26.

Trust and Betrayal

"He's near. I can feel it..." Cecil whispered to his brother. The long, black corridor they were walking along was illuminated by a strange blue light, which flickered in the crystalline pillars alongthe way. At the end of the surreal seeming hallway a door, constructed out of dark wood and inlaid with golden ornaments, became visible.

"Still no guards…" Golbez remarked, "Mallack does not seem to fear intruders."

Cecil nodded. "He probably was sure that his magic or your person would stop me and the others. And in the black crystal room, it indeed looked for a while as if we would just stop and turn back. It's thanks to Rosa that we didn't," he murmured, once more remembering the bitter way he had left his beloved wife.

"Speaking of Rosa -- where are the others?" his brother asked.

Not looking at the other, Cecil replied, sounding as casual as possible: "They're safe. I hope so, at least."

Golbez nodded, slightly grinning. "I see… I will not ask any further how you managed to keep them out fromall this. So it's really only us two against Mallack…"

"And against Morrison…" Cecil added gloomily, "He's probably our greatest problem. If we could just expose him to the powers of the crystal, we might be able to break the spell. But I don't know how we can possibly do this! He's a very skilled fighter and if he unleashes his Dark Wave move, we won't be able to get near him. It is even stronger than the Dark Wave I was able to use as a Dark Knight…"

Golbez frowned. "Sometimes I forget that you once were on the dark side... So, can you remember any weak points this attack could have?"

Cecil reflected for a moment. "No... Only that it draws upon the strength and life energy of the user... As we met Morrison for the first time in the crystal room in Mysidia, he used the Dark Wave several times in a row, and suddenly looked pretty worn out. Not that it did help us much, though…"

"Still, it would be a good idea to make Morrison tired, before we plan our next action," Golbez suggested.

"Yeah, your plan sounds easy enough, but I wonder if we can withstand his attacks long enough to carry it out…" Cecil remarked skeptically.

"This shouldn't be your problem," Golbez told him, "Besides we will find out if the plan works, right now…" He pointed towards the door, which opened as if by magic, giving way to a great hall and a figure in dark armour.

Cecil's voice was only a whisper: "Morrison… This time in real, I hope…"

"I fear that I can't let you go any further!" the Dark Knight's strong voice echoed though the gloomy halls.

"I'll take care of him," Golbez stated calmly, pushing his brother aside. "Mallack can't be far - you take care of him and the black stone…"

"Golbez, you can't face Morrison alone!" the Paladin hissed, but the look in Golbez's eyes silenced him.

Golbez spoke out what his eyes already had pleaded: "Please trust me...brother…"

Cecil nodded gravely. "Very well. I will… But please take care - no suicidal actions… "

"I understand. They are your territory, anyway," Golbez grinned and then approached the grey-haired man in black armour.

"So, your brother managed to lure you back into a restricted, poor life. How unfavourable. You would have been a valuable help to our group..." Morrison greeted him.

The wizard gave him a cold stare. "It seems as if Mallack has conditioned his puppy well. It's time to release you from his influence, Morrison..."

"Release? That was something I was planning to do, as well… I'm going to release you -- from your life!" Morrison sneered. "Dark Wave!"

With worry, Cecil had to watch how Golbez was sent to the ground, the effects of Morrison spell noticeable on the place he was standing. However, no matter how much he wanted to help his brother, he knew that he had to go on: Now that Golbez was distracting Morrison, he had a chance to enter the next room and face Mallack. And thus, once more leaving someone he cared for behind, he used the commotion of the ongoing fight to slip through the other exit of the room. His action did not stay unnoticed by Morrison, though, who sent a disdainful smile after the Paladin before concentrating on Golbez, who was still lying on the floor…

***

The boots of the Paladin echoed on the gold-black marble of the hall - to Cecil's strained nerves, even this sound was stifling. Not even as they had entered Zeromus' lair he had felt that nervous, but back then many things had been different, as the whole Blue Planet had been standing behind them. This time, though, they were alone - if he or any of his companions would die here, most of the Blue Planet's citizens would probably rejoice...

