Title: Word of the Day v. FFIV
Author: Garnet Eyes
Archived: fanfiction .net, livejournal .com
Last Updated: 14 Mar 2011
Summary: 28 February 2000 edition.
Rating: M
Characters/Pairings: Cecil, Kain
Author Notes: diaphanous, adjective;
1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.
2. Vague; insubstantial.
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy IV is owned by Square-Enix and I in no way, shape, or form profit off of my writing. This is simply for my own pleasure, and may at any time be removed and/or modified as I see fit.

...

Kain had never been more horrified in his entire life than he was when his spear had pierced armor and sunk through flesh with a sickening squelch, seeing doe-like emerald eyes staring up at him in such pained dismay. This was what he wanted, to prove himself better, superior in all respects. To win, overwhelmingly. But he only felt numb as he pulled his spear back, and it caught against the fractured armor and the younger knight jerked forward helplessly before the spear released him and he fell back into his supine position on the floor of Fabul's crystal room. A black clad hand rose toward him, blood oozing from between blue lips as the light dimmed in emerald eyes, and there was a distant scream as the arm dropped lifelessly to the floor. The body was jerked into a seated position, and Kain absently noticed how he could see the far wall through the chest wound, and none of it seemed right or felt right but he didn't know why not. No, he knew why it didn't feel right. It didn't feel right because he'd just killed a man who refused to attack him back, refused to lash out against him when this clearly wasn't a spar. He'd just killed Cecil.

The blonde shot upright in bed, sweating profusely and panting as though he'd sprinted laps around Baron castle, his eyes wide and his mind grating against his thoughts as his heart hammered in his chest. It took him a minute to realize that he'd been having a nightmare, that he'd mutilated the events of the past into something unrecognizable and terrifying. It always took him a minute to remember that, whenever he had such painful dreams of what could have been, and it served to reaffirm his need to cleanse himself, to be free of his weaknesses, lest one day these horrific visions become reality.