Perfection

Author's Notes: Apologies for the slowness of this writing XD. Hopefully next chapter will go smoother. I had several blocks on this one, and finally opted to leave the sex scene out of it. And as usual, enjoy! Comments are welcome!

Perfection
Chapter 11: Spy

Blissful after-sex sleep always had an end, to Cecil's dismay. He woke up to a growling stomach. When was the last time he ate? He pushed the thought aside and started to stretch, and then his arms hit something. Or someone, rather. Theodore squirmed and groaned, but did not wake up. Had Kain been there, he probably would have.

Cecil got up, content with the room he had to stretch. He was sticky and sore; nothing that wouldn't go away with a hot shower, a little time and some distractions.

His mission had given him an incentive to roam around the tower. With Kain not around, and Theodore still sleeping, Cecil decided it was the perfect time to do so. Once cleaned, dressed in light clothing and had filled his stomach, he left the bedroom and walked down the corridors in a careless fashion. He didn't give a damn if he got caught.

There was always a way to get out of sticky situations... notably by getting in “stickier” positions.

He stopped in his tracks in realization – before being taken in the tower, the thought of using sex as a way to avoid punishment and getting information from other people would have never even crossed his mind. The problem was that the more he did it... the more he enjoyed it.

Cecil shrugged the feeling off. Things weren't as they once were.

He took the stairs leading to a few floors below him. He had no idea where Doc Lugae's lab was at, but logic spoke for itself. Not too far from Theodore's living quarters, but certainly not next door. Something large enough to accommodate a laboratory. Third of fourth floor down seemed reasonable. The foes he once faced weren't touching him; he was glad to not be considered as an invader anymore.

Most doors weren't even closed to him. Cecil took a peek in a few, but found nothing of interest. Weapons had been hidden, but how would a staff be useful to him? He wasn't a mage, and the thing would probably break upon impact if he used it as a blunt weapon.

Cecil was almost ready to go down another floor when he caught sight of another door in the area. He casually walked to it, then looked around him before he opened it.

A corridor, and another door. How exciting.

He opened the next one, and found himself in a bright white room, mostly filled with what he guessed was advanced surgical tools and other equipment. Tiny knives, pincers, gauze, even cables were scattered in boxes. He rummaged through them a bit, and moved on. Nothing here held his interest.

Blue eyes widened as he opened the next door. More equipment. Remains of mechanical soldiers and creatures dragged his attention across the whole room. Cecil let out a short amazed scoff, and proceeded inside. His gaze floated from one “corpse” to another. Torn cables sprouted out of some blue mechanical eye, while a few dismembered dolls stared at him. The latter left him slightly disturbed, and he hurried to the next door.

After his encounter with Calcabrena, he felt he had all rights to be disturbed.

Cecil took a few short seconds to breathe and shake the mental images out of his head. But what he saw in the following gave him the chills. An irony in itself, considering the creatures in the room...

The area was full of vivariums. The first one he laid eyes on contained a very large flamehound – oh how he hated those. It laid in a pool of blood, skull smashed opened, its brain visible. Apparently, the fire doggie (or reptile, whatever species it originally belonged to) had attempted to get out of its glass prison. Another of the same kind was in the next vivarium, emitting high-pitched whines Cecil clearly attributed to the canine race. He almost felt bad for the thing... almost.

Further down, chimeras growled at him as he passed them. One's lion and dragon heads were waging a war to see which one was going to eat the (previously) live pig in the vivarium. Cecil felt he shouldn't have been disturbed at the sight – after all, he was in love with a man who once kept a frigging dragon as a pet.

But deep down inside, Cecil thrived on such feelings – creepy sights and imagery fueled his brain and body with adrenalin. It egged him to move on, and so he did. It could only get creepier, no? So he opened the next door.

And was proven wrong.

Well, not totally.

The room temperature was relatively cooler, and the smell was completely different – it smelled too clean. Five metallic tables, complete with retraining devices, were set under strong lights. Far back inside the room, Cecil saw two cages. Each contained a living, moving creature. Curiosity won over safety, and the man headed for the cage, as his blue eyes scouted the area for possible dangers.

