Chapter 6: From Narshe to Vector

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy the story!

After dinner and a hasty farewell Sabin, Edgar, Celes and Locke set out on chocobos for Figaro. Although the night was clear it was extremely cold. The travellers' breaths unfurled into the cold night air, disappearing in mist before their eyes. Locke hugged his body for warmth while the king gripped his auto crossbow, his knuckles white, his face ghostly pale. His twin cracked his knuckles every now and then. Celes, however, strode proudly ahead, showing no sign of nervousness or tension. Locke glanced at her curiously.

"Aren't you cold?" the thief asked, but Celes shook her head stubbornly.

"I'm not cold," she said, but Locke could see that her hands were, if only slightly, trembling, and her lips were pressed tightly together. Regardless of her words he draped his cloak around her body. The general looked at him gratefully but her words surprised everyone.

"Thank you, but now isn't the time to get sentimental. We need to save Terra." Locke dropped behind and Sabin and Edgar quickly caught up. Edgar grinned at Locke, who was scowling slightly.

"What now, lover-boy?"

"I'm going to protect her," Locke said persistently, ignoring the king. He galloped off on his chocobo to catch up with Celes. Edgar sighed at the couple and smiled, somewhat bittersweet. Sabin looked at his older brother.

"You never really loved Celes, did you?"

Edgar opened his mouth in light-hearted protest but decided against it. "No, I never liked her that way. She's a little too-cold-for me, don't you think? Right now all I'm doing is trying to bring the two together." The king gestured towards the pair walking side by side.

Sabin examined his brother's cheerful expression, somewhat shocked. "You sound like a nosy matchmaker!"

"Maybe I am," Edgar replied, laughing. His expression turned serious. "But we should be getting a move on now, before the sun rises. I want to get to Maranda before sunrise."

"Um, Edgar, I don't think that'll be possible for now," Sabin said warily. The king looked away from his brother and spotted two troops of Imperial soldiers racing at him, their swords drawn. Edgar drew his breath in sharply.

"How did the Empire know about our plans so quickly?" he murmured to himself, wielding his auto crossbow. Sabin darted away from his brother and at the same time a soldier caught up to the king. Edgar blocked a sword blow with his crossbow and kicked the man in the stomach, winding him. He then used his chocobo to run over his victim. More soldiers began to surround him and then realisation sank in: they wouldn't be able to defeat them all!

"Quick! Retreat!" Celes shouted, blasting two soldiers off their feet with her magic. This small performance gave Edgar a chance to escape the otherwise tight ring of soldiers. Catching up to his comrades, the four rode as hard as they could, making for the desert. Locke took the opportunity to speak.

"The desert's so open! We'll be seen for miles around!"

"Do we have a choice?" Sabin gritted his teeth. "This is so unmanly, running away from a bunch of small fry," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't complain; if you'd insisted on fighting, we'd have left you to fend for yourself," his twin retorted, but everyone knew that that wasn't true. Edgar would have stopped everyone just to wait for his younger brother.

At that moment Celes jumped off her chocobo and stood her ground in spite of their pursuing attackers. Locke looked back, gaping dumbly at her.

"Celes!" the thief in turn dismounted his chocobo and ran to join the general. Edgar and Sabin turned around and headed back for their comrades.

"What are you doing? The soldiers are coming!" Edgar shouted amidst the now deafening war cries. The icy general gestured ahead.

"We've just fallen into a trap." Sabin turned, and even he gaped at what he saw.

Blocking their only path to Figaro were two huge Magitek machines, both more formidable-looking than the last two. Edgar groaned.

"How did Kefka know about our plans?" he reiterated. Locke began to tremble uncontrollably, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Who cares about how they knew? Curse them-curse them all!" Locke raised his head, and in his eyes there burned an unmistakable hatred. Without hesitation he flew towards his foes. Suddenly afraid that Locke would be injured in his berserk state, Celes ran forth to help support him. Edgar and Sabin were about to join, however, when a sword blow fell, just missing Sabin's ear. The two twins whirled around and found themselves in the heat of battle, fending off soldiers while their companions fought off the two Magitek machines.

"Locke, listen carefully. All you have to do is attack. These monsters know magic; if they manage to use their powers there won't be anything left of us. So you do the attacking; I'll draw their magic in with my rune blade," Celes explained hurriedly, dodging a physical attack. Locke's eyes bulged.

