* III *

 

- Memories -

What has happened,

is all in the past.

The pain that is felt,

will surely not last.

But memories have a way

of finding lost souls.

And it feels like walking

on a bed of hot coals.

But worry not of these memories,

for not all carry woe.

For some bear more,

than you will ever know.

*

Brave torches tried with noble efforts to make the lonely stone woven corridor seem alight, but Cecil's monstrous shadow devoured them hungrily, mercilessly. It was as if the bobbing flames were but mere morsels for his voracious darkness, brief moments of happiness drowned in woe. It reminded him of when he was descending upon the star-crossed village of Mysidia, and how not even the sun was vivacious enough to bring the day to life. Ever since they had reached that forsaken village the day had fallen under a dark cloud, and shrouds seemed to dangle mockingly in his face. If he could tear them down he would, but he didn't know where to begin, or even how to rid himself of this twinge. What frightened him the most was not that all of this was hanging over him, but that he actually felt at home within it. This darkness was his home.

This is what I am. A Dark Knight. Cecil told himself, as though maybe it would somehow make him feel like this was not so wrong, his footsteps echoing hard against the drums of his ears. This is what I do.

Though he knew it was the truth, it sure as hell didn't feel like it. He could've sent a clean hole through the stone wall with all the pent up emotion inside, but he did well to keep it contained. The last thing he would want was a part of his wages docked for destruction of castle property, as if it mattered that much. But he had to have something to hold on to, some small rope of life to hang on. If money was that last rope, then by God so be it.

These are the trying times... he thought, remembering how he had mulled over the same notions earlier that morning. He started to realize just how much everything had changed in this half of a day...How much I have changed.

He was quickly feeling closed in, surrounded by the darkness he was shedding, and he wanted to break out of it. He started to pick up his pace down the hallway, steel on stone cracking in swift erratic beats creating a sharp rhythmic reverberation reeling through the shadows. He was so close to the doors, and he would've burst through them with all of his strength, everything he had to escape the dark that followed him, if it weren't for one sweet, seductive sound that broke through every dark wall, hitting his ears so lovely. A voice, he realized, that sounded so wonderful at that moment, compared to the thunderous boom of His Majesty, which still lingered in his head.

Rosa

"Cecil," she called as she ran delicately down the stone way, coming to a gentle stop before the Dark Knight. Cecil stopped, but he didn't dare turn to her, just to keep from her what worries were upon his face. He continued to stare at the strong wooden door that stood between the outside and his darkness, worried he might never see the other side, "Thank God you're alright. Your mission was so sudden, and this morning I...I was worried."

He could hear the loving concern in her soft voice, feel the beautiful breath of her words hit his back, and he imagined how cold he must seem. His heart begged him to turn around and gaze upon what beauty stood behind him, but his mind would give no such response. He would not allow his foolish emotions to take a hold of him, although they called so tenderly, so enticing...so hard to let go. Cecil's lack of response to Rosa's words left her a little unsettled, and she reached a loving hand to his as she drew closer to him, still facing the endless darkness of the back of his helmet.

"Are you hurt?" she asked tenderly, unsure of the brooding man before her.

Such a simple question, and I don't even know how to truly answer it

"No, I'm fine," Cecil responded, though he knew there were levels of pain coursing through him. He knew he was not harmed physically, but mentally...that was a whole other story, "It's hard to take a wound when your enemy has no chance to resist."

"Cecil..." her warm voice hit him harder this time, pulling stronger at the strings of his heart and he finally gave in. Cecil turned slowly but surely, eventually laying his despairing eyes upon the beautiful figure, long blonde curls draped over a perfect face, much like her white silken robes falling effortlessly down a perfect body; as exquisite as a flower...a rose. She gazed so deeply into the bottomless blue of his eyes, lightly shadowed by the slight overhang of his helmet, a faint twinkle reflecting torches through the darkness. He knew she could see things through his eyes that he would never tell her, and he almost felt relieved that he wouldn't have to. He tried hard not to show her his pain, but she broke through barriers before he ever had the chance to put them up. And her voice still carried so caring, "Something awful must have happened, you look upset. Can you tell me?"

Not now. Please, don't make me say this now.

