Chapter 6

Monsters in the closet

Cecil, Yang and Golbez had hardly spoken a word during their walk out of the woods, Cecil only reassuring his skeptical looking brother now and then that he really was welcome.

"We'll see..." the black haired man replied calmly with a raised eyebrow.

"How can he be so calm?." Although a strange happiness filled him, Cecil was still confused. In the last weeks many things had happened on which he did not know how to react best: Kain's return, the quarrel with Rosa and now the return of his brother. "It seems that when I've just sorted one  thing out, another follows..."

They reached their friends, who were, despite the descending darkness, standing in front of the airship, talking. Rosa ran towards them to greet her husband. "Cecil- here you are! We were already worried!" She fell around his neck. As she noticed him blushing and shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, she knew that something was wrong. She suddenly noticed the tall man, who was standing behind the paladin in the shadows.

"Cecil..." she said, slowly releasing him. "Who's that?"

Cecil looked at her. "That's...my..." He hadn't to continue, having talked so often with his wife about Golbez.

"That's... Golbez?" Rosa whispered.

The man stepped from out of the shadows. "Ah, Cecil's wife, Lady Rosa…" he said plainly and extended his hand. Unintentionally, Rosa took a step back, the appearance and manner of the man being frightening and overwhelming. As she took her courage together and looked him right in the eyes, she seemed to relax.

"Yes... that's right..." She stepped forward and took his hand, friendly: "Nice to meet you Golbez... I think I hadn't have the pleasure to meet you in this "appearance" before!" She flashed a winsome smile at him. Golbez smiled in return, and for the first time it was one of amusement and not of bitterness.

Cecil stared at his brother in amazement. "It is really good that Rosa manages to stay so calm..." He was happier than ever to have taken her with him. His wife returned to him and took his arm supportively.

"''Tis Golbez?" Cid approached the group of people.

The black-haired man raised an eyebrow again: "And you are?" he asked casually.

"That is Cid, one of my oldest friends and chief engineer of Baron. You may not know him, as he wasn't with us in the tower of Zeromus..." Cecil informed his brother friendly. Seeing Golbez smile and the support of Rosa had helped him in regaining his usual calm and confident composure again.

"Oh - pleased to meet you, too. I believe we have met once in Baron - but my memories of what happened while I was "lost" are very sparse..." Golbez said, half apologetically.

"Lost?" Yang asked.

"I believe he means the time he was under hypnosis... Ain't I right, Golbez?" Cecil tried to help.

His brother nodded. "Yes... though it was rather a complete other personality in me than just a mere hypnosis which made me do all the things I did -- or so I wish to believe..." Bowing his head slightly he said in a lower voice: "Still I know very well that there's no excuse for the crimes I have committed..."

"Seems you're brothers after all, Cecil!" Yang said friendly. "That's a favorite line of you, too..." He obviously was thinking of the incident with the Mysidian delegation.

The Paladin wanted to repeat something, but knowing that Yang was just helping to lose the tension, just nodded slightly.

Golbez looked thoughtfully for a moment at his brother. "Is it that way?" he mumbled.

Cecil hadn't heard the remark. "You shouldn't worry too much about the things that happened back than... Many people got manipulated back and I for one can say that no one here is holding a grudge against you..."

Cid and Yang nodded.

"Yes, Cecil is right... We should be happy about the reunion of two brothers and not dwell on the past," Rosa said.

Golbez nodded; his expression unreadable. "Thank you very much... I suspected that my brother would have fine friends..."

Cecil smiled "He slowly comes out of his shell..."

"There sure is much you want to talk about!" He took is brother by the arm – this time without hesitation. "Please tell us how you got here exactly - you, see we have problems here at the moment as well..." The two men, followed by Rosa, as well as by Cid and Yang started to walk towards some shelters, interesting listening to Golbez's calm and patient explanations of how he had come to the Blue Planet.

~*~

After a while Rydia, Edge and Kieran had reached the landing place of the airship as well. Rydia and Kieran were talking intensitely about the problems of casting a "Frog" spell, while Edge muttered quietly to himself. Rydia spotted Cecil amongst their friends in a open tent.

"There they are! Soon you will meet Cecil - he's a wonderful man and sure will be very interested in hearing what you know about the earthquake... You know Edge, Kieran thinks that--"

"Tell that Cecil, not me... If he's interested at all... Looks like something has happened..." Edge frowned.

Kieran nodded. "Yes, seems so to me, too... Maybe I should visit your friends later?"

"No - not at all... Cecil will surely have time for you..." She smiled due to her words - the paladin really always had time for her.

As the three reached the tent, the King of Baron was the first to spot her, although he seemed to be listening attentively to a tall, black-haired man: "Rydia, Edge? Where have you been? You know, my--"

Rydia was so excited that she cut him short: "Cecil! We've met a mage named Kieran - he's a scholar and thinks that the earthquake..."

