Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation

Destruction Preventer: Lunar Salvation
Chapter 3 - Kaipo


~


The heat was getting to him, it slowed him down, but Cecil Harvey refused to relent. He carried the summoner girl on his shoulder, carefully placed between his armor's spikes as not to hurt her. He didn't feel her move the entire time, and that time felt like an eternity.

The squeaking sound of sand against his armor sent chills down his spine with every aching step he took. Everytime he dared lift his head up, the sun was higher in the sky, a constant reminder of what was to come: certain death if he didn't make it to Kaipo in time. He wanted to hurry and get the fuck out of the area, but was smart enough to know he had to conserve his strength. At a moderate pace, he did his best to avoid possible monsters, which included giant sand wurms and bipedal reptiles.

Exhaustion quickly settled in, as well as signs of dehydration. Cecil swore he saw double; he blinked a few times to see if it wouldn't go away... which it didn't.

~

To Cecil, Kaipo was a blurry mass of green, blue and yellow. He thought it was a miracle he had made it there on his two feet and still able to carry the girl, the both of them in one piece. He tried his best to focus and find the local inn, under the bewildered townsfolk. He dashed in to it, nearly stumbling to his knees as he reached the door and turned the knob.

They were greeted by a man in his forties, brown hair greying slightly on the sides. "Sir, Sir...?" He came out from behind the counter when he saw the limp child the soldier carried, yet bore a puzzled expression.

What had this man done to this poor child?

"Please... take her to a safe room..."

The innkeeper didn't waste time and gathered the child, then ordered a man in his twenties to help the soldier. "Room's on me, m'lord."

Cecil blinked hard again. So the people here knew who he was. Just what I needed. "Thank you," he muttered between two coughs, his throat dry. "I'm... I'm only a commoner now."

"Jake, bring water to the man once he's settled in!"

"Will do, dad! Come on." The youth known as Jake offered his shoulder for Cecil to lean on, but the knight refused with a headshake.

"I'm fine. I only need something to drink. And maybe... maybe a nap."

'A nap? The man was crazy.'

Cecil was taken to the same room as the girl was in. She was already in bed, covered by thin white sheets. He sat on the bed, taking his helmet off – finally, dear gods. His thick white hair clung to his face, damp and messy. He pushed it out of his eyes with an annoyed groan. His blue eyes scanned the room; Jake had left them on their own, most likely to fetch a drink for him. He reappeared a minute after, a pitcher of ice cold water in hand.

"Here."

Cecil didn't need to be told twice. Once his glass was full, he downed it in a matter of seconds. Now relieved, he nodded in the other man's direction, obviously thankful but unable to say a word.

"I'll let you rest. If you or the girl need anything, ask for my father or me. We'll be in the lobby."

The knight nodded again, already taking parts of his armor off.

He'd take his shower later, after he'd have slept a bit.

~

"Cecil?"

Nothing.

Where the fuck was he?

"CECIL!"

Frustrated, Kain Highwind dropped to his knees. Had he failed his best friend? Everywhere he looked, he saw rubble, burnt buildings, corpses... No sign of the dark knight, or the summoner girl for that matter.

The sun rose in the eastern sky; he had to trek back to Baron. Alone. Not that it bothered him. Cecil missing, however...

"I'll come back for you, Cecil. I swear on my father's grave."

He left the tiny – nonexistant – village. The walk back to Baron would be painful, but for Cecil, he'd do it. He'd order a rescue party, hell he'd go back alone. But he had to report to the King before.

~

Now clear, the cave had been easy to go through. He hurried despite the pain in his legs and the headache he now had. Otherwise, he was in a relatively good shape. Armor scratched, arms bruised, nothing that would kill him.

An image of Cecil lying on the grass, breathless and equally motionless, flashed into his mind. 'No. He's not dead. He must be alive. He must have taken the girl to Kaipo.' Still... the images kept coming back. Blood. Death.

Baron Castle never seemed so far.

Kain completely ignored the guards as he barged in the front door, then other doors leading to his headquarters. He ordered a few of his dragoons to leave immediately, as a search party.

His next destination was the throne room.

"So the Lord Commander returns-"

For a moment he had forgotten about Baigan. The older man face's beamed at the dragoon's return, but it faded upon seeing Kain's worried, angry frown.

