Masters' Poison

by Anna-mathe

(FFIV)Masamune gets weird and an ancient evil that roams the eart every few thousand years stop by for a nasty visit!

10. The rest of the last chapter - it was to...

)---------- Cid ----------(
(Mission of KluYa)

It was far into the night. Her two children were asleep, worn out by overwhelming emotions from events of the day.
Julia herself sat, rocking in her chair sadly, staring down with her blank eyes into her hands.
"I'm sorry, Julia," Cid said again, wishing, just wishing, that there were something he could do. He remembered well the day her first husband had died - that bout with the Dragon had claimed his life shortly after their daughter's first birthday. KluYa and he had defeated the Dragon, all right, but left Julia widowed and his daughter fatherless. Later was the incident with Phil, the Dragoon, father of her second child, who was killed shortly after his birth in the war. Now, all these years later, it was the same story.
Abraham was killed in battle, leaving her alone once again, save her two children, Veronica and Kain.
"There's nothing anyone could've done," she sighed. "Not as long as these foolish wars continue . . . and goodness, Kain wants to join the Guard just like his father . . . stepfather . . . "
She looked up, and while Cid knew she couldn't see, he could still feel her gaze boring through him.
"Cid, I can't bear to lose another to the Kingdom. This is the third time! There has to be another way."
"Not as long as things continue the way they are," he replied sadly. "The wars won't end, and we won't stop losing people. Not until either one Kingdom is killed off completely, or the rulers finally find some sense."
"The latter won't be happening anytime soon," she snapped with uncharacteristic fury. "And it would be no good for the former. Doesn't anyone realize that they must be hurting just as badly as we are?! Why is it that we continue with this pointless slaughter . . . "
"Julia, quiet down. You'll wake the children."
Julia was quiet for a long moment.
"My daughter," she finally said after a long interlude of silence, "wants to be an Engineer."
Cid, in spite of himself, chortled.
"Where'd she get an idea like that?"
Julia shrugged.
"I don't know. But I think . . . I think that from watching her study, she might be good at it. I know girls can't be Engineers, Cid, but if she ever comes to the nerve to inquire of you, could you please, just hear her out? Test her, do whatever it is you do, and see if she isn't as good as any man in your staff?"
Cid shrugged.
"Sure . . . I guess. It's not normal practice, but . . . "
"Normal practice? What is that, anyway?"
Cid frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Julia smiled.
"It's fading from our society so fast . . . soon the day will come when nothing's normal again." She sighed. "Did you ever wonder what the evil was?"
"KluYa's evil?"
"Yes. He never would say what it was, exactly, did he?"
"No. He said he didn't want to endanger me with the knowledge."
"Hm. I just wonder . . . how can we fight it if we don't know it when we see it?"
Cid shrugged again.
"I guess we just have to hope we'll recognize it."
"But evil can take on so many faces . . . why, it could manifest in any one of us. It may take over the minds of one of my children, even. It could be anything. And yet we worry about the evil KluYa warned us about, while there's perhaps something even more evil already among us . . . "
"KluYa was . . . well, I can't say what he was. He was my friend, I'll give him that. But when he got on the thing with the evil he was chasing . . . I don't know. I could never understand him then. So I doubt I'll be able to understand it when it, whatever it is, comes. All I can do is what I feel is right, and if that means I fight, I'll fight."
"Did you ever wonder if KluYa was really who he said he was?"
"Who he said he was? The problem was, he'd never say who he was!"
"No, I mean, if perhaps, he were the evil, and he was warning us away from whatever might be able to save us . . . "
Cid frowned steadily, although he knew she couldn't see it.
"Julia, it's possible. But I won't believe it. KluYa was a good man. He took time out of his mission, whatever it was, to help us. And I think that cost him everything. And I know he didn't want to leave this burden on his children. He also seemed to know what was coming, though. He knew he wouldn't be able to win, and left us in a setup where maybe, just maybe, we could. I, as his friend, trust in what he said. If you want to think otherwise, I can't stop you, but I'll never believe he had any malicious intent towards us."
Julia shook her head.
"Nor do I. But I can't help but wonder, at times . . . if his children . . . "
"Do you know anything about them?" Cid suddenly inquired, hoping.
"I can't say. Maybe."
"You say that every time."
"Yes. I can't be certain."
Cid sighed.
"Well . . . whenever and if you ever find out anything, let me know, okay?"
She nodded.
"If ever I know for sure, that I've found the sons of KluYa, I will tell you."

)---------- Kain -----------(
(Selling Out?)

"So," Aromuth asked Kain on one of their return trips from a battle shortly after Cecil's reassignment, "what's the deal with Cecil? He sold out yet?"
Kain turned and raised one eyebrow at him in a menacing manner, somehow feeling that he was in a completely different league than his peers now. Too many things set them apart . . .
"What do you mean?" he inquired sharply.
Aromuth shrugged.
"C'mon. A Dark Knight? Sure, Kain, we all used to be one happy group, but it's only a matter of time before he's so twisted around the King's finger - "
Kain turned away, shaking his head. He wasn't listening to this. It wasn't going to happen. Not to Cecil.
He'd never sell out. Not to the King.
"Kain, you may not want to hear it, but it's bound to happen!!" Aromuth exclaimed. "Deal with it! He's not the same guy we used to know!"
"And just how do you know that?" Kain snapped in a low tone. "Cecil is no idiot. He knows they're trying to get him to sell out. He's known it for a long time. But he's still Cecil. Just the way he always was. Just with . . . black armor."
Aromuth shook his head.
"Didn't he face off at you? Isn't that how he landed the position?"
That ran right through Kain's heart, as he realized that as long as there was a danger, that had to be the story. Cecil had attacked him. Yeah . . . that's what happened . . .
"Didn't he?" Aromuth suddenly asked for clarification, as if something in Kain's face had shown that this was not the case.
Kain sighed.
"Wonder all you like. Believe what you can. Accept only what you must," he replied, voicing one of Rorunar's odd common phrases.
Aromuth looked at him oddly, but said nothing.
Kain said nothing as well. From their class of seven, only he and Aromuth remained, the others, like Cecil, having been transferred against their will to other vocations. The thought entered his mind that maybe it was only a matter of time before Cecil sold out . . .
Naw. Not Cecil. He'd never sell out.

The ship docked and they made their way back into Baron.
As soon as he entered the City Gates, someone grabbed his arm and, with remarkable strength, hauled him away from the others.
"Kain!!!"
It was Veronica.
"Hi!" he greeted. "Euh - can we talk later? I want to clean up first - "
"No time!!" she admonished with a grin. "It's happening! It's finally happening!!!"
Kain frowned.
"What?"
Veronica burst into giddy laughter.
"They're going to launch the Airship!"

)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Dawn)

"Ready for this, Cecil?" Cid inquired in a tense voice.
The King had ordered launch today because he knew the Airship was completed. Although Cid would have preferred it if Sir Rorunar had been there to oversee, he knew that it was now or never.
Cecil shrugged self-consciously. He would have preferred Rorunar's presence as well. It would have placed less of the stress on himself. Someone else could've taken some of the stress, and between them, neither would've felt too stressed out . . .
But he could do it. He was sure of it.
Really.
He could do it.
Really.
So why did he feel as if he were about to be sick?
"Then here goes," Cid murmured, dragging him to the wheel. "Go on - start the thing!"
Cecil shook himself fully aware.
Everything was ready. They were just waiting for him to give the order.
"Cid," he said in a very, very low voice. "Shouldn't you?"
Cid glared at him.
"Eh?"
"It's your Airship. Shouldn't you give the order this first time?"
Cid chewed on his bottom lip for a long moment. Then he turned away.
"Start the propellers!!" he bellowed.
At his command, they whirred to action. Faster and faster, until slowly, they could feel themselves beginning to part with the ground . . .
"Disengage the supports!" Cecil called, taking control of the wheel. "And bring us up, full power!!" He gritted his teeth. Here it came -
A sudden rush of air nearly overwhelmed everyone on board as Dawn shot straight up into the air.
"K-k-k-geez!! That's high enough, stop!!!!!" he yelled a moment later.
They froze to an abrupt halt.
"Cheese . . . " Cecil exhaled sharply. For all his strong stomach, he was feeling queasy by the sudden motions.
"Oh, crud," he heard Cid say.
Turning, he saw the Engineer clinging to the railing near him.
"C'mere, Cecil," he then said.
Cecil, swallowing nervously, went over to him.
And looked down.
They were so high . . . in that one second of upward motion, they'd gone so high . . .
"We're high . . . " he mumbled, trying to focus on the streets of the city so far below them. The people looked like ants . . .
"You getting this, Cecil?" Cid suddenly snapped. "It works! The Airship! It works, and we're launched and up without a single explosion . . . kid, we did it!!"
Cecil just stared at the ground below, his jaw hanging open.
Tearing his eyes away from Baron below, he looked out over the land, over to the horizon. The mountains on one end, the ocean on another . . .
In all the voyages he'd taken to battle, he'd never once imagined that the world was so . . . big!
One moment of perfect beauty.
"That's it," Cid declared. "I'm growing a beard!"
Cecil frowned and looked at him.
"Huh?"
Cid, seeing his expression, burst out laughing.
"Well heck, gotta do something to signify this occasion!"
Cecil shook his head.
"You? Cid? With a beard? Naw, I can't see it."
Cid grinned.
"Then let's try for something you can see." He gestured back to the wheel. "Let's just see what this sucker can do!"
An odd wave of elation passed over Cecil at the suggestion.
Here, at his fingertips, was the means by which to do . . . whatever in the world he could ever want.
Yeah . . . let's just see exactly what it can do.
So he took his place back at the wheel of the Airship Dawn.
"Hanging on?" he asked Cid with a grin, oblivious to the airsick shock of the other crewmembers.
"Most definitely with you at the wheel, kid!"
Laughing, Cecil nodded at one of the navigators.
And they took off at a blinding speed not seen on their planet for thousands of years.

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Take Over the World)

Kain and Veronica stood in shock as the Dawn took off, speeding away at a dazzling pace.
"Crud - ?!" was the only thing that could come out of his mouth.
Rorunar bounced up beside him.
"Well well - so they did it, did they?" He burst out laughing. "If only I'd been there to see the airsick look on that old fool's face - "
"Oh, Cid's nowhere near even a fifth of your age!" Veronica reminded him in a snippy tone.
That only made him laugh harder.
Kain ignored their joviality. For some reason, this whole business suddenly struck a sour note in him.
Cecil was now a Dark Knight. Under the King's thumb. And he was now in charge of this. The Airship which, he suddenly realized, could easily be turned into a dauntless killing machine.
And he wasn't sure he liked where this was going.
Turning toward the Castle, he could see over the Wall where the King and Baigan stood watching the Airship as well.
He really didn't like where this was going.

Later, after the sun was down and he finally managed to find Cecil, he tried to convince himself that no bad would come of this.
"What was it like?" he asked Cecil, who looked a little pale from the high altitude, but was as hyper-active as he'd ever seen him.
"Like?!" Cecil repeated. "Like, it's really high up there!!! Kain, you wouldn't believe it until you see it - the world is so big!"
Kain blinked. Flying seemed to have a similar effect on his friend as did nerve gas.
"Big?"
"Big! Like, we know it's big, but it's really big! You're up there, and you can see for miles and miles . . . I could see my house from up there!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! And in just about a half hour, we were over Mysidia, and we even got to the point where we could see Damcyan! In just the few hours we were up there!!!!!"
Kain exhaled deeply. That was pretty amazing. The journey to Damcyan could take weeks, and with the way monsters were appearing more and more, few dared make the journey any longer.
"And a little village. I don't know what it was, but I'm gonna find out. Kain, it was so awesome!" He paused at a thought. "And Cid's going to grow a beard."
"What?!" That one caught him off guard.
Cecil laughed at his reaction.
"Yeah, that's about what I said."
"Cid? With a beard? No way, I can't see it."
"Me either, but he's all set to go through with it."
"His wife's gonna have a heart attack."
"She just might."
"So what - um - what do you think the King's gonna do with the Airship, now that it works?"
Cecil sobered up instantly and looked around to make sure no one was listening.
"I don't know," he said in a low tone, "but with all that power, man, you could probably take over the world."
At first, Kain felt like laughing at that statement, but a quick look at Cecil's face said that he was completely serious.
Now he really didn't like where all this was going.

