Chapter 2: Trial and Error
"Well, I guess we can't worry about Alex too much right at this moment…she'll be fine!" Jason enthusiastically said to the group. "We'll find her later, I know we will!"
Scott put a hand on his back to comfort Jason. He knew quite well about how Jason felt about Alex, and didn't want him feeling hurt or upset. Jeff came over and did the same as well.
"She'll be alright Jason…don't worry about it." Jeff said, patting his shoulder. "She's very tough…I'm sure she can handle anything."
Terra was still unsure of what was exactly going on, but she was determined to find out the truth. She walked over and turned Scott and Jeff both around.
"All right Locke, Edgar. What in the world is going on? You 2 are acting VERY peculiar, and keep calling yourselves different names. Tell me NOW!" She yelled to Scott, Jeff, and Jason.
Jason scratched his head a bit, unsure what exactly to say to Terra. Scott stood there somewhat speechless. Jeff was the first one to open up and say something.
"Well Terra, to tell you the truth, we were all watching Jason play this game," Jeff began, pointing to Sabin. Jason waived a bit, "When lightning struck near his house…as far as I can tell, it jolted the four of us INTO the game somehow…"
Terra stopped Jeff from saying anymore. "Wait a second…I'm not stupid, there's only three of you here."
Jason looked down, a few tears forming in his eyes. Scott stepped forward and explained it to Terra. "Well, our friend Alex was with us…we all thought that you were her, for obvious reasons…" He began to tug at his cape and clothes, and point towards Jeff and Jason. "But you are not, which means SOMEWHERE out there Alex is alone. She and Jason…" He began, but trailed off, lowering his head.
Terra nodded a bit, not fully understanding what it all meant. Scott pointed over towards the cave entrance. "Well, we may as well head towards the Returner's Hideout then, and see if we can't receive a little help finding her."
Jason looked up and wiped his eyes a bit, and nodded. "Yeah…let's head there…we can gather ourselves a bit and rest, as well." He said, taking the lead of the party. Scott followed close behind, then Jeff, and finally Terra.
While walking, Jason began a conversation with Scott and Jeff. "So bro…looks like your dream of being Edgar came true. Heh, it was destiny for me to be Sabin and you as Edgar, you know. And Jeff as Locke…this is almost too real to be a game…"
Scott nodded. "You know, you do have a point. I mean, from the gamer's point of view, everything looks so…dull and flat. Look around us. It's REAL!"
Jeff nodded. "Yes…this obviously isn't fake…" Suddenly, before they could discuss anything more on the subject, two angry looking fighters 1jumped out and attacked the party.
Scott looked up at the arrow above his head and grinned. "Alright, it looks like I get first attack against these Brawlers!" he commented, looking towards the enemies, who were ready to attack. "Perhaps I should use my…noisemaker?" He pondered, holding out his arm. His trademark noisemaker mystically and instantly appeared. "Have a headache, on me!" He turned on the tool, making it emit supersonic pulses of sound. The two brawlers, both confused, turned their backs to the party.
"Way to go bro!" Jason commented, patting Scott's back. He looked up over Jeff's head to see the arrow. "Looks like you're up Jeff!"
"I guess I am, huh?" Jeff said, looking over his head at the arrow, still a little miffed about this whole thing. "All righty then, this will be…a steal!" Jeff chuckled, running up behind one of the confused Brawlers. He tried to swipe something, but failed. A bit upset, he returned to the party's ranks.
One of the Brawlers, still confused from the noisemaker blast, jumped towards the other one, punching it a few times upside the head, causing minimal damage. The other Brawler lunged towards Jeff and pounded on him. Jeff fell back and grabbed his arm in a little pain.
Jason looked up at the arrow. "Well, let's see what I can do!" He proudly chanted. He began charging up and a small ball formed in his hands. After a bit, he clasped his hands together and released it at the un- confused brawler. "AURA BOLT!" He yelled. A light beam blasted from his hands, hitting the Brawler head-on, killing it. "Ha! Piece of cake!" Jason laughed, sweating a bit and crossing his arms.
