A/N: Hey, guys! In the previous chapter, a mysterious girl, Biggs and Wedge, soldiers of the Gestahlian Empire, beseiged Narshe to get hold of Valigamarda, a frozen Esper. However, the Esper reacted with the young woman, who fainted, and Biggs and Wedge died. Before starting, I state that I chose the first genre, Fantasy, because the Final Fantasy series is always based on folklore and legends from around the world, and Drama for the story of the game and characters, full of sad moments, and as for the main characters, the game focuses on almost all the usable characters, so, for now, I've chosen the two who play the biggest role in the story as the main characters. Anyone who has played the game knows this. For those who haven't played it yet, for now I avoid spoilers. End premise, let's see what happened to the girl!

Chapter 2: Locke Cole: Treasure Hunter

(''Awakening- Final Fantasy VI OST'')

The girl felt a sensation of warmth she hadn't felt before, and a voice was calling her. She felt groggy, and it was hard to open her eyes, but when she opened them again, she found she was in a bed. Her green eyes had a light that had previously been lost, and in front of her, there was an old man with dark blond hair looking at her concerned.

''Hey, you woke up!'' said the man.

''Where... where am I?'' the young woman asked.

''You are at my house, in Narshe. Anyway, I'm Arvis.'' the man replied.

The woman began to feel the world spinning around her, but Arvis grabbed her to keep her from falling out of bed. ''Whoa! I just took this off of you!'' he exclaimed, referring to the crown-like band on the floor, cracked and unusable. ''Don't worry, it was a Slave Crown. The Gestahlian Empire had full control over you while you wore it.''

''My head hurts... I don't remember anything...''

''So you have amnesia? Don't worry, sooner or later your memory will come back. ''

The girl suddenly managed to remember something. ''My name is... Terra Branford... '' she murmured, getting out of bed.

Arvis was flabbergasted. ''Impressive! I've never seen anyone recover so quickly! You must be special.'' he said.

''What happened?'' Terra asked.

''You and two other Imperial soldiers had besieged Narshe on Magitek armors to find a frozen Esper in the mines. The other soldiers died, but the Esper interacted because of your presence and you passed out.'' Arvis replied.

''Empire? Magitek armors?''

''Yes. Emperor Gestahl has conquered the southern continent, and is now trying to conquer the rest of the world as well.''

Terra felt guilty now, as she was among those who besieged Narshe. ''I'm sorry...'' she murmured.

''No, there is no need to apologize. You wore a Slave Crown, which prevents the wearer from acting and thinking consciously, and you were thus submissive to the Empire.'' Arvis told her gently.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and there were wolves. The man went to the door, but did not open it, and he heard a voice. ''Open the door and hand over that girl immediately! She is a soldier of the Empire!'' a guard yelled.

''What's going on?'' Terra asked.

''Terra, you have to get out of here! I know you weren't yourself when all of this happened, but the guards won't listen to you! Take the back door, it will take you to the south passage of the Narshe mines, it is abandoned and long unused. I will try to obstruct the guards! Run!'' Arvis shouted, with some fear in his voice, and Terra, who didn't know what else to do, went outside without looking back.

(''Awakening- Final Fantasy VI OST-s'')

(Objective: The Narshe guards are chasing you! Flee to the mines!)

Characters:

Terra

Although weakened, Terra began to walk, regretting what had happened, even though Arvis said otherwise, knowing that if the guards caught her, she would be arrested, and the citizens of Narshe were certainly furious with her over the siege. She tried to walk silently across the bridge, but she had completely forgotten about the high heels on her boots, which were louder than she expected.

''She's up there!'' a guard yelled, calling for more guards, and the terrified girl quickened her pace and ran as fast as she could towards the abandoned mine. The place was dark and infested with bats, rats and bandits, so she brought out her weapon of choice: a light sword, with its blade long but at the same time curved and thin, with a rosy hilt and a red sphere on the pommel(1), swung it outward, hitting the rats as they leapt towards her, and when one of the bandits approached, she instinctively released magical energy from her hand. The girl didn't try to fight them though, focusing only on escaping, but after a minute, she began to get tired from running blindly so much. She was relieved when she saw an exit to the left, and tried to go on, but a voice broke her hopes of leaving without getting caught.

(''Title Screen- Super Metroid OST'')

''There she is!'' shouted two guards, and the young woman panicked. She tried to go back, but two other guards and their wolves blocked her way. ''Hands up, witch!''

