Chapter Twelve: Miserable





The next day was possibly the most miserable day of my life.

The sun came up bright and early on Baron Castle and the first day of Cecil's reign. Unfortunately, most of us were already awake; Cecil's Council of the Nations was to be held shortly after breakfast, and everyone was an odd combination of eager and nervous. Those of us who were close friends of Baron's King and Queen (me) had been up plenty early, helping to set the great hall up for the massive meeting. Cecil had asked for emissaries from every nation around the world; royalty, officials, plus people from the towns as well. Finally we all gathered in the Great Hall, seated by delegation around a giant table. And here is how we sat:

At the head of the table sat Rosa and Cecil. To their left sat the mayor of the Town of Baron; I sat to their right, since I had nowhere else to sit. Edward from Damcyan sat at my side, along with one of his most trusted advisors. They were followed by a handful of officials from Kaipo (the innkeeper and weapons-smith, I believe). Beside them sat three of the Cleric Sisters from Toroia; and Yang, his wife, and their General sat at the table's foot, representing Fabul. Across the table from me sat the mystical Elder of Mysidia with the leaders of the White and Black Orders at his side. Behind him, like attendants, stood two familiar children - the twins, whom I had met yesterday. Beside them sat Edge, Prince of Eblan, with his grandfather the chancellor and another representative. King Giott sat beside the Eblan party with his daughter Luca, who was already fidgeting. Next to the dwarves sat - to my dismay - the red-headed girl Caylista, beside a gruff man I recognized as the Duke from Agart who had trodden my toes the evening before. A couple of the odd folk of Silvera rounded the table out. It certainly was an interesting bunch.

Kain was still nowhere to be seen. And there were no emissaries from the Village Mist.

Cecil stood to begin the meeting. "My friends," he said slowly. "Our world has been destroyed by an evil from far away. Through Zeromus, a being of the moon, each and every one of our homes has been damaged. The Kingdom of Baron was the one Zemus chose as a weapon, and through the wrath of our Red Wings, many of your kingdoms fell." Cecil's face clouded over in sorrow. "Baron wishes nothing more than to help to repair all the damage, to make amends for your losses. But she, too , has been hurt by this war; she has been drained of her resources and strength by her impostor king. Baron does not have much to give."

He sighed, and beside him Rosa reached out and entwined her fingers in his. "Damcyan, Fabul, Mysidia, even Eblan - all of you have massive structural repairs to do. And you cannot be alone in this. What I am proposing to you people is the formation of a Council of Nations - a body of rulers that can meet together and aid each other in this time of need."

Yang nodded. "There is much to do," he said. "And I think you are right - the nations of this world have stood apart for far too long. Fabul may be wounded, but the strength of its people still runs deep. We would give help to those who need it."

"Mysidia has stood far apart from the rest of the world for quite some time," said the White Mage slowly. "It will be difficult to bring the people together; many of them are even more convinced that we should mind our own business now, after recent events."

"I mean to make good to your people," Cecil insisted.

"It's not your fault, Cecil," Rosa said quietly.

"Hold on." Edward gracefully stopped the argument before it could pick up momentum. "What matters right now are the people who have been injured in this war, and the lands that have suffered under the wrath of Zemus. As we rebuild, we must always keep in mind the memories of those whom we have lost."

"Yes," the White Mage mused, "but some people are always more concerned with the balance of power."

"Yes," began the Duke of Agart in a loud booming voice, "the balance of power-"

"And what better way to keep an eye on the growing powers of the world but in a Council of Nations?" I interrupted him swiftly, with a sweet smile. I caught Cecil's look of gratitude out of the corner of my eye.

"My first goal," Cecil said, "is to send out an expedition into the Tower of Bab-Il and regain all of the crystals of earth. I then want to return them to their former owners - this, of course, leaves Baron crystal-less. No one should be worrying about power at a time like this."

"Mysidia, Fabul, Toroia, Damcyan," Edge ticked off on his fingers. "And the other crystals-"

"Will return to the dwarves," Cecil said. "The four dark crystals will return to the Underworld, to be divided under the wisdom of King Giott."

The dwarf king smiled. "We will do our best to defend them," he said. "And you can always come back and get them!"

The Duke jumped upon this. "Yes," he said, "through the land of Agart. Which, might I add, needs a bit of attention." He paused. "Agart is about to become a very important place." He and his daughter exchanged a sly look. "Very important indeed."

Then they looked up and saw the odd look Cecil was giving them. "I mean, of course," Caylista continued sweetly, "Agart is about to become a portal between the two worlds. With your newfound friends the dwarves in the Underground, not to mention the Lady Rydia's desires to travel back and forth between her friends and her kin." She shot me a look and then continued, still smiling craftily. "We in Agart are not used to otherworldly visitors. And much of our money -" a glance at her father "- has gone to support Eblana in its time of need."

