Ch6-8: Internal Turmoil
It was the first real sleep that Ben had experienced without the dark dreams in a very long time. Just a calm weightlessness, drifting through the void behind his eyes. Gradually he became aware of a warmth on his cheek. Fingers of sunlight leaving dappled prints upon his face.
Ben squinted as golden light filled his vision. His senses were dull, but he could tell there were other people nearby. There was the nagging feeling that time had passed since his mind had fogged up and dragged him into the depths of slumber. Disoriented, he couldn’t tell how long he had been asleep.
“Yo, Cecil,” a familiar voice hovered over him, just to his left. “Cecil, wake up. I think he’s coming round.”
Cecil’s muffled mutter-grumble came in reply, “Huh..?”
“I said I think he’s coming round, Cecil. You told me to wake you up, remember?” the Ninja prodded.
“Oh… oh, yeah…” the exhaustion in the Paladin’s voice was very apparent. “Thanks…”
Ben blinked, trying to focus on the voices around him. He found that he was lying on his stomach in some sort of make-shift bed, which made it awkward to try to twist his head in just the right direction. When he attempted to roll over, he was met with Edge’s quick command.
“Don’t do that!” a hand – most likely one of the Ninja’s – pressed down on his upper arm, “They said you shouldn’t move.”
“Ehh…” Ben rasped between dry lips, vision fighting against the sunlight in his face. “Too bright…”
“Someone close that window over there, please?” Cecil’s voice was directed far over his head. Almost as soon as the Paladin asked, the blinding rays were blocked and Ben’s vision began to return.
In faded outlines, the room slowly materialized around him. It seemed to be somewhere within the Troian castle – the stonework of the tilted walls told that much. It must have a place in the fortress that had fared better than some of the other areas they had seen, for only a few large cracks webbed over the walls. If there had been any more damage done to the room, it had already been cleared away.
“Golbez..?”
Cecil was standing to one side of his bed. Deep lines had begun to form around his eyes from concern and lack of sleep. His crumpled cloak was folded over the nearest chair, indicating that what little rest the Paladin had was done there, watching over his brother.
“Golbez, do you hear me?”
Ben nodded slowly in response. His throat was too dry to attempt further speech. As if someone already realized this, a small flask of water was passed to the Paladin, who helped tilt back the Wizard’s head enough to swallow.
“I told you he’d make it through,” Edge murmured to his companion. Though the words were his usual tough-guy tirade, his tone was quiet and reflective. “You know how Golbez was… he always kept coming back for another round, even when you thought he was blasted to bits.”
Finishing the water the best he could, Ben groped for his voice, “That’s right…”
“We didn’t know if you were going to pull out of it,” Cecil just shook his head, green eyes reflecting deeper than he had ever seen them. “I remembered to keep the healing magic away from you — though the Clerics really wanted to push the issue against all my protests. So we had to stitch you up the best way we knew how.”
“Why? What happened?” the Half Lunar asked groggily.
“What do you mean, what happened? For Light’s sake, you were so ripped up you nearly bled a river before we found you,” Edge snorted. “And then we had to try and carry you out of the Troian dungeons without making it worse.”
“I… was…?” Ben frowned, puzzled. He knew he had been struck, but he had no idea it had been that serious.
The Ninja continued with a deep suffering sigh, “Why is it that I always get stuck hauling your big arse everywhere?”
“I’m… sorry…” the Wizard murmured, still trying to wrap his foggy mind around the situation.
“Save it for Cecil,” Edge told him, a grumpy look on his face. Grumpy and irritated… but no longer angry. Not like he had been before.
“Cecil…” Ben peered over at his brother. “Is everyone else okay?”
“As well as can be, for now,” the Paladin replied slowly. “The Troians won their city back from the Daear. And we didn’t lose too many in the battle, surprisingly.”
Because the Daear forces are concentrating on moving for Baron instead…
“The city is in bad shape… but the people seem determined to keep moving forward to rebuild. I think this victory has given them a lot of hope, despite the destruction,” Cecil continued.
What about you, Cecil? This has done nothing but tear you down. It’s all over your face.
The Paladin must have seen his concern, because he added quickly, “Chase and Porom are fine. We’ve have a few days of rest here in the castle while you’ve been asleep.”
You’re really worried about Baron, aren’t you, Cecil?
