Dream Four: Reunion
"What's she doin' here?" Cid gasped. The twins stumbled in behind them, grumbling about being left behind to climb through the rubble themselves. Palom paused when he saw Rydia, and Porom covered her mouth in shock.
"What a girl. She can even sleep in a place like this?" Palom blinked. Porom dropped her hand from her mouth and used it to smack Palom upside his head.
"She's not sleeping, you fool!" Porom barked.
The twins' bickering caused Rydia to stir, and she slowly opened her eyes, looking up at Cecil. For a moment, he thought he saw a flicker of recognizance flash in her eyes, but it quickly dulled and she closed her eyes again, moaning.
"Rydia…can you hear me?" Cecil asked. She stirred in his arms, and weakly pushed him away, slowly hauling herself to her feet and looking around in confusion, her hand absent-mindedly rubbing the back of her head from where she had struck it on the dais. Her gaze first lingered on Palom, then Porom, then Cid, and finally fell on Cecil again, whose eyes were intensely focused on her own. She winced at the piercing blue, which was only intensified by the crystal's light above them, and looked away.
"Where am I…?" She whispered. The straps of her tunic had fallen dangerously low to the point of near-exposure, and she only just seemed to notice, unabashedly sliding them back up with nary a blush.
"You're in the Sealed Cave," Cecil said slowly, taking a hesitant step forward. "Why didn't you come to Damcyan like you were supposed to?"
Rydia's hand had drifted to her hairpin. She pulled it out of her hair, inspected the damage – the cracked petal was dangling in place and only holding on by the mercy of a bent prong – and snapped it off, thoughtlessly tossing it aside. The ruby clattered against the mirrored floor as she slid the pin back in her hair.
"I…must go…"
She pushed Cecil away, slowly making her way down the steps, as if each one took a concentrated effort. Porom stepped up to her, giving a quick bow since Lady Rydia was technically an acquaintance and not a close friend – she wasn't going to stop using good manners just because she had entered some sort of bizarre underworld twilight zone.
"You don't look too good, Rydia," Porom said. "Do you need a healing spell?" She cut a glance over to Rydia's pouch, which was precariously hanging from her waist and soaking wet – meaning any potions inside had probably been crushed when she fell. Rydia merely looked at Porom like one would look at a mess they had stepped in with their shoe.
"No point in dallying here," Cid said quickly as Porom blushed with embarrassment. He looked up at Cecil, who was still staring at Rydia in shock. "Let's take her back to the Falcon."
Cecil nodded, snapping out of his trance. "Oh…Yes. At once." Cid was right – questions could wait for later. And he had a lot of them.
"Porom, let's try to Teleport," Palom touched his sister's shoulder. He was furious that Rydia had brushed off Porom's efforts to be helpful and was tempted to light the remains of her raggedy cape on fire. No one could be mean to his twin sister except him, not even a gorgeous babe!
"That might not work…" Cecil began, remembering what had happened the last time they had tried to use a Teleport spell to flee the Sealed Cave. The cave's traps had disabled any kind of magic that would have allowed them to escape. But Porom merely nodded, muttering the spell. In a flash of light, the scenery around them disappeared, and was replaced with the entrance to the cavern.
"Holy…gah!" Cecil stumbled forward as he was dropped to the floor, the room spinning around him. Cid was trying not to spill his long-ago royal luncheon, and Palom was just fine, since he had been holding Porom's hand. Rydia began to exit the cave, seemingly unfazed by their sudden trip, and having greatly recovered her equilibrium.
"Rydia!?" Cecil called, and she looked back at him, a flash of urgency in her eyes.
"They're…calling me…"
"Who's…?" Porom trailed off, and Palom finished her thought.
"…"They"?"
Rydia glanced over at the twins, but said nothing. Cid had recovered and walked up to Rydia, getting right in her face.
"What is going on in your head, girl!?" She blinked, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently.
"Let's get her out of here," Cecil shook his head and plowed ahead, grabbing Rydia's wrist and dragging her outside. She didn't resist, letting him pull her along listlessly.
Back on the Falcon, Luca jumped up when she saw Rydia, squealing in delight.
"Rydia!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around her. But when Rydia didn't respond, Luca pulled back confusedly, took a long look at her tattered clothes, and looked up at Cecil with wide eyes. "Why is she here?"
"We found her unconscious in front of the crystal's altar…"
Rydia walked over to the bow of the Falcon, peering out to the north. Cecil followed her gaze, and saw that she was staring at the Tower of Babil. The silver and ivory tower, which normally just reflected the light of the magma that surrounded it, suddenly flashed a blood red color, and faded back to normal. Rydia pointed toward the tower, nodding.
"See? They're calling…"
"Did you see that!?" Palom cried.
