In the days that followed, Kain endured a new special hell that had been designed just for him. Every morning, he'd report to the tower's top floor, Golbez's war room, where the Delta Sisters admitted him inside. The youngest and smallest of the three, Mindy, sometimes danced around his feet, trying to throw him off balance, while Sandy, the eldest, looked down at Kain from her impressive height, and gave report.
But it was the middle sister, Cindy, that worried Kain the most – she watched him with silent, knowing eyes, and Kain had a faint sense of the magic radiating off her. Never wanting to push his luck with any of them, Kain nodded to everything they said, never arguing.
"Enjoy!" the youngest would say, giggling as Kain entered the room. They'd linger outside, peering in until he closed the door behind them. They'd wait out there, to ensure Kain stayed for the entire day.
Waiting for him inside was always Rosa.
The first day and second day, Rosa tried reasoning with Kain. She talked herself hoarse, coming up with elaborate plans to escape Zot and find Cecil together, trying to persuade Kain to help her, just one more time. She tried appealing to his patriotism, to convince him to liberate Baron from its fiendish corrupters; to his sense of justice, to put to rest all those needlessly killed; to his sentimentality of their shared childhood, of their promise to work together to help Cecil, as they had always done.
Guiltily, Kain wondered if she'd resort to more desperate means. How long would she hold onto that card, and what would drive her to finally play it? Kain was unable to help these thoughts, bubbling to the surface unwanted and unbidden. Worse, Kain was not even sure what he would do if she offered herself to him, not knowing how this twisted version of himself might respond, without the burden of shame to stop him.
Kain, for his part, said nothing in reply to Rosa, grateful for the anonymity of his helmet so that they could both pretend he wasn't always watching her with greedy eyes. He knew, despite all her clever ideas and plans, that they'd never escape Zot, together or separately. Barbariccia would always be there, listening and waiting. And if not her, then there was always Golbez, lurking in the shadows.
Rosa, in her talking, came close to breaking Kain's resolve only once.
"Let me use Libra," she said, voice soft and gentle, as if she were speaking to a frightened child. "I can find what Golbez did to you and use Esuna to undo it. And then, with clear heads, we can figure out what to do next." She eyed the blade above her warily, then looked back at Kain. "This isn't you."
Kain genuinely considered it. He recalled all his worrying thoughts and troublesome impulses and how hard he struggled against their villainous suggestions, and how often he'd failed.
This is you, whispered something in the back of Kain's mind. At first, he thought it was Golbez, poking at him again, but it felt somehow more insidious. You have always wanted to be like this, and now nothing holds you back from being who you truly are.
This is me, Kain agreed, unable or unwilling to fight against it anymore; it was too hard, and he was too tired and too much of a coward to keep trying.
As if she sensed his thoughts, Rosa looked away, then began to silently weep.
The day would eventually end, and Kain was allowed to go and rest, while the Delta Sisters took Rosa back to her prison cell. What happened there, Kain was not sure and did not dare ask.
Kain wasn't sure why Barbariccia would continue to quarter a prisoner in a windless cell where she did not have ears, but he eventually realized it was not Barbariccia's decision, but Golbez's – and he wanted Rosa kept alive, if humiliated, as a bargaining chip against Cecil, should he survive his encounter with Scarmiglione. At first, that seemed unlikely - Kain had seen Scarmiglione's power firsthand, and it was terrifying.
However, Kain weakened Scarmiglione by losing Elena and failing to secure the Earth Crystal from Troia. Would that cripple Scarmiglione enough for Cecil to defeat the Archfiend, even with a useless sword? Who would win?
Kain chased his thoughts in circles, unable to find peace, not knowing which outcome he hoped for.
On the third day, Rosa said nothing, only watched Kain with disappointed eyes. She was still tied to the cross, the blade haunting her from above.
Kain thought her sad silence might finally break him; it eventually would have, were it not suddenly interrupted. Barbariccia's distressed sobs filled the tower's rooms and corridors, buffeting them all with her incoherent grief and agony.
Kain drew his lance, sinking into a battle stance, while Rosa straightened and asked, "What's happening?"
