I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Well, I already have this written up, so...

Anyway, as you may have guessed, this is a complete rewrite of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Many, many things will be changed. Like the fact that it's only been six years since the original game.

List of very important changes that are important at the moment:

-it has only been six years. Mainly because one of the things that irritate me about TAY is the length of time between the two games. (Yes, I do realize it was the length of time between the original realeases. I just don't care.) There's also the added benefit of being able to possibly give Ceodore a backbone If I do this first. The poor kid needs one...

-This takes place after A Place to Belong. You don't need to read it to understand this (though it would be nice). Just know that Edge and Rydia are now married so I won't get tons of questions in the next couple chapters.

-Cecil dragged Kain off Mt. Ordeals after he and Rosa got married. Speaking of which, I need to find that story...

-Based off of the stupidly addicting remake.

I think that's it for now. I'll let you get on with the fic.

Disclaimer: ...Look me dead in the eye and ask me if I own this again.

Planet Eater

Chapter I- Return of the Moon

~Baron Castle~

"Cecil! Rosa!" Kain yelled as he burst into Baron's throne room, immediately doubling over out of breath.

"Kain? What's happened?" Rosa asked, getting up from one of the two thrones and running towards the Dragoon.

He waved her off, saying, "A large hoard of monsters is heading this way!"

"What!?" Cecil exclaimed

"But their numbers were supposed to be dwindling!" Rosa protested.

"Well, they are obviously nodwindling," Kain dryly said.

The trio flinched as they heard what appeared to be a monster's cry tear through the air. Once it faded, Cecil only took the time to turn to his wife and tell her to stay in the throne room before sprinting out, Kain not far behind.

The duo paused to catch their breaths once they got to the first floor. "Where are they coming from?" The king of Baron asked.

Kain shook his head. "I would love to know that. The guard that told me was too freaked out to notice where."

Cecil opened his mouth to say something else, but didn't get to say anything before seeing two gargoyles head towards them. "What?!"

Kain immediately jumped, coming down and impaling one of them. As that happened, Cecil rushed forward and slashed off one of the other's wings before twirling around and decapitating his.

"They're already inside the castle!" The Paladin gasped in disbelief.

Kain swore as the two rushed to the east towers. He then swore even louder and with more colorful words as more monsters swooped down on them.

The two of them made quick work of the Zu and Cockatrices. "This doesn't make any sense," Kain said, "the castle gate is secure- I made sure of it before coming to tell you."

Cecil shook his head, thinking. "Kain. I need you to do something."

"What?" the Dragoon asked warily, not liking his friend's tone.

"I need you to get Ceodore and get out of the castle."

"WHAT?" Kain exploded. "Have you lost your mind?! I'm not abandoning you and Rosa!"

Cecil shook his head. "No, I haven't. We don't know where the monsters are coming from, or even how many of them are here." Seeing his friend's face, he pleaded, "Please, Kain. I don't want Ceodore to get hurt."

Kain hesitated, looking down at his spear, holding it in a death grip. After a moment, he looked back up at Cecil. "Don't you dare make me regret this," he snapped, before running off to the other side of the castle.

Just before he got to the staircase leading to the west parts of the castle, a guard came fell down the stairs and collapsed, clutching his arm.

Kain ran towards him and knelt next to the soldier. "Ross!"

"I am sorry... Captain..." Ross gasped out.

Kain turned towards the monster that had attacked Ross and charged. The centaur knight took the initiative and jabbed its spear at him, which the Dragoon easily dodged. He blocked other strike, then countered and stabbed his spear through the monster's torso.

Not bothering to watch the Centaur Knight disappear, Kain grabbed a potion from his pack and fed it to Ross after dragging him a few feet away to where he wouldn't easily be seen. "Hang in there, soldier," he said before heading up the stairs.

Kain rushed up the west tower, mercifully seeing few monsters. Just before getting to Ceodore's room, however, he was ambushed by a Lilith. The monster managed to hit him in the head, knocking his helmet off and sending him flying.

He hit the wall and wasted a few precious moments attempting not to black out. He saw what appeared to be three of those Liliths coming towards him, and he fell flat, causing its tail to hit the wall above him.

Kain crawled from under it, luckily managing to escape the debris. He grabbed his spear and drove it into the Lilith, ending the fight.

The Dragoon stood there for a moment, cradling his head and praying he hadn't gotten a concussion from the wall. Trying to ignore the pounding in his head, he ran to Ceodore's room, thankfully without any further incidents, not bothering to look for his helmet.

He burst into the child's room. "Ceodore!" he gasped, relieved to see his friends' son sitting on his bed.

Ceodore immediately ran towards Kain and grabbed onto his legs. "Unca Kain, what's goin' on?" He asked, confused.

Kain hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how to tell a four-year-old what's going on. "We have a little problem. Your mom and dad are taking care of it, and asked me to take you to visit one of your friends while they do," he finally settled on saying. Well, it's technicallly not a lie...

Ceodore's eyes lit up. "Ursy or Ai?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, you're going to go see Airi," Kain said, quickly going through his options. "Stay close to me."

~IV~

Fifteen minutes after Kain had gotten his son, Cecil finally got back to the first floor after going through the East Tower. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, having had several encounters with monsters while there.

"Cecil!"