“We found Opal at the gates of the city… she was unharmed. But she backed up your story about the man who called himself O.M.E.G.A.”
At the sound of the name, Ben felt his entire body tense.
“What you said was true, wasn’t it?” Cecil asked softly. “Opal told us that he was the one that created the Knight’s illusion. And that you fought him one-on-one and dispelled the creature’s attack. Was he the one that stabbed you?”
“Yes,” Ben replied slowly.
“And you didn’t notice it?” Edge gave an incredulous look.
How do I explain…?
“I…” the Master Wizard attempted to put it into words slowly. “I was altered in Zot… so that I could take a lot of physical damage without feeling as much pain as people usually do.”
“You’re kidding. You didn’t feel that?” the Ninja furrowed his brow.
“Not very much,” Ben said simply.
“Man! I could use an ability like that!”
“No.” The Half Lunar closed his eyes for a moment, “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
O.M.E.G.A…. If he was truly a test subject for the alterations performed on me… I wonder what abilities we share?
There was an unusual softness in Cecil’s tone as he surveyed his brother’s face, “Well, the most important thing is that you’re going to be okay now.”
The words jolted Ben back to reality with a sudden flash of surprise. It was the first time that Cecil had displayed what seemed to be genuine concern for him.
He was really worried… about me?
“I’ll be fine, Cecil,” lost to his musings, Ben could only think to try to reassure his brother. There was a short pause before he added, “Thank you… Brother… for taking care of me?”
A slow smile crept over the Paladin’s face. It looked so out of place amongst the dark rings of worry under his eyes.
Now you need to start taking better care of yourself.
Unmindful of the Master Wizard’s thoughts, the young king continued to produce the state of the situation. “Once you’ve recovered well enough to travel, we have to press on. The Troians have a hard enough time of it rebuilding for themselves without us underfoot.”
“I understand… what do you plan on doing, Cecil?” Ben asked, picking his words carefully. He knew the lines of strain on his brother’s face weren’t just from the worry of Ben’s health, but also for the choice that Cecil was now pressured to make with impending danger looming over his kingdom.
With Rosa and Kain and Cid… and all of his people in trouble… how can I ask him to continue on after Incrytan?
“We’ll discuss that once you’ve had something to eat and a chance to wake up,” Cecil told him quietly. There was no mistaking the deeply troubled expression.
But if we don’t get Incrytan back, many more people may be killed… many more nations will be threatened.
“I told you… I’m fine, Cecil. I’m just a little groggy,” Ben pursed his lips, doing his best to nudge his brother into talking without seeming pushy. “Remember, I got stabbed in the back — my ears still work just fine?”
It’s just like Edge said before – how do you weigh the sacrifice of human life? Either way, someone is going to die.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?” the Paladin’s tone was almost apologetic. As if he felt it was his responsibility to bear the situation alone.
And now you have to choose where your duty lies – in obtaining Incrytan… or in returning home to defend your people…
“I’m sure,” Ben nodded.
He knew couldn’t completely comprehend – he didn’t have a home or family of his own to defend. And he no longer possessed any memories of what home was like before he was taken to Zot. But the pressing emotion that lingered upon Cecil’s shoulders was clear enough for him to sense. Clear enough for him to begin to understand… if only a little.
Cecil… I’m sorry.
“I suppose it’s only fair to run it by you since it concerns you as well. I was going to hold off but…” Cecil sighed slowly.
He really wants to talk this out, despite the way he’s acting. I don’t know how I know – but I can just tell.
“It’s alright,” Ben coaxed softly. “Go ahead.”
I am supposed to be trying to play the big brother part here… I guess?
“Well,” Cecil took in a deep breath, “As our luck would have it, we now have a ship in our possession.”
“Really?” the Half Lunar perked up.
“Yes. You know that I deployed an airship here to call the Clerics to the meeting of nations earlier?” the Paladin sat down, pulling the hem of his cloak around him.
“Yes, I remember that. So it’s still there? Untouched?” Ben mused with arched eyebrows.
“It would seem so. I went to the field personally to check it out. It runs… the engine looks untampered with,” Cecil scratched his chin. “It seems so impossible that a ship should have gone unnoticed by the Daear… but they have very strange points of interest, if you ask me.”
