11)---------- In Which, Edge makes a speech

11)---------- In Which, Edge makes a speech.

"Well," Bahamut said with a degree of surprise. "You did it, then, after all?"

Rydia shook her head.

"Yes, yes, but we have to hurry!! It's gotta be almost midnight in Baron! How fast can you fly?"

Bahamut tilted his head to one side.

"You would ask me?"

Rydia helped Edge to his feet.

"That sounds promising," she whispered to him.

Cecil ran from the Castle to the area outside the Kingdom reserved for storage and repair of the Redwings.

"Launch!!!" he yelled, seeing the propellers motionless above the Airships.

No one heard him, it seemed, although he'd given the order officially a few moments ago. They should've already been in the air.

He continued running, coming right up into the shipyard.

Torram, Captain of the Redwings from Les Cheveux, swung down from his Airship's deck to meet his former commander.

"Sir!" he exclaimed as Cecil skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Why aren't you in the air?! We're going to be under fire within ten minutes at the rate Falcon's coming!!" Cecil snapped frantically.

"We can't launch, Captain Cecil!!" Torram insisted, for a moment forgetting and referring to Cecil by his former title. "The propellers have frozen!"

Cecil got an evil glare in his eyes.

"Thaw them out," he ordered in a frighteningly calm voice.

Torram shook his head.

"Sir, you're dealt with the Redwings enough to know that we can't do that! If we push it, we might lose the propellers altogether - and then we'd have lost the Airships!"

"And if we don't get them in the air before Falcon attacks, we might lose the Kingdom!!"

"Sir!!"

"You know it! Our strength is in our Airships, and they're no good on the ground!"

"We've been trying, Your Majesty! They won't go! The propellers are frozen, we can't launch!!"

Cecil waved a frantic arm at the incoming hulk of the Falcon, suddenly realizing what it must have felt like to be in Eblan or Damcyan or one of the other Kingdoms destroyed by the Redwings. Having led attacks himself, he knew very, very well the danger they were in.

"Falcon is in the air! It's possible! Torram, get those Airships in the air!!!!"

A torrent of shouts drew their attention to the Bounty.

The crew of the deck was quickly evacuating in any way possible, which for the most part meant jumping down over the side. Not a good idea, when one considered how large an Airship is - what could make them all - ?

A loud creaking reached them, and then the main propeller on Bounty made a loud screech.

For a split second, the world moved in slow motion.

With a great clang, the propeller jumped into action - its frozen gears finally winning out against the ice which held them, snapping against it with the built up force from the repeated attempts to start it up.

For a briefest of moments, it spun in place.

Then the shattering motion that had begun in the frozen gears spread - the frozen components shattered along with the ice, spraying a shower of mechanical pieces over the area. And then, after teetering for what seemed like an eternity, the propeller flew off its perch, screaming up into the air, and quickly veering back to the ground.

"Get down!!!!" Torram bellowed as he and Cecil automatically hit the deck.

The propeller made impact with the ground a little distance away from them, fortunately crashing harmlessly into the hillside separating the hangar area from the City.

And kept moving.

Cecil watched in the most morbid horror he'd ever felt, or so it seemed, as the raging blade seemed to propel itself over the hillside, destroying everything it touched, sending trees and various temporary buildings in its path shattering into thousands of pieces, and still, it continued spinning and moving.

"Disengage the others," he murmured to Torram. "Have them turn off the other propellers . . . "

Torram didn't say anything. He turned and hurried to relay the order.

Cecil kept watching the propeller move, until it finally turned on itself, burrowing into the hill itself, which slowed and halted its motion after a few moments.

Is that like us, then? he mused. We, Baron, reached our breaking point years ago in the war, but broke free of our icy prison with the invention of the Airships . . . which sent us spinning out of control on conquest . . . only to end up making a wrong turn and destroying ourselves . . .

"King Cecil?"

He turned, still dazed by the incident, to find the members of the Redwings standing before him.

"Orders?"

