The back door opened, and a rugged-looking man walked in. He wore a bandana to keep his long blond hair away from his face.

Seeing him, the old man was roused from his melancholy. "Took you long enough!" he said in irritation. Then with a smile he asked, "How goes the robbing and plundering trade?"

The younger man was shocked. Treasure-hunter and trail-worn traveler, searching the world over for relics of the past...and this old man had the nerve to call it "robbing and plundering"? He recovered his composure and said indignantly, "I PREFER the term treasure hunting!"

"Ha!" the old man shot back. "Semantic nonsense!"

Locke waggled a finger at the old man. "There's a HUGE difference!" Then his tone became serious. He moved closer to the old man. "Anyway, you sent for me?"

The old man nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "There's this girl I'd like you to meet..."

Locke picked right up on his tone. He looked at the old man with narrowed eyes. "This better not have anything to do with that Magitek-riding, Imperial... witch!!" he spat out through clenched teeth.

The old man, seeing Locke's expression, stepped away and nodded slowly. "Imperial troops are pursuing her even as we speak." He looked into the Locke's face and saw no sympathy. The younger man's hands were fisted, his eyes cold but calm. He must get Locke to understand...

"This town is no match for the Empire," he began carefully. "Our independence can only be assured if we join forces with the Returners, an underground resistance movement." Locke listened, but remained silent. Desperation entered the old man's voice. "That girl wasn't responsible for her actions. We must get her to understand our dilemma!" He closed his eyes and bowed his head, praying that Locke would put aside his personal feelings and agree to help.

Locke tried to breathe slowly and evenly. He would dearly love to do away with the entire Empire, and would gladly strangle any Imperial soldier he met...He forced himself to think rationally. He trusted the old man, and knew that he had to have good reason for wanting to rescue the woman. Still, it was difficult...Locke closed his eyes and slowly turned away.

When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with tears. Suddenly his gaze fell upon a disturbing sight. He went to a shelf and took down the same gleaming circlet that had been around Terra's head, carefully turning it over with trembling hands.

Locke had recognized the circlet immediately. "Where... where did you get this Slave Crown?" he asked, his voice choked.

The old man's reply was soft. "That 'witch' was wearing it."

The full import of the situation hit Locke with such a rush that he dropped the Crown, which fell with a dull clunk. He realized that he had completely misjudged the woman, but it still took him some time to answer. "All right..." he said slowly. "I think we'd better help her..."

The old man looked up at him, grateful. "Agreed," he said. "Make your way first to Figaro, and talk to the king."

Locke rapidly followed Terra's trail through the mines and, dropping through the same hole as she had, found her lying on the ground. He examined her gently and found that she was still alive, though unconscious and bruised from the fall.

He heard noises and ran halfway to the front entrance of the shaft. Five groups of guards rushed through the entrance. Seeing him, the leader yelled, "Now we gotcha!" and sent his troops to grab both Locke and Terra.

Locke, dismayed, ran back to where Terra lay. "Wonderful. There's a whole bunch of 'em..." He began to rack his brains, trying to think of something to do, when he heard a soft sound.

"Kupo..."

He looked around and saw two strange white critters coming toward him. One tended to Terra while the other walked up to him. "Moogles!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Are you saying you want to help me?"

The Moogles jumped up and down in agreement. "Kupo!!" they exclaimed. "Use us to save Terra from the guards!" Nine other Moogles appeared, and they formed three groups.

Locke stationed two Moogle groups at intersections in the shafts to make sure that any guards who tried to get through were blocked. Locke's group, meanwhile, went straight for the guards' leader, trying to avoid the other guards, which proved to be a much harder task than he thought.

Locke's group made it to the Leader without getting into too many fights. The battle with the Leader turned out to be a long and difficult one. The Leader cleverly used Net to paralyze two of the Moogles. Locke and the remaining Moogle fought hard, but that Moogle fell, his last ounce of energy having been taken from him. Luckily, the Netted Moogles recovered and rejoined the fray.

A second brave Moogle fell, and Locke himself was down to his last bit of energy. The last Moogle fought off the last of the Leader's creatures, but was Netted before he was able to direct his attacks to the Leader. Unable to move, the Moogle could not defend himself from the Leader's fierce attacks, and soon he too went down.

