Act Twenty-Two: The Prodigal Son
Inside the Lunar Whale, Fusoya had drifted over to a blank monitor underneath a protective case of glass. After pushing a few buttons, the monitor burst to life, showing what appeared to be a radar map of the moon's surface. In the east, a red dot was bouncing, red waves emitting from it and disappearing at the edge of the monitor, like ripples in a pond after casting a stone.
"Perhaps this was the voice you were hearing, Rydia," he said, pointing to the screen. Rydia blinked and leaned over his shoulder.
"Wait…how did you know…?"
"I observed you in daze several times on the way back," Fusoya said. "You are a summoner, are you not? Perhaps Bahamut is calling out to you for a reason. I have not heard him in such unrest until you arrived."
"I…" Rydia swallowed. "Is Bahamut not the Father of all Eidolons?" Fusoya nodded. "Then…what does he want with me? And what is he doing here?"
Cecil, Rosa and Edge were silently clustered around the crystal of flight. None of them had spoken a word to each other since they left the crystal palace, and Fusoya had filled the silence with menial facts about where they were traversing. It turned out that the tunnels they had taken to the crystal palace were referred to by the Lunarians as the Lunar Path, and had been created as a way for Lunarians without the power to teleport to reach the palace in an emergency. He explained that normally the path was dangerous and wrought with monsters, but that he had tried to lure them to sleep in anticipation of Cecil's arrival.
Fusoya seemed to know much about his new companions without them having told him anything. Cecil wondered how long he had been watching them on the Blue Planet, anticipating the day that would come when they could finally meet. He was bewildered that in the span of just a few weeks, he had lost the entirety of his world as he knew it, but had gained an ancestry and an uncle. As he walked back to the Lunar Whale, he felt like he was still in slow motion, underwater. His brain was still rushing to process everything that had drowned his senses in the Crystal Palace.
"It may be worth asking for Bahamut's aid before we return," Fusoya said carefully. "We have no way of knowing if you will be able to return to the moon after this."
"What?" Edge had been trying to act like he wasn't overhearing, like he normally did with Rydia, but he gave up the ghost. "Why wouldn't we be able to come back?"
"The Lunar Whale has appeared for a purpose," Fusoya said calmly. "What that exact purpose is – I cannot be sure. If it is as simple as to shepherd my nephew and you back to the Tower of Babil with a means to penetrate its barrier, then that purpose will be served after we have fulfilled our mission on your planet, and it will return to its slumber. Ultimately, the only person who truly owns this ship and wields control over it – my brother – has long left this dimension."
Cecil cringed a little, and Rosa fretted silently, not sure what to say or do.
"I cannot possibly converse with Bahamut if the Giant of Babil is on his way to our world as we speak," Rydia shook her head. "As a summoner…It would be the greatest honor to pass the trial of the All-Father and gain his strength. But all will be for naught if we do not have a planet to come home to."
"A wise decision," Fusoya nodded. "I merely wanted to be transparent. Let us be on our way."
Cecil cleared his throat and looked upon the crystal of flight.
"Crystal…awaken. Take us home – to the Blue Planet."
"Good morning – Cecil Harvey. Rosa Farrell. Rydia of Mist. Edward Geraldine. Fusoya. We will arrive in one minute."
It's already morning back home… Cecil thought. In only one night, everything has changed.
As the Lunar Whale descended upon the Blue Planet, Cecil and the others had climbed to an observation deck that Fusoya revealed to them attached to the commons area. The weather was gray and humid, the sun completely absorbed by the dark clouds, casting dark shadows along the continent. As the Lunar Whale broke through the final layers of clouds, the Tower of Babil came into view – and it had transformed once more. Instead of glowing with a bright white light, it had returned to its normal, silver color – but it had become a beacon for lightning strikes, which were crashing into the tower at an alarming rate and causing sparks to burst into the air. A final, purple bolt struck with so much intensity that the Lunar Whale itself quaked in the sky – and a whirlwind of flame rose from the base of the tower, cascading to nearly half the tower's height and exploding. In the drifting smoke, a menacing figure appeared, with a deafening roar announcing its arrival.
"What's going on!?" Rydia cried over the roar.
"Something has appeared near the Tower of Babil…" Cecil narrowed his eyes to try to see. Fusoya shook his head.
