Chapter 8 – Banon – Faithful

We, Edgar sama, Mash san, Tina san, and myself, are riding raft down the river flowing behind our hideout. Out intention is to use its flow to reach Narche and get the Elder there behind our cause. Narche is currently neutral but we're hoping to help change that. I never did get to formally introduce myself and explain my history to Tina; I didn't think it was necessary at the time. I think it'd be best if I just write my story down here so that perhaps one day soon Tina may be able to see why I'm on the side I am and perhaps gain more reason to join our cause permanently.

I've been the leader of the Returners for perhaps fifteen years or so now. I'm a man of great age, I'm in my sixties now. I've been a priest since I was in my twenties. Phew, it seems like such a long time thinking about it now. I decided to become a priest so I could ultimately help people in need with healing and God. I used to live in the small town of Tzen, where I spent most of my life. It was early on in my life, mid-teens actually, that I decided to join the priesthood. Since then, I've had no regrets in myself. Except….one.

I must have been in my middle twenties or so when the Empire came to Tzen looking for recruits. The Empire seemed so nice at the time. Emperor Ghastra came into town with a few soldiers and General Leo. I never formally met Ghastra, but I spent a decent amount of time in the church with Leo. Believe it or not, Leo, one of the Empire's greatest assets, is a very religious man. So, to say the least I was pleased with his presence. He asked me of my position and I gladly told him I was happily rising in the ranks of the clergy. He told me that it was a very noble profession that he held dear. In fact, he desired to actually become a clergyman instead of a general but fate has a way of working things out differently than we planned. With little more than this he had earned all my respect. He asked me if I'd consider joining the Empire. I laughed and said absolutely not because I was no soldier and dared not become one. My sole purpose for living was to protect, heal, and help those in need, not to make others feel pain and pressure. He reassured me that the Empire was nothing like that at all. In fact, if I truly wanted to help people then I should join the Empire to gain access to foreign lands. That way, I could help more people all over the world, doing what I love to do. It took no more than half a minute's thought to decide. I was hooked and ready for the Empire to reel me in.

For the next twenty years I spent my life serving the Empire. They worked hard at expanding and gaining more access and connections to lands they'd formally left untouched. The goal in mind was to have a worldwide connection through the Empire and have the whole world be peacefully ruled as one; much like that of a busy household. If everyone isn't home then no one knows what's going on and so problems start arising. I was happier than I'd ever been because I'd succeeded in seeing almost all the world had to offer. I'd visited all the towns on my home continent and I'd even gone as far as the land of Figaro where I spent time with the King. He was quite a nice man. All the while I was in the Empire, Leo kept a watchful eye over me, telling me everything he could, even secrets that could have gotten him in serious trouble for repeating. I'm glad he cared for me so much, because it ultimately saved my life….

It was about fifteen years ago…the Empire had gone from a few hundred soldiers to several thousand stationed all over the world. Leo had grown to become a fine soldier and the highest ranking officer there was, aside from Emperor Ghastra. One evening, Leo met me secretly with distressing news. He told me that Ghastra had a secret weapon he had been developing for a few years. Leo himself hadn't seen her, but he knew it was a girl who possesses some strong magical abilities that they were trying to gain control over. I thought that this news was the worst of it all. Ghastra's experimenting on some…..girl? It sounded so twisted to me that I almost passed out from being light headed. Then, Leo told me the most distressing news. He said that this girl wasn't being experimented on for no planned purpose, there was indeed a reason. I shuddered to think what it could have been, and I'll never forget what happened next.

Leo's head sunk down slightly, his stature still straight, like a real soldier. Then with a combination of fear, anger, and guilt, he said, "Ghastra…wants world domination!" Then, before I could even say anything, he lunged forward at me, pressed his left hand against my mouth, signaled me not to speak, and slipped a note into my right pocket with his right hand. Then, he turned and marched off into his quarters……………………….

I didn't need to read the note, I knew what it said. Without a second to spare, I stood up, regained my composure, and walked out of the castle and out of Victor, forever. I didn't care to grab any of my possessions, I just ran out of the castle and south to Maranda. There, I awaited the next leaving of the boat to Figaro. When I got to Figaro I met Master Duncan, whom I've heard much about in my travels to Figaro. He, for some reason, also knew me. I hadn't been a very popular name outside the Empire and those I'd helped, but apparently those with good karma are well recognized by men like Duncan. He urged me to do something about my troubles. I didn't even bother telling him all the details that I've written here, I just told him I had to leave the Empire. He decided at the very least to offer me some training. I wasn't really up for that idea but he gave me a quick, simple, crash course in battling. To say the least, his week of training did heighten my curing abilities and at least gave an old man like me a way to defend himself against the monsters around the area. I'm eternally grateful for Duncan, if it weren't for him I probably wouldn't have started the Returners.

So after Duncan's training he left me to continue his training of both himself and to gather more pupils. I created the Returners from scratch. Mostly I was able to recruit disillusioned soldiers of the Empire and Figaro. It didn't seem like that would be enough though. While meditating in the mountains about eight or nine years ago I met a young man named Lock. His spirit was extremely powerful but he was full of guilt. I offered my friendship to him if only to provide support to a man with a hurt heart. Then he told me why he was full of guilt and how much remorse he feels towards the Empire. Then, out of curiosity, I asked him what his current profession is. He said he didn't have a profession, per say, but he did travel from place to place in search of adventure and such. I thought, this man would be a fantastic addition to my league. We need a man who can find information and other strong adventurers. The fact that he too had a great grudge with the Empire only heightened the possibility of convincing this man to join me.

Even with all this hope filling my body, Lock joined me with even less coaxing than I'd planned, which greatly surprised me. I find it hard for someone to genuinely want to help a man with a mission from God to stop an Empire with overwhelming numbers. Apparently, it's not so crazy after all. Especially when Lock, our master of personal negotiations, managed to get us aid from not only the King of Figaro (our current home) but also the ultimate ace in the hole, Tina. I was glad to get the rumor of her disappearance from the Empire. I live to serve people, and when I knew I was leaving someone behind in the Empire to be tampered with I felt this great hole in my heart that no amount of good karma could heal. Now that she is in our possession, I feel I can right this wrong. I no longer have any regrets…if I die on this mission, I won't be afraid.

Author's Note: Ok, I'll make this quick, japanese names on the left, american on the right. By the way, I have Banon using "sama" and "san" out of respect. Banon addresses them respectfully because he's older and feels it's neccesary. Although, just wait until Cayenne...then there will be "sama" and "san" freakin everywhere!

japanese/american
Tina/Terra
Lock/Locke
Mash/Sabin
Ghastra/Gestahl