Thinking quickly, he told someone to fetch a Black Wizard. Maybe one of them would be able to thaw the propellers with a weak FIRE spell and get the remaining Airships up before too much damage was done -

Such was his thought train when the first Fireball was catapulted from Falcon into the Kingdom of Baron. And the explosion was so great that they could see the flames even from over the hill.

Kain took one wild look as the Fireball hit the Kingdom and split.

The damage was minimal - the aim had been off. Perhaps whoever had launched the Fireball hadn't taken into consideration the differences of launching a normal catapult to launching one bound to a rapidly approaching Airship -

But if the catapults were all armed, then they had even less time than planned to get everyone to safety.

He skid to a halt at the place the Fireball had hit and felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach.

The blow had destroyed the Serpent Gate.

There was no way to get the people of Baron to safety.

Crud.

Of course, he wasn't the only one to realize this, and almost instantly the populace panicked, charging frenzied all around him.

Turning, he slammed straight into -

"Jason!" he exclaimed at his former (very former) classmate, who rubbed his head and looked at him in shock.

Of course. Jason had recently been placed in charge of training the new order of the Knights -

"We've gotta get everyone safe! Get your people on it!" he called, rushing away, not stopping to see if he listened. And there was a good chance he didn't. After all, Knight, Dragoon . . . not a good mix. But maybe he'd act on common sense and do his part -

Falcon struck again, this time destroying completely the Weapons shop and all surrounding houses. Kain winced as people ran screaming.

Out of the Kingdom. Get them out of the Kingdom.

"Out of the Kingdom! Get out of the Kingdom!!!!" he yelled.

Kain, his students, and the entire order of Knights jumped on the issue, directing the crazed citizens to the only remote impersonation of safety - someplace as far away from Baron as they could get.

Rosa was already mustering the Wizards when Cecil's orders came in for five Black Mages to come thaw the Airships. It didn't make sense at first.

There were seven Airships in Baron's employ - the five Redwings, the Enterprise, and the new one built to replace Horizon, which was beginning to feel its age, the Serpentine. Rapier was at the Great Library, so there were six currently in Baron.

So why did Cecil only want five people?

Then she forced the thought out of her mind.

Quickly dispatching the Black Wizards, she'd been about to say something to those remaining, but was cut off by the fiery explosion outside.

"YAAH!" she screamed along with most of them. Rushing to the window, she saw the damage the first Fireball had done.

"They're using catapults! On an Airship!" she realized, a queasy feeling filling her. Shaking herself to bring her attention fully back to the present, she turned to the Wizards.

"White Mages," she ordered in a cool voice, "People are hurt out there. Get going."

With faint murmured, they brushed past her.

"Black Mages."

They looked at her expectantly.

"The Falcon's attacking from a greater distance than we'd considered - our weapons won't be able to do a thing until we get the Redwings moving. Get out there and see what damage you can do."

They nodded and followed their counterparts.

Rosa turned to Cid.

"Why does Cecil only want five Airships thawed?" was the first thing he asked.

"I don't know. I wondered myself. Something may have happened."

"Already? They haven't even gotten off the ground!"

"Cid, will you get a grip?! We're under attack!"

"Oh, you're right. Let's go check in with Cecil - "

"Your Majesty!!"

Rosa turned in sudden fear only to see the person she wanted to see least.

"Uriat?!"

"Your Majesty, you must get to safety!"

"You're nuts! They need me!" she shouted, hurrying right past him and out of the Castle, Cid on her heels.

Another Fireball had already struck, taking out one of the shops and some houses. Rosa could already see her people on it, working with the wounded, and could also see the Black Wizards weaving their spells in the general direction of the Airship.

"Rosa, we - " Cid began.

A burning crash erupted behind them as a Fireball hit the Castle, throwing them forward onto the ground.

"Are you okay?!" he yelled at her, pushing himself up out of the dirt and rushing to pull her up.

"Yes, I'm - "

Another hit, farther from them, higher up on the Castle.

And another, smack dab in the center of the Kingdom.

Another, striking the Wall in front of them that they'd been about to enter, the force sending them flying back into the flames from the first hit on the Castle.

Screaming from the sudden force and the burning, Rosa floundered hysterically for a moment, not able to think.

