7)---------- In Which, the Princesses get into a squabble

7)---------- In Which, the Princesses get into a squabble.

"So," Cid inquired, barging in on breakfast in the Castle, "what's the plan? Are we attacking yet?"

"No, not yet," Kain brightly replied. "Hey, did you happen to see the cat on your way in?"

"What cat?"

"The cat. The black one:

Chika the Malevolent."

"Um . . . no. Cecil, when are we getting my Airships back?"

"Just as soon as we figure out how," Cecil blandly informed him. "Now will you calm down and eat something?"

Cid blinked.

"He's telling me to calm down!" he observed to Kain. "Imagine! What's wrong with this picture? Am I the one who's been fretting for a good portion of this story?"

"Hey!" Cecil snapped, blinking. "I have not been fretting!"

Kain brandished a tableknife.

"Both of you clam up! Don't make me use this!" he warned.

Cecil and Cid stared at the utensil for a moment before breaking out laughing.

Somehow, the decision to go to war had lifted a load off everyone. It had been decided. Now they had only to act upon it, and this mess would be straightened out.

Chewing on a piece of overcooked bacon, Kain debated over what he should do. He hadn't been kidding when he'd voiced his desire to take Toroia's entire army down single-handedly. In fact, after witnessing what they'd done to Cecil during his captivity, he was all set to do just that.

But the matter remained of the ability Forciara had awakened in him. Did he trust himself to actually fight?

Dang it. All these stupid ethics. Is it right to use this power, can I handle using this power, or should I sit in a corner for the rest of my life and . . . raise chickens?

In any case, he intended to find the cat as soon as he finished eating.

Cid's mother came along and dumped another load of burned bacon on his plate.

"Eat, Boy," she snapped.

He sighed. There were some battles he knew he couldn't win.

Cecil crunched on his own piece of charred bacon thoughtfully.

"You know, Kain, I've been thinking about this whole Empathy bit," he informed the other.

"Oh?" Kain raised an eyebrow. "Imagine that. So have I."

"Astonishing. Anyway, I see no reason why it should change anything."

Kain dropped his bacon.

"See no reason why it should change anything?!" he repeated, shocked. "Um . . . I beg to differ, Your Majesty."

"No, really!" Cecil objected. "For this reason: we were both trained by a guy with a whole load of weird powers. Even now, we don't know the extent of what he could do. But he wasn't afraid to use them, and it never discredited him. In fact, as I recall, we trusted him rather well."

Kain had to concede to that, even as something stirred in the back of his brain.

"But I'm not exactly Rorunar."

"Not exactly. But you're sworn to defend the Kingdom, right?" Cecil waved a fork at him. "By any means necessary?"

"Touché!" Kain exclaimed, striking the fork with his beloved tableknife. "Just the excuse I was looking for! What say we kick some Toroian bum and be back in time for lunch?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! Um . . . shall we maybe let the army in on this while we're at it?"

"Do we really need them?"

"For show, if nothing else."

"I see."

Rosa shook her head.

"Remind me again why I hang around with you two."

Kain reached over and messed up her hair.

"Because we're irresistibly cute, and you know it."

"I'll fracture your skulls!"

"Really? Good, I'm about ready for my weekly skull-fracturing."

"Kain . . . shut up. Just shut up."

"Ma!" Cid yelled. "You burned the bacon!"

*

Cecil, Kain, Torram, and Jason were huddled around a large map of the world later that day when Rosa nudged her way in.

"What-cha doin'?" she softly inquired of Cecil.

"Making up an attack plan."

"Why don't you just go after them?"

Torram mumbled something and Cecil glared at him.

"We got our people back," he explained to her, "but they still have our Airships."

Rosa made a pained expression.

"Right. I'd forgotten. Um . . . what do you propose doing about that?"

"We propose moving in on land," Kain promptly supplied. "Toroia's ground forces were never up with our own."

"It's been a long time since we've ever fought Toroia," Rosa almost snapped. "And who's to say our own ground forces haven't gone down-hill? No offense to you or your people, but haven't we gotten a bit spoiled with our Air Force?"

"Only those in the Redwings have been spoiled by the Redwings," Jason absently replied, still scrutinizing the map. "You know, we could move in on chocobos."