)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Redwings)

Cecil stood, at attention, in the Throne Room, as the King paced back and forth.
"Tell me, Cecil," he said, after pacing for about twenty minutes without any explanation as to why Cecil had been summoned, "what is your opinion of the crew of the Redwings?"
The Redwings. That's what they were called now. In a little over a year, since the successful takeoff of the Dawn, the other four contracted Airships had been constructed. Apparently, more support was with the project now, because Cid's staff had suddenly (and without his own knowledge) almost quadrupled overnight.
Baron now had an air force. A fleet of five gleaming red Airships - the Dawn, the Horizon, the Bounty, the Les Cheveux, and the Arrow. All under Cecil's command, although he was no longer the only pilot. Five others had been instructed at the King's orders, apparently so that Cecil himself could concentrate on commanding, not on flying.
He wasn't sure he liked that. He preferred to be actually controlling the vessel, not just giving orders, but he took what he could.
At least the orders hadn't really been much as of yet.
But his opinion of the crew?
"They're cool," he replied absently.
"What?"
"Euh - their performance is satisfactory, Your Majesty," he quickly corrected. "We're ready to go."
"Good," the King affirmed with an enthusiastic nod. "Well then, I think perhaps it's time we tested them in an assault position."
"Excuse me?"
"I want to see you blow something up."
"Oh." Cecil wasn't sure he liked that, either. Of course, though, it made sense. After all, if they were to use these Airships to end the war, then they'd have to be used offensively . . . "What do you want us to . . . euh . . . blow up?"
The King grabbed him by the arm and moved him to a table set up in a corner of the room.
"Here's our map of the world as we see it," he explained. "We're here." He pointed at a spot on the map. "I want you to go to about . . . here," and he pointed at another. "About thirty clicks west of the Kingdom. Just . . . take out the whole area."
Cecil blinked. It seemed harmless enough.
"Yes, Your Majesty," he conceded.

"So that's the deal," he told Kain later that evening. "Tomorrow, he wants us to go blow up some forest. Odd, but I guess he wants to see what we can do."
Kain frowned.
"Has it struck you that the King has been acting a little odd lately?"
Cecil shuddered.
"Yes. It's strange - he's no longer eating out of Baigan's hand. It actually seems the other way around, all of a sudden."
"All of a sudden," Kain repeated. "That's why it seems so strange. I mean, maybe over time he may have developed some common sense, but just BANG, suddenly he takes charge . . . it's odd, you're right. Watch your step."
Cecil grinned.
"How can I watch my step when I'm flying?"
Kain shook his head.
"Cecil, that was low."
"I know," he replied, shrugging. "Had to say something. In any case, though, this is a strange assignment. He wants Baigan to go along."
Kain raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"I don't know. To supervise, I guess. The King wanted to know my thoughts on the crew - maybe he wants a second opinion on their abilities."
"Or yours."
Cecil crossed his arms.
"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind."
Kain nodded.
"I won't. Watch your step, whether you're on the ground or not."
Cecil nodded, sensing Kain's concern, and sharing it himself.
"I do." A wave of frustration welled up within him. "I have to watch my step everywhere I go, nowadays. You know, just wearing the armor of a Dark Knight makes everyone so wary . . . it's like, people I've known all my life are suddenly afraid of me."
"They have reason to be," Kain reminded him. "They know that a Dark Knight follows the King's orders no matter what, and has a mess of slightly erratic Powers of Darkness at his disposal. And no one knows what to think of the King anymore."
Cecil shuddered.
"Do you have to constantly remind me about that?" he snapped in a low voice. "I know I have to listen to him . . . but I'm none too happy about it."
Kain frowned slightly, as if just catching on to his discomfort.
"Well, I imagine you're not. Just remember, I'm in the same boat, and disgraced to boot."
Of course.
"I know. So what would you do, if say, you were ordered to face off against the other Dragoons?"
For a long, long moment, Kain made no reply.
"I guess . . . " he finally murmured, "I'd just have to wing it." A shudder ran through his body. "You know . . . see exactly what I could get away with . . . see if Sir Rorunar already had a plan for escape of the situation . . . you never know. Not until you're there."
Somehow, Cecil felt that this was not going to suffice as advice.
"But what can I do?" he asked into the air. "I mean . . . I'm just a Dark Knight."
Kain shook his head with a light grin.
"No way, Cecil," he told him. "You're more than that - you're a Dark Knight who's got the Dragoons on your side."
"But for how long?!"
Considering that, Kain smirked.
"Well, man, rather die by our hands, or the King's?"
"Now that, that was not even funny, Kain."

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Selling Out!)

"Yes, I'd heard that the Airships were to be tested for offensive capabilities," Rorunar nodded when Kain filled him in on what Cecil had said. "The sooner that's done, I suppose, the sooner we can use the Redwings for what their design intended. To stop this stupid war."
Kain hopped up and sat on one edge of his master's desk.
"Stupid war?" he jibed. "Without it, you'd be out of a job, Sir."
Rorunar feigned pain.
"You wound me, boy," he whined. "Why, I'm indispensable to the Kingdom! It's you who should be worried."
"Oh, I am. Believe me, every day, every moment, I live in total fear of His Majesty, and of losing favor with the Throne."
"I'm sure you do."
" 'Believe what you can.' "
"Shut up, Kain!" Rorunar snapped with a grin. "Don't go quoting me to me!"
"Sorry, Sir, it'll never happen again, Sir."
Rorunar waggled a finger at him.
"You know, son of Phil, you've developed quite an attitude."
Kain widened his eyes in shock.
"I? An attitude? I've developed nothing of the sort, Sir, I've just expanded what was already there."
"That you have. And what else have you expanded?"
"Huh?"
"Your mother was an Empath, wasn't she?"
Kain was caught so off guard by the question that he fell off the desk.
Rorunar leaned over and glared at him.
"Well?"
"Y-yes, I guess so," he replied, pulling himself to an upright position. "I mean, I . . . well . . . yeah, I guess so."
"But she was never open about it to you?"
"No, Sir."
"Did she ever mention it at all?"
"No, Sir."
"Then how do you know about it?"
"Well, I spied on her, Sir."
"Of course."
"Sir, how do you know about that?" Kain inquired, feeling oddly violated.
"She told me. But you didn't know me then." Rorunar frowned. "Have you ever noticed any indication of inheriting her abilities?"
"What, am I Empathic?"
"Yes, that's what I mean."
"No, not that I know of."
"You don't sometimes get very strange feelings about things?"
"Well, yeah, but no stranger than any other feelings people get, I suppose."
"You suppose."
"Yes, I suppose."
"And do you have any feeling on Cecil's mission tomorrow?"
"Um . . . " Kain, on impulse, jammed his eyes shut and tried to sense something. Futile. "No, Sir."
"Hm." Rorunar leaned back in his chair. "But you don't like where any of this Airship business is going, I know. I don't think you realize how obvious you've been about it at times."
"It worries me the amount of power at Baron's disposal!" Kain honestly exclaimed. "I mean, if the King's really taking charge of the Kingdom finally, and we all know what an idiot he is, who knows what may happen?!"
"Who indeed. Kain, you received a special set of orders today while you were out."
Kain frowned.
"And?"
"You're to report to the King tomorrow morning. Report alone."
Kain frowned even deeper.
"Why?"
Rorunar shook his head slowly.
"I couldn't begin to tell you, my friend," he admitted, "but while you may be the latent Empath here, I'll say that I have a very, very, very bad feeling about the whole thing."
He was silent for a time, and so was Kain.
If the King was planning something, and he was at the Castle, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Not that he could anyway, because of his forced loyalty to the King, though. Which made it odd. They must have worried that whatever was going to happen, it would be enough to make him break that, even if it meant being completely disgraced, hunted down, and executed.
Should this be the case, he wasn't sure he should be anywhere but beside Sir Rorunar the next day, whatever happened.
"What should I do?" he asked into the silence.
Rorunar glanced at him briefly, then stared at a document on his desk.
"Do what you must, Kain. Follow your orders. Don't worry about us."
Kain bit his bottom lip.
"Too late. I am worried."
Rorunar grinned.
"This is a very trying time for us, Kain," he told him. "But we can't afford to have you beheaded for treason. You're too valuable. Do as the King says."
"Oh, so now I'm valuable."
"In a sense. In another sense, you're a bigheaded idiot. I'm just feeling nice at the moment."
"Yes, Sir! One bigheaded idiot, reporting!"
"Kain, get out of here and go to sleep."
"Yes, Sir!"
And if Kain sensed an odd note of finality in Rorunar's expression, he refused to dwell on it just then.

"Catch you later!" Cecil called at his departure, taking off for Dawn, the flagship of the Redwings.
"Good luck!" Kain yelled after him. Then, still feeling uneasy, he headed for the Castle.
"Ah, Dragoon Kain," the King greeted as he entered the Throne Room. "Leave us," he snapped at the Guards, who bowed and backed out, closing the door behind them.
"Reporting as ordered, Your Majesty," Kain greeted back in a reserved tone he used only on belligerent monarchs.
"At ease," the King told him in a steady tone. "I suppose you're wondering what all this is about. Why you're here. Why you happen to be here at this exact moment, when Cecil has taken the Redwings off on what they believe to be a testing mission for the Airships' offensive abilities."
Instantly, Kain felt himself go rigid.
"What they believe to be?" he repeated in a demanding tone, one that would have made any citizen and most soldiers shrink back.
The King was, however, none of the above.
"Exactly." He held Kain's gaze for a moment, and in that moment, Kain felt his blood run cold. "Also, at this exact moment, a decoy we have planted in the Dragoon army is carrying out his own orders, bringing out your entire force on one final mission that even Sir Rorunar wouldn't be able to resist. I know his weaknesses. I know what will bring him out in the open. And young Aromuth will serve as the perfect bait for what lies in store."
Kain felt his hand itching towards his Lance, but forced himself to remain still.
"And what lies in store?" he hissed in a tone barely above a whisper.
The King laughed.
"I like you, Kain," he complimented in a jovial tone. "You don't beat around the bush, unlike some others. That's one of the reasons I'm keeping you alive. The other is, of course, the simple fact that you are no threat to me. None at all. And I like knowing that."
"Your Majesty - "
"Now now, is that any tone with which to address your sovereign? Ask yourself that, Dragoon, while I consider just how miserable to make the rest of your life."
"What - "
"It should take your comrades, aided by your master's remarkable talents, a few more minutes to reach the intended site. At that moment, young Aromuth will signal to Baigan, who will be waiting above in the Dawn. Then all that will remain will be for him to have your dear friend Cecil carry out the test. And obliterate your kind at last, and let me have some peace at night."
Kain, shaking with fury, forced himself to try and breathe normally.
"Your Majesty," he said in a low tone, "don't do this. We mean you no harm. We never have. We serve the Kingdom."
"They serve themselves, and you serve me, and don't forget that."
He drilled his fists into his sides to keep from attacking this pitiful figure they called a King.
"It won't happen," he hissed in an undertone.
"Oh, yes it will," the King assured him. "There's no one to stand in my way."
"Yes there is."
"Who? You mean Cecil? Don't count on him saving the day, my young friend. He is a Dark Knight. Sworn to my service. When my orders are relayed to him, he will have no choice but to obey."
"He won't do it!!" Kain yelled. After all, why was he restraining himself? He whipped out his Lance and flew at the King.
"GUARDS!" he yelled.
The Guards instantly entered and grabbed him before he could reach the royal fool.
"He won't do it!!!" he yelled again. "Cecil won't do it!! He'd never turn against his own kind!!!"
"But he's not one of your kind any longer," the King reminded him with a smile. "He's one of mine, now."
"He won't do it!!!" Kain heard himself yelling over and over. "Cecil will not sell out to you!!"
Rorunar -
"He'll never give in to you!! He knows you're a fool, and he hates you! For what you've done to him, for what you've done to all of us! And he'll stand against you! He won't do it!!"
Even as he struggled against the restraining hands which held him - the other members of the King's Guard, he realized, he knew that there was nothing he could do.
Except wait.
Cecil wouldn't do it.
He wouldn't.
He couldn't.

