1)---------- In Which, Edge discovers dirty work afoot.

1)---------- In Which, Edge discovers dirty work afoot.

Baron was a mess, bluntly speaking.

Zeromus's coup had left the City and the Castle both a wreck. A defenseless wreck. The Castle Guard, after eliminating the agents found planted by the enemy, was at less than half its acceptable strength, and those left were either recovering from the effects of the brainwashing or just plain confused. Few things were worse than a Castle full of very edgy warriors. The City Guard was likewise a wreck – while weeding out enemy agents Cecil and his chums had also unearthed more corruption in the ranks than bears speaking of. Those who remained were likewise confused – and many of them just plain stupid.

The Gatekeepers and Sentries were mainly intact, but much abashed that the whole takeover had happened. They refrained from extensive comment.

The armies were crushed. Not only had the elite forces been utterly vanquished, but the standard battalions and cohorts were reduced to straggling the remains of 24 major forces into 3 barely active units.

The Night Watchmen . . . well, out of the seven of them, the only that was sober enough to give a clear report made it plain that they didn't care who was in charge, they never did, and probably never would. Being as low on the hierarchical ladder as they were, changes in command rarely affected them.

The Executioner was doing quite well, thank you.

Since Kain had acquired the Baronian army under his own command (somewhat against his will), he'd found himself responsible for repopulating the depleting forces, recruiting and training as many new soldiers as possible. Some of the more promising prospects had even been selected for training as Knights and Dragoons, the elite forces which had so quickly vanished from the Kingdom of which they had once been the pride, although the concept of Dark Knights was being left alone for the time.

That was another matter, and someone else's problem.

At first, he'd found the process more aggravating than anything else.

(A lippy recruit flips his lid: "I don't have to stand for this crap!!"

Kain rounded on him furiously.

"I don't have to stand for this crap, SIR!!" he shouted, knocking the snooty youth upside the head. "GET BACK IN THE DRILL BEFORE I DRILL YOU!!!!")

In fact, several castle servants had seen him at times wandering corridors aimlessly and mumbling about how much he hated stupid people.

("There're too many morons in the world, not enough people! I hate stupid people! I hate stupid people, I hate stupid people!")

But now, several months later, they were finally falling in line, and beginning to shape up a bit. He still didn't like it, but reminded himself that it was only temporary - just until they managed to find an actual replacement.

("Cecil, I'm not a Drill Sgt. I hate this. I really hate this!"

"Sorry. The simple fact of the matter is that you're better than anyone else. Train yourself a replacement and be done with it."

"They're morons. I'm beginning to wonder if I'd ever trust any of them in a command position."

"Then you're stuck with it."

"Darn you."

"Ahem."

"Darn you, Your Majesty."

"Consider me darned. Sir.")

As it was, the Royal Guard had been all but vanquished, as had most of the battalions and other means of defense. They weren't so bad off, though. After all, there were the Redwings . . .

"I don't like to be paranoid," Cecil told him one morning over breakfast, "but the sooner we get a working army together, the better."

"Why?" he'd reasonably wanted to know. "I mean, we can easily handle any monster attacks on the town - "

"It's not that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything. I'm just repeating what other people are saying."

Kain stabbed a piece of burned toast mercilessly with his butter knife.

"And euh, what are other people saying?"

"That Eblan's preparing to attack us."

Rosa groaned and ignored them.

"Eblan?!" Kain had repeated, aghast. "Why would they attack us? Edge wouldn't go for it."

"It's not Edge that I'm worried about."

"Huh?"

Cecil shrugged.

"Look at it this way. The advisors in this Kingdom are so freaked out that they've even gotten me worried. I'd hate to think what Kormag's pulling over there. If their situation is anything like ours, they've got a few good leaders, and a lot of old leaders still bent on world domination. The moment Edge makes the slightest mistake, all heck's gonna break loose." He scratched his head. "Of course, the same goes for us, I suppose."

"Don't worry," Kain told him, giving his toast one last, fatal stab. Victory. How sweet. "Basic survival training - ignoring belligerent politicians. But in case anything does happen, we'll be ready." The shreds of burned bread took to the air as a sudden wind entered the room. "Dang it, there goes my toast."

