Chapter 3: Meeting Someone New
"You're not Terra!" Locke said surprised.
"No, I'm not, unfortunately," said the unfamiliar woman.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have the wrong room. I thought this was the room I wanted. It was unlocked. I didn't even use the key," Locke said as he got up and headed for the door.
The woman giggled. "But you don't have the wrong room," the woman replied. "I'm the one who gave you the key. Guess you don't remember me. My name is Rabecca."
Locke looked closer. At first, he didn't recognize anything. As he was about to say no, he started seeing some familiarity in her. "I think it's coming back to me, but I can't quite place where or how I know you."
"In that case, I'll tell you. We met last night. You were in the bar already. I saw you sat down, drowning your sorrows. I decided to go over and introduce myself. I hated to see someone as sad as you were. You were already half-drunk, but your speech was pretty much unaffected."
"Me? I don't think I've ever been really drunk before. What could possibly make me do that?" Locke said, embarrassed and confused.
"I'm assuming some beautiful woman by the name of Terra," Rabecca said.
"Oh," was all he could say. After a moment of silence, Locke told her to continue.
"Well, I was attracted to you just after I saw you, not in a love at first sight way, but in an interested way. Usually I'm not attracted to people who are drunk. Um, no offense," Rabecca said apologetically.
"None taken. I didn't think I was this obsessed with her," Locke said. "Continue."
"It was weird. I felt like I had to go over to you. Guess somehow I felt that there was something more to it than someone who always wasted their money on alcohol. Anyway, I sat down next to you. I knew you didn't have any company, as you weren't in the best of states..." Rabecca said, recalling the events of the previous night.
"Hello there," I said to the stranger who was sitting alone at a table, head hung, and a near-empty mug of beer between his two hands. "Would you like some company?"
The man's head rose almost instantly with hopeful eyes, but the glimmer went out when he saw that he didn't recognize the speaker. To make up for it, a smile came across his face. It was sorta a goofy, lopsided grin, but it showed some sincerity and a little melancholy. "Why hello miss," he said fairly clear, though it was obvious he had been drinking. "What brings you to my table?"
"Well, I was sorta drawn over here."
The man's smile turned more to the lopsided grin that seemed to suit his face perfectly. "I see. It must be my overall great looks," he said with a chuckle. "By the way, what would your name be?"
I laughed along with him and then said, "My name is Rabecca. What would yours be?"
"Mine's Locke. I'm the world's most famous treasure hunter. Just a warning to you, don't ever call me a thief. Treasure hunters and thieves are two completely different things," the man named Locke said.
"Well, Locke, I'll try to remember that for the future. Um, Locke, is there something wrong?" I asked, not intending to get involved with anyone's problems.
"Ah, you wouldn't want to listen to me babbling on and on about my problems with life," Locke said to me. He paused for a few seconds to finish the rest of his beer. He then called out to the bartender, "I'll have another beer, please."
The bartender came to get his mug, but refused to get another beer until he was paid up. Locke replied with a "Fine!" He then laid a handful of coins after making a couple of attempts of retrieving the money from his pocket. The bartender took the money left with the money and empty mug and came back with a full frothy mug of beer. They said their thanks to each other and the bartender left them alone once again.
"No, please tell me. I want to listen. You don't seem to be the type to drown their sorrows at a bar. So, maybe talking about it would help you get outta this ... slump, I guess," I explained. "Maybe somehow I could do something about it, give you advice or something."
"Well, if you insist. But, I don't think it's gonna help me any," Locke said just before talking a sip of his ice cold beer. "This girl, Terra ... Well actually she is a woman, but she always seemed like a little girl to me, especially when I first met her. She was so vulnerable. She had amnesia at the time. She was so dependant on me. She didn't know what to do, where to go, who to trust," Locke said before explaining the events that occurred soon after he met Terra up till the point he left to go to South Figaro. "At South Figaro, I met up with another damsel in distress, Celes. Eventually, I promised her that I'd help her too. I seem to have some attraction to troubled women, don't I."
"It appears that way, Locke," I replied.
He then told me all about the conflict inside him about Terra and Celes. "I cared for Terra so much, even after making the promise to Terra, but I always thought of her as a little girl, needing a friend more than a lover. And I never thought twice about moving on and getting close to Celes. But, I soon found it wasn't the best choice. She was more interested in always being around me, giving me no privacy. Always wanted to be lovey-dovey. I couldn't even go to the store to get a drink, not beer or anything alcoholic, just a plain drink for when I was thirsty, without her following me. Whenever I talked to Terra, or even Relm, a 10-year-old girl who joined us along the way of our journey, without her glaring at me. I kept reassuring her that I wasn't King Edgar."
"King Edgar? King Edgar of Figaro?" I asked, thinking of when I met him awhile back.
"Yeah, that's him. He was always after Terra from the time he met her, but sometimes when he'd get desperate, he'd go and ask Relm out on a date," Locke explained.
