Chapter 15: Woe to the Man
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The six trapped friends all clustered together in the middle of the hall while Tellah cast his Stop spell.
"STOP!"
In the closed space, the spell didn't echo and the walls didn't stop advancing. Every second, the hallway was getting narrower and narrower.
"This can't be the end," Yang insisted. "There must be a way out of here."
The twins looked each other in the eye, communicating silently once more.
The Break spell, Palom said to his sister.
How would that do any good? Porom argued by furrowing her brow.
We could stop the walls if we cast it on ourselves, Palom explained, almost calmly.
Porom looked horrified. That would kill us!
I know, but someone has to rescue Rosa and save the world. Cecil at least has to get out of here.
But… You're right. It may be the only way.
They nodded in agreement and ran to the walls, Palom on the left and Porom on the right.
"Kids, what are you doing?" Tellah asked. "You can't hold the walls back."
They both turned to look back at their uncle, almost as if to say, "Oh yes we can." Porom tried to telepathically drill a message into his head: "It's okay. We're going to save you."
"Don't worry about us," Palom insisted. "We'll be okay; but all of you have to get out and save Rosa. She's counting on you."
"What are you doing?" Tellah demanded, now sounding more than a little worried.
Porom smiled sweetly, trying to hide how scared she was. She wasn't sure if her façade was working or not; she had never faced death so squarely in the eye, or so close. And this time, Cecil wouldn't be able o catch her; Tellah had no spells strong enough to revive her; there would be no benevolent white mage to heal her. She and her brother were done for, and they knew it.
"I'm so glad that we were able to meet you, uncle," she said shakily. "You've taught us so much. And, Cecil, thanks for looking out for us. It was like having an older brother"
"Wait," Cecil demanded, stepping forward. "Please tell us what you're doing!"
They ignored him and pressed their hands against the stone walls.
"You ready, sis?" Palom asked over his shoulder. He swallowed hard and blinked nervously.
Porom nodded hesitantly. "Yes. I'm ready."
They whispered the words to their newest spell:
"BREAK!"
The sphere of energy formed between them again, swirling and crackling like silver lightning. It dissolved into a ray of blinding white light that covered the whole room, so it was like a sheet of blank paper. The four men all shielded their eyes from the light.
They all opened their eyes a moment later to spots of purplish-orange light, fearful of what they would find when the spots cleared.
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Georgette wasn't sure why she bothered again, but she yanked at the doorknobs one last time. This time, to her utter relief, the knobs turned easily and she flew through the doors, ready to help her friends.
She stopped dead in her tracks. The twins were holding the walls back, but something was horribly wrong: they had been turned to stone statues. The four men behind them were staring, dumbfounded, at a loss for words or reaction.
Suddenly, Tellah animated and came forward. "What are we so upset for?" he asked. "They stopped the walls and broke the spell. Now I'll just restore them with my Esuna spell and we'll be on our way," he explained, though he sounded shaken as he recited the incantation.
"ESUNA!"
They all waited, but nothing happened. Tellah furrowed his brow, looking even more worried, and cracked his knuckles before reciting for a second time.
"ESUNA!"
Still, nothing happened. The twins remained statues.
Tellah screamed and threw his staff violently on the ground. "Why isn't it working?!" he demanded furiously.
"They did this on their own, didn't they," Georgette guessed, wiping a few tears off her cheek.
Tellah nodded and leaned heavily against the wall as if he had lost most of his strength.
The white mage sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "They can't be restored," she said, trying to compose herself. "They've done this of their own free will; unless you have a deep understanding of magic, you can't reverse it."
Tellah shook his head defiantly. "No... No! That cannot be! I can—"
"You can't!" Georgette yelled back. "It impossible!"
Tellah sank down to his knees and hid his face behind his own hands. "That can't be," he insisted. "They're my little sister's only children; they're my only niece and nephew! There must be a way to save them! This just can't be happening!"
