Bullet points because Mythweaver!
-This chapter was re-written several times. I just don't know, guys.
-Several months' worth of gaps led to much head scratching once I sat back down to figure out where I was. There may have also been two grading periods between then and then, an open house, ambitious fourth quarter projects…(remember, mythweaving is only my night job…it's like my superhero identity)
-For those of you who haven't seen the copious profile updates (even though I know my profile traffic has been higher than my story traffic in the last five months), I moved. I closed down a house for sale. I went to Japan. I'm back.
-So back to the chapter… It's a miracle that Rosa ends up with ANYONE by the end of this story AND
- This chapter actually utilizes the T rating. Allllllll of the T's. Impressionable younglings, avert thine eyes. (And please, for the sake of us all, try to avoid puking on your keyboards. Nobody wants that.)
((Or okay, maybe only Moonclaw will puke ;P))
((Or maybe no one will…))
-Something funny occurred the other night while drafting, that I like to call "The unfortunate incident of autocorrect in the nighttime." Lunasaur has now affectionately become "Lubasaur" to my mind, and given how much IRRITATION that battle afforded me…I am okay with this. No, but seriously. I've written HOW many big boss battles in a row, now? How many different ways can you kill things? Ugh. Next time I claim 'the power of friendship'!
-Uh. Last bullet points always put me on the spot. I feel they have to be more epic than the others…So. Again. Apologies for yet ANOTHER freakishly long delay. I hope everyone's summer is off to a marvelous….half-ov—MIDDLE—uh….ZENITH! …..yeah ;)
Hopefully this chapter lives up to the long-awaited expectation (bites fingernails), please don't kill me…There should be a little something in here for everyone ;)
And lastly…In the words of George Takei…"Oh myyyyy"
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Old Skin
"Cecil, where are you going?" Rosa asked as she strode past the others.
Cecil had marched into the next chamber of the lunar corridor as if he had business there and Rosa wasn't about to be left behind. It wasn't until she'd reached the entrance that Rosa noticed he'd stopped, glimpsing what lay on the opposite end.
"Two shrines," she muttered and reached out when Cecil took off again, trying her best to pull him back.
"Cecil, stop!"
He turned, and the piercing quality of his gaze shocked her. There was fury in his eyes, as much as he'd reserve for Kain.
"You're angry with me, now?" she demanded, recoiling.
"You could have said something," he accused.
She looked away, and he kept walking.
"And what is this?" she called out, mustering her courage again. "Proving a point?"
She started after him, but Kain's hand on her shoulder stalled her.
"It's not your battle," he told her quietly.
"Kain—what?" she asked, baffled.
"Alright, Cecil," Kain said in a louder voice as he walked past her. "I won't let you lead us to our deaths."
"Whose deaths are you worried about-ours or hers?" Cecil asked gruffly without breaking his step.
"Simply because my bet was taken off the table, doesn't mean I have no interest in the outcome of the game. If this is to be my test, then let it be mine." Kain answered, tossing the spear in his left hand until he approved of the balance.
"A test of loyalty, after what we just endured?" Rosa scoffed, following them.
"You're the one who sprang him from captivity in Mysidia," Cecil pointed out. "Is it only his loyalty I should be testing, Rosa?"
She balled her hands into fists. "Cecil Harvey, I would stop right there if I were you."
He did, turning on his heel to look at her with narrowed gray-violet eyes.
"How many times do I have to repeat myself before my words get through to you?" she asked.
Cecil gave Kain a measured look, and the pause hung heavy on the air.
"You're going to give up on Rosa, too?" Rydia asked from behind, finally catching up.
Rosa glanced at the girl, noticing the confusion on her face.
"It's no more than jealousy, Rydia," Edge supplied from the rear of the group.
Rydia pursed her lips as she glared at the prince. "I'm not an idiot," she snapped, and caught Rosa's eye again. "I always thought that the two of you were unshakable, but now-" she paused, surveying the scene before her. "Was any of it ever real, or did I just imagine it when I was seven?"
Rosa's eyes fell to the ground between them. "Rydia, we were never an image of perfection to begin with—"
"But this is all it takes to pry you apart?" Rydia insisted.
Rosa paused, choosing her next words carefully. "What difference does now or later make," she answered solemnly.
"So it's over," Rydia said.
"Over?" Rosa wondered, frowning. "You think—"
"That's what this is, isn't it?" Rydia said quickly. "You can't trust the people you trusted before, so why bother fighting for what you had?
Everyone stopped to look at her.
"That's up to Kain," Cecil replied in a voice so low, it sounded as though it didn't belong to him.
"No, it isn't," Rydia retorted, staring hard at Cecil. "You already made your point, so why this?"
Cecil glared at Kain, still furious. "Nothing's been proven."
"I hardly know what to say to either of you anymore." Rosa said, hands on her hips. "Why don't you just put them on the table and measure, for all the good it'll do you."
Edge raised a bemused brow.
"Measure what?" Rydia asked, confused by the sideways glance Edge and Rosa shared at her expense.
"Cecil," Edge said, ignoring Rydia's remark. "I get it, but could you not drag the rest of us into this?"
Cecil glowered at the ninja. "Everyone else has had their chance to behave like children—so why amIto be denied the same courtesy?"
"Timing," Edge groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Timing?" Cecil repeated angrily.
"I warned you, she warned you; hell, he warned you, but you were so busy wrapped up in your pursuit of Golbez to notice."
"So this is my fault?" Cecil demanded.
"Yes," came the reply from a chorus of three.
Rydia stared at her companions in surprise.
"Cecil, stop before you disturb the guardian of the shrine," Rosa cautioned.
"Go ahead," Kain interrupted her, startling them all. "Wake up the beast. "
Cecil spun on his heel and strode directly toward Kain. "What am I to make of all this?" he snarled. "I can't trust either of you, yet here we are."
"You could keep going without me," Kain deadpanned.
"What's one less sword?" Cecil agreed snappishly.
"I thought Kain's head was mine," Edge interrupted, sounding put out.
"Stop," Rosa interjected. "What's done is done."
The five of them stared at each other with weapons drawn.