Eblan had been at war with Baron for over a hundred years. While the violence had ended after the Redwings had destroyed Eblan and driven away its occupants, and their leaders joined forces to defeat Zeromus and officially ended the war, there were still too many people who harbored differences with the other Kingdom. Putting it mildly. Very mildly. Poor Cecil and Edge were stuck dealing with it. There was much rolling of eyes and gnashing of teeth.

One matter had ended up in a joint council with the two Kingdoms' leaders and advisors at Damcyan, because neither could agree on one place or the other. Edward had stepped in, realizing that soon Edge and Cecil wouldn't be able to prevent their people from going to war over where to hold the peace meeting, and offered his Kingdom's facilities, later telling his two friends in an undertone that he thought the whole business was pathetic. They agreed.

The matter under discussion was that of lands conquered by Baron in the later part of the war. The Eblanians were demanding compensation, and the Baronians were denying any such thing. Most of the deliberations were being done by Uriat, the Baronian Chancellor, and Kormag, his Eblanian counterpart. Cecil and Edge were trying to stay awake.

"If we're supposedly at peace," Kormag was pointing out, "then you should realize that many of our rightful people wish to return to our jurisdiction, and you should release the lands conquered unlawfully to us."

"Unlawfully?" Uriat had spat. "We kicked your sorry @#$%es! Nothing unlawful about that!"

They'd gone on and on and on, until Edge finally blew his top.

"Listen, stupid politicians!" he snarled, standing and jamming Murasame and Masamune into the table in an impressive show of authority, "you're wasting time!! Why can't you get it through your heads?! You're morons!! Uriat," he now directed to the Baronian, "if conquered people wish to return to Eblan jurisdiction, let them. That's their right. And Kormag, wipe that stupid grin off your face. You know very well that after rebuilding the Kingdom, we couldn't even support that land even if we did regain it! The people there are in better hands remaining in Baron's territory, and you know it bloody well."

Kormag looked like he was about to choke, horrified that Edge had named such a weakness out in front of their "enemies".

As if everyone didn't know it already.

Uriat seethed, but looked to Cecil for confirmation.

"You heard 'im," Cecil sighed. "Makes sense to me."

In a huff, everyone had stormed out of the room then, leaving it to the three kings.

Edge shook his head.

"Cecil, I'm gonna put this in the mildest way possible - being a King can really suck."

After considering that, Cecil had to agree.

"But what are you going to do?" Edward had then asked. "Your people are out for blood. It's just a matter of time before they find a way to get it."

"Or just a matter of time before they grow up and get over it," Edge replied. "Sorry about the table, Eddie. Needed to make a point." He retrieved his two swords and noted the gashes they'd made in the table.

"Don't worry about it."

"Thanks. Okay, I'll be leaving now. Stay on your toes, Cecil. All heck's getting ready to break loose."

"Don't I know it."

At first, when Zeromus had been defeated, it seemed like things were going to stay calm for a long time. Even up through the incident a few months ago with Borthus manifesting Kain's sibling (half sibling), the citizens of both Kingdoms had been able to stomach working together.

Now, though, things were getting edgy again. So, Kain had tightened up his training, hoping to get some decent fighters in the army soon.

Very soon.

Which was hard, considering that most of his students were, well, stupid.

"They're not stupid," Rosa had informed him after his first training session. "It's just that you're not used to being a teacher, Kain."

"Explain."

"Well," she said, searching through her spell books for something to relieve that terrible headache that had set in for the Dragoon, "you've never had to do it before. That's all there it is to it. I mean, you're used to being with others in your league. That's where you've always been placed. And now, you have to go back to the bare essentials, and you don't remember what it's like to be a beginner anymore. You'll settle in, and they'll improve, don't worry. And in any case, it'll be better once we replace Baigan and Rorunar and the others, and you don't have so many to worry about. I have a feeling that you, as a Dragoon, will be much happier when it's actually Dragoons you're training."

And she'd tossed him a vile of headache painkillers and sent him on his way.

