Much like the last chapter I posted, parts of this I like, and parts I'm not too fond of. The problem is, I was going to try to fix it...but everything flows so well that I couldn't find a good 'cutting' spot. Oh well. I'm really quite happy how the actual 'meeting' part ended up, so yay. I couldn't cut the Locke/Terra conversation because it's important to a chapter that's coming up rather soon...Actually now that I think about it, I think it's the next chapter. :looks: Yep, it is. Oh yay, I planned that well! Lol...I'm shutting up now, I promise.

11. A Meeting With Banon

The next morning, Locke was sitting at the edge of the Lete River as he watched the sun rise. He hardly slept that night, if at all. What is the Empire doing to my life… He thought, resting his arms on his knees and looking down at the flowing river. The thought of the closest people who have touched his life couldn't escape him. The Empire is bringing people down one by one. Soon there will be nothing left…

With a heart full of memories, he stood back up and took a final glance at the sunrise before walking to his room. He knew that Terra was still sleeping, but he wanted to make sure that she was safe. As quietly as he could, he opened the door, just letting enough light from the room he was in to seep through the small crack. Leaving the door open slightly, he walked closer to see her rolled on her side hugging her blankets so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. Her face was pale, as if all the color had been drained from her cheeks. No doubt from nightmares…He thought as he walked to the other side of the room.

I wish I wouldn't have dragged her into this…He thought, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. A slight moan was heard from over his shoulder causing him to turn and look in Terra's direction. She was shifting and mumbling something in her sleep. He wasn't sure what she was saying, but by the way she was saying it, he was assuming that it wasn't a good thing.

He rushed to her and began to shake her shoulders to wake her up. "Come on, Terra, wake up," he whispered gently. Instead of fluttering her eyes open, she started to toss more violently and tears started to stream out of her eyes. "Terra!"

"No!" With a gasp, her eyes flew open and she grabbed onto Locke's arms with her hands.

"It's okay, it's okay!" He told her as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a hug. "It was only a dream, Terra."

She was shuddering from her tears as he gently rocked her back and forth and rubbed her back with his hand. She buried her face into his shirt as she spoke. "I keep having nightmares about things. They're so real…I don't know if I'm just reliving past events or if I'm literally just having nightmares about things. I don't remember anything. I don't know what my life has been like…"

"Shhh, it's okay," he said to her as he continued to run his hand up and down her back to console her. "I'm here. Everything is going to be okay."

"How can you promise that?" She asked as she put her hands on his shoulders and backed away. Wiping her tears away, she let out a sigh. "You don't know what has happened in my past. Hell, I don't even know what happened, so how could you?"

"Like I told you yesterday night," he began with a serious look on his face. "I don't know what has happened. But I won't leave you. I don't want you to go through this alone."

She stood up and rubbed the back of her neck with one of her hands as she thought about what he said. "The entire Imperial army is searching for me. The more I think about it, the more I think I should just turn myself in."

Locke jumped off the bed onto his feet and he rushed over to her. "No, you can't do that. Don't even think about doing something like that."

"Why not?" She asked, tears still brimming in her eyes. "They're gonna find me anyway."

"First of all, no, they're not." He walked toward his bookshelf and gently fingered the spines of a small collection of books that were stacked on top of one another. He looked over his shoulder at her and felt guilt strike his heart. "Not…while I'm around."

"The second point?" She questioned as she walked closer to him. He didn't speak, so she continued her statement. "You said 'first of all.' Usually there is a 'second' and sometimes a 'third' point that follows too."

"The second, third, and even forth reasons explain a lot about who I am and why I'm in the Returners," he stated simply with a shrug. Instead of continuing, he turned toward her again and hit his leg gently with the palm of his hand. "It's not important. Um, besides the nightmare, how else did you sleep?"

"Not very well." She walked in front of Locke to look him in the eyes but he only turned away again. "You deliberately changed the subject. What is it?"

