.: 6 :. Pretty Vows and Grand Escapes

It was raining.

Terra's grip on the sword hilt tightened as the quartet entered the dark town of Zozo. She grimaced at the stench of rotting corpses. The last time had been so different. Drawn to the top of one of the buildings by Ramuh's power when transformed by the Esper Tritoch, she'd been so afraid of her seemingly limitless power. So terrified that she'd hurt someone without meaning to. It had been Zozo where Locke, Edgar, Sabin, and Celes had found her. Zozo where all her friends had discovered her terrible secret.

She was only half human, her father an Esper.

Terra led the group further into the city, pressing her lips together when she saw a pack of residents closing in. "Keep your eyes open," she warned. "It looks like we're going to have company."

"Bring 'em on," Locke grumbled. "It'll give me a chance to work out some frustrations. Believe me, I've got a lot of frustrations."

Setzer chuckled. "You always do when you're away from Celes for any longer than a day."

Edgar gripped Locke's arm to prevent the impending fistfight. He immediately sent Setzer a hard look. "Gentlemen, this is neither the place nor the time. Our goal is to locate Terra's children, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Sorry, gambler."

"It's quite all right."

Locke looped his thumb on his belt. "So, where to next?"

Terra shook her head. "I'm not sure. This place... This place..." She shook her head again, this time bringing a hand up to her forehead with a cringe and a moan. A spark seemed to have shot out from the very center of her brain. It caused yellow and white spots to flash in her eyes. "Ohh. My head."

Edgar stepped closer, gripping her arm to steady her when she stumbled. He tilted her chin up and examined her flushed face and glazed eyes. "Terra?" He felt her forehead and glanced sharply to Locke. "She's burning up."

"What?" Locke strode forward and touched her forehead as well. Then he checked her pulse. He shook his head. "Something spooky's going on, Edgar. We've got to get her back to the ship."

Terra shook her head feebly as she tried to straighten. "No. No, we have to go on," she insisted.

"Terra," Edgar said firmly. She locked gazes with him. "Terra, you are not going on. Setzer will take you back to the ship while Locke and I discover what we can."

"We'll go on as a group, Edgar," she said firmly, dropping her hand from Edgar's arm to straighten under her own power. The pain surged through her body, but she forced herself to ignore the burning agony that seemed to melt her brain. "A group of four in Zozo is bad enough. Two is a suicide mission." Her voice didn't even quiver.

Edgar shook his head with a reluctant smile after a long pause. "Very well. We will stay together, but I'm only agreeing so that I may keep an eye on you."

Terra forced a smile.

"You've had your eye on her for long enough, don't you think? I'd say you need to get a little more physical than that."

Edgar's ears flushed pink as he shot Setzer a warning glare, ignoring Locke's loud laugh that even had the Zozo residents looking amongst themselves in confusion. Edgar pulled a small bottle from a pouch on his belt and handed it to Terra. "Here," he said. "Take this. It may not take away all the pain--"

"Edgar..." Terra took it with a grimace.

"Do not deny that you are hurting. I think it will help."

"Thank you. I'll save it for later--"

"No," Edgar pressed firmly. "No, you will take it now. I have plenty more, as do Locke and Setzer."

Terra removed the stopper and took in a deep breath, preparing herself for the super-sweet taste of the herbal potion as well as the bizarre effects that would linger for several moments afterward. With a last hesitation, she swallowed the thick greenish-blue liquid with a grimace and handed the glass bottle back to Edgar.

The liquid slowly slid down her throat, causing her whole body to shiver as its healing effects tingled and warmed her insides. The burning in her brain receded a bit, making it easier for her to ignore, and the sparks that had begun to cascade through her body all but disappeared. She swallowed several times, desperately trying to clear the remaining sticky substance from her mouth as her limbs began to feel a little heavier than normal. The heaviness due of course to the effects of the potion. It would pass quickly.

"Better?" Edgar asked.

Terra gave Edgar a small nod. "Better."

"Good, because our company is getting closer," Locke warned.

Terra carefully gauged the challenge. "Nothing to worry about."

Setzer smirked and lightly fingered his deck of cards. "Well said, but a challenge nonetheless. We have, after all, been out of the fighting business for quite a while."

There was a brief tingling at the base of Terra's skull followed by a pop in each ear that quickly faded.

Terra sent Setzer a smile. "Come on, gambler, are you telling me you've forgotten how to use those cards of yours?" She slowly pulled her sword from its sheath and sent Edgar a wink. "Come on. Let's show them how it's done."

