I was reading through my reviews page the other day (it was a rather crappy week) and all I could do was go "awww". Seriously, you guys are awesome :)
Edge's first whole chapter…FINALLY a character who brings some levity to the party! I like levity…it reminds me of yeast. And now I want bread :(
This chapter is, in moments, rather intense. And gruesome. And probably rated R. And it's ludicrously long. You've been warned.
Drabble aside…
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Chapter Sixteen
The doorway Edge led them through seemed like it was carved out of the cave walls themselves. The doors were decorated with friezes from a forgotten time, depicting the building of the Tower of Babil and a people who seemed to be floating in the sky above it observing its construction. Rosa's sight spell shed light on more of the door as they passed, and Rydia also noticed the crystals carved into the doors, glowing in iridescent colors in what looked to be different corners of the world. She frowned, wondering who had made this door and if it was in fact the tower builders themselves. Who were the tower builders for that matter?
Given the age of the cavern, the doors were well-balanced and opened easily on their hinges.
The door led to a passageway, and the passageway led to a walkway that spanned the dark crater between the mountains and the tower itself. Sunlight spilled between the mountain peaks on the rim of the crater and cast strange shadows into the chasm, seeming to be absorbed by the maw of the underground. The walkway they stood upon was partially covered, more of an elaborate bridge than anything, with spindly scaffolding keeping them suspended. The prince led the way, surefooted on the narrow path, and the rest of them followed, staring up at the tower's height and around at the depth of the crater. Seeing the tower this close in the sunlight, Rydia thought it was a beautiful sight; if only its occupants hadn't stained its steps with blood and peril. The bridge finally ended at the tower itself. There were no paths leading along the tower's girth, and no door that they could see leading in.
"How are we going to get in?" Cecil asked, resting a hand on the tower's wall.
"You forget you're traveling with a ninja," Edge reminded him, tapping the wall with his knuckles and leaning his ear against it.
"What are you doing?" Kain asked, dubious of the prince's strange actions.
"Who's first?" the prince asked, ignoring Kain completely.
No one had any idea what he was talking about, so when no one answered, Edge grabbed Cecil's gauntleted arm, took one step in the direction of the tower wall, and then vanished like a trick of the light.
Rydia blinked, shocked by the suddenness of it. Rosa opened her mouth to utter a protest, but before she'd even gotten a sound out, Edge had returned.
"Where's Cecil?" Rosa demanded, stepping toward the prince.
"Who's next?" the prince asked nonplussed. "You?" he asked Rosa with an assessing glance once she'd come to an ungainly stop in front of him.
"Right, then," he replied, taking Rosa by the arm and vanishing with her as well.
Kain took a quick step forward at Rosa's disappearance, and Rydia cast a sidelong glance at the dragoon, curious at his reaction.
It wasn't long before Edge had returned to their side of the tower again.
"Well?" he asked, looking between Rydia and Kain. Kain crossed his arms, looking as though he wanted to give the ninja a few choice words, but refrained. Noticing Kain's ire, Edge's eyes fell instead on Rydia. She felt a moment of panic when he grabbed her arm. She pulled away reflexively, but his grip was sure, and then she too was caught in his spell and vanished. It felt strange, like momentarily stepping out of existence and then back into it again. It had the tang of the void, and it left her a little breathless when Edge deposited her on the other side of the wall beside Cecil and Rosa. She caught Cecil's eye, and backpedaled away from the wall to gain her bearings.
"What-" she began, her eyes adjusting to the false lighting that streamed along the floor and walls.
"That's magic I've never seen before," Cecil agreed.
Finally, Kain arrived with Edge at his side, appearing out of the air like a large fish caught on a line. Whether or not Kain was surprised or baffled, he gave no sign of it, but his irritation with the ninja was still very evident. Edge, on the other hand, looked tired and a bit smug, and Rydia wondered how much his spell had cost him.
"Edge, what was that?" Rosa asked, still a touch of heat in her voice. "I've never seen anything of its kind before."
"That's true enough," he said wryly, "You might be outsiders but I can at least tell you that many of my people are masters of shadow stepping—it comes in handy in certain situations."
"Ninjutsu," Kain expounded.
Edge shot him a suspicious look, as if Kain had just grown a tail.
"You know more than you should," Edge answered carefully, studying the other man. "But yes, ninjutsu. Let's get on with this journey, shall we? Heart to heart chats aren't going to get us anywhere."
Rydia sighed, both intrigued by what Edge had revealed and annoyed at his evasiveness. Cecil merely gave Rosa an unimpressed look and turned without a word, shifting his shield so it rested more comfortably against his back, and began walking.
…..
The newly formed group of five started their journey through the twisting corridors of the Tower. The blinking lights and strange consoles that pulsated with energy, created strange optical illusions and made it seem as though the hallways were alive, more so than the last time they were here.
Edge added another element of strangeness and unpredictability to their group. With Yang, there had been a rhythm, a balance. With Edge…there was none of this. He didn't speak strategy with Cecil or Kain, but rather acted according to his own whims, and it almost got him killed more than once. Rydia was used to Cecil knowing when she was about to cast a spell and getting out of the way; and while she was very accurate in her castings, she couldn't help if a stray bolt of lightning or a flame leapt farther than she intended. Edge had learned this the hard way.
He was nearly blasted by a thundaga spell gone awry when he'd gone on the offensive without paying attention to what she was doing. His expression was one of utter surprise and a touch of what might have been fear, when the lamia he'd been about to attack was a smoldering heap and he himself standing just inches away with his silver hair standing more on end than usual.
It was with no small amount of satisfaction that Rydia observed the prince's demeanor then change from being smug and sarcastic to a wary and brooding countenance. It was as if he had ceased regarding them as a nuisance, and instead as warriors who deserved his respect. He didn't seem to like this very much.
However, feeling guilty for nearly boiling him out of his skin, Rydia walked beside the ninja prince, hoping camaraderie might smooth out the rocky start they'd had.
