2.

Unwanted visits

As the airship reached Mysidia, it was already getting dark. Upon entering the town, the group spotted at once signs of destruction on the houses and the sounds of fighting were audible. "FIRE!" In a side street, a black wizard had just fried a monster rat.

"What by Odin happened here?" Yang gasped, shocked.

The black wizard turned around, breathing heavily and bowed slightly. " King Yang! And King Cecil! Monsters broke through the Serpent Way - the Elder was just about to send a message to Baron, though we nearly have resolved the situation ourselves . Still, please go see the Elder in the tower!"

"Thank you very much," Cecil nodded. "Let's go!"

"What a rude fellow," Edge grumbled next to him. "He only greeted you and Yang!"

Cecil laughed and patted his friend on the arm. "Perhaps he did not see you in the dim of the night..."

The Elder was already standing in the entrance hall of the crystal tower. "Welcome!" he greeted Cecil and company friendly, though deep lines on his face showed that he was greatly worried. "What a stroke of luck that you arrived just now. We already thought about contacting you... Surely you have seen the situation our fair Mysidia is in right now."

"Yes. But why didn't you contact us right away, Elder?" Cecil asked.

The elderly man flinched - obviously this question embarrassed him. "We… we did not think that there was a need to call on you sooner than absolute necessary. After all, our wizards were able to handle the monsters here pretty well," he said, for some reason avoiding Cecil's gaze.

The Paladin frowned. "Maybe Golbez wasn't completely wrong with what he said... It seems that Baron is still the country Mysidia would want help from the least..."

Yang tried to mediate: "It doesn't matter now. After all we're here. So, Elder, what exactly happened to the town?"

The Elder cleared his throat. "Two days ago, the Serpent Way suddenly stopped functioning. As we tried to investigate it, monsters poured out of its door and into town. With the help of many brave Mysidians here we were able to seal or destroy most creatures pretty fast. However, we had to seal up the Serpent Way as well..."

"A similar thing happened in Baron. Golbez had to seal the door at our side of the passage..." Cecil informed him.

"Golbez?" The Elder was Elder was staring at the group with wide eyes.

"Oh, I forgot… You don't know of his return…" Cecil said. "My broth... I mean Golbez was found in the woods near Agart. It seems that he was transported to the Blue Planet by means of a magical teleportation device of unknown origin..."

The Elder looked at him slightly sceptical. "And…?"

"You shouldn't worry -- there is nothing we have to fear from him," the Paladin added quickly, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"He's right, Golbez is on our side. He has helped us out several times prior to this," Yang agreed.

"Yeah Elder!" Porom was very excited. "He scared a wyvern just by looking at it!"

"So… did he…" The old Mysidian frowned, his voice suddenly quite cold.

Cecil laughed, slightly nervous. Only he knew that Golbez did not scare the wyvern back then, but had used telepathy to manipulate the creature's mind.

"Golbez is still quite powerful, and I will not deny that he might have some problems to get used to his new life, but we'll take care of him. He can be of great help in these difficult times," he tried to console the Elder.

The Mysidian seemed to relax upon these words. "I'm sure about that. Forgive my scepticism, Paladin Cecil. I'm sure that you'll take good care of your brother and will make sure that he does not stray from the path of light, once more... Your father, Klu Ya, would be happy to hear of you two united, again…"

"I'm sure of that…" Cecil said, though it was a lie. "If the Elder knew what Golbez really thinks about father…" His brother had made no secret of the fact that, in his eyes, their father Klu Ya had abandoned the brothers instead of trying to protect Golbez from the powers of Zeromus.

"But we should talk about such things later on," the Paladin continued. "Right now I'd like to hear out more about the situation... You said that the Serpent Way stopped functioning already before the monsters appeared?"

The Elder nodded. "Yes, that's right. At first we thought that the reason for this would be a broken connection inside the Way, but we could find nothing. The cause for the problems seems to lie in the lack of power.."

"Power?" Yang and Cecil looked at each other, puzzled. They had never thought about how the Serpent Way might function or where it might receive its power from.

"The Serpent Way is fed by a crystal," the Elder explained.

"A crystal?" Cecil uttered, surprised. "But I thought they were all sealed up on the moon!"