There were seven recruits which he soon realized weren't quite as stupid as the rest. In fact, they were pretty good, considering . . . well, never mind. A question told him that they had been the highest in their class before so many tragedies had struck the kingdom in the days before he and Cecil had set out on their quest. They had, in fact, passed Rorunar's testing session shortly before the old Dragoon's demise.

"We wanted to be Dragoons, like you," one of them, Thomas, had said.

Kain instantly tagged him as a suck up and let him continue.

"Next season we were supposed to be taken in for training. Only then . . . well . . . King Cecil . . . "

And so, in the realization that he was, indeed, the last person in the Kingdom with the exact training and code of a Dragoon (however restricted), he took these seven individuals under his wing and put them in a separate class - to repopulate the world with specialized fighters.

He wasn't at all sure he liked teaching. It wasn't in his bag. But he knew it had to be done. There was much more rolling of eyes and gnashing of teeth.

Twelve students had been selected to train for Knighthood, as well. But they were another story, and someone else's problem. After all, Kain had no intention of mixing with Knights.

The others in his classes were kept in basic soldier training, and while they were shaping up a bit, they still remained as stupid as ever. Kain prayed that Cecil would find a trainer for them soon, before his brain was forever fried.

Meanwhile, Rydia was left as the only Caller left on the planet by recent events (except for an old codger known as Fred), and knew that if she didn't jam some knowledge in a few kids' heads, the trade was going to be lost for good. While it had used to be that the only Callers were those of her village, the village was now gone, as were all its people, and so she took it all over the world. At the moment, she was training four, one in Baron, one in Eblan, one in Damcyan, and one in Fabul. Toroia wanted nothing to do with it.

On this day, she was in Eblan with her student, Timothy. Timothy had a good head on his shoulders, but had no real common sense at all. Perhaps that was on oxymoron. All right, perhaps Timothy was a moron. In any case, he had been under the impression that if he was a Caller, he'd get to Summon up Leviathan and Bahamut right away. It had taken her over a month to convince him that almost no one got to Summon Leviathan and Bahamut, and that there was little or no chance that he would get the honor.

He hadn't been happy and almost dropped the whole thing, but his parents didn't like that, so he was stuck with her, learning the basics of Caller magic, as well as simple Callings such as Chocobo.

"But who cares about Calling some stupid bird?" he whined.

Rydia got an evil look in her eyes.

"That 'stupid bird' is my friend," she snapped.

He shut up.

On this afternoon, she ended her class a little early and headed for the Castle to check in with Edge. Although his flirtatious attitude annoyed her severely, she still felt it only decent that she let him know she was there, and see if he had any messages for her to take to the other Kingdoms on her rounds before she returned to the Land of Summoned Monsters.

The guards let her pass, acknowledging her with their usual coolness, which she didn't understand, but had learned to accept. For some reason, they just didn't like her. She hunted quickly through the Castle, but was unable to find the young King, so she finally decided to check his room.

"Edge?" she asked, pushing the door open a crack.

"Yeah?" came a grumpy voice.

"It's me."

"Oh? Oh! C'mon in, Rydia."

She pushed the door the rest of the way open and found him sitting at a small table, staring studiously at his two Swords. The curtains were drawn closed, and the only light in the room was from the small oil lamp in front of him.

"You know all about black magic," he greeted her without looking up. "Take a look at this."

Wondering that he didn't even say hello, she walked beside him.

"What am I looking at?" she asked.

"This," he replied, picking up Masamune. "What do you think?"

She raised her eyebrows.

"It's a Sword, Edge," she informed him.

"You think?" he quipped with a slight smirk. "What about this?" And now he picked up Murasame.

"Why, it's also a Sword. Is this some sort of scheme, Edge? Because if you're just trying to get me to - "

"No, no, no, nothing like that, Rydia, I'm serious." He stood up and turned up the wick on the lamp. "These both came from the Lunarian palace, right?"

"Yeah. I was there, I know."

"So was I. But I'm not so sure. I mean, I'm not so sure that's where they came from."

Rydia plopped down in his recently vacated seat.

