Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation

Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation
Chapter 14 - Return To Baron


Over the past half-hour, the town had considerably quieted. Under the stars, only a few villagers wandered around, busy with today's last tasks. Tethering chocobos and other farm animals, gathering water, putting out fires...

Cecil, Tellah, Palom and Porom, along with the Mysidian elder, stood at the entrance of Devil's Road. It looked like any other old, abandoned house. The whole building was surrounded by a strong field of magic, which had been previously disabled. A final seal blocked its opening. Even a few feet away, Cecil felt its power.

His blue eyes followed the elder as he walked to the door, bowed his head, and prayed.

The seal vanished. The change was invisible, but it sent chill down their spines.

"Farewell, my friends. May the four of you stop Golbez, before the world comes to an end."

The paladin nodded, confident. "We will. Thank you."

"Tellah, I pray that I see you again," the elder added as he pulled his friend into a short, hearty hug. "Don't push yourself too hard. And don't focus so much on revenge," he offered in advice, though he knew Tellah wouldn't listen to him.

Cecil turned around to give one more look at Mysidia – he had no clue when he'd be able to come back here.

He squinted to have a better view of the man who came towards them. His heart raced at the sight. For a moment, he thought it was Kain; same build, same hair... same arms around his waist-

"I heard you were leaving."

But not the same voice.

"Indeed, Dorian. We must get back to Baron as soon as possible." Cecil gave the man a shy smile. "Thank you for everything you've done. Without you, I'd most likely be dead."

Dorian smiled back. He walked up to Cecil and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck on your journey. The elder and I will pray for your safety."

"The Devil's Road awaits, Cecil. Come!"

"Right." Cecil nodded in Dorian's direction. His gaze lingered only a short moment, before he disappeared through the entrance.

~

Kain stood on the airship's deck. His blue-gray eyes assessed the castle in the distance. Specks of purple and red busied themselves on the ramparts and towers, as if waiting for a strike. It was hard to believe he had been one of those men just a week ago; the son of Richard Highwind, a dragoon knight of Baron, trained under the best himself...

All this time, the kingdom of Baron had been a simple puppet, something to be discarded as soon as Golbez possessed all the Crystals.

But deep down inside, Kain didn't care. He had someone who took care of him, someone new to devote all his mind, body and soul. He would not fail Golbez. Not so close to his goal.

Not so close to Cecil.

~

"Left!"

"We came from the left, idiot."

"No, we came from the right! Right Cecil?"

"No we didn't..."

Cecil sighed, sat on a pile of rubble in the corner of the room and rubbed his sore temples. Maybe he should have listened to himself and demand the kids stay in Mysidia.

"Palom, Porom, enough." His voice reeked of exhaustion and pent-up anger.

His blue eyes settled on the pools of white light, the only source of lighting in the entire place. These pools let them travel safely from room to room – as safely as one could with two children and a stubborn, elderly mage. He didn't care how they worked or even what they were; he wanted out.

"Porom is right. We came from the left. Which means we have both the right pool and the northmost ones to try."

Tellah walked beside Cecil and gave him a pat on the back. "They're only children."

"That was my entire point. I am not made for children," he muttered, praying to the Eidolons the kids were too busy arguing with each other to pay attention to his rant.

The sage quirked a brow. "Won't your girlfriend want kids?"

Cecil simply brought his palm to his head. "Rosa is not my girlfriend, for Shiva's sake..." He was slowly losing his patience, and his sanity as well. "Why do people constantly see us as a couple? I don't even feel attracted to her, or any other g-"

"Come on... let's go... my feet are killing me!"

Tired, the knight sighed again.

'Devil's Road' bore its name well. Too well, in fact.

"Let's just go. Northmost. End of discussion."

~

Sunlight. Exquisite, warm sunlight.

Cecil took a deep breath, in need of fresh air and personal space. They now stood in Baron, in a quiet corner of the town. The few passerbys around never even gave them a second look – they simply went on their daily lives, completely oblivious to their possible fates.

Maybe it was better this way.