He immediately whirled around to see his wife run towards him. "Rosa!" the Paladin exclaimed. "What are you doing?" he asked, eyeing the bow in her hands.

"I'm coming with you!" The queen said. "And before you tell me to go back to the throne room, having a White Mage by your side would let you just concentrate on fighting, wouldn't it?"

Cecil sighed, realizing that he wouldn't win this one. "Fine. But I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If worse comes to worst, I want you to run, Rosa. Run... and survive."

"And leave you to die?" She exclaimed.

"For Ceodore's sake," Cecil insisted.

Rosa looked down, pain written on her face. "...Fine. Where is Ceodore? And wasn't Kain with you?" she asked, looking around the room.

"I assume they're fine. I sent Kain to get him out of here soon after we left the throne room," Cecil said. Rosa nodded and they headed outside to get to the west tower.

Immediately, they heard a monster shriek. Cecil saw the source fly above the castle to the east side. "That's how they're getting in- through the air!" he figured out.

Rosa, meanwhile had looked at the other part of the sky and gasped. "Cecil! The moon!" She exclaimed, pointing towards it.

The king of Baron looked up at the moon...

...Or rather, the two moons.

"Is that Theo's...?" he gasped, both shocked and filled with dread. "Why now, of all times?"

"Cecil! Rosa!"

The rulers of Baron turned around to see Cid run towards them.

"You're late, you two!" the engineer said, stopping in front of the two. "What've you been doin' this entire time? Kissin'? You already have a child!""

"Cid! You're alright!" Rosa said happily.

"Of course I am!" Cid said, insulted. "I haven't slowed down at all, and I'm still better them most of these young people that call themselves soldiers! What I'd like to know is where all these monsters are comin' from outta the blue!"

"Well... You've kind of answered your own question," Cecil said, glancing up at the skies.

"Dang!" Cid said. "Wait a... Where's Kain?" He asked looking around.

"I sent him to get Ceodore out," Cecil informed the mechanic.

"Well then, I guess it's up to us!" Cid yelled. "Come on!"

The three ran through one of the towers, encountering no monsters until they got to the roof, when they were attacked by two Belphegor, which were quickly taken out. Several spirits were taken out much the same way.

Just after they dispatched the last Spirit, an Ahriman swooped down. It cast Doom on Cid, causing the engineer to kneel down and fight to stay conscious. In retaliation, Rosa shot it in the eye, blinding it and causing it to let out an inhuman shriek. The White Mage quickly followed up with a shot in one of its wings, causing it to lose altitude and allowing Cecil to run forward and finish it.

They all looked up to see many more monsters coming towards the castle. "There's no end to this," Rosa said, despair starting to enter her voice.

"Cid," Cecil said, not taking his eyes off the approaching enemies, "I need you to do something for me."

"I'm listening," he said, looking at the Paladin.

"I want you to take Rosa and get out of the castle."

"What?" Rosa gasped.

Cecil turned to his wife. "Rosa, Baron is going to fall if this continues."

"...Planning to go down with the ship?" Cid asked. "Ah, you always had to be so stubborn."

"I'm staying with you!" Rosa insisted.

Cecil shook his head. "These are the king's orders. Just... Please take care of Ceodore." He turned to Cid. "I'm counting on you. Please... Please keep Rosa safe for me."

"Leave it to me! Just don't get yourself killed or something!"

Rosa looked at her husband for a moment, then abruptly threw her arms around him. After a moment, she let go and ran after Cid.

Cecil stared at the doorway where they had left, bowing his head. After a moment, he turned back the the swarm of monsters, readying himself for a long battle. Rosa... Cid... Kain... please be okay...

His mind went into autopilot, slashing, stabbing, and dodging countless times. He didn't even register the few times a monster managed to score a hit on him. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw an airship fly away, but he didn't have any time to take a closer look. He could only hope that it was Rosa and Cid.

Finally, the swarm was finished. Cecil immediately collapsed, using his sword as a crutch to keep upright. He managed to gather enough magic for a Cura spell, letting it heal his injuries.

A shadow suddenly passed over him. Cecil looked up and gasped. "Bahamut?!" He yelled. "What is..."

The Eidolon stopped on the edge of the roof, depositing his passenger. The Paladin's eyes widened. "Rydia? No... You're not..."

The passenger was a woman with knee-length teal hair. At first glance, it was fairly easy to mistake her for the queen of Eblan, but the more you looked at her, the more they looked different. The girl had the wrong color hair, and Rydia would never let hers grow anywhere near that long. The eyes were the wrong color- the girl's was hazel, not blue. The summoner would also never wear a dress that formless unless she was pregnant, which the girl was clearly not.

"So you are Cecil," the girl said in a completely emotionless voice.

"You know who I am?" Cecil questioned, forcing his body into a fighting stance.

Instead of answering, the girl motioned to Bahamut, who threw his hard back a to cast his most powerful spell.

For the second time in his life, Cecil was on the receiving end of Megaflare. However, this time, without Rosa's healing spells and the fact that Bahamut wasn't holding back at all, he immediately collapsed in the most pain he'd felt since Zemus had cast Meteor on them in the Lunar Subterrane.

"So, this is the power of a half-breed. As expected. Still... A valuable sample. You will be useful to us."

So, this was chapter I. Please review and yell at me for changing things.