This is the last 'before game' chapter, and I like how I ended it. Tee hee. I like this chapter actually…even if it is only kind of a filler. It fills in a lot of the blanks between Locke, Edgar, and the Returners that is brought up in the game but never explained. Therefore, I did it myself. D It's so amusing to incorporate tiny details into this fic. (Psst…all these little things will be put into my writing journal over the next few days. I hope. The link is my 'website' on my bio page)

39. The Returners

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute," Edgar sputtered out as he put his hand to his forehead. Locke had explained what he saw in South Figaro when he arrived back at the castle several moments earlier, and he was sure that Edgar was going to pass out. His face turned ghastly white and he began pacing the tiled floor of the throne room as Locke spoke. He was so flabbergasted that his hands were flailing as he talked, almost hitting the Chancellor who was standing behind him. "Are you telling me that the Empire is not only going into towns and bribing their scholars, but they're also keeping them in Vector to do research on Espers?"

Locke sighed from where he was sitting and stretched out his legs. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm telling you."

With a quick exhale, Edgar walked up the steps to his throne and sat down. Locke watched every movement, almost afraid that Edgar was so shocked of the entire situation. If he's this worried about it…This situation is a million times worse than I'm thinking it is…His own thought made him bring his hand to his mouth to bite his nails.

After a second of silence, Edgar threw up his hand when he found the correct words to say. "And…Not only that, but now soldiers are bribing my citizens for information on that witch too?" Locke nodded again and Edgar rested his head on the back of his throne. "I need to sit down."

"You are sitting down, your highness," the Chancellor pointed out, raising an eye brow.

Edgar lifted his head back up and noticed that the Chancellor was right. "Oh, I am. Good for me."

"The worst part about all of it is that the soldiers kept talking about the witch and how Kefka was looking for her," Locke added, watching Edgar nervously drum his fingers against his leg. "So that means that she must've escaped somehow."

"It's now a dangerous world to have someone with so much power walking around freely," Edgar said, his voice half-muffled due to his hand playing with his lower lip. "Kefka was making a monster out of her."

Oh boy…Locke thought, feeling his pulse start to race. "I don't like how you said that. What exactly was Kefka doing?"

"From what I've heard, Gestahl found the girl when she was only a baby. A few years old at most. He…did something to do her and now she follows him around like a lap dog," Edgar explained, Locke hanging on every word. "The thing that confuses me though, is, like I said, Gestahl let him have complete control over the girl. Kefka refused to have her out of his sight, and she did orders for him. He could ask her to throw a stick and she would ask him 'how far?'"

"Yikes," Locke managed to say. "What's the confusing part of that? She probably wanted to just expand her horizons and attack without having someone breathe down her neck."

"No, his majesty is right, something is missing here," the Chancellor said, shaking his head. He walked closer to Edgar's throne and Edgar nodded.

"There was something about her when she attacked," Edgar added, blankly looking off to the side. "It was like she did it without thinking twice, almost on impulse, and always on Kefka's orders. Take the attack on Maranda, for instance."

"It's funny that you mention that," Locke chimed in as Edgar's sentence sparked something in his memory. "That's not the first time that I heard that. Xane mentioned something, as did Vaughn, and the soldiers that I eavesdropped on in South Figaro. I heard that the Imperial army attacked, but what exactly happened there?"

Edgar looked off to the side and quickly let out the breath he was holding. "The girl…Kefka wanted to test her true strength, so as the soldiers were torching Maranda, he told her to burn them. So she obeyed and followed the order, resulting in approximately 50 of them killed in under five minutes."

"I thought it was three minutes, Your Highness," the Chancellor corrected him.

"Oh yeah, you're right," he said, painfully agreeing. "Banon's letter did say three minutes, didn't it? Three minutes or five minutes, whichever it was, that's still an impressive time for destroying that many lives."

"Kefka told her to burn their own Imperial soldiers?" Locke asked, narrowing his eyes as Edgar's face remained exanimate. "You've gotta be kidding me. Why would Kefka do something like that?"

"Banon will be able to tell you more than I will," Edgar said, standing up to again pace the floor. "I think it's about time that you made your way to the Returner's Hideout and talked to Banon. If you hear anything from him, report back to me and keep me informed."