Terra had no choice but to obey, and began to retreat slowly, but remained with her back to the wall. She felt a not conforting tremor and realized that the ground was cracking under her feet. She managed to hold on to avoid falling, but one of the guards stepped on her hand, forcing her to hang on with the other hand, but another kick made her lose her grip, and the woman fell below with a loud scream, falling to the ground with a thud. Too weak to get up, she tried to crawl, but she couldn't even move, and saw a world tinged with yellow. Were they flashbacks? Had she remembered something? She saw herself in a castle, in a room full of machinery, and with her, there was a man dressed as a clown and with a strange make-up holding something.

The man was giggling madly, and Terra realized it was no good. ''My dear magic user... with this Slave Crown, you will be mine!'' he said, trying to put the crown on her. The girl saw herself scream ''No! GET AWAY FROM ME!''(2), squirming and kicking, but it was all in vain, and when the clown put the crown on her head, she stopped reacting, and the light in her eyes faded.

The scene changed, and this time, Terra saw herself on a huge machine, and in front of her, there were several soldiers, perhaps Imperial soldiers, and that clown man was ordering her to kill them all and set everything on fire. A fiery background appeared, and she watched in horror as she killed fifty soldiers on those same exoskeletal armor in less than three minutes. She could hear their screams of pain as she set everyone on fire with fiery beams, and to make matters worse, there was also that creepy man giggling. ''Good, good! Burn them all to a crisp!'' A scenario very similar to the one before appeared, but an entire city was in flames, burned to the ground, and Terra, hearing all these screams and laughter, tried to plug her ears. ''Was it really me? Was it me who did all this, destroyed everything, killed all those people?'' she asked himself.

The scene changed once again, in what appeared to be the residence of the Empire. With her, there was that man from before, but there was also another man, blond and in green armor, and a young woman about her age with long blond hair, in a low-cut green bodysuit, a white cape attached to shoulderpads of the same color and blue high-heeled boots. With them, there was another man, noticeably older, with long white hair, a mustache and a beard, and he was giving a speech to a crowd of imperial soldiers a short distance away. ''The dawn of a new era has come, soldiers of the Empire! With the power of magic now in our hands, we will conquer the world, and nothing will stop us!'' he declared loudly. There were screams of people cheering on the man, who certainly looked like a power figure.

''Hurrah! Long live Emperor Gestahl! Hurrah! Long live Emperor Gestahl!'' the soldiers repeated.

Terra noticed that herself, unlike everyone else, hadn't saluted, but had only stepped forward. She couldn't understand what was happening, and she felt too weak to move as the world around her went black for the second time in a short period.

(''Title Screen- Super Metroid OST-s'')

Meanwhile, Arvis was wandering around his living room, worried and frustrated. He had tried to explain to the guards that Terra had been used by the Empire, but they had not listened to him, and in response, they had hit him in the face with the shaft of their spears. They were all really stubborn, and he knew that if Terra couldn't escape, it would be the end of her. He turned around when he saw that a man had entered, but he was not a guard. ''Locke, took you long enough!'' he said.

(''Locke's Theme- Final Fantasy VI OST'')

''Sorry.'' Locke said. He was quite tall, with blond hair so clear that it looked white, covered in a blue bandana. He was clearly prepared for going into Narshe's cold, in brown leather boots, a white T-shirt, blue jeans, brown gloves and a blue jacket. His brown eyes had a gentle glow, highlighted by his cheerful and upbeat smile.

The man chuckled. ''You've been busy stealing, haven't you?'' he asked.

''For your information, I was treasure-hunting! There's a big difference between stealing and looking for treasure!'' Locke replied. He hated being called a thief, becoming touchy when it did, and as an adventurer, he wanted to be called a ''treasure hunter''.

''Anyway, Locke, I called you here because you need to find a girl. Her name is Terra.'' Arvis said.

''Wait a sec. You're not referring to that Imperial soldier on the Magitek armor, aren't you?'' the adventurer asked.

''Yes. She was under the control of the Empire due to a Slave Crown, and suffered from amnesia. She escaped to the mines, but I don't know if she left Narshe. The guards want to arrest her, and if they catch her, I don't know what they could do to her. Besides, the Empire could attack the city anyway. The people of Narshe are too stubborn and independent to join the Returners, and they didn't listen to me when they told me that this girl was used by the Empire as a puppet.''

''I see. I will help her escape from Narshe.''

''Good. Remember that she is dressed in red and has green hair. She must be somewhere in the southern passage of the mine. When you find it, head south to Figaro. I'm counting on you!''

Thus, Locke left Arvis's house. He did not expect this assignment, especially given that just recently, due to the failed siege by the Gestalhian Empire, Narshe had become even more isolationist. Arvis might be crazy, but he trusted him. He had lost something important to the Empire, which he had hated ever since. While exploring the mine, he saw a hole large enough that a person could fall into it. He looked down and saw a girl dressed in red with emerald green hair, unconscious. It was just the girl he was looking for, and using a rope, he went down and reached her, surprised at how pale she was. He knew he had to get her out of here as soon as possible before she could freeze to death, or worse, be executed by the guards, but before she could move, she heard voices.

