Chapter Text
“Don’t touch it! How do you know it isn’t a monster?”
The harsh shriek cut through the aching fog of unconsciousness, and though her body did not seem to obey her will for the moment, Terra’s eyes cracked open a sliver. She was greeted by the sight of a dark blue sky above her, starkly unfamiliar after a year’s worth of days spent under a sickly orange-red glow. Dazed and sore, all she knew was that she did not feel dead.
“Well, it don’t look like a monster anymore!” a deeper voice spoke up now, though it was unmistakably that of a child. “Now it’s a lady! You really wanna just leave her here?”
There was silence, then the first voice spoke again in much less of a shout than it had previously. “Monsters can look like people too—don’t you know anything? You saw what it looked like before! Have you ever seen anyone look like that?”
“If we’re just goin' by looks, we don’t look alike either, ratface!” came the retort, and its target scoffed in answer. Then, without venom, “If we leave her here, real monsters will get her.”
Stirring at last, Terra heard the startled gasps that her return to life elicited from her strange observers. As disorientation faded, memory rushed back in, and she wondered at once whether her friends had escaped. The disrupted dirt she was nestled in seemed to confirm that she had fallen from the sky before making it back to them, a fall that would have killed her in her human state, and so—
Oh, she thought, putting the pieces together at last. Was that what the talk of monsters was about? Her heart sank, the wound of the word still freshly healing, as she struggled to push herself to sit.
When the world righted itself before her, she could see that two children stood on either side of her. They shuffled back a few paces as her gaze turned from one to the other. At her right was a tall boy, short dark hair trailing out from beneath a worn cap and dirt caked in spots on a too-small shirt and torn pants. She placed his age at a young teenager or thereabouts, gangly and thin-faced.
The other child, or so it seemed, left her far more puzzled. A little girl, she assumed, at least from the flower-patterned dress—she was unlike anyone she’d ever encountered before, appearing to be a humanlike rat with a long snout under her sandy hair and a curling tail at her back.
She said nothing for a long moment, wondering exactly what corner of the world she had ended up in. Doubtless Kefka’s havoc had changed the land and its people, and though the espers and moogles proved that not all intelligent races were human in appearance, she was not aware of any such as this child.
“Are you okay?” the boy finally asked, though he sounded much less sure now than he had when he had been defending her. “You look like you got attacked by somethin', or...”
Terra shook her head, attempting to stand. Whether out of bravery or reflex, the child stepped forward to offer her help to her feet. When she stood at last, her gaze fell over the girl again, who shrank back fearfully.
“I’m fine,” she answered, forcing a smile despite the pain that shot through her legs. “Just a little sore.”
It was true. Though she must have fallen from a great height, no wounds aside from some cuts and bruises had been left on her body. That alone told her that her esper transformation had sustained long enough to protect her from plummeting to her death.
The realization stopped her thoughts cold. While it was possible she had managed to remain in the world after her magic had faded, the familiar sensation lingering beneath her consciousness could not be anything else. She did not dare risk to try a spell in front of these children, but she suspected from the tingling in her fingertips that she would be able to do so with ease.
What in the world happened while I was asleep?
“Did a monster attack you?” the girl spoke up, seemingly reassured enough to step forward a bit more. “Or was it bandits? We always have to be careful out here, though they usually only bother the merchants...”
Shaking her head, Terra tried to think of an explanation. In absence of one, she simply sighed and admitted something close to the truth. “I’m not exactly sure. I don’t really remember, before waking up.”
The children looked at each other. Then the boy spoke next, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe you hit your head when you fell down? I think they call it ammy-nesia or somethin'?”
For the first time since she’d awoken, Terra suppressed a smile. There was a reason she’d grown fond of being a ‘mama’, with how easily a child’s innocence could distract from the darkness of reality. She nodded, thinking that perhaps for now it was best not to reveal anything more.
“Do you want to come back to town with us?” the girl asked. “We were out gathering flowers to sell, but we wouldn’t mind bringing you to see Granny. She might be able to help.”
“Granny?” Terra questioned back.
“Oh, that’s our um—” the boy answered this time, and motioned for her to walk with them. As they fell into stride together, he finished. “We don’t share blood or nothin’. She owns the pub in town. We help, and get somewhere to sleep.”
Terra considered this as they walked together over the grassy plains that led far off into the distance. Orphans, she concluded, and the thought sobered her into silence for a moment.
“Perhaps I can help too?” she offered, after some thought. “I have some... skills, that might come in handy.”
“Really?” the children both asked, peeking over to her. She knew they had not forgotten about the ‘monster’ they must have first beheld her as, but their curiosity seemed to be prevailing over distrust for now. The boy added, “You’d really help us out, miss?”
“Of course,” Terra smiled, though when they turned from her again, her smile slowly faded. She had little confidence that ‘town’ was somewhere familiar to her. Until she could determine where she was, her secret needed to remain a secret.
You are not a monster, she told herself, something she had still not fully learned to believe in the presence of strangers. You are not a witch, not a weapon, not even a soldier anymore—
But as they walked onward together, the fear in that little girl’s voice still weighed on her mind with the heaviness of an ocean.
The children ran merrily ahead, racing and teasing each other as the three of them crossed the small hills and marshy ground that stretched ahead. Terra allowed herself to dally just a bit behind, her mind wandering as she watched them play, and contemplated her next move.
