8.

Of men and chocobos

Without Edge at the steer, the airship landed safely near Tororia a few hours later.

"I think we should split up," Cecil proposed, "one part of the group should try to gather information in town, while the others check the nearest surroundings. You said the headquarter was not far away from the town, right, Dawn?"

The young woman nodded. "Yes. Although even if we just roughly know where the headquarter is supposed to be, splitting up is still a good idea. And if it is to see if everything's alright in town."

"So - who is going where? I'd rather like to search the surroundings. I'm not much for visiting the town..." Kain murmured.

"The reason for this couldn't be that Tororia is full of beautiful women and would remind you of a certain someone you left in Baron?" Rosa teased him, earning a sour look from Kain in return. 

"Anyway, we are not gloomy, right Rydia?" Rosa grinned. "We are volunteering for the trip into town!"

"Yes!" Rosa's sudden cheerfulness brought a smile to Rydia's lips. "Tororia is really beautiful from what I remember... A visit might be a nice change once in a while."

"Do you want to go as well, Dawn? After all, it's your hometown..." Cecil asked. 

Dawn smiled sheepishly. "Well, to tell you the truth, that's the reason why I don't want to go... I'm not having the best memories concerning Tororia and, besides, we're here to investigate. Me appearing in town would only cause a lot of unwanted commotion, I believe."

Although it sounded strange to Cecil that Dawn had no interest to visit her hometown, her words made sense. "Very well... "

"I'm not goingas well," Golbez remarked, "unless the citizens have a change of mind and welcome me as a friend all of a sudden because they finally recognized my good side..." He grinned in Cecil's direction, who luckily did not notice it.

"Then I'm gonna protect the ladies!" Edge volunteered. Rydia and Rosa exchanged glances but said nothing.

"Very well Edge. But remember: we're here to work and not to examine all taverns!" The young caller finally teased.

"But that's the best place to gather information!" The ninja smirked.

Rosa laughed - if Edge was around, things would surely not get boring. "Alright -- I think the three of us are enough. Perhaps we should start with the castle..."

Cecil agreed, although secretly he was not too happy about the combination of his group. Being with Dawn pleased him and Kain was no problem either, but Kain and Golbez were an explosive mixture, as well as Cecil himself and his brother.

"At least Rosa and Rydia have chosen the safer route - what could possibly happen to them in town? Besides, they will take good care of Edge,” the Paladin tried to think optimistically while he said goodbye to the other group. Rosa, Rydia and Edge took their leave in good spirits; obviously, the three were looking forward to seeing the beauties of Tororia once again.

"So..." Kain put his hands in his pockets, not wearing, like Cecil, any armour, but a light traveling garb. "Do you still know your way around here, Dawn?"

The young woman shrugged. "I hope so... I'll try to lead the way. Follow me!"

The group ventured into the deep woods around Tororia.

~*~

"Tororia is still as lovely as I remembered..." Rosa said as they set foot into the white marble paneled halls of Tororia castle. With its great halls, sparkling ponds and lush gardens, the castle had the reputation to be one of the most beautiful buildings on the whole planet. In fact, it was difficult not to stand in awe before its beauty. 

"Queen Rosa, King Edge and Rydia of Mist!" The female guards at the door before the inner chambers bowed upon seeing them.

"Greetings..." Rosa smiled in return. "I know that we have no appointment, but would it be possible to speak with the clerics of Tororia?"

"We fear that most of the sisters are not in the castle right now, but the head sister, Eustacia, might be in the great hall." The guards stepped aside and opened the great doors. "Are you familiar with the way, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, thank you..."

Rydia pulled at Edge's sleeve. "Come on Edge - stop staring at the uniform of the ladies!" She sighed, knowing that the sparse clothing of the guards resembled more the dress of a dancer than a uniform.

Edge grinned. "Jealous, Rydia? You know that even these ladies cannot compare with your beau-" 

"Whatever..." Rydia blushed slightly. "I was only worried that your eyes would fall out and you might need them later..."

