~*~Chapter 9 Rydia of the espers~*~
Kain and his friends were brought into the castle of the dwarves, and into the throne-room of king Giott. After bowing and curtsying to greet this ruler and his daughter Luca, they could get to the point.
"I do welcome you to my land," Giott smiled, "your deeds have been told by the Earth itself. She was most relieved as you killed the fiend Milon."
"So you're well aware of Golbez, then?" Cecil carefully said.
The king nodded gravely.
"Yes. He has already stolen two of the crystals of darkness. But he won't get the last two if I've got something to say about it! They are well protected."
"That's great, but we still have to get the other ones back." Cecil said.
"He keeps all of his crystals in the tower of Bab-Il, in the north," the king said, "it's said that the tower reaches to the Overworld. We've been trying to storm it."
"You know what?" Cid said, "we'll surely need the Enterprise if we're gonna fight Golbez. But since it can't take flying over the lava, I'll have to bring it back to the surface and make it an armor of silver-plates. It seems that things are more or less under control here; we should take the risk of me leaving."
"We'll be fine, but can the Enterprise fly all the way since it's damaged?" Cecil asked.
"Sure m'boy, don't worry about me. See you later."
And so the mechanic left without a glance over his shoulder.
"How's the battle against Golbez going, Your Majesty?" Rosa asked.
"Our tanks withstand his airships for the moment. Nothing to worry about," the king said with a smile.
"Where is the remaining crystal, then?" Yang asked, frowning.
"It's safely kept right behind me, in a hidden room," Giott answered.
For some reason, Kain suddenly felt very cold.
"In there?" Yang said, pointing at the wall.
He looked very concerned.
"Yes?" Giott said.
"I feel something evil coming from behind that wall!"
"Are you sure?" Cecil asked.
"Yes!" Yang said.
The king stood up from his throne and nodded at the guards.
"Open the door!" he demanded.
One of the guards pulled one of the torches and a part of the wall moved, revealing a secret door.
"Let us hurry!" Yang said.
Followed by the dwarves, the four warriors from above approached the opening. There was a screeching, mad laughter to be heard from inside the big room on the other side of the wall. Several small, strangely child-looking creatures were jumping around inside of the crystal's room.
"Those are my dolls!" Luca exclaimed, peeking in from behind her father's back.
"Golbez must have given them life somehow," Kain growled and grabbed his spear, "Your Majesty, it's best that you and your men stay back and let us deal with this. It could be dangerous."
"Very well," king Giott said after hesitating shortly.
"Come on!" Cecil called and drew his sword.
Kain's head seemed to become numb as he jumped, aiming for one of the dolls. Once more, he couldn't think clearly, and didn't care about it. He missed the doll, and it danced closer to its companions, laughing hysterically. The puppets almost looked as they were…
"They are combining!" Cecil yelled, "be careful!"
But there wasn't much to worry about. Yang hit the gigantic doll in its stomach, making it fall to the ground. Then the paladin and the dragoon easily cut and tore it to pieces, it was too clumsy to fight back or get up.
"I'm sorry about this, princess Luca!" Rosa called as she heard the girl's gasp.
"Nevermind that!" the little girl yelled, "behind you!"
The four warriors spun around. There was a shadow standing on the stair leading up to the crystal.
"Damn you…" Kain harshly whispered clenching his grip of the spear.
He finally noticed the mist in his head, and shook it a bit to get rid of the spell.
"You're getting on my nerves," Golbez said as he stepped out of the shadow.
"You!" Cecil, Rosa and Yang yelled, ready to attack.
"Indeed."
Golbez sneered.
"And now, why don't you take a nice deep breath of this…"
He raised his hands, and a purple cloud flowed from his fingertips, so fast that the warriors weren't able to react before it was too late. Kain gasped without wanting to, and felt his strength fade immediately. He dropped to his knees and vaguely noticed that his friends also did.
'You'd been better off staying as my minion, Kain,' Golbez' voice smirked inside of the dragoons head, 'but I could be willing to give you a second chance… maybe.'
'Why then?' Kain harshly thought, desperately trying to get to his feet, 'want to show your power? Never, Golbez, you will never control me again!'
