Part Four

Terra sat up, bracing herself against the floor, her head pounding and her stomach empty. She was amazed that she hadn't started vomiting when the ship pitched right and then left. It had sent her into a dizzy haze; one that she was still recovering from. But for now, all was silent. She could even hear crickets outside, and the cawing of some unknown bird.

Terra sat for a while debating whether or not to try and stand up. She knew that she should look for a way out while everything was quiet. Her soldier training would come in handy if only she could get her body to respond properly. And that might be a problem.

Terra heard leather boots passing along the wood floor outside the room that she was occupying. The metal latch on the door clanked and the door was pulled open. Feint light spilled in from a lantern that the door opener held. All Terra could see were the hard line of his face, the rest of him was covered in shadow. But even in the poor lighting, Terra was reminded of Sabin. So it was this man that had kidnapped her.

"Awake I see," the Sabin shadow said in a strangely familiar low voice. He stepped into the room while setting his lantern on a shelf near the doorway. He pulled something off his belt and Terra recognized it as rope. Her instincts kicked in and she tried to stand to run away, but she only managed in tripping over her own limbs and falling in an uncomfortable position. Within a moment, the stranger had her, pulling her out of her self-imposed tangle, and sat her down. He bound her wrists together, taking care that she couldn't untie the knots while still bound. He did the same with her ankles.

Terra's mind raced. So many things ran through her head that she couldn't grasp a single idea and implement it. So instead of asking why she was kidnapped or fighting with all her faded strength, she stared at the Sabin-like man with her eyes wide open.  His resemblance to Sabin was astonishing. 

"Don't think ill of me, Terra," the man finally said as he sat back to admire his handy work. "It wasn't I that wished you evil. I'm just being paid by him."

"Zemus?" Terra managed to ask in a half croaked tone. She coughed a few times.

The strange man's brows rose in surprise.

"Yes," he admitted. "That is my employer. I see that his deeds have reached the northern continent."

"My comrades are already on their way to rescue me," Terra stated defiantly.  "You will not succeed."

"I already have," the man said.  "Not even your Sabin will be able to find you now."

Terra's breath caught in her throat as the man chucked then he stood and walked away, taking the lantern and closing the door behind him. She listened to his footsteps as they grew softer and disappeared. She was left in complete darkness.

Terra scooted herself back against the wall and leaned her head back. The wall was made of wood, the planks about a foot in height. The wood was cool against her back. It was then that she realized that she still wore the red dress from the day before. The skirt was rumpled and tangled around her knees. The bodice was twisted around her uncomfortably. Terra sighed and tried to rearrange the dress despite her binding.

* * *

"They have two more days," he commented as he studied the fingernails on his left hand while an attendant filed the nails on the other hand. "Then the bargain is null and void and I can let my assassins handle the matter."

"You never intended to pay them anyway," replied a man sitting at the desk facing the room's only window. He was looking over a ledger book through small spectacles. He made a few marks with a quill pen and blew on the wet ink to dry it.

"Of course not," the first man snapped. "Why pay for something that you can get for free?" He waved the attendant away as he stood from the chair he had been lounging in. The attendant bowed and exited the room. The man strode to a mirror hanging on the wall and examined his long face. His brown eyes scanned over his neatly trimmed beard and his immaculately styled short black hair. "And with the girl in my possession, I will be unstoppable." He used a thumb to smooth his left brow. And he smiled.

* * *

"There," Sabin pointed over the edge of the buoyant airship, Edgar joined him and looked down upon a ship docked at the port of Tzen, the northern most city on the South Continent. 

"It looks like they have the machinery to convert to an airship," Edgar stated in amazement.  "Incredible!  It looks like the air balloon is folded under the deck!"  Sabin jabbed his brother in the ribs.  Edgar sneered a bit but let it go.  "It's no wonder we lost them over the ocean."

"There is only one guard," Sabin observed as he saw a thin figure strolling the deck.  "It does look like they have been docked for long.  Terra might still be aboard."

"Might," Edgar agreed.  "But there might well be more men below deck.  We'll have to sneak onboard."

The twins glanced at each other, and in unison, shouted: "Locke!"  They both turned as they heard a faint coughing from behind some crates as Locke stepped into view.

"Fancy meeting you here," Locke snickered with fake surprise.  "What a beautiful day for some… treasure hunting."  He gave the royal twins a broad smile.  They both just rolled their eyes as they motioned him over to the railing over looking the second airship.

