"Kain," Rosa said his name like a prayer, and it somehow parted the darkness. "Come back, please." Her voice was tight with tears. "Don't leave me here alone."

Come back, pawn. Golbez echoed Rosa's demand directly into Kain's mind, as Golbez pushed curiously against the edges of Kain's consciousness. We are not done yet.

Their combined summoning pulled at Kain, plucking away at his resolve to be unaware of himself. He considered fighting against it, to stay unconscious a while longer, just to delay the nightmare that waited for him upon waking.

"He'll hurt me more if you're not here," Rosa softly murmured next to Kain's ear, as if that would hide her plea from Golbez hearing it. "Please, Kain, please."

It was enough, Kain knew; he could not refuse Rosa like this, not ever.

Kain jumped toward waking.


Kain woke to the blue glow of the Sanctuary's Ward, with Rosa's hand in his. For one hopeful heartbeat, Kain thought he was back at Mount Ordeals with Rosa, on the most perfect night of his life. But then he saw Golbez over Rosa's shoulder, dark and looming, casting a long shadow against the wall, that stretched and dimmed with each pulse of the ward. Golbez was unarmored, and his uncanny features only made him somehow more intimidating.

"Kain," Rosa breathed a sigh of relief as Kain sat up in his cot. "How do you feel? Can you feel all your limbs?"

"He's fine," Golbez interrupted, his hand on Rosa's shoulder, drawing her back from Kain, forcing her let go of Kain's hands. "You're a more accomplished mage than I expected."

"I need to check him," Rosa protested, trying to twist out of Golbez's grip and turn back to Kain. But Golbez only grabbed her shoulder harder and yanked her backward; she was startled into compliance, moving back from Kain. "Okay," she said, holding her hands up. "What magic would you like to see from me next?" she asked through clenched teeth. "Will you summon your depraved doctor to see how he might twist my spells?"

"No," Golbez answered dismissively. "For now, you may rest and await Cecil's arrival. You will bear witness, as he struggles to climb the tower. If he survives that far, he'll find his doom waiting for him."

"Why does that matter to you?" Rosa asked, gently, her hands lowered. "I understand your quest for power. But to kill Cecil and make me watch – what does that cruelty gain you?"

Golbez looked briefly surprised, before he mastered himself, expression neutral again. "It does not matter," he said, shaking his head. "What matters is that Cecil will bring me the Earth Crystal and I will be one step closer to ultimate power."

"Why make him climb the tower first?" Rosa pressed; Kain wondered if she was clever or insane to question Golbez so directly. "To what purpose? Only to maximize pain and suffering from Cecil, but why? Who is Cecil to you, to want to hurt him so much? Why do you two look so much—"

"Enough," Golbez's deep voice boomed. "The Delta Sisters will escort you to your quarters."

Rosa deflated, her shoulders sinking, making her look smaller and vulnerable, but she did not argue further. Instead, she looked uncertainly at Kain, her brow knit with concern. She didn't say anything to him either, however, only silently drew away.

As Rosa opened the door and stepped out, Kain would hear the Delta Sisters giggling on the other side. As he stood from the cot, his stomach sank with dismay, but with Golbez still leaning on his mind, Kain knew better than to risk saying anything in disobedient protest.

"I've offered you everything you've ever wanted," Golbez said, after the door clicked closed behind Rosa, "even the ones you try and hide in the private corners in your mind and pretend are not there."

"I..." Kain had no words to deny it, because they both knew the truth of it.

"If Cecil were to extend his forgiveness, would you rejoin him?" Golbez asked. Without the anonymity of his helmet, Golbez looked uncomfortable as he next asked, "After all I have done for you, and all you have done for me, would you really betray me for him? Would you be twice a turncoat?"

"Yes," Kain admitted quietly, unable to lie to Golbez.

"You long endlessly for things you pretend you do not want," Golbez said, his eyes narrowed in an angry glare, more terrifying than his horned helmet had ever been. "So when they are offered, you can protest that you do not actually want them and then blame me. We both know the truth. You are a selfish creature, Kain Highwind, who seeks to indulge your base desires while pretending you can still be a hero. I will tell you now: You are not a hero. Heroes will not re-design the world; I will."

Golbez paused, his anger forgotten and the calm mask back on. Then, in a cold voice, he continued, "Now, ask me again why I am making Cecil climb the tower."

"Why are you making Cecil climb the tower?" Kain repeated obediently, feeling numb in the face of Golbez's accuracy.