As the three friends entered the great hall, Sister Eustacia approached them, smiling. She was an elderly woman with a benevolent, but also unworldly expression and was clad in a plain high-necked blue dress; her only jewellery was that ofa necklace of black stones. "Queen Rosa, young King Edge and Rydia of Mist..." she curtseyed, although her own status as the head of Tororia was not lesserthan the ones of her visitors. "What a pleasure to see you again! But you're look so worried... Is it about Agart?"

"But haven't you heard..." Rosa wanted to ask at first, but then reminded herself that neither the incidents on Mt. Ordeals, nor Kieran's attempt to destroy Eblan, were probably known to the sister. Although she was sure that Cecil had sent a letter...

Eustacia seemed to read her thoughts. "Oh, forgive me -- Baron has had to endure terrible things in the past, as well as Mysidia and fair Eblana from what I heard..." She shook her head. "It seems that no matter how peaceful times seem to be, there are always evil people trying to go against the law... Although mostly these people are only harmless, lost souls, don't you think so, Queen Rosa?"

"Err... Yes, of course..." Rosa tried to smile but inwardly had to sigh - it was a well known fact that the sisters of Tororia were a bit naive sometimes. The safe, but also isolated location of Tororia near the woods granted the country - with exception of the Crystal War - usually a peaceful life apart from most problems. The strong army which Tororia had built up was used mainly for defending the town, but in fact they were hardly needed at all. Still, it sounded strange to Rosa that Eustacia brushed aside the happenings of late as a nuisance, committed by some 'harmless' criminals.

"Sister Eustacia, we fear that these incidents might not be as harmless as you presume: We have reason to believe that they are just part of a larger scheme."

"A scheme which might have to do with a group called the Dark Paladins, who are supposed to have erected their headquarters in Tororia," Rydia joined in the conversation.

"Dark Paladins? Your husband, Queen Rosa, wrote in his letter about them, as well, but I can assure that there's no such group in our fair Tororia." Eustacia frowned.

"Maybe they did not inform you of their plans and moved into their headquarter in secret?" Rosa wondered.

"If that would have been the case I believe that the people in our wonderful town would have noticed and of course told it to us!" Eustacia smiled, though added rather sheepishly: "On the other hand, I have not often been in touch with our citizens lately, so I might of course have missed certain things..."

"That is very likely..." Edge mumbled under his breath.

"Maybe the town would be a better place to inquire about such things..." Eustacia proposed, suddenly seeming to be in a hurry. "Though I'll ask my sisters as well if they've seen something... For now I fear you'll have to excuse me. There's work to be done!" She curtseyed slightly and left the hall through a door at the end of the room.

"So ladies, seems it's the tavern after all!" Edge grinned triumphantly.

"Yes... But we lead on! Right, Rosa?" Rydia laughed and took Edge's arm; the beauty of Tororia had obviously lightened her spirits. Rosa nodded and slowly followed her friends, pondering whether Eustacia really was as ignorant as she seemed...

~*~

"There once wasan old building near here. It was used as a training ground for the fighters of Tororia," Dawn explained, while the group wandered through the forest outside of Tororia.

"Did you train there, too, Dawn?" Kain asked.

"Yes -- although that was quite some years ago. I left Tororia as I was 16..." Dawn replied, although it was clear that she did not like the subject much, thus Kain decided to let things rest for the moment, no matter how much he had liked to learn more about her past.

"So..." Dawn bit her lower lip. "If I could just remember whether it was the left or right path..."

"Should we split up, once more?" Cecil proposed.

"Right now we should better hide..." Golbez said in a low voice. "There are people coming this way!" Indeed voices were coming out of the direction the group had come from.

"Alright, there are bushes!" Cecil motioned the others to follow and they squatted down behind the greenery.

A couple came down the way and headed for the left path.

"They looklike normal citizens of Tororia..." Dawn wondered "What could they want in the woods?"

"We'll never know until we follow them!" Kain suggested and began to pursue the two people through the undergrowth.

"Maybe they'll lead us to the training grounds..." Cecil shrugged and followed the Dragoon as well as Dawn and Golbez. After a short while they reached a clearing with an impressive white building, which was enclosed by pillars in the middle.