"It's okay," she assured him after a moment of verbose silence, as though she had just made conversation with his last thoughts. Her porcelain skin radiated so peacefully in the torchlight, and Cecil almost envied such a thing. He wished he could be at such peace with himself, though at the point he was at the word peace was farther away than he cared to imagine. Her hand fed a wondrous warmth through him, but it only made him wonder how cold his touch must feel to her, though she still stared so compassionate, "You don't have to tell me now. May I see you again tonight?"

Cecil wished he could've said something, something that would bring her some small scrap of comfort, but the words never came out of his mouth. He could only move his head slowly in a short, desolated nod. It surprised him to see her smile through all of this, all of the sorrow that filled the air. He somehow managed to return the gesture, though not nearly as wide or as bright as the one on her face, but it still made him feel a little better. Her hand gracefully lifted to his cheek, gently stroking the rough skin, and he felt as though he would melt in his armor. His eyes fell softly closed, allowing him to drown in this feeling, so intoxicating.

"Then I'll see you later. I have a class I must get back to," her tender touch ran down his cheek to the tip of his chin, leaving a trail of tingles and goose bumps. As her hand left his face he was able to open his eyes again, and he saw her smile as she began to turn and walk away. He wanted her to come back for just a moment more, and his skin reached out for her, though he stood solemnly still. He watched her take a few steps away before turning back, her smile still unwavering in the dark corridor, actually making it seem somewhat brighter. He imagined an angel could do the same, "Don't forget to leave a candle for me."

"Of course..." Cecil trailed into so many mixed feelings, unsure of which emotion to fall into. She left him with a feeling of so much more than when he had started walking down this lonely hallway, her hand giving a short wave as she finally made her way back from whence she came. He watched her, the robes flowing elegant around her legs, hovering just over the stone floor, and her hair bouncing with her steps. She was so perfect, and she was his, and he knew that was all he truly needed to live. His whispers followed helplessly after her, "You will always be the light..."

...to my darkness...

His smile immediately started to ebb away as he saw her disappear down the stairs at the end of the way. He was alone again, with only the torches keeping him company, bobbing so friendly, only to be devoured once more by his looming darkness. So depressing he began to find the scene, as his walls of gloom were once more erected and were starting to close in around him. He wanted nothing more to do with such things, and he turned around swiftly to drive his palm into the wooden door before him, opening up to a blue canvas set on fire in sunset.

He actually found himself lost in the beauty of orange and red fires painted across the sky, slowly making his way across the court to the edge of the parapet. He gazed through long, silent spells, and at that moment he actually felt free. A light breeze kissed his skin, almost as tender as Rosa's touch, though it would never bring the same emotions that she could. She had a way of bringing out those deeper feelings to his surface, and embracing them with loving arms. Perhaps it was just that they had known each other for so long, ever since they were kids as a matter of fact. Just like Kain, Cecil had met this lovely girl at a young age, although then they were more of friends just having fun together. They had met just outside the town of Baron, in the small forest that creeps up from the northeast. They were around seven, Cecil remembered, and they were out in the woods playing with sticks as though they were swords...

"Hey Cecil. I bet we'll see a monster today. I heard some guards saying they've seen some strange things out here." Kain said, rather excitedly as he swept his long stick from side to side, as though hacking through some imaginary beast. Cecil wore a broad smile, for he had the very same feeling that they would find adventure this day. Just what kind of adventure, they weren't even ready for.

"Yeah, we'll find something. I know it."

The sun poured in through broken spots in the evergreen ceiling, leaving pieces of light and shadow randomly scattered about the grass. The two venturesome children walked rather carelessly through the forest, even though they knew that if they came face-to-face with a ravenous creature then they would be ill prepared. But that certainly didn't stop them from enjoying the thought of seeing such a sight, overweighing the thought of not ever living to tell about it. It was rather quiet, save for the twigs and dead leaves that fell rather noisily beneath their shoes. It was unusually calm as well, though neither Cecil nor Kain had developed such senses, and the fact that not even a wisp of air had passed by did not seem strange to them. They were only looking for one thing...adventure.

"How far do you think we'll have to go?" Kain asked, noticing with a glance behind him that the castle was beginning to disappear. Cecil didn't even bother to look back, keeping a bold smile as he walked confidently forward.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll have to walk all day," Cecil replied, a hint of jest in his voice that he tried to keep Kain unaware of.

