Act Twelve: Duel in the Sky

"Cecil…" Rosa opened her eyes slowly and waited for her vision to come into focus. She was still in the same ghastly white room as the last time she passed out. Her arms were still aching so badly that at this point she had learned to ignore the pain and merely acknowledged it as her new state of being. But in her dreams, hazy as they were, she swore she had heard Cecil's voice, and felt a warm light envelop her.

Only a few feet away, Golbez was messing with some sort of remote control in his hand, his back to her. It was actually very rare that he made an appearance in front of her – he normally only showed up when he wanted to engage Kain in some taunting about Cecil, probably to torture her further. Rosa took in a deep breath and tried to raise her voice the best she could manage.

"Golbez! Where is Cecil?"

He heard her. Slowly, he turned around, and she shrank back a bit at the black void that was his face. She was amazed that his helmet was so black that she couldn't even glimpse the light in his eyes – even Cecil's dark knight armor revealed a sliver of the humanity within. She shuddered at the thought that maybe there wasn't even a face underneath at all…perhaps it was just a reaper's skull…

"It is none of your concern," Golbez replied, looking her up and down. "However…"

Before Golbez could even summon Kain, he had materialized at this side silently. Rosa turned her attention to him, urging Kain with her eyes for him to look at her, but he kept his focus on his master instead, waiting for instructions.

"Kain…clean up this disaster of a girl. When the opportunity arises to present her head to Cecil and his band of merry men, we should at least make her recognizable for the poor boy."

"Consider it done," Kain bowed, and Golbez took his exit in a plume of gray smoke. Kain finally locked eyes on Rosa, and grimaced as he did so.

"Why do you glare at me like that, Rosa?"

"Kain, wake up!" Rosa cried. "Whatever this is, it can still be stopped! Cecil is coming for us!"

"Cecil has no hope of reaching this floor," Kain narrowed his eyes. "And need I remind you that any hopes of you have of being saved remain with me? Only I will be able to convince Golbez not to slaughter you if Cecil does somehow manage to appear. Can't you accept me over him?"

"No!" Rosa shook her head. "I don't believe that you really feel this way. Cecil is your friend! He's practically your brother! He…unf!"

Kain had pulled a handkerchief from his breast plate and shoved it into Rosa's mouth. He reached up and started pulling the combs and tiara from her hair, although not roughly. Rosa spat out the handkerchief and swung her arms hanging from the hook, managing to smack Kain in the face. He dropped his hands, stunned. For a brief moment, Rosa swore she saw some sort of light flicker back into his eyes, but she was also delirious with hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation.

"Don't touch me!" Rosa shrieked.

Kain raised an eyebrow and retrieved the handkerchief, folding it into a gag and forcing it back into her mouth again, this time reaching back and tying it behind her head.

"How highly you think of yourself," he snorted. "Golbez just wants you to be presentable, is that so bad?"

"Ha ha ha! Sir Kain, you are but a lowly man…leave the grooming of the brat to me," a sweet, low voice called out. "I'll try to make her as ravishing as yours truly."

"Barbariccia…" Kain stood up straighter and glared. "You overstep your bounds."

A strong breeze hit Rosa's face, despite there being no windows in the chamber, smelling of intense, overwhelming lemon perfume. A tall, svelte figure approached, her form nearly entirely hidden by cascades of buttery golden blonde hair that seemed to wrap around her body like a birthday present ribbon. Pale feet encased in golden high heels barely peeked out as she clicked across the floor toward Rosa and Kain.

Rosa had never seen the woman Kain called Barbariccia before, but she had heard her siren voice plenty of times. She appeared to be some sort of minion of Golbez's, but she also had a strange fascination with Kain, talking to him with seductive undertones that made Rosa blush whenever she overheard. Kain, for his part, mostly ignored her, but the whole situation made Rosa queasy regardless.

Kain stepped aside and Barbariccia reached up to gently run a hand through Rosa's hair. Rosa could see that Barbariccia had a hauntingly beautiful face, with large-set yellow-green eyes and lashes that looked like they could impale you. She licked her pale pink lips, leaving a glossy sheen over them and exposing a slightly crooked incisor.

"Oh, you are a cute girl after all. I'll make you perfect for your big…or will that be final debut?" Barbariccia giggled excitedly and snapped her fingers at Kain. "Fetch me a rag and warm water so I can wash this little biscuit. And no boys allowed!"

