NOTE: This does not happen in the game . . . . not that it couldn't. There's nothing to say that perhaps it didn't, except for the simple reason that it didn't. The reason I write this story is not only for all others who were extremely annoyed by the line "Jump, Kain, Jump!", but because it could have happened, although it didn't.

Pop it into the storyline just about anywhere you like between chasing Golbez and FuSoYa to the Moon and actually finding them.
 
 
 
 
 
 

"EvilMask!" Rosa yelled, spotting the monster before the others.

It had caught them by surprise. Before anyone could make a move, it fired a Wall upon itself.

"Dang it," Rydia muttered, having hoped to fire some sort of spell on the creature. They'd been walking for a long time, and in the interest of saving MP, Cures had not been used liberally. She herself was rating about half her HP, and had wanted to get through this battle as soon as possible without using the MP it would take to call. They were saving their assets, because none of them were sure what would confront them when they tracked down FuSoYa and Golbez . . . and Zemus.

"Aren't you used to it by now?" Cecil inquired, charging past her, lunging at the monster with his sword.

"Every EvilMask does the exact thing," Edge muttered more to himself than to the others. "I hate these things. They're so annoying." He drew his own two swords and also attacked the monster.

The EvilMask growled at them and fired Walls at the party.

Rosa fumed and grabbed her bow. No matter how many times they went through this, it grew no less irritating to be unable to Cure and Heal her own people.

"Jump, Kain, jump!" Cecil prompted the Dragoon.

"Jumping, sir!" Kain replied with a mock salute as he leapt into the air.

"I hate these things!" Rydia informed the others as she swung at it with her whip. "And there're so many of them! Where do they come from?!"

"Checked under any rocks lately?" Edge quipped.

Rosa was about to shoot at the Mask, but thought the better of it and parried.

The Mask growled again and cast White on itself. It reflected off the Wall and bounced at the small party.

"Ack! Duck!" Cecil called in warning to Rydia, who shrieked something undecipherable as the force of the White spell hit her head on. She swooned into an unconscious heap on the ground.

Kain slashed out at the Mask and landed back in his place.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked in a coy voice.

"Oooooh, shut up," Rosa mumbled under her breath, chanting out the Life spell over Rydia. At least when she swooned, the Wall wore off.

"Keep jumping," Cecil shortly ordered, again rushing at the Mask. Kain's jump was the most powerful attack they had, not including the magic ones.

Kain shook his head and glowered at the Mask.

"I hate you," he stated with a grin, watching the monster's outraged expression as he again took to the air.

The Mask growled continually louder. For a moment, Rosa thought it was going to cast White again, but then realized from its words that it was actually casting -

"Edge!" she yelled.

It was too late. The Charm spell had reflected off the monster's Wall and right into the face of the Ninja. He looked at her with unrecognizing eyes and slashed at her with his swords.

She recoiled from the blow and began her Heal spell.

"Rosa, don't - " Cecil called to her too late, reminding her about the Wall around the Ninja the moment she'd finished casting it. The Heal instead reflected back to the Mask.

"Oops," she grumbled under her breath.

Edge was still under the Charm spell.

Rydia lashed out at the Mask, but succeeded in taking off no more damage than she usually did. She had to face it: being a Caller meant that you were a somewhat crummy fighter.

The Mask cast a refreshing Wall over itself as Kain struck it again.

"Now what did I miss?!" he demanded, noting that Rydia was steamed, Rosa had the appearance of someone who had done something exceedingly stupid, and Edge was brainwashed.

"Just keep jumping!!" Cecil, Rydia, and Rosa all hissed at him.

Cecil attacked the monster again, telling him to jump as soon as he was able.

Kain considered the thought that he was jumping his life away, or that one of these days he would jump to high, and the airless upper atmosphere would cause him to die of lack of oxygen to the brain. But he jumped anyway.

The Mask was still growling. Still. Growling. Just like every other EvilMask they'd fought. Augh. It cast another Charm, this one hitting Rosa.

"Uh oh!" Rydia exclaimed, shooting caution and beginning the chant to Call Leviathan.

It was a long spell to cast. While she was still chanting, Edge lashed out with his blades, this time hitting Cecil, who yelped in surprise, then began a Heal spell, hoping that the Wall had worn off the Ninja.