"That's in fact the old training ground..." Dawn said quietly. "It's still as beautiful as before..."

"I doubt, though, that these people are entering it for the purpose of training..." Golbez motioned towards the entrance of the building, which was guarded by two sturdy looking knights in black armour.

"If their name is also their motto, I guess that we have found the 'Dark Paladin' hideout we were looking for..." the wizard remarked dryly.

Just now the couple from before was approaching the guards and entered the building after a short talk with the men.

"So how do we get in? The front door seems to be the only entrance..." Cecil wondered. He looked at his and the clothes of the others. "And we don't look exactly like citizens as well..." Despite their light travel garb, Kain's muscles which showed under his shirt confirmed only too well that he was an experienced fighter and Dawn's unnatural beauty, Cecil's colour of hair and Golbez's whole stature and haughty features were not very inconspicuous, as well. 

"Hey, look there! Maybe we're lucky after all!" Kain motioned towards a cart which was standing a bit aside of the building; obviously it was owned by a merchant who had not wanted to come here by foot. 

"It looks loaded. Maybe there's something we can use..." He already wanted to make a dash for it, but Cecil held him back and pressed some coins into his hand.

"No stealing, Kain..."

"Sometimes you can be such a bore, my friend!" Kain grinned, flipping one of the coins in his hand. He then started to crawl towards the wagon, his friends checking that no one was watching the blond man.

Kain disappeared unnoticed behind the cart and after a while came back, something grey under his arm. "Look what I found! Some woolen covers!"

Cecil sniffed at them and pulled a face. "Ugh... They smell like chocobos slept on them..."

Dawn had to suppress a laugh. "So it's settled then - we're chocobo farmers! After all, Tororia is famous for them, so we can't possibly attract too much attention if we wear these."

"Alright, it's now or never..." Cecil sighed. Trying to ignore the stench, the four companions wrapped the covers around them, pulling part of the fabric deep into their faces. Emerging from their hiding place, they approached the guards.

Before them, just another group had arrived: an elderly woman and a young man. "Lets see how they behave..." Dawn whispered to their companions.

"Good day to you! We heard that the great Mallack is gracing us with his presence here, today," the young man greeted the guard.

"Mallack... That's the name the black knight at the shrine mentioned..." Cecil became agitated.

"Shh... We should listen..." Kain interrupted him.

"You're right. If you're looking for a safe haven in these troubled times, you're welcome to enter. Are you citizens of Tororia?" the guard was just asking the two people before him.

"Yes. I've been living here all my life," the old woman replied. "In Tororia there's never been war until two years ago and that only happened because of that crystal! Now I even heard that some of the clerics were thinking of building an airship, as if there soon would be war, again!" She shook her head. "All this technique will bring us is into an early grave, so as we heard that your group was interested in upholding the old ways and traditions, we --"

"That's enough, mother," the young man interrupted her.

"No, it's alright," one guard said friendly. "Your mother is a wise woman. Come on through..." He and his companion stepped aside and let the two through.

"They think that the crystals were the only cause of the war?" Cecil frowned.

"Lets worry about that later... Come on. If one just needs to complain about the crystals to get into the building, it should be a piece of cake," Kain whispered. They approached the guards.

"Halt!" One of the black knights stopped them, studying the group suspiciously. Despite the woolen capes, Golbez's tall stature was still impressive.

"We're chocobo breeders from Tororia," Dawn introduced them.

"Oh, nothing's as lovely as the smell of a chocobo!" one guard exclaimed. "What a great animal; a much better, safer and more traditional way of transportation than these cursed airships!"

"You're right with that!" Kain agreed smiling. "We heard that Mallack thinks so, too, so we..."

"You did? I never heard him making a speech about chocobos, although he should, maybe.." One guard took a step forward and tried to get a better look at Kain's face.

Cecil stepped in his way. "What my friend wanted to say is that the old times and traditional ways are much better then many things nowadays: in the old times, as no Lunarians and crystals existed, a man had just to follow his own way.."

"Yes, it was just a man and his chocobo so to say..." Kain added.