"No. The crystals of light and dark are only the most powerful ones, but in fact most of the inventions your father and his kind brought with them to the Blue Planet, are powered by crystals. They are a natural energy resource from the moon. Most of the objects to power the Lunarian devices are not whole crystals, light the light and dark ones, however. They consist of crystal dust or of little crystal shards, like the one the Serpent Way uses," the Elder said.

"And you did not protect this crystal shard after all what happened?" For the first time Edge joined in on the conversation.

The Elder blinked, rather uneasily. "We did not think that such an crystal could be of use to anyone. It's not as powerful as the light and dark crystals, as said… Besides we secured it via use of traps. It is in a safe place..."

"Maybe it is not as safe as you wished it to be... Where is the shard kept?" Cecil asked.

"It's in a shrine deep in the Mysidian woods. It was built there in order to have the crystal out of reach and to enable us to run the Serpent Way independently from Mysidia in case of an attack."

"I see. And have you already checked the shrine?" Yang enquired.

The Elder shook his head. "No, we have had enough problems here and no one to spare. The shrine is very old and no one has entered it for a long time, so--"

"So I guess we should check it?" Cecil offered, the hopeful look in the Elder's eyes unmistakable.

The old man smiled and folded his hand in front of his long, dark brown robe, giving him a nearly solemn appearance. "That would be a blessing!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's check it, so that I can return to Rydia as fast as possible!" Edge blurted out. He was about to leave, when the Elder called him back.

"Please wait a moment! As I just mentioned: The shrine is very old and full of traps to dispel invaders. You will need someone to guide you."

He called for his assistant. "Who of the wizards not occupied with fighting right now, is well versed in the layout of the Serpent Sanctuary?"

The man reflected for a moment. "There's only one I can think of, right now -- Jonas..."

"Jonas?" The Elder did not look too happy.

"What's the matter? If he's a bit more "lively" like Palom and Porom it's no problem!" Cecil grinned with a wink to the twins.

The Elder sighed. "It's not that but..."

"What is going on here, Elder?" a young male voice suddenly interrupted the discussion.

The group turned around, surprised. Much to Cecil's shock the person before him was just too familiar: it was the young, angry black wizard from the Mysidian delegation, which had visited Baron some weeks ago. The boy seemed to recognize him at once, as well.

"You again! Why is there always trouble when you are around?! Are the monsters your fault once more?"

"I.." Cecil was too surprised to utter anything. The hostile reaction of the young man surprised him. The last time they had met briefly in the night of his return from Mt Ordeals, he had been at least reasonable.

"Jonas! You're talking not only to a king, but to a holy Paladin! Behave yourself!" The Elder sounded angry.

"Sorry, Elder.." Jonas murmured, though judging from his expression of his face, he was not sorry at all.

"Jonas? Does that mean that this boy is..." Cecil looked at the Elder with big eyes.

The old man nodded, apologizing. "Yes, he's one of our best students and the only one right now who can help you..."

"Help them with what?" the young man snapped.

The Elder straightened himself, trying to appear as formal as possible. "Jonas, I wish you to accompany King Cecil and his group to the Serpent Sanctuary. We need to check if the crystal for powering up the Serpent Way is still intact."

Jonas looked at him with disbelief. "What? No way! I'll not go anywhere with the man who killed my sister!" he yelled.

Cecil hung his head in shame. "Jonas, I've already told you--"

"I don't want to hear it!" the wizard interrupted him, his cheeks red with rage.

"That's enough!" Now the Elder was becoming furious. "Why are you always so full of hate!? It was never Paladin Cecil's intention to kill the people here! What would Lina say, seeing you here, refusing to help your hometown?! Anyway, it seems as if you're not in the least suited for the task, so we will have to look for someone else…"

The speech seemed to calm down Jonas a bit. "I... You don't have to look for someone else. I'll do it... but nor for your sake!" He glared at Cecil. "I wouldn't mind if you died in the shrine. I'm only doing all this for Mysidia!" The boy turned his back on the group. "Meet me at the town gates when you're prepared," he mumbled and left the tower.

"Elder… do we really..." Cecil looked at the old man, desperation in his eyes.

"I'm sorry for the stress we're putting you through, but there is no other way if you want to investigate the crystal and live to tell a tale of it...Jonas is very impetuous and full of hate and anger, but in his heart he is a good boy. It's just that he loved his little sister Lina very much, and never got over her death... He'll probably calm down once he gets to know you better..." Cecil could not ignore the doubt, which vibrated clearly within the Elder's voice.