"We were too late…"
"What?!" Edge cried. "What do you mean?"
Fusoya rested his hands on the railing of the overlook, next to Cecil.
"The Giant has come."
Each of its legs was the size and thickness of a tower at Castle Baron – made of a pulsing black flesh wrapped over black matter-infused platinum. Veins of purple and white lights snaked from its clubbed feet up through the torso, consisting of layers of metal and skin that made up a rib cage and makeshift breast plate. The creature's arms swung as long and low as its feet, another pair of shapeless appendages that split off into four thick fingers the size of airships. At the fingertips, pulsing blue lights raged as the veins wrapped around its arms fed into the fingers, supplying an energy source.
The shoulders collided grotesquely with a disproportionately small head and a pair of oversized cannons that had the appearance of stubby, broken wing bones emerging from the shoulder blades. The head consisted of a gaping iron maw with smoke trailing out of its mouth, and slits for eyes that had the appearance of being roughly bashed in with a crowbar and pried open as a finishing touch. Red light blazed out of the eyeholes, so bright that it became painful to view only after a few moments.
The creature took a few tentative steps forward, each footfall shattering the earth underneath it and causing quakes to ripple across the Eblanese landscape. After testing out its legs, it paused, letting out another roar, and its fingertips began to writhe and spin. Purple lasers shot out of the fingers, the light cutting across the desert and sea in random paths and resulting in devastating explosions that blew enormous chunks out of the continent and tossed them into the air before they rained down upon the sea. Cecil thought about the people trapped in the Caves of Eblan right underneath the giant, and his stomach threatened to empty its contents on the observation deck.
"NO!" Rosa screamed, stumbling back in shock. Edge caught hold of her, shaking his head. If the giant even took a few steps closer, his next target would be what remained of Eblan!
"This…this can't be happening…" Edge murmured.
"Please!" Rydia cried, grabbing Fusoya's sleeve. "Isn't there anything we can do!?"
Before Fusoya could respond, Cecil pointed in the distant horizon. "What's that!?"
As the dust settled from the explosion, he could see small vehicles – ant-like, from where they stood in the sky – approaching the giant on the ground. It was hard to see, but the light of the giant glinting off of them revealed that they were gold. In the air, a familiar chopping sound materialized, and Cecil realized it was a fleet of airships.
"Let's hurry to the navigation deck!" Cecil commanded, and fled downstairs. The radar screen Fusoya had turned on while they were on the moon was blinking excitedly, and static was bursting from a radio. Edge ran up beside him, taking hold of the manual controls for the ship and getting them closer. Cecil flipped the switches for the radio and began to speak.
"Hello – can anyone down there hear us?!"
On the ground below, dozens of tanks had rolled up onto the Eblan shoreline, and began firing at the giant, explosions bursting one after another relentlessly. In one of the lead tanks, Giott flicked on his radio, and his men loaded another round of ammunition.
"The Dwarves are here!" Giott boomed into the mouthpiece. "We fight for the earth – our home, and the mother of us all!"
"LALI-HO!" The dwarves cheered, and let off another barrage of attacks.
"Yang!" A sylph in another tank sighed, turning on the radio at his command after hearing the mysterious voice from above. "You should not be out here! You push yourself too hard!"
"I'm fine," Yang said, as the other two sylphs fussed over him. "And even were I not, this is no time to be lounging in bed." A sylph brought him the radio, and he spoke into it. "Cecil, was that you? We're attacking the giant from the ground!"
"Yang!" Cecil cried, a smile cracking on his face. "It is us! Do you know who is in the airships above?"
There was static, and another voice jumped on the line.
"Nothing to worry about now – Cid's here to help! All engines, full power!" Cid was leading the fleet of airships, and they were bearing down from above, raining hellfire on the giant.
"Yes sir!" His mechanics saluted, and scrambled to their stations.
"Cid!" Rosa gasped. "Don't push yourself!" But she was smiling as she said it.
"Heh heh heh!" a devious giggle cackled on the radio. "Cecil, did you miss me?!"
Cecil frowned – the voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Edge maneuvered them next to the airships, and another monitor popped on – a pair of petite figures was jumping down excitedly simultaneously and waving to the Lunar Whale from their airship.
