6.

Two sides of love

The next morning, the silence over the woods around Baron castle was destroyed by the loud roar of an airship. "We're nearly there," Cecil told Edge and Yang while steering.

"Man, am I glad to be back!" Edge sighed. "This was one of the most disappointing voyages in my life..."

"The Elder wasn't too happy as well…" Cecil sounded rather crestfallen.

Back in Mysidia, they had explained to the Elder everything about what had happened in the shrine. Although he had tried to remain calm, it was obvious that the head of the Mysidians was feeling quite stunned about the theft of the crystal by the unknown Knight in black armour. As there was nothing more they could do in town, the Elder then had proposed to Cecil and his group to return to Baron and hadpromised to stay in contact with them. He had also insisted on Palom and Porom staying in their hometown for the time being--if the Blue Planet was about to face another threat, he wanted to know that the twins were in the relative safety of the crystal tower, instead of having them fight dangerous battles.

Jonas had disappeared without any last words shortly after they had arrived at town and had not appeared again--not even as they had left Mysidia. The Elder had been rather upset about this, though Cecil had tried to calm him by telling him that nothing else could have been expected after all thathad happened. Secretly, though, Jonas' behaviour worried the Paladin as well. He had presumed that the relationship between him and Jonas had at least improved a bit during their voyage, but from the looks of it, the boy was still disliking him as much as before.

"We're there!" Cecil exclaimed and brought the ship down on the landing place of Baron Castle. The news that Cecil, Edge and Yang had returned from their mission did not take long to spread.

Rosa was the first to spot them. "Cecil! You're back!" she shouted happily and ran towards her husband, embracing him passionately.

Cecil returned the embrace, whirling her around. "Rosa! I'm really glad to see you again!!" Over Rosa's shoulder, he could see Golbez emerging from the castle exit--obviously, he had noticed the commotion on the landing place, as well. Cecil carefully put down his wife and gave a polite nod to his brother.

"I see that you're still in one piece, Cecil..." The dark-haired man smiled dryly.

"Well, I hope so!" Rosa looked her husband up and down, then spotted his bandaged left hand. "Did you get hurt, darling?"

"It's nothing," Cecil said quickly, thoughfailed to hide a hint of irritation within his voice--the constant asking about the wound was getting on his nerves. What even more annoyed him was the fact that Golbez was looking at him with a mock of superiority. "People might not trust you…" his brother had said to him before their departure. 

"In Jonas' case thishad turned out only to be true… But he can't know that my burnt arm wasn't really an accident, can he?" 

However, Cecil had not much time to worry about these things right now, as Kain, Rydia and Cid had come out as well to welcome their friends.

The Paladin approached them, but came to a halt as he spotted someone else – it was Dawn…

She was as beautiful as he had remembered her with her slender build, the long silvery hair that nearly reached to her knees and those sparkling blue eyes, which seemed calming and encouraging at the same time. The female paladin had removed her silvery breastplate, and was now wearing a simple white shirt with matching trousers and long, brown boots.

As Dawn caught sight of Cecil, she waved and hastened her steps. "Cecil! Glad to see you again!" She said and opened her arms for an embrace.

Though Cecil would have liked nothing more than to return her embrace in this, he was slightly hesitant, with his wife just standing next to him. To his surprise, Rosa gave him a little push. "Don't you want to greet her?"

"Of course I want to..." Smiling, Cecil returned Dawn's gesture and embraced her happily, but also carefully -- though he knew what a brilliant fighter Dawn was, the stature of the woman was light and fragile. 

"It's wonderful that you're well again," he told her.

"For a moment I thought that you didn't want to embrace me..." Dawn teased him cheerfully and squeezed him a bit more.

Cecil blushed. "I'm sorry, but I thought...you know..." Dawn's body was warm to the touch and the scent of her silky hair was sweet and lovely as ever--still the Paladin noticed to his contentment that being near to her did no longer evoke the same confusing feelings in him,which he had had on Mt. Ordeals upon their first meeting. He secretly hoped that Rosa knew that, too…

Dawn laughed--the bright, clear laugh which had the ability to pull anyone out of the deepest brooding. 