The paladin looked at her irritated and wasn't listening at all. "Rydia... I..."

"Hey! Cecil! Don't you want to say hello to him?" Rydia was confused – normally, her friend never behaved like that.

The paladin sighed and nodded towards the smiling green-haired man. "Nice to meet you. We can talk later..." he said friendly, but also a bit impatiently. He turned his attention again to the black haired man who had stopped his explanations for a while. "Sorry.... Please go on..." Golbez nodded and started to describe the mirror he had come through, his blue, intelligent eyes resting calmly on his brother.

"Well, seems your friends are occupied at the moment, Rydia..." Kieran said.

"Sorry..." Rydia sounded confused. "Normally, he isn't like that..."

Meanwhile, the dark-clad man had finished his story. "So, since I was sleeping all the time I've not noticed any movement of the moon at all..." he concluded.

"Hmmm... strange..." Cecil frowned.

"Hey? What's going on, guys?" Edge broke his thoughts.

Suddenly the paladin became aware again of the three people who were standing next to him.

"Sorry that I haven't introduced you right away: "Rydia, Edge: this is my brother Golbez!"

Golbez nodded politely.

Edge just stared at the man: "This... this is Golbez? He doesn't look like your brother at all!" As he saw his paladin friend frown, he muttered at once: "Er.. sorry Cecil.. I didn't want to sound impolite..."

Golbez had to laugh loudly - the others looked at him in surprise. "No need to apologize, King of Eblan..." He got serious again, although his words were accompanied by a dry smile: "It seems that the dark side changes the appearance of a person very much..."

Cecil looked at his brother with concern, though he didn't understand his words completely.

Edge just skipped the remark - Rydia's new friend Kieran occupied his thoughts more than anything else.

The caller just stared wide eyed at Golbez and then took a step behind Kieran as if being afraid.

Cecil turned his attention back to her, being sorry for his rather rough behavior some minutes ago. "You have met someone, too, Rydia? What was your name again, Sir? Kieran?"

The wizard who had listened attentively the whole time stepped forward and bowed: "Yes, your Highness... I am Sir Kieran of Devonshire, mage and scholar and here on behalf of the city state of Silvera to examine the recent earthquakes..."

Cecil nodded friendly "I am pleased to hear that Silvera is also still interested in solving the current crisis. Have you come to any conclusions, yet?"

"We, so far we believe that it must be the effect of the moon coming nearer and nearer..." Yang added.

Golbez nodded approvingly. "Although I know little of the situation on the Blue Planet the coming of the moon is a disturbing sign, indeed... Originally it should reach the earth again in more than 50 years..."

Kieran stepped a bit closer: "The moon surely could be the reason, though I've come to a different conclusion..." he said, smiling. "I believe that the earthquake was caused by a malfunctioning of the tower of Bab-Il which leads down to the Underworld..."

"Nonsense..." Golbez interrupted him.

The smile on Kieran's face faded: "And what brings you to this opinion, Sir?"

"The tower of Bab-Il has no machines which could cause an earthquake of this size...." the man replied calmly, fixing Kieran intensely.

"And how do you know that, Sir?"

Golbez smiled bitterly. "I am the one who operated it."

For a moment no one said anything...

The silence was suddenly broken through a loud crash from outside and the screaming of some people:

"Oh my god! What's that?"

"It's a monster!"

Without a moment of hesitation the friends grabbed their weapons and hurried outside: Golbez seemed to reflect on something for a moment and then followed them as well as Kieran.

The cries and shouting outside came from the nearby shore: In the darkness a giant snake was towering against the sky.

"It's a giant sea snake!" Cid gasped.

"I thought they were extinct? Is it a summoned monster by any chance, Rydia?"

Cecil asked.

Rydia stared at the giant creature. "I... I guess no... Cecil. I... I can feel nothing...." The girl was still confused by the sudden appearance of Golbez.

The sea snake threw its fish like head back and uttered a loud, howling cry. Its long tail with a fin at the end hit the roaring waters around it and caused a big wave which destroyed some of the shelters near the shore. Everywhere, people were running around screaming.

"Yang, Cid!" Cecil shouted against the noise of the tide. "Try to calm the people and bring them to a safe place... The rest of us will deal with the monster... Golbez?" He looked questioningly at his brother.

Golbez calmly nodded: "I am at your side..."

"Count me in, too!" said Kieran, clutching his staff tightly.

Edge grinned: "You don't intend to fight this thing with that, do you?" The ninja let appear some shurikens in his hands with an unbelievable speed. "That's magic, don't you think?"

Kieran just stared at him: "We'll see..." he said slowly.

"Now don't start to quarrel!" Rosa shouted. "Everyone , be careful!"

While Yang and Cid tried to get the people in safety, the rest of the party rushed forward.

