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Chapter One

The fleet of five airships raced over the land, headed for Castle Baron. However, their crews didn't have the attitude one would expect from men who had just successfully completed their mission with no casualties.

On the lead airship, a man in dark armor stood silently, staring at nothing as he and his men returned home. The green-blue eyes beneath the dark helm were shadowed as he stared into the wind. Why? he wondered. Why in God's name did we have to do this?

"Captain Cecil! We are about to arrive at Baron!" the navigator announced.

"Yeah...." Cecil Pendragon, Captain of the Red Wings of Baron, continued to stare at nothing.

"Looks like it's bothering the Captain as well..." one of his soldiers muttered.

"Even if we were ordered to do so...." another said.

"Taking the Crystal from innocent people...." The first soldier sounded troubled.

Cecil closed his eyes as the scene flashed before his eyes again.

They stormed into the Crystal Room at Mysidia. This room, designed as a sanctuary for the Water Crystal, seemed made of crystal itself. The walls, floors, columns—everything was covered with plates of quartz crystal, glowing softly and sparkling as the light from the candles danced over the plates. The village elder stood in front of the crystal stand, flanked by a white wizard and two black wizards.

Cecil's men had paid close attention to their briefing, and the orders didn't need to be repeated. Within seconds, the wizards were dying. Their blood made the beautiful quartz floor look as though it had been made of rubies.

One of the Baronian soldiers physically knocked the Mysidian elder away from the Crystal. Beneath his armor, Cecil flinched, but he allowed nothing to show. Silently he walked up to the crystal stand.

It was glowing with power. He picked it up very carefully. Even through the heavy gauntlets he wore, he could feel its power. Water. He could hear the crashing of waves upon a beach, hear the chatter of a stream. He felt the cool silky play of water across his skin. The freshness of a clear mountain lake, the stinging scent of ocean brine....all of it swirled around him. Looking at the Crystal, he could almost feel himself being pulled into its luminescent depths, filled with mysterious, shifting blue-green lights. If he let himself be drawn in there....

Abruptly he snapped himself out of the odd trance and whirled around, the Crystal held securely in his hands. He glanced at his men and they gathered around him as he left the Crystal Room.

Cecil came back to himself, standing on the deck of his airship, and blinked. His men were still talking about the mission.

"We earned our position as the Red Wing crew through valor and bravery. Looting innocent people is an act of cowardice!"

"Stop!" Cecil roared.

"Captain!" one soldier began.

"Why are we going as far as pillaging a town of Magicians who don't even resist?" another asked.

Cecil took a deep breath. He'd been wondering the same thing himself, but he couldn't allow uncertainty and dissension to grow amongst his men. Hating the sour taste of hypocrisy in his throat, he forced himself to create a rallying speech for his men. "Listen, everyone! His Majesty has decreed that possessing the Crystal is absolutely necessary. The people of Mysidia knew too much about the secret of the Crystal, and were at threat to the continued sovereignty of our country. We are the Red Wings, the Air Power of Baron! His Majesty's orders are absolute...." He had to stop there, or give in to the temptation to join his men in their uncertainty.

"Captain...."

"Captain! Monsters are attacking!" the navigator cried.

"Prepare to fight!" Cecil ordered.

The first battle wasn't much, a few Float Eyes, nothing more. A grenade took care of them nicely.

One of his men was lying on the deck of the airship, hands wrapped around his leg. "Are you all right?" Cecil asked.

"More are coming!" the soldier said.

"Damn!" This was a bit tougher, but nothing to be overly concerned about. By the time he'd dispatched the monster, the injured man was back on his feet, a strip of cloth forming a makeshift bandage around his injured leg.

"Is everyone all right?" Cecil looked around.

"Yes, sir!" his men replied.

"The monsters have been increasing lately, though...."

"There's just too many of them...."

Cecil turned his eyes to the distant horizon again. All these monsters....they'd been multiplying at a frightening rate recently. "Is something....trying to happen?" he asked of no one in particular, staring at the horizon.

