Chapter 52

    Ultimecia was already there with Golbez when the Emperor arrived with Cosmos.  She had him frozen with a time spell, his bare face a mask of fear and pain.

    As soon as Cosmos' feet touched the water, the Emperor could see the invigorating effect it had on her: she instantly stood a little taller; a bright blue shine returned to her dulled eyes; and her glow surged with a restored brightness.  He almost had to shield his eyes.  Standing above the water like she was, she looked even taller still.  Tall, elegant, her air of power returned, she looked formidable indeed, drawing well above the Emperor's eye level.

    But he would not give her that chance.  He quickly poked the sharp end of his staff into her back.  "Mask us," he said.  She ignored the prod, closing her eyes and reveling in some of her returned strength.  He formed a sparking ThunderCrest inches from her to threaten her.  Cosmos turned calmly, and they glared at each other in silent contest.

    "Mask.  Us," he enunciated slowly, "or I'll kill you now."

    He inched the ThunderCrest closer still, and the threat of rebellion died in her eyes.  She clasped her hands together and, with a surge of her power, clouded their own dark auras with her yellow glow.

    "Hide us as well, so they can't see us," Ultimecia put in.  Cosmos held up her hand.  In front of each of them formed what appeared to be a forcefield made of bright energy.  The Emperor poked at it experimentally.

    "We are invisible from the outside, yes?" he asked her.  She nodded in reply.  "And that Warrior, he won't be able to catch us?"

    "I cannot guarantee that," she said.  The Emperor glared at her.  He could see in her eyes that she was trying to scare them.  She lacked the proper conviction to make it seem like she truly believed what she said.

    Ultimecia heard it too.  With a growl she shot an arrow at Cosmos.  The goddess deflected it in time, but Ultimecia just laughed.  "Lies do not become you, my dear, in case you've forgotten," she said.  "You'll have to do much better than that.  Now, are we invisible to Warrior, or not?"

    After a moment of hesitation, Cosmos finally nodded.

    "He can't hear us either, can he?"  Another shake of her head.

    The Emperor sighed contentedly.  "Now all we must do is wait."  He dispersed the ThunderCrest, but kept his staff pointed at her.  "When they come, you'd better not even blink out of turn.  If you reveal us, if you do anything to alert them to our presence . . . "

    Infuriatingly, she turned away from him mid-threat.  His temper flared.  He grabbed the two ends of her golden shawls and jerked them together tightly, pinning her arms awkwardly behind her.  He pulled her back against him and cupped her chin, roughly turning her face towards him.

    "Now is NOT the time to play at defiance!  If you value their lives, you WILL do as I command!"  He let her chin go to wrap his staff around her middle, pulling it tight against her to hold her close.   To the Emperor's delight, and slight relief, she didn't struggle.  He glanced over to Ultimecia, and she put a finger to her lips, then her ear, and pointed off to the distance.  The Emperor listened keenly, and after a moment of just hearing the lap of the water in Sanctuary, he heard a louder raucous, a few muffled shouts.  Indistinct shapes formed on the horizon and came closer and closer rapidly.  They were all running towards Sanctuary.  He couldn't keep a smile of cold anticipation from his cheeks.  This would be fun.

    The first to come upon the throne was the Warrior.

    "Cosmos??  Cosmos, we're here!  Where are you?"

    The Emperor felt Cosmos tense next to him.  She took a quick breath and he barely clasped a hand over her mouth to silence her sound.

    "Nice try," he whispered.

    "Cosmos!" the Warrior yelled again, running to her throne.  "I . . . I don't understand!  She should be here!  I- she- . . . I sensed her!  I felt her presence reappear!  I feel it now!  She's here!"

    "But she's not showing herself?" Firion asked.  They watched him spin in a slow circle, his gaze sweeping perfectly over where the Emperor was hidden with Cosmos.  "Cosmos!" he yelled.  The Emperor chanced another glance at Ultimecia and she nodded approvingly.

    Cecil pushed his way to the front of the group with her in tow.  "I . . . thought . . . I don't understand!  I thought she'd be here!  She was supposed to be here!"

    The Emperor looked questioningly at Golbez.  "Release him," he said to Ultimecia.  Golbez collapsed with a sigh of relief when he fell from the time spell, but the Emperor gave him no time to recover.

    "What does that mean?  Why did he reveal that?"

    Golbez looked puzzled as he tried to figure it out.  He tried, "You changed the plans on him?  We had him ready to come here and encounter Cosmos.  You changed that and now he's confused, given his current . . . mental condition, I suppose," he added as an afterthought.

    That made sense to the Emperor, and so far it wasn't a problem, so he left it alone.  He shrugged, gestured to Ultimecia to restrain Golbez again, and turned back into their conversation.

    "Come on, guys," Kuja's tailed rival pitched in, "don't you think you're being a LITTLE too hard on her?  What if something happened to her?  She could be in trouble right now, and we're sitting her arguing!"

    "Irony abounds," the Emperor whispered in Cosmos' ear.

