The Day After

by Neal

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Chapters 1 - 5	Chapters 6 - 10	Chapters 11 - 14

Chapter 1

"Kefka's reign of terror is over!" Locke announced through the microphone at Figaro Castle. Cheers rang up from everyone at the celebration.

"Let the festivities begin!" Edgar, the young king of Figaro shouted, and again there were more cheers.

Practically everyone in the world had shown up for the celebration at Figaro Castle. Kefka, the Empire, and the Emperor were all dead. Gestahl's body had washed up at Nikeah a few days before the group had entered Kefka's tower. Only now it seemed that their journey was at an end.

"Katarin couldn't make it to the party, Terra, but she sends her love," explained Duane.

"Send her my greetings and luck back with you, OK?" said Terra.

"I will," said Duane.

"What are you naming the baby?" she asked.

"We're naming it Terra," said Duane with a grin on his face. Terra grinned back.

Relm and Strago were over at the food table, where Relm was drawing his caricature.

"Now stay perfectly still, old man," Relm said. Strago sighed.

"Do we have to do this in front of everyone?" he asked.

"Yes, we do. Now stop talking." Strago sighed again. A few giggles rose up from the people watching the picture being drawn. Then, Relm was finished. Strago stood up, looked at the picture, and shouted. The picture depicted a funny-looking Strago bopping Hidon on the head with a stick. She laughed and ran away.

Cyan and Celes were fencing on the east side of the castle. Cyan moved his fencing sword closer and moved in for the strike. Celes easily parried and disarmed him with her sword. Cyan opened his mouth wide as if to protest, and Celes just laughed.

Sabin and Duncan were practicing their moves on the west side of the castle, where Locke was practicing his thieving techniques on Gogo.

"Duncan, you may have been out of practice for a year, but you sure aren't rusty!" Sabin exclaimed.

"Of course not! And I'm not out of practice either. I fought the local monsters for practice," Duncan said. Sabin put his hands in the air and got hit by a Pummel.

"Yes! I got the tonic, Gogo," Locke said.

"Yes! I got the tonic, Gogo," Gogo imitated.

"Hey, stop that!"

"Hey, stop that!"

Edgar joined the fencing match and fought Celes, and she was victorious again. Cyan and Edgar challenged her to a 2 on 1 match. She accepted. Celes was soon surrounded by the two men, and she disarmed Edgar with a surprising move, and was out of the way before Cyan could attack. The master swordsman eventually disarmed Celes, and won the match. Lola cheered the loudest, and Cyan blushed.

Mog and Umaro were in the castle's foyer talking to each other. Mog told Umaro that they would be going back to Narshe soon.

"Uhhhhhh...OK, boss," said Umaro.

"I'm not your boss anymore!" yelled Mog.

"Uhhhhhh...OK, moogle," said Umaro. Mog just smiled.

Setzer had set up a gambling booth in the tool shop and was playing almost any type of card or dice game you could imagine. He was also selling gambling equipment.

"Uwoah, Anyone want to challenge greatest gamble person ever?" Gau was Setzer's barker, and he was attracting more business. Terra stepped up and challenged him to blackjack. Terra was dealt an ace and a 4. Setzer had a 3 and a king.

"I'll hit," said Terra. She got a 5. She stood.

"I'm hitting." Setzer got a 6, and he stood. "You beat ME?! Wow, you must be pretty good!"

Soon, the festivities were over. All the townspeople left, and the group stayed overnight in Figaro Castle. After some wine, some sleep, and some tears, the party members were off on their own separate ways. Setzer was taking them all in the Falcon to go to wherever they wanted. Edgar stayed behind at Figaro Castle and waved to his friends as they took off.

Chapter 2

"Next stop, Thamasa! All those leaving, get ready!" Setzer announced. Strago and Relm hurried up to the flight deck, and Setzer landed. The duo left the airship, waving goodbyes along the way. Setzer's next stop would be Mobliz, where Terra left to be with the children. Everyone eventually got off. Cyan went to Maranda to be with Lola, his new girlfriend. Locke went back to his hometown, Kohlingen. Sabin went to Duncan's house to further enhance his techniques. Gau returned to the Veldt. Mog returned to Narshe with Umaro. Gogo went to Triangle Island. Celes went to the Opera House to try to get another part, and Setzer went with her. He would take her back to Kohlingen afterwards.

Soon everyone was on their own, back to their normal lives before the Empire, the Returners, and the Espers. The kids were overjoyed at having their "Mama" back with them in Mobliz. Duncan had some more company. Lola and Cyan decided they would get married soon. And it seemed that everything was going to be all right.