"So," Rydia said after a protracted moment. "Are we staying or going?"
Kain looked unblinking at Cecil.
"I'll stay," the dragoon decided.
"The rest of you can go," Cecil said, not taking his eyes off the other man.
Edge had already sheathed his sword and turned away before Cecil had finished his piece.
"I'll stay as well," Rosa said, holding her ground.
"Rydia," Edge called out, already halfway to the entrance.
Rydia glanced in his direction but didn't move.
"This is between the three of them, not us."
Rosa shared a glance with the girl, at the look of indignation in Rydia's eyes. "Go, Rydia."
Rydia strode away with a huff of exasperation, catching up to Edge at the entrance.
"Ridiculous," she muttered to herself.
"Stupid feuds over stupid things—" she fumed, looking up only when Edge's arm suddenly barred her passage. She glanced at him in surprise, a hairsbreadth from the door.
He withdrew his arm and took a step back, plucking a piece of gravel from the floor and tossing it at the opening. An invisible barrier glowed red and repelled the gravel backwards.
"A barrier," Rydia said, dumbfounded, as she shared an annoyed look with Edge. "But how did we get in?
"It's a ward to keep things in, not out," Edge grumbled.
They both turned toward the other three.
"We're trapped," Rydia observed.
"Dammit," Edge sighed, seeing that Cecil had nearly reached the shrines.
A blaze of light illuminated the floor, radiating the pattern of symbols that heralded the coming of the shrines' guardian. It consumed the room, dividing the two groups as the peal of a dragon's roar reverberated against the crystalline ceiling and walls. The floor shook and their ears rang from such a loud sound in such a small space.
There was no way out now, save for through the beast.
"Um," Rydia croaked out, noticing that a hollowed pair of dragon eyes were staring directly at her and not at the others—mere pinpricks of green amidst bleached bone.
Those who covet the items that Zemus so despises, will meet their end here, an ancient voice sneered at them.
"Dammit," Edge swore in earnest, throwing Rydia out of the way as the dragon lunged, its teeth snapping at them. Murasame was drawn in an instant as Edge lured the dragon off.
"Dammit, Cecil!" Edge shouted as he dodged the dragon's fangs and long, segmented neck. "This was your fight, not ours!"
The pounding of heavy feet boomed throughout the chamber as Edge led the dragon on a chase—it, lumbering after him.
He rolled out of the way of a clawed foot and used his own counter momentum to sweep Murasame downward. One of the dragon's boney toes clattered to the ground and the beast roared, recoiling to its hindquarters as it glowed with magic. A green glow spread from within its hollowed rib cage and a convex shield formed in the air, one that distorted and mirrored the space around it.
"Rydia, don't cast!" Edge warned, catching her eye. "It's reflected!"
"Yes, I can see that!" she shouted back exasperatedly, scrambling for better ground.
The dragon widened its stance, all four of its skeletal legs planted like pillars to the ground. It swept its tail in all directions, forcing Cecil and the other two back.
Rydia and Edge were pinned against the entrance with nowhere to go but forward.
"Do you think you could get to the others?" Edge called out to her.
Rydia felt her palms begin to sweat. "No?" she called back hesitantly as she eyed the dragon's movements.
Behind the dragon, Kain had leapt into the air. The blow he landed caused an instantaneous reaction from the beast as a cloud of gas spewed from its open maw in retaliation. The cloud crept along the floor with a mind of its own, purple and sinuous, and as a wisp curled past Rydia, she heard maddened cries emerge from within it.
Edge was lost to her sight, but Rydia escaped the peculiar fog by lunging out of the way and pressing herself against the cavern wall. When it cleared, the dragon had turned away but Edge remained in place, unmoving.
His eyes were vacant, staring, as if he'd seen a ghost. Perhaps he had.
"Edge?" Rydia hissed.
He turned in her direction with sword in hand. Her heart raced. She knew that look—she knew the spell.
She leapt to her feet, uncoiling her whip. She had never gone toe to toe with Edge while he was out of his wits, but there was a first time for everything.
She cracked the whip mere inches from his face, but he kept going—unflinching.
"Edge!" she screamed at him, snapping the whip at his sword as she ran, coiling the thong around the hand that held it.
He jerked his hand and she with it, lurching her to the side until she released her grip, letting the whip handle fall limply to the ground.
Only drawing blood would break the delusion the spell had placed on him, but attacking him with her whip was like trying to lasso a lightning bolt. Impossible.
The dragon's tail suddenly swept over the both of them. She ducked, hoping Edge wouldn't have the sense to, but the dragon's tail missed. Edge sped toward her again, slashing at her so quickly that Murasame caught her stray hair up in the wind of its passing, narrowly missing her face as she threw her weight onto her heels.
The others were unable to help her; but she sensed Rosa's magic envelope the dragon, a green glow that dispelled the spell of reflection it had cast on itself.
If she could break Edge's stupor and take advantage of the window Rosa had provided…
She ducked below another slash of his sword, rolling away. He was, fortunately, less adept in this state than he was when fully conscious.
"Edge!" she screamed again, sliding a knife loose from her boot—one trick she had learned from him.
He brought Murasame down at her in an arc, connecting that form to another. Rydia dodged and dodged again, finding his technique indeed lacking, though no less impressive. She bolted, her fingers fumbling with the knife as she ran. One look over her shoulder told her that he was following at more of a distance than before. As she puzzled as to why, she ducked beneath another swipe of the dragon's tail as it soared overhead.
Eventually she slid to a stop and turned, catching a glint of silver in his hand. Her eyes widened. She wasn't the only one with a throwing knife….
She slipped the Stardust rod from her back, allowing the power of memory and magic to fuse through her words. She harnessed the memory of Leviathan's icy waters—bending and twisting Blizzaga into malleable form as the rod glowed white in her hand and words flowed from her tongue. She finished the incantation no sooner than to hear a trio of chinks in the wall she had placed between herself and Edge, a bulwark of ice that caught three shurikens in mid-air.
"Come on," she muttered, as he renewed his pursuit.
Belatedly, she remembered the knife in her other hand and threw it while she ran, missing wide and offsetting her own balance. She stumbled to the ground, aware all of a sudden of the dragon snarling and stomping its feet, jarring the entire chamber.