"Our elder lifted the spell on us!" Porom cried, looking as bright and energetic as ever before. Next to her, Palom was smirking, trying to act cool but quickly getting overwhelmed by the excitement of finally getting to ride on an airship – one that was bombing a huge monster, no less! The Elder sighed into the radio, starting to regret his decision to listen to the twins' begging when he retrieved them from Baron.
"This is not your burden to bear alone! This is a battle for all who live and breathe upon this planet!"
"They're…OK…" Cecil braced his hands on the console before him and lowered his head, relief flooding his heart. "I…can't believe it…" He would have laughed if he wasn't on the verge of tears.
"Oh, the twins from the antechamber!" Rosa exclaimed. "What a blessing!"
"Hey…who was that? She had a cute voice!" Palom exclaimed, and Porom smacked him on the head.
"Forgive him, Lord Cecil, if you heard that!"
The radio crackled again, and a gentle voice came on – so quiet, it could barely be made out – but the conviction behind it was as powerful as any man's.
"Cecil…let me show you the courage you helped me find!"
Edward clicked off the radio, listening as the Epopt next to him gave instructions on where to strike next. He jerked the steering wheel of their airship, heading due-west. They were going to circle around the back of the giant and all eight Epopts were going to release a powerful round of black magic to distract the dastardly beast.
"Edward!" Rydia clapped her hands together.
"They…they all came to help us fight…" Cecil felt like he could jump from the Lunar Whale right then and slay the Giant of Babil himself with Excalibur. How could he possibly ever feel sorry for himself again when all of the people he thought he had hurt were still fighting for him? "This is the miracle we needed!"
There was a massive explosion, and Cecil could see on the monitor that something powerful had struck the giant's head from behind. It lost its balance and with a loud crash, stumbled to its knees. The tanks doubled up on their assault, daring to drive closer now.
"The giant – it's staggered!" Rosa gasped.
"Then this is our chance," Fusoya said. "Listen to me carefully. We can get inside the accursed thing…"
"…Then slice up whatever controls it from the inside!" Edge interrupted. "Right?"
"Yes, right," Fusoya nodded. "We just need to figure out how to get closer."
"Cid!" Cecil shouted into the radio. "We're going to need your help! Can you swing by the Lunar Whale and pick us up?"
Edge lifted the Lunar Whale a little higher in the sky, and the five of them raced upstairs back to the observation deck. Moments later, Cid appeared next to them in the Enterprise, and extended the drawbridge. Everyone crossed over quickly, and Cid embraced Cecil and Rosa.
"I need you to take us to the giant's mouth!" Fusoya said. Cid raised his eyebrows and smirked.
"And who's this old whitehair think he is, ordering me about!?"
"His name is Fusoya," Cecil said quickly. "He's from the moon."
"The moon!?" Cid blustered.
"He's also my uncle."
"WHAT!?"
"We've no time," Fusoya said, still as patient as ever. It was hard to tell, but there might have been a sign of bemusement under his pile of white hair. "Can you get us near enough to jump?"
"Can fish swim?" Cid laughed. "Who do you think you're talking to!?" But he let go of Cecil and Rosa and ran to the steering wheel, shouting an order that couldn't be heard over the roar of the giant to his mechanics. The Enterprise swung forward, and the five of them clung to the ledge of the ship for dear life. More explosions rang out as Cid got closer, and Cecil was able to make out the opening they were to infiltrate – the giant had its mouth parted, but all he could see within was darkness.
"Are you sure about this?" Cecil called to Fusoya.
"This is our only chance!" Fusoya replied, and climbed onto the ledge they had been clinging to. Before anyone could stop him, he had disappeared, billowing fabric and hair, inside of the giant.
"Ahhhh!" Cecil leapt in after him, his legs giving out from under him as he struck something hard and began to slide down uncontrollably and pitch-blackness. When he finally emerged into light, he went flying off of a ramp slide and crashed into a hard, metallic floor. Fusoya offered his hand, and helped him up.
A few moments later, Edge, Rosa and Rydia followed, crashing down the slide with various degrees of success. When everyone had been dusted off and patched up, Cecil tried to get a better sense of his surroundings. They were in a small chamber that was lined with wires and metal plates, with crimson grating for floors to ventilate all the heat generating from below. Steam would occasionally push out from the grates, hot enough to burn if you were directly over it. The sounds of metal gears grinding and the crackle of the energy that ran through the wires were a constant.
