Chapter Twenty-One- Terra, Daughter of Maduin, and Child of Miracles

A crash of glass and metal brought Locke back to reality, causing him to avert his gaze from the Magicite around his neck to his surroundings. The Magitek Research Facility was in shambles from all of the fighting. Fire had begun to engulf some of the machinery, and sparks flew from the broken glass tubes, causing them to rupture even more then they had been previously, turning them into sparking, melted masses of glass and steel. Chunks of the ceiling began coming down also, each engulfed in flames as it struck the cool steel floor. The floor was vibrating, and Locke felt as if they were in a combination of both an earthquake and a hurricane at that very moment. Cyan and Edgar ran to his side, each man grabbing one another's shoulder to keep from falling down. However, Cid was frantically running back and forth, obviously trying to fix what he could, but not doing a very good job at it. He stopped at long last and turned to the others frantically. The Returners had no idea what Cid had in store for them...

However, instead of challenging them to a fight, Cid pointed to his right, to a corridor not previously seen before because there had been a glass tube blocking it.

"This is a disaster!" Cid cried. "Your fighting has caused all the capsules and machinery to rupture! Come quickly, over here!" Cid began to run off towards the corridor, and Locke and the others turned to each other.

"Can we trust him?" Cyan questioned dryly. "Because I think I have had enough surprises regarding people's morale and character for one day." The sting of the words hit Locke full force, but he had to shake them off and go with his instincts.

"We gotta go you guys, or else we'll never make it out of here alive." Locke said. "If Cid tries to pull anything on us, we've got the Espers to protect us, right?" Locke held up the 6 new Magicites they had received, and handed two to Edgar and Cyan, who slipped them over their necks immediately.

"Locke is right, lets just get the hell out of here." Edgar said quickly, and was the first to run after Cid. Locke and Cyan followed, covering their heads with their arms from falling debris until they had reached Cid and Edgar. They were standing on a platform, and Cid was anxiously awaiting to throw the switch that was next to him. Locke and Cyan stepped on the platform too, and Cid threw the switch, causing the platform to vibrate a moment, but then it began to lower at a pretty smooth pace, taking Cid and the Returners away from the chaos of the Magitek Research Facility. Soon they were submerged in a dark metal elevator shaft, their only light coming from the dull red and blue safety lights that they passed every few feet down. Cid let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against a railing, taking a deep breath.

"So...it looks as if Kefka were using me...using the Empire as well." He began, and Locke, Edgar, and Cyan all turned to him, wondering where this was going.

"What have I done...?" Cid sighed. "The life-energy of those Espers..." He began to ramble to himself, looking down to the ground. "But you've helped me come to a decision! I'm going to talk to the Emperor and have this stupid war stopped!" Locke raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything in reply. Edgar and Cyan both looked at each other, and exchanged looks of disbelief.

A few moments later, the platform stopped, and the team stepped out into a dark room, seeing nothing except for a small mining cart and a set of tracks running from underneath it and down a long tunnel that Locke could only see a few feet of before it was completely submerged in darkness. Cid stepped off last and turned to the others, taking off his glasses, which appeared broken in one frame, beginning to rub the lenses with a small handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket.

"....Celes..." Cid began, and Locke felt his heart freeze in his chest.

"...I've known her since she was a baby...I raised her as if she were my own daughter! But she was forced to become a Magitek Knight, and has done some awful things. If I could talk to her now...I would have to apologize for the way her life has turned out."

"IF you could talk to her now?!" Locke suddenly cried. "Where is she, Cid?!?"

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Kefka's maniacal laughter suddenly echoed from above, making everyone jump 10 feet in the air. Cid gasped and shook his head.

"NO!" He cried, and pointed to the small cart. "It's Kefka! Please, GO!" Before Locke could realize what was happening, Edgar and Cyan grabbed him and threw him into the cart, pushing themselves off and down the track. They gained speed quickly, and soon it felt as if Locke were flying, which of course, was not good on his stomach.

"Where are we going?!" Edgar cried, and Cyan shook his head.

