Quick note: I cannot for the LIFE of me remember if Rydia knows about the elemental archfiends from TSL, and I really don't feel like searching through that much material to find the answer, so I'm going to assume that she knows about Caignazzo for sure and very little about any of the other fiends.

I'm switching POV's again. It was the only way I could keep writing without getting distracted and annoyed.

Quick note about Falling for Forgiveness, it was written as a solo piece with COMPLETELY different perspectives of certain characters (including gear, if any of you caught some discrepancies in the descriptions) than those portrayed in all my current long fics. Haha, actually, it was SUPPOSED to be a Kain/Rydia piece originally, but then it changed into something else.

Anywho…the result of several weeks' worth of scribbling, deleting, key smashing, and swearing…

…..

Chapter Seven

Cecil

Cecil spent the last leg of their march trying to ignore many things. The fatigue, for one; and the dread of what awaited them not more than a few miles away. The after-effects of the Haste Spell were thankfully short-lived, but they had learned their lessons. No more cheating with magic. But there was also the matter of unanswered questions that he had yet to piece together. He had spent mile after mile thinking things over, trying to make sense of his life thus far. There had been a time when everything he'd ever known had made sense. He knew who he was, where he was going, and where he stood in the world. Now, he felt confused and constantly bewildered.

Relinquishing the Dark Armor had not only taken a blind from his eyes, but also changed his destiny…and his past. Who was the Light on Mount Ordeals, why hadn't Golbez killed him in the Tower of Zot, and where did Kain fit into all this?

Kain puzzled him most of all. Obviously, his friend was contrite. He walked around like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but was it really his guilt? He had been under the control of another—surely he couldn't be held responsible for all of his actions…but Rydia's response to his presence in the group had been one of outrage. Who should he believe? His childhood friend—the man he regarded as a brother—or the girl who only knew details about events from a seven-year-old's perspective? He had no intention of denying Rydia's claim of injustice, but she didn't know Kain as he did…she had been too young at the time to really comprehend all that was going on around her…She couldn't know the circumstances and how great the dark influence of Baron had been on all of them. He could forgive Kain, but she couldn't. She saw things in black and white, not the shades of gray that he did…or maybe that was the problem. Maybe he had lost his ability to tell a truth from a lie. He had been trusting of Baigan, too, and had it not been for the twins, they would have been fed to the wolves.

He raised a hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. How was he going to resolve this? If distrust tore them apart, they would never survive. They may as well have set off on a suicide mission. Kain and Rydia would have to reach an understanding of their own, but forcing them to confront the past could be disastrous. He sighed, and caught Rosa eyeing him.

He looked away. It wasn't that he wasn't glad to have her with him, but Rosa…complicated things. She was a White Mage through and through, and her desire to heal, he felt, sometimes overrode her sense of reason. She would want to fix whatever it was he couldn't, but there were things he wished she'd leave alone. She wanted to get involved in everything—to know what he was thinking—but this entire mission, this entire journey, was something he wished she wasn't on. Maybe it was the fact that she was willingly placing herself into danger on his behalf that sent him off-balance. He couldn't protect her from a distance, but was having her with him any safer? His mind reeled with scenarios of what could happen to her if things went wrongly.

There were a few particularly troubling thoughts rattling around in his mind before he realized he was thinking about everything he was trying to ignore, and re-doubled his efforts not to think about any one thing in particular.

Fortunately, after climbing through a rough patch of land, his eyes locked onto a sight that threw everything from his mind.

The Tower of Babil. He'd seen it from a distance, been in rooms and corridors of similar design, but nothing had prepared him for seeing the Tower at its base. It was wide, monstrous, and seemed so alien, that it was startling to see such a clean bright structure emerging from such a stark, earthy landscape. The tanks of the Dwarves also appeared in the distance as a great line of metal machines. The bombardment had continued and clouds of dust rose from the ground like geysers, shifting colors in the light from both the magma seas and the cool blue-gray of the Tower.

When Cecil and the others drew close to the perimeter of the tanks, they found behind the line of artillery, rows and columns of tents…or were they cabins? There was a defensive line of Dwarf soldiers guarding the flank, and Cecil was deciding who he should seek out first, when a Dwarf appeared among the ranks who was taller than the rest. He strode toward them, and when he came close, Cecil noticed that the Dwarf rose to the height of his mid-chest, the tallest Dwarf he'd met so far. His dark beard was long and tied into two braids, and he wore a helmet with prongs that looked just as formidable as his expression.

"Lali-ho!" he greeted them with a voice that boomed like cannon fire.

"Lali-ho!" Cecil said, returning the greeting.

"You've finally arrived! We were wondering if the re-enforcements King Giott sent would ever be coming." He looked them over. "You look like hell."

Cecil detected Kain bristling next to him. Cecil held up one hand as a warning to his friend. This was not the time to let their exhaustion get the best of them.

"We came as quickly as we could," Cecil explained. "But we're unfamiliar with this terrain and the heat is something we've never experienced."

"You don't have the skin of a Dwarf, that's for certain," the Dwarf agreed. "My name is Hrothgar, and I am the Captain of this force. As you're the ones who are mad enough to attempt the Tower, I have something for you before you set out again."

