CHAPTER

(-8-)

Three Generals, a Lunatic, and A Ninja

"There he is!" Yelled a soldier's voice. "Get him!"

The man turned a corner, he noticed an alley he could hide in. Guards always expect that. He thought to himself. He jumped behind a large vase in front of a ceramics shop. His gamble payed off. The soldiers noticed the alleyway too and walked into it. Locke dashed up the street and entered the third shop he found. "Phew." Locke said to himself. He had damaged some of the empire's war machines, wreaked some havoc, and made off with a few 'treasures' of his own. He casually leaned against the wall, looking out a window so he could see the guards when they passed by. After they did he walked out the shop and up the street. He walked the familiar streets toward a different exit, he didn't get far before he saw a dismounted MagiTek soldier. He turned around, toward a different exit, and sure enough, there were two elite red-uniformed soldiers there too.

"They've got all the exits blocked. Now what am I going to do?" He said to himself. Suddenly, he herd his stomach growl, and realized how hungry he was. I should work on this problem tomorrow. He thought to himself. Then he walked back to the inn they stayed at the last time he was here.

Meanwhile, in that same castle to the east...

Cyan Garamondè, Retainer to the throne of Doma and Captain of the city's guard, surveyed the scene grimly.

Then he ducked, as a sword flew just above his head. He stabbed his katana into the attacker's gut and yanked it out in one movement. The Empire was leading a larger than usual attack on the city of Doma. Suddenly, he noticed the bright green clothing of an officer ahead of him, and came up with an idea. None of these soldiers seemed very experienced. They were probably all rookies. The empire was getting cocky and sending their newest troops, as if this was their training.

If he could... Yes, it might work. He charged forward, decapitating one guy and killing a few more. Finally he reached the Capitan. But he was ready, he stabbed with his sword, and Cyan just barely managed to block it. This man was actually a competent swordsman. He had not expected this.

"Who are you?" The Captain asked. "Your worst nightmare." Cyan said as he switched into a fighting stance and struck a feint to his right upper arm, but switched it at the last second to strike at the wrist. He saw the feint and blocked the slash, and countered with a low leg strike. Cyan jumped back to avoid the blow and stabbed with his katana. This time, his blade sunk into the Capitan's flesh. The Capitan fell to the earth, and didn't get back up. The soldiers, noticing that their Capitan had fallen, were left uncertain. Some ran, some fought on, some surrendered. But one thing was for sure. The battle was won.

That night, King Doma of Doma had a big feast to celebrate the day's victory. The Imperial soldiers were demoralized. Victory was nearly ensured for Doma. They had beaten the Empire within essentially minutes of the first sounds of fighting. Cyan had earned himself a medal for valor in combat. After the feast, Cyan returned home to his beautiful wife, Elaine; and his six-year-old son Owain. As he walked in the door, his son ran into him, giving him a big hug.

"Father, 'tis you."

"Owain, my son. How art thou?"

"Fine, father, I learned how to count to thirty today!"

"That is great, but is't not time for thee to go to bed?"

"But, father,"

"Go to bed!"

"Alright."

"I loveth thee, son." He walked into his room and shut the door.

"He art a cute child." Said Elaine

"Verily, he is"

Sabin Awoke on a beach. He was alone, lost, wet, and somewhat disoriented. He stood up, swayed a little bit, and looked around. He could see that behind the thin beach were some large plains, and beyond that was a bunch of trees, not enough to be called a forest. He looked harder and saw a thin column of smoke rising a mile or so to the east, and decided to go towards it.

When he arrived there, he found a house. It wasn't very large, but it looked inviting. He walked up to the door and knocked, expecting to ask for directions.

"Oh hi. Welcome, welcome. You must be the clock fixer. Come on in." Here he grabbed Sabin's hand and jerked him into the house. "Heck, that thing hasn't been ticking for five, eight, ten, heck, maybe even twenty years."

