Note #1: Yes, I screwed up in the previous chapter concerning the throne room door and the door to the crystal room. I had a brain fart and forgot that I was originally going to have Rydia break into the throne room, only to have her breaking into the Crystal room instead…and yeah…I think I really just wanted to write about some cool looking doors ;)
Note #2: I cannot remember note #2
Note #3: Sorry I haven't updated in a while again. School. Work. Life. Exams. Lack of internet…Lack of inspiration. These things happen…plus, I'm also working on three fiction projects, and two paintings (these things also happen) so I'm a bit…stretched out.
Note #4 (which is actually #2 because I remember now): I didn't give Yang any dialogue in the previous chapter…partly because the one line he gets in the actual script was blah, and I didn't really have a way to insert him into the conversation without it being super contrived…Yang gets more love in this chapter (I do love Yang, I do).
Note #5: okay, I lied, Yang's part of this chapter was bumped to chapter three…the editing process was mean to Yang again…he gets love in chapter three ^_^;;
Here you go! The long awaited chapter two!
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Chapter Two
There were a few varieties of exhaustion that Rydia had come to know in her short life. Physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion, and spiritual exhaustion. Somehow she now embodied all three, and she reasoned that the others must feel the same.
The five of them filed out of the crystal room as a bedraggled group, charred, slashed, and lathered in sweat. It was only Yang's steady grip on Rydia's arm and his comforting smile that kept her from falling onto her face.
When they entered the throne room, a short man with a tanned face that looked like it had been burnt by magma, entered from the opposite side. He wore a pronged helmet, and surrounding him was a general company of guards. Judging by the ornamentation of his robes, Rydia assumed this was the King Giott Rosa had been referring to. She waited with Cecil and the rest of them as the king was assisted to his throne, and then walked slowly to stand on a platform just below the king. Rydia stood behind Cecil and Rosa, intrigued by what the dwarves had to say and more importantly, to learn some of what she had missed. It struck her as odd that even a step below, they still seemed to tower over the king and his retinue.
Cecil began the exchange, his voiced strained, sounding every bit the exhaustion that Rydia felt. "Forgive us, your majesty, but Golbez escaped with the crystal despite our efforts to stop him."
Distressed murmurs filled the room and Rydia looked around to see a whole contingent of dwarves standing in the shadows.
The king stroked his orange whiskery beard, a sharp contrast with his face. "There was little any of us could have done to stop that, it seems. With the force he used against us on all fronts, we were lucky that his flying contraptions pulled back when they did or none of us would be standing at all," the king admitted with a heavy sigh. "But now only one Crystal remains, and we must guard it with our lives."
"Where is the final one hidden?" Rosa asked, hurried.
"Someplace safe," the king replied vaguely. "Golbez left in search of that location according to our scouts, but have no fear. The entrance is warded, and cannot be breached without the proper key. For now, I do not feel it is necessary to involve you in such secrets of the dwarven court. However, if you are so set on retrieving your Upperworld crystals, I believe I may have a favor to ask of you."
Was it Rydia's imagination, or did the dwarf king look smug?
"It is our fault your Crystal was taken. If there is anything we can do to be of aid, we will most certainly cooperate," Cecil offered.
"Golbez makes for the last Crystal, that much is obvious. This is the opportune moment for us to turn the tables. While he is chasing after the final Crystal, you can enter the Tower of Babil and reclaim the other seven!" he announced, erupting off of his throne like a volcano no longer dormant.
"The Tower of Babil?" Kain was incredulous.
"You would have us march into the enemy's own fortress!?" Yang seconded.
"Yes—while our tanks create a diversion. The enemy's forces will be drawn out to fight. While they are occupied, you will have a chance to slip in and retrieve the Crystals. Wait until Golbez returns, and that chance is lost."
Silence reined the entire room. Humans and dwarves alike cast worried glances about, waiting.
"What do you think?" Kain directed his question at Cecil.
"About walking willingly into an enemy stronghold?" Rydia reinforced, glancing at Cecil and the dwarf king beyond.
"It would be dangerous, to be certain," Rosa acknowledged.
"But to risk nothing is to gain nothing," Yang added, stepping toward the center of the group.
Kain released an exasperated sigh. "King Giott speaks true. We must act now, while Golbez is away, if we are to act at all."
Cecil turned and looked each of his companions in the eyes. Kain's dubious scowl, Rydia's hesitant resolve, Rosa's resigned expression, and Yang's eagerness. "Very well," Cecil finally answered, looking at the king. "We will do as you ask."
With the king's following response, one would never have guessed at the tension hanging on the air just a moment before.
