Chapter Two- The Trail Worn Traveler Locke

Soft moonlight came in through the window of the small house, bathing its polished wooden floors in a silver light. It was well after midnight, but everyone in Narshe was wide-awake. There had been screams and explosions outside of just about everyone's windows. And, several bodies had been removed from the snow, frostbite already claiming its lifeless victims. There had been crying wives, crying children, even some howling lobos, realizing their masters were gone.

But through all of this, an elderly man had been making his way through the mines, carrying out his own investigation. His sandy-to-white colored hair was being dripped upon by the icy waters of the mines, but it did not seem to bother him. He had seen the Magitek Armor riding into Narshe from his own window on the north part of town, and he thought tonight was his lucky night. He needed Magitek Armor, even just one piece, for a friend of his to study and overlook.

But he did not expect to find what he did lying on the cold, damp ground...one of the soldiers he had seen earlier, minus her armor, out like a light. He did a quick check, seeing if any of her two comrades were with her, but no one else was there except her and that creepy frozen esper everyone had been talking about. It was then, however, that he noticed the strange brown headband fastened around the girl's forehead, and gasped. She needed to be taken in right away to safety.

So now, he was home, after he had carried the young woman back from the mines and tucked her safely away in a spare bed of his. However, before leaving her alone, he carefully reached around to the back of her head and unfastened the slave crown, taking it to a table across the room. He wanted it as far away from her as possible.

Suddenly, he heard a soft moan come from the bedroom, and sat up in his rocking chair, nearly dropping his book in surprise. Had the young woman finally awoken? He sighed as he stood up, knowing what would be coming next. She would be asking questions, and he would have to give her all of the sad answers. He entered the bedroom, and looked toward the bed. There she was, sitting up, and rubbing her head. Her green hair fell over in curly tendrils over her shoulders, and her green eyes were filled with a light that had never been there before. Her clothes were still soaked with snow and water, but she was not shivering.

"Are you ok?" The old man asked, and the girl gasped, looking up at him. When she spoke, he was surprised to hear that her voice was small, soft, and almost child-like. In fact, he was surprised she could even talk at all. The full effects of the slave crown, such as muteness and amnesia, perhaps had not settled in after all!

"Where am I?" She asked softly.

"Whoa!" He smiled as he came closer. "And I only just removed the crown!" The girl looked up at him with a pained expression on her delicate face.

"....Head....hurts..."

"Take it easy..." The man said, and took the slave crown off the table. He held it out to the girl, and she blinked, not recognizing it.

"This is a Slave Crown. The others had complete control over you while you were wearing it." He explained, and set it down on the night table beside her bed. The girl widened her eyes and massaged her temples.

"I...I can't remember a thing!" She cried, her heart racing. No matter how hard she searched, she could find nothing but fog rolling through her mind...She suddenly became very frightened and shut her eyes tightly to keep her hot tears from coming down her cheeks. The old man sighed, and placed a hand on her bony shoulder.

"Don't worry. It'll all come back to you... in time, that is.........." He trailed off. "Time heals all wounds..." The girl shook her head frantically. She called upon all her inner strength inside of her body to banish the fear in her heart. A warm feeling began to wash over her, something she could have sworn she had felt just very recently....

"My name....is Terra!" She cried, and opened her eyes. The old man blinked and smiled, although in shock.

"That's amazing...I have never heard of anyone recovering...so fast!" He exclaimed cheerfully. He realized that the girl looked frail, but something inside of her was strong and unyielding to the horrible effects that the slave crown had left behind in the poor girl's body. It was definitely something he had never seen....

Suddenly, there was a loud barking outside, the barking of several lobos, and the shouts belonging to a human voice.

"Open up! Give us back the girl and the Empire's Magitek Armor!!"

"Open this door! We want the girl! She's an officer of the Empire!" The old man gasped, and looked towards the front of his home. Terra, alarmed, climbed out of bed and stood beside him. Her heart was beating so loudly, she was sure the guards outside could hear it. What was she to do?

"Empire...?" She asked. "Magitek Armor...?" The old man looked to her and shook his head. There was no time. She was clearly innocent...not like the other Empire officers he had met. She was not like them at all.

"Look, I have to get you out of here! I don't have time to explain!" He cried, and pulled her over to a backdoor in the bedroom. She blinked and stared at him.

"Make your way out through the mines! I'll keep these brutes occupied!" The old man cried, and Terra was about to protest when he opened the door and gently pushed her through. Terra stumbled out on long, clumsy legs and heard the door shut behind her.

"....Oh dear..." She murmured, and shivered as a cold burst of wind hit her. She was not quite up to walking yet, but she decided that she must follow the old man's directions and hurry to the mines. She had detected fear in his voice, fear even when he touched her shoulder....but there was also an air of genuine worry with him as well, and he DID rescue her. So, she supposed she should return the favor by escaping like he said.