Several hours passed in silence. Rydia took it to mean that the prince's pride was still smarting and let him be. She enjoyed the lack of his boasting, but she had started to wonder how him being a part of their group was going to work.
"What is it that you do, exactly?" he asked her while they walked, feigning disinterest.
Surprised to hear his voice after so long, she raised her brows. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Your magic. What are you, a black mage?" he asked more directly.
"I'm a summoner," she explained.
"A what?"
"A summoner," she repeated.
"Is that an extra special mage, because you've lost me," he complained.
"I can summon Eidolons to fight beside me in battle," she elaborated.
"Eidolons?" he asked, his brows slowly crawling together.
Rydia stared at him, trying to figure out how exactly to explain her relationship with the Eidolons.
"They're magical beings," she began, carefully spacing out her words.
The look he gave her was flat. "We're not speaking a different language, I can understand you perfectly."
"Then why do you look so confused?"
"My people have only had dealings with the larger kingdoms like Baron and Fabul, not with any Summoners. So how would I know what an Ei-do-lon is?"
Rydia pursed her lips, "I don't know, maybe you'd heard about us," she answered tartly.
He gave her a measured look and then turned his attention elsewhere without another word.
Rydia sighed and also looked the other way, exasperated.
Edward and Edge, two princes so very different from each other, the differences were staggering. His flippant attitude and explosive temper were one thing, but what intrigued her more, was his magic. What had he called it? Ninjutsu? There were no incantations—no words, no careful weaving of meaning and intent. He was not drawing power from the Crystals, but from somewhere else…himself? Was that possible? She was hoping that he might open up and admit some of it to her, but so far he had revealed very little other than his own ego. At least, that was the word Rosa had used for it.
Every once in a while she noticed him gazing off into dark corners; even coming to a halt just to stare. On one occasion, she paused with him.
"See something?" she asked.
For a moment he said nothing, frowned, and ran a hand through his spiky silver hair. Amazingly, it held the shape he had tousled it into. Rydia glanced at it a little jealously—she had never been able to get her hair to cooperate in similar fashion or in any fashion at all.
He smiled broadly, enough so that she could see it past his mask, or maybe it was his eyes that gave it away. "Nope," he answered lightly, and then his tone sobered in a strangely conspiratorial way. "Why, were you worried about me?"
Rydia neutralized her expression, narrowing her eyes. "You're going to get left behind if you keep stopping to look at everything."
"Sorry," he said, raising his hands in a placating manner, "Just a force of habit."
"Getting left behind?" Rydia asked, a little confused.
Edge shook his head. "Keeping an eye on the shadows." He winked at her and continued walking. Rydia rested her hands on her hips and stared after him for a minute, incensed, until she realized that she was going to get left behind. She quickly sprang after him, having to move doubly fast to keep up with his long strides.
She then found herself fascinated by that as well. He walked like he was gliding on air, purposeful, graceful, no movements wasted. She'd never met anyone who could do that before. Yang was graceful, yes, but in a different way. Edge was stealth, even though his battle tactics left a lot to be desired. She was still studying his feet, when the entire group came to a halt. Rydia almost bumped into Kain, but stopped herself just in time.
She looked up to see Edge giving her a strange look. How infuriating! How could he observe everything going on around him, even with his back turned? She blushed, a little embarrassed, and caught Cecil's eye.
"We're going to rest here for a moment," Cecil explained. It's been hours since we entered the Tower, and I suspect it's going to take a lot longer to reach the floors where the crystals are being held."
"If the caves of Eblan are level with the crater, we can expect it to be at least another dozen floors," Kain informed his friend.
Cecil nodded. "I'll keep an eye on this side of the hallway. Edge, can you keep an eye on the other?"
Edge gave a slight nod, and slid his pack from his shoulders. He grabbed his canteen, and walked off a short distance into the corridor, away from the group. There, he leaned casually against the wall, taking a few swigs from the canteen, and continued to stare intensely into nothingness.
Rydia sat down beside Rosa and sipped her water quietly. Rosa glanced significantly at Edge, and then at Rydia. "What do you think of the ninja prince?" she asked softly.
Rydia's eyes widened, and she wondered why Rosa wanted her opinion. "He's…" she began thoughtfully, and then stopped. "He makes no sense. One minute he's serious, the next he's joking. One minute he seems perfectly calm, and the next he's so furious, I can literally feel the air around him crackling with energy."
Rosa laughed quietly. "So I'm not the only one," she mused.
Rydia was relieved she wasn't the only one who was having a hard time taking the prince seriously. She glanced at him again, and noticed that he was staring into the distance again like someone who was looking for something. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what it was he was looking for. She didn't think it was Rubicante, the fiend of fire. There was something different on his face, something close to grief. Was this his true face, she wondered.
Once again, he turned slightly and saw her staring at him. He gave her a quizzical look, and just like that, put on a different expression. Rydia wondered if she'd ever really be able to understand him well enough to know just what it was that he was thinking about.
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(Edge)
The Tower was just as strange as he'd always thought. Nonsensical lights and techno-gagdetry that belonged to some other world. To his mind, which was used to the grit of the earth, the salt of sweat, and the tang of steel, this place was like stepping into some sort of dream, only to find out that it was another reality. His eyes darted from corner to corner, not fully knowing what to expect in this sterile environment. Where was Rubicante? Where were his parents? Were they even still alive?
A lump formed in his throat and threatened to move upwards, but he forced it down. He willed his tears of anger away, sealed them off, as he'd been trained since childhood to do. If he hadn't been gone…if he hadn't been away from the castle when the attack began…He shook his head. In all actuality, he might have been dead himself. The seneschal had already told him that on numerous occasions, and assured him that it was a blessing from the gods that he had survived at all to return to and lead his people.
His people? The thought struck him uncomfortably in the gut. He genuinely wished his parents were still alive and could yet be saved, but he also had selfish reasons of course. He had no desire for the level of responsibility that came with the crown. He'd been lucky so far, able to be as carefree as he wished so long as his father sat securely on the throne and maintained peace between the clans. If he was dead…Edge's freedom would be lost with him. The crown came with a price, with limitations, with chains.