Truly, her worries still lingered on her friends. Wherever they were, she hoped they had all made it to safety, but her stomach turned at the idea that they may well be fretting over her too. Though she had accepted the possibility that she might not be permitted to remain in the world, she hated the thought of having left them behind to wonder what became of her.
It did not take too long for the shape of civilization to come into view, not to her great surprise as the children had not appeared equipped for long travel. Stone walls and dark spires filled the horizon as they approached, and as they drew even nearer still, Terra noted with a twist of confused dismay that the 'town’ they had spoken of was very much what the Empire would have considered a large city. Such a place seemed unlikely to still exist, as Kefka had made certain to turn his Light of Judgement upon the most populated settlements first.
The children finally returned closer to her side as they reached the outskirts. Poorly maintained cottages and shacks soon surrounded them as they pressed deeper, and the rugged cobblestone road became crowded with passersby. Vendors barked sales for aromatic foods cooked streetside, children weaved between them pulling at skirts and pants to offer trinkets, and a group of female dancers in revealing attire performed for tips thrown into a tin can.
Most peculiar, however, was the fact that darkness steadily deepened around them as they proceeded further into the slums. There was no sign of a pollution source that she could identify, and the black sky was clear of clouds. By the time the children tugged her by the arm toward a building—“Cloud Nine”, the battered sign above the door read—only the glow of streetlamps lit the way.
“Ain’t a bad place, huh?” the boy joked as they entered the half-lit bar. “Best you’ll find on the eastern end, anyway.”
The girl took Terra’s hand, leading her over to the counter. They were the only ones here at the moment, it seemed, as there was not even a bartender serving drinks. She supposed they were closed.
“Do you want something to drink?” the girl asked, and though her gaze still regarded her warily, she appeared much calmer now that they were surrounded by people again. Turning to the boy, who had disappeared behind the bar, she called out, “Hey, Theo! Get her some water back there, huh?”
As the sound of clinking glass filled the small space, the girl turned back to her again. “So what’s your name, miss? Surely you remember that much.”
“Terra,” she replied, fairly certain by now that no one would recognize her by name. “Just Terra, if that’s all right.”
The boy, Theo, set a cracked mug filled with water before her as he took a long swig out of his own. Grateful, Terra lifted it to her lips, surprised at how thirsty she was once the cool liquid touched her tongue. She drank deeply, draining most of the glass, before her gaze returned to the girl again.
“What’s your name then?” Unconsciously, her voice had taken on the unthreatening tone she’d used with the children of Mobliz. “He’s Theo, and you are...?”
The girl lifted her chin slightly, her whiskers twitching. “Seran. Like the Burmercian war hero!”
Theo groaned beside her. “This again! You’re just a snotty brat like the rest, ain’t no war hero.”
Terra hid a laugh behind her hand as Seran stuck her tongue out at her friend. This, too, was something she was familiar with.
“Is it always so dark around here?” she ventured next, once their bickering subsided. “It’s very lively out in the streets for nighttime, and I’d guess the bar would be open right now if it was late.”
The two children exchanged a look before turning back to her.
“You never been to Treno?” Theo was squinting slightly in confusion. “I figured you lived around here, if you were wanderin’ around outside town.”
Terra lowered her gaze, trying to hide her chagrin. That certainly confirmed that she had ended up very far from home. A metropolis this size wouldn’t have escaped the Empire’s notice, much less Kefka’s wave of destruction. Forcing herself to stay calm, she wondered if she had traveled through time or space. Either seemed possible at this point.
The children seemed to pick up on her unhappy reaction, as Seran reached out to pat her hand where it rested in her lap.
“Hey, you can stay with us until you get your bearings, okay?” she reassured gently. “Granny’ll be fine with it as long as you can pull your weight. You did say you had some kinda skill, right?”
If this isn’t home, Terra thought, then perhaps magic isn’t a curse or an oddity here. Maybe...
“Do people practice magic here?” she asked, hoping they would interpret ‘here’ as this city. Her real question was, of course, bigger than that.
Theo blinked. His tone was skeptical when he spoke again. “Like healin' and stuff? Sure, I heard the nobles do. Ain’t nobody down in the slums who could afford to train in any magic artes.”
Terra processed this for a moment. So there was magic here—it wouldn’t be so odd for her to know it. For all they knew, she could be a noble herself.
Her gaze fell to his hand, where a scattering of small cuts wrapped around his knuckles and thumb. Thorns from flower-picking, she imagined. Such a wound would be effortless to patch up.
“Let me see your hand,” she said carefully, motioning with her fingers. Both children regarded her with some uncertainty, before he finally relented and reached across the bar.
Calling up just a tiny bit of magic, Terra directed it skillfully into the wounded area. The warm green light of Cure filled in the broken skin and glowed faintly for a heartbeat before dissipating, leaving behind unblemished flesh as it faded away.
Theo examined his hand with surprise as she released it back to him, and Seran sprang off of the barstool at once to run her own clawed fingers over it. They both looked back at her, and for an uncomfortable moment Terra feared they were disgusted or angered by the display.
“Granny isn’t gonna believe this!” he finally piped up, a big grin on his face as he shook Seran’s shoulder. She rolled her eyes, but Terra could make out a smile on her face as well. “We got ourselves a golden goose!”
Seran turned to Terra, her dark gaze considerably more composed. Still, her warm tone made it clear that she shared the sentiment.
“Miss Terra, you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you like.”