"It feels like we're in a giant machine," Rosa frowned. "Like in an airship engine."
"We are, effectively," Fusoya said. "Zemus built the Giant of Babil, and his intention was to use the Tower of Babil as the transport for it from the moon to raze the planet. But when we sane Lunarians discovered his scheme, we sealed the giant in the Lunar Core so that it could not be summoned by Zemus. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the power of the crystals could awaken the Tower of Babil absent of Zemus' own power to do so. The giant is powered with steam, electricity and its brain is something called a central processing unit. Think of it as a massive program Zemus wrote so that the giant could execute its own actions without Zemus actually needing to control it."
Edge didn't know half of what Fusoya was talking about, but he picked up on the key point. "So we just need to find this central party unit and smash it, right?"
"Er…yes, something like that," Fusoya nodded. "It's very similar to the technology used in the Lunar Whale."
"It would be incredible if it wasn't trying to kill us all," Cecil shrugged. "So where do we find the central processing unit?"
"It will be further down in the giant – most likely in the core, where it is most protected. Since we are at the top, there is nowhere for us to go but down." Fusoya walked over to a glowing blue platform in the grating. "These will teleport us between body parts. Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Rydia said softly. Just being inside the giant gave her the creeps.
They began their descent, first traversing through the neck and then the chest. As they crossed each area, they were assaulted by armies of clockwork soldiers and beasts that Cecil and Edge would cut through while Rosa would shield with her magic, and Fusoya and Rydia would electrocute the stragglers that would try to get back up after Cecil and Edge's handiwork. As it turned out, Fusoya was an incredible mage – he could cast both white and black magic, and Rydia was amazed and how quickly his spells struck once he called upon them. Fusoya noticed her staring, and smiled.
"It all comes with age, my dear. In time, you will surpass even me, I can assure you. You are still very young…younger than you would appear, by my calculations." Rydia flushed.
"I used to be able to use white magic, but…the ability was lost to me over time. It's very rare for people to be able to use both, isn't it?"
"On the Blue Planet, I imagine it might be," Fusoya said gently. "For Lunarians, the most common magic ability is white magic, but there are many who wield both. But as the body evolves, it is constantly strengthening itself, fine-tuning. Your body was just preparing itself to take on an even greater power."
"Thank you," Rydia smiled. "That's comforting."
They transported into the stomach, and fought their way through to teleport into a twisting inner path. Rosa ran further ahead to heal Cecil and Edge, who had gotten muted by a rogue Beam Cannon that attacked them from behind. Fusoya gestured toward her with his staff.
"She has the gift of magic as well, yes?"
"Rosa?" Rydia asked. "Yes, she's a white mage. One of the most powerful in Baron. She and Cecil grew up together."
Fusoya sighed. "I'm glad Cecil has such good friends. It was my greatest hope that he wouldn't end up like his father. Cecil seems to be much-loved, and that will be his salvation."
Rydia paused. This was sounding an awful lot like Asura was warning Cecil about when they were in the Feymarch. "About Cecil...is he…"
But Rydia was interrupted; they had reached the next transfer point.
Cecil was looking up at a long set of stairs. He turned back to Fusoya.
"Is this the right way? We seem to be going back up again."
"I can't see where else we could have gone," Fusoya frowned. "But we have to be close to the core by now. Let's keep going, and we can turn back if need be."
The stairs were narrow, so only one person could climb up at a time behind someone else. Only a thin railing prevented someone from plummeting into the depths below, filled with giant gears and clouds of steam that made the chamber humid and sticky. At the top of the stairs was a small platform, and beyond that, Cecil could see another transporter after one more set of stairs.
As Cecil approached the platform, there was a loud screech, and the lights in the chamber dimmed to a blood red hue. Cecil paused, and withdrew his sword. He could sense someone…or something was watching them.
"At last you've come," a familiar voice purred.
"The giant cannot be stopped," a high-pitch squeal rang out.
"But we can stop you!" a third rasp snickered.
"This-s-s-s will be your tomb!"
Through the swirling steam, four figures appeared before them on the platform: Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia and Rubicante. They all had matching twisted smiles, and looked as if they hadn't endured a scratch since any of their last battles with Cecil.
