Sorry for the scare about me leaving in January—although, I will be taking a six month break. I'm not permanently leaving this site or anything, but going back to school. Student teaching awaits! (which, btw, I'm not leaving until the end of the month)
I'm going to try to bust some chapters out over this week. I'm trying to consolidate what's on my notebook with what's on my computer…which is…surprisingly more labor intensive than it sounds. An example of this might go like-I KNOW I WROTE THIS ALREADY, WHERE IS IT, WHYYYY! I've written up to Baron already, it's just a matter of typing everything and getting it post-worthy.
This chapter proved to be another beast in the editing phase. Sorry for the delay.
In other news, dear readers, there is absolutely nothing redeeming about winter. There is nothing magical about snow. There's nothing uplifting about arctic air that freezes the inside of your nose and destroys your skin within a fraction of a second. There's nothing cool about wearing jeans that are caked in salt. There's no excitement in scraping frost off your windshield at 6 in the morning before the sun is even up. If the sun ever rises at all. Hate winter. Hate it. I think it should die.
On that note:
Chapter Eleven
The silence of the hallway was deafening, and the emptiness of it made Rydia glad that they continued moving as soon as they did. Where they had last paused to rest, the tower hallways had been a maze of eerie dead-ends and flickering lights, but they soon left it behind to return to the relatively well-lit mechanical landscape to which they'd become accustomed. It seemed that every few levels, the surroundings and layouts of the floors changed. They'd become steadily more alien and Rydia knew that this and the appearance of Black was a positive sign.
She shared this revelation with Cecil, and afterwards, it was obvious that the pace of their journey had picked up. It didn't matter that what awaited them most definitely involved battle—that there were still impossible decisions and actions to be made. They cast off those thoughts in favor of another—being done with the Tower.
The enthusiasm only lasted for a few hours.
They'd experienced false hope many floors earlier, but Rydia felt certain this time that their goal was in sight. She felt foolish as floor passed floor that they still saw no sign of the crystals or the strange doctor's lab. The notion of "closeness" to their destination became a relative term.
"Are you sure it was an Eidolon you saw?" Cecil asked after a considerable lapse in conversation. "It could have been a fiend, or one of Golbez's spies."
"I know what I saw," came Rydia's brisk reply. "He wouldn't be coming back down the tower if he hadn't found what he was looking for."
"It's been hours."
"He has four legs and can move past fiends quicker than we can."
"Rydia…"
"We're getting close!" She insisted, planting both hands on her hips and stopping to stare at him.
For a moment they just looked at each other, neither budging. Cecil finally let out a quick sigh and turned away, walking in long strides.
It had been a long while since their last rest and the effect on everyone's moods was apparent.
"It feels like we've been walking for months," Rosa groaned, at one point.
The fair-haired woman was not in the best of sorts—none of them were. None of them smelled their best either, she observed, wrinkling her nose. No baths for days—weeks—oh, what she wouldn't give for a bath…
Finally, for the first time since they began their ascent, did Cecil find a place where he felt confident they could truly rest. The moment they stepped into the room, Rydia felt the tingle of protective wards. Her relief was so great, she felt tears well up at the corners of her eyes.
"A waystation," Kain said almost reverently. "There doesn't seem to be very many of them in this entire tower."
"Even Golbez's attendants need safe havens now and again?" Cecil wondered aloud.
"When he can't control the fiends, anyway," Kain muttered.
Rydia let out a tremendous sigh and sprawled out on the floor.
"It's so good not to be moving!" she said ecstatically.
Cecil smiled tiredly, removing his pack. They all ended up on the floor eventually, loosening armor, removing helmets. Yang sat in a corner with his legs crossed and eyes closed, meditating. Rydia hadn't seen him meditate in weeks and was happy to see some semblance of their old rituals returning.
She in turn stared at the ceiling. The lights were strange, somewhat honey-combed, and a brilliant blue-ish hue. She thought about reciting incantations, but she was too tired to do any serious thinking.
"How long do you think it's been since we started climbing?" Rosa asked.
"Days," Kain replied, deadpan.
Rydia turned her head to look at them. Each of them was sitting with their eyes closed, minds elsewhere.
"If I don't sleep I'm going to lose my mind," Rosa said at length. "I won't be able to cast anymore spells. I'll be of no use to anyone."
"We're staying here," Cecil assured her, un-strapping his bedroll and spreading it out on the tile floor for emphasis. "All of us need to sleep."
Rydia's thoughts on the matter were Rosa's to a tee. She was grateful to finally be able to rest without being woken up within a few minutes.
She sat up and began un-strapping her own bedroll. Spreading it out on the floor, she had time to realize how exhausted she really was. Every muscle and inch of skin ached, right down to the roots of her hair.
Her head had barely touched the bedroll and she had already drifted away.
…..
