In the basement of Highwind Manor, Kain blankly stared at his mother's dark knight armor. Rosa and Cecil stood on either side of him, considering the cruel black armaments. The truth of its ownership somehow made it more sinister looking, mocking Kain as it flaunted the reality of Elena's dark nature. Kain's longtime ignorance of his mother had never bothered him in the past, but now it gutted him, and he wondered it he would have been better off not knowing.
"I don't think your mother killed herself," Cecil said, still holding the lantern, the light radiating out from his side, making his hair look more silver than gray. "I think it was dark knight training gone terribly wrong."
Kain closed his eyes, trying to block out the image of Elena surrounded by so much blood. "No wonder King Odin wanted me to be a dark knight so desperately. He did the same to my mother."
Kain did not realize his mistake until he heard Cecil quietly ask, "What do you mean?"
Reluctantly, Kain opened his eyes to see Cecil, looking wounded. "I…" Kain started, unsure of how to walk this back. "The king proposed dark knight training to me first," he then admitted, the truth loosening a long-held guilty knot in his chest. "I refused."
"Oh," Cecil said, sounding small. He lowered the lantern and the surrounding shadows leapt greedily up, casting most of his face into darkness. "I thought that…" he hesitated, and Kain could only imagine the look of disappointment on Cecil's face and that was somehow worse than actually seeing it. "Never mind," Cecil said instead, and there was a world of hurt packed into the dismissal.
"Cecil—" Rosa said softly, putting a hand on Cecil's shoulder.
"It doesn't matter," Cecil interrupted, shrugging Rosa aside. "I am… tired. This may all look different in the morning light after a few hours of sleep."
"Yes," Rosa agreed quickly, shooting a narrowed glare back at Kain, silent in its reprimand. But her words remained gentle and coaxing. "C'mon, Cecil, let's all get some rest."
Kain looked back at his mother's armor one more time. It had more questions than answers for him, he realized: why had this been kept from him, and who else knew? What did this mean for Kain and how he knew himself?
As Cecil started to walk away, lantern still in hand, the light began to shrink, and the encroaching darkness engulfed the armor entirely. As Cecil kept moving, the darkness crept closer, inching toward Kain, reaching with greedy fingers.
"I'm coming too," Kain said abruptly, as he turned to follow.
With an unspoken tension between the three of them, they went back into the manor, and quietly climbed the staircase back up to the owner's suite. Cecil said nothing as he retreated into one of the guest rooms, leaving Rosa and Kain behind.
"You're a jerk, Kain Highwind," Rosa said after the door clicked closed.
"I know," Kain agreed easily, wincing. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and it just came out."
But Rosa wasn't done; she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, looking so much like Joanna it was eerie. "And now he will torture himself, asking, 'What else are they hiding from me?' and he's not wrong to wonder." She sighed, her arms relaxing back to her sides. "At the very least, you could pretend being a dark knight is not some scandalous shame about your mother. Think about this from Cecil's perspective: you refused King Odin and hid it from both of us. Do you also think Cecil being a dark knight is a tragedy?"
"Yes," Kain admitted, casting an unsure glance at the door where Cecil disappeared. "Rosa, I had a dream about my mother and how she died." He looked back at Rosa and her expression had softened with sympathy. "I saw how desperate she was to use Darkness."
"Oh, Kain," Rosa murmured, sympathy softening her. "I'm so sorry."
Kain thought about the battle with the Zu on the Bloodletter and finally witnessing Cecil use Darkness. It had been familiar in such a strange way, like trying to recall the forgotten melody to an old childhood song. At the time, he could not say why it seemed so, only that it was. Now, knowing he had seen it once before, it seemed to connect another puzzle piece in the mysteries of his life.
"I'm afraid to see the same look on Cecil's face," Kain said, looking down at his wrist, wondering what it might look like crisscrossed in neat white scars. "I'm afraid this might kill him."
"Me too," Rosa admitted quietly. "But Cecil is right. This might look better in the morning light." She touched Kain's shoulder with a light squeeze. "Get some rest and perhaps later we'll all feel less bruised."
"Good idea," Kain agreed, feeling suddenly weary.
Kain laid awake in his father's bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to set aside his restless thoughts enough to sleep. But still they chased him, circling endlessly around each other, not giving him any peace. He shifted in the blankets, then rolled over to his side, and found himself staring at the bedroom door.
He thought of the nights of his childhood, of Cecil quietly knocking at his door and just asking for Kain's company. How easy Cecil had made that seem, to communicate a vulnerable need without shame. Kain knew Cecil hurt now, and selfishly hoped that was enough to prompt Cecil to come knocking again.
Then, Kain heard it – the scuffle of footsteps outside his door, like the answer to an unvoiced prayer. Kain held his breath and waited, his heart counting out the tortured seconds with each thundering beat.
