Chapter 4
"We should go to Figaro castle first, it's close by…" Sabin said as the Falcon rose towards the night sky.
"Nope," Setzer said, shaking his head, "they were all going to the other side of the world this weekend. The opera house was setting up 'Maria of the West', and it seemed like Lady Kanai liked that piece of art."
"That's my bro for you…" Sabin sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "moving an entire castle just to impress a lady."
He nudged Setzer's side and smirked:
"Hey, why aren't you there?"
"I would have been, but…"
Setzer rolled his eyes and smiled tiredly.
"I had a feeling that Maria herself would have thrown a bouquet at me if I even got close to the rehearsal."
"Touchy, those celebrities, aren't they?"
"Sabin, we are the greatest celebrities in the whole world."
"Yeah, but we don't stand on a stage and sing for no reason at all."
The gambler chuckled with a sigh, shaking his head. He couldn't decide whether to find Sabin's lacking skill of enjoying fine theater amusing or tragic.
The prince looked around.
"Hey, where did Terra go?" he said, frowning.
"Chill, she went downstairs. I don't think there are any madmen onboard my airship, Sabin!"
He shouted the last thing at Sabin's leaving back. As the bodybuilder was gone from the deck, Setzer smiled to himself. Good grief…
Terra was sitting in a sofa, slightly frowning and staring at the opposite wall. When she heard Sabin's footsteps she turned her head and smiled carefully, dissolving the frown.
"Just trying to contact my father," she said and stood up, stretching her whole body, "no luck, though. I think he's sleeping."
"Well, we need to decide where to go first. Since my brother has moved his whole castle because of an opera, Figaro isn't as close by as I thought. So it's either Narshe, Doma or Thamasa."
Terra began to walk towards him, and he turned around to walk at her side as she reached him. They went up the stair side by side.
"I'd say Thamasa," Terra grimly said, "because…"
She sighed.
"We better tell Relm about Shadow and get it over with. From Thamasa we can go straight southwest to Doma, without getting too close to the fanatics' tower. Even if we don't know if they're there…"
"Right," Sabin nodded and ended the sentence, "should they be there and see us, they might realize that we know something."
Terra smiled at him.
"See?" she said, elbowing his arm, "you're not as stupid as you think you are."
Sabin smiled down at her, to his own surprise (and surely her too) wrapping his arm around her shoulders and giving them a soft squeeze.
"It's only because pretties like you tells me that I'm not that dumb."
He grimaced.
"I've been around Edgar too much."
Terra had to laugh at that, even though his touch puzzled her. He had never done anything like that before. Was it important?
No.
He probably only worried about that she hadn't practiced battling in quite some time, and lacked magic skill now. It worried her too, but she was determined to not let those facts bring her down. As soon as she got a little daylight she'd practice her swordsmanship a little.
They reached Thamasa about three o'clock in the morning, if that is to be named "morning" other than simply technically.
It was a very irritated and sleepy Strago that opened the door, with a candle is his hand and his grey hair in one single mess.
"You're awakening the whole town!" he snapped, "what in the name of goodness are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
He obviously didn't think that it was morning.
"Shadow is gone, probably dead," Setzer gravely said.
They had to trample on the grass by the door to stop the fire from spreading to the house. Strago picked up the candleholder and the half molten candle, glaring at his friends.
"Come on in," he growled.
As they went into the kitchen and sat down around the table to tell the story, a sleepy Gau crawled out from the room Strago had added to the bottom floor of the house as the boy moved in.
"Wha'z going on?" the young man yawned.
He was getting really tall. Sabin could swear that Gau had grown at least one foot since they had met last. On the other hand, he was almost sixteen years old now. A good age for growing like a tree.
A series of thumps and sleepy groans of pain from the stair announced that Relm was stumbling downwards.
"What are you morons up to?" the close-to-teenage girl grumbled.
The grownups exchanged glances.
Finally Terra stood up and walked over to Relm, taking her hand.
"Come on, you better sit down. You too, Gau."
"I don't like the sound of that…" the girl warily said.
"Me not either," Gau said as he went to a chair.
"Me neither," Strago absentmindedly corrected.
Terra placed Relm on a chair and then sat down, still holding the girl's hand. The green-haired woman hastily deliberated how she would tell her young friend. Beginning with some weak truth like "this isn't easy for me to say" would only stretch the pain of worrying. It was best to just tell her.
"Shadow is dead," Terra said.
Gau's jaw fell, Relm stared at her grown friend in shock.
"No!" she squealed, "no, no, no! He can't be dead! Not him! You're lying!"
Terra reached forward and pulled Relm into a hug, as she had done many times as her children in Mobliz had been sad and afraid.
"He sent Interceptor with this message," Sabin grimly explained and put the piece of cloth on the table while Terra slowly rocked back and forth on her chair, holding Relm tightly.
