5)---------- MOOGLES

5)---------- MOOGLES!!!!.

Cecil had tracked the monster for two days, and now was worried that he'd lost the trail.

"This is too weird, anyway," he said to himself, looking up at the natural structure before him. The trail of the monster had led him here, to Mt. Ordeals. "Of everywhere in the world, on this continent, even, why here? Why do I keep ending up here?!"

He thought back to the first time he'd set eyes on this place, months ago, though it seemed like a lifetime (really, the whole incident with Zeromus had moved so darn fast . . . ), with Palom and Porom . . . it was here that he'd denounced his dark past and begin fighting for Light.

(Meeeeeeeeemoryyyyyyyyyy, all alooooooooooooone in the moooooonliiiiiiiiight . . . )

So why had the monster brought him here? He couldn't believe that there was no significance to it. It had to mean something.

"Maffat."

The sound made him turn and forget his speculations. The monster stood a few paces away from him, crouching on all fours, growling.

Cecil cautiously reached for and drew out the Crystal Sword. The moment the monster struck -

It struck! Leaping through the air so quickly it caught even Cecil off guard, it sailed over his head and landed just beyond him, lashing out with its tail before Cecil could react, tripping him over and flattening him to the ground.

The monster then moved to quickly finish him off, but years of battle training kicked in before even his instincts could, sending him rolling out of the monster's path and to his feet.

Masters, reacting too late to Cecil's movement, ended up crashing into the ground where he had lain, and before he could get up, Cecil ran to it and drove his Sword down through its back.

The monster snapped upright and backslapped him with enough power to knock him to his knees, dazed. While trapped in that position, the monster grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up into the air. It looked at him for a long moment, gazing straight into his eyes, as if taking the moment to ponder the purple-haired man's fate. When the moment ended, it swung Cecil into the base of the mountain and let him fall limply to the ground.

Surely that blow would have killed a human.

Fortunately for Cecil, the Crystal Armor was strong enough to glance off a good portion of the impact, and he quickly regained his senses. Remaining still to let the monster think he was dead, he quietly, barely whispering, gave voice to CURE2, not knowing when he would next get a break to heal himself.

As the green light of the spell filled the air, Masters realized its error and advanced upon Cecil.

Cecil, carefully watching its advance, swept the Crystal Shield up in the air and brought it down hard on the monster's head, the clang sending jittery vibrations up and down his own spine.

Masters staggered back, trying to steady itself.

"M--mmm-m-mm-mmm-affff---f--fff-faattt-ttt---t . . . " it stammered.

Cecil recovered his balance, and pulled his Sword from the monster's back. Before he could make another swing, though, Masters again lashed at him with its tail. Cecil, expecting this, dodged the lash, but was then left vulnerable when the monster jumped at him and pinned him on the ground.

Winded, Cecil coughed and tried to catch his breath, but found it impossible due to the excessive weight of the monster, which covered him. Unsure of what to do, he let his instincts take over, and found himself snapping his head forward and conking the head of the monster with his helmet.

(This was the first time he'd ever wished for his Dark Knight attire - the headpiece would have packed a significantly larger punch than did this one.)

"Maffat!!" it shrieked, backing off and letting its adversary rise.

Cecil jumped back to his feet, gasping for breath, and lunged at the creature with his Sword. Masters backed off just enough to evade the blow and slashed forward with its claws, connecting with Cecil and slicing right through his armor, shredding his left shoulder and leaving streaking slash-marks across his chest.

Shocked both by the pain of the blow and the ease with which Masters had cut through is armor, Cecil fell back. He felt the blood running down his arm and torso, and knew that he wouldn't be able to fight for much longer.

He again lunged at Masters, this time driving his Sword into the monster's chest. The monster, stumbling under the blow, threw its paws forward and knocked Cecil back, staggering backward.

Cecil sat down hard from the push the monster had given him, and it was almost more pain than he could bear to pull himself back to his feet. Already he was growing light-headed from loss of blood. But he advanced on the monster once last time, gripping the handle of his Sword, which was still embedded in the monster.

Cami had driven a sword through its head, and still the monster had survived. Cecil knew he was going to have to kill it really well.

Quickly, with all that was left of his strength, he swept out with the Crystal Sword, cutting from the monster's chest outward. Then he swept back the other way, and the monster, with a dying rasp, fell in two pieces to the ground.