"Terra! Wait!"

Edgar tried to grab her arm, but she took off with a war cry that scattered the less assured ruffians while causing the more arrogant ones to gather around her. The trio stared after her in shock.

"What's gotten into her? She's never been this way before," Locke said in confusion.

Edgar holstered his chain saw and hurried after her. "It's the potion," he shouted over his shoulder. "It has to be!"

"What kind of potion did you give her," Locke asked as he followed. "Have you had that thing in your pocket your whole life or something?"

"No," Edgar shot back. "It's reacting to whatever is causing Terra to be ill."

Locke grit his teeth. "Remind me to tell you--"

"Save the Philosophy lesson. We've got work to do," Setzer said calmly as he palmed at least five cards. "She may be a good fighter, but she's not as powerful as she used to be. Not only that, I believe five or six Zozoians would be too much for any woman."

Locke's gaze followed Setzer's, and he groaned. "Man, we can't take her anywhere without some kind of trouble."

Setzer sent Locke a smirk. "What are you saying? Leave her home? That would go over well."

"It's a thought, okay? Take her flank, Setzer. Edgar, take the-- Edgar!"

Edgar had already begun hacking his way through the closest residents in an attempt to clear Terra's right side. Setzer flung his razor sharp cards at the Zozoians attacking her flank. They whistled through the air with a high-pitched whine before hitting their mark with a thud followed by a pain-filled cry.

Locke grinned. "Show-off!" He made his way to one of the last shrouded figures and readied his Gradius and Swordbreaker. Before he could attack, he was disarmed and staring stupidly at the black figure that had done the deed. "What the--"

"You need practice," the dark figure said.

Locke heard the familiar cool detachment in the voice, and he sent the figure a shocked look. "Shadow, what are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

"Death and I have an arrangement." Shadow returned Locke's weapons and silently dispatched the last Zozoian with a shuriken to the throat. "Interceptor smelled trouble."

"Oh wonderful. Now we've got a psychic dog added to this crazy bunch."

Shadow knelt to retrieve his shuriken from the gurgling throat of the barely conscious victim. Locke cringed and looked away. Edgar made his way to Terra where she stood about 20 feet ahead of the trio.

"I suggest you go home to your woman, Locke," Shadow finally said. "Your mind is anywhere but here."

"My mind is just fine," Locke said as Setzer came to stand beside him. Locke sent Edgar another look. It looked like he was having a bit of a problem calming Terra down. "I knew it was you all the time." Setzer raised an eyebrow. Locke moved his gaze back to the ninja as he continued. "So where is your dog?"

"He picked up a strange trail and decided to investigate. He will know when he is needed."

Locke shook his head before turning to check on Edgar's progress. Terra was still anything but her usual self.

"There is evil at work here," Shadow told them in a somber tone. "The people of this town are uneasy and prone to fights amongst themselves."

"Aren't they always?" Setzer asked.

"Not like this. People act differently when here. I haven't yet been able to determine the reason, but it's evil. Of this I'm sure."

Locke glanced over at Terra while rubbing at his scalp. He sent the ninja a probing stare. "Have you noticed any kind of symptoms?"

"I know little of medicines. All I know is what I see and what Interceptor senses. Things aren't right."

"How come Setzer and I are okay then?"

Shadow was silent for a long moment before answering. "Are you?"

Locke and Setzer exchanged a glance.

"We have been a little more short-tempered than usual," Setzer offered.

"Hey. I hate the fact that some low-life took Terra's kids, Setzer. It makes me feel helpless, useless, and generally hopeless because there wasn't anything we could do about it. I don't think it has anything to do with Zozo or whatever 'evil' is here."

"Perhaps it's reaching outside of Zozo," Shadow said.

"Doubt it. Terra was fine until she stepped inside here. Then wham, heart beat going like mad and temperature through the roof."

Again, Shadow remained quiet for a long time. "There is a connection between this evil and Terra."

"Then what's the connection between it and the people who actually live here?" To that, Shadow gave no answer. He simply turned and began making his way to Edgar and Terra. Locke followed with a slow exhalation of breath. "Didn't I say it before? A walking freak show, that's what he is," he grumbled.

Setzer smirked and pocketed his cards with a shake of his head.

"What is the matter with you?" Edgar asked harshly. "You scared me to death with your foolhardy charge into those brigands. Are you mad, woman?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Terra said, her voice edged with annoyance and anger. "I've been in tougher situations than that when on my own, and I lived through them just fine."

"Terra," Edgar said through clenched teeth, "you're not alone anymore. When will you finally realize that?"

