Chapter 4: In Which Sabin Demonstrates the Improper Way to Make an Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ciara was in the cabin of the airship Falcon, smiling with satisfaction. At long last...she'd been able to change into a clean shirt. Not only that, but she'd been able to wash her old one. It had been a very eventful day. First, they'd crashed into the airship, then they'd discovered that it belonged to a friend of Kain, then Ciara had given herself a tour of the airship and had taken notes on its design for future reference when she went to rebuild the West Wind. She'd also had a lot of time to think. First of all, what were all those Imperial soldiers here for? Palom hadn't reacted too well to them. He insisted that the Empire was evil. Then again, he pretty much felt the same way about Kuralov. Secondly, Cecil and Kain were old friends, apparently. There was nothing _wrong_ with that; it was just that it was a strange coincidence. The Great Paladin Cecil and Dragoon Kain were friends in the old legends. Then, again, lots of people were named Cecil and Kain, like her Uncle Kain. But what if they _were_ the Cecil and Kain of legend? And what if Palom was too? (Well, he was probably a legend in his own mind.) Still, those ancient heroes had disappeared soon after they had destroyed Zeromus. Had they come forward in time? Was there an evil in this world so great that the heroes of old had to come forth and combat it? "I'm probably just letting my imagination run away with me and blow things out of proportion," she thought out loud. She had also taken stock of her possessions. One spare shirt, vest, and pair of pants; her armor; her tools... ...and her weapons. The flame gun; the dagger, which she remembered was called an Air Lancet; and something she'd found when she'd been rummaging through her pack while looking for her spare shirt. It looked like a thin metal cylinder, but when one pushed the switch on the side, it expanded into a metal staff. Clean, organized, and happy, Ciara went back up to the deck of the Falcon. Kuralov ran over to her. "You have to help me, kupo!" "What's wrong?" she asked. "If someone doesn't stop me, I'm going to throw Palom off the deck!" Ciara laughed. "I wouldn't stop you; I might even help." "How, kupo?" "I'll go talk to him, and while he's distracted, just give him a little nudge..." Kuralov snorted. "Knowing him, he'd find some way to pull us off with him." "Hey, it was a thought," Ciara replied. "I'll keep it in mind, if he gets any worse." Kuralov went below deck. "Hey, Ciara!" Kain called over to her. She walked to where he and Cecil were. "I just got finished telling Cecil about everything we've done recently, and he wants to know..." "...If you'd care to pilot the ship for a while," Cecil finished. "Really? You mean it?" Ciara's face lit up, then fell. "I did crash mine..." "That wasn't your fault. Even an elite pilot wouldn't have been able to do much better. A whirlpool in the sky...I'd never heard of such a thing, in all my years as Captain of the Red Wings..." As Cecil said that, Kain got a strange expression on his face, but neither Cecil nor Ciara noticed. Ciara went over to the steering wheel and relieved the Imperial soldier who had been keeping the ship steady without actually moving it. "All right! Here we go!" Ciara set the airship into motion and couldn't believe how smoothly it ran. They continued south, as always, until Kuralov, who had returned to the deck, pointed to the ground. "Kupo, there it is!" Below was a castle, in the middle of a large desert. "Okay! Let's go now and check it out!" Palom exclaimed. "Palom, you can't land an airship in the middle of a desert," Ciara reminded him. "Oh, yeah, right, I knew that already..." Palom tried to save face. They continued onwards, looking for the nearest place to land. Ciara slowed the airship down suddenly. "That's funny..." she remarked. "What?" Kain asked. "A minute ago, back there, the air currents kind of shifted, like there was something really big blocking their way." "Maybe it's just the desert air, kupo," Kuralov suggested. "I don't know. Oh, we've reached the edge." Ciara turned all of her attention to landing the airship. She brought the Falcon down so smoothly that even Cecil was a little impressed. They prepared to disembark and have a look around. *** Sabin, Duncan, General