3)---------- In Which, Leviathan gets very, very angry

3)---------- In Which, Leviathan gets very, very angry.

TIMELINE: 20 years ago, Baron.

Sir Rorunar hummed absently to himself, rubbing an oilcloth over the head of his Lance with an absent sort of reverence for the ancient weapon. It was just an absent sort of day.

Night, actually, he realized. It was about two thirty in the morning. Most of the Kingdom was asleep . . . but being that he'd only under a decade ago awakened from a three thousand year nap, he didn't count on needing sleep any time soon.

A light knock came on his door, startling him somewhat, although you wouldn't have been able to tell from watching him.

"Enter if you must," he called, setting his Lance aside.

One of his Dragoons who'd been on watch duty peeked in.

"Sir, there's a woman out here who requests to speak with you."

"Oh? Who is it?"

"Julia, widow of Michael and Phil, wife of Abraham."

"Phil? Philly Muenster, the guy with the funny haircut?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Right, show her in."

Nodding, the Dragoon peeked back out, and a moment later assisted the woman into Rorunar's office.

He blinked at the sight of her - of course. He'd heard about her. The blind "Raider Daughter".

"Sir Rorunar, I'm sorry to disturb you," she greeted, bowing her head formally.

Rising, he crossed the room to her.

"Nonsense, Lady, how can I be of service?"

"I . . . need information . . . that you may be able to supply me with," she replied, blinking her blank red eyes as he guided her to his chair and sat her down.

"Oh?" he inquired, hopping up on one edge of his desk. "And what might that be?"

Julia frowned slightly.

"People say you have powers. Unlike the rest of us."

Rorunar grinned inwardly.

"Do they now?" he asked lightly, as if in disbelief. "I wonder where anyone could have gotten such a crazy idea . . . "

Julia stood quickly.

"I do not mean to be insulting or intrusive. I need information for the sake of my children, but if that would be invading your privacy, then - "

"No, please, continue," Rorunar interjected. "Yes . . . I have certain powers. The nature of which I am not at liberty to disclose."

"Nor will I ask. I am here because of the power I possess. A power that has not surfaced in either of my children."

"Ah." Not what he'd expected to hear, but interesting. "And what power is that, if you'll forgive my asking?"

"Empathy. And it's strong. Those who know of it think my powers are weak . . . just because I've not received any training. I let them believe that, because I don't want to be taken from my children. But I thought that since you also have unusual powers that you could tell me why they don't seem to share it."

"You're Empathic, and want to know why your children aren't?"

"I feel that they are. They have the talent, I can sense it. But neither can use it, or even notices."

"So it's lying suppressed."

"Yes, I believe so."

"Has it been stimulated?"

"I . . . don't understand."

"You have this power, yes?" She nodded. "Have you used it on either of them?"

"Repeatedly."

"They didn't respond?"

"Not at all."

"Mm hm." Rorunar nodded and thought about that. "It could be because you're so familiar to them. Their powers lie dormant, and most likely will continue to do so unless stimulated by an outside force. Someone else, someone perhaps not so close to them, using the same power on them would most likely prompt a reflexive reaction, if nothing else."

"Would that be dangerous?"

"I would probably be quite shocking. Empathy is a whole new sense. I imagine it would be quite overwhelming at first . . . and of course, they wouldn't know how to control it."

Julia nodded.

"Yes . . . I can understand that. The force of emotion around a person can be quite powerful, even if you do know how to control it."

"Do you know of anyone else who shares this talent?" Rorunar inquired.

Julia shook her head.

"And I daren't ask around."

"No, that wouldn't be wise."

"Not unless you . . . ?"

Rorunar shook his head although he knew she couldn't see.

"My powers are varied, but Empathy is not among them – despite a certain local rumor."

"Forgive my asking. So then, their powers will likely never surface?"

"I doubt they would. It's possible, but unlikely without coming into contact with another of the same power."

Julia nodded and rose.

"Yes. Thank you, Sir Rorunar. I know it's late . . . "

"It's no bother to me, Lady," he assured her. "Stimulating, in fact."

He guided her to the door and let the Dragoon who'd shown her in show her out, then plopped back behind his desk, picking up the oilcloth and absently polishing the spearhead of his Lance.