"But you'll be okay?"

"Trust me," the general said firmly, sending a brief, assuring smile the thief's way. She drew her sword once more, sparks flying around her. "Runic!"

While Celes and Locke were fighting the machines Edgar and Sabin were beginning to be pushed back into their companions. The soldiers' numbers were too vast; it took all of the king's strength to keep his auto crossbow pointed at the advancing ranks. For every soldier that was killed, two more came to replace him. Sabin, too, was reduced to delivering punches and kicks that were just barely able to knock the soldiers down. The king desperately racked his brains for methods to escape. He did not feel like calling his companions to his aid; they had their own battles to fight. And then he thought of something.

"Sabin, why haven't you been using your blitzes? Are you tired?" the king panted, knocking a soldier weakly away with his crossbow. Suddenly his twin let out a roar of laughter. A few soldiers took a few steps back in surprise.

"Tired? Are you kidding, older brother? I'm just getting warmed up!" the monk flexed his muscles, and to prove his point: "Raging fist!" All of a sudden Sabin became a blur. All Edgar could see were soldiers falling down, spitting blood and moaning. In five minutes flat Sabin had knocked out all the soldiers. Edgar watched, gaping.

"Are you tired now?"

"Just a little," Sabin gave a winners' smile that made him resemble his twin. The victory, however, was short-lived as the muscle-head was suddenly blown off his feet by a sudden gush of ice.

"Sabin!" Edgar shouted, running to his twin's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, his brow creased with worry. A little blood trickled down the side of the monk's mouth.

"Nothing a little magic can't heal." Edgar turned to face Celes and Locke who were standing behind them. "Sorry about that-we didn't expect the last Magitek machine to release its magic," Locke apologized. Sabin grinned, hurriedly wiping his blood away.

"No, I'm fine, really. In any case, we should be hurrying to Figaro; anything could happen to Terra at this point in time." Standing up quickly, the monk turned in the direction of Figaro. "Let's go."

"Welcome back, King Edgar!" Chadron bowed formally, and then his eyes widened slightly at the figure next to him. "We are honoured to have you back again," he said in a more respectful tone towards Sabin. The king laughed.

"Chadron likes you better, Sabin."

"Naturally-I wasn't the one chasing the girls," Edgar's twin laughed, and then cleared his throat. "I'm-er-going to look around the castle. I've missed home." Without another word the monk departed from his friends. Locke grinned after the retreating figure.

"Shouldn't he be resting? He did, after all, get hit by magic."

"In any case, we should be getting some sleep ourselves," Celes said. Edgar pointed at one of the doors.

"Then you should know that that door leads to the guestrooms. You'll know your way once you enter," he explained. "In the meantime, I'll be seeing to the fact that we're on our way to the Kohlingen desert."

"I've been getting lots of requests to move to the Kohlingen desert lately," the engineer chuckled. "I've rejected several offers, but one can't deny the king!"

"Certainly not," Edgar agreed, but his mind was elsewhere. "Try and get there as soon as possible," the king added. The old man gave a mock salute.

"Yes, my king! As soon as possible! Enjoy the ride!" Without another word the king trudged slowly up the staircase to the throne room, deep in thought. Thoughts about Kefka, the Empire, and Terra. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his twin examining the throne.

"Edgar, this place hasn't changed much…and it's already been ten years…" Sabin murmured, and the king jumped.

"I-I did try to keep everything the same…" he muttered more to himself than anybody else, but Sabin heard him. The king then smiled and said in a louder voice, "But you've changed a lot. Sabin the shrimp has become a whopping lobster!"

"And you're a king crab!" the monk returned. He sank down in one of the thrones and Edgar joined his twin. The two sat in mutual silence for a moment before Sabin broke the ice.

"I remember the time when dad died…and everyone was so…so…"

"Apathetic?"

"That's the word. And then you flipped the coin to see who would stay and who could go…and I won…" Sabin seemed to be staring at nothing but Edgar knew that he was really looking back at the past.

"And you chose your freedom," the king finished off. "Speaking of which, where were you for the past ten years? I have never heard a single word about you, save for the fact that there was a man who resembled me in Mount Kolz!"

"After I left I went to South Figaro. That's where I met Master Duncan and took up my training as a monk. I have had to leave recently, though…" Sabin stared sadly at his feet. "Master Duncan was killed by the hands of his own son, Vargas."