" . . . m . . . mmm . . . maffaaaaaaa . . . . "

It was dead.

Cecil felt himself stumble and quickly checked his balance. He felt Masters' blood where it had sprayed over him in the final blow, seeping into his own open wounds. The prospect disgusted him.

He unhooked the two vials from his belt that he'd brought to fill with the monster's blood to bring back to Rosa. But as he stooped to fill them, the world began to swim around him.

One was filled.

The Earth rocked beneath him, and he felt himself connect with the ground.

He pushed himself back up enough to keep at it.

The second was filled.

With an effort that brought an exclamation of pain to his lips, he pulled himself to his feet and began to stumble away.

He wouldn't be able to reach Baron. But he could get to Mysidia. It was closer. There he could get transport to Baron . . .

The world rocked again, and again he felt the hard ground collide with him.

He summoned his strength to get back to his feet again, trying to ignore the searing pain in his shoulder and chest. Perhaps it was working, perhaps he was able to ignore it, or perhaps he was losing consciousness . . .

Realization hit him almost painfully of his own stupidity, and he began to again chant his CURE2 spell, which should be able to restore him. But as he was halfway through the spell, his breath left him.

He lay there, on the ground, nearly breathless, using all that he had left within him to keep his eyes open.

His attention was being help rapt by the two remains of the monster. As he watched, helpless, the two halves began to move. To twitch rapidly from side to side.

They began to glow.

The purple scales fell off in the light, and the bare forms began to pulsate, emitting a warmth that reached the wounded King and washed over him in an almost reassuring manner.

Amidst the pulsations, and the glow, and the warmth, the halves began to change. They shrank, they grew, they changed. Two small bodies took form, small, white bodies, with small, triangular ears, slanted eyes, small, stubby wings on their backs.

Slowly, the pulsations ceased, letting the two creatures lie in stillness.

The light began to leave them.

Then, as Cecil watched, they stood.

They looked at each other. They looked at him.

Cecil felt his vision dim.

One of them walked up to him and sat in front of his face.

Cecil's eyes fell closed, but he felt the little animal put its paws against his face.

"Kupo," was the last thing he heard. "Kupo kupo!"

In a huge, stone structure on the lone remaining moon circling the Earth, a great dragon jumped to his feet in surprise at the vision before him.

"Mogs!" he exclaimed. "After all this time! Mogs!"

And, much to the surprise of his servants, King Bahamut began to dance around his palace throne room.

Deep within the Earth, in the Land of Summoned Monsters, Leviathan was pacing around with concern. Rydia hadn't returned, and was two days at least overdue. Then Chocobo had been Summoned by a voice new to him. He didn't know what was going on, and it had him worried.

"Try to stay calm, Dear," Asura sighed for about the fiftieth time. "I'm worried too, but you're giving being worried a bad name!"

"What am I supposed to do?!" he cried. "If only there were some way we could tell what was going on up there - "

"LEVIATHAN!!!!"

"YOW!!!" Leviathan yelped, the force of the voice knocking him head-over-heels. He sat up as Asura looked around in wonderment. "Who's there?"

"Who do you think, you dolt?"

Leviathan twitched his tail across his face. Of course! Who else would be able to contact him like this?

"King Bahamut?" he exclaimed, suddenly breathless.

"Yes, and it's about time! You're something else, you know that? I leave for a few thousand years, give or take a few, and you completely forget my voice!"

Poor Leviathan was confused. Not only by his sovereign's sudden communication, which was completely out of the ordinary, but by his flippant manner. Bahamut was never flippant.

"Erm . . . what can we do for you?" he inquired respectfully.

"The Mogs have returned!" was the joyful response.

Asura's gasp was dwarfed by his own.

"Mogs? After all this time?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, you dense idiot! They've been set free!"

"How?" Asura gladly cried.

"King Cecil destroyed the monster which held them."

"Masters? Cecil defeated Masters?!" Leviathan echoed, unable to quite believe it.

"Yes! Go greet them!"

"But - we're stuck down here!" the Sea King objected.

"Have Rydia Call you out."

"But she's gone! She's missing!"

"Oh, not again?"

"Yep."

"Hang on."

For a moment, Asura and Leviathan waited in silence for further reply, somewhat dazed.