"Scarmiglione!" Barbariccia howled, now angry, the perpetual winds within Zot whistling sharply.
"Say nothing," Kain warned Rosa, stepping ahead of her. It was just in time to meet Barbariccia, her cyclone of hair materializing within the wind that whirled in the room.
"Move!" Barbariccia hissed, fangs bared and yellow eyes wild, looking less human than ever before. "Her blood must spill for Scarmiglione's death!"
"Cecil bested Scarmiglione?" Kain asked, incredulously, while Rosa murmured a prayer of thanks behind him.
Enraged, Barbariccia knocked Kain easily aside, then pounced on Rosa. Kain crashed to the floor, rattling in his armor, and looked up in time to watch Barbariccia wrap her hand around Rosa's throat, forcing Rosa's head up right. Barbariccia's hair swirled wildly around them; it loosened the knot around Rosa's binds, then pulled her away from the post, closer to Barbariccia, nearly an embrace.
"You should be thankful to me for the very air in your lungs," Barbariccia growled next to Rosa's open mouth. Barbariccia squeezed, tightening her grip on Rosa's throat. Rosa choked, unable to reply. She pulled at Barbariccia's hold with desperate fingers but was unable to break it. "See how you fare without it?" Barbariccia laughed, near hysterical. "How will you pray without breath?" she asked.
"Enough," Kain said, standing back up. "Let her go, Barbariccia."
Barbariccia didn't budge, still holding Rosa in place. "I will hang her from the tower's top like a grand flag. Her corpse will welcome Cecil to the Tower of Zot."
"Did Master Golbez order this?" Kain asked quickly, trying to ignore the escalating panic in Rosa's eyes.
That was enough to make Barbariccia pause in her rage. She looked over her shoulder at Kain, her grip relaxing enough for Rosa to draw a strangled breath. "Do not speak to me of orders," she demanded, but sounded deflated.
"He wants Rosa alive," Kain said, more confident now. "He will want to use her as leverage against Cecil, who will surely mount a counterattack for her rescue."
Barbariccia sighed, her hair calming down, now only lightly stirring. "Fine," she conceded unhappily. "Then I shall spend our time waiting for Cecil's arrival showing her all the ways he can be killed." Barbariccia released Rosa's throat, then cupped the side of Rosa's face, the gesture surprisingly gentle. "Won't that be fun?"
Rosa said nothing, only coughed wetly, still trying to catch her breath.
"Barbariccia, don't—" Kain started to protest.
"Mind your place, Dragoon," Barbariccia snapped, cutting him off. "Master Golbez returns soon. He will want to see you to discuss the Earth Crystal. With it, he might be able to resurrect Scarmiglione." Barbariccia released Rosa, who sagged to the floor, still panting. "Put her back," Barbariccia told Kain, disappearing with a final whirl of her hair.
It was silent, Barbariccia's departure leaving a vacuum in the room. Rosa looked up from the floor, pushing herself up. "We could leave now," she said, hoarsely.
Kain stepped closer to the cross, then knelt, retrieving the rope bindings from the floor. Rosa stood as he did and took several backward steps away from him and the cross. She shook her head and whispered, "Don't do this."
"I have to," Kain said, hating her for making this more difficult than it had to be.
"Don't," Rosa said, the word harsh through her injured throat. "Don't do this. Leave with me right now, before they turn you in a monster like them."
"Enough!" Kain snapped, harsher than he meant; he only wanted her to stop trying to save him. He knew he'd been too warped by Golbez and the Archfiends' influence and there'd never be any way of coming back from who he'd become. Her continued attempts to persuade him only frustrated Kain now, that she could not accept this was how things had to be. "Maybe I'm already a monster."
Rosa said nothing, only watched him like a wary animal, not daring to move first.
Kain started for her, hands grasping, but he was slow in his heavy armor. Rosa, faster than him, turned and bolted for the door, yanked it open, and ran heedlessly through. Kain followed and found Rosa standing opposite the Delta Sisters.