But the knock never came, instead, Kain heard the footsteps receding. Getting out of the bed, Kain quietly moved to the bedroom door and eased it open. He peered out in time to see Cecil slip through the door across the way – Rosa's door.
Cecil was hurting, Kain realized with a heavy dread, but did not seek Kain anymore.
Closing the door, Kain went back to the bed; his limbs felt impossibly heavy as he climbed back in. Kain was hit with a sense of hollowing loneliness, wishing he had the courage to go knock on Rosa's door, but knowing he didn't have a place between them, no matter how much he might wish for it.
Just as Kain was sure he'd never fall asleep like this, he drifted off.
Kain dreamed.
High above the tallest mountain peaks and even the clouds themselves, stood the Tower, casting its endless shadow across all. It reached for Kain, calling to him with a woman's breathy voice, urging him closer.
It whispered of open skies and endless currents to ride, promising true freedom, to indulge any desire and never leave him wanting. It offered him dominion over the wind, bending it to his whim and will, granting him a power few mortals could ever dream of.
Come find me, Kain Highwind, the Tower beckoned.
"Where are you?" Kain asked the dreamscape, bodiless and drifting through the sky.
But the Tower did not answer, only laughing, the sound carrying throughout the wind.
Kain woke a few hours later to the sun stubbornly streaming light around the edges of the curtains. He reluctantly got to his feet and made his way into the parlor where he could hear the clink of plates and soft conversation from the dining room. He went to the dining room door and saw Rosa seated at the table as Jon laid out several covered dishes. Beside Rosa on the table was a neat pile of papers that Kain recognized as his parents' love letters.
They both looked up at Kain's arrival. "Good morning, Master Highwind," Jon said with a smile as Kain took the chair beside Rosa and sat down. "I expect you have some questions about what you found."
"The armor," Kain said flatly. "Did you know about my mother being a dark knight?" he asked.
"I did," Jon answered simply as he continued to lay out plates and cutlery, enough for three spots. "She would come here often, to convalesce after difficult training. We did not speak of it directly, but I tried to make this place comforting for her during her dark days."
"Did my father know?" Kain asked.
Jon hesitated a moment before answering, "Not while she was alive. Sir Richard came here, about ten years after her death, to start going through her belongings. He found the armor and several… troubling books and documents. He went back to Baron to confront King Odin but died shortly afterward, so I'm not sure what, if anything, came of it."
Kain said nothing in reply, and the room seemed suddenly heavy with tension.
Rosa cut through it with her quiet question, "Did anyone else know?"
Jon didn't answer, watching Rosa carefully for a long moment. Then he sighed and replied, "Your mother was with Mistress Highwind often, tending to her as she recovered. I would be surprised if she did not know."
"I suspected as much," Rosa remarked as she served herself from a dish of baked apples. "Mother knew far more about healing dark knight injuries than most white mages. I've been wondering why for a while, but it makes sense if she was healing Elena."
"Will you stay another day?" Jon asked, directing the question at Kain. "I was telling Miss Farrell the best route to tour the orchard."
"No, I want to get back—" Kain started, but then Rosa gave him a hopeful look and Kain immediately changed his mind. "Just one more," he said instead and was rewarded with Rosa's brilliant smile in return.
If Jon noticed the exchange between them, he did not comment and only nodded. "Wonderful. Your chocobos will be ready whenever you are. Just head out to the stables." The table was fully set now, and Jon stopped fussing, looking satisfied. "Enjoy your meal," he said as he left.
"How is Cecil?" Kain asked Rosa once Jon was out the door.
Rosa shrugged. "Feeling raw but he'll come around. A day in the sunshine will help."
"He went to your room last night," Kain announced and was met with Rosa's surprised look. "Did you…?" he started to ask but found himself unable to put voice to the question.
Rosa blushed, the pink in her cheeks making her even prettier. "Do you really want to know?" she asked quietly.
Kain found himself unable to answer, with his tongue dry and tacky in his mouth.
Rosa looked aside from Kain's blank stare, murmuring quietly, "Nothing happened. Not that you get an opinion about it."
"I know," Kain said, feeling more relieved than he deserved from her answer. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you the other night with Marion," Kain blurted out.
"Yes, you did," Rosa corrected him gently. "But it doesn't matter because I've already forgiven you."
"Thank you," Kain said, feeling a wave of gratitude for her grace.
Rosa reached for her plate again and they ate together in mutual quiet, the only words between them as they passed plates back and forth. Eventually it was Rosa who spoke, as she set aside her now empty plate. "I read through your parents' love letters," she announced without preamble. "And something's been bothering me."
"What?" Kain mumbled through a full mouth.