"Interceptor was badly hurt," the woman with green hair said, and continued mostly to the girl, "but he's recovering in Mobliz. I think that Shadow would be glad if you took care of him, Relm."
"He can't be dead!" Relm sobbed.
Gau jumped of his chair and walked over to the two females, placing his hand on the girl's wet cheek.
"Not cry, little sister," the boy gravely said, "I will cave those bad men's heads in!"
"What bad men?" Relm snarled.
"The message says that it was the Cult of Kefka is responsible, my girl," Strago grimly said.
"What?!"
Relm grabbed the piece of cloth, staring at it through her bitter tears. After reading it she threw the message on the floor with a growl of rage.
"Let's go!" she screeched, "we can't let them get away with this!"
"Calm down," Strago sharply said, "we don't know where they are, and anyhow at least you lack fighting skills nowadays."
"That's not true!" Relm exclaimed, "I can still handle daggers! I was ten years old when I began to fight, and that went well!"
"We had magic then, and you could use your talent of painting in battle," the old man pointed out, "but it's different this time."
"Shadow was my friend, grandpa. If you're going to fight, I'll fight too."
She had a much calmer voice now, and she looked stubbornly at her grandfather.
"I'll come too!" Gau growled, "Shadow friend! Me not forgive either!"
"Me forgive neither …" Strago absentmindedly said.
He startled and shook his head.
"Sorry, my mistake. Forget that one, Gau."
"I've been thinking," Terra said, "that Interceptor made it to Mobliz in his condition must mean that he wasn't that far away when he started to run. I think it's quite possible that the cult still is around the tower."
"I don't like this," Setzer said, frowning, "if they still should be in their old place, they are either stupid or want us to come there… on the other hand, nothing tells us that Shadow wasn't attacked somewhere else, like in the field."
They all exchanged glances and shook their heads. No, that Shadow had been killed was one astounding thing. But it was absolutely impossible that he would have been captured in the fields of the serpent trench; one couldn't be attacked there. It was impossible to hide in the weak grass, so he couldn't have fallen to an ambush. He wouldn't ever do that, anyhow.
"But what about that forest south of Mobliz?" Relm said, "how about it?"
They all exchanged tired glances.
"Interceptor should be able to show us the way when he has recovered a little," Sabin suggested.
"Maybe we should get him from Mobliz," Terra said, frowning, "if those madmen should find out that he's there, they might do something. Now that we have the airship it shouldn't be a problem."
"Let's go!" Relm exclaimed, terrified at the thought of loosing the dog too, "we have to go right now!"
Strago said nothing for a moment. Everybody awaited his decision. Finally he sighed.
"I remembered what happened last time I forbid you to follow," he sighed, "I guess we have to go, all of us. But we have to pack some supplies and dress up."
He looked at the three guests.
"And you should get some sleep, children."
"Hey!" Sabin, Setzer and Terra exclaimed.
Strago shrugged his shoulders.
"You're children in compare to me," he said.
They had to retreat when facing such logic.
After sleeping a couple of hours in the beds the house could provide (since awakening the inn-keeper didn't seem healthy), the three guests had another meeting with their friends. It was a short meeting. Relm simply demanded that they should pick Interceptor for Mobliz. So it became decided that after getting the dog, they should hurry to Doma, Narshe and lastly Figaro castle to assemble their other friends.
"No feeling good that Locke and Celes not here," Gau sighed as the group hurried through the sleeping town, towards the airship.
"No, but I can understand Locke's reasons," Setzer said with a small smile, "he sure took his time understanding how much Celes meant to him. We'll take care of this anyhow, and they'll be safer where they are."
Setzer had yet to study the book "I'm a hero, and these are the things that I shouldn't say". It's the sequel to "I'm an universal villain, but these sayings bring me down every time".
"I think a good hit right here should do the trick," Gogo said, knocking at a piece of the machinery with a screwdriver, "Cyan, if you please…"
"Surely, Sir Gogo."
The swordsman took a deep, calm breath. Then he grabbed a hammer and with a terrifying roar surpassed the metal "a good hit". Gogo and Cid stumbled backwards, pressing their hands against their heads.
"Now it should work, press the button," the mimic nodded at his old friend from the empire, after rubbing the sides of his helmet for a moment.
"Very well."
Cid went over to the control table and lowered his hand over a big, green button. At first nothing happened. Then the great machinery began to drone softly.
"Your hate for machines serves its purpose, Sir!" Cid grinned.
"My pleasure," Cyan said, bowing with a smile.
"Now lets just hope that it works in the right way…"
They left the great room and went into the other halls of the world beneath the castle of Doma.
"It feels a bit warmer, Sir," one of the workers that were waiting to check the result reported.