"Don't worry. We're there, too!" Yang said, reassuringly, as if he had read his friend's thoughts.

"Yo! Don't fear, man!" Edge slapped Cecil on the shoulder. "Good ol' Edge will make sure that this 'Jonas' does not get on your nerves!"

"We will, too!" the twins Palom and Porom shouted almost instantly.

"I do not believe that," the Elder said, gravely. "The sanctuary is no place for kids - besides there's a lot of homework you've missed while you were visiting Baron.. It's better if you stay here."

"I think so, too," Cecil nodded. "Besides, they might need your help here against the monsters."

"Aww…" both kids seemed to be disappointed, but for once did not protest. The prospect of hunting monsters in town was obviously to their liking, as well.

"All right – we're off to the sanctuary!" Edge was already on his way out

Cecil shrugged. "At least someone is in a good mood. We'll be back soon…" He bowed slightly before the Elder and left the tower together with Yang.

The Elder looked after them, the deep lines in his face suddenly making him look older than he probably was.

"I just hope that the rumours are not true..."

~*~

"She's coming around…" Rosa took the wet cloth from Dawn's forehead, as she saw the young woman stir and handed it to Rydia. "Could you please get a glass of water? She might be thirsty when she wakes up."

Rydia followed her request, though not without giving the women on the bed a sceptical look. Although with every new day, the caller seemed to recover more and more from her experiences, she still had problems coping with Kieran's betrayal. This man who had inspired confidence in her only to use her for his own, evil plans, had stirred mistrust against strangers in the girl. 

"Ugh… where am I?" the blond, nearly silver-haired woman asked weakly, slowly opening her eyes.

"In Baron castle," Rosa told her, friendly. "Cecil found you outside the town gates..."

"Cecil? Yes... I remember..." The woman tried to pull herself up, but could not manage it. "I need to speak with him!"

"Relax! You're still sick and need some more rest.. Besides he is on a mission in Mysidia at the moment, anyway…" Rosa explained.

Dawn frowned. "Mysidia, again?"

"Yes... The town is having problems with the Serpent Way. However, I'm sure that Cecil will return soon – and in the meantime I'll try to help you with everything I can."

Dawn seemed to relax a bit and smiled slightly. "You're Rosa, right? Cecil told me of you…"

"Yes – and you have to be Dawn. Cecil told me of you, too!" Rosa winked and both women had to laugh.

"Did he? I wonder what--" Suddenly, Dawn started to cough.

"You really need some more rest," Rosa said, determined, "and when you feel better you can tell us what happened."

It seemed that Dawn wanted to protest for a moment, but then she just nodded. "Yes. I guess it can wait."

"If you feel better, feel free to stand up and explore the castle. And if there's anything you need, please call the servants -- or even better -- just come directly to me!" Rosa said, standing up slowly.

Dawn's look seemed full of surprise for a moment, nearly irritating the young Queen. This look disappeared as soon as it had come and the other woman smiled, gratefully. "Thank you. I'll be only too happy to talk to you some more, later on!"

"I'm looking forward to it, as well!" Rosa smiled and left the room, closing the door carefully.

Dawn watched her leave, then she cast her eyes to the ceiling, her smile suddenly vanishing. Finally, she closed her eyes, and drifted off into a troubled sleep. 

~*~

"So this is your room..." Diane watched the weapons on the wall of Kain's modest room with interest.

Kain cleared his throat and scratched his head. Having a woman visit his quarter made him feel strange and nervous. Not even Rosa had ever seen the inside of his little room in the barracks. And even now, though the red-haired, lively woman sitting on his bed was the woman he loved, it just did not feel right.

"It's… it's not very cosy, is it?" He laughed sheepishly. "Not like your room in Cid's house."

Diane shrugged with her shoulders. "Well, it could use some flowers. But the way it looks suits you. Besides it's a safe place to meet, " she added and blushed slightly.