“They don’t need a ship,” the Master Wizard murmured. “They’ve got faster ways of traveling.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve got control of the rifts,” Ben frowned, trying to find the easiest way to explain it.
“Rifts? You mean the portal that Pren used to escape?” Edge added his own two cents. So far, the Ninja had kept out of the conversation, sensing it was a one-on-one thing. But something about the rift-talk must have peaked his interest.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a flow of dimensional energy that allows someone to quickly move from one place to another almost instantly. We call these doorways ‘rifts’,” Ben nodded.
“Shiva,” Cecil hissed. “So they can basically just open one of those things up and appear anywhere they want?”
“Well, there are limitations, of course. Rifts are taxing to make on those who don’t have a natural talent for working with dimensional power,” the Master Wizard told them. “I doubt she’d be able to open one after another in a quick succession… nor hold a rift open for a long period of time.”
Edge peered at the Half Lunar with a frown. “You talk like you know all about this stuff.”
“Eh..?”
“Golbez?” Cecil peered over at him, a flicker of thought rippling over his face. “Do you know how to create rifts, too?”
There was no doubt what the Paladin was thinking. A means of instant travel would give him the ability to not only arrive in time to protect his kingdom, but also rush out to chase down Incrytan as soon as the battle in Baron was done. No choice would have to be made. People would be saved on both sides.
“Yes… I know how to create rifts,” Ben found the words lead on his tongue. To see the sudden hope on his brother’s face only to know that he would shatter it with disappointment left him feeling hollow inside. “But I can’t here. I’ve tried.”
“What do you mean?” Cecil’s voice was choked.
“I’ve tried to rift – it didn’t work. The Daear knew before I arrived on the Blue Planet that I could use the rifts to travel,” Ben grimaced. “And they’ve done everything they could to meddle with the dimensional frequency of this planet to make it impossible for me to gage. Now that I’ve actually seen a rift created using this frequency, I might be able to crack the code. But that could take some time…”
“Time we don’t have,” Edge growled. “Damn… so close…”
Cecil remained silent.
“I’m sorry, Cecil,” Ben felt a shameful lump rising in his throat. Rifting was the one power that usually came to him so easily… the one power that could have offered his brother victory… and was now the one power he was unable to perform.
“No, Golbez… it’s nothing for you to apologize about. It was just an idea,” the Paladin took in a ragged breath. He seemed to be trying to get his thoughts back on track. “So, we have a working ship, at the least. Though we’re going to have to man it ourselves – Captain Silver and her crew have decided to remain in Troia and see if they can’t salvage something up to fix their own ship. I figured it was fair, as they were only hired to get us to Troia and they’ve been put through more than their share of trouble for it.”
“We should be able to fly that ship with no problem, Cecil.” Edge seemed to be sensing the Paladin’s grim demeanor, and attempted to lighten things up, “We did it before, plenty of times – you da leet pilot, yeah?”
“I suppose,” Cecil’s reply didn’t sound very encouraged.
The big question isn’t how to fly it… but where we’re flying to.
“Well,” Ben spoke slowly, poking around for the answer. “It’s not that far to fly to Baron from here.”
His brother’s eyes flickered up to his face in a moment of surprise.
“It’s not, is it?” the Wizard asked, wondering what he had said to receive such a reaction.
“No, but…”
“What?”
“I just didn’t expect you to suggest that we go back,” Cecil told him, voice somewhat thick with emotion.
Ben squinted, “What did you think I’d say?”
“Something like what you said back in Troia… that recovering Incrytan was supposed to be our most important mission,” the Paladin frowned slowly.
The Master Wizard lay silent for a while, trying to sort out a reply. When he spoke, it was with a measured softness. “Yes, I do think finding Incrytan is very important. But I also think you understand the situation to know what choices you weigh against each other. I know you want to go back and protect Baron…”
Cecil peered at his brother as the words trailed off. His fingers nervously folded the hem of his cloak into little triangles.
Baron is not my home… but it is yours. It is important to you…
“If you want to go back to Baron, I will go with you,” the Wizard’s voice sounded strange to his ears. Words he hadn’t expected himself to say. “And I will help you protect your people.”
“Golbez?” Cecil’s mouth opened.
“Whatever you choose to do — I am with you, Cecil.” Ben said resolutely, his green eyes lifting to meet his brother’s surprised gaze.