"You think?" Kain said, a little nervous about traveling so far from the castle without any way of protecting themselves if they actually did encounter something dangerous. Cecil would've laughed, but he was starting to think that turning around might not be such a bad idea after all.

"Nah, we'll go a little further before we turn around."

They trotted their path a few minutes more before they finally gave up, not having seen a single thing to spark their interest. They stood for a moment under a soft ray of light pouring in through the treetops, letting the sun warm their faces. After conceding to the day, the boys turned and started to make their trail back to the castle. They had only gotten two steps away before their feet planted into the ground...a sound had come from a nearby bush. Both pairs of wondrous eyes were instantly locked on the suspected shrubbery, watching with every bit of attention they had. At first they saw nothing, no movement or sounds. They began to wonder if their minds were playing games with them, but they were soon reassured of their instincts as the brush shook lightly in harmony with a short, quiet squeal. Cecil and Kain both lit up like sunrise, smiles bigger than their faces could carry plastered on each of them. They looked at each other with paired astonishment, for they had finally found their adventure for today.

"There's something in that bush. Should we go take a look?" Kain asked, although with the look on Cecil's face he already had an answer. Cecil looked as though he would rush through the bushes at any second with every intention of discovering what lay on the other side. But that look was rather quickly turned around as the bush once more shook, although this time much more violently, and the squeal was louder and more...monster-like. Cecil glanced at Kain, who gave him worried eyes back.

"Why don't you go look?" Cecil offered. Kain's eye twitched.

"No, that's okay. You can go look." Kain responded, handing back the offering of being the first victim. Cecil wasn't about to be outdone here.

"Yeah, but I really think you should go look. You've got a bigger stick." Cecil came back, trying to negotiate through this. Kain still didn't seem too terribly excited about going into the bush.

"How come I always have to go look?" Kain complained, something he had become rather good at. Cecil just rolled his eyes as he knew this was going to get them nowhere. The bushes rattled and squealed once more, assuring them that their surprise had not left them behind. They were going to find out what this was, whether or not it be good or bad.

"Okay. How about we both go look?" Cecil finally gave the right answer, Kain replying with a nervous nod. They turned their wary gaze to the shrubs, nerves not even close to steel, but about as close as they were going to get. Anxious steps moved slowly towards the bush, taking care not to scare whatever was in there. Just before they got within an arms length, the bush shook again, although not as violent as before and the sound was barely audible. Still they were cautious to approach, and once they were upon it, they stopped and glanced at each other one last time. With a brave nod to each other they faced the bush and prepared to storm through, pushing back whatever fear they had of what might be lurking in there.

"YAAHHH!!" both kids yelled in loud unison, tearing through brush, thin leaves and limbs flying into the air. The sheer moment of it was pure excitement as their small legs propelled them into a new adventure. And that's where they found her.

"Eeeekk!" a shrill cry burst from her mouth as she fell hard on her bottom, a pair of sharp tree branches pointed menacingly at her. Her frightened eyes fell down the sharp wood, leading to the two young boys standing over her. The two sticks quickly fell to the boys' sides and their eyes stared wide at this beautiful girl they had found, which was certainly not something commonly seen in these woods. Silence ensued for a few moments, and they just stared at each other as if in some trance, or perhaps just playing a game of who can stare the longest. The girl eventually picked herself up, a little miffed that neither of the boys would help her, but even standing up she felt a bit intimidated as they still stood over her. The boys continued to gaze wondrously, completely unsure of exactly what they should do with this find. They weren't even sure if this was a monster or not, although she certainly didn't look like one. Her short, curled locks of blonde hair dangled around her little face, and she wore a loose, bright-colored sundress; something similar to what Cecil and Kain had seen girls wearing in town this time of year. But they still couldn't be sure, and Kain couldn't help but ask.

"Are you a monster?" Kain asked shyly, unsure if she would soon open her mouth and fry him with a spray of fire. He wasn't too far off it would seem.

"Do I look like a monster?" she came back, rather angry that someone would perceive her that way. She immediately grabbed an angry attitude out of nowhere, immediately thinking these boys were just stupid, "Jerk."