He'd always wanted to experience the world, to know what other people were out there across the wide oceans. He might never have that chance now. And there was something else he was looking for as well…answers to questions he wanted answered.
As he walked through the corridors, he fleetingly wondered if he would find any of those answers here. It had been years, but the environment, the war…it brought back memories of rumors begun years ago. Of warnings. Of people gone missing.
"See something?"
At first, he wasn't sure he'd heard anything at all, and continued staring off into the dark, frowning. At length, he ran a hand through his hair, a habit of his whenever he was frustrated, and looked to see the green-haired summoner staring at him. She was genuinely concerned, and the concept took him aback. But he didn't want the pity or concern of strangers. He could handle this by himself; this was his burden, after all. He smiled broadly, making it touch his eyes.
"Nope," he answered, and then figuring he'd play with her a bit, lowered his tone, hoping to catch her as off-guard as she'd caught him. "Why, were you worried about me?"
Her eyes widened a little. She was outraged, offended, surprised, intrigued. Edge enjoyed watching each emotion flit across her face in a fraction of a second. At last she settled on a neutral expression, and narrowed her eyes. Ah, so she realized he was playing…
"You're going to get left behind if you keep stopping to stare at nothing."
"Sorry," he said, and raised his hands. He figured he'd make a truce of sorts with her for now. "Just a force of habit."
"Getting left behind?"
"Keeping an eye on the shadows."
He let her ponder that, and started walking. He could hear her trying to keep up with him, and it made him smile. It was a good thing she couldn't see his face, or she might have threatened to level one of her spells at him. One of those powerful, hair-raising spells that he really thought someone her age had no business using…then again, he'd known someone like her once. Maybe that was why he found her so interesting. The Tower was dredging old memories to the surface of his thoughts, after all. It was only natural.
Cecil—was that his name?—called them to a stop. Edge hadn't decided if he liked him or not. Something about his eyes threw him off. Were they blue? Gray? Some hue of lavender? And why was his hair white? Sure, Edge's own hair was nigh on silver, but white? He decided it must have resulted from a trauma of some kind, and left it at that. He had no intention, for that matter, of dwelling on why Rydia's hair was green…that would probably take several years to finally get to the bottom of, but Cecil just…bothered him. Everyone looked up to him, respected him—took his word as the truth no matter what, and yet he looked far too young for the responsibility. Edge had never taken kindly to people who exuded authority over him, especially when he was used to exuding it over others. He was no longer in command, and it plagued him like an itch he couldn't scratch.
He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Rydia hadn't been paying full attention when Cecil called the halt, and she nearly barreled into Kain. She appeared extremely mortified at coming into contact with the armored man, and he couldn't help but spare her an amused sideways glance. She frowned in response before giving Cecil her rapt attention. This only served to annoy Edge more.
"We're going to rest here for a moment," Cecil explained. It's been hours since we entered the Tower, and I suspect it's going to take a lot longer to reach the floors where the crystals are being held."
"If the caves of Eblan are level with the crater, we can expect it to be at least another dozen floors," Kain, the dragoon of few words, informed his friend.
Cecil nodded. "I'll keep an eye on this side of the hallway. Edge, can you keep an eye on the other?"
Edge nodded his acknowledgement and shed the weight of his pack. He grabbed his canteen, and walked off a short way.
Who were these people? What were their motivations? How long had they been traveling as a group? He didn't understand why a captain from Baron, no, two captains from Baron, would be traveling with such vulnerable and beautiful women in their company. He'd thought them mad at first, thinking they served only as some form of…well, entertainment, but he'd been proven wrong almost immediately. Rosa was no damsel, and Rydia wasn't a naïve wide-eyed girl.
Still, Rydia was very young and she didn't seem well suited for this kind of journey. Neither of the women were anything like the kunoichi among Edge's own people, the women who served as ninja among the clans. Neither Rosa nor Rydia were as tough as nails or armed to the teeth as kunoichi, but they had powers of their own. Powers he had to respect.
He turned around and locked eyes with Rydia. He hadn't been expecting it, hoping just to sneak a glance, and the unexpected contact sent a jolt up his spine. He mastered his expression as quickly as possible, not wanting her to read him too easily. He still didn't trust these people completely, and he definitely didn't want her in his head. He still wasn't sure what her abilities were, what any of their abilities were, but what he'd already seen made him both a little nervous and intrigued. Whatever agenda they had, he had just become a part of it. He couldn't help but wonder where it would lead.
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(Rydia)
"Let's keep moving," Cecil said, positioning himself once more at the front of the group.
They continued walking; focused on the task ahead.
In was some time before Kain finally broke the silence. "Your people have lived in the shadow of the tower for centuries. Do you know anything about it?" he asked, turning his attention to the prince.
Edge cocked an eyebrow. "It speaks."
Kain scowled. "I had thought the ninjas of Eblan exercised more restraint," he muttered. "If only their prince was of the same mold."
Edge smirked. "And I think I just heard all your childhood dreams shattering. Must be terrible."
Kain's scowl deepened. "Do you make it a point to be this obnoxious or was that just an accident of birth?"
Rydia rolled her eyes and gave Rosa a glance. Even Cecil seemed annoyed.
"Both of you, cut it out," Rosa scolded them.
Kain and Edge both looked at Rosa, the latter bemused.
"You do seem awfully relaxed for someone on a suicide mission," Cecil said dryly. "People have died trying to get where we now stand and you're acting like their sacrifice means nothing," he added, a disapproving look on his face.
Edge looked sidelong at Cecil, as if he'd been expecting this. "The men who volunteered for this mission knew what they were getting themselves into when we set out. They will not be forgotten."
"How did you even set out on this mission in the first place—how did you know where to look?" Cecil asked.