Then Cid again pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon!" he yelled. "They're focusing on the Castle now! We've gotta get away!"

"We've gotta fly away!!!" she shouted, pointing at the incoming Airship. The only way they could win this was if they got the Redwings into the air! Otherwise -

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Cid seethed, rubbing his temples. "Let Cecil handle it! You've gotta get somewhere safe!"

For a moment she couldn't bring her feet to move, then she managed to break into a run beside him.

"Where can we go?!?!" she demanded. "They're everywhere!!"

"Queen Rosa!!!!"

She turned to see Cami running to them.

"Cami - "

"Get out! Out of the Kingdom!! Away from their target!!"

"Is that where you're sending everyone?"

"We're trying! But no one's coopera - "

"Keep them moving!" Rosa turned and saw Falcon almost on top of them. In another minute, they'd be able to drop their bombs as well -

She began her incantation for WHITE.

"Rosa - " Cami urgently cried, but was silenced by Cid.

"Let her work!" he told the young Dragoon. "Just keep everyone - "

A Fireball struck the street only a few feet ahead of them, throwing them all back into the City Wall. The blast had rendered the three of them unconscious.

Cecil turned and watched helplessly as the Falcon opened its full arsenal on the Kingdom. Ten catapults, he counted. And a properly manned Airship capable of dropping three firebombs a minute -

He had to turn away and shield his eyes as the whole Kingdom seemed to burst into flames.

"Holy @#$%!!!!" Torram yelled, seeing the eruption. "Cecil - "

"Where are those Mages!??!?!" he yelled.

"Here, Sir!"

Turning, the two Airship Captains saw the five Black Wizards charging onto the scene.

"Don't be here!" Cecil bellowed. "Be there!" Frantically jumping up and down, he pointed at the five intact Airships. "Thaw the propellers! It's our only chance!"

Not wasting the time to acknowledge, they scurried over to the Redwings, already chanting.

Torram's astonished gasp drew his attention.

"What - "

"Look, Sir!"

Turning, Cecil could see where the flames from the sudden onslaught had faded, leaving - little or no damage at all?

"Don't worry about it!" he snapped at Torram, bolting for the Enterprise. "That's not our concern, we'll figure it out later! Get in your Ship!"

"Yes, Sir!" he quickly conceded, following him and quickly climbing aboard Les Cheveaux.

Kain peeked out from behind his Shield, tentative at first, then quickly when he saw the flames were gone.

He looked over his shoulder. A White Wizard flashed him a thumbs-up and quickly began chanting again.

Each of the White Mages had cast a SHIELD on himself for protection against the Fireballs, and so many of them together had managed to cover the area that had taken the worst beating. Those citizens who remained within the Kingdom had been protected by hiding within this area under their protection.

But they could only cover a small space. There weren't enough to cover the whole Kingdom.

Kain looked up in the midnight sky, lit up almost as brightly as day by the spells cast by the Black Wizards: Lighting, Fire, and Ice were shooting at the Airship, but making little damage.

"They probably have some kind of Ninja spell protecting them," he speculated aloud.

Lori skidded to a halt at his side.

"Sir!" he exclaimed. "The Redwings are still unable to launch! The Mages are having a hard time thawing the propellers without damaging the Airships!"

"How long do they think?"

"Five or six minutes."

"With the Falcon paused for a second, probably to reload their weapons?" Kain shook his head. "This does not look good."

Lori glanced over his shoulder to where the remaining citizens were being evacuated during the lull.

"Sir, what can we do?!"

Kain glowered at him in frustration.

"Nothing, unless they land! We can't hurt them in the air!"

Lori swallowed nervously.

"Sir . . . could a Jump hurt them?"

Kain blinked in astonishment.

"You mean Jump at an Airship?!"

"If there's no other option - "

"My gosh. I see. You're right . . . we may have to try it . . . "

With a click, Enterprise's rear propeller began to spin in a slow, halting motion.

Cecil shook his head; it wasn't good enough.

The Airship next over, Arrow, had their main working about as well.

This wasn't working. Falcon was on the Kingdom, and they were stuck on the ground.