And wondered about the fate of the two children in question.

TIMELINE: Present

"So why'd you have him put to Sleep?" Rosa demanded as Cecil filled her in on what had happened.

Cecil rubbed his temples, trying to ease some of the tension he felt before it grew into a full-blown headache.

"The way I saw it, if whatever that girl tried was enough to make him knock himself out, we'd better put him to a sleep before he regained consciousness and knocked himself out again. Too little blood to the brain can cause lasting damage, you know."

Rosa sighed and sat on the side of Kain's bed where the Dragoon had been placed, still showing no sign of awakening.

"I know. So what do you think happened?"

"He's a latent Empath."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know?"

"He told me once. His mother was Empathic. My guess is that when Forciara scanned him, it struck a sour note with his dormant powers and kicked them into high gear."

Rosa nodded.

"And the shock of the added sense overwhelmed him. I see."

"Only," Cecil continued, also sitting, "what can we do if these powers stay surfaced? He's going to have to learn to control them . . . "

"And until he does, he won't be able to help seeing straight into everyone near him." Rosa shook her head.

"At least now I know why he reacted the way he did when I tried to talk to him before. He fell right over."

"We'll just have to wait until he wakes up," Rosa pronounced. "Then we can see what's what instead of sitting here speculating."

"And in the meantime," Cecil added, bringing up a very important issue, "what do we do with the Toroian?"

*

"Burn her."

"Drug her."

"Shoot her."

"Throw her in Kormag's cell."

Such were the suggestions of the council. Apparently, much of the Baronian populace didn't feel much love for Toroia after the attack on Baronian land.

Not that Cecil was feeling much kinder to them. But that was beside the point.

"She didn't cause the attack," he reminded them. "She was the victim."

"So? Burn her!!"

Cecil turned to glare at the speaker.

"We're not burning her. She's in our protective custody."

"After what she did to Dragoon Kain?!"

"I'm well aware of what happened," Cecil hissed in a low voice. "And unless anyone has something useful to say, then let's just adjourn this meeting and go do something productive."

"Your Majesty," said the head of the Archers' Guild, "what about Maylara? Has anyone discovered her whereabouts?"

"No. Forciara insists she doesn't know."

"She lies!"

"Burn her!"

"Shut up!" Cid snapped. "Are you looking, Cecil?"

Cecil made a pained expression.

"Um . . . somewhat."

"What about the Redwings? What happened after they tailed the Unity?" Jason, the head Knight, asked.

"They," Cid answered in a creepy voice, "have not returned."

That left an uneasy silence.

"Um . . . why?" someone asked in a tiny voice.

"They're staking it out," Cecil replied, trying to keep his grin hidden. Cid had recently developed a thrill for being spooky. Ooooooo . . . "And a couple of spies have infiltrated Toroia. We want to find out as much as possible before we take any action."

"Action? They attacked Baronian lands!"

"But why?" Cecil demanded, waggling a finger at the offender's nose. "What would make them do something so utterly foolish? That's what we want to find out."

"Torram's keeping us informed," Cid clarified. "Every twelve hours, one of the Airships is to return to Baron and make a full report. Then we alternate. They're on the second shift now - Rapier's back in port and Les Cheveux took over for them. Horizon should be reporting in this afternoon. If something happens, we'll find out."

"Where's Queen Rosa?" demanded an impudent councilman.

"None of your concern," Cecil snapped, rising. "I call this meeting adjourned. Have a nice day." Without another word, he spun on one heel and left the council chamber.

Cid shook his head. Cecil really needed to drop some stress these days. Being a King was starting to get to him.

* * *

It took longer than she'd intended due to the strain involved for so many successive Callings. In fact, it was well into the next day before Rydia had effectively evacuated the Land of Summoned Monsters.

Leviathan, being that last one to be brought out, said that it was still standing, but he wasn't at all certain of how much longer the place would last.

"So what about Jinn?" Rydia asked, forcing herself to think clearly through the fatigue that was settling in from the strain.

"What about him?" Leviathan asked, bristling.

"You don't want me to leave him down there, do you?"

Leviathan exchanged a glance with Asura.

"Tempting," he admitted, but his significant other shook her head primly.

"Can't," she reminded him. "Our code as Summoned Monsters forbids it."