"Of course," Locke replied as the king walked closer to him. "Is there anything I should be warned about before I met Banon?"

"Not really," Edgar stated with a flick of his wrist. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Locke began with a chuckle, fixing his bandana. "I remember when I first joined Quantz, Xane explained a million guidelines when it came to Vaughn."

"That's Vaughn though," Edgar laughed and shook his head in amusement. "Although Banon is a little stuffy, Vaughn doesn't deal with anyone's shit and Xane just wanted you to know that. Besides, you had to win Vaughn's approval before Banon would give you a second look over."

Locke raised an eyebrow at Edgar's sentence and had to think about it. "You know, I never thought about it until you just brought it up, but Banon had his eyes on me to begin with, didn't he? I mean, Vaughn sent Xane out to find me that one day, so it means that he knew about me."

"Well, I think it was more or less that Vaughn had heard about you and told Banon about you," Edgar clarified, pointing as he spoke. "I'm not sure how, but he heard about your reputation in Kohlingen and sought you out. He knew about your potential long before Banon did."

"Oh." Locke shifted his weight and waited for Edgar to speak again. After several seconds of silence, he started toward the door, speaking over his shoulder, "The Returner's Hideout is by the Lete River, correct? Any other specific directions?"

Edgar nodded, walked up to him and shook his hand. "No, that's about it, I believe. I'll send a letter via carrier pigeon to Banon so he's aware of your arrival. OH! Three sets of three light knocks. That's the secret knock."

"Thanks," Locke said with a smile.

"I'll help you to the door," the Chancellor volunteered, catching up with Locke and opening the throne room door for him.

"Take care of yourself," Edgar said to Locke with a wave. "If you see anyone who looks like a deranged clown, stay clear of him."

Locke looked back at Edgar and gave him a confused look. "Well, that was the most random bit of advice I've ever heard, but I'll remember to keep it in mind."

"His highness is making fun of Kefka," the Chancellor informed him. Even though he had disappointment in his voice, he still wore a tiny smile. "He does it frequently, so we just smile at him and walk away."

Locke chuckled and heard a knock at the door. The Chancellor, Edgar, and Locke all furrowed their brows and the Chancellor opened the door. A Figaro guard stood there and saluted. "Your majesty, the priestess of Doma is here to see you as you requested. We directed her to the library for the time being."

"Oh yeah!" Edgar sat up straight in his throne and smoothed down his hair. "I completely forgot about that." He looked at his Chancellor and said, "Do you mind bringing her here?"

The Chancellor nodded. "Of course, your highness."

"Well, Edgar, it looks like you will reach double digits in the fiancée category at record speed," Locke quipped with a smirk, causing the Chancellor to stifle his laughter.

Edgar raised an eyebrow, then began laughing. "I'm not even going to argue with that one. You've known me for less than a day and you already have me figured out. That's quite impressive, Locke."

Shaking his head, the Chancellor cleared his throat and said, "I'll lead Locke to the entrance and then I'll escort the priestess in."

"Take care, Edgar," Locke said with a wave to Edgar, who went back to fixing his hair, and followed the Chancellor to the entrance of the castle. "Thanks for everything. I'll be sure to keep in touch."

"Please do," the Chancellor replied. "Go through the cave to the southeast to get to South Figaro."

"Will do," Locke said with a nod. Breaking out into a smile, he added, "As long as you keep Edgar out of trouble."

The Chancellor chuckled, shook his head and sighed. "I've been trying my best. Take care, Locke."

With a nod, Locke shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the Chancellor's directions.

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That's it…Locke thought when he saw the opening in the mountain. That's the Returner's Hideout… He bit at his lip and felt his palms sweat out of nervousness. He had never been so nervous in his life and he wasn't exactly sure why. He reminded himself to breathe as he walked up to the door and performed the secret knock.

A little slot in the door opened and he saw a pair of eyes look at him in a peculiar manner. Locke wasn't sure what to do, so he gave the eyes a friendly wave. "Uh, hi. I hope that was the right knock."

The eyes narrowed and the man said in a gruff voice, "Who the hell are you?"