"Well maybe if you'd visited me once and awhile I wouldn't feel as if I were," she shot back. "You ever think of that?"

Edgar pressed his lips together. The guilt he felt at the truth of her statement helped him get his temper back under control. "We are not discussing me--"

"Of course not," Terra cut in sharply. "We can never talk about you. Something might slip out that would give us a clue as to what you really feel about something or someone. We couldn't have that, could we?"

He flinched at the venom in her tone.

"I mean, after all, if you started talking about yourself you might need to actually trust someone with something, and that just isn't acceptable for King Edgar of Figaro Castle! He has to be a mystery. He has to be a stranger to everyone who cares!"

Setzer, Locke, and Shadow had gathered around her by this time, staring in shock at her flushed face and wild eyes. Edgar remained speechless, not really hearing the insults because of the hatred that made her eyes burn. Had he ever seen her like that before?

"Terra," Edgar began slowly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she snapped. "I am getting so sick and tired of you people running around under my feet like little bugs trying to figure out what's wrong with me when nothing is. Edgar, what do you take me for? Some kind of weakling? Some waif bawling for a handout?"

Edgar blinked. The calm, compassionate, overly sensitive woman he had known for years had gone. Vanished. Disappeared without a trace to be replaced by the seething, glassy-eyed, and flushed-faced woman now before them.

"Terra--" Edgar attempted again.

"No," she snarled. "No more, 'Terra, what's wrong?' No more 'Terra, don't cry.' I've had it up to here with your smooth talk and flirting. It's all lies and you know it! Just leave me alone and quit babying me!" Then Terra turned with a rage-filled screech, running into one of the many dilapidated buildings.

Edgar stared after her, a dead weight settling in the pit of his stomach. He felt more alone now than he ever had as a young king of Figaro. All the secret feelings and doubts he had ever told her had been thrown back in his face as if they'd been lower than imp slime.

Locke broke the shocked silence. "Who was that? It wasn't Terra, that I know for damn sure."

Setzer nodded and fingered his cards in thoughtful silence.

"I don't know," Edgar said in a quiet voice. "I don't know anything anymore."

"What made our dear Terra go off like that? I didn't think she had a hostile bone in her body," Setzer said calmly.

Shadow knelt, studying the ground in silence.

Edgar shook his head. "She doesn't."

"I believe you should re-think that," Setzer said while gesturing the direction Terra had disappeared. "Apparently she does."

Edgar narrowed his eyes. "Was it her?" he asked, almost to himself.

"What do you mean: 'was it her?'" Locke asked. "You heard and saw her with your own eyes. We all did."

Edgar shook his head. "It wasn't Terra. I don't know who that was."

Locke's eyes opened wide as his mouth gaped in shock. "Are you on something?"

Edgar turned his head to meet Locke's wide-eyed gaze, and then he threw his arms up in the air. "I don't know, Cole. I don't know. All the time I tried to seduce her on the ship I didn't feel a thing. Not a spark, tingle, or blasted bit of warmth!"

"Pardon me," Setzer interrupted with a hand on Edgar's arm. "Seduce? What sort of game have you been playing with Terra's heart?"

"We'll tell you later," Locke mumbled.

Setzer raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in silent protest.

Edgar's hands dropped to his sides as his eyes glazed with a faraway expression. "Before... Before there was light. There were flames. Passion. Everything I had searched for and never found. Terra and I didn't need to touch for the spark to be there."

"Maybe you're just getting over her," Locke offered.

Edgar gave Locke an incredulous glance. "Getting over Terra is as likely as getting over living or breathing, my friend. It simply does not happen." He shook his head and looked away with a deep breath. "When I visited her for the first time since the battle with Kefka, my breath nearly left me completely when I saw her resting so innocently on the grass. The desire to spirit her away nearly overcame my reason. You know how it is, Cole, don't you? Just being by her side set my skin on fire!"

Locke turned his head away.

"Even at the castle I was tempted to have the Chancellor put me in chains so that I wouldn't give in to temptation." He turned away. "Terra felt so good in my arms..."

"And on the ship?"

Edgar sighed. "As I told you before, on our way to Jidoor she opened up to me. She talked about how she felt and why. The passion and fire were still there, threatening to consume me."

"So when did it change?"

"When we left Jidoor," Edgar said miserably. "I wanted to kiss her so bad, Cole, but I'll be hanged if I felt a blasted thing when I touched her face or kissed her hand and cheek. There was nothing! Not a single spark!"