)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Sold Out.)

Cecil hummed absently to himself, directing the pilot where to take them, and then leisurely watching the world go by beneath. For all the time he'd spent in the air, he never lost the amazing feeling it had given him the first time he'd flown.
"We're here, Sir," the pilot told him.
"Fine, stop us," Cecil replied. He turned to Baigan. "Now we blow up the forest below, and get home in time for lunch."
"Not just yet," Baigan told him. "I have orders from His Majesty. We're to wait for a special signal to fire."
For some reason, that struck an odd note in Cecil.
"A . . . . a signal?"
"Yes." Baigan waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing serious. Just wants to check reaction time."
"Oh." That made sense. "I see."
They waited for a time, until suddenly it occurred to Cecil that -
"Only, if we get a signal from the ground, and we act on it then, wouldn't it take out whoever sets off the signal?"
Baigan didn't reply. He continued looking out over the railing, and in that instant, a flaming arrow shot up into the air.
"There's the signal," Baigan informed him. "Attack, now."
"Wait a second!" Cecil snapped. "Who's down there?!"
"No one. The person who shot it off was very capable, he's long out of range by now."
"What'd he do, ride a chocobo? I'm not attacking when someone might be - "
"Captain, these are orders from His Majesty! Now obey, and attack! No one is down there, no one will be hurt, but - "
A shrieking sound was heard below.
Snapping his attention to the forest far below, Cecil saw to his immense horror, the trees one by one freezing up into great shells of ice.
It was a different signal, one he knew well.
"You're lying!" he snarled at Baigan. "Sir Rorunar's down there, and I'm willing to bet you've somehow gotten the entire Dragoon squadron waiting to be taken out - well I won't do it!!"
"Obey your orders!!" Baigan yelled. "Do as you're told!"
"I won't kill my friends!"
"You face execution!"
"So be it!"
"Cecil!!" And as Baigan turned his fiery gaze on Cecil, the latter could swear he saw, for a brief instant, a shadow of pure darkness pass over his gaze. "You will do as you're told! You have sold yourself out to the King - you swore on your oath as a Dark Knight to obey His Majesty's - "
"I don't care!!!" Cecil screamed. "I won't do it!!!!"
"I will!!!!" Baigan yelled back. "I will have this area destroyed if you will not, my authority is greater than yours, and if it comes to this, you may rest assured that everyone in any way connected with you will meet an agonizing death upon our return to Baron! Your name will be disgraced forever, as well as that of everyone in your bloodline!"
"I don't have a bloodline!" Cecil yelled. "Empty threat!!"
"Cid? Veronica? Rosa? Kain? The Engineering staff, your old neighbors?! Empty threat?!?!"
"I don't believe you'd do it! The Kingdom would revolt!"
"The Kingdom will not revolt!!!" Baigan yelled. He shoved Cecil quickly aside, catching him off guard, and hit the release for the bombs.
"Noooooo - - - - ?!?!" Cecil heard, and realized that it came from himself.
The explosions were heard, he could see the fire fill the air.
When the bombs were dropped from the Dawn, the other Redwings took that as their own cue to attack. And they did.
The icy forest below erupted into flame.
Cecil stared, rapt, frozen himself.
No . . .
All of them. 74 people. Sir Rorunar.
No . . . . I could've stopped him . . .
Baigan turned and placed his sword at Cecil's throat.
"Now," he told him in a low tone so that none of the other astonished crewmen could overhear, "you realize that it is futile to resist the King?"
Cecil couldn't move. He couldn't believe what had just been done by . . . by the fleet of Redwings which was under his command . . .
Baigan turned away.
"Take us back to Baron!" he snarled at the pilot.
Frantic, the pilot turned to Cecil, afraid to act without his consent.
Cecil managed, with every ounce of strength in him, to nod.
He looked up at Baigan.
"I will kill you," he stated in a weak voice. "For what you've done today . . . I will kill you."
"But you didn't stop me," Baigan reminded him. "This is your command. You are at fault. Not me."
He stormed off to the other end of the Airship.
Cecil remained where he was for a moment, on his knees, leaning over the railing of the ship, watching the burning area on the horizon grow smaller and smaller.
One of the crewmen hesitantly went up to him.
"Sir . . . ?"
Cecil slowly turned his head and looked at him.
The Crewmen reached out and pulled him to his feet.
"Did we just . . . "
Cecil just looked at him.
He couldn't answer.

Baigan had to have been supporting the majority of his weight as he was hauled into the Throne Room upon their return.
Kain was standing off in a corner, shaking.
Cecil knew that he knew what had happened.
And that it was his fault.
His own fault.
He, Cecil, had just killed . . .
"Welcome back," the King greeted happily. "How did it go?"
Cecil wouldn't answer.
"Shaky," Baigan replied in his place, "but the Airships have proven to be every bit as deadly as we had hoped."
Kain turned and bolted from the room in a flash, not even looking in Cecil's direction. Rather, it was almost as if his eyes were closed.
"And you?"
Cecil looked up as the King addressed him.
"Tsk tsk," he was admonished. "Come now, Cecil. No need to be upset. You just did your duty."
Cecil tensed for a moment, remembering Baigan's threat. But no mention of it came. Then he realized that the Captain of the Guard was going to much prefer watching him take the fall for the incident - as if he'd dropped the bombs himself.
"My duty . . . " he whispered.
The King smiled.
"Yes, of course. You're a Dark Knight, after all."
Cecil could take no more. He turned, tore himself from Baigan's restraint, and flew from the Castle.
To the Barracks. Just in case - in case Sir Rorunar had gotten everyone away in time.
Just in case.
But the building sectioned off for the Dragoons was empty.
Completely. Even the trainers and retirees who perpetually loitered were gone - although several bloody splotches decorated the floor. Completely empty.
Except for -
A great forced slammed into him, ramming him up against the wall.
"You sold out!!!!!"
It was Kain, keeping him there, up against the wall, and for a moment, Cecil thought that he was going to kill him.
"You killed them!! How could you?!?! How COULD YOU?!?!?!?!??!?!!?"
"Kain - "
"Shut up!!" Kain turned, dropping Cecil on the floor. "I trusted you!!! I said you wouldn't do it!!! I knew you wouldn't!! I knew everything meant something to you!! But you sold out - you killed them all just because the King ordered - "
"Kain, I didn't - "
Kain turned toward him again, this time swiping at him with his Lance, slicing Cecil across the cheek. It was an expert shot, just slicing the skin. Cecil knew that he could've easily been killed by that blow if Kain had wanted. But it was a warning.
"Just a Dark Knight," he hissed. "Just a Dark Knight with no courage to disobey His Majesty. Even if it means taking the lives of over fifty people who considered themselves your friends . . . covering while others are slaughtered where they stand . . . "
"But, Kain, I didn't - "
"Get out of my sight," Kain commanded in the same hiss. "And don't ever talk to me again, Dark Knight. Not ever again."
"Kain, please - "
"Now."
Cecil could see it in his eyes. The pure hatred.
He had trusted him.
And he had failed.
Even if he hadn't actually dropped the bomb, he hadn't stopped it, either.
He should've stopped it.
He should've saved them.
But he failed.
He had failed, and allowed them to be killed.
And he knew that Kain was going to kill him if he stayed.
Because of what he had done to Sir Rorunar.
And, swallowing against what threatened to be an overwhelming flood of tears, he ducked away from Kain's blade and tore away.
Home.

But that too, was empty.
He searched all throughout the house where he had grown up, looking for some sign of his Dad or of what could have happened.
But found nothing. It was deserted.
At least, there were no bloody splotches. No struggle appeared to have taken place.
He was simply gone.
With a deep sigh that no one else could hear, Cecil let himself collapse in the middle of the floor.
He had sold out.

A cold splash of water on his face woke him sometime later.
Snapping upright, for a moment he didn't remember what had happened.
Cid knelt beside him.
"Cecil, what the Hell happened?!?!" he demanded fiercely.
Cecil just looked at him as the memory returned.
He explained the best he could.
Cid listened with a frown.
"You couldn't have done anything," he finally sighed at the end, seemingly in a shock over what had happened almost as much as he himself was.
"Yes I could've," Cecil contradicted. "I could've fought him, I could've won. I could've done something. Anything. I could've saved them."
"Cecil - "
"But I'm just a Dark Knight with no courage to disobey His Majesty. Kain's right. I sold out. I couldn't do it - I let Baigan kill them."
Cid grabbed his shoulders and shook him so hard it hurt.
"Shut up!!" he yelled at him. "Get a hold of yourself! This is exactly what they want!! They're breaking you, Cecil! They're breaking you to their will, and they've almost done it! Fight it!"
"Fight what?! It's too late to fight, Cid!" Cecil yelled frantically. "They've won! Just look! They've won! I can't fight them!!"
"Then it's all over! There's nothing left for us to do, Cecil! If you're selling out to the King, then nothing really matters much anymore, does it? Forget about everything they've done - to you, to Veronica, to Kain, to Sir Rorunar - "
"Sir Rorunar is dead, and that's my fault!!!"
"Something went wrong - are you going to let everything we tried to accomplish be for nothing?! Didn't anything Rorunar ever said to you mean a thing?!??! Accept only what you must, you idiot!!"
"Idiot?! I am an idiot! A stupid one! The King's dupe! And nothing can change that!!"
Cecil stood abruptly.
"I need to report in," he sullenly told the Engineer.
And he left.
Back for the Castle.

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Last of His Kind)

It was all up to him now.
There was no one left to keep him in line.
No one else to keep him on his toes.
He was the last of the Dragoons, and now had to take care of himself.
So he drilled himself constantly, repeating every training step he'd ever learned so meticulously he knew Sir Rorunar would've been irritated with him.
But Sir Rorunar wasn't here. That was the point.
"Kain."
He turned in surprise, not expecting anyone to be out here on the training fields, much less -
"Rosa?" He blinked. "What are you doing here?"
She took a step toward him.
"Kain, I - I've been watching you and . . . and the others. And I had to ask you . . . what are you going to do?"
A frown crossed his features.
"Do?"
"Now that - that you're the last."
The frown vanished, leaving a blank expression.
"Well, I guess I follow my orders. It's my duty, after all."
"Well, what about Cecil?"
"What about him?"
"What's wrong with him?! Ever since - "
"Don't ask me what's wrong with him. I don't know, and I don't care to find out."
"He's been in a daze for weeks now."
"So what else is new?"
"Kain, stop it! He's completely under the King's spell! And you can't criticize him, because so are you!"
"Criticize?!" Kain blinked, incredulous. "This isn't about criticism, Rosa! It has nothing to do with criticism!"
"Then what does it have to do with?!" Rosa looked furious. "Look, I know how attached you were to Rorunar - "
"Excuse me, no." He crossed his arms and glared at her soundly. "Rosa, I mean no insult to you, but there is no way you could have any idea."
She frowned.
"Kain, all I'm saying is that unless you do something, Cecil is going to be lost completely. He's giving in more and more each day, and already there's almost nothing left. Now none of us know exactly what happened on that Airship, but - "
"We know exactly what happened on that Airship," Kain bluntly reminded her. "Five bombs were dropped, which cleanly obliterated an entire designated area of land . . . "
"But can't you forgive him?! We have to move on, and you two are so powerful together, if any good is ever going to come from this Kingdom, we need you both!"
"Forgive?!" Kain looked at her as if she were crazy. "What's to forgive, Rosa? They're dead. I can't forgive that. Well, you'd need to ask them. And they're dead. Nothing you, I, Cecil, or the great King himself can do will ever change that."
She reached out and took his hand.
"And is Cecil to bear the weight of their deaths?"
He returned her gaze steadily.
"Yes."

