Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

(6/8/17) Oh my gosh finally. Finally I am back! And finally I can actually repost this horrific mess of a story. It was terrible, the first draft. Like, really bad. Like, I usually keep at least some form of the stories I redo - not with with one! I just... Let's just say I wrote it when I was just at the end of Primary School/beginning of Secondary School. Now I'm almost half way through university. And mind-blown-ness aside, I thought that it was far, far past time that I redid this story. I'll be re-posting all of the first four chapters at once, just to truly obliterate the horror that was there before.

To briefly sum up: It's a Tedgar fic, multi-chapter, and romance themed (obviously). Please check my profile for further details (projected length, etc.) and also my other Tedgar works! Yes, there are others, and they are way, way better than the monster the was here before!

I'll be posting on alternate Sundays! Please, keep this in mind. It's just that (as mentioned above) I'm a university student - so life can get kinda busy, and I don't have all that much time left for writing after projects are out the way. *sighs*

So without further ado, please let me just restart this thing!

Chapter 1

Amidst the perpetual inky blackness of the dank cells, a young girl, no older than sixteen, sat on the cold, hard, steel floor as others glared on at her with contempt and mocking. Her green hair was illuminated dimly in the candle light, a slim ring of brass lying amidst the curly hair. Her skin, once pristine and unblemished, was now sallow and jaunt, a bilious colour; she was so thin that her ribs showed through her clothes and her legs were mere sticks of their former selves, the muscles having atrophied away. Her dress – short and red with flowers of all types that were now discoloured – was ripped to no more than a rag; her tights full of gaping holes and her gloves had been ripped and burned along the frayed edges. The others, all dressed in shining jewels and the finest silks, merely laughed at her, harrowed her with insults and even spat at the floor on which she helplessly sat. Not one of them held any compassion for the shell of a girl before them.

The girl looked with dead, flat eyes of no distinguishable colour, no light nor spark of hope shone in the murky depths; no sign of life lay in the unfocused pupils, nor did the sheen of vitality which blanketed any other's eyes lay atop her irises. Only when a candle was brought up to her face, the searing hot candle wax burning holes into her skin, did her eyes move – her pupils shrunk to the size of a pinprick – but despite the burning hot wax and the pain that the girl was in, she did not stir. She didn't even appear to be breathing unless one looked very hard at her form against the cold bricks wall that she was chained to by the wrists.

"Well well, if it isn't my little plaything!" The nihilistic clown swathed in a dizzying kaleidoscope of headache inducing colours taunted at her with a wide, demonic grin; his soulless blue eyes gleaming with sadistic intent.

The other nameless, faceless people crowding up the chamber laughed at Terra with crowing shrieks of ear-piercing laughter. They too were just as twisted as Kefka, it seems. Kefka smeared more of the blistering candle wax down skin, causing sore, red bumps filled with puss to inflame upon her stark white body. But she did not cry out. Not once.

The scene changed very slightly, the people in the background were blurred out of existence, their cacophony of laughter faded to an unsettling silence. The crazy jester continued to stare down at her with frenzied cloudy blue eyes, the candle still glimmering menacingly in his hand, but the wax was now dripping down them both, searing both his white painted hand and her once china-like skin. He bared his teeth like a crazed animal would, the slightly yellowed teeth glinting in the low light. He got even closer to the girl, yet she still sat in exactly the same position, her limbs seemingly frozen in place but in her bluish, purplish eyes, a semblance of fear began to shine.

"You mean nothing and you are nothing. You are my slave."

Terra awoke in her bed, screaming her voice hoarse as it pierced the midnight air. The pristine white sheets of her wooden bed twisted all about her body as she shot up from her horizontal position with a pounding headache and the image of that crazed clown burned into her vision, the pain she felt in that memory turned dream was all too real, as though she could feel the blisters across her skin. Terra continued to scream into the pitch dark night, casting simple cure spells absentmindedly to try and get the imagined pain to go. But it wouldn't. Her body all caught about in the sheets that she writhed around in, Terra didn't notice the company which entered into her room. Holding her down on her legs and arms, were Celes, Sabin and Edgar, Setzer standing close by and muttering all the curses he could think of, in part for worry of Terra but in part for his disrupted sleep. It took a well-timed slow spell from Celes and a cure spell cast directly into her mind to stop Terra's intense struggling.

"Damn girl, I thought you were going to blow up my ship." Setzer chuckled weakly, trying desperately to lift the tense silence which had befallen the group. Terra was sitting hunched over, pulling her quilt over her body as though she was hiding; the others crowded around sheepishly, none of them daring to ask what was wrong with her.

