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Chapter Four:
Hope, Pandora's Remnant
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The outside of the headquarters looked reminiscent of the
Sabil mountain range pass. However, no guards stood by the gates of the
sparsely vegetated cliffside alcove. The cavern entrance was rather
obvious, and any fool walking along the mountain bases could have
found it were they blind and unlucky. Terra turned back to speak with
Locke. "Isn't this cave a bit obvious?" she asked him.
Locke shifted his weight for a moment. "Well, Banon's too cheap to hide it. He figured, 'There's a door here already! Why waste time trying to find a secluded one?'" Locke quoted thoughtfully.
Terra frowned. "What kind of attitude is that for a resistance
member?!"
Locke shrugged. "It sounded like a plausible philosophy to me at the time," he admitted. Terra turned to see Sabin nodding his head
wholeheartedly along with Locke. Edgar stood there simply watching
the oaf being gullible.
"King Edgar!" a voice called from the cave, each syllable gaining dynamics.
The four turned to the aperture and saw the speaker Returner, complete with goggles strapped on his head and the brown Returner livery. "Sir Banon awaits you, Your Highness," the man said as he bowed slightly. He unbent himself and whirled back to the headquarters entryway, leading the group into the base.
Many crates were set up in a way that would hardly produce any good were a war to start out. They cluttered the entry room, and lashed out at Terra's knees. What foolish deliveryman would place boxes in haphazard ways such as this?
The stone floor was well-worn, and Terra's heeled boots clicked on it with a slightly duller sound than that of the palace of Figaro. The stone led its way down the short flight of steps and past burning lanterns, blazing with an oily abundance. This cavern was remarkably well-furnished, and polished wood and steel glinted in the steady luminesence. The light shimmered on the large, long, many-seated table with seats for possibly twenty.
Terra hoped that this resistance movement was not so brash and arrogant that they planned on taking out the Empire-- nay, the world with a mere twenty-some members. Perhaps this Banon was indeed simply too lazy and cheap to buy more furniture for the press
conferences and meetings that these ground-dwellers thrived upon.
How could it be that the Returner sympathizers alone
outnumbered the shoddily-made maple seats at this table a thousandfold? What could she possibly get accomplished with her life if
she followed these few and these proud soldiers-in-training to her very
demise at the hands of Kefka and Emperor Gestahl? Terra stood there,
pondering over the table for a moment.
"It's a candle thought, Terra. Just a candle thought," Locke spoke to her assuredly. "Besides, you didn't really think that the Returners would have the entire staff living at HQ, didya?"
The blonde youth moved quickly to catch up with Sabin, Edgar, and their guide, and Terra moved swiftly to catch up with Locke as well.
Banon's room was quite roomy for a natural cavern. The
numerous bookshelves in the corners were stacked horrendously, with
tomes open halfway and pages torn out. She could see a copy of 'How to
be a Hermit' and a book by the title of 'Cast Away'. What did this entail?
All was revealed to her once Banon appeared from behind the
shelf. His hair stuck up as if he did not catch on to the invention of the
comb nine hundred years ago, and it was long, gnarled, and in the
process of shifting color in between light brown and grey. His robes
were aged, but some of the previous vibrance of the red with gold
trimming managed to come through. His eyes were calm, despite his
lion's mane.
"Banon! We brought Terra to meet you!" Edgar announced.
Banon stepped uneasily towards her, his eyes moving over her face and garb curiously. "This is the girl who can talk to the Espers?!" he croaked with a voice of grating gravel against mythril blades.
"...Espers?" Terra squeaked, trying not to flinch at the sound of the rebel leader's hoarse voice.
Locke put his hand on her shoulder as he entered the
conversation. "Yep! The Empire controlled her for a while. That's why
she was wreakin' havoc over our side of the battlefield," he informed the
hermit lookalike.
"Terra was manipulated into fighting with a Slave Crown. I
thought that the Empire had stopped the use of those blasted devices
once they were deemed unsafe..." Edgar stated.
Locke smirked, his hand kneading Terra's shoulder. "Those Slave Crowns are porn tools waiting to be discovered..." he said thoughtfully.
Terra stomped on his foot as Sabin guffawed idiotically. Banon
simply glared at Locke for a moment.
"She has amnesia, Banon," Edgar finished.
Terra's eyes turned downcast in thought and confusion. What
could she do? How could she truly make a decision that counted upon
her as the grain of rice which would tip the scale?