Cecil held his sword in front of him, gritting his teeth. "You again…!"
"How can this be!?" Rosa cried. Barbariccia winked at her and licked her lips.
Scarmiglione giggled. "Our master Zemus-s-s-s..."
Cagnazzo snapped his jaw threateningly. "…Gifted us with life…"
"…To rob you of yours!" Barbariccia threw her head back and laughed manically, every part of her unabashedly jiggling as she did so.
Rubicante threw back his cape, resting his hand on his hip. "How I yearned for this! When last we met, you taught me a great truth...that many are more powerful than one."
"Who are these…people?" Fusoya asked.
"Golbez's four elemental archfiends!" Rosa sighed. "Or rather…Zemus'…"
"Wasn't you dying once enough, you wretch?" Edge hissed. "Do you really think you can win even with your lackeys?"
Rubicante chuckled. "Oh Edge…I am glad you are as cheerful as ever, especially so soon after having to mourn your parents. As a show of good will, I'll restore you to full strength."
"You…you BASTARD!" Edge screamed, and leapt to charge him. Rydia and Rosa frantically grabbed his arms, trying to hold him back.
Rubicante waved his hand, and a Curaja spell washed over the party. "Now, show us what power you possess!"
Cecil and Edge charged forward, executing a pincer attack against Scarmiglione first since he was by far the slowest. Scarmiglione hissed and tried to ram them with his massive horns, but Cecil and Edge were too fast. Rosa disabled all of the archfiends with Slow to buy some time, and began buffing the party in every way that she could think of: Haste to raise speed, Protect to shield against weapons, Shell to shield against magic, and Blink to raise evasion.
"Rydia, you focus on individual targets with elemental spells to keep them away from Cecil and Edge," Fusoya said. "I'll hit them all at once."
"How are you going to do that?" Rydia squeaked. There were too many elements in play to execute a spell that wouldn't heal at least one of them. Barbariccia let out a delighted shriek and aimed a Thundaga spell right for them, but Rosa quickly cast Reflect, causing it to bounce off of Rydia and Fusoya just in time and strike Cagnazzo instead, who growled and retreated into his shell.
Fusoya clutched his staff and began to chant, his eyes flashing from blue to an angry red. Rydia turned away and tried to observe who would be easiest to pick off first. With Cagnazzo hiding, her magic would be worthless. Rubicante was leaving himself exposed as he tried to rescue Scarmiglione from Cecil and Edge's relentless assault, so she targeted him with a chain of Blizzaga spells.
The attack had come just in time, because they had caught Barbariccia's attention too.
"Come play with me, boys…I'm getting a little lonely!" Barbariccia floated over to Cecil and Edge, who were on the brink of landing the killing blow on the exhausted Fiend of Earth. Edge smirked and pulled out a katana, but right when he was about to strike her, she wrapped herself in her hair and released a fearsome storm that blew him back and knocked him down into Rosa.
"Ugh!" Rosa cried, collapsing to the floor mid-spell, with Edge on top of her. She tried to push him off of her, but he was out cold.
"You can't fight her when she's wrapped up like that!" Cecil warned, too late.
"Oh…poor baby…that's right, your little friend isn't here to save you now, is he?" Barbariccia giggled. "Kain knew what to do with me…!" Cecil growled and teleported away from her right as she was about to whip him with her hair, appearing behind Rubicante and slashing at him with Excalibur. Rubicante didn't dodge in time, and a long, crimson laceration appeared across his back. He glared down at Cecil as fire began to consume his eyes.
"Oh no…that will not do, will it?"
The room was starting to fade from red to black, and a familiar whistling began to fill the air. Cecil and Rubicante both looked up, and saw the ceiling opening up above them and twisting itself into a spiral. Cecil dodge rolled away just in time for the first meteor to rush through and smash Rubicante in the face. Hundreds more began to pour out, randomly striking the other fiends. Cecil ran back to the others, and saw that Fusoya was concentrating fiercely; his unruly brows knitted as he muttered under his breath and swayed his staff to control the direction of the meteors.
"Meteor!" Cecil cried. "…Fusoya!"
Rydia was watching incredulously. The ultimate black magic, Meteor…she never thought she would see it! She couldn't understand why Cecil looked so upset.