In fact it was not easy for the two lovers to see each other often. Cid had forbidden Kain to enter his house, showing him -- unmistakably – that he was against any relationship between his daughter and a "bastard" like him. However, neither Kain nor Diane cared much for this order and Kain used any opportunity to visit his girlfriend while her father was occupied with something out of the house. Having to meet secretly at Diane's house still posed a nuisance to both young people. Meeting somewhere else was out of question as well -- Diane's ankle was still sprained from the attack of a wyvern and she could not walk very well. 

Even more so, it had astonished Kain to find Diane standing before the door to his quarters this morning. Though it had probably been very strenuous, the girl had somehow managed to come all the way to the barracks. Not giving the long-haired warrior any time to protest, she had just flashed Kain a brilliant smile and had demanded to enter his room, telling him that she was felling well.

Though the paleness of her face expressed that she was still in pain, her behaviour made Kain grin. "She's really some girl..." Still the feeling of awkwardness did not leave his mind and he made a mental note to meet with her in more appropriate places, like a tavern, when she was feeling better.

"Although a tavern with all the drunkards isn't a good place as well..." Frowning, he erased "tavern" from his mental note.

"Don't frown like that!" Diane pulled him out of his brooding. "Are you not happy at all to see me?"

"How can you ask that?" Kain grumbled. "I'm just worried that you did run all the way to me with your broken ankle. You could not even be sure that--"

"--you would be here or be on a mission?" Diane ended his sentence, grinning broadly. She watched him, a curious look in her eyes. "Though I really wonder why you didn't want to accompany Cecil to Mysidia…"

"What?" Kain stared at her, his jaw dropping down – Diane's ability to hit just the right spot with her comments, never failed to amaze him. "I thought that it would make you happy that I'm staying here…"

His girlfriend smiled, her big brown eyes watching him intently. "It does make me happy... However, even in this short time we've been together now, I got to know you well enough to know that you're a fighter by heart. I don't want that making me happy means making you unhappy… I'd hate to know that our relationship forces you to do things you don't want to do…" she said, her words spoken in a most earnest way without any sign of reproach or anger.

Kain shook his head and knelt down before her sitting place, taking her hands in his.

He bit his lip. "I'm not good at this kind of stuff, Diane. But I'm not staying here because I feel forced or anything. I just want to be with you. You've changed my life that much I don't want to miss one minute of this "new" life of mine. It's just that I worry for Cecil... He seems to have a lot on his mind lately and after he has forgiven me so generously after everything I have done, I--"

"Generously?" Diane frowned. "You sound like you didn't deserve his forgiveness."

Kain cast his eyes to the ground. "Well, after all I've done I sometimes wonder how anyone could forgive me…"

Diane uttered a clear laugh. "Well, I could tell you a hundred of reasons for this!" She smiled and, raising Kain's head with her slender hands, brought her head down for a kiss.

Kain grinned, all sorrow and worries disappearing from his mind, his thoughts now only occupied with his love. "By the way… We really should find a new place to meet… My room is not the right place for a lady such as you."

Diane's big brown eyes sparkled with amusement. "All right, if you insist… How about the tavern?"

~*~

It had become dark by now, and the group around Cecil had decided to camp for the night. He, Edge and Yang had huddled around a campfire, looking rather fatigued. Jonas sat away from them, leaning against a tree and looking gloomily into the sky.

"Boy! Am I exhausted!" Edge muttered. "I'm not used to all this walking. Why didn't we take chocobos? It's already worse enough that we cannot use the airship, since the shrine is deep in the woods…"

Yang smiled. "The Lunarians who built the shrine surely had other intentions than building a landing place for airships in front of it. Besides we could have caught a chocobo if you hadn't eaten up all the vegetables for catching them.."

"I was hungry! I hadn't eaten for three hours..." Edge grinned and stretched himself out. "Ahh… I'm really tired... I hope that the shrine isn't too far away from here. I wonder if he knows..." He looked towards the boy leaning against the tree. "HEY! Err… what was your name again?"

"Jonas…" Cecil mumbled, staring absentmindedly into the fire.

"Yes -- Jonas!" Edge called over to the young wizard. "Is it still far?"

Jonas shot him a defiant glance. For a moment, it seemed that he had no intention of answering; but then, obviously forcing himself, he said, "It's not far away anymore… We should reach the building tomorrow around midday, I think."

"Great!" Edge moved closer towards the fire. "That means that we even may be able to return to Mysidia tomorrow, once we've finished our business at the shrine." He rubbed his hands. "I'm looking forward to a warm room in an inn. It's much too cold to camp outside..."