"They don't seem like love letters between a married couple," Rosa said. "There's some… unmet longing in them. It reads like lovers who are being kept apart, by distance or circumstances." She picked up one letter. "Listen to this: 'Being unable to touch you is slowly driving me to madness. I need you like air in my lungs. When can we be together again?'" Rosa lowered the letter and looked at Kain. "Does that seem like a married couple who will see each other over dinner?"
Kain took the letter from her, reading it over again. "What else could it be?" Kain asked, then remembered Elena both scowling and crying other the letters. Were they even hers? Realization dawned on him. "These are letters between Joanna and my father," Kain declared. "My mother must have discovered them. When Father found them in her things, he must have realized she had found out about the affair and believed she killed herself over it." Kain winced. "He blamed Joanna, both for the affair and hiding my mother's dark knight training from him."
"Perhaps," Rosa murmured as she took the letter back, folding it in place with the others. "No matter what it is, I think you should leave it alone."
"Why?" Kain asked, surprised. "Because it involves Joanna?"
Rosa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, then straightened and met Kain's eyes directly. "Because no matter who it involves, knowing the truth won't change anything about who you are. Just be Kain Highwind and don't worry about the messy secrets of your parents."
Kain said nothing, looking aside from Rosa's intense look. The windows of the dining room were open to the morning breeze, and he could hear the faint chirp of birds nested in trees near the manor. Then, he heard footsteps by the open door and looked up to see Cecil standing there, not entering fully, like he was uncertain about approaching.
"Come join us," Kain said carefully, as if he were speaking to a skittish animal. "There's plenty of food."
"Thanks," Cecil mumbled as he took the chair opposite Rosa, looking between her and Kain carefully.
"Jon suggested we take a tour of the property by chocobo," Rosa said conversationally, as she handed a dish to Cecil. He served himself as she spoke. "I was thinking the three of us could go and explore for the day."
Kain watched Cecil watching Rosa, his face both hopeful and guarded. "Actually," Kain said before Cecil could answer. "I have a few things I want to look over. Why don't you two go and meet me back here this evening?" he suggested, trying to sound mild.
Rosa looked surprised. "Are you certain? We can wait here until you finish your business and then go together."
"I'm certain," Kain said, more firmly this time. "You two enjoy yourselves."
Kain watched as understanding dawned on Cecil, making him suddenly smile. But Rosa was still doubtful, casting an uncertain look at Kain, which Kain ignored, suddenly fussing with his plate. "I'm done," he declared, standing up from the table. "I'll see you two later," he said as he started to exit.
"Kain!" Rosa called out after him. He didn't stop, continuing through into parlor, but Rosa followed him out. "Kain," she called again, and this time he stopped, but did not turn to face her. "I don't know what to do."
"He loves you," Kain said simply. He glanced over his shoulder at Rosa; she wore her uncertainty heavily on her shoulders, making her look somehow smaller and younger than she was. "Let him."
Rosa hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something, but nothing came. Instead, she nodded, then turned away to walk back into the dining room. She paused again by the door, lingering there with her fingers on the doorframe. Kain wondered if she waited to see if he would say something, protesting at the last second, or if he would let her go. He said nothing, letting the silence speak for him.
Rosa went in.
Kain spent the late morning exploring the manor itself, going floor by floor and marveling at the beauty of the place. By noon, Jon discovered that Kain had stayed behind. After a lavish lunch, Jon took Kain to his office and gave him an overview of the entire estate in meticulous detail. Unlike the previous sessions with the castle steward, Kain found himself interested and followed along, surprised to be suddenly invested. Now, the abstract numbers were more real now that he had seen what they were attached to.
With an uncharacteristic shyness, Jon asked to show Kain some potential new ideas for the orchard. Kain agreed, and Jon made his proposal of expanding operations, to include producing fruit wines. Currently, he made a few dozen bottles a year, but it was more as a hobby than anything else. With the right spot on the property and small investment, Jon was confident that he could turn a profit within three years of its operation.
Kain agreed easily, so he and Jon spent the rest of the afternoon making plans. As the evening approached, someone stopped by Jon's office, to let him know Cecil and Rosa had returned.
"Do you wish to join them, Master Highwind?" Jon asked, as he began to gather up the papers on the desk between them.
"No," Kain said. "Let's keep going. They can eat without me."
And so Kain tried not to think about it, as the evening turned into night, he and Jon arguing over a map for the best placement of the winery. His two best friends alone for a day and night in a romantic environment – what else could happen?
It was finally Jon who begged off, when the sky had been fully dark for a few hours, citing his age and need for a comfortable bed. Kain found himself reluctantly climbing the stairs to the owner's suite and stepping into the parlor. It was empty, with all the bedroom doors closed.