"Good idea," Cecil decided. "Kain, how many of your people can ride a chocobo?"

"Mmm . . . I could give you maybe 14, Cecil. Honestly, there are very few who I think I'd prefer mounted to not. I think maybe we'd do better on the ground or in the air."

"Okay . . . Jason?"

"We can fight mounted."

"So between us, we've got everything covered."

Rosa tapped her foot.

"Until they start pounding you with our Airships."

Kain blinked slowly.

"Euh . . . we've worked that out, too."

Cecil turned to him, startled.

"Have we really?"

Kain nodded, looking a bit self-conscious.

"Lori's idea, actually. When Eblan attacked a few years back, he asked me if it would be possible to Jump an Airship."

Rosa gaped at him. When she recovered, she realized that others were gaping at him as well.

"You want to Jump an Airship?!" Cecil repeated, dumbfounded. "Isn't that a bit . . . stupid?"

"No, not really. We've worked at it, figured out a way to get the added altitude to reach."

"So, okay," Cecil flubbered, still astounded by this concept. "You figure out a way to get the needed altitude, what the heck are you going to do once you get up there?! They'll have a full crew on board. You can only fight one person at a time."

Kain set his Items pouch on the table and, one by one, pulled out a series of objects.

A Bolt Plume. An Ice Crystal. An S. Pole and a Zeus' Rage.

"These are just what I have on me now," Kain told them as they looked at the objects without comprehension. "I don't use magic, you all know that. So I'm compensating. We get aboard and let 'em have it before they even know we're latched on. While they're trying to Cure everyone, we just get up there and finish taking them out."

"Too simple. It'll never work," Rosa decided.

"Look at how they got us in the first place," Torram sighed. "That was pretty simple . . . and we utterly fell for it."

Cecil gingerly poked at the Bolt Plume and snapped his hand back as it gave him a severe electric shock.

"Where do you find this stuff?" he inquired.

Kain shrugged.

"Around."

"Would this also explain where my daughter came up with that unusual Ring she won't go anywhere without?"

"Yes, I suppose it would."

"What's it do? She babbled something about being safe from lightning."

"Automatically casts WALL."

Rosa blinked.

"WALL? Kain, that's a stinkin' high level spell."

"I know."

"How much damage does one of these things do?" Jason asked, turning the Ice Crystal over in his hands.

"Depends on which one you have. Most of the ones I have average at level 2 damage points."

"This sucker casts LIT2?" Rosa asked, pointing at the Plume with disbelief.

Kain grinned.

"Care to find out the hard way?"

"Um . . . no."

"I see why you took out those Toroian Guards so easily now. Okay, so you really think your people could take down an Airship?" Cecil asked, bringing them back to the important question.

Kain frowned slightly.

"It won't be easy. Not many of them would be able to get the necessary altitude. But I think enough of us can that we could pull it off."

Cecil stared at the map.

"I can't say I'm fond of the idea. But if you think it'll work, we'll have to give it a shot. We're certain to face off against the Redwings at one point or another."

"Don't forget," Torram quietly reminded him. "We still have a few of them. And we could bring back the ones out by remote control and at least fight on our own grounds."

"Then we could move against Toroia without worrying about them," Jason agreed.

Cecil blinked and turned to Kain, who nodded slowly.

"Of course . . . if something goes wrong, they'll end up right where they could bomb us out of existence."

"Which they could do at any time anyway," Cecil sighed. "The sooner we go at them, the better chance we have." For a moment, he was silent, thinking.

"Get your men ready, guys. We're attacking tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" Rosa gasped. "Cecil that's nearly no time at all to prepare!"

He shrugged.

Kain laughed.

" 'So anyway, we're going to war tomorrow. Sleep well,' " he quoted, popping a slight accent.

Jason and Cecil got a chortle out of that, while Rosa and Torram looked at them like they were nuts.

"Um," Cecil stammered, regaining his composure. " . . . inside joke."

Torram threw his hands up in the air.

"You know, this is not fair! Just because the three of you came from Sir Rorunar's same batch of goons - "

"Dragoons," Jason quietly corrected.

