Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation

Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation
Chapter 15 – Lap Dogs

~

"Damn lock..."

Annoyed, Cecil shrugged his shoulders and sighed. The rusty device refused to open. He inserted the key again, managed to turn it a bit and gave the lock a good tug...

Nothing happened.

"Fucking..."

"Not exactly the language I'd expect out of a paladin." Yang turned to him with quirked brows, amused. "Want me to try it out?"

Cecil shook his head. "I can manage it." His long fingers made it back to the lock and key. He gave it another shot. The lock clicked under his digits, and finally, he got it off the door. "Baron Waterworks, my friends. These paths will be quite narrow, so stay in a single file and don't wander off," he warned.

His blue eyes settled on Palom. Out of everyone, he expected the boy not to listen, and mentally prepared himself to save him from the currents.

~

"Boy, I'm happy to see you!"

Kain stared at the engineer. Cid waddled up to him, hammer in hand, his trademark toothy grin plastered to his face.

"Y'know that Rosa's gone to fetch Cecil, eh? She hasn't been back in a while... She totally refuses to believe he's dead. In all honesty, so do I. The boy's stronger than most people think. Sure he's a pretty boy, but hey, beats having this ugly old mug!" The man's boisterous laugh bounced off the walls. He walked a few steps closer to Kain, and gave him a firm pat on the back.

"Cecil's fine," Kain replied. Too fine. "And Rosa's being taken care of."

Thankfully, Cid remained oblivious. "Good to hear! That reminds me... Follow me, boy." The engineer didn't give Kain a chance to reply and took off into the next room, excited.

"Ya remember the old docks that were closed off by the King? Ah, maybe not, you were just a kid. Though I wouldn't put it past you three to have found that place out. I bet you also remember the ship I was working on, my new baby? The King wanted me to modify it for war, but no way! Well guess where I put it?"

He had to give it to Cid; the man was resourceful. Golbez hadn't been in the castle enough to know about the old docks' existence, and Kain had somewhat forgotten about them until now.

"Yep, you're right, the docks. Hah! I'm not letting the King touch this baby no more! And my crew isn't aware of it either. I'll fix her up on my own!"

Kain remained silent. His blue-gray eyes followed Cid closely; the man pushed on a brick in the wall. Slowly, the wall spun on itself, which revealed an opening large enough for two men to go through.

"I went through the main docks to get the Enterprise in. I'm not using it again, King's behavior is way too weird these days, my boy... all this talk of Crystals and stuff is disheartening. Baron's never been that bloodthirsty. Tsk tsk." Cid shook his head sadly, and stared off at the stairways.

Behind him, Kain took a step forward. "Maybe Baron has a good reason for this..."

He didn't give time for Cid to reply, or even make a move. He struck the engineer at the base of his thick neck with his fist.

The large man fell to his knees. His vision quickly blurred. "Not you, Kain..." His voice was hoarse, his breathing hitched up from the pain. Stars danced in front of him.

"If you can't beat them, join them..."

The last thing Cid saw, before being swallowed by the darkness, was a devilish smirk on Kain's face.

"And if you can't join them, beat them..."

~

Out of the waterworks, finally.

"Both of you can swim, correct?" Cecil asked the twins. Even if they didn't, he had no doubt Yang could take care of one, while he carried the other. "There's no current at all."

Palom rolled his eyes. "We live by the sea, duh... we've learned that already. She's not afraid either. Right Porom?"

The girl nodded. "I'll be fine."

While both twins weren't nervous, Cecil was. With his armor, he'd sink right to the bottom. He wasn't even sure he could carry it by himself. "There's a door up front. It won't take us long to reach it. It's not locked, and as I was saying before, most likely unguarded. By the way... Yang." The monk turned around to face him. "I might need your help. Let me go in first, see if I can float with my gear... if not, be ready to haul me back to the shore."

"Understood."

Cecil cocked his head, blue eyes staring at equally blue water. This part wasn't very deep, but he knew it wasn't the case for the whole moat. After collecting himself and taking a deep breath, he jumped in the water, feet first.