A concussive booming woke her up several hours later. The room shook and the lights above flickered and buzzed uncertainly. Rydia cracked her eyes open and looked around in confusion. Many minutes passed but nothing happened. Thinking she'd been imagining things, she tried going back to sleep, but the moment she closed her eyes again, the booming returned. It sounded like the tower was falling apart around them, and she sat up with a start. Everyone else was awake by then as well, staring at each other and at the ceiling.
"What is that?" Cecil demanded.
Kain shook his head wordlessly.
In total, five more ground shaking blasts shook the room. After stunned silence, and a generous amount of time, Cecil announced that they should attempt sleep again.
Rydia tried to sleep, but her mind was troubled. What on earth had that been? They were bound to come near whatever it was once they woke, but what would it turn out to be and would they be able to get past it?
After hours of restless sleep, Cecil finally woke them up for good. Bleary eyes were the common sight, and no one seemed pleased to move forward. Nonetheless, everything was packed, armor donned, and weapons readied.
Their climb became more uncertain when the floor continued to shake. They stopped to listen and decided that whatever it was, was coming from somewhere not far above.
One very steep six-flighted staircase took them to a completely different part of the tower than they'd been used to. This level was colder, more mechanical, if that were possible.
The ceiling loomed to vaulted heights above them, lights suspended down from long cords and all were brilliantly lit. There was no refuse from fiends littering the tile, no claw marks on the walls, nothing to indicate that monsters infested this level. Some distance ahead there was an enormous cylindrical structure spanning the gap from one wall to another. Beneath it stood scaffolding that must have been over a hundred feet long.
None of them could make heads or tails of it, but when they were halfway toward reaching the cylinder, the booming that had shaken the floor for the last few hours struck again. It was so loud in this cavernous room that all of them dove to the floor with their hands over their ears.
"This is what's causing the noise," Yang said after a few minutes.
"What is that thing?" Cecil asked, still pressing a finger into one ear.
"I don't know, but we won't find out by just standing here," Kain said, walking forward.
There was a gap in the scaffolding beneath the cylinder where a hallway ran. Curious to see where it led, the group walked toward it. When they reached its entrance, the floor changed to a narrow metal grated gangway. A chasm surrounded the gangway on each side, like being suspended over a dark cloud.
At the other end they could see a large door that stood closed with blinking red and blue lights running along the edges.
"Kain and I will see what's over there. The rest of you, wait here," Cecil instructed, adjusting the shield on his back to center his balance.
Rydia watched the two men walk cautiously across the grated walkway. It seemed stable enough, but when the cylinder overhead boomed again, all of them fell to their knees and the metal walkway seemed to jump from its supports.
"Cecil, be careful!" Rosa called when the din of the blast had subsided.
He looked back and gave her a reassuring nod, though Rydia could tell that he was visibly shaken.
The two knights crept slowly along the catwalk until they'd reached the doorway. They pushed, pulled, shoved, and banged, but the door wouldn't open.
Kain turned to Cecil and said something, but Rydia couldn't make it out. What she could decipher was that there was no getting through the door. Cecil and Kain rejoined them on solid ground and explained the situation.
"The door requires a key, and without it, there's no getting past it," Kain told them dourly.
"A key?" Rosa asked. "Could the crystals be behind that door?"
"It's possible," Kain admitted, "But there's nothing we can do without the key."
"The most likely person to have it would be the Doctor Kain told us about," Cecil supplied.
"So we are getting close," Yang observed.
Cecil nodded toward Rydia. "Looks like you were right, after all."
She smiled sweetly at him, reveling in her small victory.
"But what is that above us, and what is that booming?" Yang asked again, pointing at the cylinder.
They all looked up at it, baffled.
"I don't think we'll have any answers until we get to the 'Zoo'," Kain answered.
Stymied, but not defeated, they returned to the main hallway. They followed it to a smaller door and began another climb up a staircase of many flights. The booming shook the staircase for a while and then faded as they left it deep below. It wasn't until they'd emerged from the stairwell, that they realized how close they truly were to ending their climb. In fact, they had arrived at precisely where they needed and dreaded to be.
…..
Cleanliness. On every surface, in every room. Compared to the Feymarch or even the Dwarf Castle, it was like stepping into another world; an inorganic alien world.
They tread quietly not wanting to surprise whoever might have been lurking in the rooms. Kain had tensed, and Rosa also. No one said much of anything, keeping their eyes peeled.
The booming had become a distant rumble that Rydia would feel through the floor as they walked between rows of flat metal tables with bits and pieces of mechanisms spread atop them.
They went down another narrower hallway. The lights were on in this entire level, making it seem occupied, though they found no living soul. Tables began to litter the hallways as well. There were nuts, bolts and scrap, gears and tools laying about.
"Odd," Kain said mostly to himself, "Always thought he had help, but there's no one here."
Rooms led to more rooms, and they found the entire place larger than they expected.
Soon the contents of the tables changed, becoming morbid and grim. Rydia tried to keep her gaze pinned ahead, but on one occasion her eyes slipped. She very nearly retched.
Eyes, tongues, fluids, phials. Rosa slipped her arm through the crook of Rydia's elbow and pulled her onward.