Georgette stomped her foot angrily. "Yelling about it isn't going to solve anything!" she pointed out. "What are you going to do now, huh? Think about that for a minute!"
"What can I do about it?" Tellah demanded, ignoring her suggestion. "I can't just leave them here like this!" he pointed out.
"But the kid had a point," Cid said pointedly. "He said we still have to save Rosa; we can think about that. Isn't that what you came here for in the first place?"
"Tellah has a point as well; you can't really expect us to just leave them like this," Yang added.
"What else can you do?" Georgette asked, rubbing her eyes. "I just told you. There's nothing that you can do; they're… gone." She felt horrible to have to be the bearer of this news, and she felt horrible for Tellah. If something like this had happened to Rosa, she would have died inside to not be able to help her. But still, something nagged at her that the sweet little children she had healed couldn't just be gone like that; so long as someone was willing to try and help them, there could be a way. And Tellah certainly seemed convinced that he could find that way.
"Maybe…" she heard Cecil mutter. He seemed to brighten, but then he shook his head doubtfully and wilted again.
"Maybe what?" she asked. "Come on, tell me."
"It would get us all in a lot of trouble," Cecil answered sadly.
"Just tell me," Georgette demanded.
"I just remembered," Cecil explained, somewhat reluctantly, "something that the Elder of Mysidia told me. He told me that the Elder isn't allowed to have a wife or a husband, or children; the Elder needs to be free of ties like that so he or she can better serve the needs of the island and study more deeply than anyone else."
Georgette nodded. "That is true," she agreed, beginning to see where Cecil was headed with this.
"I just thought, since Tellah had a family, he wasn't able to continue learning, like his brother, so maybe there is a way to revive them but he just doesn't know it. But perhaps Rai knows of a way."
Georgette listened carefully, even though she didn't understand the part about Tellah's brother right away.
Tellah and the Mysidian Elder are related? She thought when the gears clicked in place. Well, no matter. Cecil has an excellent point; the Elder may very well know a way to revive Palom and Porom. But then, if he does…
"Why exactly would it get you all in trouble?" she asked. "It's a wonderful idea; I say we contact him right now and ask him."
"My sister would kill me," Tellah groaned. "What the hell would I say to her? I can't just write to her and tell her that her only children turned themselves to stone and that I can't save them."
There was a pause while everyone took this in. After a few seconds, Yang stepped forward.
"I will do it, then."
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Mira snapped to attention when she felt a tingly magical presence nearby. She jumped up from her chair, dropping her book on the floor as she dashed to the kitchen, where Tellah's letters tended to materialize. She couldn't wait to read the new letter; she was glad that Tellah was making a conscious effort to write to her and she was really starting to look forward to his letters. That aside, she was anxious to hear how their audience with the king of Baron had fared.
The new letter was addressed differently than the ones she had received already, folded into a neat little square with all the corners joining in the middle instead of just folded in half. And the address was written in a curling, elaborate script.
To Mrs. Mira Faraxhae, care of Yang Fang Leiden, it read.
Mira furrowed her brow, nervous about what this could mean. She unfolded the letter and read it slowly, talking in the flowing script:
To Mrs. Mira Faraxhae,
It is with a heavy heart and under the most unfortunate of circumstances that I must write to you, and we all hope that you and your brother, Elder Raidon, will be able to help us.
There is no easy way to say this, but it is all of our duties to inform you that Palom and Porom have turned themselves to stone, and that none of our magic can revive them.
At this point, Mira let out a scream of horror and anguish. She felt her world beginning to spin, and she collapsed, unconscious on the floor. The rest of the letter went something like this:
This is news that no parent ought to receive, nor is it a message that I would wish on someone else to deliver. However, Elder Raidon may have a solution; his magic is far deeper and more powerful than Tellah's, and he may actually be able to bring them back to us. Mrs. Georgette Farrell, Baron's head white mage, invites you both to come and see to this whenever you are ready. She will be waiting to welcome you.
