The End
A cold wind blew across the
Veldt. Only two people stood,
alone. Their slain friends were
starting to reek from the decay. The
land had a profound effect on the dead there.
A huge carcass already turning to dust, the work of Pure Evil, lay not
far from the two humans. A young man
held his arm, wrapped in his bandana, hoping the bleeding will soon stop. A short distance away stood a strikingly
lovely young woman, her long blonde hair matted together with blood, her long,
once snowy white cloak, lay across her shoulders now torn and stained. In the distance, burning bright as the
noon-day sun, a heap of rubble, the Falcon was its name, now only a monument to
an epic battle. The woman looked to her
left and there on the ground lay a feeble old man with white hair, still
clutching his staff in his cold pale hand.
To her right in a patch of grass lay another beautiful young woman,
about the same age as herself, her green hair complementing her bright blue
eyes…….
The
Beast came out of nowhere. Its giant
black wings blocking out the sun as it flew overhead. Crying out to her companions on the ship "NO! Watch out, it's
coming!!" Too little too late. The claws of the Monster tore through the
steel and wood as if it weren't even there.
The steel bird dove towards the ground and wasted no time bursting into
a brilliant fire. The Black beast, the
Falcon slayer, swept towards the remaining four people on the ground that
weren't burning. Stunned by the sudden
commotion, her companions didn't stand a chance. The old man was the first to go.
He stood four feet in front of her.
If he wouldn't have been there……
She still had spots of blood on her breastplate. The three talons of the Demons' left claw
sliced straight through the Genji Armor.
The team had recovered by then and the young man jumped forward, swords
in hand that glowed with the power of the Atma. Three slashes and the Monsters right chest area broke into a
bloody mess. Magic shot forward from
the Heavens and from the Earth, pummeling the Beast. In an attempt to break free, the monster slashed at the young
man, tearing his right arm. Screaming
with the torment of a thousand souls, Demons came forth and stole the green-haired
woman's very essence of being. Death
came and tore Terras' soul asunder at the Black Dragons' final command. Then the Beast died. Not a violent death, it simply fell forward and died. She stood and looked at the terrain around
her………
"Hey…" , "HEY Celes, SNAP OUT OF
IT!! Don't you die on me too.. We need to stick together if we're going to
make it out of this God-forsaken place."
Gently he laid his arm around her shoulders, attempting to comfort her.
"Oh
Locke…"
When
she woke, a warm fire blazed in the middle of a small cavern. Animal hides crudely stitched together
covered her. A storm blew violently
outside but she was protected, and didn't really care. She held her head in her hand and closed her
eyes again, trying not to remember what happened. She rose, clutching the blanket to her body. In the far corner she noticed her clothes
washed and neatly folded, and the Illumina propped in it's sheathe beside them.
Stumbling
over to her items, she dropped her only covering and bent over to gather her
clothes. Hearing a rustle in the
opposite corner, she quickly drew her weapon, its blade emitting a pale
light. The walls shook with the power
she was gathering for her first and probably last attack.
"Celes,
WAIT!! It's me Locke!" With that she fell to her knees and
wept. Running over to her, Locke put
his arm around Celes and kissed her head.
"Don't
worry, Celes, it's over now. No need to
be afraid."
Several
days passed, the rain coming and going occasionally, but the two never ventured
out into the plains for anything more than food, which was getting harder and
harder to come by the longer they stayed in the cave. The beasts that were edible grew fewer and fewer. Evil covered the land and Monsters and
Dragons of unbelievable strength emerged.
The
lack of food and water soon grew unbearable to the pair. Several weeks had passed, and still, no sign
of anyone asides from themselves had tried the ill-tempered Veldt.
"Celes,"
"Yes,
Locke?"
"I
can't take this anymore. The
confinement is tormenting. We must
escape."
"Yes,
I know, I could see it on your face for days.
I know how you feel. But, how
can we possibly get out of this Hell on Earth?
It just can't be done!!"
Crossing the small cave, she sat down beside the brown haired thief,
carefully examining him.
"Then
there's only one other option, wait here and die, together yes, but alone and
forgotten. Oh how I wish the battle
with Kefka still raged on. Then, THEN, we would stand a chance. We would still have our friends, the people
of the world looking up to us. Then we
had a reason to fight, but not now Celes.