Edge sighed. "These caverns have been here for ages. We had seen the supports spanning from the mountains to the tower and it only made sense that one of the cave passages led there. We were looking for weeks. It wasn't until a day or two ago that we started encountering traps and knew we were headed in the right direction."
"But why chase after Rubicante when your people needed you?"
"Is this a lecture on how to govern my kingdom? Believe me; I've gotten much better ones than yours."
"But why this course of action?" Cecil persisted. "Even you have to admit, the risks outweigh the logic."
"Why did the four of you set out to look for caverns you didn't know where to find, in a kingdom you knew nothing about, for a path to the tower that you had no way of knowing existed?" the prince countered.
Cecil was stymied by Edge's argument, and as if to ease the tension of the group as well as his own, his pace became more brisk.
The pause that followed seemed interminable to Rydia who had found the conversation quite interesting.
"Their bodies were never found," Edge said finally, breaking the stalemate.
Cecil glanced at him. "Why would your seneschal tell you they had died, then?"
"To keep me from doing precisely this. The only reason he allowed me to pursue this course was because he thought it couldn't be done, that I would give up, and we could lick our wounds, waiting for the storm of the war to blow over."
"But that's treason!" Rosa said, outraged. "To abandon the king and queen?"
"He did it from a good place," Edge replied with a sigh. "We were struck so hard, all he could think to do was preserve who was left."
"You really think they're alive?" Cecil asked.
"What better way to dishonor our kingdom than to lay siege to it in a single day and make examples of its monarchs?" he asked tersely, balling his hands into fists.
Rydia's thoughts flew to the Zoo and the strange Doctor Lugae they had encountered. It must have been weeks, now that she thought of it. Could it be-? No. She refused to think it.
"So you think Rubicante has them?" Kain asked.
"Someone has them, and whoever it is, is somewhere in this tower," the prince fumed. "And no, just because I've lived next to it doesn't mean I know anything about it other than knowing that it's tall."
They all fell silent after that, the prince brooding, and the others navigating the halls.
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They had fought their way up several flights of stairs and had reached a floor with a narrow hallway that seemed to follow an outer tower wall. When they'd reached what seemed to be the apex of the tower's curve, a doorway appeared on their left with a metal grated catwalk leading into a room with a platform in the middle. The platform stood ten feet above the floor of the room itself, and all the walls were covered with switches and gizmos.
"Is that a chest?" Rosa asked, pointing down the catwalk to a platform.
Edge raised an eyebrow. "A single chest on a platform. That doesn't scream 'trap' at all."
Cecil gave Edge a cautionary look. "A trap it might be, but it could also be a key."
"Just how many keys have we needed thus far?" the ninja asked.
"We're going," Cecil said, frowning.
They crossed the catwalk to stand on the platform. Cecil busied himself with the lock on the chest, and Rydia stared out at the room surrounding the platform. It was lit with the consoles all around, but the whole room had an odd feel to it. Almost like some form of observation platform. Edge's sarcastic remarks about it being a trap were very near in her thoughts. They had encountered traps before on the lower floors of the tower…
The chest at last snicked open, but before they could see what was inside, the lights of the room began flashing red and four large ogres materialized on the platform around them.
"Ah, look. A trap," Edge muttered, drawing his blades.
Rydia rolled her eyes, but she too felt exasperated. This was not the first time the tower had fooled them.
The ogres wielded clubs, nothing but loin cloths covering their nether regions.
"Kain, use this," Cecil said quickly, tossing a long handled axe to Kain. Rydia realized it to be what was in the chest.
Kain gripped it with all the sureness of an arms master, balancing shield and axe and dodging a blow from one of the clubs.
"Edge, hold the right flank, keep Rydia out of harm's way," Cecil ordered.
Edge gave the paladin an icy look, un-appreciative of being told what to do.
Cecil swung into action, his sword sliding out of its sheath. He met one of the clubs with steel, the ice enchantment upon the blade frosting the ogre's weapon but not damaging it.
The blow took a lot out of Cecil, who had taken the brunt of the force through his arm, and he sidestepped, sword dipping toward the floor.
Rydia favored her whip rather than spells, afraid she might accidentally strike them all with her magic in the small space. She uncoiled the weapon at her side and lashed out at the ogre closest, snapping back so that the leather tongs would flay the arm holding the club. It did nothing but incite the ogre to charge. It roared, bearing sharp and crooked teeth, and lumbered toward her.
Within a heartbeat, Edge was in front of her, pelting the ogre's face with the small knives he carried. The act would have been more impressive, had the darts not hit the monster's hide and promptly bounced off again, but Edge adjusted his aim and struck the creature in the eye. It bellowed in pain, an unbelievable sound that nearly made Rydia cover her ears. The ogre came to an ungainly stop, clutching at its face, and lowering its club.
In the moment of hesitation, Edge prepared his body to spring, but just then Kain descended from above. He landed with one heavy stroke, the axe he carried burying itself deep into the ogre's spine. The crunch of bones and sinews was unmistakable, and the ogre fell dead at their feet. Rydia felt she might be ill, but there were still three others.
She turned, completely missing the furious glare Edge gave Kain for having stolen his kill.
She dodged a swing from another ogre's club and jumped back, poising herself to strike. Cecil was suddenly there, heaving a two-handed blow on the monsters arm, slicing through tendons. The ogre's ruined arm lost its grip, and Cecil then delivered a hard blow to the monster's neck. It gurgled on its way to the floor.
Rydia was aware of Rosa casting a spell of protection on them, the green glow of a shield appearing before her eyes. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to protect Edge from a lunge from one of the ogres. It bent low and put on such a burst of speed, that Edge, who was facing the other direction, didn't see it coming. He was struck in the ribs and sent tumbling off the edge of the platform to the floor below. Kain and Cecil were quick to take the ogre down blow by blow. With one ogre remaining, Rydia stood back and allowed the knights to do their work, while Rosa rushed to the side of the platform and began the incantation for cura. Everything seemed to happen at once. The last ogre fell, and healed of his injuries, Edge had sprung back onto the platform to join them, an annoyed look on his face.