An entire section of the dragon's ribs shattered and fell to the ground. Rydia stared wide-eyed from where she'd fallen at Kain, whose lance was still fiery with a glow that burned like a comet tail.
How… she wondered, until she realized Edge had caught up to her. She grappled for purchase, trying to pull herself up as she felt a shower of dust sprinkle her hair and eyelashes.
Dust turned to pebbles—then turned to rocks of various sizes that fell all around her in sheets.
She glimpsed upwards at the ceiling, and finally jumped to her feet to see a well-timed rock strike Edge from above, bringing him to his knees as crimson blood blossomed from the gash at his temple.
Rydia paused, breathing hard, and when he failed to rise, she focused her attention on where it should have been in the first place—the dragon.
Kain's attack had dealt considerable damage, and the dragon responded by re-casting Reflect. The shimmering mirror distorted space, and it had an oddly disconcerting effect on how Rydia saw her companions from her vantage point.
So magic was once again not an option, she mused, considering how she might otherwise assist them.
Rosa was not one to waste time, and Rydia was surprised to see a Reflect spell encompass the space around her as well.
Why would Rosa...she wondered, as an idea suddenly formed.
Rydia ran as far back as the chamber allowed, taking ample time to prepare. She meant to unleash a spell that had so far remained only elusively under her command.
She would find a suitable anchor for Firaga. She would make it hers.
The memory atop Mount Hobbs, the very first time she had mastered the element, sprang to her mind. She held on to the memory and gripped the Stardust rod with both hands. The uncertainty and anger she'd felt as a child, the urgency of reaching Fabul…she hardened that memory into a force she could use and felt the furnace of the underworld bubble up through her fingertips.
She wouldn't lose control this time.
Firaga exploded on the barrier of the Reflect spell, shielding Rydia from the heat of its flames. The spell bounced away, deflected toward the next nearest object.
Flames licked and curled around the dragon's bones, burning until the power Rydia had fed the spell expired.
"Ha!" Rydia cried out in triumph, jumping into the air.
The dragon had a menacing appearance in its wounded condition, hunkering down as a feral cat might. From its mouth came a cry followed by the familiar billowing purple fog that chased after Cecil and Rosa.
"No!" Rydia cried out as she ran closer, afraid that what had happened to Edge might happen to them.
Edge.
Edge.
It suddenly occurred to her that he'd never rejoined her. Rydia's eyes frantically searched him out, finding him amidst the fallen debris.
The blood at his temple had pooled and darkened and she dove beside him, feeling for his pulse.
Nothing.
She fumbled through the pouch at her side for a phoenix down, and finally finding it, laid it on his chest once she had rolled him over.
The curious feather burned to ash and dissipated in a cloud of red motes as the last moments before he'd expired were erased. For a fleeting moment, Rydia worried that she hadn't gotten to him soon enough, but then Edge sat up; rubbing his head and shooting her a look.
"Phoenix down?" he asked, taking his position into consideration.
She nodded as he pushed himself to his feet. "I've died better," he remarked, hooking his toe beneath Murasame and flicking it casually into his hand.
"Shall we?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Never were one for a slow recovery," she muttered to him.
"Not when Cecil and Kain can't decide who should be the one to break Rosa loose of her delusions," he quipped back, running toward the dragon and ducking out of the way of its swinging tail.
She ran after him, seeing that Rosa had taken up her bow and aimed it at her companions.
Now would be a good time for a distraction, she thought.
Kain, it seemed, had read her mind.
His strong legs propelled him off the ground, his trajectory taking him behind the Guardian's shoulders. He plunged the lance into the base of the dragon's spine, severing its tail completely.
Edge ran beneath the creature in that moment, treating the falling bones as mere annoyances as he sprinted over the pile with light steps and drew a weapon from his side.
From behind, Rydia couldn't tell what he was doing, but once he let the dagger fly, she understood at once.
Cecil had just deflected one of Rosa's arrows with his shield, but Edge's dagger flew true.
It soared past Rosa's face, carving a thin line from her cheek to ear.
"What were you thinking!" Cecil demanded of Edge as he and Rydia finally got close enough to join them.
"That you were taking too long!" Edge retorted, pointing violently at the still-moving dragon.
"Cecil, go!" Rosa cried, waving him off as she pressed a hand to her bleeding face.
It was with a scowl that the paladin left them; Rydia placing a hand on Rosa's shoulder as she noticed the haze clouding the woman's vision was gone.
Another roar and shower of rocks drew their eyes toward Kain who had admirably been holding the dragon off on his own. His weapon still glowed with unearthly brightness, but when Cecil rejoined the battle, the situation turned ugly—each of them vying for space.
Rydia sighed, noticing that neither Edge nor Rosa were moving to help.
"Enough is enough," Rosa seethed at Rydia's side, closing her eyes as she began an incantation that was sung, not spoken.
Rydia could feel the Crystals' interest, how they bent their will toward the white mage. What power was Rosa calling upon that would make the threads of magic hum in such a way?
She didn't have to wonder long, as a pearlescent glow began to form around the three of them, brightening as the spell gained strength and Rosa's voice gained volume. Strands of magic spiraled around each other as they simultaneously refracted light and wove it back together. Rydia thought her eyes were playing tricks on her—the spell wasn't just refracting light, it seemed to be refracting magic as well.
It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, which was why she was surprised when the glow of Rosa's spell consumed all of her sight and reflected off of the shield that surrounded her. It sped away, like a moonbeam piercing through the darkest night, and shot straight at the dragon.
Holy.
The highest of all White magicks. Rydia had finally seen it in person.
The spell wound its way around the dragon's bones, undoing the magic that bound the creature together. Its bones had been ensorcelled, but Holy severed each bond until bone by bone, piece by piece, the beast came undone. Cecil and Kain watched in awe as the dragon's body fell to the ground—a cacophony of hollow bones and a storm of light.
When all that was left was the dragon's glowing core, its life's wick, Holy wrapped it in ropes of glimmering white; constricting until the spirit shattered into oblivion, nothing but motes of light.