Locke turned to Setzer. "Was she in your sight the entire time that Edgar and I were in Jidoor?"

Setzer thought about it for several moments as he absently shuffled his cards. "Terra came aboard and immediately went below deck."

"Drat," Locke mumbled as he rubbed his scalp.

"I don't know what to think, Cole," Edgar went on. "Was it my imagination?"

"That tongue-lashing certainly wasn't of anyone's imagination," Setzer stated.

"So what am I to think? It's almost as if someone had Berserked her, but magic no longer exists. According to Strago, anyway. The statues were magic and we had to destroy them in order to battle Kefka. Conceivably, magic no longer exists. Isn't that correct?"

Setzer put a hand on Edgar's shoulder. "There are many things we don't understand about magic and Espers, my friend. Who's to say that Terra hasn't drawn a bad hand?"

Edgar clenched his jaw. "Don't you think I am well aware of the kind of hand she's been dealt? Her father an Esper and captured by the Empire. Her mother murdered by Gestahl. Terra didn't even know which race to call her own: human or Esper. To make matters worse, she never learned how to care for someone because of being raised by the Empire - the details of which still remain a mystery to us because of her memory loss - and then wearing that accursed Slave Crown most of her life--"

"Edgar," Locke gestured to the top of a building. "Edgar, what's that?"

A strange purplescent glow lit up the sky, burning their eyes if they examined it for longer than a mere moment. Edgar absently pounded the ground with the haft of his spear before striding toward the building. I want some answers, he thought harshly, and I'm bloody well going to get them!

"I believe it would be safe to assume we're soon to find out," Setzer offered.

"No kidding." Locke followed Edgar with a shake of his head. "This whole thing just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Kidnapping, strange lights, stranger women... I should have stayed at home and helped Celes make those blasted garlands for the wedding."

"How charming. Locke weaving flowers." Setzer chuckled under his breath and palmed a couple cards. "I would pay money to see that."

Shadow followed silently behind them, eyes searching the alleys for danger.

Locke caught up with Edgar. "Do you have a Remedy you could give her?"

"No. I never cared for that powder. It always caused me to sneeze. Plus, it was always so expensive."

"Edgar, who cares? It might help better than that potion you gave her, or whatever it was."

"I have one," a voice said from behind.

Locke gave a start and sent Shadow a glare. "Don't do that! You're going to give me a complex!"

Shadow ignored him. "If it will help her, I will give it to you."

Edgar sent the ninja a reluctant smile. "Thank you, Shadow, but before we give it to her, I'd like to know what's causing the problem in the first place." The others nodded. "It's odd," Edgar continued, almost to himself. "One moment she's fine and the next she's wild-eyed crazy and escaping for the hills. It couldn't be anyone but her because she's not been out of our sight long enough to do any kind of switch, or whatever they would attempt."

"I cast my vote for Esper intervention," Setzer said.

"Espers are dead," Locke paused and sent Setzer a strange look. "Aren't they?"

"Don't be so sure," Setzer said in a lazy tone of voice. "Like I said before, we don't know a lot about them. Maybe they simply... warped to a different dimension and now they're calling to her. It could be anything."

"Then why only the people of Zozo?" Edgar asked.

"Maybe it has nothing to do with Zozo," Locke insisted. "These people always were on the darker side of insane. Besides, living in a hole like Zozo the way the world is now? It would drive me insane." He sent Setzer a look. "Don't say it."

Setzer's expression was innocent. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"I hate to argue with you, Shadow," Locke went on, "but I really believe I'm right. I'm not saying there isn't anything 'evil' going on in Zozo. There always is. I just don't think it has anything to do with Zozo. Maybe that's why the guy who's doing that freakin' light show chose Zozo in the first place. Cover."

Shadow nodded. Edgar was surprised. "Locke, old boy, you must be on to something if Shadow doesn't argue with you."

"I try," Locke said, grinning.

Setzer smirked. "Try harder. Maybe we'll solve this before the day is over and get to go home to wine and women this evening."

"Here, here," Locke agreed.

I only want to return home with Terra, Edgar thought to himself.

They entered the building into which Terra had disappeared, and Shadow promptly froze in the dark hallway. He crouched, three shuriken in hand. Edgar didn't even hesitate before readying his spear and checking to make sure his chain saw was prepared for a quick change. Setzer absently shuffled his razor-edged cards as his eyes narrowed to scan the distant shadows. Locke was nonchalant as he pulled his blades free.

"What is it?" Edgar whispered. His eyes strained against the dimness of the hallway, but his untrained eyes couldn't detect movement. "What do you see?"