"Where else could they have come from? Anyway, Fred said they were - "

"I wouldn't trust that old coot as far as I could throw an Airship. He doesn't have a clue."

"All right." Rydia crossed one leg over the other and made herself comfortable. "What gives you that idea?"

"This."

He held Masamune in front of her.

"Look closely at the base of the blade. What do you see?"

She squinted at the Sword and tried to focus on a small and slightly blurry inscription.

"I see a small and slightly blurry inscription."

"Yeah, don't try to read it. After all, it's from an alien language, right?"

"No . . . " she turned the blade slightly as he continued to hold it in front of her, "no, I definitely recognize it, but it's probably blurry from being so old - "

"How could you recognize it unless it was of Earth origin?"

That stumped her.

"I've seen this - in the Land of Summoned Monsters! In the library!" she suddenly realized. All those years she'd spent poring over the ancient texts suddenly paid off.

"I figured as much. So how could an ancient Sword from our planet find its way to a Lunarian Palace?"

"I couldn't say," she admitted. "But I don't see the big deal."

He made a pained expression.

"I'm not exactly sure. But Murasame, at least, seems harmless. Or not dangerous."

"Edge - they're both very dangerous. They're Swords."

"Yeah . . . I guess they are."

"You guess?"

His reply was cut off by a sudden burst of wind that extinguished the light in the room. For a brief, astonished moment, they were both silent in the absolute darkness.

"Put the light back on, Edge," Rydia then said in a firm voice, before he got any ideas.

"Right . . . the light . . . "

There was the sound of a match being struck, and then he re-lit the lamp.

"Okay. The light's back on. The . . . light . . . . . . . light . . . . "

"Edge, are you feeling okay?" Rydia was growing concerned, not only by his strange dialogue, but by the fact that he hadn't attempted to flirt with her once since her arrival.

He shook his head.

"Nope. Not at all."

"What do you mean when you say at least Murasame seems harmless? Is there something wrong with Masamune?"

The light was blown out again.

"Where the heck is that wind coming from, Edge?! The windows are closed!"

"I know."

He re-lit the light again.

"I'm not sure exactly what is wrong here, Rydia, but Masamune is beginning to really freak me out," he confided.

The light blew out again.

"Will you cut it out!?!?!" he shouted into the air.

The light re-lit itself.

Rydia jumped.

"Okay, that's it, this is weird," she pronounced. "Edge, I'm opening the curtains!"

"Go for it. I'm not the one who shut them."

"Huh?" she asked, pulling a set open. The moment she released the fabric, they snapped shut again. "Ah, I see what you mean. And you think this is all because of Masamune?"

The light went out.

"Does that answer your question?" he wryly asked.

"When did all this start?" she cried into the darkness.

"It started a long time ago! Ever since the first night I had that thing, it's been giving me nightmares! You wouldn't believe some of these things! Every one of them centering around the stupid sword, so today, I finally got sick of it and tried to examine the danged thing, and the moment I did, it started screwing with things!"

"So Masamune doesn't want you finding out certain things about it?" she proposed.

The light came back on, this time burning red.

"Oh, give it a rest," she snapped.

"Seems likely to me," he agreed.

The light went back out.

"Erm, Edge, I suggest we leave now," she said, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Good idea."

"Um, which way is the door?"

"Ahhhh . . . "

There were a few moments of stumbling and tripping over various pieces of furniture, and then they tripped over each other and onto the table. The light came back on.

"Ow," Rydia mumbled, regaining her footing.

"Sorry," Edge apologized. "I guess Masamune doesn't have very good social skills."

"Ha." She reached for the Sword. "I wonder - AAAAAH!"

The moment she picked up Masamune, it released a charge that sent her flying across the room. Then it hung there, hovering about four feet in the air, glowing softly.

Edge glared at it.

"Stop it!" he snapped. "Leave her alone, you ninny!" To Rydia, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I guess," she replied, picking herself up.

"Hmm." He reached forward and took the hilt in his hand. "YOW!" he exclaimed. As he took a grip on the Sword, a jolt ran through his body, and the next thing he knew, he was charging across the room, swinging the Sword dramatically at Rydia, trying to slice her head off!