"Can you get us in with out getting noticed?" Sabin asked as Locke surveyed the situation below.

"My dear Sabin!" Locke jeered.  "You have so little faith in me."  Locke again flashed a smile.  "Do you know how to swim?"

"I'll get Setzer to drop us a few blocks away," Edgar stated and with that he turned on his heels and marched off to find the airship captain.  Sabin and Locke continued to survey the lone watchman on the deck of the foreign airship.

"It's a woman," Locke muttered after a moment's observation.  "A woman with a sword."  The airship lurched from its perch in the sky due east as it lost altitude slowly.  "The question now is:  Does she know how to use the sword."

"With friends like Terra and Celes," Sabin said curtly.  "I'm surprised that you even said that."  Sabin looked at the whimsically expressed Locke and strode off, with Locke in pursuit.  The duo found Edgar and Setzer at the helm; a rope was grasped in Edgar's hands.  Edgar walked to the side of the ship and securely tied the rope to the railing and tossed it over the edge.

"We are going to have to be dropped," Edgar stated as he grasped the rope firmly in his hands and stepped over the edge.  "We can't land in the city.  I suggest that you follow."  Sabin followed his twin once Edgar was on the ground, steadying the rope.  Locke followed, landing between the large duplicates.

Wordlessly, Edgar nodded his head in the correct direction and the trio walked single file down the crowded streets of Tzen to the marina where the boat was docked.  The town's people gave them no notice, being used to strange foreigners in their flourishing port city.

The company came to a halt as the tall buildings gave way to the marina and its host of ships, sailors, and fishermen. 

"What now?" Sabin asked as he located the ship they meant to infiltrate.  Locke snickered and glanced at Sabin.  A subtle but powerful push suddenly tipped Edgar off his balance and he tumbled over the edge of the marina and splashed loudly as his bulk contacted the marina water.  Locke laughed outright.

"You could have at least warned him," Sabin frowned just before he leapt in to join his brother.  Locke leapt in a short ways down the dock as to avoid the King of Figaro.  But the two royalties followed him, one determined and one annoyed.  The trio swam close to the dock and between the ships until they reached the ship they wanted.

Wordlessly, Locke signaled for them to stay near the stern of the ship as the dexterous thief scaled the side of the ship with ease.  He reached a porthole window about halfway up the side of the ship and eased it open with a lock pick.  He crawled in the smallish window, tumbling into an empty room.  Locke listened intently to the ship and heard no one approaching.  So he produced a strong rope from his baggy ocean soaked shirt, secured it to a support beam, and dropped the line down to the royal copies.

Sabin was the first to reach the window and squeezed his way through with slight difficulty.  Edgar was next, and didn't have as much trouble as his muscle bound brother.  The three silently wrung as much water out of their clothing as possible and then approached the door to the inner hallway of the ship. 

The three halted when they heard footfalls on the deck above them.  It was the woman guard pacing.  The three spies silently moved to the door and after listening for movement in the hall, Locke turned the knob and opened the door. 

To their immediate left was the stair leading up to the dock and to their right was a hall to other rooms.  The three of them snuck down the corridor quietly, each checking rooms as they reached the end of the hall.  At the end was a ladder leading down into the lower floor.

"We need to depart NOW," bellowed a deep voice from the upper deck as two sets of foot steps jumped onto the deck.  The third set, the look out, bolted across the deck, and the ship started to float away from the dock.  "Throw open that latch!" came another shout from the deep voice and accompanying clicks and cracks of large gates being opened. 

Before the three stowaways could react the ship also buoyed itself into the air while machinery in the lower decks chugged the air into the fabric balloon that carried the ship.  They were too high too quickly to be able to jump from the ship and too far out to be found if they survived the fall.

"What happened?" demanded a female voice from up above.

"Ambush," replied the deeper masculine voice.  "The deal was bogus from the beginning.  We were never going to get paid, just executed."

"So now what do we do with her?" the female demanded again.  But there was no answer.  "God damn it."

The three stowaways closed themselves in the least conspicuous room to hide and configure a plan to get Terra and get free.

"I think that she is still on the ship," Locke said quietly as he listened to the footsteps above them.  "It sounded like they had a deal to collect a reward on her and they were double crossed."

"Why don't you state the obvious," Sabin snapped angrily.  Locke just frowned a little bit but continued.

"I think that we should try to find her when the ship settles down for the night," Locke concluded.   Edgar nodded and Sabin just scowled.