Chapter 5
They circled around and approached the castle from the south,
arriving at the main entrance. There was a guard there, standing off to one
side, watching the entrance. Locke and Terra walked up the steps and were about
to enter the castle when the guard put himself between the duo and the door.
"Wait!" He told them. He seemed to take on a look of recognition. The guard
looked at Locke, then said, "Oh, it's you. Proceed." He stepped back to the
side, and they entered into the castle. Locke led them.
The main foyer itself was rather interesting. There were
stairways to their left and to their right. A red carpet on the floor led them
straight ahead to a door, which presumably led to the king. The exited the foyer
through that door, and were back out in the burning sun. But instead of sandy
ground, it was made of the same materials of the castle. Terra quickly realized
that this was part of the building as well. They continued straight ahead, and
Terra noticed there was a door to the left, and a door to the right. Both of
them were guarded. They climbed a few stairs and entered another door, back into
the castle shade.
In this, the throne room antechamber, there was a red carpet,
again leading straight ahead, and suits of armor lining the carpet. This carpet
led to yet another door, the door to the throne room. Locke opened it, and they
strode in.
The throne room. It was a beautiful stone-built room with
pillars, tapestries, and two identical thrones at the far side of the room. In
the left one sat the king.
Locke walked up to him, and Terra started to fall back a few
paces. Locke whispered something to the king that Terra could not hear. The king
stood up from his throne, and then spoke, "You mean, THIS young woman...?!" He
walked over to her, looked her from top to bottom, turned around and took a step
back to his throne, and stood there for a few seconds.
Terra inquired, "Who do you think you are?"
The king lowered his head, "Oh... sorry!" He turned back
around so fast, his royal robe and his long ponytail nearly whipped Locke, who
was standing beside him. He stuck his index finger in the air, as if he was
scolding himself, "How rude of me to turn my back to a lady!" He was the young
king of Figaro Castle, ally to the Empire, and a master designer of machinery...
He took a step closer to Terra. "I am Edgar, King of Figaro."
Locke quickly questioned, "Surprised someone like me knows a
king?" Edgar and Locke both looked at each other, whispered something softly,
and Locke stated, "Talk to you later!", and he walked out of the room.
Edgar walked a little down the red carpet, and turned his
head slightly in Terra's direction, "So... you're an Imperial soldier! No
problem. Figaro and the Empire are allies! Please, relax while you're here. It's
not in my blood to harm a lady."
Terra seemed confused yet again. "Look, why are you helping
me? Is it because of my... abilities?" Wait, maybe he doesn't know about
those yet. I feared using them on the trip south so I wouldn't scare Locke, so
he might not know. Man, I should have kept my mouth shut...
"I'll give you three reasons," Edgar held up one finger,
"First of all, your beauty has captivated me!" He let another finger ascend
upwards, "Second... I'm dying to know if I'm your type..." He lowered his hand
and walked further down the carpet. "I guess your... abilities... would be a
distant third." So he DOES know.
Terra blink a few times, confused, and asked, "What's with
you, anyway?"
"Guess my technique's getting a bit rusty..." he replied with
chagrin as he walked down the rest of the red carpet and out of his throne room.
Terra stood there for a moment, thinking. I suppose a
normal girl would have found him dashing. But I'm hardly... normal... She
looked around her and noticed one of the attendants standing beside her. She
approached him and asked, "What do I do now?"
"Feel free to wander about."
OK, I guess I can... walk around.
She was about to exit the throne room, when she overheard two
guards talking right outside the door. "I heard the Empire is using something
called 'magic'..." the other replied, "Gestahl has harnessed the power of magic.
Who can stop him now?" Gestahl? Why do I get the feeling I used to know
him... magic... how can I use it? How is it possible?