"Yeah . . . whatever," Leviathan sighed. "But not here." He gestured to the large swarm of monsters in the area - the entire population of their land. "It, um, might start a fight, and you know, Summoned Monsters aren't supposed to fight Summoned Monsters unless Summoned to do so . . . c'mon, Rydia."

She vaulted onto his back and he flipped into the air, landing in the ocean.

Rydia wasn't going to ask how.

"Call away," he instructed in a forcedly merry tone.

Swallowing the bit of seawater that had gotten in her system at splashdown, she quickly voiced the incantation to Summon the renegade monster.

The typical green light filled the air, and the monster in question formed normally.

Then a blast of flame blew her off Leviathan's neck and down beneath the surface of the water. And she remembered that she still hadn't learned to swim.

Flailing her arms frantically under water, trying to figure out which way was up, she panicked and inhaled a lungfull of water before realizing what a stupid thing that was to do.

So she panicked some more.

Then, though, Leviathan came to her rescue, coming up beneath her and pushing her back to the surface.

Sprawling on his back, she coughed up her lungfull of water and didn't bother to wonder where Jinn had gone. She didn't really care right then.

"Okay?" Leviathan inquired after her hacking had subsided.

"I really need swimming lessons . . . " she wheezed.

Grinning slightly, the great sea-monster pushed off in no real direction.

"Where are we headed?"

Sighing, Rydia sat up and looked around. Then she groaned and sprawled out on his back again.

"I don't know. What will all of you do now? If the Land of Summoned Monsters is collapsing, where will all of your people go?"

"Don't worry about us, Rydia. True, the world is very different now from what it was before we moved underground, but most of us remember living on the surface. Really, it's only been a few millennia. But what about you?"

She aimlessly flailed a hand in the air.

"I don't really care, Leviathan. I really don't. Where's closest?"

"We're nearest to Eblan from here."

That got her sitting up again.

"Eblan? A few minutes ago, we were in Damcyan space."

"Oh . . . trade secret. Shall we go?"

Flopping on her back, Rydia sighed.

"Sure. Edge'll probably get a laugh out of all this."

"He probably will."

They moved in silence for a time, until a thought occurred to Rydia.

"So, Leviathan, what are you going to do about Jinn?"

"Oh, nothing much," he assured her. "Just kill him."

Rydia blinked, certain she'd misheard.

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Kill him. He betrayed his own kind and almost killed us all. And he's quite likely to continue such mayhem up here as well, now that he's free."

"But . . . I thought you couldn't fight him."

"Rydia, ethics and tradition are all very well, but they won't save that lunatic when I get my hands on him, because no matter what Asura says, I am going to paint the world a lovely shade of red with that traitor's blood!"

As fury washed through the sea King, his speed increased to the point where Rydia was thrown from his back once again.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized, catching her before she hit the water again. "Don't mind me. I'm somewhat angry."

"So I see," Rydia carefully replied, noting the steam rising from the serpent's nostrils and not wanting to bring any of his anger down on herself. "Um . . . so, lovely weather we're having, huh?"

"Lovely."

"Um . . . yeah, not a cloud in the sky . . . nice shade of blue . . .

"Blue."

"Leviathan . . . you're scaring me."

"I know." They came up on the Eblanian coastline. "I'm not in a good mood, Rydia, as you can guess."

"Yes, I understand. I just . . . well, I can't believe it! Shiva, Jinn, Chocobo and I play cards together every weekend! None of us saw this coming!"

"No, none of us did. But it's happened, and now we have to deal with it. It's just a good thing you were able to get us all out of there."

"I'm glad I could help."

"Well. Here we are. Will you be all right? You got a little burned."

"I'll be fine. Nothing serious."

"Good. I'll see you later, then."

"Yes, Sir."

)))))-----DREAM SEQUENCE-----(((((

As is usually the case in dreams, Kain had no idea where it began.

Once his brain started burning what his subconscious encountered into his memory, he was aware of kneeling stolidly in an endless black room that seemed to stretch in all directions infinitely, yet had a definite feeling of enclosure. His hands were folded before him, his head bowed as if in prayer. He blinked, feeling not the least bit startled or confused – this being a dream, such things seemed perfectly in order.

