A/N: I have nothing typed after this…have another short, brief update. Now, back to writing lesson plans and lesson prepping…*sigh*

Worst. Hiatus. Ever. Lol.

p.s. There is a brief time jump in this chapter.

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The Trial of Kain

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," Edge said heatedly, looking at Rosa.

"We can't leave him here for the mobs," Rosa replied, weaving between villagers who had gathered in Mysidia's streets to form a wall.

"Remind me why again?" Edge asked, sidling next to her and pushing people out of her way.

"Because they'll want him dead," she answered. "This isn't right. Kain is not the true enemy here, nor should he be punished for Golbez' actions."

"You and your flawed opinions," Edge sighed.

"This wasn't his choice," she retorted. "Nor was it Golbez'. Kain is a good man—or he was."

"So we're going to free him and release him among other human beings?" Edge questioned. "I know we already discussed this, but do you think that's safe?"

"He'll fight against the person who held him captive. I'm sure of it."

"You want to take him to the moon," Edge shot back. "Rosa, you would dangle yourself in front of him again like a carrot? Haven't you punish—ah," he said, suddenly realizing. " I change my mind. I remember why I liked this plan."

"I'm so glad you approve," Rosa sighed, crossing into the courtyard of the Tower of Prayer as Cecil and the rest of the landed fleet arrived.

The three of them had gone ahead in the city, but Cecil had followed more slowly with the Lunar Whale; and, after escaping a quagmire of debates upon landing, was finally approaching the tower with Kain and the others.

Rydia, watched the procession of grim faces to their left. Cid, Edward, and Yang had also joined the Elder to bring Kain to trial and were flanked by a motley of soldiers and guards wearing the colors of the different kingdoms.

The crowd around them had turned mutinous; and they weren't Mysidians only. Citizens from several kingdoms had flooded the city, and they had come armed with fruit and vegetables—some of them with stones. Rydia glanced at them apprehensively as Kain was led, bound, through the center of the courtyard.

By the looks of things, Kain being acquitted was out of the question, making their plot more difficult; but Rosa finally cut across the courtyard to join the men as if nothing was amiss, her white cape swishing out around her like a sail. Rydia and Edge joined her; hearing snippets of conversation about "proceedings" as they climbed the tower stairs into the foyer. In the madness, there had been no time to warn Cecil of their plan, and Rydia wondered if there was any way to slip him word of their intentions.

"Sorcerer!" someone in the crowd cried out behind them, and Rydia jumped when a tomato splattered against the wall beside her, spraying juice and seeds into the air.

"They think Kain is Golbez?" Rydia asked, turning to Edge.

The ninja groaned and looked back at her. "He was the face of Golbez' army," he replied, slipping through the large double doors.

"This isn't going to work," Rydia said anxiously, being pushed toward the back of the group.

"Be patient," Edge advised under his breath as the guards circled the room, and the mages filed in afterwards.

Rydia felt like a fly on the wall as Kain stood in the center of the room, flanked by the lot of them.

People from the crowds outside had also pressed into the foyer behind them, causing the mood of the room to intensify.

"Traitor!" a faceless voice in the crowd shouted.

"Peace!" the Elder decreed, walking into the center of the room, quieting everyone in the main hall. The older man looked weary beyond reckoning, but resolute.

Everyone in the room shifted uneasily, waiting to hear what was decided.

"This man stands before us a traitor," the Elder announced. "Damcyan, Fabul, Troia and Eblan each have complaints to lodge against the dragoon, and each kingdom suffered great losses because of the actions of this man."

Rydia slid her gaze to Rosa who stood on the opposite side of the room. For all that Rosa was planning and hoping for, she appeared oddly at ease.

"Kain Highwind, you stand before these witnesses to answer for the crimes of making war upon and stealing the Crystals from these kingdoms. Do you deny these accusations?"

"I do not," Kain answered grimly.

"Do you deny that you worked in the employ of Golbez, the sorcerer who orchestrated the scheme to collect and use the world's Crystals to craft its demise?"

"I do not."

"And do you deny that by your actions, you assisted in the summoning of a machine meant to decimate the world, and by so doing, destroyed much of Eblan and its surrounding territory?"

"I do not."

Rydia fidgeted. Kain was certainly not being helpful.

"What then, is a fitting sentence for these crimes?"

The Elder had opened this question to the rest of the room, and everyone had begun to murmur to each other as several minutes went by.