" - you think you can rule the rest of us with your little inside jokes?!"

"Well," Cecil replied. "I am King."

Torram looked sheepish.

"Oh yeah. I forgot for a moment there, Sir."

"Torram . . . shut up. Kain!"

"Sir!"

"Why aren't your people ready to fight mounted? Isn't that the point of training 'em on polearms?"

"The point of training them on polearms is so that they can fight with polearms. You should know - you were with the Dragoons for a time - can you fight 'em out with a spear?"

"I . . . was always better on a sword, Kain, you know that."

"And my people can fight pretty well on a chocobo with swords. Still, not as well as they do on the ground with Lances."

"Um . . . do you intend to fix this in the near future?"

"I guess."

Cecil blinked.

"Tell me, Kain . . . how are you at fighting mounted?"

"I, Cecil, am among the most elite Dragoons on the face of this fine planet."

"Kain, with the exception of the 21 people you've trained, you're the only Dragoon on the face of this fine planet."

"What's your point?"

"Great," Rosa muttered. "We are so going to get our butts kicked at this rate."

*

Lori and Cami wasted no brain cells trying to figure everything out. All they knew was that their great leader was back from his unusual departure of duty, albeit still without the promised explanation for his absence, and they were going to battle the next day.

They, along with the rest of the army, stood at attention and absorbed the plan.

"Sir," Thomas asked gingerly, "are we all supposed to Jump the ships?"

Kain grinned slightly, fully aware of Thomas' repeated failure at this task.

"No. Those who think they can make it, by jingo, had better go. Those who are pretty much certain they can't, well, why bother?

"You'll be needed on the ground. To give the others altitude, if nothing else. If those Jumping make it up, go with it. If you miss, try again as soon as you're able. If we can't get the Redwings back under our control, Toroia has us at a greater disadvantage than we've been at for a long time."

"Could they really conquer us?" Lori asked, somewhat skeptically.

Fixing him with a light glare, Kain offered no comment for a moment.

"It's hard to say," he replied at last. "But even if we manage to fight them off, it may end up being to defend a charred mass of ash instead of a Kingdom. None of you have really ever seen the destructive power of an Airship. You know, however, that Damcyan and Eblan, and even we are still rebuilding, even now. Don't fool yourselves and think us to be so much greater."

Lori shuddered and questioned his master no further.

Cami, however, was another story.

"Sir," he pointed out, "you told King Cecil we'd flog 'em with things like Bolt Plumes and the like while attacking. We have no such things."

Kain grinned again.

"Not at this exact moment," he acknowledged. "This shall, however, be quickly rectified. C'mon, boys! It's Christmas in June! Claim your gifts!"

* * *

While this was going on, it is within my right, as recorder of this tale, to leave our dear squadron of Dragoons to their task of parceling out the Items Kain felt necessary to the task before them, and move instead to a different area of Baron's geography.

Forciara, the Toroian Princess in question, had her thoughts filled with unsavory ideas, having managed to piece together everything that was going on. While she was quite aware that Cecil did not seem willing to hand her over to her people, she found herself unable to relax and wait out events for a simple reason: Maylara was in Toroian custody.

The situation interpreted to her as follows: Cecil and his people were willing to keep her, Forciara, protected from her belligerent aunts, yet were making no attempt to rescue her mother. They would, however, be making a strike of some sort - she, along with most of the Kingdom, was not aware of exactly what sort of strike this was going to be - in order to reclaim their Airships. This would, undoubtedly (in her eyes), make the Toroian Clerics rather unhappy, and quite likely to do something unpleasant to her parental figure. And as she saw it, there was nothing the Baronians were going to do about it.

Perhaps she was right, perhaps not. Perhaps Cecil's motivation was a Kingdom full of people, while hers was a certain family member, and while one would think she would realize the priorities in question, Forciara herself felt no obligation whatsoever to the nation which had taken her under protection.

No, she fully intended to take matters into her own hands, and if it was at severe cost to Baron, so be it.

It was true, she could never quite bring herself to give way to such thoughts in Cecil's presence. There was still something very audible in his countenance which kept her at bay, even when she was deliberately not reading him, and she didn't dare cross him. Not in person, anyway.