"Why are you afraid?" came a low voice from nowhere.

He looked up at last, making his first movement in this dream, and found himself staring into the face of a tall man who stood before him out of nowhere, staring back. In an instant he took this new person in, still feeling no degree of surprise. While he didn't recognize him, there was a distinct feeling that he'd known him from somewhere.

The man continued looking down at him, awaiting a reply to his question. Swept away from his shoulders hung a single plait of hair, black with an almost iridescent quality of blue and silver shining through it - the same iridescent quality passing through his deep blue eyes. He held a simple wooden staff, and was dressed in the robes of a White Wizard.

Still, he awaited a reply.

Kain thought for a moment without thinking at all.

"I'm seeing things I don't understand," he explained, of his incident with the girl. He didn't think to be confused as to why he didn't quickly and hotly deny the charge, as he normally would have. It never occurred to him. "I . . . don't know what's happening to me."

"But you do," came another, yet identical, voice, powerful, yet laced with a gentle, musical tone, "if you'd only let yourself remember."

Kain didn't even think of turning to see the newcomer. He didn't have to, the White Mage stepped aside, still looking down at him with an almost paternal pride, making way for who seemed to be the exact same person, but garbed in the dark robes of the Black Mage.

"This should not come as a surprise to you," added another of the twins, standing from nowhere next to the others, this one in the rare uniform of the Blue Wizard.

"And you should not fear it," concluded a fourth, this one bearing the green robe of the Caller.

For a moment, the four stood before him, watching for his reaction, and Kain had the impression that he'd known these people for many years, and that he didn't want to disappoint them.

"I . . . just don't understand. What is happening to me? I . . . don't recall the memory you speak of."

They each awarded him a vague smile, and the Caller extended his hand to him, at which Kain stared dumbly.

"Keep your mind about you," the Caller warned, still with the vague smile. "You will be in need of it, especially."

Kain blinked and accepted his aid to rise.

The four took a step away from him. Looking into their faces, Kain could see conflicting emotions, but the same basic concern from all of them. They were here for a reason.

"Do you know us?" the White Mage inquired lightly.

"I'm not sure. Do I?"

The Blue Mage grinned lopsidedly.

"You . . . are seeing us as we are now. This is not, however, how you know us."

"Then," Kain reasonably asked, "how do I know you?"

For a moment, none of the four replied.

"Do not be alarmed," the Black Mage advised.

Then the four joined hands, and seemed to reach within each other, dissolving into one great light that should have blinded a person, but didn't harm Kain at all, because this was a dream. When the light dimmed, he took an involuntary step back. In there place floated a single object.

A fighting Lance. The Venus Gospel.

The weapon wielded by his teacher before his . . . demise.

He just stared for a long moment.

Then the Lance glowed, and the voice he just now began to recognize flowed easily to him.

"The powers within you have been stirred at last. It is alarming, I know, I understand. I control the four aspects of magic, black, white, blue, and green. Your power is one, though, that I do not possess. However, I am here to help you."

Kain blinked.

"Rorunar?"

"Yes, you silly person. Or have you grown too proud to accept my aid?"

"No, of course not."

"Be assured, my young friend. Your path is a difficult one. I have lived it. But it is necessary. You are not the chosen one of legend. He has yet to be revealed, but he is not you. However, your actions in the next years will be a crucial factor in our fate.

"Your gift is a special one. It is not as feeble as many think, and can cause terrible damage . . . or not. How you use it depends on your own views, but I must trust that you come to understand your purpose. My duty was to seek you out. And prepare you for what is to come.

"Never doubt for a moment that you are a match for every form of magic. The four colors in all their glory cannot stand against you. Not if you choose to stand against them.

"Do not be afraid of your gift. Few have the opportunity you now possess. Use it. But do not fear it. Fear is the greatest weapon you possess, for fear is the one thing that can destroy even the mightiest civilization. And fear is the power you now hold in the palms of your hands. Once you feel the fear that flows through you, though, your power will turn inward and destroy you. That would, in a word, suck."

As Kain watched, listening to this, the glow grew brighter, again obscuring his vision. When it cleared again, surprisingly unsurprisingly, he saw that the Lance no longer hovered silently. It was held aloft by the form of his mother, non-afflicted and proud with the weapon in her grasp.