For a moment, Cecil felt an overwhelming despair.

Then -

"Sir, the Horizon's got her main and rear going strong!"

Cecil turned at the familiar voice.

It was the Techie, of all people, at all times, to end up under his command again . . .

"Horizon? You're kidding."

"No, Sir! It may the crappiest piece of junk Airship on the face of this planet, but it's going better than the others!"

Cecil nodded.

"Anyone who can get in the air . . . "

Cutting through the air at that moment came the unmistakeable sound of cannonfire.

Lori rammed into Kain, jumped back several steps, and smacked himself in the face before shaking his head and considering seeking antidepressant drugs.

"Sir!!!!" he squeaked.

Kain didn't reply. He was too shocked himself.

About @#$%ing TIME!!!

A second Airship had entered the scene, advancing quickly on the Falcon, firing with all the heavy artillery an Airship was usually furnished with that could perform aerial combat. Yeah, they shot a whole lot of cannons.

Falcon almost did a little dance. It jumped back, startled by the attack, and dove down, under the new arrival and past it.

The second Airship did a 360 in the air and took off after it.

"Rapier!" Kain yelled, suddenly recognizing the hulk. "It's gotta be the Rapier!"

Lori stared at the battle waging above, transfixed.

Falcon did a 360 of its own, firing its own cannons back at Rapier, but missing as the Redwing shot up and above them, dropping a firebomb. Falcon, seeing their motion and guessing their strategy, shot out of the way, and back in the direction it had come from, Rapier on its tail.

The bomb hit the fields around the Kingdom, missing its target, but not furthering the damage to the Kingdom itself.

Falcon kept running. Veering sharply and heading straight at Rapier, the two played a quick game of Chicken before Falcon swerved aside, instead heading directly over the Castle and dropping another bomb.

Rapier caught up with it while it slowed to do this.

It was then that Falcon turned its catapults to a new use, and let lose all ten Fireballs at the enemy Airship.

Rapier swerved to miss the blasts and in doing so, inadvertently bashed up against the side of Falcon.

For a moment, the two backed off from each other, most likely to assess the damage from that. Neither seemed terribly harmed, though.

During this interlude, however, Falcon again launched ten Fireballs at the wounded Redwing, which was now a bit sluggish and couldn't dodge the full force of the blow.

The main body of the Airship still looked mainly intact, but the main propeller was knocked out, and even from the ground a good distance away, Kain could see the flames on the deck.

And Rapier, lighting a smoldering path all the way down, landed.

It was out of the battle.

Lori hiccuped.

"Now what?" he whispered.

Kain tossed a look over his shoulders and grinned.

"Now? Now we take back this stupid battle!" he replied.

The four remaining Redwings, led by the fifth Airship, Enterprise, rose from the ground in attack formation. Rapier's intervention had bought them enough time to thaw the propellers and get all of them off the ground.

They hadn't wanted to have to fight Eblan. Not again. But there was little left to do.

The fighters, the only people remaining in the Kingdom now, aside from the Mages, watched, each translating the light signals they all knew by heart as the Enterprise communicated with Falcon.

"Surrender," came Cecil's message, "Or we will be forced to destroy you. The damage done by Rapier cannot compare with what will happen if you face the Redwings in full force. Land now, and we will show mercy."

"Mercy," he heard Lori mutter. "Mercy? Why?"

Kain glanced at him.

"If you'd ever fought in an actual war, Lori, you'd know why. Cecil doesn't want anyone to have to go through that again if it's avoidable. Maybe we can still resolve this peacefully."

Lori bit his lip, not quite understanding. And why should he? He knew only what the Eblanians had done that night - he'd want revenge, of course, not peace.

Kain shook his head.

He was almost afraid to see how this was going to turn out.

For a long moment, there came no reply from Falcon.

Then they replied.

By firing.

The Fireball shot through the air, connecting with Arrow directly. It instantly plummeted to the ground, even as the other four Airships converged on the Falcon, attacking with everything they had.

And then? Well . . .

Cecil squinted through the darkness.

"What the . . . " Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked again.

"Crud! Halt! Fall back!!" he ordered. "Signal the others! Fall back!"