"How can one man manage what not even an alien like Zeromus could accomplish?" 

The surroundings did not do much to calm Cecil, as well: the room was rather high, and lined with mirrors out of dark glass, reflecting his figure a thousand times. Like the room and corridor before, the hall was lit by columns filled with blue light, which seemed to lay itself like a veil over everything, giving the Paladin's bright hair a strange colour and making his whole appearance somehow darker. As he cautiously crossed the room, a disturbing feeling crept over him, similar to the one he had had in the black crystal room--it was like some dark, sticky force was filling the air, drowning out even the calming feel of the crystal in his pocket.

As Cecil reached the middle of the room, he spotted the cause of this: at the end of a room, a dais stood. Sitting on it was nothing more than a black lump of stone, about twice as big as a fist, though the power which seemed to emanate from its polished surface would have fitted better an object several times as big. It was obviousthat this wasn't just a stone.

"So this is source of Mallack's might…" Cecil remembered what Golbez had told him and he wondered if this was really Zeromus' heritage.

"Zeromus or not, the object is getting used for evil intentions and needs to be destroyed…" 

Still, doubts were filling Cecil, and he suddenly feared again that the crystal shard might not be enough to end what the power of the black stone had begun… Just then he got aware that in the shadows of a pillar next to the dais, a figure was seated.

"Mallack…"

Suddenly, blue lights flashed, so that the features of the man became visible - it was indeed Mallack, his face a mask of cold ivory, his lips curved into a smile as he studied the Paladin before his and, although strands of his black hair were nearly veiling Mallack's dark green eyes, his piercing gaze seemed to go right through the young man standing before him.

Suddenly, fighting noises were audible from the other room and Cecil could hear the angry scream of a man - it was Golbez's voice…

"So you were able to "bring your brother back", like you would call it..." Mallack finally addressed him with a calm voice. "Maybe the Lunarian powers have strength after all. I have to applaud you." He started to clap his hands and the sound of it slowly filled the hall, getting louder and louder, until each clap seemed to shake the crystalline structures of the room -- even more so, the noise seemed to draw upon the Paladin's nerves and to stir his innermost soul. Cecil knew that Mallack was trying to unnerve him and he tried to stay calm, directing his thoughts to the crystal in his pocket as well as to his friends and loved ones.

"It were not only my "Lunarian powers" that brought me that far, but the fact that your mad tricks do not always work…" he said in a strong voice and stepped closer. Although it was tempting to attack the other right now, for some reason, Cecil needed to know why Mallack had done all this - he had to know what kind of man would forsake everything, even the love of a person such as Dawn, just for power.

Mallack was obviously not planningonleaving his seat and confronting the Paladin in a fight just now, as well."Tricks? I'm tricking no one. All I do is showing people the truth. The truth about their life - their restricted life under the rule of an alien might and a decadent symbol such as the crystal…"

"No one is under the rule of the Lunarians or under the rule of the crystal - the crystals were a gift from my ancestors to the people of the Blue Planet to make their life easier!" Cecil retorted angrily.

"Oh… And did they make things easier and better? Think of the airships which were used in the last war... They have been built by Lunarian plans," Mallack reasoned.

"It's not the airships that are at fault, but the way we used them…" Cecil shook his head. "Besides, you're using an airship yourself… You're preaching before people about the horrors of the crystal, and the diminished Lunarian inventions, but you're using all these things as well - your goal is not to free the people, but to get them under your control. Your black stone is not less decadent than the crystal shard I possess, even more so as its origin is probably Lunarian, as well!"

Mallack's grin disappeared and he stood up slowly. "Maybe both are decadent, but the black stone has far more warmth, love and pity for us humans than your crystal…"

"Warmth? Love? Pity? You're using the powers of the stone to enslave people and dare to speak of such things?" Cecil hissed.

Mallack smiled with disdain. "You do not understand anything. You may think that the crystal is "good", that it is "holy", but it is easy for you to believe this as the crystal always fulfilled your wishes. But I, I got to know its true nature..."

