Everything was perfect, until; of course they heard a loud explosion. Leo sat up abruptly, holding Terra back from what looked like flames licking around the castle wall.

"What the." Leo exclaimed.

"The castle is under attack!" Terra stood quickly and ran as fast as she could towards the flames.

"Terra! Terra!!" Leo caught up with her easily and clasped her arm.

"I've got to go!" she angrily twisted her arm.

"And how do you plan on defending yourself?" Leo demanded.

"I." She gasped perplexed.

"Hold on," he instructed. He opened his pack and reached for an elongated dark case. He freed it from the rest of the items from his pack. He unlatched the case expertly and opened it to reveal two swords held in scabbards. He handed her one. She freed it from its sheath; it was simple, yet magnificent in its simplicity. He clutched the other and clasped it around his waist. "I don't have anything in the way of armor, so let's try to avoid confrontation as much as we can."

Terra nodded in agreement.

Leo led the way with a brisk pace. As soon as they were closer, they saw chaos had erupted around Castle Figaro. Several soldiers fought valiantly against figures dressed in dark clothes. Leo frowned, "what are they doing?"

"What? Other than attacking the castle?"

"No," he pointed to the figures, "there is no formation, no organization, there is just several of them causing havoc. It's an attack, but a poorly planned attack."

"People are getting hurt!" Terra exclaimed.

"What good are we going to do if we end up getting killed in the process," his stern commanding voice brought her back from hysteria.

"What do we do?"

"It looks as if Edgar's forces are just trying to extinguish the flames and get the people to safety."

"He may submerge the castle," Terra suggested.

"That would explain why they are leading people inside the castle," Leo nodded. "Look." Leo pointed to the North end of the Castle. "The enemy has not reached that area, that's where we go in."

"Then what?"

"Then keep the bad guys from killing the good guys."

"And you said they were disorganized," Terra grumbled.

"We are on the defensive right now, until we are met up with the rest of the guard, we don't really have a part in the team, yet," he explained as they trotted off towards the castle.

* * *

Sabin face showed fury and strength as he used one of the attacker's head as a weapon against another knocking the two of them unconscious. He laughed as he stormed with rage against the enemy. "Sabin!"

The familiar voice almost snapped him out of his rhythm. "Terra? Where were you?"

"With a friend," she motioned at Leo.

Sabin cocked his head to the side, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" He bent suddenly, as an attacker vaulted himself at Sabin at full force. As a result, the attacker flew right at Leo. Leo swatted him aside and the assailant lay at his feet unconscious.

"Yes," Leo responded.

"Ah," Sabin motioned for frightened villagers to head into the castle.

Terra clashed swords with another attacker. She was amused at the lack of strength her attacker had. He tried to force her sword to the side; she then met his nose straight on with her closed left fist. "That ought to sting." The attacker clasped his face and rolled over. She fought the impulse to help the injured and stayed close to Leo.

"Leo." Terra started.

"I know," he mumbled. "Let's just get inside."

* * *

"My lord, the castle has been submerged successfully," a guard clad in ornamental armor reported.

"Very good, Southn. How are the people on the surface?" Edgar's expensive party clothes were blanketed with layers of soot.

"Hundreds, possibly, but the attackers retreated," Southn replied solemnly.

Edgar sighed, "How many people were hurt?"

"I will have to check on that sir, but people were killed in the explosion," Southn reported.

Edgar nodded. "Thank you, Southn, please report to the injured."

The throne room was filled with people, and injured people lined the library and the guest rooms. Edgar met with his inner council and friends in his room. He turned to the faces as they looked grimly back at him. "These are the days when it's not fun to be king," he gritted his teeth. He fought the urge to kick things or knock things over. He had to remain composed. Even in front of his friends, he had to hold it together. He shook his head slightly. "So, anyone care to wage a guess why the hell that happened?"

Edgar looked at each of his friends; Celes leaned against a bedpost, her beautiful light yellow dress torn so she could fight more effectively. Locke clenched his teeth as a nurse looked over his burnt wrist. Sabin sat distracted on the bed, the trance of the fight leaving him tired. Realm sat cross-legged on the floor, propping her chin up with her fists. Setzer crossed his arms over his chest, covering his ruffled shirt; his jacket, however, was left behind as part of the ash.

He glanced at Terra whose face was dirty and stood next to a man about the size of his brother. He looked at the man, "do I know you?" He stepped closer to him, "wait, I do know you."

"Your highness," Leo bowed.

"General Leo?"

"I thought General Leo was dead," Locke said.

"He was, wasn't he?" someone else chimed.

