It was dark and damp. Every now and then a rat would run across the floor looking for any sign of food but there was none to be found. In the darkness no one spoke, the only noises were the sounds of the sick prisoners slowly dying in this disease-infested dungeon.
She looked around at hHer surroundings, then at the chains around Her wrists that held Her to the stone wall. A cold, sad laughed escaped Her mouth; how low She had dropped in position at the Empire in mere weeks! Looking back She realized it had only been but a month since Her promotion to general, then not long after She was sent on Her first mission to capture Tzen and bring back Returners. All of that had gone so well, She brought back around fifty of the rebels and yet, with that mission, She also began to see that the Empire was slowing becoming corrupt. Next thing She new, Kefka had sent Her out to a family's house…he had lied to Her, said no one was living in the house any more and it simply needed to be burned…how foolish of Her to believe him!
She had marched into that town, stood before the house, sent an unforgiving Fira on it, just to see a girl with blue hair run out the door screaming…the girl collapsed to the ground and looked up at Her, then slowly turned to the burning house…her eyes were becoming less bright and the blue haired girl looked up and said "Locke…" faintly. Her chest rose unevenly and then fell down for the last time. After this, She ran back to the Empire and attacked Kefka for the good for nothing dirt he was… but Her attack had labeled Her traitor, and they threw Her in this terrible prison to wait out Her punishment.
The worse part about this whole ordeal was that She just had to be stuck in the same huge cell with all of the Returners She had taken from Tzen. They were not the best welcoming committee when She arrived in this hell, for lack of better terms. Well, that is, most of them anyways…some were thrilled to see Her in there, they thought She was finally getting what She deserved.
She looked down and sighed, She couldn't understand why this had happened to Her, why things had gone so wrong in such a short amount of time. Her self-pity was interrupted when a little girl beside Her, about nine years old, spoke.
"M-Mommy, I…I-I'm c-cold" She looked over at the little girl. She was wearing torn clothes and was shivering so bad that the She could see it in the dark.
"I know, Sweety, but I have nothing to give you." This voice was older, motherly and concerned, and at the other end of the prison cell, far away from her daughter.
The little girl gave a sad little sigh. She felt pity on her…she was so young, and was in here because of Her. Suddenly, She began to stand without thinking and walked over to the little girl.
"Here, you can have this." She handed the girl Her cape. "Granted, it's not very thick or warm, but I suppose it's better then nothing." She smiled a sweet, warm smile and the girl took the cape and gave a return smile.
"You might not want to take that filthy cloth." A man's voice said from a few feet away. " She could have cursed it for all you know, being a witch and all." The little girl looked at it terrified, and She walked away with Her head hung down. How badly these people misunderstood Her… She looked over and despite the man's cruel comment, the girl had wrapped herself up in the cape. The little girl looked at Her and smiled, She gave a sad, slow nod and sat down with Her back to the rest of the people in the cell. She closed Her eyes and began to pray things would get better, She didn't know how much more She could take.
Not long after Her prayer, She felt something light tap Her shoulder.
"Excuse me" said a small, almost unsure voice. " Are you awake?" She turned around and saw the little girl standing a few inches behind Her. "Oh… I guess you are. Ummm…do..do you mind if I sit with you?" She looked at the girl, searching her face for any sign of disgust or fear. Finding nothing, She nodded and the girl sat down an inch or two away. Deciding it was rude to have Her back to the girl, She turned so they could be side by side. She looked down at the girl. How come this girl showed no sign of fear or hatred towards Her? How come she still wore Her cape even though another had tried to frighten her out of it? She smiled to Herself, it was the innocence of a child to have such an unconditional love for everyone and everything despite what they've heard.
"My name's Lily." She looked at the girl who was looking up at her. There was a curiosity in her green eyes. There was a long moment of silence. "Uhh…this is the part where you say your name." She looked at the girl and then shook her head. "Right, I'm sorry, my name is Terra." Lily only stared at Terra, it was making her uncomfortable and then Lily smiled. "I like that name."
There was another long silence between them; Terra noticed that a lot of the other prisoners were watching with protective and curious eyes. No doubt they thought that she would attack the girl when she felt no one was looking. Terra sighed. "Don't worry about them, Miss Terra." Terra looked down and the girl was staring at the other prisoners as well. "They're just a bunch of no fun old people." Lily smiled and Terra smiled back. Something small in Lily's hand caught Terra's eyes, and Lily looked down a blushed slightly. "What's that in your hand, Lily?" Lily fiddled with it a little. " It's my best friend, Magic. I've had her since I was real little." Terra looked at the toy, it was plush and slightly worn out along certain spots. It mainly resembled a reddish, orange dog but it had long thin ears that came down to its feet and a bushy tail. "You see, Momma, Papa, and I, we travel a lot…so I don't have lots of friends. That's why Papa bought me this toy, so I wouldn't get lonely while we traveled." Terra looked at Lily, the name had struck her…but she dared not tell the girl that and why. "It's a beautiful toy." Lily smiled proudly "And you know what? Magic can sing too!" Terra eyed her "It's true! Well, kinda of…she's got a one of those music boxes in her. You wanna hear her song?" Terra nodded and Lily began to wind a small key in Magic's side. After a few seconds, beautiful music filled the air and then died out after a minute or two. "See? She makes music." Lily hugged magic smugly. Curiosity rose in Terra. "That song…what is it?"
