Hmm, well, some backround...
I was lying in bed one night at like... 3 a.m. in the morning...when the idea just came to me. I began to think about what a childhood might have been like for a child who was raised in the Empire like Celes and Terra were. What surprised me though, was that instead of all sorts of negative things coming to my mind, there were mostly positive things, at first. I have seen a lot of fanfics that say that life in the Empire must have been all awful, from day one...but that is only one side of the perspective. Maybe at one point, in someone's life, the Empire's dreams made a comforting barrier around them, enclosing them in a safe and happy place, where nothing could touch them.
But of course, even this would have to end eventually...or else FF6 would have never been born! ^_~ BTW, I dont own anyone from this game, and this isnt for money...blah blah, all that fun stuff! Rated PG-13 for violence and bad words and shitz...
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd now...one of my more shorter stories...this one is only a mere 3 Parts long...and will be completed soonish-ly...
Corrupted
By: Celes Chere
Part One- Everlasting Memories
"And so, the Holy Knight Darin rode off into the sunset with his newlywed bride, the beautiful Princess Cherry, and they lived happily ever after..."
Cid closed the thin, hardcover book in his hands shut, and looked down at the three small children staring back up at him with satisfied smiles on their faces. Well, at least two of them were smiling. The girl that was sitting in between the two ten-year old boys had a perplexed look on her face, and her small nose was wrinkled up in thought, her mouth turned in a small glare. Cid sighed and scratched his head. He knew what was coming.
"What is it, Celes?" He asked, setting the book on the small table beside his chair in the large recreation room that was just a small part of the left tower of the Vector Palace, located in Vector on the Southern Continent. The girl swished her blonde hair over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows.
"....I don't understand it, exactly." She said in her articulate and bold voice. "Why did Cherry marry Darin so quickly? They only met once, when he rescued her from the Evil Dragon Lord! I thought it took people a long time to fall in love like that." Cid smiled a little and reached down, messing up her hair.
"It does, most of the time." Cid explained, and stood up from his chair. "But sometimes, in very special and rare cases, two people can fall in love at first sight. Some realize it right away, and others don't, but deep in their hearts, they know they are destined to be together forever. That is what Cherry and Darin did in the story. It's what gives it the happy ending." Cid walked over to the bookshelf, picking up the book from the table on his way there, and sliding it back into place on the shelf.
"Love at first sight..." Celes trailed off and looked up at the ceiling, only to hear her fellow story-listeners snickering.
"Celes wants to be taken away by a prince too!" One boy smirked, and blew a strand of dirty-blonde hair out of his sharp blue eyes. He stood up as well, stretching and reaching high up into the air. His long tan legs were covered with bruises and grass stains from messing around outside the entire summer day. The other boy stood up as well, running his hand through the small blonde spikes in his hair, his green eyes sparkling.
"I bet Kefka is right." He added, and Celes glared at both of them.
"Be quiet, Kefka, Leo." She snapped, and stood up, almost taller then the both of them. "I was just wonderin'."
"Now, now." Cid laughed, and turned to them. "You guys need to run along and get changed for bed. It's late enough as it is, and you three need to get some sleep."
"Alrighty." Leo said, and he, Kefka, and Celes took off running from the recreation room and down the long hallway to their seperate bedrooms. Cid shook his head, smiling, as he heard their arguing fade behind slamming doors. He turned off the lights in the recreation room and shut the door behind him, and began walking the opposite direction of the children, down the hall and around the corner to a staircase. He began decending slowly down, his middle-age bones already beginning to ache from all the stairs.
He rather wanted to retreat backwards to his own bedroom that was at the end of the kids' hallway, but Emperor Gestahl had requested Cid join him in a meeting immediately after he saw to the three children's bedtimes. He knew that Leo would make sure that everyone would go to bed. He was the oldest of the three, even if it was by a few months over Kefka, and he was the most responsible.
