~*~Chapter 6 Zemus, master of elemental fiends~*~
Kain wasn't aware how much time passed. But suddenly, Golbez was furious.
"Killed Milon?!" he screamed.
"Yes, my king," Valvalis said, "I am sorry, I did not make it in time."
"You worthless worm, excuse for a fiend!" Golbez snarled.
Valvalis clenched her teeth. Kain felt that he wanted to walk over to her and try to say something comforting, but the feeling disappeared immediately. He knew that Golbez would be most displeased.
Kainazzo was there as well, and a tall man in a red cape. Kain was aware that the new person was Rubicant, fiend of Fire, though they had never met before.
"You should have come to me as soon as you heard about it," Kainazzo sneered at Valvalis, "I would have got there in time. Not that Milon was a great loss…"
"A double lightning ordered?" Valvalis snarled, "coming right up, Sir!"
"Stop it!" Rubicant demanded, "we all know that we fiends easily can destroy each other, so don't fight!"
"Go back to your posts, you idiots," Golbez said.
The three last fiends nodded and disappeared. Their king thoughtfully rubbed his cheek.
"Cecil can wait," he said, "the fiends can take care of him for themselves. I will have him alive… but right now, we must concentrate on getting the last crystal of light; the one of the Earth. However, it was stolen from Toria by the Dark Elf… could be tricky."
"Why don't we let Cecil work for us?" Kain suddenly said.
"What?" Golbez said.
"I am sure that he could get the Dark Elf," the dragoon said, "if you just allow him to get an airship, he could bring you the crystal in exchange for Rosa. Then I can take care of him."
"Kain…!" Rosa whispered, moaning.
Golbez nodded slowly.
"Very well. I'll give orders that he will have some useless fights in Baron, then get an airship. You can give him the news, Kain."
"Thank you, my liege."
Rosa looked at the ceiling, as if she hoped to see some kind of angel ready to write down her prayers.
"Cecil, be careful…!"
Some time passed, without much notice. Then Golbez was in rage again.
"Kainazzo, you fool!" he roared to thin air, "you shouldn't have fought at all, at least not before reinforcements arrived! Idiot! And that Yang awoke from my spell too!"
The man in dark spun around, looking at Kain.
"Well, at least some part of your plan seems to work, you idiot!" Golbez snarled, "go to the airships and hurry to find Cecil!"
"Yes, my liege."
Valvalis silently watched, unseen, as Kain hurried out of the Tower of Zot.
"Kain?" Cecil called.
"Golbez wants you to know that if you ever want to see your beloved Rosa again, then bring the crystal of Earth to him!" Kain yelled back, coldly.
Cecil looked so different, standing there on the other airship. He didn't have his dark armor anymore, instead he had a light one, and a softly purple cloak. The sword by his belt seemed to shine.
"Kain!" he yelled, with pain in his voice, "Kain, snap out of it!"
"The crystal or Rosa's life," the dragoon snarled.
Then the ships parted. Kain somehow felt guilty for a moment, but shook it off. He went inside of the ship's inner rooms, sat down on a chair and fell asleep, obeying.
Golbez' voice in his head awoke him.
'Cecil has got the crystal,' Kain was told, 'now, go up there and tell him to come to the Tower of Zot.'
"Yes, my liege."
He went outside again. Valvalis stood there, by the stem of the airship. Kain walked over to her as the ship started moving through the air.
"Why are you here?" Kain asked.
"The air is my element," she snapped, "I like it here."
Kain stood by the fence surrounding the deck, looking at the ground far, far below.
"What are you thinking?" Valvalis suddenly said.
"I… somehow want to… jump," Kain muttered.
"Jump from here?"
"Doesn't matter. I just want to be free for a moment…"
His head started to burn, he put his hands on his helmet, screaming in pain.
'You're stubborn beyond compare!' Golbez snarled inside his mind, 'not even putting you to sleep for several days help.'
"Forgive me, my liege…" Kain stuttered, clenching his teeth, "it won't happen again, please stop…!"
'Humph.'
The pain dissolved. Kain leaned on the fence, gulping for air. He didn't see that Valvalis stared at him in shock, and when he turned around she had left.
The lonely airship once more came closer. There were some more men aboard except Cecil, but just as last time Kain didn't mind them.
"I have the crystal!" Cecil called, "where is Rosa?"
