Terra sat huddled in the corner of one of the caverns that the Returners had claimed as their headquarters. She rocked back and forth gently, her knees tight to her chest, her body shaking convulsively.

The nightmares - she refused to believe they were returning memories, as Sabin had suggested - had been getting more frequent since she had left Narshe. To say that they were unpleasant would be an understatement. There were nights on Mount Koltz when she would wake up screaming and sheathed in sweat. Neither Locke nor Edgar could calm her during those fugues, despite their efforts.

This most recent episode had been the worst, both physically and emotionally. Like the others, it came to her in the night, stealing into her mind while she slept.

She had seen herself in the streets of a city, sitting behind the controls of a suit of Magitek armour. A dozen men and women in ill-fitting Imperial uniforms were pleading for mercy as she stared at them impassively. A voice shouted a command at her and she pulled a lever set into the console to her right. As flames licked out from the mouth of her armour and toward the soldiers, she awoke, their screams merging into hers.

Like every other night since she had first experienced the nightmares, Locke and Edgar were alert, waiting for the nightly terror to grip her. Like every other night, she brushed them aside, saying she did not need their help. The two men exchanged a significant look as she settled herself back into the bed Bannon's men had found for her.

"You know," Locke said slowly in his lilting, almost musical accent. "These seem to be getting worse, Terra."
"I know," she said, nodding slowly. "They...they started after Arvis took the...crown off of me. I can't...I just can't shake the feeling that...that they're real."
"Don't worry, m'Lady," Edgar said gently as he squeezed her shoulder. "I'm an excellent judge of character and I know you wouldn't do half of what you've told us."

She smiled at Edgar and shook her head. "How can you know," she said sadly, "When I don't even know for sure?"
"Well," Edgar said with an exaggerated grin, "To start, you're far too beautiful to do anything like that. Also," he added in a more serious tone as he looked in Locke's direction, "I'd have heard of anything like that from my, ah, Intelligence network."
Locke nodded his head and looked sidelong at Edgar. "He's right, and as I'm his Intelligence network I would know."

Terra nodded and smiled at the two men. "Thank you both," she said softly. "You two don't have to do this, though."

Locke knelt beside her and looked at her intently as he took her hand in his. "I promised that I'd take care of you, Terra, and I will."
"Thank you," she said, squeezing his hand as she smiled wearily. "I really do appreciate all you've done for me."

"Yeah, he's a real gentleman like that," Edgar said as he arched an inquisitive eyebrow in Locke's direction. "We should let you sleep, though, m'Lady," he added as he moved behind the younger man and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Shouldn't we, Locke?"

Locke nodded and stood, Terra's hand slipping slowly from his. "We'll be right outside, if you need anything," he said with a smile.

The two men said their goodbyes and left Terra's room, whispering an argument as they left. Terra laid herself back onto the bed and closed her eyes, smiling to herself as the sound of Locke and Edgar's hushed disagreement drifted through the caves.

After a few moments, she curled her knees to her chest and fell asleep.

Whatever she dreamt that night, she had forgotten it by the morning.

Bannon's words still rang in her ears.

He knew. More importantly, Edgar and Locke knew. Knew what she had done, knew details she thought she had only dreamt. They had lied to her the whole time, she realized. Telling her that she wasn't what she feared.

But she was. She was a monster. She was a murderer. Worse, she was a tool for them to use. They wanted her, she she realized, in the same way that the Empire wanted her; as a weapon. She couldn't do that, couldn't let herself be used that way.

She knew what she had to do, but she couldn't - not yet, not with everyone awake.

She found herself in the small room again, the pack Locke and Edgar helped her get together laying on a nearby chair.

Once they were asleep, she would take the pack and leave.

Before then, though, she needed rest, as much as the prospect terrified her. She wouldn't get the opportunity for much sleep once she was gone.

She laid in the bed, on top of the thin blanket, and closed her eyes.