But no, in order to save the planet, we broke Kefkas mortal shell and
released his spirit onto this world, damning it. Oh God Celes, what have we done?!?!"
Coaxing
his back Celes whispered, "Shhhhh….. don't cry, sleep. Tomorrow will be a new and better day." With that Locke laid his head onto her lap
and slept.
The
next morning, evening as it turned out, for he had slept a sleep thought only capable
by the dead. He slowly rose and walked
towards the cave opening, not knowing why.
The evening sun singed his eyes until he had to close them in order to
see.
Out
in the distance stood a mighty shape.
His ewes were blurred leaving him unable to discern what exactly it
was. A blood-curdling scream brought
all of his senses to a sharp focus. He
rushed towards the black Demon as it stood hovering over the beat and battered
Celes, about to go for the kill.
Locke
focused into Celes' eyes. The ground
began to shake and her eyes begged for forgiveness. He saw and knew then what she was going to do.
"CELES
NO, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO!!! IT'LL KILL YOU BOTH AND YOU KNOW IT!."
A
bright light engulfed her and the demon, and Time stopped, but only for an
instant. The next moment green fire
engulfed them both and tore the Demon to pieces before dying out.
Locke
screamed out as he ran towards her. Not
really words, just a scream of a desperate man whom suddenly had his only
reason to live taken from him. Dropping
to his knees by her body, Locke cast Cure spells and used all of the potions
and Elixirs he carried with him. Lying
down beside Celes he whispered to himself, "Ha, so what now. You've got her breathing, now what. 'Now
what? I'll tell you now what. NOW WE LEAVE HER HALF-DEAD ASS HERE AND MAKE
A BREAK FOR THE SEA!' NO! I will not do it!! I won't ever leave Celes… I'll protect her until my life is itself
forfeit. 'WHY?' But heading for the sea does sound like a
good idea. Don't worry Celes, I won't
let anything happen to you. I
swear." 'I asked why?' 'WHY?'
Hauling her
onto his back, Locke headed North towards the nearest desert. Figaro was last seen there, and Celes needed
help, fast.
Days
and eventually weeks passed, but Locke continued to carry the blonde beauty on
his back, running towards the desert, constantly running. No Beasts hampered their way, nothing at all
except the dirt beneath his feat did Locke ever see.
It
was mid afternoon and Locke had almost passed out from hunger. He had been traveling in the desert for more
than a week now, and still no sign of Figaro.
He had given up all hope of finding it and lay down in the sand not even
noticing someone out in the distance, running towards them.
"Hey,
what are you two doing out here? Don't
you know that the desert is crawling with sand worms?" The ignorant man. He didn't even notice that they were half dead until he was upon
them.
Quickly
gathering them up, he laid them on the back of his chocobo and quickly dashed
to the castle. There, they were cared
for and bathed.
When
Locke finally awoke, the first person he saw was the Chancellor. "Chancellor, where is Celes?" he demanded.
"Don't
worry the man replied, she's fine. She
is still asleep in her quarters. But
Locke, I need to ask you a question. We
need your help, the castle is under assault, please, your skills are worth that
of a thousand men, we need you!" the Chancellor pleaded.
"Not
as much as I need her." And with that
he ran through the halls barely stopping to hear the reply to his question of
where Celes was. When at last he came
upon her room, she was in a gown of pure white, lying upon her bed, hair combed
and face washed.
"Celes,
oh Celes. I'm so sorry, I couldn't
admit to myself, but now, now I can't control myself. I love you, oh God Celes I love you with all my heart." With that, he bowed his knees at the side of
her bed and looked into her face. She
opened her eyes and looked back at Locke.
"Locke,
I love you too." And without wasting
another moment Locke embraced her and they kissed. Light burst from their room and the gates of Heaven were thrown
wide open. Angels came forth and
trumpets rang loud.
For a minute, the troops of the last remaining
stronghold of the Humans grew vigilant and threw the forces of Darkness from
their walls. Then, the forces
of Hell came upon them and the walls fell.
The gates of Heaven filled with the Hounds of Hell and the light
failed. Locke and Celes were so
overwhelmed by each other's proclamation for love of each other, they didn't
notice as the walls fell in onto them.
With this the forces of Evil reigned true and all perished under Kefkas'
final blow.
THE END
Final Fantasy 3 and its characters are property of
Square Corp.
This fanfic is copyright of Archangel337