"Is this 'the Zoo'?" Rydia whispered to Kain.
He nodded without looking at her.
She felt cold. None of the dangerous encounters they'd had in the climb prepared her for what could be waiting for them here.
They'd walked a good distance down a large hall when a blood curdling scream tore through the air. Everyone jumped.
"That sounded like a person—a woman," Rosa choked out. She was visibly shaken, her hand trembling as she reached for her bow.
Rydia peered into every corner, her nerves taut.
"It could be anything," Kain reminded them.
"What if it's a prisoner?" Cecil asked.
Kain shook his head. "I know it's cruel, but there's no point. They're already lost."
"How could you know that?"
"Whoever he's found is probably already dead or soon will be—he doesn't like to keep people alive for long. You don't hear hopeless screams like that very often."
Yang gave him a questioning look.
"Spend enough time around Golbez and you recognize the sounds," Kain elaborated.
That gave all of them pause. Rydia swallowed hard.
"Besides," Kain went on, "We came here for another reason. We barely made it here ourselves, we couldn't possibly take anyone back with us."
Cecil looked displeased, but he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he kept his sword drawn.
They crossed six long rooms in total from what seemed to be the main hall, and when they entered the seventh, Rydia nearly screamed herself. On a far table she thought she saw a human arm separated at the shoulder along with the remnants of other creatures.
No one moved for a long moment. It was clear they were trying to marshal their emotions.
Cecil took a few slow steps forward.
"We have to keep moving," he whispered. "We have to find the Doctor, if we're to find the key to that room."
They followed him onward through piles of propellers and large metal pipes, carefully placing their feet so as not to make any noise.
Soon enough they heard voices.
They crept toward a large sliding door that stood open, leading into a huge work shop with another metal grated gangway that spanned half of the floor space.
There was a shorter man standing where the gangway ended in the center of the room. He had scraggly white hair and wore a dingy white coat and was facing a man—a giant really—wearing grand red armor.
They heard snippets of conversation, and Rydia spied Kain's fingers tightening their grasp around his spear. Could this be the final Archfiend? Her question was immediately answered.
"Do be careful, Rubicante, my lord," the shorter man said in a sniveling manner.
"There is no need for concern," the Archfiend assured him. "Eblan's castle has already fallen, and its Ninja forces with it. I trust matters here to you until my return."
They watched as Rubicante moved away from the Doctor and stepped onto a large platform. The doctor pressed a switch and the other man disappeared completely in a bright flash of light.
Rydia's eyes were consumed with a strange purple after-glow and she was baffled. What kind of magic was that? It was different from any teleportation spell she'd ever seen. They watched as the doctor stood in complete silence for a moment, staring into the empty space where his compatriot had once stood.
All of a sudden he began to jump up and down, clapping his hands. "Wee hee hee! Lord Golbez and Rubicante both gone, and only I at home! I'm lord of the tower now!"
"That's a strange one," Rydia muttered.
"Shh!" Rosa hissed quietly, but not quietly enough.
"Who's there!" the doctor shrieked, whirling around.
All of them ducked behind the wall before he could spot them.
They could hear his footsteps as he inched toward the doorway,
"Is it you?" he asked, seeming to think it was someone he knew. "Have you come back?"
Cecil looked at Rosa. In fact, all of them were exchanging confused glances.
"I told you there was no use running—there's nowhere to go! Now come here, we have work to do!" he ordered shrilly.
When no one answered, he began stuttering. "T-the one time you have nothing to say! I-it was you who forced me to take drastic measures in the first place! It was regrettable that I had to do what I did, but you knew the consequences!"
Rydia gave Cecil an incredulous look. "Has he lost his mind?" she whispered.
Kain nodded, rolling his eyes.
At last Cecil decided there was no use hiding and enduring the awkward one-sided conversation. He stood, stepping beyond the doorway.
The doctor, who had been scanning the room through his cloudy spectacles, jumped back.
"You're not!—" he sputtered and then gazed at the rest of them. "Who are you people? He looked at Cecil, at his armor and sword, and his mouth fell open. "You're that Cecil louse, aren't you? When in toadspittle did you squirm your way in!"
Kain moved past Cecil, leveling his spear at the doctor, "Where are the crystals!" he demanded.
The doctor almost burst out laughing, readjusting his spectacles. "Crystals! I create a great many wonders for Golbez and all anyone can talk about are those confounded crystals!"
"They must be somewhere close by if you're here," Kain pressed.
"Do you really think so? I'm afraid I can't help you with the crystals, but first thing's first, do you think I'm going to let you get away with this trespass?"
"Rubicante's not here to help you. Are you sure you want to press your luck against us?
He squinted at Kain. "Wait a moment, weren't you Golbez's pet? Aren't you on the wrong side? And press my luck! Gah—the outrage! The belittlement! Do you have any idea to whom you're speaking? I'm Dr. Lugae! I may not be one of…them, but Golbez made me his chief strategist for a reason! I can keep this tower clean of vermin like you!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Kain shouted. There was bravado in his voice, but Rydia heard a slight tremor in it as well. This couldn't be the same man who had conducted such inhumane experiments as the ones they'd seen. He didn't seem capable of them…He was mad to be sure, but he looked too weak to hurt a fly.