Taking this as a sign that she was simply going to be forced to stoop very, very low, she quickly made her plan and began almost instantly to put it into action.

Princess Veronica looked up at her as she entered the royal nursery, not registering a large amount of surprise.

"Hello!" she greeted with a child's joy at seeing a recognizable face. "Have you come to play?"

"Yes, Veronica Dear," Forciara cooed, glancing at the nurse for confirmation.

The poor nurse, Sandra-mathe, really could think of no plausible reason to send the Princess away, although she had been warned to keep a close eye on her, and an even closer one on Veronica. Actually, she was puzzled enough trying to figure out how to space her eyes out to do this, and eventually thought she'd figured it out.

"You," she directed Forciara, "stand here."

This said while she directed Forciara next to where Veronica sat with a stuffed chocobo toy as large as she was.

Confused, Forciara did as she was bid, and Sandra placed herself in front of them so that Veronica was sitting just a bit closer to her than was her Toroian counterpart.

"There," she pronounced, feeling very proud of herself.

Forciara blinked.

"Are you . . . stupid?"

"I think not!" Sandra retorted, her eyes flashing. "I may not be as clever as some . . . but I'm not as foolish as others!"

"Good for you!" Forciara snapped, promptly lashing out, kicking the nurse in the head and knocking her out cold. "And now it doesn't matter - because no one yet has managed to accurately measure the intelligence of the subconscious mind!"

Veronica watched with wide eyes.

"What - "

"Don't you worry, Dearest," Forciara consoled. "It was time for her nap." For a moment, she gazed at the child, thinking. The little Baronian returned the gaze, confused. "In fact . . . we probably shouldn't disturb her."

Veronica still looked confused, but didn't resist as her older companion easily lifted her up in one arm.

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

Forciara smiled, again, a smile that would have chilled the blood of anyone a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of evil. Again, Veronica payed no need.

"We're going to meet a friend of mine, darling."

*

A year ago, when Maylara and her daughter had fled Toroia, it was not without aid. Rather, the Cleric had sought the aid of a team of Raiders who owed her a favor. The overall consensus had been:

"Screw your favor - we're not going to take on the whole Kingdom."

Three, however, agreed to help the pair, and did so. It was to these three that Forciara now fled to - in particular, a Raider named Marnak, who had been of particular value in their exodus.

Forciara found it surprisingly easy to smuggle herself and her small captive out of the Castle. Most likely, as she reflected, this was due to the fact that those who would have stopped her, (and her thoughts lingered on Kain and his power she had triggered) were involved up to their necks with attack plans for her homeland.

This was a good thing.

Veronica, completely unsuspecting, went along with it.

* * *

Baron was, with no question, the largest and mightiest nation on the Earth.

And, as Cecil stood atop the highest of the Castle towers, requiring some fresh air after all the planning being done inside realized, it was up to him to protect it all.

If anything went wrong, it was on his head.

He ground his teeth.

Stress.

Four years ago, when he'd led the battle against Zeromus, it had been for the fate of the world and the life of every creature that drew breath. This was different, though. This was not a battle between a tiny party of rebels and a great evil from another world. Though it may have meant the destruction of humanity and then some, the blame for Zeromus destroying their world would not have been so much on his head as this was now. Anyone who would point fingers would, after all, have to admit that they themselves had done nothing. Directly, he was not responsible for them.

It wasn't only his life and that of a few trusted individuals he was taking onto this battlefield, however. He was taking with him an entire nation. The largest and mightiest nation on the Earth.

He ground his teeth again.

Stress.

If all didn't go smoothly, there was going to be heck to pay.

Everyone was fine with him ruling Baron. Paladin Cecil - saved the world from alien onslaught and destruction.

Fine.

Until he screwed up.

"Cecil!" came a sharp voice that cut through his reverie. He turned and saw Kain, of course, standing behind him.

"What?" he bleakly asked.

"You're getting nervous, aren't you?"

Cecil groaned.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes. Oh, don't be so upset. Sure, if we screw up this attack in the morning, the Kingdom will fall and thousands of citizens of Baron will be screaming for your traitorous head on a pike, but if I were you, I wouldn't worry."