"Hopefully to an exit of some sort!"

"Ohhh...." Locke moaned and closed his eyes, sinking lower in the cart. "This is not good..."

Edgar played the lookout, being the tallest member of the Returners, and kept a hand on his forehead, hoping he could see better that way. The tunnel seemed to go on forever...he could not find any spots of light that would indicate an exit.

"Edgar, see anything?" Cyan asked, and Edgar shook his head.

"No...it's no good...looks like we're gonna have to keep riding..."

"Ugh!" Locke moaned. "I think I'm gonna lose my lunch!"

They continued on like that for several more minutes, Locke threatening to hurl the entire way, when suddenly, the cart came to a screeching halt, nearly tossing Edgar over, who was on point. He screamed and grabbed the end of the cart to keep himself from barreling over, while Locke and Cyan grabbed hold on his waist and legs. Edgar moaned and flopped backwards on top of Locke, a shudder passing through his body.

"Are you ok!?" Locke cried, and Edgar nodded slowly, his eyes shut.

"Why did we stop?" Cyan questioned, and a sudden low growl ripped out in the tunnel, answering his question. The growl came again, this time much louder and closer than previously, and all of a sudden, a huge mass of purple throbbing muscle appeared from the darkness, it's footsteps making the ground shake with each step. As it got closer to the group, Edgar and the others could see it's glowing yellow eyes and rather grotesque-shaped arms, which resembled a purple muscular version of 024's sword arms, being that they were shaped like slender blades. Locke closed his eyes and parted his lips to speak.

"I can sense that it has strong magic attributes...I bet it is the one who stopped our cart."

"We can't possibly fight it in such a small tunnel!" Cyan cried. "Come on, we're going to have to keep going!" With that, he reached out, and using his great strength, pushed the cart off again by pressing against the walls. The creature screamed and began to pound it's feet furiously as the team just managed to brush by it, and began it's trip down the tunnel once more. Locke turned and looked out the back of the cart, his eyes widening as the creature turned and began to pound after them. However, he was going far too slow, and before Locke knew it, he was out of their sight, far behind in the tunnel.

"Is he coming?" Cyan asked, and Locke shook his head.

"No, I think we're ok--"

But Locke was cut off by the sound of what sounded like metal crashing against rock, and the smell of burning rubber hit his nostrils, making him gag and cover his nose. Cyan noticed it too and made a face.

"What is that foul odor?" He moaned, and Locke gasped, pointing behind them. The creature was now coming at them full speed, his feet having mutated into one large rubber black wheel with spikes on the outside to crush any rocks in his way.

"Edgar, he's coming up behind us, and FAST!" Cyan cried, and Edgar looked back worriedly.

"We can't stop and fight! We're going to have to fight while moving!"

"But how?" Locke questioned, and Edgar lifted up one of his new Magicites.

"Espers!!" Edgar exclaimed, and tossed a shard in the air. "Bismark!!!! Please help us!!!"

The scenery around the Returners suddenly turned a hazy blue, and Edgar could swear that they were underwater. Bubbles began appearing everywhere, tickling the Returner's faces as they flew up and popped. When the bubbles began to clear out, a large blue whale began swimming towards them at full speed, opening it's mouth and letting out a low melancholy moan as it passed through the Returners, as if they were ghosts. The whale rammed right into the creature and disappeared in a burst of bubbles and water spray, causing the background to fade and become the normal tunnel once more. The impact caused the creature to stop for a moment to recollect it's wits, buying the Returners more time to escape. However, as it was doing so, the claws of the creature began to glow a faint red, and it released a Fira spell, sending it hurling towards the cart.

"Carbunkle!" Cyan cried, and a tiny green animal appeared that half resembled a cat and a bunny. It let out a little squeak and the ruby jewel on it's forehead began to shimmer, causing a blue barrier to glow around the frames of Locke, Edgar, and Cyan. The animal disappeared just as the flames hit, but because of his protective spell, the flames bounced of the Returners and went hurling back to the creature, scorching it badly.