"Your mother held many sacred relics that were not passed to you, but to your elder sibling, according to tradition. This power, however, she passed to you and you alone. At least, you alone are able to wield it. She gave you your duty, you know what you must do."

"I still don't understand," Kain declared, as if this were the most natural thing in the world to be seeing. The only duty his mother had given him . . . was to protect Cecil.

Julia extended the Lance and rested the spearhead on his shoulder for a moment, and he could feel the warmth from it spreading throughout his entire form.

"When your mind clears, you will understand," said Rorunar's voice. "And once you do, I will be able to guide you. Through this weapon, I will guide you. Do not be afraid."

As he stood there, suddenly it was not facing only his mother and the Lance. The four aspects of his teacher again were materialized, each holding out a hand over his head.

"All of our offices combined will not stand a chance against you at the peak of your powers," one murmured to him. "But that peak is a long way off. Be on your guard, my friend."

Julia withdrew the Venus Gospel and clanked it heavily against the floor.

"Venus Admonition," she spoke in a clear, vibrating voice that sent a chill up his spine as her gaze met his.

The darkness around him vanished into a blinding whiteness, through which he could feel himself pleasantly falling until he came upon a vision of four people, kneeling as he had been earlier, perfectly still, heads down and eyes closed.

Cecil.

Rosa.

Edge.

Rydia.

They knelt, each facing away from the center of their square. As he looked upon them, a blackness formed in this center, slowly growing and overcome with a fiery outline, until one by one, it consumed each of them, leaving behind each only a single item.

An arrow.

A ring.

A crown.

A . . . a . . .

The light grew again, and he couldn't quite discern the item left behind in Rydia's place.

And then it was before him.

A clarinet?

Sound brought his attention to behind, and he turned.

There stood Rorunar, this time exactly as Kain recalled him, in the deep golden Dragoon Armor, Venus Gospel slung over his back. The sound came from the recorder which had somewhat become his teacher's trademark during his years in Baron, which he played easily and almost absently, as if trying to convey some deeper meaning through only the music of the instrument and the words etched in his silvery eyes.

The four items rose into the air, glowing, then vanished abruptly.

Kain did not understand, this being a dream. He had yet to ever understand a dream.

*

Unfortunately for poor Kain, SLEEP spells wear off very suddenly. One moment, he'd been happily unaware, but the next, the extra sense rushed right back in. The dream was entirely forgotten.

Before he even thought about opening his eyes he could sense it all. The emotions and feelings of everyone around him. All as strong as anything he might feel, combined in his confused brain with his own worn out state of empathy.

In a futile gesture, he clamped his hands over his ears, but that did nothing to block everything out.

It just seemed so wrong. Like he had no right to be seeing what he could now see. Invading the sanctity of the people nearby.

But there was little he could do about it.

He just wished it wasn't so overpowering. There had to be a way to control this, he knew there had to be a way. But until he mastered it, it threatened to drive him insane.

Heck with it.

He sat up and finally convinced himself to open his eyes, trying to ignore all the things he could sense: Rosa's concern and confusion, Cecil's concern and frustration. A lot of concern. And he figured that it made sense that they would be. It just didn't seem right for him to be able to read it.

Someone else was standing outside the door. Two people. They were harder to pick out from one another, but he could if he concentrated.

But he didn't. He didn't want to know.

"Well?" Cecil asked him.

Kain shook his head.

"Well what? Let me tell you, this seems positively indecent."

"The girl's empathic. We think that when she scanned you, it triggered your latent ability."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I don't suppose she could tell me how to turn it off . . . "

"Can you control it at all?" Cecil asked.

Blinking, Kain shrugged.

"Not really . . . but I think once I get the hang of all this . . . "

"That makes sense."

"Yeah. Cecil, do you mind if I have a chat with that girl?"

"No problem. Just so you know, she's a Toroian Princess."

"Is that so. Well. Small world."

* * *

"Lady Rydia!!" shrieked one of the Guards at the gates to Eblan at the sight of her. "W-what happened to you?!"

The other just gawked at her appearance, singed and still dripping wet.

"I'm all right," she assured them. "May I speak with Edge?"

"Of course," the other replied while the first gawked wordlessly.