"I'm not a-"

"What are you doing, intruding on me? Oh, wait, you must be the stove repairman. Dang thing won't turn off."

"But I'm not-"

"Finally, the guy from Roof Life of Miranda. I haven't even sent for you guys. Your service is amazing."

"Um... Yes, I have arrived. Just let me go and grab a few things first." and with that, he turned around.

"Better hurry up. The plumbing won't fix itself."

Sabin walked out the door, closed it, and leaned against it, whispering "Phew" to himself, "That guy is a nut."

"I'd stay away from him if I were you." Said a low, even voice. "Mind snapped when his wife died in childbirth."

Sabin jumped. He hadn't noticed him before. "And who are you?" He asked

"Name's Shadow." He said "Noticed you're here alone. I think you might require my... assistance. 800 Gil. If you're heading toward Baren Falls, I'll make it 600"

"Where am I?" Sabin asked

"'Bout 17 miles west of Doma. Just through those woods and the imperial camp."

So Doma is the empire's next target. "Okay, here's the money, I need to get to Figaro. I think that I might stop at Doma to get some better directions. Though I may need your help after that."

Locke awoke with a start. He needed to make his way back to Narshe. The only problem was that all the exits of the city were guarded. How am I going to get out of here? He wondered to himself. He went downstairs to go get breakfast. As he headed down the hall, he was too preoccupied to notice the merchant coming the other way. He was a rich one, with a purple vest and turban. And just like any rich merchant, he was stuck up.

"How dare you walk into me!" Yelled the merchant.

"Sorry about that." Said Locke, in a just-barely-under-control tone.

"Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you that thief in that wanted poster outside? Guar-" He was cut off by a fist in the nose. He fell to the ground.

"Next time, call me treasure hunter," Said Locke. He was about to hide the merchant in his room and just walk away, when he got an idea. He slipped off the merchant's purple vest and put it over his own, then stole his turban from off his head and put it over his own head. He looked just like a merchant. Now he could slip by any of the guards within the city without being noticed, but he couldn't escape without being asked for a merchant's license. What would he do?

He decided to walk around town. For some reason the richer half of the city was guarded by the brown-uniformed recruits. There was even a deep-brown-with-gold-trim of a MagiTek warriors. He couldn't find any way around them. His instinct was telling him that there was something interesting over there.

Suddenly he saw someone wave him down. He stopped, muscles tense, hoping that this wasn't going to end in a confrontation. "Hey you," he said, he was an old man, medium height, with a full grey beard. "I need some cider. Need it for some medicinal purposes."

"I'm afraid," he said faking a slight accent, "That I sold my last bottle not fifteen minutes ago."

"Then get me some from the bar. I'll pay you double what you pay for it."

"But the bar's on the other side of the city, I can't..."

"You mean you don't know of the secret path, through my house, to the other side of the city? Come, follow me carefully, and don't let any of the guards see you."

He followed the man into his own house, and out the other side.

"Feel free to use this path whenever you want. Oh, and one more thing. When you go for the cider, ask for the "special" recipe."

Locke guessed that the "special" recipe involved alcohol, but didn't say it aloud. Instead he headed toward the cafe. When he walked in, everyone went silent, saw that it was not a soldier, and went back to their conversations. Locke saw three men sitting around one of the tables, and sat at the next table over. There would be plenty of gossip there.

When he sat down, one of the waitresses walked over. Locke put down a few gil "One bottle of cider. Make it special." He said, putting emphasis on the word 'special' so his meaning would not be missed.

"Oh, I see." Said the waitress with a wink. "One 'special' bottle of cider coming right up" she walked away and Locke leaned back and listened carefully to the conversation at the next table.

"...I don't know," said one man, "why the soldiers haven't take over the bar for the past two nights."

"I heard it was because a trouble making thief snuck into the town last night." said another. Locke held back the urge to punch the speaker.

"Now that might explain a few things." said the first.

"I just wish that I could get out of the city for a change. I'm tired of these blasted soldiers everywhere." said the other.

