THE END

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