Then:

"She will return soon. Be ready. She won't be happy. But get to the Mogs as soon as you can. It's important to make contact with them quickly."

"Yes, sir!" Leviathan replied.

Bahamut made no further contact, so the couple waited for Rydia's return.

Kain, oblivious to Cecil's plight and Bahamut's joy, paced his room restlessly. The day had ended. It was the third night since Cecil had left, and there was still no word from him. After the information Marion had delivered set in, he knew it was more urgent than ever that Cecil return with Masters' blood soon, or else, very soon, they would start losing people. The many children who had been infected couldn't have long left to go. Fortunately, the youngest had been protected, one of the positive effects of the initial turning-out of paranoid citizens, but still, the danger was reaching its height.

And there was nothing he could do.

Yes, there was always something he could do.

He gave in to his frustrations and left his room.

A knock on Rosa's door brought no response. Glad that she finally seemed to be getting a nice deep sleep, which she needed, but still needing to wake her, he quietly pushed her door open.

"Rosa?" he called softly. "Rosa, wake up!"

He heard a stirring, and heard her mumbling something under her breath.

Taking this as an okay, he entered the room and shook her awake.

"Rosa," he said, "I'm going after Cecil."

"What?" She rubbed her eyes. "Am I hearing you right?"

"Yes." He sat on the side of her bed. "Something must be wrong. He should be back by now. And unless we get Masters' blood soon, there's not going to be a need. I have to go after him."

She propped herself up on one elbow.

"But he specifically told you to stay here, Kain."

"So?"

"So, he's the King!"

"So, he's my friend. I've gotta go, Rosa. He could be hurt or - fill in the blank. I'm running out of creativity. He really beat me with the loaves of bread thing. In any case, Masters has to be defeated, and his blood has to be returned. If, for some reason, Cecil was unable to do it, then I have to!"

She looked at him as her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness.

"Yes, I see." She looked away for a moment, then back to him. "You'll be careful?"

"Of course."

"You'll come back soon? Cecil . . . oh my gosh, what if something has happened to him?"

"Then I'll find him and bring him back. Don't worry."

She nodded.

"I'll try."

"Hey, if you get frustrated, just push Uriat around a bit. It'll lighten up your nerves. If he gives you any trouble, just call for Cid. And get the pots ready. I'll be back soon."

She nodded again and sat up.

"Kain . . . you and Cecil and I . . . we've known each other how long?"

Kain did some quick math in his head.

"About twenty years."

She continued nodding.

"Rosa?"

She didn't say anything.

Rather, she grabbed him around the neck and liplocked him!

Needless to say, Kain hadn't expected that. It took his startled brain a few seconds to realize what has happening, and another to register the implications of her action, and then he promptly shoved her back onto her bed and bolted, letting the door slam behind him.

Rosa took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes again.

She couldn't believe she'd just done that.

Kain charged down the hall and outside, past various Guards, who saluted as he passed, and others who were sleeping at their posts. He ignored them all.

His mind was suddenly numb.

He couldn't believe she had just done that! After everything - and Cecil -

All things considered, though, he was glad it had spooked him enough to react the way he did. If he'd done anything else, he didn't know how he'd ever explain it to Cecil.

Like, how was he even going to explain this to Cecil?

Hey, Cecil, I went in Rosa's room to talk in the middle of the night, and . . .

He was so dead.

But first things first. He headed back into the Castle, having gotten a necessary breath of fresh air, to get the necessary supplies.

He quickly donned his Armor and grabbed his Lance. Then, almost as an afterthought, he took five HiPotions from the armory and hooked them on his belt. Just in case.

And he took five Fenix Downs.

Just in case.

There was one other thing he felt he should do before leaving.

The first knock on the door brought no response, but after waiting a moment and knocking again, he heard sounds within the tiny house and the door opened slowly.

"Sir?" Cami inquired, rubbing his bleary eyes. "It's night."

"I know that. Can I come in? I need to talk to you."

Cami nodded, unable to answer due to a huge yawn which threatened to split his head, and he stepped aside to allow the Dragoon entrance.

"What's going on?" he asked as Kain again sat himself at the small kitchen table.

"Cami, I'm putting you on Castle duty."

"Huh?" Suddenly, the Trainee was fully awake.