Terra's turn was up, and without any resistance, she began chanting a few words. Jason blinked a bit and looked over at Scott. "Bro, what is she doing!?"
"She's chanting a spell! You know, she DOES know magic…" Scott replied.
"Oooooohhhhhh…"
Terra turned towards Jeff and raised her arms into the air. "Cure!" She yelled. A mystical green light surrounded Jeff, healing him up. He stood up and nodded towards her in thanks. She just stepped back and kept her focus on the enemy.
Scott rubbed at his chin a bit and took out his spear. "That one's still confused, because Jason killed the unconfused one…" He said before rushing the Brawler and stabbing him square in the chest. He then hopped back to his place, the Brawler obviously wounded.
The Brawler pulled out his critical attack, jumping at and landing some severe punches on Terra, putting her in critical state. She fell to her knees and gasped for air. The Brawler hopped back, knowing that if he stood any chance of winning, the healer would have to go. The arrow then returned to Jeff.
"Looks like I'm up again…" Jeff said, yawning a bit as he looked above his head. "I think I'll try stealing something again." He ran up to the Brawler and managed to acquire a Tonic from him before he backed off. Jeff grinned a bit as he put it in his pocket, and stood in line.
Scott turned to Jason, seeing the arrow above his head, and shouted to him. "Just attack it! It's almost dead as it is!"
Jason turned back and nodded. "YEAH! I can tell! He's grabbing his arm in obvious pain. I'll end it...NOW!" Jason lunged in with his claw and gashed it across his chest, killing the Brawler. Jason leaped back to his spot and began raising his arms in victory. "YEAAAAAAHHHH! We did it!"
Scott looked over at Jason and shook his head. "Don't be so happy bro, we've managed to defeat two of the easiest enemies in the game in more than 4 attacks. Normally it'd only take us about 3 turns. If we suck this bad now, how do you think we'll manage against the harder enemies?"
Jason laughed a bit "Hahahaha! We are just getting used to this…don't worry about it, we'll be fine!" Jason turned and began to walk towards a nearby treasure chest. He opened it up and acquired a Tent. "WHOA!? This is a tent? It's PUNY!" He commented at the size of it. It was a little cube, no larger than his palm. On it was a picture of a tent. "I guess that's how they can carry so many items…aw well."
Jeff went over to the wounded Terra and took out the Tonic he had just stolen. "Here you go Terra, he's a Tonic for you." Jeff said to her. He took the small vial and began tapping her head with it.
"Why isn't it working?" Jeff growled.
Scott walked over to him and put his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Think about it. If this place LOOKS real, SEEMS real, FEELS real, then we probably have to ACT real in certain occasions." He took the Tonic and opened it up, giving it to Terra to drink.
Terra sat up and drank the Tonic. She looked up and blinked a bit towards Jeff. "Next time, please just hand it to me, all right?" She said, rubbing her head. Jeff nodded a bit in agreement.
Jason walked back to the three and noticed that Terra was still sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. "Oh no! You're hurt Terra! I found a Tonic a while back, here!" Jason said, pulling it out. He began to wind- up to throw it at her.
"JASON! NO!" Scott and Jeff both yelled. Caught in mid-windup, Jason yielded his arm from throwing the Tonic.
"Well, when I always saw it, they threw the item at the other members, healing them. I thought that was what we had to do."
Scott only shook his head before he helped Terra to her feet. The four exited Mount Kolts.
When the party reached outside, Jason began to ponder something for a moment. "Hey guys…I've begun to wonder…how in the world do we save?"
Terra pulled out what seed to be a tiny machine. "WELL…each of you have one of these…when you're not in a cave or town; or if you're standing on a blue save point, you press this button, marked save. It's called a Memory Log, if you were curious." She explained.
At about the same time, Scott, Jeff, and Jason all pulled out their Memory Logs and awed at it. Jeff intelligently began to press it cautiously; Scott tapped at the button a few times, then would pause and stare at it, and repeat tapping it; and Jason was hastily pressing it as fast as he could.