The Duke went to say something more, but Edge said hastily, "Eblan appreciates your help, but perhaps other people need the aid of an undamaged town such as yours even more."

Cecil nodded. "Perhaps we can all decide what we have to offer and where it would be best for those offers to go," he said.

One of the Clerics gestured. "We of Toroia are a simple people; we saw the great wrath of evil, but it did not touch us for long. We would be glad to offer aid and assistance."

A Silveran smith agreed. "Silvera is rich in metals and craftsmen," he said. "We would offer these if we could be guaranteed peace."

Cecil looked confused. "Of course there will be peace," he said. "There is no one left who would do otherwise."

"I don't know," said one of the men from Kaipo. "There are a couple fearsome powers left that should be dealt with."

"You have to trust Cecil," I blurted out. "He can deal with anything."

The Duke from Agart stood suddenly, looking at me with anger. "And what about you, Lady Rydia?" he asked violently. "Where do you stand?"

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Wha - what do you mean?" I asked him, shocked.

His eyes narrowed. "We all know about you," he said. "And your other-worldly powers. That's why we're all so nervous. Just imagine - any nation that aligned itself with you could have the forces of Meteo behind its every judgement!"

I was aghast and appalled. "You think that I would -"

"Tell us!" The Duke was furious. "Tell everyone here about the power you wield. You have control over monsters - Kings and Queens and Gods and who knows what else. And you can summon forth the forbidden magics!"

I was stunned speechless. I heard one of the Clerics saying, "Oh dear. We see what you mean, sir."

"The powers of Meteo are not released lightly," said the Black Mage, peering at me from under his robes.

"I don't believe this," I began, standing slowly. "You all think - you think I've got some desire to rule the world? Do you have any idea what casting Meteo did to me? I couldn't walk for months!"

"Lady Rydia," Caylista said smoothly, "you just returned less than a month ago. Obviously you've recovered extremely well."

I flushed angrily. "I was in the Land of Summons," I said. "The time there is different from the time in this world."

"The Land of Summons?" the mayor of Baron looked suddenly concerned. "Where is that?"

"Look!" I was yelling now, furious; all eyes turned to me. "I'm not some sneaky spy trying to take over your world! It's my world too!"

"But what are your allegiances, Lady Rydia," the Duke asked smoothly.

I was losing my temper. "My allegiances? My loyalties? Why does it matter so much?"

"Where are you from?" The General of Fabul shifted in his seat.

I took a deep breath, trying to regain my calm. "That doesn't matter. What matters for you is that all of my loyalties are with Cecil." I took another breath. "Yes, Cecil. Not with Baron, not with the castle, not with anything. I believe in Cecil and what he is trying to do. And that is what matters." I glared around the table and said sharply, "What matters now are all the people that need our help. Cities have been destroyed. Homes are crumbling. Families are sick. Friends are dying. People are poor and hopeless. They are the ones that matter. You can squabble over the fine lines of power later - after we've solved all these problems. Everyone has lost something - loved ones, a loved home, a false sense of security. We need to give that all back."

Everyone looked embarrassed - except the Duke, who said promptly, "But we can't just forget about -"

"Then ignore it!" I snapped. "Pretend I'm not here if it suits you better."

"Rydia." Cecil put a hand out to silence me. "Calm down."

I sat down in a huff and promptly ignored the next discussion. ...the forces of Meteo behind every judgement... I gritted my teeth, trying to block the voice out of my head. ...recovered extremely well, Caylista's voice mocked me. The Land of Summons? I sighed loudly, trying to get a hand on my emotions.

Cecil had calmed the emotions and made plans to send Cid's engineers to help in Damcyan and Eblan; he had formed a team of volunteers to explore the Tower of Bab-Il; he had promised the Duke that he would make a formal visit to Agart. I was still seething when he turned to me, and I almost bit my tongue when he said my name.

"Rydia," he repeated. Finally I looked up at him. His eyes were smiling, as if he realized that I'd been sulking. "I have a favor to ask you."

I sat up in my chair. The others were leaving. A couple faces had turned, mildly interested in the proceedings. I tried to smile at him.

"I have sent out a couple emissaries to the smaller towns of the world to check what the people need." He took a deep breath. "I want to make you a Delegate of Baron, Rydia."

I looked at him, confused. "Okay, Cecil," I replied.

He smiled. "And I want to send you to Mist."

Oh, God ...

I had barely thought of my hometown in the long eleven years I had been gone; the last I had seen was the terrifying image of everything burning down around my mother's inert body, which I had blocked from my childhood psyche as soon as I could. But now all the horrors swept through me. I tried to hold them back. "...Cecil, why are there no representatives from Mist here?"

He hung his head. "I sent an envoy to ask," he said slowly. "But no one came. They were rejected before they even passed through the caves. Mist is still wary of Baron, it seems. That's why I want to send you."