"Mmmmph!" Rosa protested against the gag, suddenly wishing Kain would stay with her. Who the hell was this woman?

Cecil ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He knew it was a mistake to let Golbez see how enraged he had become over the double-cross, but he was exhausted and felt like he was losing what little control he had over the situation. Yang had been right – they should have spent the night in Troia and started off in the morning, rested and better prepared for treachery. He had no idea what time it was now, or how much time had passed since they had arrived. He was sitting back against the wall he had tried to destroy, recovering his senses.

Cid was investigating the door ahead of them that would randomly slide open and shut. It appeared if you stepped in front of it, it would open for you, but he was most concerned about the mechanical eye watching them from above the threshold. Was it a camera for Golbez to watch them? A motion detector? This was tech he had only read about in advanced engineering volumes and even then had never known anyone that could recreate it.

Yang had traveled ahead to get a lay of the land. A few moments later, he returned, sweat on his brow. He had obviously been battling.

"There are monsters here the likes of which I've never seen before," he frowned. "Beasts made of snow, ice lizards, and undead soldiers. I can't tell from their uniforms what nation they might have once hailed from…" He shook his head. "But Golbez has reanimated them into a formidable army. They attacked me as soon as I stepped into the rooms ahead."

"Sounds like nothing a little fire magic won't make quick work of," said Tellah. "Let's blow through them and get to the top of the tower. Golbez and my revenge awaits!"

"Tellah…" Cecil's grip tightened on his sword. It was the first time he had spoken since he lost it with Golbez. "Be it hypocritical of me to say, we must not let our rage drive us. It should have been obvious, but Golbez planted this trap for us, and we sprung it. The game is no longer under our control, even if we still have the Earth Crystal."

"Cecil is right," Yang replied. "I think I've gotten a good understanding of the layout. The floors are not very large, but the exits to each stairway are hard to find due to the…monotonous decor. And as I previously mentioned, we've got a lot of company roaming the rooms with us. It's best we maintain our stamina in case we cannot find a safe place to rest. Time is of the essence, but if we exhaust our strength before reaching Golbez, we'll be an easy target for any of these monsters."

"Maybe these creepy eyes are helping the monsters keep tabs on us," Cid theorized. "They probably aren't just crowding them on each level, they'd just end up fighting and killing each other. There has got to be some kind of mechanism that releases them as we approach. Let's see!" Before anyone could stop him, he leapt into the air with a silver hammer and slammed it down upon the mechanical eye. With a pathetic buzzing noise, the light in the eye burned out, and a metal eyelid slammed shut. The vertical door remained open.

"Time to see if that did anything," Cecil said. Crossing the threshold of the door and climbing the stairs, he crossed into the next room, only to find it empty from when Yang originally cleared it out. Ahead of them, another mechanical eye loomed above a doorway. As soon as Cecil had stepped inside, it began to click and whirl.

"There's no monsters here, but that other eye is starting to go to work," Cecil called back. "The quicker we can defeat the eyes, the less monsters there should be, hopefully. Tellah, as soon as you can enter, use a Thunder spell to disable it!"

"Noted," Tellah said, and raised his hand, electricity crackling between his fingers. "Thunder!"

The bolt of lightning shot out and fried the eyeball, causing the same reaction as Cid smashing it. Yang went ahead to gauge the monster level on the next level, and came back, grinning.

"It is considerably lower than when I first ventured up and turned back. I daresay we have a chance if we keep going at this rate!"

Cecil turned to Tellah. "Is this going to be OK?"

Had Tellah gotten that question from anyone else, he would have bristled like a hedgehog, but he knew with Cecil it was intended to be kind – Cecil had never been anything but kind to him, even when he was carrying the mantle of a dark knight. He truly felt sorry for the boy – he didn't want to see him in the same position that Edward was in with Anna, but it was looking more and more likely that was going to happen. He wanted to do everything he possibly could to save Cecil and Rosa from that fate. Cecil had already been forced to watch that child he had been protecting – Rydia – die.

"I'll be fine, my boy," Tellah said, gently knocking Cecil in the arm with his staff. "But you'd best let me up front so I can get the jump on these things."

Outside the tower, night had given way to a reluctant dawn. The remains of the thunderstorm were still lingering in the air, occasionally making the tower shudder underneath the party's feet as they battled their way upstairs. The tower remained utterly silent except for the clicking of their footsteps on the glass floors and the occasional shriek of a dying abomination.