Rosa breathed a sigh of relief and sagged from exhaustion as Cecil and Kain returned, keeping their distance from each other.
"Rosa, that was—" Rydia began, interrupted when Rosa suddenly strode forward and slapped Cecil hard across the face, leaving a bloody hand print.
"Rosa," Cecil sputtered, blinking in surprise.
Her gaze had turned steely. "You think this is about who has more honor? Whose nobility is greater?" she snarled, stepping back from the two knights.
"It's not about who has me!" she cried angrily, holding them at arms' length. "This group has to hold! We let Zemus win now, we may as well stop here."
Rydia hopped with delight, unable to contain herself. At last, someone else who understood.
"I should have known it was useless to bring him along," Cecil replied acidly, his thoughts still clouded by anger. "I should have listened to the Council of Mysidia to begin with."
"We placed our bet," Edge sighed. "It was you who decided to take one evil over another."
The paladin speared him with a glare, having fully noticed the wound on Rosa's face. "You could have killed her," he accused, changing the direction of the conversation.
"I never miss," Edge responded evenly.
Cecil then turned back to Kain. "I'm surprised that weapon even suffers you to touch it," he said with disdain.
Rosa stepped forward again, driving her pointer finger against Cecil's breastplate.
"If 'holiness' is the only standard by which we're 'allowed' to be here, then you have just as little right to be here as the rest of us," she said.
Cecil stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.
"Rosa…"
Another of the terribly awkward pauses followed, and Edge, already impatient with the three of them from the offset, strode toward the shrines. Rydia watched him go, curious as to what he would find.
The prince stooped to pick up a thin scrap of cloth from one pedestal, draping it over his hand. A quick glance to the shrine opposite revealed another of the same.
"Two ribbons," she heard him say. "That entire pissing competition was for two ribbons," he said even louder as he whisked them both off of their pedestals and returned to the group, pressing one of each into the hands of Rosa and herself.
"Satisfied?" the ninja asked Cecil with an accusatory look.
From the expression on Cecil's face, he didn't seem to be, but he didn't offer any argument.
"For those still choosing to press onward, follow me," Edge said, sheathing Murasame with a forceful jerk.
Rydia went with him, retrieving her whip on the way. It didn't take long to see that Rosa had come as well, followed silently by Kain. Cecil remained behind.
"What now?" Rydia asked Edge, staring at the length of fabric in her hand.
"We regroup and we find somewhere to sit for longer than five minutes without threat of being eaten by dragons," Edge replied tersely, striding through the chamber's entrance and back into the Lunar corridor.
He led them in silence until another doorway appeared, one that had been carefully carved into the crystalline wall.
The four of them stood in front of it, peering inward. There were no shrines and no dragons—a good sign.
Two familiar pillars had been set at the chamber's entrance, and Rydia extended her hand into the doorway, feeling the harmonic vibration of magic she associated with a warding.
"Finally," Edge remarked, walking into the chamber and striking off toward its fringes.
"Where are you going?" Rosa asked.
"I've suffered two traps today. I don't plan to suffer another, do you?" the ninja replied.
Rydia sighed as she watched him leave. Maybe Edge had a point—it was time they each claimed some space from each other before murder became involved.
Behind her, Kain had vanished. To where, she wasn't certain, but she and Rosa followed Edge, feeling the magic of the warding envelope them.
"We were only one door away from sanctuary," Rosa remarked, taking her time to look around.
"Figures," Rydia agreed, noticing the vastness of the chamber. They could get lost just exploring its boundaries.
Rosa suddenly sighed, tightening her fingers around the ribbon in her hand and glancing over her shoulder. "Seems I have another argument to brace for."
Rydia did not envy her. "Why is he angry with you?" she asked cautiously.
Rosa's lips formed a straight line. "Because I have the power to control who has feelings for me, clearly," she snapped.
"What about Kain?" Rydia wondered.
"Who knows," Rosa admitted resignedly, her voice softening. "Who knows…"
Rydia stood awkwardly beside the white mage, not sure what to say. "Do you need me to—"
"No," Rosa assured her, shaking her head. "Go."
Relieved of her friendly obligations, Rydia left to claim a piece of solitude for herself. Zemus' presence was less oppressive in the warding, and in its absence, Rydia felt the snarl of her thoughts begin to untangle.
She wandered until she had lost sight of Rosa and kept going until she felt lost herself.
So this is it, she thought, sitting cross-legged on the ground and staring at the cavern ceiling—a survival reflex more than anything.
How long will it take for everyone to turn on each other…she mused as she closed her eyes, trying to think about other things instead. Things like the language of magic and the transience of memory….
The sound of soft footsteps eventually disturbed her, and she opened her eyes to see Edge approaching.
She frowned with a long sigh of vexation.
"Don't look so enthusiastic," he remarked, sitting down nearby.
She stared at him.
"Was this part of the cavern yours?" he inquired with feigned innocence.
"You were the one so eager to get away from the rest of us," she pointed out.
He nodded slowly. "I was, wasn't I?"
"What do you want?" she asked, sensing a return to their familiar pattern.
He shrugged, letting his pack and weapons slide down to rest beside him. "Nothing. I just figured that once the others stopped fighting over Rosa, it might be easiest if they didn't have to search for us separately."
She blinked, finding his logic surprisingly simple. "Oh."
"Besides, I was still planning on hunting Zemus, I don't know about you," he said casually, laying weapons out around him.
"What if it's just the two of us?" she asked pessimistically.
He paused, then looked up at her with a sly grin. "Why not?"
Both her brows shot up, disbelieving. "You really think we could survive?"
"Well," he said, gesturing between the two of them. "I'm awesome—and you command the Hallowed Father. How could we lose?"
She laughed, and felt strange for doing so. There had been so little to laugh about lately.
"So," he queried. "Do I have your permission to stay, your majesty?"
She let out a sharp breath as she considered his appeal. Old patterns indeed. "Yes," she decided imperiously. "You can stay."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
At the cavern entrance, Rosa paced. Cecil blamed her for having feelings toward Kain.
Ridiculous.
But it was her fault that the Mysidian council had been defied—why would she have done it had she not had feelings….