"Locke Cole?" He swallowed at the same time that he spoke, so his name more or less squeaked out. "King Edgar said that he was going to send a letter to let you know that I was arriving."

The confused look that was in the eyes changed to one of, what Locke assumed, friendliness. "Ah yes!" He shut the tiny slot and Locke heard the bolt release from the door. When the door opened, the man motioned for Locke to come in. "I'm sorry about that. You can never be too careful nowadays."

"Of course," Locke replied, shaking the man's hand and he had a quick look around. To his surprise, the hideout looked very similar to the Quantz hideout and he let out a smile. "Am I supposed to see Banon now or is there a scheduled time that he would like to see me?"

"I believe he wanted to see you as soon as possible," the man said, leading Locke up a set of stairs and pointed to a door. "You can just walk in, it's all right."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Locke blinked in surprise. "Just…walk right in? He's not going to get pissed off at me or anything, is he?"

"He knows that you're coming, so of course he won't be," the man explained, gesturing toward the door again.

"Okay…" Locke said with uncertainty and opened the door. When he walked into the next room, he saw an elderly gentleman sitting at a table, composing a letter. The scene was all too familiar to him and he felt as though he was reliving his first moments of meeting Vaughn. A chuckle escaped his lips as the man looked up at him and smiled. "Hi, I'm Locke Cole. I've come from Figaro Castle."

"Yes, I'm aware," the man said, tapping a piece a paper that was adjacent to his ink well. "King Edgar sent me a letter of everything that you've discovered when you visited South Figaro and I must say this puts a new twist in our research on the Empire. Now more and more things are starting to be aimed toward Kefka instead of Gestahl. Kefka's power is growing, Locke. It's just a matter of time before his power…" He shook his head at his own thoughts and exhaled. "No matter. We'll worry about that if the time comes."

Well, it's good to know that there isn't the awkward introduction and he went straight to the point… He thought with a smile. "This girl," Locke started, watching Banon stand up. "This 'witch.' Why is she so important to the Empire? Just because she has the power to destroy and not feel remorse about it?"

Banon walked over to Locke and pursed his lips. "I do believe there is more to this situation than the eye can see. No human, no matter how empty inside, can kill without feeling remorse. Hatred can burn so deeply that it ruins the soul, but there will always be remorse. Especially from an 18 year old girl who obeys orders at the drop of a hat." Locke remained quiet as Banon sadly shook his head and turned around. "We just need to do some more investigating. We have several spies in every town, so if the Empire is going to try something new, we'll hear about it as fast as a carrier pigeon can fly here."

"How is an organization like this able to stay so under wraps?" Locke asked, half to himself. "Quantz was able to stay quiet because we were only treasure hunters; a group of men who try to find old treasures for a living. No big deal, right? But this is completely different. The Returners try to figure out the way the entire world is run. That's a little deeper than looking for someone's old diamonds. Is it by sheer luck?"

"No," Banon stated, his voice matter of fact. "I do believe there are more people in this world who are unhappy with the way things are than one would think. Most people spy on the Empire as it is. We simply seek out those people and have them help us. No one wants to live under a dictatorship, and that is exactly what Gestahl is running."

Innocently looking up at Banon, Locke couldn't help but ask more questions. "Has it…always been like this? Have I just been blind to the entire situation?"

"I must admit that things have gotten worse ever since Kefka grew to be a stronger asset to Gestahl." Locke gave Banon a queer look, so he continued to explain. "Kefka is trying to gain more power and this is the last thing that we want to have happen."

"I understand," Locke replied with a nod.

"Very well." Banon began to walk toward the door to his chambers, motioning Locke to follow. "There isn't anything that we can do right now, plus it is rather late, so I will show you to your room and let you get settled in."

Without another word, Locke followed Banon through a few doors to a very small room with a single bed. As Banon was about to leave, Locke said, "Thanks for everything, Banon."

The elderly man turned around and gave Locke a smile. "Don't go thanking me just yet, but you're welcome. Have a pleasant night."