A few hours later, well after Cecil had lost count of how many floors they had climbed, a very distinct girlish giggling erupted from a stairwell ahead of them. And this doorway had no mechanical eye.

"Could this be it?" Cid scratched his head. "Seems kind of…anticlimactic?"

"Do we really need any more of the climatic?" Tellah barked, delighting in being able to pick a fight with Cid. The exhaustion was really starting to get to him too, as much as he hated to admit it. "Is that Rosa's voice, Cecil?"

"Well…no…I mean, I've never heard her laugh like that," said Cecil, a little perplexed. He realized, with a quickly escalating sense of dread, that he couldn't remember the last time he heard Rosa laugh, and was having a hard time remembering what it actually sounded like. He couldn't even remember the last words he had said to her. He had been so enraptured with the idea of finding a place to hide her away so that she didn't keep following him into danger, that he hardly had noticed she was there – and he had lost her anyway. How could he have been so foolish?

"Hee hee hee..ahem," the voice continued. "Cecil, is that you? I'm up here!"

Cecil and Cid looked at each other. That sounded more like Rosa.

"Let's go!" Cecil cried, just as Yang shouted "Wait!"

Cecil bolted up the stairs and threw open the door. He found himself in a huge alcove, empty of anything except for a silver pathway. The pathway, lined with glowing blue lights, lead to a huge pair of elegantly etched golden doors. Cecil couldn't make out the story the etchings was trying to tell, but he could see pictures of a singular moon in the sky, shapeless people worshipping beneath it, and what looked like crystals scattered across the sky. He counted past four before he snapped out of his daze from Cid's voice.

"She must be in there!" Cid pointed to the doors. "Rosa, we're coming!"

As they crossed the pathway, the lights that were pulsing across the ceiling suddenly dimmed, and pink, blue and purple mist began to curl at Cecil's feet. Cecil stumbled back when the pink mist pulled itself into a humanoid tower about six feet tall, and exploded. The result was a willowy-limbed, freshly tanned, chestnut-haired woman winking at Cecil. She wore a skin-tight pink spandex long-sleeved top with a low scoop neck that ended just below her breasts. Her bottoms consisted of a matching pair of pink capri pants that had only one leg that went down to her knees, the other completely cut away up to her pelvis. One knee-high boot and one pink high heel complemented the mismatched set. In a perfectly manicured hand (pink, of course), she held one of the tallest spears Cecil had ever seen, tipped with a platinum arrowhead – he didn't think he had even seen a dragoon wield such a weapon.

Her brown eyes widened as she looked Cecil up and down, and her cheeks exploded in a blush. "Hello, darling! Welcome to the Tower of Zot!"

The blue mist exploded alongside Cid, the visitor considerably less…overwhelming than the pink woman. She was about four feet tall, and had the shape and coloring of a Magic Pot monster. Wearing a tight purple bodysuit that extended into a hood over her face, she clutched in her meaty fists a gigantic scythe that was nearly the same size as the pink woman. Her feet, which were inexplicably tiny for her frame, were barely contained in pink and yellow leggings. Narrowing her black eyes at Cid, she popped a giant wad of gum and burped her greeting.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Finally, the purple mist curled into a compact, little block next to Yang, and burst into the guise of a little girl, probably no older than Rydia had been. Dressed in what looked like a cute child's costume of a knight, she wore a purple polka-dot jumper with a purple and yellow striped bodysuit underneath. Her violet hair was tucked into a hood, and her left hand brandished a blunt dagger.

"We're the Magus Sisters! We serve Barbariccia, the Empress of the Winds."

"Another fiend…?" Cecil questioned out loud, but the girls voices drowned him out.

"I'm Sandy!" The tall, pink woman bowed.

"Cindy!" The squat woman chortled.

"Mindy!" The little girl squeaked. "I'm afraid your climb is at an end…"

"We'll be taking that crystal…" Cindy licked her lips.

"…And giving you a taste of our signature Delta Attack to make sure you never see your dear Rosa again!" Sandy exclaimed, doing a perfect impression of Rosa's voice as she winked again.

"So it was you," Cecil hissed, drawing his blade. "Thanks for the welcome, ladies, but if you don't step aside, this will be your end!"

"Ready, Sis?" Sandy asked, twirling her spear. "Here I go!" Using her spear as a medium, she cast reflect on Cindy.

