Chapter 13

Locke had his ear pressed against the door of their prison. Actually, all four of the room's occupants had their ears against one of the four walls and he'd only just discovered he had the right one.

"Someone's coming."

He backed away from the wall and regrouped with the others. They stood together facing the 'door'.

"Okay, everyone." Said Terra. "Remember the plan."

White shining lights appeared on the wall; similar to the ones that had gotten them trapped down there in the first place. The entire section rose and disappeared into the ceiling. Standing in the opening were four figures. One male and three females. The man was tall and had dark hair, tied back in a ponytail. His eyes were dark too. He wore a simple dark green tunic and grey pants. Across his back was strapped a broadsword. The three women looked like they could be sisters. They all wore close-fitting yellow dresses. Their features were identical except for their hair and eye colour. One had black hair and brown eyes. The second had blonde hair and blue eyes, and the third had red hair and green eyes.

The man crossed his arms and looked directly at Gogo.

"Celes Chere, I presume?" He said.

Gogo looked back at the man calmly; her arms casually by her sides.

"You presume correctly." She replied. "And you are?"

The man gave a small chuckle,

"Oh, forgive me." He said mockingly. "Where are my manners? I'm Amar. And these;" He pointed to the three women in turn. "These are April, May and June. But we just call them the sirens. Now that we all know each other."

He unsheathed his sword and pointed the tip at Gogo's throat.

"Your sword."

The three women spread out so that the four of them were blocking the opening. The blonde; April and brunette; May were standing to Amar's right, while the redhead; June was on his left.

"Y'know." Amar spoke again. "Given your reputation, I honestly didn't expect you to be foolish enough to come down here. I thought you'd have stayed up top where it's safe."

"Then, clearly, you don't know Celes Chere as well as you think."

The real Celes (unbeknownst to them) unsheathed her own weapon and knocked Amar's sword away from Gogo. She stood in front of her double, holding the blade ready.

Amar just gave a snort and nodded to June. The redhead enclosed her right hand in her left and pointed them at Celes.

"Stopaga!"

"Runic!"

The red tinted energy that flew from June's fists was drawn to, and absorbed by, Celes' Rune blade. It flowed through the steel, into the hilt of the weapon and right into Celes herself. Relishing the rush of power that she hadn't felt in a long time, Celes sprang forward and planted her knee right into June's sternum.

Amar didn't have time to get over his surprise before Locke came up and knocked him back with a right hook to the face. The shock caused him to drop his sword, which Locke kicked away. Rubbing his face, Amar let out a bellow of rage and began throwing punches at the smaller man. Locke made good use of his speed, quick reflexes and even quicker tongue as he nimbly dodged the blows.

"Missed… Missed again… Oh, you nearly got me that time… So close…"

Amar threw a wide punch which Locke ducked under. The treasure hunter came up again behind Amar. The dark haired fighter turned to attack again, but then noticed that Locke was grinning and holding up his belt.

"Drop something?"

Amar looked down to see his pants were around his ankles. Turning a bright crimson; he bent down to pick them up, and received a powerful uppercut to the jaw. As the big man landed, Locke dusted off his hands and checked on his companions. Amar's three female companions were lying in a heap on the floor, with Celes, Terra and Gogo standing by them.

The group wasted no time in exiting the prison. Celes shut the door behind them by placing her hand on a circular stone on the wall, just like the one before. They were now in a corridor, with two directions to choose from. Left or right. Not one of them knew which way was the exit; so Gogo selected left, simply because she had a good feeling about it, and the others complied.

As they ran, Terra spoke up,

"Is it me, or do most of our plans revolve around beating up the bad guys and then running away?"

"Hey, it's a formula that works." Celes answered.

"Speaking of plans." Said Locke. "Anybody have a plan concerning what we do now?"

As he said this, the group turned a corner and came face to face with about a dozen assorted men and women; some of which were already bringing their hands up to perform various spells.

