Chapter 5
"Hey, Mog!"
"Yeah?"
The small teddy bear looked around, finding Kupan standing there with a concerned look in his cute face.
After the world's downfall, all the moogles had hid deep underground. All except Mog, who had waited in the old cave for his friends to show up. When Kefka had been defeated, he had gotten down and fetched his tribe-friends. Now they all lived happily in the mines again.
"What is it?" the only moogle who knew human language asked.
What really left his mouth was "kupo?", but Kupan understood anyhow. The moogles didn't communicate only with their voices, but also with movements of their paws and looks in their eyes.
"There are unknown humans in our tunnels," Kupan reported.
"Well, why don't you just ignore them?" Mog smiled.
"I would, but it seems that they have surrounded Umaro and are trying to kill him."
"Kupo!?"
(Translation not needed, and anyhow it would have required censoring.)
Growling orders to his fellows to follow him, Mog grabbed his spear and nodded at Kupan to show the way. The small army of cute creatures rushed through the tunnels, soon enough hearing Umaro's distant roar of rage. The armed moogles entered a cavern, not bigger than the one they lived in, and found Umaro trying to fend himself against eight men in dark robes. Normally he wouldn't have any problem with the attackers, but he had just gotten out of his summer-sleep and was still rather thin and drowsy after the hibernating. The robed figures all held thin daggers in their hands, and Umaro already bled from several wounds.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!?" Mog shouted, for the hundred time wishing that his voice wasn't the one of a small human child.
As a couple of the strangers turned around, the moogle recognized their robes.
"Cult of Kefka!" he growled to his friends, who began whispering nervously to each other.
"Kefka?"
"He said his cult…"
"Kefka scary… they are scary…"
"Come on!" Mog snarled, "we have to help Umaro!"
"Kupo!"
"It's only humans in robes!"
Mog almost jumped up and down in anger.
"The talking moogle," he heard a hoarse voice say, "just like the assassin said."
The white teddy bear spun around.
"What assassin?" he snarled, even though his snarls never were very convincing.
The dark depths of two hoods were pointing at him as Umaro clumsily sent another robed figure into the cave wall. The cavern didn't tremble, which clearly showed that the yeti wasn't at full strength.
"The assassin Shadow," the right hood said, "who is our prisoner. Like you and the yeti will be soon."
"You're out of your minds," Mog snapped and grabbed the spear in both hands, "but come on, then, if you think that you can fight me, kupo."
He wished that he still could use his dance to call upon the power of nature. And he definitely wished that his friends hadn't been so terrified of the name Kefka.
Umaro was swaying back and forth, and the cultist seemed to loose their interest in him, turning to Mog instead. Uh-oh…
"Grahh, boss!" the yeti growled as Mog hit his closest foe in the stomach with the non-metallic end of his spear, "feel much tired, careful!"
"What did you say, pal?" Mog shouted over the growling of the men that approached him.
"Uhhh…"
Umaro swayed one last time and then hit the stone-ground with a loud crash.
"Kupo…!"
Mog desperately looked back at his friends. They were still hesitating, backing in fear as they saw the great Umaro fall.
Tired? And those light wounds couldn't have killed him… sleeping poison?
They had said that they would take only Mog and Umaro captive, but if they could, they'd surely slaughter the moogles. If those daggers were…
Mog silently cursed the whole world, using moogle swearing (you'd be surprised…). He grabbed his spear tightly and blindly attacked the cultists. His sudden movement surprised them, and he managed to knock three to the floor. But that wouldn't help much.
"Run!" he shouted in moogle, "run, or they might kill you all! Try to warn my human friends if they come here!"
"But what about you?" Kuru yelped.
"Don't bother! Run, they're cheating!"
"Kupo… Mog…"
A fist hit his back, and he was thrown to the ground beside Umaro. The spear fell from his grip. With weak "kupo, kupo", the other moogles fled.
Dark robes surrounded Mog. He stubbornly looked up at them until a dagger glistened in the weak torchlight and blood stained his pure fur. Then the world began to become unclear, and he fell into unconsciousness.
With a groan Edgar opened his eyes, blinking at the darkness around him.
"Edgar!"
"Oh, look what the imp dragged in…"
The first voice was a woman's, and the other one… familiar…
Edgar sat up, raising his hands to rub his forehead. His heart froze as he heard a clinking of chains when he moved.
"What the…?"
He looked around, finding himself sitting on a dirty cot in a prison cell. On his wrists were thick irons, attached to the wall via chains. His soul froze as he realized who was there by him, also a prisoner.
"Oh, God… Kanai? Are you alright?"
Her hands and bare arms were dirty, and the once softly yellow, fine dress she wore was probably not to be saved. She sat on the cot to the left of Edgar's, also chained. Her face was pale as death itself. But it regained some color as she saw that he seemed to be fairly fine again.
"I was so worried before you awoke…" she mumbled.
