(Sorry for the looooong wait. Certain… let's call them complications… arose and I wound up away from home longer than expected. But I'm back now, safe and sound, and ready to continue my story.)

Chapter 10

Celes lent against the wall of the engine room. She had her eyes closed and was mentally going over all the events that had befallen her since she first met Locke and the rest of the Returners. A certain pattern seemed to arise, the more she thought about it. After nearly every danger or catastrophe, the miss-matched group had overcome, another would seem to appear in it's place.

Take now, for example. The cephaler was gone, but had left a potentially more serious problem.

"Arrrgh! Setzer, what have you done to my engines!"

Setzer's scarred face was a real sight as he turned to Edgar.

"Me! I didn't do anything! It was a monster that clawed it's way in! In fact, if I hadn't destroyed it, it would've done a lot more damage! You should be thanking me!"

"Okay, okay!" Locke could see where this was going, so he put himself in-between the two. "Let's forget about how this happened and focus on what we're going to do now. Edgar, do you think you can fix this?" He pointed over his shoulder to the engine.

Edgar took a breath to compose himself and inspected the damage.

"Hmm, I could probably get us a little bit of power, but only enough for about an hour."

"Well then, we'd better find a place where we can surface." Said Sabin. "Gau, get back to the radar and let us know the instant you spot anything."

"Uuooo!" The boy bounded off, back to the control center.

Edgar and Setzer set to work on the engine. The others helped as best they could. Soon the Sub-Mariner was moving again, but this time it was much slower, and this time they had a time limit.

(Scene Change)

The slave crown was a device which had been invented by the Vector Empire to control the monsters it sometimes used in it's army. There were occasions when it had been used on humans, but most of them had suffered brain damage as a result.

Terra had been fortunate enough to recover from her own experience under it's control with nothing but amnesia. She'd been glad when she had recovered her memory. She'd finally known for sure who she was. But she'd also remembered what she'd done.

Since she was very young, Terra had been trained to be a soldier for the Vector Empire. There was the usual routine of weapons training and drills. And, as if that wasn't tough enough, Terra had to go through a 'special' training course.

Her power of fire magic was a mystery, even to her. It didn't always work when she tried to use it, and sometimes it would spark up without her realizing it. One incident involved a trainer she'd been particularly afraid of. She'd seen him beat cadets when they made mistakes, as an incentive to get better.

Once, during sword training, she'd lost her grip on her weapon mid-swing, and it had missed the trainer's head by inches. He'd marched straight up to her, grabbed her arm and raised his fist. She'd instinctively put her hand up to shield the blow when suddenly flames shot out of her palm and set the man's hair alight!

She hadn't done it on purpose. In fact, that little episode had given her teachers an idea. It seemed her powers acted as a defense mechanism, kicking in when she felt afraid or threatened. So they'd thought up a new training scheme. Terra would have to stand in a deep, wide pit and a vicious dog would be set on her!

This new training not only brought Terra's power to the surface but also forced her to gain control over it, as each 'opponent' was slightly larger or meaner than the last.

All of this would probably have been more bearable for Terra, if not for the loneliness that came with it. All the other cadets knew about Terra's power and, since magic wasn't a common sight in the world, they regarded her as some kind of freak or witch.

She remembered when they were given days off. She would sit on a bench in the park and watch all the other children walk past. They were all with people; parents, siblings, friends, none of which Terra had. No one ever came over to talk to her and, on the rare occasion that someone actually looked over at her, the expression on their face was anything but friendly.

This existence continued up until she was a teenager. That was when things changed. She'd already done a few routine missions for the Empire; nothing that involved using her magic. (For which she was glad.) But one day, her team was sent to apprehend members of a rebel faction. For every government that's ever existed, there's always been opposition to it, so the troops didn't see this faction as a huge threat.

Finding the meeting point was easy; it was just a small house that belonged to one of the members. They offered little resistance. One of them tried to charge the troops' commanding officer, but he was easily put down. Terra was surprised when their commander told the rebels they were being placed under house arrest. She was sure they were going to take them into custody.