"That's only a matter of discipline," Yang stated, though he did not seem to feel very comfortably himself. Winter was nearing and though the trees saved the group from the harsh winds of autumn, the forest floor was already quite cold.

Edge smirked. "Yes, I've heard that the Fabulian fighters are fairly tough -- especially their king. I heard this story about how you, my dear Yang, had to wait all night long in front of your own room, because your wife was angry with you and had locked the--"

Yang's eyes sparkled with anger and embarrassment and he quickly held up his hand. "No more, Edge… Yes, I'm feeling cold, as well… Only our young friend does not seem to mind the weather." He nodded towards Jonas.

"He is sitting over there because of me…" Cecil, who had obviously not listened to his friends up until now, murmured.

"Give him some time..." Yang tried to reassure him.

"But we don't have time!" Cecil shook his head. "Who knows what will await us tomorrow? If we don't work together, his stubborn behaviour may bring us all into danger… Besides I'm responsible for him and I can't watch over him if he even refuses to talk to me…" He sighed and suddenly stood up. "I'm going to talk to him.. There must be something that can be done..." he said, though more to himself as to his friends.

Yang and Edge watched him approaching the young black wizard, concern in their eyes.

"Can I join you?" Cecil asked the boy, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

Jonas did not even look up; some strands of his chestnut coloured, slightly wavy hair had fallen into his face, shading his dark eyes, which were stubbornly cast down. Still his whole posture did not seem hostile, but nearly afraid. As the Paladin looked at the 16-year old boy before him, it occurred to him how much Jonas was still a child. The black mage still had not looked up.

"All right. If you don't want to talk, please come at least over to the fire. Aren't you cold?" Cecil asked.

"As if you would care..." Jonas snorted.

"At least he's talking…" Cecil let himself fall next to Jonas on the cold forest floor with a sigh. "In fact I do care... As well as Yang, Edge and the Elder do. And I'm absolutely determined to bring you back to Mysidia safely, Jonas. I… I know that you hate me," Cecil took a deep breath -- to speak with a person who hated him and had every reason to do so, was not that easy --, "but you don't even give me a chance!"

Jonas suddenly stared him straight in the eyes, his look full of burning anger again. "Lina did not have a chance, either! Our men just killed her! As if the life of a human was worth nothing against some.. stupid crystal… Others told me that she was not even able to defend herself…" He uttered a bitter, nearly mad laugh. "How could she?! She had just become a White wizard! She was meant to help people, not fight them on a battlefield." Tears suddenly filled his eyes and he turned his head away with clenched teeth, a wave of hate seeming to sweep over him from the inside..

Cecil was at a loss of words; shocked himself by the story of the boy, and his heart was suddenly filled by an unbearable grief. This attack on Mysidia would haunt his dreams for all his life, though he himself killed no man.. "I only ordered the soldiers to strike, cold heartedly.."

But what was his pain against the one of the victims of that attack? What could he say to ease the pain of the boy or of others, who had lost their loved ones, as well? He had often told himself that time would heal their wounds, but right now he really wondered if there was anything that could extinguish the flames of hate and sorrow inside of Jonas.

"Maybe there's nothing that can be done…" The answer struck him hard and the feeling of helplessness he so hated came over him again. Cecil knew very well that the past was not changeable, but the realization that nothing could ever undo what had happened, that he had destroyed the life of this boy and many others forever -- the finality of it had never struck him as hard as in this night in the forest. As he looked at Jonas again, the way the boy sat there sullenly, but also lost, he felt himself reminded of Rydia. "I killed her mother... and still she forgave me..." Even more than before, he realized what it must have meant for her to do such a thing, if this boy before him could not even bring himself to trust him.

"Why are you staring at me in such a strange way?" Jonas suddenly demanded, glaring at him suspiciously.

"You just reminded me of a friend: A girl who lost a very dear person as well," Cecil murmured, hoping almost immediately that Jonas would not pose any more questions.

The boy did not and though there seemed to gleam a sparkle of interest in his eye, he was either too proud or too sullen to talk any more to the Paladin. He snapped only a short: "And?"

