5.

Dark Waves

"Thank you very much for your hospitality," Dawn said, placing the tea cup on the mahogany table in the study.

"You're welcome! Friends of Cecil are also my friends." Rosa smiled.

For a moment, Dawn was very silent, just watching the young Queen. It made Rosa feel a bit uneasy, but Dawn's look had no hostility in it.

Still she asked: "Is something the matter?"

In the instant of a moment Dawn's look changed to normal and she smiled. "You do not really know me, yet you're very kind to me, Rosa... That is something I had hoped for, but not expected…"

Rosa nearly burst out laughing. "If you were assuming that I might fear that something "happened" on the mountain between you and my husband, you shouldn't worry... I do trust Cecil. Maybe more than he does seem to trust himself, sometimes…"

"Yes...that could be very possible." Dawn had to smile.

"And I do trust you," Rosa said, in a more serious tone. "You might feel that I have no reason to do so, but the fact that I do is reason enough for me. I'm very thankful that you helped Cecil back then on the mountain--as you probably know it was mainly my fault that he went off alone." She bit her lip. "If you hadn't been on Mt. Ordeals, who knows what would have happened to him…"

"It was entirely due to your husband that things worked out in the end... I was only the guide and pointed him into the right direction."

"You were a very good guide, none the less. You were the one to straighten out the problems Kain and I caused with our secretive behaviour..." Rosa said, visibly ashamed.

"It was a misunderstanding between the three of you. That was all," Dawn told her friendly.

"But one which could have had dire consequences. Who knows what thesituation would be right now if Cecil hadn't returned to Baron in time to help us against the monsters?"

Dawn leaned a bit forward, and laid a hand on her arm. "Are you worried about the happenings of late?"

Rosa looked at her, pensively. "Who couldn't be worried? The sudden earthquake at Agart, the monsters from Mt. Ordeals, people trying to spy on us and Golbez's sudden appearance… By the way, I saw you talking to him as I called you in," she said, not able to hide a certain curiosity.

"Yes. He's an interesting man. Although I do believe that he and Cecil do not get along very well…" Dawn replied.

"So you figured out that much already!" Rosa nodded. "In my opinion Cecil is too pressing on him. Maybe the sudden reunion is too much for both to cope with…" she shrugged slightly, "but I believe that… Dawn! You're looking at me in that strange way again!" The young Queen brushed some of her golden curls behind her back, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I just was wondering that though these are no easy times, you do not seem to be afraid. Not even of Golbez."

"Oh…" Rosa's expression became earnest. "Many things are on my mind right now. I do not like the way our personal problems start to get intertwined with the happenings of late. But you're right--for some reason I do not feel afraid… As for Golbez, though he is the man I was a prisoner of and he's the reason for some of the most horrible hours in my life, I do not hold any grudge against him anymore. From the moment I met him in Agart some weeks ago, I realized that this Golbez is a completely different person from the man who threatened me and nearly killed me… I don't know why, but I just don't feel any fear when being around him."

"You sound like you possess a lot of courage…" Dawn had listened to Rosa's story intently.

The young Queen blushed slightly. "I'm not sure if this has anything to do with courage. You see--just one year back, before the fight against Zeromus--I was often afraid…" she suddenly paused and laughed nervously. "Maybe we should better change the subject… I don't want to bore you…"

Dawn shook her head. "By all means continue! I'd like very much to hear about this time. Why were you afraid?"

For a moment Rosa was a bit surprised how frankly Dawn posed her question, but for some reason she also did not mind telling the other woman her innermost thoughts.

"Why I was afraid? I...I guess that there aremany reasons. However, most of all I was probably afraid to be alone… That has always been my greatest fear--I guess that it has to do with the fact that my father disappeared one day and never came back. He probably died. Since then I never wanted get left alone by someone again. It was also one of the reasons why I ran after Cecil, as he was sent on the mission to Mist. But during our journey, as I saw the loss some of our friends had to endure--Rydia having to see her mother dying, Edge and Edward loosing their loved ones as well--I understood that I'd never been alone compared to them. During all my whole life there were always people caring for me--people I could trust--my mother, friends like Cid and nowadays Kain, again… And of course I'm together with the man I love… All these people are always there for me without expecting anything special from me in return. So in fact there was no second in my life I've been really alone. I just never realizedit. It's hard to explain, but that makes me...content..." The young Queen smiled sheepishly. "Now you'll probably think that I'm naïve, right?"