In the meantime, we have been successful in finding Cid, the engineer that we have come to find. With his airship, The Enterprise, we will be able to find and rescue Rosa, at long last.
Your children gave themselves to save us, and, even if they have been lost to us forever, they will live on as heroes in our memories. We pray that your brother will be able to revive them, but now we must hurry on our mission, which is drawing quickly to a climax. We will be leaving in a few hours. If there is anything you might need to know, write to us on board The Enterprise.
With most respect,
Yang Fang Leiden.
Someone opened the door to the house and stepped in, accompanied by a few other people who had heard Mira scream. They all gasped to find her on the floor.
"Quickly," said the man in the front. "Get her up and take her to bed. Someone run and tell Elder Rai; he'll need to know about this as soon as possible."
One young man, dressed in a white mage's robe, came forward and lifted Mira off the floor. He carried her into her bedroom while the other got themselves organized.
"I'll run to the tower," one hooded black mage offered. The others all nodded in agreement and he started for the door. He paused when something under his foot crackled; it sounded like a piece of parchment. He stepped to the side to look, and sure enough, there was the letter.
"What on earth is this?" the black mage wondered, stooping down to pick up the letter. He skimmed the print with his gleaming yellow eyes. He couldn't read the elaborate script so quickly, so he handed it to the leader to see. The leader took it and read it carefully, his brow knitting steadily into a frown of concern.
"I knew that dark knight was no good," he growled. "You had better take this with you," he said, handing the letter back to the black mage. "This time, he'll fix that no good murderer for sure."
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"It's a good thing that I hid The Enterprise so well," Cid said soberly, flipping a switch on the wall that was supposed to lead to a store room. "If that monster had found it, there's no tellin' what he woulda' done with it. It's got more guns and missiles than any other ship in the Red Wings, and it can hold about 500 men at once," he explained.
"Sounds like it will come in handy," Cecil agreed as a hidden door somewhere rumbled open. He still didn't know where the door was; it was probably concealed behind the walls. In the distance, muffled by thick walls of stone, he could hear wood creaking, gears turning, and an engine roaring to life.
"Now what?" Yang asked, sounding fascinated in spite of all that had just happened. "How do we get to the ship if it's hidden behind walls?"
Cid held up a small rectangular contraption and grinned slyly. "With this thing. It's a controller; along with everything else, I've equipped it with autopilot, so I could bring it back if someone did find it."
Tellah, who had been moody and quiet for the past several hours, nodded. "I've got to admit it: you certainly seem to know what you're doing."
"Thanks, old man," Cid said proudly, pressing some buttons on the controller. "The ship should be landing outside in a few minutes. Let's scram, already."
They all walked outside to find the massive ship settled neatly on the grass about a quarter of a mile away from the moat. The two guards currently at the post starred with wide eyes at the thing, paralyzed b its sudden appearance. Several people were crowded on the front wall, pointing and talking amazed to each other.
Yang's eyes were wide as well. "I've never seem a thing so big," he breathed, not quite believing what he was seeing. "And I though the other airships were big!"
"I'm already plannin' a bigger one, with more guns and more carrying capacity," Cid informed. "In a few years, I'll have made my own prize ship obsolete!" He laughed sarcastically.
"What does that accomplish?" Tellah asked. "Why make your own invention obsolete?"
"Dunno; why do you bother learning Thundara if it'll just make Thunder obsolete?" Cid asked. Tellah got the message and let his eyes wander away.
As hey walked towards the ship, someone yelled to them from the wall:
"Hey! Cecil!"
They all turned back to look and saw Allun and Romelle waving at them wildly, trying to get their attention.
"We'll be waiting for you to get back!" Allun yelled.
"Yeah, we'll all be right here!" Romelle added needlessly. However pointless his comment was, it seemed to get the other people gathered on the wall revved up; they all began cheering for the party on the ground, wishing them luck and a safe return.