"Excellent! We will be in preparation during the small hours. Speak to me again in the long hours to discuss the rest of the battle plan, and in the meantime, please find rest in our dormitories. There are craftsmen who will have equipment better suited to the heat of the magma than the ones in which you arrived, feel free to browse through their wares. I've alerted the guard that you are to be given access to the castle's services."
He nodded them out of his presence, and clearly dismissed, they began to file out, until he spoke again and stalled them.
"And strange visitors! I wish you the best of luck!"
They left the throne room crestfallen but purposeful. They were going to the tower—sneaking in under Golbez's nose! The very thought put a nervous bounce in Rydia's step.
"Let's find these dormitories," Cecil suggested and Rydia noticed Rosa's normally radiant face held an ashen palor.
"You need beds?" a dwarf asked, appearing at their sides instantly. "Come this way. We'll take care of you until you leave. After all, our king's plan rests in your hands."
"Thank you," Cecil replied, taking Rosa's arm and linking it with his own. Rydia smiled to watch them, remembering nights around campfires long ago when they would speak in gentle tones, sharing honest comfort in each other's presence. It must feel like yesterday to them, Rydia reminded herself, not the years it had been for her.
The dwarf led them through several corridors, and down a few elaborately laid staircases. There was a room on one floor with rows of wide beds, beds made of marble.
"Marble beds!" Yang voiced his surprise, echoing Rydia's thoughts.
"They're beautiful," she concurred.
"Aye! The dwarves are handy with all things under the earth. Anything else would catch fire!" the dwarf attendant assured them.
"He has a point," Kain's gruff voice intoned from the back.
"Thank you," Cecil quickly added. "We are grateful."
"Do you require anything else?" the dwarf asked.
"No, I think we'll just rest for now."
"If you change your mind, someone will be in the next room."
Everyone nodded, Yang bowed, and the dwarf left them.
Cecil sighed and turned his attention to the beds, looking for a place to set down Rosa.
"They're so short," Rydia pointed out, walking between the beds. Yang smiled at her assessment and raised a hand to his chin. "Can we push them together?"
"They're certainly wide enough," Rydia giggled.
"Here, help me move this one," Yang said, stepping up to a bed near the corner and budging it toward another one. Rydia attempted to push her end, but it barely inched across the floor, and when she strained at an angle almost parallel with the floor, Cecil decided to take action.
"Kain, can you take her?" Cecil asked, resting Rosa in his arms before taking Rydia's place and pushing the bed. Rydia stood back and took the opportunity to place a speculative look on Kain, uncomfortable with the whole arrangement. She noticed with some surprise that he seemed uneasy as well, as if he was holding a fragile object. Just what had happened to make him join Cecil, she wondered. There were so many things she'd missed.
"There we go!" Cecil's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she saw the bed had been scooted into place. Kain stepped forward with an already sleeping Rosa and eased her onto the soft mattress. Cecil adjusted a pillow for her head and covered her with a blanket.
The men stood back and looked at the other beds.
"Three beds for five of us," Yang observed.
"I'll sleep on the floor," Kain announced without preamble.
Relief filled Rydia at those words and she cast brief glances at everyone else to gauge their reactions. No one else seemed phased. Were they so easy with Kain's presence?
No one said anything of Cecil sharing a bed with Rosa, Yang took one bed, and Rydia took the last, sitting down on a sturdy mattress filled with an unknown, but soft, material. She was exhausted and covered in grime. Not a good combination.
Suddenly the thought of a bath was more appealing than ever. Now that she thought of it, the last bath she'd had had been in the Feymarch. It seemed so long ago, almost like a dream. The lamps had been dimmed, Rydia hadn't noticed by whom, but she figured that by now, most of the others would be sleeping.
She settled down onto the mattress but her eyes wouldn't stay closed for more than a few seconds at a time. She looked around again, and saw Yang meditating, always serene. She wished to speak to him, but she didn't want to wake the others and it could wait until tomorrow. She could already see the delight at her return in his eyes and for now that was all she needed.
But she wanted to speak to Cecil most of all. She had so much to ask. Images she'd seen through Asura's spell had not been enough to ease her curiosity at what her friends had endured. She thought over pieces of conversation that she wanted to bring up to Cecil, but they made her impatient and restless. Finally she sat up and dangled her legs over the edge of the bed. A walk, that's what she needed. She strode out of the chamber and into the foyer with large stone counters for purchasing goods. There was one dwarf there, sorting shelves of inventory. Potions and ethers, odds and ends, dried herbs she recognized from houses in the Feymarch. How did they get such things, she wondered.
The dwarf looked up when it sensed Rydia's eyes upon it.
"What can-uh do fer you?" the woman—man? asked.
Rydia smoothed her soiled green robes. "Nothing, thank you. I just need a place to think."
The dwarf grunted and returned to work, bundling up potions and other palliatives. Rydia took the opportunity to slip past and search for a stairway that would lead her up to the top of the castle, and found one to her satisfaction curving up in a spiral.