Cecil watched the monster, frowning. "It is too dangerous to go near it... We have to fight it from afar..."

Rosa came aprubtly to a halt and took her bow from her shoulder: "Maybe I can hit it right between its eyes..." She drew the bow and tried to aim. "Ah - it's so dark... I can hardly see..."

Cecil, who had stopped next to her, closed his eyes and started to mumble quietly some incantations: "LIGHT!" Between his palms a glowing sphere appeared, which bathed the surroundings in a soft glow; making the snake more visible, its yellow-green eyes looking hungrily.

Rosa licked across her lips as she took aim: "Yes..." The arrow shot towards the snake got stuck next to one of his eyes. The creature uttered a cry again, but did not return to the sea. It turned a bit and hit the beach with its tail and sent a cripple of sand towards Rydia, who was preparing a spell.

"Rydia! Watch out!" Edge spurted towards her, put one arm around her waist, and hurled her away while he threw with his other hand some shurikens at the beast... The sharp throwing objects got stuck in the thick, oily and scaly skin of the sea monster.

"Curses!" The ninja hissed. "Cecil - what are we doing now? This thing just seems to be too strong and won't disappear..."

The paladin unsheathed his sword: "Well... seems like we have no choice but to fight it from up front..."

"Cecil, are you mad?" Rosa said startled. "You don't intend to go any more nearer to this creature, do you? It will crush you!" She grabbed his arm.

The paladin looked her in the eyes: "I know that it will be dangerous, but if we don't drive away the monster soon, it will probably destroy the whole shore..." He carefully tried to pull her arm from her. Rosa clutched it even stronger:

"This is suicide! I won't let you go..."She exclaimed angrily.

"Ah, come on Rosa!" Edge shouted "We have no choice..." He unsheathed his two ninja swords. "Come on Cecil - let's make some fish fillet!"

"Cecil, Edge!" Rydia gasped, who still was recovering from the shock.

"The girls are right, Cecil..." It was Golbez's calm voice. "There's no need to risk his own life needlessly... Let me try..."

He took a step forward, stretched his armor clad arms to the sky and mumbled one or two short phrases, eyes closed. The air around him suddenly began to glow softly. The half-lunar opened his eyes and extended a hand forward with a little hiss, sending a flash from out of his fingertips towards the creature, then another and another within seconds. The missiles hit the sea snake and the surrounding ocean with a tremendous amount of power.

The others stared at him in amazement, as the tall man seemed not to tire in the least.

"Brother..." Cecil whispered, feeling Rosa clutching his arm tightly. "This is unbelievable..."

"I've never seen someone casting high level lit spells with such a speed..." Rydia gasped.

The sea snake screamed louder and louder, head and tail whirling wildly.

"It's still no use!" Edge shouted "It's not disappearing... and not dying either..."

Golbez slowly lowered his arm and the bolts ceased. "Yes..." he said, only a hint of exhaustion in his voice "It seems to have some kind of magic barrier around it..."

"Strange... I've never experienced this before..." Cecil stepped up to his brother. "Are you all right?" he asked, concern in his voice. Golbez gave him an irritated look: "Sure- why shouldn't I?"

Cecil gasped.

"If we can't kill it we can maybe drive it away with something?" Rosa proposed.

"Yeah!" Edge shouted "Rydia! Can you call some of your mons... friends?"

"I... I can try..." Rydia said meekly. She put herself in spellcasting stance: "Seeker of Flames come and lend me your power: IFRIT!" Nothing happened. "I can't seem to get in contact with him..." Rydia sounded desperately.

"Maybe he's out..." Edge joked.

"Very funny..." Rydia hissed and tried to summon Ramuh... Again she failed: "I don't know what's the matter..." She was short of breaking into tears.

"Rydia..." Cecil tried to calm her.

Suddenly Kieran stepped forward. "Let me try..." he said smiling and raised his green staff in the air. "Spread you wings, oh ancient one and lend me the power of destruction: Bonedancer appear!" he sang in a strange way.

The air high over him began to swirl all of a sudden, magic flashes in the air everywhere: With a loud roar a giant, dragon-like monster with leathery skin appeared and flew towards the sea snake. Everyone had taken a step back - the creature looked very powerful...

The hurt sea snake screamed of fear as it caught sight of the attacker and dashed into the sea... As Kieran opened his eyes again the other monster disappeared, too...

"How...how did you do that?" Rydia couldn't believe what she had witnessed.

"But Rydia..." Kieran smiled. "You should understand that very well..."

The girl stared at him in amazement: "You're a caller, too?"

The wizard nodded.

"Good work, Sir Kieran!" Cecil was the first to congratulate.

"Yes - it was a luck that Rydia and Edge met you..." Rosa added, beaming happily that everyone was still safe and sound.

"Yes, yes... Not bad..." muttered even Edge.

Golbez was watching the whole scene silently.

