Lina hobbled after Locke, using the spear the moogle leader had given her as a crutch. (She didn't know why the moogle had given her its spear and shield, but she wasn't about to complain, either.) She tried to follow along with the twists and turns that Locke was leading her down, but between being bone-tired and the pain in her foot, she was just glad she could keep up.
Finally, Locke stopped at a dead end and set Terra down. Lina gratefully sat down as well, and began massaging her foot. "So... what was that, back there?"
Locke started searching one of the walls as he answered. "Those were moogles, the last known fairy creatures in the world. Of course, before now, no one's seen a moogle for about fifty years or so, so everyone'd figured they had followed the other fairies at long last. But obviously, there are some still around."
"And that... dancing?"
"Legend has it that moogles can call upon the spirit of nature to act for them. That they can sing or dance, and direct the spirits about them to their defense. It seems that that is one legend that is true."
Lina nodded, and was about to ask for more when Terra groaned. Lina immediately slid over to the other girl. "Uhn... Lina? What happened?" she asked as she finally woke.
"Well, there was a cave-in, and we fell. Then this guy showed up, and things haven't been the same since," Lina replied with a grin.
Terra turned to look at Locke, who stopped examining the wall to look at the Imperial Sorceress. "So... you saved us?"
Locke snorted and turned back to the wall. "Nah. You should thank the Moogles... they pulled all our asses out of the fire."
Terra just grabbed her head and groaned. Lina frowned, then said, "You've got a nasty bump up there, Terra. Don't suppose it jogged any memories loose?"
Terra tried to think. There was something at the tip of her awareness... she was sure there had been something... but a fresh bout of pain washed it away. "No. I can't... remember anything."
Locke frowned himself. "So, you really have amnesia, huh?"
"That man... he said my memories would return..." Terra mumbled. She wanted her memories back now, damnit!
Locke nodded. "Well, then you're safe with me! I, Locke Cole, give you my word. I'll won't leave until your memory returns!" With a flourish, he struck a concealed switch in the wall, and a hidden door on the other side swung open. "You two might want to remember this entrance... it may come in handy. Now let's go... there's someplace nearby that we can rest for the night and take a look at your wounds..."
_-=^=-_
The 'Someplace Nearby' turned out to be some kind of abandoned apartments just on the outskirts of Narshe. "What are these doing here?" Lina wondered out loud as she tried to remove her boot from her bad foot. Terra was helping her while Locke searched for what he could raid from the place.
"Narshe's mines use to be a whole lot busier. Coal was, until recently, the main fuel source that just about everywhere ran on. Then the Empire started pushing its weight around. One of the first things they did was destroy a lot of trade ports and railways. They used some excuse about hunting pirates, but in doing so, they 'just so happened' to cut off nearly all contact with Mobilz and the Veldt, coincidentally leaving the Empire as the main supplier of medicinal herbs and products for the world, practically brought Doma's economy to a halt, and what they haven't destroyed, could all be used as staging areas for future attacks. Funny, don't you think?" Locke said with a heavy dose of sarcasm as he made his way back to the girls.
"Anyway, as I was saying, with most the trade ports either destroyed or practically under Imperial command anyway, Coal has been harder to move. A lot of countries have gone back to other fuels, like peat or wood, and some like Jidoor have take up Empire supplied MagiTek for their conveniences. So a lot of coal miners had to leave Narshe to find other jobs. This is just one of the left over housings that aren't used anymore. The guards only check these out once a month or so. And since they don't know about the secret exit, they have no reason to believe that we aren't still in the mines. As long as we leave in the morning, we should be safe."
He sat down near the girls, and looked over Lina's now-exposed foot. "Oh, good. It's just a sprain. That'll be easy to handle. The other reason I wanted to come here is because Arvis always makes sure to stock some emergency supplies here." He handed both girls small flasks, containing a green-tinted liquid. "There you go, a couple of Tonics. Healer Locke's orders are to drink up and get a good night sleep... and you should be just fine in the morning."
Lina thought to ask about the medicine, but the shrugged and downed it. It tasted awful, rather like grass, really, but she could already feel new energy flowing through her. She didn't know what was in those things, but she resolved to find out...
But in the meantime, there were other questions she had. "You said that the guards don't know about the exit we used... why not?"
Locke shrugged. "Arvis and I set it up. That part of the mine's all used up anyway. And it's always wise for a Returner to have a way out..."
Lina was about to ask, but Terra beat her to it. "Returner?"
Locke nodded. "Yep. Me and Arvis, we're part of the Returners, who work to stop the Empire."
"Okay... but why the name 'Returners?' Sounds kinda silly to me..." Lina asked.
Locke rolled his eyes. "Ah, it's a really old name. The Empire used to just be the Kingdom of Vector, but then their head general overthrew the royal family, and renamed it the Gestahl Empire. It's his descendant that's causing all our problems now. Meanwhile, the few members of the Royal family and court that didn't get the axe escaped to Doma, and they eventually set up the Returners, to return the rightful royal family to the Vector throne. Of course, that's impossible now, as the last Vector prince died about thirty years ago... but the name's stuck. Still, the Returners have been around for a while now, so we've got a lot of tricks to fall back on... speaking of which, here's one that you should remember..."
Locke gestured to the large clock in the corner. "See that clock? Well, if come across a large clock like that, check to see if it's got an 'R' symbol etched into it." He walked over to the clock, turned it to its side, and pointed. "I'm not sure if you can see it, but it's here. If you want, I’ll point it out again in the morning. Just remember that whenever you see that symbol, then 'It's time for a pick me up'." So saying, Locke opened the case, dug around inside, and removed a new flask, this one filled with a bright blue liquid.
"Returners or Returner sympathizers tend to hide elixirs in these kinds of clocks, if they can. Good for an emergency. Just remember, elixirs are damn expensive, especially now, as the ingredients for them can only be reliably found on the Veldt. These things can pretty much fix anything short of death, but don't use one if you've got something cheaper that can do the job."
Lina and Terra nodded at this, especially Lina. If that medicine was as expensive as Locke indicated, then her merchant blood would never forgive her if she wasted one.
Locke just put the elixir in his backpack, before addressing them again. "Anyway, Ladies... We're relatively safe here, so I think we should get some rest. Tomorrow I'm going to escort you to Figaro castle, and it'll be best if we start off as soon as we can."
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(Posted Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:24)
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