The Tower of Mist

by Sabin

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Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3	Chapter 4
Chapter 5	Chapter 6	Chapter 7

Chapter 3

Edge arrived over Baron and landed in the airship field. He looked up at the sky to find it raining. "Funny. It wasn't raining when I first arrived at this continent." Edge thought. He disembarked from his airship to find Cid standing there. "Hello Cid."

"Good evening, Edge. It's a good thing you're here. Cecil hoped you would be coming." Cid said.

Edge was a little puzzled. "What happened?"

"We had an intruder here this afternoon."

"I see. Is Cecil still here?"

Cid seemed a confused. "Yeah, why wouldn't he be here?"

"Well, I thought Rydia might've come here to ask for his assistance."

"Hmm... well I don't know about Rydia coming here. But go talk to him. I'll take care of your whirly bird for ya." Cid offered.

"Thanks. I don't want to find any scratches." Edge said. "Oh, and please don't tinker with anything this time. The last time you experimented with it, I nearly crashed it."

"Are you sure that was my doing or was it because of your driving?" Cid joked. He laughed as he boarded Edge's red airship.

Edge entered the kingdom. The rain came down a little harder inside the front gate. Edge looked around saw that a deep fog had infested Baron. Edge walked toward the castle. He arrived at the front door of the castle.

The front guard looked at him and nodded. "Cecil is expecting you." He turned and opened the door. Edge nodded to the guard and walked in.

"Edge, I hoped you would come." Cecil said walking up to him.

Edge knelt down on the red plush carpet. "Thank you, your majesty."

"No, no. Stop that. Just call me Cecil like you do," he said.

Edge stood up. "I keep hearing that you want to see me. What about?"

Cecil sighed. "Let's take a walk around the kingdom, shall we?" They began to walk around the large kingdom of Baron. "First let me ask you, how are things going with Rydia?"

Edge sighed. "Not so good. We're temporarily not seeing each other."

"That bad, huh?" Cecil concluded. Edge nodded.

"Speaking of her, has she come to Baron yet? I assumed she was coming here." Edge said.

Cecil was silent for a couple of seconds. "I don't know."

Edge was a little puzzled. "You don't know?"

Cecil sighed. "An hour or two ago, we had an intruder in Baron. This intruder broke into the prison block and released one of the most feared villains in the world."

"Oh crap! That's bad. Did you get the intruder?" Edge asked.

Cecil sighed again. "Unfortunately, no. Both the intruder and the escapee got away."

"So, I suppose you want me to help you go after them?" Edge assumed.

"Yes. If it isn't too much trouble."

"I'd love to help, Cecil. I really would. But I have to find Rydia right now. She could be in trouble." Edge said.

Cecil stopped walking and looked at Edge. "What kind of trouble?"

"Queen Asura's daughter, Aria, was kidnapped. And someone left a note saying to get her back, Rydia would have to surrender herself. It was signed 'the great warlock'." Edge said.

Cecil began to think. "Hmmm... interesting. The pieces are beginning to fit."

"Pieces? Are you not telling me something?" Edge questioned.

"Edge, follow me." Cecil turned around and began to run to the throne room. Edge followed him, still wondering what Cecil meant. Cecil opened the doors to the throne room and ran in to find Rosa. "I know why she did it!"

Rosa stood up. "You found out?"

"Found out whaaat?!" Edge was getting a little frustrated.

"Go ahead, tell her, Edge." Cecil said. "About Rydia."

Edge sighed. "Queen Asura's daughter was kidnapped by a 'great warlock'," Edge said using the quotation motion with his fingers. "This 'great warlock' wanted Rydia to surrender herself in trade for Asura's daughter."

Rosa nodded. "Yes. That is indeed why she did it."

Edge was getting angry. "What am I missing here?!"

"Our intruder this afternoon was Rydia. The prisoner she freed claimed himself to be 'the great warlock'." Cecil finally admitted.

"So then, she knew who 'the great warlock' was? How could she have known that?" Edge wondered.

"You mean, you don't know?" Cecil asked.

Edge rolled his eyes. "No! I'm completely left out of this."

"Aaron, 'the great warlock', and Rydia are half-siblings." Cecil said.

"Whaaat?! I never knew she had any siblings." Edge said.

"Neither did I until a couple weeks ago when we captured him."

"Well, where'd they go from here?" Edge asked. Cecil remained silent. "Well, I'm not going to sit around here. There's no telling what that Aaron fellow could do to her. Will you two accompany me?"

Cecil nodded. "I will join you, Edge. However, I think it's best if Rosa, you remained here for Baron."

Rosa nodded in agreement. "I will. But please be careful. Aaron is powerful in the ways of black magic. I don't you to die." Rosa wrapped her arms around Cecil.

Cecil sighed. "Don't fear for me, Rosa. We will return."

Edge nodded. "I'll make sure he doesn't die, Rosa."

Rosa chuckled at his remark. "Thank you."

Cecil and Edge left the throne room and headed to the garage where the airships rested. "We'll our fastest and strongest ship." Edge nodded. They stepped into the darkness and found Cid inside the engine cabinet of Edge's ship.

"Damn, Edge. You work this thing like hell! I'm surprised you can run this thing with blowing up," the engineer said.

"Cid, I thought I told you!" Edge yelled.

Cid came out from the airship. "You're lucky you got it to me while you still had an airship." He looked at Cecil standing next to Edge. "I hope you aren't planning on taking this airship. I took some things apart and haven't really put them back together yet."

"No. We need the Golden Eagle." Cecil said.

"Aaah... My pride and joy." Cid said. "Follow me." Cecil and Edge followed Cid through the dark and cold garage. The rain was leaking in from the poorly patched roof. They walked through small puddles the leaks were making.

"Why didn't you tell me how badly in shape this garage was? I would've gladly given you some money to fix it." Cecil said looking at all the leaks coming from the ceiling.

"Well, I never really thought of it as a problem." Cid said. They came up to a door. On the door were signs reading "Keep Out!", "Authorization needed to enter", and "Attack Engineer on Duty". Cid took a key from his pocket and opened up the door. "This ship is my prized possession. She is the fastest, strongest, sturdiest, quickest, and the most well-built piece of machinery I've ever created." He handed Cecil the key to the airship. "I'm begging you. PLEASE don't wreck her. PLEASE bring her back in one piece."

"You'll have her back, Cid. You have my promise." Cecil said. "Come on, Edge. We have a warlock to find."