Thankfully, no one recognized him as he walked around the bustling city. Sure his name was known – they had come across a bunch of tweens pretending to be knights, one of them 'playing' as Cecil Harvey – but people never made the link between the scary, spiky dark knight, and the pretty boy under the armor.

The sunlight and fresh air weren't enough to make him feel better. He needed to rest. What wouldn't he give for his bed back at the castle and a few hours of deep sleep?

But Cecil knew better. He had to put an end to this, and the beginning of the end started off in Baron Castle.

"We'll need to go through the waterways to reach the castle. If I blend in the city, I will definitely not blend in at the castle." He took a left at the next corner, and ended up on a busier street. "Before though, we really, really need to rest up. If we need to force our way through the waterways, we'll need all our strength. Not to mention that the entry point to the waterways is locked, so we'll need keys."

"As a soldier of Baron, don't you have access to the keys?" Porom asked, trying to keep fairly quiet, yet loud enough to be heard by the men.

"I used to, but when I was relieved of my duties, they confiscated my set."

"Fair enough." Even the boy recognized it was a smart move... for Baron anyway. Not so much for the four of them. "So we need to find guards. Should be easy, no?"

Baron soldiers weren't the rarest creatures in the city. "Yes, but we need to rest first. There's an inn a few blocks away from here. We'll spend a few hours there, then hunt a guard down."

~

"Welcome, travelers!"

Cecil gave the innkeeper an exhausted smile. "Thank you. How much for room and board, sir?"

"Twenty gil a head, young man. Our beds have just been made, and there's freshly cooked food available as well."

Reasonable prices, at least. "Thank you."

Once paid, Cecil strode to the common bedroom, followed by the rest of his team. He was about to open the door to the room when something drew his attention. While most soldiers wore purple or red armor, one of them wore a pair of red pants. No shirt.

Cecil spun around.

"Yang?!"

The monk turned to face Cecil, puzzled.

"This is miraculous!" Cecil beamed. His blue eyes shone under the light; Yang was alive and well! This gave him a much needed boost of energy, and most importantly, hope to find Edward and Rydia.

His smile didn't last long.

"And you are?"

Stunned, the paladin quirked a brow. "You don't remember me? It's me, Cecil...! I thought you had died after the attack-"

Yang's dubious stare turned to an evil sneer. "Cecil Harvey? You didn't think you'd be welcomed back in Baron, did you. There's a warrant on your pretty head. Get him!"

The three guards sitting by Yang rushed to their feet, weapons drawn in Cecil's direction. The knight mimicked them. He was ready to fight them. As for Yang, if he had to...

One guard went down nearly immediately, struck by a powerful lighting bolt, his metal armor being a very nice conductor. Standing a few feet behind Cecil, Palom grinned, staff raised in the air. "You guys are going down!"

The second man charged at Cecil. The knight drew his sword and waited for the guard to come closer. He slashed across his chest. The sword clashed with the armor, and the guard barely felt the blow. He took the youth off-guard and landed a hit on his shoulder. Cecil winced, but didn't drop his weapon. Instead, he struck the guard with his elbow. The spike on his armbrace went right through his jaw.

The guard didn't relent. Blood dripped over his armor, pain blinded him, and yet he took another shot. Cecil sidestepped, and stabbed the man through his neck. The body fell to the floor, limp.

"KYAH!"

Cecil felt the kick through his armor. He was brutally flung into the back wall, his armor ringing under the blow. He got to his feet, only to be drop-kicked in the shoulder. Back to the floor, he attempted at slashing at Yang's legs, but the older man swiftly jumped over the blade.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the third guard to his knees, unable to move. Porom focused on the brute of a man, literally denying him of his freedom of movement with a single Bind spell. Tellah took this opportunity to cast , melting his armor right onto his skin.

The guard's screams of agony drew Yang's attention at the mages. He braced himself and jump in Porom's direction. The girl couldn't avoid the hit and was also flung in the wall, losing all focus. She managed to get to her feet, then dropped to her knees as well.

She was crying.

Yang's eyes grew wide. Somehow, a part of him felt sorry for the little gal. At a loss, he didn't see as Cecil charged and knocked him over. The boy straddled him, refusing to use his sword.

