Rebirth of a Holy Dragoon

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. OCs belong to various friends. I think you know the drill by now.

Notes: Shout out to Writer of Worlds! *strikes a pose*

Warnings: You don't remember the list of warnings I gave before? Fine. Here. Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar, shitty storytelling.

FIC START!

Chapter Forty-nine

Leviathan landed back into his own little pocket dimension with little to no issues with the transfer. He took a deep breath, knowing that this place was lost in an overwhelming scenario that they'd never had to deal with without him leading them, but he wasn't prepared to find his personal secretary, Betsy, lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood right outside his office. He leaned down to check her vitals, and she was far beyond being revived with magic or blessed Phoenix feathers. He checked the wound, trying to see exactly how she was killed, and there were so many wounds, he imagined that it had to have been someone like Gilgamesh with his multiple arms and weapons at his disposal. The eidolon picked himself up and headed to his office, only to find that it was ransacked. His Sphere terminal was turned on. It flickered violently back and forth as if the system had something completely wrong about it. Just what the hell happened between the time that the Senate was having the attempted kidnapper on trial for his crimes and now? He wasn't in transition between the layer of reality that long, was he?

Leviathan picked up the phone on his desk. "Patch me through to the Grand Dragoon!" he yelled into it.

A voice on the other side of the line responded with a very dry, emotionless, "The Grand Dragoon is dead, sir."

His stomach fell away as his heart began to pound so hard that he could feel it in every part of his body. He could barely hear anything else but the constant drum-like thumping. "Then what of the Captain-"

"Sir. We are currently trying to find every member of the Highwind family, but they've all gone missing or worse," came the reply. "The Grand Dragoon, his brother Captain Highwind, Lady Erina, and the two children… the extended family is nowhere to be seen, either."

"How can that be?" Leviathan asked. "Who exactly am I speaking to?!"

"...my name is Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, but most people just call me the good Doctor Cid," the voice said with a slight chuckle. "Perhaps if you hadn't stolen the Wind Crystal from us, we wouldn't have decided to completely destroy all of your prized family. Don't worry, I know the children are still alive. Perhaps if they're ever set free from where they are currently, they can take the decimated Highwind Manor and make a home of it. Not that there's much left."

"I'll have you drawn and quartered, you miserable pile of-"

The voice on the line hung up, leaving Leviathan wondering what to do now. He paced back and forth in his office before deciding that he needed to fix his Sphere terminal before it completely messed up and he lost all his progress. He also needed to get a message to Einar, who might have been able to fix this, but he knew it was more than dangerous to completely rewrite reality without shutting down the system and quite possibly cut the energy from the pods which kept all of Cantirena and her party alive back in the Feymarch.

"Perhaps it was destiny for Richard to die," Leviathan thought aloud. "Kain's father is not known for surviving past him being this age… considering most of reality here is written by the collective memories of all inside the pods…" He replaced wires that had fallen out of their ports and slowly it all came back into working order. There had to be something he could do about all this, even if there was no way to undo a lot of the damage that happened while he was gone. He was lost in thought as he fixed the computer back to working order.

It didn't take long before his phone rang again. This was an emergency number, and most people communicated through the Sphere, so it seemed odd to get another call. The only place he remembered being connected to it was the Grand Dragoon's desk. Leviathan picked it up.

"If you've called again to gloat, Doctor-"

"It's me," came a much more familiar voice. Leviathan recognized it immediately. "I know you're wondering how I'm able to contact you. I'm currently in the deepest part of the Warriors training facility."

"Captain Highwind… I'm relieved to hear from you. The head of the Bunansa family was-"

"It was a trap to take the kids away from us," Cid's voice said, and Leviathan could tell the man wanted to do nothing but curl up and cry. "The trial was a sham. The Senators… they want to seize power, and since you've been missing, they've taken it."

"Their Doctor is a member of the Senate, too, if I'm not mistaken."

"Exactly. If you hadn't given that Executive Order, they would have taken my poor baby girl alone… I hate saying we're lucky for having Kain captured, too, but… at least he's there with her," Cid had broken down all ready. He couldn't hold back anymore. "There are men still loyal to my brother that are with me, but many of the Warriors were killed the moment the kids were taken captive. I don't know how to fight back… I don't know how to lead them."

Leviathan nodded, even though he knew Cid couldn't see his reaction. He was sad that his beloved little child, the one that all of this world was built to rebuild, had to face something so horrifying. He wished he knew what to suggest. There was no way he could leave and direct Einar again under these circumstances. "It's all right, Cid. Without the Grand Dragoon, the Warriors aren't going to listen to most of anyone without me. I need you to keep this emergency line open. I'll deal with the Senate myself. I'll send an Executive Order through the Sphere giving commands to the Warriors, you just carry the message. Don't worry. I know Canti and Kain are both alive. We'll save them."

"H-how do you know they're alive?"

"There's a lot about this place that you don't know. Your daughter, and your nephew, are vital to not just my personal mission, but to this entire country… Stay put, Cid. I'll be in touch."

"Yes, sir."

Leviathan hung up the phone and started to type on the keyboard of the Sphere. There was more work to be done than he thought.