"You made the mistake of challenging the mad scientist in his lab! Oh ho ho! You will regret this!" the doctor shouted, pulling a strange object out of his pocket and pressing buttons. "My beautiful little boy will have your heads for playthings!"
"The crystals!" Cecil shouted.
"You'll have to pass through me first, and that's not going to happen! Balnab!" the Doctor cried over his shoulder.
A mechanical doll, that was the best description Rydia could think of, came to life amid a heap of metal near the doorframe and walked to the Doctor's side.
Rydia eyed it warily. She'd never seen anything quite like it, and wondered what it was going to do.
"Attack them!" the Doctor shouted, pointing a shaking finger at them.
The doll took a halting step, and then turned, hands pivoting toward the Doctor. The little man's eyes widened and he held up both hands.
"No!" he shouted, but his robotic fiend had already fired his fists on their springs.
They grazed the Doctor's shoulder as the old man jumped to the side a moment too late. It was enough to knock him to the floor.
"No!" the Doctor shouted again. "Attack them over there! Curse that child," he muttered.
The mechanical doll turned toward them.
Cecil raised his shield and the rest of them raised their weapons. Rosa was softly chanting at Rydia's side, and Rydia wondered what she could do. She looked at Cecil and caught his eye.
"Who do we attack? She asked. "The doll or the Doctor?"
"Both would be helpful," he said under his breath.
She gave him an exasperated look, and set her attention on a spell that would disrupt the doll. She'd been working on the spell for a while, trying to coax more power from it, and now she tried it in earnest—the thundaga spell.
She chanted layer upon layer of incantations, asking for more of the crystals' strength than ever before.
It was a lengthy business, and she tried to tuck herself to the back of the battle line to avoid injury before the spell's completion. She blocked out the shouts of her comrades, the sound of metal against metal and even Rosa's voice. She lost herself in her own incantation.
And finally, like rain from a clear sky, a bolt of lightning exploded down from the ceiling—the air sizzling and heavy with electricity. It struck both the Doctor and his creature, knocking the Doctor to a senseless heap of white robes on the floor.
The machine was sparking—it's movements sporadic.
"Oil," it bellowed, beginning to smoke at the joints.
Rydia hadn't noticed that Cecil's leg was bleeding through his armor or that Rosa was on the ground clutching her ribs. She hadn't realized how close the machine had gotten to them while she'd been chanting, so when it suddenly exploded, sending hot metal shrapnel in every direction—she finally felt the full shock of it.
Sharp metal sliced through her robes and the leather vest she wore like they were made of air. Spots flooded her vision. She and Yang both fell to the floor in unison, losing consciousness along the way. For a few frightening moments, she thought she was dead. Everything around her was dark, light, and then she felt something heavy pulling her backwards, as if from against a great wave.
She dully heard Rosa's voice calling her name, though it sounded like she was calling from miles away. When at last she opened her eyes, she was still laying on the floor. Blood mixed with blackened oil across the tile and sharp pieces of metal were still clinging to her robes. She pushed herself to her knees and saw that the Doctor was gone, but in his place stood a ghastly metal skeleton with the doctor's face stretched upon its head.
"What—" she blurted out.
"Rydia—cast thunder!" Rosa cried.
She had time only to notice that Yang and Cecil still lay on the floor, blood pooling around their bodies, before she began the incantation and felt herself grow ill as a strange gas poured over the floor.
She released a hasty thundara spell but it didn't seem to affect him at all.
She gave Rosa a frightened look. "I don't know what—"
"Look out!" Kain yelled, running in front of Rosa and bashing a monstrous claw away from her.
"Kain," Rosa breathed, relieved.
He couldn't dodge a second blow from the Doctor's newfound reach and tumbled backwards. He got right up again, unharmed. He stared at his armor in confusion.
"He can't harm us, and we can't harm him?" Rydia asked.
"I can't bring them back!" Rosa said, dismayed, turning their attention to Cecil and Yang. There was a hitch in her throat and Rydia took that to be a bad sign. It took a lot for Rosa to panic, and she had never seen one of the white mage's spells fail.
Rosa tried again, while Kain did his best to shield them from the Doctor's attacks. She cast cura, but when the green glow would have brought healing, Rydia felt old wounds begin to open up again.
"Everything's backwards!" Rydia gasped. "Rosa, stop casting!"
Rosa looked at her in disbelief.
"I'm going to try something," Rydia assured her.
Rydia began chanting a simple spell, the thunder spell, and released it on herself experimentally. She instantly felt a bit better, like being infused with energy.
But the Doctor wasn't wasting time—he cast a spell on them that had the tang of white magic.
Rosa fell to the floor, barely conscious and Rydia was seeing spots again. She immediately began another incantation, focusing on the three of them.