"A key, eh?" Edge snarked.
Cecil was wiping the blood from his blade, and spared the prince a glance. "At least we found something useful."
Rydia watched the three men as they glared at each other, and decided to stay out of it. There was tension ebbing and flowing and she couldn't figure out in which direction.
"The lights are still flashing," Rosa pointed out, bringing them back to the present. "Isn't it best we keep moving before something else arrives?"
"Rosa's right," Cecil agreed, stepping angrily over the body of one of the ogres. The rest of them followed.
Several more hours of tense silence followed.
They had just climbed another three floors and found a new blade for Edge to handle, when Cecil called another halt.
They stopped walking, exhausted. Kain stood guard on one end of the hall, and Cecil and Rosa stood near each other on the other side, speaking to each other quietly. That left Rydia and Edge beside each other in the middle.
Closing her eyes, Rydia began to recite the incantation for Blizzaga, memorizing each line. With the Archfiend of Fire waiting for them, she assumed that mastery of his opposite element would be a wise endeavor. She went line by line, practicing the pronunciation of each syllable. She sensed eyes on her, and opened her eyes to see Edge staring at her with a quizzical expression on his face.
"That's how you practice your magic?" he asked.
"Isn't it how you practice yours?" she asked glibly.
His gaze was intense. "My magic is not the same as yours."
Rydia closed her eyes again, but cracked one open. "How do you control it, then?"
He grinned and looked away.
Rydia was tired of the game of cat and mouse they'd been playing. "If you're going to be staying with us, you may as well start to be a little more open with us," she mentioned, both eyes now open.
He turned his head towards her again. "We don't learn magic like mages," he explained. "Our magic comes from within and we learn to harness it through years of discipline."
"From within?"
"We find our inner strength and turn it into magic*," he said with a shrug.
Rydia gazed at him intently, and he returned her gaze.
"You're not from Baron, are you?" Edge asked her under his breath.
"No. I told you, I'm from the Village Mist."
"Do you really just follow every single one of his orders without pausing to think?" he asked, nodding in Cecil's direction.
Rydia felt herself bristle at the inherent lack of trust in his words. "Cecil knows what he's doing. Besides, we've been here before."
"Here," Edge clarified. "In this tower."
"Yes?" Rydia asked, stupefied as to why this should surprise him.
"Why on earth did you decide to come back after the first time. Wasn't once enough?"
"You have no idea the effect the theft of the crystals is having on the other nations, do you."
"Are the oceans suddenly rising, the skies on fire, and all the rivers freezing?"
"How did you—" Rydia asked a little haltingly. "You're joking, aren't you."
He gave her a wry look.
"Oh."
"Well? Are they?" he asked.
"In a manner of speaking," she answered, wringing her hands together.
He stared at her. "Hold on," he frowned. "You're not joking, are you?"
She raised both brows. "Joking?"
"You people are really here to steal back the crystals?"
She kept her expression in place. "Yes?"
Edge shook his head in disbelief. "And you think I'm mad."
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The battered five-some continued walking and trudged up the wearying staircases. Even the lithe prince's stride was flagging the higher they climbed, and Rydia began to wonder anew how long they would be trapped in their upward journey.
The tower corridors gave way to a series of catwalks and scaffolding and felt more like a storage area than a hallway. Cecil's pace got faster, as if he sensed something ahead. Rydia felt her pulse quicken, her nerves afire. They hadn't yet encountered the Fiend of Fire, but that didn't mean he wasn't waiting for them.
Cecil led them past a bend and onto metal grated floor that was completely suspended in the air. The space below was shrouded by shadow and it seemed ominously unstable to Rydia who suddenly felt exposed on all sides.
The walkway led to a long platform with a door at the end of it. There were stark shadows cast on the corners of the platform, but huddled in one of them were two unusually shaped figures.
They all slowed to a stop unconsciously, eyeing the platform with the wariness of those expecting to walk into another trap.
"Who's there!" Cecil shouted from the walkway.
For a moment there was nothing, no movement, but then the shadows shifted, drawing themselves up to the height of two humans. They stepped into the light unsteadily.
To Rydia's eyes, it seemed that something was very wrong about the two people who faced them. They had the vague appearance of a man and woman with raiments of clothing on their bodies that might have been very fine at one time, but there was some kind of mist that kept her from making out their features. She frowned, trying to pinpoint precisely what was wrong.
All of a sudden, Edge took several steps forward, calling out to the people on the platform in his native tongue.
Rydia detected some stirring on the part of the people he was addressing, and they walked toward the edge of the platform.
"Edge," the man called back in a relieved but tired voice.
"Thank goodness you're all right!" the woman said.
"And you!" Edge expressed, continuing to walk toward them.
Rydia felt every nerve and muscle in her body screaming at her to run, that something about this wasn't right, but all she could do was utter a half-hearted warning—"Edge," she cautioned.
He glanced at her and waved her off. "It's all right," he assured her.
She wasn't so sure, but Cecil was now following the prince as well, albeit, at a slower pace.
Rydia looked at the two people waiting for them at the end of the walkway, the man and woman. These must be Edge's parents, she thought. But why couldn't she make out their features? And why had they been left here of all places and not locked away in a cell if they were truly Rubicante's prisoners?
The sound of their footsteps on the metal grating seemed to fill the space, an eerie calm surrounding all else.
The queen was holding out her arms, as if to welcome her son.
"Come, Edge," she cooed.
"Yes, come with us," the king agreed.
At these words, Edge's confident steps flagged. He was still only halfway across the walkway.
"With you? Where?" he asked, guarded; slowly placing one foot in front of the other.
"To hell!" the queen snarled, noticing with no small amount of anger that her son had not rushed into her arms as she had hoped, but instead detected her duplicity. She discarded her guise, the mist that had clouded her features gone, and became a creature out of a nightmare. She lost the shape of a human entirely; arms replaced by long sinuous tentacles with barbed ends, and her body more that of a spindly hound with the legs from yet another creature. More tentacles emerged from her spine, and her mouth was lined with razor sharp fangs, all bared and menacing.
