Final Fantasy 3-2 : The Returners Part #1

It has been five years since the defeat of Kefka, an evil identity who had a totally bent mind and tried to use magic for himself. The day finally came when Kefka was destroyed by a group of people known as The Returners. Ever since Kefka's defeat, it seems that the people living on the blue planet are now at peace. As a result of this peace, many new things have been invented like radios, bicycles, and even elevator systems. There was also the discovery of electricity, which is still being developed even further.

The town of Kohlingen. Peaceful, quiet, the place of R&R (Rest and relaxation). This town is famous because of Rachel Tynia. She to is famous because of her first love, Locke Cole. Everyday, along with his wife Celes, they come to see Rachel. Locke always tells Rachel about past events. Everything from Kefka's defeat in Kefka's tower, to Locke's wedding just a few years ago. To this very day he still talks to her about the wedding.

"Come on Locke. Everyday we've been staying longer and longer to see Rachel. You have to get to work otherwise you'll get fired. It definitely won't help our child that's on its way," an impatient Celes told Locke. Locke turns his head away from Celes and stares into the eyes of Celes and then looks down towards the current home of their unborn child.

"Boy, he or she sure is getting big. It's now just a matter of weeks before he or she is supposedly born," Locke stated. "Anyhow, I guess you're right. We should get going. Bye Rachel, see you later." Locke and Celes left the room in which Rachel was in. Locke was the only person still living that actually knew who Rachel was. He had made a request for her "care-taker" to put her into suspended animation by use of special herbs. Locke had left town for a small factory about 1 ½-2 miles south of the town. Celes went to where she and Locke now live , which, coincidentally, housed Rachel and her family before her accident. Celes went to the bookcase to pick up her daily journal. After picking it out of the bookcase, she turns to the wall on her left and looks up at a painting. It is one of her most favorite paintings she had ever seen. On it were some of her friends which included such people as Terra Branford Figaro, Edgar Roni Figaro, Cyan Garamonde, Sabin Rene Figaro, Gau Hotch, Setzer Gabbiani, the mysterious ninja known as Shadow, as well as Strago Magus. She then moves her eyes towards the lower left hand corner of the painting . The name of the artist was Relm Arrowny whom was also in the painting. As she stared at the signature, her mind started to wander with many questions like, "how does her power work?" and "Why hasn't this painting come to life and attack yet?" Her find continued to fill up with all these questions until she asked herself, "I wonder what my friends are doing these days?"

In the village of Thamasa lies the grave of the once great swordsman, General Leo. Before his death in battle with Kefka, he had realized that he was being used by the Empire as a sort of biological weapon. At Leo's grave stands a fifteen year old paying her respects to Leo. She turns her head up and stares at the grave right next to Leo's. On it was the name Strago Magus, Relm's grandfather.

"Oh, Strago/Gramps, I knew that Mage Warriors could live for a long period of time but never have I known that the loss of lore magic could cause death within six months." Relm had continued to stare at the two graves when Shadow shows up with his trusted dog and friend, Interceptor.

"Aww, come on Relm. Everyday for the past 4 ½ years you've been out here grieving over the death of Strago, your "grandfather". You should carry on with your life," Shadow had told Relm. Relm left the graves and headed back home. Shadow then looked down towards Strago's grave and bowed his head down towards the ground.

"Bark! Bark! Bark!" Interceptor yapped towards Shadow. Shadow turned his head up and stared at Interceptor.

"Oh, right," Shadow told the dog. He headed out of the graveyard and followed Interceptor home. Shadow then got thinking about his past.

* * * * *

"Clyde, where are ya? I can't find ya!" Someone shouted out.

"Down here! I seem to have fell into this deep hole! Try to find something that will get me out of here like some rope, a vine or something like that!" Clyde cried out.

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a ladder shows up. "Alright, a ladder. Thanks Manuel!" Clyde shouted. Clyde was expecting an answer but did not get one. Clyde propped up the ladder and climbed out. He looked all around for Manuel, his buddy but found him lying on the ground with open wounds and all.

"Look, Clyde. I don't th…*sputter*…ink I'm going to make *hack* *cough* it. You've got to…promise me…… that you will avenge…*sputter*…my…death," Manuel had forced these dying words out of his mouth. "Shadow…." With that, his last breath, Manuel was dead.

"Shadow!! How did you…" Clyde looked at Manuel's belt and noticed a mask that was created to fit Clyde's head. "So, you knew this whole time, didn't you. You knew that I was Shadow."

* * * * *

Relm came up to Shadow. "Hey, Shadow! Hello, anybody in there?" Relm shouted at Shadow.

"Huh? Oh…yeah, right. Sorry Relm. Didn't mean to phase out on you like that," Shadow apologized.

"Anyhow, I'm going to my room to work on a painting. Oh, yeah, I'm also going to take Interceptor with me," Relm told Shadow.

"Okay, but I don't want to here you two fighting again over a your chocobo paintbrush." Shadow told her.

Relm went upstairs, followed by Interceptor. She then went over to her painting easel. As she was thinking about what to paint, she remembered the airships she had been on. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a ten-of-spades. She turned the card around so that she could see the other side of the other card. It is very special to her because it is a momento of her time with Setzer. On the card, there were two airships on it. On the top of the card there is an airship called Blackjack and this was the airship owned by Setzer up until the destruction of the planet. On the bottom of the same card was another airship called the Falcon which used to belong to Daryl, one of Setzer's old friends, but now, she's dead and Setzer now owns the Falcon. She then focuses her eyes on the middle of the card. It said: To Relm Arrowny, my young friend. From, your favorite gambler and airship owner, Setzer Gabbiani.

