A/N: This story is a mixture of modern times and the world of Final Fantasy VI. It's basically just a retelling of the same story, with a little bit added from my own mind. I've also "tweaked" a few of the characters, but not drastically. I'm probably going to have to leave a little out or else I'll be writing this story for years. Hey, it's a lot of story to tell! I based the society/culture on the US, since it's the society I know best (I live there, after all...), but many locations from the game will be added into their "North America." Please, read and enjoy.
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Final Fantasy VI: Modern Era
By: E.D. Spencer
The Past
Ever since birth, the two girls had been by each other's side. As time passed, their bond grew. Then...
"NO!!" the first blonde little girl yelled.
The bad men pulled at her, trying to drag her away. The second blonde girl cried out, reaching her tiny hand to her friend.
"I don't wanna go!! NO!!" the first screamed out again, reaching out to the only comfort she had.
Their hands almost touched. The little fingertips wiggled and bounced off each other. The bad men continued to pull. The second little girl struggled to grab her hand.
She did the only thing she could think of. Power welled to the center of her being. She pictured the lightening in her mind. The image got stronger and stronger. Her power willed itself around the thought and it became alive as pulsating power. Static crackled in her tiny ears as the bolt became a part of reality instead of an object of the mind.
"LIGHTNING!" her tiny voice rang out
The bad man dropped the first girl as electricity rained down on him. He jerked around a few times, then collapsed to a knee. When he composed himself, he glared at the girls, who know held each other tightly.
He lunged at the second girl, the little spell caster. Both girls screamed with fear.
"Celes! I'm going to kill you, you little cu--" he yelled out
Before he reached the girls, a hand grasped his shoulder roughly. The second man looked down at him scoldingly.
"Stop, they're just children..."
"Cid, did you see what your little bitch did!? She nearly killed me."
"Well, that's too bad. I'm sure she'll be stronger next time." Cid said dismissively
He had no heart for the bastards he worked for. He never attempted to act like he did, either. How could he care for men who would attack five year olds, no matter how powerful both potentially were.
Two little blurs of golden locks rushed over to Cid. Both wrapped their arms around his legs. He gently patted each little dear on the head.
"What's the problem, girls?"
The first girl, pulled away. "I don't wanna have any more tests!"
"Oh, Terra, dear." Cid said as he moved to a knee, "It will be alright. I promise it won't hurt."
Terra's eyes watered again. She hugged her arms around her body.
"You said that last time" tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Don't take her away!" Celes yelled
Cid smiled warmly at the two little ones. The children were his heart and soul. Only the children had any sort of worth in such a corrupt system.
"She'll be fine, Celes. Now," he stood up and held out a hand, "Come with me, Terra."
Hesitantly, Terra obeyed. She slowly walked over to Cid, putting her tiny hand in his.
After the girls said goodbye, he slowly led Terra out of the room. The guard walked up behind him, whispering in his ear.
"What should I do with Celes?"
Cid's face fell as he sighed deeply.
"You know what you have to do."
The guard turned on his heel while Cid and Terra continued their way to the lab. The guard closed the door behind him. Celes moved against the wall. Her little legs shook beneath her.
"You're nothing but a waste. You'll never amount to anything." The guard sneered down at her.
He grabbed Celes' hair and yanked her to him. He pulled out a corked vial from his pocket. After taking the cork out with his teeth, he forced her mouth open and poured the thick green liquid down her throat. Celes fought with all her might, but she wasn't strong enough. She swallowed the bitter liquid and went still.
"There we go, much better now. Hm, time to rewrite your past."
The liquid had a property of memory wiping. The only things the drinker remembered were things told to him. The guard gently molded the little girl's memory, helping her to recall past events. A few things were left out.
Including Terra.
**13 years later**
General Celes, barely eighteen, stood outside the destroyed city. She'd led the troops to victory over and over. She crushed the enemy with her tactics and cunning. Her cold, time-hardened, blue gaze struck fear in the hearts of men twice her age and triple her size.
Her current victory hadn't been much of a city, honestly. Still, it was a horrible feeling murdering women and children for no reason. The President said that these people were the enemy, so she led her troops as told.
With a heavy sigh, she held her sword. How many had she'd slain with the weapon? She wondered. More than ten, more than twenty...She wiped some blood and dirt off her face with the back of her hand, deep in thought.
One of the troops walked up to her.
"General Celes, should we pull out?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here. I think they've learned their lesson well." Her voice was icy cold, as usual.