)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Shrouded in Darkness)

Cecil paced back and forth rapidly through the rooms of the Castle now designated for the crew of the Redwings.
"If anyone's uncertain about this," he told them in a low voice, "back out now. Because after tomorrow, there's no turning back."
No one moved or made a sound, which was a good thing. If one of them wanted out now, the King wasn't going to be very happy. And Cecil didn't want to see that wrath brought down on his people.
Tomorrow was the day when, at last, the Redwings were to be turned against Eblan itself. If all went as planned, the war would be over by the next day.
If all didn't go as planned, there were going to be some dead Baronites lurking about.
"Captain," one of them said, taking a step forward, "we take pride in being members of the Redwings! And we take pride in saving our Kingdom."
Cecil nodded. That was right, he supposed. They were going to save the Kingdom.
"That and, His Majesty commands it," he murmured to himself.

He left them and went to his room to retire for the night, not really thinking about anything. Before he got there, though, someone else found him.
"Cecil! Wait!"
Pausing in surprise, Cecil turned and saw Rosa rushing up to him.
"Rosa?"
"Cecil, you have a blue lobster attached to your foot, and it's laying eggs everywhere you step."
Cecil blinked, startled.
"Huh?"
Rosa stood still, pursing her lips and frowning.
"Now that I have your attention - "
"Rosa, what's all this about?"
She looked around, noted a couple of observers, grabbed his arm, and dragged him into the Tower stairway, which was deserted at this time.
"Cecil, before you go and very well maybe get yourself killed, I want you to take a look at yourself."
He blinked again.
"Why would I want to go and do a silly thing like that?" he blandly inquired.
She frowned.
"I'm not joking. Not at all. Cecil, we used to be friends. We used to be very good friends. Now I look at you, and it's like you're walking around with your own cloud of doom. You're completely shrouded in darkness! People are afraid of you, and it's not just because you're a Dark Knight, it's because you'll do whatever you're ordered without any question of morality!"
Cecil shrugged, feeling oddly removed from the conversation.
"What else should I do?"
"But, Cecil, I don't even know you anymore! I can't even remember your face anymore, the memory is so clouded by what I now see! Do you even exist anymore, other than as a Dark Knight?"
"Rosa, I'm going to battle tomorrow. Is there something else, or can I say goodnight?"
She took a step back, shaking her head.
"Cecil, how could you have given yourself in so totally?"
He returned her gaze steadily.
"Quite easily, in fact."
And without another word, he turned and left her standing there.

"We're over Eblan now, Captain," one of the crewmen told him as their flight slowed.
Cecil nodded.
"Good."
The fleet of the five scarlet Airships drew to a halt and hovered over the Ninja Kingdom, moving in perfect synchronization with one another. By unspoken command, each of the Redwings loaded their bomb bays.
Cecil moved to the railing of Dawn, looking down as the citizens of the City emerged from their homes and gawked up at them in astonishment. Never before had the Eblanians laid their eyes on anything like them.
Then the army massed beneath them.
Nodding slowly to himself, Cecil took the prepared statement from the crewmen who handed it to him and dropped it over the side.
Someone who looked like he was in charge picked it up.
This was to be their only warning. Either Eblan would surrender, or they would be destroyed.
Cecil waited patiently, completely detached from the civilians below. They weren't his concern. The soldiers and fighters, however, those who had been attacking their Kingdom for over a hundred years, were.
The recipient of his message looked up at him for a moment, somehow establishing eye contact over the great distance.
Then he turned away and said something to someone near him.
"Captain?" one of the crewmen inquired anxiously.
Cecil held up a hand. They would wait to see the response.
The response came an instant later in the form of a great fireball, catapulted up at the Dawn, striking them and forcing them to wobble dangerously in the air.
" . . . dirty work afoot in fair Eblana . . . "
Instantly, the other four Airships began their attack.
Flames began to envelope the deck.
"Everyone okay?!?!" Cecil called, hurrying with a large portion of the crew to put out the fires.
One by one, the reassurance of their well-being reached him, and within moments, the fire was under control.
"Okay, drop the bombs," Cecil briskly ordered. "And someone get me a full damage report!"
The mumbled obedience and scurried about the ship as Cecil took the controls. As the bombs were dropped, one by one, on the Kingdom below, he maneuvered them through the familiar drill of where would be the most damage done.
The sounds of explosions and flame, mixed with screams of pain and terror, drifted up to them, but he ignored it.
One sound did catch his attention, though.
"What's that?!" he shouted over the sound of their onslaught.
"The Anterior Propeller!" replied one of the crewmen from the named position. "The blast we took . . . it damaged the mast. Stop maneuvering! We may lose it!"
"@#$%!" Cecil cursed under his breath, halting the motion of the Airship. If they lost the propeller . . .
"We're losing fuel!" another crewmen informed him. "Leaking fast!"
"Damage to all lower decks - don't take us too fast, or we may rattle apart!" cried another.
The propeller began to creak louder.
Cecil took a wild look around at the Airship.
This Airship - Dawn - the first successful ever built in the Kingdom of Baron. The one he'd been trained in by a man he'd respected and murdered. And the one - the memory returned hesitantly - where he'd felt the amazing exhilaration which surpassed everything he'd ever known the first time he'd flown. A feeling which had dwindled and died in the past year.
And the one he'd been flying with Baigan when . . .
He shook his head.
Dawn was falling apart around them. They had to get out of there.
"What's the attack status?" he sharply asked.
"Euh - I think we're about done, Captain!" replied a crewman. "The others made up for us. The City's completely destroyed."
"What about the Castle?"
"It's still standing, but barely."
"Fine. Fine, that'll have to do. Pull us out."
He let the pilot take over and hurried to examine the propeller.
"Isn't there any way we could add support to this?"
"Maybe, Sir, we could anchor it down somewhat," a crewmen replied. "Should I get the ropes from below?"
"Yes, quickly." Cecil turned to another as he rushed off. "What about the other Airships?"
"They signal okay. Minor damages caused by the catapults, but all superficial."
"And the catapults are now all destroyed. That's a plus. Did you tell them our situation?"
"Yes, Sir, they're aware."
"Tell them to go on ahead if we fall behind. Let Baron know we may be in need of assistance when we return."
"Right!"
And he turned to signal the other Redwings.
The crewman returned with the rope, and all those available, Cecil included, proceeded to try and anchor the defective mast by tying it down to the sides of the Airship. As long as the ropes held, so should the mast, and so should the Airship.
But they couldn't last forever.
"We need more speed!" Cecil yelled at the pilot. "Or we'll be crashed before we're halfway there!"
"If we speed it up, the whole thing could rattle apart!!!" came the frantic reply.
"Structural damage increasing constantly!"
"A fire's started in the motor!!"
Cecil blinked.
"Put it out!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Cecil, shaking his head in bewilderment, followed the crewman down to the lower levels of the Airship to attend to the fire, forgetting about the report of leaking fuel.
Taking into consideration the time they'd taken to anchor the mast, they should reach Baron within an hour at their present speed. Which just wasn't fast enough . . .
The other Redwings had gone on ahead - they should reach in about fifteen minutes.
"Let's just get it fixed for the moment!" Cecil told his companion as they approached the burning level with the engine. "Then I think we should just land and wait for reinforcements. We're over land again - "
"Captain! The fuel leakage!"
"Huh?"
It took Cecil about a fourth of a second's reaction time to get what the crewman was saying. And in that fourth of a second, the fire from the engine reached a pool of leaked fuel.
The explosion threw him back against the far wall of the level. In the brief moment before he lost consciousness, he could see the Airship split in half, the damaged mast collapse, saw the ground rushing up to meet them as the fire spread throughout . . .

"Your mother . . . she was so young. Didn't deserve to be widowed. But told me right up that she'd known it
was going to happen. Your father was a strange man, but somehow, she understood him. Believed in what he said
They were really in love. When he died, and we got married, she told me that there was a special fate in store for her children, and that it now fell entirely to you. But she couldn't tell me what it was."
"This fate . . . was it good? Or . . . "
"I can't tell you, Cecil, but I can tell you this. You bore all the Hell I put you through, and despite all of it, you
turned out to be a good kid. I admire you for that, I know I wouldn't have done as well. And I believe that you can take whatever fate lies in store for you and turn it good, somehow. Just do what you know is right, like you always do."

The first thing Cecil was aware of was, of course, pain.
It was always pain. Anymore, the absence of pain seemed to hurt more than the real thing. Pain was what he knew. It was what he dealt in.
But then something cut through it. A touch, light, delicate, from a hand . . . on his face, brushing at what he figured must be some terrible wound from the pain of it, but that somehow seemed calming and healing instead of cruel.
He opened his eyes.
Rosa knelt over him.
"Cecil," she said in a low voice, "can you hear me?"
Swallowing against the burning in his charred throat, he nodded slightly.
She nodded back, and said nothing to him. Rather, she began chanting.
The memory of what had happened rushed back to him.
The Airship was destroyed. Burned, blown up, split in two, and crashed. That much he knew, but for all he'd seen before being knocked out, even more probably could've happened.
And his crew? Were they . . .
Rosa finished her chant, and he saw the green light spreading faintly over him. As it faded, so did a good portion of the pain he felt.
"Rosa . . . " he whispered.
She leaned down close to hear him.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Are . . . the crew . . . "
Smiling, she replied, "They're hurt, but no more badly than you. Miracles really do happen: none of you were killed."
He let his eyes fall closed in weakness, sighing. That was good. For a moment he just lay there, trying to muster up some energy, and remembered what she had said to him the night before. And the strange memory that haunted his mind ever since consciousness first began to return. The memory of his Dad, and what he'd said after revealing the truth about their relationship to Cecil.
Why did it all seem to fit together?
He thought of the screams from Eblan.
And he remembered when he'd thought that war was foolish. When he'd actually felt nauseous about killing. Not so much as Kain had, but . . .
He thought of Kain. For well over a year, they hadn't spoken. Not a word. He hadn't even seen him, he suddenly realized. Because of what he'd done. And rather than face that, he'd just hidden behind this mask - the mask of the Dark Knight.
Floundering one hand around for a moment, he finally caught Rosa's hand in his own.
"Rosa," he whispered again, "can you still not remember my face? Am I really as shadowed as that . . . "
Lacking the strength to open his eyes again, he just lay silently, waiting for whatever reply she might have.
Rather than say anything, he felt her take a hold of his Helmet, that which he'd not stepped outside his room without for so long, and carefully pull it over and off his head.
Finally, he forced his eyes open.
"How did I come to be so consumed?" he whispered faintly. "Why did I have all that hatred . . . "
"Hush," she whispered back, leaning forward and kissing him lightly on the forehead. "You're hurt, Cecil. You need rest. We'll take you back to Baron in the Bounty, and when you wake up, we can talk."
Indeed, sleep was quickly catching up again with the Dark Knight. But before he allowed his eyes to close again, he found himself looking at Rosa, really looking, for the first time since they'd first met in school . . . how many years ago?
She grown up and he'd never noticed. After all, she was . . . well, she was Rosa! Always there, never changed, just Rosa. Just as he'd always been just Cecil. Just the way he was. And Kain had always been Kain.
None of them were how they used to be. He realized that.
Including Rosa.
And his last thought was that she had to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Rosa)

Kain leaned on his Lance and looked out the window curiously.
So the war was over. That was good. It was about time.
Although it was strange. It had, after all, been going on for longer than anyone in the Kingdom had been alive.
But the day after the attack of the Redwings on Eblan, one of the Airships had returned to the ruined Kingdom to accept their unconditional surrender.
So it was really over.
That was interesting.
Also interesting was the concept of Cecil being a hero.
Kain drove all malice from his mind and forced himself to think objectively.
Of course Cecil was a hero. He was the Captain of the fleet which had won the war. That made sense. Cecil was a hero.
He was still a traitor, but he was a heroic traitor.
Then he realized that he was thinking too much, and thinking is dangerous. So he went to find Rosa.