'Very well, fool,' Golbez' voice said, listlessly.
"How do you feel, lying there unable to move?" he sneered aloud, "come, my Shadow dragon!"
By his side, a dark, long creature materialized. It looked like a combination of a snake and a dragon, with short legs and evil eyes.
"So who'll be first?" Golbez said, thoughtfully.
Kain managed to move his head a little, and saw all the dwarves also lying on the floor, hit by the gas. They couldn't help. This didn't look good…
'Is this how it will end?' Kain bitterly thought, 'trapped here, bound like sheep in the slaughterhouse?'
The dark dragon awaited its master's command to kill, twisting impatiently.
"Calm, my beast," Golbez smirked, "I have to think a little. Should I kill Cecil first, or his friends and beloved?"
"Me…" Cecil stuttered, whispering, "please… kill me… first…"
"If that is your wish, I certainly won't," Golbez sneered, "I'll let my pet start with your friend of Fabul, I think…"
The dragon hissed and rushed towards the bound Yang. Kain closed his eyes, couldn't bear the awful sight that approached…
"Heed my call, dragon of clean mist!" a young woman's voice shouted.
A big, white dragon appeared in front of the dark one. The pure creature opened its mouth and breathed a storm of ice-crystals at its enemy. With a snarl, Golbez' pet dissolved. The white dragon turned around and opened its mouth once more. The wind blowing from inside of it's chest scattered the remaining gas.
"Good, come back!" the woman called.
"Who the…" Golbez snarled as he turned around, and his eyes widened, "what? You!?"
"Hang on, people!" the voice yelled, "stand up!"
Kain suddenly felt that he could move again, and he got up, grabbing his spear. Before anyone else had regained their senses, he had jumped, with rage filling his whole body.
"This is for Valvalis, you demon!" he snarled as his fall brought Golbez to the ground.
But the evil one got a grip of the spear before it hit his stomach, and sent Kain flying several yards away. He got up again and was about to jump when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned his head and saw a young, green-haired woman run over the floor towards Cecil, Rosa and Yang, with her green cloak flying behind her and the end of her whip crawling over the floor. She looked strangely familiar…
"Get up, what are you waiting for!?" she yelled as Kain's friends just stared at her, "lightning that tears the sky apart, heed my call!"
Golbez threw himself backwards to avoid the bolts, and Kain clumsily hit him in the back with the non-sharp end of the spear. The evil one staggered forwards again, and Yang hit the right side of his neck with a powerful stab with the bare arm. Then Golbez growled in pain as Rosa's arrow penetrated his armor by the shoulder.
"For all who have died!!" Cecil screamed and rushed forward.
Time froze for a moment. Kain stared at the tip of Cecil's sword, which had cut through Golbez' cloak. The paladin was standing on the other side of the foe, looking almost shocked.
"Damn you all…!" Golbez stuttered, growling.
Then he dissolved, and Cecil stood there, with the clean sword in his hand.
Kain slowly stood up. Somehow, he had thought that he would feel a lot more relieved, but instead he felt empty. He didn't feel anything at all, no triumph, no wish to yell of relief. Nothing.
"You did it, Cecil!" Rosa called, most relieved.
"Good work, Sir!" Yang said with a broad smile.
"Finally he's gone!" the young woman who had saved them said, smiling.
Cecil turned around, slowly.
"Rydia…?" he whispered, "you're alive?"
Everyone looked at her. Even Giott, Luca and the other dwarves, who had also recovered and now had come into the room. She smiled and nodded.
"Yes. Leviathan never ate me, instead he brought me to the Land of Espers. The flow of time is different there, and I've grown and learned a lot. However, I can't use white magic anymore, just black and summoning."
"I'm so glad you're alive!" Rosa smiled and hugged the green-haired one.
"I've missed you too," Rydia said, warmly.
"Lali-ho!" Giott happily said, "let's celebrate! Golbez is dead and the crystal is safe!"
They all went towards the door, when an awfully familiar voice cut through the air.
"I'm not… gone yet… fools…"
Everyone spun around, and saw a black glove arise from the floor. It rushed up the stair, grabbed the crystal… and was gone. So was also the stone.