"We have arrived at Baron!" the navigator announced.

"Prepare to land," he said tonelessly.

The imposing mass of stone that was Baron Castle loomed before him. He had grown up here, but now seeing his home sent a chill of dread through him. Baigan, the Master of the Guard, met him at the drawbridge.

"Oh! You have the Crystal!" Baigan's eyes had a malicious, greedy gleam in them as he looked at the bag in Cecil's hands.

"But the Mysidians didn't resist at all...." Cecil murmured.

"What are you saying?" Baigan demanded, his eyes boring into the slits of Cecil's visor. "Come, His Majesty is waiting," Baigan said after a moment.

Cecil followed Baigan to the antechamber of the throne room. "Sir Cecil, please wait here a moment," Baigan said abruptly, then walked into the throne room and slammed the door in Cecil's face.

Several minutes later, he returned, with a smug smirk on his face that made Cecil's stomach churn. "Sir Cecil, His Majesty awaits. Please enter," Baigan said, in an oily voice. Not liking any of the reasons for Baigan's smugness that came to mind, Cecil slowly entered the throne room, and looked at the man he'd considered his father for most of his life.

"Well done, Cecil," the king said, smiling. "So, where is the Crystal?"

"My lord, I have it," Cecil replied, going to one knee in respect.

Baigan took the Crystal from him and carried it up to the King. "It appears to be genuine," he murmured.

"It is! Oh, how it glimmers...like light shining on the depths of the sea...." The King stared into the depths of the Crystal for several long moments, then seemed to abruptly remember where he was. "You may leave, Cecil!"

Hurt by the abrupt dismissal, Cecil turned toward the door, then stopped. "Your Majesty...."

"Wh-what?" the King and Baigan stammered at the same time.

Cecil had difficulty forcing the words out--it was hard to question the man who had raised you, a man whom you had always believed was right. "Your Majesty, we don't understand your motives. Why is it you need the crystals? Was it because the Mysidians were becoming a threat? Then why didn't they resist? We don't understand why innocent bystanders had to die." Once he got started, the words seemed to explode in a rush. Then he hesitated, not wanting to say it, but needing to. "Some have even wondered if your actions are....altogether....honorable...."

"So you distrust your own King, Cecil?!" the king cried.

"No, I didn't mean that at all...."

"Did you think that I knew nothing about your true feelings?! To think that I took you in and raised you just like my own son, and trained you....Now, not even you can trust me...." The hurt slicing through Cecil was quick and sharp as a knife blade. I've disappointed him. After all he's done for me....

The king's next words were even more painful. "I can no longer entrust you with the command of the Red Wings. As of now, you are relieved of your post!"

Cecil tried to run to the man he had always thought of as his father. But the guards blocked him, pushed him back. "Your Majesty...."

"Your new charge is to eliminate the Phantom Beasts that haunt the upper Valley," the king continued.

The door slammed open and Cecil heard a very welcome voice. "Please wait! Cecil wasn't--"

The king glared down at the young Dragon Knight, Kain Ocelot. "Kain, if you're so worried about Cecil, then you may go with him!"

"But Your Majesty!" Cecil protested. God, now I've got Kain tangled up in this!

"I have nothing more to say!" the king thundered. "Here! Take this ring and go!" A black box soared through the air toward Cecil. He caught it and opened it. Within was a gold ring set with a ruby. Some strange sigil had been carved into the ruby, and the box felt hot in his hands. What was it?

"Your Majesty--" Cecil tried again. The guards shoved him and Kain out of the throne room.

Cecil took a deep breath and faced his best friend. "Sorry for getting you mixed up in all of this, Kain." The words were painfully inadequate.

Beneath his spiked Dragon Knight's helmet, Kain's expression was cheerful. "Once you defeat those Phantom Beasts, the King will surely forgive you, and you will be reinstated as Commander of the Red Wings," he said confidently.

Cecil said nothing, staring at the colorful banners on the walls.