"An old friend," came Shadow's stealthy reply.

Edgar, Setzer, and Locke exchanged raised eyebrows before again searching the shadows. What they saw made their hearts freeze in their chest. The man was tall, with eyes so evil they seemed black and endless. He wasn't muscular by any means, but there radiated such a power from him that the group took a step back before they realized it. All but Shadow. A firm determination emanated from him that heightened when the figure stepped from the blackness that his mere existence seemed to create.

"Ledo," Setzer and Shadow said at once.

"We meet again."

The voice was strange in that it didn't seem to fit with the rest of his body. It was almost as if the deep rumble came from the air instead of the man in front of them. Edgar didn't like it and sent Locke a glance that conveyed as much. Locke simply grimaced and adjusted his grip on his daggers.

"This is my home," he continued. "I don't take kindly to people barging in with weapons drawn."

Edgar took a step forward, carefully adjusting the grip on his spear. "As we 'don't take kindly' to people kidnapping children." A chuckle rumbled deep in the floorboards of the building, and Edgar's stomach twisted. "Where is Terra and where are her children?" The chuckling began again. Edgar clenched his jaw to control his rising anger.

"Please, please," Ledo said in a sarcastic sneer, "let's not waste this precious time together by speaking of them."

"Then you do have them," Locke said sharply.

Ledo chuckled. "I didn't say that. You assumed that I knew whom you happened to be searching for." He changed his gaze to Shadow. "It's been so long. What have you been doing with yourself?"

Shadow didn't speak.

"Come, come. Are you still angry about that woman? It's been years. Let bygones be bygones."

Again, Shadow remained silent.

"Mister," Locke spoke up in a careless voice, "we don't give a fig about your 'bygones' with Shadow. All we want is our friends. Tell us where they are or..." He lifted his blades with a smile. "Or face the consequences."

"You have the nerve to threaten me in my house," Ledo asked in an angry voice. "You should quake in your shoes at the sight of me, little man!"

Locke's cold gray eyes looked the man up and down before he adjusted his grip. "Sure, at first glance you'd curdle cream, but I can assure you we've seen worse. Beaten them too. My friends and me will give you one more chance. Terra. Where is she?"

There was a bright flash, several shouts as the group's eyes reacted violently to the sudden change, and then all was dark silence.

Locke sheathed his blades with a sharp motion and put his fists on his hips. "What a freaking pansy! I was looking forward to popping the guy once or twice."

Shadow remained cautious, but his stance relaxed somewhat. "Ledo is a techno-mage. He has never failed to see the importance of a well-timed retreat." The ninja knelt where Ledo had stood and touched the ground with a few fingers and then with his palm. Edgar and Locke came to stand beside him while Setzer hung back.

"What is it, Shadow?" Edgar asked, wary of the possible answer. "What's wrong?"

"He was never here." Shadow straightened, his eyes searching the dim hallway as his sensitive senses tested the air.

Locke slapped his leg with his cap. "I thought so," he mumbled.

"Locke?" Edgar asked the question with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know how to explain it. After I got over the initial shock of the guy's ugly mug, something wasn't right." Locke shrugged. "I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the way the shadows flickered on his armor or something. It's an instinct, Edgar. That's what I get for how I've lived my entire life. A sixth sense."

"It would have been nice if you'd let us on to it before challenging him in our name, my friend," Setzer told him. "There are still a few women I've yet to make love to."

Locke actually smiled. "Hey Setzer, I'm not exactly in a big rush to check out either, you know. Celes would kill me if I missed our wedding."

Edgar had been watching Shadow as he examined the foreign technology in the room, and he didn't like the look in ninja's eyes. When the ninja was in the far corner, Edgar left Setzer and Locke to their jovial discussion and followed him.

"Shadow, is this techno-mage responsible for the kidnapping of Terra's children and her own strange behavior? Or even of that purplescent glow we saw on the roof?"

Shadow ceased his examination of some strange wires to meet Edgar's gaze. "Ledo is capable of much, Edgar. He seeks power and will do all possible to receive this power."

Edgar knelt, continuing to hold the ninja's gaze. "But Terra and her children? Why?"

"We have not actually seen proof of the children's disappearance," Shadow reminded, "and Terra was much feared and hated by the Empire. He who controls her, controls much power."

"The Empire no longer exists and her power left her with the disappearance of magic," Edgar reminded.

"These wires lead upstairs," Shadow observed as he stood.

"Then let's go." Edgar returned to the others and tried to keep thoughts of Terra well hidden.