Chapter 4: There's a Girl He Already Likes...
Breakfast ended immediatly upon Locke and Celes' entry. Terra stood up immediatly and walked over to the both of them. "It's so nice to see you both again," she said, smiling. Celes gave Terra a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Locke gave a hug as well. Still smiling, Terra continued, "I'd like to apologize. I've been feeling unwell for the past couple of days. If you'll excuse me?" Without waiting for an answer, Terra left the room.
Edgar sat thoughtfully for a second. "Yes, Terra has been acting very odd lately. She must be ill." Clyde tried not to choke as he realized "unwell" for Edgar meant she was refusing his advances. To the poor king, the whole world must be feeling unwell.
"It's alright," Celes said, sitting down. "I've also been feeling sick the past couple of days, but..." instead of finishing, she merely patted her belly and smiled lovingly towards Locke. Locke smiled back, and sat down next to her, giving her a small kiss. "I should be eating more, she said, blushing. "Everyone says you should eat a lot when having a child."
Clyde finished his plate fast, eating the remaining pieces of ham, and stood up. "Thank you for this meal, good King Edgar," he said, bowing, "I am but a traveling companion of my friend Dave here; he makes the decisions as to where we go. If there is anything you need to discus, it is he that you should talk to."
Clyde quickly walked away from the table, his mind still racing. When would Dave tell them that magic did indeed still exist-somehow? Would he explain how it exists? So caught up with his mind, he wasn't watching where his feet took him and nearly ran straight into Terra again. "Oh, very sorry," he said, sighing. "Too much on my mind lately, I suppose." Then Clyde realized she was still standing close to the door and wasn't moving. He heard a faint sniffing noise coming from her. "Hey...you all right?" he asked.
"Wha-?" Terra said, turning her head just enough so she could see him. "Oh, sorry...Clyde, is it? I've been pre-occupied as well. I should get going back to my room." She started to walk towards the door, but stopped as Clyde but a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait," he said, softly. "Terra, I know King Edgar can put people- especially women-on the edge, but not this bad. Now, I know that something is wrong. I read people easily. What's got you so saddened?"
Terra stood silent for a few moments. "N-not right now," she said, shakily. "At night, I go to the top of the castle. Meet me there after dinner?"
"Yes, of course." Clyde said, concern still in his voice.
"Thanks," Terra responded. "I...please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure why I'm trusting you like this." Clyde blinked in surprise, and Terra sighed. "I'll tell you some of it now. You know, of course, that both Locke and I fought together. But..." she sniffed again, trying to hold something back. "But...well...he choose Celes." She finally said, then immediatly ran out.
"Terra..." Clyde said, still standing there for a few seconds. Then he sighed and returned to the guest room.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The rest of the day proved uneventful. Dave went to his room and promptly fell asleep again, while Clyde wandered around, not doing any one thing for too long. He visited the library, talked to the matron, and even had a conversation or two with some of the serving maids. Finally, dinner came.
The seating arrangements were the exact same as they were for breakfast. Clyde once again sat next to Terra, and this time leaned over slightly. Personally, he was very thankful that Locke was in the same row as him; that and his leaning would make it difficult for Terra to catch a glimpse of him.
As it turned out, the precautions he took did nothing, since Locke and Celes were leaning over the whole time, kissing each other, feeding each other, and such. Terra ate little, and tried to fully concentrate on picking up food with her fork then dropping it. There was little conversation, until near the end. Dave stood up and loudly announced, "Heroes of the world! Tomorrow, after more of you heroic types arrive, I will have a great message that you will find really important! So...yeah! Be ready, and such!" Dave immediatly sat down right afterwards.
Edgar blinked. "Urm, well then," he said, smiling. "I for one can't wait until tomorrow!"
Locke and Celes both gave Dave an odd look and left, while Terra walked up towards the stairs without being noticed. Clyde could only groan inwardly towards himself. Fool, a damn fool. As he started walking towards the stairs, a sudden tugging on his pant leg disturbed him, he looked down to see a black Doberman panting happily at him.
"Oh, come here" a small female voice called. The dog whimpered and looked towards a small girl-no, a young woman now, with blonde hair and a beret. "Bad Interceptor! I'm sorry, mister Clyde. Interceptor isn't usually this friendly with people. Well, he doesn't attack them or anything. Well, as long as they treat me nicely. And..." she paused. "Well, I've gotten way off topic, sorry!" she said, giving him a bright smile. "Now, come Interceptor!"