"A glamour!" Rydia cried out in dismay.
"Edge, look out!" Cecil shouted, rushing forward with his sword, as the queen lashed out with what used to be both of her arms. She was quick, but Edge was quicker, dodging her attack, as her long scythe-like tentacles swept through the air where he used to be standing. The king lost his glamour as well, large bat wings sprouting from his back, and the burly legs of some massive beast emerging from his chest in addition to his human arms. There was not much left of the two humans who had once been Edge's parents, aside from their tortured faces which looked to have been grafted onto the bodies of these newly made monstrosities. The barbarity of it made tears come to Rydia's eyes. It was as if they were trapped, prisoners of bodies that were not their own, eyes vacant and staring, the eyes of the haunted, or eyes that had just seen their last living sight and then been frozen that way in death.
It was enough to make anyone want to scream or wail, but these were the two people Edge had been looking for, the two people who meant that the Fiend of Fire was not far behind, and that the crystals were not far behind that.
The king furled flames and barbed spikes at them. The queen swept her long tentacles through the air like whips, but for some reason, the king and queen refused to leave the safety of the platform. This was an advantage for the five of them, who stayed farther back on the walkway.
The king's aim was haphazard, and every once in a while, spikes showered the shields that Kain and Cecil carried. The rest of them dodged and avoided the flames that licked at the metal grating underfoot.
"How are we going to get past them?" Kain asked, protecting his face with his shield as another shower of spikes came at them.
"We have to press them," Cecil answered.
The two knights positioned themselves in the front of the group, shields raised, and began to advance along the walkway.
Even tucked behind Cecil, Rydia noticed that the attacks intensified the closer to the platform they crept. The grating beneath their feet was hot and smelled like it was melting.
"You wish for death?" the king bellowed. "Then allow me to speed you on your way!"
The king attacked with more fire, flames splashing off of Cecil's shield like a living thing. Rydia felt the heat of it blast her face.
"What's happened to you?" Edge shouted, dodging and rolling along the walkway as the tentacles scythed overhead. "Mother! Father! It's me! Your son!"
It was one of those moments where everything inexplicably halted—time suspended. The attacks suddenly ceased, and in fact, there was uncertainness in the movements of the king and queen. An eerie silence blanketed the walkway. The entire party lowered their weapons slowly, anticipating, but curious. Something had changed in the king and queen at Edge's words. Rydia noticed that their eyes had changed, they were lucid again, human.
The king's eyes sought Edge's, beseeching. "Edge," he rumbled in a pained voice. "Hear me while I can speak. We are no longer human. What we are…has no right to live."
"Forgive us, Edge," the queen begged.
But Edge said nothing, and with his back to her, Rydia had a hard time figuring out what emotion was currently at war within him.
The king's face suddenly contorted with pain, as if he were fighting to stay coherent. "We must depart now…before the madness takes us again. Serve Eblan well, my son."
"No!" Edge suddenly snarled, lunging forward. "Don't go!" But the king had already drawn a weapon they hadn't seen at his side, and brought it to his neck where the quick and remorseless blow was delivered, severing the crucial artery. He fell to the floor in a senseless heap, eyes staring, blood pouring freely from the wound.
The quickness of it, the lack of warning, gave Rydia's heart a jolt. Had he really just-
"Farewell, Edge," the queen said sorrowfully, interrupting Rydia's thoughts, the strange tentacles arranging themselves around her like a menacing halo.
"Mother! Wait! Don't!" Edge shouted, reading in her actions what she was about to do before she did it.
Before he could so much as take a step, each of her barbed tentacles dove toward her chest at lightning speed. The crunch of bone followed and blood blossomed from her chest. She too fell to the ground, joining her husband, her face easing from horror to a calm sort of resignation.
Edge ran forward, leaving the four of them behind. He reached the bodies of his parents and knelt beside them.
By the time the rest of them ran to the platform, Edge had already closed both of their eyes.
"Such cruelty," Rosa choked out. "It's inhuman."
Edge said nothing, but suddenly let out a cry so raw that Rydia had to close her eyes. It was a cry that contained all of his grief, all of his anger, and it resonated all the way to the tips of her toes. She couldn't imagine the pain and the outrage. If it had been her own mother…
There was barely time to process any of what had just happened when a warm glow spread from the opposite side of the platform. The fiend of fire himself, Rubicante, was standing with his arms crossed, observing the scene before him with a clinical sort of detachment.
"I see you've met the gate keepers," he said smoothly. "Shame, really. I had such high hopes for them."
"Rubicante!" Edge snarled, standing up. "For this…for this you will pay!"
Rubicante's expression remained infuriatingly mild. "It was Lugae who made chimerae of your parents. I shared no hand in his perversities. They shame me, as they grieve you," he purred, nodding in the direction of the two bodies on the floor.
"Don't speak of shame!" Edge exploded.
"I respect men like you. Men with…courage," he continued, assessing the prince with narrowed
eyes. "But you are a slave to your emotions, and so will never know true strength. Such is the curse of Men."
"You think our rage a weakness?" Edge snapped. "Then let me show you how wrong you are!"
Rydia felt it before she saw it, the maelstrom that surrounded the prince after he'd issued his challenge. She felt a stirring in her spirit and magic surrounding the prince. There was the crackle of electricity and a swirling cloud of vapor that surrounded Edge as he stood with arms at his sides, fists clenched. Finally, the tension in the air was released and the cloud of water and electricity fell to the floor. The look in Edge's eye was furious.
