The Melody of a Silenced Harp
                        Chapter Nine: The Omen at Baron



	
	The sun rose over the eastern sea, the very sea where they had thrown Professor Kory's body into the previous night. Cecil woke up feeling sore. He rubbed his tired eyes, and sat up. His whole body ached from sleeping on the hard wood flooring of the airship, which was still hovering over the sea near Agart. Then the dark knight remembered something. Last night when they had given Kory burial at sea, he had noticed a long, winding, snakelike landmass that hadn't been there before. He got up and ran to the railing and looked over the side. There was indeed a landmass there.
	"Anna! Come take a look at this!" he called. She came sleepily out of her cabin, still wearing her sky blue dress. She brushed her hair dreamily as she walked over to Cecil.
	"What is it?" she asked, suppressing a yawn. Cecil pointed. She started, suddenly awake, staring at the landmass.
	"What, do you know what it is?" Cecil asked. Anna shook her head.
	"No, but there's Kain!" she cried.
	"WHAT?!!" Cecil shouted, looking down at the land once more. He could see a Dragoon that was unmistakably Kain, his childhood friend. Except he was wearing white armor and was being followed by two children. They seemed to be having a confrontation with a force of men.
	"Those are Baronians!" Cecil exclaimed. 
	"Yang!!" Anna cried, pointing wildly. 
	"That IS Yang, but he's in a Baronian uniform! I don't like this..." Cecil said, confused.
	"Why are they fighting on the big field, anyway?" Anna said. Cecil' limbs went numb. His heart skipped a beat. His face paled.
	"Oh gods..." he moaned. 
	Two friends were fighting on a field. He couldn't stop them.
	Rosa couldn't come to him.
	His ominous dream had come true.

	
	"Listen up!" called the Baronian man called Rolley. "I don't know what you three think you're doing here, but you'd best stay out of our way!" 
	Kain pulled out his gleaming lance, and the twins pulled out their weapons. Palom looked sorrowfully at his firerod.
	This is my past. I don't need it any longer...
	As a mage, Palom knew that rods and staffs could also be used as a magic item. If you used it the right way a spell could be cast, even by non-wizards. He said the last magic incantation of his black magic career, and raised the rod.
	"If you plan to invade Mysidia you should think twice!" he called, tossing the rod at the troops. It exploded into sparks, showering over the troops. 'Tucker' came to the front.
	"What's the idea of attacking my men?!!" he demanded. "I'll teach you to respect authority, you Mysidian brat!" He drew his sword--clumsily, but effectively.
	Then Kain saw Tucker.
	"Yang!" he cried. "Yang, what do you think you're doing?!! King Baron, he's just scum! You'd go to Golbez's side?" 
	"I don't know what you're talking about, it's you who's scum. But now your life is forfeit, for you have insulted my liege!" Yang said, pointing his blade at Kain.
	"Liege?! You're from Fabul, Yang! Don't you remember? Did Leviathan strike you with amnesia???" Kain cried. 
	"Leviathan?! You are a madman!" 'Tucker' said angrily. "Kill them!" The troops ran forward. Porom had already begun casting a spell. Palom got into a clumsy fighting stance. Kain held his lance up high, and closed his eyes.
	"Oh please, if I really have Power, then let me use it now!" he murmured. The lance flashed for a moment, and then shot a pure light from the tip. It impacted with several of the soldiers.
	"Holy-----this is sorcery! But you are a dragoon!" Kirke gasped, running at Kain. The holy dragoon easily tripped him and parried another attack from his right side. Porom cast multiple slow spells on Rolley and Gregory, and Palom kept the others at bay the best he could. The wind kicked up, and so did the bloodshed. Kirke got impaled on Kain's lance, and Ben already had a bad gash from Palom's knife. Tucker gracefully backflipped past Porom's spells and knocked her over, and then he jumped over to Kain.
	"You're not bad!" he said coldly. "But you won't last!" Kain flew up in the air, and flipped over. He had trained this way all his life. He shot down, ready to knock "Tucker" off his feet. But his opponent had also trained a fair share of his life. As Kain came down, Tucker tripped him. He fell on his back, and found Tucker's sword tip hovering over his neck, like a giant hornet's stinger.
	"Yang, wake up...." Kain pleaded. 
	"Die, you magic-using freak of nature!" he cried.

