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: Hey, it's this story's one year anniversary! Let's keep at it!

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 Fifty-two

Leviathan hadn't stopped typing once he started. There was more than a few orders that needed to be issued to countless different Sphere terminals, and because of the way the system was built, he couldn't send the same documents to different recipients. Safety first, he groaned in his mind, pushing up his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

He had to decide what to tell the Warriors of the Water. If it were true that the Grand Dragoon had indeed been killed in battle, his successor wasn't exactly reachable in the current situation. He sat there and figured he might as well give the temporary authority to his brother, even though the last time Leviathan spoke to Cid, the man wasn't holding up well. He sent the executive order through the system to all Warriors of the Water terminals to make sure every single one of them knew of it. The last thing he wanted was a mutiny because they weren't all properly informed.

He reached over to his coffee cup, which had grown completely cold since he checked on it last. For fuck's sake, he couldn't get a drink of hot coffee while working no matter how many fresh cups he served himself! How annoying! Was it because, being a water deity, his hands were always cold? He groaned loudly at himself.

His screen suddenly began to flash, and it immediately caught his attention. It displayed a message that demanded his full attention.

Doing this is extremely dangerous, but I have no choice. I must warn you that if things continue the way they are going, the system will crumble. The combined psyches of two of the pillars are so damaged that I foresee no way to permanently fix it. Ten years are simply not possible… awaiting response before project:RE may commence again.

Leviathan feared that being the case, which was the reason why he was working as fast as he could on a solution. He looked at the clock on the wall of his office. If ten years was impossible, then there was going to need to be ten years of work done in a shorter amount of time. He brought up a window to type a reply. It was dangerous to all involved, both those who were real and those who weren't within the system, but it wasn't like this whole project wasn't a risk to begin with. The last thing we needed was the beloved heroine waking up as a damaged, confused ten year old in a world where everyone she ever knew and loved had been destroyed. She'd just kill herself again! So having some answer was better than no answer, he told himself. There was a high chance of everything completely failing anyway, so why not just throw all of his heart behind this one decision?

Engage time skip upon stability. Currently engaging all military personnel in achieving stability, will take time. Continue project:RE as planned. All orders final.

At first, he didn't want to send that command, but nothing would happen unless he sent it. Leviathan clicked to send the message to the sender. Then, he sent all of his executive orders to the rest of the government facilities through all of the little pocket dimension he had dominion over.

The Sphere terminal lit up and he heard a chime. He clicked to receive the call.

"Sir!" It was Cid Highwind. "A-are these orders yours, or some scheme from the outside?"

"Cid, these orders are mine. Until the successor of the title of Grand Dragoon is made safe, you are to fill the position," Leviathan said flatly. "Use all of your power to find those children before it is too late."

"Sir! I only wish I had a lead. No one has any idea as to where they might be, and people have been searching all over the country," Cid said, letting out a sigh.

Leviathan nodded, beginning to use another program on his Sphere to do a search. "I'll do a scan to see if I can pinpoint something…" There were no signals showing up, which was weird. The Sphere was a part of an electrical network that had access to every building within the entire country. Every room in every house in every neighborhood could be looked in if needed. And there were no signs of Cantirena or Kain anywhere that his scans could reach. What places were there that couldn't be traced by his system? Leviathan pondered on that. "…Cid."

"Sir?"

"You're more mechanically inclined than I, and you may understand a bit more about this than I do, but I must ask you a question…" he looked into the eyes of that older gentleman through the camera attached to his Sphere terminal. "…is there a known place within Dagurreo or Fisherman's Horizon where there is no electrical current?"

Cid put his hand to his chin to think about it. "There's electricity everywhere within Dagurreo. Even in all of the underground facilities."

"That's what I was thinking."

"But there… are places with no electricity in Fisherman's Horizon. The place where all of those… are kept," Cid trailed off. "Why?"

"Because they aren't in a place where there is electricity, otherwise the Sphere would be able to detect them," Leviathan answered him. "That's the power of the Sphere."

"...oh shit," Cid gasped. "I understand, sir. I'll lead the search myself."

"May Cosmos guide you," Leviathan said as he hung up the call. He watched the window close on the screen and closed his eyes. It was smart to hide the Highwind children there. He knew the living conditions there, and the kind of people who lived there, that were not allowed to leave. Even if those two were to get out of wherever they were being held, it would be nearly impossible to leave Fisherman's Horizon.

Canti was more than a little shocked when she woke up. She didn't understand those visions she'd had in her sleep for a while. She was so much different there than she remembered being. Loud, boisterous, always raising her voice no matter who it was speaking to her. Even if it was Papa Cid. Especially if it was Papa Cid. And when she tried to think about what happened in detail, there were always blank spots in her memory. There were always things missing to connect different flashes that she did see. Her mind was a total mess. And given her current situation, that didn't surprise her. Being held against her will by a classmate because he's convinced he's destined to have you has his bride for some reason could have been understood to induce stress in some people. Canti didn't understand what he was on about. This whole land named after his family thing.

Her hands were still firmly on the barrier that kept the two cells separate. She could still hear Kain breathing on the other side of it. Her backside still ached a bit. She wondered how the same bed could be used between them, with there being a barrier there. Canti put her fingers there to see if she could feel a connection, but the sheet on the bed went through underneath the barrier. The fact that she suddenly realized that she didn't have a blanket made her feel even colder than she was all ready, on top of everything else. She tried to see if she could push a few fingers through the crack that the sheet slipped through, and found that yes, while she couldn't see where her fingers were going in the complete darkness, they did indeed fit. This had to have been a weakness in this entire set up. She grinned silently at having made this little discovery.