"Well you sure sounded like one in that bush," Kain replied, almost ready to laugh, but the look she gave him instantly caused him to choke it back.

"I have allergies, but you probably couldn't even spell that," she spit a flaming retort back at the blonde-haired boy. She turned her fiery eyes to the boy who still had said not a word, his blue eyes large on his face. After seeing how quick she was to a temper, Cecil decided to take a softer approach.

"What's your name?"

"Rosa..." she replied, a little less hostile, "Rosa Farrell."

"Farrell?" Kain blurted out in surprise, his jaw taking a short trip south as his mouth hung open. Cecil was just as surprised, but he did a little better than Kain to mask it.

"As in Fredrick Farrell?" Cecil tried to act calm as he mentioned the name, though Kain was hot on his heels, "The--"

"The greatest knight to ever come through Baron?! The greatest knight of all time?!!" Kain quickly interrupted his friend, too excited to even hold the words in. Rosa gave him an annoyed stare as he had nearly jumped a foot in her direction as he babbled. Her eyes forced him to take that foot back. Cecil had a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to keep him away from the jaws of this beast they had stumbled upon, wrapped up in a cute "little-girl" wrapper. He actually found it amusing that Kain was getting so sociable towards this girl, even though she evidently did not want such pestilence.

"Yea, so?" she put her hands on her hips as she questioned their excitement. She knew her father had been a knight in the kingdom, but had never truly known how great he was. Her mother had told stories about him, but that was about it. She didn't really have a mind for all of those kinds of things, "How do you know my father?"

"Oh wow, Cecil. This is the daughter of Fredrick The Great!" Kain exclaimed with utmost joy. Cecil tried to calm him down, but he was finding it hard to keep himself calm. The excitement was surely all over his face, but he wasn't about to go jump up and down about it.

"So you live in Baron?" Cecil asked, trying not to test the girl�s patience. She seemed to act a little more civil when he was talking to her, but he figured it was just Kain being so annoying.

"Yes, I live with my mother in the village." she responded, her soft eyes studying the little boy, although bigger than she. She showed a strange relentless courage, especially to have been all the way out here.

"So what's a girl like you doing out here?" Kain spit out, almost asking for a rampant reaction of utter wrath. They could see it coming before she even spoke, as her face nearly disfigured in a distasteful look of anger.

"What do you mean 'a girl like me'?!" she exploded on the boy, causing him to take an extra step back just in case, "I can do whatever I want, I'll have you know."

"We just want to know why you were hiding in that bush." Cecil tried to play peacekeeper, though it didn't seem to be working. She still huffed at his question, as much as she disliked giving an answer. She was staring at him just as steamed now.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But only if I get to play with you guys and look for monsters." she lay the deal on the table for them. Cecil was thinking about it, but Kain was already up in arms about the whole thing.

"What? Are you kidding?" he responded, a little vexed that she would even say such a thing, "Girls can't hunt monsters. It's a man's job."

"Well you're not a man either so why are you out here?" she came back quite agitated. Kain was getting angry now, especially after that last little comment.

"Pft! Fine, whatever." he gave up, letting Cecil make the negotiations with this one. He sure as hell wasn't getting anywhere with her.

"How 'bout you tell us first, then we'll decide if you can play or not." Cecil tried his best to make some path through all of this fervor passing between these two. Rosa's glare fell upon him, and he actually found himself a little nervous of what she might say, or do to him.

"If I must," she conceded with an exaggerated sigh. Cecil couldn't believe she had actually agreed, her glare fading as she looked off and away for a moment before returning to the two boys, "I was following you. I see you guys going out into the forest all the time while I'm helping my mother in the garden. I finally decided today that I would find out what you were doing. Then you two had to come barreling through the bushes and scare me half to death."

"Believe me you scared us," Kain admitted with a shy laugh, though Cecil gave him a glare that put that quickly to rest. Kain wasn't about to let it go, however, "I mean, Cecil was scared, not me."

"I was not!" Cecil gave Kain a hard punch in the arm.

"Your name is Cecil?" Rosa came out, a little surprised at the name, Cecil even more surprised that she was so curious.

"Yeah."

"I've heard of you," she responded, "You're the orphan that the King adopted. You live in the castle."