	"No, Master Tellah, that isn't Anna!! Come back here!" came a young man's voice.
	"Like hell it isn't!" an angry old man's voice called. "FIRE!" 
	Tucker was hit in the back by a giant fireball and was flung across the sandbar. The old man and the young teen dashed up. The older man's white hair was wild and sticking out at every angle. He had a look of death in his firey eyes, and he gripped his wooden staff tightly. His purple robes were wrinkled and dirty. The teen was gasping for breath, his chest heaving. He leaned on a battle staff for support, his sand colored hair strewn about his face. He had blue eyes, and wore a red vest, and no armor. 
	"See?" gasped the boy. "It's not Anna..." 
	"Where is Anna, Baronian?" Tellah demanded of Yang.
	"....wha?" Yang said. "My head....."
	"Our leader's recovered his memory!" Ben cried. "He's really a Fabulian! Kill him with the others!" 
	"But..." Rolley protested.
	"We found him on the beach, he's not a Baron man." Gregory explained. "Rolley, you and Ben kill the Dragoon and the kids! Wedge, Biggs, get rid of the old man!" Biggs and Wedge ran over to Tellah.
	"Don't make this difficult, you old coot. We'll make it painless for ya." Biggs proclaimed.
	Tellah scowled at them, a twinkle returning to his eyes; a twinkle not seen by anyone in years.
	"The spells...." he murmured.
	"Come on, grandpa! let's go!" Wedge said, charging toward Tellah.
	"I remember the spells!" Tellah cried triumphantly. He raised his staff to his two opponents.
	"Fire Three!!" he cried. In moments, Biggs and Wedge were incinerated by a mighty explosion.
	"Master Tellah!" Porom cried. "We're from Mysidia." He nodded, and joined them in fighting the others with magic.
	"Traitor!" Ben said as Yang attacked him.
	"I did not betray you, for I do not know who you are!" Yang said, smashing Ben's ribs with a mighty kick. He doubled over. The rest of his team was already dead, and he lay there, awaiting his fate.
	"Baron will win this war. All of you will die!!" he cried defiantly, waiting for them to finish him off.
	"What? Aren't you going to kill me?" he said angrily.
	"You don't deserve to die a warrior's death. Besides, there's no reason to waste your life. You can't attack us, and I can't kill a defenseless man." Yang said. "Go. Go back to Baron, and tell your king that we will have his head, and Golbez's as well. Even if you don't understand, HE will." Yang kicked Ben and walked over to the others. Eventually, Ben crawled away, shamed that he had been defeated and insulted. A fate worse than death for a hardcore warrior like him.

	"Yang!" Kain said, patting him on the back. "It's great to see you as yourself again." Yang turned red.
	"I am embarrassed that the enemy got the best of me..." he said sheepishly.
	"They didn't though. They merely used you." Porom pointed out. 
	"Ummm....I don't really know what's going on here...." the teen said. Kain laughed.
	"Introductions, then? Okay. I'm Kain Highwind, Holy Dragoon. I'm fighting against Golbez the Black, for revenge. I was travelling with Cecil the Dark Knight until our ship was attacked." Kain said.
	"I am Yang Leiden, Karate Master of Fabul." Yang said simply.
	"This is Porom, White Mage of Mysidia, and her brother Palom." Kain introduced. They nodded.
	"I remembered meeting you two when you were very small. Roland and I are old friends, you see. I am Tellah. I seek Anna, my daughter." Tellah said. The others nodded politely. "This is Randy. One of the foolhardy women of Kaipo sent him to look after me. As if I needed it!" Tellah and Randy chuckled, sharing some sort of silent joke.
	"Well, that's settled. Now, where are we all headed?" Kain said.
	Tellah turned toward the northwest, where Baron Castle was still visible, outlined by the morning sun.
	"I think we all know the answer to that."
	"Let's go, then." Kain said uneasily. Baron would not be as he had left it. His whole life had changed since leaving that place, his place of birth. The others' lives had as well. He stared at the dark fortress.
	"To Baron!" he cried. They all nodded.