"I hear that Mr. Golbez, that really rich man who lives in the northwest corner of the town has a secret passage out of the city. Used in the days when the pirates shanghaied people, but it would take a master thief to get in there, and since the soldiers have the main base there, it would be near impossible to escape that way."

"That old man who's always drinking his cider knows everything about the city. Maybe..."

"Here's your order, sir." said the waitress, bringing him back to himself. " A 'special' bottle of cider."

"Thank you!" he said. He started listening to their conversation again, but they had moved on to making comparisons of the physical attributes of all the waitresses. So Locke left them and went back to the man who wanted the cider.

"Oh, thank you!" He said "Here's your money."

"I don't want money," Said Locke. "I want information."

"Have it your way." He said "Just give me the cider"

"Not until I have my information"

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

"How do I get into the rich man's house in the northwest corner of town?"

"You sure you want to break into there? It's pretty heavily guarded."

"Just tell me how."

"Are you sur-"

"Just tell me what I want to know!" Locke burst forth impatiently.

"Alright, Alright. No need to get angry. Go downstairs into the basement and find the secret passage. If you're really the type of person I think you are, you should figure out how to find the secret shanghai tunnels. When you're down there go north and every turn you are forced to make, go left. You should find yourself under the rich man's house. So there! Are you satisfied."

"Just one more question. How do you know about this?"
The old man got a mischievous gleam in his eye, "I was one such a treasure hunter as you." He said. "Okay. Now I've answered all of your questions. Now go! Leave me alone."

Locke went downstairs into the basement. It was littered with boxes and chests of stuff, a hat rack hung sideways on a wall, there was a shabby looking wardrobe on one wall. He opened the wardrobe and walked inside. At first there seemed to be no back, but when he saw snow he turned around. This was probably some sort of portal wardrobe. In frustration, he kicked a chest, and yelped in pain when it didn't budge. This made him even more frustrated, but he suddenly stopped when he got an idea. He opened the chest. Empty, but it should have budged when he kicked it. Of course! He searched the bottom of the box with his fingers and found a little dent in it. He slid it over to the side. Voila, an instant secret passageway. He climbed into the secret catacombs, unsure of what to expect.

The trip through the woods was long and boring. Shadow would cut short any semblances to a conversation that Sabin tried to start. But they made it through to the other side eventually. There was no way they could go around the camp without being spotted. The woods went close to the camp.

"How are we going to sneak through the camp, Shadow?" Sabin asked, turning his head toward Shadow, but he wasn't there. "Shadow? Shadow? Where are you?"

Suddenly a hand covered his mouth. "Watch carefully and follow closely." He said. "And be quiet."

There were no guard towers in the back side of the camp. The land was too narrow for any of the Domans to sneak around the camp and start a surprise attack. And the Empire seemed too confident to be expecting any reinforcements. Once they were in the camp, though there were two guards on watch. In fact, they had to jump into a couple of empty barrels to avoid being spotted by these two guards. The guards walked by and didn't notice them. Sabin could hear them talking to each other.

"So, did you hear?" said one guard, in a less than quiet voice.

"About what?" The other one replied.

"If Leo-"

"-Shhh, quiet. If someone hears..."

"Sorry. Anyway, If Leo has to leave our camp, then Kefka will be the commanding officer."

"No way. If he becomes the commanding officer, then I'm leaving."

"Shut up! If he hears you, you'll be court marshaled."

"Speak of the devil, here he comes. Back to our posts."

Kefka strolled out of one the largest tents in the area with his hands held behind his back. His black-red eye shadow seemed particularly ferocious this day. His red and yellow and lime green clothes with a blood red cape looked quite out of place in a military camp.

"You. Hey you," He said sharply as he passed by, "Are you keeping a sharp lookout?"

"Y... Yes sir. You are Kefka, correct? How are you, sir?" said the guard.