''The Imperial soldier will be ours!'' shouted a guard, followed by several others plus a few wolves.

''That girl slaughtered half of our team just tonight! I want the Elder to sentence her to death!'' said another one.

Locke, taken aback by that sentence, equipped his dagger and prepared to fight, but then he saw not one, not two, but eleven Moogles. ''Kupo! I'm Mog, and me and the other Moogles will help you out!'' said the leader of the eleven, Mog.

''Thanks, I could use some help! Protect that girl!'' Locke said.

In addition to Mog, the ten Moogles were Molulu, his girlfriend, Moghan, Moguel, Moglin, Mogret, Moggie, Mogsy, Mogwin, Mugmug and Cosmog, who attacked the guards with all kinds of weapons to protect Terra. Some used spears and swords, others used equipable claws on their hands, staffs, and one of them even had a brush.

(Objective: Protect Terra from the Narshe guards!)

Locke

Mog

Molulu

Moghan

Moguel

Moglin

Mogret

Moggie

Mogsy

Mogwin

Mugmug

Cosmog

Locke saw two wolves running towards him in an attempt to bite him and dodged them, only to slash their throats with just a stab, and as the Moogle attacked the guards with their weapons, he saw that Mog was doing a strange dance in the dark. ''Twilight Requiem!''

The treasure hunter saw with surprise that will-o'-the-wisps(3) had appeared that had defeated the remaining wolves, and confronted the guards along with Mog, who was also making rocks fall on some of them. Since his dagger was short, he was at a disadvantage against the guards due to their long spears, but he was fast and difficult to hit. Molulu struck a guard with her mace, and Moglin finished it off with his spear, while Moggie knocked another out with his claws, and all the Moogle pointed their weapons, while Mog stopped dancing, and the two remaining guards, seeing that they were outnumbered against twelve opponents, fled.

''Thanks, Moogles! We owe you all!'' Locke said. He then lifted Terra in his arms, noticing that she was quite light, and kept making his way through the mine, until he then found a secret switch that opened the mine's exit.

(''Locke's Theme- Final Fantasy VI OST-s'')

The girl woke up dazed once more. ''Did you... save me? Thank you...'' she said.

''Don't thank me.'' the treasure hunter replied. '' You should thank the Moogle, they were very helpful. One of them, Mog, is with me. ''

Terra felt trapped in a kind of fog, as she could hardly remember anything. ''I can't remember anything, past or present!'' she exclaimed with a groan.

''You really lost your memory, then!'' Locke shouted, remembering that it already happened to someone.

''A man named Arvis told me it would come back to me in the future.'' said the former Imperial soldier.

''I know him very well. Until then, you will be safe with me, you have my word!'' said the adventurer, and Terra did not know what to say. ''Trust me, I will protect you!''

''Thanks. I'm Terra. I suppose Arvis told you about me.'' Terra said.

''Yes, he asked me to help you escape from Narshe. I'm Locke Cole, a treasure hunter. Nice to meet you.'' Locke replied, shaking her hand. ''Let's get out of here and head south, towards the kingdom of Figaro.''

The young woman nodded, knowing there was nowhere else to go, and followed her savior out of the city of Narshe. She also met Mog, lifted him off the ground and petted him, a gesture that the Moogle loved(4).

(The adventurer Locke and Moogle Mog joined the party!)

A/N: Terra Branford, the mysterious girl, is safe, thanks also to Locke and the Moogles. What will happen in Figaro? Who will they meet there? Find out in the next chapter! See you soon!

(1): This sword is the Enhancer, which appears as Terra's signature weapon in the artworks, and she also uses it as her weapon of choice in the Dissidia: Final Fantasy subseries, although in the latter case, she uses it little, only with a particular method of attack.

(2): This quote shows that Terra was subjected to the Slave Crown against her will, but sadly, it didn't make it into the final game. However, she does say something similar in Dissidia: Final Fantasy when she casts Blizzara.

(3): For the people how don't know about it, Mog is a mix between the Dancer and the Geomancer in Final Fantasy V: the dances he can do have variable effects, and like the Geomancer, the attacks vary based on where he is fighting, with eight types of dances and four special moves for each of them.

(4): According to her profiles, Terra has a passion for Moogles and has the hobby of petting them. This is also shown in the spin-offs where he interacts with them, and in Mog's profile, it is stated that he loves to be petted. Mog is playable, but I decided to have him join the group earlier in comparison to when he would be recruited in the game.