I don't own FFIV. I'm sure you guessed that already. As always, I welcome all feedback, including suggestions for improvement. Especially pointing out mechanical errors or plotholes.

I made a few slight fixes to this chapter. You might not even notice them. It was just a couple of typos, and some details I forgot to put in.

How to Save the Environment in Two Easy Steps

Step One – kill a lot of monsters.

Step Two – make the Lunarians go away.

by Maelstra

Chapter Three – Over the River and Through the Woods

Cecil recognized the creening before he even saw the monsters. "Isn't that . . . ?"

"The monsters that invaded Baron a couple of months ago?" Rosa finished his sentence for him. "It does sound very similar."

"So let's get on with the fight!" Cid whipped his hammer through a practice swing. "I've got better things to do than spending all day dragging your rogue captain home again."

Cecil sighed, "Cid, you shouldn't just –"

"Your majesty!" the lead soldier shouted.

At that, dozens of the brownish, foot-tall cyclopians flew out of the dense forest and surrounded them. The creatures had sharp claws, and focused their attacks on the face or breaks in the armor, where they could do the most damage. Cecil already had his sword out, and immediately leapt into a flurry of hacking and swiping at the monsters. As before, the singing creatures suddenly disintegrated after a sufficiently powerful hit. Cid started his own attack not a second behind the king, and the soldiers joined in, too, a moment later. Rosa took her place at Cecil's back, and for her own part shot down the speedy creatures with arrows as best she could. The battle continued in a frenzy for several minutes, and Rosa switched over to healing any who needed her aid. For some reason, the cyclopians seemed attracted to Rosa, and Cecil had to take a permanent position just defending his wife. The monsters fell easily, but there were just so many of them that they were nearly overwhelming.

Finally, the last of the creatures retreated back into the trees. The sound of creening grew louder just ahead.

"Onward, men!" Cecil commanded, then led his charge himself. He plowed through the underbrush, crested a hill, and then stopped in shock. His guards continued past him to go to the aid of their red-uniformed comrades who were still locked in battle with the flying creatures. But what Cecil was staring at was the ten or so white-haired people that were being especially harried by the cyclopians. Though the people very seldom made a move to strike the monsters, they did not move like they were old.

Cid grabbed Cecil by the elbow. "You coming, or do you want to watch us take all the glory?"

Cecil shook his head. "Since when are you so bloodthirsty, old man?"

"Since my daughter started pushing me to retire. What else? Yarrr!" Cid charged into battle, sending several of the densely-packed monsters flying with just one swing.

Cecil jumped into the skirmish without further delay. The creatures exploded into dust around him. But they kept coming, wailing irritatingly. He struck and swung so much that his arms started aching. But as he drew close to one of the white-haired people (who looked no older than Cecil himself, yet had eerily pale, green eyes), that man smiled at him and cast a powerful healing spell on him that erased most of his pain. Cecil wanted to demand at explanation from the man right at that moment, but another wave of monsters charged forward at the sight of the magic, taking over Cecil's attention.

Cecil had long lost sight of Rosa, but some minutes later he found himself beside a familiar, blue-armored person. "I want to hear a good explanation for all of this," he snapped in between slashing down cyclopians.

"So do I," Kain agreed curtly. "And I'm sorry this took longer to deal with than I expected."

With the help of the additional Baronian guards, they were dispatching the monsters very quickly, and by now, they were down to only about a hundred. But then, as one, all the remaining monsters started glowing red and crooning more loudly.

"Oh no, not again," Kain groaned. "Everyone cover your ears!" he yelled, trying to be heard over the screeching.

"Why-?" Cecil started to ask, but then the world turned fuzzy. Things abruptly came into focus again, accompanied by a sharp pain to the back of his head that made him stagger. "Ow!"

"Sorry about that, Cecil," Kain said. "It's the quickest way to deal with it. It takes people too long to snap out of it on their own."

"Is it really necessary to be so rough?" Cecil asked through gritted teeth as he used his own, weak healing magic on himself to dull the pain.

"Yep. I tried to warn you." Then Kain grinned mischievously. "You know, this is probably a good time for a comment about how you're so hard-headed . . ."