Cecil could have sworn that he heard someone say something about him being the king. He laughed softly to himself. Me? The king? They must be kidding! Either that, or I'm hallucinating.
He had to admit that it felt good to be back on an airship again; he hadn't been on one in months, and the last one he had seen had seen had been destroying Fabul. He had hated everything the Red Wings stood for for so long, he had forgotten how much fun they could be; he was actually excited about going. Surely, now that they had such a powerful ship, they would be able to find Rosa. His quest was finally coming to a head.
Still, he couldn't help but twinge at the fact that Palom and Porom wouldn't be coming with them. Half the excitement of getting here to find Cid and The Enterprise was to see the looks on their faces as they zoomed through the sky, hundreds of feet above everything else.
Why is it that every time I find a solution I have to lose something precious? He wondered. It always seems like all the doors are open, and one really important door has to slam in my face before I can move forward. Losing all my friends in the shipwreck nearly broke me, and washing up in Mysidia was almost more than I could bear. But now, to lose Palom and Porom... I can only hope I don't have to lose Rosa again.
As Cid hit buttons and pulled levers and the ship rose up in the air, Tellah and Yang were shaken to the floor, unaccustomed to the rocking, while Cecil and Cid remained upright. Yang pulled himself up on the railing and managed to get on his feet again.
"What a ride," he muttered. He was silent for a moment. "Um, you guys, what's that?" he said, pointing away from the ship. Cecil turned to look and saw another airship flying towards them.
"It looks like an airship," Cid confirmed. "Actually, it looks like one of the Red Wings."
"Who else would have a ship like that?" Tellah wondered.
Cecil felt a shiver run down his spine. "Take a good guess."
Kain's coming.
"Should we park it, retreat, or attack, captain?" Cid asked.
"Park it," Cecil answered. "I'll take care of this," he said, fingering the hilt of his sword.
Of course this has something to do with Rosa, he thought. She had better be alright. But, if she isn't, what am I going to do about?
The smaller red ship pulled up beside the bigger blue-black one and also parked. Some soldiers brought over a long piece of plank board and extended it between the two ships. A strange and somehow sinisterly beautiful woman, dressed like a dancer, materialized behind them and shooed them all out of the way as Kain came forward in his dark dragon armor.
The woman scowled at the opposite passengers. "Don't you dare try anything funny, or I'll blow you lot out of the sky faster than you can blink," she threatened; he voice was smooth and willowy, like the whispering of the wind. Somehow, none of them had any trouble believing her.
"That's not necessary, Barbaricia," Kain informed, pacifying the woman.
Barbaricia demurely wound a lock of her wild hair around her finger. "I'm just looking out for you, sir Kain; it's my job," she said sweetly.
Cecil shivered again; that woman was trouble, and he didn't like the fact that Kain was with her. He had his fair share of ugly questions to ask him about where he had been and what he had been doing since Fabul, but he pushed them out of his head as he crossed the bridge to meet him.
Come on, man, you're a paladin now. You've done a good job over the last few weeks; don't ruin it now, he told himself, actually glad that the twins weren't here for this.
Cecil bristled as Kain walked across the flimsy bridge to meet him. His once friend seemed confident and proud. He also noted that Kain was carrying a silver-coated lance with a diamond blade and wondered if he planned on using it.
"We heard that you defeated Cagnazzo, the elemental lord of water," Kain said in a businesslike tone. "You're doing quite well for yourself these days; that concerns my master."
"Feh; some master," Cecil retorted.
"Lord Golbez has a deal for you," Kain informed. "You will go to Troia, the kingdom to the North-West, and retrieve the earth crystal for us."
"And why would I do that?" Cecil demanded.
"So that Rosa will stay alive long enough for you to rescue."
Cecil felt his heart, lungs, and stomach crowd into his throat. Surely this was some kind of awful joke; Golbez couldn't really think that he would…
Oh, who am I kidding; this is Golbez we're talking about. Of course he would think of something twisted and awful like this. I can't just take Troia's crystal. But I can't just leave Rosa to die. But then, would Kain stand for it?