"Thanks Cyan!" Locke exclaimed gratefully, and Cyan did a little bow. "Now I'll finish him off! SHOAT!!!"

The phantom image of a large, overgrown warthog appeared, running towards the creature and right through the Returners as Bismark the whale had. He had a golden nose ring that glimmered, two large blood-stained tusks, and only one eye, which was beginning to glimmer and sparkle as it neared the creature. Shoat let out a victory snarl and blinked it's eye at the creature. The creature began to scream as it's body slowly became covered in stone, petrifying it from the head down. At last, the stone spell reached it's wheel, causing the now stoned creature to topple over to the ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces before fading in pale red light. Shoat disappeared as well, signifying the end of the battle.

"....Whew!!!" Edgar exclaimed, and laughed a little. "Thought we were goners there!"

"I think it was another one of those monsters Shiva warned us about." Locke said thoughtfully. "I hope he's the last..."

"At least we brought him peace." Cyan sighed some, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now if only we could escape from this tunnel..."

"AHHH!"

The Returners all screamed in unison as they suddenly came into contact with something cold and hard, plowing right through it and emerging into bright sunshine, which caused everyone to groan and close their eyes. Locke opened his eyes into small slits, seeing that they had just crashed through a pair of double doors, and were speeding down the same path they had taken to get into the factory. They were back in Vector!

"ACK!" Edgar cried as the cart came to a screeching halt at the end of it's line, throwing everyone that was in it out onto the walkway. Stunned, no one moved for a few moments until there came a pair of pounding footsteps towards them.

"Oh no, Imperial Soldiers..." Locke moaned.

"Hey!" A voice suddenly cried, causing Locke to peel his head up from the ground and look up. There, his hands on his hips and his brows furrowed in worry, was...

"Setzer!" Edgar suddenly burst out, leaping up from the ground. "What in the Gods good grace are you doing here?!"

"I was starting to worry..." Setzer admitted. He looked about the spilled Returners to make sure that no one had gotten seriously injured, and blinked at seeing only three people. Cyan got up as well and began to assist Locke.

"What's up with Celes?" Setzer questioned, and looked to Locke, who bit his lip and looked away. Cyan looked up from Locke and gave Setzer a look that read "Not now." Setzer nodded and jerked his thumb back to where he had came.

"We'll talk about all this later. Lets get the hell out of here, ok!?" With that, Setzer began to lead the others back to his airship, which he had parked in front of Vector's gates for quick escape.

**********

"DAMNIT!" A high-pitched voice screeched, and the crashing of many thrown objects could be heard. "What a mess!" Kefka growled and turned away from the helmet he had thrown against a wall in the northern look-out chamber of the Imperial Palace, and looked out a small window. He could see that airship, the Blackjack, making a hasty exit from Vector. All of a sudden, it came to Kefka that the Blackjack was now associated with the Returners, probably carrying a whole load of those bastards as he watched it take off before his very eyes!

Still stunned from the incidents in the Magitek Research Facility, Kefka rubbed his head and tried to think of a quick plan to stop them from going anywhere. Taking care of General Celes had not been good enough. He needed the others, felt a longing in his blood to grab hold of their necks and wring them over and over until they practically begged for death, especially the thieving bastard Locke Cole, whom had been causing trouble for him ever since the start of the Returners' counter-attacks against the Empire. Kefka had to let out a little laugh, remembering the look on Locke's face in the Magitek Research Facility when he had announced Celes' true intentions.

"What a Kodak moment!" Kefka giggled, and suddenly shook his head. "But how am I going to..." He looked about the room and suddenly spotted what he was looking for, an evil smile curling over his lips.

"Oh yes...THAT will be the way..."

*********

"Lets not overstay our visit." Locke instructed nervously as Setzer scrambled about to get everything ready for take-off.

"Right!" Setzer agreed, and stopped at the wheel of the ship, thinking for a moment. "Speaking of which...maybe we should be leaving."