Immediately acting on his orders, if unsure why, the crew of Enterprise quickly halted the Airship, then let it descend and veer away. The Redwings followed their lead even before the signal was given. Maybe they, too, had seen what was coming.

Retreating as far as he could stand, Cecil ordered a halt, and they all turned to watch.

A dark form shot through the night, colliding with Falcon head on.

The Airship wobbled for only a moment before falling out of the sky -

And then it was caught by the same dark form.

And set down on the ground as if it were little more than a paper sailboat on a pond.

"Land," Cecil ordered, barely above a whisper.

Even as his crew did so, he could sense their confusion.

"It's Bahamut," he explained in a low voice, feeling a little weak from all that had just happened. "Rydia must be free. But now we still have to deal with them on the ground."

Jason came up beside Kain.

"What the @#$%! just happened?!"

Kain gestured to the great Dragon who had shot back up into the sky.

"That's Bahamut," he explained. "Rydia must've Called for him. And maybe she knows something about Edge."

"Edge? Isn't all this his fault?"

"Not hardly."

"Sir - " Lori cut in tentatively.

"You're absolutely right, Lori," Kain interceded. "We shouldn't be talking. We should be fighting. C'mon!" he called, and his people all fell in behind him.

Jason gave some cryptic order, and the Knights all fell in along with the Dragoons and soldiers.

Kormag, clinging to the railing, turned to look in any direction other than that of the dragon which was now back in the sky.

Rather, his attention was captured by the massing Baronian Army, which was pouring outside of the City Walls. He counted.

Baron's forces, depleted as they were, still supported many of their lesser armies, and restoration had been proceeding as planned (albeit a bit slowly. In fact, the majority of the warriors were novice kids, but they looked good out there). Nine independent battalions, seven cohorts of halberdiers (which he was particularly loath to), and the more widely-known order of Baronian Knights, and the tiny yet lethal force of Dragoons. Numerous squads of archers stationed along the walls of the Castle now moved forward to meet their enemy.

Oo, this wasn't looking good.

"Look!" he yelled, the commanders of the Eblanian Army on the deck with him. "They're going to attack! We've got to get them first!"

"Right!" they conceded quickly, preferring a fight on the ground.

The side panel openings on Falcon flew open, and the entire Army came pouring out to engage the Baronian forces.

Standing safely on the deck with his conspirators, (except for the Cook, who was still in Eblan) Kormag watched as the two Armies prepared to engage.

And then the dragon landed again.

Just before the two sides met and began to fight it out, Bahamut landed between them, depositing Rydia and Edge on the ground as he was requested. Then he shot back up into the sky without so much as a by-your-leave, letting them fend for themselves, as they preferred.

Edge hit the ground hard, still far from recovered, but the same driving fury gave him the strength to keep his balance.

"EBLAN!!!!" he shouted as loud as his weak systems could manage, "HALT IN THE NAME OF THE KING!!!!"

The Eblanians skid to a startled halt.

"Freeze!" came a follow-up command from the Baronian side. "Yes, fussy, that means you too!!"

Without looking, Edge identified the voice as Kain's.

Obeying, both sides of the battle stood frozen at the sight of the new arrivals.

"Just what do you think you're trying to pull here?!?!" Edge cried, lashing out at his people. "Did I, or did I not give specific orders to not engage?!!?!?"

A young Ninja, one that Edge recognized from the small group who had challenged Kormag, shoved his way to the front and fell to his knees.

"Your Majesty - we thought you were dead!"

Edge glared at him impassively.

"Oh, so that means my words no longer carry any weight?!"

"No, Sir! It's just that - we thought - we - "

"Hold your tongue, I know what you thought," Edge sighed, unable to be angry with him. "Now you all just back off and - "

"NO!"

Everyone looked up to see Kormag standing at the doorway of the Falcon.

Fury like Edge had never felt filled him in that one moment.

Shaking free Rydia's support, he stumbled towards his Advisor. The Army parted cleanly to let him through.

"So this is your game, huh, Kormag?" Edge hissed in a low tone, reaching him. "You'd stoop to any levels to bring the war back, huh? Even if it means conspiracy?!"