Cecil bowed his head, feeling that this was one of the darkest hours in his life. "I just wanted to tell you that you're not alone in your pain. We both know that no apology will bring back your sister, nor drive away the nightmares… But maybe -- just maybe-- it will help you to know that I, too, will never be at ease for the rest of my life..."

Jonas slowly turned his head and watched him, his gaze suddenly calm, but also very cold. "Yes… I know this. I knew it from the beginning. I know that you didn't want to do the things you did -- when you talk about the incident in Mysidia, one can see the pain in your eyes. Maybe you do have nightmares, as well…"

Cecil raised his head and looked at the boy, surprised. Suddenly Jonas's expression darkened and he continued, his voice suddenly very sharp, "But what do you know about being at ease or not? You cannot even start to fathom what I feel! Maybe you didn't want to do what you did, maybe it's not your fault alone, but you're still better off than I am! And that's why I hate you even more!"

With a sudden movement, he stood up and left for a place some feet away where he curled up, obviously to sleep.

Cecil stared after him, speechless. "I can't believe it..." There he had thought for a moment that Jonas could forgive him and then the boy had become angry again. He tried to remember Dawn's advice never to give up hope, to trust himself… "But what can I do in this situation? The boy hates me so much -- he could even explain why... Though the strange thing is that he does not only seem to hate me and the men who killed his sister, but... himself as well... Is he angry because he failed to protect her?

Having such thoughts, Cecil felt very weak and depressed all of a sudden. The discussion had shown him once more how hard the guilt, he had to bear, was. "And I thought that there was some way to lighten the load a bit..." In some corner of his mind he suddenly wondered how his brother, Golbez, was able to cope wit the dark deeds he had committed in the past – or if he did cope with them after all, which was rather doubtful in Cecil's eyes.

"I wish I could ask him right now.. Then again, I'm always asking him the wrong questions.." He felt utterly alone in this moment and wished desperately for Rosa or Dawn to talk to, which made him feel even more down. "Even worse... there's boy I should find words to comfort and all I'm doing is pitying myself…"

"But you're trying hard," a familiar voice said next to him.

Cecil looked up, realizing that he had spoken his last thoughts aloud. "Yang..." he said weakly, as the Fabulian fighter sat down besides him.

"This young man reminds me a lot of you as I met you..." the older man said, smiling slightly.

Cecil looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

Yang gazed intently at the stars above them, his eyes calm and confident. "It's this burning anger inside of him... Anger against the world, against others, for they make you do things you don't want to… But most of all anger against himself, for not fighting against these things, but for letting them happen…"

The Paladin frowned. "He is right.. As I was a Black knight I hated the King -- the man I once so loved and looked up to – for forcing me to attack innocent people… I hated Golbez for taking over the kingdom, for doing these terrible things to Rosa. Maybe I even hated Kain... However, the person I probably hated most of all for being so weak was... myself…"

"If you mean that I hated myself and maybe still do because of what I did, because I let things happen, you're right..." Cecil said gravely. "But I don't see what this has to do with Jonas. He is not at fault for the happenings! Though he seems to be disturbed by something..."

"'Fault' is something that may vary from perspective to perspective... And to admit his own fault, freely, sometimes might not make things easier, neither for oneself nor for others. Nonetheless, to realize his own dark side is still a very courageous and insightful thing to do. Do not loose your confidence, Cecil, nor your courage or hope," Yang told him.

Cecil looked at him for a quite a long time and to his surprise, he felt a bit better, though he could not fully grasp yet the meaning of his friend's words. "Sometimes I think you should have become the Paladin," he finally said with a slight grin.

The older man's eyes twinkled. "Speaking wisely does not always mean that one is wise. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to realize my own faults as easily as you, and you're just at the beginning of this process. Maybe some day you will understand my words, Cecil. In fact I'm sure of this. "

"I hope that you're right. Still.." Cecil looked at Jonas, who seemed to have cried himself into sleep..

"Leave him alone for now - you're both too agitated to discuss things calmly. Tomorrow is another day. But now let's get back to the fire.. Edge might already miss us! "

"I'm not so sure about that..." Cecil nodded to the young ninja, who lay, loudly snorting and with his limbs outstretched, next to the fire.

Yang laughed quietly. "At least one person doesn't seem to mind the cold anymore – neither the one of the floor, nor the one in the hearts of some humans…"