12.

Of mothers-in-law and other dangers

Finally, the familiar meadows and autumn-coloured woods of Baron came into view.

"From up here, it looks as peaceful as ever..." Rydia remarked. "Although in Tororia it looked not that different at first, and then we got chased out of town..."

"That's why we cannot be careful enough. Don't you think that it would be a good idea to land the airship away from the town, Cecil?" Golbez asked, investigating the landscape below with an unusual nervous look in his eyes.

"Yes..." the Paladin replied rather curtly, although he was watching with interest Golbez's recent behaviour. Though his brother still tried to keep up his cool and mocking attitude, it was evident that something was bothering him since they had met Mallack. "Could the Dark Paladins have something to do with Golbez’s appearance?"

Cecil landed the airship carefully on a field outside of town. "Someone has to stay here - Edge, Rydia, would you stay behind and guard the ship until we've found Cid?" He asked, expecting words of protest from the caller.

To his surprise--and to Edge's as well--the caller agreed.

"All right -- we all have to make our sacrifices..." Edge grinned; obviously he was happy that Rydia had not lost her sharp tongue when it came to him.

The rest of the group started to walk in direction of the town. "It feels so strange to sneak into our fair Baron like this..." Rosa whispered sadly.

"Yes, like we were criminals..." Her husband added. A terrible sense of foreboding filled him as they approached the town and he felt reminded of the days when he had been a Dark Knight and the people of Baron had feared him. "Is it all starting anew?"

Dawn fell in step next to him. She seemed nearly her usual self once moreand even could find the strength to cheer up her friends and help with her advice again. Like she had read the Paladin's worries, she told him: "Whatever happens, Cecil, always remind yourself that the people might not know what they are doing. Mallack's magic is very strong..."

"Yes, I know." The Paladin nodded; still doubts were roaming his mind - doubts whether some action by him would not have been able to prevent all this. He glanced at Golbez, who was deep in thought, his gaze fixed on the silhouette of Baron's houses, which came into view, slowly.

"Everything seems to be normal..." Kain stated as they approached the town gate. In fact Cecil's doubts proved to be needless, for there were no riots on the streets and the townspeople were following their daily duties as usual. The only thing Cecil noticed was that the streets were not as bustling as usual, but he presumed that this could as well have to do with the cold weather. Some people bowed as they saw the group approaching, and spotted their King and Queen among it. However, as Golbez passed them, his long black cloak trailing behind him, some people started to whisper and exchanged nervous glances.

"They're just curious of who you are..." Cecil told his brother, though he himself knew that he was playing down the situation way too much. Golbez obviously thought the same thing, but just raised an eyebrow and continued his way.

"Huh. Am I glad!" Rosa breathed out, relieved, and placed a hand on her heart as if to slow down its beating. "And I thought we would get chased again. Seems to me that the citizens of Baron--"

Suddenly a scream rang through the streets.

"I told you to go away!" A high-pitched female voice yelled.

"Mother!" Rosa gasped, letting go of the hand of her husband and running in direction of her former home.

"Rosa! Wait!" Cecil pursued her at once, as well as the others - only Golbez followed the group without much haste.

"Mother! Is everything all right?" Rosa had reached the house her mother lived in by now.

"And now leave my home at once!" Margaret's voice rang once more -- suddenly the front door was pushed open and a man stumbled out of the house. Panic was written on his face as he stumbled towards them, swaying slightly. Rosa was only barely able to get out of his way -- the man crashed into Cecil instead.

"Slow down now!" the Paladin caught the man, surprised.

As the man looked up, sweat appeared on his forehead and his expression became even more panic-stricken.

"Your...your Majesty..." He blubbered, "please excuse me..." The man grinned desperately, freed himself out of Cecil's grip and ran away.

"What was that just now?" Kain panted, approaching his friends.

"I have no clue..." Cecil wondered. For a moment he thought about pursuing the strange man, but just now, Margaret's haggard face appeared in the doorframe of her house.

"I told you I'm not buying anything at the door!" she shouted, her voice so shrill that some townspeople stopped, frozen in their movement for a moment.

"Mother! Is everything all right?" Rosa stared at her with big eyes.

Margaret's head turned sideways, surprised. "Rosa!? What--" Just now she realized that Rosa was not the only person standing before her door. Her gaze fell on Cecil and she looked tohim adversely as usual. "Oh... My dear son-in-law obviously has taken the trouble to pay me a visit..."

"Is everything all right, Ms. Farrell?" Yang stepped forward, thus saving his friend from having to talk to Rosa's mother.