"No, not at all," Dawn watched her intently with her sea-blue eyes, though all of a sudden there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her gaze. "I think that you're a very strong and wonderful person!"

Rosa had to grin. "Then you haven't spotted my bad habits until now! We Farrels have an own stubborn--"

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. "Rosa?" A clear female voice asked nervously.

"Rydia! Do come in!"

The caller squeezed through the door rather shyly--the presence of Dawn seemed to make Rydia nervous, still she smiled back as the silver haired woman gave her a friendly nod.

"Err...Rosa. Sorry to interrupt you two, but some rather annoyed town citizens--Ramuh knows how they got into the castle--are waiting in the hall. They request an audience with Cecil. It has to do with the destruction by the monsters in town, I think. I told them that I would call you…" The green haired caller cast her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know what to do…"

Rosa laughed, stood up, and went to the younger girl, embracing her slender friend. "But you don't have to apologize--it's all right! Thanks for your help!" She let go of the girl, who looked a lot happier already. "However.." the Queen of Baron added with a frown, "I wonder what they want to discuss. Some houses got destroyed during the monster attack, but they are already being built up again on the expenses of the kingdom." She turned around and gave an apologizing look to Dawn. "I'm sorry that I have to leave now, but as you hear the duty as Queen calls. It was great talking to you!" She winked and left the room, followed by Rydia, who looked shyly at the female Paladin before she left.

"It was great talking to you, too..." Dawn murmured, "Cecil surely is happy to have such a wonderful wife."

~*~

"The room where the crystal device for Serpent Way is kept should be right ahead..." Jonas pointed to a stone door.

"Great--do we have to guess what tile to press, again?" Edge muttered.

"I don't think so, my friend," Yang patted the ninja on his shoulder. "Do you see this button there? That should open the door."

"Hopefully there aren't any more bats hiding around here, like the last time…" Edge looked skeptical. "Maybe it's a trap…"

"We will not know until we try," Cecil said and stepped forward to press the button. Edge and Yang exchanged surprised glances--normally the Paladin would consider his actions more carefully.

"The feeling I've had before is so strong now... I must know what's behind this door." Without hesitation, Cecil pressed the round stone and the door sled into the ground, quietly. The room behind it was completely constructed out of white stones; several glittering wires were set into the floor and were leading to a strange construction in the middle of the room. As the four men approached it, they noticed that some sparkling shard was in the middle of the device--obviously a piece of crystal.

"So the crystal is still here. But why doesn't the Serpent Way work?" Yang wondered.

Jonas reflected for a moment. "It has to be this construction around it. I've never seen such a thing before... It's not the way the Lunarians build their machines and crystal stands, normally." Suddenly he raised a finger to his lips. "Shh... Did you hear that? It came from behind the door there..." Jonas pointed at the end of the room.

Cecil drew his sword as quietly as possible. "I've felt some kind of presence here all this time now... We should be prepared for everything… Whoever cut off the power of the crystal would be unlikely to build such a construction and then leave it unguarded."

Edge nodded and drew his two swords as well, and while Jonas stayed a bit more in the background, Yang crept towards the door and positioned himself next to the opening tile. He waited until Cecil gave him a nod and then pressed the button. The door opened and gave way to another room, full of strange instruments and consoles. Kneeling down before some wires was a tall person wearing black armour. As the person stood up slowly and turned around, Cecil noticed to his horror that the armour had much similarity with the armour he had worn as a Dark Knight.

"Don't move!" the Paladin shouted. "Who are you?"

The tall knight made a step towards him fearlessly. "So it was necessary after all to stay here to watch the crystal... Didn't think that anyone would make it down here..." His voice sounded tinny and hard through the closed visor.

"What are you doing here?" Jonas demanded angrily, though stayed behind Yang.

