~*~Chapter 10 Edge, prince of Eblan~*~
"No!" the men and women screamed.
'I knew it!' Kain thought, 'he wasn't gone, I wasn't completely free…!'
'Indeed I wasn't, and neither you,' Golbez' distant voice smirked inside of the dragoon's head, 'my plan to lure you into a trap by giving you the Magma key might not have worked as I expected, but I still have the crystal. And now give me your life force, so that I can recover…'
'No…!'
But Kain felt his mind cease to work again, and he couldn't fight it. He was aware of the world just as he had been from Baron to Argot; only vaguely. He noticed that Cecil and Giott talked about some tower, and then there was a long walk, firstly in a dark, hot place and then through light, strangely lit rooms and corridors. There were several fights, and once he heard a distant voice which he knew belonged to someone named Rubicant. After that, another fight took place, but not with that one who the voice had come from. Running and an explosion followed… somebody was gone, and Cecil and the two women were sad. Then they exited the light place. And Kain's head became clear.
He stood on a bridge by the foot of an enormous tower, Cecil, Rosa and Rydia were walking away from the portal leading back into the high building. Kain rubbed his forehead and started to walk. He knew that his strength had been drawn, and that Golbez had recovered consuming the dragoon's power. He had to warn Cecil…
'Don't even think about it,' Golbez' telepathic voice told him.
'Watch me!'
'I don't think so.'
"Enough!" Golbez' voice growled aloud for all to hear.
Kain's friends all froze.
"You've been irritating me for far to long," the dark voice sneered, "good-bye."
There was a sound from behind, and Kain spun around. The wood of the bridge was being consumed by fire, too fast to be natural.
"Run!" the dragoon screamed.
Cecil grabbed Rosa's hand, Kain got a grip of Rydia and they rushed over the shaking bridge. But they weren't going to make it, Kain felt the planks break up under his feet and he fell with Rydia's scream making his ears shiver, followed by Rosa's and Cecil's. He closed his eyes, awaiting the hot, molten lava.
But instead he heavily landed on a wooden floor. It was only luck that he didn't break anything or land on his spear. Rydia hit the floor by his side, and two other loud thuds told him that Rosa and Cecil also were safe.
"You okay?" a familiar voice called.
"Cid!" the saved ones yelled.
"Well hello!" he smiled, "but hang on, cause the Red Wings are after us!"
The Enterprise soared through the hot air, followed by an entire fleet of red airships.
"They're gaining on us!" Kain yelled.
"They've been modified!" Cid called, "damn it…! Cecil, take the wheel!"
The paladin hurried over to his friend.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"I'm going to close the path to the Underground!" the mechanic replied and made set the course for the tunnel leading up, "go to Baron and talk to my workers, they'll help you!"
"What are you saying?" Cecil exclaimed, "stop, where are you…"
"Rosa, I really wanted to see the two of you married," Cid said with a bitter smile, "but you'll have the wedding without me staining everything with oil. Kain, Rydia, take care."
"Stop!"
But as the Enterprise entered the tunnel Cid jumped, and he held a big, black ball in his hands.
"Golbez!" his friends heard him scream, "I've got a gift for ya!"
The wave of pressure erupting from the explosion made the Enterprise shake. Everyone left stared down as soon as everything became quiet, their mouths open in screams that couldn't pass their numb throats.
Somehow, silently, the four warriors reached the surface.
"Cid… Yang…" Rydia mumbled as the sunlight touched her face.
"They also died to help us and many others…" Rosa sighed.
'And I still live,' Golbez sneered inside of Kain's head.
'Leave me alone!' the dragoon thought, snarling.
'You wish…'
But then the telepathic voice became quiet, and no mist filled Kain's head.
The dragoon lazily thought about warning Cecil about Golbez, but it didn't seem to matter. They knew that he was healed now anyhow, since he'd tried to kill them. And why tell them that the evil one could talk to their friend telepathically, really… it would only make them more miserable and worried than they already were. Kain felt like he couldn't take anymore of his friends suffering, therefore he chose to remain silent. He knew it was dumb, but he just couldn't take it.
Cecil brought the Enterprise to Baron, and they all entered the castle. Cid's two workers almost started to cry as they heard about what had happened to their boss, despite their usual grumbling.
"We got orders to make a hook ready to add on the Enterprise," one of them said, "the boss said something about a tower raising from the Underground close to Eblan, and that there is said to be shallows by a cave on the beach…"
"The tower of Bab-Il?" Rosa asked.
"Yeah, I think that's it."
"We could use the hovercraft!" Cecil said, "that must be what he meant with the hook! He probably wanted us to find a way back down, secret to Golbez…"
"We'll get to work then, you just rest a while."
"I wonder where the people of Eblan is, they are too fierce to be wiped out…" Rosa said.
"Let's hope they're alive," Kain mumbled.