There wasn't much time.
The last word of the blizzara spell flowed off her tongue and she found herself in the middle of a very strange experience.
She had never turned one of her more powerful spells on herself before, and being encased in ice like a frozen cocoon was at once terrifying and comforting. She felt it against her skin—but it wasn't cold, it was warm. The water melted and flowed onto her skin like a salve. Her hurts were forgotten and then the ice was gone in a vapor. Rosa gasped and stood up, frost still clinging to her eyelashes.
Rosa gave Rydia an appreciative nod, and then pursed her lips while she dodged one of the Doctor's skeletal hands and dove back to the floor.
Kain moved in front of her, raising his shield. He glanced at Rosa.
"I can't do anything," he muttered.
"That gas that spilled over the floor," Rydia pointed out. "It's done something to our magic! If we can get him to counteract it, our magic will work properly again!"
Kain took that information with a leap. He shot into the air like a blue arrow and landed a few moments later behind the Doctor's back. The Doctor, realizing his sudden peril, swung wildly behind him, but Kain had found what he was looking for—a metal canister affixed to the Doctor's back that he punctured violently with his spear. Gas poured over the floor once again, and Rydia felt the heaviness—the wrongness—in the air return to normal.
"He did it!" Rydia cried, and began to summon the most logical Eidolon she could think of, while Rosa revived Cecil and Yang as quickly as she could.
Cecil pulled himself up from the floor as Hellfire heated the room and Ifrit's monstrous roar echoed against the walls.
Fire rained down from above and the Doctor's remaining flesh melted away from the metallic skeleton he'd constructed as a mockery of his former life. The metal became pocked and damaged from the heat of Ifrit's assault, but he still remained alive.
Ifrit spared Rydia a disdainful look before he dissipated into nothingness as if to question why she hadn't called earlier, but she had few thoughts left to attend. Within the next few minutes, a flurry of movement overwhelmed her senses. The sound of sword against metal, claws scraping and tearing, and the concussion of Kain's leaps became a din in the cavernous room. Rosa cast spell after spell, an unceasing tide of word weaving, and Rydia herself joined the fray once she'd found her balance.
Blood splattered across the tile floor and more oil joined it. Men versus machine, but it was the men who prevailed in the end. The Doctor's legs collapsed beneath him, snapping into a ruined heap of metal. There was a surprised expression on the metal mockery of his face, but he began an odd gurgling cackle.
"Gone—all gone! My research, my life's work!" he rasped. "You came all this way and ruined my plans, but Rubicante's already moved the Crystals out of your reach! Now none of you will escape here alive—none of you—and there's nothing you can do to save the Dwarves! The super cannon will make quick work of them with the new ordinance I've just had loaded. There will be no more resistance to stand in Golbez's path. You'll have nowhere to run!" he said with a gasp, falling silent with those words.
"The Dwarves!" Rydia shrieked.
"The cannons? Could that have been the rumbling we heard? The Dwarves won't survive a bombardment like that!" Rosa exclaimed.
Cecil approached the Doctor's body and noticed something shining on the ground. He picked it up, and saw it was a flat piece of metal with several unique grooves and holes.
"A key!" Kain explained.
"A key to the room we passed?" Cecil asked.
"Seems likely."
"We have to hurry!" Yang said, quickly turning toward the way they'd come.
They sprinted through the Doctor's lab, weaving between tables, ignoring the baying of creatures in rooms they had no desire to explore. They leapt down the stairs toward the strange room with the booming cylinder in it and didn't stop running until they had crossed the catwalk that led to the previously locked door.
Cecil stood puzzled before the door for a moment. Kain took the key from his hand and slid it into a narrow groove that Rydia would never have guessed was a keyhole.
The door slid open slowly, and inside the room, three imps who had been surprised by the sound, turned away from a large mechanical console. They looked like they'd been expecting someone else.
"Who are you!" an imp at the forefront demanded. "You're not the doctor's assistant!"
"Step away from the console!" Cecil snarled, pointing his sword at the imp.
The imp began to laugh. "You can't give me orders! Only Golbez can tell me what to do. Get 'em, boys!" he commanded, waving his comrades forward.
These imps were taller and stouter than Rydia recalled their cousins on the magma plains to be. They advanced as a menacing trio, daggers drawn. One looked bent on doing a number on her, but the men had their weapons drawn and were not about to be pushed aside.
A brief skirmish ensued, but the imps were no match for two knights and a monk. They fell to the floor bleeding and angry.
Cecil held the tip of his blade against the throat of the lead imp. "Disarm the cannon!"
The imp stumbled to his feet and limped grudgingly to the console with Cecil's blade never hovering too far away.
Rydia watched intently. They had to stop the cannons for the sake of the Dwarves!
The imp pressed a few buttons and an alarm began to sound overhead.
"You can't stop us!" the imp declared. "There's no halting the cannons now!"
Cecil, realizing their predicament, found no reason to keep the imp alive and brought his sword down in one merciless arc. Yang and Kain made quick work of the other two.