"No - nothing is all right!" The elderly woman snapped, fixating her eyes onCecil again. "One of those traveling merchants pestered me again! I told this rude fellow several times that I wouldn't buy anything, but he just did not want to go away! What do we have a King for if he cannot take care that such a person leave alone respectable citizens like me?"

"Err...that..." Cecil stared wordlesslyat his mother-in-law.

Behind him, Dawn started to giggle and was soon followed by the laughter of the other friends, the tension leaving the group slowly -- even Golbez was chuckling slightly. Cecil breathed a sigh of relief and managed a grin on his own. "I'm glad you're fine, Ms. Farrel. We were worried about you..."

"Were you?" Margaret watched him suspiciously out of the corner ofher small green eyes. Then she turned her attention to Rosa. "How nice of you to visit me! After all you left without telling--"

"Yes, I know, but lets talk about that later..." Rosa interrupted her - though she was relieved that her mother was all right, there was still another heavy burden on her soul.

Margaret seemed to sense this, as well. "Rosa dear. What has happened? You're all pale..." Her voice was suddenly worried and soft as she looked towards her daughter, brushing a golden lock out of her face.

"Mother..." Rosa whispered, her voice nearly failing her. "Father... He's... He's alive..."

Margaret broke into a shrill laughter. "Has your marriage confused your senses? If that's a joke it's a bad one..." She stopped laughing, as she got aware of Rosa's expression -- the young woman had tears in her eyes, her look desperately begging her mother to believe.

"But... but Morrison died on a mission for a King several years ago..." Margaret gasped, then --- to Cecil's surprise -- turned her gaze on him as if asking for his opinion in this matter.

"They never found Morrison's body..." The Paladin told her calmly. "He is still alive. I saw him as well -- there is no doubt that he's your husband."

Margaret's normally harsh features softened, her eyes glassy all of a sudden. She turned away, as if being afraid that someone could see the tears in her eyes. "Where...where is he? Have you brought him with you?" She turned around again, quickly wiping her eyes and looked hopefully at the companions.

Rosa shook her head, searching for words. "Mother. Father is--"

Dawn helped her. "Morrison is not here with us, Ms. Farrel," she said gently. "He's in the power of a group of...criminals..."

Margaret gasped and her eyes widened with shock. "Criminals?"

"Don't worry. He's well," Cecil lied, taking up Dawn's unspoken suggestion not to shock the woman too much. "And we'll bring him back to you. I promise."

Rosa's gaze fell on her husband, as if checking if his last words had been a lie as well. Then she nodded. "Cecil's right. We'll bring father home alive, mother." She embraced Margaret, who returned the gesture gladly, for a moment sobbing quietly into the shoulder of her daughter and stroking her hair.

"I know that this may sound insensible," Kain whispered next to Cecil, "but shouldn't we check the castle as well?"

"You're right." Though most of the uneasiness was gone, Cecil wanted to know for sure if everything was all right. Besides, Cid had to be informed about the loss of the Falcon. "Rosa, stay with your mother if you wish - we have to go to the castle."

Rosa loosened her embrace and wiped some tears from her cheek. "No, I'm coming with you."

"Me as well!" Margaret snapped, suddenly her old self again. "I still have some questions."

"But Ms. Farrel..." Cecil tried to intervene, but was stopped by Rosa's gentle voice:

"I'm sure everything will be all right in the castle, so there's no danger in taking mother with us."

"But Rosa. What if--"

"I'm surprised that you're worried about me, boy." Margaret said spitefully. "Would you please tell me what should happen to me in your castle? Unless, of course, your lazy servants have started to breed insects in the kitchen!" She smiled sourly. "But even if some giant cockroach would start attacking us, I'm sure that your friend here can protect a fair lady like me..." With these words, she approached Golbez and took his arm.

The wizard froze, his mocking expression changing to one of utter astonishment:

"But..."

"Don't be shy, boy!" Margaret 's tone was peremptory and left no room for protest. "You look quite strong and capable. You wouldn't turn down a lady asking for help, would you?" she asked. "Lets go!"

Golbez glared at Rosa, though the Queen just shrugged apologizing. "Whatever..." the Black wizard grumbled. "We should go before more people decide to employ me as their personal bodyguard." He started off for the castle, feeling visibly uncomfortable with Margaret by his side. Despite all the stress, the group nearly burst out loud laughing as Golbez turned his back to them.

Their cheerful mood did not stay for long, though. As they had reached the castle drawbridge, a nearly eerie silence greeted them.

"Strange... Where are the guards?" Yang wondered.

