CHAPTER

(-2-)

Terra, Locke, and a Mob

The girl was asleep in bed. An old man named Arvis had found her in the mines next to her MagiTek armor, and had taken her home and had hidden the MagiTek armor in a hidden niche in the cave. He was going to kill her right then and there, but then he noticed the slave crown on her head, and he realized she was nothing but a helpless pawn for the empire. A slave crown he found himself thinking to himself, Oh how I hate the empire, it'll rob her of most emotions for a very long time. He then ventured to take off the slave crown, cautiously (for he wasn't surer if there was any protection around it) but it came off easily. The Empire most not have been thinking that this mission would fail. Within five minutes she was awake and sitting up in bed.
"Where am I...?" The girl said
"I only just removed your crown!" He said "I'm Arvis"
"Thank... you... head... hurts..." She said, trying to get out of bed, she fell.
"Take it easy!" Arvis said, helping her back into bed "This is a Slave Crown. The Empire had complete control over you while you were wearing it."
"But, I can't remember a thing."
"Don't worry. It'll all come back to you... in time, that is. She concentrated very hard. What was her name?
Suddenly, the answer came to her "My name is... Terra." she said.
"Impressive!" Arvis said "I've never heard of anyone recovering this fast."
Suddenly a loud knock came from the door, "Open up!" Said a soldierly voice
"Give us back the girl and the Empire's MagiTek Armor!"
Terra was puzzled "Empire? Magitek Armor?"
"Drat, I have to get you out of here!" Said Arvis "I don't have time to explain!" he walked over to his bookcase and pulled out a book entitled How to Escape From A Building.
The bookcase slid over and revealed a door "Make your way through the mines! I'll keep these brutes occupied!" He pushed Terra through the door and slid the shelf back into place. Now to deal with the mob...

***

Behind the bookcase was a big library. A path on the far side of the room led Terra up some stairs. She didn't have much time to regain her memories or all of her sense and coordination, so she made a few mistakes. The first was that she didn't wait to regain her sense and coordination before continuing. The second is that she used absolutely no stealth when she crossed the bridge over the main road of the town (for this is where the passage went). The third is that she accidentally knocked loose one of the bridges boards as she crossed. "She's up there!" Roared a guard "Get her" A voice yelled.
She ran as they Climbed up some stairs to get to the bridge. It was cold and dark and damp and there were rats everywhere. She ran up the path until it forked in two. She turned left. The cave went on for a long while and Terra could hear the angry voices of the mob not too far behind her. She ran and ran, until the ran into a dead end.
"We got her now!" A voice said. Terra turned around the mob was catching up with her, and by the looks of it, they looked like they wanted revenge, not justice.
Terra hoped for a lucky break, when suddenly, the ground broke beneath her. Terra was loosing consciousness, but she could hear voices. Bits of memories from not to long past. She saw an evil man who looked like a clown put the slave crown on her head. She saw Emperor Gestahl giving some kind of speech. (she couldn't remember what it was about.) She saw herself in the MagiTek armor killing. NO, she thought as her thoughts turned into an oblivion.

***

Arvis was waiting, nervously. The angry mob had gone home, believing her dead from the fall, but now about thirty soldiers had come into the city, for they wanted to retrieve her while there was any hope of retrieving her. Arvis decided that she needed protection, so he hired the best in the small town. He hired... There was a knock at the door. "Took you long enough!" He said as he opened the door. "How goes the robbing and plundering trade?"
A man named Locke Stepped in. "I prefer the term 'Treasure Hunter!'" He said
"Ha! No difference!"
"There's a HUGE difference!"
"Well, that's beside the point."
"You were the one who sent for me?"
"Yes. I'd like you to protect...."
"This better not have anything to do with that Magitek-riding, Imperial witch!" Locke said, cutting him off .
"That girl wasn't responsible for her actions." Said Arvis "She had this slave crown on. We must get her to understand our dilemma! Imperial troops are pursuing her even as we speak. This town is no match for the Empire. Our independence can only be assured if we join forces with The Returners, the underground resistance movement."
"All right, I'll go. Which way do I go?"
"This way" Arvis said, leading him to the secret door. "Once you find her make your way to Figaro, and then talk to the king."
"Okay." He said. "I'm off." He ran through the door, up the stairs, across the bridge and into the cave. From there he found the place where Terra fell. It wasn't too hard, the large mob of people left lots of footprints. He found some rope the miners had left behind and tied it to a thick stalagmite and climbed down the rope. There he found Terra, still unconscious.
He was about to wake her when he saw an Imperial commander on the other side of the cavern. "Found her!" The commander said, and suddenly, a horde of large white beasts with collars around their necks. Each one was accompanied by a soldier nearby. "Wonderful." He said sarcastically "there's a whole bunch of 'em." He was about to unsheathe his daggers when suddenly he heard a voice from behind. "Kupo." Said the voice. "Moogles!" Said Locke Moogles were cute furry creatures that looked kind of like a teddy bear because of their fuzzyness and shape. They also had short, pointed ears, small wings, (only able to keep them hovering over the ground for short periods of time) and an antenna on top of its head with a bobble at the end.
"Are you saying you want to help me?"
"Kupo!!!" the moogles said, which probably meant yes. "Then move out!" Said Locke, liking the feeling of being an army commander. The battle was long and tough, but got easier once they realized that killing the soldier seems to free the beast, probably through mind control. Once they killed the commander, all of the beasts ran and the soldiers were lost and confused. They went back to Terra, but they still could not wake her up. So Locke decided to leave and start heading to Figaro.
"Thanks Moogles!" He said "we're in your debt!" He grabbed Terra and put her over his shoulders and, not wanting to go through the city, came out the cave through a different path. Finally he came to a dead end. He searched for the secret lever.
"I think this switch will..." Locke started to say, but he was cut off by a loud grunt from Terra. He put her down on the ground.
"You back with us now?"
"You... saved me?" She said, slowly.
"Thank the Moogles, they're the ones who rescued you."
"Thank you. I can't remember a thing. past or present. A man said my memory would come back."
"Give it time." Locke said "You're safe with me! I won't leave you until your memory returns!" He pulled the switch and they started on their way to Figaro