“What the...”

The door behind him slid open with a metallic woosh. Startled, Cecil turned around, mouth agape, and quirked a brow. Some odd meters away, a skinny man in a white coat, pink shirt and black pants made his way in. His equally white, fluffy hair made his face look extremely small, or too big for his body size.

The man's comical appearance threw Cecil off. He didn't even enter a battle stance, something that was nearly a reflex for him.

“Oooh... you must be Golbez's brother. Cecil, correct?”

Cecil nodded, unable to look elsewhere but in the smaller man's direction. Part of him wanted to laugh. The only thing which prevented him from doing so was because he knew better than doing it. He always had been considered smaller and weaker-looking than most of Baron's soldiers, and he always had the upper hand over these guys.

“So what brings you here, young man...?”

An excuse. He needed an excuse.

“I stumbled on this area,” he managed to explain. He had stumbled on this... after searching for it. “Interesting creatures you keep here, Doctor.” A sheepish smile formed on his lips as he walked towards the scientist.

“You should see Barnabas. My most prized creation! Or these two over there.” The doctor pointed a claw-like finger at the cages, and Cecil turned around. Both men walked closer, and Cecil made insane efforts not to sound surprised at the creatures' appearances.

These features... he remembered them from the king and queen of Eblan. 'Holy mother of Shiva...'

“Science does wonderful things, no?”

Cecil gave the old man a weak nod, blue eyes wide opened as he scanned the creatures. “Indeed...”

The Queen had been transformed in a naga; her face was entirely human, but her body was of a blue snake. He had seen nagas before, but they never seemed familiar. The King, however, still had a humanoid form, close to a gargoyle's; wings and dull gray skin included. He was also much bulkier than a normal human... or gargoyle, for that matter. The sight gave him the creeps.

Doctor Lugae let a manic giggle out – Cecil shuddered ever so slightly. “These two work for us now. You did a fine job in bringing them to us, young man.”

Cecil could only nod in return, bewildered, brows quirked. The appearance of his “friends” - they never really had been friends... - was enough of a shock. Their new purpose was even worse.

On the other hand, they had new, forced allies.

But was Lugae supposed to mess with them? Cecil wasn't sure. He'd bring it to his brother's attention, at the risk of punishment for accessing what he guessed might have been unauthorized areas.

“You want to see Barnabas?” Lugae inquired as he dragged his sickly skinny frame closer to Cecil's. “He'll be happy to have a new friend...”

“Maybe some other time,” Cecil replied. “Best to go back to the living quarters, before brother wakes up and finds out I'm somewhere I shouldn't be.” He gave Lugae a quick smile, and headed for the exit.

“Come back soon, Cecil! I'll have Barnabas ready!”

The paladin rolled his eyes and shook his head. If he came back, it'd be to check on Eblan's royal couple. The last thing he needed was another playmate.

~

“Cecil's gone.”

Theodore's purple eyes opened slowly and he shrugged at Kain's observation. He didn't feel the need to monitor his baby brother's every move anymore. “Let the man have some time on his own. I doubt he's gone far.” This being said, he squirmed again to get comfortable, and attempted to drift back to sleep.

But Kain's deep voice rang in his ears again. “By the way, Cecil is smarter than you give him credit for. Rewarding him with sex isn't going to work forever – keep in mind he was a general. He sees that stuff coming from miles away...”

The whole point of having Kain on his side, as well as other competent tacticians, was for this exact reason. Everyone made mistakes, including himself. He sat up in the bed, his back hitting the cold metal wall behind him. “He's never complained about it, but you're right. You know him better than I do. What else would he enjoy?”

Kain shifted his weight on his right leg and crossed him arms. He had known Cecil for such a long time, the answer was obvious. “He likes to fight. Just give him a room where he can train, or more opportunities to do so.”

“Well thought, Kain. I'll mobilize a few rooms for this,” Theodore continued with a nod.

Now, the smart move would be to get up and get to it.

“How about we set it up, and show Cecil his brand new training room?”

Kain nodded back in approval. His blue eyes followed Theodore's massive frame as he got up to his feet and dressed up. “Go and try to find him. I'll check for rooms I can free up.”

