Chapter 3:



"Rydia, that was amazing," Edward said, pulling himself out of the sand. Rydia smiled.

"My mother taught me how to summon a chocobo," she replied. "It's not really that hard. I could do it when I was five!" She glanced down at the Antlion.

"I thought you said that thing was tame," Cecil said, slightly disgruntled. He and Edward had taken the brunt of the attack. Rydia's magic did not provoke the Antlion, but if Cecil or Edward so much as started to attack the creature, it responded with a powerful counter attack. In the end, Rydia's magic had saved them.



"Here it," Edward called to Cecil. "The Sandruby." Cecil scooped the precious gem into his hands. He was grinning.

"I'm coming for you, Rosa!" he whispered. He turned. "Let's get out of here, you two. Are you guys okay to fight your way out?" Rydia gave a little laugh.

"I've got a new magic I wanna try. It should get us outta here without fighting." Cecil turned back to her.

"You have exit?" he asked. She shook her head.

"That's hard white magic. But I have warp. Black magic is so much easier. Ready?" she moved between the two men. "Hold on. I don't know how well this is going to work!"



After a few warps, they had arrived outside. Edward was grinning at her.

"You are amazing. Even our court wizard had a hard time with warping." Rydia made a face. He couldn't have been a very good wizard if he could hardly warp!

"Let's go!" Cecil called to them. "It's nearly dark. If we hurry, we'll be there by midday tomorrow."

The hovercar ride was long and tiring. Rydia slept on the way back to Kaipo. She was tired. She felt as if she was in a dream. All she really wanted was to curl up in her mother's arms, fall asleep to her mother's lullabies. She wanted to see her mother so badly. . . .



The hovercar's engine rumble went dead. Rydia blinked. It was light out.

"Hey kiddo," Edward called to her. "It's time to get up. Cecil is jumping at the bit to go."

"Coming," she yawned. She grabbed her ice rod and crawled out of the passenger cabin. She followed the two men through the town, hurrying to the house where Rosa was.



Rydia watched as Cecil touched the Sandruby's to Rosa's forhead. She moaned, and her bright blue eyes fluttered open. The red in her face faded. A small smile came to her lips.

"Cecil.' The word came out as a sigh. "I though. . . when the earthquake hit Mist. . . ."

"I'm fine, Rosa," he whispered. "But, Kain," he shook his head. "I've lost Kain. But I'm sure he's fine."

"You survived. That's all that matters." She coughed, and looked around. "Where am I?"

"Kaipo," Edward replied.

"Kaipo?" She sat up suddenly. "Cecil, they named you a traitor. The King has changed. . . He promoted a man called Golbez to be commander of the Red Wings."

"Golbez. . . . so it is true. Chocobo teeth!" he swore. "I thought the King had more sense then that."

"He is after the crystals. We have to go to Damcyan and protect the crystals!" Rosa cried. "Cecil, he exudes evil! He-"

"Damcyan has already fallen," Edward said softly. Rosa blinked at the prince.

"Edward is the Prince of Damcyan," Cecil told her. "Golbez has destroyed Damcyan."

"Fallen? What of the people?" she asked.

"Some were saved," he replied. "The woman and children, about ten soldiers, they were well hidden in the bowls of my castle. They have been brought here. The rest. . . my Anna. . . all perished." He sniffled. "I cannot bear to see another Kingdom suffer as mine has."



Rosa smiled sadly.

"Fabul is next. We need to go there."

"Not today, love," Cecil replied. "Rest tonight." He looked up at Rydia. "Come on, kiddo. We'll go talk to a few families, and see who can take you in." Rydia scowled.

"I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself."

"Rydia, you're, what, seven?"

"I'm eight, actually." She crossed her arms. "You've seen my magic. Stop trying to get rid of me."

"I'm not- Rydia, I just don't want to see you get killed. You are a kid. You have your whole life to live out. Don't pick up a sword before you have to. That's how you end up like me."

"Cecil," Rydia replied softly, "I'm a Caller. One of the last. Everyone I know was killed in that fire. Everyone I loved. Magic is all I have." She was nearing tears herself, but she was angry too, too angry to cry. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to other people. I'm going with you to Fabul."