"I did," Cecil said dryly. Something really bizarre is going on here. Rydia leaned over the railing of the ship, closing her eyes and lifting one foot of the deck, like she was about to take flight.
"See what!? I didn't see anything!" Cid protested. Porom tapped her eyes, where Cid's goggles would be, as they had fogged up again. Cid sheepishly pushed them back up on his forehead.
"The Tower of Babil just shone for a moment…" Porom explained, her voice shaking.
"The Tower of Babil…" Rydia nodded, looking back over at the group. Luca reached up, nervously twisting her pearl necklace between her fingers. She didn't know why, but she felt terrified.
"Rydia…!"
"Listen, everyone," Cecil frowned. "I think we need to investigate the Tower of Babil…but we should get some rest, first. Everyone..." He glanced over at Rydia, who was staring at them, and then looked back at Cid, the twins, and Luca, "…is probably exhausted, and we shouldn't go to a place like that without a full night of sleep to keep our wits about us."
"Should we sleep on the Falcon so we can make sure the dwarves still in the cave don't need us?" Luca asked. Cecil nodded.
"Of course. We'll debrief in the hold and sleep there. Can someone take shifts watching for the other dwarves?"
"Aye aye, Lali!" Luca's bodyguards all saluted, knocking their boots together. "We'll stand guard tonight!"
"Thank you!" Luca cried, kneeling into a half-curtsey. "I'm sorry for the trouble I put everyone through today…"
"Don't apologize, Princess," one of the dwarves smiled. "It's our pleasure serving the Her Highness."
Cecil walked over to Rydia, taking her arm.
"We'll go to the Tower of Babil tomorrow. We must get some rest first – it's going to be dangerous." To his surprise, Rydia nodded, and she let him guide her below the Falcon's deck into the hold with the others following. In the berth, Luca scrambled to pull together a paltry dinner from the ship's stores, and Cecil sat in one bunk, with Cid above him, and the twins in their own set of bunks. Rydia sat in a bunk by herself, curling up into a ball and watching the others like a cat stalking her prey. Once Luca had found enough to eat, she passed the provisions out to everyone, and took her place next to Rydia.
"So what did you find, Cecil?" Luca asked. "Were the dwarves OK?"
"Everyone was fine," Cecil said. "They were doing a good job with the monsters, and we did not run into many more ourselves. We had to disable the cave's traps to reach the crystal again, though." Luca widened her eyes, and Palom laughed. He was lying on his stomach and kicking his feet.
"Oh, it was nothing. Just a few explosions and we were set."
"Oh, thank goodness," Luca smiled, and Porom gave Palom a look that said "Really?"
"Anyway…" Cecil continued, biting into the food Luca had found. "…When we finally reached the crystal chamber, we found that nothing was disturbed – nothing had tried to harm or remove the crystal. But…" He looked over at Rydia, who was still staring, "…We found Rydia, passed out on the dais. Rydia, do you remember what happened? How did you get inside when the doors were still so tightly sealed?"
Rydia shook her head. She hadn't touched the food Luca had handed her – it was still clutched in her pale fingers. "I don't remember anything…just that someone was calling my name…when I woke up, you were there…Cecil." She said his name almost tenderly.
Cecil softened a little – finally, she was starting to come around to them again. Something horrible must have happened to her to make her act so cold and distant – it was no wonder she was just drifting about. Her mind had probably blocked it out for her own sanity. "Do you remember anything that happened before waking up? Were you getting ready for Damcyan, or anything like that? Do you remember seeing anyone we know? Or even a stranger?" Somebody else had to have been in the crystal room with her, or lured her there…there had been no way Rydia just being there by herself had made the monsters go berserk enough to stampede out in droves. She's been in the Sealed Cave before, and nothing like that ever happened.
Rydia paused for a moment, and then pressed her lips together. "Wasn't I talking to you, Cecil? I remember your voice. That's all I remember."
Cecil shook his head, confused, as everyone turned to stare at him, and then back to Rydia.
"Rydia, we haven't seen each other since my wedding. I've been with our friends all day today – and prior to that, I've been in Baron, with Rosa and Cid…" He trailed off. There was no point in going on, he realized. Rydia wasn't going to tell them anything, at least not tonight. There was something seriously wrong with her mental state – but he had no idea who could have hurt her. The empty crystal chamber along with the dwindling monsters surely meant that their culprit had already made a getaway, although Cecil was still not sure of what they were trying to achieve with Rydia in the first place.
"Perhaps we should get some rest," Cid offered, sensing the frustration that had been bubbling up in the room. "Everyone's had a long day. Rydia – it may be that whoever is callin' to you from the Tower of Babil was the person who led you to the Sealed Cave's crystal room." Rydia nodded thoughtfully at this, and looked down at her lap.
"A good idea, Master Cid," Porom yawned. Palom was already passed out face-down in his pillow, gurgling into it. Luca stood up from the bunk she was sitting in with Rydia.