    Another warrior . . . the Emperor had to search for the name . . . Laguna, said, "Look, ok, so this looks bad!  No amount of reason will change that.  But I think the SAFE thing to do would be to give her the benefit of the doubt!  If she IS in trouble-"

    "Then we should go after her!" Zidane finished.  "Why show up for the performance, then chicken out?  Cosmos doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who gets stage fright."

    A silly analogy.  And if only they KNEW!  The Emperor smiled knowingly at Ultimecia, then triumphantly at Cosmos.  She didn't turn to meet his gaze.

    Squall said, "Fine.  But where do we look?  She's right here.  So we leave to look for her?  That's stupid."

    Ultimecia snorted.  "Always the voice of reason," she said snidely.

    The Emperor had to contain his laughter.  It made him giddy and proud to know he set the whole entire situation up.  Cosmos was there, RIGHT there, and they were missing her.  Not only that, but they were upset with her!  Everything was perfect, just as he planned.

    "Right," Firion said.  "Let's go look for her first.  This is a trick of some sort."

    "A trick?  Not a trick?  Whatever," said a warrior the Emperor had never seen before.   He looked like a black-haired Cloud, dressed almost exactly the same way with spiky, unruly hair.  "If someone's in trouble, I'm here to help."

    Hmm.  "I'll have to keep an eye on him.  See if he'll be useful to me."

    Suddenly, without warning, Cecil cried out.  He doubled over, pressing the heel of his hand to his temple.  The other squeezed her hand so hard she screamed.  She tried to weakly pull away, but Cecil held her fast, squeezing her hand like a vice.  Finally, he released her and put his other hand to the side of his head.

    Cosmos gasped and tried to pull away from the Emperor to go to Cecil on impulse to help, but he grabbed his staff on both sides of her and jerked her back with a growl.

    "I . . . I don't understand!" he yelled, doubling over once more with another wave of pain.  "C-Cosmos . . . where IS she?!  Ngh!"  Darkness balled around his fists and he shifted to his other job class so fast it even startled the Emperor.

    "What's wrong with him?" Ultimecia asked Golbez.  She released him to let him speak, but he just shook his head.  Ultimecia smacked him upside the head.  "Keep him under control!  He could reveal us, acting like that!"

    "I . . . I cannot!" Golbez said.  "I can't gain strong enough control over him!  I cannot calm him.  It's too strong-"

    Cecil whirled around at a comment Zidane made and hurled his spear at him.

    "I cannot bridle his anger," Golbez said again.

    This was a disaster! He would certainly reveal them!  Even if it was accidental!  He looked at Ultimecia and saw a panicked look on her face as well.

    "What do we do?" she mouthed to him.

    The Emperor swore colorfully.  Perfect.  Just when he thought it all would work out, this bomb was dropped.  Quickly he tried to plot through the snag.  An escape route, maybe, or a way to release Cosmos somehow so they could flee-

    "Because she was sup-POSED to be here from the START!" Cecil yelled.  "She SHOULD have been waiting for when we got BACK!"

    "Yeah, we KNOW, Cecil!" Zidane yelled back.

    "No, you don't understand!" Cecil said.  He paused to take a deep breath, and the Emperor could see the big reveal coming.

    He turned to Golbez quickly.  "Keep him SILENT!  You can at least do that, yes, Golbez?"

    He could see the concentration on Golbez's face, raising his palms to Cecil right as he spoke again.

    "HE said-" Cecil began.  Then he cut off, a confused look crossing his face.

    "Who said?  Was it Golbez?  Cecil??" she asked him.

    Cecil put a hand to his temple.  His next comment was thin with rage and pain, "Sh-she's hiding from us!  Too cowardly to face us!  I'll find her.  And she'll not be happy when I do!"  He parted the crowd and walked far off near the edge of Sanctuary to pace, with her behind him vying for his attention.

    It worked.  They were still safe.  The Emperor released the breath he didn't remember holding, and actually laughed.  They got lucky.  So, so lucky.  So close to having everything ruined, and Fortune favored them.

    "A little too close for comfort," said Ultimecia.  She grabbed Golbez and hauled him close, trapping him once more in a pocket of frozen time.  "But I'll take it.  I cannot believe that worked!"

    "Nor can I.  But it's not over yet.  I want to see what they decide."

    They watched her and Cecil off in the distance for a bit more, then the Emperor saw her head lift slightly.  She suddenly ran back to the group, telling Kain, "Keep an eye on him.  Do any of you remember what the Emperor said?  Right before he returned Cecil to us?"

    "I remember," Firion said.  "He said that if Cosmos failed to give us answers than he would."  He looked hard at her and added, "You think we should talk to the Emperor?!"

    "Absolutely not!" yelled Warrior.

    "But this is exactly what he said would happen!" she protested.

    "That's probably because he PLANNED it himself!"

    The Emperor shared an amused glance with Ultimecia and shrugged.  "He's not wrong."

