2)---------- In Which, all heck begins to break loose

2)---------- In Which, all heck begins to break loose.

Drill.

Usually, Lori didn't mind drill.

Today, he was hating drill.

After all, hadn't he and three others fought off a dangerously terrible monster (also, terribly dangerous!!), and thereby spent the night partying in stead of sleeping? How on Earth did Kain expect them to manage drill?

Then there was Cami. The one who had driven his sword through the monster's head. Somehow, lack of sleep or not, he managed to go through drill training with the rest of them, do it well, and actually seem to enjoy it.

The kid was a major suck up. Lori had to admit it, and Cami was his best friend. A suck up was a suck up.

Anyway, Kain had seemed pretty happy to hear their reports from the night before. Well, as happy as he got. That is to say, there was no rolling of eyes or gnashing of teeth.

And why not? he thought. I mean, this just shows that we're good enough to take care of the Kingdom by ourselves now . . .

Even though it had just been one monster and they'd had Queen Rosa fighting along with them, but he sort of left that part out of his thinking. He was feeling pretty good about how they'd performed, although he was dead tired from staying up the rest of the night with the others.

Class was then dismissed for the weekend, and he was all set to go home and go straight to bed.

"Suck up," he told Cami as they gathered up what items they might want to take with them and headed out.

"Huh?" Cami replied.

"C'mon! Why do you have to be so perfect? It makes the rest of us look bad!"

"Huh?" he repeated.

"I mean, you've got to be just as tired as the rest of us . . . "

"Huh?"

"Cami, are you feeling all right?"

"Huh?"

Lori smacked the side of Cami's head.

"Wake up!"

Cami shook his head.

"Woah. Sorry. I feel a little dizzy."

"You're just tired. Welcome to the club."

"No I . . . I feel dizzy. Like, real dizzy."

He stopped walking suddenly, staring at the door in front of them to outside, as if trying to focus on the light.

Lori stopped also.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Um . . . I'm dizzy."

"You said that! But what's wrong?"

"I'm dizzy!"

"Okay . . .euh, put your head between your knees and take several deep breaths . . . "

"What's going on?" came a voice from behind them.

Lori turned and saw Kain standing behind them. He swallowed.

"Cami's dizzy."

"I'm dizzy."

"Dizzy how?"

"Huh?"

"Dizzy as in gonna fall over, or dizzy as in gonna throw up? Because if it's the latter, then I highly recommend stepping outside first. This is a hard-wood floor."

"Dizzy as in gonna . . . gonna . . . go . . . "

And Cami collapsed on the floor without finishing his response.

"Okay, that answers that."

"Oh my gosh! Cami! Are you okay?!" Lori exclaimed, kneeling beside him and trying to arouse him.

"Calm down, he's just fainted," Kain told him, also kneeling beside the boy. "Probably just tired . . . " His voice trailed off. Without saying anything to Cami's paranoid little buddy, he lifted one of the boy's arms and examined it closely. "Hm."

"What? What's wrong?!" Lori demanded.

"I told you to calm down," Kain lightly admonished. "Okay, Lori, I want you to go get Rosa. Tell her I sent you, and bring her back here." Lori just stood there. "Now would be nice," he emphasized in a firmer tone, and Lori nodded silently and charged away to the Castle.

Edge, using three towels in each hand, had carried Masamune to a chamber deep in the Castle and locked it up tightly. Now, the next day, he found himself back in the small chamber, staring at the sword.

"What the heck is up with you, anyway?" he finally demanded. "I mean, you're a sword! You're not supposed to possess people."

"I do what I like."

The voice didn't seem to have been spoken, but Edge heard it, and he recognized it. When, in the Lunarian Palace, they'd first fought to possess Masamune, the same voice had warned them away, assuring them that they would never defeat it and capture the Masamune. This was, apparently, the voice of the sword itself.

"Why?" Edge asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind. "Life is rough enough as it is right now. Couldn't you have gotten jittery another time?"

"You," it began in an accusing voice, "You let another person hold me! You let an inferior wield me as if I were just a dime-store weapon! Like Murasame!! You shall pay for such treachery!"