Rubicante smiled, showing fangs. "You are an interesting one indeed. Such powers, unleashed by anger alone! But they will not avail you. The frozen winds of hell's ninth circle could not penetrate this cloak of flame I wear. Come, I will heal your wounds, and give an honorable burial for the ones you knew as your parents," he said, raising his arms. Flames licked at his finger tips and shot out in liquid torrents. Rydia's heart leapt, but then she realized that the flames weren't meant for them, but for the bodies on the floor. The fallen monstrosities were burnt to piles of ashes. She then felt the glow of white magic at work, healing her hurts, boosting her energy. "Face me at full strength!" Rubicante howled in delight.
Rydia had never before fought an Archfiend, and this was Rubicante, the strongest of the four. Rubicante stood between them and the door at the end of the platform. His arms were still crossed beneath his red cloak and he didn't move.
There was a moment of hesitation in which no one moved. And then everyone moved at once. Edge began throwing darts, and Kain sprang into the air with axe in hand. Rydia decided to summon an ally she hoped would make Rubicante choke on his words. She began the summoning for Shiva, lost to all else around her. She was dimly aware of magic being cast upon her, Protect and then Shell, and then pain! She dared not lose her concentration, and continued on. She was so focused, she didn't hear Cecil shouting at her to stop.
When she at last opened her eyes and completed the incantation, the frost of Shiva filling the air, she saw Cecil's stricken expression.
"He's immune to ice!" Cecil shouted.
But it was too late. Shiva had already raised her arm and sent a shower of angry ice down on the Archfiend. They didn't penetrate his cloak, but were absorbed by it, melting on contact. Shiva's expression was annoyed, and she gave Rydia an apologetic look before retreating to the Feymarch.
"Then what do we do?" Rydia demanded.
Cecil was too busy swapping a weapon with Kain, taking the dragoon's second axe, to heed Rydia's words.
Rydia watched Rubicante, noticing a quick swish at the opening of his cloak. She furrowed her brow, wondering what the Fiend was up to, and then felt a super heating of the air and the stinging of claws in her arm, slashing at her arm guards. It was so quick it took her a moment to register the pain.
He had sliced through leather and into skin, leaving angry red marks on her arm that were blistered with burns. Rydia gasped in pain.
Rosa was quickly at work, healing Rydia's arm and closing the wound.
Kain was once again in the air, descending with axe in hand. Rubicante dodged some of the blow, but Kain's axe sliced through the Fiend's cloak, shredding a ribbon of it off.
Cecil was next, delivering a blow with his own axe, which Rubicante met with his arm. The attack only served to break the Fiend's skin before Rubicante threw Cecil backwards.
Rubicante raised one finger into the air and Rydia sensed him gather his magic to cast a spell.
Fire rained down on all of them, pelting against the Shell spell Rosa had cast on them. The Fira spell frizzed Rydia's hair and turned her skin a medium shade of red, but Rosa was on top of that as well in quick fashion, healing the five of them. Rydia reveled in the woman's ability to cast so quickly and unceasingly.
And then Rubicante opened his cloak completely, baring his long legs with corded muscles. Rydia felt him gathering his magic, a great surge of power. She felt her heart rise into her throat. This was the attack they had felt in the caverns that had knocked them flat. She stood frozen, unable to think of what to do, and then saw Edge sprint forward. He ran straight for the Fiend, one sword bared.
Rubicante bent his knees in preparation for Edge's attack and with his hand, redirected the prince's blade. But then his face registered surprise, when Edge swiveled to the side and reached inside his cloak, grabbing for something at the Fiend's waist.
Angered, Rubicante whirled his cloak shut again, glaring at the prince, while Edge quickly retreated.
Rydia gave Edge a curious look. "What did you do?"
Edge's expression was fierce and satisfied. "Made him uncomfortable."
Whatever Edge had done, Rydia felt the Fiend's magic crumble. With the cloak closed, he couldn't attack them with his most powerful magic.
While Kain and Cecil continued to chip away at the Fiend's defenses, she came up with a new strategy. If ice didn't harm Rubicante when his cloak was closed, she would have to find another way to wound him.
She began the incantation for Bio, releasing the virus on the Fiend. It splashed upon his cloak and seeped through it. The Fiend displayed a look of disgust and retaliated with more fire. Despite the cost, Rydia felt satisfied, seeing that the Fiend was now a slight tint of green.
They settled into a rhythm of attacking, retaliating, and defending, but Rydia knew so long as Rosa's magic held out, they stood a good chance of wearing down the Fiend. Bio had done its work, and the Fiend labored with each attack.
He pulled open his cloak a third time, but Rydia had pre-empted him. She had begun the incantation for Blizzaga, leaving the final word for the moment he opened his cloak. The onslaught of ice caught the Fiend by surprise, freezing his skin and frosting his cloak and hair. He fell to his knees, hand still poised to strike them.
Cecil switched axe for Icebrand and rushed forward, dealing the Fiend a blow from shoulder to lower ribs. A strange ichor flowed from Rubicante's wounds and he gasped, baring teeth at them.
"Most interesting," he rasped. "You combine your strengths to overcome foes stronger than yourselves. You are fine warriors indeed. Lord Golbez himself will find you no easy opposition," he said with a bark of a laugh and then a cough. "I pray the day comes that we can fight each other again."
The archfiend then fell his energy spent, and was still.
The five of them all exhaled a sigh of relief.
"It is finished, then," Cecil concluded.
Edge had turned to look at the two piles of ash that rested behind them. "Mother, Father, may you rest in peace," he murmured.
Rydia was relieved the Fiend had at least destroyed the horrible bodies that had held Edge's parents captive. Their spirits could now be fully released. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that wherever they were, they were truly at peace.
Sounds from the walkway made her open her eyes. A group of people were approaching them, and as they drew nearer, she discovered who it was. The Seneschal of Edge's kingdom was trotting toward them, fully armored, and there were four other ninjas with him as well.
"Your Young Highness!" the older man shouted, clearly relieved.
Edge's expression was quizzical. "Seneschal?"
"We've come to aid you in your fight! Where is that devil Rubicante? Lead us to him, we will not let you fight alone!"
