When Terra regained her conciousness, it took her a while to remember what had happened.
'That's right…We escaped from the Floating Continent…The Warring Triad's power tore everything apart. The Blackjack crashed…'
Terra's eyes searched around for her friends but no one was to be seen. In fact, nothing in the scenery seemed familiar. It was like she'd landed on a different planet. There was nothing but desert and dying plants and the air was stale. Horizon seemed to be ablaze somewhere beyond the sea. Terra wondered if it was morning or evening.
Suddenly she felt very lonely. The world as she had learned to know it was gone – even though she didn't yet know how much it had changed – and the people who had helped her find her emotions again were gone as well.
'I wonder what happened to the espers…'
A little later she got on her feet, checking her current situation. She seemed to be physically undamaged, each limb working as it should. She had some Hi-Potions and Ethers in her pocket, plus a few other items. She put on Sprint Shoes and clutched her Flametongue to be ready to go.
Since she had no idea where she was and the scenery was exactly the same wherever she faced, it mattered little which direction she would take. She reasoned that if there was anything left in this sorry wreckage of a world she would eventually run into it sooner or later.
As Terra made her way through the wasteland she found out that her weapon was of little use. The monsters had grown pitifully weak. They barely had the strength to attack and many died trying. Terra would've felt sorry for them if she hadn't been so worried. If the monsters were in that shape, how could humans cope?
'I've got to find someone,' she kept telling herself. 'Anyone…someone I can ask… What's happened to this world?'
After several hours of walking Terra spotted something that looked like buildings in the distance. She ran as if she was being chased by a Behemoth and happily confirmed that it was a village. To be precise, it was Mobliz. She approached the village but then a power wave slammed her to the ground rather painfully. She tasted blood in her mouth as she raised her head to see what had knocked her down.
It was hard to describe. Everyone in the village panicked. Adults tried to shield their children with their bodies. A few people managed to run to their houses and probably hide under the table. After the air wave came the light. It was so bright Terra had to lower her face to the ground with her eyes shut to not become blind. With the light came the horrible, horrible sound. It was loud, high-pitched noise that seemed to come from everywhere.
After some twenty seconds, it disappeared. Terra opened her eyes and held her breath, shocked by what she saw. The adults simply fell down, dead before they reached the ground. The children were rendered immobile, bewildered. For a moment everything in the village was silent and still, like a sad painting.
Terra jumped on her feet breaking the spell. The houses were on fire. There were people inside. She ran to the house and looked for a way in.
"We need water! Get some water here!" Terra didn't really know who she was addressing. Too much was happening at the same time. She was scared, worried, furious. Too many feelings were invading her mind.
The house collapsed.
There were people inside.
Suddenly Terra's mind cooled down. She pushed her feelings aside when they were too much for her to bear. It reminded her of the time when she was an Imperial soldier. Without feelings, a hundred percent of her energy was concentrated on surviving.
The urge to stay alive. That was the only feeling she used to have back then. She hadn't even known much pain. She had been closer to the Magitek Armour she was riding than a human. An obedient tool, the Empire's treasured weapon.
At first she had thought that it would be better for her to live without feelings. The first emotions that had come back to her were mostly unpleasant: pain, fear and insecurity. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know anything more.
The Returners had had a great interest in her magic skills and before she realized she had already become a vital part of their plans to beat the Empire. Terra had wondered if she would become a weapon again. But those people were very kind towards her. Of course she had been given the best possible treatment in the Empire, too but without her emotions she hadn't had a means to be happy about it. Little by little, someone's gesture of offering delicious food and a soft bed became more important than the food or the bed itself.
Would those happy days ever return?
The fire had been extinguished. Only four houses stood, each had holes in the roof. Terra sat on the ground. She was so tired. The sun was setting and everything was yellow. She wondered what this world would look like in the dead of night.
One of the little kids started crying loudly. The others joined him soon. Two older children, a boy and a girl, tried to hush the little ones but weren't very successful. Terra stood up and approached the group. She took the smallest boy in her lap and started rocking gently like she'd seen a mother do in Maranda. The boy was no more than three or four years old. It was all so sad.
Somehow Terra and the two older children, Duane and Katarin were their names, managed to put the others to sleep. There were eight of them. Eight kids that had lost their parents in less than half a minute.
"Thanks for helping us out", said Duane. He was about as tall as Terra but he looked like he would still grow. He and Katarin seemed to be about sixteen years old. "But…who are you?"
"My name is Terra. I got separated from my friends. Have you seen any strangers lately?"
