Author's Note: I would just like to thank all of the people who have read my story and reviewed. You encouraged me to write on. Thank you my very best friend, Gauy, who used to be King Zi the 1st, who used to be FinalFantasyFan! I love you! You helped so much! Although it's annoying, you are the BEST human grammar check person ever! I won't keep any promises, but when I get around to it, I may write a sequel based on the children of the Returners. They would all be my characters of course! I probably won't be doing it for a while. I still have other stories I have to finish, however. One is Teaching Her To Trust, which is based on Relm and her life, and also Gau who is in love with her. It's another major story I'm working on and going to be way longer than this one. It already has over 20 chaps. Anyway, enough with my useless rambling, on with the story!

Chapter 18: King Diamond's Past

Terra awoke suddenly. She had that very same dream again for the past three days. Terra gazed upon Simon and thought. She wondered if he could really hold on. He had seemed to be recovering, but could she be really sure? What if that dream meant that he was leaving her?

Terra stood up and went out of the room and to the kitchen on the other side of the hall. She needed a glass of water. She needed to clear her mind. She didn't know what to do or where to turn. All she knew is that she didn't want anymore loved ones to die...

"Simon...why do I have this heavy, queazy, feeling that I may lose you?" Terra said aloud to herself.

Something suddenly came to Terra's mind. She started to feel a great deal of dread in her heart. The first thing that came to mind, was her husband laying in the other room. She never gave a second thought before running out of the kitchen and back to Simon's room. She acted so fast that she had forgotten all about her glass of water.

Inside the room, an eery glow was noticeable, coming and gleaming in the hallway. No one else seemed to notice it instead of herself. Terra stepped in cautiously to see a figure standing over Simon. "No! Get away from him!" Terra screamed.

From outside, Locke and Sabin had heard and came into the room as well. In the mean time, Edgar was about to drop a young lady he had dipped and was kissing. Just then, everything stopped. All motion from anybody instead of Simon, the strange woman, and Terra had stopped. Locke and Sabin were left pushing their way through the door, with Locke about to trip up into Sabin's feet. The lady Edgar was holding, was now in mid air about to fall to the floor, while Edgar was standing up straight looking towards the room.

"What are you doing!? Who do you think you are!?" Terra demanded from the stranger who could only look up with just her polite gestures.

"I am sorry to alarm you. However, I must do what I came to do," the woman said to Terra gently and glanced back at Simon.

"What do you mean? What have you come to do? Who are you?!" Terra demanded of the woman.

This woman had blonde hair that seemed to shimmer of silver streaks of diamonds. Her eyes were a deep bright blue color. It was the brightest color Terra seen through this woman. The rest of her was dressed in a white gown of silk and her skin was deathly pale. The woman also had rose colored lips.

"What I mean, is that I must take King Diamond to his destination. His time here has come to an end and he can finally be at peace," the woman said gently with the voice of the loveliest Goddess.

"What?! No! I won't let you!" Terra protested.

"My dear, please do not tempt the fates to take you as well. There is someone who needs you. Two people as a matter of fact. What about your family? You must understand, King Diamond's time has come, and he has accepted it just as you should," the woman said softly.

"No! I won't let you take him!" Terra said stubbornly and went to attack her.

The woman raised her hand and stopped Terra in her tracks. "If you really must know who I am and why I must take him, then please allow me to explain in peace. I do not want to have to hold you in that position. I do not wish to see you cry sadly nor violently in any way. Now please, give me the chance to explain myself," the woman said as she removed the spell from Terra.

"Please, tell me. Why is it so important that you must take Simon from me? Who are you? What have you the right to rip my heart to shreds?" Terra demanded sadly.

"My dear, please hold your tears. You must listen to my words contently if you wish to understand," the woman said calmly.

"Fine. Please start by telling me who you are," Terra said politely.

"Alright. My name is Pearl. I am part of the Jewel family that has prospered in an Ancient Kingdom for many centuries. Before my time, many, many years ago, a tragedy overtook our first homeland and Kingdom. The queen of that place, was named Emerald. She ruled in the time of the war you call, the War of Magi," Pearl explained thoroughly.

"You mean...the castle was buried underground and rotted there? What happened to the Queen?" Terra asked with much interest on the subject.

"Aw, you had a somewhat of a premonition. Am I correct?" Pearl asked with a tiny smile.

"Yes, I guess you could say that," Terra admitted.

"Well, Queen Emerald and many of her loyal esper servants, such as Odin, her most trusted companion, and advisor, relocated themselves in a very solitary and hidden land. It is between the mountains of this land, I am sorry, I cannot tell you which for fear of endangering the Kingdom. It is invisible to the eye unless they are connected to the ruler in some way," Pearl explained.