"Come to play, have you?" asked Mindy, who bounced up and down eagerly, small daggers flashing in her hands.
"What unexpected fun," remarked Sandy, the long spear in her hand nearly as tall as she was.
"This should be interesting," added Cindy; it was the first time Kain had heard her speak. She watched Rosa with a strange intensity, long scythe in her grip.
Rosa, with her hands and tongue free, did not hesitate, gathering magic in her cupped palms, haloed in golden light as she cast. Her spell's target was Cindy, who advanced with her scythe's long blade hanging overhead, in eerie imitation of the blade from the cross.
Sandy was faster, however; she hung back, casting furiously, and a protective ripple of magic winked around Cindy, a Reflect spell setting in places mere seconds before Rosa's own spell landed. Rosa's spell bounced, the concentration of magic reflecting at Rosa. Green bands of magic circled around her, then pulled tight, paralyzing her in place – Rosa's own Hold spell. It seemed somehow unfair that Rosa's own cleverness be used against her.
"Okay!" Mindy chimed in; a spell held in clasped hands. "Here it comes!" she announced, flinging her arms out, green bubbles launching forward. But they did not materialize around Rosa, as Kain expected, but around Cindy, who turned, body angled toward Rosa. Again, the Reflect spell shimmered, sending the green bubbles bouncing off, hitting Rosa instead.
Rosa, still paralyzed by the Hold spell, could only give a pained groan in response, her eyes wide and wild with fear. Cindy now loomed over her, the scythe blade casting an ominous shadow over Rosa's head.
"Leave her alone," Kain finally spoke, the words sounding pathetic even to his own ears.
"Yeah, pretty boy?" Sandy asked, leaning on her spear as she peered down at him. "What are you going to do about it?"
Before Kain could answer, Golbez was suddenly present in his mind, Leave them and come to me…. Kain saw Golbez standing on the deck of the Scarlet Prelude as it started to descend toward the Tower of Zot; the close physical proximity made Golbez a heavy weight in Kain's mind.
Kain took an awkward step backward. "I…" he tried to say but found there wasn't enough left of his own thoughts to form his own words. "Golbez summons me," he said instead.
Mindy giggled, dancing around the still frozen Rosa.
"Isn't that convenient?" Sandy said. With her long arms, Sandy easily picked up Rosa, slinging Rosa's stiff body over her shoulder.
Mindy snickered. "It'll be nice to have a target to practice our Delta Attack on."
"All the better to prepare for Cecil's arrival," Cindy said, lowering her scythe.
"Kain…" Rosa managed, muffled through her closed lips. If there was more she was going to say, she could not summon the words with her paralyzed tongue.
Kain, unable to watch any longer, fled from Rosa and whatever fate the Delta Sisters had in store for her.
Kain hurried to the tower's dock, in time for Golbez to deboard his ship. Behind Golbez was a strange man in a long lab coat, his unkempt hair teased to a comical puff, making him look bedraggled. He wore large red rimmed glasses, the glass reflective in the late morning sun, obscuring his eyes. He followed Golbez off the ship with an animated hop to his step that belied his apparent age.
"And you think the Reverse Gas can be used so?" Golbez asked as Kain approached, not looking at Kain or even acknowledging his presence. "To send a target to the Feymarch instead of summoning one?"
"If my calculations are correct," the man in the lab coat replied, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Only proper experimentation will prove it one way or another. If…" he paused, peering at Golbez over the rims. "If you'll allow me liberties with my test subjects."
"Go to the Tower of Babil," Golbez said; it was an order. "Rubicante awaits you there. Take whatever liberties you require, Dr. Lugae. But do not kill our prisoners. It would be a waste to lose them," Golbez said.
Dr. Lugae laughed; a strange, high-pitched giggle that made Kain's blood run cold. "There's much that can be done to a person's body without killing them."
"And to their mind," Golbez remarked, but he was not looking at Dr. Lugae anymore, but instead at Kain. "Come, Kain," he said, gesturing with his gauntlet. "There's much to discuss."
Obedient as ever, Kain fell in line behind Golbez as he entered the Tower of Zot.