The man bowed curtly. He always had a chip on his shoulder when she ordered him to do something. She had no idea why he hated her so much. Then again, she felt the same way, though she never knew why. He always had a look in his eye, like he was dissecting every move she made. Celes felt uncomfortable with that.
She watched as he ran off to order the men to pull back. She sighed deeply again. Inside she could feel that all of this wasn't right. She watched as her men gunned down innocent little boys trying to protect the small city. That couldn't be how things should be...could it?
Off in the distance she heard the machine guns of her troops firing along with chilling screams.
"It's coming! Run!!" they yelled.
"FALL BACK!!" Celes screamed
She didn't know what the hell scared the men that badly. She didn't WANT to know.
Those in ear shot also yelled the order. Men stopped and began running to the tankers and trucks to get out of there. Soon, however, the reason for the screams caught up with the Empire's men.
A massive beast came around the corner, stomping the people as though nothing more than ants. Celes' eyes widened.
"What the hell is that thing?"
No one knew the answer. All they knew was the beast was no match for them. They fired everything they had at the thing, and it kept coming, unaffected.
It snarled angrily followed by a ground shaking roar. People tried to cover their ears, but nothing could protect them from the deafening sound. Again, troops attempted to use weaponry against with fail. The beast grew more angry, with a berserk rage evident.
Lighting and fire rained down on them from everywhere. Celes watched in horror as men burned alive. The smell of charred flesh quickly filled the air, causing the young general gag several times. Already, nearly half her men had fallen, and the beast was far from done.
She ran out before the creature with her sword. She concentrated a moment, raising the sword in the air. She gathered energy in the pit of her stomach, pulling on it and forcing energy around it inside of her. Energy passing by sucked into the invisible void, causing the first light to cross it "flash" briefly, before it absorbed. The creature started another barrage of magical attacks. Her sword acted as a magical lightning rod, bringing the energy into itself and Celes, who released it harmlessly into the earth below. Unfortunately, she only caught half of it. A large bolt of lightning struck just before her, blasting her back against on of the trucks.
"Celes you twat!" the bastard troop yelled out, "You're not helping!!"
She sincerely wanted to kill him, but she was sure the beast would do it anyway.
Barely conscious, she looked off to the distance, in the direction in the town they had mostly destroyed. The people left there in the burning village looked on, unafraid. It didn't take her long to realize that this thing had been released by the villagers as a last defense. The proud look on their dirty, bruised faces told her as much.
She searched passed the crowd, further into the dying town. She saw a woman holding onto a bloody mess. Blood streamed down her arms, dripping in clumps to the ground. The poor woman rocked back and forth, holding it to her bosom.
"Oh Gods..." Celes whispered, "That's her baby..." she said with a horror-stricken look in her eyes.
'What have we done?' her mind screamed at her, 'This isn't justice, this is genocide. I can't be a party to it anymore...Never....'
With as much strength as she could muster, she got up from the ground and ran to the village.
"What the hell are you doing!?" the bastard yelled out
Celes collapsed in front of the people. Each stared at her with disgust and confusion. She understood why. With a clang, her sword skidded across the ground. She'd laid down her sword, showing that she'd surrendered.
"YOU TRAITOROUS WITCH!!" her men yelled out as the creature continued to stop, snap, and chomp on the troops.
Celes watched the last of her men killed with violent carnage. She almost got a certain amount of pleasure watching the bastard get picked up and pulled in two. When it was done, the beast headed back from wherever it came from leaving only the remaining villagers and the great General Celes Chere alive.
**********
Secretary of Defense A. Kefka pulled up to the MagiTec Laboratory around noon, Monday. He stepped out of his flaming Porsche looking around the place. He smiled bright as the morning sun with a hint of rat bastard.
He was a tall man, lanky with a sharp face, unnaturally blonde hair, and pointed nose. He wore fancy Armani suits, today's color of choice was a deep red, nearly brown, with an elaborate green tie. His large leather brief case matched his suit. He looked more like a mentally challenged pimp, than a man with high position and power.
Many people thought he had the looks of a court jester. Then again, a lot of times he did seem like the clown of the White House. He certainly didn't seem like the type to know how the hell to help President Gestahl with war decisions.
Not that anyone knew HOW Gestahl got into office. Most people voted for the other guy.
Kefka walked up the long steps to the Laboratory with a jovial bounce. He waltzed into the building holding the door open for a few scientists who were behind him.
"Hello, Mr. Kefka!" the security officer at the front desk said politely
"Well, hello, Stan." Kefka grinned.