"They've sabotaged the cannon!" Cecil yelled, his frustration taking over.
"Is there nothing we can do!" Kain demanded, running over to the console and trying to make sense of the buttons.
"There's an abort lever on this side!" Yang announced to Rydia's immense relief.
"Pull it!" Cecil shouted from across the room.
Yang pulled the lever down and the alarm ceased. It was replaced instead by a flashing red light and a strange tinny voice:
WARNING. EMERGENCY ABORT. EMERGENCY ABORT. ORDINANCE CRITICAL. OVERLOAD IMMINENT.
"We did it!" Rosa cried, "But now we have to get out of here!"
Yang released the lever and began to walk toward them, but the lever immediately assumed its former position. The voice changed:
SEQUENCE RESUMED. OVERLOAD AVERTED. LAUNCH IN TWO MINUTES COUNTING.
"A dead man switch?" Kain shouted.
The voice had begun an ominous count-down, and for a few seconds of sheer panic, no one moved.
Rydia felt as if the world had stopped turning, as if something momentous and dreadful was about to happen.
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Yang.
"I will take care of things in here," he said with a resoluteness that frightened her. "The rest of you get out!"
"Are you mad?" Rydia shouted at him.
"Forgive me…" he said, looking backing at them, letting his gaze linger on her in particular.
"Don't be a fool!" Kain argued, gesticulating wildly. "We can figure out how to rig it!"
"We only have two minutes," Yang said quietly. "Now get out before the explosion takes us all!"
Rydia was about to run forward, to reach out to him and stop him from doing what she'd read in his eyes, when he suddenly thrust out his arm. His hand caught her flat on the chest and pushed her backwards, out through the door. Within an instant, the others had joined her, thrown backwards by the force of a kick.
He stood just inside the doorway, hand on a switch on the wall. He pressed it and the door began to close.
"Yang, no!" Rosa cried.
"Yang!" Cecil shouted, rising to his feet and banging futilely against the door just as it closed.
"If you should see my wife again, tell her to live enough for us both!" they heard him shout past the door.
"Open the door!" Kain barked.
"It has been an honor, fighting with all of you," he said finally.
He didn't speak again, but they once again heard the warning system overhead, announcing an imminent overload. The countdown resumed from two minutes.
"We need to get off of this gangway," Cecil said urgently, angrily, getting them all to their feet.
They stumbled more than ran, diving onto solid floor as a loud explosion shook the entire space.
This explosion was so violent that the entire cylinder seemed to buckle on top of the scaffolding. Fire spread down the column that the control room had been connected to and smoke billowed out from the control room door. The gangway that they had just crossed was gone, shaken from its supports and lost to the fiery depths of whatever chain reaction the abort had caused within the mechanism of the cannons.
Rydia's heart caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe and could only stare through tears at the smoke pouring across the chasm between them and where Yang had been.
"No," she whispered.
"Dammit!" Cecil shouted, punching the floor.
Rosa knelt beside him and put an arm around his shoulders.
Tears were slipping down her cheeks.
Rydia was too stunned to do anything.
"Why! Why!" Cecil shouted. His voice was lost in the continued rumbling as more explosions spread down through the cannon's underbelly.
For several minutes, no one said anything and no one moved. It felt like an eternity when Cecil stood.
"We need to keep moving," he forced out.
Rydia felt herself being lifted to her feet. Kain was behind her, holding her arms, and he gave her a grim look.
"It should have been me," he muttered darkly.
No one answered until the words cut through the fog of Rydia's thoughts.
"Yes, it should have been," she said coldly, whirling to face him properly, all her frustrations boiling to the surface.
"He had a wife! He had a home and people who expected him to return! And he protected me! You were a traitor!—" she cried, losing her words as tears began pouring down her cheeks and she began pounding her fists against his chest. They thudded against his metal breastplate ineffectually.
He just gazed down sadly, unable to speak, still gripping her arms.
When it seemed her energy was spent, he released her and she spun away. Everyone was too lost in their own grief to comment on her outburst.
"We failed," Cecil said slowly, distantly.
They all looked at him.
"Now what?" Rosa asked, dazedly. "Golbez will soon find out that the Doctor is dead. When he does, he's bound to tighten his security."
"We have no choice but to re-group and find another way into the tower from higher up," Kain answered.
"Could Cid help us?" Rosa asked.
"First we have to report to King Giott," Cecil said dully. "We have to let him know how completely and utterly we've failed."
Rosa looked at the smoke filled room unhappily.
"All that climbing just to go all the way back down…"
Rydia chewed her lip between tearful hiccups. "There's…there's a spell I could use," she said haltingly. "It won't take us the whole way down, but it should help."
Rosa glanced at her. "You have such a spell?"
Rydia nodded and took a deep breath. "If it works."
Rosa, her curiosity winning over her fatigue, walked to Rydia's side and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder.
"Explain to me what you're planning," she insisted.
Rydia explained as best she could, and the four of them joined hands while she chanted.