Kain's gaze remained fixed ahead, awaiting his fate.

"Feed him to Leviathan!" someone shouted from the back of the room. Rydia glared in that direction, baffled that someone had even suggested it.

"Bind him in shackles and leave him on Mount Ordeals," someone else suggested.

There were a great many cheers to this last verdict, but finally Cecil strode forward.

"None of these is a fitting sentence," he said.

"Execute the murderer!" someone else in the crowd shouted.

The elder schooled his expression and gazed back at Cecil. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

"He comes with us," Cecil said.

"You would be willing to mete out his punishment?" the Elder asked, unsurprised.

"I've been to the moon and back again," Cecil answered tersely. "The journey alone would be punishment, I assure you."

"You would welcome back a known traitor," The Elder mused.

"To hunt another traitor," Cecil replied.

"Explain this to me," the Elder said, perplexed, looking at the dragoon whose life had possibly just been extended. "What do you intend to do on the moon that you did not already accomplish? Certainly the war is over?"

"Golbez was only an emissary for a larger plot," Cecil explained. "The ones you call the Ancients, are a race that came from the moon. The Lunarians."

"Are you telling me that this race of people wants to take over our world?"

Cecil frowned, choosing his words carefully. "As a people, no. But an individual among them does, and he has manipulated people and events to help facilitate this desire."

"You seek to find this Lunarian and put an end to him."

Cecil paused, crossing his arms as he looked back at the Elder. "Yes."

"You will travel to the core of the moon," the Elder ascertained.

"We will. And Kain goes with us."

The room erupted again in a babble of murmurs, and Rydia's eyes scanned the crowd, noting their unease. This trial seemed ridiculous to her. It was Golbez who should be standing in the room, not Kain. Edge was standing behind her, and his own expression was hard to read as he stared intently at the dragoon. Did he want Kain punished like the others, or did he want to put him through the slow torture of the lunar caverns with the rest of them?

"I've about had it!" Cid shouted, striding into the center of the group of witnesses. "I can't allow this amount of stupidity to be repeated! First we let him join us after Zot, and fat lot of good that did us. He ran off to his master the moment our backs were turned," he accused, looking at Cecil.

"I'm not saying that Kain is innocent," Cecil argued.

"He's not your responsibility anymore, Cecil," Cid thundered. "He's made a mess of things through his own actions, and he should answer to them here, not there."

"He has nowhere to run on the moon," Cecil answered.

"I don't like the idea of letting the dragoon anywhere near Golbez. What if he loses control at a crucial moment and costs us the war?" Yang asked.

"Believe me when I say there are individuals among us who would put an end to him if that were to happen," Cecil said hotly.

"If there is another villain to this plot, why are we wasting time on this issue?" Edward's soft voice spoke up.

"If Zemus has the power to influence minds, Kain has no business being anywhere close to that amount of coercion. He's a liability, and I don't want the future of my world threatened by his lack of spine," Cid bellowed.

The Elder raised his arms to quiet the room again. He looked at Cecil, then to the rest. "The paladin speaks on behalf of this man, but in this case, I cannot allow it. Kain Highwind will remain the captive of Mysidia until the war's end. He will be tried for treason and war crimes."

Rydia glanced at Rosa, whose expression had turned bleak. The white mage and Cecil had just exchanged a fleeting look from across the room.

"Take him away," the elder said to the guards. "We must focus our attentions elsewhere for the time being. We must discuss this plot unfolding on the moon and strategize a plan to resolve it. Surely, we cannot leave this to Cecil alone."

Kain was pulled out of the main hall and back into the foyer while the elder prepared to direct the council to the next order of business. The crowd was parted by the mages, who had their hands full in keeping the angry citizens at bay. By their disquiet, it was clear that they had been hoping for a public execution.

Edge snaked quietly out of the room through the confusion, cutting a path along the wall. Rydia accompanied him, certain that wherever the ninja went, action would follow. After all, the plan was to leave the city with Kain by any conceivable means.

They trailed the guards leading Kain, weaving between the villagers until they struggled free into the hallway.

"Wait!" Rosa's voice called out as she ran out of the main hall, causing the guards to pause farther down the adjacent corridor. When they realized she intended to catch up to them, some of the guards attempted to bar her path while the rest continued with their prisoner.

"M'lady, you cannot speak to the prisoner," they told her firmly.