The grin sent chills down Stan's spine. He tried to continue smiling politely while scanning Kefka's security card. When the clearance checked, Stan handed back the id card.
"Here you are, sir. Have a nice day."
"Stan, I'm going to have a wonderful day!" Kefka said as he passed through the giant, bulletproof glass walls
Yes, today was a glorious day for Kefka. His military engineers finished their little secret project. He was one step closer to his goals. All he needed now was the girl.
*********
Terra sat in the corner of her tiny windowless room. It was all the world she knew.
Time had taken away memories of her youth, corroding them till nothing remained. Now this tiny space had become the world to her, without an image of the outside. All she had of the world were books and a few magazines Cid snuck in.
The scientists probed her through testing almost daily. They seemed overly interested in her for reasons unknown especially regarding her magical abilities. When she asked, they told her she couldn't know. Some of the military people guarding her shut her up with physical violence. Those days, she'd huddle in the corner for a long time, crying bitter tears.
She knew no solace. She knew no happiness. She knew nothing but those four walls and the sealed door.
Occasionally someone would visit her, particularly the President who claimed to have found her abandoned at a young age. He claimed that during a trip of mercy, before he became president, he discovered the beautiful blonde baby, practically in a ditch.
He knew she was "special," so instead of giving her to an orphanage, attempting to find her parents, or even adopting her, he handed her over to MagiTec. For most of her eighteen years, she remained there as the eternal science experiment. Yet, sometimes, he claimed her as a child.
After a few clicks sounded from the door, it opened. Terra looked up, then immediately frowned. Suddenly, she felt ill.
"You know, they give you a bed so you can lie on it, kid. Why sit on the floor?" he said, almost cheerily
She sneered at her guest.
"It's not comfy."
"Well, the government doesn't have money to spare on pets, dear. Take what you can get."
"What do you want, Kefka?"
His smile faded and turned to an angry glare.
"Such insolence will be rewarded with punishment, Terra. Keep that in mind the next time we speak."
"Hope that's not soon. What do you want?"
He smiled again as he slunk over to her like a snake. He bent down in front of her, staring her directly in the eye. Kefka brought his hand to her sweet face. Terra flinched when his hand first touched her cheek, expecting pain. Instead, she found his touch to be infinitely gentle, which she thought was much worse.
"You, dear, you."
She cocked a brow at him. "What do you mean?"
He could tell what she assumed, but that was far from his thoughts. He chuckled at the girl's apparent naughty mind. It was an intriguing idea, of course, but he'd have to play later. Right now, he had to get things on their way.
Kefka set his briefcase down then opened it. He pulled out a mechanical looking halo. Terra was intrigued with the seamless blue object decorated with greenish computer parts inside. Her eyes widened.
"Do you know what this is?" he said excitedly
"N-no."
"It's a little highly classified trinket from the military. It's called a 'slave crown.' It's really beautiful, I think. Do you want to know what it does?"
"Not really"
"I'll tell you anyway. This little hair banner strictly triggers the motor functions of the user, disabling higher brain functions including thought and reason. It also quells the need and desire to rest, sleep, or eat unless absolutely necessary. All thoughts, memories, and logic--poof--gone. Only instinctual and basic knowledge remains. All else is pumped into the user by whomever controls the slave crown. In other words, the wearer becomes a mindless drone, incapable to do anything other than what is ordered."
Terra backed away, but Kefka's arms blocked her in either direction. His eyes grew mad while they stared into hers, sensing the fear mounting inside of her.
"Ah," his voice practically squealed, "I see you know what I'm going to do with this. Don't worry, little dear, once you wear this, you'll be just fine. You won't remember a thing." He cackled evilly.
His hand grabbed Terra around the neck, squeezing slightly mostly to hold her in place. She tried to claw at him with her nails, but he just laughed more. She thought to summon a spell or two, just to get him away, but soon realized there was no point. On his right hand she saw a small jeweled ring. The mechanical insides gleamed with the jewel. He had a barrier on that reflected magic.
Knowing defeat, tears trickled down Terra's cheeks. How could life be so cruel?
Kefka placed the crown over her ponytail and down her head until it touched her forehead. All of her movements immediately stopped. Her eyes grew vacant and hallow. Inside, Terra felt what little she knew slip away. Her past and present wiped from her mind as the world grew black.
The last thing she remembered until all was gone was Kefka's roaring laughter.
***Thanks for reading! I'll update soon, thanks. EDS