"Nothing," he lied as he looked down at the wooden floor. He felt guilty for the whole situation and couldn't look at her. "Is the dream memory gone now?"

"You know, since you brought it up and it piqued my curiosity, I realize that you never explained your motives for being in the Returners," she said, ignoring his question. He briefly looked her in the eyes then looked away. "Why can't you look at me?"

"Someone important to me was jailed by the Empire. I've hated the Empire ever since," he explained through clenched teeth, only briefly describing one of the many things that the Empire has done to him personally. I'm not even going to mention the main reason…or the reason why I want to protect her…He thought as he sighed. "I joined the Returners when I realized the Empire was rotten to the core. I wanted to make a difference."

She bowed her head in shame as she quietly said, "But…I used to work for the Empire."

"Against your will." He finally faced her and placed a finger under her chin to lift up her head. "You didn't have any idea what you were doing, so according to Banon and the rest of the Returners, myself included, you didn't work for them. You were used by them."

"I'm still responsible for all those people I killed." Locke watched as a single tear fell from her eyes onto the floor. "All those people…"

"How do you know that's even a fact?" He asked as he brushed the water from her tear-streaked face. "Like you said, you're not sure if those nightmares you've had are even based on past events. It could just be your imagination playing tricks on you from what other people and letters have said."

"I don't think carrier pigeons would lie," she started as she looked away. "All those people I've killed…I robbed their families of them."

"Terra, listen to me." His voice was stern and he trailed his finger against the side of her face. Instead of listening to him, she started to speak.

"Your motivation for being in the Returners is because, like you said, someone was thrown in jail," she blinked as she wiped the tears from her eyes, keeping her head down. "I don't even know who I am or where I come from. One day I hope to find out, but…I have no significant 'other' in my life to help me figure it out. At least, not that I know of."

"That's not entirely true." The lost look in her eye broke Locke's heart for that was a look that he had seen before. He forced a smile and resumed his train of thought. "Banon, myself, Edgar, and so on…we're all going to help you figure out your past. Besides, I'm sure there are people who feel you're important to them! They're counting on you."

"Yeah, like the Empire," she retorted sarcastically with a shake of her head and a sniff.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm talking about the Returners, the people in this world…me." He could tell he wasn't convincing her at all for her words all revolved around the past that she knew nothing about. "Speak to Banon, Terra. He can explain things more thoroughly to you then I can. I'm only the messenger."

"Very well," she said with a nod as she headed toward the door. "Are you coming with me?"

"I will in a minute," he replied as he sat down on the bed. "You can go talk to Edgar if you'd wish. Nothing will harm you as long as you're in the hideout."

With another nod, she exited the room, leaving Locke alone.

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"Locke, are you in here?" Locke turned to the gentle knocking at his door and watched Edgar walk in. He was sitting on his bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands, just thinking, and he had been for a few hours. "Banon requested that we go the meeting that he's organized in the conference room."

"Where's Terra?" Locke asked with a sigh as he stood up. "Is she alright?"

"She should be fine," he answered with a slight shrug. "She talked to me for a while and explained her nightmares and such. I'm glad that you were there to wake her up before they finished. Oh, that poor girl. I feel as if we're getting her involved in something much bigger than Banon is telling us."

"You get that feeling as well?" Locke asked as he walked closer to Edgar, who nodded. "Do we even know what this meeting is about? I don't want him to scare the shit out of Terra again like he pretty much did yesterday when he first saw her."

"No, unfortunately I don't know what it's about," Edgar stated as he gestured toward the door. "Oh well, that's not in our control, nor is it our place to argue. Let's go."

Locke and Edgar made their way to the conference room to see the Returners, Sabin, and Terra around the large rectangular table. Everyone was talking amongst themselves and Locke sat in the empty seat that was next to Terra. She was silent and looking down in her lap. Locke was just about to ask her how she was doing, but Banon started to walk down the stairs toward the table.

"Right," he started as he faced them all. "We all know that the Empire is using Magitek power in battle. The point is, how has the Emperor created it?"