"If we set out again to the moon, I may not have the chance to tell him something important," she said instead, trying to side-step the guards.

"This man is a traitor," one guard told her, confused. "Surely, you could have nothing to say to him. Let us handle this."

"You don't understand," Rosa continued to argue with the guard, keeping him occupied.

Edge suddenly took off, taking advantage of the situation. Rydia attempted to follow, but was bottlenecked by the guards who had caught wind of what was going on before she could slip through.

"What do you think you're doing?" the guard demanded, holding Rosa and Rydia at arm's length. "The Elder already decided that man's fate. Why are you doing this?"

"Unfinished business," Rosa fumed, reluctantly giving up on pushing past the guard as she watched Edge give chase.

"Stop that man!" the guard shouted over his shoulder to the others as Edge quickly closed the distance to Kain.

Rydia had a sudden flash of inspiration.

"This is a direct violation of the Elder's dec—" the guard began, only for his words to be cut off mid-sentence with his mouth still open; eyes frozen into a forward unblinking gaze.

"Hurry, it won't take them long to dispel what I've cast," Rydia said, tugging Rosa with her as they ran down the long hallway after Edge and Kain.

The other guards had been stilled by Rydia's Stop spell, and Edge had already taken the liberty of freeing Kain from their unmoving hands. He deftly sliced through the bonds on the dragoon's wrists and hoisted the other man along, taking off at a fast run through another set of doors into the dormitory annex.

Rosa and Rydia followed more slowly, unable to match the speed of the ninja, but well ahead of the mages in pursuit of them as a riot broke out among the crowd.

"Now might be a good time for a Haste spell," Rydia gasped.

"Pay attention to where you're going!" Rosa snapped back, frowning.

When they thrust open the dormitory doors, the hallway was empty.

"Great," Rydia complained, staring at the closed doors lining each wall. "We've lost them."

"This way!" a voice hissed at them, accompanied by a hand waving out of a cracked doorway.

Rydia and Rosa both glanced at each other and rushed to the door. They were yanked quickly within by Edge and a much younger pair of hands. The door was shut quietly behind them.

"Palom?" Rosa asked in disbelief, staring down at the young mage. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Helping you. Duh," he said, rolling his eyes.

Rosa narrowed her eyes, annoyed at the disrespect.

"How did you get here so quickly?" Rydia asked. "Weren't you in the main hall just a moment ago?"

Palom waved a finger at her, precocious as ever for all of his few years. "Warp spell," he answered. "I know this place like the back of my hand."

"Yes, but for a Warp spell to—" she trailed off. "How did you know this was what we were planning?"

"Prodigy," he answered glibly, shrugging.

Kain cleared his throat, and they turned at the sound.

"Shut up, Highwind," Edge snapped. "One more protest out of your mouth, and I'll let the Mysidians have you."

"You should have left me," the dragoon argued tiredly. "Now you've brought trouble on yourselves."

"I wasn't kidding," Edge threatened again, leaning against the door so he could listen to the hallway beyond.

"What now?" Rosa asked, perplexed. "We're trapped in this room."

"Not so," Palom corrected her, shoving the bed away from the wall where a hatch had lain hidden on the floor.

"Where does that lead?" Rydia asked.

"Out of the dormitory," Palom answered, tugging on the latch until the heavy wooden door opened. "It'll lead you to the cliffs just beyond the city wall. From there you should be able to outrun the mobs and get to the Lunar Whale."

"Why are you helping us?" Rosa asked.

"Because if he decides to turn on you again, at least you can leave him behind on the moon and none of us will have to deal with him," Palom replied, nodding in Kain's direction. "Besides, Cecil was pretty convincing. If he says the moon will be punishment enough, I believe him. I just feel sorry for the rest of you."

"Go," Edge ordered, directing Kain toward the hatch with one of his swords drawn.

The dragoon sighed and ducked into the small space. Rydia took it upon herself to go next, but not before Edge had turned to Palom to ask: "Isn't this the women's dormitory?"

"Like the back of my hand," Palom repeated proudly. "Get going. I'll distract them."

Rosa and Edge quickly joined the others in the tight passageway, descending into darkness once Palom closed the hatch behind them.

"You shouldn't have done this," Kain said again.

"No one asked for your opinion," Edge retorted. "Move."

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A/N:

Another shorty. Yes, it's cut short and abrupt, and no I don't care. Anything that didn't get resolved will be dealt with next chapter.