Cid reached down in his shirt pocket and pulled out a small notepad, and flipped it open. Inside were a few notes he had scrawled down for Gestahl, things that the Emperor had asked him to note the last time they were in a meeting, for some reason. They were just simple things, and yet, Cid almost felt guilty, as if he were betraying the three children he had practically raised his whole life. He couldn't immagine why he felt like this as he flipped through the pages.
June 13th
Today school let out for the local children in Vector. Leo and Kefka both graduated the Fourth Grade with honors, and Celes graduated Second Grade with honors grades as well. The three are always together...they came home laughing and covered in dirt from wrestling at the school yards...and also came home with behavior dermits from their teachers for the last day of school...
Cid let out a small chuckle and turned the page.
**********
Celes stuck her head out of her room and looked about her surroundings, making sure that no one was in sight. She then shuffled down the hall in her pink slippers and matching pink silk pajamas, pushing her hair that was now in two braids behind her shoulders. Carefully, she made her way to the rec room, and opened the door, softly and slowly so that it would not squeak. She then slipped in the room, shutting the door behind her, and made her way to the glass doors inside the rec room. Those doors led to the balcony that was outside...
"Celes, what took you so long?" Leo asked as she stepped out onto the balcony, sliding the glass doors behind her. Leo was in his blue pajama top and bottoms, along with his white slippers.
"Sorry, I had to put my hair in braids!" Celes said, and Leo playfully tugged on one.
"Stop!" Celes protested. "I don't want my hair to get in a mess tomorrow morning."
"Don't grow it so long!" Kefka smirked, leaning against the balcony railing. His red pajamas matched Leo's exactly, except in color, and his black slippers creeped out from under his pajama pants, which were a little too long.
"I want to." Celes said, and stuck out her tongue.
"You're such a girly-girl!" Kefka teased.
"So are you!" Celes giggled, and Kefka turned red while Leo burst out laughing. Suddenly, Leo turned to the sky and pointed up.
"Look you guys, this is what I heard would be happeing on the news tonight." Leo said, and everyone turned to follow his direction. The sky was dark, with the dazzling stars sparkling like diamonds set in the sky. However, the moon, which was full, was a deep orange color instead of the normal silvery white.
"Wow...." Celes smiled. "It's beautiful! Totally worth sneaking out."
"Kinda looks eerie." Kefka smirked, but leaned over the balcony beside Celes, admiring it as well.
"I heard at school that if you make a wish on a moon like this, it will come true." Celes said, looking to Leo. "Is it true?"
"I don't know, maybe it's based on some local lore." Leo said. "But hey, if it is, we should take advantage of it."
"Alright!" Celes grinned, and clasped her hands together. "This is easy. I wish that this summer won't be boring like last year!"
"Oh man, that's true." Kefka said. "Nothing good was going on last year. Vector was nothing but a hick town!"
"It still is." Leo corrected him. "But a lot has been going on too. Did you notice how many men have been visiting the palace lately...? It's kind of creepy."
"Yes, I noticed too." Celes said. "But I don't mind. They stay away from us. They just come to draft into Emperor Gestahl's army. Well...at least that is what Cid told us..."
"I wish Cid would let up on our curfews." Kefka said, cutting Celes off. "That's my wish to that weird-ass moon."
"Kefka!" Leo snapped.
"Sorry." Kefka laughed a little. "But it's true. He's too protective. Leo, you and me are gonna be in fifth grade next year. We're like, babies compared to the rest of our class!"
"Heh." Leo said, and suddenly let out a loud yawn. "....Actually, I'm getting kind of tired. We should just go to bed for the night."
"You're no fun Leo." Kefka said. "I have eggs in my pocket! Lets sneak outside and egg something!" Leo ignored him and looked at Celes.
"Alright, I'll peek into the hall and make sure no one is coming." Celes said, and sauntered off back into the rec room. This was her duty every time they snuck out of their rooms like this, because if someone saw her, she could easily claim she was up to get water or that she had a nightmare, since she was younger then Kefka and Leo and basically more believable. When she popped her head out the door, she checked both ways to make sure the halls were empty, and gestured for Leo and Kefka to come to her. She was about to open the rec room door wide enough for them to slip through, when suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs down the hall.