He sank right away.

The first few seconds were downright atrocious; the cold water chilled him to the bones. His breath shortened and for a moment, he completely froze. His head sank under the water. This time, with little adrenalin fuelling him, the cold settled in his skull, in his brain. His lungs screamed for air, but he couldn't breathe.

He was drowning again, and his mind did not appreciate it one bit.

Instead of giving in to the panic, Cecil closed his eyes. He kicked in the water, trying to reach the surface. When he did, he took a deep breath and ordered his body to keep kicking – he needed to stay afloat. Realizing there was now little danger and that he could swim with his gear on, the small quakes in his arms and legs settled down.

With his ears full of water, he couldn't hear himself. "I'll be fine!"

"Good job! We're going in!"

Palom and Porom went in first, about as graceful as rocks falling in a river. They were followed by Yang, who moved across the water as easily as on land, and Tellah.

"It's been a while..." the elder stated with a groan. "Don't think my bones are going to appreciate this; they didn't after the Octommamoth!"

They swam across the area without much difficulty; except Cecil, who had to make extra effort to keep to the surface. When he reached the other shore – the stony stairways leading to the castle's entrance – he was soaked wet... and so was everyone else.

"My armor won't appreciate this as well," he half-joked, and addressed a smile to Tellah. He definitely hated how his boots sloshed with every step. Even his undergarments felt bloated. "If the castle isn't guarded too well, I might drop by my own room and change."

~

The castle felt strangely quiet. Over his twenty years on the Blue Planet, which he had spent entirely in Baron Castle, he had gotten used to the nonstop activity, the sounds of armor and swords clinging, guards yelling, mages chanting...

Nostalgic, he guided his friends to the upper levels. The castle itself was deserted: the infirmary had been void of all living people, no guards at the treasury, not even at the main stairway to the throne room.

Baron sure had changed in two weeks...

Well, most of it had.

He was surprised to see one lone figure by the throne room. Forgetting about his status as a refugee, he ran towards the man. "Baigan! Baigan!"

"Hm?" The Royal Guard turned around and froze at the sight; he knew the man well enough to recognize him without his obsidian armor. "Cecil! It's been a long while, my friend! I'm glad to see you alive and well."

Cecil smiled. For the first time in weeks, he felt at home, and he owed it all to one familiar figure. "And so am I. What happened here?"

Baigan's smile was immediately replaced by a worried frown. "I'm afraid you were right all along, Cecil. The King is not himself anymore. He's taken upon the kingdom to conquer the whole planet. Maybe you can reason him – after all, you are a son to him. Let me lead you to the throne room."

"I'll see what I can do... but if he doesn't listen to you, I wonder what will be of me."

They were escorted by Baigan, from the recreation room to the antechamber. Cecil's gaze traveled from floor to ceiling, trying to find comfort in the fact he was back home. But without his childhood friends, it was awkward. Something was amiss.

Palom trotted to Cecil, and tugged on the knight's cape. "Something stinks here..."

Cecil quirked his brows and gently patted the boy's head. "I don't smell anything. What about you, Porom?"

"It reeks of monster...!"

Well that's an answer he hadn't expected...

"Wait here."

He watched as Baigan went up to the doors...

Leaned on them...

And locked them.

"You shouldn't have come back, Cecil."

Surprised, the knight didn't even think about unsheathing his sword. He never thought, for one second, that he'd face his mentor one day. Of course, now he was a traitor to Baron. But that his own friend turned against him...

"So naïve of you," the man continued as he drew his own blade. "Today, this will also be your tomb!"

Baigan lunged at him. Cecil had to slam his own body into the wall to avoid the blow. He bit a scream as his shoulder hit the stones. Like him, Baigan was a trained swordsman; even though he was not a dark knight, the older man had well over twenty-five years of service under the King of Baron. He had home advantage.

However, Cecil had the numbers. Three mages and a monk were at his side, ready to fight.

"You leave me no choice, Baigan."

