Chapter 3: 'Cause Angst Makes the World Go Round
Terra sighed as she looked over the edge of the castle. While she was glad Edgar was somewhere else for the time being-thank GODS, that stupid king never left anyone alone, it seemed-she still felt.wrong. She sighed and stared at the stars. "Locke..." she murmured to herself, "You promised to protect me. I need some protecting right now..."
"Terra, come inside! It's nice and wa-arm!" Edgar called out, half teasingly. Groaning to herself, Terra managed to pull away from the edge and started to walk down the stairs.
"Edgar, PLEASE, leave me alone. Tonight's just.not a good night." Terra said, sighing to herself again and walking off to her room.
"Huh..." Edgar said shaking his head. "Well, she WAS with us and helped defeat Kefka...maybe she's just used to my ineffable charm."
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Setzer yawned as he walked into the castle. "Hey, Edgar! We're here!"
Strago, striding behind him, groaned. "Don't bother, Setzer. He's probably off trying to charm some poor young lady as usual. And my gods, Setzer, did'ja have to go so.slow? I KNOW you can crank that thing to go MUCH faster without it breaking a sweat."
"Sorry, sorry." Setzer said waving his hand. "I just had a funny feeling."
Strago snorted. "Once a gambler, always a gambler. I had a funny feeling." He echoed, making a shrill mimicry of Setzer's voice.
"Bah" Setzer grunted, waving away Strago again. "Now where is Edgar? He's either got some major libido going, or he's hard of hearing."
"Ah, welcome, welcome!" Edgar said, walking in suddenly from the hall. "Strago, good to see you! And Setzer, same with you. Relm's asleep in the guest room, and Terra's in her own room. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have...business to attend to." He finished with a wink, then turned and left.
Strago jabbed Setzer with his elbow. "Looks like we caught his bluff, eh?"
Setzer laughed and walked into the guest room with Strago
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"You...all right?" the soldier said, looking at Dave who was furiously shivering and shaking.
"He's just a bit cold, aren't ya Dave?" Clyde said, shoving Dave forward.
"W-w-wind...C-c-c-old..." was all Dave could manage through blue lips.
"He really does look bad," the soldier said, looking his over. "Alright, get him inside. Too bad your friend here's not female, otherwise I can assure you she'd have the best medical service in the castle!" A guard sitting next to him joined him in his laughing."
Still shoving him forward, Clyde brought Dave down to the guest room, being led by various servants and such. Upon entering the room, he nearly ran right into Strago, who was just leaning over to get settled into bed. "WaHA! The elderly man shouted falling right into Setzer's arms.
"Strago, try to watch where you're going?" Setzer said with a grin. He looked up to see the assailant, but was greeted with Dave's nearly blue face and the back of Clyde's head. "Say, is your friend alright?"
"Er.no," Clyde said, trying to draw attention away from himself. Like THAT'LL happen. "He's very cold; we've been wandering the desert tonight, and he didn't.dress appropriately."
Strago blinked. Familiar voice. VERY familiar voice.
"At any rate," Clyde continued, "I'm hungry. I'll just ask one of the guards for assistance." Clyde left immediatly, not letting anyone in the room see his face.
"Odd fellow" Setzer said, shaking his head. Strago simply stared out of the room where Clyde had left. "Odd indeed..."
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Muttering to himself, Clyde walked towards the main hall. He looked up for a brief second to affirm where he was going, only to suddenly look straight into green-blonde hair. Then he was on the floor.
"Oof!" he said rubbing his rubbing his side, "Sorry bought that." He glanced up and stopped himself from proclaiming "Terra!" out loud.
She smiled faintly. "No, it's alright. I should've been watching where I was going." She said, before getting up and walking off.
Clyde watched her go, noticing a new stoop in her shoulders and remembering the telltale signs of depression in her voice. "Looks like time hasn't been kind to all of us," he murmured to himself. Walking into the main hall, he came close to crashing into yet another old hero, this time King Edgar himself.
"Excuse me," Clyde began, "But my partner and I were wandering through the desert, and we're both rather hungry. Do you have any food you could spare for the two of us?"
Edgar blinking in surprise, then grinned. "Well, it depends," he began.
"No." Clyde said, interrupting him immediatly. "My companion is not female."
Edgar blinked in surprise again. "Urm, ok then. Yes, I do have some food. In fact," he continued, making a grand gesture, "I'd be honored if you would join us for dinner tonight!"
Upon hearing this, the chancellor walked up behind the king and whispered into his ear. Clyde grinned as he caught the words being exchanged. "Sir, dinner has already been served and all your guests have retired."