"Isn't that obvious?" The man took another rattling step in the direction of the group.

"I have severed in the connection of the crystal from the Serpent Way and drained from it all its powers. All Lunarian inventions pose a hindrance to our organization and its goals…"

"What goal? And what organization?" Cecil asked sharply, the calmness of the man irritating him. "He's alone and we're in the majority…"

"The "what goal" would take too long to explain now... As for which organization: You know this very well, don't you, your Majesty Cecil Harvey, King of Baron?"

"So you already figured out my name..."

"We, of the order of the Dark Paladin know everything. And you're really making it easy for us. Here we thought that we had to hunt you down, but you never fail to appear where we want to have you... First on the mountain where Claudius was stationed, then in the tower of Bab-il. So this is round three. Let's see... I won't have to kill all of you--one or two will be enough I believe… After all, we need the others to tell the outside world what had happened her. Maybe I should go with the angry boy from Mysidia there…" The dark warrior reached for the hilt of the vast two-handed sword on his back.

"Don't you dare to move!" Cecil shouted and stormed towards the knight, sword readied, as well.

"My, my... How aggressive…" With a laugh the man pulled out his sword with an unbelievable speed, blocking Cecil's attempt to hit him with his blade.

The Paladin gasped for breath--the man was using a technique similar to the ones he had used as a Dark Knight.

"Ahh!" With a scream, Cecil raised his sword again to deal his opponent a blow, but his enemy blocked it again with ease, and took a swing at Cecil with his own weapon, this time. The Paladin could block it just in time, but the impact of the blow was too much even for him, and he was hurled towards the wall.

"I'll take care of him, Cecil!" Yang shouted, then stormed forward and positioned a well set kick into the stomach of the man--however, the attack did not even dent the armour.

"Guess we have to open this tin first!" Edge screamed and threw some shurikens. One got stuck in the armour, though did not seem to hurt the man.

"How dare you defile our shrine!" Jonas yelled angrily. "Ice!" Sharp needles flew in direction of the enemy, though they, as well, were reflected by the armour.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" The knight laughed. "Is that all you can do? Maybe Mallack has overestimated you after all!"

"So Mallack is the name of your master!" Cecil murmured. He had recovered from the shock and was approaching the enemy for another attack.

"Time to end this," the knight hissed and pointed his sword forward. "DARK WAVE!" Spirals of pure black magic emerged from the tip of his weapon, the energies knocking everyone to the ground.

"How can he know this technique?" Cecil, who was still kneeling on the floor, gasped. He grabbed for his sword next to him just in time to block the next blow of the knight. Even more, the blow seemed rather weak, and Cecil used all his power to strike away the tip of the other's sword, giving him time to get onto his feet again.

"So you're still standing… How annoying…" the Dark knight exclaimed and took another swing at the Paladin.

"He's using another technique of the Dark Knights…" the Paladin noticed and quickly side stepped, successfully avoiding the attack.

"Good move, boy! However, let's see how our young friend here will defend himself..." the knight sneered and approached Jonas, turning his back to the others as if they posed no threat to him.

"Don't even try it!" Cecil screamed, storming once more at the knight, his sword raised. As if he had foreseen this move, the Black Knight turned around abruptly and dealt Cecil a blow which knocked away the Paladin's sword and sent the Half-Lunarian onto the ground.

"Never let down your guard!" His enemy chuckled, pointing the tip of his weapon to Cecil's throat with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Yang, Edge! Get Jonas out of here while he's occupied with me!" The Paladin hissed.

"Cecil!" Edge scrambled to his feet and, in a desperate attempt to help his friend, jumped onto the back of the knight. "Leave him alone at once! When I remove this visor of yours, things won't be so lucky anymore for you!" he panted.

"I'm getting tired of these games…" The knight shook Edge down with a move of his shoulders, still threatening Cecil with his sword.

"Yang! Get Jonas out of here! NOW!" Cecil shouted again, as loud as he could with the blade pressed against his throat.

This time, his friend obeyed, though slightly reluctant. "Jonas, is there another exit?" he asked the boy.