His expression became bitter as he continued: "The world is merciless to misfits, to people who do not live their life the way society has it planned for them. I had to experience this as I was still a boy, but I managed to free myself from the oppression of others. Yes, I even started to believe that you could achieve everything if you just believed in yourself and worked hard for it. I wanted to share my experiences with others, so that they would not have to suffer like I had to. I wanted to make the world a better place for everyone, to show the people that being "different" from others was not a curse, but a wonderful chance! That's one reason why I traveled to Mt. Ordeals and prayed at the shrine in order to achieve the power of the crystal. You see, the powers the shrine can give have their source in the might of the Lunarian crystals. If I had been granted the power of the shrine, I would have been able to show the people that everything is possible - even for a black mage to gain White magic! So I kneeled before the stone column, meditating, praying, begging for I don't know how long… "

He shook his head, "I would have given everything for it, but the shrine just didn't open… As the days passed by, I used force - I used all the magical and scientific skills I had acquired through the years to get the shrine to open, but it just wouldn't let me in..."

His eyes narrowed to little slits and he stared at Cecil, full of hate. "So I ask you: Why? Why did the shrine open to you? I know your story… Why was the gift of White magic and the powers of a Paladin bestowed on a Black Knight, who has done nothing else than inflict pain on others his wholelife? Why did the crystal work in your hands - in the hands of a person who only became a Paladin because he had no choice and because his father was a Lunarian? Why did it not choose me? I wanted to become a Paladin, I wanted to help the people, I hoped to conquer death itself…" For a moment he paused, only to continue even more fiercely:

"I tell you why the shrine didn't open to me: it's because the crystal and with it the Lunarians only grant their powers to people who are malleable, who will blindly obey their wishes and follow their "Holy" guiding principles without questioning them! Have you ever asked yourself what all the suffering you had to endure since you became Paladin was for? You saw that the people are not satisfied - even with all the oh-so-great inventions the Lunarians brought us. Even now you are dependent on the crystal, hoping that it might destroy the black stone… But if you destroy it, you destroy something which does grant power freely without asking for anything in return…" He motioned to the black stone, nearly lovingly: "What the Shrine and the crystal withheld from me, it granted me… Maybe its source is Lunarian, maybe it has a connection to Zeromus, but as said: it does not choose you, but you choose it and with that it is also in your power to use it… And I use it to change the world, not to destroy it…"

Cecil had listened to Mallack's words attentively and slowly he started to understand what drove the other. "Dawn told me that Mallack hadn't been a bad person and that he actually only wanted to show other people his worth… And to protect others - like his family, like Dawn… In his eyes, the shrine and with it the Symbol of the Lunarian race, the crystal, rejected him for no apparent reason - rejected him like his own people… But still, somehow what he says sounds so wrong…"

"What you're saying is not true…" he said aloud. "The crystal does not choose people after the principles you mentioned. It may be true that I was favoured because my father was a Lunarian, but I also was an outsider, a misfit like you called it… I once was a black knight, but I fought against this fate, just as you have fought against the path others wanted you to go…" 

"So you think you can compare yourself with me? Fine, if you want to… But tell me, Paladin: under what guiding principles do the Shrine and the Crystal choose then?" Mallack hissed.

"…I don't know…" the Paladin had to admit in a low voice.

"I have often asked this, myself…"

Mallack broke into shrill laughter. "There we have it! You are following a codex, the codex of the Paladin and you don't even know what it exactly is what you're following or why? And you want to tell me that you're free?"

"Whether I follow a codex or not, does not matter... I only said that I don't know why the crystal, why my father, chose me. But I know very well what I believe in... And most of all I believe in freedom and the opportunity to shape one's life like one wants, even though this is not always possible. But I agree with you in the point that one has to try to shape it - but not if it means to hurt other people in the progress!"

"I hurt no one. I gave people the opportunity to let out their deepest feelings... I freed them from their fears! Though for some, the freedom was too much - like for Dawn who couldn't grasp what I was trying to do and betrayed everything we believed in… And you all don't understand either..."