"Well, thou better stay for a while down here to see how well it works," Cyan said, "and report to me or my friends if it should begin to get unbearable or something else should occur."
"Yes Sir. Good night."
The man smiled tiredly of compassion.
"Or maybe good morning."
Cyan and his two friends chuckled and went upstairs to sleep.
Gogo had just crashed on his bed when somebody knocked on his door. Grumbling he got up again and went over the floor to open the small portal.
A young girl almost knocked him down.
"Gogo, Gogo, Gogo, Gogo!" she screeched in tears.
"What, Relm?" he said, astounded, "what's the matter?"
"They've killed Shadow!" she shouted, crying of rage.
"What?!"
He looked up in shock, finding Strago and Terra outside of the door.
"Sorry to awake you with such news…" the old man grimly said.
"I wasn't sleeping," Gogo said, blank-minded, "what the hell is this about?"
He couldn't remember when he had sworn last, but it felt good right then.
Half an hour later he was sitting with his friends in the meeting hall of the rebuilt Doma, with his gloved fingers silently but furiously tip-tapping against the table.
"I see," he growled, "Kefka is playing around again, is he?"
Everyone nodded, unable to look at him. The mimic clenched his teeth behind the veil. He stood up, and his eyes shot lightning bolts.
"Well, I won't let him haunt this world again in any way," he snarled, "I'm fed up with his games! And now this with Shadow…!"
"Calm down!" Strago snapped, "we'll all take care of this."
Gogo's palms hit the table.
"No, no," he growled, "you don't understand. I knew about Shadow going after those madmen."
His friends stared at him, jaws dropping.
"I tried to stop him," Gogo bitterly continued, balling his hands into shaking fists, "he came here a couple of weeks ago, remember?"
He said the last thing looking at Cid and Cyan, who silently nodded.
"He told me that he had found out about the cult still being around," the mimic snarled, "and I told him to not go alone. But that fool didn't listen. And now this!"
His fist hit the bloodied piece of cloth.
"I'm sorry," he growled, "I knew I should have told you. I'll never learn…!"
Rubbing his forehead, he sat down again.
"Did he tell you anything about where they were?" Setzer finally asked, carefully.
"No. I'm so sorry, Relm."
Gogo stared at the table, sighing.
There was a silence.
"Gogo," Strago suddenly said, slowly, "this might not be the right moment, but… did Shadow ever tell you his real name?"
"Hmm?"
The mimic looked at the old man in surprise. So did all the others.
"With him being the only one knowing your real name," Strago continued, "well, I'm just wondering."
Sabin thought that the old man's eyes flew to Relm for half a second, but wasn't sure.
"No, why?" Gogo said.
Strago shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess he'll take his secrets into the grave…"
He stood up.
"No, come on," he said, "we can't stay here until we start to grow mushrooms! Time to act, youngsters. We're going to Narshe and Figaro."
"I shall tell the chancellor that he is in charge while I am not present," Cyan grimly said, "I will see thee on the airship, my friends."
"I'll come with you," Cid said, frowning, "at least to Figaro castle. There might maybe be something I can help you with."
"Better turn off the warming system while we're gone…" Gogo lazily said and stood up.
As the swordsman and the mimic walked towards the door, Relm jumped off her chair and ran after them. Gau followed her without a word. The other people around the table exchanged concerned glances before they also rose from their seats and began moving out to the airship.
Gogo didn't turn around as he walked down the stairs, even though he heard the light steps behind him. Scratching the cloth over his cheek, he simply continued downwards.
Not before they reached the bottom floor he faced the young boy and girl.
"I'm really, really sorry, Relm," he said, honestly.
She walked closer and threw her arms around him, only reaching his chest. Gogo put his hands on her shoulders, calming.
"I liked him, Gogo," the girl growled, "and he was too stupid to listen to you and common sense!"
"He wasn't stupid, he only wanted to do things in his own way."
Gogo sat down on one knee and pushed his veil downwards, for once fully revealing his scarred face.
"He made it through many times, even in the in the empire; got me out of my cell and to safety," he continued, "so Shadow probably worked with the belief that he could do it again. I know how you feel."
He bitterly shook his head.
"Even though he recognized me for my brother's face, he saved me. We never spoke much, but he was a close friend of mine. I swear Relm, we will make the cult pay for this. But, this is important, we must never fight in hate. Then we're no better than them."
"But they…" she began.
"Yes, I know. And it sounds like a cliché, but it's true. Hate will only bring more hate. That was Gesthal and my brother's mistake, and mine too. At first I was so deeply into my own pain that I didn't care what happened to the rest of you. I could have put you all in danger if I hadn't reconsidered. You must remember that."
He straightened up and secured the veil again.
"Come on," he said, "we've got work to do."