"I think not," Edge bluntly replied, not bothering to ask what a dime store was, leaving the chamber and locking the door behind him. Masamune was not to be disturbed.

"Look at this," Kain said to Rosa as she arrived in the barracks. He had moved his trainee to the infirmary and shoed away any curious eyes, and now instructed her to examine his arm as he had.

Looking closely at the boy, she squinted, then frowned.

"Odd," she said.

"And it's getting worse. You could barely see it before. Now it's more visible."

"I see."

"What do you think's causing it?"

She shook her head.

"I couldn't say. Of course . . . "

"What?"

"That thing we fought last night - it may have something to do with this."

"With what?!" Lori interrupted, earning sour looks from them both. "Sorry, excuse me, whatever, Your Majesty, Sir, but what's wrong with him?!"

Kain recognized the boy's childhood devotion to a friend and pulled Lori over to the bedside with only a minimal roll of the eyes.

"Look at this," he told him, pointing out a series of deep purple splotches spreading over Cami's skin. "You know him well. Has he ever had this sort of thing before?"

Lori stared in astonishment.

"N-no. Is it some kind of rash?"

"I think so," Rosa told him. "A side effect, most likely. But from what?"

"What contact did he have with that monster last night?" Kain asked her.

"It bit him in the shoulder," she promptly replied. "Nasty, very nasty. It took a CURE3 to heal it. But if it somehow poisoned him - "

"Try a Heal?" Kain suggested.

Nodding, Rosa murmured a chant very quietly, and as Lori watched in fascination, a glow spread over Cami's body, but when it faded, the marks remained.

"If it's poison," Rosa continued, "then it's some kind I've never seen before."

"Hmm. What should we do?"

"I'm not sure."

"Bit him in the shoulder, you say?"

"Yes."

"Hm."

Kain pulled off the boy's shirt and rolled him over. As he'd thought, the marks also covered his back.

"It's apparently spreading. We'd better find out how to get rid of it," he told her.

"Get him home," she said. "Get him in bed, and make sure he gets some chicken soup. I'll see what I can find on the matter."

Kormag was steamed.

"Your Majesty," he seethed, "you shouldn't have sent for them for help!"

Edge banged his head against a wall.

"And just why not, Kormag? I'm getting very sick of you and your constant bashing of Cecil and his people!"

"It's just that they're not to be trusted, Your Majesty! When the world was at stake, they knew they had to join forces with us or die, but now - "

Edge advanced on the Chancellor dangerously, and the latter backed away instinctively.

"Kormag, you listen to me, and you listen to me well. I am not in a good mood. My life is not going well. And you're part of the reason. You and everyone else who is constantly trying to drive me to war. We will not go back to war with Baron. They are to be trusted. They are trustworthy. They are my friends. Cecil and Rosa are my friends, and I willingly trust them with my life. I will not hear you tread on their honor, or the integrity of their Kingdom. If we're ever going to rebuild our Kingdom to what it once was before the war began, we have to make sure the war is finally over. The four main Kingdoms of the world are united for the first time in history, and I intend for it to stay that way. If you would pull your head out of your warhole, you'd see the advantages for our people for it to be so, and maybe you'd get off my back."

"I still think you should be wary."

"Have you heard a single thing I've said?!"

"King Cecil is a former Dark Knight! You can't trust him!"

"He got the Paladin's Sword! If you're so educated, then you should know that that automatically proves him to be a good guy! Are you going to shut up now?"

"No, Your Majesty! I will not until you see reason!"

"Reason?!" Edge crossed the room to stand in front of his throne. "Reason?! Your kind of reason I don't want to see! The war is over!"

"By their terms, it's over!" Kormag snapped.

"By theirs and mine!" Edge bellowed. "Now get out of here!"

"Your Majesty - "

"That is an order, Chancellor!! DON'T MAKE ME FIRE YOU!!!!!"

Kormag bowed stiffly and left the room.