"Really."

"Yes! Because, you see, we are not going to lose."

Cecil glowered at him.

"I'm finding it impossible to take this lightly, Kain. This isn't your neck on the line. I call the attack - every death is my fault."

"No, it's their fault for being silly enough to join your army. Don't go getting depressed on me, Cecil. I may be forced to annoy you."

Indeed, Cecil was starting to feel annoyed, which was rare. Normally, the Dragoon's sarcasm did nothing to daunt his rationality.

"Did you need something?" he asked, gritting his teeth again.

"Yes," Kain brightly replied. "I bear a message from Her Majesty, Rosa, Queen of Baron, Master Wizard of White Magic, to His Majesty, Cecil, King of Baron and all related suburbs, Paladin, White Mage, Conqueror of Zeromus, Master of all armies within, keeper of the honor of all citizens of Baron."

Cecil blinked.

"You make that up, right?"

"No, as a matter of fact, you did get a letter with that heading the other day."

"Why didn't I see it?"

"Rosa pitched it. Said it was junk mail."

"I see. So what does Her Majesty have to say?"

"She said, and I quote: 'Kain, tell Cecil that if he's getting nervous, to not! If I know him, he's obsessing over his responsibility to protect every member of this Kingdom and the fact that a good many of them will likely be slaughtered tomorrow. They enlisted, it's their own fault, not his. We all know what's on the line if we don't go through with this attack. Get it through his skull, Kain, even if you have to be downright annoying about it.' " Kain paused and grinned weakly.

Cecil, all traces of annoyance gone, had to laugh.

"I didn't think I was so predictable," he admitted.

"Well, she is your wife," Kain assured him.

He nodded.

"Was there anything else in Her Majesty's message?"

"Yes. Quote: 'When you finish with all that, tell him to get down here and get some sleep. We all know what Cecil's like when he tries to get by on three hours. I shudder to think if he attempts to lead a battle in such condition.' Unquote."

"I really am predictable."

"Don't worry about it. She then proceeded to inform me that if I, as well as every other general, captain, and whoever else happened to be in the room did not do likewise, she was going to have us hung upside down from trees."

"I see."

"Yeah . . . I never should have mentioned that recurring nightmare."

"The one where you're a Dark Warlord of the Nether-realm, held in disgrace by your Emperor, hung upside down from a tree-like object in a large cart as punishment?"

"Exactly. Goodnight, Cecil."

Cecil just shook his head at the Dragoon, who turned and exited down the stairs as he had come - with not the slightest sound of his passing.

He remained for a few moments, turning things over in his head and trying not to fret. Then, with a final sigh, he turned to obey the order of the Queen.

Kain nearly floored him as he reached the floor below in his rush to find him again.

"What - "

"Cecil! Verny's gone, and so is Forciara!"

Cecil stared at him uncertainly.

"You're . . . kidding me, right?"

"No."

"No, really. You're joking."

"Cecil, you know well that I would never dare joke about something like this."

A Castle Guard appeared on the scene.

"Your Majesty!" he breathlessly greeted Cecil, who turned an evil glare on him. "Sandra-mathe's regaining consciousness! Queen Rosa sent me to find you - "

"Regained consciousness?! Was she knocked out?"

The Guard threw a look to Kain, confused.

"Y-yes, Sir. I thought you knew - "

"I'm just now finding out about any of this. Now you two are telling me that my daughter is gone, her nurse knocked out, and our renegade Toroian Princess vanished?"

"Not entirely vanished," Kain softly cut in. "As I was informed a moment ago, all belongings she had are gone as well. She planned her departure. Verny, on the other hand, did not."

Cecil stared at him again, this time his uncertainty replaced by a cold determination.

"So what you're saying is that Forciara has kidnapped my daughter."

"I - "

"Is that what you're saying?"

Kain swallowed.

"Yes, I suppose it is."

Cecil stared a moment longer, then turned to the Guard.

"What's being done?"

"Th-the Castle's being searched, and - "

"Not good enough. Send the Guard into the City. Close the gates to the Castle and City both. Kain, get your people outside. They couldn't have gotten too far - when was the last time they were seen?"