Cecil shook his head. "This is not true. It's you who doesn't understand. Me, my friends, Dawn--we all are not adapted creatures, like you call us. We all had to make decisions at one point or another which went against the common sense. But you went too far: out of hurt pride and over-ambitiousness you didn't know when to stop in your try to live life like you want to! Being able to preserve ones own identity must not mean that others will have to suffer! You're not giving people a chance, but in your egoism, you're taking it from them…"

"No, I'm giving them hope! The hope that the world can become a better place for everyone! A better place for an old man like Claudius, who had only his magic, but no family, no home… A better place for a young, gifted person like Kieran, who had been mocked by others all the time because he was different from them… A better place for an ambitious person like Samon, who didn't want to spend his life in the restricted military ranks in a backwater town… And a better place for a man named Morrison, who nearly died due to the useless and dictatoric orders of a slobbering King!" Mallack began to become more and more agitated.

"Hope? The people around you may have wished for something as that - they may have wished for freedom, for a place to belong to, for their dreams to come true… But all you did was use them, use them for your own mad wishes! What has become of Claudius, Kieran and Samon? They are all dead! You took all hope from them…" A wave of grief and anger surged up in the Paladin. "And a life without hope is nothing. That's why Dawn died!"

For a moment Mallack said nothing and only looked at Cecil, his eyes blinking nervously.

"So...so she's really dead…" It sounded still disbelieving and Mallack took a step closer to the Paladin as if he was searching in Cecil's face for something telling him that the other was lying. However, the only thing he found was deep sorrow in the Paladin's expression, and for a moment Mallack's eyes lost their mad glimmer and his lips started to tremble slightly.

"While you were fighting with your brother, I searched for her, telepathically… I didn't find her. So...it's really true… I just don't understand… Samon wasn't supposed to kill her...so how could she…" He suddenly trailed off and averted his gaze.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Cecil's voice was hoarse, and for a moment he nearly felt pity for the man before him. This changed, as Mallack's gaze snapped back to him, his eyes sparkling not only once more with madness, but now also with incredible rage.

"What do you know of love, Paladin?" His voice was as sharp as dagger. "It is something that doesn't exist. We're all alone in the end and too different to feel something true for the other…"

"Still you once used to believe in love, as well!" Cecil replied angrily, "You've only changed your opinion because Dawn left you! That's why you told Morrison all these horrible things about love and family! You couldn't cope with your loneliness, after Dawn couldn't stand your mad hunger for power anymore!"

The hate in Mallack's eyes suddenly became so frighteningly powerful, that Cecil nearly took a step back.

"No! Dawn left me because I wasn't good enough for her… Because the Shrine rejected me! She called herself a Paladin, right?" Mallack laughed bitterly. "She was maybe dreaming of the same power I was dreaming of and in you she found what she was looking for! From the moment I met you in the Tororia, I knew that she had chosen you over me. She loved you - and she maybe even died for you! Had she chosen my side, she would still be alive… I can see guilt in your eyes - now I understand: It was not Samon who killed her, but you! Like you killed Claudius!"

Cecil wanted to contradict him, but he couldn't: "It is true. I killed Claudius and didn't do anything to help Kieran. There was no other way... But with her... Maybe I...could have done something… It may be my fault alone that she died…"

"I did not lay a hand on her. She was one of the most important persons in my life…" he brought forth in a low voice - there was no sense in hiding the truth, as Mallack had probably seen through him already, "But it is true that she might still be alive if she hadn't fallen in love with me…"

"I see… Death was the punishment for Kieran and Claudius because they opposed you. But death was also the reward for siding with you and the Crystal… So I will reward death to you, as well!" With a quick motion, Mallack suddenly pulled a black obsidian axe from behind the chair he had been sitting in. "I'll revenge Dawn - first you took her away, and now you're trying to take away the source of my power as well! I will not let you!" A terrible smile on his face, he stormed towards Cecil, his weapon raised over his head with one hand, as if the giant axe was weightless, the fingers of the other hand pointed at his opponent: "I'll show you the power of the black stone! Fire! Ice! Bolt ! I command you!"

With a terrible exploding sound, huge amounts of magic energy rained, crashing mercilessly onto the Paladin…