"So how is he?"
Rosa threw him a sideways glance.
"Is that concern I hear?"
Kain shrugged self-consciously.
"Habit. Is he okay?"
She sighed.
"Yes, he's fine. A day asleep after he was returned fixed him up, along with magical aid. He'll not have a mark on him . . . from the explosion, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"I think the experience shook him terribly. Made him look at what he's become, and remember what we all used to stand for. Or you all, I should say. I never played much of an active role in it."
"No . . . so, what, is he finally shaping up?"
She blinked.
"I really couldn't tell you. I said he was shaken. But when you've been consumed totally like that . . . well, it's not easy to break out. And it can't be easy to break out, even if he wants to. He's in so deep . . . up to his neck, now. The King, I swear, almost treats him like his own son, anymore."
"That's all we need. King Cecil."
"Kain, be serious."
"Sorry."
"But what I don't understand is . . . hmm, you know, maybe Veronica might know."
Kain arched an eyebrow.
"Know what?"
"Why," and Rosa arched an eyebrow back, "if the war is over, are the Airships continuing to be built?"
Kain shrugged.
"I guess to find out why, you'd need to ask the King himself."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"You . . . you and Cecil've got something going now, haven't you?"
Rosa turned to him with an expression of total shock.
"N-no! W-whatever gave you that idea?!"
Kain tapped his foot.
"It's obvious. Everytime you mention his name, you get that dreamy look in your eyes."
Squaring her shoulders, Rosa staunchly informed him, "Kain, even if there were something going on between Cecil and I, which there isn't, it would be no business of yours."
And she turned and flounced away.
Kain almost burst out laughing. It was obvious. Terribly obvious.
Then a wave of melancholy flooded over him, startling him.
Why should it bother him? If Rosa wanted to squander away her trust and compassion on someone as disloyal and weak as Cecil, why should he oppose it? Rosa knew well what he was like, she was a big girl, and could make her own decisions.
BAMF!
It struck him.
This wasn't melancholy.
This was jealousy!
The realization struck him so hard that he had to sit quickly, or else lose his balance.
How had it never occurred to him before that he was in love with Rosa?
Maybe the same way that it never occurred to her that she was in love with Cecil.
But Rosa had come to symbolize everything left in the world to him. His one link to his past - the one person who remained untouched and unharmed by the King, the one person he still felt he could trust without endangering his own heart.
And now, he realized, there was more.
He shook his head.
It was so obvious the way she felt about Cecil. If he tried to intervene, he knew, she wouldn't have anything to do with him again, ever.
Best to keep his nose out of it, and accept her friendship.
Yes. It was better than nothing.
His heart screamed something vulgar to his brain, which shouted something terribly profane back, but he ignored them both and went to find something to eat.

)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Rapier - The Crystal of Water)

"Cecil."
Cecil glanced up at the King on his throne.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"I want you to take the Redwings and capture the Crystal of Water from Mysidia."
Cecil frowned. The Crystal of Water? What did the King want with . . .
"May I ask what purpose that would serve?" he inquired, his frown still in place.
The King frowned back.
"Disobeying me?!"
"No, Sir," Cecil quickly replied. "I just wondered what I should tell the crew if they ask."
Nodding, the King accepted that hurried comeback.
"It's very powerful," he told him. "And the Mysidians know too much of its secrets." He paused. "Possessing the Crystal is essential to our prosperity. The reasons for which will be made plain to you soon enough. Accept that for now."
Cecil nodded.
"Yes, My Liege."

As he backed out and headed for the Airships to clear the takeoff with Cid, he couldn't help but wonder what good it would possibly do to have the Crystal of Water. After all, it was just a Crystal. Right?
But that didn't make sense. The King had to want it for something.
What power could the Crystal possess, which was so dangerous that the King demanded it removed from the Mysidians' hands?
But did it really matter? After all . . . he had to follow his orders.
Just because of who he was.
Didn't he?
He realized he was thinking too much, and stopped.
Cid was making the final check on the newest Airship, Rapier. Dawn had been pronounced unsalvageable after the crash, and the already partially-built Airship was quickly completed to take its place.
Its coating of red paint was barely dry, but it would soon have its shakedown mission.
"Is it flight-ready?" Cecil asked Cid by way of greeting, startling the Engineer and making him jump nearly six miles.
Landing, Cid turned to him and grinned.
"Cecil, if you do that again, I will kill you."
Cecil nodded.
"I know. Is it flight-ready?"
Cid shrugged.
"Sure. What's up?"
"Oh . . . " Cecil suddenly felt uncomfortable. "The King's sending us on a trip."
Concerned, Cid frowned.
"Anywhere with catapults?"
"No. In fact, we won't attack from the air. We're supposed to land and move in."
Cid frowned deeper.
"Cecil . . . the war's over. Why is he sending you on an offensive mission?"
Cecil shrugged self-consciously.
"Euh . . . it shouldn't be . . . very offensive."
Cid tapped his foot impatiently.
"What is it?"
"He wants us to take the Crystal of Water from Mysidia."
"What?! What on Earth could be so important about a Crystal that he'd launch an attack on Mysidia?! They're our greatest allies!!"
Cecil held out his hands to convey his own cluelessness.
"I don't know!" he replied with another shrug. "I just know my orders."
Sulking, Cid turned back to the Rapier.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Watch yourself. Airborne monsters are getting more common."
Cecil nodded.
"I'd heard. Haven't encountered any on the Redwings yet, though."
"Yet," Cid emphasized.

A few hours later, the Redwings, with their new flagship fully operational, took off towards Mysidia. In a relatively short while, they neared the City.
"Captain Cecil, we are about to arrive!" the Navigator brightly told him.
Cecil nodded.
"Good."
He stood in the Command position, concentrating on their mission. Or trying to. He couldn't help but hear the restless conversation drifting between the crewmen.
"Why are we robbing crystals from innocent people?"
A good question. Cecil wondered about that himself.
"That's our duty," another replied, quietly, apparently hoping that Cecil wouldn't overhear.
Duty. There was that word again. But it wasn't a duty, it was a loyalty. Their duty was to the Kingdom . . .
"Do we really have to keep doing this?"
Cecil almost burst out laughing at the sullen question. That was the technical crewman, in charge of in-flight maintenance, lovingly referred to as the Techie. The one who had gone with Cecil to see to the fire on Dawn. He'd been sulking almost constantly ever since that mission. The question was just so . . . . him.

He and seven members of his crew disembarked at Mysidia, the others remaining on the Airships to keep them warmed up in case a speedy departure would be necessary.
As if. I doubt any Mysidians would last for a second against us.
Approaching and closing in silently on the Crystal, they paused at the sight of the Elder of Mysidia, along with his guard of two Black Wizards and one White Wizard. There were no fighters in Mysidia, really. They were all Scholars or Wizards.
Why were they doing this?
"Give us the Crystal of Water!"
The Elder blinked nervously at the demand, glancing at them, at his Wizards, then directly at Cecil.
"What have we done?" he asked in a weak voice.
Cecil just hoped he wouldn't have a heart attack and keel over. He didn't want to hurt him. He didn't want there to be any trouble between them. But his orders were as stood.
"The Crystal or your life!" Cecil snapped, knowing that the Elder couldn't see his uncertainty through his dark mask.
One of the Wizards clenched his fists around his staff.
"Never!" he spat, the fury blazing in his eyes.
"Then we'll take the Crystal by force!" Cecil declared, detaching himself from the scene as he always did.
The Mysidians took a frantic step back closer to the Crystal with a mix of fear and protectiveness.
Four of his crew advanced on them, striking out without a word. Just as they'd been trained.
"WAAAH!" came the startled cry of one of the Black Wizards, just before he was swooned by the blow. The other met the same fate.
Cecil sighed to himself. They would be taken back to Baron and locked in the dungeons for treachery. The treachery of protecting the property of their City.
The White Wizard watched, frenzied. Shaking, she took a step forward.
"No!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "Don't!"
"Dare to defy us?" snapped a crewman before Cecil could do more than register the innocence in this young Wizard's face. Why, she was hardly more than a child -
Three crewmen near her turned and attacked.
"ARRRGH!" she cried in astonished agony. That blow was probably more than she'd ever even pondered in her years. She fell almost instantly.
The Elder stepped forward.
At his movement, the crewmen all halted, watching him.
Trembling, the Elder glanced around at what they had done - at the unconscious bodies of his three Mages.
"My!" Surprise seemed to override his horror for a moment. "All right . . . take the Crystal!" he exclaimed.
"You should have said it earlier!" one of the crewmen informed him with, Cecil noted, a certain degree of regret.
If only he'd said it earlier. They could've spared the fate of these three Wizards. But now . . .
The Elder was pulled aside, and Cecil crossed the room to claim the Crystal. As his fingers touched its surface, he felt its tingle jump against his skin.
Yes. There was a power here. One he'd never known of, but, he supposed, that could very well pose a threat to the Kingdom. Perhaps the King was right.
He took it in his hands and headed for the door.
The Elder stepped away from the man who held him.
"Why is the King of Baron doing this?" he cried, overwrought. "Why do you pursue the Crystals so eagerly?"
So eagerly that he'd launch an attack against Mysidia?
Cecil paused at the door.
Whatever power the Crystal had, it hadn't protected the Mysidians. Whatever power indeed . . . this was piracy. They were stealing from defenseless people.

He wasn't the only one to harbor these concerns, it seemed.
"We take pride in being members of the Redwings!" one of his crewmen hotly informed him. "Looting is out of the question!"
A pang of fear struck Cecil, remembering what had happened to Kain all those years earlier.
"Stop it!" he warned, stepping forward. If they were reported speaking against the King's orders -
As one, the crew turned on him.
"Captain!" one of them objected.
"We can't stand doing this anymore!"
"Listen!" Cecil broke in, desperate to shut them up. He thought back to the information the King had given him to use in these circumstances. "Possessing the Crystal is an essential factor for our prosperity," he weakly recited. "Moreover, His Majesty judged that the Mysidians know too much about the secret of the Crystals." They looked at him skeptically, and Cecil knew he'd have to do better than that. "We are the Redwings, the Air Force of the Kingdom of Baron! The Royal Command is absolute."
He paused.
I can't believe I just said that.
"Captain!" came a shout from the front of the Airship. Looking up, Cecil saw one of the crewmen rushing towards them. "Monsters!"
Cecil smacked a hand against his forehead. Of all times.
Well, it provided a distraction.
"Take up fighting positions!" he ordered briskly, drawing his Sword.
He looked up. He didn't see them. Then they shot over the side, hovering over the deck, lashing out at the crew.
FloatEyes.
Summoning up his strength, Cecil quickly dealt with them, not wanting to get into a lengthy fight which might damage the new Airship. Cid would kill him if the paint was scratched.
They vaporized upon defeat.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the Techie, collapsed on the floor of the Airship from their initial attack.
"You okay?" Cecil inquired, concerned.
"More coming!" warned someone else.
Looking up, he saw the approach of the monster.
"Watch out!" he called, caught off guard and wounded slightly by the monster. But he dealt with it fairly easily.
Rubbing his slashed arm, he asked, "Everyone okay?"
The crew, flustered, gathered around him, flocking almost as if for protection.
"Yes, Sir!" the Navigator told him, although they all looked more than just a little disconcerted by the ordeal.
"But there are too many monsters these days . . . " someone mused.
"Too many, agreed," another agreed.
Cecil sighed and nodded. Too many monsters. But there was little they could do. Techie was a little binged up, there were minor wounds among himself and the others, but they were okay. That was all he could really ask for anymore.
The crew slowly took up their positions again, signaled to the other Airships what had happened, and continued the journey back to Baron.

After landing, Cecil made sure his people were safely off to their rooms and headed for the Castle himself, to report in.
Baigan met him at the gate.
"Oh, Cecil!" he greeted, as if surprised. "Is it the Crystal of Water?"
Cecil didn't stop to be confused by the question. Baigan never made much sense anymore.
"But the Mysidians were so helpless . . . " he heard himself sigh, still somewhat distraught by the incident.
Baigan frowned.
"What are you trying to say?"
Cecil swallowed nervously and didn't reply.
Still frowning, Baigan motioned for him to follow.
"This way, Cecil."
Cecil followed him as he headed for the Throne Room, but before they entered, Baigan stopped and turned to him.
"Please wait here."
And he went on, leaving Cecil standing there, wondering what was happening. At the same time the King seemed to begin acting oddly, so had Baigan. He still didn't know what to make of it.

