Dissidia Final Fantasy: Unus Mundus

Chapter Four ~ The Crimson Moon (Cecil)

It was silent that night in the Kingdom of Baron. Only the chorus of crickets out in the distance as well as the sound of the ocean's crashing waves to the east of the kingdom could be heard. Prince Ceodore Harvey remained hidden in the darkness as he examined the area. Nothing was stirring; the coast was clear. Just a little further, Ceodore thought to himself. He looked up at the sky as he listened to hear if anyone was close. The sight was unsettling, to say the least. Of the two moons they could see, one of them had turned into a dark shade of red at the same time his Uncle Kain went missing.  Ceodore suddenly heard the hooting of an owl out in the distance. That was the sign. With great haste, he ran south through the empty roads of Baron until he finally made it out of the city. He looked around at his surroundings. To the east, it was only the boundless sea. To his north and south, pitch black forests, and to the west, a small desert. He could hear the hooting of the owl once more, emerging from the forest to the south. There we go, he thought to himself. Ceodore took one more look around to make sure no one saw him leaving Baron before he walked towards the forest. The closer he got to the forest, he noticed a ship illegally docked at the eastern coast of Baron. I bet I know who controlled the ship, Ceodore thought with a bit of a chuckle. 

As soon as he approached the entrance to the forest, a pair of hands grabbed his armor and pulled him in. "What in the hell were you thinking!?" the voice of the young man who grabbed him hissed. "Are you trying to get us caught!?"

"Good to see you too, Palom," Ceodore scoffed. The man who grabbed him, Palom, let go and scoffed. "And look who's talking. You docked the boat illegally! Because that's not totally conspicuous at all."

"Guys, guys!" a pink haired girl interjected, getting in between Ceodore and Palom. "Ceodore, we gathered here at your request because we've got a common goal here. I'd prefer that neither of you start a fight."

"I dunno, Porom," another girl chuckled with her arms crossed. Her blonde hair was pulled back in two pigtails and she wore a scarlet Fabulian robe. "Ceodore vs. Palom? Paladin vs. aspiring Sage? That's  a battle I'd like to see." She nudged another girl beside her. "What do you say, Leonora? Care to make a wager?"

"O-oh!" the girl beside her, Leonora, stammered a bit, somewhat startled and intimidated. "W-well, Ursula, I'd, um, rather not gamble, you know, a-at the expense of Master Palom's and Prince Ceodore's safety."

"Pfft; fine then," the other girl, Ursula, scoffed. "Maybe Luca would be willing to place a bet. Well, next time we see her, anyways."

"Everyone!" Porom whispered loudly, silencing all of them. Once they were all quiet, Porom continued speaking. "Look; we're all here now, okay? We can't be too loud either. If Cecil and Rosa find out that Ceodore's not there, then they're gonna freak out."

"Why should they?" Palom asked. "With the return of the Blood Moon, there have been disappearances everywhere. Hell, even Kain is gone."

"I know." Porom stared daggers at her twin brother before she continued speaking. "But Ceodore is the Prince of Baron. The whole kingdom would freak out if they heard he went missing."

"Um, yeah," Ceodore scoffed. "That whole addressing-Ceodore-in-the-third-person-as-if-he-wasn't-here thing? I reeeeally appreciate that, Porom." Porom sighed loudly and with exasperation as she shoved Ceodore.

"This was your idea," she said. "Why don't you do the talking?" Ceodore chuckled and shrugged before finally regaining a more serious composure.

"You already know that the Blood Moon is back," he began, looking at his friends. "Since then, lots of people we know have been going missing." Ceodore turned towards Ursula. "Ursula, even your dad is missing, isn't he?" Ursula nodded in response and sighed with dismay.

"As soon as that moon turned red," she began, "he disappeared out of nowhere."

"I figured as such." Ceodore turned towards Palom, Porom, and Leonora as he continued speaking. "You three said that the Elder of Mysidia disappeared too, right?"

"N-not only that," Leonora began, "but th-the whole kingdom of M-Mysidia went missing too!"

"We made it out just in time," said Palom. "We found the nearest ship, left the nation as soon as the Elder went missing, then poof." Palom snapped his fingers. "The whole damn continent disappeared, just like that. No one died or anything, and there was no destruction. Just one second it's there, then the next, it's nothing but ocean. It's the weirdest thing..."

"Do you think the Lunar Whale is still fully functional?" asked Porom. "That might be the only way we can get up there to investigate." Suddenly, they heard two familiar voices come from the darkness of the forest, a man and a woman.

"And what are you kiddos up to this late?"

"Not thinking of heading to the moon, I hope!"

The five of them frantically looked around, but they saw no one. Ceodore crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Alright, Edge," he said. "Show yourself; we know it's you." In front of the five of them, the man and woman who spoke appeared as if from nowhere, Edge and Rydia. Rydia approached Ceodore and pinched his ear very hard.

"What do you think you're doing, Ceodore!?" she scolded. "Haven't you even considered what your parents would think if you just went up to the moon all willy-nilly!?"

"Ow!" Ceodore exclaimed in pain, crumbling at her grasp. "S-sorry, Aunt Rydia! I-I just wanted to see why all of this is happening!" Rydia let go of his ear and shoved him back gently before crossing her arms.

"It's not safe," she said. "It's not safe for any of you. Tell 'em, Edge."

"Uh, yeah!" Edge began, stepping forward. "Just because the moon turns red, that doesn't give you kids permission to go up there! ...Not without me, at least." Rydia elbowed him in the stomach. "Ouch! That was uncalled for!" Edge sighed and spoke with a more firm tone. "Listen to your Aunt Rydia, kiddo. You shouldn't even be out here this late. None of you should! You should probably head home."

"B-but..." Leonora stammered, "our h-home is gone!"

"She means to say that Mysidia vanished," Palom said. "Haven't you guys seen all the disappearances? People and even entire places are just disappearing out of nowhere, and it's been happening ever since the second moon turned red earlier today."

"Really?" Rydia looked at Palom with a compassionate expression. "Oh my goodness... Well, what about you, Ursula? Fabul is still there, right?" Ursula nodded.

"Yeah, but my dad's gone," she replied. 

"And you just left out of nowhere?" asked Edge. "Wouldn't your mother be worried sick?"

"About that..." Ursula chuckled nervously. "I may have told her I was just training on Mount Hobs."

"This late at night?" Rydia scoffed, almost condescendingly. "Yeah, I'm sure that Sheila believed that story. C'mon, Ursula. I'm gonna take you home."

"How?"

"Easy! Bahamut's gonna give us a ride."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Edge exclaimed, grabbing Rydia by the shoulder. "You're summoning the Dragon God to give a kid a ride? Might as well hang ourselves; that'll be much simpler."

"No need to go to such drastic measures, Rydia."

Everyone turned around to see Cecil himself approaching them. Ceodore was petrified, realizing he'd been caught. "D-dad?" he stammered. "I-I'm—"

"Look; don't worry about it," Cecil began with a bit of a smile. "I've been curious over this whole deal myself, especially since Kain was one of the people who disappeared." He turned towards Rydia and Edge. "Would you two like to accompany us on a little trip?"

"Hell yeah!" Edge exclaimed. "I'm tired of all these royal duties they've been making me do in Eblan."

"Won't Rosa worry about you and Ceodore?" asked Rydia. Cecil shrugged a bit.

"She knows we can handle ourselves," he replied. "Now, our concern should be where to start..."