Edgar scowled for a moment, wondering why life was out to get him, and shook his head. "Eh, other arrangements have apparently been made," he said apologetically, "but! I'll send a word to the pantry immediatly." Once he finished, he turned and stared at the chancellor. Sighing heavily and looking upward briefly to silently ask why, he said, "very well sir, I'll go contact them immediatly."
Edgar grinned again. "At any rate, I DO hope you join us for breakfast tomorrow. We have many important guests over, and it would be nice to have two travelers such as yourselves to join us."
Clyde glanced up at Edgar, suddenly remember many things about the young king he had mistakenly forgotten, and nodded. "Right, breakfast. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest. With your leave, highness."
Clyde walked back down to the guest room while silently praying that Strago would be asleep. He found his prayers answered as he walked into the room and spied Strago snoring somewhat loudly in his bed. Smiling to himself, Clyde walked over and lightly smacked Dave on the foot.
"What do you want?" Dave said miserably, still huddled inside his bed. "I never imagined it would be that cold...in the desert." He managed to finish lamely while glancing at the very awake Setzer.
The gambler walked up. "While you're waiting for your chow-it should take awhile, seeing as you're all men around here-how 'bout a game or two?"
Clyde shook his head. "I've heard of you, Setzer Gabbiani. And I'm not foolish enough to lose all my money to you in a game of blackjack."
Setzer blinked in surprise. "Urm, ok then, how about poker?" Silently, to himself, he wondered how this stranger would know that his favorite game was blackjack.
Clyde sighed and nodded. "Sure," he said, "Why not? I've got time to kill." Meanwhile, in his head, his mind was racing. Sooner or later, he'd obviously have to come face to face with Strago.
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"Woo-hoo!" Clyde heard in a very annoying cheerful voice, right before he opened his eyes. Standing there in front of him was Dave, apparently fully recovered from his severe chill.
Clyde groaned. "Why is it that I've waken up to see your face ever since we met?" he said putting a hand over his eyes and shutting them.
"Fate" Dave replied, nodding very seriously.
Clyde sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You and your thrice blasted fate. We'd best be going; we were invited to breakfast."
Mumbling to himself and walking to the wash bin, Clyde heard Dave happily respond. "Well, we'd best be going then indeed! I think I'll wait 'till more come before telling my little secret."
Dave nodded numbly, already ignoring him. He had his own worries. What would Strago say when they ate breakfast? Suddenly realizing that he had to get the early and avoid Strago somehow, Clyde grabbed Dave by the arm and ran towards the dining hall.
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Clyde bit his lip sharply as he sat down. Just figures he has to end up sitting right across from Strago. He glanced to his right were Terra sat. "Excuse me, miss? Could you pass the bread?" he said trying not to make him self the center of attention.
Edgar decided to do otherwise. "We have two guests here dinning with us today!" he announced loudly, as if nobody could realize there were two strangers at the table. "May I introduce Dave and Clyde! Common Clyde, stand up!"
Biting his lip some more and silently wishing the damned king to fall dead, Clyde stood up for a very brief moment before sitting down. "Don't mind him," Terra whispered to him, "Edgar always likes to make things big and official. It makes him feel better about himself."
Quietly chuckling as Terra tried to smother a giggle, Clyde looked up to see Strago bluntly starring at him. "Yes?" Clyde said, in a neutral tone, "May I help you, mister...?"
"Magus." Strago said. "Strago Magus. And no, it's all right. You just.well, don't mind me for saying, but you look incredibly familiar."
Clyde didn't know if he should run off and kill himself or sigh in relief. At least the old man didn't remember who he was. Well, exactly remember who he was. Terra turned towards him again. "So, what are you and your companion doing wandering the desert in the middle of the night?" she asked.
"Well," he responded, quickly thinking, "to be honest, my friend here has had his heart set on going to Figaro Castle. Unfortunately, he didn't know where that was exactly."
Terra nodded and was about to ask another question, when a soldier walked in and interrupted the breakfast. "Sir," the guard said, snapping to attention, "Locke and Celes Cole have arrived to partake in your dinning."
Edgar grinned. "Great, great! Let them in at once, I have seats reserved for them already." He motioned towards the last two seats at the table, the only ones unoccupied.
"I take it the king chooses the seating arrangements very carefully?" Clyde said jokingly, referring to the fact that next to Edgar sat Terra and Relm. Terra said nothing; instead, she bit down on her lip hard and just watched the door. Clyde turned to see what was bothering her, and instantly realized. Locke and Celes came in, hand and hand, and there was a noticeable bulge in Celes' stomach. She was going to have a baby.