"I'll sleep on the top bunk, ok Rydia?" She smiled. Rydia smiled back, but there was no light behind it. Luca nodded awkwardly, and turned to climb the ladder, pulling herself into her bunk and hurriedly throwing the covers over her body, turning her back to everyone. Cecil stood up, reaching over to the oil lamp that had been hanging from the wall and turning the dial to retract the wick, the flame burning out and filling the room with darkness.
"Good night, Cecil," Porom said softly.
"Good night everyone," Cecil said, and crawled into bed, suddenly feeling as if his limbs weighed a ton each. He closed his eyes, and in an effort to will sleep to come, tried to picture Rosa back on the surface – he imagined her back in their bedchamber in Baron, her golden hair splayed over their pillows, shining in the moonlight. She always fell asleep first, and his body would take a cue from hers and let her steady breath in his ear lure him to sleep – tonight, the silence of the space in bed next to him was as disruptive as an explosion rocking the ship.
When his eyes snapped back open, the room was still dark, but Cecil could feel someone's stare on him. Turning slowly from where he had rolled over in his sleep to face the wall, he nearly shouted out when he saw Rydia kneeling next to his bed, her eyes wide and a secretive smile curled on her lips. She pressed her finger to her mouth, and leaned in, whispering.
"Cecil?"
"W-What is it, Rydia?" Cecil hissed. "Is something wrong? Are the dwarves in trouble?"
"I just thought you should know…I've been in her dreams."
"Whose dreams?"
An icy giggle followed. "Rosa's…"
"What about Rosa?" Cecil leaned in closer. Rydia had gotten his full attention, and she knew it. She pressed her fingers together, narrowing her eyes.
"She dreams of such darkness for a maiden of light…it's intriguing."
Cecil clenched the sheets with his fingers, trying not to give away his irritation. Never in his life had he wanted so badly to smother someone with a pillow. What the hell was she talking about?
"Rydia…how exactly would you know something like that? You need to go back to bed – right now."
Rydia smiled wider, pushing herself up from her position on the floor.
"Even if I told you how, you would not comprehend it."
Cecil shot up in bed, his heart racing as he tried to recall where he was. He recognized the Falcon's berth and the messy bunks where his friends had been sleeping. Most of the other bunks were empty, save for Palom's. He was still snoring away, dead to the world. Someone had turned the oil lamp back on, setting it to only a half-glow.
He groaned and pushed his fingers through his hair, clenching his eyes shut. He had no idea what had been a dream last night and what had been real-life. He could swear that Rydia had awoken him in the middle of the night to blather nonsense. But the idea of it was so ridiculous – he knew that Rydia had strange, prophetic dreams like he occasionally had – it came with the territory of being a summoner, as his came with having Lunarian blood – but she had never been able to walk in someone else's dreams, as far as he knew.
It had to have been a delusion, Cecil sighed. I miss Rosa, and Rydia is seriously disturbed. It's no wonder I had a strange dream about the two of them. Besides, the voice in his dream had been distant and belittling – that wasn't how gentle Rydia talked to anyone. She would never tell Cecil that he was not able to "comprehend" something.
But he felt like he had heard something similar though, all too recently…if only he could remember.
"Palom, are you awake yet?"
Porom had walked back into the room, and blinked in surprise when she saw Cecil doubled-over in bed, his head in his hands.
"Cecil!? Is everything OK?"
"Porom…" Cecil lifted his head. "Sorry, just…recovering from a weird dream."
"Shut up you two! I am trying to sleep!"
"And the little prince is up," Porom sneered, and reached down, pulling off a leather bootie. She tossed it into the bunk, smacking him in the back of the head.
"OUCH!" Palom groaned into his pillow, but didn't move.
"We're taking off soon, so you'd best be ready!" Porom shouted at Palom. Turning toward Cecil, she reverted back to her usual cheerful self. "Please take your time, Cecil. Luca says it's about mid-morning."
"What the hell?" Palom whined, his voice still muffled. "Why are you so nice to everyone but me?"
Cecil tried not to laugh – he would really try to take Cid's advice more seriously about not encouraging children to do naughty things – although a laugh was something he sorely needed after a day like yesterday. He got out of bed, and reached up to Palom's bunk, retrieving Porom's bootie and handing it back to her.
"Let's go upstairs and see what everyone is up to," Cecil offered a half-smile, and Porom nodded, slipping the bootie back on and skipping out of the room. Palom cursed into the pillow, and his hand flew up from under the cover to make a very rude gesture.
On the upper deck, Cecil was surprised to see Rydia sitting with the dwarves who had joined them from the Sealed Cave, watching them eat breakfast. She stood up when he emerged from below, looking much more presentable than she had yesterday. Her clothes were still torn, but everything had been pulled up, tied up, and put back in place the best it could be under the circumstances. Her hair had been brushed, and the damaged hyacinth hairpin sat high on her head, sweeping her bangs from her face.