Clyde bit his lip as he watched her walk away, then shook his head and sighed and walked up the stairs.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
"Hey," Clyde said, walking up next to Terra and leaned against the stonewall as he starred out across the desert.
Terra only nodded and continued starring at the sand far beneath them for a few seconds. "You're friend Dave...he's awfully odd, isn't he?"
Clyde gave a single chuckled. "You don't know the half of it. Tomorrow's going to be quite a day, let me tell you that now."
Both of them were quiet for a few seconds. "Thank you," Terra finally said, sighing. "You know all the stories of our journeys, of course; everyone does. What they don't talk about is...Locke and I...I thought we had something." She finally finished. "We didn't. The hardest day of my life was at his wedding. I still feel horrible about it. I...I was silently praying the whole time that Locke-or Celes! -Wouldn't come, or walk out, or something would go wrong. But it didn't. Nothing went wrong. Except they got married." Tears began to roll down her cheek. "We saved the world, but for what? I can't believe in any gods now, not after killing Kefka and then being sent off to be alone again."
"There are no gods." Clyde said quietly. "But we have ourselves, and we need to do what we can to make the world better. I haven't always been alone; for a short time in my life, I had a family. But something took them away." He looked Terra in the eyes. "Never forget this. There are people who love you, Terra; don't forget about them either."
Terra looked at him for a few moments and managed a small smile. "You remind me strongly of someone I once knew," she finally said. "We weren't really close-he wasn't close with anyone, to be honest-but, well, somehow I knew...I knew that he wasn't happy with his life. He once told me not to forget that many had killed their emotions like him, a warning not to do the same. I miss him."
"What was his name?" Clyde asked, already knowing the answer.
"I don't know," Terra murmured. "He never told us. But he went by Shadow."
The two of them stood there for a few seconds, until Terra stopped leaning and stood up. "Thanks," she said again, smiling. She walked up and gave Clyde a soft kiss on the cheek. "You're a really nice guy, Clyde. I know this and I've only known you for a day or two. She must've been happy to be with you."
Clyde stood there for a few more minutes, looking down the stairs. He finally sighed. "Yeah...yeah, she was." He said after a little while, and then walked down the stairs to go to sleep.
Breakfast ended immediatly upon Locke and Celes' entry. Terra stood up immediatly and walked over to the both of them. "It's so nice to see you both again," she said, smiling. Celes gave Terra a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Locke gave a hug as well. Still smiling, Terra continued, "I'd like to apologize. I've been feeling unwell for the past couple of days. If you'll excuse me?" Without waiting for an answer, Terra left the room.
Edgar sat thoughtfully for a second. "Yes, Terra has been acting very odd lately. She must be ill." Clyde tried not to choke as he realized "unwell" for Edgar meant she was refusing his advances. To the poor king, the whole world must be feeling unwell.
"It's alright," Celes said, sitting down. "I've also been feeling sick the past couple of days, but..." instead of finishing, she merely patted her belly and smiled lovingly towards Locke. Locke smiled back, and sat down next to her, giving her a small kiss. "I should be eating more, she said, blushing. "Everyone says you should eat a lot when having a child."
Clyde finished his plate fast, eating the remaining pieces of ham, and stood up. "Thank you for this meal, good King Edgar," he said, bowing, "I am but a traveling companion of my friend Dave here; he makes the decisions as to where we go. If there is anything you need to discus, it is he that you should talk to."
Clyde quickly walked away from the table, his mind still racing. When would Dave tell them that magic did indeed still exist-somehow? Would he explain how it exists? So caught up with his mind, he wasn't watching where his feet took him and nearly ran straight into Terra again. "Oh, very sorry," he said, sighing. "Too much on my mind lately, I suppose." Then Clyde realized she was still standing close to the door and wasn't moving. He heard a faint sniffing noise coming from her. "Hey...you all right?" he asked.
"Wha-?" Terra said, turning her head just enough so she could see him. "Oh, sorry...Clyde, is it? I've been pre-occupied as well. I should get going back to my room." She started to walk towards the door, but stopped as Clyde but a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait," he said, softly. "Terra, I know King Edgar can put people- especially women-on the edge, but not this bad. Now, I know that something is wrong. I read people easily. What's got you so saddened?"
Terra stood silent for a few moments. "N-not right now," she said, shakily. "At night, I go to the top of the castle. Meet me there after dinner?"