~

That damned tower.

Father, Mother, where the fuck are you?

Edge opened a door – nothing. He groaned as the door slid back to place, shoulders slumped. “There's no way I'm going through all of these...”

As the door closed, a strange feeling formed in his guts. He gathered the energy surrounding him, quickly vanished, and took a step back to hug the wall behind him. Because he was invisible did not mean he wasn't there anymore.

He made sure his breathing was quiet before he let his thoughts wander around. He had gotten here about two hours ago, after a trek he thought of as somewhere between the eighth and ninth circles of Hell. At least he was not under-prepared, and he had been lucky to find some safe zones to rest.

His plan to kill Golbez was coming along nicely. But to succeed, he'd have to be less hot-headed than before, something Edge always had a hard time overcoming.

Twenty-six years of being quick to anger weren't going to be changed in a two-hour span.

The sight of a familiar face alerted him. A small, lithe frame dressed in white came out of a nearby room, one he hadn't checked yet. Edge squinted to get a better view; admittedly, the woman looked quite good from – 'OH HELL NO.' He wasn't going to fall for that again. Cecil was no woman.

By the way, what was Cecil doing here?

The paladin breezed past him in a carefree fashion, which made Edge furrowed his brows. If Cecil had been captured, he certainly wouldn't roam around unaccompanied. He let the younger man move further, until he came up to a door.

Which he never entered. Another man, decked in heavy dark-blue armor, and blond hair tied loosely, appeared from the opposite direction. “Your brother's waiting for you. I guess he still doesn't know you that well yet.” The man's deep voice echoed slightly; an eerie feeling of emptiness Edge despised.

Unable to see everything, he quietly made it closer to the two men.

“Doesn't seem like it.” Cecil's head shook in annoyance. “I was an high-ranked officer; I don't need a babysitter.”

“Maybe he just wants to make up for abandoning you.”

Cecil's lean body stiffened; the other man went too far. He highly doubted Theodore acted for his well being – if anything, it might end up branding him as a possible traitor. What was worse is that deep inside, it hurt him. But he wasn't going to admit it anytime soon, or even dwell on it. “Let's just go back, Kain.”

The man now known as Kain took a step forward and brought Cecil closer to him. Edge's ears twitched as he heard the distinctive sound of a kiss, and he furrowed his brows.

Edge waited a good two or three minutes before he went through the same door. Thankfully, he wasn't claustrophobic, as the room he had wound up in was pretty small – big enough for three or four people tops. He furrowed his brows again at the sight of buttons with numbers on them, and for the sake of it, pressed them all. He tensed up as the room moved upwards, and quickly looked around him. What the fuck made an entire room – as small as it was – move?

About ten seconds later, it came to a stop. The door opened with a ding. Edge stared at it, puzzled, and it closed again before he could do anything. The room moved again, its door opened again, then closed again...

Edge stepped out of the room – which he later would learn to be called an elevator – and watched its metallic door close once more. This time it didn't open back. He shrugged, and walked to the next one, but didn't open it. Instead, he leaned forward and listened in for any sign of life.

It was his lucky day.

~

“Kain and I agreed you could use some more distractions.”

Cecil tore his gaze away from the weapons on the wall, his blue eyes going for his brother's. Theodore was right. He had been raised in a military environment, and the thought of going weapon-less for a long time scared him. It was a world he always found some escapism in, with its own risks, albeit more calculated when he knew who he was going against.

His hand reached for his sword, a nice mythril blade, etched in black and white to match his armor. Not too heavy, not too light, with a good swing to it. Cecil thought he could have used a shield with it, but for now, that'd do. He then turned to Kain, a slight cocky grin on his face. “Duel me.”

“You're not even wearing-”

But it had no effect on the paladin. Cecil was already riled up. “Spare me that drill, and duel me.”

Spear in hand, Kain shrugged. His action was interrupted, however, as Cecil lunged at him. He took a step back and evaded the move. He always had been quicker than the paladin, and would take advantage of it. He backed off again and blocked a hit with the small shield fastened on his right arm. “So you really wanna play? Fine.” Kain entered an aggressive stance, both hands holding his lance forward.