"I know what he's like, well, sorta. I didn't think he'd do such a thing as ask a child to go out with him though. I remember when he held the Kefka's defeat party at his castle and he did a meet and greet with everyone who attended. He asked every woman out on a date and evening with him. I think a few times, he got caught up in asking it over and over again, he actually asked a few men out too. I heard one say yes too. I'm not sure if it was a joke or not, but it seemed pretty funny," I said letting out a little laugh.
Locke let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah, he'd do anything to have someone. Never seems to keep 'em when he do get 'em. Anyway, shall I continue?"
I gestured him to continue with his problems. "She didn't seem to believe me though. I think she had no trust whatsoever. Maybe because she knew I still cared for Terra a lot, but ... I don't know why she would be jealous of every female I talked to. No need to mention that we didn't last too long. She just wanted too much ... um ... how should I say it ... uh love."
"It's probably because she didn't get much love when she was younger. She was one of the Empire's minions, right?" I asked, not really wanting an answer.
"Yeah. I barely got to even go treasure hunting. She hated coming along, said she wasn't comfortable out in the open where people could see us. I assured her that if she waited till we got back home, it'd be so much better. But she had to have it her way or no way. One day, perhaps a couple of months after we got together, she said that I probably should just leave because I'm not gonna be able to satisfy her ... so I did. The next day I left on the ferry from Thamasa to Albrook. From there I made my way to Kohlingen and lived until I couldn't stand being alone anymore. So now I'm going to South Figaro to start over, hopefully find someone, get a job or something. I've noticed that I've found most of the best treasures now," Locke finished, laughing.
"I see," I said, not sure why he laughed since it should be bad news to him.
Locke looked in his pocket. Finding nothing, he tried all his other pockets. Finally finding something, he laid it on the table. "This is what I found a couple of months ago when I was out hunting. I was gonna give it to Terra, but now I don't think I'll ever give it to her. So, I guess you can have it for sitting here and listening to me rambling," Locke said, putting a beautiful silver necklace, with a big emerald and a few smaller ones on each side, on the table. "As you can see they're emeralds. Every time I see anything green, I think of Terra. Oh, you have green hair too. This necklace would go very nice with it. Want me to help you put it on?" Locke smiled as he passed her the necklace.
I smiled at the thought. "No, thank you. It's getting kinda late and I'll be going to bed soon. I'd just have to go through the trouble of taking it off again, so I'll wait until tomorrow morning to put it on," I said, admiring the sparking necklace and the emeralds in it. "WOW! This is absolutely beautiful. You shouldn't have given it to me. You could have sold this for a pretty high price. No, I can't take it."
"I can't take it back. It provides too many memories and I can't sell it. To me it's too precious. I wouldn't be able to put a price on it, like I wouldn't be able to put a price on Terra or our friendship," Locke said. "OK, if you insist."
As I examined it over and over again, I noticed some ancient writing on the back of the big emerald. "Locke, do you know what this means?"
Locke leaned over to examine the writings too and then shook his head. He then slumped back in his chair, tired.
"Oh, I see," I said and then noticed his fatigue. "I think it's about time you went to lie down. You seem like you could sleep for a year," I said, noticing his half-drooping eyes. "Here let me help you. What's your room number?"
"Uh ... 212. It's near the bow of the ship," Locke said, his tiredness now showing in his voice.
"OK," I said. I brought him to his room. Inside, the air smelled kinda stale. After I put him to bed, I opened the window a little to let in some fresh air and a little seawater too apparently. Some flew in through the window as I opened the window a crack.
"Hopefully he doesn't drown before he wakes up," I whispered to myself. Before I left, I looked at him once more. He had already fallen asleep.
As Rabecca came out of her thoughts, she noticed Locke's mouth on the floor. He seemed really amazed at the events that occurred last night. "Well, as I remember, that's how it happened."
"Well, well, seems to me I was a very bad boy last night. I'm sorry that you had to see me in such a state. How can I make it up to you?"
"You don't need to make it up to me. I'm the one who decided to go talk to you. I knew what to expect so there's no need to apologize. I can help you once we get to South Figaro. That's if you want me to. You know, with getting over this girl, Terra," Rabecca said and winked at Locke.
"Uh, well we can be friends, if that's what you're trying to say. Other than that, it's gonna take some time. Rabecca, I've been in love with Terra for a pretty long time. I can't just abandon my love for her in a second. I hope you can understand that," Locke explained.
"Sure, I understand, Locke. I'm not asking you to jump into a relationship, just a friendship. I was recently in a relationship myself. That's where the ring came from. It was an engagement ring from my ex-boyfriend. And by the way, call me Becky. I like that name much better, and I think it's easier to say."
"Whatever you say, Becky. I don't see much difference. Well, tomorrow's gonna be a new day for us. A new beginning, I guess. Well, I'm hungry. How about we eat?" Locke asked with his usual grin.
"Sure, let's go get breakfast," Becky said as she gathered her money.