Edgar reached out his hand, forgetting about the chains. He couldn't reach her. Even as Kanai reached for him, a few inches were between their fingertips.
"What happened?" Edgar growled, "where are we?"
"We're going to be eaten by Kefka…" the familiar voice said, giggling exhaustedly.
Edgar's head snapped in that direction.
Lying on the cot facing his was a man in dark clothes. His dark blond hair was dirty and full of knots, and Edgar didn't recognize the face. But his clothes and the voice…
"Shadow? My God, what has happened to you?" Edgar almost stuttered.
His eyes were reddened, not by tears, but… something. It seemed as if he couldn't focus his gaze either, almost as if he was drunk.
"I think they've drugged him," Kanai muttered, pulling up her legs and hugging them as if she was freezing.
"That's such a funny thing," Shadow slurred, "I know I shouldn't drink what they give me, but I can't remembererer why…"
He blinked, trying to focus his eyes on the king of the three prisoners.
"Sorry, Edgar…" he mumbled, "I'd get us out of here in a minute, but for some reason my fingers are so numb I can't even hold a dirk… if I still had… have… had them."
"Shadow," Edgar sharply said, "where is this? Why are we here?"
The assassin drowsily smiled.
"We're in the Cult of Kefka," he said and giggled again, "no, no, no… I mean that they have locked us up here. I think they think that they think…"
He fell silent and shook his head.
"What was I saying, again?"
Edgar wished that he could have slapped the assassin's face. They would have needed it, both of them.
"What is the cult up to?" he asked, trying to keep calm.
"Oh, yes."
Shadow weakly nodded.
"They seem to think that Kefka might be resurrected if they sacrifice all those who helped killing him. They have some strange ideas, don't they?"
"Oh God…"
Edgar buried his face in his hands.
"Kanai, I'm so sorry," he bitterly muttered, "I should have been more careful."
She shook her head, staring at the wall with empty eyes.
"It's not your fault, Edgar," she said in a low voice.
"Nope," Shadow groaned, "it's all my fault."
He rolled over on his back and laid his arm over his eyes, as well as his chains allowed. The drug seemed to have taken another turn in his poor body, removing the merriness and replacing it with depression.
"God, I've betrayed you all, Edgar," he groaned, slurring almost even worse than before, "they knew where Relm and Strago were, and Terra, and you, and Celes and Locke … and Cyan… and even that Gogo is in Doma… but they wanted to know where to find Setzer, Mog, Umaro and Sabin and all… they made me drink something and I only talked… and talked… and talked… and do you know what the worst part is?"
Edgar sadly looked at him and shook his head.
"No Shadow, what?" he said.
The assassin waved weakly with his hands.
"The worst thing is that now they're going to kill us all," he said, "and I've been a worse swine than Gogo was… pha!"
His arm moved away, and there were tears in his misty eyes.
"I made Gogo talk, but I never talked myself… I never told Relm and Strago… never told anyone of you. What a swine…"
Edgar's elbows hit his knees, and he heavily placed his head in his hands.
"Told us what, Shadow?" he lazily asked.
"I think old man Strago had his suspici… susp… thoughts, but he never asked me… I'm an idiot, Edgar. I only watched her, never dared to tell her…"
He tiredly shook his head, falling silent.
"What are you going on about?" Edgar snapped, frustrated.
His sharp tone almost startled both him and Kanai, but Shadow didn't seem to mind at all.
"I should have told Relm before it was too late," he muttered, "told her that I'm her father."
Very slowly Edgar straightened up and leaned back against the cold wall.
"What did you say, Shadow?"
"I left Salea, left her in Thamasa when I had fully recovered," the assassin bitterly slurred, "I had to leave her, I would only have made them come after her too, the damn empire… had to protect her and find Baram… I never knew she was pregnant before I came back one day and found her with a baby… she didn't believe it was me first, but she saw Interceptor and even though I had my mask and all… but I couldn't return, I'd get her killed… surprised that Strago didn't go for a hunt… ugh… my head…"
He rubbed his face.
"God, what have I done… I even took jobs in the empire! Good gods…"
"Never knew you were religious, Shadow," Edgar muttered.
"'S'about time…"
"Yeah."
Edgar pursed his mouth and looked at Kanai.
"Don't worry, love," he grimly said, "our friends will help us. I'm sure about it."
She tried hard to smile a little, but the moment wasn't well made for it.
"We defeated Kefka," Edgar said, trying to be encouraging even though he felt rather cold inside, "they'll get us out of this."
"I hope you're right, love."
"What, you mean you finally found a lady for real, Edgar?" Shadow muttered, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.
"Yes, Shadow."
"Hold on to her, then… don't do as I did… Salea's dead and Relm doesn't know anything… oh, my poor head…"
Edgar tiredly rubbed his face, sending a silent prayer to all good powers that what he had told Kanai was true.