Banon paced slowly as he began to speak. "Perhaps...you've heard this story...Terra, was it?" he paused to see Terra nodding slowly, and continued his oration. "Once, when people were still pure beings, there was a box which they were told never to open. They had everything they could ever desire, but they were told to never, ever open that box. Somebody, however, did eventually open it. Once the chest was undone, all of the Evils of the world were unleashed: envy, greed, pride, violence, and control. All that remained within was a single ray of light...Hope..."
Terra stood silently as she thought about Banon's tale. "We must now confront those Evils...and you, Terra, are that last ray of Hope," Banon concluded.
"Hear, hear!" cheered Sabin, before getting an elbow from his
elder brother.
Banon teetered and fell to his knees with a great creak and crash. His robes fluttered in the wind as the rebel dropped. "Banon!" Locke cried, rushing forward to pick him up. "You need some sleep, old man. You went and overdid it with that ol' wives' tale nonsense," Locke
muttered.
"Yes...let me rest for a while. All of you should...too..." Banon
drifted off as he went limp in Locke's arms. Locke hoisted him up and
slung him over his left shoulder, trying not to bump Banon's head on
anything as he put him to sleep.
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Her eyes opened slowly, as the drowsiness washed away from her sight. The lanterns flickered violently in her room, and she saw a large shadow cast above her bed. The youthful Locke was standing in her room, tending to the lantern's oiling. Terra kicked off the coarse sheets and rose from bed hastily. "Locke...?" she checked, wondering if the brash treasure hunter would really be there tending to chores.
His voice came softly, and it was enough to send chills down her spine: "Somebody...important to me...was jailed by the Empire a long time ago. I....I've hated them ever since. After she was jailed, they had
her...executed..." Locke stopped for a moment, his voice catching a little.
His breathing became more erratic, and the lamplight danced to his life's wind. "I joined the Returners--we were just a small group then-- once I saw that the Empire was nothing more than a crew of scumbags and beasts."
Terra took a step towards Locke, and then ceased. "I have no
'significant other' in my life..." she stated simply.
Locke whirled on her, his eyes wide with a torturous umber.
"That's not true! There are people who are counting on you! You're
really important to everyone's future, Terra!" he assured her.
Terra looked him in the eyes, studying how his inner duel with his memories was spun into a yarn which was revealed through his soily orbs. "Locke..."
He turned away from her again, fiddling with the lantern. "I won't tell you to join, Terra... but I hope that you will."
Sabin squirmed in his seat, picnicking on green cherries which the shopkeep had given him. The tangy, sharp flavor oozed through his teeth as he waited patiently for his beryl-tressed fellow traveler. It may not have been often that something was on his mind, but he really needed to speak said mind right that moment. He slumped down into the cheap wooden chair, rolling excess cherries down the smallish tabletop.
The sound of an opening door jolted Sabin to his senses as he saw the teenaged sorceress leave her room. "Terra! Over here!" he yelled, waving a hand filled with a fistful of fruit.
"Sabin? What are you doing?" she asked of him, Sabin's green
moustache stretching to each cheek. Her eyebrow arched as he
scratched his head in thought.
"Don't eat the cherries. They're really sour," he said triumphantly.
Terra's eye twitched as she heard this. Was she really joining a group of people with Sabin as one of their key soldiers? She swallowed
hard.
"Oh, that wasn't the important part...I wanted to tell you to trust my brother as much as ya can. He's always been fair with me, after all. I mean, lookit how well I turned out!" Sabin claimed, laughing
wholeheartedly.
Terra blinked at him for a moment, and was going to say
something about Sabin's intellectual state, but instead decided to
consider this as a moment of glory in Sabin's simple mind. She nodded to him, leaving the meeting room and leaving the Mount Sabil-esque base.
Sabin smiled to himself as he wolfed down more cherries. She
would be sure to join with the Returners, he thought. He could sense it.
With that, he laughed to himself once again.
Banon was perched on a boulder, looking out into the valley. He stood guard over the headquarters with a renewed strength, it seemed. "Have you made up your mind, Terra? Will you be our last Ray of Hope?" he called to her, although she had yet to make herself known to him as of yet.
Terra looked into the valley. The morning sun rose woozily, its
eerie blue infecting the night sky and killing the darkness. She saw the
sun, the hope, replacing the night, the Evils of the world which were
once unleashed. Was it a sign? An omen? Probably not.
But she had to be sure...didn't she?
"Yes...I will join with your ragtag group of rebel misfits, Sir
Banon," she said coldly.
Banon was taken aback as to whether he should frown or grin. "We're not ragtag...we're rebels. There's a HUGE difference!" he said, with a youthful vigor that resembled Locke's own. "But...I thank you. I really do," he concluded.