	"They're heading back to Baron!" Anna said tightly, riveted to the scene below their airship.
	"At least they're on the same side again..." Cecil agreed. 
	"We should join them!" Anna said.
	"Even Tellah?" Cecil said, eyebrow raised.
	"I have come to learn that my father---" Anna began.
	"Is desperate to see you?"
	"Is crazy. He'd practically kill everybody if I don't come back soon..." Anna said with a short laugh. 
	"Well, I don't think it's safe to re-join them yet, as much as I'd like to talk to them all....Yang, Kain, and even the crazy old man. But it looks as if they're sneaking into Baron, and I don't want to draw attention to them." Cecil said. "We might as well stay here until we see what's going on....." 
	Anna nodded.

	"Kain!" an old woman called frantically, as the group walked semi-casually into the town of Baron. Her hair was frazzled, and she looked as if she had lost quite a bit of sleep.
	"KAIN!"
	"Quiet, woman!" Kain hushed her. "Oh, it's you, Caroline. What is it??"
	"You know very well what I'm talking about Kain Highwind!" Caroline snapped, piercing into him with an evil stare her very own. He did indeed know what she was talking about, but didn't want to bring it up, for fear of further upsetting her.
	"Ummm, Caroline, you may not want to hear it..." he said.
	"Oh gods, she isn't dead is she?!! That Cecil--"
	"Cecil tried to save her! But Golbez captured her, I am afraid..." Kain blurted. 
	"WHAT??"
	"Excuse me, you two, but who on earth are we talking about here?" Randy asked, scratching his head.
	"ROSA!!" they both cried. He stumbled backward, and after that sort of hid behind Tellah.
	"Listen Caroline, we need to talk to Cid right away!" Kain insisted. Caroline laughed humorlessly.
	"Cid! You're weeks late! The King locked him up for resisting ages ago!" she said sourly.
	"Locked up!" Yang exclaimed. "But why? I thought that he was the king's engineer!"
	"Exactly. But he refused to give the king his latest ship, and so the king threw him in prison..." Caroline sighed, her forehead wrinkling. "The king has changed so much..."
	"Hmm..." Kain said. "Caroline. Do you know where the airship is?" Caroline shook her head. 
	"Only Cid would know, or maybe....Pauline knows." she said. Kain nodded, looking up at the hill where Cid's house was.
	"Let's go, you guys." Kain said, walking toward Cid's house. The soldiers gave them all eerie looks and dark gazes.
	"We're much too conspicuous." Tellah decided. "And not all of us need to go with you to talk to this Cid person. I want to get Anna back." 
	"We know, Master Tellah." Randy said. "But.........I really don't think she's here. There's not enough of a commotion for her to be around."
	"You may be right, but I'm checking just the same." Tellah said, looking worried. He still hadn't found her, and was running out of options.
	
	Kain and Yang walked, alone, into Cid's house. It was seemingly empty, but his daughter sat in a dark corner, writing into a diary by candlelight. Her face was red from crying, and her fire-red hair was pulled into a ponytail. She wore a plain dress with an apron, still stained from the dinner she had cooked.
	"Pauline," Kain said, startling her. She looked up, surprised. Then she ran to the Holy Dragoon, and nearly collapsed in his arms.
	"Oh, Kain!!! I can't believe it! We all thought you had perished.....well, not my father of course, he never gave up on you. But the King is horrible now! Not the man my father once knew!" she cried, clinging to his shining armor like a drowning woman would grab a lifeboat.
	"I'm sorry, Pauline. We can't save Cid, not just yet. But we need to know where the new airship is." Kain said consolingly.
	Pauline paled.
	"I....I.....the airship? But, what about my father??" she said desperately. "You must rescue him! He can't remain in that dungeon, he'll waste away! My father loves the air and the sky! He can't stay imprisoned!!!" She began sobbing miserably.
	"The way I see it, if we do not save the Crystals, there will be no more world worth being set free into..." Yang said sagely. Pauline looked up.
	"What...? Okay, I'll show you the Enterprise. But..! Promise me, Kain. Promise that you'll return to save my father!" she said emphatically. Kain nodded, though his heart ached at making another promise to a woman. What if, like with Farina, he couldn't keep it? He didn't want to break anyone else's trust in him.
	"Where is the Enterprise?" Yang asked, businesslike as usual. Pauline walked over to the fireplace and pressed a random brick. A panel in the wall fell away, and a long staircase was revealed. 
	"There it is," she said. "Just down the stairs. Can you fly?" Kain turned pink, realizing that he couldn't REALLY fly airships at all.
	"Well, um, Cecil sort of taught me a little...." he coughed. 
	"I guess I'm stuck for it. I'm coming too." Pauline said.
	"N-no, you can't! It's too---" Kain protested.
	"Dangerous? You're so predictable, Kain!" giggled Cid's daughter, skipping down the stairwell. Yang looked at him.
	"Guess we're stuck for it..." he chuckled, flashing a rare smile.

