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Afterstorm

by Sherick

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Chapter 3

Chapter III: Edgar's Tale

Figaro Castle, the ruling house of Figaro Kingdom. It had been for over a hundred years. Throughout the long history of the Figaro family this had been the stronghold and moving fortress of the Royal Family. From King Matthias the Strong to King Edgar this had been their hom

Edgar Roni Figaro was the current king. He had the look of a monarchy. A long golden braid going down to his back and the rest of his hair gelled back. He wore a royal-blue tunic with a rolling cape to match. He was a handsome man with a devil-may-care attitude, though very gentleman like towards women. Five years ago he had served as the provisional leader of the Imperial resistant and later the Kefka resistant Returners. Two years before that he had been the ruler of Figaro and one of the leading allies of the Empire.

His father, King Sabin I, had been the one to tell him to resist the Imperials before he died, but the oppressing forces had made Edgar change his mind. Kefka made him do it. It was coincidence, probably, that that was also why he joined the Returners. Edgar had been remarked as a skilled fighter and an exceptional inventor. He even made many of the tools he used in battle. From the automatic crossbow to the noise blaster to the Air Anchor, he had made some of the best combat tools ever.

Since the downfall of Kefka, Edgar had renounced the leadership of the Returners to Dornim Ramah, the son of the original chief Bannon. He returned to Figaro to become king once again and had settled down into a regular life. Of course, now he was married and had a four-year-old daughter. He had awoke an hour ago and was seated in his thrown. Now I remember why I didn't want to come back, he thought. This is so boring!

Then he heard little footsteps and his day brightened up.

"Daddy! Daddy!" little Edwina called out happily.


"Have a good night's rest, sweetie?" he asked.

She nodded five times. Her mother, Queen Awin, was right behind her. She was very beautiful with long brunette hair and blue eyes that matched her daughters'. Edgar preferred brown eyes personally, but he wasn't picky.

"How ‘bout you?" he asked her.

She nodded as well. "And you?"

"I guess."

He scowled himself for thinking what he had. What was better than having such a beautiful family?

"Can I go out and play?"

"Alright. Go have fun," he replied.

Edwina loved to play in the desert sand surrounding the castle, but always had to be followed by a guard because of all the creatures that lived in it. Edgar would never forgive himself if something bad happened to her.

He wished Sabin had stuck around; she always liked to play with him or watch him exercise and work out. Sabin had always loved playing with her, but he eventually grew restless and went off to train.

Edgar wondered where his twin brother was now. He often wondered where the rest of the Band had gone off to. He had stayed loyal to the now Victory Returners, and Figaro was a member of what was now the greatest sovereignty in the world.

He had managed to stay out of Returner involvement for the last three and a half years. He kind of wished he hadn't, however. It was nice to know what was happening with his old friends, even though it wouldn't be anything that interesting. Nothing was since that battle. He greatly wanted to meat with the others; he just didn't know where they were at, though he could think of a couple of them.

"What's wrong?" Awin asked.

He had almost forgotten that she was still there. "Oh just bored. A lot!"

"Well you could actually do some work around here," she suggested.

"Nah, that sounds not like fun."

She laughed at him. "You're way too pampered and lazy, Edgar."

He looked at her, emotionally wounded. "Hey, I've done plenty of things! Just that, since doing the said things, everything else falls into the background and becomes unimportant in comparison and in the great scheme-"

"Oh shuttup."

Then he heard fast footsteps. A trooper.

"Your Majesty, it's your daughter!" he said urgently.

Royal soldiers were gathered around outside of the castle. Their Majesties came through the ranks that hurried aside for them. There she was, Edwina was crouching in the sand. Edgar looked for her guard. He was also in the sand, though he wasn't crouching. He was lying on his stomach with a stout spear halfway in his back.

"What is going on?" he asked the closest troop.

"Someone slew this man and tried to do the same to Edwina." He looked over and saw another spear buried in the sand. Edwina was trembling with fear.

"Well someone go get her!" he demanded.

"We can't. Read this. ‘Twas attached to the spear."

He opened up a scroll that was handed to him and read:

Take not a step toward her. There are many throwers out here. We can kill any one of you in two seconds...or her!
With love of
The Asassens!


Edgar threw it aside and walked on. "Edgar, what do you think you're doing!?" Awin yelled.

"There are not as many as he says," he replied when he was three feet from his daughter. "If there's anyone there with guts, try and shoot me!" he called out. Everyone waited.

When nothing happened, Edgar turned with his arms open and simply said, "See."

Right when he said that, a spear came directly toward him. One of the soldiers made an attempt to jump in the way, but before he could, the king turned and jumped out of the way. The missile hit the sand. Now Edgar saw who had thrown it.

He unsheathed his sword and pointed in his/her direction. Without being told a word, the guards charged with their weapons out at the attacker. As they drew near, many of the other "Assassins" jumped up in fright. They threw their spears, but fell flimsily to the ground. When the troops got too close, the now defenseless attackers turned tail and ran. Edgar sheathed his sword and picked up his little girl.

When the soldiers reported back they showed a good supply of stout spears.


"Who do you think they were?" Chancellor MacKigg asked his king. Edwina had been taken to her room by her mother.

"Probably just some psycho team with spears," Edgar suggested. "Or maybe they were sent from another clan, you know, opposers to the Throne. Nothing's happened really though that I can remember up ‘til now."

"I doubt it. I don't even know of any opposing clans left in Figaro."

"True as that may be, we cannot rule out this fact. There are still many other things that we could consider."

"Like what?"

"Like old Imperial loyalists, terrorist and separatist organizations, or even Kefka Fanatics."

"Please, Your Highness, I don't even want to consider that." Now-at-days, nobody wanted to think of Kefka Fanatics or anything Kefka-related. He was like an entity that crept through the souls of everybody. Hardly anyone even said his name, including the new Returners. The Band were the exceptions.

They, well most of them, were not afraid of him. After all, they were who destroyed him. Edgar knew that Locke, Sabin, Shadow, and probably Setzer and Cyan were not. The others he wasn't too sure about, especially Terra. She seemed to be the worst effected by Kefka. After the Battle, all the Espers, magical beings that were a key element in the victory, said that they were taking all the magic and leaving the World for good. Terra was born of Esper blood; her father was Maduin the Warrior. When they took away all the magic, all magical creatures were subdued. Since Terra was half-human, she lived, but barely. After they escaped the Tower, Terra was bed-ridden for two-and-a-half weeks. After her recovery, she left to the town Mobliz to take care of orphans, the same ones she had cared for a year before. After that, she left and made her very own house somewhere. I think Gau's with her, too, Edgar thought.

Edgar snapped out of his train of thought. Why was he all of sudden thinking about Terra? He didn't know. What he did know was there was somebody out there that opposed him, his rule, and his family.

Out in the forests of Figaro, the eight "Asassens" ran to their refuge. Their group leader welcomed them back.

"So everything goes according to plan," he said after they relayed the story.

"Very good," a woman one said from her chair. "In no time we'll have the whole country in a rouse."

The eight grunts didn't know what the "plan" was, though they knew were getting much praise from their leaders and were being well paid. Throwing spears at invisible targets then running like chased chickens was an easy enough job. They were told not to kill anyone but they thought that first soldier would be a good warning. Maybe they'd be paid a little extra.

"Well that's all for you, ladies and gentlemen," he said as he handed them their gold points.
Caves of Narshe: Final Fantasy VI
Version 6
©1997–2024 Josh Alvies (Rangers51)

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