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Choosing Sides)

Kain had watched the Redwings take off, but couldn't find out where they had gone. The only person who seemed to know was Cid, and he just shrugged and mumbled something under his breath, which meant to Kain that there must be dirty work afoot.
Cecil was probably on another mission of death from the King. And why not? Dark Knight, King's Pawn. Just another Pawn.
When the crew of the Redwings scurried through the Castle to their rooms, Kain grabbed one who didn't seem hurt and pulled him aside.
"Where did you guys go?" he inquired in a forcedly light tone.
The crewman sniffed.
"That concerns you how?"
Kain glared at him and he squirmed slightly. Always a good sign. Six foot, 7 inches - Kain found that he was a quite intimidating figure garbed in his Dragon armor - very handy for scaring the lesser minions.
"We went to Mysidia. For the Crystal of Water."
The Crystal of Water? They went to Mysidia to take the City's most prized treasure?
"Tell me," he said with a menacing grin. "Did they put up a fight?"
The crewman shrugged in an agitated manner, and Kain got the impression that he was decidedly unhappy with the turnout of his mission.
"They tried. But were easily defeated."
"So you just barged in on Mysidia and attacked? For their Crystal?"
"In a nutshell."
He turned and scurried off. Kain didn't stop him.
How could Cecil be doing this?! How could he be attacking innocent people head to head? It was one thing even to drop bombs on a group of fighters, it was something completely different to invade a peaceful city and forcefully loot!
In fury, he stalked off to the Throne Room. He didn't care what the King would do to him. He was going to go in there, and take Cecil down. For good.
Outside the Throne Room, the Guards, stiffened at his arrival, but didn't interfere with him after he glared at them, his fury showing through. And the voices from within drifted without.
"Good! Cecil . . . you may leave now."
It was the King. Congratulating Cecil on a job well done. That evil son of a -
"Your Majesty!"
That was Cecil. Kain frowned. He sounded distraught.
Suddenly, for the first time in over a year, it occurred to Kain that maybe Cecil was somehow innocent to his crimes. Hmm.
He continued listening.
"W-what?"
Of course, the King must've been startled out of his gourd to hear his loyal Dark Knight questioning him.
"W-what is it?"
Baigan. Where there was the King, there was always Baigan.
"We do not understand the meaning of taking Crystals away from honest people."
Cecil's voice was soft, almost too much so for Kain to make out his words. The anguish in them showed clearly through the tone.
Objectively, Kain. Think objectively.
"Disobeying me?"
"No, I'm not."
Of course not. He'd never dare do such a thing.
Kain paused.
Would he? Was it just that maybe he'd never dare?
"We do know of your discontent, Cecil." Discontent? "If you cannot trust me, I can no longer place the Redwings under your command. You are dismissed from your post!"
"Your Majesty!!"
Kain could hear the sound of a faint struggle, and a different rage suddenly filled him.
And after all, he suddenly remembered, he'd promised his mother that he would protect him as best as he could.
Heck! He was going to throttle Cecil, not some stupid Royal Bully!
"Go and hunt the Summoned Monsters of Misty Valley! And . . . " there was a pause, "take this package to the Village Mist. You may depart tomorrow morning!"
For a brief moment, Kain wondered if he really wanted to go through with what he was about to do.
Heck with it.
He threw the doors open.
"Your Majesty!" he called loudly, making sure everyone noticed him well.
He entered the room with a confident stride and stood next to Cecil, who looked at him in shock.
"Cecil didn't . . . " Kain began in an attempt to protect his - his - his acquaintance, but was cut off as the Guards pushed them back.
"If you're concerned about Cecil that much, go with him, Kain!" the King snapped.
Kain wrinkled his nose at the King with an expression of contempt. And he realized that he was concerned about Cecil. In fact, he was worried sick. He had been for a long time, but all his anger and hatred had gotten in the way.
Now, in this moment, that hatred was directed back to its original source - the King himself.
"Your Majesty!" Cecil cried.
Kain glanced at him, but was unable to read his expression. It was blocked by his helmet.
"Now!" the King ordered. "Leave with the package!"
He handed a small box to a Guard who handed it to Cecil. Then they were both pushed closer to the door.
"Your Majesty!" Cecil cried again, with a note of desperation in his voice.
But to no avail. They were both shoved out the door, which closed behind him.
Kain waited.
Cecil seemed afraid to say anything, but finally said in a tiny voice, "Sorry, Kain."
In that one statement, Kain could sense so much. Sorry not so much for the incident which had just happened, but for everything else . . .
"Don't worry," he replied in a consoling tone, deliberately misinterpreting. "He'll put you back in command of the Redwings after this mission."
Cecil looked up, confused.
"But - " he contradicted, trying to explain what he was really apologizing for, but Kain didn't want to hear it. He just couldn't stand to hear it.
"Never mind!" he snapped, and Cecil snapped his head back as if struck. Kain sighed and softened his tone. "Go back to your room and take a rest," he lamely finished.
Kain was feeling decidedly awkward with this situation. He hadn't spoken to Cecil in over a year. He hadn't even been able to think about him without being overcome with contempt. Just a few minutes ago, he'd been all set to tear his head off. Now he just couldn't think of anything to say.
He wouldn't let himself think of what had happened on the Redwings' trial mission. As long as he kept it out of his mind, maybe things could turn back to somewhat how they used to be.
But for now, he had to get out of here.
Turning and leaving Cecil, he headed off to one of the outer wings to get a drink and occupy himself.
Things could never be the way they were.
Never.
Cecil appeared at his side.
Kain looked at him for a moment before forcing a smile.
"What's wrong?" he lightly asked.
Cecil opened his mouth to say something, closed it, then opened it again.
"Sorry, Kain . . . "
"Oh, stop that!" Kain brightly said with just enough of an edge that usually warned people to let something be.
Cecil either missed it, or didn't care.
"I mastered the Dark Sword as commanded by His Majesty," he blurted. Kain said nothing, he knew that. He remembered clearly the day that Cecil had become the Dark Knight. "But it was to defend and not to rob!"
Kain sighed and lowered his head.
He knew that, too. He's always known it. Even Sir Rorunar had said that, as long as Cecil remained in good with the King, he could use his position to do good.
"Do not blame yourself," he told him in a soft voice. I've blamed you enough for us both. "His Majesty must have his own reason."
Whatever that reason was, however, may well turn out to decide the fate of both of them.

)---------- Cid ----------(
(Son of KluYa)

The idea of entering the house unasked in the middle of the night was a little disconcerting for Cid, but the urgency of Julia's message brought him there anyway.
As she'd told him, the door had been left unlocked, and he let himself in as quietly as he could.
"I'm glad you could come."
Julia lit a small candle next the chair in which she sat - a formality for her, because she couldn't see anyway, no matter how much light was in the room. Her blindness still shocked him. Somehow, it didn't seem possible that Julia of all people should receive such a disability.
"First chance I got, Julia. Everything's going to heck lately - what can I do for you?"
Cid took hold of a chair from the table and pulled it over next to her, and was about to sit, when she answered.
"He's here."
Cid stumbled right over the chair.
"Here?!"
He. The pronoun "he", under normal circumstances, which could mean just about anyone. In this case, though, he knew exactly who "he" was.
"Oh, not here, exactly, not in this house, but - "
"But you've seen him?"
"More than that, Cid."
Julia paused for a long moment, as if gathering her words still, after all the time which had passed since she'd summoned hem.
Cid righted the chair and sat in it, waiting. If she knew how to find one of the sons of KluYa, it was worth the wait.
"He's been coming to this house for eleven years. He befriended my son . . . "
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I couldn't be sure - not until just recently. I was, almost, but had to be certain."
"Yes . . . I guess that makes sense." For years, it had seemed as if she'd suspected something, but could never be "sure". Now, though . . . "Where is he now?"
"At home, with his stepfather."
"Stepfather?"
Something snapped inside of him.
"Yes."
"Dang it. Then . . . "
Then KluYa must be dead. And he must've sent off his children to somewhere safe. Was that what the message from the Mysidian had meant? How he didn't think they'd meet again, but the children were safe?
"Yes. He must not have completed his mission in time."
"I knew it. Then he's . . . "
"Apparently so. I'm sorry."
KluYa was dead. And he must have been for some time, if the child had been with Julia for eleven years. Cid sighed inwardly. All the hopes he'd somehow managed to keep going . . .
"I knew it." He had. Somehow, he'd known. He'd just managed to keep hoping - just a little bit. But he'd known. Deep down. "Now it's up to the kid . . . which one?"
"Cecil."
"Hm." He remembered Cecil - CeCil. That last day he'd seen KluYa, when he'd picked him up, then sent him to his mother. "I wonder whatever happened to . . . " The other. The one who still didn't have a known identity.
"I don't know. Cecil never mentioned such a person, I'm not sure he knows he even existed."
Cid frowned. KluYa wouldn't've wanted them separated, he knew. Something else must've happened to the other . . .
"What's he doing?"
"He is going to be a Dragoon."
"Really." Cid considered that if it was up to Cecil to fight off the great evil KluYa had been sent to vanquish, this was a good thing. "I guess that's a good sign . . . "
"He's a good child - I think that, whatever his mission is, he'll manage it."
"Too bad we don't know what it is . . . "
"I'm certain he doesn't have any idea. He doesn't know about any of it."
"And I'd been told not to tell him. I promised I wouldn't."
"I will not endanger him with this knowledge either."
"Maybe I should say something to Rorunar - "
"No. If he is to be able to face what is ahead, he must be strong, and he must learn the same way everyone else does, without any favor."
"It wouldn't be fair to the others anyway, I guess."
"No, it wouldn't. And I'm not sure how much trust I'd place in him anyway. They say he's descended from an Esper . . . " Julia paused and looked sightlessly over at Cid, her manner laughing. They both knew what Rorunar was like. But they'd both trust him with their lives. Then her expression changed abruptly. "The King is dying."
Cid raised an eyebrow. He'd only recently heard that himself.
"How did you know?"
"I could feel it."
"Julia, you're getting pretty weird."
"I know. But I like it."
"Marion never knew what she was missing . . . "
"Magic is not my strong point, Cid. It never was. I'm just an Empath, and an untrained one at that. Little good I'd've ever been to her. I had other things to deal with."
"Like the son of KluYa?"
"Among others."
"Oh yeah, your own kids, right?" Cid jibed, knowing how attached she was to those two. And he'd just taken her daughter on as a worker. Good kid.
"Cid, you're weirder than I'll ever be."
"Thanks. But you're right - the King's dying, and that stupid Prince . . . "
Julia raised a hand to silence him.
"Things may turn out for the best, you know."
Cid raised his eyebrows.
"The best? Gosh only knows what that's gonna be!"
"Just wait. You may be surprised."
She reached toward him, and he took her hands in his own, gripping them tightly. Julia had been perhaps his closest friend ever since KluYa had left so many years ago. Outside of Matryad, of course. It was good to know that one of the children they'd been seeking all those years was in her hands. Very good to know.
As long as Cecil remained under Rorunar's jurisdiction, Cid supposed, there was little reason to worry about him. Rorunar would make sure he was trained properly and with the correct mentality. The only concern was that he would turn out weird . . . but then, KluYa had been pretty weird himself. Perhaps Rorunar would do the kid a favor.
He just wished somehow that he could've played a more active role in Cecil's upbringing. As it was, he'd never known the child was around for the past decade. And he'd given his word to KluYa to look after his children if he found them . . . well, he'd done the best he could. Julia had done what he couldn't. As long as someone did . . .
Without another word to her, he got up and quietly left. Julia had hated good-byes for as long as he could remember, and he didn't want to antagonize her now.
He wondered what had become of the other child.