Rosa came out of the bed.

"Rydia, you're a Caller? From Mist?" Rydia just nodded. She was unable to do anything else. "You would be welcome as part of our team." Rydia gave a little smile.

"Thanks, Rosa." She looked over at Cecil. Cecil sighed helplessly.

"A woman, a child, a prince," he huffed. "If the Knighthood could see me now."



Rydia tapped the ground with her ice rod. Thick ice snaked across the ground and swallowed Cecil's feet. She grinned at him.

"That's what a kid can do," she said. "Wake me up in the morning, Rosa?"

"Sure thing," Rosa replied, trying to hide her smile.

"The ice will melt in a couple'f hours," Rydia called. She disappeared around the corner and listened to them. She wanted to make sure they didn't make any plans to leave without her.



"That's one determined little girl," Rosa said. Rydia could here the smile in the young woman's voice. "She's got some real power, Cecil."

"I'm afraid for her," he replied. "She's seen so much death. . . . Rosa, I killed her mother."

"But why?"

"She was the one who summoned the Mist dragon. . . and when I killed the dragon. . . ." Rydia blinked. He sounded so sad. She hadn't been sure, up until now, if he really felt bad for killing her mother. But he did.



"Cecil.. ."

"I destroyed her life." He sounded angry now. "Who am I to do that to her, to anyone?"

"You didn't do it on purpose, Cecil." There was an awkward silence. Rydia took a tissue from her pocket. She felt like crying again. But she was not a baby. She forced the tears away, and she went to sleep on the pallet that the older couple had set up for her.



* * * * * * * * * * *





Rydia felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She blinked a few times, the sun coming in the window half blinding her.

"Mommy?" she whispered.

"No, honey. It's Rosa." Rydia shook her head. The strawberry blond-haired woman smiled down at her. She helped Rydia stand. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure. Is Cecil outta my ice yet?" Rosa chuckled.

"Yeah. But he says his feet are going to be cold for a month time."

"Good," Rydia replied. "That's what he gets for treating me like a baby."

"You are not a baby, though, Rydia. You are a remarkably brave girl. Cecil told me a lot of what has happened to you. I admire you for sticking with him. But why did you decide to stay with him?"

"What other choice did I have?" Rydia replied softly. "He was the closest thing I had to a friend." She shrugged. "He's pretty cool to hang around, too. And I've picked up a lot of spells hanging around him."

"Like the ice?"

"I can cast that spell, but I used the rod," she tapped it on the ground and a burst of ice jumped out. "It's weaker. I didn't want to hurt Cecil, after all. Just bug him." Rosa laughed again. It was a gentle laugh. Somehow, this white wizard's laugh made her feel better.



They climbed into the hover car. Cecil and Edward were up front. It took the two of them to pilot the vehicle. Rydia was just glad to have some company. It was a long journey to Fabul, nearly two days.

"So, Rosa, did you know this Kain guy?"

"Kain? Yeah." A shadow passed over Rosa's face. "He and Cecil used to be best friends."

"Used to be? But I thought Cecil said he was still alive."

"I'm surprised you and Cecil lived through that Earthquake." Rosa shook her head. "Kain would have sought Cecil out if he had lived. But don't tell Cecil I think so. It will crush him."

"I won't," Rydia replied softly. "Rosa, I caused that earthquake."

"You?" She squinted at Rydia.

"I summoned a Titan. I don't even know how I did it. But I was so angry. . . . I wanted to kill Kain and Cecil. . . like they had killed my mother." She sniffled. "But I just brought more pain. And I might have killed Cecil's best friend. And Cecil is so nice to me."

"We all do stuff we regret, Rydia. It's part of life. And you had reason to be angry. Are you still angry at Cecil?"

"No," she admitted quietly. "I wish I could be, just so I could get it out. But he's not the one who did it. It's this Golbez man, isn't it, who keeps making people sad, who wiped out my village, made the King of Baron evil?"

"I think so."

"Then he is the one I'm going to be mad at."

"Rydia, listen, if you ever need to talk. . ." Rydia nodded. She felt like she would cry. She threw her arms around Rosa and hugged her. Rosa's arms came around Rydia. For the first time in a long while, Rydia felt safe.