Chapter 4: Three Mysterious Items

Terra was looking out one of the open windows of Figaro Castle at the evening sun. She heard some footsteps behind her. Terra looked behind her to find Edgar looking at her as he came closer. He stopped directly behind her about four feet away. Terra turned around completely to find out what he wanted, and to keep an eye on him. "Yes, Edgar?"

Straightening himself up, Edgar said, "Um, well, just wanted to ask you to dinner this evening, just the two of us."

"Edgar, I know what you're thinking so I must turn down your offer. I'm not interested in it."

"But you gotta admit you love me, right?" Edgar said, smiling.

There was the sound of a door closing somewhere nearby.

"I can't, Edgar. I just can't love you. Never could and never will," Terra said.

"But, my lady, I'm the only one for you. I'm loveable, kind, loyal, handsome..."

"AND a playboy!" exclaimed Terra.

"I resent that! I haven't had a woman for a week. For me that is a pretty long time. All I can think about is you. So please, accept my offer. Please?"

"Umm ... no!" Terra said firmly.

"Why not? I'm the perfect man for you."

"Well, maybe there's another person in my life."

"Just give me one chance. Come on, I'll take you out to lunch and give you a romantic evening, have a candlelit dinner for two, and finish off the night in my room." Edgar tries to grasp her hand, but she escapes his grasp.

"No, Edgar. I'm not interested." Terra turns to walk away, but Edgar gets in front of her.

Sabin comes up from behind Edgar and slaps him on the back. "Out to get the lovely green-haired lady again, are we?" Then imitating Edgar's voice, "My lady, take you out to lunch and give you a romantic evening, have a candlelit dinner for two, and finish off the night in my room."

Sabin let out a big hearty laugh while Terra giggled. Edgar jumped from surprise at the remark and then shot back, "Sabin, obviously you have been without love for too long. Can't you tell that she's playing hard-to-get."

"Edgar, I would never play hard-to-get with you. It would be no fun because you wouldn't get sick of it. Even if I did play hard-to-get, it would not be with you. You're not someone that I can love," Terra explained.

"Damn! I was sure I could win your heart for sure this time, my lady," Edgar said under his breath.

"Edgar, what did I just hear coming from your mouth. And in front of the lovely lady that you're trying to capture too. How dare you. I'm sorry that you had to hear that, Terra. How can I make it up to you? I know," Sabin said and then jabbed his brother in the stomach. "That'll teach you."

Edgar bent over in pain. "Oof!" Edgar said as all the air left his body. Slowly Edgar recovered his breath and stood up again. "What do you think you were doing?"

"Just punishing you for saying such words in front of a lady." Sabin looks at Terra. "Here, why don't you come with me and we go off somewhere ... where there's no perverts."

"Thanks for the invitation, Sabin, but I should be going. I've picked up enough presents for the kids at Mobliz now. I just want to go and drop in on a few of our friends. By the way, where's Locke these days?" Terra asked, knowing that he was the only one she really wanted to see right now.

"Last I heard, he just got to Nikeah. That was a couple of months ago so he could be anywhere now," Sabin replied.

"In the letter I got from him, he said he was planning to settle down and buy a house. I'll believe it when I see it," Edgar said. At this remark, he laughed. "I say he changed his mind the second he sent it."

"So he found a wife?" Terra asked, disappointed, but not showing it in her voice.

"Nah, he said that the wife would come later when he became richer than the millionaire in Jidoor that's always at the Auction House. He said he was planning on buying a house. He's probably in some cave right now looking for more treasure."

Terra giggled. "Yeah, that sounds like Locke alright. Well, I'll go check out tomorrow morning. Maybe he's still there," Terra said hopefully. "Well, I gotta pack my stuff to get ready."

"Would you like me to come along and protect you, my lady?"

"Edgar, she don't want you. If she had anyone, she'd have someone who'd NOT take advantage of the situation to get romantic, as you call it."

Terra giggled again. "No thanks to both of you. I'll be fine on my own." Terra turned and left the both of them standing in the castle hallway.

As Terra ran off down the hall, Edgar looked at her gorgeous body. Only if I could prove myself to her. I'm not that bad of a man. I'm only with those other women because I can't find the right one. And I'm sure she's the right one. Guess I'm not the right one for her. I wonder who is.

Without saying a word to each other, both Sabin and Edgar went their separate ways. Sabin ended up in his room. Noticing the time, he realized that he should've started his evening training by now. He had missed at least half an hour of it due to the situation with Edgar and Terra. "Oh well, guess I'll go and start now. Better late than never, I guess," Sabin said as he left his room again to go to the special training room Edgar had let him set up in the old dungeon area.

***

Meanwhile, back with Locke & Becky

Locke and Becky had just exited the cave near South Figaro. Locke knew that cave like the back of his hand and knew that there was little danger for them to encounter. While exploring the cave, Locke noticed a new opening there. It was another dead end, but at the end was a beautiful underground river. They decided to eat their packed lunch there while admiring the scenery.

Along the riverbank were blue, green, and brown moss. Scattered near the walls of the cave were various types of mushrooms. The air had a hint of a minty odor. In the dirt where nothing grew, a diverse amount of footprints could be seen, including those of Locke's and Becky's boots.