"Hey!!!!" she yelled, evading him. "What do you think you're doing, you stupid Ninja?!"

"Good question!" he yelled back, trying in vain to get control of his own body. "It's - it's controlling me now!"

"Woah!!!" Rydia kept running in circles, and he kept running after her. Finally, he yelled, "Duck!" and she turned to see the Sword flying through the air at her -

Edge regained control of his form as soon as Masamune left his grasp, and, realizing his target, did the only thing he could do - he covered his eyes.

The sound of metal hitting wood was heard, so he figured it hadn't hit her, so he uncovered his eyes and looked.

Rydia was sitting plopped on the floor, looking up frantically. Masamune was embedded in her thick green hair, keeping her attached to the wall.

"Crud!" he exclaimed, running over to her. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm not bleeding . . . so I guess so . . . " She tore her gaze away from the Sword stuck a few inches away from her head to the Ninja who knelt in front of her. "Don't just stand there - get that thing out of my hair!"

He flexed his fingers nervously.

"And if I do, Masamune might take control of me again," he pointed out.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well."

"Hmm."

"Uh . . . "

"Listen, Rydia," he said, "the door's right over there. I'm gonna pull that thing out, and the moment I do, I want you to get the heck out of here, and go get Cecil and Kain. They've also got Crystal Weapons - if even Masamune isn't actually one of the Crystal Weapons, but maybe they'll know what to do about this. Shut the door after you and bolt it. I don't want to take the chance of killing somebody accidentally."

"Are you nuts?!" she exclaimed. "I can't leave you here alone with this thing!"

"Either that, or you stay there stuck to the wall. You've seen a little of what that Sword can do."

The light went out again.

"Hey!" Edge snapped.

It came back on.

Edge shook his head.

"Ready?"

She shrugged.

"I guess. I'll hurry back as fast as I can - "

"Use the Falcon. You have clearance with the Captain."

"Okay."

"Okay."

That established, Edge reached out, grasped the hilt of Masamune, and pulled it out of the wall, releasing Rydia, who instantly sprang to her feet and bolted out the door, slamming it shut behind her and bolting it. The thud that followed her action showed that Edge had indeed been taken over by Masamune once more.

"Edge?" she called.

"Go on! Don't just stand there!" he called.

She turned and left.

"And furthermore," Uriat continued with his list of "requests", "the citizens of Baron are growing quite distressed as Your Majesties insist upon leaving frequently on dangerous business - "

"What are you saying exactly?" Cecil demanded.

Uriat threw down his scroll.

"You two," he said, indicating Cecil and Rosa, "keep going off to save the world, and it's freaking everybody out that you both could get killed and leave Baron without a ruler again! One of you should be here at all times!"

Rosa groaned and began to ignore him.

Cecil shook his head.

"Uriat, do you have anything good to tell us? You're being very, very useless lately."

Scowling, Uriat picked up his scroll again.

"Well," he admitted, "there is the matter of the New Year approaching. Erm . . . people want to know if you're planning to bring back Jour d'Anee."

"Jour d'Anne?" Cecil echoed.

Rosa jumped.

"Oh, yes! Cecil, let's bring it back!"

"What - "

"Please?!"

"But what - "

"Really, Your Majesties, I think we have other priorities than a week long party involving much alcohol and cats - "

"Fine! Fine!" Cecil sighed, still having no idea what they were talking about.

Cats?

Rosa snickered.

"Never thought you'd be the one to bring up something like that."

"It's not my idea, Your Majesty."

"Figures. Just when I thought there was hope for you yet . . . Okay, tell them we'll have a Jour d'Anee. Wouldn't be right without one. It's New Year's, after all. Last year, we were being ruled by Golbez and at war with . . . don't give me that look, Uriat. We're not going to war."

"I was just going to suggest that . . . never mind. Moving on . . . "

"Suggest what?" Kain pressed from the far corner where he was sitting. As head of the army, he had a right to sit in on all such official meetings, although he usually sat there silently through Uriat's tiresome reports and filled Cecil in on what was really happening after the royal advisor had left.