Hrothgar turned and walked away, clearly meaning to lead them somewhere. Cecil turned to look at Rosa, sharing his bewilderment, and then began to follow the Dwarf Captain.

They stopped at a large tent, which was more like a stone cabin with a canvas roof. Not canvas, Cecil corrected himself—monster hide. A Dwarf soldier held open the flap so they could enter, and all of them did so, ducking slightly so as not to bump into the stone lintel.

Hrothgar stopped at a small table where a few more maps were strewn. There was a jar resting there, and when Cecil and the others had gathered around, he removed the stopper.

"I have here, elixir from our stores at the castle. It isn't much, but it's enough to heal your hurts from your long journey here. We also have some food stuffs if you'd like. Who knows how long you'll spend in that Tower climbing toward the heavens. You might need it."

Cecil bowed, gratefully. "Thank you," he said.

He was given the jar first, but he passed it to Rosa, who took a sip and passed it to Rydia, and around it went. After Cecil had taken a sip of the life-giving liquid, he handed it back to the Captain.

"Are you in need of any foodstuffs?" Hrothgar asked.

Cecil looked at Rosa, but she was pursing her lips in a fashion he recognized—the "You don't want my honest opinion right now"—face. He resisted rolling his eyes, and looked at Yang instead.

"We've enough for several days' worth of travel. We can ration if need-be," the Monk answered.

Cecil agreed with Yang, not being fond of Dwarf food in the slightest, and declined the Captain's offer. Seeming content with not having to part with any of his supplies, Hrothgar ushered them out of the tent again.

"We've kept a consistent bombardment for several phases now." Cecil assumed "phases" were the Dwarves way of referring to night and day. "The enemy has sent a great force against us, but we destroyed 'em. You should find that many of their advance forces have been taken care of. Only the rear-guard should remain."

"Is the main gate still guarded?"

"I would say that the enemy's forces are a bit too disorganized to mount a proper defense after the abuse we've given 'em. Be careful, though. Once inside, you might find other traps."

"Golbez doesn't do anything part-way," Kain mentioned. "He'll have something waiting for us there, you can be sure of it. It's just a matter of us not knowing what that is."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"There's still another Elemental Archfiend," Kain explained. "He might be there, he might not. Golbez usually keeps his generals close. They could be anywhere."

"Elemental Archfiends?" Rydia asked. "Didn't you destroy one in Baron? How many of them are there?"

"All-told, four," Kain answered. "But he has other servants as well. Even if the last Archfiend isn't in the Tower, there's a resident who it would be better not to encounter…"

Cecil was surprised by this news. Indeed, he had no idea there had been another Fiend. Kain seemed to only be giving them information on a need-to-know basis. It rankled him a little, to not have known about this until now.

"Who is the other 'resident'?" Cecil asked.

"A mad scientist," Kain supplied. "Rumor has it that he was exiled from his native lands for practices that were considered unorthodox against mankind."

Rosa's face paled. "Unorthodox against mankind?" she murmured. "What on earth could he have done for his own people to shun him in such a way?"

"I'd almost rather not know, but Golbez had mentioned he had talents in alchemy and was a student of the inner workings of the body. His section of the Tower was referred to as the 'Zoo'."

Cecil noticed Rydia shudder, hugging herself tightly across the chest. He himself couldn't help but see Images of monsters and humans with two heads, and it was too disturbing to consider. He hoped they didn't meet this "scientist" either.

"The reason monsters have been appearing in greater numbers…does this man have anything to do with it?" Rosa asked.

Kain shrugged. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. Though, Golbez is more than capable of creating terrors with his own hands without having to rely on others."

Cecil pondered that for a moment. If that was true, what use did Golbez have for this other? It couldn't be something insignificant. Golbez never did anything by halves.

"As I said," Hrothgar interrupted them. "Be careful for traps. I myself would rather die fighting within a cave or atop the rampart of my castle, not set foot in that alien monstrosity you call a Tower. It's unnatural. It sets upon the Earth without really being one with it."

He led them to the edge of the encampment and they began to file between tanks. The tanks were enormous up close. No wonder the Enterprise took so much damage.

"We'll cease our bombardment to give you a chance to get across the plain."

Cecil looked and saw through the smoke that was still billowing from the ground, a field strewn with the corpses of monsters. The distance was considerable, but with the effects of the elixir, it was no longer daunting.

"Here we part ways," Hrothgar said. "May your mission prove successful, Children of the Upperworld."

"Thank you for your help," Cecil told him, though truthfully, he felt as though they were being propelled onward with little to-do.

Rosa bowed to the Dwarf captain, and Cecil couldn't help but emulate. Leave it to Rosa to show decorum even in this barren environment.

Cecil then looked at everyone, and saw the grim determination in their faces.

"Time to get this over with," he said gravely.

They all nodded, steeling themselves against what was to come. Cecil gazed up at the Tower's immense height. This was not going to be easy…

…...

A/N: As a quick note, I do have much of the next two or three chapters already written. It's just a matter of finishing them up and getting them posted. I needed to write some things out of order…which is great for me, but not for those of you waiting for chronological updates ;)