Cyan came below to find Terra fitfully sleeping as Edgar held her hands and watched her twisted face. The picture was anything but pleasant, bringing back many memories of his past love. Life had been hard in Doma, but Elayne and Owain had made it easier with their smiles and laughter. How would the young king of Figaro survive losing that which he held above all else? Would it break him? Would life cease to hold any importance?
Edgar turned to face Cyan with a forced smile, tucking Terra's small hands under the coverlet before following Cyan to the outer hallway. "She's so weak," Edgar said quietly, his voice uneven. "I checked her ears while she slept and..."
They made their way on deck. Cyan nodded, face grim. "No wound and yet so much blood. It does not bode well." Cyan's voice was forced calm. "Thou must prepare thy heart for the worst. Terra bleeds more than what is natural."
Edgar nodded very slightly.
Cyan scowled as his hand rested on the hilt of his katana. "This puzzles me greatly, for the bleeding continues though she shows no wounds. I have dressed her ears, yet I do not believe it has helped."
"We can always hope, Cyan. I need that much, at least."
Cyan nodded and stared down at the small village of Kohlingen. "Thou must bring her."
Edgar nodded absently, heading back for her room as Cyan 'parked' the airship. Don't die, Terra. Not now. Not when I haven't told you how much I do love you. He needed a little more time, but he feared her time was over.
"My, my," the alchemist crooned. Edgar carried Terra into his lower 'laboratory' and set her on the bed. "What have we here? A pigeon with no wings? A cloud with no wind?"
Edgar wrestled with his patience. "She's bleeding--"
"Yes, yes. I can see that," the alchemist laughed. "I'm not blind, you know. Just lost my marbles a while ago. If you find them - they're in a tidy little box - please let me have them in a hurry. My marbles, my marbles, tra-la-la..."
Edgar clenched his jaw as the alchemist danced around the room with his arms uplifted, twirling in graceful pirouettes like a ballerina before calmly beginning to examine Terra's ears.
"I'll need to take them out if you want her to live," the alchemist said suddenly. "Affects her brain, it does, and we can't have that. A brain is a horrible thing to control, don't you think? It must be free, not tied and shot."
"What?"
The alchemist pointed at Edgar. "Go on! Shoo! Shoo," he screeched.
Edgar hurried from the room, meeting Cyan upstairs. "I had forgotten how crazy he was."
"That he is, yet a gifted man of medicine of which Terra is in dire need."
Edgar nodded and sat at a chair by a rickety old table. "I need to keep my mind off what happens below. Could you tell me what made you come to Zozo?"
Cyan crossed his arms tightly and lowered his head. "Celes, Sabin, and I discovered numerous disquieting facts while pursuing the villainous creature, Ledo Grikea."
"Why did you search for him in the first place? Locke said he sent Celes a note, but there was nothing including his name or location."
"Celes, being the seasoned professional trained by the Empire that she is, wished to examine the origin of the heinous activities before setting out on our exploration of the area."
"You went to Mobliz?"
Cyan nodded grimly. "What we encountered there was unsettling due to the urgency with which Locke had written."
"Cyan, what are you saying?"
The seasoned fighter took in a deep breath before continuing. "The children were participating in a rousing game of hide-and-seek."
"What?" Edgar's tone was sharp and disbelieving.
"I do not lead thee astray with my narrative, Edgar. What I have said is truthful."
"But... But Terra said they were gone. That she went to the garden and had come home to find them missing. She said that she heard a scream!"
Cyan nodded along with the telling. "Such is so. Celes allowed us to read the note."
"How can this be?"
Silence settled over the room as Cyan clenched his jaw. After a moment's pause, he gestured to the chair across from Edgar. "Might I sit?"
"Of course."
Cyan made himself more comfortable before speaking. "Celes is quite knowledgeable with respect to the darker transactions of the Empire."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning she knew of their fascination with the domination of the human mind."
"Domination of the--" Edgar cut off abruptly. "Mind control?"