Rosa was not waiting for them at the top of the tower; the war room was empty. Her absence sent a wave of guilt through Kain, but he was too afraid to wonder what was happening to her, so instead set the worrying thought aside.
Golbez strode confidently toward the table and its unfurled map. It had been untouched since Golbez had last been here, Kain not daring to move or touch any of the figures scattered across the regions of the world. Now, Golbez leaned over the map, and began to move the remaining airship figures from Baron. Now, a crown stood alone, abandoned by its supporting troops.
"I am pulling out of Baron," Golbez said, almost casually. "There are reports of Cecil traveling through the Devil's Road in Mysidia; it is a matter of time before he assaults the castle. Cagnazzo will challenge him, but Cecil has grown in power and allies and will likely defeat Cagnazzo."
"Why?" Kain demanded, surprised by Golbez's news. "Why not fight for Baron? I thought that…" he hesitated, feeling suddenly childish. He remembered the fantasy that Golbez had offered: Kain on the throne of Baron, Rosa by his side, a loyal dragon in the skies overhead. Had it all been false, to lure Kain to Golbez's purposes?
"Baron teeters on the brink of civil war. The citizens will gladly help Cecil," Golbez answered, still moving pieces around. Some went to the dark side of the map, arranged around the image of a tower. "It is not worth the manpower to keep her. Besides." He paused, peering up at Kain with the empty eyes of his dark helmet. "Why stop at Baron? If all goes to plan, and it will, then the whole world will be under one ruler. Why not you?"
"Why not you?" Kain countered.
Golbez returned his attention to the map. "Because, this goes beyond our world, to worlds beyond our knowledge."
"How do you know this?" Kain asked. "You are constantly whispering in my ear, but who whispers in yours?"
Golbez froze, a figurine held mid-air by his fingers. He didn't say anything for a long time, and just as Kain was wondering if he'd been heard, Golbez set the piece down. "That is a question you don't want answered," he said, voice dangerous and low.
Don't you want to know? asked the new voice, curiously poking at Kain's mind.
"What's the goal?" Kain asked instead, shying from the dark voice's probing question, pretending he could ignore it. "Once you have the four Crystals gathered, what then?"
"The way to the moon will be opened," Golbez said with a prophetic air. "But there are more than four Crystals. There are four Light Crystals above ground." He tapped the map for emphasis. "And there are four Dark Crystals in the Underworld."
"The Underworld?" Kain asked, stepping closer to inspect the map again. The dark half wasn't anywhere Kain recognized – could a place like this really exist?
Golbez placed something on the table, sliding it across to Kain. It was a strange looking rock in the vague shape of a key. "There is a place where it must be offered, and doing so will open a path to the Underworld."
"What does that mean?" Kain asked. He picked up the stone, turning it over in his hands.
"Know that I prepare for all contingencies," Golbez said. "If we are… separated, then use that to come find me in the Underworld. We'll rejoin forces there."
"But where? Where must this be offered? How will that open a path to the Underworld? And how are you getting there if not with this key?" Kain asked, the questions tumbling out of him without a filter.
"All good questions," Golbez remarked; it sounded like he smiled within his helmet, "but not your concern unless Cecil manages to divide my forces further."
"Why am I here?" Kain blurted out without thinking.
"Because I can get you the things you want," Golbez replied. "Even if you won't admit you want them."
"No," Kain said, shaking his head. "I know why I'm here, but why are you keeping me here? If you need a dragoon, why not my father?"
"I don't need a dragoon," Golbez said, as if it were obvious. "Richard is a greedy creature, true, but I need someone who wants this as badly as I do. Someone who will never stop wanting more – more power, more acclaim, more love. Someone who isn't satisfied with the world as it is." Golbez paused a moment, then asked, "Is that still you, Kain?"
"Yes," Kain answered, knowing it was true as he spoke.
Golbez pulled out a small scroll, unrolling it on the table. On it was an illustration of a long, white dragon, more serpent looking than traditional dragons, its head blue with a red fringe and outlines. It startled Kain to recognize the dragon from the fantasies Golbez offered him. Was it a real, living breathing dragon?