"Because," Golbez slowly smiled, looking smug, and despite Golbez's eerie resemblance to Cecil, it was an expression Kain had never seen Cecil wear, "if he makes his way to the top, then you and I will face him. He will be weary and worn down, full of hatred for what we put him and Rosa through. He may be a paladin now, but no man could endure what we've done to him and not hate us. And hatred is the key to understanding."

"What do you mean?" Kain asked.

"Great things can be accomplished through hatred," Golbez said. "It isn't enough for Cecil to just die, but he must die fully broken."

"He will never yield," Kain protested.

"No? You couldn't make him?" Golbez suggested. At Kain's stony silence, Golbez shrugged, seemingly indifferent. Kain either didn't notice or didn't care about the aura of power around Golbez as magic gathered around them. "Perhaps not. Either way, you'll kill Cecil and be rid of him. Rosa will witness and know you are better. You will have everything."

"If Cecil is defeated, I'll have everything," Kain murmured, more to himself than to Golbez, the words permeating his psyche, binding him to its suggestion. Kain did not see Golbez, wreathed in purple magic, his brow furrowed in concentration as he rearranged Kain's thoughts.

Kain had learned that Golbez always knew better and could handle Cecil, finally freeing Kain from his obsessive rivalry. All would be better in Kain's life once Cecil was subservient and then dead. "Thank you," Kain said sincerely, his fear of Golbez now twisted into relieved gratitude.

"Deliver Cecil to me," Golbez issued the command, both verbally and booming into Kain's mind; sweat beaded Golbez's forehead and his voice strangely strained. "Then you'll finally be free to be who you really are."

"Who I really am," Kain echoed absently, his eyes distant and unfocused.

"Go," Golbez commanded through clenched teeth. The tense aura of power around them instantly dissipated as Golbez exhaled in relief, like he was finally letting go of a heavy weight after holding it too long.

Kain blinked hard, suddenly too aware of himself in his body. He looked down at his hands, unsure, like he'd just woken from sleep. In fact, hadn't he just woken up? The glow of the Sanctuary Ward made everything so dreamlike; it was hard to tell.

Your ship is ready, Barbariccia tugged insistently at Kain's hair. Come, you must obey our master, she reminded him, surprisingly gentle, despite all that had transpired earlier.

"I will bring you Cecil," Kain said with grim determination. "Master," he added with an eerie smile.

Don't, begged something so deeply buried inside himself that Kain could no longer recall its name.

Kain pretended not to hear it.


As Kain made his way to the tower's ship dock, where the Scarlet Prelude waited, the wind pushed him impatiently. Barbariccia herself was nowhere to be seen. In the background, Kain could hear the faint hum of her voice, like an irritated bee beside his ear, but he could not make out the words. It was as though she spoke to another, the sound muffled through a wall.

"What's wrong?" Kain finally asked.

Nothing, the wind insisted, sounding annoyed. If you would only hurry, the ship is ready to depart.

"Wait," called out a voice. Kain stopped, then turned to see Richard hurrying to catch up. Behind him was another, wearing Albert's green dragoon armor, the draconic helm masking the wearer's identity. Kain tried to tell himself that the dragoon's gait wasn't familiar at all.

As they both stopped before Kain, the wind around them picked up, whirling in angry protest.

"This is not my choice, Barbariccia," Richard said, exasperated. "But we must both do as Lord Golbez commands."

The air around them calmed somewhat, though high overhead, the wind continued to shriek and whistle.

"Fine." Richard adjusted his helmet, then looked ahead at Kain. "Are you prepared to depart for Troia?"

"What's going on?" Kain asked.

"Barbariccia's pouting," Richard answered glumly, as he continued past Kain now, down the dock toward the ship.

"But why? And why are you coming to Troia?" Kain asked. The wind around him turned icily cold, sneaking into the exposed joints of his armor, poking frigid fingers against his skin.

You shouldn't even have to go, Barbariccia's warm whisper ghosted around Kain's neck, in welcome contrast to the chill. Let Richard go to Troia and stay here with me instead, her voice was hot and breathy against his ear, I'll find a way to keep you distracted.

Determined to ignore Barbariccia, Kain took a steady breath as he hastened to follow Richard. Behind him, Kain heard the green-dragoon's heavy tread as they followed; Kain tried unsuccessfully to shrug off the sense of overwhelming dread he felt.

"It doesn't matter," Richard said tersely as Kain reached the end of the dock, where the gangway to the Scarlet Prelude's deck waited.

The green dragoon stopped beside Kain. "Don't lie to the boy," he said, his voice, although raspy, was too familiar to deny any longer.