"But...I'm scared..." she said to him meekly.
He laughed. "Fear not! We're all here with you!" Banon exclaimed as he sprung off of the rock.
"Help! Master Banon!!" came a voice followed tightly by a
brown-clad Returner.
Banon's glance became serious. "What is it?!"
The Returner gestured to the interior of the base. "Sir Sabin is
choking on some food! He raided the supplier's stock and ate all of our
green cherries!" he cried.
Banon shook his head. "I guess I don't need to call everyone out to the meeting table, then...everyone's caught up in that big oaf's
shenanigans," he murmured, stepping quickly into the headquarters to
aid the cherry-munching martial artist.
"Now that Sabin has depleted all of our cherry stock, we will be quite prepared for shopping come this Sunday. We will need all of the
supplies possible to attack the outpost nearby Narshe. Locke, you will be
in charge of that," Banon began. Locke nodded as he leaned back
casually in his chair.
"Ahem. Let us begin taking care of the task at hand," he cleared his throat noisily. "The Empire has Magitek on their side. How do you suppose that they created them?"
Everyone fidgeted as they came up with suitable answers.
"They're using the sorcery mahjongg whatchamacallit!" Sabin chimed in.
The fidgeting replaced the groans before Locke spoke up. "The
Imperials are having their best scholars study the Espers and their
powers," Locke declared.
Edgar shifted in his seat, leaning closer to the youth. "All of the Narshe trouble was over that Esper, as well," the king spoke fluently.
"Is there a connection?" Terra asked, more to herself than to the others.
Banon's features grew grim as he prepared the reply. "I only know of...the War of the Magi..."
Everyone stood from their seats in shock. The Magic War?!
Impossible! What could they do about the War that destroyed all of
Technology?
Locke's eyebrows quivered. "Sit down, you retards! It was obvious from the get-go that this was connected to the Magi War! Why are you so surprised?" he barked at them. Terra nodded in agreement.
"But...is this a recurring event? Will it happen all over again?"
Edgar asked, his armored body quaking.
Banon, who had retained some of Locke's own composure over the past riot, opened his mouth to speak again. "A tale says that humans and machines gained dead Espers' powers, long ago...If we have Terra to speak with that Esper, it may wake up. Sure, the whole idea is foolish, but it must be attempted nevertheless," Banon orated.
Locke stared at his elder. "That didn't quite have the 'oomph' that your ol' Adam and Eve story did earlier, old man," he muttered.
Banon frowned. "That was the tale of Pandora's Box, young one. You should not mock the wisdom which I can pass to you," he returned.
Terra stood silent, one of Locke's signature arguements passing out one ear and out of the other. "Terra..." Edgar said, holding out his hand towards her.
She smiled. "I'll do it!" she exclaimed with flair.
Sabin, who had been fiddling with some green cherry pits, looked up at her with a worried look. "You sound like you're enjoyin' this," he called. Terra opened her mouth to talk, but a loud cry from outside startled them all.
A Returner covered in a bloodied garb stumbled down the stairs and tumbled to the stone. "They....found us....Ban...on...in
South...Fig...aro..." the choked cries came from the dying man. Banon's
eyes widened.
"Damn, they found us! Locke, head into South Figaro. Slow those Imperial derelicts down!" Banon ordered.
Locke smirked impishly. "Terra, don't worry; Your knight in
shining armor will come back to your aid in no time!" he laughed.
"You take it easy on yourself, Locke," Terra said with a smile.
Edgar nodded as he crossed his arms across his breastplate. "Good luck, Locke! Give them hell!"
Locke smoothed back his fair blond hair as he turned to leave out the front gates.
"Over here! We'll take this raft and exit on the Lete River! We'll be in Narshe before too long," Banon said bravely.
Terra pondered a moment. Lete? The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...
"Let's get moving. You're in danger here," Edgar stated to Terra, as he ran through the stone passageway. The sound of a dull,
thunderous roaring became more and more apparent.
The water was frothing furiously, and shoved angrily at the
raft-riding infidels. The whitecaps licked at the strong wood and its
tethers, as they shoved off down the long stream. The currents whisked
them away instantly, and they progressed with the speed of a chocobo
downstream. The raft jerked with the slight debris that it collided with,
and it jolted violently more often after the river changed directions. Two
sea monsters leapt onboard, eager for food other than meager salmon.
The nautilus and exocite made it their business to lash at Sabin alone. The cuts and bitemarks appeared without any extra help, and Sabin was left clutching his wound. Terra closed her eyes as her arms raised, palms forward and quavering. A burst of flames engulfed the aquatic exocite as it fell from the boat in ashes.