The empty castle had really been a depressing sight. Not a living being, except some monsters hiding in hopes of prey. The prey hadn't been too easy to take down, however.
It was cold and dark inside of the cave. The torch in Cecil's hand flickered.
"How long can this tunnel be…?" Rydia wondered.
"Is there a light over there?" Rosa suddenly said and pointed.
Truly, around a corner. And there were a couple of guards, too. Eblanian ninjas?
"Who are you?" they called.
"Friends!" Cecil called back.
"Come closer, and no quick movements!"
After some explanation, the two ninjas calmed down a bit.
"We have heard about you, our spies have noticed that Baron and Golbez has had some trouble with you people," one of the guards told the travelers.
"Go on in, you should talk to the chancellor," the other one said.
They pointed at a door in the cliff, and then pushed it open. Inside of the cavern behind were women, children, ninjas, old men and women…
"We've hid here since the attack, waiting for a chance to strike back," the second guard explained, "come with me, I'll bring you to the chancellor."
That one showed up to be an old man with a very concerned look.
"I'm so glad to meet the people who's been giving Golbez a hard time," he said, "but right now, we face terrible problems…"
"Can we help you somehow?" Rosa kindly asked.
The old man sighed.
"Our king and queen disappeared in the attack against our kingdom, and we fear that they are dead," he explained, "and now prince Edge has gone to avenge them! We couldn't stop him, he's got a terrible temper…"
"All alone?" Rydia asked, eyebrows rising, "he sounds like a mo… a man who moves first and thinks afterwards."
"That is true…" the chancellor sighed, "he went into the tunnel leading to the tower of Bab-Il…"
"That's where we're going!" Cecil said, "we'll try to find him for you."
"You will?" the old man exclaimed, "thank you so much!"
And so they set forth on another walk through the dark caves. The dusky, boring world seemed to chew on Rydia's temper, as well as some facts.
"This prince seem like a total idiot to me!" the caller grumbled after an hours walking, "going all alone…!"
"It wasn't exactly wise, no," Cecil carefully agreed.
"Aughh!!"
The scream almost made the walls of the cave shake.
"Weak fool…" a voice said.
"That's Rubicant!" Kain whispered.
"The one we saw in the tower earlier?" Rosa said as they hurried on towards the sounds.
"The fiend of Fire!" the dragoon growled.
They turned around a corner, just in time to see a red flame cease. On the floor, an unconscious man laid. The four warriors ran over to him.
"Healing forces in my blood, heal this man!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Urghh…" the man muttered and managed to sit up with some support from Cecil.
"I suppose that you are the prince of Eblan?" the paladin said.
"That's me…" the man growled and scratched his cheek, which was covered by a piece of purple-grey cloth, "now leave me alone, I must defeat Rubicant…"
"Are you an idiot or do you only act that way?" Rydia snapped, "he just brought you to your knees like breaking a twig!"
Edge looked up, raising his eyebrows.
"Well aren't you a sweetcheek," he said with a smile, "now lady, that was only the first try, next time I'll get him."
"Let us help you, we're after him too…" Rosa said.
Edge turned to her.
"Where did all these pretty women come from?" he smiled, but continued much more resolute; "thanks, but I don't need your help."
"Idiot!" Rydia growled, "you're even worse than I thought! What does it take for something to penetrate that thick head of yours; you cannot defeat Rubicant on your own!"
The prince of Eblan looked quite startled for a moment. Then he shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, can't argue with such a beauty," he said, "alright, you can come with me."
"Men!" Rydia sighed.
Cecil and Kain exchanged glances and were about to start laughing. However, they managed to fight it back. Edge stood up and the five warriors continued their journey. They reached the tower and worked their way up. The prince spent the time annoying Rydia until she was about to send Titan at him.
"You've really got a sweet back…" he said.
"Don't even think about it…" she snapped.
Cecil covered his mouth with his hand. Kain would also have found it amusing, if Rydia hadn't used the same words as Golbez had done at the bridge.
'Applause,' the dark voice suddenly said inside of Kain's head, 'you're closing in.'
'For the last time, leave me alone!'
'Actually, I was thinking of giving Rubicant a little help. I feel a craving for life force…'
'Why you… you…'
Mist… he fell into the dusky world again. He felt a slight, fading anger, but then he just forgot that he even was alive. He thought he heard somebody scream…
"Mother! Father!"
And another fight… and then the same person screamed again, with such pain and rage in his voice that it almost brought Kain out of the spell. He awoke for a brief moment, seeing Edge kneel by two small heaps of ash. Rydia stood right behind him and her hand, close to his shoulder, was twitching as if she wanted to touch him but wasn't sure if she really could.
"Damn that Lugae, experimenting with humans…!" a voice suddenly said.
Rubicant emerged from a flame few yards from Edge, who stood up so fast that he almost made Rydia fall backwards.