"You wouldn't let anything happen to her," Cecil insisted.
"Give me one good reason," Kain answered bluntly, tapping his spear impatiently.
"Give me one good reason why."
"I don't care what happens to her," Kain informed. "I've moved on with my life. She's just a pawn in the grander scheme of things; all of you are. Technically, I'm a pawn myself. But, so long as I have to be no more than a humble pawn, I'd rather be moved by the winning team; I see no point in playing for a team that is going to move forward one inch to be pushed back two." He turned gracefully on the narrow plank, not losing his balance for one second.
Cecil was trembling, unable to believe that he had really just heard all that come out of Kain. The Kain he used to know...
"Wake up, Kain!" he yelled across the gap. "Can't you hear what you sound like? Don't you understand what you're doing?"
Kain looked over his shoulder with no emotion on his face. "I have nothing left to say to you," he informed, stepping back onto the deck of his own ship. He offered his arm to Barbaricia, who accepted and walked off with him. As the other ship pulled away, Cecil retreated back to The Enterprise.
Great; what now?
The Enterprise remained inpark as the other ship sailed away, and no one spoke for a long time.
"So, what did he say?" Yang asked after the tense silence had lingered for about five minutes.
"Golbez wants us to take the earth crystal from Troia," Cecil answered numbly.
"That dog," Cid muttered. "Why'd he think we'd do that?" he demanded.
"He wants to trade Rosa for the crystal," Cecil explained, sagging against the mast and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Tellah thumped is staff angrily on the deck. "This is totally unacceptable! How could he do something like this?" It was a stupid question, and he knew it, but everyone knew what he meant: the amount of malice and pure evil that Golbez operated with was, in a few words, utterly confounding.
"I'll bet you he wants to stall us with making up our minds enough to do something," Yang thought. "He knows that this will be a hard decision, and he'll make the most of it in every way that he can. I say we go to Troia, at least to throw him off the scent. We'll figure out what to do when we get there."
Cecil listened, still not sure if he was stable enough to make a good command decision yet. Yang made good points; maybe they should just head to Troia. Who knew? Maybe they would find where Golbez was hiding while they were at it.
"Cid, let's get to Troia."
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Sheila looked up from the potion she was brewing to see a letter materialize on the kitchen table. She turned the heat down, rubbed her eyes, red from crying after the last letter, and snatched up the new letter. This time, it was penned in Tellah's familiar hand. She tore it open, not caring if it was out of line, and began reading as fast as her tired eyes could register:
To Mira and Rai,
Forget everything that Yang wrote to you a few hours ago. Stay in Mysidia until I tell you that it is safe. Something has arisen concerning Cecil's ex-friend, Kain Highwind, and a new branch of Golbez' plot. Traveling could be very dangerous, by air, sea, or Devil's Road. We'll be in Troia for a week or two. I'll explain everything to you when I get there; I don't have a lot of time right now. Just please don't go to Baron yet.
Your Brother,
Tellah.
Shelia ran out of the room to find Rai, who was already packing some of his things into a bag and preparing for a long trip. She found him in his private library, looking noisily through his books for the books he might need.
"Sir, this just arrived," she announced, handing him the letter. Rai took it and read it quickly. He winced.
"Mira isn't going to be pleased with this."
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Oh good God! How much can one poor paladin take at one blow?!
Man, this chapter was fun write! Sad and a bit heartbreaking, to say the least, but I sure had a blast writing it!
Well, I don't have much of a preview. The next chapter is just a little experiment that I've been planning since, like, the second chapter (back when I was rattling off, like, two chapters a day). And I don't want to tell you what it is, cuz it's a surprise!
I'll be back!
Poof!
(Transforms into a superhero, who's disguise is mainly pencil-themed, flies the five feet back to her computer and begins typing in a maniacal fashion.)