Banon waved his staff in the air, crying nonsensical words as a wind blew towards the refugee party. Sabin's cuts vanished as he stood
tall, securing his claws. He charged across the raft and dug into the
nautilus with both claws. With a surge of strength, he pulled the shell
apart and shredded the shell-dweller in a single attempt.
They all nearly fell as the river twisted, leading them in varying directions. They may have been going downstream, but there was something almost mystical about the currents on the Lete River. Water poured against rocks with a vengeance. As the horizon became nearer and clearer, Terra realized with fear why the name Lete rang an
amnesiac's bell.
The waterfall before them was enough to crush them all.
"Ho! The waterfall's here already! Everyone, row to the left!!"
Banon Screamed above the raging growls of the falls. They hoisted a pair of oars and did their best to push off of the rocks. The falls were coming more and more ominous as they drew ever-so-close to the four. The thunder rolled just to their right as the raft slowly drifted down the left side of the falls, to a gentler tributary. The mist from the falls soaked
them, but they were luckily in one piece.
"Hey...why aren't we moving?" Sabin asked. He paddled with his hands and claws to try and move the raft, but to no avail.
"Uh....guys..." Terra said quietly, pointing behind them. As they turned, a gigantic purple octopus grinned toothily at them all.
"Uwee hee hee! Game over! Don't play with the octopus, folks!
Ultros is HUNGRY, now!!" the beast gargled, its yellow eyes turning to
see them all.
"This...is not good," managed Banon.
Edgar hauled out a gas mask and an insecticide canister, complete with nozzle. Spraying the manylegged fiend, he seemed to gag a little before lashing at Terra. "Delicious morsel! Let me get my bib!" came Ultros' bubbling voice.
Terra spread out her arms and whispered fiercely. A ball of her signature fire shot forth, singeing his slick body. In retaliation, four of Ultros' tentacles whiped the entire party. Terra and Edgar fell to the
wood beneath their feet.
"Brother! Hold on!" Sabin cried, reaching into his pocket and
tossing phoenix down feathers on his sibling and the magess.
Edgar, grasping his cutlass's hilt, pulled it forth with bravado and cut through one of Ultros' tentacles. The top of it flew from the octopus and landed in the water. Sabin pulled back his right hand before
pummeling the sea monster with his knuckles swiftly nd efficiently. He
jumped back as Ultros reeled with the blows.
"Ugh! I HATE muscleheads!!" the fiend shouted, frothing at the
mouth. One of his tentacles connected with Sabin soundly, and withdrew. Sabin stood unfazed and mirthful.
"You could make a good sparring partner, eight-legs!" the blitzer conceded. Ultros' bulging eyes seemed to pop.
"Eight-legs?! You insolent little...!" the octopus began.
Terra positioned herself for for a healing spell as a whispering
breeze swept over them as if Banon had aided them. They stood their
ground, weapons drawn and prepared.
"Dinnertime!!" Ultros declared, waving a tentacle in the air
ferociously, as he thrashed Banon with raw anger.
"Banon!!" exclaimed Edgar as he swiped at an evasive tentacle.
Banon dragged himself up and used both hands to slam his wooden staff against Ultros. The oversized stick broke and splintered into Ultros' topaz eyes. His gargling scream set them all aback for a moment.
"That's all, friends!" the seven-legged wonder called as he sunk into the water.
"We beat his ass, for sure," Sabin stated simply, flexing his biceps.
"I wouldn't be so sure..." Edgar said in singsong.
Terra felt a tug at her leg. Looking down, a purple tendril wrapped around her ankle. "Eeek! My leg!!" she cried.
Sabin pulled her away from the edge as the tentacle slipped away. "It's gone now. Stay back, everyone! I'm gonna blitz 'im!" he yelled,
securing his claws again.
"Wait, brother!" Edgar cried as Sabin flung himself into the water. The raft shook a little, but otherwise remained stationary. Sabin leapt out of the water for a moment, and crashed back underneath. "Hmm...he always was a tad zealous for his own good," Edgar concluded
thoughtfully.
"Right, he'll be up soon," Banon added.
Sabin was thrown out of the water at an acute angle and flopped face-first into the water, bobbing about the surface.
"Sabin!!" the three of them cried in unison, as Sabin floated to the east, and the raft began to drift away from the fallen brawler.
Ultros was nowhere to be seen, and the roar of the falls lost
dynamics as they increased, as well, in range.