Jonas nodded. "There should be a one-way exit for emergencies. It's around the second corner in the corridor we came from."

"Alright..." Yang nodded. "Then run for it! We'll follow."

Jonas seemed to hesitate for a moment, but as the King of Fabul pushed him in direction of the exit, he obeyed.

Meanwhile, the Dark Knight was watching Cecil, who was glaring at him with clenched teeth.

"So you'd sacrifice your life for a boy who doesn't even seem to appreciate it?" The knight chuckled. "You are a fool--a courageous one, maybe--but a fool nonetheless. You should only care for the people who have an interest in you staying alive!" He glanced quickly over his shoulder, while pressing the tip a bit more to Cecil's throat, watching Yang enter the room again.

"So...the boy escaped, it seems… I guess we need to postpone the killing to another day… You must understand, we might need you and your other royal friends later on," he said mockingly and drew the sword away. "But before that I'll have to take care of the crystal..."

"No you won't!" Driven by anger Cecil was up on his feet in a second--however he was too slow, once more.

"DARK WAVE!" The knight shouted, whirling his sword over his head--again the power brought everyone to their knees. Helplessly, the friends had to watch as their enemy went slowly to the stand where he removed the crystal with his gloved hand, looking as if he wanted to smash it.

"Hah. You'll never be able to break the crystal in such a way!" Edge grinned.

The knight squeezed the crystal more tightly, though the shard did not break, some sparkling parts broke away from the stone with a screeching noise. "You see, when the power of a crystal is drained, it's possible to destroy it rather easily. Though this one is not "ripe" yet, so I guess I'll have to take it with me," the warrior explained. "I'll take my leave then. Until we meet again…"

"Wait! Why are you letting us live?" Cecil called after him.

The knight turned around slowly. Cecil noticed that the man was breathing more heavy, although his voice showed only a slight hint of weakness. "Because we want the world to see that a bunch of would-be rulers, ninjas and Paladins can do nothing against the power of the Dark Paladins. You'll understand soon enough!" With that he left the room, the echo of his armoured boots dying away in some far corridor.

"Cecil, Edge! Are you alright?" Yang was the first to scramble to his feet again.

"Oh...man... How strong was that guy?" Edge mumbled, heaving himself into a sitting position. "My head's even worse than after my last hangover..."

"At least everyone is all right..." Cecil said, rubbing his hurt shoulder. "Where's Jonas?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"He's safe. I told him to go outside and hide... The exit is near here and I don't think that our armoured friend had any interest in following him." Yang told him. For a moment there was only an awkward silence between the three friends.

"I cannot understand how we could have lost,” Edge finally said. "We were four and he was one.”

"And on top of that he took the crystal with him..." Yang clenched his fists.

"He was using the same techniques as a Dark Knight--only much stronger. I wonder where he learned them.." Cecil murmured, lost in thought.

"Cecil? Are you feeling all right?" Yang asked, concerned.

"Yeah... I guess we better catch up with Jonas and head back to Mysidia…" the Paladin replied. "There's nothing we can do here anymore."

~*~

"The secret exit has to be somewhere." Yang informed his friends, searching the wall with his eyes until he finally found something which looked suitable. Part of the wall slid away, letting fresh air and light into the building. As the three friends stepped through the exit, the stone door closed behind them, the wall of the building once again solid.

"So you made it out alive after all..." Jonas said dryly, though Cecil thought that he saw a hint of relief in his features. But it might just have been his impression. "What happened to the Dark knight?"

"He got away," Edge said.

"And he took the crystal shard," Cecil added, gravely.

"So that means that the Serpent Way will never work again…" Jonas said.

"Unless you can find another power device or we can get the stolen one back, I fear you're right," Cecil sounded crestfallen. "Anyway, we should head back to Mysidia now and inform the Elder about what we saw here..."

"You're right my friend..." Yang agreed. "Though we may not have any news of success, we are all alive at least. Right, Jonas?" he asked with a wink to the young wizard.