Terra didn't dare look up, not when Celes mumbled that they should leave, not when they all indeed did leave; except for Edgar. He stayed, with a white knuckled grip on the edge of her wooden bed, wearing naught but his pyjamas and with a lethargic look coating every feature about his body.

"Terra?" He enquired quietly, his voice deep from recent sleep and lack of use.

The girl with green hair looked up at him, her shimmering eyes wide with fear and tears shining to the surface. Her face was tinged with red from her recent attack and her slight incline of the head to say that she was fine, an obvious lie, was in slow motion from the slowly wearing off spell that Celes had cast on her.

Edgar rolled his eyes when she lied that she was okay – how could anyone who had just screamed the whole ship awake be fine? He approached closer to her, noting that Terra was shivering ever so slightly her pupils were wildly dilating. Terra was beginning to look as thin as she did when Edgar had first met her – a small girl of eighteen, barley reaching adulthood for her looks. She was thin then, too thin and her state had worried everyone, from the burns and unhealed serrations mottling her skin to the various bruises in shades of electric blue to the fading yellow of a bruised apple. She was not well then, it was all too clear to see and if someone didn't step in again, she would surely end up being the death of herself.

I can't let her be the death of herself.

As soon as Edgar was within arm's reach of the young girl, she backed up once more, getting as far away from him as she could.

"S-Stay away!" She cried limply in a half attempt, her still slightly magic influenced and overused vocal chords withering away.

Why did I say that? Why do I push people away?

Edgar jolted backwards, what was wrong with Terra? Something must have happened in the night to her. But Terra only looked back with those fear laced bluey-amethyst eyes and the jade hair which hung limply over her face.

"Terra, what's bothering you?" Edgar asked as gently as he could, trying his hardest not to alarm her. She'd always been somewhat volatile in talking to people but never, not even when they'd first met or after Zozo, had she been this reluctant to speak with people or even be near others.

"K-kef…" She began, before the tears spilt over her green tinted eyelashes and trailed down her face as the memories, so caliginous and callous, rushed back to her mind in all their glory. The bright colours, the terrible pain, the smell of the burning wax and flesh. It was too much, too much to bear.

Edgar caught her frail body within his strong arms, soothing her rasping cries until they had subsided to nothing more than the occasional shuddering breath and sniffle from her reddened nose. Edgar always knew, but somehow that made a little part of her heart twinge more in pain. Why on earth did she mind whether Edgar looked after her or not? She wouldn't have felt this way if Celes or Sabin or Setzer had stayed with her; so why, of all the people, was it the handsome King of Figaro?

"Are you feeling better now?" Edgar murmured gently into her ear, sending shivers down Terra's spine as he did so. He was so close, close enough to… what? She didn't know but something at the back of her mind tugged, as though deep down, there was something that she should know.

Terra nodded weakly, extricating herself from the king's longer limbs and sitting back down amidst the multitude of sheets that the captain of the Falcon had been kind enough to provide her with.

"Shall I stay?" Please let me stay. I want to stay here with you.

Terra looked at him with a mightily confused expression – what did he mean? She thought through the face value of his question in her mind; he really was very good at calming her down at night, especially after… that. But first:

"Where will you sleep?" You could sleep here. What was that side thought? Terra flushed and was glad for the darkness as soon as she had thought it, she didn't even know where in the deepest, darkest, reaches of her mind it came from!

Edgar looked around the room; hard wooden floors, the bed to the left side of the room and a few other things such as a mirror, chair, wardrobe and chest occupying the dim room, decorated here and there with the odd possession of Terra's. There really wasn't much space around for sleeping on the floor which left one solution: the uncomfortable wooden chair.

"I suppose on the chair, if that's alright with you, m'lady." Edgar looked at the floor sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck – a nervous gesture of his. Terra cocked an eyebrow, she thought he might try and worm his way into her bed – Celes had said something about not letting him do that to her but she didn't say why. Regardless, Terra nodded anyway, shuffling around until she was comfortable once more and throwing Edgar her spare blanket.

"Good night, Terra. May you have dreams as sweet as yourself."

Terra smiled quietly to herself and nodded, making a small sound that meant that she had heard his comment, not noticing whether Edgar got her reply or not; she would have to ask in the morning.

Maybe I won't be so scared if he's next to me.

But in the morning, he was not there.

I hope you enjoyed that chapter! And I shall see you in the next one. Please follow for more and review if you've got time. Thanks!