"Don't worry. Rosa knows that we're only friends!" She gave a wink to the young Queen over Cecil's shoulder.

"Seems you two were getting along well, then…" Cecil grinned and carefully loosened the embrace.

"Yes. She had some interesting things to tell about you," Rosa said as seriously as possible.

"What things!?" Cecil whirled around, embarrassed.

Both Dawn and Rosa had to laugh. "It was clear that you'd fall for that one!"

"Seems things have become harder for you, since you were away…" Kain smirked. "Great to have you back, my friend, as well as Yang and Edge..." He nodded towards the Karate master and the ninja, who obviously was telling Rydia some exciting stories.

"Yes. It's good to be back. However, we should save the celebrations for later and inform everyone about the mission. Cecil?" Yang looked earnest.

"Yes," the Paladin nodded, his smile disappearing, "I fear that our mission has not been very successful..."

"Dawn has some interesting things to tell you as well," Rosa informed him. "Let us go inside the castle and discuss things there."

~*~

"There's no sense in all of this," Cecil said after he had listened intently to Dawn's story as well as informing the others about their experiencesin the Serpent Sanctuary, only leaving out a detailed description of his problems with Jonas from his report.

"Why didn't the Knight take the crystal shard with him right away instead of waiting for us? And then all this effort to drain the stone of its power in order to destroy it... Why would someone do this? If it’s might the group wants, wouldn’t they be better off by using the crystal instead of destroying it? After all, it contained enough power to run the Serpent Way… And why did they send monsters through the Way? That wasn't necessary from an objective point of view, if they just wanted to destroy the shard..."

"This guy was as mysterious as Kieran..." Edge murmured. "I mean, it nearly had looked back then like he had been waiting for us to show up in the tower of Bab-il to tell us about his plans to blow up Eblan. And I still can't believe that Rydia was really necessary for his plans..." The green-haired caller nodded in agreement, sadly.

"Yes - both Kieran and this Dark knight told us that they would leave us alive as they wanted the world to show that all rulers of the Blue planet were defenseless against the threat the Dark Paladins pose," Cecil said pensively.

"And it seems to work already, judging from the troubles Rosa has had with the townspeople…" Cid added.

"So let’s put together what we have," Golbez said. He had not joined the others at the table, but was leaning against a wall with crossed arms.

"A Dark Paladin mage named Claudius on Mt. Ordeals tries to draw Kain on his side on Mt. Ordeals, then lures Cecil away from Baron, while the town gets attacked by monsters. Only some time later the wizard Kieran is able to gain the trust of us all and even nearly succeeds in using your summoner friend Rydia to help him to destroy Castle Eblana before the eyes of her friends. Now, a Knight of the group has stolen the crystal of the Serpent Way, thus making travel and communication between the two countries Mysidia and Baron impossible. And we should not forget that a mysterious power drew me, surely one of the most feared and hated men during the Blue Planet's younger history, onto the planet, which of course invokes mistrust in some people..." Golbez pushed himself from the wall and approached the table.

"It seems that this ‘Dark Paladin’ group- whatever their plan is--is trying to infiltrate our ranks by trying to stir up mistrust in every one of us and also the population of your kingdoms..." he concluded with a shrug. "They're obviously trying to sever your ties of friendship to make your ranks weak enough for them to strike. An old, but every effective method," he added with a bitter smile. "I should know--I'm a specialist in this, if you know what I mean…"

"Stop your jesting!" Kain snapped. "Though what you say makes sense. But what about the monsters?"

"Maybe they were meant only as a decoy to distract our attention from something..." Cecil wondered, frowning slightly.

"Yes, maybe they wanted to buy time in order to construct their headquarter in Tororia!" Dawn looked at him.

"That could be likely. I mean, it's strange somehow that we never heard of such a group and now, all of a sudden, they're supposed to have already a headquarter everyone knows, just not us," Yang said."Maybe we spent too much time visiting all kinds of places and battling monsters instead of searching for the root of all this evil, which is befalling us right now...”

"So our next stop would be a visit at this strange group with the boring name..." Edge concluded. "Hey Rydia, want to come with me? I'll protect you--Ouch! Why did you kick me?"