Edge dropped into his throne and sighed, chewing unhappily on his fingernails. It seemed as if everyone in his Kingdom was against him, but he knew he had to stand strong. (A strange song began to play through his mind) He couldn't give in and go to war against Cecil. He just couldn't. There was no reason to, and besides, Cecil was his friend.

If only these people would understand that. Cecil had it good. At least he had Rosa, Kain, and Cid on his side, if no one else. Here . . .

He wondered if it was only a matter of time before the people of Eblan rebelled against him, and went to war with Baron.

Edge gnashed his teeth.

"So things are really coming to a boil," Rydia concluded, filling Yang in on the situation with Baron and Eblan.

Yang shook his head.

"This isn't good," he muttered. "It's not good at all. When they were at war before, everyone paid. And now . . . well, they'd both be out for the rest of us to take sides, and I frankly wouldn't be able to do it."

"Neither would I," Rydia sighed. "I mean, sure, Edge is a jerk and I hate him, but he's my friend! I could never use my powers against him - but I sure as heck couldn't use them against Cecil!"

"But it would be impossible to just stand by . . . "

"You're right."

He sighed.

"Let's just hope Cecil and Edge can keep their people calm until a solution is found."

"Solution?" she weakly objected. "There is no solution. No matter what either side does, neither will be happy. Ever."

"No, there must be a way. There's always a way," he told her. "Let's just hope they find it before it's too late."

She shook her head.

"Yeah, let's hope. In any case, I'm thinking of stopping by Eblan again today before going home. I mean, just in case Murasame's decided to act up, or something."

"How did your class go?"

"For goodness sakes, where did you find that kid I'm training?! She'll barely talk, much less chant spells!"

He shrugged.

"She'll surprise you."

"Yeah, I'll take your word for it. See you, Yang."

"Until next time, Rydia."

When she arrived in Eblan later that evening, she found the reception as cool as ever, and wondered at it again. For the life of her, she couldn't see why the locals seemed to despise her the way they did. But in any case, she wasn't here to see them.

As she entered the Castle, Kormag stormed past her and almost knocked her down, then continued on his way without acknowledging in any way her presence.

Hmphing into some hair which had fallen into her face when she dodged him, she entered through the doorways and headed for the throne room.

"Now what?!?!" came a furious shout as she tipped the door open a tiny bit.

Stepping into the room, and said in a cocky voice, "Well, if that's the way you feel, maybe I'll just leave!"

"Rydia!" he exclaimed, jumping down from his throne and all but bounding across the room to greet her. "I wasn't expecting you!" He kissed her hand graciously and led her into the room.

"Just wanted to make sure everything was still in one piece," she told him, on her guard as it seemed his flirtatious attitude was back in place.

He shook his head with an aggravated sigh.

"Just hardly," he told her. "Rydia, I . . . oh, heck with it all. Never mind." He rang for refreshments and gestured for her to be seated at a small table in a corner of the room. She did, and he sat across from her.

"Kormag almost knocked me down when I came in," she told him. "He seemed pretty steamed."

"No doubt he was. I was cruelly trying to disillusion his war efforts against Baron."

"Again?"

"Again. Some people just never learn."

"So that's why you were so steamed when I got here."

"Yeah, that's why. It's aggravating like you wouldn't believe."

Someone bustled in and left a tray of tea and little chocobo-shaped crackers before bustling right back out again.

Rydia munched thoughtfully on a cracker, ignoring a sudden thought of what Chocobo would think of the snack.

"Are you going to do it?" she asked after a long silence.

"Do what?" he inquired, surprised.

"Go to war with Baron."

He munched on a cracker himself.

"No. And believe me, I've had to give it plenty of thought. Personal reasons aside, it would be suicidal and harmful to the Kingdom's economy. We couldn't win, we'd get nothing out of it, and we'd lose more than we'd ever gain. And that's not considering that fact that me and Cecil couldn't go to war. It'd be - it'd just be wrong!"

She nodded and took a sip from her cup of tea.

"I'm glad. I really am. I didn't think you would but . . . I had to know for sure. You know. Just to be sure."