She stopped pacing, her mind continuing to churn thoughts, to make sense of them all.
What choice had been left for her, she wondered. She had already broken the man's heart, driven him mad with jealousy by choosing his friend instead. How could she leave him to a meaningless execution—to be the world's scapegoat?
She looked up and saw Cecil returning, his lips drawn into a straight line. His eyes reluctantly met hers.
"We should talk," she said.
He stared at her for a moment and finally nodded, gesturing that they walk a ways first.
Rosa watched him out of the corner of her eye, trying to get a read on him. He offered her nothing, remaining silent and taciturn; and walked without direction until they had entered one of the chambers affixed to the warding. It was a closer space than the large chamber, with tubular crystals criss-crossing each other, effectively isolating them.
He sat down and removed his helmet, but Rosa remained standing.
"Cecil—"
"We don't have the luxury of time to spend sitting around talking," he said, cutting her off.
"Luxury?" Rosa countered dryly, finally sitting down near him. "I'd say it's a necessity."
Cecil looked at her sideways, not entirely convinced.
"FuSoYa and Golbez can handle themselves—it's us I'm worried about," she said firmly.
Cecil's expression turned into a glower. "Golbez," he muttered, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"He isn't the person sitting beside you right now," she snapped.
His eyebrow twitched, but nothing escaped his mouth.
"Zemus is a master manipulator. He's the one pulling all of the strings, but if we—" she paused, waiting until he was paying attention. "If this group crumbles from within, it won't matter if we find Zemus or not. The battle will be over before it's even begun."
"What happened between you and Kain?" Cecil demanded, finally getting to the heart of the matter. "You're dancing around this, as if you're not at fault for any of it."
Rosa straightened.
"Do you love him?" he asked, finding her silence suspicious.
She glared at him. "The feelings I have toward Kain aren't love. Our relationship extends to friendship only, and right now I'd hesitate to even go that far."
"But something happened," he pressed.
"He—" she began, almost laughing at how absurd all these accusations seemed in comparison with the truth. "He confessed his feelings." she answered.
Cecil tensed, expecting more.
Rosa flicked her gaze to the side. "He kissed me," she expounded, feeling the need to be fully truthful.
"What?" Cecil snarled.
"I rejected him!" Rosa assured him, hastily. "That's all of it."
Cecil stared at her, betrayed. "He kissed you," he repeated.
She sighed exasperatedly. "And I rebuffed him," she said. "There's nothing more."
He frowned, "Why—I feel like I'm at a loss of who to trust," he admitted, shaking his head.
"You can trust me, Cecil," she told him.
"Can I?" he countered. "Why spare his life if you knew he would pursue you?"
She stared at her hands. "I know you both," she began. "By choosing you I had already killed him in part—how could I bear the responsibility of burying him, too?"
Cecil exhaled sharply, looking away. "I can't believe—" he said, shaking his head again.
"Leave that responsibility in my hands," he finished, finding his voice again. " I could strangle him for this."
Rosa stared at him. "Stop."
He looked back at her, his features eventually softening. "I wonder-is this overwhelming anger Zemus' doing?" he asked plaintively.
They sat beside each other in silence.
"That's possible," Rosa said finally. "Or it's just that he feeds off what's already there, makes it stronger."
"Then I've already lost the battle," he said, seeming to shrink within himself.
"We're not dead yet," she assured him, finding strength in his moment of weakness. "I feel like I'm being tested every time I take a breath, but I'm still here."
"Does Zemus want to disorient us or destroy us," he muttered.
"Both, probably," she said lightly.
Cecil studied her for a moment. "If he can enter our minds so easily, how could my—how could Golbez—hope to stand a chance against such a power?"
"Cecil, when we find them…"
"If we find them," Cecil corrected her, his voice gruff, as he finally dared to look at her.
Rosa laid her hand on his arm. "When we find them," she repeated softly. "What are you going to do about Golbez?"
Cecil looked at her for a moment and then at the vast expanse of the lunar architecture around them.
"I don't know," he said eventually.
Rosa furrowed her brow.
"If he dies…that might be best for everyone," Cecil decided.
Rosa was quiet for a long moment.
"And if he lives?" she asked.
"If he lives, there's no place in the world where he could have any sort of life."
"What, then?" she asked.
"Let the world determine his fate, not me," he said.
"And Kain?"
Cecil blinked. "Kain…will have no easy life, either," he said. "Too many people know his face. Mysidia condemned him, he'd be walking into an execution. Unless-"
Rosa was silent again. "He can't return to Baron."
"No," Cecil agreed, shaking his head. "I wouldn't welcome him there—not anymore. Not with all that's gone between us."
"Cecil, when we…" she began, cautiously meeting his gaze. "Speaking of Baron," she finished, her words becoming bolder. "I know what Odin promised you."
A brief, uncertain frown twitched at the corners of Cecil's lips. "I had hoped it would never come to that," he said.
"Would you do it?" she asked.
"Do you think that the kingdom would—"
"Yes," she said instantly.
He appeared startled by her certainty. "I'm not exactly the most qualified."
"You were the king's ward—you were captain of the Red Wings. The people always respected you where they feared others. If Kain can't return, and with Baigan's treachery, who else would take the king's place?"
"What about you?" Cecil asked; too reserved to ask a more direct question.
She grinned. "If you think I'll be anywhere other than by your side; maybe you shouldn't have the throne after all."
"Rosa, you know why I didn't want you to come."
"No," she said flatly. "Save for pure idiocy."
"I had hoped…" he said, trying not to flinch under her accusing gaze. "That should things not go as planned and at least one of us stayed behind…that you could lead Baron. Someone strong; someone with healing hands."
"A lone queen to the throne of Baron," she scoffed.
"You could always marry Edward," he teased softly.
Rosa sat back; arching a brow. "Edward," she said hotly. "Which Edward?"
"If Edge survived this and I didn't, I would suspect foul play," Cecil said very seriously.
Rosa chuckled at that, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"I would rather fight beside the would-be king than rule alone," she told him in his ear.
He glanced at her, running his thumb along her jaw as he considered her. She met his gaze and held it, as his own regard became more intense, more eager, by what her words had implied. He unconsciously let his fingers slip into her hair.