"Hey, you guys did it!" Cid screamed from afar. "Here's everything right, too - no one got seriously hurt!"

"Fine!" Cecil sighed. "I guess after this experience we all need some rest... I would propose that we return to Baron tomorrow - seems there isn't much we can do at the moment..." Everyone nodded in approval.

"That's right boss! I for one, am needing a drink..." Edge announced loudly. "Hey Rydia - care to come with me?" The caller frowned. "Alright.. I understand..." He turned to Kieran: "You can come, too..." he said, sourly.

The wizard smiled: "It would be my pleasure...King Cecil, would you also allow me to come with you to Baron? It seems that we could work together..." He glanced at Golbez.

The paladin smiled friendly: "Certainly, Sir Kieran. It would be an honor."

Rydia smiled happily while Edge grunted, again. "Really need a drink now...

He, Rydia and Kieran walked away, while Yang and Cid went to the airship to do some checks.

"Darling, I am going with them, too. Maybe I can help," Rosa said and kissed her husband on the cheek. "See you later!" She gave him a meaningful look. "You, too, Golbez!" She walked away, leaving the two brothers standing alone on the beach.

"She's nice..." Golbez said casually after a while.

"Wh..what?" Cecil stared at him. He had been deeply lost in thoughts.

"Your wife..." Golbez repeated patiently "She is a nice person..."

"Yeah... I know," Cecil had to smile unintentionally.

Golbez raised an eyebrow: "May I ask what's so funny?" He sounded interested, not hurt.

"Oh... I mean it's just..." Cecil said sheepishly "It's just that from what I know of you until now, it's funny that you would say such a thing..."

Golbez looked at him, a slight hint of irritation in his eyes "Yes?"

"I mean - showing some emotion..."his brother continued, weighting his words.

Golbez seemed to reflect on something for a moment "Yes... maybe it's unusual for me... But that's probably how I am...Without much emotion..."

Cecil shook his head: "That's not true... You're only confused. For me it's only the shock of seeing my brother again, but for you this all must feel much more irritating..."

Golbez smiled slightly: "If you would like to think so..." It sounding mocking.

Cecil frowned - the reaction of his brother angered and confused him. Still he had the feeling that their relationship was better than some hours before. He decided to finally speak out what he'd wanted to ask Golbez all along:

"Golbez...Come with us to Baron..."

The tall man turned his back to his brother and stared out on the sea.

"Why?" he asked plainly.

"Why?" Cecil stammered. "You ask why? Because you are my brother, who I never really met..."

"But you have met me before, haven't you? And fought?" Golbez sounded amused.

Cecil felt blood rushing in his cheeks, slowly. "That wasn't you. That was someone else... You've said yourself that you were "lost". I don't understand you... I thought you'd like to get to know me better, too. Our good-bye at the crystal tower wasn't a very "satisfying" one, was it? But now everything is different... What are you afraid of? Why not live with us for a while? You've seen that the others wouldn't mind... Don't you want a family?!"

Cecil's voice trailed off. He knew that he'd probably gone too far. "Sorry..." he mumbled. "Guess I am confused, too..."

Golbez laughed quietly again. "So it's settled... I am going with you to Baron..."

"Why the sudden change of mind?" Cecil stammered.

"What could I probably say against your words, Cecil..." Golbez turned around and faced his brother, suddenly a deadly serious expression on his face which the Paladin had never seen before.

"But know..." Golbez said calmly "That I do not belong here..."

A cold wind from the sea came suddenly up, and made the paladin shiver...

"I am going for a walk, Cecil... I haven't seen human dwellings for a long time. You should go to your wife - she surely is waiting for you.." Golbez smiled and started to walk away.

"Brother!" Cecil called after him.

"Yes?" Golbez stood still, but did not turn around.

"Thanks for helping us out during the fight..."

The tall man chuckled slightly "Well - why shouldn't I help my little brother...It's the least I can do." He paused. "Maybe I want to have a family after all - at least partly..."

He walked away.

"Partly?" Cecil tried to get meaning into the words but didn't succeed. "I wonder if it was right to just blurt out my feelings..." he frowned. For a moment he was not even sure if it really had been his feelings, or if it had been just things he felt he had to say. He'd said that their last meeting on the moon hadn't been very "satisfying" - truth was that it had been that way because of a certain tension between the brothers back then, which mainly had gotten out from... him... He still remembered very clearly how he had been torn between a familiar feeling and the will to forgive on one side, and a deep uncertainty paired with rage on the other side.

"But now, it's different... I've learnt a lot during the past year- I have forgiven him..."

Still some uncertainty remained...

"You must know that I do not belong here" Golbez had said. "It had sounded as if he wasn't human like me.."

With a sigh Cecil decided to let things rest for now, fatigue and cold feeding on his nerves enough. He hurried to get into the warmth.