"Snap out of it, Yang!"

Yang grabbed the knight's wrists with a single hand. He was about to push him away, but...

He stood under Cecil, blinking, confused.

"Yang!"

What was going on? Why was he attacking...

"Cecil?"

Unsure if it was a trap or not, Cecil attempted to regain his control over the older man, without hurting him.

"What happened?" the monk asked. Everything flooded back to him; Baron's attack on Fabul, Cecil and Edward helping him, Rydia rushing out to heal them... the boat...

He let Cecil take control. He didn't want to hurt the boy.

"I... I didn't think you survived Leviathan's attack..."

The paladin slightly let go of his grip, but remained in straddling position, over Yang's hips. "I did. I don't know what happened to Rydia, or Edward..." For the first time, Cecil let his concern show. He released Yang's wrists. He shook slightly as he got up.

"I don't know either. But I'm glad to see you alive. Now..." The monk watched as Cecil got up, and held his hand out. He took the hand into his, and pulled himself up. Cecil wavered on his feet, but was able to hold his ground. "I... I remembered waking up in Baron's port. The guards over there took me to the castle... And I... I got recruited?"

Cecil's trimmed brows furrowed. "Then you have keys, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Hand them over. We need to get inside the castle as soon as possible."

Yang cooperated, and handed the set of keys to the youth. "Best if you take them, indeed. I don't think I trust myself anymore with these."

Relieved, Cecil let a sigh pass his lips. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you alive again. And it's not just about the keys."

Yang acquiesced. "Same here. It would be wise to change inns, however. I don't exactly want to be here when the rest of the patrol returns."

"Then let's move. Again."

~

The prices weren't the same. Cecil didn't bother haggling; his companions, especially the twins, were exhausted. So was he, but he refused to let it show. The good side was they wouldn't have soldiers after them... at least for a few hours. If there was indeed a price on his head, they'd need to hurry.

Being hunted down by his own men was an odd feeling he had a hard time shaking off his mind.

He drifted into a light, dreamless sleep, disturbed every other half-hour by the slightest noise; Yang's snores, Palom waking up and going to the bathroom, Tellah's mumbling...

When daylight broke, Cecil had enough. He stretched, dressed quickly, and moved to the next bed.

How did Tellah sleep in his full robes? And with his glasses on?

Cecil slightly shook the elder's shoulder.

A wrinkled hand swatted his away. "Who goes there?!"

Behind the glasses, Tellah's eyes fluttered open. The man looked around, dazed.

"Ah... it's you. Good morning young man."

Cecil offered the mage a soft, tired smile. "Good morning, Tellah. We need to get moving again. We'll head to the waterways. Can you take care of the twins? I'll try to wake Yang up..."

The monk's voice rose. "I'm awake." He was met with a pair of inquisitive sapphire eyes. "I believe I've established my own record: if I got two hours of sleep, I'll consider myself lucky."

Cecil nodded. "About the same here. But we can't waste too much time if we want to get an airship. Cid should be working on them at this time of the day... and throughout the whole day, in fact. We'll have to be very quick to work our way through the waterways; sneaking in the castle definitively won't be easy if there are too many soldiers up and about."

"How long do you think we'll be?" Tellah inquired, before his gaze returned to the twins. "Get up, both of you!"

Palom turned away from the sage and curled up in a ball. "But it's so early... I want to sleep more!"

In the bed next to his, Porom sat up, tiny legs dangling from the edge. "That's the whole point. We need to go early."

The boy groaned, unhappy. Even the mages in Mysidia let them sleep... "Fine..."

Cecil's puzzled gaze travelled between both children. So different. He took a few seconds to calculate everything and answer Tellah's question. "About fourty-five minutes or so. The waterworks are a maze, but I know them well. Baron keeps beasts inside to get rid of intruders. They shouldn't be too much of a threat to us."

Of course, Palom took it as an incentive to get up. "Well then we'd  better go and kick their asses!"

Porom balled her hand into a fist, and smacked her brother. "Watch your language!" She sighed, embarrassed. Once again.

~ To be continued... ~