"Not funny, Kain. Why don't you practice hitting the monsters instead."

Kain's smile disappeared, and he turned away quickly. "Yeah . . . I'll do that . . ."

Before Cecil could comment, he was swarmed by the monsters again, attracted by his magic.

As the fight progressed, he moved away from Kain, but to his relief found Rosa again. The cyclopians tried their mind-control spell more and more frequently as their numbers dwindled, and any who fell under the spell would start attacking friend and foe alike. Cecil found that if he tried to cover his ears during their casting, more than half the time the spell did not take effect on him. And the other times, Rosa quickly dispersed the effects with her white magic.

Finally, Cecil hacked down the last squawking monster he could see, then slowly turned a full circle to survey the battlefield. Everything was becoming quiet. Rosa was using her magic to treat a deep scratch on Cid's arm. The white-haired people were happily healing all the soldiers who had sustained any sort of injuries. All the remaining soldiers stood in clumps at attention, awaiting further orders from their king. Cecil frowned and walked through the crowd, trying to find Kain.

The blue-armored dragon knight was in the far back of the group, carrying on a whispered but agitated conversation.

"Excuse me!" Cecil interrupted loudly as he drew close. "I want to know just what is going on!" Kain quickly turned to face Cecil, but Cecil's jaw dropped as he recognized who Kain had been speaking to. "FuSoYa?"

"Yes, Cecil," the aged man replied with his usual dignity. "How are you faring?"

The king could only manage to stare. "What are you doing here?"

FuSoYa set the point of his staff into the dirt. "Cecil, I know we told you that we intended to never return – but the situation has changed. We Lunarians desperately need your help. We tried to reach you at Baron, but we were waylaid in this forest."

Cecil nodded slowly, his mind struggling to take the whole situation in. "I'll be glad to offer you what assistance I can, uncle." His mind hit a snag. Cecil rounded on Kain. "Just how did you know the Lunarians were here?"

Kain frowned, then heaved a sigh of longsuffering and pointed without looking to one of the other Lunarians who had come clustering around them. "Someone woke me up in the dead of night and wouldn't let me alone until I agreed to help."

Cecil looked over at said Lunarian, and noticed with surprise that he carried a normal sword, unlike the staffs that the rest of them seemed to prefer. And from the stains on the blade, it looked like he had been using it, too. The Lunarian's clothes were typical, but his white hair was remarkably shaggy, and he had hazel-y eyes. When he noticed the king's intent gaze, he tried to smile, and said weakly, "Hello, Cecil."

Cecil stiffened. That voice –!

Golbez fidgeted unconsciously with the pommel of his sword. "I tried to call you for help, but apparently you couldn't hear me. So I had to ask Kain to come help us."

Kain growled, "You only told me FuSoYa was in danger."

"Well, he was in danger!" Golbez insisted. "Somehow, I didn't think you'd be willing to come if you knew that I was here as well!"

"You should've just explained why your voice was so loud, so I wouldn't think I was going crazy!"

"How is it my fault if you decide to go crazy just because I ask you for help?"

"A-hem!" FuSoYa cleared his throat so loudly it sounded painful. "Cecil, I ask that you convey us to your castle at Baron. Once we are within that safe location, I will immediately explain to you all the details of our current predicament."

Golbez glowered at his uncle, but made no comment. He turned his attention to cleaning his blade.

Cecil's eyes jumped to his brother who was mechanically wiping down his sword and not looking at anyone else. The last he had seen Golbez, Cecil had assumed would be the last time he would ever see him. It was one thing to forgive a man that he never expected to encounter again. Now Golbez was back, right before him. Cecil's chest tightened. He had no idea how he was supposed to react. The way he felt, he might've been standing in the Giant of Babel all over again.

FuSoYa cleared his throat, less violently this time. "Unless you have any profound objection, Cecil, Golbez comes, too. I don't know if you could tell, but those monsters absorb every kind of magic. Golbez is the only one of the Lunarians with any skill with a sword, and so we'd like to keep him with us for now."

Cecil quickly returned his attention to FuSoYa just as Golbez started to turn to look at him. "If you think it is wise, then . . . I will trust your judgement."