He grinned.

"Your confidence is overwhelming. No, Rydia, you and I both know too well the horrors war can bring on a person. You lost your people, I lost my sanity. What I don't understand is how these people can continue wanting it after all we've been through."

"It's the only thing a lot of you know, isn't it?" she reasonably pointed out. "I mean, it's gone on so long . . . "

"Yeah," he had to agree. "And if not for Zeromus and the trouble he caused, I'd probably be screaming for blood too." He shuddered. "Gosh. This is terrible, Rydia. And no one is willing to open their eyes and see just how terrible it is."

She reached out and took his hand.

"And you've got the hardest job of all: trying to open their eyes, not give in, and deal with a possessed sword on top of it all!"

He grinned again and pulled his hand back, surprising himself.

"I have to," he told her. "I have to make up for all the damage my grandfather began when he first attacked Baron. And as for Masamune, well . . . that sucker is just plain creepy. It spoke to me earlier today."

"It spoke?!"

"Yep!"

"What did it say?"

"Oh, the usual threatening manner of dialogue."

"Oh."

"Yeah. As if life around here wasn't crazy enough as it was . . . " He guzzled down the rest of his tea. "Say, Rydia, it's getting kinda late."

"Yeah," she agreed, looking out a window. "I should probably go - "

"Wait!" he exclaimed before he could catch himself. "Uh, I mean, you're more than welcome to stay the night here at Eblan."

She glared at him coyly.

"No, that's okay - "

"I'm not flirting or anything like that, Rydia, I mean, stay as a guest. Accept our hospitality for the evening!"

"Edge, your people don't even like me."

"Yeah . . . they don't like me much either. Won't you stay?"

It dawned on Rydia that he must be pretty desperate for companionship if he would outright not flirt with her.

"All right," she agreed with a nod. "I'll stay."

He sighed.

"That's a relief."

She frowned.

"Edge, exactly what is going on around here?"

He shook his head.

"Come with me. I need to talk to you in private."

As Rosa was dressing for bed that night, she glanced at her hands and took a startled step back in surprise. Quickly, she hurried over to her mirror to see what she hoped she wouldn't. But she did.

Tossing a robe over her nightgown, and ran down the stairs, looking for Kain and Cecil.

She found Kain first, probably because he was looking for her as well.

"Rosa!" he called, catching sight of her as she ran past the hallway he was standing in. She skid to a halt and turned to meet him as he ran up to her. "Are you - "

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "You too - "

He nodded grimly.

At the moment, Cecil came upon them, having heard the shouting.

"Rosa, Kain, what's going on?"

They both whirled to see him in an almost guilty manner.

"Cecil," Kain told him, "we have a problem."

"What do you mean?" he asked, taking a step towards them.

They took a step back.

"Please don't come any closer," Rosa told him.

"Huh?!"

"Cecil," Kain said, "I told you about Cami."

"Yes, so?"

Kain and Rosa glanced at each other, nervous about what they now had to say.

Finally, Rosa stepped forward a tiny step and removed her robe so her arms were visible.

"It's contagious," she said, her hands and arms covered in the faint purple marks that had adorned Cami.

"That kid had contact with half the Kingdom after being infected," Kain said slowly. "And it would have spread so fast . . . " He met Cecil's gaze and nodded. "I think we'd better raise the quarantine flags, Cecil. Baron's under epidemic status."

"So you think it's only a matter of time before they attack, whether or not you give the word?" Rydia summed up.

Edge nodded grimly.

"Really, Rydia, stay here for any amount of time, and you'll see what I mean. Somehow, every problem, every minor inconvenience had been somehow blamed on Baron. No one cares about the truth. They want revenge. And I'm the only thing who stands in their way."

"You think they may try to get rid of you?!" she exclaimed, horrified.

He shook his head.

"I don't think so. But whether I'm here or not, they're going to give in and attack one of these days. And I don't know what I can do about it."

She sighed, shocked.

"I don't know either," she had to say. "But we'll think of something." She grinned. "We have to."

He nodded.