With that, Terra took off running from the back of the man's house down a long plank bath that had been built that led right to the mines. As she was crossing them high over the main street of Narshe, she saw a couple of guards below her and freaked out. Slowly, she began to walk across, as to not make any distractions, but he heeled boots were too loud and gave her away. She gasped as the guards looked up at her, smirking.

"She's up there!"

Terra continued to stare at them a moment before realizing that she must leave quickly and did so. She soon entered a dark mine, and looked about her surroundings frantically.

Where can I hide? She thought. What can I do? I'm so scared...

Terra continued to run through the mines, although her entire body felt as if it would fall apart at another step. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her and nearly screamed when she heard the voices.

"I can hear her down here!"

"Alright! Little missy can run fast, eh?"

Oh God, what do they want with me?! Terra's mind raced as she blindly plunged forward around a corner. She then spotted a exit, and smiled happily. She was free! She was about to race through it when she was stopped by 2 emerging Narshe guards appearing through it. Terra screamed and took a step back as they approached her, laughing.

Right then, another pair of guards emerged from the path Terra had taken to get to where she was, and she found herself trapped and cornered. She slowly backed up into a cold wall, trying to think of what to do to save herself.

"Got her!" All the guards squealed in unison. Terra gasped and closed her eyes.

What do I do? What do I do?

Suddenly, Terra felt a violent shaking, and looked down to her feet. To her horror, she realized the floor was collapsing beneath her! But before she could run to safety, the stone gave away, and Terra found herself plunging through cold darkness, the surprised shouts of the guards above her fading quickly. Terra hit the floor with a sickening thump, and moaned as she tried to push herself up on all fours. She crawled a few steps forward, but collapsed and realized she had to rest.

Those men...who were they? Narshe's guards? Empire officers? What is all this...?

Terra tried to crawl again, but her body heavily protested this and shot sharp pains through every joint she had. Terra cried out and hit the ground again, this time welcoming the darkness and feeling of warmth that came over her.

She found herself in a world strangely tinted yellow, and looked around. She could see the room of a castle. Inside, the room was covered in machines and big red banners with a funny black symbol on them. Also inside, she could see a strangely dressed man who almost had the appearance of a clown with his flashy make-up holding something familiar. The slave crown! He was approaching another figure, one who was just standing there, dazed, as if she had been drugged. Terra gasped when she realized it was her!

"Wake up!" Terra tried to shout, but nothing paid attention to her. Terra cried out again, but alas, there was no response. The clown man snapped the salve crown around the girl's head, and instantly, the light in her eyes vanished.

"My sweet little magic user...! Uweee, he, he! With this Slave Crown I'll practically OWN you!!" He began to laugh manically, and Terra gasped.

"Who are you!?" She screamed at the image. "Did you do this to me!?"

As it faded away, Terra then saw herself piloting a monstrous device that was spitting out beams of red, blue, and white left and right. She was being attacked by soldiers, but to eliminate them, all she had to do was push a button. A fiery background appeared, and Terra realized they were in a burning town! The clown made the scene now, strutting across the battlefield after Terra had killed everyone in sight.

"Uweee, hee, hee! Good! Burn up everything!" He exclaimed, and laughed again. His laugh was so horrible, so frightening, that Terra knew she would never be able to forget it again.

"Was that really me...?" She asked softly. "Did I kill all of those people...? Or is this a sick dream?"

The scene changed again for the last time. They were at the palace again, at some sort of an assembly. Terra saw herself, the clown, a young man with honey blonde hair and blue armor, and a young woman with blonde hair also in a tight combat bodysuit. They were all standing behind a way older man with a long beard, and Terra could see that stretched ahead of them were tons of brown-suited soldiers waving and cheering.

"We stand on the brink of a major breakthrough! In the days to come, we'll witness a total revival of magic! It is our destiny, and ours alone, to take this mystic force and claim what is rightfully ours!" When the old man started talking, the screams and cheers got louder. Terra blinked and watched closely as the three people she was standing with abandoned her and moved up to the old man.

"With our newfound power, nothing can stand in our way!" He exclaimed, and the three people behind him saluted. Terra tried desperately to think about whether she knew them or not, but she couldn't tell. Was this reality, or a dream? At once, the soldiers all burst out shouting:

"Hurrah!!! Long live Emperor Gestahl!!!"

"Hurrah!!! Long live Emperor Gestahl!!!" Terra gasped as it started to fade away.

"No wait!" She cried, her voice beginning to echo in the darkness. "Wait....!"

".....Wait....."

"...............Wait...."

**********

Back at the old man's home, Terra's savior had been pacing about the floor of his living room nervously, checking his watch every few minutes. This always happened. He was always late...His thoughts began to wander towards the girl he had saved...what was her name? Terra. Was she safe now? Had she managed to hide?

Suddenly, the front door to his house burst open, and the old man turned around. Realizing that it wasn't a Narshe guard, he turned red and began to shout.

"Took you long enough!"