"Announce me in. Now. I don't care what the fuck he's doing, but I need His Majesty NOW."

Baigan ran his eyes down the man's frame, assessing the situation. Something important must have happened for Kain to be in such a state – the man was moody, but usually kept calm around the King. "Of course. Wait here for a few."

But Kain wasn't in the mood to wait. He tagged along Baigan in the throne room, barely giving the guard to say something.

"Kain has returned-"

It took Kain all his powers not to run up to the King and choke him with his bare hands. For the Mysidia rape. The Mist 'incident'. Cecil's disappearance.

"Why did you send us eliminate the Mist townsfolk?!" he blared. All that kept him from the King was the few steps to his throne.

Unfazed, the King stood up. "Kain, Kain... these people were dangerous. They should not be controlling the Eidolons; they could have easily took over Baron, with the gods by their side."

"The gods? It took five fucking bombs to blow up their entire village and wipe them all! They would have never stood against Baron's army, let alone invade this castle!"

Still standing, the King spread his arms. "You and Cecil did what you had to, and you shall rewarded for your actions and loyalty. As for Cecil... where is he?"

Kain lowered his head, hiding a frown in the process. "I... I don't know, Your Majesty. A child survived the attack and an Eidolon spread Cecil and I apart-"

The old man's attention perked up. "A child still lives? A summoner? We must send a party there at once! Baigan!" The guard stood to attention. "Head with a group of ten men, and bring the child back to us. Alive. She must be found."

The child was the least on Kain's mind. "What about Cecil, Your Majesty?"

"We'll tell you if we find his body. I have his replacement already." The King waved dismissively as he sat back on the throne. "I want one your party members to report back to me in two hours, concerning the child. Kain, you are dismissed."

"But, Your Majesty-"

Baigan shook his head and grabbed Kain by the arm, motioning the dragoon to exit.

Now that he was waiting on his own search party, Kain couldn't leave the castle. Tired, he headed back to his own room as quickly as he could. He did not want to encounter Rosa; the woman worried too easily, and now that it was time to worry. He had no doubt she'd head out there on her own.

He couldn't face her.

~

Something else bothered Kain as he entered his room. A quick glance around revealed everything to be completely normal – yet something felt different. Something inside his head.

A voice, a deep voice.

"Cecil's alive. It's what you want, no?"

But... why did it make sense?

"Of course."

"You think of him as more than a friend, don't you, Kain."

The voice was right. Now, he had to figure out who the fuck this voice belonged to.

"But he does not return your feelings..."

Was the voice right about this as well?

… Where did it even come from?

He looked around the room with squinted, nervous eyes. A shiver of dread ran down his spine, but Kain forced himself to ignore it.

The worse part of it is that it still made sense.

Cecil did spend time with Rosa... but that didn't mean anything. Kain spent time with her too. Or did it?

"It means something to him."

Kain's eyes shot up to the ceiling. The voice didn't come from his room, or the one on the upper floor... it spoke directly to him. He had no clue who could speak directly to his brain. A part of him didn't want to figure it out – another was quite anxious to.

"You'll know when you see me, Kain. Until then, you'd best rest. You'll need it for your next task."

Once again, the voice was right. Once naked, the dragoon fell to his bed and closed his eyes.

~

The titan. The girl. They were right in front of him. The earth shook and cracked  – he jumped to the left to avoid the gap, but instead, fell right through it. Helpless, he screamed. Of course, no one came to his rescue; not even Kain.

Drenched in sweat, Cecil awoke from his nightmare, clutching to his blankets. He had made it to Kaipo; that, he remembered. He also remembered drinking water, but that was about it.

The room he found himself in was quite dark. The only light penetrating it was from the two windows by the right end of the room. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he made out the child's sleeping form in the bed next to his. Her small chest rose steadily, and she slowly turned in her sleep, mumbling something about not wanting to eat her bowl of oatmeal.

'Need to find the bathroom...'

Cecil stretched before climbing out of bed and rubbed his neck. The trip to Kaipo had left him sore. He was also hungry, but that could wait – he had another need to fulfill.

'Shouldn't have drank all that water.'

Only wearing underwear, he reached for the doorknob, yet withdrew right away. His sixth sense forewarned him of problems. Suspicious, he instead grabbed his sword, then slowly opened the door. He didn't go through right away.