Trying to suppress a grin, Cecil continued, "but look what happened: some Lunarians came onto the planet, bringing with them the crystals--"

"--which are only causing war and deciding the fate of innocent people," Golbez concluded his sentence, darkly.

The guards stared at them, amazed. "Why, you are so right! You talk like Mallack! Maybe you should ask him if you could help him? We can always use such people as yourselves! Please come on through!" They opened the door.

"Thanks, we'll ask him," Dawn told them.

"Hey Cecil, that was great! How did you know what they wanted to hear?" Kain whispered as they entered the building.

"Just ended the thought of the old lady..." Cecil shrugged.

"I must say that I'm quite impressed... To speak about your own people in such a fashion..." Golbez remarked.

"There was no other way. Besides they're your people as well... But I presume that in contrast to me, you actually did mean what you told the guards, right? I'm talking about the part about the crystals and Lunarians deciding the fate of others?" Cecil asked him dryly.

Golbez shot him a short glance. "You know what I think of our father and the way you became Paladin..."

Cecil nodded. "Yes... I know..." He was aware that Golbez was of the opinion that their father, Klu Ya, had egoistically 'used' Cecil to right the wrong he had committed by letting his other son fall into the hands of Zeromus.

"Hey you two," Dawn whispered. "Please save these discussions for later, yes? We don't want to drive too much attention to us."

The group followed some other persons into a warm lit hall, where a crowd of about thirty people had already gathered. As Cecil looked around in the room, he spotted black clad guards lining the walls. "What or whom do they guard? Surely not Mallack alone..."

The crowd fell silent as a tall and very tough looking man with short clipped blond hair stepped onto a stage at the end of the room. Suddenly, Cecil sensed a familiar feeling and only a few moments later, his fears were getting confirmed: with his impressive two-handed sword in both hands, the black knight they had met at the Shrine of the Serpent positioned himself behind the blond and placed the sword tip on the floor, guarding him.

"That's the knight from the Sanctuary in Mysidia," the Paladin informed his companions.

"He looks strong..." Kain studied the man.

The blond man on the stage started to speak, his strong voice echoing through the hall. "We're sorry to tell you that Mallack will not be able to talk to you, today..." A murmur went through the crowd. "He has to take care of other business," the man continued. "We have reason to believe that a group of strangers plans to infiltrate our quarter here."

The group around Cecil stiffened. "How can they know of our presence?" Cecil wondered.

"These strangers are a group which pretend to respect the freedom of man, but in reality they support the current ruler ship of people only interested in spreading foul Lunarian beliefs!" The blond man shouted; the expression on the others’ faces made Cecil's blood freeze.

"But our present rulers helped to save the world from the destruction through Zeromus!" a man from the crowd argued.

"And how did that war start in the first place?" The blond man thundered. "Zeromus was a Lunarian himself, like the dark wizard Golbez! The giant of Bab-il and the crystals were creations brought to our beautiful planet by Lunarians in order to force their way of life and their beliefs upon us. Their only objective is to control us!"

Some people in the crowd started to whisper. "I heard that the leader during the Crystal War and current King of Baron is a Lunarian, too..."

The blond man nodded, sadly. "Yes. In fact King Cecil hails from the moon as well. He might have saved you all, but never forget that he once served the false King of Baron and was an instrument of evil. Who tells you that he saved your planet only for the benefit of the world? He became a Paladin, and as such he is a slave of the Lunarians, too. He might act according to them. Haven't you ever wondered why he hasn't stopped the research on airships upon becoming King? We're living in times of peace, but remember that airships were used mainly for destruction and were the reason Baron became powerful enough to start a war!"

Cecil balled his fists; he could not believe how the man was twisting things. Dawn caught his arm, carefully and squeezed it.

"But I thought that the Lunarians only visited the Blue Planet in order to help our ancestors..." another person in the crowd asked carefully.