"No one has visited the village since the cataclysm", said Katarin. "My uncle left shortly after it to see if the other villages are still standing. He sent us a carrier pigeon. Albrook's still there and now he's heading for Tzen…" Katarin's voice faded away. Duane put his arm around her protectively.
"Do you two know what's happened here? Like…that light…"
"The Light of Judgment", answered Duane Terra's question. Katarin winced upon hearing those words. "Katarin's uncle wrote about that in his letter, too. They say it's Kefka's way of punishing people who aren't obeying him-"
"But we didn't do anything!" Katarin burst, tears in her eyes. "No one in Mobliz would be stupid enough to even try to rebel against Kefka…"
Hearing Kefka's name sent a sting of anger down Terra's spine. Was Kefka alive? Impossible! He should've been the first to lose his life for disturbing the balance of the Warring Triad that kept the world in one piece.
Terra couldn't sleep that night, no matter how tired she felt. Hearing the answers to her questions hadn't calmed her down one bit. It had been two months since the cataclysm. Had she been unconscious for that long? She wondered if the others were alright. Were they even alive? She'd have to go and look for them. It would take her a few days to get to Albrook. And then?
To Figaro Castle? To Thamasa? How would she get over the seas?
"I'm scared," she whispered. But there was no one awake to hear her confession.
When the Sun pushed the first rays of its light in the horizon, Terra prepared to make her leave. She secured her cloak and turned around to find many curious eyes staring at her.
"Are…you going to go?" Katarin spoke very timidly. Terra didn't really know what to say. She'd completely forgotten about the children. There was no way they could run the village all by themselves. Even Duane, who was the oldest of them and tried to seem even older than he really was, was looking so lost now.
Terra bit her lower lip, considering her options. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the room. The feeling of her heart being torn to different directions… That was also new to her.
"All right…" She dropped to sit on the bunk behind her. "All right. I'll stay at least for now." She gave a little smile to the children who ran to her, laughing and squealing happily.
To her surprise, Terra felt oddly relieved after deciding to remain in Mobliz. She had thought it would be the best for her to look for her friends as soon as possible and track down Kefka but right now she didn't want to fight. She was tired of putting her life in line day after day, battling against a maybe invincible foe, bathing her hands in the crimson blood of her enemies.
I'll stay, she thought to herself. Just for a little while.
However, each passing day made the thought of leaving harder to bear and Terra started to avoid thinking about it. Instead she focused on the task of making Mobliz an at least agreeable place to live in. She was not very talented in carpentry and she doubted they could rebuild the burnt up houses by themselves. Instead they moved beds and other essentials to basement levels of the houses that had withstood the Light of Judgment the best. It wasn't the ideal place to live in but it couldn't be helped.
Gathering food wasn't an easy task, either. Terra doubted that eating the barely alive fiends would be very good for one's health. Fortunately the fish seemed to be more or less unaffected by the change of climate. Some plants could be grown, though scarcely. At times when finding potable water proved to be an insuperable problem, Terra would cast a Water spell when no one was looking. She had got used to people being overawed by her magical skills and had unconsciously started to avoid using them needlessly with people around.
Nevertheless her power was meant to be revealed at one point or another. After eleven weeks and six days since her arrival, Terra noticed one of the children running towards her at an admirable speed for someone with legs as short as her.
"Mama, you've got to come! Raz fell from a cliff!"
Terra couldn't remember exactly when the children had started to address her so. They were all orphans now and Terra was the only at least a bit parent-like figure available so perhaps it made sense. Even Duane and Katarin had followed the younger kids' example in this matter. But know Terra didn't have time to contemplate further. She followed the girl (who was called Calli) and passed her at the moment she recognized the body lying on the ground.
The "cliff" Calli had mentioned wasn't so dangerous after all, just a big rock that had probably been moved by the cataclysm. Also, the little boy in the ground was loud enough not to be in immediate danger. Terra knelt down and studied Raz's wounds. There were some shallow wounds but he fortunately hadn't hit his head anywhere. His leg was probably broken. It surely hurt quite a bit but Terra had seen and healed much worse injuries in the battlefield.
"Nothing that a little Cure wouldn't heal", she murmured and whispered the incantation while holding her hand on the boy's body. A white light surrounded the boy and sparkled gently around him. Calli, who had almost reached them, suddenly stopped and stared, appalled and a little frightened. Raz, however, wasn't one bit afraid. He stopped crying and looked at the sparkles around him with wide eyes. Once the spell was complete he jumped right up and started babbling excitedly.
"Wow, that was coooool. It doesn't hurt at all anymore! It was really pretty, too!" He hugged Terra, who was taken by surprise by his sudden enthusiasm. Then she smiled.
"Okay, let's get back home, shall we? We've got to prepare dinner."