    "That's the way he works! HE'S probably keeping Cosmos from us!  It makes sense now!  HE'S trying to lure us to him, straight into a trap!"

    The Emperor saw her withdraw slightly, thinking to herself.  "But Cosmos isn't hurt," she tried.  "IF she were hurt or destroyed, we'd ALL have felt it.  We'd have faded!  He'd have gone straight for the kill, right?  There's no pint to him just holding onto Cosmos!  He couldn't have planned ALL of this!"

    The Emperor laughed, a real, hearty laugh.  Firion continued, "Does it matter if the Emperor planned any of it or not?  The point is that it IS a set-up!  I can't believe you're actually considering trusting him!  Not only his actions, but also his words!  You, of all people . . . "

    The Emperor's head snapped ups t the same time as hers, and his jaw fell open.  Firion, Mr. Sweet Flowers, actually said that to her?  He'd never heard a hurtful look even cross that stupid boy's face!  The Emperor began laughing so hard Cosmos squirmed next to him.

    "Did Flowerboy just in-SULT her like that?" Ultimecia asked incredulously.

    "I . . . I believe he did!  This is wonderful!"

    "Her face is PRICELESS!"

    "Listen, what other choice do we have?" she tried to argue.

    "We could go after Cosmos!" Warrior said.  "I thought that was what we decided already!"

    She looked down.  "I also think maybe he can help Cecil . . . Cecil is the only tie to everything, and he's not in his right mind.  Maybe, with a clear head, he could help us make sense of all of this.  You owe it to him," she said to them  Maybe . . . "

    "Well then, let's ask HIM!  Let's ask Cecil!" Bartz said, clapping his hands together.  "Yeah!  He'll be the decider of what we do!"

    "But he's CRAZY-!" yelled Zidane.

    Ultimecia snorted.  "You hear that?" she said in Golbez's ear.  "They think he's mad!  they don't trust him anymore, all because of you."

    They watched her run over to Cecil and plant herself right in his path.  He just shoved past her, making her stagger.  Kain was about to go to her aid, but she stopped him.  "Wait, Kain.  Cecil, please, listen to me.  Listen to my voice.  It's Rosa!  Don't you know me?"

    "Attack her," the Emperor intoned silently.  Cecil's fists trembled with rage and his pacing grew more furious with every word she said.  He would snap soon.  "Come on, come on!  Attack her!  I want to see her pain!"

    Cecil stopped right where he was like he heard.

    "Cecil?  Are you alright?" she asked.  She started to go towards his back, and reached out to grab his shoulder and spin him around.

    All of a sudden he spun on her, startling her.  She jumped back and Cecil drew his spear back easily.  He launched it right for her.  Cosmos gasped, and the Emperor barely remembered to hold her back.

    Everything happened in slow motion.  This was it.  He watched the spear zoom throughout he air towards her.  It gleamed brightly in the light, winking at him in his pride as it careened for her.  Finally, she'd be made to pay.  He looked in to her eyes, he reveled in the fear there and cherished the pain she'd finally feel.

    But just before the tip struck her, Kain launched himself in the way so fast the Emperor didn't see him until he straightened up slowly, lance at the ready.

    He deflected the spear.  He saved her.

    "Damn it!!" the Emperor yelled so loudly in the silence he thought they heard him.  He snapped his mouth shut as a numb sort of terror ebbed down his spine, but everyone saw frozen, watching Cecil.  His chest heaved with startled, heavy breaths.

    "I've got him," Golbez whispered.

    Cecil painfully switched back to Paladin, writhing and screaming, the darkness melting off until he was light again, panting and exhausted.

    She leaned over him, whispering to him.

    "What are they saying?" the Emperor asked.

    "I don't know," Golbez admitted.  "Cecil's mind is weak now.  He's not understanding-"

    "Make sure he tells her he chooses to come and see me.  Then knock him out," the Emperor ordered.  "I don't want him revealing anything if he's lucid.

    Golbez swallowed, then held his hand up, palm out to Cecil.  He clenched his fist.

    Cecil must have felt it.  He suddenly bolted up, grabbing her arm.  In a moment of painful clarity he yelled, "N-no!  Rosa!  D-don't let me . . . d-don't . . . let me . . . "  He never finished.  He just fell back into the water.

    "Well, this was more entertaining than I ever could have anticipated!" the Emperor said.  They watched as she stood and said to everyone, "We're going to see the Emperor."

    He chuckled and put a hand on Cosmos' shoulder.  "Wouldn't you agree, my dear?" he whispered into the back of her neck.  She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.  It fell to the water, rippling silently, but before long, the waters were just as still as before.  "You see you perfectly this panned out?" he said to her.  "You truly couldn't have picked a better time to abandon your warriors when you did!  Right after we decided to act and nab that Kain character, you decided to reveal your big lie!  You orchestrated this whole thing!  I couldn't have asked for anything better from you."

    "What do we do now?" Ultimecia asked.  True, what to do, what to do?

    "Keep Golbez and Cosmos holed up in your tower," he told her.  "I've got guests to entertain."