"All right guys, that's enough…uh huh, looks like you all know how to use it…yeah, you can stop now…knock it off!" Terra tried to tell them, shaking her head.
After about 5 minutes of playing with them, the heroic four headed north, towards the Returner's hideout, in hopes to meet Banon and receive some help from him.
Meanwhile, deep in the Empire's fortress, Alex was talking to the Emperor. He had two guards standing next to his throne.
"You see, Kefka is going against your wishes. He's on his way to the Imperial Base down near Doma, and he has plans to poison Doma!"
"How do you know this? Did he tell you he was plotting a poisoning?" Emperor Gestahl leaned forward in his throne, resting his finger against his head.
"Well, no, but I just know it's going to happen…" Alex said and sighed a bit, looking down.
"Enough of this nonsense. You are to report to South Figaro with a squadron and take it over…do you think you can manage to do that without messing it up?"
"Yes sir…" Alex saluted him. She didn't want to get imprisoned for not following orders.
"Dismissed." Gestahl said, pointing towards the door. Alex left the room, wondering if the Emperor believed her. After a moment of rubbing his beard, Emperor Gestahl snapped his fingers. Another guard came into the room and bowed before his Emperor.
"You are to go with our dear friend General Celes and make sure she follows her orders. If she fails to do her job, then shackle her up and keep her silent. She is not to sabotage this mission, understand?"
"Yes, your majesty." The guard said before standing to attention and leaving the quarters.
"Yes…General Celes…a traitor…after all I've done for her…" Gestahl said, pondering what Celes had just told him. Gestahl called another guard into the room.
"Yes sir?" The guard said, bowing towards Gestahl.
"I'd like you to report to General Leo…tell him he must go to Doma's Imperial Base and keep a close watch on Kefka."
"Yes sir!" The guard replied in attention, and headed out of the throne room.
"Now we'll see if Celes really knows something…" Gestahl said to himself.
"Well, I guess we can't worry about Alex too much right at this moment…she'll be fine!" Jason enthusiastically said to the group. "We'll find her later, I know we will!"
Scott put a hand on his back to comfort Jason. He knew quite well about how Jason felt about Alex, and didn't want him feeling hurt or upset. Jeff came over and did the same as well.
"She'll be alright Jason…don't worry about it." Jeff said, patting his shoulder. "She's very tough…I'm sure she can handle anything."
Terra was still unsure of what was exactly going on, but she was determined to find out the truth. She walked over and turned Scott and Jeff both around.
"All right Locke, Edgar. What in the world is going on? You 2 are acting VERY peculiar, and keep calling yourselves different names. Tell me NOW!" She yelled to Scott, Jeff, and Jason.
Jason scratched his head a bit, unsure what exactly to say to Terra. Scott stood there somewhat speechless. Jeff was the first one to open up and say something.
"Well Terra, to tell you the truth, we were all watching Jason play this game," Jeff began, pointing to Sabin. Jason waived a bit, "When lightning struck near his house…as far as I can tell, it jolted the four of us INTO the game somehow…"
Terra stopped Jeff from saying anymore. "Wait a second…I'm not stupid, there's only three of you here."
Jason looked down, a few tears forming in his eyes. Scott stepped forward and explained it to Terra. "Well, our friend Alex was with us…we all thought that you were her, for obvious reasons…" He began to tug at his cape and clothes, and point towards Jeff and Jason. "But you are not, which means SOMEWHERE out there Alex is alone. She and Jason…" He began, but trailed off, lowering his head.
Terra nodded a bit, not fully understanding what it all meant. Scott pointed over towards the cave entrance. "Well, we may as well head towards the Returner's Hideout then, and see if we can't receive a little help finding her."
Jason looked up and wiped his eyes a bit, and nodded. "Yeah…let's head there…we can gather ourselves a bit and rest, as well." He said, taking the lead of the party. Scott followed close behind, then Jeff, and finally Terra.