"Nothing."

"You were going to suggest something, Uriat, and I think it involved prompting violent action against another Kingdom. If you're even thinking of planning such a thing, I think we should know about it."

Uriat scowled deeper at the Dragoon.

"Just that this would be the perfect time - symbolically - to launch a war of vengeance again Eblan."

"Of vengeance?!" Cecil repeated, astounded. "Don't you people ever get it?! We were at war for a hundred years! That was bad, Uriat! War is bad! People die! That is also bad! As in not good! What part of this continues to elude your little brain?!"

"They killed thousands of our people in the war!" he protested.

"And how many of theirs did we kill?"

"But it was they who launched the initial strike!"

Cecil threw up his hands in frustration.

"But Daddy, he started it!" he exclaimed in a mocking voice. "For crying out loud, Uriat, don't give me that crap."

"Ahem. Yes, Your Majesty. Continuing on . . . "

As Uriat resumed his long monologue of items on his scroll, Kain raised his eyebrows questioningly at Cecil, who shook his head slightly. There was nothing they could do about this mentality. Too many people felt the way Uriat did. They just had to keep everyone in line and keep war from breaking out.

Neither of them felt up to dealing with the paperwork.

Cid hummed absently as he pounded his hammer against the side of one of the Redwings: Horizon. It pretty much made up most of his days anymore - repairing the airships, modifying the airships, improving them . . . (mainly ones like Horizon which were falling apart) . . . no more building or designing like he once had. Of course, when he'd designed them, it had led to the various massacres that had later transpired with their aid, plundering towns, destroying villages, and the like. Maybe it was better to stay away from such things.

Yeah right. I'm bored, and I should just admit it.

Well, things could be worse, he supposed.

Right about then, the unmistakeable hulk of the Falcon shot by overhead, coming to an instant halt and landing a few yards away from the one he was working on. As he stood there watching, he saw Rydia jump out and run frantically into the castle.

Bored? he thought. Well, looks like we're gonna have to save the world again.

He went back to working on his airship.

Rydia burst into the council chamber at the Castle Baron.

"Cecil, Rosa, Kain, emergency!!!" she blurted.

The three in question jumped to their feet.

"'Scuse us!" Kain called to Uriat, who was staring at the Caller with his mouth hanging open.

"Your Majesties!!" he bellowed. "You're doing it again!!"

"Doh!" Rosa exclaimed, clamping her hands to her head. "Dang you, you, you . . . go on, Cecil, I'll stay and run the Kingdom!"

"Thanks!" he called, charging out of the room, Kain on his heels, after where Rydia had vanished.

Glancing after them for a moment, Rosa then turned her attention back to the Chancellor.

"Okay, Uriat," she said in a threateningly sweet voice. "Continue."

Uriat swallowed his disapproval at Cecil and Kain's departure under the anger in her glare, and continued his report.

"So what's going on?" Cecil asked as the Falcon took off again.

"Masamune's taken over Edge's body, and he told me to come get you."

"Masamune's taken over Edge's body?!" Kain repeated. "How?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know! It's upset because Edge started finding out some stuff about it that it didn't want him to know, I suppose. It started messing with the light, and then up and possessed him!"

Cecil and Kain exchanged a glance.

"And euh . . . what do we do about it?" Kain inquired.

She shrugged again.

"Beat it, I would think."

"Oh, you are so helpful . . . "

About twenty minutes after Cecil and Kain had departed, Rosa finally got rid of Uriat and, with a deep sigh, plopped down in front of a window and stared at the sun, which was beginning to grow low in the sky. She felt a little queasy, and wasn't quite sure why. She also wasn't sure why she'd been so moody lately. But she didn't feel like dwelling on it.

As she sat there, her mind wandering, a large disruption in the distance caught her attention. Sitting up and squinting, she could see a large creature slamming itself into one of the city walls, making short work of the archers and Tower Sentries trying in vain to pelt and vanquish it. A quick search of her memory drew up no identification of the creature from such a distance, but rather than take a chance, she shot to her feet and ran out of the castle, swooping up her bow which was sitting on a nearby table.