"Ok, here it comes!" Mindy squealed, doing a somersault mid-air.

"Now Mindy, cast the spell!" Cindy barked.

Mindy cast a Thundara spell on Cindy as she landed back on the floor from her flip. Because of the Reflect spell, the thunder ricocheted off of Cindy and doubled in size, exploding in the party's face. As the light blinded Cecil's vision, Cindy swung her scythe, and he managed to dodge out of the way only just in time.

"Delta Attack!" The women all cheered simultaneously, giving each other high-fives. Cecil looked on, bewildered. Was this for real?

Mindy answered that by walking up to Cecil and attempting to stab him in the leg with her dagger. He swiftly blocked her with his sword, and countered, felling her in one strike across her chest. She cried out as she turned back into purple mist and curled around her remaining sisters' feet, floating along aimlessly.

"Mindy!" Sandy cried, tears springing to her eyes. "How will we do another Delta Attack now?!"

"Thundaga!" Tellah boomed, striking Sandy as she knelt down to sob into Mindy's mist. The spell obliterated her instantly, turning her back into mist too.

"Yer magic won't work on me!" Cindy smirked, raising her scythe to strike again. "They may be gone, but my protection ain't!"

"Hiiii-ya!" Yang cried, barreling into Cindy's wide-open abdomen and kicking her so hard that she flew backwards into the giant metal doors in front of them. With a strangled gasp, she slumped to the floor and reverted back to blue mist.

With a gust of strange, lemon-scented wind, the mist blew away, leaving the alcove completely silent once more. Cecil sheathed his sword. "Is everyone OK?"

"That was very strange," Cid remarked. "But…er, yes, OK here."

"Aye," Tellah replied.

"Let's make haste, shall we?" Yang asked.

Cecil marched forward and pulled open the doors before them. It was another yet another white room, but unlike any of the others, several glass consoles were scattered around, all glowing with various buttons and levers in a rainbow of colors. Cecil couldn't even begin to imagine what purpose they served. Standing in the middle of them, in front of another pair of doors, was Golbez himself, swathed in black like usual. On his right side, a sulking Kain.

"Impressive," Golbez said, as Cecil and the others reached to draw their weapons. He sounded as disinterested in the situation unfolding before him as a teenage squire being roused for morning drills.

"Golbez!" Tellah hissed, stepping forward and pushing Cecil aside. "It's YOU!"

"Tellah, use caution!" Cecil half-whispered, pulling him back gently. He turned his attentions back to Golbez. "Where is Rosa?"

"The Crystal first," Golbez replied coolly. The way he enunciated "crystal" sent shivers down Cecil's spine. It was very precise, calculated.

"…Rosa is safe?" Cecil asked, slowly reaching in to his cloak to retrieve the crystal. Was he really going to do this? He could feel the crystal slipping in his sweaty palm. They didn't even have a plan to take it back…

"Never more so," Golbez smiled. "Now…hand over the Crystal."

Cecil looked to Cid and Yang. They both nodded silently. Tellah was fuming and about ready to snap his staff in half.

"As promised," Cecil sighed, and held it out to Golbez. He had to do this…for Rosa's sake. After he took her back, they would strategize together on how to retrieve the crystal. Golbez reached out, and without touching Cecil's hand, willed the crystal to float into a small black portal he had silently summoned. The crystal let out a final glimmer as it disappeared into the darkness, and the portal closed. Golbez turned away and started to walk toward the doors ahead of them. The entire time, Kain stayed stone silent, keeping his eyes on Cecil the entire time.

"Release Rosa," said Cecil, stepping forward. Did Golbez want him to follow?

"Rosa?" Golbez looked back at Cecil. "Whoever would that be?"

Cecil felt as if someone had just poured a bucket of ice water down his back. "What…?"

"He's been playing us for fools all along!" Cid growled, withdrawing his hammer and sliding into a fighting stance.

"Your words are as twisted as your soul!" Tellah sneered, and pushed past Cecil once more. Golbez turned away and continued walking, ignoring Tellah's charge toward him.

"I have no business with you, old man."

"Oh, but I have some with you!" Tellah intercepted Golbez and pulled himself up to his full height to get right in Golbez's face. "The business of the father of a murdered daughter!

"Tellah, no!" Cecil cried, but it was too late. Tellah had begun to chant a string of spells. The magic aura that had wrapped around him as he chanted was the brightest Cecil had ever seen – it meant great power was channeling into Tellah's body.

