather stressful, and really struggling to explain things to the girl. She hoped the store keeper might have some more luck. And if not, at least, it gave Garnet a temporary break.

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Garnet registered the surprise in Faris's voice when she asked about her leaving the castle on her own and allowed a playful smirk to cross her lips. It reminded of her actual escape, when Zidane, who had been a stranger to her then, suddenly seemed so surprised to find her trying to escape. Given how things had ended up, it seemed ridiculous now, but for a moment, fleeing the castle had been so much fun, and she had loved shocking Zidane with her daring.
"Well, that was my intention, yes. It sounds... naive and childish... but my mother had been acting odd, and I was worried about her. Nobody seemed to take me seriously in the castle, so I thought to escape to my Uncle Cid, who ruled a neighbouring kingdom for help," she admitted when Faris asked, a wistful smile surprising her as it formed on her lips. "It didn't really work out the way I intended, however. It turned out that my Uncle had sent kidnappers to extract me, so I ended up trying to get kidnapped by the very people trying to kidnap me, all while my own bodyguard tried to 'rescue' me from myself. It... could have gone better..." she smiled, but the smile faded away after a moment as she thought about what it all really meant. She decided not to elaborate. Faris didn't need to hear her entire tale, and the story of what her mother had truly done wasn't one she wanted to recount. Not now. Besides, she still didn't know, in truth, if running away had been the right thing to do. She still stayed up late at night, wondering if her fleeing had provoked her mother. She was sure she would have still extracted Garnet's Eidolons, and without Zidane, without Vivi, without the friends she made fleeing, she probably would have died there, or certainly been helpless to stop Brahne, but... she still sometimes worried that the blood of Burmecia at least was on her hands, that her mother had moved to attack them because she had fled...

She smiled a little, back in the moment, at Faris's assessment of her two identities. Three, of course, technically, but Garnet hadn't even mentioned 'Sarah' yet. She tried not to think about her other life, her life in Madain Sari. It was too complicated to deal with, it was too much pressure. It felt like something pushing down on her brain and sometimes she was worried she'd lose her mind trying to reconcile it all.
"You're right. I like being Dagger. Being Dagger is fun. Sometimes, I feel that it's the real me, but..." she paused, hesitating for a moment. "...sometimes I feel like I'm just pretending. I mean, I was raised a princess. I spent my entire life being taught to be the perfect princess. I don't just... forget that. It's... ingrained in me. Sometimes, when I'm Dagger, I feel like a fake person. Like I'm listening to others and desperately copying them, just to try and fit in, and it's not the real me at all. But whenever I'm Garnet, I... feel like Dagger is hiding beneath the surface, wanting to break out." Garnet paused again, and shook her head softly. "Sorry, we've just met. You don't want to hear my identity crisis," she said with a soft smile.

She listened to Faris's story, with a mixture of awe and wonder, and perhaps a little bit wry amusement. It was ironic, really. Faris was a princess who was lost at sea and never knew of her heritage. Garnet, on the other hand... Faris's sister sounded more like Garnet herself, although she had been driven to leave her castle to try and save her father; Garnet had left... well, she had left to try and save her mother, truth be told, only, save her from herself. And she had failed. She tried to imagine what it must have been like for Faris, surrounded by pirates. She imagined Treno, and remembered how out of place she had felt when she had first gone there. She hadn't been frightened persay, she had a job to do there and wouldn't let it scare her, but she felt increasingly awkward and found the city deeply unpleasant. Even now, she was no fan of visiting Treno unless she had to, although these days of course it was a considerably more public affair if she tried.

"That is..." she paused, unsure how to describe Faris's story. Tragic, certainly, but it was hard to see the tragedy when it was the only life Faris had known. Much like Garnet herself, she supposed, and her life as Sarah. "I know this must sound insane, but... I.. understand how it feels. You see, I... wasn't born a princess at all. I was born in a far away town of summoners. But the town was destroyed. My mother fled with me out to sea but perished. I was found by the royal family, and... they raised me as their own, replacing their own daughter who had passed away. I... didn't know any of this," she paused, and allowed herself a smile. "Bizarrely, I suppose we have opposite experiences. You were a princess raised as a pirate, and I was a summoner, raised as a princess. But what I mean is... that I know what it's like, to... know you were somebody else. That you should have been somebody else, that you had an entire history, an entire life, taken from you. I was... once called Sarah, and I lived in a village far away. I had a mother and father who loved me, but even now, I can barely remember them. I remember a song... I remember images... but... it's all lost. I was raised a princess. When I think of the word 'mother', it's... the Queen I see, not my birth mother. I know, factually, where I'm from, but... I don't feel like that person. I suppose it's the same for you. Being told you're a princess means very little if you weren't raised as one," she said, feeling at least some sort of kinship between them, even if it was in how different their lives could have been.

"I... wish it was that simple..." Garnet admitted when Faris said she could choose to be Dagger. "But... Alexandria, my kingdom... It is my responsibility. Whether or not it is my birthright, my mother and father... the Queen and King, are dead, I have no siblings, the people... look to me now. Running away and being Dagger would be nice, but... I can't. I have to, at some point, grow up and face my responsibilities. Even if I don't want to..."