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Chapter Four:
Hope, Pandora's Remnant
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The outside of the headquarters looked reminiscent of the
Sabil mountain range pass. However, no guards stood by the gates of the
sparsely vegetated cliffside alcove. The cavern entrance was rather
obvious, and any fool walking along the mountain bases could have
found it were they blind and unlucky. Terra turned back to speak with
Locke. "Isn't this cave a bit obvious?" she asked him.
Locke shifted his weight for a moment. "Well, Banon's too cheap to hide it. He figured, 'There's a door here already! Why waste time trying to find a secluded one?'" Locke quoted thoughtfully.
Terra frowned. "What kind of attitude is that for a resistance
member?!"
Locke shrugged. "It sounded like a plausible philosophy to me at the time," he admitted. Terra turned to see Sabin nodding his head
wholeheartedly along with Locke. Edgar stood there simply watching
the oaf being gullible.
"King Edgar!" a voice called from the cave, each syllable gaining dynamics.
The four turned to the aperture and saw the speaker Returner, complete with goggles strapped on his head and the brown Returner livery. "Sir Banon awaits you, Your Highness," the man said as he bowed slightly. He unbent himself and whirled back to the headquarters entryway, leading the group into the base.
Many crates were set up in a way that would hardly produce any good were a war to start out. They cluttered the entry room, and lashed out at Terra's knees. What foolish deliveryman would place boxes in haphazard ways such as this?
The stone floor was well-worn, and Terra's heeled boots clicked on it with a slightly duller sound than that of the palace of Figaro. The stone led its way down the short flight of steps and past burning lanterns, blazing with an oily abundance. This cavern was remarkably well-furnished, and polished wood and steel glinted in the steady luminesence. The light shimmered on the large, long, many-seated table with seats for possibly twenty.
Terra hoped that this resistance movement was not so brash and arrogant that they planned on taking out the Empire-- nay, the world with a mere twenty-some members. Perhaps this Banon was indeed simply too lazy and cheap to buy more furniture for the press
conferences and meetings that these ground-dwellers thrived upon.
How could it be that the Returner sympathizers alone
outnumbered the shoddily-made maple seats at this table a thousandfold? What could she possibly get accomplished with her life if
she followed these few and these proud soldiers-in-training to her very
demise at the hands of Kefka and Emperor Gestahl? Terra stood there,
pondering over the table for a moment.
"It's a candle thought, Terra. Just a candle thought," Locke spoke to her assuredly. "Besides, you didn't really think that the Returners would have the entire staff living at HQ, didya?"
The blonde youth moved quickly to catch up with Sabin, Edgar, and their guide, and Terra moved swiftly to catch up with Locke as well.
Banon's room was quite roomy for a natural cavern. The
numerous bookshelves in the corners were stacked horrendously, with
tomes open halfway and pages torn out. She could see a copy of 'How to
be a Hermit' and a book by the title of 'Cast Away'. What did this entail?
All was revealed to her once Banon appeared from behind the
shelf. His hair stuck up as if he did not catch on to the invention of the
comb nine hundred years ago, and it was long, gnarled, and in the
process of shifting color in between light brown and grey. His robes
were aged, but some of the previous vibrance of the red with gold
trimming managed to come through. His eyes were calm, despite his
lion's mane.
"Banon! We brought Terra to meet you!" Edgar announced.
Banon stepped uneasily towards her, his eyes moving over her face and garb curiously. "This is the girl who can talk to the Espers?!" he croaked with a voice of grating gravel against mythril blades.
"...Espers?" Terra squeaked, trying not to flinch at the sound of the rebel leader's hoarse voice.
Locke put his hand on her shoulder as he entered the
conversation. "Yep! The Empire controlled her for a while. That's why
she was wreakin' havoc over our side of the battlefield," he informed the
hermit lookalike.
"Terra was manipulated into fighting with a Slave Crown. I
thought that the Empire had stopped the use of those blasted devices
once they were deemed unsafe..." Edgar stated.
Locke smirked, his hand kneading Terra's shoulder. "Those Slave Crowns are porn tools waiting to be discovered..." he said thoughtfully.
Terra stomped on his foot as Sabin guffawed idiotically. Banon
simply glared at Locke for a moment.
"She has amnesia, Banon," Edgar finished.
Terra's eyes turned downcast in thought and confusion. What
could she do? How could she truly make a decision that counted upon
her as the grain of rice which would tip the scale?