"I... I don't know what you are talking about, sir!"

The innkeeper.

"Tell us where they are!"

Familiar voices. Baron soldiers?

"I don't know! I haven't seen anyone coming from Mist today!"

"Ransack this place!"

Cecil's grip tightened. Biting his lower lip, he charged the soldiers head on. He knew the men – three of Baigan's Royal Guards. Marshal Hendrix and two others which he didn't remember the names of.

"There he is! Get him!"

'Out of everyone, why them? This would have been so much easier if they had no idea what I looked like underneath all this armor.'

Cecil groaned. He prepared himself and thrust his dark blade through the first man's belly, slashing across to ensure massive blood loss. The guard tumbled over a table, inanimate. One down, two to go.

"Hendrix, tell me what's going on!"

The marshal grinned. "Your time has come, pretty boy. You know I've always wanted that position of yours. I've been given an opportunity, and Hell will freeze over if I don't take it!" The man lunged at Cecil. A few chairs were knocked in the process, which gave the dark knight enough time to strafe and avoid the blow.

"Did the King send you here?"

"Of course! We're bringing the girl in!"

"I won't let you," Cecil stated, firmly grasping his sword. "She's suffered enough."

Hendrix threw himself at Cecil again, pushing the younger man back towards his bedroom. He kicked the door open and ignored the pain in his foot, evading another blow.

"You were taught well, but not well enough. I've got twenty-five years on you, Harvey. Surrender yourself and the girl, and I won't kill you."

"No!"

A high-pitched scream rose from the back of the room – the girl had woken up. She sat up on her bed, eyes wide open, staring at the scene. A young, slender man only wearing a pair of white boxers stood in front of a fully armored soldier. She felt a strong aura coming from the youth; a dark, powerful aura.

"Get her!"

The third soldier barged in, but Cecil was quick to stop him. With the hilt of his sword, he knocked the man out by slamming it to the back of his neck. The soldier got back up to his feet and slashed at him, only hitting a mattress. Cecil seized the moment and sent his blade right down the man's spine.

"Don't think I'll spare your life, Harvey. Despite your rank, you're not our priority."

Cecil scoffed. He didn't care for his rank, or for the marshal. Or even for Baron, right then. He wanted the man out of this room, out of the inn. He backed off a bit, bracing himself.

"Fucking coward."

To hell with preparations. Cecil lifted his blade in the air and ran towards the marshal, mouth open. Their blades clashed, but the marshal was stronger, and easily pushed Cecil out of his way. The youth landed on his back. He didn't stay down long and ran for it again, sword pointed at Hendrix.

Without a word, he unleashed a wave of energy towards him. The marshal went through the wooden door and crashed on a table in the lobby. The body didn't move anymore.

Cecil's eyes closed. He needed to calm down. After a few deep breaths, he turned towards the green-haired girl, relieved. She was okay.

The innkeeper and his son were in the lobby. Both were shaken, partially amazed by the display of swordsmanship by that effeminate white-haired boy, the corpses, and by the destroyed lobby.

"My apologies. I'll help you fix all of this if-"

The innkeeper held his right hand up in the air. "No need to. This can wait till tomorrow. You need rest."

Cecil let his blade drop to the floor. "I need the bathroom."

~

His hair was still damp, but this time, it was because of the shower. Cecil ran a hand across his new bed, in front of the girl. She was still awake.

"I... I'm sorry for your loss. We had no idea we were killing an Eidolon. Your mother's."

She looked at him, her green eyes shining with what little light penetrated the room.

"We had our orders. I know it doesn't excuse anything we've done. But I'm truly sorry."

She saw the way he looked down to the floor. Uncomfortable, ashamed. It was his fault, but not totally his. His words were genuine.

"My name is Rydia."

Cecil lifted his gaze to the girl, offering a sad smile. "I'm Cecil."

A white creature appeared behind her, resting its head on her shoulder. "And this is Whyt. He's my own Eidolon. He says 'thank you' as well. If he's not scared of you, neither should I. After all, you protected me."

The smile on Cecil's face widened. "And I'll continue to do so. Now, go back to sleep. We're going to leave early tomorrow."

Both child and Eidolon nodded. Whyt disappeared as Rydia rested her head on her pillow.

~ To be continued... ~