Chapter the Twelfth - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Imperial soldiers landed in the sand with blades drawn, a ring surrounding those who dared to harm their general. Weaponless, Cyan and Sabin exchanged looks of amusement.Celes watched the two men charge into the fray with a sigh. Sparkles danced from her fingertips.
"No!"
With a giggle, she directed a blast of icy shards at Locke.
"I might not know how, but I do know you could've called for help at anytime," Locke grunted as he barely dodged her spell. "If you didn't need us, you wouldn't have wasted so many weeks coming here."
"Oh, so the last few weeks with me were a waste, were they?"
Celes' icy blade slashed so closely that Locke felt frost form against his skin. He cursed again as she thrusted, this time catching his loose sleeve. "Dammit Celes," he couldn't believe this. "What do you want from me?"
She tripped him and laughed. The tip of her blade rested against his neck, droplets of cold water pooling at its point. "I want you, dearest."
"Wha...?"
"You'll sneak into the bases securing the Sealed Gate and sabotage them, just like you did to our forces occupying South Figaro. In the chaos, I'll enter the caverns."
"You... you could've just asked."
"I might've if you hadn't lied to me," Celes playful smile twisted into a sneer. "Now do as I say, or everyone dies."
Behind her, Edgar tripped over driftwood with soldiers in pursuit.
"You realize you've already tried this once," Locke growled.
"Why change what works?"
"Works? Well I'm not helping you, so why don't you go find Gestahl and beg for your life?"
Celes pressed the blade closer to his throat. A drop of his warm blood mixed with the icy water. "You think I'm kidding?" she hissed. "I have no qualms killing you."
"Remember?" Locke pointed at himself. "Not stupid. We're dead anyways; you destroyed our only way home. So go ahead, kill me. Sign your own death warrant, I'm sure you have a spell for an ice pen somewhere in that-"
Celes kicked. Locke barely turned away in time as a cloud of sand covered his face. He wiped his eyes clean and saw that she had backed away.
"Well?"
Celes glared at him, but it was less spiteful than usual. She fingered something inside her vest. "Land the ship," she growled into the collar of her cloak. "This is going to take a while."
---
Edgar rubbed his sore shoulders and sighed. "Then it's settled," he said wearily.
"I do not feel comfortable with your role, King Edgar."
Banon squeezed Cyan's shoulder. "It's the best use of our resources. With you and I together, we can lead the resistance with impunity. Edgar would merely be a target, one whose loss would harm us more than his presence."
"That is true, but I trust neither thief nor witch. Edgar, yours is a dangerous task."
"No worries Cyan, he's got me looking after him," Sabin puffed out his chest and laughed.
"That is but of little discomfort."
Sabin's face twisted in confusion. "I'll assume that's a compliment."
The door opened. Outside, the last rays of the setting sun bathed Locke's frame in orange radiance.
"And what does thy mistress desire?"
Locke ignored Cyan's snide remark. "They're ready."
Sabin strolled out first, closely followed by Banon. At Edgar's silent urging, Cyan strode past Locke without any further altercations.
"Well?"
Locke raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You're over a week late and when you get back, you bring her. Tell me this isn't what I think it is."
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Locke snapped.
Edgar sighed in frustration. As he walked through the door-frame, Locke grabbed him by the elbow.
"I thought we were better friends than this."
Edgar gave him a thin smile. "Mark my words, I'll find out what's going on between you two."
"There's nothing-"
"Then you wouldn't be so damn secretive, would you? You haven't even told us what you're going to do for her."
Locke gritted his teeth. "I don't like your tone."
"Then we're done here," Edgar left without a further word.
---
"You?" Sabin's mouth dropped open.
"It's not really that surprising," Banon shrugged. He held out his hand. "I don't believe we've properly met, Wedge."
The white-haired man adjusted his flamboyant rimmed-hat. "Setzer's the name," he laughed as they shook hands.
"So that is the Blackjack. I never did believe the rumours," Edgar remarked. He found it hard to tear his eyes away from the airship. "Never thought someone of your reputation could sink to such lows."
Setzer's smile vanished. "You want a ride or not?"
Edgar heard Banon quickly exchange hushed words with Cyan. Even the old Returner was going to have his hands full keeping Cyan from exploding on Setzer and his crew. "You will be taking Banon and Cyan back north," he explained.