The spell ended, leaving the four fiends collapsed on the platform before them. Fusoya tapped his staff back on the floor, nodding. "Thank you for distracting them for me, Rydia!"
"Are you OK?" Cecil gasped.
"Never better, Cecil."
"The last time I saw someone cast Meteor, they…" Cecil looked down.
"Oh…I see. I'm OK, my boy. I'm stronger than I look." Cecil shook his head in relief. Rydia put her hand to her mouth. Of course…Tellah.
"Cecil!" Rosa cried. "Get Edge off of me!"
Cecil knelt down and rolled Edge's passed out body off of her. She let out a loud gasp for breath and sighed as she sat up. "Thanks…"
"Did you really think that would be the end?"
Rubicante had pulled himself up from the floor, still on his knees and glowering. One hand was pressed against the wound Cecil had struck in his back. He raised his other hand, and a Curaja spell burst over the other fiends, awakening them from their stupor. He barked out a bitter laugh and summoned an Inferno spell, hurling it at the party.
"Look out!" Cecil cried. He pulled Rosa against him and covered them with his shield. But Rubicante had been too fast. The flames washed over Edge, Rydia and Fusoya, with Rydia and Fusoya falling to their knees and screaming in agony as the magical fire trapped them in a whirlwind and drained their energy. It was over in a few seconds, and they fell to the floor, knocked out alongside Edge.
Rubicante smirked and stood up. He and the other fiends began to descend on Cecil and Rosa.
"Cecil..!" Rosa cried. She looked back at the others and the color drained from her face. "I'm never going to be able to restore them to full strength in time…!"
Cecil clenched his jaw. It would be suicide to try to take them all on at once while Rosa healed, and if he left her uncovered, one of the fiends would finish her off.
"I guess this is the end, Cecil," Rubicante smiled. "Lord Zemus will be disappointed that he never got to meet you, but I supposed we'll all be reunited in Hell someday, right?"
Rosa shrank behind the shield and dug her fingers into Cecil's arm. She had never felt so afraid in her life. He pulled her closer, ignoring the shaking of his hands.
Rosa closed her eyes. I don't want to die here... I promised Cecil I would protect him! Please, if anyone is listening…take my power and save Cecil!
Cecil closed his eyes too, pressing his fingers into Rosa's hip. If Rubicante kills me first, she may have a chance…I'm sorry, Rosa…I'll use the last of my strength to help you escape!
A flash of blue light sprung from the grates below Rubicante's feet, and twinkled like a firefly. He paused, and another appeared, then another, and then more, until all of the fiends were surrounded by soft, glowing lights dancing around them.
"What is this?" Barbariccia asked, reaching out to touch one. She yanked her fingers back with a yelp as the light singed her fingertips with a hiss.
Without warning, there was a massive explosion in the center of the platform, and the blue lights were flung away, forming a domed barrier that trapped the fiends in the explosion. Blue flames engulfed everything within, and the screams of the fiends echoed throughout the chamber. As the explosions dissipated, the dome faded away, leaving behind four piles of glittering dust.
Cecil and Rosa opened their eyes and peeked over the shield. Their jaws dropped at the calamity before them, and looked at each other.
"Cecil!" Rosa cried. "You're…glowing!"
"You are too!" Cecil blinked.
Rosa lifted her hands, and the pearl-white sheen on her skin began to fade away. She shook her head, disbelieving of what had just happened.
"Ugh…" Fusoya moaned.
"The others!" Rosa gasped, and crawled out from under the shield, running to them. Cecil followed, and they revived Fusoya, Rydia and Edge with Raise spells. When everyone was fully conscious, Rosa cast Curaja to restore their strength.
"What happened…?" Edge rubbed his head.
"The last thing I remember is Inferno trapping me…" Rydia groaned.
"That was an impressive showing," Fusoya sat up. "Even in my disabled state, I could feel the energy you two created crackling in the air. Quite possibly the most impressive Twincast I have witnessed in all of my years."
"Twincast?" Cecil blinked. "But it felt so different from when I've done it with Edge."
"And from when I did it with Rydia," Rosa added. "Nothing like that ever happened."
"Different bonds create different effects," Fusoya said. "And for a bond to create the purest and most terrifying spell in known magic…Ultima, to be precise…it must be a very strong bond indeed."