"Heh, sorry..." The new figure shut the man's door and locked it up. He was a tall man, well built in the chest and tan all over from traveling in the sun a lot. His hair, a light brown, was streaked with some natural blonde highlights, hung over his eyes in a rather ragged manner until he turned around and pushed them away. A handsome face was revealed, with sparkling brown eyes and a cheerful smile that looked like it could never be melted away. He was dressed warmly for the occasion of arriving in Narshe: A warm blue jacket that was layered over his traditional uniform of a white t-shirt and denim pants. He was also wearing brown leather boots and matching brown gloves. To finish things off, a navy blue bandana was tied around his forehead.

The old man smirked. "Well then...How goes the robbing and plundering trade?" The young man gasped and turned red, deeply offended and shocked.

"I PREFER the term treasure hunting!" He protested, and crossed his arms over his chest. The old man burst out laughing and shook his head.

"Ha! Semantic nonsense!" He exclaimed, and the young man made a face and waved a finger.

"Anyway, you are the one who sent for me, right?" The young man asked. Suddenly, the old man turned serious and nodded.

"Locke, there is a girl I would like you to meet." Locke blinked and immediately shook his head. Avis, the serious-minded old man he thought he knew well was trying to hook him up on a date?! Not that it mattered anyway. Locke wasn't interested in that sort of thing anymore...

"Locke!" Arvis cried, and Locke snapped out of it.

"Yes, a girl?" He asked.

"You didn't think I was trying to set you two up, did you?!" Arvis smirked and Locke nearly fell over.

"No, of course not!" Locke sighed in relief and then gasped, realizing what this might be about. It was already all over the Narshe news and... Locke ran over to Arvis and grabbed his shoulders firmly.

"......!? This better not have anything to do with that Magitek- riding, imperial...witch!!!" Locke cried. Arvis nodded sadly and Locke blinked. What was he thinking?!

"Imperial troops are pursuing here even as we speak. This town is no match for the Empire!" Arvis cried.

"I know Arvis, but..."

"Our independence can only be assured if we join forces with the Returners..." Arvis trailed off and Locke stepped away.

"Narshe join up with the Returners? The underground resistance movement against the Empire?" Locke shook his head. "Seriously doubtful! Narshe would never..."

"Well, that's not necessarily the issue at hand right now." Arvis said. "That girl wasn't responsible for her actions. We must get her to understand our dilemma! Locke, you must trust me on this...we need her help, and badly. We need her to show others what the Empire can do to people, and..."

"Alright... I think we'd better help her..." Locke gave in and sighed. As much as he didn't want to do this, he just kept telling himself it was for the Returners, and Arvis.

"Agreed. Make your way first to Figaro, and talk to the king!" Arvis instructed, and then pointed out towards his back door. "She escaped through there. Find her quickly, and leave Narshe as soon as possible! She had green hair, and was wearing a red dress!" Locke nodded and a few moments later, disappeared through the door.

"I knew I could count on you, Locke!" Arvis exclaimed happily to himself. "Be safe...!"

Locke took off running, following the small footsteps he saw in the snow on the wooden plank path into the mines. He could not believe that he had been woken up in the middle of the night for something like this. Arvis must have been crazy, telling him to rescue and escort an Empire soldier out of Narshe safely. He hated the Empire, just hated them. What was different about this girl? And if she really was in trouble, why didn't the Empire just swoop down and take her away by now? She must have come in town with some other soldiers to steal the Esper...that was what everyone was talking about. So surely, the Empire would know by now that something was wrong...

Oh well. Locke thought as he entered the mines and began to take a look around. No judging a book by it's cover, and no jumping to conclusions. They had been was favorite sayings his grandmother used to tell him, and he sure needed them right now.

"Hello?" Locke called out. He turned a corner, and gasped. There was a gaping hole in this area, one large enough for a person to fall through. Locke got down on his hands and knees, peeking down the hole and smiling.

There she was! A green-haired, red-dressed girl was on the floor below, passed out cold. That had to have been her. Locke leaped down the hole and landed beside her, running his hands over her hair to get it out of her eyes. He was surprised by a seemingly child-like face, and disturbed by how blue her lips were, and by how pale she was.

"She's jus' a kid..." He said to himself. "And she's going to freeze to death too if I don't get her out of here on the fly...!" He stood up, looking about to consider his options, when he heard voices.

"Yeah, the guards said she was down here, out of it."

"Finally! Then we can capture her and get out of here! It's almost morning, ya know, and I'm hungry!"

"What do you think the Elder is going to order?"

"Death, most likely. She slaughtered half of our squad tonight!" Locke gasped and looked back down at the girl. SHE did that? But how...?

"No, that's not important!" Locke cried, and gulped. "But I still have to find an exit..."

"HEY!" A guard cried, and Locke nearly jumped 10 feet in the air.

"Now we gotcha!" Another exclaimed, and Locke shook his head. In front of him had to be at least a dozen very angry Narshe guards, and their pet lobos. Locke moaned and took a step back towards Terra.

How was he going to fight all of them off?