"Yes, of course." Clyde said, concern still in his voice.
"Thanks," Terra responded. "I...please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure why I'm trusting you like this." Clyde blinked in surprise, and Terra sighed. "I'll tell you some of it now. You know, of course, that both Locke and I fought together. But..." she sniffed again, trying to hold something back. "But...well...he choose Celes." She finally said, then immediatly ran out.
"Terra..." Clyde said, still standing there for a few seconds. Then he sighed and returned to the guest room.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
The rest of the day proved uneventful. Dave went to his room and promptly fell asleep again, while Clyde wandered around, not doing any one thing for too long. He visited the library, talked to the matron, and even had a conversation or two with some of the serving maids. Finally, dinner came.
The seating arrangements were the exact same as they were for breakfast. Clyde once again sat next to Terra, and this time leaned over slightly. Personally, he was very thankful that Locke was in the same row as him; that and his leaning would make it difficult for Terra to catch a glimpse of him.
As it turned out, the precautions he took did nothing, since Locke and Celes were leaning over the whole time, kissing each other, feeding each other, and such. Terra ate little, and tried to fully concentrate on picking up food with her fork then dropping it. There was little conversation, until near the end. Dave stood up and loudly announced, "Heroes of the world! Tomorrow, after more of you heroic types arrive, I will have a great message that you will find really important! So...yeah! Be ready, and such!" Dave immediatly sat down right afterwards.
Edgar blinked. "Urm, well then," he said, smiling. "I for one can't wait until tomorrow!"
Locke and Celes both gave Dave an odd look and left, while Terra walked up towards the stairs without being noticed. Clyde could only groan inwardly towards himself. Fool, a damn fool. As he started walking towards the stairs, a sudden tugging on his pant leg disturbed him, he looked down to see a black Doberman panting happily at him.
"Oh, come here" a small female voice called. The dog whimpered and looked towards a small girl-no, a young woman now, with blonde hair and a beret. "Bad Interceptor! I'm sorry, mister Clyde. Interceptor isn't usually this friendly with people. Well, he doesn't attack them or anything. Well, as long as they treat me nicely. And..." she paused. "Well, I've gotten way off topic, sorry!" she said, giving him a bright smile. "Now, come Interceptor!"
Clyde bit his lip as he watched her walk away, then shook his head and sighed and walked up the stairs.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
"Hey," Clyde said, walking up next to Terra and leaned against the stonewall as he starred out across the desert.
Terra only nodded and continued starring at the sand far beneath them for a few seconds. "You're friend Dave...he's awfully odd, isn't he?"
Clyde gave a single chuckled. "You don't know the half of it. Tomorrow's going to be quite a day, let me tell you that now."
Both of them were quiet for a few seconds. "Thank you," Terra finally said, sighing. "You know all the stories of our journeys, of course; everyone does. What they don't talk about is...Locke and I...I thought we had something." She finally finished. "We didn't. The hardest day of my life was at his wedding. I still feel horrible about it. I...I was silently praying the whole time that Locke-or Celes! -Wouldn't come, or walk out, or something would go wrong. But it didn't. Nothing went wrong. Except they got married." Tears began to roll down her cheek. "We saved the world, but for what? I can't believe in any gods now, not after killing Kefka and then being sent off to be alone again."
"There are no gods." Clyde said quietly. "But we have ourselves, and we need to do what we can to make the world better. I haven't always been alone; for a short time in my life, I had a family. But something took them away." He looked Terra in the eyes. "Never forget this. There are people who love you, Terra; don't forget about them either."
Terra looked at him for a few moments and managed a small smile. "You remind me strongly of someone I once knew," she finally said. "We weren't really close-he wasn't close with anyone, to be honest-but, well, somehow I knew...I knew that he wasn't happy with his life. He once told me not to forget that many had killed their emotions like him, a warning not to do the same. I miss him."
"What was his name?" Clyde asked, already knowing the answer.
"I don't know," Terra murmured. "He never told us. But he went by Shadow."
The two of them stood there for a few seconds, until Terra stopped leaning and stood up. "Thanks," she said again, smiling. She walked up and gave Clyde a soft kiss on the cheek. "You're a really nice guy, Clyde. I know this and I've only known you for a day or two. She must've been happy to be with you."
Clyde stood there for a few more minutes, looking down the stairs. He finally sighed. "Yeah...yeah, she was." He said after a little while, and then walked down the stairs to go to sleep.