)---------- Cecil ----------(
(Also Choosing Sides)

Feeling like he was in a daze, Cecil went and left Kain where he was, heading for his room. He had a lot to think about, he realized, that he should have dealt with a long time ago.
"Cecil!"
A little startled, Cecil turned and saw Rosa coming up to him.
"You're not hurt?" she inquired, looking him over. "I was so anxious."
Cecil snorted with contempt.
"We weren't hurt. How could we be? The Wizards didn't even raise their hands."
He didn't really want to deal with her prying, and turned to continue on.
"Cecil!"
Of course, as always, she wasn't going to let it slide.
"Can I see you later?"
Cecil's heart did a flip-flop, although he wasn't exactly sure why.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Later." He didn't want to talk. He needed to think.
Rosa left, going on her way, and he did likewise.
"Cecil!"
For cryin' out loud, now what?!?!
Looking around for the source of the voice, he saw Cid waving.
Probably wants to make sure I didn't wreck another Airship.
Indeed, the moment Cid bounded down beside him, the first thing out of his mouth was, "How's my Airship doing?" Then he frowned, looking at Cecil closely.
Cecil was getting sick of everyone examining him.
" . . . What's wrong?"
Sighing, not wanting to get into it but knowing he had no choice, Cecil explained to him what had just happened.
"What?!"
Cid did not appear to be happy.
"Who's gonna command the Redwings then?"
Yeah, we all know where Cid's priorities lie.
"I don't know what the King's thinking," Cid continued, choosing his words carefully. "He ordered me to make an Airship, but I don't want it to be used as a weapon!"
Cecil nodded, knowing well what he meant. The Airships were supposed to be the means by which Baron could end the war. Now that their purpose had been ended, the fact that construction was still being done at full speed, and the Airships were suddenly being turned to more dour purposes was really making Cid upset. And with good reason.
Sir Rorunar wouldn't have liked it either.
Cid shook himself and brightened up a bit.
"Well, I gotta go home. I've been working all night, and my daughter is worried about me."
He left, and Cecil wondered that he never mentioned his wife anymore. Then he continued up to his room, feeling that at that moment, he really didn't even want to think about what was going on in Cid's family.
Cid's mother, one of the Castle Maids, almost ran him down.
"I've changed the sheets," she informed him in her bustling manner. "Leaving early tomorrow morning, Sir? Good night."
Cecil grimaced. She knew he hated it when she called him "Sir".
Finally shutting his door and plopping into bed with a certain degree of relief, he turned things over in his mind.
What exactly had just happened? That morning, things were just as they'd been for . . . well, however long they'd been that way. He was Captain of the Redwings, the King's personal Secret Service, mortal enemies with an old friend, and struggling faintly with a pang of guilt that haunted him everytime he let it.
Now, let's see. He'd been relieved of his command, the King was torked, Kain had, for some reason, stood up for him, and he couldn't shake the haunting memory of what had happened that day. Not for anything.
He sighed.
"What's happened to His Majesty?" he mumbled out loud. The King had always been stupid and belligerent, but never malevolent. "The Crystal of Mysidia . . . did we really have to snatch it from peace-loving people?" Maybe the Techie'd had a point.
Most haunting in his memory was the White Wizard, the young woman who had been so frightened by their approach, who had begged them to leave, to not harm anyone else.
And what had they done?
Taken her down, and brought her back to Baron as a prisoner. She was most likely in the dungeons now, with the other two.
And why? Why?
She was so much like . . . Rosa.
Cecil clenched his fists to his sides.
"Never again!" he vowed aloud. Then he added, in a lower tone, "Even if ordered."
In which case, it would be treason of the highest order for him.
But he found that he didn't really care anymore.

Most of the journey was made in silence by them both. Cecil felt that he should say something, but couldn't think of a single way to start, so he thought it would be best if he just held his tongue.
The trip to Misty Cave took considerably longer than he'd figured. All the Airship travel had spoiled him, he realized.
The silence was almost smothering. But, as he reasoned, Kain had rammed his own way into this, if he had something to say, let him start the dialogue.
And he did.
There had been quite a few monsters on the path they'd taken, and after about the fourth or fifth battle, he stopped walking and looked at Cecil.
Cecil stopped also, feeling nervous.
Kain tapped his foot for a long moment, then sighed.
"Listen, Cecil," he began in a slightly curt tone, "we haven't been on the best of terms. I don't want to get into that, and I won't. But if we're going to be fighting together, then we have to trust each other."
Cecil nodded.
"You're right."
He felt he should go on, but couldn't think of anything to say. Kain didn't either, and they continued walking.

"Jeez!" Kain exclaimed as they entered the Cave. "Now I see why they call this the Misty Cave!"
"Ugh," Cecil replied, squinting. The fog was pretty thick, but his eyes adjusted slowly. "Can we go on?"
Kain sneezed.
"Like we have a choice. King's orders, and all. Y'know, both under his thumb."
Cecil glanced at him, trying to detect any malice that may have been in his tone, but the Dragoon's face held no contempt. In fact, he was grinning slightly, which startled Cecil all the more.
"Well," Kain said, raising his eyebrows and waving his thumbs around for added effect. "Are we going?"
And they proceeded inward.
"Go back . . . !"
That stopped them.
Kain glanced quickly at Cecil, who frowned and glanced back.
"Who is it?" he called.
No response came, so he shrugged and continued on. Kain followed, looking a little uncertain.
The voice, whoever it was, didn't seem to have anything else to say. After all, they were almost to the exit, surely they could make it out without further incident.
"Leave now . . . !"
Or maybe not.
"Is it a monster?" Kain speculated.
"Ones from Baron . . . "
"Who are you?!" Kain snapped into the darkness, looking quite unhappy.
Kain never did like to be left in the dark, Cecil reflected.
"Return now and I will not harm you."
Cecil winced. Wrong answer.
"Show up!" Kain demanded, infuriated by the confident threat.
"Do you still wish to go on?"
The voice seemed almost plaintive. Cecil decided now was the time to step in.
"We must deliver this package to the Village Mist!" he informed the voice.
For a moment, there was silence, as if the voice were considering what to do.
"Then I must!"
"I don't like the sound of that," Kain informed him in a whisper.
The next moment, they were both blown off their feet by the rush of the fog in the cave coming together and forming -
"What the heck is that?!" Cecil exclaimed.
"It's a Mist Dragon!" Kain told him. He jumped back to his feet. "C'mon - we have to fight!"
The Dragon attacked, emphasizing Kain's words.
And so they fought it. It was probably one of the hardest battles Cecil had ever fought, he later reflected. They won, though, without too too much damage, and hurried out of the Cave.
This place was freaky.

* * *

A jolt ran through his body. Cecil could feel it.
He opened his eyes, suddenly realizing that they were closed.
And he was lying down.
Huh?
What the -
Rosa was sitting beside him.
Rosa?
"Cecil!" she exclaimed, reaching forward and grabbing his hands. "How do you feel?"
He blinked.
What was going on? A moment ago, he'd been with Kain, just leaving the Misty Cave. How had he gotten here - to his own room? He suddenly realized. Only things were different than how he'd left them . . .
He looked up at Rosa, confused.
And she was wearing a crown.

)---------- Cid ----------(
(The Hovercraft)

"So," Cid told Veronica, dropping the diagrams in front of her, "this is what they sent us."
She raised an eyebrow and turned her dark red eyes to the paper, looking it over.
"They called this a what?"
"A Hovercraft," Cid reminded her. "The plans came from Damcyan - they're begging for help, because their Engineering staff just isn't up to par with ours."
"Oh, I could've told them that. No one's is," she absently said, still looking over the paper. "So, you're showing this to me because . . . . "
"Because, Veronica, you have a better understanding for things like this than anyone else in the staff. I know, I've been watching you all," he informed her. "I'm sure this thing is decipherable, and we can get a plan that makes sense up to Damcyan for them, but I'm gonna need a hand with it. You know, being Head Engineer keeps me pretty busy."
"Ha!" she snapped lightly. "You just never have anything useful to do, so you occupy yourself with enigma diagrams from other Kingdoms. Why, I'm amazed you haven't stolen away to Eblan to copy their catapult designs."
Cid grimaced.
"The idea has been proposed."
"You're kidding."
"Not by me, but it's been proposed."
Veronica sighed.
"You're all crazy. You know that, right?"
Cid grinned.
"And you joined us. What's that say about you?"
She blinked.
"Nothing we didn't both already know, dear Cid."
He was about to give her a biting reply, but was cut off by the emergency bell ringing through the Kingdom.
"What now?" he muttered under his breath as the two of them headed for the door to find out what was going on.
"Hey!" Veronica called, catching hold of a frantic walker. "What's going on?!"
He blinked at her.
"The King is dead!"
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
He turned to hurry on his way, and charged right in front of a wagon, forcing it into the other side of the street, where there were wagons coming the other way. Rather than getting out of the way of the wagon, he just stood there in front of it, gawking, until the driver yelled at him and he moved, letting the wagon get back on his side of the road and out of the crazed traffic.
Veronica shook her head.
"People like that give walkers bad names," she informed Cid.
Cid shook his head.
"We've got far more important things to worry about now," he reminded her. "If the King is dead, then that stupid Prince . . . "
Veronica groaned.
"Oh, crud. This sucks!"

* * *

"Sucks? I've got another word for it entirely," Cid mumbled. Then he frowned. Then he opened his eyes and sat up.
Merny, his daughter, sat beside him, glaring at him.
"Another word for what?" she asked in a concerned tone.
Cid frowned deeper.
"Huh? Wh - what happened? What's going on?"
Merny grinned slightly.
"Dad, that's just like you. Stay unconscious for three days, and forget all about it . . . "
Cid rubbed his head.
"What are you talking about? I was just chatting with Verny . . . where is she, anyway? What's going on? What about the King?"
Suddenly blinking with concern, Merny seemed uncertain to say what he was about to hear.
"Dad . . . don't you remember anything?"
"I remember - the last thing I remember was hearing that the King died, and some stupid walker almost causing a big wreck right in the middle of the City."
"Oh my . . . "
"Merny, what's going on? How did I get here? You say I was out for three days? Well, what happened? Is Veronica okay?"
"Dad . . . Veronica's dead. She's been dead for almost half a year now."
"What?!"
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Merny seemed to be thinking deeply.
"Relax, Dad, I know exactly what you're going through. It was the same thing when I woke up . . . your memory will return. Now just rest."

)---------- Kain ----------(
(Golbez)