With a spin of the wheel, the Blackjack began to rise in the air slowly but steadily, the engines within revving up and beginning to emit a soft purr throughout the decks. Edgar and Cyan were also on the upper decks, keeping a lookout to make sure no flying Imperial machines were heading their way. However, something suspicious was coming out of the northern tower of the Imperial Palace, which was not so far away anymore since Setzer was directing the ship to fly over it. As Edgar peered closer, he could see that this suspicious thing was actually a pair of things, but before he could say anything, they suddenly shot up at the ship in blinding speed, crashing into the sides and clinging so that the ship couldn't go anywhere! Setzer gasped as the wheel froze, and whirled around.

"What is happening?!" He cried, but right then, the tops of the metal things slid open and out shot a pair of clamping cranes, which flew up and over the deck, clenching onto the ends of the ship with their claws tightly. Ever so slowly, the Returners could feel themselves being pulled down from the air!

"They've got us hooked and ready to reel in!" Locke cried, and Cyan pulled out his sword.

"It looks like we'll have to destroy them ourselves." He said, and Edgar nodded, pulling out a new tool, a chainsaw. Locke blinked and put his hands on his hips.

"Edgar, I don't understand where you keep all those things." He said, and Edgar laughed.

"Here and there!" He exclaimed, and Setzer's jaw dropped.

"Could you guys get to hacking at those damned machines before they pull us to our doom?!" He screamed, and Edgar and Locke jumped in surprise.

"Right!" Edgar cried, and ran to the western crane, beginning his work there. Locke put his hands together and began to chant a Thundara spell, while Cyan helped Edgar. After casting the spell, the crane Locke had struck began to shudder and smoke, a good sign. Setzer, watching everything that was going on about him, walked over to Locke and peered at him.

"Was that just magic?" Setzer questioned dumbly, and Locke looked to him.

"...Yes." Locke admitted. "But you don't look so surprised."

"I knew there was something weird about you kid, at least I finally figured it out!" Setzer exclaimed, and Locke smiled a little. Setzer suddenly reached down in his pocket, and pulled out a deck of cards. Locke blinked as he began to shuffle them.

"Um...Setzer, I'm not exactly in the mood for a game..." Locke began, and Setzer laughed, cutting the deck and taking a few cards off the top of it, putting the rest in his pockets.

"Not a game Locke, just a little trick!" Setzer exclaimed, and with that, threw the cards he had selected towards both of the cranes. The crashed into the cranes with the force of a weight and stuck inside them, making both cranes sputter and spark. Locke's jaw dropped as Setzer smiled smugly.

"Cards are my life!" Setzer exclaimed. "It's only natural that I should use them as my weapon too, eh?" Locke laughed and shook his head, turning to cast another Thundara spell.

With Setzer's aide, the battle against the cranes did not take long, which was a relief to all who had just crawled out of a battle with the creature in the railway tunnel. He managed to disable any counter-attacks they might of had with his cards, and the Returners made short work of them with spells and attacks. When the last crane exploded in a fiery mess and fell away from the ship, Setzer took the wheel again and began flying upwards, higher and higher, until Vector was no longer in sight, and all one could see was clouds. Meanwhile, down below, back in the Imperial Palace, Kefka was throwing another hissy fit...

"DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT! I'LL GET YOU YET, YOU SLIMY, MENACING, DISGUSTING, VILE, LITTLE SONS OF...SUBMARINERS!"

***********

On the airship, Locke and the others were recovering from their long morning as Setzer put the ship on autopilot and walked over to the three Returners, who were all sitting down on the upper deck and taking a breather. Setzer slowly sat down beside Locke and looked over at him.

"What's on your mind?" Setzer asked, and Locke looked to him tiredly.

"I'm worried about everyone." He replied, and Setzer blinked.

"Huh, everyone? You mean there are more of you?!"

"A few more." Edgar smiled, and Setzer shook his head.

"And where are they, pray tell?"

"Two are in Narshe, and one is in Zozo..." Cyan trailed off, and Setzer thought for a moment.

"I suppose we should pick them up then, huh?" He said, and Locke raised his eyebrows.

"I thought you weren't interested in helping us." He replied, and Setzer laughed.