Kain blinked.

"Euh - Sandra would be able to tell you most accurately."

"Then let's go see what Sandra has to say."

Cecil turned stiffly and led the way down the corridor, the Guard and Dragoon following, exchanging uncertain glances.

"Do you have a problem with that?!" Cecil demanded, whirling on them, sensing their uncertainty.

"Cecil," Kain haltingly reminded him, "we can't spread out our forces. Tomorrow we have a battle. We need everyone we have."

Cecil's eyes registered understanding, and he turned without another word and continued to question the last person to have seen the Princess of Baron.

Kain watched him go, not envying his position, and debating over what form of torture he was going to put the Toroian through once he caught her.

* * *

By this time, as the sun was setting, Forciara had made contact with her old friend, Marnak, the Raider she knew well from her exodus of Toroia. Little had changed about him - his flaming hair and bright red eyes still made her cringe to look upon him directly, and she really had little or no reason to trust him.

She had little choice, however, and in any case, felt she had something to offer him that he wouldn't want to refuse.

The Raider looked the little Princess over with his hot red gaze and raised an eyebrow at the Toroian.

"A bit risky, wasn't it? Kidnapping the Baronian Princess? Not to mention melodramatic. What do you intend to do with her?"

"I will take her to my Aunts," Forciara promptly explained. "I will offer the Baronian in exchange for my mother."

"You think they'll honestly buy it?"

"They are at war now. At war with Baron. And this will give them an edge like they couldn't have hoped for. Cecil wouldn't stand for them to hold his daughter, not after he witnessed firsthand how they treat their prisoners."

"I see. So what exactly do you require my services for, Your Highness?"

She blinked darkly.

"I am a Princess. Running around the hills lugging around this squalling Bundle of Baronian Joy is not to my liking. I need you to make arrangements for all that must take place. A meeting between myself and the Toroian Clerics, passage from here to there, and lodgings during the meanwhile. And protection if Cecil comes after me."

He nodded, sitting back in a wicker chair in the darkened room they were talking in. Since his departure with two others from the band of Raiders he'd been initiated into, he'd expanded somewhat into his own powerful, if small, tribe of bandits, complete with a base dug into the side of a large hill near the entrance to the Misty Cave. It had taken Forciara several hours on her stolen chocobo to get here, and it was fortunate for her that she knew exactly where she was going, or she may have never found him.

"Of course. You want my protection. Well, Your Highness, fond memories aside, why should I be doing you any favors?"

"You served my mother," she stiffly replied.

"Your mother payed me rather well, as I recall."

Now Forciara allowed a cruel grin to touch her lips.

"Of course, my Aunts will be obliged to pay whatever I may request in order to obtain this child. Surely you would settle for seventy percent of whatever price we agree upon."

"Seventy percent?! Are you mad, Forciara, or just stupid?"

"I'm not in this for the money, Marnak. I want my mother back."

"I see. And what do you intend to do after you've succeeded, providing, of course, that I go along with this?"

"I intend to vanish once again. May I count on your help?"

"That depends on the price for the Princess."

"I'm quite certain that it will be satisfactory."

"Then I am quite certain we can make you disappear to your liking," he confirmed with a grin. "Now, in the meantime, what do you propose we do with her?"

"Her" he said with a point to the baby Princess Forciara held in her lap.

Forciara shrugged.

"She'll be happy as long as she's fed. She's only two - she doesn't know what's going on."

The Baronian Princess Veronica decided, at that moment, to intercede on her own behalf.

"I want my mother," she declared with the authority that usually won her whatever she demanded.

"She's not here, Dear," Forciara absently told her.

Verny blinked, astonished that her decree be so lightly brushed off.

"I . . . want my mother. And my daddy. Where's Daddy?"

Marnak winced.

"Can't you shut her up?"

"Me? Aren't you the one with the magic around here?"

Marnak sighed and rapidly spoke a chant, satisfied as a green flash engulfed the Baronian.

"I want Daddy!" Veronica persisted, much to the shock of the two older people.

Forciara whirled on Marnak.

"Didn't you just silence her?"

Marnak opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Growing frantic, he began to go through the motions of general panic.