"You're the only one, Cami, who's been immunized against this poison. I want you there at the Castle. In case something happens to Cid before I return, someone needs to keep an eye on Rosa."

Cami seated himself across from Kain.

"Before you return, Sir? Where are you going?"

"I'm going after Cecil."

"But . . . I thought he ordered everyone to stay in the Kingdom," Cami objected. "You'd be going against direct orders if you left."

Kain sighed.

"Listen to me, Cami." He closed his eyes, trying to think of exactly how to say this. "You and I - we're sworn to the service of an order of fighters that, historically, has been privileged to go against a royal command if we must. It's rarely done, but it's our right."

Cami refused to meet his gaze. He knew all that very well, and he knew something else, too.

"But, Sir, didn't you lose that privilege?"

Kain gave his teeth one hard grind.

"Yes, I did. But I'm still a Dragoon, Cami." He reached out and gripped Cami's arm firmly. "Listen to me, and listen well. We are Dragoons, which means that royal command is not absolute. We are ruled by our code, not the decree of one man or woman. There've been enough stupid rulers to make us appreciate that. I'm not saying Cecil gave a stupid order, and I'm not saying anyone should make a habit of doing this. Anyone outside this Order would get their heads chopped off. Treason is treason, after all, but maybe you'd prefer it if I stuck it out here as ordered, and then it comes to pass that you end up the only survivor of the Kingdom of Baron?"

Cami swallowed.

"Cecil's not stupid. He knows we'll do what we feel we have to in order to keep this place from going to heck, and he also knows very well that I will probably never sit back and submit to his ultimate command. Heck, I know him too well. I could never be an obedient servant, and he knows that. I'm going to take the chance of treason and do what I know is right. We owe His Majesty much, Cami, but we must never disgrace the Dragoons. Do you understand?"

Cami chewed on his lip, but nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

Kain nodded back, relieved to be finished with the morality play. He hated them, too.

"Good." He released his hold on the boy. "I have to go now. Take care of the Kingdom while I'm gone. Do what you must."

And he left the boy sitting, bemused, at the kitchen table, went outside, and mounted one of the stabled chocobos now used for transportation.

And only then did he notice Edge following.

"How long have you been tagging along?" he irritable inquired as he set off.

Edge matched the chocobo's speed and floated along beside them easily.

"Let me just say that that was beautiful, man," he replied, wiping away fake tears.

"Shut up."

"So tell me, man, exactly how did it come to pass that you had your privileges as a Dragoon lifted?"

"Shut up."

Edge crossed his arms.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with Crescent Mountain, would it?"

Kain pulled the chocobo up to a hard stop.

"Look, Edge," he snapped in a rapid voice, spitting a bit of fire, "I don't know how you could know anything about that, but it's none of your business, and you'd do a lot better to leave it alone, otherwise, when we free you from Masamune, you're going to wish we never did!!!!!"

"EASY, man!" Edge consoled, raising his hands. "Look, I know what happened to you at Crescent Mountain. I never knew the repercussions, and frankly, I never cared! Now, though, the only thing I can say to you is - "

"Will you just shut UP?!"

"Thank you!!!! That's all I have to say to you, all right?!" Edge yelled.

They glared at each other for a long moment.

"How do you know?" Kain finally asked, weakly.

"I was there," Edge replied. "I saw the whole thing."

Another moment of silence.

"Who was it, anyway?" Kain inquired, barely speaking, his voice was so quiet.

Edge shrugged.

"I don't know. Just someone. Still. Thank you. I know it caused you a lot of trouble."

Kain clenched his fists.

"How many other people know about it?"

Edge shook his head.

"No one. The only other person there was your own Captain Baigan."

"And we all know what happened to Baigan. The King knew. He's dead, too. Rorunar . . . no, no one else."

"So you're home free, Dragoon," Edge lightly informed him. "The only other person who knows what transpired at Crescent Mountain is myself."

"What about the kid?"

"Sorry to say it, but my father had him executed for dishonorable actions on the battlefield."

"Oh my . . . I just barely escaped the same fate myself . . . "

"So maybe it didn't mean a lot in the long run. But it meant a lot to me, Kain."

"I couldn't take it."

"Neither could I."

Kain stared at the reins in his hands for a long moment, then urged the chocobo slowly forward. They moved along, slowly.

