"EDGAR!" Locke barged through the doors of Figaro, racing towards the throne room a man possessed. His face was red with rage, a demeanor that no one had ever seen from the treasure hunter before.

"Mr. Locke!" the Chancellor came racing after him. "What seems to be the matter? I understand you are upset at something, but you can't just storm through here making all this kind of ruckus. What is the trouble and I'll go address it to his highness."

"No! I want to see him now! Edgar where are you!" Locke started to pound on the doors to the throne room.

Suddenly the doors flew open and Edgar looked to his friend, "Locke! It's been some time since your last visit! Please do come in, what treasures have you been tracking down this time? Do you need to use the Figaro library for research again?"

"I'll tell you about a treasure I've lost you butt kissing slug!"

"Mr. Cole!" The Chancellor tried to intervene but Edgar raised his hand to hold him off.

"Locke, what is the meaning of all this? I have never seen you like this before."

"She's dead! They're all dead! And for what reason! They killed them! They killed her!"

"Whose dead? Who is this you speak of? I haven't killed anyone, why the anger towards me?" Edgar tried to speak flatly but easily to try and calm his friend down.

"Kohlingen! The Empire marched in there and just started firing!" Locke's face seemed to get even angrier, if that was possible, with the mention of the attack. "Your allies marched into a peaceful quiet village and spilled the blood of countless innocent victims!"

"What!" Edgar gasped.

"They claimed they were looking for a criminal to the Empire, but instead turned the place into a massacre! Edgar… they killed Rachel!"

"Rachel?" Edgar, as shocked as he was at the atrocious news Locke had brought to him, he looked questioningly to his friend. In the better part of the past few months he had known Locke, he had never mentioned anyone named Rachel. Not during his stay at the castle, not even in any of the letters he would send back to the king from his journeys.

"My… my…" Locke tried to get the words out but he couldn't. Right then and there his anger broke and turned into sobs. He fell to the floor in a heap of tears unable to hold his emotions back. "You don't understand Edgar! The last words she said before she passed out was that she loved me! My Rachel! She finally came back to me and I wasn't there to protect her or even to hear those sweet words that over the past year I never thought I'd ever hear again."

Edgar kneeled down and touched his friend head, letting him know that he is not alone. "And Rachel died in the attack?"

Locke sniffled and took in a deep breath, looking up at the king while trying to hold back more tears. "No, she hasn't officially passed on yet but it's only a matter of time. I heard of the attacks and even heard that Rachel and her family were some of the victims. By the time I raced back to Kohlingen, she was already in terrible shape. She had blacked out, and with the beating she took and the amount of blood she's lost, the doctor's won't be able to save her. I couldn't stand being there anymore so I left for here." Again he failed to keep his tears in check as they started to pour down the broken man's face again. "Oh Edgar, it's the more gruesome place you will ever see. How can you ever support an evil like the Empire after you witness what I have seen. Rachel could never hurt anyone. She was an angel among us…" Locke tried to say more but he choked on more tears before he could get it out.

"Chancellor!" Edgar stood up with his powerful royal voice filling the castle, "take the herbalist with you and two score of troops to Kohlingen. I want a full investigation into this matter immediately!"

"Yes sir!" The Chancellor saluted, "but sir… the herbalist? You mean that old lunatic! Wouldn't you rather send a real doctor instead of some crazy man and his wacko plants?"

"Take as many doctors as we can spare, but take the herbalist with you! I have a special task for him, and hurry before time runs out."

"Yes sir!" The Chancellor turned and raced out of the throne room. Edgar again knelt down next to Locke who was too over come by his emotions to even hear what conversation just took place.

"I'm sorry my friend… I know how you feel and there is something we can do about it. I will tell you all about it in due time." Edgar remained there with Locke who couldn't help but cry long into the night.

----------

"Oh Rachel…" Locke bowed his head standing bedside, watching over the love of his life resting what seemed as peaceful as ever. Locke had become really frail over the past couple of days, not having slept a wink and not being able to eat even the smallest of morsels. He was still no better than that sobbing mess on the Figaro floor a few days earlier, a complete shell of the care-free treasure hunter he was known for. He turned and looked at the old lunatic in the room with him, "You mean those herbs actually saved her?"

The old man burst out laughing, prancing around Locke like a child through a spring meadow. "Of course! The love of your life will sleep here like this forever! Kwa-ha-ha!"

Locke could only sob some more at the sound of what the old man was saying. "What if there were a way… to call her back!"

"If you could call her back," the man partially sang while dancing around the room, "she'd come back! Kwa-ha-ha-ha…"

"Rachel…" Locke sobbed again