Her feet carried her past questioning guards who she knew would be of little help. The thought crossed her mind that whatever this thing was, if it broke through the wall, she may need help to fight it off. After all, her expertise lay in healing, not so much as fighting.

Pausing outside the Dragoon Barracks, she pounded on the door frantically.

"Open up! Open up in the name of the Queen!!!" she yelled.

She door swung in so suddenly that she lost her balance mid-pound and stumbled into the arms of a very startled Dragoon-in-training.

"Euh - Queen Rosa - "

"Get your pals and come with me," she snapped, quickly regaining her balance. "The City's under attack!"

Without another word, the boy turned tail and shouted something down the hallway, and a handful of other trainees flocked in.

"Follow me. Get your weapons and follow me," she instructed.

Their speed was actually rather admirable, and then she and the first four ready for battle hightailed it to the point where the creature continued pounding at the wall. It was very ugly, just as most evil monsters are: very large, burly, bright purple, with a preppy-looking haircut. As they approached, the wall to the city fell in.

Rosa skidded to a halt in shock.

"How could - "

The monster turned to them, waving around its long, sharp-clawed hands and pincered tail, rasping, "Maffat! Maffat!"

Before she even realized it, the arrow flew from her sac into her bow, and her fingers released it into the air, connecting with the snarling purple thing squarely in the chest.

The monster pulled it out and threw it aside, suddenly charging at the five.

"Duck!" Rosa yelled, even as they dived aside from the monster's path.

One of the boys lunged at the monster with his sword, and was swatted aside like a bug. While he was being swatted, though, another jumped at him from behind, driving his sword through the monster's shoulder and down through its side.

"MAFFAT!!" shrieked the monster, pulling out the sword and throwing it at the boy, who yelped and ducked.

Rosa fired another arrow, this one connecting with its back. It whirled around, snarling, and fixed its eyes on her, preparing to charge again. As it began to do so, however, the third of the boys slammed into hit head on, knocking them both reeling on their feet.

While they regained their footing, Rosa quickly chanted a healing for the two who had sustained injuries so far and strung another arrow.

The monster regained its balance and leapt through the air with incredible speed, landing inches away from her. Reaching out with a clawed hand, it made to grab her, and she was already mouthing the words for EXIT, when she heard a shouted challenge, and watched the monster stagger and fall back, the blade of the fourth boy's sword protruding from its head.

She heaved a sigh and watched as it floundered around. Surely, with a sword through its head, the monster was finished.

Surely, surely not. After thrashing for a moment, the monster, yanked the sword from its head, let it fall to the ground, and turned on the trainee who had dealt the blow, grabbing him with its jaws before the boy could react.

"WaaaAAAAAHH!!" the poor kid yelled, absolutely frantic (with good reason, in mine own opinion), dangling from the monster's jaws.

One of the others ran up and, in a fit of passion, kicked the monster in the shin.

Growling, and dangling its head in agony, the monster dropped the boy from his jaws and charged off, rubbing its head and not acknowledging the attacker who had dealt the kick.

He ignored the monster's retreat, stooping to shake the boy who lay on the ground.

"Jeez, man!! You okay?!"

Staring blankly up at him, the other boy replied, "Huh? Okay? I'm bleeding! What kind of question is that?!"

"Queen Rosa, should we pursue?" asked the one who had gotten swatted at the beginning, stealing her attention from them and the retreating monster.

She frowned.

"Are you crazy?! I don't even know what that thing was! Just be glad it left!!" She left him standing there and went over to the two who had finished the battle.

"Hold still," she instructed the one who had got bitten as she examined the wound. "Oh, nasty. Don't worry." Chanting the low-level restorative spell that was almost second nature to her, she watched the wound glow and vanish.

The boy sat up.

"Woah," he said, blinking.

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job, guys," she said to them all. Then she turned her attention to the dumbstruck townspeople who were gawking at them through the hole in the wall. "Now, what are we going to do about this hole in the wall?"

The Falcon arrived in Eblan and its passengers hurried into the Castle, despite the cold attitude of some of the guards, and the stern indifference of others, and followed where Rydia led them.

