And damned if I can think of a better name for it.
Cecil
By: Andy Holloway
stella@bc.sympatico.ca/rhol@direct.ca (for best results, e-mail both)
Cecil's hand slammed into the table, and he felt the brief satisfaction of pain.
It kept coming back to him, the look in his friend's eyes. The cold triumph inherent in the dragoon's steady gaze. What the hell had happened? Surely Kain hadn't always been like that· But now it was all he could see. Looming, silently and calmly gloating, the face of the man who's friendship had survived through everything thrown at them. Until now. It had meant more to him than he had let on. He had valued Kain's friendship over almost all else.
Almost.
I'm going to rescue Rosa.
He had seen the doubt in his friends' eyes when he said it to Cid. The engineer himself, most of all. But it was all he had left. He couldn't allow the loss of her, as well. She was the last constant in his life, and he would never let Golbez keep her.
I'm going to rescue Rosa.
Cid, let's go to Toroia.
And they had gone. They were on their way. And there was nothing left for Cecil to do in the meantime but sit and brood. And hit the table. What was Kain thinking? When had this happened? What was going on? The entire sensation of it was unpleasantly like being punched in the stomach.
He closed his eyes and gripped the tabletop until his knuckles were white. He wondered briefly at the out-of-place presence of mind that kept him from damaging his sword-hand any further, but it wasn't really important.
Dammit.
He would rescue Rosa. And he would kill Golbez. And he didn't know what he'd do to Kain.