Ace of Hearts
Disclaimer: all Final Fantasy characters, names and locations are property of Square Enix. I own nothing that you recognize.
A/N: this story was inspired by The Cruxshadows' song Valkyrie, and was written a gift for Valkyrie Celes.
Ashes fell like snow, surrounding her in this ruined world as she stood atop the cliff, her hair blowing in the wind, snaking its way around her face as tears spilled from her eyes. Each drop glistened in the sunlight, reflecting images of a broken world. She'd spent so many years hiding her emotions, freezing them in ice. But there was no reason to hide her tears. No one was left to see them. She was alone, the one surviving member of the Returners. Or so she thought.
She dropped down on one knee, grasping her sword with both hands, the steel blade embedded in the earth. She bowed her head, forcing the pain aside as she was consumed by another wave of grief, pulling her under like the rising tide as the sun crested the horizon. But there remains a glimmer of hope as a dove dipped below the clouds, bringing with it a message in the form of a card held between its beak. It drifted on the current, riding the wind until it was within sight of the island, where it landed and fluttered its wings in an attempt to get her attention
Celes opened her eyes and saw the dove prancing about at her feet, its feathered head cocked to the side as it observed her, waiting for a response. "What have you got there?" She reached for the bird and plucked the object from its beak, examining the card in the pale early morning sunlight.
His voice returned as she turned the playing card over in her hands, and she looked to the sea, thinking for a moment that she might see him there. She could hear him, laughing on the wind, and thought that if this fragment could survive in a ruined world, then maybe he was out there, waiting for the day they would be reunited.
How long had she fought, waiting for a sign that he was still alive and breathing? Each step she took, defining who she was, who they were, as she chased the memory of a man who had long since vanished from her life. It seemed as though she had waited a lifetime, for him, for this, for everything they had and the future she would fight for. And she is fighting still, as she raised the sail and set out across the ocean, leaving behind the remnants of her broken past, searching for the one who will make her whole again.
She spent the next several days at sea, lost admid amber waves and darkened skies. The clouds were on fire with Kefka's magic, their burning hues blending with the waves until the ocean swallowed up the sky, blurring the lines between heaven and earth. She held the card between her fingers, remembering the way he would expertly launch them in the air, slaying even the toughest foe with nothing more than a handful of playing cards.
When she tried complimenting him on his skill, he brushed her words aside, saying that it had more to do with luck than skill. "Fate is armed with arrows," he told her, holding a dart and aiming at the board across the room. "She watches the battlefield and chooses who lives and dies. All we can do is roll the dice and take a chance, because that's all life really is, Celes. One big game of chance."
He released the dart, striking the center of the board. Celes frowned and shook her head. "Luck has nothing to to with it, Setzer," she said. "You've spent the majority of your life aboard this airship, gambling and playing card games. You developed your skill with time, not luck."
Setzer chuckled. "You think so, huh?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And what have you spent your life doing? Training in the Imperial academy, conquering villages and harnessing the power of the elements. You're a fighter, Celes. A warrior. So by rights you shouldn't be able to hit that board dead center on your first try."
Celes folded her arms across her chest. She knew him well enough to know when he was up to something, and before she had a chance to speak his fingers closed around her wrist, pulling it towards himself as he forced her hand open and pressed a dart in the palm of her hand.
"Go on then," he said, a mischievous glint shining in his eyes. He smiled at her and stepped aside.
Celes huffed out an irritated sigh. She flung the dart at the board where it stuck beside his, the two of them barely a centimeter apart.
"You see that, Celes?" he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. He then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Beginner's luck."
Where was that luck now, she wondered, her gaze drifting towards the horizon. If he was out there, if fate had brought them together, then why couldn't she find him? She'd been drifting for days, her food supply has been reduced to a few scraps of dried fish, and there was no sign of land within a hundred miles. It was beginning to look like Lady Luck had abandoned her, when suddenly she spied an object moving along the horizon.
She watched it getting closer, until it became apparent that the object was flying rather than sailing on the ocean. She cursed under her breath, readying her sword in case she had to do battle with Deathgaze. That hideous creature had almlost succeded in drowning her, her raft damaged and her arms scored with deep gashes from their previous encounter. She was able to heal herself after the battle had ended, but a second attack would most likely end in death for the unfortunate knight.
She gripped her sword, waiting for the beast to descend. The waves continued to lap at the raft, causing her to sway slightly as she bravely stood her ground. If she had to die then she would die fighting, not from thirst or starvation atop this battered pile of floating debris.