"You've had a long day," Kain said, his blue eyes sharpening perceptively. "Leave all the preparations to me, and go get some rest." The wink that accompanied the friendly words indicated that Kain expected Rosa to be "resting" with him.

The commander of the Dragon Knights sauntered off, and Cecil wandered through the halls of Castle Baron. Feeling driven to apologize, he sought out Kain, who was relaxing with a few of his fellow Dragon Knights.

Kain looked up at him, laughing over the jokes his men were telling. His expression sobered when he saw Cecil's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Kain...."

Concern turned to mild irritation. "Why are you still apologizing? I defended you out of my own free will!"

It reminded Cecil so much of the times when they were children. Whenever one of them had gotten into some small scrape, the other unquestioningly took his part, and usually shared in the blame. They had always shared rewards, too. "It's not that, Kain," he said finally. "It was my mission today....I learned the art of the Dark Sword as commanded by His Majesty. But it should have been to defend Baron, and not to harm innocent people. Maybe apologizing will help clear my conscience...."

With a quick gesture, Kain dismissed the Dragon Knights. Then he turned serious blue eyes to Cecil. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure the King has a good reason for his actions. He raised us, Cecil. He would never to anything less than honorable....the same lesson he taught us...."

Cecil shook his head slightly. "Kain, I envy your faith in His Majesty. He spoke of your father...the had the same unwavering loyalty..."

Kain sighed a little and stared down at the table before him. "My father....My father was a Dragon Knight as well...If I had mastered the art of the Dark Sword as the King had commanded, I probably would have advanced like you...However, I felt it was my duty to honor my father and follow in his path." Kain's voice, like his eyes, turned thoughtful and distant. "He died while I was still a child....Sometimes I wish he could see me today. I hope he would be proud. I often have these moments....moments of quiet reflection when I can feel his spirit within me, guiding me...."

Cecil was silent, not knowing what to say. Kain shook his head, and his eyes cleared. "Sorry to have rambled on like that....that's not like me. Anyhow, don't worry too much about today." His tone became jocular. "You really should be worrying about me besting you! I'll be the one who kills those Phantom Beasts!"

This, at least, was familiar ground. "I won't let you better me!" Cecil retorted.

"We must get an early start tomorrow. Go get some rest," Kain said cheerfully.

Cecil started toward his room, deep in thought. He didn't hear the footsteps behind him until Rosa spoke. "Cecil! Thank God you're all right! Your mission was so sudden, I was worried." She walked up behind him and touched his shoulder gently.

Cecil's tone dripped bitterness and rage when he said, "We were all right....We couldn't get hurt by a bunch of Magicians who didn't even resist...." Unable to turn around and face the White Mage, he walked away.

"Cecil!" Rosa cried. He didn't dare turn, didn't dare look at her. "I'm coming to your room again tonight...." Rosa said softly.

He couldn't say anything. He just walked away from her, pretending he didn't know that her golden eyes were filling with tears.

He stepped out onto the stone platform that was a roof for the lower part of the castle and a base for the upper part. The crisp air was a welcome slap in his face. He took a slow, deep breath, trying to forget the pain in Rosa's voice when he turned away from her.

"You're back, Cecil!" The loud voice cut through the ordinary noise of the castle. A moment later, Cid Highwind walked up and whacked Cecil firmly on the shoulder. Although his armor absorbed much of the force of the greeting, Cecil still stumbled slightly. Cid grinned cheerfully at him from under his wild mane of red-brown hair. "Rosa's been worried! If you make her cry, I won't forgive you!"

Cecil had to look away. Cid continued, blissfully unaware of Cecil's reaction. "By the way, how are my lovely airships doing? I don't want your crewmen abusing them. Hey, what's with that face?"

"To tell the truth, Cid...." Cecil took a deep breath and launched into an abbreviated rendition of the day's events, omitting the scene he'd had with Rosa.