"It is as thou says. We believed their first advancement was the designing of the Slave Crown. Of course we all appreciate Terra's less than agreeable emotional response toward that contraption."
"Most assuredly, but what do you mean 'we believed'. Are you saying that something had been developed beforehand?"
"I am."
"Mind control on a different level than the Slave Crown? What happened? What was it called? Who began the experiments? Talk, man!"
Cyan took in a slow breath. "Of details Celes knows little, but she was certain of Terra's involvement in experimental surgeries and procedures done by a mysterious man said to be a wizard of an unknown magic. Superstitions, however, run deep and Celes set little store in what her counterparts had to say on the matter. After all, how could such abominations be true? Implanting tiny pieces of metal in the minds of 'loyal' Imperial soldiers? It was absurd. Until now, of course."
Edgar clenched his hands into fists. "Are you saying they put...? They inserted foreign...?" Edgar couldn't find the words through his rage.
"I am." Cyan rubbed at his moustache and shook his head. "Sadly, experiments such as these found little funding in Gestahl's Empire. The department was dismantled and forgotten."
"But these were never removed."
Cyan nodded. "I believe thee hath hit the point of the matter directly."
"So now our crazy alchemist has to remove these things before they kill her."
"It would appear so."
"And these... These things they put in her had been reacting to Ledo's influence?"
"Again, I have no proof, but it would seem that he had either stumbled upon this technology, or designed it himself."
"Mind control," Edgar mumbled with a dark glare. "This takes the gil, Cyan. Even with the Empire being abolished for who knows how long, they still find a way of making our lives miserable."
Cyan nodded somberly.
"You've got that right, brother."
Edgar looked up and with a start. "Sabin!"
Edgar stood and hurried over to his brother, arm extended. They clasped arms in greeting while Setzer, Locke, and Celes filed into the room. Shadow was nowhere to be found.
"Celes! What on earth are you doing with these brutes?" Edgar asked.
She smiled and came to wrap him in a hug. "I came to help. You should know better than to ask a question like that." When she pulled back, she sent him an understanding smile. "We came as quickly as we could. How is she?"
He forced a smile. "The alchemist is operating on her now."
"What?" Locke stepped up to Edgar with an air of amusement. "That old bat?"
Cyan held back. "Celes, did thee discover that which would be of use to her?"
Celes looked over at the Doma soldier and nodded. "I think so."
"Then thee had best hurry below."
Celes nodded, sent Edgar another comforting glance, and hurried downstairs while Edgar watched in confusion.
"Don't worry, brother," Sabin said with a smile. "We'll tell you what's been going on."
"Please do," Edgar sat at the table and looked at the four men with an air of expectancy. "You might as well start by how you arrived here so quickly. After all, you don't have the luxury of flight."
"Chocobo's run pretty fast, brother. Especially when you hold their favorite food out in front of them."
Edgar shook his head with a chuckle, the good times they'd once shared together flowing back into his memory by slow degrees. Yes, this is what I needed. Their support and friendship is what will help me through this torturous waiting.
Locke chuckled despite himself. "They ran so fast we had problems holding on. It was great. Maybe Celes and I should go into Choco breeding and bring up some racers."
"Don't forget that though they are cute, they smell quite bad," Setzer reminded.
Cyan cleared his throat. "Perhaps thee should remain closer to the subject at hand."
The group looked over at him with a grimace. Then they told Edgar of the second confrontation with Ledo, of the technical jungle Locke had to wade through, and the display that showed Terra dying. Edgar clenched his jaw through most of it, keeping his comments to himself, but once Setzer ended his side of the telling and Locke began again, he couldn't refrain any longer.
"Where is Shadow? Why isn't he here to tell us what he discovered?"
Locke and Setzer exchanged a glance, then looked over at Sabin who shrugged.
"Well, brother, Shadow disappeared soon after telling us about the little mechanical whatchamacallits that Ledo put in Terra's head."
"Why?" Edgar asked.
Sabin shrugged. "He said he had some unfinished business and then disappeared without another word. Just gave us a little metal thingamabob and said the alchemist would need it to save Terra's life."