Back in Thamasa, Relm was drawing a real portrait of Strago. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light.

"Uwaaa! What's happening?" screamed Relm.

"I don't know, dear!" yelled Strago. And then, as quickly as it came, the light was gone.

"That was weird," said Relm, "and I'm still gonna finish your portrait....If I could find my brush."

"I can't remember any of my Blue Mage attacks!" exclaimed Strago. "What's going on?"

Back at Duncan's house, Sabin was learning some new blitzes when the white flash occurred there, too, and then it was gone.

"Duncan, I can't remember the blitzes! You're gonna have to teach them to me again." shouted Sabin.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Sabin," said Duncan.

"Why not?" asked Sabin.

"Because I can't remember them either!"

Everywhere, the party members lost their abilities. Cyan lost his sword techniques. Celes looked and looked but could not find her runic blade. Locke lost his thievery skills. Mog couldn't even dance as well as Umaro. Gau forgot his rages. Edgar lost his tools. Even Gogo couldn't mimic. Setzer lost his gambling abilities. Terra could still morph, though. Everything was going wrong.

In the Gulf of Nikeah, a secret hideaway housing all of the Cult of Kefka members surfaced. Their leader, Grehn, was laughing about their latest technology.

"All of those pathetic little do-gooders can't remember their abilities! That's what they get for destroying master Kefka." A guard walked in.

"Sir, the device has worked perfectly, except for one flaw. The esper woman has not lost her ability."

"WHAT? Where's Doctor Powel? I need to speak with that lazy man."

"I have a suggestion, sir. What if we send a small regiment of troops after her?"

"Excellent idea! I'm glad I thought of it."

Chapter 3

Terra was resting in Mobliz with Katarin and Duane when the group of children that was outside playing ran inside really fast, screaming.

"Mama, there are people coming!" said Tommy.

"There's big machines, too!" said Paula.

"They have swords and stuffs!" said Cindy. Terra ran outside, and Duane ran after her.

"Children, hide!" said Terra on her way out.

Outside, the soldiers were coming closer. Terra drew the Scimitar, and Duane pulled out a Flame Sabre. The troopers ran up and 4 of them attacked. Duane and Terra easily held them off and used potions to heal. 4 heavily armed guards attacked, and Terra was injured, but they still held them off. The last 4 enemies were also heavily armed, and Terra couldn't hold them off alone. Duane was hit by a sword and fell into the water, not unconscious. He could only watch helplessly as the soldiers carried Terra away.

After the battle was over, Duane told Katarin goodbye and headed off to Nikeah. He got there 3 hours later, then took a ship to South Figaro, and finally to Figaro Castle.

"King Edgar!" Duane exclaimed. "Imperials attacked Mobliz. Terra was taken."

"What? The Empire is dead!" Edgar was puzzled.

"No it's not! There was nothing we could do," said Duane sadly.

"Get in. We're going to Kohlingen to get Locke and Celes."

The journey to Kohlingen took over a day, and Duane and Edgar were soon at Kohlingen.

Locke had moved into Rachel's old house. It was newly decorated with plants and a few animals. Celes had not yet made it to the house.

"Whadda you mean Terra's been taken?" yelled Locke.

"Imperials attacked Mobliz and we couldn't hold them off," explained Duane.

"Do they have any demands?" asked Locke.

"Not that we know of yet," said Duane. "But we must find Terra!"

"I'm not sure that we can," said Edgar. "I've lost my tools."

"I forgot how to steal!" said Locke. "Err, I mean treasure hunt."

Just then, the sounds of an engine outside got their attention. Celes and Setzer walked in. Celes immediately knew something was wrong when she saw Edgar and Duane there.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Terra's been taken by imperials," said Edgar.

"That's not the only thing wrong," said Celes.

"What, did you lose your rune ability?" asked Duane.

"Why....yes! How did you know?" questioned Celes.

"Because I've lost my tools."

"Because I've forgotten how to treasure hunt."

"I've lost the ability to gamble," said Setzer.

"Let's get the others and get back to Mobliz," said Edgar. "We're going to find Terra."

Chapter 4

"We're helpless to do anything, Edgar," said Celes. "If everyone's in this predicament, we can't do a thing."

"We have to try!" exclaimed Duane. "Otherwise we'll never have Terra back. We've got to get the others. I'm coming too."

"Yes, you should. We could use all the help we could get," said Locke. "Let's go."

The five travelers soon reached Maranda through help of the Falcon. There was no trace of Cyan there. Lola was there, and she was frantic.

"Cyan's gone! There were soldiers and....now he's gone," she said frantically.