"Firaga!"

"Take cover!" Yang shouted as roaring flames rained down from above. He, Cecil and Cid dashed underneath some of the glass consoles, covering their heads. Kain continued to just stand aside, staring ahead. Cecil yelled at him to hide, but he didn't flinch. Golbez crossed his arms over his face and said nothing as fire balls pummeled at his face and drove him back a couple feet. When they stopped, a few tendrils of smoke rose from his scorched armor.

Tellah pushed forward on the ground he gained from Golbez, his staff glowing a soft blue as he cast his next spell. "Blizzaga!"

Icicles shattered on the consoles above Cecil's head, and he saw glass and snow scatter around his feet. An intense burst of cold air blew through, making his teeth chatter. Hardly able to see through the blinding snow, he could hear the icicles tearing into Golbez's armor and thought he saw him stumble slightly.

"Thundaga!"

Lightning began to strike all around them, blowing out lights and making sparks explode down from the ceiling. An unmanned console exploded when a bolt struck, making glass and metal fly across the room. A huge piece of shrapnel struck Kain in his breast plate, but once again, he didn't even flinch.

Cecil turned around slowly to try to see through the glass console through the flashes of light. Tellah was now towering over Golbez, who had fallen to one knee, his head bowed. The aura around Tellah was now so powerful that Cecil could barely make out his form wrapped in the light. Tellah looked as if he were going to burst, like a supernova. He began to raise his staff, chanting once more.

Cecil pulled himself up and tried to get closer to Tellah – but the light was somehow also keeping him away, acting as a barrier. He knew that Tellah couldn't keep going like this for much longer – he was normally completely winded after a chain of lower level spells than what he had just cast, and the man hadn't slept and recovered his magic powers for well over a day now.

"Tellah!" Cecil cried. "Stop! You've won!"

"Ha ha ha!" Golbez laughed, punching his fist into the floor as he struggled to maintain his balance. "Feeble old man…what can you hope to do to me?"

Tellah stopped chanting, and the room fell eerily silent. However, the aura had not gone away, and his staff was glowing a faint black color. From what felt like very far away, Cecil could hear a faint whistle.

"Meteor's time has come at last," Tellah breathed raggedly, raising his staff into the air and stretching his arms wide. "At long, long last, I will avenge my Anna!"

"No Tellah, you musn't!" Cecil cried, throwing himself at the aura but being blown backwards like a child tossing away a toy.

"You'll be the one it destroys!" Yang pleaded, joining Cecil's attempt but also being tossed away.

"So be it!" Tellah growled, looking over at his friends. The glasses on his face had cracked, revealing two tired, tear-rimmed, soft gray eyes. His gaze focused on Cecil's a heartbeat longer, and then he turned away. "Let my life fuel the spell…that ends HIS!"

"Noooo, you fool!" Cid screamed. "Stop this!"

The whistling Cecil had caught earlier suddenly became ear-piercingly louder. The atmosphere above them darkened to a sickly black-brown, swirling into a miniature spiral galaxy. It was so large, that it made it appear as if the ceiling had been blown away above them. Hundreds of flaming, glittering meteors began to pour from the galaxy's center. Each one struck Golbez, tossing and battering his body from all angles, like a rag doll. Cecil could hear Golbez's armor cracking and shattering. When the last meteor struck, the air returned to the barren white room, minus most of the lights that had been blown to smithereens.

Golbez remained still on the floor, face down, but a gravelly voice echoed within his cracked helmet.

"Im…impossible! You – how could YOU know Meteor?"

Tellah responded by collapsing in a heap of robes, his staff clattering across the floor and coming to a stop at Golbez's head. The aura around him had completely dissipated.

"Tellah!"

Cecil kneeled before the old man, pulling him into his arms and trying to push the fried, scraggly white hair from his face. There appeared to be no blood, and no wounds…but he was ice cold…

Golbez, miraculously, pulled himself up with little effort and smashed both of his palms against his helmet to weld it back on temporarily. Crushing Tellah's staff underneath his boot as if it were a piece of candy, he extended his hand and created a black teleportation portal.

"Regardless…the Earth Crystal is now mine. Come, Kain."

Kain finally broke his trance-like stare, but his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he promptly slumped against the glass wall behind him, his spear falling from his hands as he crashed to the floor. Golbez stifled out a laugh.