"The door is not blocked as well..." Cecil said, carefully pushing the wooden front door open with Kain's help. "Golbez, Yang -- would you please stand guard here until we have checked the courtyard?" He proposed, not wanting to endanger Margaret. Golbez replied with a grumble, which obviously meantagreement.

"It's too quiet..." Kain murmured as they entered the castle grounds. Suddenly he got agitated, as a red-haired woman emerged from the castle entrance. "Diane!"

"Kain!" The woman shouted, approaching the group as fast as she could, her left ankle still limp. Kain caught her in his arms.

"I'm so glad that you're all right!" His girlfriend smiled and kissed him.

"I thought I told you not to worry about me." Kain grinned.

The red-haired girl looked at him earnestly. "You all arrived at the right time!"

Cecil froze -- had something happened to Baron after all?

"Do you remember the townspeople who had an audience with Rosa before you left? They returned, demanding to speak to the King or Queen, again... For some reason, the guards let them through! Father is in the throne room right now -- he has been quarrelling with them for quite some time now..."

"Has anyone else entered the castle?" Kain asked her.

Diane shook her head. "I don't know... I spent my whole time in the throne room, as well..."

Suddenly the big wooden gate to Baron castle closed with a loud bang, followed by a low chuckle.

"So you have returned to your kingdom, King Cecil. Finally you have decided to follow your ruling responsibilities, isn't it that way?" A voice boomed.

"No...not now..." Next to him, Cecil saw Rosa gasping with shock, but even without that, he already knew in his heart whom he would have to face, as he turned around slowly.

"You should take more care protecting your Kingdom..." Morrison smiled evilly as he emerged from a dark corner of the castle walls. He no longer wore his black armour, but black silk like Mallack had worn. However, his appearance was not less fearful than before as the strangely dead features of his face and his lifeless eyes were a horrible sight to behold.

"Father..." Rosa could only whisper.

Morrison stared at her with blank eyes, not reacting on her words. Instead, he took the sword from his back without any haste. "I don't know why you didn't kill me as you had the opportunity tolast time, but I fear that this will not save you from destruction now... So who wants to face me first? Or do you prefer to face me all at once?" He taunted.

Kain drew his spear; Cecil laid his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Rosa had watched the whole scene with horror. "Stop this!" she finally said and took a step towards Morrison, extending her hands. "Father! Snap out of it! Whatever Mallack did to you -- don't you recognize your family? Your own daughter?"

Morrison chuckled. "So -- you want to tell me that I havea family?"

"Yes! You're Morrison Farrel, former knight of Baron..." Rosa continued, staring into the eyes of her father with such intensity, as if she wished that her gaze alone would break the evil spell on the man before her. "Several years ago you left for a mission for the King on ship, but the ship sank. They never found a trace of you. We thought you were dead!" Tears were welling up in Rosa's eyes.

Morrison looked at her, coldly. "It is true that I don't remember much about my past. But I'm sure that I would remember having a daughter such as you, my dear Queen of Baron: a young lady, seemingly naive, but being as corrupt as everyone else living in her castle!"

"What?" Rosa stared at her father in shock, putting a trembling hand over her mouth.

"That's enough!" Cecil shoved his wife gently aside. "I will not allow you to talk to my wife and your own daughter in such a fashion! Can't you see, Sir? Mallack put a spell on you -- the only corrupt one is your master!"

Morrison chuckled, bringing himself into attack stance. "Sir? Oh...so you're trying to lull me with words as you do with your people, King Cecil..." Morrison's expression changed to one of utter disgust. "You and your followers have long enough decided the fate of people. Through your self sacrificialfight against Zeromus you have well managed to get the whole planet in your hands. But times are changing and people are waking up, so you should accept and understand that it is time for a change of power. People are tired of you and your Lunarian friends."

"No one of them ever told the people what to believe in!" Dawn said, calmly, her hand ready to draw her weapon as well. She had watched Morrison the whole time -- Rosa gave her a hopeful look, but Dawn shook her head; obviously there was nothing she could do.

"Their pure existence is already worse enough, Lady Dawn... Mallack was right -- you have changed. Though not for the better it seems. Have you been manipulated by their false promises as well?" Morrison asked.

"We never made promises to anyone!" Kain shouted. "And what about you? We saw how you manipulated the people with those strange black stones! Is that the kind of future you're dreaming of? To rule a nation of mindless slaves?"

Morrison's face darkened. "Mindless? You're all so sure of yourselves, you don't even know what you're talking about! I'm growing tired of you. Mallack wanted some of you alive, but I don't care for that anymore..." He raised his sword and stormed forward without any warning.