Rydia brushed at her charred clothing self-consciously as he led her into the Castle.

*

"So now all the Summoned Monsters are in the overworld?" Edge summarized, somewhat astounded by her story.

Rydia nodded.

"Yes, and Jinn's still at large. I don't know what Leviathan intends to do to him, but I don't think it's going to be very pleasant. He said he was somewhat angry . . . I'll take that to mean he's very, very angry. Leviathan's got a pretty cool head. It takes a lot to push him over, and when that happens, he's very dangerous."

"I can imagine," Edge allowed, trying to picture the Sea Serpent on a mad rampage. The mental image that formed was not very assuring. "Let's hope he doesn't do anything we'll regret."

"No . . . he won't do anything foolish. He knows better." She absently plucked a thread from the giant towel she was wrapped in, still soaking from her encounter with the renegade Monster. "Edge, I'm afraid I need to request your hospitality for an indefinite amount of time."

"Hmm . . . " Edge hummed, putting on a thoughtful expression. "I'm not sure, Rydia. That may just not be a good idea."

Grinning sourly, Rydia picked up a poker from the fireplace in front of her.

"Don't make me use this, King!"

"Well, since you put it that way . . . "

Edge pulled her to her feet.

"I'll show you to your room."

* * *

The two Empaths just glared at each other across the room.

Cecil exchanged a quick glance between them and retreated from the room, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire if these two got violent.

"I hope you realize," Kain finally said in a low voice, "just how much trouble you've caused me. But I doubt it, because you're not in the least bit sorry."

"That I'm not. I did no wrong, so should feel no guilt. The power is yours. I didn't put it there, I just happened to wake it up."

Kain took a step toward her.

"You're not getting this. Don't you see? This power, as you term it, makes me a safety risk. Even if I learn to control it, I'm not going to be trusted ever again."

"Your friends will trust you."

"Somewhat. Then what? What about everyone else? My students, even? What about them?"

"Once you learn to control it, it won't be a problem."

"How on Earth did you grow up so naive?" Kain snapped. "People aren't accepting like that. They accept only what they must, and this doesn't qualify."

"It's only Empathy," Forciara reasoned. "Not dangerous like Telepathy."

Kain shook his head.

"No . . . if you mix it with any amount of common sense, you're more dangerous than any Telepath out there. I know. I saw my mother at work once or twice."

Finally he could sense some uncertainly from her. Good . . . maybe she was starting to understand some of this.

Stupid girl. Just how sheltered was she?

"I'm not sheltered!" she snapped. "Just because I had a decent upbringing, unlike you hooligans - "

"What's wrong with being hooligans? You just have no clue. That's a simple fact."

"I am a princess!!!!" she screamed. "You can't hurt me!!! I don't care about your problems - you should thank me for giving you your powers!!"

"Thank you?"

"Yes!!! In fact, you should be on your knees!!"

Kain decided that this chick was mental.

"You're mental!" he informed her. "Some princess - chicken farmer?"

Forciara blew her top and was about to spin off some profanity, then stopped, gawking at Kain as he dropped an aura of anger and burst out laughing.

"You're mocking me!" she realized. "You have been for most of this conversation! But . . . how could you hide it?"

Kain folded his arms.

"I learn quickly. Remember that."

"But . . . "

She stopped long enough for her senses to cool.

"Your powers are strong."

A quick chuckle escaped from Kain.

"I daresay I'm more powerful than you are. Unfortunately, it's violently out of control. I don't suppose you have any tips?"

"You're still mocking me."

"Princess, I mock everybody. That's just the way I am."

She squared her hips and glared at him admonishingly.

"Well, stop it. It's rude. And I can't give you any tips. It's natural for me. I've been trained with my powers my whole life. Secretly, of course."

"Would that have something to do with why your Aunties are tearing the planet apart to find your Mother? Is it not her they're chasing after all? Is it you?"

She made no comment, but he knew he was right.

"I," she snapped, "have no obligation to answer to you."

He shrugged.

"Fine. Wait for Cecil to get upset. When he gets upset, bad things happen to the people who made him upset. And trust me - you don't want to be on Cecil's bad side when he gets upset."

Insulted and infuriated, she turned and stalked out of the room.