"I'm glad you stayed," he whispered.
"You're welcome," she told him, looking back at him with a hesitant grin on her face.
"And," he began, looking full of remorse. "I was wrong to doubt you."
"Good. Don't ever do it again," she threatened, leaning in to softly kiss his lips.
He paused and looked into her eyes, a gleam of mischief in his own. He answered her kiss with one of more passion, eliciting a small gasp of surprise as he leaned into her, his fingers tugging at the lacing of her armor.
"This is hardly the upright behavior of a paladin," she remarked breathlessly as she felt layers slowly fall away—his hands seeking skin.
He grinned as he left kisses along her jaw. "I was a dark knight once," he whispered back.
Rosa tilted her head back, accepting his attentions. "My mother will want to have words with you," she said severely, holding back giggles.
He laughed, and his breath tickled her throat. "She can have them after you're queen."
Rosa finally pulled back to look him squarely in the eyes. "Did you just ask for my hand?" she wondered.
He looked back at her just as seriously, but the small smile on his lips betrayed him. "Do you accept?"
She smiled and allowed him to lean her slowly to the lunar floor.
0-0-0-0-0
Rydia
Rydia sat watching the crystalline cavern walls bounce light like fireflies.
Cecil and Rosa still hadn't returned, and she wondered if by now they ever would.
Her thoughts wandered to Rosa—if her conversation with Cecil had made any difference or if the damage had been done.
She sighed, unable to imagine Baron without them both. Unable to imagine a world where the two of them were enemies.
And then she wondered if any of them would be going home. None of those thoughts brought her any comfort, so she attempted to banish them—shaking her head.
"Do you have any ethers?" Edge asked her all of a sudden.
She stared at him, his words feeling out of place in the context of her thoughts.
"Rydia," Edge prodded, sounding annoyed.
She blinked, finally seeing him. "What?"
"Ethers," he repeated. "Do you have any?"
"Why would you need ethers," she retorted. "You hardly use magic."
His expression remained flat. "With how you devour magic, you'll be glad I have ethers," he said matter-of-factly.
She screwed her face into a scowl. "When was the last time—" she began, but then didn't want to give him the satisfaction of an opening. "I don't," she finally answered. "But Rosa might."
Edge's face was indecipherable.
"She's probably with Cecil, then," he mused.
"Where's Kain?" Rydia suggested, making a show of looking for him.
"Around," Edge answered off-handedly, sounding bored.
She stared at him with an angled brow, not understanding his reluctance. "If it's so important to you, why don't you go find one of them?"
He shrugged. "I never said I wouldn't," he replied. "But why move when I can just wait until one of them comes back?"
She nodded, thinking that made sense, but after several more minutes of inanimate silence, she stood up. She was tired of sitting around waiting for problems to be resolved.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I wanted to ask Rosa something, anyway," Rydia announced. "Why not kill two birds with one stone?"
Edge stared at her in a quizzical, concerned way.
"What?" she asked.
"I wouldn't," he said slowly.
"Why not?"
He just looked at her, a touch of bemusement on his face. "Nevermind," he said, waving her off.
She tilted her head, gazing at him through narrowed eyes.
"Go," he prodded.
Perplexed, she left her pack and gear behind and crawled out of the small encampment they had created. The cavern floor beyond their shelter was rough-hewn, as if the Lunarians had haphazardly knocked down rows of crystals to make the warding and then left them to lie like fallen trees.
Rydia walked a while before she realized she had no idea where to even begin looking, let alone how to find her way back. She glanced over her shoulder, already lost, and worked her way backwards. She set out again, this time establishing a path and making a point to remember each turn for later.
Several minutes went by and then several more. Rydia was in a different part of the warding judging by the closeness of the walls, but she hadn't come across any of the others. Either they were being silent as ghosts, or they weren't in the warding at all. She was tempted to turn back, when she thought she heard something from ahead.
Definitely something. Definitely someone. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad to know she didn't have to keep wandering indefinitely. But only a few steps more, and she froze dead in her tracks. There was a note of distress to the sounds—some sort of urgency.
There couldn't possibly be a fiend in here with them, could there? Did the warding not encompass the entire cavern and she'd left it without realizing?
Rydia hurried forward, straining her ears. If one of her companions was wounded and gasping, unable to cry out, she had to find them.
She considered calling out herself, but she had wizened up to traps and wasn't anxious to stumble into another one—not again. Her fingers twitched for a weapon, but she'd left all of hers behind. Her mind flipped through possible spells as she ran through the circuitous path, agonizing over the absence of the Stardust rod and her inability to cast without it—steeling herself for the possibility of trying anyway.
The cavern distorted her senses, bouncing sound and causing her to doubt her direction. She stumbled forward, feeling all the while that something might be wrong. She should have heard the ring of metal or the snap of a bowstring by now—even Rosa's sure voice uttering incantations. None of the usual indications of battle were present, and she had yet to sense the presence of a fiend. Had she heard wrong? It didn't necessarily sound like danger. Not exactly a cry for help.
The sounds became more distinct and regular; two people, not one. Rydia's steps faltered, her cheeks flushing with an uneasiness she couldn't place. Was it any of her business to keep going, or should she take Edge's advice and turn back?
She'd already come this far, she decided. One glimpse, and she could put her doubts to rest.
She cautiously drew as close as she dared, peeking around the crystals that lay in her path. What she saw made her go pink in the ears. Her mouth dropped open, her heart pounding in her ears with embarrassment. She had seen more in that one moment than she'd ever wanted to.
Like the crack of a whip she had spun around and pressed her back against the crystals, hand over her mouth. She shut her eyes, hoping to erase the image from her thoughts. She couldn't—having too much context now for what, before, her mind had only been able to imagine. She pushed herself away from the crystals, trying her best not to run—scrambling—back to the encampment, and hoping she hadn't been heard. Her face was beet red, her mind racing to conclusions.
She finally stumbled blindly into the circle of gear and cast-off packs, wishing there was a rock large enough to hide under.
"Rydia," Edge said, and she jumped, forgetting he was still there.