An ear piercing screech split the air, shattering the calm of the quiet ocean, and a leering face that resembled a skull appeared from the clouds.
"Come on!" Celes shouted. "Are you going to fight? Or are you going to run away again?"
Deathgaze rose into the air, flapping its wings and conjuring a heavy snowstorm that it sent racing towards her. Celes wanted to laugh when she saw what sort of attack the monster had used. She raised her sword and absorbed the magic into her blade, then fought back by unleashing her own devastating wave of ice and snow.
Blades of ice struck the monstrous beast, knocking it out of the sky and sending it plummeting into the ocean. Waves battered the sides of the raft as the creature floundered in the water. Celes stumbled, falling to the ground as her sword slipped from her fingers. She scrambled across the wooden planks, reaching for her sword just as the monster broke through the surface of the water.
Deathgaze howled with rage, a million points of light glimmering like diamonds as drops of water fell from its wings. It summoned a swirling vortex of wind, the waves leaping up to form a mile high waterspout that loomded over the tiny raft bobbing in the ocean.
Celes screamed as the driving winds lifted the raft out of the water, sending it airborne then smashing it against the surface of the water where it shattered in a dozen pieces. She sunk beneath the waves, her breath escaping in a trail of bubbles as drifted deeper into the ocean.
This was the end. Setzer was dead. They all were. There was no such thing as luck, fate or any of those other things he was always going on about. She'd have been better off throwing herself from the cliff instead of giving in to false hope. But at least she was given one last chance to dream, to see his face and hear his voice calling out to her.
She watched the light fade until it was nothing more than a distant speck on a watery horizon. It was then that she noticed a shadow passing overhead, blocking out the one remaining speck of light and dwarfing the creature that was currently picking through the wreckage of her raft. She blinked, closed her eyes for just a second, and thought she saw him there, reaching through the murky depths as he swam towards her. But she had let herself drift too far from the surface. Her vision darkened, and she closed her eyes one last time as his fingers grasped her wrist, pulling her out of the water.
"Celes!" Setzer gasped as he hauled her unconscious form out of the water. He glanced at the airship and saw Sabin fighting Deathgaze aboard the deck of the Falcon. Edgar was beside him, his crossbow in hand as he fired a barrage of arrows at the hideous beast. Gau was howling and leaping around on deck while Cyan tried his best to steer the airborne vessel.
"Celes. No, no you can't be..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. He turned around, reaching for the rope ladder that hung over the side of the airship, but there was no way he could climb the ladder and carry her at the same time. He clung to the ladder, watching as the beast took flight, soaring overhead as it departed across the sea. "Sabin!" he shouted. "Sabin, I've got her!"
The monk raced towards the side of the airship and began pulling on the rope ladder. Edgar joined him, and together the brothers hauled Setzer and the unconscious knight aboard the Falcon.
Edgar's face fell when he saw Celes' pale complexion, her lips tinged blue from lack of oxygen. "Setzer, is she - "
"No, she's not!" The gambler propped her up in a sitting position, supporting her across the waist as he thumped her on the back.
The others watched with bated breath, hoping against hope that the former General hadn't drowned. Their hope began to fade as the seconds passed and Celes did not respond. But then Setzer gave her one final slap on the back, and she awoke with a start, coughing and gasping as a generous portion of sea water spilled onto the deck.
"She's alive!" Setzer held her steady as she slumped over, crumpling onto the deck as the world spun around her. "Take it easy, Celes. You'll be alright in a minute."
Celes barely registered the cheers of the others, her vision blurring as she stared at the floor. At first she thought she had died and been reunited with her friends in the afterlife. Then slowly she began to realize that she was aboard the airship with Setzer, the warm winds caressing her face as clouds kissed the hull of the ship.
"I'm... I'm alive?" She blinked and turned her head, looking back at Setzer who was smiling at her. The last remaining ounce of strength went out of her limbs, and she collapsed into his arms. "Setzer!"
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as the others continued to cheer and celebrate the fact that she was still alive. "Celes, my dear Celes. You had me so worried. I thought... I thought I almost lost you. But I guess luck was on my side when I fished you out of the ocean."
"Setzer. I can't believe you still think that's real."
He cocked his head to the side, looking somewhat surprised by her reaction. "You don't believe in luck? After what you've just been through you're still going to sit there and tell me it isn't real?"
"I don't believe in luck, Setzer. But I believe in you." She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his as the sunlight glistened on her hair. It didn't matter how he found her, be it luck or fate that guided him to her when she was drowning in the sea. What mattered is that they were alive and could continue their adventure together.