"Why?" the king stared, puzzled. "Why would a man want to kill his own father?"

"He was jealous. He thought that Master Duncan wanted me to be his heir, the master," the monk said. Although his hands were shaking his eyes were dry. "So I went after Vargas."

"I'm sorry," Edgar stared awkwardly at the floor, and then leaned closer to his twin. "Did you kill him?" he breathed.

"He ran away first," Sabin snorted. "Coward. At least I gave him a taste of my Raging Fist before he left. Afterwards I heard about you, Locke and Terra so I hurried to Narshe in the hopes that I would get there in time." The monk looked around, sniffing the air pleasantly. "So here I am."

Another awkward silence ensued, in which Edgar reflected on what had happened to him in the past ten years. He had pretended to be the Empire's ally all that time, and compared to Sabin's story, nothing had happened! Until Terra came…

"Okay, Edgar, I know you're thinking about Terra," Sabin grinned and the king was reminded of a bear.

"How did you know?"

"You had that thoughtful expression on your face again. You know, the kind that kings don't usually have."

"Because they're so foolish?"

"Perhaps," the monk shrugged carelessly. "So are you in love with Terra or not?"

"Why are you so eager to know?"

"When I left, I didn't leave just because I didn't want to be king. I went to get stronger so I could protect Figaro, too," Sabin said, scuffing his shoes. "I felt really guilty about leaving you by yourself."

"And this is got to do with my own personal affairs because…?"

"We're twins! You can share this one secret, right?" the monk nudged his brother. "I know I'm being really nosy, but spill!"

The king sighed. "Terra's a strange girl. She seems human enough, but remember when she turned into…into…an esper and flew away?"

"How do you know she turned into an esper?"

"She reminded me of the esper on the cliff," the king explained. "And since it was that esper that triggered whatever it was inside her, she must have some sort of power. To be born with magic isn't…isn't…normal."

"Look, you're my twin. I know you inside out. So tell me why you're really thinking about her," Sabin groaned. Edgar's response, however, surprised him.

"Can espers control people?"

"I-I don't know about that," the monk stared. "Why?"

"Every time I look at Terra I feel like-like-something. I don't know what it is, and it's freaking me out. I feel as if I've known her forever, as if we've been together since the beginning of the world," the king sighed and put his head in his hands. "It's as if she has power over me."

"Maybe she does-the power of love," Sabin teased.

"Will you cut all that stuff out of this?" the king snapped. "For the last time, I am not in love with Terra!"

"And for the last time, stop lying!" the monk countered. His expression softened. "Look, you don't have to tell me all about it, but you don't have to deny it, either."

The king sighed and leaned back in his throne. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you always have this look on your face when someone mentions her," Sabin started. "You were also really eager to start out for Figaro…"

"Was it right to keep her alive?"

"Huh?" the monk stared. The question had come out of the blue.

"You know, instead of killing her like all my subjects wanted," Edgar explained.

"Oh, that incident. Locke told me all about it," Sabin thought for a moment. "Yes, I think you were right to. Like he said before, if you'd killed Terra the Empire would've come after you. The Empire was looking for an excuse to come after Figaro, but what you did made us benefit from the encounter. We've got Terra on our side now."

"I keep telling myself that, but…what if she's gone back to Vector? What if Kefka and Gestahl take her back? Then she'll be a traitor, and then where will we be?"

"Stop thinking like that. Terra may have been an Imperial soldier before, but she's not a traitor. Have faith in her!" Sabin clapped his depressed twin on the back, forcing a weak smile from him.

"Right now it's as if you're the older twin," Edgar said.

"Payback for all the times you've been looking out for me?" Sabin grinned, watching his twin blush.

"I was never looking out for you; it was just a figment of your imagination!" the king exclaimed proudly, standing up. "Don't think that my responsibility includes looking after you!"

"Haha," Sabin replied drily, but inside he smiled. The old Edgar was back again. And suddenly, he was gone.

"Do you think mom and dad are proud of me? For everything I've done?" the king asked softly.

"Of course they are! Wherever they are right now, I'm sure that they're beaming with pride!" Sabin exclaimed. At that moment Edgar gestured and two glasses of wine were brought in. The servant handed one glass to Edgar and the other to his twin. The king lifted his glass.