"No no, don't think that way! I lost my bet with Celes, and I was indeed entitled to helping you get to Vector. But I'm afraid things got interesting, and now I would like see how everything turns out..."

"This isn't a game though!" Locke suddenly cried, much to everyone's surprise. Setzer raised his eyebrows as Locke continued. "This is war, Setzer! Do you understand that?! There may be even more sacrifices than what we have already had to give!! Do you know what I'm talking about?" Setzer blinked and it all suddenly sunk in, the reason why Celes had disappeared.

"Locke...is Celes...."

"...I don't know if she's dead or alive." Locke moaned, and covered his face. "I honestly don't. Please, don't make me think about her." Setzer sighed, and Edgar slipped an arm around his best friend's shoulders, trying to comfort him the best he could.

"Listen Locke, I know there's danger." Setzer said in a kinder tone. "I know what is going on, how serious things have gotten with the Empire. But I also know that I cannot just stand around and do nothing about it. I have spent far too many years doing nothing, and ignoring what was around me. Call it a defense mechanism, if you will." Locke looked up, blinking the small tears that had appeared in his eyes away. Setzer peered at him with his soft blue-violet eyes, and smiled a little. "But I do know what sacrifice is...even know what it feels like...and yet, I am still wanting to help you. Come on, can you really tell me you don't need more help? Besides, I've got the world's only airship. The Blackjack can take you much farther than anything you can imagine. You can reach the ends of Heaven with my ship!!" Locke smiled some and stuck out his hand, which Setzer took and shook vigorously.

"Welcome to the Returners, Setzer Gabbiani..."

**********

On the way to pick up the others in Narshe, Locke, Edgar, and Cyan explained everything to Setzer that had happened to the three of them in the past week, including Locke's running away from Narshe with Terra, Figaro Castle's grand escape from Kefka's troops, Edgar's adventures down Lete River trying to defend Banon, Locke escaping with Celes from South Figaro, and Cyan meeting up with Sabin and Gau, only to lead to the big battle with Kefka in the snow fields in Narshe, where they talked to the Esper and Terra disappeared. Setzer mostly listened and didn't say much, which Locke figured was because everything seemed too unbelievable to well...believe. But after the Returners were done telling their story, and they had parked the Blackjack outside of Narshe's gates, Setzer finally cleared his throat and said something as they were climbing off the ship to get Sabin and Gau.

"...I can't believe you guys have been doing all of this...and in my past week, I've been flying around and sipping drinks and gambling, thinkin' that my biggest problem was about whether or not I'd be able to have my meeting with Maria...heh..."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment to our work." Edgar said jokingly, and Setzer laughed a little.

"You may do just that." Setzer smiled, and gestured for the others to follow him below deck so that they could exit the airship.

Back at Arvis' house, Sabin and Gau were shocked to see Locke, Edgar, Cyan, and Setzer. By the time they had arrived in Narshe it was the early afternoon, and the two Returners were both just rousing from their deep sleeps when Arvis had come in to announce the visitors. Locke, Edgar, Cyan, and Setzer were seated in the parlor when Gau and Sabin came running in to see them.

"Big brother!" Sabin exclaimed happily. "Welcome back!" Sabin looked around and suddenly, his big smile melted into a slight frown. "....Hey...where are Terra and..."

"CYAN!" Gau suddenly exclaimed, and took a flying leap on top of the poor knight, knocking him to the floor and nearly knocking him unconscious as well. Setzer blinked in surprise and Locke nervously inched away from the attacking Gau. Edgar stood up and walked over to Sabin, his expression somber and nearly identical to his brother's. Sabin looked him up and down and put his hands on his hips.

"Edgar...What happened?" Sabin asked quietly. "Where are Terra and Celes? And who is that silver haired guy?"

"We haven't gotten Terra back quite yet." Edgar replied. "Although that is why we came here in Narshe. We figured it would be best for Terra if all the Returners were together when she woke up. We think we may have the key to her revival."