"Yeah . . . that we do. But it's late. I'll take you to your room."

"What did you manage to find out about that monster?" Cecil asked Rosa from a safe (they hoped) distance.

"Oh, it's a classic monster-bite story," she sighed. "To counteract the poison, you need the creature's blood mixed with certain other magical elements."

"She tried using the blood left on Cami's sword as a test," Kain interjected. "I'll give him a few laps for not cleaning it properly after he wakes up. But we won't know if it works for at least a day, because of some waiting period or something."

"The formula has to boil, then set for 24 hours, then cooked on a low temperature for another five, and let cool for three," Rosa clarified. "It's got about seven hours to go, and if it does work, then we definitely won't have enough to go around."

"In any case, I think we're in trouble," Kain summarized.

"In any case," Cecil contradicted, "I think that monster has to be tracked down."

Rosa raised her eyebrows.

"Cecil - you can't go."

"I wasn't infected, Rosa. I was stuck listening to Uriat all day. Come to think of it, that means he's not infected either, lucky dog - "

"You can't go monster-hunting all by yourself." Rosa crossed her arms and glared at him.

But Cecil was determined.

"And, uh, what do you suggest? We don't know what ends up happening with this stuff. In a few days, everyone in the Kingdom could end up decomposing into a loaf of bread, or some such thing. The antidote has to be found, and you know that."

"But - "

"He's right, Rosa," Kain had to say. He didn't like it anymore than she did (Why did Cecil always get to have all the fun?), but he also knew that someone who hadn't been infected with the poison, which would knock someone out in a matter of hours, had to track down the monster and get the necessary materials for the remedy.

"Fine, then, go if you've a mind to!" she snapped and turned away.

"Okay . . . " Cecil looked at Kain and shrugged. "Um . . . I'm leaving now."

"I'm not talking to you!"

Cecil shook his head.

"Whatever. I'll hurry back," he told Kain.

Kain nodded.

"Right. We'll hang in here."

"Fine. Stay here and keep an eye on things." He thought for a moment. "In fact, rather than take a chance of spreading this, don't let anyone else enter or leave the City until I get back." He threw a stern glance over them both. "That includes you two."

Kain nodded again.

"If you're sure . . . though I'd prefer it if someone went with you."

"I'll be fine, Kain."

And Cecil left the Castle to begin tracking down the monster who had infected over half of his Kingdom.

Rydia lay awake, staring at the ceiling above, turning things over in her head.

So, Edge thought that certain people in Eblan were plotting against him, eh? That put a new light on everything. It was one thing to know that Cecil and Edge weren't going to raise arms against each other. In that light, everything seemed nice and secure.

But in this one, it meant nothing at all.

She rolled over and stared at a potted plant resting on the bedside table.

They sure do have a lot of potted plants around here . . .

"Baronian hypocrite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shrieked a voice that cut through the silent night like a spear through . . . well, through a potted plant.

Rydia jumped and, in the rush of events that followed, found herself plunked on the floor, wrapped in a tangle of sheets and blankets, while a spear shot through the air and embedded itself in the potted plant which had so raptly held her attention.

A dark form screamed and crumpled just inside the door, having been cracked over the head with another potted plant by another dark form.

Rydia turned.

A group of dark figures were swarming in through the window.

The dark form from the door which had knocked out the other dark form by the door jumped across the room and pulled her to her feet.

"Get up - I'm out of potted plants!" Edge warned, brandishing Murasame at the new intruders.

"Shove it, Your Majesty!" bellowed one of them, lunging through the air at the Ninja King, who ducked and let his assailant fly past him and splatter on the floor. He twisted around and grabbed Edge's foot, trying to knock him off balance, and Rydia promptly kicked him in the head, rendering him senseless.

"Should we call for help?" Rydia asked nervously as a group of eight or nine attackers circled around them.

"They are the help," Edge wryly informed her. "There we have the Captain of the Guard," he pointed out the hooded man in question, "the Minister of Defense, the Castle Cook, and the rest are, I believe, hired assassins."