"Hey, my name's Kain. I live in the castle, too." Kain followed up. Rosa instantly was back in her normal, dry sarcasm mood again.

"Gee, that's actually kinda strange," she said, feigning astonishment, "I didn't think they let morons live in the castle."

"Hey!"

"Ahem!" Cecil broke in before things erupted into a war, "Um, maybe we should talk about this later. It's getting late, and we probably should be back at the castle soon."

The sun was beginning to set off in the distance, and the shadows in the forest were becoming increasingly darker. Before long they would never be able to navigate their way through the thick shade of night.

"Well then let's go." Kain said, very ready to be rid of this nuisance.

"I'm going to need a stick." Rosa suddenly alerted the two boys, neither of them exactly sure what she meant. They stared, dumbfounded, for a moment or two until she spoke up, "If I'm going to help hunt monsters, then I'm going to need a stick."

"But..." Kain nearly fell over in shock. There was no way he was going to go get her a stick. Cecil was nearly covered with as much awe, but he turned and looked at Kain with accepting eyes. Kain knew exactly what he was saying to him, and he reluctantly took his own stick over his knee, snapping it in half, mumbling something they probably shouldn't hear under his breath. He looked at the two pieces before walking over and handing her the smaller half, "Here."

"Thank you, Kain." she said with a victorious smile. Kain bit back the urge to take it and break it into even smaller pieces over her head, and he even managed a smile as well.

"Okay then. Let's get going." Rosa commanded, taking her stick and using it to lead her forward, ordering her two troops to march behind her. They couldn't believe the arrant self-confidence she had, and somehow they latched onto it and were unwillingly pulled at her whim. They didn't know what it was, but their feet took them with her, and they followed her all the way home...

That was how it had all begun, and they remained friends from that day forth. Even Kain had gotten used to her after a while, and her insults became more like teasing as time went on. They would often travel into the forest together on their little "monster hunts", and Rosa actually had grown to enjoy their company more than the girls back in the village. She had that tomboyish attitude that made her so interesting, and yet she looked so delicate and beautiful on the outside. At first glance one would think she was the perfect little girl...and then she would open her mouth, and all that would go out the window. Cecil couldn't help but laugh at these memories he had of her. She had grown so much over the years, but she still would sometimes unleash a bit of that old attitude. It's what had made her so unique, the fact that she could talk down any man, no matter how manly he could be. They had known each other since they were so young, and they had become such good friends, but only recently had they discovered that their bond ran deeper. They had been seeing each other for a few months now.

The memories were falling away as fast as the sun, as it plunged deeper into the horizon. Cecil stood, watching and waiting until the last sliver of its golden splendor disappeared behind the glowing deserts to the far west. He was slowly coming back to reality now, the realizations of what he had done earlier rising from his stomach to greet him. He wondered if there would be a time when this would all go away, not just the pain, but this life in general. Sure he knew he would die someday, but what if he woke up one day and he wasn't a Dark Knight anymore, and he no longer lived here in Baron? What if he would never see Rosa or Kain ever again?

How could I even think such things? I would never leave Baron, and I will not leave the ones I love behind.

As much as he forced the words through his mind, he couldn't help but think that it could possibly happen. He had already been stripped of his command as Captain, and his life as a Dark Knight rested on a thin line depending on how this next mission was carried out.

Life, unfortunately, is not like a sunset. You can't guarantee that it will come back on the other side.

The sky had turned a deep hue of red, and Cecil could see the shade of night creeping up as he glanced to the east. His breath fell hesitantly from his mouth with a sigh, trying to rid himself of all these thoughts. The sunset had helped at first, bringing him those fond memories, but now he felt as though he was left with nothing.

Sleep! I need sleep!

Cecil quickly turned to face the northwest tower, the thought of having to climb every stair to the top to reach his bed hitting him at the sight of it. He wondered if he might collapse and find sleep somewhere on the way up, but he pushed it aside and made his way for the double doors. As Cecil was about to make his way into the tower he heard another voice calling out to him from a parapet on the next level up.

"Cecil!" the voice rang out clear as a bell, though a bit rough, as though maybe the bell had a small crack in it somewhere. It was the exuberant voice that he knew too well, for he heard it about every day. Cecil looked up to the top of the stone wall and saw a large head poking out over the grey. It was Cid, the head engineer of Baron, and he was waving for the Dark Knight to wait up, "Hold up! I'll be right down!"