"So…the old man's interference severed my hold over you. No matter. Your purpose is served. Just do not think that this affront will be forgiven."

Cecil gasped. So Kain WAS under a spell! He held Tellah closer and pointed his blade at Golbez. Yang had his claws extended, and Cid readied his hammer.

"You'll not escape this time, Golbez!" Cecil shouted.

Golbez's gaze left Kain's crumpled form, and he turned back to Cecil, exasperated. "You try my patience." He raised a hand, prepared to end Cecil's life with a Flare spell. He wanted to see the light leave Cecil's eyes once and for all and savor every delicious second of it. As he stared into Cecil's defiant blue eyes, silently chanting the incantation, he felt the ancient words suddenly choke up in his throat, and he faltered.

"…!?"

Cecil was inwardly bracing, but was shocked when he saw Golbez suddenly froze in place.

"Why…why now stay your hand!?" Cecil demanded, his voice never wavering.

"But…how…" Golbez shook his head, turning away. He couldn't get Cecil's stare out of his mind's eye, and it muted his tongue. What did those eyes remind him of? The blue of the planet..the same cerulean…there was no doubt. It was such a serene, calming presence…

Cecil kept staring, daring Golbez with his glare to continue the spell. Golbez finally threw up his hands and rushed into the teleportation portal, before its magic failed him as well. He turned one last time to face Cecil as he disappeared into the void.

"We will finish this…another time."

The portal disappeared, and Cecil let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

"Cecil!" Yang rushed to his side.

"Are you alright?" Cid asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Cecil sighed, trying to erase his weird little moment with Golbez from his brain. "But Tellah…!"

He shifted Tellah's body, and Tellah let out a stifled moan, his eyes rolling in the back of his head.

"Thinking I could best him…" He coughed and let out a long, shallow wheeze.

"You shouldn't talk!" Cid barked, reaching for Tellah's hand. Not sure what to do with it, he gently squeezed. It felt very dwarfed in Cid's huge, calloused grasp.

"I brought this on…myself," Tellah sighed. "Letting hate consume me so…Please…Avenge…Anna." He stared up at the ceiling, his hand stiffening under Cid's.

"Tellah!" Cid shook his head.

"No…" Yang closed his eyes, tears prickling at the corners. "His life force…I..can't...feel…"

"Come on!" Cid protested. "Open your eyes…you…you old fool…"

Cecil closed his eyes and shook his head. This wasn't happening…How could this possibly be happening? They had won!

"Oh Tellah…" Yang bowed his head and clasped his hands in prayer. Cid reached up and gently closed Tellah's eyes with his fingertips.

"Rest, then…with that daughter of yours." Cid choked up on the word "daughter", and turned away. He was thinking of his sweet Amelia, back at home, and how close she had just came to becoming an orphan.

Cecil slowly shifted Tellah's body from his lap, letting him rest upon the glass floor. Taking the cracked remains of his staff, he gently laid it in Tellah's lap, and clasped his hands over it.

"Tellah…we WILL avenge your death, and Anna's. I swear it." Cecil unsheathed the blade of legend and bowed his head, sealing the oath.

After a few moments of silence, Cecil put his sword away and turned toward the carnage that had been left behind by Tellah's battle with Golbez. Rosa was nowhere to be found, and Kain remained passed out. Sighing, Cecil made his way to Kain and began to gently shake him, a little worried about how Kain would react when he woke up. Yang and Cid stayed away a respectable distance, but were ready at a moment's notice to draw a weapon to Kain's neck.

"Kain…Kain…!" Cecil whispered, shaking him a little harder. Kain's eyelids fluttered and his pupils gradually returned to a normal size as he focused up on Cecil's face.

"Cecil…" Kain sat up, moaning in pain. He felt as if he had just been in a monsoon. He reached up and touched Cecil's shoulder. "For…forgive me. What…have I done?"

Cecil's heart nearly burst in relief. This was his Kain…his best friend was back!

Cecil clasped his hand over Kain's. "Golbez held sway over your mind. None of this was your doing." Kain saw Tellah's battered body in the distance and looked away, shaking his head.

"But…I was still conscious of everything…Rosa…she…I-" He suddenly stopped mid-sentence and gasped. "Rosa!"

"Where is she!?" Cecil leapt to his feet, pulling Kain up with him.