"What?! Nobody besides you could command the Red Wings!" Cid yelped. "Jeez, what's with His Majesty recently? He keeps telling me to make a new model of airship....but I don't want to turn the airships into war machines! Now he tells you to go hunt Phantom Beasts? The townspeople are all confused....Not to mention me...." Cid sighed. "In any case, you be careful! You'll kill those Phantom Beasts with one stroke of your Dark Sword!" Cid gave him another hearty clap on the shoulder. "I'm going home. I've been spending a lot of time at work recently....and my daughter is giving me hell about it!" Cid walked off, shaking his head at the inequity of that situation.

Slowly Cecil climbed the steps of the West Tower. The entire top floor of the tower had been given over to his quarters when he became a dark knight. Kain occupied the floor below him now.

Quickly he shed his armor and slid into bed. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering. Why is His Majesty behaving this way? As a knight he was known for his kindness and valor. Kain and I were orphans, but he took us in, and raised us like his own sons. But now....Mysidia's Crystal....Is it something so necessary that we must take it by force from innocent villages? To think that we would do such a thing, even under orders! His disgust for what he had done that day nearly overwhelmed him. He was so busy trying to reconcile the man he knew with the king who had given those orders, he didn't hear Rosa's soft footsteps, didn't even know she was there until she sat on the edge of his bed. He looked at her, then glanced away.

"Cecil! What happened?" she asked softly. "One second you're being sent to Mysidia....the next you're being sent off to kill some ghastly monsters. And you've been acting strange since you came back." She rested her hand gently on his. He could feel her caring gaze on his face, even if her face and hair were only a pale blur in the faint moonlight.

He couldn't bear to look at her, see the concern that he didn't deserve. He'd killed white wizards today....white wizards, just like her. He turned away from her and stared at the wall. "No. It's nothing." He willed her to stop arguing with him, to go away, and at the same time he desperately needed to hold her, to reassure himself that everything could go back to the way it had been.

"Then please don't look away...." she said softly.

He stared at the stone wall for a few more minutes before he found the words to speak, and when he did, his voice was harsh with self-loathing and bitterness. "In Mysidia....I killed innocent people, plundered their village, and stole their Crystal....all for what?! Why did I do such a thing?" He fell silent a moment, then said bitterly, "It's as if my heart has become as dark as my armor...."

"You're not like that!" Her defense of him was immediate and unquestioning. She squeezed his hand, trying to convey through tactile contact what she couldn't say with words.

I envy you your trust in me. "I'm just a spineless Dark Knight, just a pawn of the King," he replied, unwilling to let her convince him of his worth.

"The Cecil of the Red Wings I know would never whimper like that!" Now there was anger in her voice. "Not the Cecil I love...." Her voice trailed off softly and she quickly rose from the bed and turned away from him. He wanted to brush away the tears he knew were sliding down her face, wanted to cuddle her until they both forgot about the world, but he couldn't. He had been soiled by what he did today, and he didn't want that contamination to touch her. Not Rosa. Never Rosa.

It was some time before she spoke, and her voice was oddly constrained. "You're going to Mist tomorrow, right? If anything happens to you, I...."

He couldn't stand it anymore, couldn't bear knowing that he'd made her cry. He stood up and walked to her, gently wrapping his arms around her. "Kain is coming with me," he said quietly. For a moment he tightened his embrace, then forced himself to let her go. "It's late. Get some rest." He caressed her cheek softly.

"Be careful! For my sake...." She caressed his face in return, then slipped silently out of his room.

He sighed, watching her go. "Thanks, Rosa," he murmured. "But I'm only a Dark Knight....what can I do?" Sighing, he went back to bed, but it was a long time before he fell asleep.

The next morning, he met Kain at the outer gate of the castle. "Are you ready, Cecil?" Kain asked. From the bright-eyed look on his face, he'd slept soundly and for quite a while.

"I'm counting on you, Kain." Cecil meant to make the comment light and friendly, but it ended up being serious.

Kain eyed him seriously for a moment, then grinned. "Just leave everything to me!" he said, and they headed out of the castle, bound for the Upper Valley.

Final Fantasy IV Novelization Page