"In the Tower of Zot, just follow me!" Kain snarled.
The ship that he was on turned again, and led the way through the skies. When the spire came closer, Kain yelled to his old friend.
"Golbez awaits you at the top, now start climbing!"
Kain's and the other airships which were under Golbez' command flew into a big hole in the wall of the tower. But Cecil couldn't follow through that, since the hole closed as soon as the fleet had landed.
The dragoon started walking through the tower's corridors, towards the top room.
"… Faithful to me, Valvalis?"
The voice was so cold and harsh that it almost turned Kain's already tormented soul into stone. He slowed in and carefully looked around the corner of the corridor.
Valvalis stood there, shivering by a window, staring at nothing in overwhelming fear.
"I… I am s-sorry…" she stuttered.
Her cheek became somehow a bit fuzzy, as if something half-invisible touched it. She jerked back, but it seemed as if she hardly could move.
"Your feelings could be excused if they were aimed towards someone more suitable," the voice coldly said, "that this man also makes you wonder about your faith in me is to be concerned as treachery, my dear."
"Master Zemus, I b-beg you…"
"This is unforgivable, Valvalis, you will have to come to…"
"Master!"
A flame shot up from the floor beside Valvalis, and Rubicant stepped out from it.
"Master," he said, "please give her a second chance."
"It will be the fourth, I believe," the voice snorted.
The fiend of Fire bowed his head.
"Please, master Zemus," he said, "I will take care of this. Perhaps I can mend her humanity completely."
Silence. Finally the voice said:
"I see… then I will leave the matter in your hands, my minion, but should you fail, then I must take care of it personally."
"Thank you, master," Rubicant muttered.
The air suddenly seemed much warmer; the evil presence was gone.
"Mend my humanity? You?" Valvalis snapped, "Rubicant, why did you even bother?"
"I was also a human once," the fiend of Fire gravely said, "just as you."
"I know that! Milon was human too… very long ago. Who knows what Kainazzo was once upon a time… that doesn't matter here, what the hell are you planning to do?"
He shook his head.
"Master Zemus cannot accept that you have feelings left simply because they point in the wrong direction. This Kain is not good for you, he should have been killed."
Kain clenched his fists, not sure what he felt. It surprised him that Golbez hadn't put his head on fire yet.
"Still I cannot help it, he makes me think!" Valvalis snarled, "and that could have sent me to the master! And you, what do you think you can do to help me? You don't have a clue, Rubicant, you haven't been there like me! You haven't had the master's face this close to your face…"
She held up a hand, with only a quarter of an inch between her thumb and forefinger.
"… You haven't felt his cold breath on your throat…!" she furiously ended her half hysterical speaking.
Rubicant reached out and carefully grabbed her shivering shoulders, pulling her towards him. As he put her arms around her, his red cloak moved to almost hide Valvalis too.
"It'll be alright," he said, "it'll be fine… I, too, have feelings left, but the master accepts them, since they are suitable."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the fiend of Air snarled.
"Master Zemus can only forgive humanity if it won't cause trouble. Therefore, he accepts what I feel towards you."
"What?"
"Wind cannot harm Fire," Rubicant said in a low, surprisingly soft voice, "it can only make it spread, dance, take new forms it couldn't have achieved alone…"
"Rubic…"
Valvalis' words were blocked by the other fiend's lips. First she seemed frozen, then she bent her head away.
"No, you cannot help me like that," she muttered.
Rubicant sighed and shook his head.
"Give me a chance, Valvalis," he said, "if I cannot help you turn your feelings, you will end up on the moon. I know it's not that simple, but…"
"I like you," she said, "and I appreciate that you try to help me. But I can't love you. At least not now."
Rubicant smiled strangely and carefully.
"Then let's just talk for a while, shall we?" he said.
Flames exploded around them, and they both disappeared.
Kain stood like a statue for a short while. Then he went up to Golbez in Rosa's prison.
"What took you so long?" the man dressed in dark sharply asked.
"Forgive me, my liege."
"Humph. It seems as Cecil is closing in. He and his friends has defeated Valvalis' trap. Not that those brats delta sisters were a great loss, they were only made by clouds… well, our guests are almost here."
Golbez looked at Rosa and smirked.
"Good-bye, then, my dear," he said, "I'm afraid this is when we part. Come, Kain."