Yang was the first to make a move. Having no emotional attachment to the other swordsman gave him an advantage, and he was not afraid to send him flying across the room. Tellah and Palom were preparing their spells; poison and fire, respectively.

They struck the Royal Guard at the same time; Baigan grunted and dropped to the floor in an attempt to extinguish the fire consuming his cape.

The poison quickly took effect. Despite the pain in his stomach, Baigan tightened the grip on his sword, and readied a hit.

Yang came at him, and he slashed the blade across the man's leg. Pain seared through his skin. He landed the hit and Baigan staggered back a few steps, dazed. Yang forced himself to ignore the pain and delivered another powerful blow to the man's stomach. The prize he received was vomit all over his chest.

And some blood too.

Cecil closed his eyes. It felt way too awkward to attack his direct superior and dear friend... but he had no choice. He had to help them out. He wouldn't allow his previous ties to play against him. Steady, he grasped his sword's handle and ran at Baigan, blade raised up in the air. The blade came crashing down on the Guard's right arm. He backed out right away, as Baigan's own weapon fell to the ground.

Porom, from the back of the room, saw her opportunity; she readied her spell and targeted Yang with her tiny hand – the monk was surrounded by a healthy blue-green glow for a split second. Already feeling better, he punched Baigan in the jaw. The claws he had found in the waterworks snatched half of the man's jaw away.

Cecil cringed. It was still hard to watch.

But he didn't get a chance to attack again, as a bright fire consumed Baigan entirely. The man's screams of agony echoed through the small antechamber. Cecil flinched and pit himself against the wall, eyes closed, on the verge of tears.

He had never wanted this...

Would he have to do this to Kain as well?

The screams abruptly ended. Yang had broken the man's neck with his own hands, putting an end to his sufferings.

Cecil fell to his knees.

A tiny hand settled on his shoulder. "We're sorry, Cecil..."

Palom.  

"He was your friend, that must be hard."

The knight nodded, choking back a sob. He really had to get over all of this. Now was not the time to cry over the past... "I'll be fine. I was not expecting any of this." Slowly, painfully, he got back to his feet, using his sword to support his weight. "We must go on and stop this. Right now."

This time, he was prepared for the worst. A fight with his own king; the very same man who took him as an orphan, raised him and taught him the ways of the sword...

"Let's go."

Cecil limped to the throne room's entrance. He bit his lip as he grabbed Yang's keys and unlocked the large wooden doors, then pushed them open.

There was no bowing, and very little acknowledgement despite the fight they had put earlier. The King simply raised his head and looked at Cecil right in the eyes.

"You made it past Baigan. Good job, Cecil. You have been trained well."

Cecil lowered his gaze. Maybe he wasn't so ready to face his King, after all...

"Now, now..."

The King got up from his throne, and walked towards Cecil. "You've grown stronger during this journey, have you?"

He only looked at the floor. "Your Majesty..."

"And you've become a paladin." The King shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't do at all..."

Cecil raised his head, brows knit. "Your Majesty?"

"Well, who might 'Your Majesty' be?" The King watched as Cecil's eyes widened in confusion

He took a deep breath, grabbed his sword, and raised his head.

Out of every single awkward thing that had happened on this day, this would remain printed in his mind the longest.

The King literally split in half. Flesh tore apart and blood flowed freely across the room's neat stone tiles. Bones fell to the ground with soft thuds. Muscles and insides splattered over the ground, revealing something even more gruesome.

A large, purple-blue being stood squat on short legs. Its back glistened with blood... and another, clear liquid – water. It fell on all fours and revealed its humanoid face. Its wide mouth displayed a row of sharp, white teeth; its eyes, equally white, stared at them.

A wave came crashing at the party. The sheer force of it pushed them to the back of the room.

"Bow to Cagnazzo, the Drowned King, like you have done in the past!"

Cecil snarled at the thought. All this time, he had blindly followed this... monster and treated him as his King. It sickened him.

Soaked wet and dripping, the knight rushed at his 'regent'.