Banon paced slowly as he began to speak. "Perhaps...you've heard this story...Terra, was it?" he paused to see Terra nodding slowly, and continued his oration. "Once, when people were still pure beings, there was a box which they were told never to open. They had everything they could ever desire, but they were told to never, ever open that box. Somebody, however, did eventually open it. Once the chest was undone, all of the Evils of the world were unleashed: envy, greed, pride, violence, and control. All that remained within was a single ray of light...Hope..."
Terra stood silently as she thought about Banon's tale. "We must now confront those Evils...and you, Terra, are that last ray of Hope," Banon concluded.
"Hear, hear!" cheered Sabin, before getting an elbow from his
elder brother.
Banon teetered and fell to his knees with a great creak and crash. His robes fluttered in the wind as the rebel dropped. "Banon!" Locke cried, rushing forward to pick him up. "You need some sleep, old man. You went and overdid it with that ol' wives' tale nonsense," Locke
muttered.
"Yes...let me rest for a while. All of you should...too..." Banon
drifted off as he went limp in Locke's arms. Locke hoisted him up and
slung him over his left shoulder, trying not to bump Banon's head on
anything as he put him to sleep.
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Her eyes opened slowly, as the drowsiness washed away from her sight. The lanterns flickered violently in her room, and she saw a large shadow cast above her bed. The youthful Locke was standing in her room, tending to the lantern's oiling. Terra kicked off the coarse sheets and rose from bed hastily. "Locke...?" she checked, wondering if the brash treasure hunter would really be there tending to chores.
His voice came softly, and it was enough to send chills down her spine: "Somebody...important to me...was jailed by the Empire a long time ago. I....I've hated them ever since. After she was jailed, they had
her...executed..." Locke stopped for a moment, his voice catching a little.
His breathing became more erratic, and the lamplight danced to his life's wind. "I joined the Returners--we were just a small group then-- once I saw that the Empire was nothing more than a crew of scumbags and beasts."
Terra took a step towards Locke, and then ceased. "I have no
'significant other' in my life..." she stated simply.
Locke whirled on her, his eyes wide with a torturous umber.
"That's not true! There are people who are counting on you! You're
really important to everyone's future, Terra!" he assured her.
Terra looked him in the eyes, studying how his inner duel with his memories was spun into a yarn which was revealed through his soily orbs. "Locke..."
He turned away from her again, fiddling with the lantern. "I won't tell you to join, Terra... but I hope that you will."
Sabin squirmed in his seat, picnicking on green cherries which the shopkeep had given him. The tangy, sharp flavor oozed through his teeth as he waited patiently for his beryl-tressed fellow traveler. It may not have been often that something was on his mind, but he really needed to speak said mind right that moment. He slumped down into the cheap wooden chair, rolling excess cherries down the smallish tabletop.
The sound of an opening door jolted Sabin to his senses as he saw the teenaged sorceress leave her room. "Terra! Over here!" he yelled, waving a hand filled with a fistful of fruit.
"Sabin? What are you doing?" she asked of him, Sabin's green
moustache stretching to each cheek. Her eyebrow arched as he
scratched his head in thought.
"Don't eat the cherries. They're really sour," he said triumphantly.
Terra's eye twitched as she heard this. Was she really joining a group of people with Sabin as one of their key soldiers? She swallowed
hard.
"Oh, that wasn't the important part...I wanted to tell you to trust my brother as much as ya can. He's always been fair with me, after all. I mean, lookit how well I turned out!" Sabin claimed, laughing
wholeheartedly.
Terra blinked at him for a moment, and was going to say
something about Sabin's intellectual state, but instead decided to
consider this as a moment of glory in Sabin's simple mind. She nodded to him, leaving the meeting room and leaving the Mount Sabil-esque base.
Sabin smiled to himself as he wolfed down more cherries. She
would be sure to join with the Returners, he thought. He could sense it.
With that, he laughed to himself once again.
Banon was perched on a boulder, looking out into the valley. He stood guard over the headquarters with a renewed strength, it seemed. "Have you made up your mind, Terra? Will you be our last Ray of Hope?" he called to her, although she had yet to make herself known to him as of yet.
Terra looked into the valley. The morning sun rose woozily, its
eerie blue infecting the night sky and killing the darkness. She saw the
sun, the hope, replacing the night, the Evils of the world which were
once unleashed. Was it a sign? An omen? Probably not.
But she had to be sure...didn't she?
"Yes...I will join with your ragtag group of rebel misfits, Sir
Banon," she said coldly.
Banon was taken aback as to whether he should frown or grin. "We're not ragtag...we're rebels. There's a HUGE difference!" he said, with a youthful vigor that resembled Locke's own. "But...I thank you. I really do," he concluded.