Kain swooped down again, swiping at the EvilMask.

"Don't even ask!!" Rydia snapped before he could even open his mouth. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the monster fired another Charm, this one hitting the Caller before she could finish summoning the King of Monsters.

"Cecil, I have a Heal left - " Kain began, going through his items.

"No, mumble mumble, just, mumble, keep jumping," Cecil instructed while chanting the Heal spell. "I can, mumble mumble, handle it." He finished casting his spell, and Edge suddenly shook his head and looked around himself in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked, still bewildered.

Then, acting with a part of his mind still numbed by the Charm, he lashed out at Kain.

"Whoops! Sorry!" he said sheepishly, as the Dragoon sighed and jumped.

Cecil again began the Healing spell, but before he could even half complete it, Rosa stepped forward with a Charmed spell of her own.

"Exit!" she called.

Blinking as the world wavered around them, the four members of the party were transported from the battle scene . . . or maybe it was the monster who vanished, because they were still in the same place they'd been a moment ago . . . anyway, the EvilMask was gone.

"O-o-oh!" Rosa exclaimed as her senses returned. Likewise said Rydia.

"Well," Cecil sighed, sheathing his weapon, "I may not like to run like that, but at least it restored everyone to their senses."

"Yeah, now please Cure! I'm almost dead," Rydia informed Rosa, who grinned and was about to begin a Cure, but was cut off by a question from Edge.

"Hey," the Ninja inquired, "where's Kain?"

Cecil threw a startled glance around and up, but could find no trace of the Dragoon.

"What could've happened to him?!" Rydia asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"Maybe . . . " Rosa wondered aloud. "I wonder if maybe, because I cast a Charmed Exit while he was in the air . . . I don't know . . . something went wrong somewhere?"

"Whatever happened," Cecil firmly stated, "we've gotta figure out how to bring him back before we go any further!"
 
 

Kain had just reached the peak of his jump. Bracing himself for the impact of his attack, he looked down on the scene below to check his aim just in time to see Rosa cast the Charmed Exit spell. He rolled his eyes, really hating it when they Exited when he was in the air. It was just humiliating to have to land again and put up with Edge's wisecracks about how far they could've gotten if they weren't waiting for him to come down from out of the clouds.

As the waver evaporated the world around his friends below, the air around him also wavered and vanished, but instead of him reappearing in the air and landing back on the ground as usual, the waver didn't end.

Slowly, though, it began to dim. He could still feel the magical tingle all around him, as if the Exit spell had just been cast, and he also maintained the feeling of the air rushing past him. It was as if he was still jumping, but he didn't know where he was, or where he was going.

After what seemed like an eternity for the nervous Dragoon, the space around him lost the appearance of wavering and was a steady black. The sensation of movement suddenly halted, and was replaced by a cold chill. And the magical tingle persisted.

Okay . . . this is new.

For a moment, he felt frozen and couldn't move, but then he could, so he turned his head and looked around for . . . something.

All around him, above him, and below him was nothing. Total darkness. Nothing.

As a test, he crouched down and put his fingers to where the ground, floor, or some sort of support for his feet should have been. His hand went through as far down as he could reach. It would appear that he wasn't standing on anything. He was just floating there.

Wherever here is.

His nervousness increasing, Kain gingerly picked up one foot and attempted to step forward. Startled, he snapped his foot back when he couldn't get footing anywhere, and found that he couldn't even seem to replace his step back to where it had been.

Great, now what? Do I fall?

So he stood there, balancing tentatively on one foot, debating over what he could possibly do about this situation, when a voice from behind him startled him to the point of losing his remaining footing.

"Kain? What are you doing here?"

He lost his footing and hit the floor. The floor? He was lying on something. Or was something nothing? Deciding not to think about it, he got back up on his feet, somehow.

This is too, too, weird.

"Well? What are you doing here?"

Turning around in annoyance to face the person who had caused him such an embarrassment, he was prepared to give a fiery reply, but stopped short when he recognized the face before him. A face he'd seen only once, but had haunted him constantly ever since that one sight.

The woman crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"C'mon, Kain. You're not dead yet. Why are you here?"

"But you're - "

"I? Well, I'm so glad you remember me. I suppose it's the least you can do, after killing me the way you did."