	"Cecil!!" Anna called across the deck. "Something's happening!" Cecil grabbed his sword and dashed over the the side of the airship deck. He was torn up by forcing himself to wait here, hovering in the sky, but he felt it was important to see what Kain and Yang were doing first. Now he had his answer. A gold-colored airship blasted out of Baron, with Kain's group on board. A young teenage girl was at the wheel.
	"Pauline?" Cecil exclaimed.
	"What is it? Who's Pauline?" Anna asked, confused.
	"She's Cid Pollendina's daughter, and she's driving that airship!" 
	"Oh. Well, at least they're getting out of Baron." Anna said. "Maybe we should go there and defeat the King, once and for all."
	"I agree. If they have business elsewhere, then we might as well...take out the King." Cecil said nervously. The King was practically his father! But no more.
	"Oh, gods! The Red Wings!" Anna gasped, horrible memories resurfacing in her mind.
	"They're after the airship! Dammit, hurry, Kain!" Cecil swore.
	"If we don't hurry, they'll come after us too. We stick out like a dwarf in the Upper Lands." Anna said of their own airship. Cecil nodded, and took the controls. He flew the unsteady craft as speedily as he could for a peninsula south of Baron. Anna nervously watched Kain's airship barely outdistancing Baron's fleet. But then they flew out of sight as the ship landed with a soft bump on the grass. Cecil, Anna, and Luca, who had been asleep for most of the time since Professor Kory's death, got off the airship and headed for Baron.
	"This is it, I guess..." Cecil said. "Princess Luca. If you don't want to be killed, I suggest that you stay here."
	"No, Sir." Luca said simply. "I'm not leaving yet. This is as much my fight as yours."
	"Not exactly..." Cecil said, his face downcast. "King Nido Baron was like a father to me. It'll be hard to kill him." 
	"Then you need support." Anna said simply. "We have to help." Cecil finally conceded, and they marched into town.
	"Hmph. Trying not to look conspicuous, I see." came a sour voice from behind Cecil. He whirled to see Caroline, Rosa's mother. He gulped.
	"Um, about Rosa..." he began.
	"She's been kidnapped, or so I gather from your Dragoon friend." Caroline said dryly. "Spare me the heroic speech, Cecil. But do rescue her....please." the old woman said with a rare look of utter sorrow on her face. "I miss her."
	"Hello! Can you tell us where the king is?" Luca asked. "We have to take him out!" 
	Anna slapped her hand over the loud dwarf princess's mouth.
	"Ummm...she's just kidding." she lied. Caroline laughed.
	"I'm quite sure that King Baron is not the man he used to be. He locked up Cid, blew up Damcyan, and raised the taxes! By all means, take him out if you so wish. He'd be easier to get to now anyway, seeing as he sent most of his troops after Kain and Pauline." the old woman said with a slight grin.
	Cecil smiled. This was the most cheerful, not to mention sarcastic, that he had seen her in years. They turned and headed for the castle. They were about to enter through the front gates when Cecil stopped.
	"Wait....what if someone recognizes me?" he said. 
	"I'll stop them." Anna decided, and she began to chant softly. They walked into Baron Castle.
	How long has it been since I've been through these doors? Cecil thought. He had changed so much since then. He had turned against his King, and had his eyes opened. Baron had to be stopped. 