Terra sighed as she looked over the edge of the castle. While she was glad Edgar was somewhere else for the time being-thank GODS, that stupid king never left anyone alone, it seemed-she still felt.wrong. She sighed and stared at the stars. "Locke..." she murmured to herself, "You promised to protect me. I need some protecting right now..."
"Terra, come inside! It's nice and wa-arm!" Edgar called out, half teasingly. Groaning to herself, Terra managed to pull away from the edge and started to walk down the stairs.
"Edgar, PLEASE, leave me alone. Tonight's just.not a good night." Terra said, sighing to herself again and walking off to her room.
"Huh..." Edgar said shaking his head. "Well, she WAS with us and helped defeat Kefka...maybe she's just used to my ineffable charm."
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Setzer yawned as he walked into the castle. "Hey, Edgar! We're here!"
Strago, striding behind him, groaned. "Don't bother, Setzer. He's probably off trying to charm some poor young lady as usual. And my gods, Setzer, did'ja have to go so.slow? I KNOW you can crank that thing to go MUCH faster without it breaking a sweat."
"Sorry, sorry." Setzer said waving his hand. "I just had a funny feeling."
Strago snorted. "Once a gambler, always a gambler. I had a funny feeling." He echoed, making a shrill mimicry of Setzer's voice.
"Bah" Setzer grunted, waving away Strago again. "Now where is Edgar? He's either got some major libido going, or he's hard of hearing."
"Ah, welcome, welcome!" Edgar said, walking in suddenly from the hall. "Strago, good to see you! And Setzer, same with you. Relm's asleep in the guest room, and Terra's in her own room. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have...business to attend to." He finished with a wink, then turned and left.
Strago jabbed Setzer with his elbow. "Looks like we caught his bluff, eh?"
Setzer laughed and walked into the guest room with Strago
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"You...all right?" the soldier said, looking at Dave who was furiously shivering and shaking.
"He's just a bit cold, aren't ya Dave?" Clyde said, shoving Dave forward.
"W-w-wind...C-c-c-old..." was all Dave could manage through blue lips.
"He really does look bad," the soldier said, looking his over. "Alright, get him inside. Too bad your friend here's not female, otherwise I can assure you she'd have the best medical service in the castle!" A guard sitting next to him joined him in his laughing."
Still shoving him forward, Clyde brought Dave down to the guest room, being led by various servants and such. Upon entering the room, he nearly ran right into Strago, who was just leaning over to get settled into bed. "WaHA! The elderly man shouted falling right into Setzer's arms.
"Strago, try to watch where you're going?" Setzer said with a grin. He looked up to see the assailant, but was greeted with Dave's nearly blue face and the back of Clyde's head. "Say, is your friend alright?"
"Er.no," Clyde said, trying to draw attention away from himself. Like THAT'LL happen. "He's very cold; we've been wandering the desert tonight, and he didn't.dress appropriately."
Strago blinked. Familiar voice. VERY familiar voice.
"At any rate," Clyde continued, "I'm hungry. I'll just ask one of the guards for assistance." Clyde left immediatly, not letting anyone in the room see his face.
"Odd fellow" Setzer said, shaking his head. Strago simply stared out of the room where Clyde had left. "Odd indeed..."
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Muttering to himself, Clyde walked towards the main hall. He looked up for a brief second to affirm where he was going, only to suddenly look straight into green-blonde hair. Then he was on the floor.
"Oof!" he said rubbing his rubbing his side, "Sorry bought that." He glanced up and stopped himself from proclaiming "Terra!" out loud.
She smiled faintly. "No, it's alright. I should've been watching where I was going." She said, before getting up and walking off.
Clyde watched her go, noticing a new stoop in her shoulders and remembering the telltale signs of depression in her voice. "Looks like time hasn't been kind to all of us," he murmured to himself. Walking into the main hall, he came close to crashing into yet another old hero, this time King Edgar himself.
"Excuse me," Clyde began, "But my partner and I were wandering through the desert, and we're both rather hungry. Do you have any food you could spare for the two of us?"
Edgar blinking in surprise, then grinned. "Well, it depends," he began.
"No." Clyde said, interrupting him immediatly. "My companion is not female."
Edgar blinked in surprise again. "Urm, ok then. Yes, I do have some food. In fact," he continued, making a grand gesture, "I'd be honored if you would join us for dinner tonight!"
Upon hearing this, the chancellor walked up behind the king and whispered into his ear. Clyde grinned as he caught the words being exchanged. "Sir, dinner has already been served and all your guests have retired."