Nothing that scared Cecil. The paladin skillfully blocked the upcoming hits with his blade. The smirk never faded from his pretty visage. It widened, if anything, as Cecil swung the edge at Kain's left shoulder, hit which the dragoon saw coming.

Kain thrust the lance forward, hoping to miss Cecil. Of course, if he did it on purpose, Cecil would be all over his ass – not like it was a bad thing if taken literally – about him not fighting fair, that he didn't need protective gear, yada yada... On the other hand, if he didn't miss, he could seriously injure Cecil.

So he stopped.

“Come on Kain... you can do better. Fight me,” Cecil commanded. All trace of amusement had vanished from his face. “You've never hesitated before.”

“You were never at a major risk of dying, Cecil.”

A flashback of the fight between the both of them clouded his vision, tearing his whole argument apart. Cecil laying on the translucent floor of Fabul's crystal room, Deathbringer by his side. Rosa's mortified look as she stared at the injured dark knight, and the equally frightened green-haired summoner they had rescued from Mist. And the bard, cowardly hiding behind a crystalline pillar.

“I'm not. Fight back.”

Cecil's voice was enough for him to snap back to reality. Kain shook his head and lunged at his lover with a sneer. The paladin took advantage of Kain's position, and managed to hit him square in the ribs. Kain barely flinched and swung the lance from left to right, below Cecil's knees, who simply jumped over it.

Kain rapidly thrust again, missing Cecil by an inch everytime. The other man had seemed to acquire some decent evading skills – though he was sure the fact Cecil wore nothing but plain clothes played a good part in it. Cecil was a knight first, and a tactician second. No need to use the “I look weak” card with someone who knew him so well.

But he didn't want to lose to an undergeared man.

Another blow came from his right – Kain barely blocked it with his arm. The metal sheet vibrated under the white blade, which left an odd feeling in Kain's stomach. The blows then came quicker, and were aimed higher – not his chest. His neck and head.

“Cecil, enough.”

Relentlessly, they kept coming. Kain managed to block most hits, but the ones he didn't resonated through his upper body.

Painful.

“Enough!” he yelled, but to no avail. Had it been anyone else, he might have considered fighting back and eventually killing the man. But it was Cecil.

He prepared for the next blow, but it simply never came. He heard a klunk as Cecil's blade fell to the the floor. Kain rose his head... and his brows at the rather comical situation in front of him. The paladin, furious about being stripped of his weapon, fussed in Theodore's massive arms, hovering about two or three foot above the ground.

The dragoon swung his own lance over his shoulder and bent over to pick the mythril sword. 'No wonder why Cecil took a shine to it so quickly,' he thought as he walked to the brothers, edge in hand.

“Just put him down, Golbez.”

Cecil stopped thrashing, and was set back to his feet almost immediately. “I wouldn't have killed him,” he stated, his voice oozing in annoyance. “It's been a while I fought another human being, but I wouldn't have killed him.”

Kain held the sword out of Cecil's grasp for a moment, his blue-grey eyes riveted on the man. “That came off close.”

“Close not but no cigar,” Cecil added. “You're not dead, and neither am I. I'm not used to doing nothing.” He rolled his eyes, and didn't see Kain casting a 'I-told-you-so' glance at Theodore. “I want an active part in this.”

Theodore mulled it over quickly. He knew Cecil was a capable man. After the success of the previous mission, he could entrust his baby brother with something bigger. It wouldn't be right now, but soon enough, for he still had enemies to take care of. “You'll get something soon, Cecil. I haven't forgotten about you.”

This seemed to calm the paladin down. He walked over to Kain in order to claim his sword, and gave him an awkward, apologetic smile. “I'm sorry. It's... frustrating at times. I needed this.”

“No fuss about it.” Kain smirked – some of their duels had ended with someone at the infirmary – and handed the edge back.

He eyed the lithe frame which stood barely a feet away from him, then it dawned on him. “You knew I was going to spare you.”

Cecil offered a grin as well. “And it worked just fine.”

He hadn't lost his touch, and it was the only thing that mattered to him right now.

~ To be continued... ~