"Hiyaa!" Dawn was the first to cross her delicate silver blade with Morrison's two-handed sword. "Wake up! Look deep into yourself!" She stared at him, intently.

Morrison watched her without humour. "Your tricks won't work with me, witch! Mallack warned me!" With a swift motion, he knocked her rapier aside, the impact of the blow sending Dawn to the ground.

"You won't get away this time!" Cecil drew his sword

"Don't..." Rosa caught his arm.

"I don't want to kill him..." Cecil consoled her. "But we can't let him hurt our friends!"

Rosa nodded, pale, her own hand laying trembling on a dagger at her side, as she had lost her precious bow in the shrine in Tororia.

"I'm not sure whether we could kill him... He's much too strong..." the Paladin thought as he dealt his enemy the first blow. With a laugh, the knight blocked it with ease and, with a step forward, outmaneuvered Cecil. The Paladin stumbled sideways, brushing some of his long, snowy hair out of his eyes; he could not believe that the swordsmanship of the Black Knight was so much better than his own.

"I'm going to get help!" Diane shouted, trying to run for the castle as fast as she could with her sprained ankle -- with an exceptional speed the black knight was at her side, at once.

"Wrong direction, my dear!" The Knight grinned and raised his sword.

"Yes, wrong direction for you!" Kain came flying from above, his lance burying into Morrison's right shoulder. Rosa screamed as the knight whirled around, her father's features full of pain, Kain's lance loosening from his back and falling to the floor with a clatter.

"Oh...worried about me?" Morrison groaned, his sword still in his hands. "Do not fret -- an act of such a coward will not bring me down..." He shifted the weapon to his left hand and took a blow at Kain.

"I'm not a coward!" the Dragoon replied angrily, drawing his short sword to block the blow above his head. With a screeching noise, his blade broke in two, thus leaving Kain unarmed.

"But of course you're a coward, my dear Dragoon..." Morrison smiled, driving the blond man backwards with his sword. "Claudius told me about you. Until the end, you cowardly denied the true motifs that made you betray your friends back then. It's not only that you loved Rosa, but also that you were an outsider -- always the second choice, while your friend was the first. In love, in rank... Even now, look at yourself: ex-dragoon! You have no home except the battlefield and even that leaves your heart hungry! 

"Don't tell me that you never did crave for the splendour and fame your friend achieved by becoming Paladin? Who is talking of you? You're the bad guy and your Paladin's friend's the good one. It makes you sick, but you're too cowardly to do something about it -- too cowardly to accept your real feelings and use the strength of them. That's why Claudius did not succeed in getting you on our side. The truth is that it's not Dawn who saved you, but your own weakness! You're also too weak to fight against your dark feelings forever and this will bring you to our side!"

"I will not listen to your foul lies!" Kain hissed, his features twisted with anger. "I may have felt like an outsider, I may have been jealous of Cecil, but these times are long gone! I'm leading my own life now and it's neither worse nor better compared to the one Cecil or my other friends lead -- we all have our burden to carry, as well as we all have our strengths." A power not known to himself surged up in him and he continued, a nearly triumphant smile on his lips, "and even if my dark side would resurface again, if I was really too weak to prevent it, I would fight against it a thousand times. The "truth" you spoke about is as false as your promises to the people. I've seen the real truth in myself long ago: I've seen a way to overcome my dark side!"

"Very well... Then die with that knowledge!" Morrison punched Kain in the stomach with his hurt arm; the blow still powerful enough that it smashed Kain against one the castle walls.

"Kain!" Dawn and Cecil both had recovered by now, their weapons ready to attack; even Rosa had drawn her weapon.

Kain wiped some blood from his mouth and jumped to his feet rather quickly, his gaze locking with Cecil's for only a second. "No, this is my fight..."

The Paladin nodded and without a moment of hesitation he threw his own sword 'Legend' wordlessly towardshis friend. Kain caught it surprised, for a moment nearly hesitating to touch it, as if he feared that the sword's holy energy might burn him. He gave Cecil another unsure look, but the Paladin just smiled. Morrison had stopped in his attempt to hurt Kain and was watching the scene with amusement.

"Oh, trying to kill the evil Black knight with the holy sword? How holy can a sword be that was once wielded by a Dark knight, darker than anyone else before him..." He laughed and then turned his back to Kain, fearlessly. "Try if you dare."