Edge's expression softened, he seemed honestly touched by the support of his men. "It's already done," he explained, pointing to the body of the Archfiend on the floor.
The seneschal looked a tad disappointed by this development, but nodded. "I should have expected no less from you."
"I wasn't alone," Edge admitted. "I had the aid of these warriors as well," he said, gesturing to Rydia and the others.
The seneschal looked at each of them, smiling. "It seems we owe you our thanks for fighting alongside our prince and keeping him safe."
Cecil bowed.
Edge spoke to the man then, at length. They spoke the language of Eblan and spoke quickly. Rydia could tell by their expressions that what they were speaking about was the grave news of the passing of the king and queen. The Seneschal's face became more grave with every word and he spoke a few curt things to the prince which Edge brushed off with a gesture. Whatever the seneschal wanted, it was clear that Edge would have none of it. When the conversation with his seneschal had come to an end, Edge turned back to Cecil.
"So just who is this Golbez that Rubicante spoke of?" he asked.
"He is a man gathering the crystals in hopes of opening a way to the moon. He is also Rubicante's master," Kain answered.
"Rubicante's master?" Edge asked. "So there's another head to this monster that we have to cut off? Wait—did you just say the moon? The one in the night sky?"
Cecil intervened. "A power is said to sleep there—one great enough to possibly destroy the world."
"And we're going to make sure that doesn't happen," Rydia said with conviction.
Edge eyed each of them in turn. "Everything that's been done has been at this Golbez's command, then. It must not go unpunished!"
The Seneschal was looking a bit green. "But, Your Young Highness, your people need you now! Eblan must be rebuilt!"
Edge turned to him with a flash of fierceness in his eyes. "This isn't just about Eblan!" he snapped. "It's about the whole world. If it was Golbez who ordered the attacks against our people, I'm not going to stand by and let him get away with worse."
The two men eyed each other for a long moment. "It seems there's no changing your mind," the seneschal acquiesced. "Do be careful."
"Of course."
"Very well. We will do our best to protect Eblan in your absence," he said, then turning to Cecil, added, "Please continue to take care of our young prince."
Cecil nodded and this seemed to calm the Seneschal.
The four ninjas on the walkway all bowed. "May shadow hide you, Your Highness!"
"And you!" Edge returned.
The Seneschal and the four ninjas retreated across the walkway. When they were out of sight, Edge turned to Cecil. "Right, let's go find this bastard Golbez!" he said eagerly.
Rydia sighed, feeling that his demeanor was all wrong given the circumstances. "We came here for the crystals, not to face Golbez," she explained, sensing that the prince was only itching to get into another fight.
This revelation seemed to deflate the prince, but not by much. "I knew that," he replied, striding toward the door at the end of the platform. "Follow me, then!"
They all followed him past Rubicante's body and to the door. Rydia felt her nerves gather once more. Could this really be the storehouse for the crystals? Could their quest finally be over?
The door slid open and the light within the adjacent room was dazzling. Seven crystals glistened on daises, emitting variable colors and lights, shining with inner power.
Rosa gasped. "We've done it!"
Even Cecil looked wholly relieved. They all took a step into the room, gazing at the beauty of the crystals and overcome by their own success.
They were so distracted; they hadn't realized the floor had vanished beneath their feet before they'd sunk half through it.
"What is it with this tower and traps!" Edge shouted while they plummeted to unknown depths.
Rydia didn't know, but she felt her spirits fall, even as the drop tore a scream from her lips.
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A/N:
*Edge's definition of Ninjutsu is not THE definition of that kind of magic. He's not going to reveal everything to people he still doesn't really know.
A quick note about my Edge. Edge has been portrayed as an ass, a douche, a bumbling smart-mouth, a victim of 90's rhetoric, and more recently, a snorting show-off.
…And I feel that through all these incarnations, Squeenix has betrayed me and my sensibilities, and gotten him WRONG time and time again (yes, their own character WRONG). He's a ninja, for goodness sake. Yes, let him be a smart-ass, but for GOODNESS sake, let him be an awesome smart-ass, not a snorty upstart. Let him have his zingers, but let them be AWESOME. Take out the snorts. Let his sassy dialogue do all the work for him, don't fluff it up with that…"well, he can't be cooler than the main character just because he's a ninja" crap. Let there be some restraint behind the showy-ness, let there be secret assassin pain and guilt and bad-acery!
They got it right with Shadow in VI, they messed it up with Yuffie in VII by just making her…omg…so obnoxious I wanted her destroyed…and ever since VII, they have never bothered with another ninja. (and NO the outfits in X-2 do NOT count). Dear Squeenix…I think you realized it too…you were only ever able to produce one truly ninja-riffic badace ninja…and sadly it was not Edge. This has resulted in me rectifying the situation in your honor. You're welcome.
…..right. That was more passionate than I had originally intended and I was going to put a little emoticon there to express my embarrassment, but the website would have inevitably eaten it with malice and unsolicited joy-killing, so just imagine a little nervous smiley face instead. On that note, my Edge will have a little more of a darker side to him. As I now get to play around with what's going on inside HIS head, everything that he doesn't display outwardly (like his grief) I get to expose inwardly. This fic will be morphing from here-on-in. It began as a story told entirely from Rydia's point of view, but with the addition of Edge (whom I love to bits), the story is now going to be told jointly from both their perspectives (and occasionally the others). The reason for this is:
Edge is (clearly) my home skillet.
The only potential love interest for Rydia (canon speaking) is Edge. Who better to choose, then, to get an external view of Rydia than Edge?
Writing three novel-length works entirely in the head of one character is…to be honest, rather odious. I need variety. Or I shall go bonkers.
For the Edge skeptics, and the Edge haters, I know this makes you nervous. Do know that the Edge in my head is far more worthy of Rydia than the Edge from the game, and with some tweaks, I think it can be done on paper. My aim is to make possible the seemingly impossible, to make plausible the posited canon, and set right the holes that Squeenix has left in its wake.
It's a tall order…but someone's got to do it.