"That's great." Sabin smiled a little more. "So is Celes waiting with Terra back in Zozo?" Edgar shifted his weight on his other foot nervously and crossed his arms over his chest. He was beginning to feel the guilt he knew Locke must of been drowned in back from the Magitek Research Facility, and he didn't know how to explain to his brother what had happened. They would later have to explain it to Terra as well...

"Celes isn't here anymore." Edgar finally said, but before Sabin could open his mouth to ask any questions, Edgar went on. "There was an incident. I'm not sure if Gau would understand or not, but when Terra wakes up she'll want to know where she is too, I am sure. When we're all together again, I'll explain, ok?" Sabin blinked and sighed.

"Alright Edgar, I suppose that is best."

"I knew you would understand... But by the way, that man over there is Setzer Gabbiani, the only man in the world who has possession of an airship. It's what we used to get over here so quickly."

"An airship?!" Sabin gasped in surprise. "I didn't know such things really existed!"

"Well they do!" Edgar smiled. "Come on Sabin, I'll show it to you! Setzer! Lets go to Zozo now!" Setzer stood up and gave a salute, laughing.

"Alright, I'll meet you guys outside!" He exclaimed, and waved as he walked out the door. Arvis came in the parlor right then with a tray of tea, which he could immediately tell he had made for no reason from the bustle of everyone getting ready to leave.

"Are you going?" Arvis questioned, setting the tray down.

"We're going to get Terra!" Gau suddenly burst out, jumping up and down on the couch. "Terra Terra Terra!"

"Oh? How wonderful!" Arvis exclaimed. "But please, after you find Terra, please come back here! The Elder is worried about her too you know, as am I."

"Of course, we'll all return to Narshe as soon as Terra feels well." Locke smiled. "I am sure she wants to see wants to see everyone again."

**********

On the way to Zozo, everyone's spirits had risen considerably, and all of the new introductions between Setzer and the other Returners showed promise of new friendships right away. Gau seemed to be especially thrilled over everything that was happening around him, and disappeared as soon as he could manage to explore the massive Blackjack on his own. Setzer taught Sabin how to fly the ship, and Locke, Edgar, and Cyan gazed out over the decks, Locke pointing out some places he had once explored for treasure and telling them the stories behind the expeditions.

At last, the Blackjack reached Zozo, the skies over it still darkened and threatening rain at any moment. However, that was not enough to bring anyone down as Setzer carefully landed over the building that Terra was in, and put the airship in auto-suspension.

"I'm going to lower a rope, and we'll be able to climb to the balcony that leads to where this Terra girl is at." Setzer grinned. "Clever, eh?"

After Gau had been found (wandering the engine room of the ship), the team climbed down the rope Setzer had lowered, and crowded on the balcony where they had previously challenged Dadaluma. Edgar was the last to climb down, and as soon as he had landed safely on the balcony, Locke reached out to open the door, the Magicite shaped lock on it suddenly shattering underneath his fingertips. Locke blinked and opened the door, and everyone calmly filed inside the long hall that led to Terra's bed. Locke was the first to see her, and smiled in relief to see that she was still safely there and looked at peace. Everyone gathered around the bed, but Setzer himself looked especially surprised at the pale figure resting upon it. He had maybe thought this Terra girl was human, but...

"We're all here..." Edgar trailed off. "But I don't understand what were are to do next..." Right then, a piece of Magicite began to glow that was around his neck, and slowly raised up and over his head, floating over to Terra.

"The Magicite!" Locke cried, and it began to glitter and turn the room a soft blue color, causing Terra to moan softly and slowly sit up as she reached up and rubbed at her forehead with her white hand. She slowly opened her red eyes and looked up at the Magicite floating above her, reaching up to touch it. As soon as her fingertips brushed the Magicite, the light in it died and it fell to the bed in her lap with a small "thump". Terra blinked and picked up the Magicite, holding it between her fingers as she parted her lips.

"Father...?" She whispered, and the Returners all stared at her. Terra raised her eyes from the Magicite and looked up at her friends, a small smile on her face.

"I remember everything." She smiled more. "My name...is Terra Branford. I was raised in the Esper World."