4)---------- In Which, Toroia gets clever

4)---------- In Which, Toroia gets clever.

Torram was leaning idly over the railing of the Les Cheveux, his Airship. The Redwings, as a rule, went in groups of five: Enterprise, Bounty, Horizon, Les Cheveux, and Rapier making up the first wave, Serpentine and Arrow leading the second, along with the three newer additions: Sabre, Eclipse, and Moon. Now, though, with the twelve-hour cycle thing going on, the groups were all meshed up and screwy. Les Cheveux, Horizon, Bounty, Rapier, and Moon were at the post now, staking out Toroia in a very boring manner.

All he really knew for sure at the moment was that it was almost time for him to take his people and go home and sleep. Almost. They were still on duty now, though.

Basically, Torram rather liked being in charge of the Redwings. And the beauty of it was - if something went drastically wrong, he could always just yell for help and Cecil would know what to do. He didn't really have to think too hard, which was reassuring.

Now, though, it was being pretty dull.

The Pilot, nicknamed Pinky, joined him at the railings.

"Um . . . Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Moon signals that it's picking up something from the south side."

"What sort of things are they picking up?"

"They're not sure. Should we take a look?"

Torram stepped away from the railings and stretched his stiff limbs.

"Sure. Rotate the squad so we can get a look . . . slight change in scenery should be pleasant anyway . . . "

Pinky nodded and headed off.

Torram sighed. They'd been on this stakeout for over a day - fortunately for them, they were getting the fourth shift off and would return to Baron in the morning. Why, why, why did things always start to happen right when he was almost free?

* * *

The middle of the night on that side of the world, mid-morning in Eblan.

Max, the Castle Cook, was rushing Rydia all over the place.

"I know, I know, but before you go checkin' in with any Summoned Monsters, child, you've gotta eat somethin'! You're worse than my kid, you know that?"

Rydia shook her head and allowed herself to be herded to the table, knowing better than to fight her off. She knew she couldn't win.

Edge was already there.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if that woman really came here as an act of good faith, or if Baron really is secretly planning to destroy us!" he whispered when Max was out of hearing range.

"Edge, don't give her any ideas."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Rydia grabbed herself a muffin which was, she reflected, quite good.

Maxine, known to her friends as Max. The Mother of a Dragoon named Cami, one of Kain's first and most intense students - she'd hopped up to Eblan shortly after the whole incident with Kormag's takeover of the Kingdom three years ago, saying that she was sick of "cookin' for ungrateful slobs," and thought it would be an act of good faith on the part of Baron.

She'd adopted Cid's mother's attitude. Or maybe she'd always had it. Or maybe it was just something about people's mothers who worked at Castles that made them particularly annoying. In any case, she made pretty decent muffins.

After they'd both eaten enough to satisfy Max, Edge joined her as she headed outside the City Walls to check in with her friends.

Chocobo replied to her Call as quickly as ever.

"So?" she inquired. "What's the situation?"

The bird shuddered.

"Creepy. I went in a Chocobo Forest, and this jerk kept trying to - "

"I mean, Chocobo, with Jinn and Leviathan."

"Oh." Chocobo regained his composure. "Well, the situation's . . . it's there. That's about it."

"Have they found him?"

"They haven't looked. Right now, they're still trying to decide what to do with him when they do, so that they won't have to figure it out then and possibly get killed in the process. You know. Precaution."

"I see."

"Yeah. Let's see - Shiva threw a fit about something and won't talk to anyone, no one's seen Titan since last night, and Mist keeps whining about the food. Other than that, everyone's doing peachy."

"Where've they all gone?"

"All over the place. But we're keeping in touch."

"How?"

"Monster Magic."

"Cute."

"Yeah, isn't it?"

"Why is Mist complaining about the food?"

"Because she wants some, and can't seem to find anything she likes."

"What does she like?"

Chocobo grimaced - an odd sight from a giant yellow bird.

"Well, Rydia, time's all but stopped for us when we're in the Land of Summoned Monsters, not including you of course, so she didn't have to eat anything there."