Edgar scowled for a moment, wondering why life was out to get him, and shook his head. "Eh, other arrangements have apparently been made," he said apologetically, "but! I'll send a word to the pantry immediatly." Once he finished, he turned and stared at the chancellor. Sighing heavily and looking upward briefly to silently ask why, he said, "very well sir, I'll go contact them immediatly."
Edgar grinned again. "At any rate, I DO hope you join us for breakfast tomorrow. We have many important guests over, and it would be nice to have two travelers such as yourselves to join us."
Clyde glanced up at Edgar, suddenly remember many things about the young king he had mistakenly forgotten, and nodded. "Right, breakfast. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest. With your leave, highness."
Clyde walked back down to the guest room while silently praying that Strago would be asleep. He found his prayers answered as he walked into the room and spied Strago snoring somewhat loudly in his bed. Smiling to himself, Clyde walked over and lightly smacked Dave on the foot.
"What do you want?" Dave said miserably, still huddled inside his bed. "I never imagined it would be that cold...in the desert." He managed to finish lamely while glancing at the very awake Setzer.
The gambler walked up. "While you're waiting for your chow-it should take awhile, seeing as you're all men around here-how 'bout a game or two?"
Clyde shook his head. "I've heard of you, Setzer Gabbiani. And I'm not foolish enough to lose all my money to you in a game of blackjack."
Setzer blinked in surprise. "Urm, ok then, how about poker?" Silently, to himself, he wondered how this stranger would know that his favorite game was blackjack.
Clyde sighed and nodded. "Sure," he said, "Why not? I've got time to kill." Meanwhile, in his head, his mind was racing. Sooner or later, he'd obviously have to come face to face with Strago.
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"Woo-hoo!" Clyde heard in a very annoying cheerful voice, right before he opened his eyes. Standing there in front of him was Dave, apparently fully recovered from his severe chill.
Clyde groaned. "Why is it that I've waken up to see your face ever since we met?" he said putting a hand over his eyes and shutting them.
"Fate" Dave replied, nodding very seriously.
Clyde sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You and your thrice blasted fate. We'd best be going; we were invited to breakfast."
Mumbling to himself and walking to the wash bin, Clyde heard Dave happily respond. "Well, we'd best be going then indeed! I think I'll wait 'till more come before telling my little secret."
Dave nodded numbly, already ignoring him. He had his own worries. What would Strago say when they ate breakfast? Suddenly realizing that he had to get the early and avoid Strago somehow, Clyde grabbed Dave by the arm and ran towards the dining hall.
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Clyde bit his lip sharply as he sat down. Just figures he has to end up sitting right across from Strago. He glanced to his right were Terra sat. "Excuse me, miss? Could you pass the bread?" he said trying not to make him self the center of attention.
Edgar decided to do otherwise. "We have two guests here dinning with us today!" he announced loudly, as if nobody could realize there were two strangers at the table. "May I introduce Dave and Clyde! Common Clyde, stand up!"
Biting his lip some more and silently wishing the damned king to fall dead, Clyde stood up for a very brief moment before sitting down. "Don't mind him," Terra whispered to him, "Edgar always likes to make things big and official. It makes him feel better about himself."
Quietly chuckling as Terra tried to smother a giggle, Clyde looked up to see Strago bluntly starring at him. "Yes?" Clyde said, in a neutral tone, "May I help you, mister...?"
"Magus." Strago said. "Strago Magus. And no, it's all right. You just.well, don't mind me for saying, but you look incredibly familiar."
Clyde didn't know if he should run off and kill himself or sigh in relief. At least the old man didn't remember who he was. Well, exactly remember who he was. Terra turned towards him again. "So, what are you and your companion doing wandering the desert in the middle of the night?" she asked.
"Well," he responded, quickly thinking, "to be honest, my friend here has had his heart set on going to Figaro Castle. Unfortunately, he didn't know where that was exactly."
Terra nodded and was about to ask another question, when a soldier walked in and interrupted the breakfast. "Sir," the guard said, snapping to attention, "Locke and Celes Cole have arrived to partake in your dinning."
Edgar grinned. "Great, great! Let them in at once, I have seats reserved for them already." He motioned towards the last two seats at the table, the only ones unoccupied.
"I take it the king chooses the seating arrangements very carefully?" Clyde said jokingly, referring to the fact that next to Edgar sat Terra and Relm. Terra said nothing; instead, she bit down on her lip hard and just watched the door. Clyde turned to see what was bothering her, and instantly realized. Locke and Celes came in, hand and hand, and there was a noticeable bulge in Celes' stomach. She was going to have a baby.