"To mom and dad!"

"And Figaro!" Sabin concluded, standing up to join his brother. The two downed their glasses in one gulp and then looked at each other.

"We should get some sleep; in a few hours we'll be in Kohlingen," Edgar said. His twin nodded his agreement, and together they made for their chambers.

After they had arrived in the Kohlingen desert the four travellers exited the castle, refreshed and raring to go. The journey to Maranda was uneventful (save for Locke's endless grumbling about the lack of chocobos in Figaro) and midday saw Edgar, Sabin, Celes and Locke at their destination. The city was small and infested with Imperial soldiers, but none of them seemed to recognize or notice the Returners as they restocked their tent and food supplies. In the city square a huge crowd watched two dogs fighting while a woman tried to escape from a love-sick soldier. Edgar sighed.

"People always say that the Empire is bad but the soldiers themselves only want to be with their friends and families…"

"Don't get too sentimental. Who knows when we'll have to kill some of them…?" Locke muttered. Celes looked at the thief with a poker face, but inside she was worried.

"Locke…" she murmured. Could the thief still be thinking about Rachel? According to Terra, he hated the Empire because of that incident…

The travellers entered the items shop. Edgar, Sabin and Locke began haggling with the shopkeeper about the price of meat but Celes lingered behind. She was still deep in thought about Locke and his past; so deep in thought that she almost collided into a stranger.

"Watch where you're going-Maria?" a voice spoke, and Celes looked at the man she had bumped into. He was tall with white hair and small, narrow eyes. He wore a black coat with gold and large black boots. In his hands was a pack of cards.

"Who are you?" Celes asked, but the man took no notice of her question.

"Maria, my love! What are you doing here, and what is with that outfit of yours?" the man returned somewhat incredulously. "I thought you were going to be at the opera house!"

"I think you're mistaken; I am not called Maria and I am not some opera floozy," Celes said icily.

"What? No, you've got to be joking. I'm Setzer Gabbiani, the gambler! Don't you remember our little deal…?"

"Hey, back off! We're sorry, but this isn't Maria, or whoever you think she is!" Locke interrupted. Setzer looked at the thief in surprise.

"She isn't?"

"Oh, he finally gets what we've been trying to tell him all along…" Edgar muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, I must be mistaken," the gambler gave Celes a brief smile and was about to exit the shop when another man suddenly rushed in.

"Sir, your airship should be ready in a day or two." The travellers' ears perked up, and the four immediately began to discuss certain possibilities.

"If we could hop aboard that man's airship, we'd be in Vector in just a few hours at the least!" Locke whispered excitedly. Sabin frowned.

"That may be so, but chances are, he's not going to let random people take free rides on his airship!"

"Celes, I think we'll need you here," Edgar winked at the general, who blinked. Realization sank in, and she waved her arms in protest.

"You want me to pretend to be this Maria person?"

"Just this once, Celes," the king pleaded. "We need to save Terra as soon as possible!"

"I don't agree with this plan," Locke argued. "Surely we can sneak on board this airship of his…?"

"There's no other way. The airship will probably be under tight surveillance twenty-four seven," Sabin rebuked. "I agree with Edgar-"

"Wouldn't you?" Celes muttered irritably.

"-so please, Celes, just this once?"

"Fine, fine," the general sighed. "Just this once. But don't expect me to do anymore favours."

"Ahem, this is for Terra," Edgar pointed out.

"I get it," the general glared at the king and then turned to face the gambler, a sweet smile on her face. Setzer appeared to be arguing with the man.

"I can't wait another day! My love is waiting for me in the opera house! She won't be happy if I don't turn up on time, and it's urgent!" the gambler was shouting. The man shook his head persistently.

"Sir, if we allow you to take the airship now, there will be a picture in the news tomorrow depicting your head and a mass of blood. Our company cannot be responsible for that-"

"Then I'll sign a contract saying that you're not responsible for whatever happens, anything! As long as you give me my airship back-"

"Come now, Setzer, be patient. I'm right here," Celes interrupted. The gambler looked at her, confused.

"But you said that you weren't Maria!"

"Of course I am!" Celes leaned in closer to Setzer, hearing a sharp intake of breath come from Locke. "I just didn't want our affair to come out before hand."