Cagnazzo took the hit, and swiped at Cecil with a front paw. The man backed out just in time and successfully avoided the blow. He steadied himself and waited for an opening, then slashed at the fiend again.

There was a flash of thunder. The lightning bolt landed right beside him, and dug deep into the creature's blue flesh. Cagnazzo roared in pain and flailed his paw aimlessly.

Another bolt, another roar.

Cecil, who had taken advantage of Cagnazzo's daze, moved forward and slashed at him once more. He was about to swing his blade again when he noticed the water at his feet, which formed a low, but growing wall.

Cecil saw the wall double in size in a split second; after two seconds, which left him enough time to jump backwards, it reached his shoulders. The second after, it came crashing at him. It flung back to the wall, along with his teammates.

Tellah readied a Cura spell, but Cecil's voice stopped him.

"Leave that to Porom. Keep hitting it with thunder spells!" Cecil was right; water fiends did not enjoy lightning.

The girl caught on and quickly healed them, leaving the wizards to dish out the damage. The bolts came in quick succession, leaving their foe open for a long time.

Constantly hit by thunder, Cagnazzo never got another wave up. He barely scratched Cecil, who kept slashing at the beast. He barely needed to duck and take hits for others a few times, before Cagnazzo let out a final, agonizing roar. The beast crumbled to its knees, blue blood oozing from every cut. When Cecil dared to touch it, it was as dry as stone. A fine powdery dust remained on his fingertips.

For a moment, he stood in front of the corpse, unable to move. This... thing... had taken so much away from him. Including his superiors... his King... his father.

Was the King really dead?

"Filthy imposter!"

Cecil abruptly turned around. His sapphire blue gaze landed on the stout figure in the doorway. Red beard, face hidden under a blue skin-tight aviator helmet... and possibly a frown under it.

"You've got another thing coming if you think you can keep me locked in a musty old cell like that, eh?"

"Cid!" Cecil's face lit up; he rushed to the older man's side.

"Cecil! You had me worried, you... you little... Bah!" The engineer patted Cecil on the shoulder, and quickly displayed his usual hearty grin. "So, where you hell have you been? And what about Rosa? Haven't heard of the poor girl since she left after you!"

With a sheepish, shy smile, the paladin gave him a very short rundown of the events which had led him and his friends here. "I'm sorry, Cid... Rosa was kidnapped by Golbez while we were in Fabul, defending their Crystal. Which we lost. We were heading back to Baron by ship when we got attacked, and I made it back here from Mysidia."

Cid's grin was quickly replaced with a deep, angry frown. "He took her while she was with you?! How could you even let that happen, boy!" But he couldn't stay angry at the paladin too long. Cecil was almost a son to him, and deep inside, he knew that it wasn't the boy's fault. "Golbez eh? Using my airships like that wasn't enough; he had to take Rosa too!"

Tellah nodded towards the small bearded man, and spoke rapidly. "She's in great danger, and so are we. If you wouldn't mind... we need you to lead us to that flying ship of yours. We can talk on the way."

He was ready to walk out the door when Cid talked back, bitter. "Who do you think you are, old man?!"

From the back line, Cecil sighed and shifted his weight to his right leg. With both Cid and Tellah's short fuses, he knew this would take a while.

Of course, the sage had to sass back. "Old?! One might ask the same of you!"

"You're calling me old?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The paladin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, suddenly wishing to be miles away from Baron Castle.

"Please... let's not argue." He had to give Porom big thanks for being so level-headed and mature. "This is Tellah, a great knowledgeable sage from Kaipo, with the power of Meteor. This is Yang, Grandmaster of the Fabulian monks, who helped us enter the castle."

She nodded in the taller man's direction. Yang bowed in respect.

"And I am Porom, apprentice white mage of Mysidia."

"Grown men, acting like children..."

She smacked her twin with her palm, then turned back to Cid as if nothing happened. "The one who cannot mind is tongue, for the sake of his own life, is my brother Palom. It's in your best interest not to mind his rude habits."

The boy crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his tongue out. "Goody-goody!"