After the doors and windows were all secured, from the outside, it seemed like they were leaving. Suddenly the commander turned to Terra and told her it was time to use her power. Terra wasn't sure she understood him. The mission was over, they weren't under attack. What was there to use her magic against? Then she saw the commander's eyes were focused on the house. He couldn't be serious!

Terra had never killed a human before. Even the burned bodies of the dogs and monsters she'd been forced to fight had made her feel sick. Now she was being ordered to kill – no, murder – a houseful of people.

"Is there something wrong with your hearing, soldier! I gave you an order. Now follow it!"

Maybe it was teenage rebellion kicking in. Maybe Terra had finally had enough of the yelling, the training that bordered on torture, the loneliness and isolation. Maybe what she was being asked to do went against the ethics that, up to now, she didn't know she'd had. Whatever it was, it caused her to look her commander in the eye and say, "No."

The man didn't explode like she'd half expected him to. He just returned her gaze and said,

"Listen girl, it's as simple as this. Either you obey our orders willingly, or we'll make you."

At these words, Terra felt angrier then she ever remembered feeling. 'Make' her? She wasn't a child anymore. They couldn't make her do anything! Hell, they couldn't even make her stay in their stupid army. She'd never chosen the life of a soldier; it had been forced upon her. Her fists clenched at her sides. She was through with this. She was tired of being what everyone else wanted. It ended now.

"I said, no!"

She threw a punch right to the commander's face. He simply sidestepped, easily dodging the punch, while at the same time his own fist smashed into her stomach.

Terra's mouth opened, but no sound came from it. As soon as the soldier removed his fist, she sank to her knees and then fell flat on the ground.

So much for heroics.

"You're lucky you're an endangered species." Those were the last words Terra heard before she blacked out.

What happened next was like a nightmare. Thanks to the slave crown, Terra was robbed of all conscious thought. She was just like the weapons the Empire soldiers used. Unthinking and unfeeling. Under the Emperor's command, she wiped out 50 of their own soldiers as a test! That was how much Gesthal valued the lives of others. And as for the defenders of Narshe; all they had were rifles and a few dogs, up against three of the Empire's dreaded Magitech Armor. They never stood a chance.

Now Terra sat on the floor of the engine room. Her back against the wall and the slave crown, Gau had recovered, in her hand. The only other person in the room was Edgar, trying his best to keep the engines going. Everyone else was either in the sleeping area or the control room.

Edgar put his wrench down, lifted his cap up and wiped his forehead. He'd done all he could do. He looked over towards Terra. Her eyes were fixed on the slave crown that her fist was curled tightly around.

"You do know, if you grip that any tighter, we're going to have to remove it surgically."

Terra looked up, as if noticing him for the first time. Her grip did loosen though.

"I was just thinking." She said. "About how much pain a small band like this can cause."

Edgar sat down beside her. He knew exactly what she was talking about. The two of them sat in silence for a while.

"This changes things." Terra suddenly spoke up. "The fact that Cerro knew about me and Celes was enough to show that he had some affiliation with the Empire. But this," She held up the slave crown again. "This is different. Just how deeply was he involved with them?"

"Terra." Edgar placed his hand over hers. "You mustn't forget. We're going to try and talk to these people. Open up relations. I'm not happy about what you've been though, but it is my duty to try and find a peaceful means to end this."

"I know." Terra replied. "But still, whatever happens, I want to see him. I want to meet Cerro face to face."

Edgar's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Terra. The expression on her face wasn't an angry one. It was a sure one. She'd worn that expression just before she attacked Phunbaba, in order to protect her friends… and won.

It had been there when she had challenged Shadow, a deadly assassin, in the colosseum… and won.

And it had been there when she had faced Kefka, after he had practically turned himself into a god… and won.

'I don't know who this Cerro person is,' Edgar thought to himself. 'But I would sure hate to be in his shoes.'

(There you go. I know this chapter's a bit shorter than my others, but I really didn't want to make the wait any longer. I'll get straight to work on Chapter 11, and hopefully have it up in about a week.)