"I see...so...does that mean I would be able to find it? I am married to him..." Terra said quietly.

"Well...I'm not sure, but I must ask you not to try and do so. It would endanger the lives there," Pearl said to her cautiously.

"Yes, I'm sure it would. Don't worry, I wouldn't think of that. Please continue," Terra urged.

"There, Queen Emerald died after the building of their new city, Garmonia, from an unknown illness. It is believed that she had been poisoned. At this time, all espers left the world. Odin witnessed it all himself before leaving also...he was her most loyal companion...Emerald's daughter, Sapphire, then took over and married a loyal Knight of the 'Round. They had a son and named him Solitaire. His parents died of old age and then he took over, taking the daughter of an Inn Keeper as his wife. Advisors were strongly against it, but she made out to be a worthy queen who gave birth to two sons about four years apart. After fourteen years, the older one disappeared. I don't know much of him, not even his name..." Pearl went on.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but...where does Simon, or Diamond, fit into this?" Terra asked contently.

"Diamond is the great, great, grandson of Queen Emerald. His mother and father, King Solitaire and Queen Ruby, died in a war held between Pendergoth and the Kingdom. Diamond then took over, at the age of fifteen and killed Pendergoth with his own hands. Pendergoth had almost taken over the Kingdom and would have succeeded if not for him. However...it seems that he had used a zombie spell to try one last attempt at revenge...Of course, he did not succeed because of your love for him," Pearl said with a smile.

No, Simon will still die. Pendergoth still had gotten his revenge... Terra thought, but then pushed it out of her mind. "So...Simon is really the King of a hidden Kingdom that has never interacted with the outside world? So...why did he leave? And...another thing...Um...the War of Magi was one thousand years ago. There was only three generations. How is that possible?" Terra asked.

"The Jewel family is an Ancient family who have very long life lines. If they live and eat properly, each member could live up to one thousand years. That is only if they do not catch disease or are severely wounded. As for why Diamond left his Kingdom, that will come later," Pearl said to her. "After the fall of Pendergoth, Diamond took in a peasant girl with no memory of her family or past. He fell in love with her, and married her on his seventeenth birthday..." Pearl trailed off.

"So...he was married? Wouldn't our marriage be..."

Pearl interrupted. "Shall I continue on? You will understand in time."

"What happened, then?" Terra asked curiously.

"...After four happy years with his wife, she was found to be pregnant. They were overjoyed. During the day of birth, something went wrong. It was a problem birth. After the child was born, the Queen died. The child was also not well and died of illness later that week...Diamond was crushed by this. He spent endless hours roaming the castle halls. He was completely restless and could stand being in solitude no longer, so he left to travel. He wanted to find a reason to live again...He found you..." Pearl finished finally.

Terra was speechless for a few moments. "So...who was his wife?" Terra was almost afraid to ask.

"Diamond gave her the name of Pearl..." Pearl answered.

Terra fell silent as solitary tears dripped from her eyes and down her chin. "I see...I guess it's only fair for you to take him then..."

"I am truly sorry. He has been through so much tragedy. He deserves to finally find peace. He believes within his heart that you belong to a man called Locke. He wants you to be free to be with the one man you hold dearest in your heart. I, for one, most agree. Your love for each other is most special. Terra...I wish you happiness. I hope you wish us the same," Pearl said kindly and hugged Terra gently.

"I do wish you happiness. I agree with your points. I was being selfish. Simon deserves peace from his misery. I shall always love him and hold him dear to my heart..." Terra said finally, and stood out of the way.

She watched as Simon rose from his body and looked at her with a smile. Terra watched as the two lovers embraced for the first time in two years and left her behind in the real world. Time went back to normal after that.

Locke tripped over Sabin's feet, making him and Sabin fall over on top of each other. The woman who Edgar had been holding, fell to the floor, and Edgar made his way into the room walking over the two on the floor. "Terra? What happened? I heard a scream," Edgar said to her with concern.

Terra was speechless for a moment. "It's kind of hard to explain...but first of all...Simon is dead. I know the whole story of his background. I'll tell you all over dinner. Right now, I need to speak to Locke in private," Terra said.

Locke and Sabin stood up. Edgar left the room, only to be bitch slapped by the woman he had carelessly dropped on the floor. Sabin burst out laughing, and Terra led Locke to her room. They sat on the bed together and Terra remained quiet for a few moments, pondering her thoughts.

They could be a family now. Simon had set her free. She felt bad about jumping into it all of a sudden. She would in fact marry Locke, but not until she was good and ready. They would spend at least a year in a normal intimate relationship first, just to get used to him again. It had been a long time after all...

"Terra? You wanted to talk to me?" Locke interrupted the green haired lovely's thoughts.

"Oh, yes, Locke. I wanted to tell you that...I want to marry you," Terra said first.