"Oh no, back off!" Celes cried, and gave whoever was behind her a shove so she could step back and close the door. However, that person behind her was Kefka, and Celes' violent push caused him to thump into the wall. All at once, a sickening cracking noise was heard as Celes shut the door quickly.
"What was that?!" Leo asked in a hushed whisper. Kefka looked at the others and gulped.
"Those were my eggs." Kefka replied, and Celes nearly burst out laughing when she saw the mess that was already seeping through the pockets of Kefka's pajamas. Leo tried not to laugh himself as the footsteps passed by the rec room. A few moments later, the same footsteps passed by them again and thumped down the stairs heavily.
"Must have been a guard." Celes said, knowing that they were all over the palace at night.
"Ok, check again." Leo said, and Celes poked her head out the door.
"Cost clear!" She exclaimed, and with that, took off running for her bedroom. Throwing open her door, she ran in the room, and dove onto her soft, fluffy, white canopy bed.
"Hmm...warm." She said to herself as she snuggled under her white comforter with little pink bows. Her room had been relatively chilly because she had left the window open all day, and now the cool nighttime air was blowing in, so she felt very comfortable under her thick blankets. It took her a few minutes before her heart stopped racing from her little sneaking out adventure, and soon, her whole body was beginning to relax.
Celes turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes half-open. Even though her day had not been busy, she was worn out. Her day was the same as all the others she had had since school let out... Usually either Leo or Kefka would wake her up and demand her to get dressed so they could play together out in the courtyard or in town if Cid allowed them. Eventually, they would waunder home for a full lunch of their favorites, and usually spend the afternoon mulling around in Vector Castle together playing video games or acting out the stories Cid read them together. Then would come dinner, a story from Cid, and bedtime... Celes couldn't immagine a better paradise for a kid her age. She was practically free to do whatever she wanted. Everyone in Vector Palace treated her like a princess.
But she knew that she was different from other kids. There were no other children like her in Vector except for Leo and Kefka, her best friends. She also found it hard to get along with the other kids at her school as well, even though she did have some friends. They would always ask her strange questions over and over again though, which Celes found weird, and found herself thinking about that night.
"Celes, why don't your parents come to family day?"
"Why do you live with those two boys when you arn't family?"
"How come you live in Vector Castle when you arn't related to the Emperor?"
"How come we can never come to your house to play...?"
Celes let out a soft sigh and slowly murmured the answers that the Emperor and Cid himself had told her to say.
"My parents died when I was born, and Cid adopted me because he was a family friend. Leo and Kefka were also adopted within the Empire, and that's why we grew up together. Cid is a chief engineer and gets to live in the palace that he help build...and Emperor Gestahl would rather I play at my friend's houses instead."
From what Celes knew, that was all true. Cid told her that when her mother was pregant, she was too weak and didn't make it through child birth. A few months later, her father, who was in an early draft of the Empire army, was killed in a battle. Cid became her guardian, and took her with him to Vector Castle when it was built. That was when she met Kefka and Leo, even though of course, she was far too young to remember any of it. She also did not remember her parents at all. She still loved them dearly, and prayed for them every night, but she did not miss them. Life was filled with school, friends, and the trials of childhood that everyone had to go through to feel accepted and to find their niche, and Celes' life was no exception from any of it. She didn't have time to miss them...
Besides, her two best friends, Kefka and Leo, did not mention their parents either, and she felt that she should follow in their footsteps, being that they were the only people she felt she could truly relate to in her little eight-year-old heart. They had been best friends ever since she could remember, and they had all been through a lot together...they too, had lost their parents, and were adopted by someone of the Empire...
"....Just what is the Empire?" Celes found herself asking in bed. Whenever Cid had tried to explain it to her, he always got complicated and she found herself walking off in the middle of one of his sentences. All she knew was that many, many people were in the Empire, and that Emperor Gestahl owned it, along with Vector Castle.