She pictured a place in her mind where she wanted to go—a place she remembered. The spell would only work so long as she had a clear memory of each location. She knew she could get them far down the tower, but she didn't have the ability as Rosa had, to transport them all in one go. She would have to cast several times.
She stilled her mind, focusing, and the room around them melted away. Her eyes were closed, but she was seeing with her mind, sliding through the floor and slipping down through layers of metal to reach a place several floors below. It was a doorway they'd paused under hours earlier.
The moment they arrived, she began the next chant and the process began again.
They must have descended several dozen floors before her memory failed and her energy was all but spent.
Cecil clapped her on the shoulder as she nearly swooned.
"Good work," he praised her. "I think I remember this floor. It was close to the bottom of the tower."
"There are no more ethers," Rosa said apologetically after sifting through her pack.
Rydia closed her eyes and sighed. She would have to battle the old-fashioned way.
She shifted the weight of her pack and began walking.
Cecil seemed to know which way he was going, and being in this part of the tower again after so many days felt nostalgic.
It was less nostalgic when they passed the scavenged corpses of monsters they'd slain. The stench was overpowering. Nonetheless, they traveled swiftly, winding through hallways by following the trail of bodies.
At last they reached the level where the heat struck them like a wave.
We're close to the exit!" Rosa cried.
"We have to at least tell Hrothgar what we've learned," Cecil said, picking up his pace.
They had just stepped onto the gangway that plummeted down to the ground, when a ghostly voice stopped them in their tracks.
You are even more meddlesome than I had thought.
"Golbez!" Cecil said, turning to look for the dark knight, but not finding him.
Mice are wont to play while the cat is away. But I am afraid our game of cat and mouse is at an end. The time has come for us to part ways. Farewell!
Silence fell and each of them tensed, expecting an attack.
"Cecil!" Rosa suddenly shouted, pointing back at where the gangway joined the tower's main floor.
They all looked where she was pointing and understood immediately. The planking was detaching and falling hundreds of feet below.
"Run!" Cecil shouted with an urgency that couldn't be denied.
They sprinted down the gangway, sweat beading on their skin.
Rydia, her exhaustion taking over, began to stumble.
She barely heard Cecil shout "Jump!" over the rattling of the planks and the rush of wind in her ears. She barely realized someone was holding her fast as her feet left solid ground and she was propelled high into the air.
When she realized what had happened, the sensation of falling had taken over and her heart felt like it had jolted up her throat. She closed her eyes, terrified; but then, for reasons she didn't quite understand, she opened them again. Maybe it was an insane desire to see the end before it came, but her eyes were definitely open when she saw an airship come into view.
She'd never been aboard one before and seeing one coming closer brought a moment of elation.
Maybe they wouldn't fall to their doom! She made the mistake of glancing at the propellers spinning dangerously around and immediately felt panic creeping over her again.
She closed her eyes, bracing for pain; pain that never came.
A heavy thud met her feet and she felt her own weight on her legs. She was standing on solid ground, and someone had just set her down.
She cracked her eyes open slowly and looked around. The propellers spun furiously overhead, but there they were, safely standing on the deck of the airship. They'd made it!
"Welcome aboard!" A boisterous voice erupted from the captain's wheel.
"Cid!" Cecil and Rosa both called out to him happily.
Cid smirked as the five of them climbed the airship's stairs to reach him. "Didn't think I'd make it in time!" he told them.
He was about to ask Cecil something, when his expression changed. He glanced back at the tower. "Trouble coming!" he shouted, pressing levers and spinning the captain's wheel. The ship turned and sped off, hot air buffeting Rydia in the face. She held onto the railing for dear life, searching the skies for what had spurred Cid into action. Two ships. They had entered a steep dive from the tower's heights and were gaining on them.
She turned back to her companions, and saw Cid looking at her through his thick goggles. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"This is Rydia, a Summoner of Mist," Cecil explained.
"Well, then! The more the merrier—wait—" he interrupted himself, looking around. "Where's Yang?"
Rydia felt hot tears stinging her eyes and was glad it was Rosa who answered.
"Yang, he—"
"To save the Dwarves, he gave his life," Cecil supplied.
"Another good man lost," Cid said, shaking his head.
The booming of cannonfire and the convulsion of the ship as it was struck made all of them look back.
"They're hot on our trail! C'mon Enterprise!" Cid shouted.
They sped over rock and magma, away from the Dwarves and their tanks—away from the Tower.
"They're gaining! Can't you lose them?" Kain cried, leaning against the railing.
"They must have modified the Red Wings!" Cid bellowed.
Rydia peered over the railing as well, hair whipping against her skin. "We'll never be able to land!"
"They're after you, not the Dwarves—"
"What do we do?" Cecil shouted. "Wait—Cid are you heading for the crater to the overworld?"
Cid nodded his head vehemently. "The engines can't take this! Cecil, take over!"
"What are you doing?" Cecil demanded, taking over the wheel.
"Once you reach the surface, I'll seal off that hole for good—with this!" he explained, holding up a bundle of red explosives with cords running down from them on one end.