"I'll teach you to mock me and my friends!" Kain stormed forwards, sword tightly in his hands and jumped high in the air, the blade pointing down at Morrison exposed neck. In the back of his mind he heard Rosa screaming, but he knew that he could not listen to her -- the man before him was just too dangerous. He heard the voice of Cecil as well, telling him to be careful and it made him feel proud that the Paladin had entrusted 'Legend' to him. He would not disappoint his trust. His shimmering blade had nearly reached Morrison's neck now, the point of the sword an inch away from the other's skin, as he heard Diane's heart-shattering scream:

"Kain! No!"

Never in all his life had Kain heard such a scream -- it was full of despair and terror and seemed to reach out to his very heart, filling it with panic and desperation. The recklessness with which he had attacked before crumbled now to insecurity, his hands started to tremble, and in his mind he started to ask himself if his actions were right. He tried pull himself together, but it was too late: the blade missed Morrison's neck by an inch... Kain caught Diane's gaze as his feet touched the ground again -- she was looking at him with big eyes, her features full of shame.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I saw that change in Morrison's face as you attacked him and suddenly--"

"Didn't I tell you?" The Black knight hissed and with a terrible motion, whirled around and sent a completely unprepared Kain to the ground with a blow. "Seems you're too weak to carry the 'burdens' you spoke of..." He said disparagingly, ramming his sword deep into Kain's shoulder.

"No!" Diane, Cecil and the others tried to come to the aid of their friend, who lay on the ground, wincing.

With obvious joy, Morrison slowly removed the metal blade from Kain's shoulder, watching with satisfaction how the features of the blond man twisted in pain. Raising his sword once again, he stared fearlessly at the others who were approaching him from all sides.

"Too late!" He chuckled and prepared for a final attack, this time aiming at Kain's heart.

"Nuke!"

With a loud noise, wood splintered and the big double door of Baron castle was catapulted out of its hinges, only to crumble to dust a few seconds later. Morrison stopped in his action, surprised.

"This was rather inelegant, but the door was clearly in the way..." The tall figure of Golbez appeared in the doorway.

"Oh... It's our chosen one..." Morrison licked over his dry lips. "But it's not your turn, yet. I'll just finish--"

"Morrison?" Margaret stepped out from Golbez's shadow, pale as a ghost. "Is... Is it you?" Her eyes fell on the bleeding figure of Kain on the floor. "What...what have you done?"

For a moment, Morrison's expression showed the slightest hint of confusion. Dawn and Cecil used this moment to sprint towards Kain, building a protective wall before their friend. They were joined by Yang, who had entered the courtyard through the broken door as well and had at once noticed the seriousness of Kain's situation. They were just in time, as the blank and cold look returned to Morrison rather quickly.

"So you've managed to distract me... Very well. The Dragoon can wait until later -- I don't have the time to indulge in any more bloodshed right now. Sir Samon will take care of you, anyway. Enjoy your last hours!" He smiled cruelly and made a dash for the castle exit. For a moment it seemed as if Kain wanted to step into his way, but as he caught the Black Knight's gaze, he backed away, letting the other pass.

"Morrison!" Margaret whispered weakly, trying to follow the black knight, but Golbez caught her arm wordlessly, holding her back.

"There's nothing you can do for him right now, Milady..." he said darkly, then left the erratic breathing elderly woman alone, approaching his brother and the others who had assembled around Kain.

"By Asura... Kain, I'm so sorry... It's all my fault..." Diane sobbed, kneeling next to her lover.

Although he was in pain, Kain was still conscious. "It wasn't your fault. I'm the one to blame -- I acted rashly and recklessly..." He tried to get up, but failed to do so and fell back to the floor with a little cry of pain.

"It doesn't matter who's at fault or not. Fact is that your wound looks bad," Cecil said next to him, his voice thick with worry.

"Ah... It's only scratch..." Kain tried to grin, but winced as Cecil helped him into a sitting position.

"Doesn't look that way me," Rosa said, carefully ripping the blood soaked cloth of Kain's shirt from his shoulder. "It went nearly through to the bone..." she said and quickly cast a heavy cure spell to stop at least the worst bleeding.

"Morrison will pay for what he did to you..." Cecil murmured, but stopped cursing as he felt Rosa's gaze on him. "Rosa... I..."

Rosa shook her head, her eyes dropping to the floor, sadly. "No...it's all right. Right now we really should concentrate on Kain and not on my father. It will take more than magic to heal Kain's wound, but I cannot treat him here. We need to get him into the castle..."

"All right. I just hope that we won't meet any more of Mallack's men inside the..." Cecil said gravely, then together with Yang's help, heaved Kain up as gently as possible, carrying him into the castle...