"Cecil!" Rydia exclaimed. "How did you sleep?"
Cecil stared at her for a moment, not quite sure how to answer that. She lost interest waiting for him to reply – she instead turned away and faced the tower again, an anxious look drawing over her features.
"I think Cid was right…someone who knows what happened to me is in there…"
A dwarf approached Cecil. "Good morning, Lali. Shall I set a course for the Tower of Babil, sir? We're all clear as far as the mission in the Sealed Cave and have sealed the entrance back up with Princess Luca's necklace."
"Yes," Cecil nodded. Let's get this over with. I need answers!
"Lali-ho!" The dwarf exclaimed, and the others began to scramble about the deck, readying the ship. Luca was watching Cid enter coordinates into the navigation panel, and Porom was fussing over Palom, who had managed to surface with a crooked ponytail and wrinkled clothes.
"All right then, here we go!" Cid exclaimed, entering the final detail in the navigator and confirming the orders. "Everyone, grab something to hold on to!"
The Falcon lifted off, making a slow ninety-degree turn to head toward the Tower of Babil. Luca was at the wheel, with Cid behind her, gingerly guiding her hands to make adjustments as she stared straight ahead, concentrating on getting the liftoff perfect. Rydia was standing at the bow of the ship, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed, the wind from the rotors blowing her hair back. Cecil's eyes never left her as they began to move forward through the air.
First the Fire Crystal emits light, and then the Tower of Babil begins to glow…is someone attempting to activate it again? But with the Lunarians' moon gone, what would be the purpose of re-opening the moon's path?
Edge opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling of the chamber he had wandered into to catch a quick round of shut-eye. The trek just to get to the shanty town inside the Cave of Eblan had been rough – Edge was used to fighting by himself, but the monsters in the cave had definitely been bolstering their populations since the Eblanese refugees had moved out, so it was slow-going. At least when his people had lived there, the monsters knew well enough to keep away, The Cave of Eblan had made a relatively safe hideout, save for the damp conditions spawning rampant disease and the starvation. Between Rubicante's bombing of Eblan Castle, and the perils of surviving in hiding, Eblan had lost nearly half its population last year.
Edge had not truly understood just how much despair this laid upon the kingdom until the news broke a few months prior that Lady Chisaki, a young woman from a prominent ninja clan that had all been wiped out in the fire save for her and her cousin, announced she was with child. It was to be the first live birth the kingdom had experienced since the attack, and Edge was genuinely surprised at how much joy this brought his people. To him, a baby was a baby – The extent of his thoughts on such a phenomenon were that he took great pains to make sure he didn't have any of his own running around in the world somewhere.
He rolled over in the makeshift bed a refugee had left behind, stretching his legs and thinking back to a conversation he had had with one of his disciples.
"Lady Chisaki's baby is like a living embodiment of hope for Eblan," Izayoi, his third disciple, and Chisaki's cousin, tried explaining to him one night after training as they sat on the shores of Eblan Beach, their aching feet soaking in the waves of the low tide. "Proof that after adversity, man will come back stronger than before. That life always finds a way."
Izayoi was an enchanting young woman, only fifteen years old and already on her way to becoming a skilled kunoichi, although Edge knew that she struggled with the thought of interlacing her femininity with her identity as a ninja – she thought of herself as a ninja first, and despised it when anyone brought up her gender. But it had been her espionage skills that had caught Edge's attention and had him encouraging Gekkou to let her join what was now the Eblan Three – not the fact that she was quickly blossoming into one of the most beautiful women in Eblan. Not only had Izayoi escaped Rubicante's attack on the kingdom unscathed, but she had lived as a spy by herself in several other kingdoms, trying to unravel the mystery of the attacks on the crystals and the connection Rubicante had with Baron.
When Izayoi had heard Eblan was undergoing a reconstruction effort and that their prince had returned home from the war, she immediately returned to Eblan, marching unabashedly to Edge's throne still weary from travel. Her tall, willowy frame was covered in bruises and filth, her wavy brown and black hair was wild, and dark circles had taken occupancy beneath her sapphire-blue eyes. Without bothering to formally request an audience with the new king, she relayed all of the intelligence she had gathered. She had learned things that Edge had only been able to glean from traveling with Cecil, Kain, Rosa and Rydia, so he knew everything she spoke of was true. She had even found out about King Cecil's coronation before Edge had received the invitation.
If Edge were being honest with himself, he also had felt drawn to Izayoi because she reminded him so much of Rydia. Physically, they were as different as could be – it had been their personalities and the way they carried themselves. They were proud, too brave for their own damn good, and relentless when there was something they wanted. But they were also gentle, sensitive, and vulnerable when it came to others suffering injustice, both being war orphans. But with Izayoi, he had wanted to nurture her talents and send her out into the world with gilded wings. With Rydia…it was much different.