"Kain?" she whispered as she leaned in to the crack.

There was no reply. He must have passed out. To her knowledge, he hadn't been sleeping at all. It was good that he was asleep. He needed to escape this nightmare as much as she did. But, since there was no light anywhere, that meant she was free to test out another part of her theory regarding their cell. Canti took a deep breath before she pushed herself up and stood up completely, letting herself slide down the side of the bed to its bottom. When she pressed herself to the floor, her backside ached, and she let out a painful little gasp. She covered her mouth, not wanting to let out any more of a reaction than that. She was certain that Mateus was outside the room and had the ability to hear whatever they said, so she wanted to stay as silent as possible. Canti felt the very bottom of the bed. There was some space between it and the floor. She stuck her hand between them. As she got closer to the floor she pushed her hand further. How far could it go? She was able to fit all the way to her shoulder, and she tried to fit her head in there, too. Perhaps with enough effort, she could push all the way through…!

It was tight under that bed. It was hard to breathe under there. And she could feel the difference of pressure between her empty side and where Kain was sleeping. But she knew she was stronger than she let herself show. She could push herself further. Far enough to cross through that stupid barrier. When Mateus found them together, he was going to have to open the door, and that would give them a perfect opportunity to get the hell out of wherever this was! Canti didn't want to be a damsel waiting for someone to save her. She was capable of saving herself. She knew she was. It was just a puzzle, and she could figure it out like any other puzzle. She forced herself to go through further, even if it was just little bitty inches at a time.

Kain… she thought, I love you… and I will do all I can… to save you…

The door of the prison room opened and the lights came on. Canti could see them from under the mattress. She pulled her feet as close to the center of the mattress as she could.

"...where has our little Empress gone?" Mateus' voice asked. "Wake up, you useless toad, and tell me where your cousin is before I run my scepter straight through your heart!"

Kain's weight shifted above her. Canti could see his feet hit the floor in front of her. "I guess your traps weren't enough to keep her," he said. "Always full of surprises, my cousin."

"You'll tell me where she is or I'll-"

"As long as she's far the hell away from you, I don't care where she is."

She could hear the sounds of the mechanism that had been shocking Kain being set off, and this time was no different. He let out weird sounds that she could hear this time as he fell over from the sheer intensity of the magic running through his system. She crawled harder towards him until she could reach his ankle.

"You Highwinds are all the same! You always believe you are higher than the rest of us," Mateus said, scolding Kain harshly. "There is only one fit to rule, and that one is I!" His tone was becoming increasingly angry every time he spoke. His perfect plan to capture and brainwash his obedient future empress had failed him somehow, and the fact that he couldn't figure out why only pissed him off that much further. Mateus turned away, as just looking at Kain pissed him off further.

Canti put her hands on his ankle and channeled white magic through her body to his. The warm light of cure passed through her hand into his skin, and she hoped to cure wounds that he'd endured because of the fact that she wasn't the type to obey. She passed her positive vibes to him, apologizing profusely about not being able to protect him, and letting him know how much she loved him… she only hoped that he understood.

Kain sat up, looking down at the floor. He didn't see her hands, but he certainly felt them. You're under the bed? He thought, smiling. Smart, but he's not going to appreciate that one bit.

"What do you have to smile about?"

"Seeing your whole plan blow up right in your face is actually pretty damn hysterical."

The barrier that led to Kain's half of the cell opened. Canti saw Mateus' boots step in the room. She could feel his aura. It was full of all sorts of malicious intent. She was afraid to move.

"I see that the magical punishment isn't enough for you. You don't even have a single scratch on you…" Mateus said. "…when did you become proficient enough in white magic to cure wounds stacked up over days worth of time?"

Kain shrugged. "Perhaps it was just brought about by the power of love."

"I wanted to have you around to motivate Canti to seeing things my way. I even told her she could keep you to be her personal guard, her lover, while belonging to me…" Mateus grabbed Kain's collar and pushed him up against the wall. "…but even that isn't enough for her! What greedy peasants you are! When I am in power, I will eradicate the entire bloodline of Highwinds. You will be the first public execution under my reign."

"I'll gladly die if it means the one I love lives free," Kain said.

Canti slowly began to crawl her way out from under the bed until she was standing there on Kain's side behind Mateus. "Let him go!" she screamed at the would-be Emperor.

"You were under the bed?" Mateus asked. "Darling, you shouldn't be pulling such stunts, you'll make us all worry about you."

"Give Kain back to me!" she shouted.

"Don't worry about me," Kain said. "The barrier is open behind you."

"I don't want to leave without you," she said.

"Go get Father and Uncle Cid… bring the Warriors of the Water! You're a dragoon, the same as all of us… you're stronger than you think!" Kain yelled, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "If you don't go right this moment, we're both going to be trapped here until we become mindless slaves of this asshole!"

"You think you'll be able to leave?" Mateus turned around, ready to close the barrier with his magic, when Canti rushed through it and out the open door faster than he could.

Kain laughed out loud for the first time in a while. "I love seeing you being outsmarted by a ten year old girl," he said, even though he couldn't help himself from crying.

Mateus reared his fist back and smashed it into Kain's face, breaking the young dragoon's nose and throwing him onto the bed. "When I bring her back here, I'm going to force her to watch you die."