Chapter 12
The heroes sat around a large table within the Inn. Sabin was avoiding Terra's eyes for reasons only known to them. They discussed their battles, their foes and what brought them to this place.
"You mean Magic doesn't exist here?" Setzer asked. Tifa shook her head.
"Not in the sense you're thinking of. You see magic focuses itself in concentrated areas and becomes materia. We require this materia to cast magic, while you seem to have natural abilities." Terra told them about how Kefka basically became magic itself and with his destruction, so did magic vanish. Only some hidden latent powers kept them with some very minor spells. Cloud passed a lightning materia to Terra and when she touched it, her head shot back. The group jumped up, not sure what to do. After a moment she laid the materia on the table.
"Terra are you okay?" Sabin asked by her side. She blinked a few times then nodded.
"I could feel the magical energy inside it. It felt so wonderful to be filled with that essence once more." She said. Barrett and the others looked confused so she explained how she used to be half esper.
"Esper? What is an esper?" Cid asked. She told them of the espers and their summoning magic and how Kefka enslaved them.
"Summons? We have summon materia here. Ramuh, Shiva, Ifrit, Leviathan, Bahamut. We have yet to aquire others." Cloud told them. He placed some red materia on the table. Terra reached out and took Ramuh's summon materia. Her eyes closed and she seemed to be concentrating hard. Deep within the reccesses of her mind, an old gray figure appeared to her.
"How good it is to see you again child." Ramuh said to her. She looked at the departed Esper.
"How is it you've come to exist on this world again? I thought espers had forever vanished from the mortal plane." She said. The others heard her words, but not those of Ramuh.
"That is not important as of late. You have been summoned here on a mission of most importance. Three great evils are gathering on this planet and the natives will not be enough to withstand their assault. Only you're combined might will be able to free this planet from evil." He said. She nodded and the image started to fade.
"Please don't leave me Ramuh. Tell me about my father. Does he live? How are the others?" she pleaded, but he was already beyond her words. She opened her eyes to see the others watching her. She blushed and told them about her encounter with Ramuh. Sabin nodded, but the others took a while to digest the information.
"Three evils? He spoke of three? But there are only two that we are even now aware of." Samus said. "Sepiroth and Mother Brain. Ridley is also here, but he can't possibly be the third evil. There must be something more." The others nodded. They decided it was time for a break. They broke up and went their own directions, agreeing to meet again later. Sabin returned to his room, planning to meditate. He had set himself up and was just getting to his zone when he heard a soft knock on the door. He opened his eyes, and saw Terra looking at him. He bit his lip and motioned for her to come in.
"Um, Sabin, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked. He was ready for a lecture, but not for this.
"Sure Terra. What's up?" He asked, trying to remain calm. She walked a few steps into the room and lowered her gaze.
"I want to apologize." She said. Sabin was about to interrupt but she held up her hand. "No, please. Let me finish. I don't know why I slapped you. It was sort of a reaction to the unexpected. It's not that I don't like you. I just haven't really experienced that kind of love before." She said. Her voice slightly trailed off. Sabin looked up at her and stood up. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She put her arms around him almost as if begging to be held close by something of comfort. He obliged and hugged her softly, yet firmly. After a moment, she let herself slide away from him and she looked into his deep blue eyes.
"I'm afraid I too must apologize Terra. I never should have kissed you without your permission." He said softly. He looked to her for forgiveness, but instead of seeing that in her eyes, he was suddenly met with her lips on his. It was a soft kiss. One neither had been expecting. Yet Terra found comfort and warmth in the way Sabin held her in his arms as they kissed. After a moment the broke apart, and both blushed furiously. Neither said anything right away, but finally their shy silence was broken when they heard Cid coming down the hall.
"I'm telling you Setzer, we can fix that baby for you no problem!" Cid said as they came closer. Both Sabin and Terra got surprised looks on their faces. Sabin quickly entered his meditation position and Terra hid behind the door. The two airship owners walked by without much more than a glance at Sabin. Setzer motioned them to move on, not wanting to disturb Sabin's meditation. After they continued on, Terra came out of hiding, and was about to leave when she turned right into Shadow. She let out a quick scream of surprise then realized who she had just bumped into.
"Shadow! You scared my out of a year's growth!" She said, gasping for air.
"Sorry Terra. Though if I may ask, why were you in this room?" he said, a hint of knowing in his voice. Terra turned a deep crimson, and stammering, made her way back to her room. Though no one could tell, a glimmer of respect was in his eyes, and a smile on his face. In his mind he thought, "It's good to see love still live around me. Even though I shall never be able to love another." He continued on past Sabin's room and out of sight. Sabin was also a deep red as Shadow walked off, but soon his face returned to normal and he began his meditation.
* * *
"What in the hell did you do to this thing?" Cid asked Setzer as they looked over the remains of the Falcon.
"It wasn't me. A blast of lighting went straight up the hull and basically split my poor baby in half." Setzer replied, sorting through the rubble. There was hardly much left of his ship. Yet he was determined to rebuild the craft that Daryl had left him. He had done it once, he'd do it again. Though it wasn't in near this bad a shape when he found it the first time.
"I'll level with you Setzer. I don't know if we can repair her. Though we're gonna give it our all." He said. Setzer looked at him and nodded.
"What more could I ask for? Though no matter how long it takes, I will repair her." Setzer said. The two went to work on restoring the totalled craft.
* * *
Samus, Mega man, Tron and Tifa had gone off to scout out the town. Mega man felt odd being amongst three women, but he didn't mind that much. They walked almost completely in silence, except for the odd tidbit of conversation. They were just outside of town, when Samus suddenly assumed a battle pose.
"What is it Samus?" Tifa asked.
"Something's coming. My suit has a special ability to power up the weapons systems when a threat is nearby." She replied, loading a missile into her cannon. The others also got ready, Tron holding back since she had no direct weapons of her own. Though nothing seemed to appear on the horizon, or jump at them from behind a rock. The group started to relax a bit when a fireball appeared out of nowhere. Tifa wasn't even thinking as she threw up a reflect wall and deflected the fireball off into space.
"Where'd that come from?" Tron said half in disbelief. Another fireball was reflected as Tifa's reflect spell held.
"Come out and fight you coward!" Samus yelled. Though the only response she got was hollow laughter, seeming to come from all around them. They started to retreat towards the town. Once back within its walls, they made their way back to the Inn, hoping the others would be there soon. They needed to discuss this new threat.