And Emperor Gestahl was a powerful man...despite what relations Celes had to him by living in his home...she did not see him often, nor did she care to. He was scary.
**********
"Welcome, Cid." Gestahl said as he walked into his 'throne room', the heavy metal doors being slammed behind him by two red-uniformed guards who followed him up to his seat that was set near a small table in the back of the room. Cid had already been seated and was waiting pateintly for the Emperor to arrive. Gestahl looked him up and down and suddenly smirked.
"You look exhausted, Cid." He said, his eyes still managing to pierce their gaze underneath his bushy eyebrows that matched his beard and hair. Cid nodded a little.
"The kids get rowdy when it's summer." Cid said. "And I had to explain to Celes a plot of a fairy tale in such a descriptive manner so that she would accept it and move on. She just doesn't take "Because I said so." Not that I mind of course...hee hee, she's just a bright girl."
"Hmm, yes, Miss Chere is rather bright, eh?" Gestahl commented in a sick tone that made Cid want to shiver. "Speaking of which, how did they do in school?"
"All three of them passed with flying colors." Cid said. "They are doing well in fencing class too. Celes and Kefka have a competition coming up next month. You should go and see them, Gestahl."
"Perhaps I may...I need to see their progression hands-on anyway." Gestahl mused as Cid handed him the little notebook with his notes about the children. "Data and such is just not enough for a delicate operation such as this." Cid raised his eyebrows and wondered if Gestahl was finally going to enlighten him about this 'operation' he had been going on about for the past 2 years or so. But, before he could ask, Gestahl beat him to it.
"Cid...as you know, there is a reason that we aquired custody of these three." Gestahl said, and Cid could only nod. "But I know I have yet to tell you. Never fear though, you are my right-hand man and top-notch engineer here in the Empire. Let me assure you that when the time comes, you will be the first to know everything. In fact, I am going to need your help greatly when the time arises." Cid blinked and pushed up his glasses a bit on the bridge of his nose.
"Tomorrow Cid, I will be expecting a visitor." Gestahl said. "Unfortunately, I will not be in, for I have business in Figaro. That is the main reason why I called you down here. I need you to make sure she arrives safely tomorrow and is made as comfortable as possible until I can arrive to greet her myself."
"....A lady friend, Gestahl?" Cid asked casually, already not surprised. The emperor had many twisted affairs on the side of his normal twisted business that he conducted within the Empire.
"No, a girl." Gestahl replied, and Cid blinked.
"A...girl?" He repeated.
"Yes...the model...for my operation." Gestahl smirked, and burst out laughing. Cid let out a small breath he didn't realize he was holding in, but spoke to get Gestahl to pay attention to him and to stop laughing.
"Who is she?" Cid asked.
".....Branford...Terra Branford." Gestahl said, in deep thought. "I myself have not seen her in...I suppose this makes it six years, since she is now eight."
"You know her from somewhere else?" Cid asked, now even more surprised then before.
"Yes...she is that half-esper/half-human child I managed to get from that wretched girl at the Esper's Sealed Gate, six years ago." Gestahl explained, and Cid now remembered who Terra was. After Terra had been found along with loads of Espers, the espers had been taken back to Vector, but the girl had not. Cid couldn't immagine what had become of her.
"She has been practicing her magic and training in a desolate part of the world so no one could disturb her, ever." Gestahl said. "Her escorts are to bring her back here tomorrow...so I can see how well she is doing...if her power is anywhere near where I estimate it to be, then I shall continue on with that plans I have in mind....plans that will change our Empire...and the world...forever!!!" He smiled, and Cid could only put on a weak smile in reply. He didn't want to tell Gestahl that he seemed crazy.
"I don't see how bringing Terra here will...well, effect anything." Cid said. "Can you explain why she is so important...?" Gestal smiled evily and stood up, beginning to pace about the room.
