“Why are we robbing crystals from innocent people?!”
”Because its our duty!” Those words from his crew brought Cecil back from his ever-wavering thoughts.
“Do we really have to do this?” a young man said.
“Are you questioning the King’s Orders? Or Cecil, Captain of the Red Wing’s authority?” Cecil said, turning on the man.
“N-n-nooo sir! It’s just…it doesn’t feel right.”
“Then stop feeling, and just act.” Replied Cecil as they landed. He led his men into the castle, and quickly found the way into the Crystal Room. Three mages were there, as well as an Elder.
“Give us the Crystal of Water!” shouted a crewmember.
“What have we done?” replied the elder.
“The Crystal, or your life!” stated Cecil.
“Never!” defiantly shouted one of the mages.
“Then take the crystal by force, boys.”  The crew walked forward, and the two black mages were quickly killed.
”No! Don’t!” cried out the remaining white mage.
“Dare to defy us?” asked one of the crew, before striking her down. The elder ran forward.
“My! All right…take the crystal.”
”You should’ve said so earlier!” said a crewmember as he pushed the Elder against one of the walls. Cecil walked forward and grabbed the Crystal, no longer protected.
“Why does the King of Baron doing this? Why do you pursue the Crystals so eagerly?” cried out the Elder, before the crewmember smacked him hard across the face. Cecil lacked an answer, and turned and left with the Crystal. The Red Wings followed him out and back on to their Airship.

-_*_-


As Cecil walked into Baron, Baigan busted out of the main doors.
“Cecil! Do you have the Crystal of Water?”
”But the Mysidians were so helpless…”
“What are you trying to say? This way, Cecil…” replied Baigan. Cecil followed Baigan to the doors of the throne room. Baigan told him to wait there, and he went inside. Unknown to Cecil, Baigan told the King of Cecil’s rebellious attitude. The King could do nothing but exclaim, “Truly!?” and asked Baigan to send him in. Cecil came in, and the King congratulated him on his successful mission, and demanded the Crystal. Cecil handed over the Crystal, and the King dismissed him. As Cecil walked towards the door, he lowered his head, in disbelief of what he was about to do…
“Your Majesty!” he called. The King and Baigan looked up, shocked.
“What is it?” replied the King.
“We …we do not understand the purpose of taking away Crystals from innocent people.” Said Cecil.
“Disobeying me?”
”No, I don’t.”
”We know of your discontent, Cecil the Dark Knight. If you cannot trust me, I can no longer place the Red Wings in your command. You are dismissed from your post!”
“Your majesty!” Cried Cecil as he stepped forward. The Royal Guards stood in front of him, and pushed him backwards.
“Go and hunt the monsters of the Mist Valley…and deliver this package to the Village Mist…you may depart tomorrow morning.” Said the King, throwing a package into Cecil’s hands. At that moment, a Dragoon strode into the room.
“Your Majesty!” he cried, “Cecil didn’t…”
“If you’re so concerned about him, Kain, you can go with him!” replied the King.
“Your Majesty!” said Cecil another time, in vain.
“Now, leave! “ replied the King, and the guards threw them out of the throne room.

-_*_-

Cecil and Kain stood outside the throne room.
“Sorry, Kain.” Said Cecil.
“Don’t worry about it. He’ll put you back in command of the Red Wings after this mission.”
“But…”
“Never mind, just go to your room and rest.” Replied Kain, and walked off. As Cecil went outside, a good friend named Rosa appeared.
“Cecil! You are not hurt? I was so anxious!” she exclaimed as she gave him a hug.
“No, we are not hurt. How could we be? The wizards didn’t even raise their hands…” replied Cecil as he walked away.
“Cecil!…can I see you later?” she said.
“Yeah. Later.” He replied and walked off. He wandered around for a while, before returning to his room. Cecil, being a Dark Knight, didn’t bother taking off his armour, but rather went right to bed with it on. He was just that badass. He started thinking about the King’s new attitude for quite some time when Rosa came.
“What’s been up with you lately? You’re…different.” She said.
“Nuttin’.” Replied Cecil and rolled over to put his back towards Rosa.
“Please…don’t look away.”
“…in Mysidia, we had to rob from innocent, helpless people…”
“oh…dear….”
“I’m just a Dark Knight with no courage to disobey his majesty.”
“The real Cecil I know would never whimper like this! …You’re going to Mist tomorrow, right? If anything should happen to you…”
“Don’t worry, Kain is coming too…It’s late, go back to your room.” She nodded, and left. Cecil eventually fell asleep.

-_*_-  

The next day, Kain and Cecil left for mist, and soon were walking through a cave with rather poor visibility. As they reached the end of the cave, a dragon appeared out of the mist. Cecil looked at Kain, who chuckled at his good friend.
“What are you waiting for? It’s not like you’re attacking someone’s mother, or something!” he said, and charged the Dragon with his spear. Cecil laughed in returned, and in no time at all the team had taken down. With the path cleared, they walked into the Village of Mist, and Cecil held the package out. He turned to Kain,
“Where do you think we ne-“ There was a suddenly huge explosion, and Kain and Cecil went flying. The package had really been a massive bomb, which set the town ablaze.The package had really been a massive bomb, which set the town ablaze. Cecil and Kain looked at each other.
“We came here…to deliver this package…to burn the town of Mist?!” wondered Cecil out loud. They heard a little voice crying for help, and saw a little girl crying over her mother’s dead body. They walked towards the girl, and overheard her talking about how since her mother’s dragon fell, so did her mother.
“Oh, I’ve heard of these people that can summon monsters that fight for them. They’re called Callers.” Explained Kain.
“And the King of Baron wanted us to get rid of the town of Mist, and all the callers?” asked Cecil.
“Apparently. We must do away with her as well…” said Kain, stepping forward.
“No! Never again will I follow such orders!” cried Cecil, stepping in front.
“Do you denounce your loyalty to his Majesty, Cecil?” asked Kain.
“Erm..well…no…maaaaybe?” stuttered Cecil.
“Well, I can’t let you do that alone…I owe his majesty a lot, but I cannot disgrace the Dragoons. Still, the Kingdom of Baron is the most powerful country…we need to get help from other countries…and of course, rescue Rosa…” said Kain.
“Oh Kain! Thank you!” replied Cecil
“Not for your sake, Cecil. It’s dangerous here, let’s grab the girl.” Replied Kain, and they walked towards her.
“Come with us, it’s not safe here…” started Cecil.
“GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU KILLED MY MOTHER, AND MY ENTIRE TOWN, GET BACK EVIL DARK KNIGHT!”
“Your mother? I did no such thing! And I’m sorry, that bomb, I didn’t mean it…”
“MY MOTHER! YOU KILLED HER IN THE CAVE YOU SICK MAN AND YOU’LL KILL ME JUST LIKE YOU KILLED EVERYONE ELSE AND I HATE YOU!!!!” she screamed at him. Cecil rolled his eyes, and smacked her on the back of the head, knocking her out. He quickly picked her up, and ran out of the quickly burning village of Mist. As he left, he looked for any sign of Kain, but there was none. He figured that being a Dragoon, he could handle himself, and ran to the nearest town, the desert post of Kaipo.