"If you think that I should thank any one of you," the boy said, addressing mostly Cecil, "you're wrong. In fact you started the whole mess in there by pressing the tile!" he snapped, turned around and started to walk away. "Hurry up. It's still quite a way to Mysidia and I don't want to have to explain to the Elder that you were eaten by some wild animals in the middle of the night."

"What's up with that kid?" Edge murmured, while Yang gave Cecil a nearly apologizing look.

The Paladin smiled, though a little sigh escaped his lips. "It's okay... At least he's talking to us..."

"I guess you can't expect a person to change from one second to the other... Besides some people never change at all." For a moment Cecil had to think of Golbez. "Maybe it' s not easy for my brother to change as fast as I would like him to do, as well…" he thought grimly as the group, battered and worn out, made their way back to Mysidia.

~*~

"They complained? But that has never happened before, since you and Cecil became rulers of Baron!" Kain wondered, nearly letting go of the soup spoon.

He, Diane, Rydia and Dawn were having supper with Rosa in a smaller dining hall in the castle. Golbez had declined to join them at first, but Rosa had insisted on it. Now he sat, rather silently, at the table as well, following the common conversation with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile upon his lips. Cid was also present, seated opposite to Kain and his daughter and was watching them carefully. Just now the group was talking about the citizens who had requested an audience with Rosa earlier this day.

"They said that they wanted to know where the monsters in the Serpent Way came from…" Rosa sighed.

"But we don't know this ourselves, do we?" Rydia shrugged.

"Yes. That's what I told them, as well. But they didn't seem to believe me, and said if we wouldn't know then who would."

"I've heard people on the street talking worriedly about the incidents of late," Diane said. "There are all kinds of rumours going around. They say that the sword of King Cecil has lost its holy power and that some of you went on a mission to prevent the giant of Bab-il from getting resurrected…"

"But Cecil was able to restore his sword! And you only went to the tower of Bab-il to help me,” Rydia said, blushing a bit upon remembering how much worry she had caused the others.

"But that's how rumours get spread," Cid remarked. "There's no reason to worry in my opinion. As long as it doesn't get public that my dear daughter is the girlfriend of a certain hot-headed young man!" He glared at Kain.

"I think I have to disappoint you, Cid..." Kain smirked. "In fact we put an official announce on the wall of the tavern." Diane turned her head away and giggled.

"You worthless idiot! You did what?!" Cid leaned forward on the table, grabbing the cutlery in his hand more tightly.

"No! Don't get upset father!" Diane held up a hand. "He was only kidding!" She laughed.

"She's right. Don't get upset now…" Rosa patted her old friend next to her, on the arm. "Better finish your soup or it'll get cold,“ she said and had to grin, as Cid only grunted instead of answering and resumed eating.

"I'd hate to interrupt this cheerful talk, but have you ever thought about what makes the town people so suspicious all of a sudden?" Golbez asked into the round, a strange smile across his lips.

All eyes were turning to him.

"Well, what do you think?" Kain snapped. He did not like the way Golbez was talking to them always with a mocking expression on his face.

Golbez smiled and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "You don't want to tell me that none of the citizens in Baron are aware of my presence here, even less of who I am..?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Even if they knew who you are and might feel uneasy in your presence, I cannot understand why they should think that you're responsible for the happenings of late... As I heard from Rosa you even sealed the Serpent Way to hinder more monsters from emerging out of it..." Dawn joined in the conversation, her slender fingers curled under her chin, reflecting.

"Ah, but for most people fear is a better consultant than reason," Golbez replied. "We should not forget what I did back then to many people here. It might irritate them that their king just took in a dark stranger into the castle. Who can say that my return to earth was really only a coincidence? That it isn't part of a new, evil scheme? That I've really changed?"

"You're right…" Rosa remarked. "Only we who have lived with you for some weeks now, know that you have no evil intentions..."

"Do we?" Kain asked dryly.

Golbez laughed. "It seems your Dragoon here is still provided with a healthy amount of mistrust."

Dawn watched his mocking reaction with obvious interest.

"Anyway... Maybe it is only natural that the citizens of Baron want to get informed… But what can we tell them to reassure them, Rosa? The only clue we have is this group... How did Kieran call them?" Kain asked.