"What is this?" Kain asked in a whisper, not daring to say it any louder.
"Leviathan," Golbez said with a reverential air. "King of the Eidolons. Barbariccia offers you a pet for a dragon, but I offer you this – the best of them all." Golbez set aside the scroll, looking to the map's dark side. "Somewhere in the Underworld is the entrance to the Feymarch, where the Eidolons reside. My soldiers haven't found the entrance yet, but…" Golbez looked up, fixing Kain with his empty gaze again. "There are other ways into the Feymarch."
"But all the summoners are dead," Kain said, conveniently leaving out it had been him and Cecil that doomed all of Mist. He thought of the summoner girl and wondered if she lived still. Kain easily shrugged aside the guilty thought. "How will you lure Leviathan out?"
"The summoners are dead, but their knowledge is not," Golbez said, sounding pleased with himself. "We found instructional books in the ruins of Mist. And Dr. Lugae is a skilled scientist – he will engineer a way for us to reach Leviathan."
"Us?" Kain asked, surprised.
"Yes, us," Golbez said. "It will your reward for obtaining the Earth Crystal." He pointed to Troia on the map. "You must locate the Crystal and figure out how we can obtain it."
Kain swallowed hard. Going back to Troia seemed like an impossible task. Would Elena still be there, alive – in a manner of speaking? And if dead (again), could he retrieve her corpse to be revived (again), after Scarmiglione's own resurrection? And, perhaps most importantly, did Kain want Elena back in his life again?
"Yes, Master," Kain said, as he knew he must.
That night, Kain dreamed, but not his own.
A baby's distant crying stirred the leaves of the forest's canopy. It was night and the trees' branches sent out shadows that mixed and mingled into terrifying shapes. Overhead, the moons gave off only faint light, matching crescent slivers in the sky, barely enough to see by.
Kain stumbled through the forest floor's overgrowth. The baby's crying seemed closer, and with no other guidance, Kain followed the sound.
The forest broke around a small clearing, but despite being able to fully see the sky, the surroundings seemed suddenly darker, as if the moons had dimmed. Kain peered up and saw one of the two moons was now a dark red, like an open wound in the skin of the sky.
The baby's crying increased, now sounding frantic. Kain looked around the clearing and saw a small basket sitting under a tree, between its protruding roots. He started to approach, but something grabbed his hand and pulled.
Startled, Kain looked down and saw the young boy, Theodor, yanking on his arm. "Hide!" Theodor warned with a whisper. "Before they see you and know you're here."
With Theodor's small hand holding his, they ran together back into the forest. Together, they crouched, watching the clearing, listening to the baby's panicked cries. Kain looked down and found himself a young boy again, but the idea did not seem odd or distressing to his dream-self.
Just as Kain was about to ask what they were waiting for, Golbez emerged from the trees. He did not wear his armor and his silver hair looked darker in the red moonlight. He did not look at or acknowledge the baby, only entered the clearing, walking to its middle. Somehow, his indifference seemed to placate the baby, whose cries abruptly stopped.
"I have three of the Light Crystals," Golbez announced, but Kain was not sure to whom.
"And the others?" asked a new voice, somehow familiar. It came from nowhere and everywhere, filling the clearing.
"I'm searching every corner of this planet for the remaining five." Golbez said. "Soon, they will be mine."
"You mean mine," the dark voice corrected Golbez. "And with them, I'll unlock untold power. Do this task for me and prove yourself more than a writhing, pathetic worm."
Golbez looked aside as he said, "I will do it gladly, my lord." Was Golbez embarrassed? Chastened? Shamed? Kain could not tell.
"He's forgotten me," Theodor whispered beside Kain. "He has gotten so good at hiding me, he really believes I was never there."
"Who are you?" Kain asked, looking at Theodor. The conversation between Golbez and the mysterious voice continued, only as a dull background murmur. Instead, Kain studied the boy beside him; Theodor had a striking resemblance to Cecil in his youth. Another coincidence?
"You are not the only one with a hidden part of yourself," Theodor said, frowning.