"Why?" she pressed as they continued to circle around them.

"Most likely, because I refuse to destroy my Kingdom in a pointless war, and because I believe they consider you to be Baronian."

"Me?!" She faced one of the attackers - the Cook, she thought - and stamped her foot. "I am not a Baronian!! I'm a friggin' Caller! Mist wasn't even within Baron's boundaries!!"

The Cook swung a kitchen knife at her, and she backed off.

"What do you think?" Edge inquired of her. "Should we go quietly in the realization that they have us surrounded and we cannot win, or should we make a drastic fuss?"

"Whatever happened to going along with them for now, and breaking out later?"

"Ooo, forgot about that one."

The Captain of the Guard made a swift gesture with his sword to them, and said in a grating voice, "Stop yammering and come quietly to the dungeons. The people will be told that you were assassinated by the Baronian, and then we will conquer in your honorable name."

"I'm not a Baronian!! What part of 'Citizen of the Land of Summoned Monsters' do you not understand?!?! If you don't believe me, I could just Summon up a certain sea serpent - " Rydia commenced snapping.

"Of course, there's always the option of running for our lives," Edge went on.

"As well as killing ourselves to avoid disgrace."

"Hm, I never liked that one much, actually."

"Me neither. What about getting the jump on them and making a quick break for it, followed by a wild gout of heroics, including swinging from chandeliers and throwing chairs?"

"Sounds like fun."

Before she could reply, the man she'd knocked out earlier grabbed her foot and yanked her to the floor.

She squealed and kicked him in the head again as the others set upon Edge.

Jumping back up, she lashed out once with her chain and then retreated to a corner of the room, chanting quietly.

"C'mon, you incompetent wretches!" Edge sneered to those remaining. Rydia's lash had actually knocked one out, believe it or not, which was astonishing, because Callers are crummy fighters. "Can't five of you take on one?"

He took one swipe with Murasame and sliced their blades in half. Except for the kitchen knife.

The Cook turned and grabbed Rydia, who furiously stomped on his foot. He let go.

"Break?" she asked.

"Yes!" he replied, and they both bolted from the room.

They charged away from the sleeping wing of the Castle Eblan with their assailants in hot pursuit.

"What do we do now?!" she yelled. "Your people are revolting, and we're running for our lives!"

"We make something up!" he brightly replied.

When they reached the main hall, however, the general mood changed.

Kormag stood there, blocking the archway to the outside. As they entered the hall, he raised his hand and said one word: "BLITZ!"

A wall of lightning shot around them, its force and electric shock driving them both to their knees, then all fours before it wore off.

Rydia chanted frantically and ended with: "ICE3!"

Kormag was, for a brief moment, encased in a shell of solid ice, which then shattered, leaving the Chancellor collapsing from the agony of it.

Just then, the Cook came up and shattered a potted plant over Rydia's head, tearing consciousness away from her.

Edge didn't stop to think.

"SMOKE!" he yelled, scooping up Rydia's body as the concealing vapors filled the air, and running deeper into the castle. Much deeper.

Heck, if they've even got the Cook rallied against me, then there's scant chance of us getting out of the courtyard with our skins intact. I've gotta keep 'em at bay till Rydia wakes up - she can Call a way out of here . . .

The smoke began to dissipate, and he could hear his attackers on his trail. Glad that the Caller was very light, he picked up his pace, and eventually ended up in the chamber where he'd sealed it.

Hastily unlocking the door, he threw it open and hurried inside, carefully, if quickly, depositing his guest on the floor.

Masamune floated in the center of the chamber, glowing dimly.

"Listen, you stupid sword," he seethed. "I know you don't really care for either me or Rydia right now, but I defeated you, and you've gotta listen to me - "

The attackers burst into the room all around him, and without another word, he grabbed the sword.

Rydia forced her eyes open and looked up as Masamune began to glow brightly.

The force emitting from the sword was indescribable - like a great, warm weight that began pleasant, but grew heavier and heavier until she felt the consciousness forced right out of her again.

Just before passing back out, she heard a startled cry from Edge.