With the Moogles vanquished, the Leader made ready to deal the final blow to Locke, who was weak and not ready to attack. But Locke, seeing the Leader draw back his arm, suddenly felt a desperate energy come over him. With superhuman effort, he leaped into the air, yelling as he came down upon the Leader and slashed so fast that the Leader could not dodge them. Locke leaped back into place, gasping for breath.

Nothing happened for some moments. The Leader remained with his arm raised, stunned at Locke's show of might. Locke had attacked so quickly that he hadn't even seen him move. Then the Leader dropped onto his side, screaming and writhing in agony.

Seeing their leader fall, the rest knew the battle was lost. "Retreat!" one yelled, and the remaining guards, many of them wounded from battles with the Moogles, ran out of the mines.

Terra was saved. After the last guard had escaped, Locke and the Moogles returned to Terra. One of the creatures came up to him and handed him several items. "A mithril pike and mithril shield," Locke said, recognizing them. "You want to give these to me?" The Moogle nodded, saying, "Kupo!!" "Thanks Moogles!" Locke said gratefully. "We're in your debt!" They nodded and scurried off, their cries of "Kupo!" echoing through the cave and becoming fainter.

Locke spent a few minutes tending to his wounds. When his strength returned, he gently scooped up Terra and, cradling her in his arms, swiftly made his way through the mines. Finding himself in a dead-end passage, he carefully set Terra down and checked over her. She was still breathing, and nothing seemed wrong.

He looked around, and his eyes lit on a tiny knob hidden in a recess in the wall. He examined it and murmured to himself, "I think this switch'll..." He pressed it and heard a rumbling sound. Part of the wall opened up to reveal an exit out of the mines.

Terra, awakened by the rumbling, sat up slowly. Locke saw her move and went immediately to her side. "Eh?" he asked her softly, glad to see she was awake. "You back with us now?"

She stood up carefully, hoping not to trigger any more headaches, and faced him, confused. "You...saved me?" she asked hesitantly.

He shook his head. "Save your thanks for the Moogles!" he said. "Without them, I couldn't have done it."

Terra fell back to her knees, weary. :"Uhh..." she groaned. "I can't remember anything...past or present..."

Locke was surprised. The old man hadn't told him about this! "You have amnesia?" he asked, concerned.

She stood up again and nodded. "A man said my memory would come back...but it hasn't yet." She shook her head sadly.

"Give it time," Locke said gently. Seeing her fear and confusion, and knowing the ordeals she had recently been through, Locke felt a protectiveness toward her. He drew himself up. "You're safe with me!" he swore. "I give you my word! I won't leave you until your memory returns!"

Terra was taken aback by the fervor of his promise. She gazed at him steadily, this man who hadn't even yet told her his name. She sensed a hidden pain within him, a pain so great it rivaled her own. Realizing how solemn his promise was, she slowly nodded her head.

Locke was pleased at the gesture. He took her hand and guided her through the hole in the wall. "By the way," he told her, "this secret entrance might be useful someday. Don't forget about it!" She blinked in indecision, and to cheer her up, Locke smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

They exited the mines, and the door slammed shut behind them. They found themselves in front of Narshe. "Let's try and walk around town to see if we can find out what's been going on," Locke suggested. Unfortunately, when they tried to enter Narshe, a menacing guard rushed up, demanding, "Eh? Who might you be?" Seeing that they wouldn't be able to sneak past the guard, they hurried back out.

Locke was annoyed. "This is the pits," he said in disgust. "We'd better hightail it southward, to Figaro."

"What's in Figaro?" Terra asked.

"I have a friend there. I know he'll agree to help us. You'll be safe there," he assured her.

Just outside the town proper they saw a man standing in front a door, dressed like a scholar. Thinking that perhaps he might know a way into Narshe, Locke went up to him.

But the man had a quite different purpose. Gesturing toward the door, he said, "This is a classroom for the beginner. Here we answer your questions about the world." He turned and opened the door, motioning for them to enter. As they passed through, the man said, "Think of us as your advisors..."

The scholar first led them to a large well full of a kind of liquid. They drank from it and felt much revived. "This is water from a recovery spring," he explained. "There are many such springs in the world."

The two went on to several classrooms in which various scholars taught them battle tactics and signs of status changes. For Locke, who already knew battle basics, the lessons were a review. Terra, on the other hand, was fascinated. She was an apt student and eagerly grasped all that she was taught.

After an arduous day of lessons, they rested. In a few hours, they were off to Figaro.