When they reached the door of the King's room, Rydia tentatively knocked on the door.

"Edge?"

"Help!!!!!!!" came the reply.

Kain motioned for Cecil and Rydia to stand back and opened the door. Edge instantly burst out, lashing at him with Masamune, and he quickly dodged and tripped the Ninja, knocking the sword out of his grasp with much ease as he did so.

"Done deal," he told the others as Masamune flew across the room and clanked on the floor.

Edge remained where he'd landed after Kain had knocked him down.

"Edge, are you - " Cecil began, but Edge flapped a hand at him and ordered "Phshjit! Jit! Jit!"

Taking that as a request for silence, the three stood there watching with morbid fascination as Edge lay there on his stomach, staring straight ahead and rhythmically waving his legs in the air, obviously lost in very deep thought. Then, with a sigh, he jumped to his feet and pronounced,

"Masamune is not a normal Sword."

They just stared at him for a moment, before Kain replied, "Um . . . ya think?"

"It," Edge stated, pointing at "it", "is too danged powerful for its own good. I was just thinking of when Borthus' cloud attacked Eblan - the black lightning wasn't repelled by Masamune like it should have been. It was absorbed. It absorbed that energy, as well as probably that of just about every other monster we've fought and defeated, and now it's taken on a life of its own."

"How could it have done that?" Cecil asked.

Edge shrugged.

"I don't know. I just know that because of that stupid Sword, not only does Rydia now have a funky haircut, but every potted plant in my room has been demolished. I think Masamune's work here is done. I'm not touching that Sword again if I can't control it." He shook his head, a little worn out from being under Masamune's raging control for the few hours it had taken for help to come. "Thanks, Kain, Cecil. Rydia, I'm really sorry I tried to kill you."

"No problem," she chimed. "But next time you have a suspicion that one of your weapons isn't quite normal, get someone other than me to look at it!"

He grinned slightly, seeming very troubled by what had just happened. With good reason, in mine own opinion.

"Well," he then said to Cecil and Kain, "I'll accompany you back to Baron. Sorry about the lack of hospitality, but in case you haven't noticed, people here don't like you much. Sorry again, it's been a bad day, so sue me."

"No problem," Cecil assured him. "And if Murasame acts up next, just give us a call."

"Yeah, I'll be glad to deck you again," Kain told him.

"Gee, it's great to have friends."

Rydia Called for Chocobo and went home for the night, and Edge had Cecil and Kain dropped off back at Baron.

"Get some rest," Cecil told Edge at their parting. "You look like you could really use it."

"Couldn't we all?" was the reply. Then the Falcon took off, heading for home, and the two arrivals found themselves in the aftermath of chaos.

"What's going on?" Kain asked Lori, one of his students who was standing nearby in a rush of frantic people and shouting and large pieces of rock being carted about.

"Huh?" He seemed startled for a moment by the question, then recovered and answered. "Sir! There was a monster attack on the border of the Kingdom! You weren't here, so we took care of it with Queen Rosa! Sir!"

Kain blinked.

"What attacked?"

"Well, that's the strange thing. No one's seen anything like it before. Anyway, it ran off before we could finish it off, but it left a huge hole in the northern wall of the city. Sir!"

"Anyone hurt?"

"Uh . . . Cami got a little binged up," Lori said, pointing to another of the Dragoons-in-training standing a little way away with a group of other students. "But he's okay. Nothing serious, and Queen Rosa healed him right up. He scared off the monster. Got right up in its face and drove his sword through its head! It was so cool! Uh . . . sir," he added with a start, remembering himself.

"Through its head? And it still survived?"

"Yes, sir! Pulled it right out and ran off! Well, actually, it bit him, and I kicked it, and then it ran off, but you know . . . "

"The only damage done was to the northern wall?"

"Yeah, well, and it uprooted a cornfield outside, but that's it. Everyone's panicking, though, so they're fixing the wall as best as they can right now in case a monster comes when we're vulnerable."

"Hmm."

Kain left the eager boy to stay and watch everyone run, which must have been very fascinating to him, and went to find Cecil.