All the color drained from my face. "Cecil, I don't ...know ...if I can."

"Rydia, I know it'll be hard for you," he said. "But they won't listen. And they're the ones who need Baron's aid more than anything. Please." His eyes were dark with guilt. "I want to help them."

I bowed my head. "I'll think about it," I whispered.



I was pacing the halls restlessly that afternoon, thinking on what had happened. I was in a horribly foul mood, and my only consolation was that the day couldn't possibly be any worse.

Wrong.

I heard footsteps behind me, and turned. It was Edge. Normally I would have been pleased, but I was pissed, and he didn't look like he wanted to be comforting. In fact, I wasn't sure I liked the shadows on his face and in his eyes.

"Hey, there you are, Riddy," he said, and came to stand beside me. I had come to lean against the wall, overlooking part of the town of Baron. I didn't look at him; I wanted to very badly, but I didn't.

"Still upset?" he asked, and when he received silence as an answer, he nodded. But he wouldn't go away. Instead, Edge looked at me quizzically and asked: "Rydia, what was the big deal in the meeting this morning?"

I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "All the arguing about your powers," he said. "Why is everyone so concerned? Is there..." he paused. "Is there something about you that I don't know?" he asked quietly.

My mood was becoming fouler. "There is plenty about me that you don't know, Edge," I said darkly.

"I mean something important," he said, imploring. "I mean, come on, they're all talking about you like you're some kind of monster or something."

I looked at him then. "Does it matter?" His face registered surprise, and I blandly chose to ignore his handsome eyes. "I see. It doesn't matter until you start hearing rumors. It doesn't matter to you until someone tells you something strange, right? It's not worth asking about until you're confused about it? You could've asked a dozen questions while we were traveling, but you decided instead to ignore me - until somebody starts telling you I'm a monster?"

"Rydia." His face was pained, and he was beginning to get angry. "Can you blame me? Look, I wasn't exactly at my best when I met you. And I lost my parents."

And now I was furious.

"You think you're the only one who lost your parents?" I howled, throwing myself away from the edge. "You're the only one who had to pay in this war, huh? You're the only one who matters, right?"

"Why are you so angry?" Edge shouted back. "What did you lose, huh?"

"You want my story?" I growled in his face. "Turns out I am human. I was born in a little town called Mist, just north of Baron. I never knew my father. And when I was six years old I watched my mother die defending our village." The words were dark and bitter, filled with eleven years of hate and regret. Edge took a step back, but I couldn't help myself now.

"So don't talk to me about loss!" My eyes were narrowed and my vision was clouding over. "You lost your home, I lost my home. You lost your parents, I lost my entire family. I think we're even!"

But now Edge was furious. "Don't talk about my parents like that!" he thundered. "This isn't a game where whoever loses the most wins!"

"Oh, come on," I shot back. "Everything's a game with you. Prince of Eblan? Hah. You're just a vagabond - you just go wandering around the land looking for excitement. I'm surprised you even noticed your castle was gone."

His eyes were on fire. "I am not! I'm a Prince. And I'm going to take care of my people."

"Take care of them?" I was livid. "What are you, their beneficent gift from the gods?"

"At least I'm going to go back to them," he snapped. "I'm not abandoning them."

"At least your people are alive!" I shouted in his face. "You have a home to go back to!"

"And I'm going back!" Edge's voice was a snarl of anger.

"Fine!" I yelled. "You go back and marry that little red-headed snot and get all the money you need to fix up your castle all nice and pretty. Maybe then you'll take some responsibility; you'll have to, married to that bitch. I hope you have a good life!"

The look on his face was not what I expected; all of the anger drained at my last shout, and Edge looked merely hurt and confused. But I was about to burst into tears, so I turned and ran into my room, and I didn't see that he was reaching out for me.



Knock. "Cecil?"

The door swung open. Cecil and Rosa were sitting in the library; Rosa was reading a history of magic, while Cecil was pondering over an enormous map of the world.

"Come in, Rydia," he said with a grin. The smile faded when he looked at my face. "What's wrong?"

I sighed. "I'm going to Mist," I said. "I wanted to let you know."

"Do you have to go now?" Rosa asked. She closed her book gently and came over, a look of concern on her face.

I lifted my eyes to hers. "Yes."

Then she smiled. "Is it Edge?"

That caught me off guard. "No," I lied quickly, but I couldn't help adding, "but he's not helping things either. We got in a fight. I'm sorry. I just want to get out of this castle."

Cecil nodded. "I understand. Take a Chocobo from the stables." I looked at him gratefully.

"And Rydia," he added as I went to leave. "Be careful."

I managed a small smile over my shoulder. "Of course."

I was going back to Mist.



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These chapters are just the plot-builders. There should be some real excitement soon! Thanks for reading!