"I guess not," Edgar studied Leo's features. "I wish we could've discovered this at a happier time, but I'm pleased to see you alive."

"Thank you, your highness," Leo bowed again.

"Please, General, just Edgar."

"Leo," Leo replied.

Edgar nodded in kind. "Any observations?"

"They were sorely disorganized and lacked training. They were." he flattened his hands downward, "children, practically."

"Yeah," Sabin agreed. "I almost felt bad for pummeling them." Everyone shot him a glance. "I said almost."

"Unfortunately, the explosion was more than just the work of children," Setzer added. "It looked as if the original intent was to over run us by sheer numbers rather than an organized military action."

"They certainly caught us by surprise," Edgar paced back to his desk in front of everyone. He relaxed against it, propping himself up on the edge. "And the people who died today, I couldn't protect," it took an enormous amount of effort to keep his composure.

Everyone took a moment of silence as Edgar fought to keep from acting "un-kingly." He knew that these were his friends, that he could release his grip for a moment or two as he let his anger lash out. However, he refused to lose control. He needed to think, he needed his friends support, and he needed to know what to do next.

"Okay," he crossed his arms, "what do we do now?"

"Did anyone see which way they retreated?" Leo asked.

Edgar turned to the captain of his guard who stood at attention, close to the door of the bedchambers, "Adam?"

"It looked as if they were heading to the east, my lord."

"Did anyone see if they had transportation, or did they come out of the hills?"

"No, sir," the captain replied.

"Everyone was in the 'town' around the castle for the celebration," Locke replied, "if I wanted to plan an attack, I would blend in until the location was the most," he shrugged looking for the right words, "vulnerable."

Edgar bit his lip hard when he heard the word vulnerable. One thing he hated was the fact that his castle, or his people were vulnerable to an attack. He turned away briefly as he cursed silently and turned back to Locke, who was cradling his arm. Locke had been by the entryway of the castle and caught some of the explosion, literally with his hand.

Edgar may be a womanizer, but he loved nothing more than his friends, his people, and his kingdom. The fact that he let his castle, which he left freely open to the people, become vulnerable, was a bit much for the king to bear. He also had to keep his anger in check, so the people wouldn't go out of control. It was as if the love of your life was hurt badly by another, and all you want to do is extract revenge. He took it personally when his friends were hurt, that he couldn't protect them. His knuckles were white from the grip he held to the edge of the desk. He looked at each of his dear friends, who were affected by the attack.

"I don't even have a clue who did this. Captain, have there been any groups formed that were angry at the way we handled things? Any anti- Figaro organizations?? Anything???"

"I'm afraid I have no idea, my lord," the captain replied quietly.

"Any empire sympathizers?" Leo asked.

"Not for a couple of years," the captain responded.

"At least none that we know of," Edgar replied. "Are you aware of any, Leo?"

"No," Leo rubbed the back of his neck, "I haven't really been keeping up with any empire activities, or anything of my former life. Considering, up until tonight I didn't know who I was."

The king raised an eyebrow, "ah, well, that will be a topic of discussion for another time."

"Regardless, they were young, unorganized, the ones on the front line could be new recruits," Leo thought aloud. "When and where were the last you heard from Empire sympathizers?"

"I'm not sure, I will find out what I can," the captain responded.

"It's the only thing we have," Edgar commented quietly. "We need to break for the night, please get some rest. We shall resurface the castle in the morning and assess any damages. We will meet at 7:00am, here," Edgar sighed deeply.

* * *

"My lord, we have resurfaced successfully, although the damages were minimal, we had 7 deaths and several injured severely," the captain of the guard reported.

Edgar retained his composure, but his closest friends knew he was raging with fury.

"We do have a prisoner, but we think he's." the captain paused searching for the right words, "mad, sire."

Edgar raised his eyebrows, "I will need to speak to him."

"Yes, my lord," the captain bowed and retreated out of the room.

Edgar's eyes surveyed the room. The same group as last night, however their countenance was the same. Weary, angry, and yet determined, he trusted the strength within each of them. He often wondered if they felt the same as he. Although there was only 7 reported deaths, they were 7 deaths of his people who had families and possibly children. He was numb to the thoughts of fatherless children crying out to him, as sometimes his responsibilities required sending off his soldiers to war. But these were not his soldiers these were the common folk. These were the people that lived in peace. They lived their day-to-day lives with smiles and thoughts and cares to make the kingdom, the world a better place. And these attackers swooped in and destroyed 7 innocent lives. He was unsure of how many others were injured, how many others would have to make dramatic changes in their lives and could potentially change the quality of their lives forever. These attackers were going to pay.