	The interior of Baron Castle was strangely empty. Most of the soldiers must have been sent with the Red Wings, eager to catch Kain and Tellah and Yang....not to mention Cid's new airship. Cecil looked around at the cold stone walls of his birthplace. They seemed so strange and distant now. 
	Finally, after passing through a long hallway, they entered the Throne Room. Cecil was shaking nervously. The king sat in his throne. He was still the jolly, red bearded, swordsman king that Cecil knew....in appearance anyway. He seemed so cold and filled with hatred now.
	"Cecil Harvey....so, you dare return to me. I am glad you have finally seen the light." Baron said. He stood up.
	Cecil drew his sword. "No, King Baron. I have come to ask you why you have done these things. Then I will rid the world of your menace." he said shakily.
	"Hahahaha!" the King laughed heartily. "That won't be happening. I am not the pushover you think I am. I am not like Milon." he said. His words sent shockwaves through Cecil. Something was wrong.
	"Milon...?" Anna gasped.
	"That's right. I'm not like Milon. I am Kainazzo, the Fiend of Water. I killed Nido Baron a long time ago. Prepare for the Dark World!" The 'king' shouted, transforming into a huge mutant, with a blue shell and scaly skin.
	"The Fiend of Water!" Luca exclaimed.
	"Let's get him!" Cecil decided, charging him with his sword. 
	Suddenly, it was as if he had drowned---water surged around him in torrents, filliing his lungs. He tried gasping for air. The wave subsided, and he saw the Fiend grin malevolently. Anna cast the spell she had been saving---Mute. It had no effect on Kainazzo, who slumped forward and almost crushed Luca. Cecil chopped at the shell, but nothing penatrated it.  Another surge of water washed over them, almost sweeping them from the room. Cecil was painfully reminded of Octomammoth.
	"Anna---use Lightning!" he gasped. Anna pulled herself to her feet, soaked through. She began casting the Black Magic, pulling the dark words from the very back of her mind. She flung her hands out, and a bolt of electricity shot straight through Kainazzo's skull. He let out an unhuman shriek and pulled into his shell. Water began gathering around the base of it again.
	"He's gonna drench us again!" Luca screamed. Water now engulfed the whole shell, and more was being summoned. At this rate they would all drown. 
	"Taste this, little Dark Knight..." Kainazzo spat. There was a literal wall of water behind the throne. An invisible force snapped, and it all came gushing out at them. 
	"Grab onto something!!" Cecil cried. 
	"What?" Anna demanded, and then the water hit. It swirled around the throne room, faster than it could drain out through the door. 
	"Helppp...." Luca gurgled, sinking. As a dwarf, she had no idea how to swim. 
	"Hehehehehe..." Kainazzo laughed, summoning more water to drown the group. 

	"You imposter! How about I dent your skull?!" came a gruff voice from the doorway. A single hammer sailed through the air, and struck Kainazzo in the head, knocking him out. It did indeed seem to have dented in his skull.
	"Ha!" Cid exclaimed.
	"Cid!" Cecil called as most of the water vanished. The group picked themselves up off of the ground, surprised that they weren't drowning any longer. Luca coughed up some water and glanced warily at the burly man who had just charged into the room. He wore huge flight goggles over his roughly bearded face. He carried several hammers in his arms.
	"Hey, Cecil! When the dungeon ceiling started leaking I thought that I should help you a bit." Cid explained. "So, I merely busted down the door and came to your rescue!" He laughed again. Anna gazed awestruck at this huge man who was talking casually about busting doors and denting the skulls of large monsters. She glanced at Kainazzo, who was waking up.
	"Die, beast!" she cried, sending several bolts of lightning in his direction. Cecil took his sword and cleaved the monster's head off, a grim look of finality on his face.
	"Well, I guess we avenged the King..." Cecil said.
	"Yep." Cid agreed. "So, I hear Kain made off with my daughter and airship! Since that leaves me with nothing, why don't we leave?" He laughed jovially. As they headed for the door, Cecil paused.
	"Hey, Cid...Baron has been having a drought, right?" he asked. Cid nodded gravely. 
	"Worst drought ever." 
	"If the Fiend wasn't causing it, then what is?" he asked.
	"You ask too many questions, Cecil. It might just be the hot weather." Cid said, though he looked doubtful. "Besides, I have a hunch it'll be cleared up soon. And my hunches are ALWAYS right!" 
	He turned and led them out into the hallway. But, as soon as they had entered it, they heard a mysterious clicking from in front of them and behind them.
	"Heheheh...." came a voice. "I don't plan to give you up this easily...perhaps you'd ENJOY a nice vacation to the Dark World." 
	"Kainazzo!" Anna gasped. The walls began to slide in toward them.
	"EEEK!" Luca cried. "We'll be crushed!" Cid and Cecil tried either door and found out what the clicking sound had been. 
	"They're both locked!" Cecil cried. Were they really going to die like this? Crushed like beetles, right after their greatest victory?
	The walls slid ominously closer every second. 
	"We're doomed." Cid decided poutily.