"Above!" Kain pointed to the doors ahead of them. "Quickly…we've NO time! Golbez still has the remote!" Cecil didn't know what "the remote" was, but Kain sounded deadly serious.

Kain fished a key out of his pocket and jammed it into the lock of the doors. Pushing them open together, Cecil and Kain raced up the stairs to the room where Rosa was being kept. She was still tied in place, her face flushed and hair still slightly damp from Barbariccia's rather aggressive grooming session. However, Barbariccia had at least been kind enough to remove the gag after. Her eyes widened when she saw Cecil, and she pulled harder against her restraints.

"Cecil!"

Kain pointed above silently to the guillotine hanging above Rosa's head. Cecil dashed behind her, slicing her restraints open with his sword. Just as he dragged her away, the guillotine broke and slammed down where Rosa had been sitting, splitting the chair cleanly in half.

Rosa stared wordlessly at the chair for a few moments, catching her breath and willing her legs to function, which they were not ready to do. Digging her fingers into Cecil's arms to keep her stance, she gazed up into his eyes, totally oblivious to Kain, along with Cid and Yang, who had joined them.

"Rosa…" Cecil gazed down upon her, his throat becoming as twisted as Golbez's just moments ago. There was so much he had wanted to say, so much he had been dwelling on since she disappeared…oh, who was he kidding - he had been dwelling since the Mysidia massacre - where did he even start?

"I knew you'd come for me," Rosa smiled. Seeing the curve of her bow-shaped lips smile just for him again shook him to his core.

"I realized the moment you left my side…that…Rosa…I…"

Rosa finally gained just enough strength back in her legs to push up on her toes and press her lips to Cecil's. Sliding her hand through his hair, she closed her eyes and murmured his name against his lips.

"Oh, Cecil…"

He pulled her tightly against him and kissed her back, reveling in the familiar scent of her hair and the warm, delicate flesh of her lower back in his hands. The twisted tower, the death of so many friends, the questioning of his very identity ..everything terrible that lead Cecil to this moment washed away in blissful oblivion. Pushing his mouth deeper against hers, he slid his hands up to her face to cup it, tracing his tongue across her lower lip.

Kain looked away, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Yang and Cid stared at each other, and finally, Cid decided to break the spell, noticing how awkward Kain looked.

"Goodness gracious…things are certainly heating up in here!"

Rosa shyly pulled away from Cecil, and for the first time, noticed Kain. Her face drained as she took stock of the situation.

"Kain!?"

"He is himself again," Cecil assured her quickly, pulling her to his side as he walked her over to him. Kain crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, shame burning in his chest.

"Forgive me, Rosa. You should know that…not all of what I did was because of Golbez's spell. I just wanted to keep you…to keep you by my side."

Cecil looked down, suddenly feeling like he had swallowed a vial of spoiled elixir and clumsily dropping Rosa's hand. How could he…when Kain…wait, what exactly did Kain mean by that? What was Kain trying to tell him before they rescued Rosa?

Rosa bent down to try to look Kain in the eyes. He caught her gaze, briefly.

"Kain…why don't you join us in our fight?"

Cecil and Kain both stared at Rosa. When Kain looked over at Cecil, all Cecil could do was look away. He didn't want to drive his friend away in what was clearly a time of need, but…was Kain trying to tell him that he loved Rosa? Was that what drove their childhood and now adult rivalries? Cecil's mind was spinning, but he knew this wasn't the place to tear apart every detail of their friendship to look for fragments of betrayal.

What had Kain said to Rosa when they were alone in the tower? Cecil knew Rosa would be too respectful of Kain to ever tell him what transpired…he might find out if Kain joined them, but…did Cecil really want that anymore?

"Rosa, Cecil…please accept my apologies," Kain finally sighed. Cecil didn't reply, even when Rosa took his hand again.

"We really don't have time for this right now, right?" Cid asked, trying to break the tension. "We need to get out of here!"

Cecil nodded and tried to offer a slight smile to Kain. "Kain…let's go," said Cecil. "You'll help us fight Golbez, won't you? We could use your help now more than ever."

Kain smiled and nodded. "Certainly. Thank you Cecil…and you, Rosa!"

"Kain, do you know a shortcut to get to the airship dock?" Cid asked, trying to not let his irritation come through in his tone. He still definitely hadn't forgiven Kain yet, but he wanted to make nice for Cecil, whom he could tell was also struggling to forgive. He was going to have a long talk with Kain when they got back home.