"And what do you think you're doing? " Celes snapped from her seat on the rocks. Strangely enough, none of her goons were present.
"Helping you, of course," Edgar grinned. "Both me and my brother."
"I don't need either of you."
"Well they're coming." Locke had finally caught up to them.
"I don't want-"
"Well we don't always get what we want, do we?" Locke snarled.
Surprisingly, Edgar watched Celes bite her tongue. What was going on here?
"I told you before: they'll see us coming if we take the Blackjack," Celes retorted at last. Her ears were red. "Stop being so petty."
"This has nothing to do with walking. We need them," Locke declared.
"An irresponsible king who abandons his people to foreign invaders and his brother, a vagrant who actually manages to be more irresponsible? Yeah, we really need them."
Setzer groaned. He pointed at Banon and Cyan. "You two, get aboard. I've lost enough dignity for one day, I'm not listening to anymore of this."
"Setzer, remember your place," Celes snapped.
"Oh, I remember perfectly well. You're the one who's forgetting."
"Don't test me, Captain."
Setzer sighed. He was halfway up the ladder with Cyan trailing. "Keep it up hon; you've almost convinced me you're no better than he is."
As Celes' cheeks reddened, Edgar suddenly grasped the intricacies of their situation. He strolled before her and held out his hand.
"Looks like we're stuck together. Let's start over on friendly terms."
His tone, perfectly balanced between sympathy and pity, angered her exactly as he expected. "If you want to live through the night, you better keep your mouth shut," she hissed.
Edgar lowered his voice. "And if you want to beat Gestahl and his spies, you better smarten up. Because right now, us Returners are the only people you can trust, aren't we?"
She looked ready to burst with rage. For a moment, Edgar thought he went too far.
Celes shot to her feet and stormed off.
"Smooth. You really have a way with the ladies," Locke held out a backpack in each hand.
"Lady?" Edgar scoffed. "Anyhow, I'm sick of leaving my fate in the hands of others. It's time to grab a hold of the reins."
With that said, the three men hurried after Celes' shadow.
---
"This path will lead us down there," Celes pointed down the rocky cliff.
"Lead the way," Sabin seemed reluctant to challenge such a steep descent, especially in the deep of the night with nothing but moonlight to go on.
Edgar glanced back. In the distance, a trio of mountains peaks were illuminated by the red glow of an inferno.
A sigh left his lips. Now he knew why Locke had been so reluctant to explain his promise to Celes. Remote military bases were more than just barracks for soldiers, it was a small town that supported the lives of hundreds of families. Even if it was they were Imperial, the blood of innocent women and children were on Locke's hands.
"There's still a lot of guards," Sabin noted through the inky darkness as they rappelled down the cliff.
"You're looking at a decoy. What kind of secret would it be if a dozen Armors are always camped out front?"
They could tell she was rolling her eyes, even if they couldn't see her.
"Where's the real one?" Edgar asked, doing his very best to avoid a snappy retort.
"Marked as storage. It looks unimportant and with the base in flames, I'd expect most guards to desert their posts."
---
It was as Celes said, though a pair of grunts had been left behind. They fell quickly to sword and fist.
"Forget the bodies. They'll assume it was the Espers."
The two brothers exchanged nervous looks and followed Celes into the cavern. Torches flared to life as the trio made their way past boxes of alleged foodstuffs piled high. It took them quite a while to make it through the maze.
Locke was waiting for them at the other end, sitting atop crates that had once covered a secret passage.
"How in the-" Celes stopped herself. "I ordered you to watch the base."
"Ordered?" Locke raised an eyebrow. "I'm not one of your goons. I don't take orders."
Celes folded her arms. "Really."
An explosion from behind slammed them into the ground. Crates flew past as a cloud of smoke slowly dissipated.
The entrance was blocked.
Liquid flame flowed over the rocks between them and freedom. They watched in shock as the heat intensified, melting the stone and sealing the entrance of the cavern completely shut.
"Are you insane?" Sabin turned to Celes. "You just-"
She silenced them with a frosty glare. "Remember: I'm in charge. I don't tolerate insubordination!"
"But you-"
"Shut up! You'll follow me and do as you're told, or you can leave and die searching for the exit. But either way, I'm through putting up with you idiots."
Celes pulled her cloak tight and marched deeper into the cavern.