The captain was accompanied with his lieutenant bringing the prisoner in. The attacker was dressed in black soft clothes that were ripped. He was being held still by the strong soldiers. He looked down at the ground refusing to look at anybody in the eye.

Edgar eyed the man curiously and nodded towards the captain.

The captain forced the man's head up, "acknowledge your king, scum!"

The man looked up and gazed into Edgar's eyes. Edgar was used to looking into the eyes of traitors, calculating killers, assassins, but this one was different. He saw fear, genuine fear in the eyes of what had to be a 15 year old.

"He's not my king!" the boy muttered and spat. The lieutenant lifted a hand to punch the prisoner's jawbone, but Edgar waved him off.

"Who are you?" Edgar asked.

"A servant of Gestahl," the boy said wearily, but proudly.

"Gestahl's dead," Leo came out of the shadows looking at the boy closer.

Edgar looked at Leo cautiously, and saw a look of curiosity from Leo.

"He'll be back!" the boy spoke nervously.

Leo raised his eyebrows in question to Edgar. Edgar nodded and stepped back. Leo stepped closer to the boy, who looked quickly away. "Don't be foolish. He's dead, he's been dead over 5 years."

The boy's eyes darted up to Leo, "General Leo!"

Leo clenched his teeth; "I know you." he started.

"Leo, the empire is coming back! I swear to you! Douglass promised! It will all be like it was before everything was destroyed by the Returners!" the boy rambled on excitedly.

"Don't be stupid, the empire destroyed everything, they provided Kefka with the means possible to destroy the world. He would've if we didn't stop him," Edgar turned toward the voice and saw Celes seething in anger. She shook off Locke's comforting arm. Edgar decided to keep his silence and looked back at Leo.

"Celes! You traitor! I was warned to watch out for you!" the boy seemed to get his strength back by the minute and started struggling from the holds the soldiers kept on him.

"Silence," Leo held up his arm.

"Leo!" the boy pleaded.

"Can I have a moment alone with the boy?" Leo asked Edgar. Edgar looked at the boy thoughtfully and nodded. The guards escorted the boy into a smaller conference room, with Leo tagging along. Edgar balled his hands up into fists as all the eyes were upon him in the room.

"You have 15 minutes. We'll be waiting," Edgar said finally.

* * *

Edgar folded his arms as he watched his captain escort Leo and the boy into the conference room. He couldn't help but think that this was going to be a long 15 minutes. He glanced about the room to see people talking quietly in small groups. He saw some villagers had wandered into the hall. He smiled brilliantly at the scared youths that looked upon him. They usually shied away from him hiding beneath their fathers or their mothers.

Edgar spoke brief words of encouragement to the people to comfort them. He invited them to eat with them before they started their long journeys home. The people were happy and thanked their king gracefully. He worked his way through the small crowd until he found the woman he was looking for.

He dropped his "comforting king look" mask and touched Terra's arm. She had her arms crossed in front of her looking down at the floor. When she felt his touch she looked up abruptly and gasped.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Edgar said softly.

Terra smiled nervously and shook her head, "I guess I was lost in my thoughts."

Edgar looked at her green eyes. They didn't shine as they did last night, and he understood why, but couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was something else. "A lot has been going on," Edgar suggested.

Terra nodded thoughtfully and started nibbling on the tip of her thumbnail gazing back off into the distance.

Edgar sighed, "do you have your necklace?" he asked hopefully.

She looked back at him and nodded pulling from underneath her collar a gold chain and placing the gold ring that hung off of the chain in the palm of her hand and looked up at the king.

He clasped his hands gently around her hand and her ring. He looked back into her eyes, "I would like to see you wear this ring properly."

Terra's eyes widened as she looked up at him. He recognized her look of confusion and worry. He knew now was not the time to press the issue, "I know you were supposed to give me an answer last night, but considering." he looked at the door he looked at the door where Leo and the prisoner were talking

Terra nodded weakly.

"I suppose now is a bad time to ask for an answer," Terra looked up at him. Edgar smiled, "I can wait." He looked at the ring and her hand, "but I can't tell you how much I want to see this on your finger."

Terra smiled weakly, "I know, I uh. suppose I should."

"My lord," a man from behind the king called.

Edgar frowned and placed the ring on the chain back within her hands and gave them a warm squeeze. Edgar replaced his expression with his regular "regal look" and turned to the voice, "Yes, captain."

"The prisoner is back in his cell, and Leo is ready to brief you."