She glanced at him, attempting a quick escape before he could read the expression on her face.
Too late.
The look he gave her was bemused. "Your face," he mentioned, slowly trailing off while his regard became quizzical.
She couldn't help it. She looked at him and another image took his place.
Rydia clapped her hands over her face, exasperated with herself. She was sure her blush had spread down her neck, but the thoughts were catapulting beyond her control.
"What?" Edge persisted, sounding even more amused.
"I—it's—Rosa didn't have ethers either," she forced out of her mouth, trying to calm down.
He tracked her with his eyes as she paced, trying not to chuckle. "Didn't think so."
She let her hands fall to her sides and demanded in her most plaintive tone, "Did you know that they—that they would be—"
His brows rose with each note of shock in her voice.
"It certainly took them long enough," he said with a shrug, not waiting for her to find her words.
She blushed and glanced away again, still seeing the image of them entwined in her mind's eye.
"But just earlier—they—and—so much skin," she stammered uncomfortably.
Edge nodded knowingly, then froze with a sudden realization. "Have you never-?" he asked, glancing up at her.
"No!" she cried out. "Besides, it isn't as if I've been around other people for the last decade!"
"Did the Eidolons not bother explaining these things to you?"
Her hands rose defensively to her hips. "They explained as well as they could, but knowing is one thing and seeing is—well-"
"Exactly how much did you see?" Edge investigated, looking at her with incredulity as he set his weapons down.
She scowled at him, letting out a sharp breath. "You're disgusting."
He flicked his hand to ward off the accusation. "For all I know you could be blowing this out of proportion."
"Clothing," she shot back. "There wasn't any."
His brows rose in amusement. "Ah," he chuckled.
Rydia's blush deepened.
"I don't know if I can look at either of them ever again," she cried, hugging her arms closer to her chest as nausea settled into her stomach.
Edge couldn't stop laughing and it didn't help to settle her nerves.
"It isn't funny," she retorted, finally sitting down.
"It's hilarious," Edge contradicted. "But—"
She arched a brow when he failed to finish his thought. "But, what?" she asked.
"Kain."
That jarred her back to attention. "Kain," she repeated, feeling like an idiot for blurting out what she'd seen without considering if he was nearby.
"He's not here," Edge assured her, detecting her anxiety as her eyes frantically scanned for the dragoon.
"But this has become a whole lot more complicated," she said resignedly, resting her chin in her hands.
"Complicated—entertaining—amusing," Edge listed off.
She numbly shook her head. "I suppose this means they've settled their differences…"
Edge snorted. "Yes," he agreed, going back to sharpening one of his knives. "They certainly have."
After a long pause, Edge glanced over at her again.
"Really?" he asked. "Never?"
She threw a potion at him. "Stop," she demanded, hoping to drop the subject altogether.
0-0-0-0-0
It was hours before Cecil and Rosa reappeared, finding their way into the little encampment with twin looks of contentment. Edge looked up at the two of them smugly, knowing their secret was anything but.
"Is she—" Rosa asked with a note of concern as she looked over a sleeping Rydia.
"Sleeping?" Edge finished for her. "Yes."
Edge glanced at the summoner and had to stifle a laugh. Rydia had cast sleep on herself in order to calm down from the shock of discovering the two lovers—a feat he found amazing—and she still lay unconscious over her pack with her mouth slightly open. Adorable.
He looked up at the two of them again. "Where were you two?" he asked.
"Talking," Rosa replied a little too hastily, a touch of pink coloring her cheeks.
"And are we on the same page?" Edge probed, hoping for direct confirmation that there would be no further problems.
"We are," Cecil answered.
"Good," Edge volleyed back, staring the other man down.
After an uncomfortable silence, Cecil broke eye contact and cast his eyes around their makeshift camp.
"Is it just the two of you?" he asked, attempting to remain nonchalant.
"Kain's not with us, no," Edge supplied.
Rydia stirred just then, peeling herself off of her pack with an expression of denial on her face.
Spell must have worn off, Edge decided, thinking she probably could have used another weeks' worth of sleep.
"Are we going on without him?" Edge asked.
"If we have to," Rosa replied, unconsciously letting her fingers brush against Cecil's.
The gesture did not go unnoticed to Edge whose brow rose with indifference. "If he does return, you may want to not be so obvious," he pointed out.
"Excuse me?" Rosa demanded.
Cecil frowned. "About what—that she and I have reached an understanding?" he asked, protecting his cover. "I should never have doubted her in the first place."
Edge stared at him. "Right," he answered enigmatically.
Cecil cleared his throat. "Now that we're all together, we should assume that this will be our last point of rest. We should distribute supplies between us before we set out. The ethers, for instance," he suggested, setting his pack in the circle with the others.
At the mention of ethers, Edge laughed through his nose.
No one else knew why this was funny, but Rydia, whose head had cleared sufficiently to pretend the other two did not exist, was glaring athim; her ears bright red.
Cecil paused.
"Nothing," Edge said dismissively at the other man's look, shaking his head.
The paladin frowned but ignored him, looking instead at Rydia.
"Do either of you have any idea what those ribbons do?" he asked.
Rydia stared at the ribbon she had draped over her pack. "Why would it be guarded if it wasn't important?" she asked, careful not to look up.
Edge shrugged. "Lunarians are sadists," he reminded her.
Cecil sighed at the comment. "Keep them close," he suggested instead. "We may find a use for them later."
Rydia nodded, still avoiding Cecil's gaze.
"And it's altogether possible that as we get closer to the core of the moon, our judgment will become impaired," Cecil admitted after some thought. "It's important that we not give in to the temptation of distrusting each other."
"I won't if you won't," Edge remarked.
Rosa threw him a sidelong glance, to which he reassuringly grinned.
"My behavior earlier," Cecil said heavily, misinterpreting Rydia's avoidance. "It was out of line."
"Seeing you punch Kain was satisfaction enough," Edge said. "But the next time you have a score to settle and you drag me into it, I'm kicking your ass. Just so we're clear."
Cecil nodded, chagrined. "Understood."
"I'm assuming you had a plan in mind?" Edge mentioned after a few more minutes of awkward tension.