"The Dark Paladins," Rosa told him.

"What? There was a man from this organization here?" Dawn asked, unusually agitated. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rosa looked at her, surprised. "I'm sorry Dawn, but you were so exhausted as you arrived here--I didn't want to burden you with our problems right away... Do you know anything about the group? You seem excited."

Dawn nodded and smiled again. "Forgive my sudden reaction, but this group is the reason why I tried to reach Baron. Some time after the incidents on Mt. Ordeals, I heard about a group called "The Dark Paladins" from a traveler. Apparently, they are some kind of new cult--the group members are visiting towns and offering their help to the people with whatever problem they might have. I tried to meet one of those Dark Paladins, but they had always already left the towns when I arrived. I heard though, that their headquarters are supposed to be near Tororia, my hometown…" Dawn explained. "It might just be a feeling, but something is fishy... The appearance of Claudius and his monsters on Mt. Ordeals, the earthquakes in Agart, all come together with the appearance of this group. As you all know, Tororia is an old kingdom with a strong tradition. It would be unlikely that such a "foreign" organization such as the Dark Paladins would be allowed to build their headquarters there. Unless they could convince our Elders that their goals are pure or..."

"Or the Elders were forced to allow the group." Golbez concluded her explanation.

"Exactly," Dawn continued. "It was only a suspicion, though, but I decided nonetheless to go to Baron at first to inform Cecil about it. I didn't want to disturb anyone with false assumptions, though, so I didn't tell anyone about this until know. But now I hear that strange things happened here as well... I should have told you about the group sooner, I have to apologize."

"There's no need for that--we could have asked you sooner about the reason for your visit, as well…" Rosa smiled.

Dawn shook her head. "I still should have already known that something was true concerning my suspicions, as I was being shadowed on my way to Baron."

"Is this the reason why you arrived in Baron so exhausted?" Rydia asked, and then shrunk back in her seat as if she had done something dangerous by asking Dawn a question.

"Yes. Though I was already pretty exhausted by the long voyage on sea and the days of wandering, I suddenly had the feeling that I was followed by someone. However, I cannot tell for sure if it was monsters or something else. It seemed to be several creatures, so even for me there was no option but to run." She sounded embarrassed.

"It must have been hard to come here all this way by yourself. You're an amazing woman, Dawn..." Golbez remarked, rather friendly.

Dawn nodded at him, smiling nonchalantly.

"I'm sure that Cecil, Yang and Edge will be very interested in hearing this," Rosa said. "I hope they'll come back soon. Cecil told me that things wouldn't take longer than two days or so…"

"Don't worry, Rosa." Kain tried to calm her. "They just wanted to have an audience with the Elder. What should happen to them? They are all experienced fighters."

"It's only natural that Rosa worries," Diane said sympathetically. "If you love someone, no matter how much you trust this person, you'll always worry about the person's safety, even if you don't want to..." She blushed slightly.

"Yes, but..." Kain started to say.

"What she wants to say is that in a relationship your life is not your own one anymore, but is getting intertwined with the other one," Golbez said with a raised eyebrow. "This is the danger of such a thing as love," he smiled cruelly.

"As if you would know…" Kain hissed, and took Diane's hand in his.

"Not further, boy!" Cid grumbled. "If I see you kissing her here in front of me, I can guarantee for nothing, not even for your life!"

"Alright, alright," Kain grinned sheepishly. "I think we are finished with dinner anyway. So we'll leave!" He stood up, helping Diane from her seat and they left the room, of course getting followed by a grim looking Cid.

"Would you like to see the castle gardens before it gets dark?" Rosa asked Dawn.

"I'd love to," the silver haired woman replied and gave a questioning look to Golbez, who held up his hand, declining.

"I prefer to stay alone."

"Very well… I thought so…" Dawn said, smiling mysteriously. "But don't be too hard on yourself…" With a wink she left, following the young Queen of Baron.

Golbez shook his head, looking skeptical as always when something unexpected happened to him.

"What a fascinating person. Though not even she can grasp my being..."