As tired as he was, Cecil stayed put for the old guy's sake. He wasn't really that old, but he was surely getting there, Cecil realized. He was getting into his late forties, though he would never admit to it. He would still run around like he's in his prime, though he would say he still hasn't reached his prime yet. He wasn't much for looks either, as he came hobbling across the court, standing at least a foot shorter than the Dark Knight, though his personality definitely made up for the lack of height. His face was overruled by a big, bushy brown beard and his engineer clothing was ripped and stained in all kinds of oils and grease. His considerable head was covered with his engineer's cap, colored orange and blue, with mud flaps curled up at the sides giving the idea that his head might take flight from his shoulders. All of this wondrous vision of a man was topped with the goggles over his eyes that made him look more peculiar than anything. As Cid came over and started chatting with Cecil, he lifted his goggles to rest on top of his head, making the area around his eyes the only clean spot on his body.

"Hey, Cecil. It's good to see you back so soon, and without a scratch it seems. I take it things went well. You know, Rosa's been worried," the engineer let a brief smile show through the thick beard before he shook a finger at Cecil with a soft warning, "If you make her cry, I won't forgive you."

"Don't worry, Cid. I wouldn't forgive myself if I ever made her cry," Cecil replied with every bit of truth in his voice, "As for things going well today...that's a different story."

"Actually, now that I look at ya, you do look pretty beat. Not quite as smooth as you had hoped, eh?" Cid kindly probed at Cecil's thoughts, though he didn't actually know what he had been ordered to do. Cid just built things, "By the way, how are my lovely airships doing? I don't want your crewmen abusing them."

Cid had said it as a joke, for he knew that Cecil was always careful with his "babies". The airships were of his creation, his pride and joy, and it had made him a very wealthy man here in Baron, although the only wealth he ever wanted was the opportunity to continue building them. He didn't care all that much about the money, except when it came to giving his daughter a good life. Cid's joke didn't seem to take, and he knew something was wrong at this point.

"Hey, what's with the face?"

"To tell the truth, Cid, I...um..." Cecil started explaining about the mission at first, saying how smooth the ride was over to Mysidia, then how things went downhill from there. After giving a brief explanation of what had happened in Mysidia, skipping all the details of blood spilt and such, he told of the ride back, "...and we were coming back, minding our own business, when we were attacked by these monsters. We managed to defeat them, but at the cost of some heavy damage to the flagship. The pilot of the number two ship to our starboard side was taken by one of them, and the ship collided with us. There was no way we could stop it, and we were lucky the airship didn't fall apart."

Cid went nuts.

"What?! My baby was hurt?!" Cid erupted for a brief moment before deflating with a sigh. He knew Cecil would do his best to keep the airships unharmed, but these things eventually happen, "I guess she's still kickin' or else you wouldn't be standing here. If the engines are still in good shape then that should cut down a lot on the repairs, but damn. I can't believe that happened. I'll have to figure out something to keep that from happening again, but until then just try to keep an eye out for these things."

"That's another thing, Cid..." Cecil was almost too dispirited to share the bad news, but it needed to be said, "I'm no longer the Captain of the Red Wings, as served to me by His Majesty upon my return."

"..." Cid was absolutely stricken with dubiety, "You've got to be kiddin' me."

"I'm sorry, Cid, but I'm serious." Cecil watched the engineer fall further into the look of the dumbfounded, "I made the mistake of questioning the word of the King, and I paid the price. I'm sorry."

"That's crazy! Nobody besides you could command the Red Wings!" Cid burst into a fit of fury, throwing his hands wildly into the air as he began to pace a bit in front of the Dark Knight, " Jeez, what's with His Majesty recently? He unrightfully takes away your command of my airships, and his idiot soldiers go and wreck one, and he still has the nerve to bug me about my designs."

"What designs?" Cecil was a bit curious.

"He keeps telling me to make a new model of airship, with more weaponry and substantial storage for more firebombs." Cid responded, still pacing a bit to keep his blood pressure from shooting through his cap, "He wants more death and destruction, but I don't want to turn the airships into war machines."