Rydia…
Edge pushed himself out of bed, and yawned. He had slept and thought enough – it was time to finish this. Glancing at the clock crudely nailed into the cavern wall that someone had left behind in their haste to escape, he saw that it was broken, so he had had no idea how much time had passed. Surely it was at least after midnight – everyone in Damcyan was probably well asleep, the celebration just a happy memory to them now. He hoped that Rydia had been there with them and that now she was back in her bed in the Feymarch, but he had a sinking feeling that was not the case.
Crossing into a larger cavern, Edge spied the low tunnel that he would need to crawl through in order to reach the path to the Tower of Babil. He got down on his hands and knees, the cold, stale water on the floor of the cave splashing on his cowl and making him gag as he dragged himself through, wary of smashing his head into the low ceiling. When at last he had reached the end of the tunnel, he climbed to his feet and began to hike up the ascending path. When a pack of cave bats screeched their warnings and attempted to swarm him from the rear, he merely flicked his wrist behind him as he walked and drew a curtain of flame from the aether, directing it upward with his index and middle fingers and setting the bats aflame. In a smoking heap, they collapsed to the cavern floor, twitching and burning until they dissolved into silvery dust.
When he reached a dead end, he paused, pressing his palms together and muttering a spell under his breath. A portion of the rocky cavern wall flashed red, then green, and then went back to normal. Glancing around discreetly to make sure no one was following him, Edge then walked into the wall, passing through as if he had walked through a gossamer veil.
On the other side, he found himself in the very familiar Tower of Babil – and immediately felt a heavy, twisted darkness in the air – it pressed upon him so intensely that he felt as if a pile of bricks had been dropped on his chest.
I knew it. Someone has been here.
All of its lights had been illuminated – of which there were many. The tower's floors were made out of smooth white glass that gave away any footsteps that fell upon them, even those of the most fleet-footed ninja. The walls were made out of the same material, but were lined with snaking patterns of neon blue lights that pulsed between a dim and bright setting intermittently, giving the impression that the tower itself was a living, breathing behemoth that you were trapped inside of. Between the glossy walls and floors and the blinding lights reflecting off of them, the result was a sterile, labyrinthine environment that was light-years beyond any other structures found on the Blue Planet. Edge had learned on the moon that the Tower of Babil was of Lunarian origin and had thus not been built by any humans, but learning where the tower came from didn't make it any less creepy to him.
What had once been a playground where he would secretly sneak into to impress girls as a teenager or to train unbeknownst to his clan had become the last place he had seen his parents alive, before they had killed themselves to prevent their mutated and twisted experimental forms gifted by Dr. Lugae from harming himself and Cecil, Kain, Rosa and Rydia, whom had rescued him from Rubicante just moments prior.
Oftentimes, Edge would wonder what would have happened if Cecil and the others had not stumbled upon his broken body in the tunnel that led to the Tower of Babil. He figured he would have eventually dragged himself into the tower and just let his parents kill him, if he had even made it that far – but fate had had other plans for him. And now he was back, so soon…although he didn't quite understand why yet.
Edge cracked his knuckles and reached over his shoulders with both arms, unsheathing Murasame and Masamune, his prized katanas that he had unearthed from the moon's core before the final battle with Zemus. The blades gleaming in his hands, he marched forward, mentally daring any monsters to cross his path. The dark, unsettling presence was stinking up the place – and it was getting closer with each step he took.
Let's unmask these bastards once and for all!
In front of the true entrance to the Tower of Babil, which was underground, were positioned several golden tanks that belonged to King Giott's army. Word had been sent back to the castle that a raid was to occur, and Giott had ordered the tanks to protect Cecil and the others should any trouble arise, now that the castle was free from the threat of monsters once again.
Luca landed the ship carefully and unfurled the ramp, and Cecil waved for the others to gather close to him. He had formulated a plan.
"Cid, I need you to stay here," Cecil began. "We'll need you on the Falcon, and ready to support us, should things go ill." He thought back to the last time they had attempted to escape the Tower of Babil, and Golbez had destroyed the drawbridge that would have led them to safety, tossing them into the magma. Luckily, Cid had just barely managed to catch them with the Enterprise before the unthinkable happened. "Palom and Porom, you're with me – and Rydia too."
Cid nodded. "You can count on me. You lot be careful out there."
"Palom…Porom…be careful," Luca said, and the twins nodded, trying to be as sober as possible even though they were both thrilled at the thought of getting to see the Tower of Babil up-close and personal. Ever since they had seen the Giant of Babil emerge from the tower and had gotten to battle it from their very own airship (borrowed from Baron) in an aerial assault, they had been anxious to unlock even more of the tower's secrets. It was positively humming with a magical energy that drew them to it like bees to honey.