"You have heard of this girl's power, right?" Gestahl asked, and Cid nodded. "Magic...it comes to her as naturally as breathing comes to you and I. Magic is a powerful force that simply cannot be matched in this world except by those espers that have since long parished."
"The espers we had been draining power from in the labs." Cid added, and it was Gestahl's turn to nod.
"From the conclusions you have drawn from your very own magic research Cid, I believe that the younger one is with this magic power, the more powerful they become as they grow older and allow their magic power to evolve. Terra is going to make a powerful weapn for us when she becomes a young woman, due to her training now. But why stop there...when we could have others like her too?"
Cid gasped.
"But sir...we have no other half-esper/half-human varieties." Cid protested. "Terra is very unique, in that sense. She is quite possibly a miracle of our time. A work of the Goddesses above..." Cid was cut off.
"But we are powerful enough to make miracles too." Gestahl argued. "We are the Empire, strong enough to even bend the Goddess' rule, which soon, we will be doing."
"Huh?" Cid asked. He began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Cid...thanks to your research, we have found a way to infuse the magical energy we get from espers into a human body, therefore, giving them the abilities of that esper." Gestahl explained gingerly. "But that isn't all. As the human witht he esper power grows and develops, their magic will too--quite possibly beyond the powers that the esper itself had. If our experiments go well, we will be able to have an army full of magic users...just think, no one would ever be able to get in our way!"
"Sir!" Cid cried, and jumped from his seat. "Something like that...would take years to achieve the desired results! And, I'm afraid it may be dangerous!"
"Time will not be an issue." Gestahl said. "That is why I summoned Terra here, to see how well she developed in so little time. If she has done well, we will begin out first magic-infusions on the subjects you have so lovingly cared for all these years. At last...your work will pay off!" Cid felt the blood in his veins run cold.
"You mean..."
"Yes. Our first test subjects shall be none other then Kefka, Leo, and Celes....Hee-hee...immagine the power those three will be able to weild...esepcially Celes...since she has already been in our labs for treatment before...Hee-hee."
Cid shook his head and looked down. What Gestahl had been referring to was when Celes was born, in a test-tube of a lab. Her mother, a mere victim of an Empire assault, had been taken captive because she was pregnant and forced to hand over the very embryo that was being developed inside of her to the Empire for experimental purposes, since an embryo was what they needed for the job. Of course, she was killed in the transfering process, and Celes spent the rest of her 6 months growing in a lab monitored by the scientists of the Empire, being injected with all sorts of vitamins and medicines that would enhance her strength, wit, and potential magic-abilities when she was 'born'.
Cid could just not bear to even begin telling Celes about the true origins of herself or her parents, so he fed her a story on how her parents had simply died young in battle and in child birth...
"But...what of Leo and Kefka?" Cid asked nervously. "Why are they candidates for this?"
"Leo has incredible strength, as he was the son of a great swordswoman and a monk." Gestahl said. "When he was found in that villiage the army destroyed, I knew he would be perfect for this. Kefka was found in a simular fashion, only, he has remarkable brain power and a IQ just nearing phenomenal for such a young man..."
"So you have been planning all of this out ever since...you found the Sealed Gate." Cid said, trying to explain it all to himself. You found potential candidates, Kefka and Leo. And two years later, after your discovery, you returned to the Sealed Gate and found Terra. That's...that's when you began having me do your research...that was also when Celes was...conceived, so to speak."
"Brilliant!" Gestahl exclaimed, and patted Cid on the shoulder. "I know why you are the smartest bumbling idiot around here now." Ghestal suddenly let out a loud yawn, and walked to his large metal doors that served as the exit of the room, his two guards following.
"Remember, welcome Miss Branford tomorrow, at Albrook Harbor." Gestahl ordered. He stopped for a moment, and then nodded to himself. "Oh yes...and please refrain her from getting too close to any of the kids...would you? Introduce them, but keep them seperated at all times possible. I don't need Terra distracted...Uwee-hee-hee. I shall return in a few days. You are dismissed, Cid."