Herringway, and all the others had reached the continent of Figaro. As they considered the next thing to do, Sabin noticed the airship fly overhead. "The Falcon? Could it be Setzer and some of the others?" he murmured. He started to run off in the direction he saw the airship going. "Sabin, where are you going?" Duncan called after him. "I think I've found some of my friends. I have to go check it out. I'll be back in a little while!" He headed towards the Falcon's landing spot. *** Back at the airship, the group had decided to hold off on crossing the desert until at night, when it would be cooler. Ciara lay on her back in the grass, staring up at the sky, something she'd loved to do back on the island. Someone sat down in the grass next to her. A quick glance showed her that it was Kain. "What's up?" she asked him. "It's Cecil," he began. "He doesn't seem to remember anything that we did recently. Fighting Rhiannon...saving Lola...meeting Omega...going to Narshe...he just doesn't recall it! All he talks about are Baron and the Red Wings. I don't know what they are; somehow, I think I should, but I don't! And where did he get this airship and all of those soldiers?" "I really don't know," she replied. Palom, who had decided that the best way to put his talents and "bravery" to use (and the best way to stay away from Kuralov) was to stand lookout on the deck of the airship, called out. "Hey! Someone's coming!" Kain helped Ciara up, and they ran over to where Cecil and Kuralov were already standing. Palom followed them. Something appeared on the horizon. As it got closer, Ciara was able to see that it was a man, and a rather handsome one at that. The man got closer and closer, and finally stopped. "You're not Setzer," he said. "Who's Setzer?" Ciara asked. "Who are you? And how did you get this airship?" the man demanded. "It had been captured by a group of zombies and a vampire dressed as a gambler. I disposed of them, and took back the ship," Cecil explained. The man grew red with rage. "Why...you...That was no vampire! That was a friend of mine!" He paused for a second, then gathered some type of energy. Then he shot a beam of pure white light at Cecil, hitting him full in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Kain and Palom ran over to Cecil, while Kuralov pulled out his shield and spear and Ciara got out her Air Lancet and flame gun. "What did you do that for, kupo?" Kuralov asked. The man seemed to back down for a second. "I don't know who you think you are, but you _don't_ go hurting my friends!" Ciara yelled at him. "I...Hoo boy, what did I get myself into?" the man asked. Meanwhile, Cecil had started to recover, and tried to sit up. "Kain? What happened?" "You'll be okay," Kain replied. "Who's he?" Cecil asked, pointing at the man. Ciara and Kuralov heard Cecil and turned around. "The last thing I remember is being in Narshe," Cecil said groggily. "Now, where am I? And how did I get Setzer's airship?" "Who's Setzer?" Ciara asked again. "Wait...You _know_ this is Setzer's ship?" the man inquired. "Yes. What did I do?" Cecil looked very confused. "Well, we were in Narshe with Lola and Omega. Then, you all disappeared. Later on, I meet you and a bunch of Imperial soldiers on this ship," Kain explained. "It's starting to come back to me now. I think I was under some kind of control," Cecil stated. "Then you weren't responsible for your actions," Kuralov said. "No, you weren't," the man agreed. "I'm sorry. I was hoping to find my friends." "You're forgiven," Cecil replied. "Let's start over. I'm Cecil, of Baron." "Kain." "Palom, Ninja Master, Great Black Wizard, and Bravest of All Heroes!" "Kuralov, kupo!" "Ciara, Ciara Cole." "And I'm Sabin of Figaro." He looked at Ciara. "You said your last name is Cole? You're not related to Locke Cole, are you?" "I don't know. I've never heard of him. I guess I could be." "So, what are you doing here?" Sabin asked. "We're following Kuralov's magic sense. It led us to the castle in the middle of the desert," Kain stated. "Really? That's where I'm going. It's my...home, but right now, it's overrun by demons. I'm going to go straighten them out. Since we're all heading for the same place, why don't we join forces?" "All right. The more, the better," Cecil agreed. "Just one thing," Ciara began. Everyone looked at her. "_Who_ is Setzer?!"