"Wow! That was exciting!" Becky said as they stood in the entrance of the cave they had just left.

"Thank you," Locke said with his usual grin that went across his face.

"Evening already? Seems like we were only in there for an hour. Are your travels always this exciting?" Becky asked him with exhilaration in her voice.

"Well, usually I don't find sights so beautiful. Sights like that are more precious than many treasures that I find. I hope you enjoyed yourself. This cave isn't all that dangerous so that's why I took you in here first. I didn't want to put you in too much danger."

"Oh, I did, I did! The whole trip was exciting. I think you were being modest about being just OK with this exploring talent you have. You ARE an adventurer extraordinaire!"

"Well, maybe I'm a little better at this than I said. Anyway, it's getting late. Do you want to attempt goin' back? Or would you prefer sleeping out under the stars. If all this is overwhelming you, we can go back to the Inn and we can sleep outside some other night," Locke asked Becky, who was already wide-eyed with amazement of her recent experiences.

"Umm ..."

***

Somewhere in the Final Fantasy VI World

"What do you mean it's not there?" the boss yelled.

"I dunno. I went to get it like you requested and it appears that the place was raided. Both the doll and the jewels are gone! I can't believe that someone found them. They were locked up, buried, the cave barricaded, and then well-hidden. It would be impossible for anyone to steal them," the lackey explained.

The boss picked up the idiot of a slave by the throat and brought him up to his face. "Then, how do you explain them to be missing? How do you explain the box being dug up, opened, and abandoned with NOTHING left in it? Well?" Without waiting for an answer, he threw him against the wall, causing some rocks to fall.

The man groaned in pain as he laid there, getting hit by falling dirt and rocks. "Well, sir, he'd have to be a really experienced thief or something. The one person that I think that is capable of such a feat is you, my Lord."

"There MUST be someone else then. Otherwise, it would all be still there. Get up, you lazy moron and start looking for them. If someone figures out the power of the doll, necklace, and staff, then we're done for. You get that? We HAVE to find them right away! So, go get started! NOW!" The boss kicked his lackey, making him stand up quickly. "Check all the stores for anything that may have come into their possession. And if you find them, BUY them back right away. I can't stand losing them again."

"Yes, sir," the man said as he quickly went towards the airship to get it started for takeoff.

***

In Thamasa

A knock came at the door. Strago hobbled over to see who was there. "Um ... hello?" Strago asked as he opened the door.

"Good evening, Mr. Magus," the eighteen-year-old Gau said in the door.

"Gau, don't call me Mr. Magus. I am Strago. Calling me Mr. makes me feel old. Yes, I know I am old, but I don't want to feel any older than I already am."

"I know that. I just like teasing my favorite old man," Gau said and then laughed.

"Young man, if I was a few years younger, well, quite a few years younger, I'd teach you a lesson," Strago scolded.

"OK, OK!" Gau said as he laughed again. "You know if Miss Relm is ready yet?"

"I could check. Just a minute." Strago left the door to take two steps towards the stairs and yelled, "RELM? ARE YOU READY YET?"

Just as he was yelling out, Relm came out of her room and started down the stairs. The volume of Strago's voice was so intense, she had to cover her ears. After he finished his yelling Relm said, "For an old man, you sure have a loud voice."

"My voice is something that has never abandoned me. I don't about the rest of me though. It seems like sometimes my whole body leaves me for someone better looking and a whole lot younger. But you don't want to listen to my complaints so I'll shut up now."

"That's for sure, old man," Relm said. She didn't really mean it and Strago knew it. She never did. She just liked acting difficult and stuff. "Come on, Gau. I believe we have a date to go on. See ya later, Gramps."

"Sure thing, my lady," Gau said, imitating Edgar.

"Get away from me you pervert," Relm shrieked and hit him playfully as they went out the door.

"Now that the kids are gone out, I can finally get some rest." Strago locked up all the doors and headed for his favorite chair to get a nap. Two seconds after he sat down, there was a knock at the door.

"What in tarnation! That's probably Gau playing another trick on me. Can't he see that I need my rest? This time I'll teach him a lesson," Strago said hobbling back to the door once again, cane in hand.

Strago unlocked the door so he could open it. As the door swung slowly open, Strago got his cane ready. "Gau, just for this trick, I'm gonna teach you a lesson!" As he swung the cane, he realized that it was not Gau, but the postman. Strago managed to stop the cane from knocking out the poor guy. "Oh, sorry Mr. McGregor! I thought you were someone else."

"Ah, it's alright. It wouldn't be the first time getting hit by a cane. By the way, you have a package from Nikeah. From a Locke Cole, I believe."

"Locke? Wonder what he sent me? Thank you Mr. McGregor. Have a good day and may all canes miss you." He nodded and then left to continue his route.

Strago closed the door again, took the box, and laid it on the table for further inspection. After several minutes of staring at the box, he decided to finally open it. "A staff? Why would Locke send me a staff? And such an expensive one too. If I used this in battle it would probably break quicker than my bones would."

The staff had a gnarled texture. It was made out of pure silver. At the top of the staff, there was a large emerald. Surrounding the emerald were a dozen miniature emeralds. Along the handle there was an inscription written in an ancient language not even Strago could decipher.

"Hmmm ... wonder what they mean?" Strago said, feeling a whole lot less tired.