"Albert?" Kain asked, still hoping he was wrong.

In answer, the dragoon pulled his helm off, tucking it under his arm. In the harshly bright sunshine, Albert's face was too pale and sallow, his eyes black and empty, the skin around them already beginning to decay. Kain saw, then, how Albert carefully held the helmet left-handed, as if unused to the weight; Kain looked at Albert's right hand and realized it was missing entirely, the wrist ending in a blunt stump, wrapped in linens.

"It's okay, Kain," Albert said, dispassionate and sedate. "The Earth Mother has chosen me. I am… honored."

"What happened?" Kain asked, already knowing the answer.

"That bitch slaughtered Albert and then resurrected him as her thrall," Richard spat. "Now he claims she's risen again and is summoning him to Troia." Richard threw his hands up in frustration. "And because Golbez believes she may know how to resurrect Scarmiglione, here we are, off to dig Elena out of yet another grave."

Albert said nothing, though his jaw was tight with tension.

"And no one is fucking happy about it!" Richard added, shouting up at the sky. The wind was silent in sulky response. Richard sighed, then looked back to Kain. "I don't know why she can't just stay dead."

"Joanna's girl," Kain blurted out, unexpectedly. Albert and Richard exchanged surprised looks. "I…" Kain stammered, unsure of how to explain. "I nearly died, and I saw Elena. She spoke of how she'd wronged Joanna and owed it to her to rescue Rosa. She told me she'd follow me back to… to help us escape."

Barbariccia's howling wail was suddenly all around them, drowning out all other sounds. Kain covered his ears, watching Richard as he gestured angrily and shouted wordlessly into the wind.

You will never escape this tower, Barbariccia hissed between Kain's fingers. Rosa will never leave. She'll jump over and over, begging for death, and I'll catch her every time. No one will stop me, not you, not Richard, not Elena!

"Enough, Barbariccia," Albert declared coldly, sounding so unlike himself. "This comes from Golbez himself; you will not interfere."

The wind around them stilled and quieted, no longer roaring in Kain's ears.

"Come, Kain," Albert said, although he glared at Richard. "You may not get honesty from your parents, but I think it's finally time for the truth."

Richard took half a step toward them, eyes suddenly wide with fear; the sight of it deeply troubled Kain. "What do you mean, Albert?"

"I will tell Kain what I know," Albert said, choosing his words slowly and carefully. "And only what I know." He gestured with his stump for Kain to follow as he stepped onto the gangway to board the ship.

"Only what you know," Richard repeated quietly; relief softened the harsh and tired lines of his face.

"I am so tired of secrets," Kain said to no one specifically as he hurried after Albert.

"Some things are better left unknown," Richard muttered as he followed; it sounded like a warning.

Kain would regret not listening.

Cecil's ghost was waiting for Kain as he entered the Scarlet Prelude's captain's quarters.

Can you believe it's mine? the memory asked, awed. Cecil stood before the windows at the back of the room, open to the skies behind the ship. Although it was daytime with sunshine spilling in, in Kain's mind, Cecil's eyes were full of moonlight instead. Odin had it commissioned specifically for me.

Now it's mine, Kain told himself and the ghost. He looked around the room – the narrow bed and chest, the table with its maps, the small cabinet full of clinking glass bottles, the desk and chair tucked into one corner – and could not help but see Cecil everywhere. Was there anywhere in here that Cecil had not touched? Kain blinked hard, but still Cecil's haunting image lingered.

"Can I convince you to desert?" Albert asked as he followed Kain inside. Below their feet, the engine rumbled to life, rattling the wood planks of the floor. "Troia is isolated enough. You could hide there while this world battle finishes playing out." Despite the plea, Albert's voice was emotionless and monotone. "If physically apart, could you escape Golbez?"

A cold sweat broke out down Kain's back, making his skin tingle painfully. "No," he said, the word strangled in his throat. "There is nowhere I could hide that he can't reach."

Somewhere back at the Tower of Zot, Golbez smiled.

"I see," Albert said. He turned away from Kain, toward the windows. He watched absently as the ship shuddered into motion, then turned, putting the Tower of Zot behind them. The tower shrank from view as the ship began its flight.

"Is it true?" Kain asked, looking aside from Albert, unable to bear the emptiness in his eyes. "Did Elena really kill and resurrect you?"

"It's true," Albert confirmed tonelessly. "Do not grieve for me, Kain. My death has a purpose when few others do. I just wish…" Albert hesitated, searching for the right words. "If I could spare you from the horror that's about to unfold, I would, but soon it comes for everyone. But Kain, you, above all others, should know why."