When the three got back to the village, both kids started to report the events of their adventure to the others.
"…and then Raz fell and I was soooo scared…"
"…it hurt lots and lots but then Mama came and did the pretty light!"
"She just put her hand like this and…"
"…and it didn't hurt at all after that! Mama, mama, do it again, pretty please!"
By this time everyone had gathered around them and was now looking at Terra expectantly.
"What's this talk about the pretty light?" Duane looked quite skeptical. "You sure you're not just making this up, Raz?"
"Nooo I'm not! Mama, do it so Duane's gotta believe me!"
"If it's true, I'd like to see it," Katarin agreed. Terra let out a little nervous sigh.
"Alright," she said and brought her hand to her chest, casting a Cure on herself. Since there was no injury to heal, she just felt familiar tingling warmth inside her. It was over in a few heartbeats.
The little kids' reaction was similar to Raz's. Katarin's eyes went wide with amazement, as did Duane's.
"Wh-what was that? How do you do that?" Duane asked.
"It's called Magic," Terra informed him feeling a little down. Katarin instantly backed away behind Duane's back, muttering something to herself.
"What? What's wrong, Katarin?" Duane looked behind his shoulder to see Katarin's face.
"Only imperial soldiers…can use Magic… People who can use it…aren't normal…"
"Imperials?" Duane's exclamation was so loud that all the children stopped laughing. To them, everything that had something to do with the Empire was dangerous. Their parents had told them to stay inside whenever there were soldiers coming. They knew that the soldiers were bad people who killed other people. They were scary and strong. They wore scary costumes and they pointed at people with guns or swords. They were the villains.
"Who are you really? Why can you do…that stuff? What did you come to this village for in the first place?"
Duane was waiting for an answer. Everyone was. Terra's stomach was turning. Was the happy dream over now?
"It's true that I…used to be an imperial soldier…but – that was a long time ago!"
Liar. It hasn't been even a year.
"And I never really liked it there. I was happy to get out of there. I ran away."
That doesn't change anything.
"But the reason why I can use Magic isn't because I was with the Empire…It's because my father was an…"
Esper? That makes you a monster.
It was no use. It was all over. Terra tried to push her feelings aside because it felt so bad but somehow she couldn't do it. She wanted that ache in her chest go away. It wouldn't.
"Mama's not a bad person."
It was Raz's voice. Now everyone was looking at him. He continued with a determinated look in his eyes.
"Imperials are scary. Mama isn't. She's pretty. Mama's not going to do bad things to us. She helped me, too! I love the pretty light! I love Mama!"
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
The little ones started shouting in unison. They seemed to be having a verbal match to see who loved Terra most. Duane and Katarin, being several years older, were still a little reserved. As usual, it was Duane who put the thoughts of the two into words.
"So you're not with them, right?"
"I'm not."
"You had better be speaking the truth then, mind you!" Terra nodded. Duane grabbed the firewood he had been carrying and disappeared inside a house. Katarin looked Terra in the eyes.
"He believes you. And I do, too. We just…don't really know what to make of all this."
"It's alright," Terra told her. I don't know either.
Weeks passed again and the incident was quickly forgotten. Even Duane, who was very skeptical about all things imperial, seemed to accept Terra, even thinking highly of her as the one who escaped the Empire's mighty army and lived. Though the whole thing was not quite all as heroic as he most likely thought, Terra was had no intention of correcting him. She was just so happy with the state of her life.
Terra opened the door of the house in the northern part of the village which was used as a storage house. She was looking for a sack of straw she remembered putting there some weeks past. The mattresses were in a sorry state and they were going to fix them today. Before Terra could find the sack however, something else caught her attention. To be precise, it was the Flametongue.
Terra took the dusty sword in her hand. It still felt familiar. The grip of her hand around the handle was the same. Terra tried swinging the sword. It moved, but the movement was listless and contrived.
There had been a time when a sword had been an everyday tool for her just like a bread knife. Now her only blade lay dusting in a storage house.
Terra found herself feeling glad about this.
"Mama, are you there?"
Terra flinched and put the sword down. Never mind the past, the future could take care of itself, too. This was where Terra Branford wanted to be right now. She grabbed the sack she had been looking for and walked outside, greeted by the rays of the afternoon sun.
A/N: There it is, my second story. I tried to keep it as canon as possible but I couldn't resist having one little deviation from what we are told in the game. When you return to Mobliz in the World of Ruin, Terra explains that Kefka used the Light of Judgment on the village "the very day the world collapsed." I had already made the story to make sense in this way so I didn't bother to go changing it. Who cares, 2 months either way anyway? :D
Please tell me how you liked it! 3