While walking, Jason began a conversation with Scott and Jeff. "So bro…looks like your dream of being Edgar came true. Heh, it was destiny for me to be Sabin and you as Edgar, you know. And Jeff as Locke…this is almost too real to be a game…"
Scott nodded. "You know, you do have a point. I mean, from the gamer's point of view, everything looks so…dull and flat. Look around us. It's REAL!"
Jeff nodded. "Yes…this obviously isn't fake…" Suddenly, before they could discuss anything more on the subject, two angry looking fighters 1jumped out and attacked the party.
Scott looked up at the arrow above his head and grinned. "Alright, it looks like I get first attack against these Brawlers!" he commented, looking towards the enemies, who were ready to attack. "Perhaps I should use my…noisemaker?" He pondered, holding out his arm. His trademark noisemaker mystically and instantly appeared. "Have a headache, on me!" He turned on the tool, making it emit supersonic pulses of sound. The two brawlers, both confused, turned their backs to the party.
"Way to go bro!" Jason commented, patting Scott's back. He looked up over Jeff's head to see the arrow. "Looks like you're up Jeff!"
"I guess I am, huh?" Jeff said, looking over his head at the arrow, still a little miffed about this whole thing. "All righty then, this will be…a steal!" Jeff chuckled, running up behind one of the confused Brawlers. He tried to swipe something, but failed. A bit upset, he returned to the party's ranks.
One of the Brawlers, still confused from the noisemaker blast, jumped towards the other one, punching it a few times upside the head, causing minimal damage. The other Brawler lunged towards Jeff and pounded on him. Jeff fell back and grabbed his arm in a little pain.
Jason looked up at the arrow. "Well, let's see what I can do!" He proudly chanted. He began charging up and a small ball formed in his hands. After a bit, he clasped his hands together and released it at the un- confused brawler. "AURA BOLT!" He yelled. A light beam blasted from his hands, hitting the Brawler head-on, killing it. "Ha! Piece of cake!" Jason laughed, sweating a bit and crossing his arms.
Terra's turn was up, and without any resistance, she began chanting a few words. Jason blinked a bit and looked over at Scott. "Bro, what is she doing!?"
"She's chanting a spell! You know, she DOES know magic…" Scott replied.
"Oooooohhhhhh…"
Terra turned towards Jeff and raised her arms into the air. "Cure!" She yelled. A mystical green light surrounded Jeff, healing him up. He stood up and nodded towards her in thanks. She just stepped back and kept her focus on the enemy.
Scott rubbed at his chin a bit and took out his spear. "That one's still confused, because Jason killed the unconfused one…" He said before rushing the Brawler and stabbing him square in the chest. He then hopped back to his place, the Brawler obviously wounded.
The Brawler pulled out his critical attack, jumping at and landing some severe punches on Terra, putting her in critical state. She fell to her knees and gasped for air. The Brawler hopped back, knowing that if he stood any chance of winning, the healer would have to go. The arrow then returned to Jeff.
"Looks like I'm up again…" Jeff said, yawning a bit as he looked above his head. "I think I'll try stealing something again." He ran up to the Brawler and managed to acquire a Tonic from him before he backed off. Jeff grinned a bit as he put it in his pocket, and stood in line.
Scott turned to Jason, seeing the arrow above his head, and shouted to him. "Just attack it! It's almost dead as it is!"
Jason turned back and nodded. "YEAH! I can tell! He's grabbing his arm in obvious pain. I'll end it...NOW!" Jason lunged in with his claw and gashed it across his chest, killing the Brawler. Jason leaped back to his spot and began raising his arms in victory. "YEAAAAAAHHHH! We did it!"
Scott looked over at Jason and shook his head. "Don't be so happy bro, we've managed to defeat two of the easiest enemies in the game in more than 4 attacks. Normally it'd only take us about 3 turns. If we suck this bad now, how do you think we'll manage against the harder enemies?"