"But...I'm scared..." she said to him meekly.
He laughed. "Fear not! We're all here with you!" Banon exclaimed as he sprung off of the rock.
"Help! Master Banon!!" came a voice followed tightly by a
brown-clad Returner.
Banon's glance became serious. "What is it?!"
The Returner gestured to the interior of the base. "Sir Sabin is
choking on some food! He raided the supplier's stock and ate all of our
green cherries!" he cried.
Banon shook his head. "I guess I don't need to call everyone out to the meeting table, then...everyone's caught up in that big oaf's
shenanigans," he murmured, stepping quickly into the headquarters to
aid the cherry-munching martial artist.
"Now that Sabin has depleted all of our cherry stock, we will be quite prepared for shopping come this Sunday. We will need all of the
supplies possible to attack the outpost nearby Narshe. Locke, you will be
in charge of that," Banon began. Locke nodded as he leaned back
casually in his chair.
"Ahem. Let us begin taking care of the task at hand," he cleared his throat noisily. "The Empire has Magitek on their side. How do you suppose that they created them?"
Everyone fidgeted as they came up with suitable answers.
"They're using the sorcery mahjongg whatchamacallit!" Sabin chimed in.
The fidgeting replaced the groans before Locke spoke up. "The
Imperials are having their best scholars study the Espers and their
powers," Locke declared.
Edgar shifted in his seat, leaning closer to the youth. "All of the Narshe trouble was over that Esper, as well," the king spoke fluently.
"Is there a connection?" Terra asked, more to herself than to the others.
Banon's features grew grim as he prepared the reply. "I only know of...the War of the Magi..."
Everyone stood from their seats in shock. The Magic War?!
Impossible! What could they do about the War that destroyed all of
Technology?
Locke's eyebrows quivered. "Sit down, you retards! It was obvious from the get-go that this was connected to the Magi War! Why are you so surprised?" he barked at them. Terra nodded in agreement.
"But...is this a recurring event? Will it happen all over again?"
Edgar asked, his armored body quaking.
Banon, who had retained some of Locke's own composure over the past riot, opened his mouth to speak again. "A tale says that humans and machines gained dead Espers' powers, long ago...If we have Terra to speak with that Esper, it may wake up. Sure, the whole idea is foolish, but it must be attempted nevertheless," Banon orated.
Locke stared at his elder. "That didn't quite have the 'oomph' that your ol' Adam and Eve story did earlier, old man," he muttered.
Banon frowned. "That was the tale of Pandora's Box, young one. You should not mock the wisdom which I can pass to you," he returned.
Terra stood silent, one of Locke's signature arguements passing out one ear and out of the other. "Terra..." Edgar said, holding out his hand towards her.
She smiled. "I'll do it!" she exclaimed with flair.
Sabin, who had been fiddling with some green cherry pits, looked up at her with a worried look. "You sound like you're enjoyin' this," he called. Terra opened her mouth to talk, but a loud cry from outside startled them all.
A Returner covered in a bloodied garb stumbled down the stairs and tumbled to the stone. "They....found us....Ban...on...in
South...Fig...aro..." the choked cries came from the dying man. Banon's
eyes widened.
"Damn, they found us! Locke, head into South Figaro. Slow those Imperial derelicts down!" Banon ordered.
Locke smirked impishly. "Terra, don't worry; Your knight in
shining armor will come back to your aid in no time!" he laughed.
"You take it easy on yourself, Locke," Terra said with a smile.
Edgar nodded as he crossed his arms across his breastplate. "Good luck, Locke! Give them hell!"
Locke smoothed back his fair blond hair as he turned to leave out the front gates.
"Over here! We'll take this raft and exit on the Lete River! We'll be in Narshe before too long," Banon said bravely.
Terra pondered a moment. Lete? The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...
"Let's get moving. You're in danger here," Edgar stated to Terra, as he ran through the stone passageway. The sound of a dull,
thunderous roaring became more and more apparent.
The water was frothing furiously, and shoved angrily at the
raft-riding infidels. The whitecaps licked at the strong wood and its
tethers, as they shoved off down the long stream. The currents whisked
them away instantly, and they progressed with the speed of a chocobo
downstream. The raft jerked with the slight debris that it collided with,
and it jolted violently more often after the river changed directions. Two
sea monsters leapt onboard, eager for food other than meager salmon.
The nautilus and exocite made it their business to lash at Sabin alone. The cuts and bitemarks appeared without any extra help, and Sabin was left clutching his wound. Terra closed her eyes as her arms raised, palms forward and quavering. A burst of flames engulfed the aquatic exocite as it fell from the boat in ashes.