"You're lucky, you know," Edge said.

"Lucky?" Kain almost laughed. "My life is going to heck. How'm I lucky?"

"Well, look at it this way: I'm trapped within Masamune."

"In that light, I suppose I am lucky."

"Yeah."

"But?"

"But. Kain, I want you to take a wild guess here. How old do you think I am?"

Kain frowned at the question.

"What does - "

"Just take a gander."

He shrugged.

"Okay. I'd say you're about . . . twenty-five? Twenty-six? Cecil's twenty-five . . . "

"Wrong, Dragoon. I'm nineteen years old. Nineteen, and already I've gotten my own Kingdom, and gotten it whisked right away. Isn't there some child labor thing against this crap? I've not yet reached the legal drinking age! Oh . . . don't go spreading that. I'd be in a heap of trouble."

Kain grinned.

"Lighten up, Edge. We'll get all this straightened around somehow."

"And then what? Help me out of here, help me regain my Kingdom, and then what? Wait for something else to slip up and send us back to war? I say you're lucky, Kain, after listening to what you told that kid back there. You're lucky because you have someone you're willing to risk your honor to save. And you know that there are those who would do the same for you. Believe me, if anything were to ever happen to me, not a finger would be raised in Eblan to do anything about it."

"You can't be serious."

"I am." Edge nodded with a grim expression. "I've been there. The only people who even questioned Kormag's takeover were smooth-talked into submission." He sighed. "Maybe I'm not so sure I even want to get Eblan back. I've been raised to rule it, ever since my birth it's been all I've heard about - gotta rule the Kingdom, Edge, and I thought I wanted to. But it's just not working out the way it was supposed to."

"Things rarely do, Edge, and you know that."

"Yeah, I guess."

They moved on in silence for a little over an hour, each considering what the other'd had to say.

"What's the situation with Rydia?" Kain finally asked.

Edge's expression lifted a bit.

"Her Caller Student broke her out. They're on their way to Damcyan to dump him off, and then she's probably heading back to the Land of Summoned Monsters."

Kain nodded slowly.

"Edge."

"Yeah?"

"Could you go on ahead? I mean, would you be able to find Cecil? See if he's on his way back? Make sure he's all right? Then let me know?"

Edge nodded.

"I probably could." Then he frowned. "You know, I could never figure out why you can perceive me and no one else can. Any thoughts?"

Kain shrugged.

"I guess when you've been dead as many times as I have, you have an easier time perceiving renegades from other planes."

Edge took that as an explanation and vanished.

Kain continued on for a while longer, turning things over in his mind. Then, with a sudden burst of inspiration, he drove his heels into the chocobo's sides, and took off at a run in his search to save the Kingdom.

Rydia, Timothy, and Chocobo arrived at Damcyan just as dawn was breaking over the horizon. The boy was sound asleep in front of her, snuggled up in the thick yellow feathers, and most of the journey had been made in silence. As they drew up to the Castle, though, Rydia prodded at Timothy.

"Time to wake up, kiddo!" she informed him in a bright voice.

He mumbled something and tried to pretend he was still asleep.

"C'mon, Timothy! Time to get up, or else I'll make Chocobo sing!"

"Yeach!" Chocobo blurted. "Get up, kid! I'm utterly tone-deaf!"

The voice of the Chocobo reminded the boy of what was going on, and he woke up.

Rydia grinned and slid off the bird, helping Timothy down after her.

"Wait here," she told Chocobo. "I'll try to hurry."

"What's your rush?" he inquired.

"I need to grill Leviathan for some answers."

"Oh. I'll be sure to hide upon our return."

"You do that."

That said, she and Timothy left Chocobo wandering the courtyard and entered the Castle unchallenged by the Guards, who knew her well and felt they didn't need to question her young companion.

Edward met them just inside the Castle.

"Rydia! What brings you here?" he asked, gesturing for them to continue inside.

"It's a long story, Edward, but I have to go. I really don't have time . . . "

"Not even for breakfast?"

That stumped her as she was reminded that she hadn't eaten anything since that tea and crackers with Edge . . . how many nights ago? The dungeon food was repulsive, and she hadn't yet reached the point where she could bring herself to eat such slop, and the prospect of breakfast was very inviting indeed.

"Well . . . "

Edward smiled and directed them both to the dining hall.