The four friends stood silent for a moment, before Gogo spoke,

"I think the tested formula of 'beating up the bad guys and running' would once again prove useful here."

Enough said, the group drew their weapons and charged.

(Scene Change)

"So, you're really from the surface?"

Edgar and his group had moved away from the toecutters' nest, and were now seated by the lake that the Sub-Mariner was resting in. The young woman, who'd introduced herself as Recca, had just heard their story.

"We were hoping to find these mages." Edgar explained. "I want to talk to them. See if they would be willing to rejoin the outside world."

Recca's face seemed to suddenly light up when Edgar said this. She clasped her hands together.

"Really? You'd take us back with you?"

"Well, not with the Sub-Mariner." Said Sabin, gesturing to the stranded vehicle. "Thanks to Cerro's welcoming party, we can't leave either."

"But we know that Cerro has been up to the surface." Said Setzer. "There must be a way up top."

"Oh, there is." Recca said, sadly. "But his followers guard it. Any mage that tries to leave is attacked."

"Where art the other mages?" Asked Cyan.

Recca cast her eyes downward.

"They are forced to live deep within Cerro's domain. He says they are workers, but they are treated more like slaves. I barely managed to get away myself."

"I gotta know." Said Sabin. "How're those guys able to use magic? Our friend Terra said something about them drawing it out of things."

Recca looked thoughtful for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to tell them. Finally, she exhaled slowly and spoke,

"Alright. Seeing as you're here to help.

I'm sure that you know the source of magic in the world was the realm of the espers. Or, to be more accurate, the statues of the three goddesses that originated in the esper realm. When the esper realm was sealed away for good, and the statues destroyed, there was no longer a way for magic to enter the world. But, that didn't mean that there still wasn't any already here. Everyone is always so interested in finding out where magic comes from, but they never ask where it goes. What happens to the energy given out when a spell is cast? It used to be that the energy would return to the statues and be recycled back out but, with the statues gone, the magic settled. It quickly became absorbed by the planet itself; existing within the rocks or water. In some places, it is so concentrated, you can almost see it. Cerro refers to these places as draw streams and anyone with natural magic-using skills, such as mages, can absorb the energy into themselves. But it doesn't last forever. They can only use a certain amount of magic before they have to draw again, and the streams take time to replenish themselves with magical energy.

There's a place not far from here that is full of draw springs." Recca indicated the tunnels around them. "These are the result of Cerro's followers searching for it. They found it not too long ago, but it is guarded by various traps and obstacles. If I could find a way through it, before Cerro does, I could replenish my magic power and bring some back to my friends with this."

She reached into her pocket and brought out a small box covered with runic symbols.

Edgar stood up.

"Well then, our goal is clear." He spoke in the commanding tone he always used when he was about to announce a plan. "We shall accompany Lady Recca to these draw streams and help her to free her comrades."

Recca stood up as well. Her hands clasped together once more.

"Oh, I don't know how to thank you!"

Edgar whipped off his cap and bowed deeply to Recca.

"My lady. I could not call myself a king, or indeed a gentleman, if I did not give aid to those who so clearly need it." He then took Recca's hand and kissed it.

"Ahem. Excuse me?" Setzer tapped on the back of Edgar's bowed head. Edgar looked over his shoulder at the gambler; eyes slightly narrowed.

"Yes, Setzer. What is it?"

"Have you forgotten that we have comrades of our own? And that we haven't seen hide nor hair of them since we separated? What if they're in trouble and need our help, while we're hunting magic fountains?"

"If they are in trouble, then the best thing we can do is to get the draw streams before Cerro and free the mages under his rule." Edgar answered. "We'll leave a message here so if any of our friends come back, they'll know the plan."

"Plan? This sounds more like a rash impulsively decided course of action than a detailed plan?" Said Cyan.

Sabin leant back with his arms behind his head.

"Since when have our plans been anything else?" He said.