Banon waved his staff in the air, crying nonsensical words as a wind blew towards the refugee party. Sabin's cuts vanished as he stood
tall, securing his claws. He charged across the raft and dug into the
nautilus with both claws. With a surge of strength, he pulled the shell
apart and shredded the shell-dweller in a single attempt.
They all nearly fell as the river twisted, leading them in varying directions. They may have been going downstream, but there was something almost mystical about the currents on the Lete River. Water poured against rocks with a vengeance. As the horizon became nearer and clearer, Terra realized with fear why the name Lete rang an
amnesiac's bell.
The waterfall before them was enough to crush them all.
"Ho! The waterfall's here already! Everyone, row to the left!!"
Banon Screamed above the raging growls of the falls. They hoisted a pair of oars and did their best to push off of the rocks. The falls were coming more and more ominous as they drew ever-so-close to the four. The thunder rolled just to their right as the raft slowly drifted down the left side of the falls, to a gentler tributary. The mist from the falls soaked
them, but they were luckily in one piece.
"Hey...why aren't we moving?" Sabin asked. He paddled with his hands and claws to try and move the raft, but to no avail.
"Uh....guys..." Terra said quietly, pointing behind them. As they turned, a gigantic purple octopus grinned toothily at them all.
"Uwee hee hee! Game over! Don't play with the octopus, folks!
Ultros is HUNGRY, now!!" the beast gargled, its yellow eyes turning to
see them all.
"This...is not good," managed Banon.
Edgar hauled out a gas mask and an insecticide canister, complete with nozzle. Spraying the manylegged fiend, he seemed to gag a little before lashing at Terra. "Delicious morsel! Let me get my bib!" came Ultros' bubbling voice.
Terra spread out her arms and whispered fiercely. A ball of her signature fire shot forth, singeing his slick body. In retaliation, four of Ultros' tentacles whiped the entire party. Terra and Edgar fell to the
wood beneath their feet.
"Brother! Hold on!" Sabin cried, reaching into his pocket and
tossing phoenix down feathers on his sibling and the magess.
Edgar, grasping his cutlass's hilt, pulled it forth with bravado and cut through one of Ultros' tentacles. The top of it flew from the octopus and landed in the water. Sabin pulled back his right hand before
pummeling the sea monster with his knuckles swiftly nd efficiently. He
jumped back as Ultros reeled with the blows.
"Ugh! I HATE muscleheads!!" the fiend shouted, frothing at the
mouth. One of his tentacles connected with Sabin soundly, and withdrew. Sabin stood unfazed and mirthful.
"You could make a good sparring partner, eight-legs!" the blitzer conceded. Ultros' bulging eyes seemed to pop.
"Eight-legs?! You insolent little...!" the octopus began.
Terra positioned herself for for a healing spell as a whispering
breeze swept over them as if Banon had aided them. They stood their
ground, weapons drawn and prepared.
"Dinnertime!!" Ultros declared, waving a tentacle in the air
ferociously, as he thrashed Banon with raw anger.
"Banon!!" exclaimed Edgar as he swiped at an evasive tentacle.
Banon dragged himself up and used both hands to slam his wooden staff against Ultros. The oversized stick broke and splintered into Ultros' topaz eyes. His gargling scream set them all aback for a moment.
"That's all, friends!" the seven-legged wonder called as he sunk into the water.
"We beat his ass, for sure," Sabin stated simply, flexing his biceps.
"I wouldn't be so sure..." Edgar said in singsong.
Terra felt a tug at her leg. Looking down, a purple tendril wrapped around her ankle. "Eeek! My leg!!" she cried.
Sabin pulled her away from the edge as the tentacle slipped away. "It's gone now. Stay back, everyone! I'm gonna blitz 'im!" he yelled,
securing his claws again.
"Wait, brother!" Edgar cried as Sabin flung himself into the water. The raft shook a little, but otherwise remained stationary. Sabin leapt out of the water for a moment, and crashed back underneath. "Hmm...he always was a tad zealous for his own good," Edgar concluded
thoughtfully.
"Right, he'll be up soon," Banon added.
Sabin was thrown out of the water at an acute angle and flopped face-first into the water, bobbing about the surface.
"Sabin!!" the three of them cried in unison, as Sabin floated to the east, and the raft began to drift away from the fallen brawler.
Ultros was nowhere to be seen, and the roar of the falls lost
dynamics as they increased, as well, in range.
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