"Ultima…" Cecil looked at Rosa, and she returned his gaze. Everything that went unsaid between them in the past few days seemed to fall away.
Even after all of this…he's still the Cecil I love.
Rosa has never cared about what I am…Dark Knight…Paladin…Lunarian…just about who I am.
"They are going to stay like that all day if you let them," Edge said, and jumped to his feet. He sprinted over to the platform and with a grunt, gave a kick to Rubicante's ashes, watching them fly in the air and flutter down into the running gears below. "Come back for more anytime, you son of a – "
"Edge!" Rydia sighed. "Please don't finish that thought – I don't want to see any of them ever again!"
Fusoya chuckled and brushed off his clothes. "As much as I would love to revel in our victory, we still have not completed our mission. Let us proceed to the central processor…it should be close if the fiends were planted here to distract us." He gently tapped Cecil and Rosa with his staff, and they jumped in surprise. "Come, you two." They blushed and followed him across the platform to the teleport pad.
In the next room, Fusoya's predictions proved correct: The central processing unit was housed there. Unlike the other chambers, there were no grates, and no puffs of steam rising – the room was sealed tight, and hundreds of wires and lights were housed behind glass panels in the walls. Floating in the center of the room, surrounded by glowing blue nodes set in the floor, was a set of three floating spheres. They were all black, with bolts drilled in along the diameter and so shiny that you could see your reflection in them – but one was much larger than the other two, the size of a man compared to a globe you could buy in a shop.
"It's huge!" Edge exclaimed, circling around the set.
"The big one is the main unit," Fusoya explained. "As for the two smaller spheres, one is an attack unit, and one is a defense unit."
"It's intelligent enough to sense and attack a threat?" Cecil asked. "Zemus really thought of everything…"
"Zemus was…is a brilliant man," Fusoya shook his head. "It's a shame…"
A blaring alarm started to go off, and the lights in the room began to flash from white to red. One of the smaller nodes began to rotate in place, and a small opening appeared, a laser node sticking out of it. White lasers began to shoot out as it rotated, and everyone dove to the floor.
"OK, so that's obviously the attack unit!" Rydia cried, covering her head.
"We're not going to be able to get near the main processor if it keeps this up," Fusoya said. "The defense node will absorb any magic, but it is of no consequence to us right now. Let's destroy the attack unit and leave the defense node for last." As he spoke, the defense node spun and cast Reflect on the main CPU and the attack unit.
While crawling on the floor, Rydia summoned Leviathan, who bombarded all three units with a fierce tidal wave that the Reflect spell couldn't withstand. The water fried the laser system in the attack node and knocked it to the ground, where it died with a pathetic series of fading beeps.
Rosa cast Dispel on the main CPU so that it no longer had reflective properties, and Fusoya and Rydia followed-up with a chain of Thundaga spells. As the CPU began to vibrate and spit sparks and smoke, Cecil and Edge took their weapons to the defense node so that it couldn't bring the CPU back from the brink of death. Cecil sliced the defense node in half with Excalibur, and Edge plunged twin katanas in both halves simultaneously, tearing apart their internal wiring.
One of the CPU's faceplates sprung off, flying into one of the glass walls and shattering it. Fire and smoke were billowing out of the CPU, and the exposed circuitry and lights inside the unit began to blacken and fade. The massive unit collapsed to the floor, creating a massive hole and getting stuck in the floor as it died with a furious series of beeps and blips.
"It's done," Cecil declared, sheathing his sword. Edge grinned and did a little dance, twirling his katanas in his fingers before sliding them into their holsters on his back. There was a jarring series of screeches, and Cecil realized that the gears in the giant must have been grinding to a halt. A few moments later, the lights died in the chamber, with only the blue nodes nestled in the middle of the chamber still pulsing with a gentle light.
"The giant stopped moving!" Rosa cheered, and she and Rydia threw their arms around Fusoya. Startled, Fusoya laughed and went with it. Edge offered Cecil a high five, and was surprised when Cecil enthusiastically slapped his hand and grinned.
"You wretched fools!"
The cheering stopped, and everyone turned to where the central processor had collapsed. Standing before them was Golbez, and he was furious. He rammed his foot into the massive CPU, and the power of his kick forced it through the hole it had gotten stuck in. The sound of it bouncing and crashing into the giant's legs below reverberated long after it had disappeared from sight. Cecil and Edge instinctively backed away to shield Rosa and Rydia, and Golbez marched forward, kicking the other nodes and sending them flying into the wall, causing more glass and sparks to explode around them.