It didn't take long for them to reach the Village once the Cave was cleared.
Kain was humming a song that was stuck in his head, but that he couldn't quite place.
Don't you just hate it when that happens?
He was debating over what would happen when they returned to Baron. What to do with Cecil. The poor guy . . . Rosa was right. He was just so far under the King's spell, it was amazing to think he'd actually stood up for himself a moment the night before.
Cecil needed help. He knew that. Cecil had needed help for a long time, but Kain had turned against him when he needed that help most.
Some best friend he'd turned out to be.
"Here we are," Cecil informed him as they entered the Village.
Kain nodded silently, not feeling a need to comment.
"CC-crud!!" came Cecil's astonished shout.
Turning, Kain was just in time to see the package Cecil held burst open and release a horde of Fireballs into the Village -
"What?!" he exclaimed, as the Fireballs quickly latched onto the structures of the Village, burning everything in sight.
Cecil stood frozen.
"We've brought this package to . . . " He trailed off, weakly.
"Burn the village?" Kain completed, feeling his world rocked.
This must've been about what happened a year ago, he suddenly realized. Cecil had been sent to kill off Rorunar and his people, but maybe he hadn't even realized it until -
Cecil took a dazed step forward, looking around as the Village continued to burn.
He shook his head slowly, eyes wide.
"Why?" he whispered.
Kain opened his mouth to say something, but then a tiny voice reached them.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
Cecil snapped back to his senses.
"Who's that?" he asked.
Kain shrugged, and they both trailed the crying to the source.
The source was a little girl kneeling beside a still form on the ground.
Her mother, Kain realized.
They had just killed a little girl's mother.
She looked up, knocking back her tears at the sight of them.
"My Mom's dragon fell so my Mom did too . . . " she sniffled.
A light-bulb went on over Kain's head.
"I've heard of people with the power to summon monsters," he said hurriedly. "They are Callers!"
Cecil blinked, not asking how he'd heard. Kain was glad. He'd heard all about them from Sir Rorunar . . . who had insisted that schooling continue for all younger members of his army, so as to avoid having any "idiots" under his command: "You've all heard of Espers, haven't you? Think, for once!"
"We defeated the dragon," Cecil realized, "so her mother is gone also."
Kain turned to him in shock, apparently as unable to comprehend this as he himself was.
The girl registered what he'd said and took a horrified step back away.
They turned to her.
"You!" she snarled. "You've beaten my mother's Dragon!" She screamed with the fury of a heartbroken child, which she was.
Cecil tried to calm her down.
"We didn't mean to do this to your mother," was all he could say.
And what could he say? That they'd both been duped, and thus killed off her people?
Kain was familiar with the fury she felt. It wasn't going to be as easy as that.
He turned to Cecil.
"His Majesty wanted to wipe out the Callers of this Village and used us to do it."
"Incredible!" was all Cecil could think to say, as if he couldn't believe this had happened to him. Again.
Kain swallowed, knowing that whatever happened now would determine the fate of both of them.
"I'm afraid we must do away with her, too," he blandly informed Cecil with practiced nonchalance.
Cecil looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Kain!" he objected. "She's just a kid!"
Kain grinned to himself. Maybe there was just enough of Cecil left in all that black armor to be resurrected.
"You dare to renounce your loyalty to His Majesty?" he inquired in a severely sweet voice.
"Forget it!" Cecil yelled with such fury that Kain felt almost winded. "Never again will I follow such an order!"
Kain was astonished. Cecil was so furious that he actually moved to attack him!
He took a step back.
"Well, Cecil," he replied with a relieved tone. Cecil dropped some of his fury and looked confused. "I knew you'd say so." And this time, you didn't let me down . . . Slowly, a grin touched his features. "I won't let you do it alone."
Cecil frowned, looking more confused every moment.
"Kain?"
"I owe His Majesty much," Kain told him, remembering what Rorunar had said to him after Crescent Mountain. "Still, I cannot disgrace the Dragoons."
Cecil suddenly registered some understanding.
"Then will you . . . "
"But Baron is the mightiest country in the world," Kain reminded him. "It's impossible for us to challenge its might alone. We must get other countries to join us." Excepting Mysidia, of course, who may have at once been their best choice in this situation . . . Then another thought his him. Like a ton of bricks. "And you know . . . we must rescue Rosa!"
Cecil sighed.
"Thank you, Kain."
Kain deliberately misunderstood him once more.
"Not for your sake," he replied with a sudden bitterness. Then he stomped it down. He wouldn't start thinking about Rosa. Not now.
He took one last look at the remains of the burning Village Mist.
"Let's get out of here fast!" he suggested, knowing that the King would be sending someone to check their work. "What about that girl?"
At this, the girl looked back up at them.
Cecil looked at her.
"We can't leave her here alone!" he stated.
True - she wouldn't survive if they left her here.
They took a step closer to her, not wanting to alarm her.
"Listen," Cecil told her in a consoling tone. "It's dangerous here. Come with us . . . okay?"
"No!" was her simple reply. She backed away from them, looking scared.
Kain knew they had to hurry, or none of them would get out of this burning Village without being scalded to death. So, dashing all caution, he went up to the girl.
"Let's take her!" he told Cecil.
Cecil nodded, understanding the hurry.
The girl, however, did not.
"No!" she repeated. "Go away!"
She backed away farther, as if to run.
"Wait!" Cecil exclaimed. "Please!"
They tried to catch her.
"Go away!" she repeated, stamping her foot. "I hate you! I hate you all!"
Kain winced, recognizing the words. How freely such things seemed to flow after the loss of a loved one . . .
But there was no time. They had to get her, and they had to get out.
The pair of them tried to catch her and drag her out by force if they had to. She'd calm down later, and they could take her somewhere safe -
Unfortunately, the girl seemed to have other ideas.
As they closed in on her, Kain realized that she was chanting something under her breath. Before he could stop to think, a green light filled the air, and the ground shook with a sudden impact.
Turning in shock, he saw - what the heck?
What was -
Whatever it was, it shook the Earth again, and Kain felt his footing disappear, and his head crack against the ground with added force that dazed him. Looking up through the stars in his vision, he saw the creature raise his foot to stomp the ground again.
When it did, it was the last thing Kain was aware of.

How much later it was when he awoke, he didn't know. And when he did, the pain in his head almost knocked him right back out again.
He tried to raise his head to look around, but after just a moment had to let it fall back to the ground. The world still seemed to be shaking and spinning all around him.
Just be still . . . wait for your balance to return . . .
" . . . Cecil?"
No reply came.
Again, he forced himself to raise his head, then managed to prop himself up on one arm and look around.
The ruin of the Village was near, he could see it. But past it, and quite near him, was the aftermath of some avalanche. Most likely, brought down by that monster the little girl had Summoned.
Cecil . . . he and the girl were nowhere in sight. He wondered . . . maybe they were on the other side.
"Well, good morning, Kain," came a cheerful voice that hurt his head.
Turning sharply and then wincing as the movement increased the throbbing in his skull, Kain winced again at who he saw standing near him.
Baigan, of course.
And behind him, one of the Airships.
They must've come to make sure the job was finished.
"Morning," he greeted in a sullen and painridden tone. "Happen out here often?"
Baigan was having none of it.
Reaching down and grabbing Kain, he pulled him to his feet, holding him by the collar of his armor.
"Where's Cecil?" he demanded.
Kain shrugged.
"Dunno."
Baigan released him, and he collapsed back down on the ground.
Jeez, he felt so weak . . .
"We'll find him," he was told. "And you . . . you may just serve us a greater purpose."
Kain didn't like the sound of that.
A Black Wizard came up behind him, chanting a spell with much care.
"SLEEP," he concluded, and Kain watched the world once again go dark.

The next time he woke up, it was without the pain, but with far more of the confusion.
He was tied up in an odd chair in an odd room. A room that seemed to be made totally of crystal and machinery.
Before him stood a strange man he'd never seen, dressed in a gaudy blue getup. Everything about this man seemed to be shrouded in darkness, but one thing shone through it. His blazing green eyes.
"Hello, Kain," he greeted. "At last we meet, face to face. My name is Golbez. I'm certain we will be good friends."
"You have quite a way with your friends, then," Kain replied, nodding to his bound hands and feet.
The one calling himself Golbez laughed.
"Well, you see, not just yet."
Kain frowned.
"Who are you?"
"I told you."
"You told me your name. You didn't tell me who you are."
Golbez laughed again.
"You'll find out soon enough, Dragoon. Let me just say this. You didn't like the King much, did you?"
Kain wasn't sure where this was going.
"No comment? Well, the King works for me."
Kain blinked, startled.
Golbez waved his hand around, taking in the structure they were in.
"Welcome to the Tower of Zot! My home, that of my Elemental Fiends, and yours as well, once you are sworn to my service!"
"Erm . . . did I miss something here?"
"Your pal Cecil made off with one of the Callers. That concerns me, because it threatens my position. Since I don't like threats much, I'm just going to have to do away with them both. And you, you are going to help me in my conquest of the world."
Kain fought against his bounds.
"Um, no. No, I don't think so."
"Oh, don't even try to escape. The ropes are enchanted. You can't break them." Golbez grinned. "Now let's just see how difficult it is to break you."
Kain glared at him.
"Shove it," he snapped. "I didn't like the King, and I'm sure I like you even less. I don't know exactly what your game is, but don't count on me being a part of it."
Golbez didn't say anything, but Kain could feel the tingle in the air that signified a magical spell of enormous magnitude. Something was happening.
Everything seemed to glow.
From deep within, Kain could feel all the anger and hatred which he'd been breeding for the past year welling up and exploding throughout him.
He felt a sudden urge to destroy.
Destroy. Cecil.
. . . No . . . he fought it down. No, he'd been through this. He'd just finally managed to do away with all that hatred -
Or had he?
He shook his head as he felt the brainwashing spell begin to settle in.
It couldn't.
He wouldn't let it.
Golbez seemed impressed. And the tingle shot through the air again.
All of Kain's negative emotions and stubborn will turned inward, molding themselves. Golbez. Golbez was his master. He had to serve him - it was the only way he'd ever get his revenge . . .
No, no, he had to stand against it - Golbez was warping his mind to his own purposes -
But the power of his own anger was overcoming him.
"So tell me," Golbez suggested in a light tone, "exactly what would be the best way to get at this great Cecil?"
Kain seethed at him, but bit his tongue against any words.
The magical tingle filled the air once more.
Kain felt what was left of his own mentality leave him.
"Rosa," he said. "Get Rosa. Cecil loves her." I love her. "He'll come back for her." But she'll be mine. Finally. She'll be mine.

* * *

"Can't you keep him still? He's going to hurt himself!!"
"Me?! You're the White Mage around here!"
"Like you're not?! You're his friend! You calm him down! He's thrashing like crazy!"
"No he's not! He just stopped, so calm down yourself!"
The voices rang through his mind, and his own consciousness cut back through. Through this brainwashing process.
They'd almost had him. Almost. But now - now he'd retained himself somehow.
How? What had just happened?
Who was talking?
"Is he waking up?"
Feeling thoroughly upset with the treatment this Golbez character was giving him, he opened his eyes and prepared to give whoever it was a few choice words, but halted frozen.
"Rosa?"
"Kain!"
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
Bed?
Kain looked around. He was no longer in Zot.
Cecil rushed across the room to join her.
Cecil?
Kain squeezed his eyes closed a few times, wondering if he was delirious.
"Kain," Rosa said, "how are you feeling? Okay?"
"Huh?" was all he could think to say.
"Cut that out!" snapped someone else. Turning, he saw a Ninja floating above him. "Wake up, man! It's about time!! Now hurry, before it's too late!!"
Kain shook his head.
Huh?
"Kain." This was Cecil talking. "I know how you feel, it was the same way when I woke up. Um, do you know where you are?"
Kain looked around again.
"Yeah. This is my room."
"Yes. It is. D-do you know who we are?"
Kain squinted at them.
"You look like Cecil and Rosa, only you're dressed up like the King and Queen."
Cecil and Rosa exchanged a look.
"Erm, we are," Rosa told him.
" ? "
"It'll all come back."
"If you say so. Who's that?" He pointed at the floating Ninja.
The Ninja looked astounded.
"What do you mean, who am I?!?! You idiot, how could you've forgotten?!"
Cecil frowned.
"Um, there's no one there, Kain."
"Wait," Rosa interceded, "it may be Edge. Remember, only Kain can see him."
"Who's Edge?" Kain demanded, frustrated.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Cecil inquired.
Kain raised an eyebrow.
"Being brainwashed. How . . . what happened?"
Cecil shook his head.
"Don't worry. It'll come back to you. It's the same way with everyone when they first wake up - they lose their memory from the last thing in their flashback through the point where they lost consciousness. But it'll come back."
"Huh?"
Cecil smiled.
"Relax. Just give it a couple of hours or so."
"NO!" shouted the Ninja. "We don't have a couple of hours to spare!! They're already on their way!!!!!"
"Um . . . there's a floating Ninja who says we don't have time."
Rosa frowned.
"What's he saying, exactly?"
The Ninja looked at her for a moment.
"Tell her that Kormag launched the Falcon a few hours ago. They intend to attack at Midnight tonight, as a symbol of the Year's End."
Kain blinked and repeated that to Rosa, who winced.
"Great. That's all we need."
Cecil frowned.
"They're launching an Airship in this weather? But the propellers'll freeze! They won't make it!"
"YES THEY WILL!!!!" the Ninja shouted.
"He says they will," Kain blandly told them.
Cecil used a few choice words than cannot be repeated in a PG fic.
"We've gotta go," he told Kain, regret lacing his tone. "Euh - we'll be back as soon as we can. Don't push it - just concentrate on getting your memories back. You'll be all right."
He and Rosa turned and hurried from the room.
Kain frowned up at the floating Ninja.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The Ninja sighed.