"So . . . ?"

"Well, she likes to eat . . . peanut butter."

"Peanut butter?"

Rydia and Edge exchanged a look of incredulity.

"What on Earth is peanut butter?"

Chocobo shuddered again, leaving his feathers ruffled in a comic way.

"You do not want to know!"

"O . . . kay."

* * *

Cecil watched the dawn bring light to the world . . . along with some nasty weather.

He tapped his foot anxiously.

"You know," he muttered to Rosa, "Airships sometimes do strange things in the rain . . . "

"Calm down," she advised. "You're just worried that they might get struck by lightning and crash, exploding into a thousand pieces."

He blinked.

"Yes, in fact, that's exactly what I'm worried about."

She smiled and sat at the table for breakfast.

"You worry entirely too much. Eat something. You'll calm down."

Cecil remained glued to the window.

"It's too early for breakfast. And Les Cheveux should have reported in half an hour ago."

"Torram probably couldn't bear to miss the excitement."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, maybe . . . but I doubt that."

"Oh, come on, Cecil!" she lightly snapped, rising and placing her hand on his arm. "I don't think Toroia could very easily do away with the Redwings with their fleet of one against ours of five. They probably set down because of the weather. It looks like it's much worse in that direction."

"True," he conceded.

"Rosa's right, Cecil," Cid affirmed, entering the room. "You do worry too much. Calm down and eat something."

"It's too early to eat anything," he absently replied. For a long moment, he just stood there and thought. Then: "Hey, Cid?"

"Yeah?"

"Most of the Airships out are newer than Enterprise - they have remote control, right?"

"Cecil!" Rosa snapped. "Don't go pushing buttons on people for being half an hour late!"

"Hey, I just have a really bad feeling about this whole business!" he snapped back, overcome by an uncharacteristic wave of impatience.

The door opened again and Kain peeked in.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one getting bad feelings," he remarked.

Cecil blinked.

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"Does that mean you've learned to control your powers already?" Rosa asked, incredulous.

Kain nodded.

"For the most part. Unless things get intense. See, I found that by practicing blocking Veronica's pet cat - "

"You mastered your powers with my cat?!" Cecil echoed with mock fury. "Why, of all the nerve!!" Then he frowned. "And it actually worked?"

"I learn quickly."

"Well . . . no use denying that. What do you think? Les Cheveux's overdue now . . . maybe they got struck by lightning."

Suddenly, Cid seemed concerned.

"Hey . . . maybe they did . . . and I just fixed that thing after the incident with the 16 ton weight . . . "

The door opened. By now, the dining room was beginning to fill up.

"Message for you, Sir!" came the bright voice of one of the Guards from the lookout tower. "We've sighted an Airship on the horizon, but can't tell which over the distance."

"Is it coming in?" Cecil asked.

"Negative. It's just hovering."

"Oh, that does not sound good."

Cecil stalked quickly off to the Tower, Cid anxiously at his heels.

Kain watched them go, followed by the Guard.

Rosa raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you going with them?"

He shook his head slowly.

"I'm not sure I should."

"Why not?"

Turning to her, he didn't say anything for a time.

"Cecil's being far to accepting of me."

"You said you had it under control."

"I do. I think. But Rosa . . . " He trailed off and stared into space for a moment. "I don't know. I can't explain it. But I feel different. Very much so. And just because I'm managing to keep this thing suppressed for now, I don't want to be in a bad spot should it flare up on me."

"So you don't trust yourself."

She made the statement primly, glaring lightly at him across the table.

"No. I don't. Not yet. I think . . . that until I have a better idea of what's going on here, I'm going to keep myself under wraps a bit."

Rosa sighed.

"I have to admit, I see your point. And as for Cecil . . . I don't know. Lately, he just seems to be so stressed out . . . I don't know what to think."

Kain nodded.

"I'll talk to him later. I know that I, if anything, am only contributing to that problem right now."

"Don't worry about that. It's not on your head - it's on the head of our favorite Toroian Princess."