Jason laughed a bit "Hahahaha! We are just getting used to this…don't worry about it, we'll be fine!" Jason turned and began to walk towards a nearby treasure chest. He opened it up and acquired a Tent. "WHOA!? This is a tent? It's PUNY!" He commented at the size of it. It was a little cube, no larger than his palm. On it was a picture of a tent. "I guess that's how they can carry so many items…aw well."
Jeff went over to the wounded Terra and took out the Tonic he had just stolen. "Here you go Terra, he's a Tonic for you." Jeff said to her. He took the small vial and began tapping her head with it.
"Why isn't it working?" Jeff growled.
Scott walked over to him and put his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "Think about it. If this place LOOKS real, SEEMS real, FEELS real, then we probably have to ACT real in certain occasions." He took the Tonic and opened it up, giving it to Terra to drink.
Terra sat up and drank the Tonic. She looked up and blinked a bit towards Jeff. "Next time, please just hand it to me, all right?" She said, rubbing her head. Jeff nodded a bit in agreement.
Jason walked back to the three and noticed that Terra was still sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. "Oh no! You're hurt Terra! I found a Tonic a while back, here!" Jason said, pulling it out. He began to wind- up to throw it at her.
"JASON! NO!" Scott and Jeff both yelled. Caught in mid-windup, Jason yielded his arm from throwing the Tonic.
"Well, when I always saw it, they threw the item at the other members, healing them. I thought that was what we had to do."
Scott only shook his head before he helped Terra to her feet. The four exited Mount Kolts.
When the party reached outside, Jason began to ponder something for a moment. "Hey guys…I've begun to wonder…how in the world do we save?"
Terra pulled out what seed to be a tiny machine. "WELL…each of you have one of these…when you're not in a cave or town; or if you're standing on a blue save point, you press this button, marked save. It's called a Memory Log, if you were curious." She explained.
At about the same time, Scott, Jeff, and Jason all pulled out their Memory Logs and awed at it. Jeff intelligently began to press it cautiously; Scott tapped at the button a few times, then would pause and stare at it, and repeat tapping it; and Jason was hastily pressing it as fast as he could.
"All right guys, that's enough…uh huh, looks like you all know how to use it…yeah, you can stop now…knock it off!" Terra tried to tell them, shaking her head.
After about 5 minutes of playing with them, the heroic four headed north, towards the Returner's hideout, in hopes to meet Banon and receive some help from him.
Meanwhile, deep in the Empire's fortress, Alex was talking to the Emperor. He had two guards standing next to his throne.
"You see, Kefka is going against your wishes. He's on his way to the Imperial Base down near Doma, and he has plans to poison Doma!"
"How do you know this? Did he tell you he was plotting a poisoning?" Emperor Gestahl leaned forward in his throne, resting his finger against his head.
"Well, no, but I just know it's going to happen…" Alex said and sighed a bit, looking down.
"Enough of this nonsense. You are to report to South Figaro with a squadron and take it over…do you think you can manage to do that without messing it up?"
"Yes sir…" Alex saluted him. She didn't want to get imprisoned for not following orders.
"Dismissed." Gestahl said, pointing towards the door. Alex left the room, wondering if the Emperor believed her. After a moment of rubbing his beard, Emperor Gestahl snapped his fingers. Another guard came into the room and bowed before his Emperor.
"You are to go with our dear friend General Celes and make sure she follows her orders. If she fails to do her job, then shackle her up and keep her silent. She is not to sabotage this mission, understand?"
"Yes, your majesty." The guard said before standing to attention and leaving the quarters.
"Yes…General Celes…a traitor…after all I've done for her…" Gestahl said, pondering what Celes had just told him. Gestahl called another guard into the room.
"Yes sir?" The guard said, bowing towards Gestahl.
"I'd like you to report to General Leo…tell him he must go to Doma's Imperial Base and keep a close watch on Kefka."
"Yes sir!" The guard replied in attention, and headed out of the throne room.
"Now we'll see if Celes really knows something…" Gestahl said to himself.