"Oh, yes, yes, of course…" Setzer smiled. "But why are you with those men?" he asked, gesturing towards Celes' three companions who were trying unsuccessfully to make themselves scarce.

"They're my fellow opera singers-the man with the bandana is a tenor and the other two are basses," Celes pointed. The gambler nodded in approval.

"But my friends and I need to get to the opera house in two days for my next performance. I'm in no hurry, though-do you suppose…?" the general looked at the gambler.

"Of course you can come along on my airship! How can I refuse a request from my love?" Setzer grinned in a charming fashion, and it took all of Celes' manners to not turn away and snort. The man looked ridiculous. Setzer turned to the man. "Alright, I will wait a day. But no more; I must take Maria to the opera house in time," he said firmly. With a grateful nod the man left the shop. Setzer took Celes into his arms, and Locke coughed loudly.

"We should get a room at the inn-"

"Actually, my friends and I have to do a bit of shopping first," Celes interrupted, smiling sweetly. The smile came out as a grimace. "You go ahead to the inn, Setzer. I can rent a room with my friends later."

"But I want to be with you-"

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," the general quoted, touching the gambler's cheek. "We can be together for as long as we want on your airship." Setzer opened his mouth in protest and then closed it. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning, then," he conceded. Giving Celes a kiss on the cheek he left the shop. The general slowly walked back to her companions.

"You sure took your sweet time," Locke said, trying with all his might to keep the envy out of his voice. Edgar grinned.

"You sure are smooth, Celes. Would you mind flirting a little with me-?"

"No," the general replied curtly. "I've had enough of flirting." Celes turned around and strode, indignant, out of the shop. Shaking his head and smiling, Edgar followed the general. Sabin looked at Locke, who was still fuming.

"Well, we've got ourselves a ride on an airship," he said, and followed his twin out.

"You can do this," Terra whispered, her throat hoarse and dry. For the past few hours she had been trying to come into contact with the voices that spoke in the back of her head, and so far she had had little success. She closed her eyes and pushed at the wall that seemed to appear right before she had reached her goal.

Suddenly Terra felt herself being propelled, and a whirl of images came to her. These images, however, were not from her past. These were images of the espers in the factory. Images of strange yet beautiful creatures trapped in glass capsules. Images of their haunting eyes staring straight at her. Terra felt her heart wrench.

"We're beyond rescue now, but there's still hope for you," all the espers seemed to whisper. "You have the power to kill Kefka. We shall give ours to you-through magicite."

"What is magicite? How can you give it to me when you're so weak?" Terra whispered back.

"When we die, we turn into magicite. Magicite is the purest form of our powers, and with it you can summon us from the other world and learn our powers," one esper replied, and Terra felt a strange connection with it. Dread and horror filled her.

"Father…?" she gasped, and a few prisoners in the neighbouring cells stared at her, jeering, their ugly faces pressed against the bars. She ignored them.

"Don't worry about me; you must fight for yourself. Prevent a second War of the Magi…prevent the earth turning to ashes…" the esper hissed. "We can give you our powers, no matter how far you are from us. With the last of our power we can escape these capsules and come to you…"

"But father, can you escape your prisons?"

"Of course, but back then there was nobody to run to. There was nobody we could trust. But now that you remember your past, perhaps there is new hope…"

All of a sudden the images of the espers began to fade away. Terra desperately tried to reach out once more, but it was to no avail. Almost immediately a new power began to fill her, refresh her. She felt stronger and more confident as ancient spells she had never known before made themselves known to her.

"Thank you, father, everybody," she whispered, her fingers tingling with the desire to cast a spell. "I just wished that there'd been an alternative…"

Omake:

"Perhaps," the monk shrugged carelessly. "So are you in love with Terra or not?"

"Why are you so eager to know?"

Sabin looked straight into Edgar's eyes. "When I left Figaro, I didn't want to heap all that responsibility on you. So I came back," he breathed softly.

"So you do love me!" Edgar cried. Sabin made a gesture and a servant came in with two glasses of wine. The servant gave one glass to Edgar and the other to Sabin. Sabin raised his glass.

"To the king and queen of Figaro!" the king stared and coughed slightly.

"Ahem-to the new king and queen of Figaro."

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, but I do have a life to live (although sometimes I wish I could stay in dreamland forever ;) ). If it makes you feel any better, I'll try and finish this story within two weeks.

Thanks for reading! Please review!