A murmur ran through the ranks.

Kormag glared at him soundly.

"I don't know who you are," he declared, "but King Edge is dead. You must be some disguised monster the Caller Summoned to bend us to her wishes."

Edge, in a blaze of pure hatred, whipped out Masamune, pointing it at the Chancellor's throat.

"Is this some monster?" he inquired in a hoarse whisper. "I've not met the monster yet who could wield this Sword!"

"Nor Edge!" Kormag triumphantly declared. "He was defeated by the Sword and had to have it locked away!"

"It doesn't look very locked away now, does it?!?!" Edge yelled. His burst of strength suddenly began to drain, and he stumbled heavily for a moment, needing to stop talking and steady himself. "You tried to kill me. You tried to destroy my Kingdom by bringing back this war of yours. You tried to destroy the woman I love. I will not stand for this, Kormag."

Kormag took his weakness as a good sign.

"And what will you do, Your Majesty?" he spat.

The Eblanians reacted at the use of the title - it showed that this was, in fact, the real King Edge who stood before them.

"You're weak! You always have been! Just look at yourself!"

"If I'm weak now, it's because of your treason."

"Not just now! All this time, you've been trying to bend us to what you call 'peace', what we all know to in fact," and he raised his voice significantly, "to be surrender to the people who destroyed our Kingdom and murdered our loved ones!!!"

A jeer rose from the Army - they wanted to fight.

"Fact, is it?" Edge replied in a dwindling voice. He hissed wordlessly for a moment. "Well, Kormag, I don't suppose you feel like iterating into your little speech how many more of our people will be killed, and how much more of our lands will be destroyed if we rebegin the war?" He narrowed his eyes. "Baron is not what it once was. Nor is Eblan. Why? well, because the old idiots who were running our Kingdoms are dead! My father - he was a jerk. I'll say that. He was. Seemed like a good guy to most . . . but really, he was a jerk. And no brains when it came to the public wellbeing. And the King of Baron, well, I've gotten an impression in recent days that he wasn't much better. We have a lot of work to do to make up for all the trouble stupid rulers like them have caused us."

Kormag shook his head.

"Your Majesty," he sighed, as if in pity. Then he turned to the Eblanians. "Yes, it's really him. He's alive. But his soul, it seems, has sold out! To the enemy! Think! Which is more important - his blood, or the wellbeing of your Kingdom?"

"My soul sold out?" Edge repeated. "Why don't you just go ahead and add in that I'm very young and not yet ready for the burden of running a Kingdom?"

An audible gasp was heard from the fighters.

Kormag's eyes widened.

Edge grinned.

"I heard, Kormag, I heard exactly what you said. I was there. I was there the whole time - you just couldn't see me. Or hear me. Or perceive me in any way. I could perceive you, though." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Let's see, you said that I refused to place my trust in Royal Advisors, rather, trusting instead in my friends. See, the problem with you, Kormag, is that you have no sense of loyalty whatsoever, so of course, you don't see that it's always wiser to trust a friend than a Royal Advisor. And your little insurrection is the perfect example. Don't you agree?"

Kormag paled.

"But, Your Majesty - "

"Moving on." Edge again felt a new strength flowing through him. "You said that I live in a fantasy world. I like that one, Kormag, I really do." He paused, firmly placing his feet on the ground to keep from stumbling again, still holding Masamune firmly in hand. "Really. See, this fantasy world of mine, as you call it, is a great place. It's a place where the rulers of the most powerful nations on the Earth are at peace with one another, and are doing their best to help one another rebuild Kingdoms ravaged by years of war and bring a safe life to our children! Yes, believe it or not, a place safe for children to grow up and not be afraid of an attack coming at them in the middle of the night, and killing them before they can finish that picture they were painting, or before they're old enough to go on their own pony-ride! A place where parents actually don't have to be all distraught because their kids have been sent off to fight in a war where if you show mercy or accept it, you will be executed! You know, Kormag, a fantasy world. You're right. There can never be a world safe for children. Or free of constant battles. Never be a world where you can trust your friends, or accept the help of a - a foreigner!"