"I don't care about your greetings. Just remember, if you don't do your job, then you'll be slowly dismembered." He began to walk away, "Oh, and Leo wants me to remind all 'able bodied' men to report to the deployment tent in an hour to prepare for another attack on Doma." He walked away.

"Why does Gestahl put up this clown?" Said one of the soldiers as soon as Kefka was out of sight.

"He looks as if his tent should be a circus tent instead of that." His companion replied

"Oh, If I could, I'd beat that clown up."

"Shut up! Do I always have to tell you to shut up. You're hopeless. I agree with you too, I don't even think he's human, but we shouldn't say anything aloud."

Sabin chuckled to himself, how easy it would be for his superiors to overhear him. They might even be right next to us. He chuckled to himself again, then, when nobody else was looking, he checked the barrel right next to him.

Locke found his way to the house, but not without much difficulty. Some of the tunnel sections were flooded and Locke had no choice but to get water in his shoes. He also ran into the occasional group of rats. I hate rats. Locke thought to himself. And it was dark. The old man had conveniently forgotten to remind him to bring a torch, so he had to rig on up from a stick with a pine knot. But despite all of these challenges, Locke did manage to find his way into the house.

He ended up in some sort of basement underneath the mansion. He had to push a large wardrobe out of the way to get out of the cluttered basement. As he was pushing it back, though, a jar of something smashed on the ground.

"What was that?" He heard a soldier say.

"A rat or something probably just knocked over something fragile." Came a reply.

"We should probably go check on it."

"Nah, we don't need to. Besides, it's cold down there."

"Remember what Kefka did to the last guy who didn't find an intruder in the basement until he had made off with several valuable items? Hung him by his feet from the second story of the house until he was crying from the headache."

"Alright, alright. I'll go down there."

Locke shuddered. He looked around for something heavy to slug the soldier with, but gave up. So he hid under a table next to the stairs. As the soldier reached the bottom of the stairs. Locke stuck out a leg and tripped him.

"What was that?" Said the other soldier.

"Just tripped over something."

The other soldier snickered "You trip over everything." he said.

Locke quickly jumped into action. He jumped onto the soldier while he was getting up. He then put him in a chokehold until he passed out. He tied him up with a strip of cloth that he found in the form of a shirt, then stuck a gag in his mouth.

"You alright down there?" Came that same voice.

"Yeah." Locke said, trying to imitate the soldiers voice. "I'm coming."

He walked up the stairs, hoping that the other guard would not try talking to him much. He reached the top, mumbled some excuse for being so slow, and maintained an air of silence. He was lucky, for the guard changed soon after. But, instead of going to the bar like most soldiers do, he went upstairs.

The upstairs seemed to be more lavish than downstairs. There was a gorgeous red carpet going down the long hallway. Vases and busts could be found in display cases on the walls. The walls were painted a nice cream color. A treasure hunter's paradise. No, not now. I need to concentrate on escaping.

He went up to the first door he found and put his ear to it. He could hear a gruff, commanding voice of a Lieutenant. Not this door he thought, so he silently moved to the next door. "...wind it up. Wind it up." Probably a playroom. Behind the next door he heard someone speak in a mournful voice "Why did I do it? I didn't need any money." Hmmm... Time to try and take a risk. He opened the door, put his finger to his mouth in a shhh-ish way.

"Hi, my name is Locke Cole. I am a member from the Returners. I am stuck in this city and looking for a way out. I heard that there is a passage out of here somewhere in this house. Could you help me."

The man looked at him with a surprised look on his face for a few minutes, then seemed to finally understand. "Look behind the bookcase in this room. But be careful, soldiers use it as an underground base."

Locke nodded, then went to push the shelf over. To his surprise, it moved quite easily. He walked through the doorway and closed the shelf behind him with the handle on the other side. He looked around, everything looked so stony. The staircase in front of him was pure concrete. Perfect feel for a military base. He carefully walked down the stairs, looking out for soldiers. When he reached the bottom, he looked both ways and, saw three soldiers walking into a room. After they entered, Locke peeked through a small window in the wall. There was a woman shackled up in the back of the room.