	Suddenly, a mist closed around the party.
	"What's this?" Kainazzo's voice shrieked.
	"SHIVA!" came a familiar female voice. A beautiful blue-skinned Summoned Monster appeared. With an elegant wave of her wand, Shiva froze the walls in place...and indeed, froze the rest of Baron with them.
	"Curses! The Queen of Ice!!" Kainazzo swore. With the walls stopped, the danger abrubtly ceased. The mist filtered out, and standing before them was a tall woman clad in a green silk robe. She had an iridescent pin in her green hair. She giggled.
	".......R...Rydia?" Cecil gasped.
	She nodded, giggling again.
	"But you drowned!" Cecil protested.
	"Evidently that hasn't stopped her." Cid pointed out.
	"Well, Cecil?" Rydia said, smiling.
	"How.....???" he choked. She giggled.
	"Leviathan swallowed me. He took me to the Land of the Summoned Monsters, and time flow at a different pace there. I grew up!" Rydia explained simply. 
	"Wait a minute....." Anna said. "THIS is Rydia? The little girl from the Fabul incident??" She said, her jaw dropping.
	"A little slow, are we?" Cid put in. Cecil elbowed him. 
	"I'm....so glad to see you alive, Rydia! I thought I had failed you again..." Cecil said, hugging her.
	"Don't get all emotional, now..." she cautioned. "I still need to blow up this door." She gestured at the locked door in front of her. She held out her hand. "FIRE!" she cried, sending burning wood splinters everywhere. 
	"Well, you overcame that fear..." Cecil laughed. 
	"Where's Kain and Yang?" Rydia asked.
	"They got chased away by the Red Wings." Cecil said.
	"Red Wings? They better not damage MY airship! Let's GO!!" Cid cried, charging out through the busted door. The others soon followed.

	Once they had all boarded the airship, they looked around at one another. Cid took the wheel.
	"Where to?"
	"I don't know...." Cecil said. Suddenly, a scantily clad woman appeared on the deck of the airship.
	"Who are you?!" Luca demanded. 
	"Hmph. I am Valvalis, Fiend of the Air, if it concerns you at all. I was just told to inform you that my master Golbez is now fully after the Dark Crystals, and plans to have them by tonight." the woman said snidely.
	"Why are you telling us this?" Anna demanded.
	"Golbez wishes to give your futile quest a little chance. After all, he doesn't want you to lose face in front of your girlfriend!" she laughed.
	"Let Rosa go!" Cecil cried with conviction.
	"Hah! You expect me to release that slut just because it suits you? You'll have to FIGHT for her. And, Prince Edge would like a rematch. After all, he kiled your ugly professor SO easily." Valvalis laughed. Anna angrily charged at the Fiend, but she vanished.
	"I guess we head back to the Underground." Luca decided.
	"We can enlist the help of the Summoned Monsters." Rydia suggested.
	"That's right, let's go!" Anna said.
	"If you say so." Cid said dubiously, but he started up the airship.