Cecil let out a deep breath he'd been holding, and nodded again. "I do."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Rydia
The following morning, Rydia sat up to discover that Cecil and Rosa were no longer with them. She rubbed her forehead, groggy from sleeping in an unfortunate position, and noticed that Edge had been reading something while she'd been asleep.
He glanced up and skillfully tucked the book in amongst his things before she could make out its title.
"Where are-?" she began, gesturing to the two packs that had been left behind.
"Best if you don't know," he replied offhandedly.
"Yech," she uttered, letting the sound come out of her like sour milk.
He looked at her peculiarly and went back to taking an inventory of his supplies, packing them so they'd take up less room.
Tiredly, she went about doing the same, but glanced at him time and again, studying him. He remained preoccupied with his weapons, testing them until he was convinced of their edge before strapping them to his body.
"What?" he asked without looking up.
"What do you mean, 'what'?" she asked with a frown.
"You keep glancing over at me as if you expect me to ask you a question."
"You always have something to say," she pointed out.
He stared at her for a long moment. "I didn't think there was anything else to be said."
She pursed her lips and began rooting through her pack again.
"Do you think he'll be back?" she asked quietly, looking up at him.
"Kain?" Edge ascertained. "He has no choice," he said, slipping weapons into sheaths. "He has nothing else to live for. If he dies here, at least he'll die with honor."
"Then why pick a fight with Cecil, now? It doesn't make any sense," she said. "If he's loved her all this time, why bring it up, now?"
Edge shrugged. "This close to the end, there are questions a man wants answers to."
"You don't think we're coming back from this, do you?" she said, looking at him sideways.
"I plan to," he answered instantly, looking up. "Kain doesn't."
She looked away, letting his words sink in. They could very well be walking to their deaths from this point onward. No wonder Cecil and Rosa…the thought completed itself, and she shook her head.
Just then, Cecil and Rosa returned to the encampment, bringing her attention back to the present. They silently pulled on packs and strapped on weapons, looking above suspicion aside from an uncharacteristic tousling of Rosa's golden hair. Rydia could only imagine what they'd been up to in the hours before she'd been awake.
Rydia sighed, and thought to snake the ribbon she had through her hair, tying it so that her green curls were out of her face before they all set off.
"Let me help you," Rosa offered, suddenly noticing Rydia's difficulty.
Before Rydia could speak a word to the contrary, Rosa had slipped the ribbon out and was braiding it back into her hair, using one of the golden hairpins to keep it in place.
Rydia's posture went rigid, and her face pink, by the time Rosa was finished assisting her.
"Thanks," she said awkwardly, patting her newly styled head, as Rosa smiled and followed Cecil who was leading the way to the entrance of the warding.
Rydia caught Edge's eye and noted his bemused expression as he walked beside her.
"It is not as big a deal as you're making it out to be," he hissed at her.
She whipped her head to face him. "It is to me," she snapped back.
"Well make it not about you, because you can't afford the distraction."
She glared at him and fell into silence, sensing when they'd left the warding by the onset of chaotic thoughts and errant magic. Zemus' work.
There was still no sight of Kain, but it didn't take long to find evidence of his handiwork along the lunar corridor.
Corpses.
Dozens of corpses.
Edge kicked a dragon skull, approvingly.
"Productive anger," Rydia heard him mutter while they climbed over bones and the limp remains of other creatures.
They kept going, awed by the devastation, as they navigated the field of battle Kain had carved.
Eventually they found him. He was sitting atop a fallen crystal pillar with his lance leaning against his knee. He was spattered in blood and his blonde hair was stained, but in his fearsome armor, he looked the epitome of a dragoon.
The group stopped to look up at him.
"I know where they are," he called down.
"Kain—" Cecil began.
"I'm a dead man, I know," Kain said gruffly. "Doesn't change the reason I'm here."
He and Cecil exchanged a long look.
"Are you with us or not?" Cecil asked, as if there'd never been a quarrel between them.
Kain hopped down from his perch to stand beside the group. "If you'll have me."
"About damn time, Highwind," Edge said after a moment of silence, striding forward to clap the dragoon on the shoulder.
"Yes," Kain replied, his face grim. "I suppose it is."
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
A/N:
Welp, welp.
Least epic ending. Evar. (I admit, I really needed to end somewhere, guys…)
Dear Myth: I see what you did there. NO OGOPOGO IN THIS CHAPTER. OMG. HOW MANY CHAPTERS DO YOU PLAN ON WRITING, YOU MAD WOMAN. YOU TEASE. WE'LL ALL DIE IN THE TIME IT TAKES YOU TO UPDATE AGAIN. WHYYYYYYYY.
It occurred to me that there were still 127853871253 different little snippets and scenes I wanted to have written before the final battle, but fitting them all into one chapter would have made you all rip your hair out. Again. *sigh*
This chapter ended up with only the Lunasaur and….personally, what I find to be some of the more hilarious character scenes in the story so far…
NEXT chapter I have drafted (I know, right?), and will get working on tomorrow.
Ch38 is also a much different tone than this chapter, which is why I'm keeping the two separate…. There can only be so much emo in one place.
Thank you again to my readers and reviewers. Your continued support means a lot. Especially when I'm off having a nervous breakdown and have lost the desire to be creative, lol…
Thank you especially to Moonclaw and Freida who helped keep me sane (the cookies were delicious bt-dubs). It was rather difficult holding it together this past spring, and you two were awesome :)
Random factoids: Theme song for Cecil and Rosa this chapter was "Moon and Moon" by Bat for Lashes
Have I mentioned before that I DO hold a severe soft spot for Kain? He is…such a badass.
Further factoids: I…may have majorly poked fun of TAY in this chapter. Due to an original error that made Ceobore the WRONG AGE (ie: it would have meant that Rosa was pregnant with him BEFORE the final battle), I couldn't help myself. And. Though they later changed the error and bumped back his birthdate, I couldn't let that one go. (No, this does NOT mean I intend to novelize TAY after this story…no, no, no)
Thanks again, and until next update WHICH I WILL GET DONE THIS SUMMER, I SWEAR.
~Myth