How long had it been since they had seen the outside world? Without knowing what time it was, and without windows, there was no way of knowing how much time had passed since they'd been forced into this tiny room with barriers to keep them apart. There wasn't much sound in the room, either. The springs in the bed moved every time one of them were to move on it, and the other could feel each movement even though the barrier was there.

Canti studied the books she'd been given, but without someone to practice the verbals on, there was no way she could understand how the words were supposed to be pronounced. She didn't say anything about that yet. Her stomach rumbled loudly and she couldn't help but daydream about dragon meat pizza, or deep fried chocobo strips or even that huge cake that she had eaten at her ceremony. Anything other having having to learn this language that more confused her than made actual sense. She yawned, as she was bored as hell, but she didn't want anything to happen to Kain. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him, even though the only thing she wanted was to curl up against him and take comfort in his natural warmth.

Kain slumped against the barrier, his most coordinated hand chained to the barrier itself. His wrist really was hurting from having to wear that clasp on it for so long. At this rate, it was going to chaff his skin, which was a painful sensation he'd rather not have to deal with. It was like wearing armor without anything underneath to protect the skin - and only led to itching, peeling, and pain. Every once in a while, he turned around to get a good look at Canti, who at least had something to read. Every moment felt like an eternity to him. There was no distraction from their current situation. All he could do was wonder where his father and uncle were. All he could think about was trying to get out of here and getting on with a somewhat normal life, even though after all of this, was there even a chance of having a normal life? He knew that Mateus had some sort of vendetta against him that he didn't quite understand, but there was no way that pompous asshole could have hatched this entire thing on his own. He had to have some sort of help to accomplish this. Kain scratched at an itch he had on his leg. Who would want to take out the Highwind family? Well, there were the Bunansas, and they were always mad as hell over the Wind Crystal being taken from them after they discovered it. So was there an alliance between the Bunansas and the Palamecias? There really wasn't much he could do but speculate with how little he knew about the situation.

After they spent Cosmos knows how long in there in the silence, the door opened again. Mateus stood there with two plates of food, still steaming. Kain didn't expect him to give them anything decent since there was no social pressure to impress when they all ready were locked up with no way to escape. Even though Canti was ravenous for something to eat, she didn't turn to face him at all. She needed to appear focused on what she was doing.

"Time to eat~" Mateus chimed. "Take a break, darling. You'll pass out if you push yourself, and we need to make the most of every moment." He slid Kain's plate underneath the barrier and moved it close enough to where even if he was chained, he could still get it. "I've watched you both eat at lunch, I'm pretty sure of what you will eat. For Kain, I've brought roast chocobo breast and greens, and I've even included a cookie for you being such a good sport."

"Fuck you…" Kain grunted back at him.

"You'll be hungry at some point. I won't make you eat it now," he said, turning to Canti's barrier. "Come now, darling. I won't have you falling ill." Mateus put his hand up to the barrier, and it faded for a moment, allowing him to step through it.

Canti turned her head, staring in disbelief. He stepped into her cell? That meant she could use his hand to open it and get out! She stood up, ready to mount an all out offense.

"I know that you're thinking, you naughty girl," Mateus said, pushing her shoulder to make her sit right back down. "You won't be attacking me to open the barrier for you." He put the plate in front of her. "Sit. Eat. Enjoy it. The kitchens here aren't as great as the ones back at my estate, but they've got some decent chefs around here."

Canti stared at the plate. It contained a large cut of steak, a huge mound of mashed potatoes, steamed gyshal greens, and a large piece of devil's food cake. It was something meant for the lord of a manor, not a prisoner. "This is-"

"Like I said. I will see to your every need," he sat on her side of the bed so he could watch her eat. "As long as you obey."

"There's a kitchen here… with chefs," Canti said, picking up her fork. She could see that if she didn't start eating, he was going to start shoving it into her face. Those eyes weren't going to let her make any sort of wrong move. "That means we aren't in a prison."

"Oh, you're absolutely right," Mateus said. "You aren't. I wonder what else you're intelligent enough to figure out."

"...that you're in complete control," she admitted aloud, taking a bite of the potatoes as she stared directly at him. They weren't instant potatoes. These were real potatoes. Canti had potatoes made at school, and those were virtually flavorless. These tasted much like the ones that Papa Cid had made for her, and she could totally tell there was butter mixed in there. "These… taste homemade."

"They are indeed~ It all is. Just wait until you eat the cake. It's to die for."

Kain was internally screaming all sorts of obscenities at Mateus, wanting to kill him. He couldn't handle it. The fact that he stepped into that tiny little chamber like that and gave her no escape frightened him. He was sitting on the bed, the same bed that Kain was sitting on! What he wouldn't give for this barrier to go down so he could drive that fork Canti was using right into the young master's eyes…

"Canti," Mateus said quietly, crossing his legs. "There is something I would like you to do for me."

"There's more?" she asked, still eating.

"Oh there's so much more…" he answered. "…but I'll let you finish eating first. You'll need your hands and mouth free."

Kain turned back to the barrier, pounding his fists against it. "You touch her, you're a dead man!" he shouted angrily. "I'll kill you!"