"What do you want to protect me from?" the caller teased. "From yourself?"

"I'd say that we should check things out there, too..." Dawn nodded.

"Yes, but let’s not depart before tomorrow. We should all take the time to rest and plan our next move," Cecil said, standing up.

"I don't care for the part with the "plan", but the word "rest" sounds really good to me… See you tomorrow, everyone!" Edge yawned and shuffled out of the door.

Cecil noticed that he was feeling quite tired as well – the happenings in the Serpent Sanctuary had exhausted everyone both mentally as well as physically.

Before he left the room with Rosa, he made sure that he took his leave of Dawn.

"Have a good night... We'll talk more tomorrow…" he smiled towards the female Paladin.

"Yes..." For a moment the silver-haired woman seemed nearly shy. "Again: Great to see you!" She gave him a dazzling smile and left for the door, as well. Golbez looked after her with an amused smile on his lips and then shot Cecil a mysterious glance which irritated the young Paladin completely.

"What is he trying to tell me?" The paladin shook his head as he left the meeting room together with his wife.

~*~

As they were alone in their room, Rosa caught Cecil by his arm and brought him to sit with her on the bed. "There was something else in this ruin, wasn't there, darling?" she asked worried while brushing carefully some strands of hair from off his forehead. Cecil caught her hand and pressed it to his face, her touch soothing his nerves.

"There had been some...disagreements between me and Jonas--you know, he's the boy who..."

"Yes...I know. But I believe you did well from what I heard. However, I'm speaking about something else. Something more disturbing--also disturbing me… The Black Knight there could have killed you easily, though you, Edge and Yang are excellent fighters..." Rosa folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head slightly. "I tried not to worry while you were away, but then I have to hear that you nearly got killed…"

"But I'm here…" Cecil pulled her gently into an embrace, although his expression was worried as well. "You're right, though. There was something disturbing about this warrior. He was not only powerful, but he was using the same techniques I used as a Dark Knight. And then there was this strange aura about him... It was not really hostile, but...familiar somehow..." He shook his head.

Rosa leaned against his shoulder with closed eyes, just enjoying the warmth and the familiar touch of her husband before she spoke again.

"It makes me afraid. That nothing has really happened in contrast to the war against Golbez and Zeromus. I mean, no one is trying to take over the kingdom, there is no Giant of Babil destroying the landscape... The only thing the Dark Paladins achieved so far were some quarrels in our group and some monster attacks--next to that, they only spoke out threats. Though it feels so strange... As if something terrible is happening and we do not even notice it…"

"Yes, you're right. My worst fear would be that this terrible thing you spoke of has already happened and we didn't notice it because we were too fond of ourselves. Maybe we celebrated our victory over Zeromus too much and didn't watch for signs of a possible new danger like the Dark Paladins. It makes me nervous as well," Cecil said, stroking her hair. "I wonder if we could have reacted sooner on this group if we just had taken better care..."

"Cecil," Rosa said suddenly and raised her head from his shoulder, looking him inthe eyes. "I want to come with you to Tororia. Not only because I worry for your safety, but because I want to see with my own eyes if my fears are justified..."

To her surprise, Cecil agreed without hesitation. "All right… I would have asked you anyway, to tell you the truth."

As he saw the confused look of his wife, he explained, slightly grinning: "Golbez will probably join us and you know that we don't get along well. I might need someone to prevent the worst catastrophes from evolving and..." he continued, very serious all of a sudden, "and I'd rather have you at my side. Though I don't know what dangers will await us, just leaving you behind doesn't make things better, you know. During the voyage to the Sanctuary I so often missed you and wished I could talk to you…"

"Yes, I missed you too... It's the bad side of love as Golbez just explained lately..." Rosa smiled.

Cecil did not react on her remark, as his mind wasalready occupied with something else-he wanted to make certain things cleared with Rosa once and for all. He took a deep breath: "Dawn will be coming with us as well, but..."