One of the guards was about to say something to his partner,
when Terra exited the door and walked out. She looked to the right, and saw an
open staircase leading up. She went over to the doorway and started up. She
could see that the room where she was headed was also connected by another
staircase along the opposite wall of the throne room foyer. She noticed another
treasure chest at the top of the stairs, and reached over to open it. Inside was
another familiar crystal feather-filled orb. She reached down, picked it up, and
slid it into her satchel. I suppose it's OK to take this. It's in a chest
sitting right out in the open... She headed up another staircase in this
room, and she saw some light coming in from the top of the staircase. As she
came out of it, she found out why.
The staircase led her to the highest tower of Figaro Castle.
The sun was burning down on her, but she stood atop this tower for a small while
to enjoy the marvelous view of the vast desert. When she was finished, she
headed back down the stairs, into the small room, and back down the same flight
of stairs she first ascended. Terra was now back in the throne room foyer. She
walked down the royal plush to the outdoors room, and again, she looked around
to see where she could go. She decided on turning right again, and opened the
door on her right. As Terra entered this room, she saw a door straight ahead and
a descending staircase to her right. She decided against going into the closed
door, so she walked down the stairs. All there was downstairs was a door leading
to the outside, so she stepped again out into the desert sun.
As she walked along the sand, she noticed there were some
guards making their rounds on large, yellow birds. She didn't want to seem
ignorant, so she just gave a curt nod to a guard as he passed. When she had
walked some more, she saw another building that was connected to the main castle
by overhead walkway. There was a small door at the base of the building, and she
entered into it without a moment's thought. Once inside, she turned left and
headed up some stairs. This must be Edgar's room, but... where's Edgar? He's
probably taking care of kingdom business, I suppose.
Terra walked over to where the matron was standing. She
looks bored. Maybe she'd like to talk for a while; I have nothing to do.
"Hi there!" greeted the matron cheerfully. "I don't believe
I've seen you around. Did you just recently arrive?"
"...yes... I did..." Terra replied, a bit taken aback by the
woman's cheerfulness.
"Is there anything I can do for you? Make your stay here in
Figaro more... enjoyable?"
"No, I don't think so. I'd like to know some things about
King Edgar, though."
"Well, anything that you want to know, just you go right
along and ask."
"OK..." Terra hesitated. "Why... I mean... what..." Terra
didn't really have a question she wanted answered. "Does he have any family?"
"Why, yes. Edgar has a twin brother. He was such a nice
boy..."
"Where is he now? Shouldn't he be ruling beside King Edgar?"
"Well, ya see, there's a story in that. You wanna hear it?"
I don't have anything better to do... "OK."
"Ya see, it goes like this," the matron recounted. "The old
king of Figaro, that is, Edgar and his twin brother's father, had become very
ill. One day, Edgar was in the library when his brother walked in..."
"Brother," said the twin, "what's wrong with father?
What's all this talk of his successor?"
Edgar responded harshly, "Are you blind? Look how thin his
face has become!" Edgar tried to hold back his sorrow, but to no avail.
"...What is it?" the youth questioned. Edgar stood up from
where he had been sitting, and started towards the door, but was halted for a
brief moment by his twin, who called to him, "Brother!" Edgar lowered his head
and walked away, down the staircase. The brother still stood there for a few
seconds, then queried to himself, "Tears...?!" The youth was Edgar's twin
brother, who traded the throne for his own freedom...
"Yes..." explained the matron, "His name is Sabin. Oh, he
looked so like his father! When he ran away, he was a sweet little child. I
wonder what he's like now?" The matron said no more, and Terra wasn't going to
pester her with more questions. She backed away, and proceeded to walk down the
stairs, and exit the room. I wonder where Locke is? Maybe I should be heading
back to the throne room... maybe Edgar's back, too.
Terra made her way to the throne room, not stopping anywhere
along the way. As she opened the double doors that led into the large room, she
noticed that Edgar was sitting on his throne. Very well. She approached him, and
he asked her, "Well? How do you like my castle?"
Before she could respond, one of the guards opened the door
and rushed in, "King Edgar! Someone from the Empire to see you!"
Edgar looked aside in disgust. "Probably Kefka!"