"Calm down!" Forciara yelled. "She must be WALLed - how else could the Silence have gone back to you?"

He shrugged.

"Veronica, Honey," Forciara began in a gentle voice, hoping to coax an explanation out of the Princess.

Verny, however, was running out of patience.

"DA-DDYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" she wailed.

Marnak fished through a drawer in the desk at which he sat, came out with an Echo Screen, used it on himself, and harrumphed loudly.

"I would really like to know how she could be WALLed," he seethed to Forciara. "Any spell on her would have worn off in the time it took you to get here."

"I dunno what's up with her!" Forciara objected. "What're you so worried about? All that means is that we can't shut her up with magic. Give me a rag, I'll gag her."

Veronica was now running out of her temper as well.

"I WANT MY MOM!!" she screamed, kicking and beating at Forciara until the Toroian, overwhelmed and startled by this attack, loosened her grip enough that the little Baronian was able to wriggle free and take off running.

Marnak was having none of it.

"Such heroics from such a tiny creature," he sighed with something akin to admiration as he rose, took three long strides, caught the struggling Princess under one arm, and tossed her back into Forciara's lap. "Try to hold onto her this time," he blandly suggested. "We'll tie her up. Let me find some rope."

* * *

Enraged and outraged as he was, Kain knew he was going to be in dire need of a clear head the following day, particularly since it seemed that Cecil was now anything but clearheaded.

Not that Kain blamed him one bit for wanting to take every soldier in the Kingdom and send them out after Forciara, and send every peasant with a pitchfork in search of Veronica (or perhaps vice versa). But again, he forced himself to think objectively.

They were fighting Toroia tomorrow. Then, once they'd finished that, they could turn their forces to the recovery of the Princess.

And so, propping his two Lances up against the wall next to his bed, he forced himself to sleep.

)))))-----DREAM SEQUENCE #3-----(((((

This dream would stand out in his mind forever.

The very instant his subconscious obtained full control of his mind, whatever dreaming may have been beginning was thrown aside roughly, almost painfully.

"You are out of time!"

Kain blinked and found himself standing on top of the tower he'd been chattering with Cecil on top of only an hour ago, face to face with the man who had been interceding in his dreams in these past days.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Kain, while I realize that it's not always possible to retain a dream with unusual waking circumstances, the fact is that unless you manage to pull this together by tomorrow morning, there is going to be one big mess in Baron."

"What can I do?" he demanded. "Cecil's on the fritz. He was nervous before, now he's on panicked and enraged, and no one can blame him, and no one can certainly calm him down enough to lead this attack tomorrow."

"Wrong, son of Phil!" Rorunar snapped. "Or have you perhaps forgotten the very subject of the last two conversations we've had?"

Kain blinked.

"Huh?"

"Your power is not merely one of perception, Kain. I thought you realized that. You can not merely look into the hearts of those around you and piece together whatever you may need to know. You can inflict emotions. That's the whole point."

Kain blinked again.

"I . . . knew that."

"Then why haven't you done anything?" Rorunar drew his Lance - the Lance which Kain had recently found in his floorboards - and drew Kain close with the other hand. "This is going to leave you with quite a headache when you wake up, I'm afraid. I've tried not to seize your subconscious too harshly - it can sometimes cause serious side effects that I'd not wish upon you or anyone else. But there's little choice left." He shoved the Lance into Kain's hands, the latter yelping involuntarily at the spark of energy that zapped him through the shaft. "This is your weapon. As of yet, you've used it as little more than any other fancy polearm. It's not. It's a source of power. You can do unspeakable damage, and in this case, you're going to have to do so. The full scope of your powers is about to be realized, whether you like it or not."

"What do you mean?" Kain demanded, by this time completely confused.

Rorunar looked at him for a long moment and finally grinned slightly.

"I see you haven't progressed much in the area of common sense. Kain, you are about to go through one of your most violent days of battle ever - so much so for the simple reason that both counts are extremely close to your heart. You must fight the Toroians, and you must do so cautiously despite your desire to render each of them limb from limb as retribution for their treatment of Cecil and the others. As soon as this is completed, you're going to have to go after the Princess. That is your duty, there's no way you can escape going after her, even if you wanted to. Which, I feel, you don't. The anger you feel, the fury towards those who have hurt those dear to you cannot be allowed to cloud your brain, and in this, you're doing very well.