Yang smiled at the sibling's behaviour, and "I, for one, am pleased to meet you. I wish it had been under better circumstances, as we need to make haste."

"Now there's a man who knows his manners!" Cid walked to Yang and offered him a hearty handshake, now unable to hide his trademark grin.

The conflict seemingly over, Cecil stepped forward. "Cid, could you tell us where new your airship is?"

"Hehe... it's somewhere no one would think to look! Thought it'd come in handy one day so I had the old docks-"

Tellah held his hand up and shook his head in vehemence. "We don't have time for all this rambling! Rosa's life is at stake!"

Cid rolled his eyes. He balled his fists, but refrained from punching the sage. "I know that, old man, I heard you the first time! C'm'on! To the old docks!"

He was the first out, followed by Cecil. The door shut with a click, which made Yang turn on his heels. The monk's brows knit, but he ignored it. After all, they were out...

"THE WICKED DO NOT FALL ALONE!"

Cecil spun around. His hand darted for his blade.

The voice bounced off the walls; a drowned, desperate voice which sent chills down his spine. The same voice who had admitted in usurping his King.

"In life, I was terrible... In death, I created a new level of terror... But you shall join me in this fiery pit known as Hell!"

"The walls!"

Cid's eyes went left and right. The walls were moving, menacing their lives as they closed on them. He immediately ran to the back door, the one which led to the throne room. "It's locked!"

"And so is this one!" Tellah yelled, from the other end of the narrow corridor.

As the men fumbled with the doorknobs, tried to kick the doors down, and resorted to pushing back... Palom and Porom looked at each other. They had no choice; if they wanted their friends to live...

They moved to each side of the room; Palom to the left, Porom to the right. With all their might, they pushed forward.

Palom looked over his shoulders. The mischievous grin gone, he looked nothing like the little devil he usually was. "We'll miss you, Cecil!"

Cecil's stared at the twins, eyes wide open. What were they thinking?!

"It's almost like we gained an older brother." Porom smiled at him, as calm as she ever was.

Both children looked at each other, then at the men. They hoped to comfort them. In unison, they voiced their courage. "We won't let you die like this!"

"What's gotten into you two?!"

Twin red gazes shot up to the sage. "Tellah, look after Cecil for us...!"

"Together! Now!" Palom turned to the wall.

Polom mirrored his twin sister. "Right!"

Everything went too quickly for anyone else to stop them. The twins went deep in meditation, a chant to their lips. Green and white lights surrounded them, casting an odd glow on the moving walls. Heaven knows what was going to happen...

Out of raw fear, Cecil closed his eyes.

"BREAK!!"

There was a final, vibrant white flash; so bright, Cecil's vision went red, before returning to darkness.

Then... silence.

He dared to open his eyes.

Palom and Porom stood still, too still for his liking. Their tiny frames kept the walls from closing onto them.

He took a step forward, and gently laid an open palm on the girl's gray, solid head. "Porom?"

He swallowed hard, and turned to her twin. "Palom?"

"Now wait a minute... they turned themselves to stone?" Tellah took a deep breath and stood in the middle of the statues. His lips moved to cast a spell. "Esuna!"

Nothing happened.

The twins had willed themselves into stone.

Beside Porom, Cecil stood, trying to minimize the quakes went off in his body. There was no way. No way they had sacrificed themselves... He closed his eyes again, in a futile attempt to stop tears from flowing on his cheeks.

"Fools...! If anyone ought to die, it should have been me!"

Tellah patted Palom's head, with a shake of his. There was nothing he could do to reverse the spell.

"They were only children..." Yang added, his head hung low in sorrow.

"I'll fire up the Enterprise! We'll avenge them both!"

Cecil finally lifted his head, and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. "I won't let their sacrifices be in vain! Golbez will answer for this!"

With one final look at the children, the paladin pushed forward and opened the door. For all he cared, the others would have not followed, and he would have gone off on his own.

Cid balled his fists once again; his knuckles turned white within seconds. "Come on! These kids died for us, let's make sure Golbez doesn't live it down!"

~ To be continued... ~