"And how did that help them?" the man replied. "They constructed shrines and teleport devices only they understood fully, gave the people of the Blue Planet some crystals to power them--or to spy on them, as I believe--and then left on their cursed moon, again. And what did they do as Zeromus emerged from their midst? They let people from the Blue Planet deal with the problem. Of course these people were acting according to the Lunarian wishes. After that, the moon disappears again. There's peace for a while and suddenly Agart gets destroyed by an earthquake and the monsters are increasing again..." the voice of the man got louder.

"Shall I show you why all these things are happening? You just need to take a look outside!" He pointed at a window high up, where a faint, round silhouette was outlined against the grey sky outside.

"The Lunarian moon..." some people murmured.

"Yes, the Lunarian moon has returned again! What a strange coincidence, don't you think so, my dear friends?" the blond man closed his speech.

The murmurs of agreement were getting louder and louder and some people started to praise the Dark Paladins for opening their eyes. The blond man on the stage replied to the shouts with a triumphant smile on his face. Satisfied, he let his cold eyes wander over the cheering crowd. As he got sight of the group clad in woolen capes, it seemed to Cecil like the man was resting his gaze just a moment longer on them.

"But don't fear! We of the order of the Dark Paladins have decided to fight against any kind of oppression or manipulation by the Lunarian kind or their helpers. Anyonewhobelieves that the time has come to create society anew is welcome to join! If you have questions, or if you're interested in joining our group, please stand in a row near the table there."

On behalf of a nod by the speaker, the black knight disappeared behind a door on the back of the stage, only to return a bit later with some small object which he placed on a wooden table. Cecil shivered all of a sudden and he unintentionally took a step back, nearly tripping. His eyes were focused on the object, aghast; it radiated a dark power which was stronger than everything he had ever felt before.

As the crowd moved to the side of the stage, Cecil and his friends were able to take a better look at the strange object. It was a black lump of stone in the size of a fist.

Obviously, some of the Tororian people were irritated by it as well, but the blond man just smiled and explained, pointing at it:

"This might look like a normal stone to you, but it is a very powerful material, which is the symbol of our group. Our great leader Mallack discovered it--this stone possesses a power which is by far more powerful than the one of the crystal. In the bowls of the earth it came into existence in ancient times through the powers of our Blue Planet!"

Murmurs went through the crowd and the people started to assemble around the stone, curiously. Some people even dared to touch it.

"Yes, don't hesitate to touch it! It's completely safe." The blond man smiled. "So, is there anyone here who wants to support our organization?"

"Well... I guess I'd like to," A man in his forties, obviously a merchant stepped forward, rather shy. "Business hasn't been that good lately. Sometimes I think that our rulers are more interested in the development of Lunarian inventions instead of caring for the problems of their people. The Tororian clerics didn't even listen to my complains..."

"If he's the guy who the cart with the stinking covers belongs to, it's no wonder if he does not sell much..." Kain murmured.

"Very well. So please come here and tell me your name!" Under the eyes of the blond man, who was watching him intently, but with goodwill, the merchant answered several questions. Finally, the Dark Paladin seemed to hand something to the new member, but Cecil and his friends could not see what, only the back of the merchant being turned to them.

Now, the merchant turned around. "Down with the oppression through the Lunarians and their false moral which caused the last war!" He shouted. Suddenly his eyes had a mad glimmer in them, which made Cecil and his friends shudder.

"Was he that aggressive before?" Kain wondered.

"Hey, you four!" A guard suddenly approached them. "The front guards told Sir Samon about you and he'd like to see you..." He pointed towards the blond man, who still was talking to the villagers.

"Yes... sure.." Cecil nodded, though it was clear to him that they needed to disappear as soon as possible, for Samon was surrounded by guards and the black knight. If their disguise would be discovered, a fight would ensue which would not only bring trouble to them, but to innocent townspeople as well.

"We can't take the way we've come..." Kain whispered. "The guards will stop us... Dawn, is there any other way out of here?"

The young woman looked around. "There used to be a secret passage leading to town, if I remember correctly. It was supposed to be used in emergencies, when training troops needed to get to town as fast as possible. Lets take this passage there..."

As quiet as possible, the four crept towards the corridor. No one noticed them, as the eyes of the villagers and the guards were only aimed at Sir Samon...