"How DARE you meddle in this?" Golbez hissed. He raised his fist, gathering crackling black energy into his palm.
Fusoya was staring at Golbez, feeling his heart sink. It couldn't be…this man was Zemus' pawn? He stepped closer, pushing past Cecil and Edge, despite their protests. He prayed for the first time in his life that his instincts were wrong, but the presence Golbez exuded was too powerful…and far too familiar for him to be incorrect.
"You...you're…!" Fusoya walked directly up to Golbez, tapping the hand that was gathering the spell with his staff. The energy blew away, as if it were nothing, and Golbez's eyes narrowed into slits in the darkness of his helmet, grabbing Fusoya by throat and lifting him a foot off the floor.
"Can you not speak, old man?" Golbez laughed, squeezing his fingers harder against Fusoya's throat. Fusoya lost his grip and dropped his staff, which clattered to the floor at Golbez's feet.
"Fusoya!" Cecil cried, drawing Excalibur. "Let him go, Golbez!"
Fusoya, ever calm even now, rasped in Golbez's face. "Do...do you not even know your true self?"
"My true self...?" Golbez snorted, and tossed Fusoya aside like a toy. Fusoya smashed into the wall and moaned, his head lowering to his chest. Cecil ran to him, kneeling beside him and executing a hasty Cura spell. Fusoya gently pushed Cecil away, and when he lifted his head, his eyes were glowing red – just like when he had cast Meteor.
"Awaken!"
A gentle spark of light burst to life from mid-air and encircled Golbez, climbing the length of his body until it reached his chest, and plunged through the armored breastplate that protected his heart. Golbez let out a wail and fell to his knees, clutching his head and seizing violently. "N-NOOOOOOO!"
"What's happening!?" Rosa cried, pressing her fingers into Edge's arm. Edge was still blocking her and Rydia from getting any closer. Fusoya climbed to his feet, but Cecil was stunned and could not bring himself to do the same. He watched as Golbez dropped his hands from his head to the floor, gasping for breath on his hands and knees.
"Why? Why was I so consumed by hate?" Golbez inhaled and exalted unsteadily, as if he had been drowning and was now gasping for breath after being resuscitated. Fusoya approached him, picking up his discarded staff and tapping it on the floor.
"You've regained your sense then. Do you...do you remember your father's name?"
Golbez looked up at Fusoya, with all the presence of a child being scolded. "My father...His name was Kluya."
Cecil felt like he was going to pass out. The world around him began to spin as he sank lower on his knees. His ears started ringing, his vision blurred and he became paralyzed, his sword dropping on the floor next to him.
Rosa felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Her voice quivered as she spoke. "Then you're Cecil's own..."
"...Brother?!" Edge finished for her, hardly able to whisper the word.
Rydia lowered her head, sobs wracking her chest.
Cecil stared at Fusoya and Golbez, his eyes lifeless as he muttered to himself. "Golbez is my-"
Fusoya reached down, grabbing Golbez's left arm and forcing him to stand. "You were being manipulated by the all-powerful Zemus. Your Lunarian blood rendered you an easy target for his curse, and bound your thoughts to his." Fusoya looked to Cecil's defeated form sadly. "To think Kluya's sons would be made to fight one another..."
Edge shook his head. "Fusoya! You can't be serious! This…is a joke…right..?"
Cecil stared at the floor, the numbness very slowly starting to pass. "I fought him...I hated him. My own brother." The word "brother" tasted as bitter as blood on his lips. How could this possibly be his reality? How could someone even as insane as Zemus be this cruel?
Golbez dared to take a few steps toward Cecil, still quite stunned himself and warily eyeing Cecil's blade that was still next to him. "You are my brother…"
Cecil looked up at Golbez, his voice shaking as a terrifying realization dawned upon him. "But...were it me – the one Zemus chose to control – our roles would have…"
Golbez shook his head. "No...there was evil in me long before all this."
Cecil frowned. "What do you mean?"
Golbez turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't bear to look Cecil in those defiant blue eyes as he confessed. "Cecil…when our parents died…I'm the one who abandoned you."