Luca turned to Rydia, giving her one last hug. Rydia looked down at the top of Luca's head, and gently patted her back, like one would a strange dog.
"I will be back," Rydia said, but her eyes had averted back to the tower and had become foggy and distant once more.
When the four of them reached the drawbridge, Cecil turned and waved to the ship. Cid waved back, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Cecil…Don't do anything too crazy, you hear?"
"We'll be OK!" Cecil called back, and led the party inside. The automatic, silver-plated door slammed down from above after they stepped through the threshold, silencing the sound of the bubbling magma under the bridge and leaving them in an eerily quiet chamber. There were no monsters or patrol units, unlike the last time Cecil had been through, and the only sounds were their feet clicking across the glass tiles.
"It's above," Rydia frowned, her hands pressed to her temples. "The voices."
"There's so much magical energy in here," Porom added. "I can feel it running through my body like a current."
"Not from the crystals, though?" Cecil asked worriedly. Yes, the Sealed Cave's crystal was safe, but anything could have happened on the surface in the hours they were sleeping.
"No crystals," Palom confirmed, and Cecil let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, "But definitely something different from what you can find on the surface world."
The tower's staircases were sealed away by massive metal doors that would slide open upon sensing someone's presence. As they encountered the first staircase, the door slid open before they had even stepped forward, and a massive Frostbeast lumbered out. A feral creature that walked on all fours and had the resemblance of a wolf, but roughly ten times larger, Frostbeasts were pure muscle encased in ice and snow and typically found in cold environments or deep caves. In harsher winter months, Frostbeasts would be known to wander close to villages, and were a very real threat thanks to their destructive power.
So it was impossible for Cecil to fathom why one was in the underworld, one of the hottest and unforgiving climates on the planet, and in the Tower of Babil, of all places.
"Be on your guard!" Cecil cried, withdrawing Ragnarok and slashing at the monster's head. The blade struck a hard patch of ice, cutting a deep fissure into the Frostbeast but not deeply enough to draw blood. The Frostbeast shook its head angrily and raised a paw, swiping at Cecil, who managed to block with his shield but slid back a few feet from the force of the blow. He dove forward again, trying to draw the Frostbeast away from the others.
"Haste!" Porom cried, casting the speed spell on Palom and Rydia. "Let's pummel it with fire magic!" She followed up with Protect and Blink spells for Cecil, so he could protect them while they casted their magic.
Palom was conjuring a Firaga spell, but Rydia was at a stand-still, watching the Frostbeast confusedly. Porom grabbed hold of her sleeve, trying to get her attention.
"Rydia! Summon Ifrit…please!"
Rydia looked down at Porom, blinking as if she had asked her to do something as ridiculous as raising the dead.
"I can't do that."
"What!?" Porom cried, but they were interrupted by the massive explosion that had been let forth from Palom's rod. The Frostbeast was obliterated in seconds, bursting into a cloud of snow and ice that rained down upon them. Hovering in the air above the charred and blown-open doorway, a glowing blue orb twinkled and suddenly flew forward, striking Rydia in the chest before anyone could stop it. She stumbled back, closing her eyes and radiating with a soft white aura before everything returned back to normal.
Rydia opened her eyes and looked around, a small smile on her lips.
"Sum…mon…"
"Rydia…?" Cecil blinked. "Are you OK?"
"Um, you are welcome!" Palom snorted, gesturing toward the completely destroyed doorway. "Could have used some backup, Rydia! I thought you could summon eidolons to do your dirty work for you!" He had heard Porom's request and Rydia's refusal, and was livid – not that he didn't appreciate the opportunity to show off his power.
Rydia tilted her head, not understanding his rage. "Do you not comprehend? Porom asked me to summon Ifrit, which I cannot do. But now I can summon Shiva, so I will help next time, all right?"
"What do you mean you can't summon Ifrit…?" Porom trailed off. Rydia was one of the most powerful summoners in the world and could control any known eidolon – including the Father of Eidolons himself. How could this be?
"Did…that Frostbeast give you the ability to summon Shiva?" Cecil felt foolish even asking such a thing, since he knew that wasn't how eidolons worked – they challenged a summoner who wished to call upon them to prove their worth first, and only then would they form a covenant. He had been through enough of those challenges at Rydia's side to know that. But Rydia nodded, much to his surprise.
"Cecil understands. Shall we continue?" She brushed past them and went through the destroyed doorway, her boots clicking up the stairs as she left them behind.
Cecil, Porom and Palom stared at each other, not sure what to say.
"Who could have done such a thing to her?" Porom whispered. "I've never heard of a summoner losing their powers…"
"We must be observant," Cecil said softly. "If whoever attacked Rydia is really here, we have to be on our guard if they are powerful enough to strip a summoner of her eidolons. Can I depend on you two to do the heavy lifting? We have to protect her at all costs."