Dwarves were hustling about the parapets when she arrived, effecting repairs to much of the fortifications. She found an undisturbed corner and watched with casual interest.
They were preparing for another siege, to battle the tower. Rydia looked around, trying to see the tower, but saw nothing other than the dark plateaus west of the castle.
She gazed at them silently, and turned only when she heard a heavy door open and close nearby. Cecil's tall lean form stepped through, his gray eyes shining. He cut such a different figure than he did in his heavy dark armor. Rydia still hadn't adjusted to the difference. Had he followed her here?
She turned toward him with her arms folded across her chest.
"You can't see it from here," she pointed out, inclining her head toward the northwest.
"See what?" he asked.
"The tower," she answered.
He came and stood beside her, staring westward as well. "I never thought it would come down to this—invading through the enemy's front door."
She looked at him, then at the dwarves atop the castle walls with them. "Do you really think this plan will work?"
"I'd like to think so. We cannot allow Golbez to continue to abuse power. I can't let another kingdom fall."
Rydia watched him as he said those words—strong, determined, but mournful. "You are doing the best you can, Cecil."
He looked down at her and smiled. "Now you're the one giving me advice. The times have changed."
Rydia smiled as well. "You were teaching me about the world and how to survive in it back then. I wouldn't say much has changed."
"I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this…" he said resignedly.
"It wasn't your fault. The war would have come to my village by your hand or someone else's. I was lucky to survive and be able to travel with you, Cecil."
"And now you've grown up," he added quietly.
She didn't say anything for a while and then looked at him again. "Is it strange for you?" she asked.
He raised a brow. "It is strange to see you grown up, after only a few months."
"It's strange for me to see you as a paladin," she said grinning. "You're different now—lighter."
"Lighter?" he chuckled. "Must be all that armor I shed."
"Not just that," Rydia hastily added. "You don't seem as sad now either."
Cecil considered her thoughtfully. "Have you really grown up? Has it really been years for you, or did your body age and your mind stayed the same?"
"It's been ten years for me, Cecil."
"Ten years," Cecil murmured. "I thought for sure, Leviathan had killed you. I thought you were dead."
"I know," Rydia answered, a twinkle in her eye. "Leviathan had business with me, and the rest of you were caught up in it as well."
"He attacked us on purpose?"
"Some things…" Rydia began, "have a way of working themselves out."
"Well, old mother," Cecil replied, "Those ten years have aged you much."
Rydia smiled briefly. "How long has it really been?"
Cecil sobered. "It's been six months."
"Six months? That's it?"
"It's felt like longer."
Rydia paused and fidgeted her hands together. "You and Yang are here, but what about Edward? Where is he, didn't he go with you?"
"Edward is recovering—wait, you knew that he was alive?"
Rydia sported a sheepish grin. "It's a long story."
"I hope to hear about it," Cecil encouraged.
"If it's alright with you, I'd rather wait until I can tell everyone at once."
"I look forward to it," he said and paused. "Why don't we return to the dormitories and continue our conversation in the morning, whatever morning looks like in this place."
Cecil turned to leave, but Rydia hung behind.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Cecil…" she began, fidgeting again, "do you…trust Kain?"
"What do you mean?"
"He tried to kill you, he kidnapped Rosa, and now he's traveling with you. Is it really alright with you?"
Cecil took a few steps toward her, his expression softening. "Rydia…he wasn't in control of his actions. Golbez held him under a spell."
His eyes were so genuine that Rydia was worried for him. Cecil was a trusting person at heart, but she didn't know if his trust was well placed in this instance. "Be careful," she warned, careful to leave out that to be under that kind of spell, it required a weakness to exploit—a weakness that might become a problem again. Hopefully the dragoon had really dealt with his demons, for Cecil's sake.
"Let's go back to the others," Cecil suggested again.
Rydia finally nodded, and they left the ramparts for the cooler castle interior. They returned to the dwarven equivalent of an inn and each returned to their respective beds.
Rydia snuggled into the cool sheets and settled down, feeling more at ease than she had earlier. She'd said some of what she'd wanted to, but there were still questions that wanted to be answered. Tomorrow she'd speak with the rest of them, except Kain of course. She had no desire to speak to the dragoon, and the way he avoided her, she suspected he didn't want to speak to her either. She would worry about how to deal with him in the morning and on the journey to the tower. Her body didn't have the energy for those kinds of thoughts, and she closed her eyes, this time to a deep and soothing slumber.
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A/N: Not too long…this was a transitional chapter…and I have troubles with transitional chapters. They bug me. Which is why they take me so long to write. Hopefully I won't take as long with the next chapter! Lol
Thanks for being patient, everyone!