"So Ledo is dead then?"
Locke and Setzer nodded while Sabin offered a more in-depth answer. "Yeah, you could say that. Shadow apparently had it out for the guy for a long time. Vengeance is a serious business, and he takes it to heart. I don't think there's enough of the guy to--"
"I think that's enough information, Sabin. Thanks," Locke cut in.
Sabin smiled. "Whatever I can do to help."
Edgar stared at his hands a moment. "The reason Ledo wanted Terra?"
"Power, plain and simple." Sabin spoke up before anyone else could offer an explanation. "It seems our techno-freak wonder-boy wanted the cookies from her cookie jar and didn't care what he had to do to get them. He remembered the experiments he'd done on her and figured that would be his best chance."
"How in the world did he get her to believe her kids were kidnapped?"
Locke stepped forward with a shake of his head. "I'm not sure I really understand that. Something about the device in her head being open to certain kinds of suggestions. I guess that purple light we saw was a kind of output for the specific suggestion she needed. Once the idea was placed, the device in her inner ears ran with it with sound effects, visuals, and the whole nine-yards."
"That would be the reason she was certain he wasn't in Jidoor when he actually was," Setzer put in. "He suggested to her the logical reasoning why he wouldn't be and let his machine do the rest."
Edgar nodded absently. "I see."
"We're not really sure why you and her... I mean..." Locke flushed and glanced at Sabin. "You tell him. He's your brother."
Sabin chuckled. "You didn't get the hots for her after leaving Jidoor because the device inhibits some kind of hormone produced by the brain. It's the opposite of an aphrodisiac." Sabin looked real proud of himself. "Hey. That sounded downright brainy."
Edgar stood and stared out the window a moment before turning to leave. Sabin and the others watched him with a concerned expression before talking amongst themselves once he'd gone.
"I hope she survives. It will likely kill him otherwise," Setzer said as he dug some cards from his jacket.
Locke nodded and made his way over to the table. "You've got that right. I never really believed how much he loved her until I saw the look on his face in Zozo when he thought I would leave her behind. He nearly strung me up by my heels when I said that."
Sabin crossed his arms with a nod. "That's my brother for you. When he does something, he goes all the way. Sure, he tries to tell himself that it will be better all the way around for him to leave her as she is, just her and her kids, but he knows it's a crock. Deep down he knows. I just hope he admits to himself that he deserves to be happy too."
"I hear you," Locke said with a nod.
Setzer dealt a hand of cards and examined them thoroughly. "Perhaps it will be a double wedding yet, eh Locke?"
Cyan, who had remained extremely still and quiet, cleared his throat and made a surprising comment. "All of thee must comprehend a significant truth about our King of Figaro."
Locke, Setzer, and Sabin looked over at Cyan in surprise. "What?" They asked the question as one.
"He treasures her too greatly to appeal for her hand when he is of the opinion that she experiences naught but friendship for him. He would in no way deposit her into such an awkward position."
"That's nuts," Sabin objected hotly. "If he doesn't tell her how he feels, she never will. The poor girl doesn't really know anything about that kind of love, Cyan. You know that."
"Such may be," Cyan agreed, "nevertheless, this is the truth as I see it."
"Let's hope you're wrong," Setzer said.
"No kidding," Locke said roughly. "The last thing Figaro needs is a love-starved king."
"The last thing I need is a bachelor brother who never really wanted to be a bachelor in the first place," Sabin shot back. "If only we could talk to Terra before Edgar had a chance. We might get her to see..."
Locke noticed a twinkle in Sabin's eye and cringed. "I don't want any part of it."
"Aw, come on. We never get to have any fun," Sabin complained.
"Locke, let's at least hear him out," Setzer said with a smile. "What's your plan?"
"Simple. Make him jealous."
"What?" Locke shook his head and rearranged his cards. "All you brothers are the same. Poor Terra. If she agrees to actually marry one of you... I'll slow dance with Umaro at the wedding."
Sabin grinned. "Now that's a wager I can't refuse."