She looks familiar, thought Locke. That's right, she's one of the Imperial Generals.

The foremost guard struck her with the back of his hand. She took it and didn't even flinch. "Ha ha," the guard said "This is what happens to traitors." and struck her again. "How far the invincible General Celes has fallen. It's a good thing that I caught you writing that letter. Now I hear that I'm one of the next in line to fill the vacant General position."

"Makes sense," Said Celes, "You brutalize the weak to strike fear into the others. You're no better than General Kefka."

"Silence!" The soldier yelled.

"Speaking of Kefka, I hear he's planning to slaughter all the inhabitants of the eastern country of Doma with poison."

Doma! Thought Locke, With poison. I just wish I could get word out there, but I fear anything I send will be too late.

"Shut up!" Said the soldier as he struck her again. She collapsed to the ground. "Speak all you want. Nobody can hear you. Anyway, I just dropped in to tell you that your public execution is scheduled for tomorrow." Then he turned to one of the other soldiers accompanying him, "You. Keep an eye on her."

The soldier saluted. "Yes sir. I can go for three days and nights without sleeping."

"Good. Let's go."

Locke panicked for a second then remembered that he was wearing a uniform. As the soldiers walked out of the room, he stopped and saluted. They didn't even seem to notice him. They passed him by and walked to the end of the hallway, heading up another set of stairs which probably led to the general's room upstairs. They stopped to talk a minute at the base of the stairs, so Locke had to walk around the corner and listen for them to stop talking.

He walked back to the door. He could see that the soldier that was standing guard was already asleep. Locke chuckled to himself, Three days and nights, eh. He silently opened the door, and Celes looked up. "You're a little short for an Imperial Soldier." She said.

"Oh," Said Locke, as he looked at himself, then stole the key ring from off the soldier, "Sorry about the getup. I'm Locke, a returner." then he unchained her and lifted her onto her feet.

"Returners, I see. I'm General Celes, or at least I used to be. Now I'm a common traitor."

"Well, thanks for the introductions, but let's get out of here."

"You would take me along? You shouldn't bother, it's no use. I couldn't even run if we were sighted by a soldier. In that case, facing my destiny is more my thing."

"It's alright. I'll protect you."

"But what if-"

"I said I would protect you. That's a promise. Now let's go."

"Wait. That guard has a key in his pocket."

Locke suddenly remembered that there was a guard in the room too, and turned to him. He nimbly grabbed the key out of the guard's pocket. "Got it. Let's go." he said as suddenly, the guard spoke. "Hey there!" Locke stiffened, "You forgot the bread." Locke relaxed again. He was just talking in his sleep. "Alright, now let's go."

As they started to leave Celes spoke, "Only a thief-"

"I'm a Treasure hunter" Locke interrupted, somewhat annoyed.

"Only a thief could swipe that key so easily." she insisted defiantly. Locke was mad and surprised at the same time. Mad because nobody called him a thief and got away with it, but surprised because she was still so spirited for being so weak.

"Now," Said Locke "perhaps you know which way is out?"

"That door." Said Celes, pointing.

As they walked through the hall at the other side of the door, Celes' legs began to give. Locke caught her. "Guess I'm weaker than I thought." she said.

"Here, drink this." Said Locke as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pinkish potion and handed it to her. "It'll boost your energy."

She took the flask, uncorked it, and drank it. She looked a little better. "Alright, let's go." She said, "I don't want to be caught dead in this place, or even alive, if possible."

They went down the passageway. The way was pretty strait forward, all of the misleading side passages went only a short distance. Once, they heard a small patrol of soldiers coming towards them. They hid in the nearest side passage. They froze; Locke held his breath. It seemed to take forever for all of them to walk by, but eventually they did, and Locke and Celes continued on. Finally their way dead-ended on them and they found a trapdoor that lead upwards. They had made it!