"Are you… Golbez?" Kain asked, hesitantly.
"Shh!" Theodor hissed in warning.
In the clearing, the conversation stopped. Golbez turned to their direction, eyes squinting to make out the shifting shadows. Kain's heartbeat filled his ears, drowning out all other sounds, and the moment seemed to drag out endlessly. Eventually, though, Golbez turned away, disappearing back into the trees.
Kain turned to speak to Theodor again, but instead of a young boy, a strange creature loomed over Kain, tall and imposing, cloaked in dark red and purple. He looked alien, with a bald head, purple skin stretched taut over his face and skull. His yellow eyes burned in their intensity, magic radiating off him in pulsing waves.
"Well, what do we have here?" the creature asked, as he reached for Kain, long fingers ending in vicious claws.
Kain screamed – a childish, horrified sound. It echoed in his ears, endlessly reverberating, making him dizzy with the intensity within his head. Kain ran, legs and arms scrambling, desperate to get away, to not be caught by whatever the creature was. The greedy branches of the trees grabbed at him, tugging at his clothing and hair, trying to slow him down. Kain thought he could feel someone's hot breath on his neck but was too scared to look back to confirm. He tripped over a large, exposed root, then rolled to his back, terrified to see what followed him.
"What are you running from, little dragon?" the creature asked, reaching for Kain again; his large shadow blocked the poor light that came from the moons. "Your hatred boils within you. Don't you want to see how it can be used?"
Just as the creature was about to reach him, mercifully, Kain woke.
Kain shot up from his sleeping pallet, scrambling to be free from the blankets twisted around his legs. Breathing heavily, he looked around – there was no eerie forest dreamscape, only a room in the Tower of Zot, aglow with the Sanctuary Ward. He expected his breathing to calm down and even out, but he found he still could not get a full breath. The walls and ceiling around him seemed suddenly closer, threatening to press in on him.
Anxiety soaring, Kain ran out of the room and through the halls of Zot. His lungs burned with the effort, muscles begging for respite, but still he ran on, until he burst out of the stables' doors, into the night air.
Kain leaned down, his hands braced on his thighs, panting heavily. The cold air hurt his throat and chest, but it was a relief to see the open sky again, to know he wasn't doomed to suffocate within the stone walls of Zot.
Kain looked over the edge of the dock; the sea looked black in the darkness of the night. He wondered if he'd reach the crashing waves before Barbariccia could rescue him. He looked at the Tower of Zot behind him, and the idea of going back inside sent a flutter of panic through Kain. He peered back down at the ocean below – would it be so bad? To finally escape Golbez and Barbariccia? And even Rosa and Cecil, and Kain's own tortured heart?
Kain inched closer to the edge; the wind teased his air loose, sending the blond strands streaming behind him. It would be so easy, he thought, putting one foot out into the air.
A bellowing cry broke his concentration, and Kain looked up in time to see Val, a blue streak through against night sky, crash into his chest, knocking him back onto the dock. She braced one clawed foot on each of Kain's shoulders, pinning him down. She snorted, her hot breath blowing through her nostrils into Kain's face.
"Val!" Kain scolded her, trying to push her off him, but Val remained firmly in place, heavier than Kain without his armor. Resigned, Kain sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, looking up into her yellow eyes. She blinked slowly, the translucent membrane of her inner eyelid temporarily covering her pupils, but she did move or release her hold. "I'm sorry," Kain repeated. "I… I wasn't thinking – I won't do that again."
Val snorted again, then shifted off Kain. He sat up, and Val nosed at his arm, until he lifted it, then snaked around him, her body coiling around him, then resting her head on his thigh. She watched him with an intense stare. Kain lowered his arm, resting it on her back.
"I'm not going anywhere," Kain murmured, and that seemed to settle Val, her body releasing some of its tension, relaxing. Kain leaned against her. The acute anxiety he'd been feeling somehow gone now.
"I don't need a better dragon," Kain told Val, and Golbez, if he was listening. "You're enough."
Val trilled, her throat pleasantly humming with the sound.