"They've got Cyan, too? We've got to hurry!" exclaimed Setzer.

"Don't worry Lola, we'll get Cyan back," said Duane.

"Please hurry," Lola said.

With empty hearts, they headed back to the Falcon. They decided to go for Sabin next. They got to Duncan's house, and Sabin joined wholeheartedly. They decided to head to Narshe next to find Mog and Umaro. Duane, Celes, Edgar, and Locke went in to find them and were ambushed by soldiers. Duane drew his Flame Sabre, Celes pulled out her Excalibur, Edgar grabbed the Graedus, and Locke pulled out his favorite, the Valiant Knife. The foursome was soon victorious and the only injury was Edgar with a slash on his arm. A quick potion took care of that. After the battle, they continued into the mines.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," said Duane. "It's been 2 years." Right as he finished saying that, they were attacked by more soldiers. Celes was taken from behind and was holding onto an edge for dear life.

"Celes!" Locke screamed. "No!" He dived onto the ground and held onto her hands, just as he had done at Kefka's tower, leaving Edgar and Duane to fend off the soldiers. Edgar quickly disarmed one, got his weapon, and killed him with it. He found the weapon was an Enhancer sword and he threw it to Duane, who killed 2 more soldiers. Locke got Celes up and pushed one of the soldiers of the edge. A sickening crunch was the only reassurance that the soldier was defeated. Celes killed the last soldier, leaving the foursome to continue their journey.

"What is this, a trooper base?" muttered Locke. Then they came to the Moogle headquarters. There were about 20 moogles there!

"Mog!" yelled Locke. "Which one is you?"

"I'm over here!" yelled Mog. "What's up?" The party explained to Mog the predicament they were in, and he ran back to Falcon and promised to find Umaro along the way back.

"Guess we'd better be off!" said Edgar.

On the way back, for the third way, they were attacked by even more soldiers. They were taken from behind. By the time they killed half of them, Edgar and Locke were wounded, and Celes and Duane were near fatal. The remaining 2 soldiers were about to strike for the kill.....

Chapter 5

In the depths of the Gulf of Nikeah waited the headquarters of the Cult of Kefka. Deep within that, Cyan and Terra awaited rescue.

"Terra..." Terra heard a voice call her in her mind.

"Terra...Art thou okay?" Terra immediately recognized the voice of her friend Cyan. She opened her eyes, sat up and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. But where are we?"

"I don't know. I was hoping thou would help me figure this stumper out," he said. Just then, the door of the cell opened. 3 guards waited outside.

"Lady, you're coming with us." Terra and Cyan got up. Terra walked out and the guards pushed Cyan back in. "You stay here."

"Fine. Be careful, Terra," he said.

The guards took Terra to an interrogation room. They locked her in and said from the outside, "Our leader will be here shortly."

Their leader sure took his time getting there. When he finally arrived, it was over half an hour later. She was practically asleep.

"I am Grehn, leader of the Cult of Kefka. You will tell me where your friends are so we can capture them too, and do away with all of you at the same time."

"I'm not telling you anything, you psycho!"

"Oh you will...you will in time."

Back at the Narshe mines, the soldiers were coming in to kill Celes and Duane. A single shuriken flew into the neck of one of the soldiers, flinging his already dead body with such force it flew off the edge. The other soldier looked around in surprise about his dead comrade, giving Celes time to kill him with the Excalibur. A familiar masked man appeared from the shadows.

"Shadow!" Celes cried. "You're alive!"

"Yes. My ninja skills easily saved me from the falling tower," he said.

"You....saved us. Thank you, Shadow." Celes used Fenix Downs on Edgar and Locke, and they had the same surprise about Shadow.

"You've got to help us, Shadow, if you can still throw like that!" she said. "We've all lost our abilities."

"I've got to find my dog, first..."

"We've got Interceptor. He's on the Falcon," said Locke.

"Then I'll join," he decided. "Why are you so upset though? The Empire's defeated."

"No it's not! Those were soldiers from the Empire. And Terra and Cyan have been captured," said Edgar.

"We're going to get everyone together then go to Mobliz," said Duane.

"Then let's go!"

The five went back to the airship with Shadow, and Umaro and Mog were there. The party went back to Thamasa next for Strago and Relm. They joined again after hearing what happened. Gau was easy to find, too, and he joined again.

Back at the Cult of Kefka's headquarters, Grehn was still interrogating Terra.

"Where are all of your friends?"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"What is your master plan?"

"What is your major problem?"

"All right," said Grehn, "You're not going to say anything. Your little friend will be next."