"No! Not you, too!" Rosa cried, swaying on her feet as the ship was fired upon and lurched violently.
"You couldn't get the crystals, but you stuck a mighty big thorn in the lion's paw. I say you need another go from a direction he won't expect. Fly to Baron and speak to my engineers."
"What about you?"
Cid just smiled and walked down the stairs to the ship's side railing.
"I was hoping to see your children, but, well, somebody has to keep Yang company."
He looked Rydia dead in the eyes. "Look after 'em, will ya?"
She nodded automatically, watching helplessly as he climbed over the railing holding the strange bundle to his chest with one arm.
"Keep her steady, Cecil, and have my boys go to work for you. I'll stop these bastards with this bomb!"
No one said anything for one stunned minute and then everything poured out at once.
"What!"
"Cid, you can't!"
"I've made up my mind!
"You had a bomb on board just in case of a situation like this?" Kain demanded.
"I like living on the edge! Now get out of here!" he shouted as the ship plowed upward, propellers straining against gravity.
They had all been nearly flattened to the decking, but just as Kain was regaining his footing and began a dash for Cid, the man jumped ship.
"Bombs away!" he cried jubilantly.
"Cid!" Rosa screamed, running toward the railing.
"Try stopping this, Golbez! My once-in-a-lifetime unaided flight!" his words trailed back to them and then were lost in a large cracking boom, like thunder. Light flashed brilliantly, heat following, and then they were caught in the aftershock of the explosion, shooting high into the air like a rocket.
The blast shook loose the rocks that created the entrance to the overworld and the sounds of earth splintering and cracking became a cacophonous symphony. Rydia looked up and saw the speck of blue that marked the sky. It was still woefully far away, and an earthquake had begun sending rocks falling down on them in great numbers.
"Cecil, the rocks!" Kain said, pointing upward.
"I know!" Cecil shouted back, steering wildly.
Kain, evidently not convinced, began launching himself into the air, bashing stones into pebbles. Rosa began to cast protect, creating a shield around the propellers as they continued to climb.
Rydia could only cover her head as she was showered with pebbles, unable to cast, unable to do anything.
"Can't this ship go any faster?" Kain hollered.
"I'm giving it all she's got!" Cecil shouted back.
And it was with a great final push from the engines that they broke away from the dark chasm. Rydia felt sunlight on her skin just before the dust cloud from the explosion followed them up and covered the sky.
They flew until they were above water and the engines began to lurch in protest.
Cecil slowed the ship to a halt as all of them turned to look back at the mountain as it collapsed.
"Cid," Rosa choked out.
"Rushing to die like fools!" Kain anguished, slamming his fists into the railing.
Rydia held on to the decking, fingers digging into the divots and getting slivers from the wood.
"Cid, Yang—why do I keep losing everyone?" she whispered.
She peered up with bleary eyes at Rosa who was staring at the plume of dust in the distance. There was a fierce expression on her face—anger, grief, and disbelief all in one.
How could they have lost so much in so short a time? How could this have happened?
They were silent for a long while, and finally Cecil spoke. He was resolute, firm. In his voice, Rydia heard the conviction that reminded her why he was such a great leader. He would not accept this as a defeat. He would hold them together.
"We go to Baron. For Cid," he said.
They looked at him then, and nodded, an iron resolve settling over their grief. They were beaten but not defeated. There were deaths to avenge.
…..
A/N:
23 PAGES. WHAT. PHEW!
Thanks for reading, those of you who've reached this point! A few final points on this chapter:
Several months ago, I got to thinking…there was a time issue going on between Lugae's death…the fall of Eblan…and Rubicante's battle with the party.
Becaaause, when you encounter Lugae, he acts as though Eblan is still a threat, which Rubicante assures him, it's not…but…Lugae would have already known this because he would have turned Edge's parents into Chimerae sometime around this point in time…why? Because…well…he dies. And he can't exactly conduct horrible experiments if he's…dead. Dear Squeenix—PLOT HOLES I MUST FILL WHYYYY?
So…somewhere on the party's climb up the tower from the underworld (which would have taken a looong long time, if we're thinking realistically…) Eblan falls, the king and queen are taken prisoner and experimented upon, Rubicante goes off to who knows where…which…actually…why on earth does Rubicante leave the tower? What is he looking for? And why in the world does he show up in the Eblani caves? Was his spidey sense tingling? I sense a lone ninja approaching! What's that all about…
Another note: I had Rydia know Thundaga in this chapter. Sure, it's the last third level spell she learns, but it's my favorite of the three so I rushed ahead.
YET ANOTHER NOTE: I bent the rules of the warp spell a bit by having Rydia be able to use it multiple times and be able to keep skipping floors. Game-wise, it wouldn't work because you were only able to jump back one floor. Story-wise, it was just more convenient and made more sense…
I think that was all? Hope you enjoyed this one, guys. It took a lot of time to write and I need a really long nap now, haha.
Happy New Year!