Locke nodded and watched as Banon walked out then shut the door. Looking around, he exhaled and tried to sort out his thoughts. His room was much like the one that he had in Quantz, but he knew that this room was a new start for him. My chance to find out what has happened with my life…He thought as he kicked off his shoes and placed them by his bed.

He walked over to the small table on one of the sides of the room and he placed his dagger on it. Even though the once beautiful dagger was starting to look a little tired, Locke couldn't find it in his heart to get rid of it. He found it the day that Xane was looking for him, and he couldn't get rid of the memories.

Speaking of memories…He thought as he dug his hand into one of his pockets and felt for the chain that was buried deeply. As gently as he could, he pulled out the necklace and looked at the ring that the chain secured. I will avenge you, Rachel. I promise you that I will…

Placing the ring on the table next to his dagger, he turned off the lights and went to sleep.

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Locke slowly opened his eyes and it took him a second to remember where he was. He sat up in his bed and looked around; wondering what woke him up in the first place. Letting out a yawn, he heard the sound again and this time was able to recognize it as a knock at his door.

"Come in," Locke cried out, quickly throwing on his pants. The door opened and Banon walked through, causing Locke to look at his watch to see what time it was. It's only 4 am! What the hell? He thought, as he pleasantly smiled at Banon. "Good morning, Banon," he stated, quite confused. Although one might technically call it night still…

"Good morning," the elderly man replied hastily, shutting the door behind him. He walked up to Locke and held out his hand, which held a piece of paper. Locke narrowed his eyes as he took the paper.

"What's this?" He asked, inspecting it.

"Directions on how to get to Narshe," he explained, Locke's eyes widening.

"Narshe?" He tried not to show his surprise, but it was hard to conceal. "Isn't Narshe on the northern continent?"

Banon shook his head and pointed to the paper again. "Yes, it is. Those are detailed directions to get to Arvis' house. He is also in the Returners. I need you to go see him as soon as possible."

"O…kay," Locke said, still rather confused to what was going on. "Any other specific directions?"

"No," Banon said quickly, watching Locke look over the map. "Just make sure that you follow those and don't go straight into town. My directions send you through the mines; it'll be the safest route. Apparently there will be soldiers there, so stay on your guard until you get to Arvis' house in case the soldiers get restless and move to the mines. Understood?"

With a nod, Locke replied, "Yes," then walked toward the table by the lamp. Hoping Banon didn't notice, he put the necklace into his pocket, not wanting any questions asked. Thankfully, Banon was looking back toward the wall and not paying attention to what Locke was doing.

"He knows that you will be arriving soon," Banon explained as Locke put on a shirt and quickly gathered the rest of his things. "He asked for some assistance, so I told him that I would be sending you. I trust you on this."

Locke was touched and couldn't help but smile. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't, but follow me." Quietly, Banon led Locke to the back door. Locke was surprised to see how many Returners were up to stay on guard, but politely nodded at them when they passed. Once they reached the door, Banon opened it, but didn't let Locke walk through. "The quickest way to Narshe by the current of the Lete River. Take this raft and you'll end up docking close to the town, but far enough not to been seen." Locke nodded once again and Banon said. "Oh, one more thing. You're going to have to sneak into the mines. There is a switch on the outside of the mountain wall, southwest of the town. You won't be able to miss it. Now then, please make your way to Narshe as quickly as possible. This is a rather urgent situation. Arvis will give you further directions when you arrive."

"Got it," Locke said with a nod. Banon moved out of the way and let Locke through, quickly saying goodbye before shutting the door again. Once he was outside the cave, he looked at the directions that were in his hands and walked to the edge of the dock, which was about fifteen feet above the water. With a gulp, he saw the raft that Banon mentioned. It was decent size, but he wasn't exactly comfortable about jumping off a ledge and praying that he made it on the raft safely. The thought of sailing wasn't comforting to him either and he prayed that he wouldn't get sea sick.

Closing his eyes, he climbed over the ledge then let go, luckily making it on the raft. Exhaling in relief, he began to untie the raft from the post it was attached to. When there was one knot left, a look of confusion washed over his face and he muttered, "I didn't even ask what I was going to Narshe for…" With a shrug, he undid the final knot and the raft started to move. "Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter now. Whatever happens, happens."