He paused, his strength leaving him for the last time.

"Well, you know what, Kormag? There can never be such a fantasy world, because of people like you! Therefore, you are fired!" He swiveled away from Kormag's astonished face to look over the Army. "You've heard it all. What do you think? Fantasy? Stress on a young mind? A young mind that happens to be the King of Eblan?!?!" His knees failed for a moment, and he felt someone grab onto him, supporting him and keeping him from falling. "Do me a favor, my people," he forced out through gritted teeth against the pain he felt. "Grant me this. Grant me this one Final Fantasy - that we can stop this war, and move on, and let our families live in safety. One Final Fantasy where the world is at peace. It's within our grasp. It's not impossible. It's very possible. Maybe I am too young to accept the burden of a throne. This being the case, humor me. Let's give it one last chance." His eyes fell closed. "One Final Fantasy."

For a moment, he was aware of nothing. How long that moment lasted, he wasn't sure, but his senses were jarred from the cocoon they were spinning in his mind when he heard the crowd rustle itself, and heard a thump beside him.

"Edge."

Shaking his head, he looked up, finding that he was lying on the ground, several members of his army kneeling over him, concerned.

Also standing there was Kain.

"Hey, man," Edge greeted him weakly. "Remember me now?"

Kain nodded. The only way he'd been able to get to him was by Jumping over the Army that wouldn't let him pass. Now that he was here, though, he wasn't sure what he could do.

"Clearly."

"Hm."

The crowd bustled and finally parted, allowing Cecil to join them.

Edge felt his consciousness fading again.

"Yo, Cecil," he said. "What do you think? Peace?"

Cecil knelt over him and laid his hands on his shoulders.

"Fine by me," he murmured, then went off on some other strange words.

Edge sighed faintly. He'd been worried that Cecil would hold a grudge over this attack . . . then he realized that he was casting a CURE spell.

"Don't bother," he whispered. "That won't do any good."

Cecil finished his spell, and indeed, it had no effect.

Struggling faintly, he tried to sit up, but was unable. Cecil had to help him into a sitting position.

"I think we need to rearrange our system a bit," Edge declared to his Army. "I'm hereby firing everyone. Let's see. You," and he pointed at one of the young Ninja's nearby, "you can be the new Chancellor. You're the new Minister of Defense, you're the new Captain of the Guard . . . " He went down the list, handing out jobs at random to whoever happened to be around. Then he frowned. "Crud, where'm I gonna find a new Cook?"

"Relax," Cecil urged him. "You can rearrange your government after you've rested."

"?? No, I'm not done yet. Mmm . . . my people? The Falcon won't make it back to Eblan on this night."

Cecil glanced over at Kain, who nodded and knelt beside them.

"Our Army's been left at less than half strength from the last couple of wars. So has yours. We've a few empty wings in our Barracks complex that can shelter them all so no one freezes in the Airship - and no one's gonna fight about it, right?" Kain blinked, turning the last part of the question to the fighters.

"No, Sir!" came resounding reply from the Baronian side of the battle.

"Nor here!" agreed the Eblanians.

Edge frowned.

"This is too easy."

"Worry about that later," Cecil suggested.

"Good idea." Edge was silent for a moment, and Cecil worried that he'd lost consciousness again. Then he came back. "Cecil, can I ask a favor?"

Cecil, still holding him up, shrugged.

"Shoot."

An arrow shot by overhead.

"Not you!!" Kain yelled at the errant Archer, who shrieked and ran off in humiliation.

"Could I borrow a nice, deep, dark, damp cell in your dungeon? I've got some conspirators who could use it."

"No problem. Kain?"

Kain shrugged.

"No problem – I'll handle the jailors. They're terrified of me. Who, exactly?"

Edge tried to reply, but found himself unable.

Rydia's voice cut through, telling him exactly who, and he grinned slightly.

"C'mon," he heard Cecil say. "We're taking you to the Castle to recover."

He was in no position to resist even if he'd wanted to. Really, though, at that moment, all he cared about was sleep.

Sleep.

That would be very nice.