Chapter 10 – Edgar – Rejected

At long last we've arrived on land. It feels so invigorating seeing Narche just a mile off from here. A short walk and we'll be safe, for a little while at least. Oh, but I do wish we were a complete unit. You see, the rapids were fierce at best. We, Tina, Mash and myself, were able to handle the troubles without much difficulty while keeping Banon safe from harm's way. Towards the end of our ride down the river we encountered this large squid. Now, I'm a man of royalty, I haven't been in many encounters against monsters and the like. But if I may say so even with my limited experience, this monster was….unique…

His name apparently was Orthros, and by his determination I don't think it'll be the last we hear of him. Then again, that's just my opinion, how am I to judge the nature of monsters? Anyways, he was much stronger than any of the other monsters we'd encountered on the river. In fact, you could say even with our collective effort we were overwhelmed by him. Luckily, we managed to best him before he could finish us off. Such awful catchphrases he had as well. Anyways, in an attempt to not be outdone, Mash leapt into the water to finish off the cowardly beast with a final deathblow. Now, we weren't really concerned with any "finishing off" today. We were mostly concerned with….uh….LIVING!

Apparently…my brother always has this feeling of being competitive, even when he's on the run. No, he didn't die like it may seem I'll report. But…I do terribly worry of his safety now. He got swept off into the river once he left our raft and he was rushed into the wrong canal. I've never passed through these parts before so I know not where they'll lead. I know Mash is a strong person, inside and out, and he'll be able to survive on his own. Hell, he's been surviving on his own for a decade now, since father died, and he can surely do it again if need be. I worry for him though, and Banon reassures me of what I just admitted. He believes we will see him again very soon and he'll be safe as can be. In fact, Banon says this may not even be a setback; it may end up being a shortcut. I can't imagine how this would be the outcome, but Banon is very wise, I'll trust in his decision no matter what.

I don't think it's been formally written how me and Banon met. Well, one day I met Lock in the South Figaro pub. After much discussion of our sorrows he asked me to take a stand and fight the Empire back. I didn't think it would be a good idea on my part. For him, he's a relatively unknown man, whether he believes so or not, and I'm a very well known man on this continent and at least partly known on others. If I were to ally my kingdom with a radical faction, what would become of us? His answer…."come speak with our leader" That's all he said, and in the end that's all he needed to say.

I met with Banon immediately. He was a bit older than I imagined. I imagined a younger man, perhaps Lock's age or older, just stronger and smarter than Lock. Alas, I was greeted by this physically weak priest who passed no judgment over anything I said. He instead, just stated the fact. This man was indeed very wise, and knew more of the Empire than anyone I'd ever met. I found out later why he knew so much of the Empire and how glad I was that someone of his experience found the courage to break away from something so evil at its roots. So, to say the least I was impressed by this man and felt obliged to help in any way I could. Any way, of course, that wouldn't jeopardize my union. His idea was for me to keep all affiliation with the Returners to a minimum. No one outside of my domain should know, and to this day no one does.

Anyways, here we are in Narche. Unfortunately, thanks to Tina's affiliation with the Empire and more specifically its attack on the town recently, we were immediately booted out of town. Banon and I could sense further pressure on this town would cause a riot so we decided to use more secretive means to get into town. Tina showed us a secret passage that supposedly she and Lock used to exit town on her previous visit. Damn that Lock for always having to help even when he's not present!

Tina seems very special and unique to me now. A victim of amnesia, she's like the baby child whom has no knowledge and absorbs surrounding knowledge like a sponge. Unlike the child however she feels painful consequences from acquiring this knowledge. I can feel it too. Every piece of horrid news is like another needle in her bleeding heart. But what is her heart truly bleeding for? Is it bleeding because of someone, or is it bleeding because of not having someone? In either case, I wish I had the ability to help, but I can tell from our first meeting that it will ultimately lead to nothing. Her heart is not designed for me, and I feel it's not designed for Lock either, nor any man on this world. Hmm… could she become lesbian?

Upon navigating the long, dark caves of Narche, we managed to stumble into the moglies' cave. Wow, what a site it was. I've personally never seen a moglie, I've seldom even heard stories of them. There they were though, dozens of moglies. They were very cute to say the least. It's almost impossible to describe them correctly. If peace, love, and happiness were personified…it'd be a moglie. They're short, round, white creatures with tiny pink wings that don't seem like they'd be able to carry the much larger, bean shaped body. All they could say was "kupo" so we had no means of properly communicating. I swear though that one looked like he could understand every word we said. Tina, upon seeing them, ran away from us screaming "cute!" Here we are currently, taking a breather while Tina plays with the moglies. I'm watching her and admiring her form. She's so confused, so lost inside…but now...she's playing happily as if there's nothing else in this world to worry her. Perhaps, I know what key is needed to unlock her heart now. I may write it down once I discover more. Eh? There's a moglie tugging at my shoulder. I think he wants to play but I'm a little too old for that. Oddly, just as I wrote that sentence I'm noticing Banon playing with a moglie. Still, I don't feel like it!...Aww…he sensed my coldness and is strolling away, almost like he's holding in tears……………………

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Aww, come here little moglie (whistles). Ahhh! He leapt to me! Hahaha…this is so much fun! Ahahaha! Er…hmm…I mean…let's get out of this cave before we make fools of ourselves………………………………………………………………………………….

We reached the end of the cave, at last, and were greeted promptly by Jun, as if he knew we were coming. I don't know if Lock mentioned it earlier but Jun is a remarkable man. We got right down to some quick business concerning the town and the frozen Genju that was found in the mines, and obviously the target of the Empire's attack here. He reports that no matter what information is given to the citizens here they refuse to side with the Returners. The town is determined to stay neutral and avoid all conflict of this war. The problem is, if they don't side with the Empire they'll probably destroy Narche to get the Genju, regardless if they're neutral or not. Hopefully we can get that point across to the town elder…before it's too late to make a choice…

Author's Note: The previous Chapters 9a and 9b, this chapter, and the next couple of chapters dealing with Mash all occured (in the game) at the same time. It was a rather unique segment that allowed the player to select a scenario to play out, keeping in mind that each one was happening at the same time, therefore, Lock, Banon's team, and Mash's team all make it to Narche together. Just a note for those not familiar with this game or segment of the game. By the way, Edgar and sexuality will become more and more present over time. Just wait until you see who he proposes to.

Japanese/American

Narche/Narshe
Orthros/Ultros
Jun/Arvis
Genju/Esper
Moglies/Moogles
Lock/Locke
Mash/Sabin
Tina/Terra