"Cecil!" Rosa interrupted him. "You really don't have to explain anything to me… Dawn is a friend of mine as well as she is a friend of yours… Though you sometimes act as if you'd have something to hide..." She tried to sound as reproachful as possible, but could not hide a smile. "I just know that I can trust you--I've observed you well enough during the last days. There's nothing you could do or say to convince me that there is or ever was more between you two aside from friendship. And now I want to hear nothing more about his matter! You can worry about it as much as you want -- I may not be able to prevent it, but please never doubt again my trust in you...and my love towards you..."

Cecil had listened to her intently all the time and now looked at her with a mixture of wonder, but also utter affection in his features. Rosa's words and her trust in him seemed to put a layer of peacefulness over his troubled mind, which was constantly occupied with dealing with the problems of late where everyone seemed to mistrust the other at one point or the other. Cecil could not remember when he had felt so happy and at ease the last time; as with all that was bothering him, it had seemed nearly impossible to find peace of mind. He felt confidence surging up in him--even his dark past seemed conquerable all of a sudden and he decided to tell his wife the one thing he had hidden from her concerning his experiences on Mt. Ordeals--a mental betrayal against her as he had met Dawn.

"I love you, too Rosa. Don't ever doubt this for one minute. I don't know how I could doubt this back on the mountain for just one minute..." he whispered, laying his soul bare to her with his last confession, though it did not seem to disturb his wife at all – Rosa only nodded slightly, as if to show him that things were alright. 

Driven by her trust, Cecil continued: "Whatever happens in the future, whatever my own dark past will demand of me--there's no need to fear as long as we're together..." The paladin knew that his words were only a shallow, insufficient way to express what he really felt, still there was one more thing he wanted to tell Rosa:

"I'll never leave you…" he whispered and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I know. Though it sounds so naive, I believe you..." Rosa replied, kissing him in return, then she suddenly puther head to one side and looked at him.

"You know--sharing one's life with a loved person also means carrying a lot of responsibility and facing many worries--especially when sharing one's life with someone like you..." she paused for a moment, seeing that Cecil was slightly frowning. Before he could say anything, Rosa had laid a finger on his lips, grinning mischievously.

"But… maybe this weight is the sweetest one you can have to bear…" she whispered, before she embraced her husband, kissing him passionately.

~*~

"Kain!" Diane shouted after Kain, as he was about to wander over the dark courtyard to his room.

"Diane! What are you still doing here at such an hour? I thought you went home with your father right away. The whole castle is already sleeping." Kain turned around, surprised.

"I know..." Diane huffed, "and I can't stay long, but I just wanted to know if you were going tomorrow."

"Yes. Cecil might need my help..." Kain told her. "You seem to be worried about that. I thought that you wouldn't min--"

"Yes, yes, I know that I said that I wouldn’t mind," Diane interrupted him, "I just wanted to tell you to be careful. After all, you're trying to infiltrate the headquarters of this group and this doesn't sound like an easy task at all... I was suddenly having a bad feeling...so..." she sighed, as if being annoyed by her lack of words. "Just be careful."

"Yes, sure… You really don't have to worry about me!" Kain laughed loudly as if he was trying to loosen the embarrassed atmosphere between him and Diane.

"I can't promise that." Diane smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Sorry if I scared you! Maybe I'll see you off tomorrow if father lets me." She turned around; too quickly for Kain's taste and wanted to walk away, but as she felt her lover's gaze on her, waited for some seconds longer.

"Diane, if you don't want me to go..." Kain said slowly.

Diane turned around once more, "Really--it's all right!" She told him and her words sounded serious. "That's what you get for falling in love with a fighter. I knew this before, but I am allowed to tell you to be careful, aren’t I?" She winked and then left for her home.

Kain gazed after her, puzzled. "What's the matter with me?" Diane had said nothing unusual to him, in fact she had acted more understandingly than he had hoped for and still he felt bad. "Take care..." she had said. The thought of her worrying for him made him uneasy, though he did not know why. He had seen Rosa and Cecil saying goodbye to each other before a mission in this fashion more than often enough and they never seemed to feel taken aback by the other one saying to be careful. It was only natural that friends and, even more so, lovers cared, as well as he now was always worrying about Diane. So why did her words not please him at all, but disturbed him?

Having such unpleasant thoughts, Kain did not feel tired any more. Thus, he decided to go to the tavern.