"Why?"

"Love," Albert said simply, as if that would answer everything.

"Love?" Kain repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Do you really want to know this?" Albert asked quietly. "You could just be Kain, without the weight of this knowledge to drag you down."

Is this what you want, Kain? child Rosa asked from the memory of that cold rainy day they snuck into the infirmary. Kain could feel her fingers threaded through his, and how brave he'd been with her at his side. Kain made a fist instead, trying to flex out the memory of her warm skin against his chilly palm.

"Tell me," Kain whispered, not trusting his voice.

Albert was silent for a long moment, then crossed the small room to the cabinet. He opened it and took out one glass and a bottle full of amber liquid. Awkwardly one-handed, he twisted the bottle's top off, then sloshed the liquor into the glass; Kain was too paralyzed by the sight of Albert struggling, he didn't think to offer help. As Albert was putting the cap back on, he gestured to the drink with a nod. "Drink it; you'll need it."

Obediently, Kain took the glass and a large gulp, grateful as it burned down his throat and into his stomach.

Albert closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, still black even in the bright sunlight. "I was the first friend your mother made in Baron. Elena came to the training yard, looking for a sparring partner. But Baron had only a few women knights in its history, and none when Elena joined the ranks. All the men avoided her or gave excuses not to fight her."

"Except you?" Kain prompted when Albert went quiet.

"Except me," Albert confirmed, and Kain wondered if he regretted that long ago decision. "She was terrifying opponent." He paused, looking down at his stump. "Still is," he added quietly. "We became friends after that, and Elena gained admirers. Despite all the attention, Elena told me she left behind her heart in Troia and had no use for romance any longer. Instead, she wanted to focus on her career and training."

"The dark knight training?" Kain asked. He drained the rest of the glass and put it back on the table.

"Yes," Albert confirmed, frowning at the memory or the empty glass; Kain wasn't sure. "You know from Cecil's experience how much it takes from a person. Elena struggled, often finding herself consumed by dark thoughts. And then, like Cecil, Elena found someone she could love through all the pain."

"Richard?" Kain asked quietly, no longer certain.

"That's what I thought, at the time. But now I'm not so certain. Elena was intensely private about her personal life. I knew she was seeing someone but not whom. Then Richard began openly courting her. Elena became even more secretive and stopped confiding in me. At the time, I thought it was because I was Richard's subordinate, but now I wonder what else she might have been hiding."

"What about Joanna and Richard?" Kain asked. "Did something happen between them? In my memory-dreams on Mount Ordeals, he behaved so strangely around her and then fought with Roland. Why?"

Albert frowned deeply, but did not answer, letting the weight of the question why? hang heavily between them. Then, he sighed. "When Richard finally went through Elena's things, not only did he find evidence of her dark knight training, but her love letters, not knowing who authored them."

Albert stopped to consider Kain, looking uncertain. Whatever doubts he had, Albert seemed to shrug them aside as he continued, "Richard had always prided himself on winning Elena. Discovering her deceptions and true feelings enraged him. He told me he had chosen the wrong woman, and he meant to win Joanna back from Roland."

Albert paused again to consider his words before continuing cautiously, "If something did end up happening between them, though, I'm not sure."

"Which is why Richard and Roland were fighting on the ship," Kain suggested as the pieces finally seemed to be coming together. "But why was Cid's prototype bomb there? How was it set off?"

"Odin put it there," Albert answered grimly. "An unknown airship was sighted near the Tower of Babil, so Odin sent Richard there with the bomb; he didn't want airship technology in anyone else's hands. The bomb was designed so a dragoon could plant it on an enemy ship and Jump away before detonation, but Richard set it off on their own ship instead."

"And the mysterious airship was Golbez's?" Kain guessed.

"The Falcon," Albert confirmed with a nod. "Who then rescued Richard with Barbariccia's help."

"But what does this have to do with me?" Kain asked. "And why does Joanna hate me so much?"

Albert said nothing, looking aside.

"What aren't you telling me?" Kain pressed, more afraid of the answer than of Albert's silence, but needing to ask anyway. "Tell me, Albert, please."

"This is speculation, Kain," Albert said carefully. "But Elena was researching strange, dark magics. It looked like she may have been trying to combine spells."

"Like what?" Kain asked, feeling suddenly sick.

"I think she was experimenting with blood magic to enhance other practices, like brewing potions with and tempering a blade in blood. She wrote extensive notes theorizing how it might be used to summon Eidolons, to bypass the Summoners' Code. I think her death was accidental while she was trying to cast something, and I think that…" Albert hesitated, again.