In a small, newly built village called Utopia, there lies an airship called "The Falcon" just outside the village. Inside, it has some of the most awesome architectural design known. Inside of the huge engine area, there is a man. A man by the name of Setzer Gabbiani, owner of one of the world's first airships. "Let's see, if I connect this to this then…" Setzer was then cut off by an intense spray of thick, heavy, dirty oil. Setzer picks up a rag and quickly cleans himself up before the oil sets in to his clothes. "Geez, I hate it when I do that. I just wish I knew of someone that knows almost everything to know about machines." Minutes pass before Setzer actually can respond to his question. "I know! King Edgar Figaro told me to me to write him if I ever needed help with fixing my airship." Setzer got out of the engine and went to his desk where he could write about past experiences and other miscellaneous things. Setzer wrote down a quick message on the paper and read it back to himself. The letter read: "Sir Edgar Roni Figaro, Setzer here. I'm writing to see if you would like to help me with fixing up my airship. Write back to me for your response." Setzer went into town to find a carrier pigeon that would send his letter. "I hope I can get my response A.S.A.P. so I can continue with my explorations of this world."

Figaro Castle, the castle of the desert. Inside, the peoples are quiet and relaxed. They have reason to be because threats such as the Empire and Kefka are now long past. Inside the castle lie two thrown's, one for a king and one for a queen. The queen is nowhere to be seen in the throne room for she is wandering the castle for any new developments that just maybe taking place.

"Your highness! How goes your day?" The chancellor asks her.

"Fine and boring, as usual," Terra tells them. "It's the same thing, day in and day out. There 's nothing much to do since the threat of Kefka is gone. We should build some more areas here for businesses and townsfolk. South Figaro is getting much bigger but the town's population is getting much bigger. We have got to put in some additional living space here," Terra told him. "By the way, where is my husband, Edgar Figaro?"

"You have to ask! He's in his inventive room, like usual," The Chancellor told her.

Terra went towards the engine room. She kept on going past the giant machine and into a room behind the engine. As she approached it, she knocked once to indicate it was her. She then opened the door and greeted her husband.

"Hey there. What are you making this time," Terra asked her husband.

"Aww, nothing much. Just attaching this to that and that to this and see what I can come up with." Edgar told her. She pulled a stool up to the work bench and helped. On the wall, was a very special case that held one of Edgar's most prized inventions, the chainsaw. Minutes later, three knocks are heard from the door. "It must be Sabin. Open the door please," Edgar asks Terra.

"Sure thing." She goes to the door to open it.

"Hey, what's up bro and sis-in-law?" Sabin asks.

"Aww, nothing much as usual. Oh wait, something did happen. Your own brother almost bl…umpf," Edgar placed his hand over Terra's mouth to stop her from talking.

"Ummm, nothing. Absolutely nothing," Edgar said. He removed his hand from her mouth.

"Edgar almost blew up the castle," Terra told Sabin, with a huge smile on her face.

As Terra and Sabin laughed, Edgar got up and started to chase Terra around the room. "When I get my hands on you, you'll be …" Edgar was interrupted by two knocks on the door. "It must be one of the guards from outside," Edgar told every one. "Come in!!" Edgar yelled out through the door.

"Sire, a message came for you from Utopia," One of the security guards said. Edgar reached for the message."

"Thank you," Edgar said. The guard left. Edgar opened up the letter and started to read. "Hey, it's Setzer. He wants me to help with his airship. Anybody want to come," Edgar asks.

"Hey, sure. I'm game," Sabin told his older brother.

"You don't have to ask me twice," Terra told her husband.

Back in Kohlingen, Celes waits patiently for her husband, Locke to come home from work. "He should have been home about 15 minutes ago. I sure hope nothing happened to him on his way home," Celes told herself. Suddenly, something in her head sparked. "I wonder if he encountered an enemy of sorts on his way home." After saying that, her heart started to get faster and faster. She walked over to a locked treasure chest, unlocked it with the key in her pocket and took out her Minerva armor, a Paladin shield, a Genji helmet and her Excalibur. As she headed out the door, Locke comes running in, his face is all red, he was even huffing and puffin, almost as if he had been trying to run away from something.

"Celes, you're never going to guess what I bumped into?" Locke said nervously and shaking.

"Could it have been Kefka? Doom Gaze? Or even some new evil being?" Celes asked herself in her conscience. "What?" Celes asked her husband.

"Two Espers. They seemed to be asking for Terra, Terra Branford," Locke told her.

"Well, get your armor and weapon and we'll go find her," Celes told her husband. Locke went to his treasure chest, opened it and took out his Genji armor, Paladin Shield, Genji Helmet, and his Gradeus.

"Let's go Celes. We need to find Terra," Locke said while putting his dagger into his weapons belt.

As they left, Locke asked, "Wait a minute. Do we even have a clue as to where Terra is now?"

"Last I heard was that she was living in Figaro Castle," Celes told him, remembering the letter she had received about six months ago.