"I had Locke look into the rumor that the Empire is forcing the world's finest scholars to study Espers," Edgar announced immediately as Locke nodded. "They have scholars from Kohlingen, Jidoor, South Figaro, and Thamasa holed up at Vector. There might be more, but that's all Locke was able to find out."

Banon walked over to Locke and rested his hands on the table. "Thamasa, eh? Hmm. That's odd." He lightly hit the table with his fist a few times in thought, then narrowed his eyes between Locke and Edgar. "Were the scholars taken against their will?"

"I wasn't able to get a lot of the details," Locke explained in an apologetic tone. "However, I did hear that some of them were bribed with gold. Regrettably, that's all some people need in this world; a little cash incentive and they jump on it."

"Ahh, what a wonderful world we live in today," one of the Returners mumbled under his breath as he folded his arms.

"Yep, not only is that true, but all the trouble in Narshe is over an Esper, too." Locke could see that Terra was looking at him out of his peripheral vision, but he kept his gaze directed toward Banon. "Something about an Esper that was frozen in the mountains or something like that."

"Wait a second," Terra said as she looked between Locke, Edgar, and Banon. "You mean there's some connection between Espers and Magitek?"

"I can only recall one thing linking Espers with Magitek power…" Banon trailed off as he turned his back toward the table, letting everyone absorb his sentence.

"You don't mean…" Edgar was the first to find the words that everyone was searching for.

"Indeed!" Banon whipped around to face them and placed his hands back on the table. "The ancient War of the Magi…"

"No!" One of the Returners cried out of shock.

"It can't be!" Another Returner stated as everyone else looked at each other.

"My Grandma used to tell me stories about magical machines," Locke began as he rubbed his chin with his hand as he remembered his early childhood. "All those stories about them; could they have been true?"

"Could that ancient tragedy be playing out once again…" Edgar didn't mean to speak out loud, but it squeaked out, causing everyone to whip their eyes toward his rash observation.

"It's just speculation," Banon admitted with a shrug. "But, historical studies have provided a number of conflicting and frightening theories…" The man trailed off again as everyone waited in anticipation.

"Like what?" Sabin asked, unable to handle the suspense.

"Well, there have been too many to name them all, but according to one theory, humans and machines were imbued with powers drained from Espers…That's the one that seems to make the most sense at this point in time," Banon explained, causing Locke to sink back in his seat.

Magic from the expense of an Esper…He thought as he closed his eyes and sighed. Oh, damn…

"That could explain Magitek power…" Terra mumbled as she pulled a stray tendril of hair behind her ear.

"Here's a problem," Edgar brought up as he put his ankle on his opposite knee. "As Terra, Locke, and I were walking this way, we ran into several Magitek soldiers. Our swords and weapons did basically nothing, resulting in us having a hell of a time fighting them off. It seems as though we can only fight Magitek enemies with Magitek weapons…"

"Heh, maybe Kefka's not as big of a dumbass as we all thought," Locke quipped with an ironic chuckle as he shook his head. "When you think about it, the Imperial army is the only one with this kind of power."

"This war will need more than simple steel swords." Banon shook his head and sighed. "I fear that man made weapons aren't going to suffice to our needs."

"What about magic?" Terra asked, looking at Banon sheepishly. "I used a fire spell and that seemed to help and do quite a bit of damage."

"We need to fight magic with magic," Locke mumbled, just loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"What was that?" Banon asked as Locke shrugged his shoulders. "No, say it again."

"I just said that we need to fight magic with magic," he repeated as he shook his head. "I just heard it from a few people recently. I'm guessing since more than one person mentioned it to me over the last few weeks, it's probably true."

"Well, what about me?" The tone in Terra's voice wasn't confident, but by the way she was sitting, Locke figured she felt obligated to speak up. "It's obvious that I have magic power. I'm not exactly sure what it all means, but I seem to have enough power to wield it properly."