Kain stepped lightly, trying at first to convince himself he wasn't going to listen for anything, only go straight to bed himself. He got all the way to his bedroom door before he hesitated and went back to Cecil's door. Carefully, Kain put his ear to the door and heard the soft murmur of voices muffled on the other side. His suspicions confirmed, Kain drew away.
There's no place for me there, Kain told himself as he entered his own room. He tried to ignore the giant pit of loneliness in him, despite how it threatened to swallow him whole. This is for the best, he reminded himself, but it was a poor comfort as he found fitful sleep.
Kain dreamed again, but it was in vague flashes and glimpses – a woman's golden hair over his face, whispered promises into his ear, the wind tugging impatiently at his clothing, laughing at his fumbling inexperience.
Rosa and Cecil were up by the time Kain woke. He found them in the dining room, eating breakfast.
"We missed you last night," Cecil said as Kain joined them.
Did you? Kain thought, but instead said, "I got caught up in Jon's plans for the estate. It took much longer than I had planned."
Rosa was either wholly invested in her food or was avoiding eye contact, but she said nothing.
"Are you ready to head back?" Cecil asked.
Kain thought of returning to Baron and what awaited him there: confronting King Odin about his mother and possibly understanding more of the conflict around Richard. "Yes," Kain said with a new determination.
"King Odin's not here," Albert told Kain regretfully, upon his return to Baron. "You'll have to wait for his return." Albert sat at his desk in the Dragoon Commander's office, Kain sat opposite, telling Albert of his time at Highwind Manor, unaware that this would be the last time he'd report to his Commander.
"From where?" Kain asked, surprised. He hadn't been aware of any planned royal flights. "I thought Cid was working on upgrades to the king's airship."
"No idea. No one knows the itinerary, not even Baigan, and the crew was obviously caught off guard by the last-minute flight. Cid tried to delay, but King Odin insisted," Albert told him with a frown, and Kain saw new lines of worry webbing out and deepening across Albert's brow.
Kain stewed in uncertainty for three more days, waiting for the king's return to Baron.
When the king finally returned, the whole castle was set alight with rumor, trying to speculate where he had been. But the Red Wings crew was surprisingly tight-lipped, and while usually someone would have gossiped, none would confirm where they had gone.
Kain put in his request to see the king with the steward and was surprised when it was granted within a few hours. Kain was summoned by a guard, who wore their anonymous helmet and barely spoke to Kain as they escorted him back to the throne room.
Kain arrived in time to see Albert storming out of the throne room, in a rare display of wild anger. Albert saw Kain and stalked over, scowling darkly. "Be cautious, Kain," Albert warned in a low voice. "His Majesty has a dangerous agenda."
"What do you mean, Albert?" Kain asked, confused. "What's going on?"
Albert sighed, and some of the anger went out of him on the exhale. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I only urge you to be careful as you navigate new waters."
"Don't be cryptic," Kain said with a frown. "Just tell me what's going on."
"King Odin will tell you soon enough," Albert said with a bitter laugh, turning to go.
"Albert!" Kain called out after him, but Albert wasn't listening, still walking away. "Commander Hawthorne!" Kain tried more formally.
Albert hesitated, turning to look back at Kain. "I'm not your Commander anymore," he said, sounding dejected.
Kain wanted to ask more, to shake the answers loose from Albert, but the guard at the throne room spoke, "His Majesty will see you now," and it was not a request, but a demand.
With building anxiety, Kain entered, to find Odin alone, seated on the throne. There was a strange smell in the air, Kain was surprised to find, with almost a briny aftertaste on the tongue.
"Your Majesty," Kain said formally, dropping into a bow before the king. "I've discovered something about my mother, and I have many questions."
"I do not care about your mother," Odin said sharply. The king was known for being straightforward, but his callous bluntness surprised Kain. "You are not here to ask questions but to listen and obey."
Kain said nothing, stunned into silence.
"You are taking over as Commander of the Dragoons, effective today," Odin continued. "And with Cecil at the head of the Red Wings, the two of you will help usher Baron into a new, powerful age."
"But Commander Hawthorne—" Kain tried to protest.
"—is irrelevant," Odin interrupted Kain. "I have chosen you. Do you accept?" His eyes were calm yet calculating, not blinking as he awaited Kain's reply.
Kain hesitated. It was something he wanted more than he could possibly articulate, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and off about Odin and how he spoke. This was supposed to be a huge accomplishment for Kain, but he felt no joy, only dismayed confusion.
It wasn't supposed to be like this, Kain thought, feeling like a child again.
"Well?" Odin prompted, impatient.
"I accept," Kain said, sounding unsure.
"Good," Odin smiled, the expression tight over his teeth. He leaned back against the throne, looking satisfied despite Kain's obvious reluctance. "Now go and make ready for the glory of Baron."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Kain said formally, unable to shake a new feeling of dread as he left, like the walls were about to close in on him.