"Of course," Palom and Porom said in unison, their rings glinting on their fingers as they looked at each other.
On each subsequent floor that they climbed, they encountered a different beast that blocked their passage. Next up was a Green Dragon, and Rydia kept her promise, summoning Shiva, the goddess of ice. Taking the form of a fairy, the blue-skinned ice dancer pirouetted around the dragon, a twirling storm of snow and ice following in her wake. Snapping open a fan, she blew a kiss to the dragon, which had taken the form of a glistening diamond that bounced about in the air. Guiding it toward the dragon with her fan, the diamond suddenly erupted into towering ice spikes that tore the dragon asunder, and Shiva disappeared with giggle and a snap of her fingers.
Rydia closed her eyes and stepped forward, anticipating what would happen next. A bright golden orb had risen from the Green Dragon's corpse, plunging itself into her chest. This time, she had braced herself, and didn't stumble as the magic infiltrated her body once more. When she opened her eyes, they briefly flashed yellow before fading back to green.
"Ramuh…" she breathed, and Cecil could swear he heard the snap of electricity in the air when she locked her gaze on his, her lips twisting.
After defeating a Flamehound, the fiery cousin of a Frostbeast, and obtaining Ifrit, and on the next floor felling a Tunneler (a ten foot-tall, pincer-equipped centipede that Palom took great pleasure in electrocuting with a Thundaga spell) to acquire Titan, the party had finally come to an impasse.
There were only two exits available from what they could glean from frantically searching the floor – a locked door to their far right, with no key seemingly available, and a door straight ahead of them to the north that Cecil remembered led to the tower's cannon control room. However, the cannons had all been destroyed by Yang a year ago when a minion of Golbez's had attempted to use them to fire upon King Giott's castle, and Cecil knew from being inside the room itself that there was no exit save for jumping out a massive glass-paneled window, a fall from which most would not survive.
Rydia was staring at the walkway that led to the cannons; her eyes glazing over in what Cecil thought looked like tears. He remembered when Yang had, at the time, seemingly sacrificed himself for them so he could stop the cannons, and Rydia had broken down. She had been devastated that the man who had tried to save her life when Leviathan had swallowed her as a child was gone forever, and could barely bring herself to leave Yang and the tower – Cecil and Kain had had to practically carry her out.
Of course, now Cecil knew that all had ended well – Yang had miraculously survived the explosion and had been rescued by Sylphs, kind fairies that lived deep in the underworld and had nursed him back to health until he could return to Fabul. They had been so dedicated to Yang's recovery, that they refused to let him join Cecil again in battle and had offered themselves up as summons for Rydia instead, so that they could fight in Yang's place.
But Rydia could feel something drawing her to that room – and she found her feet carrying her on their own down the walkway, toward the closed doors. A quiet, serene voice echoed in her ears that no one else could hear.
They have served their purpose – no need to leave behind a mess.
Cecil had been watching the twins, who were poking around and trying to find another way out after he had explained the cannon room was a dead-end, when he briefly glanced back over at Rydia and saw that she was opening the doors. He whirled around, calling her name.
"Rydia!?"
She didn't reply, the doors sliding shut behind her. Cecil sighed and called the twins over, proceeding to march up the walkway himself. When he tried pulling open the doors, however, they were locked shut.
"What the hell…?" Cecil pulled harder, but there was no give. He banged on the doors with his fist, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Rydia! The doors have locked – let us in!"
Palom and Porom looked at each other. They both had that feeling – something was horribly wrong. The ambience of the chamber had suddenly taken on a twisted darkness, and their hearts were leaping into their throats. It was the same feeling they had gotten before Cagnazzo had attempted to murder them in Baron Castle.
"Cecil, watch out!" Palom hissed.
"Something's coming!" Porom gasped.
There was the sound of footsteps echoing inside, and then a click, and the doors slid open on their own. But rather than being greeted by Rydia, Cecil and the twins had instead found themselves stared down by three platinum-plated android soldiers, each about eight feet tall. They were identically-built, with glowing blue cannons for right arms and spinning knife-like claws on their left hands. A glowing blue core spun dizzily in their abdomens, generating energy that Cecil could see running throughout their bodies in translucent, vein-like rubber cords. Their faces comprised of spiked helmets with gleaming Viking horns that looked like they had been hurriedly smashed onto their wide, bolt-ridden shoulders – one of the soldier's face grates was hanging off, exposing a mess of circuitry and sparking wires, and the other two were dented in a sickening angle with one bent horn apiece. Cecil feared that Rydia had been cornered and tried to fight her way out, and that this was the result.
Cecil stepped back slowly, holding his arms out to guard the twins. The androids whirred and began to follow him, taking clunky steps forward in unison that made the entire walkway shake as blue lights lit up inside their helmets.