"You're Rydia's mother!"

"Well of course I'm Rydia's mother!"

Kain blinked in disbelief.

"But . . . you're dead! Cecil and I killed you! Sorry about that, by the way."

"Oh, that's just fine. Sorry, he says. Sorry. Humph."

Now at a total loss for words, the Dragoon fumbled a bit for something to say.

"Yeah, see, uh, we didn't realize that we were - "

"Oh, put a sock in it, Kain. I know what happened."

"How? And uh, what's going on here?"

"An excellent question!" the Caller complimented. "See, we're all dead. Everyone here is dead. That's why you're not supposed to be here. You don't die yet. We would've noticed a thing like that."

Kain felt himself turn pale.

"We?" he repeated.

"We!" the Caller affirmed. "Like, me, for instance, then there's Tellah and Anna behind you . . . "

Startled, Kain spun around, and there indeed stood the girl and the mage.

"And I'm none to happy!" Tellah snapped. "Just look at me, Kain! I'm dead! Why am I dead? Why? I fired Meteo, that's why! So I die, I join my daughter and these other fine people here, but then what do I see? That %*@$^ FuSoYa, tossing the spell around as easily as I'd fire a Cure1! Did I miss something here?!?!?!"

"Calm down, Daddy!" Anna ordered in a calm, yet somewhat bored tone. Kain got the impression that Tellah had vented about this many times before his own arrival.

"Okay," Kain said, trying to take a step forward, but thinking the better of it and standing still. "So we're all dead?"

"You're not," Anna explained. "You're just here. We watched you. You didn't die, you just disappeared."

"You watched me?" Kain repeated, bristling. What, he was being watched by dead people?

"Sure, sure," Tellah sighed with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Son, you really don't have the hang of this dead stuff. You can move around, you know. As long as you don't think about not being able to move around."

"Eh?"

"You can if you believe you can," Rydia's mother clarified.

Kain accepted that explanation, but still didn't feel like moving if he could help it.

"And," Tellah continued, "you can see anything and everyone up here. Take a peek."

The Magician waved a hand, and Kain could suddenly see the Tower of Wishes in Mysidia. The Mysidian Elder was there, along with Yang, Palom, Porom, Cid, Edward, and all the others.

"What are they doing there?" he asked, feeling strange at seeing them when he knew they couldn't see back.

"Waiting for word from you guys," Anna told him. "In case something happens to you, they'll be ready to wish for you."

A thought occurred to Kain.

"You can see anything up here?"

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up," Tellah admonished. "We could easily show you what's going on with Golbez and Zemus and that &%^@* FuSoYa, but if I'm right, you won't remember any of this when you return."

"Not remember? Why not?"

The Magician shuffled around for an awkward moment.

"See, I'm not sure how it is that you're here. We're not exactly sure how it is that we're here. All that we know is that we'll remain here until Zemus is defeated. The quest that caused our deaths must be completed before we can pass into the proper Afterlife."

"Um, what happens if we can't defeat Zemus?" Kain hesitantly inquired.

Tellah and Rydia's mother exchanged an enlightened glance.

"You know, we hadn't thought about that," she said.

"He's sure to be defeated someday, whether it's by you, or some later party," decided a new voice.

Kain turned to face the two new arrivals.

"Do I know you?" he inquired.

"Euh, we're Edge's parents," said the man. "We didn't always look like monsters. At least when we died we got our natural bodies back."

"You've got to get back," said the woman. "Cecil won't continue on until they've found you, and the longer you wait, the more dangerous the situation will grow."

Kain turned back to Tellah.

"Did you have a theory on why I'm here?" he demanded, now himself feeling the pressing need to return.

"Well, not really," Tellah admitted. "The only thing I can think of is that because Rosa was under the Charm of the Mask of Evil when she cast the Exit spell, that some bit of the monster's magic merged with her own, somehow displacing you because you weren't with the others. You couldn't Exit with them, but you couldn't Exit with the monster, so you ended up here."

Raising his eyebrows, Kain asked, "Is that the best explanation you can come up with?"

Tellah shrugged.

"A fluke! A freak! There's still much we don't know about magic, Kain. We use it and wield it like it was our own to command, but much of it is still a mystery. Maybe you were excluded from the spell because out of everyone involved, only you don't use magic. I really don't know. The possibilities are endless."