"What you're not realizing is that this fury, this very anger, is the weapon with which you may destroy your enemies. Don't calm yourself, don't lose that edge. Use it. Use it to vaporize the stupid jerks!"

Kain stared dumbly at the weapon in his hands.

"Um . . . exactly how am I supposed to do that?"

"I can't explain it, Kain. You should know that I can't. It's not something that can be explained with words."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

"Because I can't help you until you manage to acknowledge me. Even then, I'm not sure how much I can do. My powers are not now what they once were, nor what they will be again. I told you before, however, that I would guide you. And I will.

"The weapon you hold in your hands is not there by chance. I didn't leave it for you in the random hope that someday you'd find it. Your gift has surfaced. Without it, you wouldn't have ever found the Venus Gospel, and without the Venus Gospel, the full scope of your gift can't be realized. When it tells you to do something, then by jingo, do it!"

Kain looked up at him, startled.

"It . . . hasn't told me to do anything."

Rorunar sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You haven't been listening."

"I'm listening now."

"Remember, Kain, that this is a dream."

"Which means what? None of this is real?"

"No. What I'm telling you is very real, as is my presence in your mind. This tower, though, the area around us, the weapon in your hands, is just an extension of your subconscious and the tweaking I'm doing in your brain."

"Um . . . I kinda thought you were dead."

"Cecil told you I wasn't."

"He told me that a ghost told him that you'd survived somewhat. How are you here?"

"Kain, you're stalling, and that will only leave a painful effect for yourself. Every moment this dream continues will only contribute to the migraine you're going to receive. There is little else I can tell you. The important thing here is, though, that you will remember."

Kain looked at him incredulously.

"Remember what?! I don't get the point of all this!"

Everything swam and merged together into a great blob.

*

He rubbed his eyes, and found himself lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Startled, Kain sat up and instantly winced at the searing pain through his skull.

You weren't kidding about that headache . . . he thought. Then it struck him.

Of course. That was the point of it all. Simply so that I'd remember when I woke up - which I finally do. I wonder how he managed to "tweak" my brain enough for it to happen . . . that was nothing like a normal dream.

Sighing and bracing himself against the throbbing agony in his head, he eased himself to his feet and reached for the Venus Gospel, grasping it heavily in his hands and collapsing on the floor unceremoniously with a thud. He could hardly see, the pain was so great.

Tapping every ounce of his will remaining in his body, he concentrated on the weapon in his hands.

So, what is it that you're supposed to be telling me . . .

It pulsed in his grasp. Fleeting through his memory went the tales of Masamune snatching control of Edge's body when he questioned it too closely, possessing him entirely, but he got the feeling that whatever power this weapon had, it had no intention of harming him.

His vision swam before him, and he realized that he could no longer actually feel the shaft he gripped. Or did he still hold it at all? The pain thundering through his mind was more than he could fight . . . it was like trying to walk when your leg's fallen asleep. His whole body was going numb.

After a brief, excruciating moment, unconsciousness gripped him, carrying him away from the agonized body he called his own, away on a current of warmth and comfort.

A presence whispered at the edge of his awareness.

"I warned you: the mother of all headaches."

Kain did not deem it worthwhile to rouse his brain enough to answer. He nodded vaguely with some still-active portion of his being.

"That's all right . . . rest now. You'll know what to do in the morning . . . but you'll be no good to any of us if you're still in this state. I'll do what I can."

The dream-wind that had encompassed him enfolded him completely, leaving no trace of awareness in his body, all but removing his consciousness into a vast state of simple being.

No dreaming. No thinking.

Just being.

Perfectly assured that this was where he was meant to be. When the time came for him to awaken and be elsewhere, he would know. For now, as his mind repaired itself from the subconscious contact which had caused more strain on his mind than he would have imagined, his being was content just to be.

"Sleep well. It will seem an eternity before you're permitted to do so again."

* * *

Somewhere, far into the night, Cecil dispatched a messenger with an urgent message for the Caller Rydia.