"Albert, please," Kain pleaded.

"I think she may have bound you to some purpose," Albert continued, reluctantly. "I think whatever darkness Elena found in herself, she somehow put into you too while in her womb. I think that's what makes you so susceptible to Golbez's influence."

Interesting, Golbez remarked, a fishhook yank reminding Kain of his constant presence.

"I was created to hurt someone," Kain said quietly to himself. "The product of a spurned lover."

"Exactly," Albert agreed soberly.

"Why is Richard worried about you telling me this?" Kain asked, now curious about his father's earlier anxiety. "You said you'd only tell me what you know – what speculation worries him so much?"

"Ah," Albert clicked his tongue in thought. "Richard believes Elena had the affair during their marriage."

"He suspects that he's not my father?" Kain asked in disbelief.

"He fears it," Albert corrected Kain. "He may be distant and aloof with you, but he fears not being your father more than anything else."

Kain's stomach twisted uncertainly. "Oh."

"I should go," Albert said, then nodded toward the narrow bed. "Get some rest before Troia, if you can."

Kain regarded the bed uncertainly, doubtful he could sleep, but the heaviness behind his eyes convincing him he should try. "All right," he agreed, although still sounding reluctant.

Albert began to leave but paused by the door. "Kain?" he asked, not looking back.

"Yes, Albert?"

"Promise me, if you get the chance to escape from Golbez's hold, you'll try."

Kain's breath froze in his chest, unable to reply.

Albert seemed to sense it. "It's okay," he said gently. "You don't have to say anything. Just… try."

Kain bit back a verbal response, then offered only the tiniest of nods.

Golbez was silent in his mind; Kain wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not.


Kain dreamed, his hands and mouth full of wet soil and splinters as he crawled his way through thick, slippery mud. Cold rain fell heavily, threatening to drown his lungs as he fought to the surface. Kain roared with effort when he finally emerged from the earth, face upturned to the storming black sky above. As the rain continued to fall, it splattered clean streaks down Kain's exposed skin, streaming dirt through his blond hair.

Gasping, Kain collapsed to the side of the fresh grave, eyes closed as the rain continued to fall on him.

"You are summoned so easily," remarked a familiar voice. Kain sat up abruptly and saw Theodor kneeling beside him, watching Kain curiously. Kain was his child's self again, as filthy he had been the summer afternoon he had jumped into the river after Cecil and dragged him safely to shore.

Theodor, also a child, looked like Cecil's dark shade. "Were you exposed to Lunarian magic before Golbez's influence?" Theodor murmured, although the question was not for Kain. "Is that why we can reach you so easily in the dream state?"

"Lunarian?" Kain asked, seizing on the foreign word.

"Never mind," Theodor dismissed Kain's question and shook his head, as if he'd forgotten Kain was present and had been abruptly reminded. "It doesn't matter anyway." He looked past Kain, and when Kain followed the line of his gaze, their surroundings suddenly clicked into clarity. It was nighttime in the graveyard of Troia, the dark forest around them looking like a black void.

"The better question is, do you want to know what your mother is hiding?" Theodor offered Kain his hand and helped leverage Kain to his feet.

"How?" Kain asked before he could stop himself, still holding Theodor's hand.

Abruptly, Kain heard a woman's teary wail. Kain looked and saw another grave beside them, fresh dirt still loosely piled on top. From beneath the earth, Kain could hear muffled sobs and inarticulate, hysterical crying.

Wide-eyed, Kain looked at Theodor. "Who is that?!" Kain demanded, afraid he already knew.

"She could leave if she wanted to," Theodor said quietly. "She chooses to stay, trapped by her deepest regrets." Theodor bit his lip as he peered down into the grave, looking both anxious and curious. "You could leave, too, if you didn't want to know. You've been warned before about poking at the past." Theodor glanced back at Kain, his gray eyes too bright in the nighttime forest, like twin moons beaming in the darkness. "Is this what you want, Kain Highwind?"

"Yes," Kain said, and instead of Theodor's hand in his, he suddenly held a shovel. Kain gripped it tightly as he pushed the tip into the loose soil.

You'll regret asking…. whispered a woman's voice – it was Barbariccia; no, it was Elena; no, it was Rosa, pleading with him; no, it was Joanna, weeping openly over Elena's body, holding baby Kain to her chest. Oh, what will we do?

From the darkness of her grave, Elena seized up and snatched Kain, dragging him down below.