"I think it's too late for that," Cecil admitted, knowing Cid would not enjoy hearing such things, "The world seems to fear us enough already."

"Screw the world!" Cid spat back, not really at Cecil but more at the King for bringing this image upon his creation, "My airships are not tools of war, and they never will be as long as I have anything to do with it!" Cid continued to fume for a few moments before finally relaxing, his pacing slowing to a stop eventually. His grease covered hands were brought up to his face, and wiped the skin and beard down as though to take the anger away with it. He seemed to lighten up a bit after that, looking back at Cecil with a look more of sorrow than anything else, "I'm sorry, Cecil. I don't mean to lay all of this on you. I should take this up with His Majesty. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow, but for now I think I need to get home. I've been workin' way too much for my daughter's liking and she's givin' me hell about it. You should try and get some rest too, Cecil. You look like you could use it."

"That's not the first time I've heard that today," Cecil replied, letting a little laugh peek out. Cid laughed a bit, too, though he had a new mission in his head and his mind was running around too many things to really take in Cecil's words, "I'll stop by tomorrow before I head out."

"Where are you going?" Cid asked, pulled from his mind's feud for a moment, "You've been assigned a new mission already? What about the King relieving you of your command?"

"I get the pleasure of walking to Mist tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about the airships," Cecil tried to seem in a lightened mood, slapping the engineers shoulder with a grin.

"Well that should save me the worries that my babies won't be put in harm's way," Cid came back with a gentle jab, laughing a bit with Cecil. They always did find a way to end with a good laugh after a conversation, no matter how grim the topic turned out to be. Cecil enjoyed talking with him for that very reason. Ever since Cecil had become the Captain of the Red Wings, he had become very attached to Cid. If His Majesty was considered to be Cecil's father, than Cid would very well be his uncle.

"Have a good night, and say 'Hi' to your daughter for me," Cecil said as he started to turn and make his way to the tower.

"I will, and don't you go worrying about the airship. I'll have her nice and pretty as soon as you become Captain again."

Both men made their ways in their different directions, Cid more than likely making his way to the engineering docks one last time to survey the damage on the airship before heading home. Cecil was finally allowed to go to his room and get the rest he craved so badly. He didn't really think about it, but he had never had such a hard time just getting some rest, like the day was out to get him, or something like that. As he pushed the listless doors wide open, he knew he had passed into the safe zone, where no person would keep him from his slumber. Though his talk with Cid had livened him up a bit, he soon found apathy as each stair took its toll on his body. He trudged up the stairs wearily, unable to even find it in himself to count them, for the thoughts were too pressing on his mind. And just when he thought he was safe from having to converse with another person, he came to the last flight of stairs where his maid was waiting to greet him before he went to bed. Luckily she noticed how beaten he appeared to be, and she made her words nice a short.

"I hear you're heading out tomorrow. You're bed is ready. Good night"

Cecil didn't even really hear her. He just kept trudging forward as soon as she moved out of the way, leaving a gaping mouth of steps, the light of a candle tumbling down to him. He climbed the small flight of stairs to his room, taking no time to enjoy just the thought of being home, and he shed his armor quickly, leaving the shadowed pieces strewn about the stone floor. His feet stung against the cold stone, but he never would've known it, as he walked so slowly to the feather mattress, sheets and all tucked with care for him. He wondered if it was the maid's doing or if Rosa had done this for him, as she sometimes did. The thought didn't really matter all that much as he simply craved to be one with the mattress, falling errantly onto his bed with arms and legs outstretched as far as possible. As he lay on the soft sheets he could almost feel the pain and fatigue lifting off of his body, a surreal feeling that he hadn't experienced in quite a while. Not since his training days in the Order.

Even then I never hurt like this

He eventually made himself adjust his body to the length of the bed, crawling under the cotton sheets, though to Cecil, feeling more like silk. Anything softer than a rock would have been pleasant enough for him to sleep upon, and he was glad to have such a fine abode. Not even the light of the single candle he had left for Rosa was enough to tear his mission for sleep away, and he actually smiled under all the warmth and comfort he had wrapped around himself. His eyelids found themselves resting peacefully over his eyes, and he was blessed with a moment of a clear mind. He immediately took it for all it was worth, falling quickly into a silent slumber.