"Where is she, anyway?"

"Sleeping. It's five in the morning."

"Is it really?"

"Yes."

"Imagine." He turned and headed out, calling for the cat.

*

Cecil frowned at the sight through the telescope, but could do nothing to identify the Airship.

"Okay," he finally sighed. "One way to deal with this. Um, let's rouse up the crew of Enterprise and check it out."

"Are you mad?" Cid snapped. "What if you get struck by lightning?"

"I'll put up a WALL. Don't worry so much, Cid . . . that's my job."

Kain, upon arriving back at his room with a black cat in his arms, found his way blocked solidly by two Dragoons who were standing in his doorway.

"Can I help you?" he blandly asked.

Lori and Cami, two of his first students, exchanged a nervous look.

"Yes!" Lori blurted.

The cat got scared and ran away.

"Yesterday," Cami explained, "King Cecil sent word to the pair of us to try and handle your classes while you were unconscious."

"We told him we didn't have a clue!"

"We said people think we're cool, but we're really not!"

"And he tells us to wing it!!" Lori wailed.

Kain had to grin in spite of himself.

"And?" he prompted.

Cami made a despairing expression.

"We wung it."

"Wung?"

"You see," Lori clarified, "we decided that what ensued was not worthy of a real word."

"Sir, we don't know what's going on," Cami stated. "Just that something strange happened involving you and a Toroian Princess. No one's said exactly what, so we figure it's none of our business."

"But whatever it was . . . when are you coming back?!"

Kain blinked.

"To be completely honest? I don't know. Maybe . . . maybe never."

Cami turned several shades paler.

Lori just frowned.

"Sir, if you don't mind my asking . . . "

"I'll explain all this to you later," he promised. "Right now, before I figure out anything else, I need to find that cat again."

"But-but-but . . . ?!" Cami stuttered, frantic.

"Cami," Kain pronounced, "I hereby nickname thee: Spaz. Don't worry. This'll all work out okay," he assured them both in what he hoped was at least a somewhat reassuring tone.

The cat charged through the hall.

"Excuse me," he said, then took off after it. "Here, Chika! C'mere, Chika . . . "

In all honesty, he felt he had to get away from his two subordinates quickly, because the strain of blocking his power was beginning to take a toll, and he could feel the self-imposed wall wearing off. Really, he had to get the hang of this Empathic stuff fast, or he simply wasn't sure what he was going to end up doing.

*

Enterprise, while no longer the newest or most advanced of Baron's fleet of Airships, remained one of the fastest. Some speculated that the red paint which adorned the Redwings slowed them down, and a few snide remarks had been made about Cid's genius failing, but all in all, it was tacked up to circumstance.

In any case, as Cecil watched, they quickly came into identification range of the stationary Airship on the horizon.

"It's Horizon," he mumbled to the pilot. "Take us closer."

He did so, and Enterprise drew closer, signaling for them to land. Horizon still refrained from moving.

"Okay . . . " Cecil murmured to himself. "I wonder . . . "

A bolt of lightning shot forth from the Redwing directly at them, jolting Enterprise, but doing no damage due to the WALL Cecil had cast to protect them from the natural lightning all around. It reflected back harmlessly into the air, and was somehow absorbed into the storm before striking back at the enemy.

"What the - - ?!" yelled Techie, who'd been blown from his post to the other end of the Airship from the jolt of the blow along with most of the others.

Cecil grabbed the railing as Horizon attempted the same thing again, mumbling quickly to reinforce the spell.

"We're under attack, you idiot!" the pilot snapped at the Techie. "Be useful! King Cecil, should we return fire?"

"Yes!" Cecil curtly ordered. "Try to take them down. But not destroy them. Cid would blow a gasket."

"Understood."

The crew proceeded to arm the weapon ports and left Cecil to consider why they were being attacked by one of their own Airships.

* * *

Elsewhere in the world, several of the Summoned Monsters were trying to figure out why Shiva was so ticked off at everyone. At first they'd tacked it up to the simple fact that they'd been forced to evacuate their home and been betrayed by one of her card-playing buddies, but it became evident that there was something a little more sinister behind her foul mood.