"The only thing I'm worried about is that there are a lot of people who aren't ready to accept the fact that people are able to use magic," Edgar stated as he exhaled. "Heh, yeah, like Terra said, she performed a fire spell, all right…scaring the living hell out of me in the process."

"But, you do know it's the power that we're going to need here," Banon said as he raised an eyebrow. As he spoke, he walked closer to Terra, his eyes focused on her. "It's risky, but if we have Terra…speak with that Esper, it might just wake up…"

Terra felt everyone's eyes fall on her and she bowed her head, blushing. Edgar looked over at Banon. "You want to wake up the Esper? I wonder if that's wise…?"

"Who can say?" Everyone slightly frowned at how Banon was nonchalantly thinking about making such a large risk. "We won't know its power until it's awake."

"Banon, I don't mean to be rude here, but this might not only harm Terra, but maybe something can go haywire and harm the entire world…" Locke couldn't help his outburst, and a disapproving look from Banon made him trail off.

"Regardless, we need Terra's help." Banon looked directly at Terra, who still was looking into her lap.

Locke turned in his seat to fully face the young woman. His voice was soft and comforting as he spoke. "Terra…This is your decision and yours alone. Like I said, we're not going to pressure you do anything you don't want to do."

A confident smile appeared on her face as she looked up at Locke. "I'll do it! I mean, what have I got to lose?"

"What nonsense!" Sabin said with a chuckle as everyone else let out relieved sighs. "You sound as if you're enjoying this!"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but…" she blushed slightly as she looked at Sabin and everyone's grins. Everyone's faces dropped as they heard the door to the hideout open, and they all turned to that direction to see what was going on.

"What? What's that noise?" Banon asked frantically. He looked toward the entrance and saw one of the Returners looking extremely pale in face and very weak.

"Emergency! Sir Banon…" The man collapsed face first onto the floor, eliciting gasps from everyone else. As quickly as they could, everyone ran to the man's side, except Terra. She gulped as she sank into her seat, overhearing the man's wavering voice. "S…South Figaro…"

"Dammit!" Edgar exclaimed as he slightly stomped his foot in frustration. "Kefka, that bastard! All my people…"

"What's going on? What happened?" Banon knelt down next to the fallen man, who was heavily gasping for air. Terra finally was able to find the strength to move and ran up to everyone.

"E…Empire…took Figaro…Coming…this way….unnnh…" He shuddered in pain, his breathing heavily labored. Locke looked at Terra, who was in absolute horror of what was happening.

Banon understood what had happened immediately and looked up at everyone who was standing. "They've found us. We have to leave, we haven't a moment to lose!"

"Locke!" Edgar and Locke looked at each other at the same time.

"I know…" Locke replied with a smile. "'Someone' has to sneak into South Figaro and slow the Empire down, right?"

"That's right up your alley! Good luck!" He patted Locke on the shoulder as some other members of the Returners lifted up the fallen man and started to carry him toward the infirmary.

"Thanks," he said as he faced Terra. He didn't want to leave her when he promised her that he would protect her, but he knew that he had to investigate what was going on in South Figaro and hopefully distract them from finding the others. So I guess I'm adjacently protecting her…he thought as he looked into her eyes. I'm just not going to be by her side… "Terra…Please wait for me."

"Of course I will," she said with a confused look on her face. "I trust that you'll come back."

"I won't go back on my promise," he smiled to confirm his statement. He started to walk toward the door, but turned toward her again. "Oh, and…please…don't let a lecherous young king, who shall remain nameless, near you!"

"Locke!" Edgar cried out to Locke, who only laughed. Terra giggled as well and moved out of the way so Locke could get through. Edgar looked at Sabin and frantically asked, "I'm not lecherous, am I? I try not to be!"

As Locke started through the door, he could hear Sabin say, "Big brother…aren't you EVER going to grow up?" He chuckled as he walked out of the Returners hideout and made his way to the town of South Figaro.