Lily looked down slightly embarrassed. "I don't know…my Papa used to call it 'The Song of the Esper'." Terra could feel the shook on her face "Song of the esper? Why?" Lily continued to look down "I'm not sure, Miss…that's just what he called it." Terra could see that Lily really didn't know, so she settled with that answer. Lily yawned causing Terra to yawn and the two of them laughed quietly to themselves. "Terra… will you be my friend?" Terra looked down at Lily, who was staring back at her with longing eyes. "I've never had a real friend before…nothing against Magic…but you seem like the best person to make as my first friend." She smiled, something about Lily reminded her of herself when she was younger, her innocence, the way she talked, how she acted…without thinking, Terra responded "Of course, I'd love to." She didn't think about the consequence this would have on her heart when punishment day came for them…how Lily would be doomed to die…nor did she want to think about it now, all she wanted to do was give her new friend the best she could give her in her last days.
"Get up!" Guards were coming in, taking all the prisoners of the cell out; no doubt in Terra's mind that this was the dreaded day. Terra woke up Lily, who smiled when she saw Terra. Their friendship has grown so much within the last week, almost like they were sisters or even mother and daughter, but Terra pushed these thoughts out of her head. "Where are we goin, Tea?" Terra had to swallow hard when she heard Lily call her the nickname she'd come up with. "It's time to leave." Terra couldn't find the courage to tell Lily why they were leaving and to where they were leaving. A guard came and unlocked both of their chains. Terra got up and grabbed Lily's hand and took her to the crowd of people flocking out the cell. Lily quickly turned around "I left Magic!" Terra looked and sure enough, by the spot on the ground in between where Terra and Lily had been sitting was Magic, who had fallen on her side when the two of them got up. "It's ok, Lil, she'll be fine." Lily looked at Terra then turned to Magic again and yelled "Wait for me or Tea, k, Magic? We'll be back for you I promise. Be good!" And with that they were shoved out the cell.
"Hey you!" A guard grabbed Terra's arm "Your punishment is else where, Sir Kefka has been waiting." Terra swallowed hard and looked back at Lily who's eyes were concerned and confused. Terra gave the best smile she could but could tell by Lily's face that it wasn't convincing. "I have to go, Lil." Lily grabbed Terra's hand "Where are you going, Tea?" Just before Terra could give Lily an answer, a guard tore their hands apart and drug Terra down a hallway opposite of the one Lily and the crowd were going down. Terra could see the fear on Lily's face and all she could do was wave goodbye, hoping that would make amends for such a quick separation, but she knew it couldn't. Lily waved back and guards came and pushed her down the hall along with the crowd.
It was a long walk to the top of the Empire's HQ. Several stairs and doors guarded by more guards. Terra recognized all these hallways all to well for had she grew up here. But not once had these hallways seemed so foreboding, uninviting, and unforgiving. Terra could hear the murdering of the Returners outside the metal walls. There would be a silence while they were chaining people to the posts, then a man would yell "Ready. Aim. Fire!" and the sounds of Magitech Armor shooting would follow, along with the screams. What an awful way to die…Terra wished she could go down there and convince the Imperial soldiers to kill her and let all the survivors go, it was, after all, her fault they were here and being killed.
At the end of the walk to the top of the building, one had to walk on an outside area, and from there one could see the entire capital city of the Empire. Terra knew what else she would be able to see, and had planned on closing her eyes, but when she got to the top she couldn't help but look down at the crowd of people awaiting their deaths. It had grown quite a bit smaller. She scanned all the people and found the one she was looking for quickly and her heart sank…Lily was next in line for the execution. Terra couldn't remove her eyes as she continued to walk, being lead by a guard, to her punishment. Lily looked at the building and found Terra at the top. Terra, even from the top, could see, almost feel, Lily's fear. Lily looked down in her hands and noticed that she still had Terra's cape from a week before. She held it up like she was trying to give it back to Terra, but Terra just simply stared, for that was all she could do. Lily was pulled forward by a guard and Terra finally made it to the room on the top of the building. Before the door closed behind her, Terra could hear the man "Ready. Aim." And the door closed right as he had said "Fire!"
It's been three years since that terrible day and Terra decided to go visit the wrecked Imperial HQ. She was surprised it was still semi-standing, after all, it had been destroyed by espers and then had to endure Kefka nearly destroying the world. She had told her friends to stay on the airship because she didn't anticipate being long in this cursed building, she simply wanted to take a look around. Terra visited her old room, the training room, and the magic research facility. She had found papers in an office type room of prisoner numbers and quickly looked up one of a familiar little girl's. Before she left she decided to go to one more place.
The iron doors were rusty now, and the walls were falling apart, but it was still damp and cold like she remembered it. She looked around the all to familiar room, then walked to the spot where she spent a week with a good friend before their life long separation. When she got to the spot she looked down and saw something small covered in dirt and dust. She bent down to pick it up and when she touched it a single music note played. Quickly, she grabbed the toy a dusted as much of the dirt off that she could. Magic had holes almost everywhere. Terra carefully held Magic in both of her hands when a small voice played like a whisper on the breeze coming through the whole in the wall "Wait for me or Tea, k, Magic? We'll be back for you I promise. Be good!" and just like that, Lily's voice was gone. Terra fell to her knees and began to cry. Magic had obeyed her old friend and waited for Terra to come back, she had listened to Lily and survived until one of them came back for her.
After an hour or so, Terra couldn't tell, she had lost track of time, she left the Imperial HQ with Magic in hand and walked into a nearby graveyard. It was a huge place, it had to be, the Empire had once needed such a large place to bury the people it killed. Terra whispered to herself "Just go find 127." She searched and found the stone marker labeled "Prisoner 127" Terra got down on her knees and bowed her head. She then crossed out the prisoner number and carved with her knife "Lily" Then she placed Magic down on the headstone.