"And don't give us the old line about how people suck!" Ifrit snapped.

Shiva glared at him.

"People suck," she flatly stated and turned her back to him.

Ifrit, Ramuh, and Remora exchanged a humorous glance.

"So tell us, dear Shiva," Ramuh suggested in a patronizing tone, "exactly why people do so suck? And what does that have to do with you running around like a homicidal maniac, freezing trees and rocks at random?"

Shiva growled and was about to make a biting retort, but vanished in a flash of green light.

"Humph!" Remora seethed. "She has to go and get Summoned right when we have her where we want her - "

* * *

The three firebombs Enterprise catapulted at Horizon bounced off smoothly, indicating that whoever was in charge had instigated a SHELL over the Airship.

"Crud," Cecil seethed under his breath. "We couldn't get close enough to board them . . . think we could get within arrow range?" he inquired of the pilot.

"We could try."

Just as the Baronian craft was about to make chase on the other, however, a green light flashed through the air, revealing -

"Shiva?" Cecil exclaimed, startled. "What are you - "

She, bound by the Summon which had brought her forth, was unable to reply. Or in fact, do anything other than lash at them.

Cecil gasped in shock as a swirl of Diamond Dust shot forth at them, and as it dissipated, she was nowhere to be seen.

"AHHH!" cried the pilot, as he was frozen up solid along with much of the crew.

Oh, of all the . . .

Many foul words passed through Cecil's mind as he cast HEAL over them all, needing to move directly onto CURE. He alone, it seemed, was powerful enough to endure the attack without similar damage.

Experience. A good thing.

Thanks, Zeromus. HA!

The ice attack had damaged the Airship. It had damaged them badly. But they were still in the air.

* * *

"Oh, nice of you to grace us with your presence!" Ifrit snapped at the Ice Queen upon her abrupt return. "Have fun?"

"No!" she cried. "Someone just Called me to attack Cecil's Airship!"

"What?!" Ramuh was exclaiming as he, in turn, vanished in a green light.

* * *

No sooner had the crew recovered and they'd only just begun to assess the damages done, than did Ramuh appear floating in the air, zapping them for all he was worth.

This attack left most of Cecil's people down for the count, and the Airship began a steady descent.

"@#$%!" Cecil yelped, jumping to try and take the controls from the pilot, who was only semi-conscious.

As he did so, Horizon finally moved. They moved above Enterprise, so closely that Cecil could have reached up and touched the bottom.

Trying to regain control of the wounded flier, Cecil also resumed his chanting, again trying to revive and restore his crew. He did not like where this was going.

Just as he finished and they began to get up, Horizon ended up beside them, extending the bridge between the Airships.

A female soldier emerged onto the bridge, pushing Torram in front of her at sword point, his hands chained behind him.

"Your Majesty," she greeted Cecil, "we have your entire attack wave as our prisoners. Resist us, and they will be destroyed."

Torram winced and made an apologetic expression.

For a long moment, Cecil just took it in.

Then he nodded slowly, keeping a stiff, stern expression.

"Very well. We surrender."

The sun emerged from the clouds.

The soldier nodded back.

"Wise decision, Your Majesty. Prepare to be boarded."

* * *

Cid stiffened at the telescope.

"Those were some pretty heavy fireworks," he muttered to the Guards, who had finally awakened. "I think we have a problem."

He left the tower and sought Rosa, to tell her that her husband's Airship appeared to have just been captured.

* * *

"Shiva and Ramuh have been Summoned to defeat Cecil's Airship?" Rydia and Edge simultaneously echoed, shocked by the news.

Mist nodded.

Rydia shook her head. Only a few minutes ago, Chocobo had left their presence after filling them in on various points of interest. Now, Mist had just formed in front of them they way she always did, informing them of this new point of interest.

Edge blinked.

"Falcon!" he directed, pointing.

Nodding, the Caller followed, and they took off for Baron.