"I do, as a matter of fact," Kain nodded, "Just follow me."

Stepping outside of Rosa's holding cell, Kain walked over to one of the consoles that had not been totally destroyed, and began pushing a few buttons. "I'm just going to unlock the emergency elevator. That should get us down there in a flash."

"There was a bloody elevator!" Cid exclaimed, and everyone had a nervous, but not entirely forced laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha ha…It seems I underestimated you, my darling Kain! I'd not have thought you strong enough to wound Lord Golbez!"

Cecil drew his weapon, instinctively blocking Rosa, but seeing nothing approach. Rosa took a few steps back nervously. Kain stopped what he was doing and cocked his lance, making a face.

"It's just Barbariccia – one of Golbez's elemental archfiends. Show yourself, woman!"

"Hee hee!" Barbariccia materialized in front of the group, in a whirlwind of lemon perfume and hair. Cecil recognized the sickeningly sweet scent from when they defeated the Magus Sisters. As the breeze died down, she playfully tossed her piles of hair back behind her shoulders, revealing a microscopic, strapless black metal bikini top and a matching thong bottom that only managed to cover a few precious inches before things became vulgar. Rosa had never actually seen Barbariccia without her being covered in hair, and blushed fiercely. Cecil and Cid's jaws were slightly slack, and only Kain and Yang seemed oblivious to her "charms".

Ignoring the others, Barbariccia sauntered over to Kain and popped a hand on her hip, pouting.

"Kain…so you've betrayed us. And with all that strength, too – such a waste."

"I've betrayed no one, Barbariccia," Kain smirked, pointing his lance only inches away from her throat. "I've merely returned to my senses." Barbariccia shook her head and pretended to cry.

"Annnnnnd you've grown arrogant as well, I see! I should have killed you and Rosa both when I first had the chance. But that old wizard of yours is gone now, and Meteor with him. Allow me to amend for my past mistakes, will you?"

"I welcome you to try," Kain stepped forward, jutting his lance forward once more. "You're not the only one who can ride the wind, Barbariccia!"

Barbariccia giggled ecstatically and her hair began wrapping around her, creating a blinding whirlwind funnel cloud that shielded her body. The winds were so powerful that Cecil could feel himself sliding backwards on his feet. Rosa's ponytail whipped back violently as she reached up to shield her eyes.

"How are we going to get near her?!" Yang called over the rising winds. "She's protecting herself with a storm!"

"The winds shield her on all sides!" Kain called back, bending his knees. "Only jump attacks can reach her directly!"

"Ah…Protect!" Rosa cast the spell just in time for an uprooted glass console to slam into the light barrier she had erected, and not Yang. Cecil withdrew his holy shield and held it in front of the both of them.

"Hurry!" Cid slammed his hammer down into the ground to use as an anchor to keep from blowing away. "I don't know how long I can keep this up!"

Kain leapt into the air, spiraling so fast that he became a blur. Moments later, he crashed upon Barbariccia's funnel cloud weapon-first, the lance ripping through the hair and tearing it from Barbariccia's scalp.

"AHHHHHH!" She shrieked, stumbling backwards and clutching at the hair that was falling to the floor in clumps. "My beautiful hair! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"Now, while she's defenseless!" Kain cried. He jumped away and Cecil swooped in, driving his sword directly through Barbariccia's heart. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, crashing into a collapsed console. The broken glass lacerated her abdomen, causing her to let out one last garbled scream as blood dripped from her mouth.

"Traitor…" She choked on the blood and began laughing, the hair she was clutching falling to the floor. "You may have bested me…but the last of the four remains…"

The tower began to shake violently, and everyone crowded together to keep from tripping and falling.

"…Not that you will ever leave this tower alive to meet him! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"

"The tower is collapsing…" Cecil gasped. "We'll never survive in an elevator."

"She left us no escape," Kain cursed, trying to ignore the unsettling sound of Barbariccia's corpse rotting away into demon dust.

"Oh, I don't like this one bit…" Cid fretted, nearly taking a fall if not for Yang grasping his arm and pulling him back.

"Everyone, gather closer to me!" Rosa exclaimed. "I'm going to Teleport!"

Everyone grasped either Rosa's arms or hands, and she bowed her head and whispered the spell.

Within seconds, they had disappeared in a flash of light, and the ceiling caved in.