"Marry me? So soon? Not that I mind, but I kind of figured that you might want some time to grieve..." Locke said to in astonishment.

"No, not soon...I want to at least wait a year before we marry. I want to be in a relationship with you first. I want to get used to loving you again. It's been so long since I've actually kissed you..." Terra said.

"I understand completely. When you're ready, I'll be waiting for your consent," Locke said lovingly and hugged her.

"Thank you, Locke. You're so understanding," Terra smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips.

During dinner, Terra explained the whole thing to everybody. She explained it down to the very last detail. She repeated everything Pearl had said to her so that everybody could understand. Everybody was amazed to hear about the kind of history background Simon had. Relm found it a little boring after, and excused herself, with Gau close behind. They went up into her room to cuddle a while.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late, I had to deliver mail from Jidoor to South Figaro. Did I miss anything?" Setzer asked, coming in the middle of dinner.

"Setzer! I've forgotten all about you! Sit down and I'll tell you the whole story," Terra gestured as he sat and she explained.

After everything was explained through, Setzer turned paler than what the make-up he wore made him. "Setzer, are you alright?" Terra asked with concern.

"I...I...I can't believe you found out everything about that place. How could you? I-I can scarce believe what I've heard!" Setzer said in a daze of amazement.

"What? Setzer, do you know something about this place that we don't?" Terra asked.

"Diamond...he...he was my brother..." Setzer said quietly.

Everybody grew silent. "He was your...brother?" Terra asked in pure amazement.

"...Yes...I'm sorry I never got to see him again now...I..." Setzer couldn't find the words.

Soon after, he told them that he couldn't stand living in a secluded, solitary area, he had to get out and explore. His real name was actually, Solitaire the Second, which he found was suitable, but too exotic, so he changed it to the name Setzer, which meant close to the same thing. He finally told them that the scars on his face were from the many struggles he had to go through to survive, such as raiders and thieves. He had a cruel survival as people could tell and soon made a living from gambling. That was how he became the master. After, he slaved over building his airship and met Darryl, who helped him a great deal in the process. Life was good at that point, until she met her fate.

"That's how my life as Setzer had been. It was hard, but my life was better than being in solitude all my life, watching my brother get all the glory," Setzer said finally.

"Hey, man, I know how you feel about that," Sabin admitted to him heartily.

"Hey, thanks," Setzer said.

"You're welcome to go and pay your last respects," Terra said to him.

"Hey, thanks, Terra...Hey! You're my new sister in law! Good to have ya in the family!" Setzer laughed and everybody laughed along with him. A few hours later, Setzer did pay his last respects to his brother, and then decided to head off again the next morning.

Later that week, Locke and Terra returned to Mobliz with Nick, where all of the children, Katerin, and Duane came to greet them. Locke and Terra would spend the rest of their days living up to the responsibility of every last orphaned child of Mobliz, along with their own family. After a year, Locke and Terra did get married. They got married at the next reunion at Doma Castle, where Cyan had taken over as King. Terra became pregnant with another child a year later. It was a girl Terra decided to call Destiny. Terra eventually remembered the bits and pieces of her past that had been a minor of her days and couldn't have been happier to feel complete again. They were a happy family and would be forever...

Disclaimer: No FF6/3 characters that were mentioned in the FF6/3 game are mine. The towns in the game aren't mine. The Ancient Castle isn't mine. Heck, Odin isn't even mine! HOWEVER, All Queens of the Ancient Castle mentioned are mine. (If there was a Queen mentioned of the Ancient Castle in the game, I did not use her) All Kings of the Ancient Castle are mine (same goes for Kings of the Ancient Castle mentioned in the game, I did not use any Ancient Castle characters from the game). Simon is mine, Destiny, the servant Edgar drops, Nick, and the city of the Ancient Castle are ALL mine! Do not claim or use them! You may only use them if you have my permission!! Please do NOT sue me! I am poor and have nothing to give if sued!

Author's Note: OK, before I begin my excitement, I'm sorry for anyone who is disappointed with Simon's death! Let's look on the bright side, he's with his first love and child! That's a good thing...right? Anyway...OMG! I'm finally done one of my major stories! I really hope you enjoyed the Ancient Castle history! Also, I really, REALLY hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! It's like, 1:00 AM now...heh...Yeah, that's how I usually get chaps done, staying up late cuz I'm not tired. Anyway, for those of you who love this story, review and tell me how much you loved it. I really do appreciate it and I thank you all for sticking with me during this story. You encouraged me to finish this. You, the reviewers. I write fanfics to see how you like them. It makes me feel happy to know that you enjoy my work, which makes it a fun pass time. Anyway, I'll let you all go now. You don't want to listen to my constant rambling. ;