"Cecil…!" Porom whimpered. "What should we do?"
Cecil frowned, trying to keep his eyes on all three of the androids at once. There was no way he could duel with them on the walkway – it was barely big enough for the six of them as it was. One false step or a shot from one of their laser cannons, and he would be taking a one-way trip down the tower.
"Can you try to do another Twincast spell?" Cecil asked. "Take all three out at once?"
"Cover us!" Palom nodded, and he and Porom ran away back toward the safety of the main floor.
One of the androids lunged forward, thrusting the spinning claws at Cecil's chest. Cecil blocked it with his shield, and covered his eyes with his free arm as sparks burst from where the blades collided with the diamond and adamantite-laden shield. The other two androids surged forward to try to execute a pincer attack while Cecil was distracted.
"Pyroblast!" Palom and Porom screamed, and Cecil felt a tremendous wave of energy rush through the air behind him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Sickening popping noises began to erupt from the android soldiers, bubbles of blistering liquid fire exploding underneath their armored plating and sending shrapnel and body parts flying. Cecil backed up slowly to make his way closer to the twins, holding his shield higher in an effort to protect their faces from the debris. The battered androids collapsed in a pile of demolished metal, smoke and crackling wires, the light in their abdominal cores and eyes fading to black.
Cecil lowered his shield, letting out a sigh of relief. Palom and Porom jumped onto his back, laughing and giving each other high-fives that came dangerously close to smacking Cecil in the face.
"We can even dismantle machinery in one blow!" Palom exclaimed. "Bet you would have loved to have us along the first time you were in the tower, eh Cecil?"
"It was interesting to see how a non-organic monster would react to such a spell," Porom mused. "Good idea, Cecil."
"I…uh…" Cecil shook his head. "…Thanks, I guess. But you guys did all the work…"
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"
A siren interrupted them, and it was coming from the pile of broken android soldiers on the floor. The lights throughout the tower faded from blue to red, and began to flash rapidly, the effect stupefying. One by one, the three androids' eyes lit up again, this time the same color as the red lights all around them, and there came the bone-chilling sound of metal scraping against glass.
"ENTERING FINAL MODE…"
Cecil watched in disbelief as the broken parts began to assemble themselves on their own, being pulled back into sockets by magnetic force and with wires that would drift out like snakes and ensnare other wires. They twisted themselves together as if invisible hands were manipulating them, shooting off sparks and smoke while the parts soldered back on to each other. Between all three androids, enough parts had been salvaged to make one new, even taller android, which rose from its knees and shot into the air, landing with a crash on the other side of the walkway behind Cecil and the twins.
Just as Cecil whirled around, with the twins still clinging to his back, the core on the new android pulsed with an ominous amber color, and it lifted its new cannon arm, firing off a golden laser dead center into Cecil's chest.
The impact threw Cecil backwards, sending him smashing into the doors of the cannon room, which had closed once more and dented inward with the collision of his body. Palom and Porom were crushed between the doors and Cecil's back, and slumped to the floor, instantly knocked senseless. Cecil's head was aching just from the effort of breathing, and he could feel something wet and sticky trickling down his neck. His chest felt like it was on fire from where his breastplate had absorbed the laser, and as he tried to feebly pry it away from his skin, trails of smoke began to emit from the fingertips of his gloves, the smell of burning leather rushing up his nose.
"ARRRRGH!" Cecil screamed, ripping away the breastplate and tossing it aside, his navy tunic underneath scorched through and exposing pink, swollen flesh across his chest. Some of the swells had split open, oozing oil and blood.
He clenched his jaw, trying to overcome the agonizing feeling of his skin tearing apart to pull himself back up to his feet, but he couldn't move an inch without another wave of pain assaulting his senses. The android began to march toward them, each stomp sending a reverberation through the walkway that sent Cecil's nerves into more fits.
"R-Raise…" Cecil gasped, and slumped down against the door. Soft white light shone over the twins, reviving them from their stupor. Porom was the first to stir, opening her eyes and crying out as Cecil's collapsed form came into focus.
"Curaga!" Porom whimpered, tears running down her cheeks as she gently placed her hands over his burned body. The android was only a few feet away now, its cannon aimed straight for them, which was charging up for another attack. The rainbow light that poured from Porom's hands slowly sunk into Cecil's skin, mending the wounds, but he wasn't coming back around – her magic was doing nothing for the pain.
Palom groaned from where he was laying face-down on the floor. Lifting one hand weakly, he muttered a Stop spell, but it simply bounced off the android and nearly ricocheted back into him, missing his ponytail by mere inches.
The cannon was overflowing with sparkling energy, and the android's core began to spin wildly once more, activating the cannon's safety release. Hearing the familiar whirl, Cecil's eyes opened half-way, and the last thing he saw was a blinding explosion of light.