"Then how do I get back?" the Dragoon persisted.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Edge's mother spoke up with the words Kain wanted to hear least at that moment.

"Jump, Kain, jump."

Kain blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"You jumped to get here," she reasoned. "Maybe you can jump back."

"Yes, it could work," Rydia's mother figured.

"Go for it," Anna urged. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well," he replied, "I might jump to high and the airless upper atmosphere . . . never mind, I am dead."

"Gracious sakes, child, what are you talking about?!" demanded the Caller.

He shook his head.

"Don't ask. Fine. I'll just jump on home."

"Right . . . Kain?"

He glanced back at Edge's parents.

"Yes?"

"Take care of our son."

"And Edward!" Anna added joyfully.

Tellah mumbled something under his breath.

"And my little Rydia." The Caller sniffled. "She's growing up so fast . . . oh, it breaks my heart not to be there for her . . . just because she aged twice as fast as all the other girls doesn't mean . . . wait, they're all dead. Kain, I know you won't remember, but would you give her a big hug and a kiss for me?"

"Uh, sure, whatever you say."

"Kain, do you want to see Zemus before you go?" Tellah inquired.

Settling back on his heels, the Dragoon considered for a moment.

"No. No, I'll wait to see it for myself . . . alive." He smirked lightly at the five, then gathered his energy and jumped.
 
 

"Cecil," Edge finally said, "did you ever think maybe we won't ever find him?"

"No."

"I mean, he could be under Zemus' control again, or something like that."

"He's not."

"I mean . . . we can't wait and search forever. We have to stop Zemus."

"We will." Cecil turned to glare the Ninja down. "Just as soon as we find Kain."

Rosa and Rydia exchanged a glance. They knew Edge was right. But they also knew that Cecil would not leave without Kain.

"What are we going to do in the meantime?" Rosa gently inquired.

Cecil turned his glare on her.

"We're going to keep looking."

"Look!" Rydia exclaimed.

"Exactly," Cecil absently replied.

"No, no, look!"

The others, catching the urgency in the young Caller's voice, looked up where she pointed.

Far up in the sky, there was a dim gray waver. As they watched, it got brighter and brighter until it looked like . . . an Exit spell?

Then, all of a sudden, a form in gleaming blue armor shot out of the ripple in the sky and fell with intense speed down to the Earth and hit the ground, lacking the usual accuracy and agility.

Cecil ran to where Kain had crash-landed, and the others, after staring for a shocked moment, followed. He rolled the still form of the Dragoon onto his back and shook him, trying to elicit a response.

"I think he's dead!!" the Paladin exclaimed in sudden horror and shock.

Rosa knelt down by Kain.

"No, he's just in a swoon. A very deep swoon." She sighed. "I have enough MP for a Life2, but not much would be left over."

"So cast a Life1," was Cecil's logical response. "We can use a Cure3 item on him."

"But we're saving those for an emergency!" Edge objected. "Okay, okay, this is an emergency," he sulkingly relented after receiving the brunt of their dirty looks.

Rosa cast the spell over Kain, who promptly snapped to an upright, sitting position.

"What the heck's going on around here?!" he demanded.

Cecil gripped his shoulder.

"What happened to you? Where did you go?" he demanded.

Kain blinked. A moment ago, everything had been so clear . . . now it was just slipping away.

He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. What did happen? I can't quite remember anything."

Rydia smirked.

"Just like you. Utterly useless." She pulled out one of their few Cure3 items and cast it over him.

Something jingled in the very back of this mind, and without warning, he gave Rydia a big hug and a kiss.

"ACK!!!" she sputtered, reeling back in shock. "What'd you go and do that for?! I'd expect a maneuver like that from Mr. Hotshot over there, but not you!!!! What's come over you?!?!"

Kain shrugged with an innocent grin.

"I don't remember."

She was about to tartly reply, but Edge cut her off.

"EvilMask!" he warned, pointing.

The monster caught them by surprise and fired a Wall on itself.

"Aw, heck, not again!" Rydia moaned.

"Hm. Some things never change!" Kain brightly told them.

"No, Kain, don't jump!! Ooooooh . . . ARGH!" Rosa fumed as he took off despite her warning.

Cecil grinned.