Battle of Cleyra

The Battle of Cleyra (January 23, 1800) is an event in Final Fantasy IX that takes place two days after the Battle of Burmecia, where Queen Brahne's Alexandria attacks Cleyra to capture their Desert Star.
== Prior to the battle ==
When Brahne of Alexandria slaughtered most of Burmecia's citizens, a few—including the King of Burmecia—managed to escape the massacre. They took refuge in the neighboring Cleyra, which opened its doors to them despite having had no contact with the outside world for a century.
When attacking Burmecia, Queen Brahne was after the Desert Star, unaware that it has been in the hands of Cleyra for the past 500 years. She assumes the King of Burmecia brought it with him when he escaped. Few Burmecian exiles doubt Alexandria will follow up with an attack on Cleyra, yet they assume the sandstorm that surrounds the settlement will keep them safe.
Zidane, Freya, Vivi, and (optionally) Quina climb up the giant tree, atop which the settlement lies. They are greeted by the Cleyran oracles, who tell Freya that the King of Burmecia has escaped the ruined city and has safely arrived to Cleyra, along with a few survivors.
After rescuing Prince Puck from the enraged Antlion, the Cleyrans ask Freya to participate in the ritual dance that will strengthen the perpetual sandstorm surrounding the settlement. While performing the dance, the strings of the accompanying harp break. The sandstorm comes to a halt, and Cleyra becomes exposed.
== Battle ==
The party begins to descend the trunk to find the reason behind the sandstorm's halting. After fighting a few scattered Alexandrian soldiers, they meet with Puck again, who tells them the real invasion force, the black mages, is teleporting directly into the settlement, slaying every Burmecian in its path. The soldiers on the trunk were merely a diversion.
Zidane goes back and leads the few survivors to the Cathedral, where he hopes to make a final stand; however, upon reaching it, they are surrounded by black mages. Sir Fratley jumps in and saves the party and inside the Cathedral reveals he has lost his memory and remembers nothing of his past. General Beatrix barges in and snatches the jewel. The party battles her, but she defeats them. With her mission completed, Beatrix orders a withdrawal and the black mages teleport to the Red Rose.
Zidane, Vivi, and Freya all hop onboard the Red Rose by following Beatrix's example of using the black mages' teleport spells. Only Quina (if present) opts to escape the city on foot since he doesn't like heights. Despite having achieved her aim, Queen Brahne is excited to see her eidolon in action. She summons Odin, who annihilates Cleyra.
== Aftermath ==
With both of their realms destroyed, the Burmecians are scattered all around the world. Zidane can meet many of them during the following events of Final Fantasy IX. Although exiled Cleyrans express a clear desire to rebuild Cleyra, it is unknown if the settlement ever recovers from the attack after Kuja is defeated and peace is restored to the world, as all that remains of the once-beautiful city is the charred stump of the tree that once housed it.
Although she remains loyal to Queen Brahne, Beatrix questions why she unnecessarily destroyed Cleyra after the jewel had been captured. Eventually, this leads to her finally seeing what her queen has become and betraying her.
== Gallery ==
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Category:Events in Final Fantasy IX