With that, Gestahl made his exit, and Cid found himself collapsing back in his chair, sweat adorning his brow. What Gestahl had told him was unreal. It was like...like he was trying to play God! But that wasn't the worst of it...there was also still Leo, Kefka, and Celes to think about.
What would become of them after this was all over?
To be continued in Part 2- Trials of the Heart
I was lying in bed one night at like... 3 a.m. in the morning...when the idea just came to me. I began to think about what a childhood might have been like for a child who was raised in the Empire like Celes and Terra were. What surprised me though, was that instead of all sorts of negative things coming to my mind, there were mostly positive things, at first. I have seen a lot of fanfics that say that life in the Empire must have been all awful, from day one...but that is only one side of the perspective. Maybe at one point, in someone's life, the Empire's dreams made a comforting barrier around them, enclosing them in a safe and happy place, where nothing could touch them.
But of course, even this would have to end eventually...or else FF6 would have never been born! ^_~ BTW, I dont own anyone from this game, and this isnt for money...blah blah, all that fun stuff! Rated PG-13 for violence and bad words and shitz...
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd now...one of my more shorter stories...this one is only a mere 3 Parts long...and will be completed soonish-ly...
Corrupted
By: Celes Chere
Part One- Everlasting Memories
"And so, the Holy Knight Darin rode off into the sunset with his newlywed bride, the beautiful Princess Cherry, and they lived happily ever after..."
Cid closed the thin, hardcover book in his hands shut, and looked down at the three small children staring back up at him with satisfied smiles on their faces. Well, at least two of them were smiling. The girl that was sitting in between the two ten-year old boys had a perplexed look on her face, and her small nose was wrinkled up in thought, her mouth turned in a small glare. Cid sighed and scratched his head. He knew what was coming.
"What is it, Celes?" He asked, setting the book on the small table beside his chair in the large recreation room that was just a small part of the left tower of the Vector Palace, located in Vector on the Southern Continent. The girl swished her blonde hair over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows.
"....I don't understand it, exactly." She said in her articulate and bold voice. "Why did Cherry marry Darin so quickly? They only met once, when he rescued her from the Evil Dragon Lord! I thought it took people a long time to fall in love like that." Cid smiled a little and reached down, messing up her hair.
"It does, most of the time." Cid explained, and stood up from his chair. "But sometimes, in very special and rare cases, two people can fall in love at first sight. Some realize it right away, and others don't, but deep in their hearts, they know they are destined to be together forever. That is what Cherry and Darin did in the story. It's what gives it the happy ending." Cid walked over to the bookshelf, picking up the book from the table on his way there, and sliding it back into place on the shelf.
"Love at first sight..." Celes trailed off and looked up at the ceiling, only to hear her fellow story-listeners snickering.
"Celes wants to be taken away by a prince too!" One boy smirked, and blew a strand of dirty-blonde hair out of his sharp blue eyes. He stood up as well, stretching and reaching high up into the air. His long tan legs were covered with bruises and grass stains from messing around outside the entire summer day. The other boy stood up as well, running his hand through the small blonde spikes in his hair, his green eyes sparkling.
"I bet Kefka is right." He added, and Celes glared at both of them.
"Be quiet, Kefka, Leo." She snapped, and stood up, almost taller then the both of them. "I was just wonderin'."
"Now, now." Cid laughed, and turned to them. "You guys need to run along and get changed for bed. It's late enough as it is, and you three need to get some sleep."
"Alrighty." Leo said, and he, Kefka, and Celes took off running from the recreation room and down the long hallway to their seperate bedrooms. Cid shook his head, smiling, as he heard their arguing fade behind slamming doors. He turned off the lights in the recreation room and shut the door behind him, and began walking the opposite direction of the children, down the hall and around the corner to a staircase. He began decending slowly down, his middle-age bones already beginning to ache from all the stairs.
He rather wanted to retreat backwards to his own bedroom that was at the end of the kids' hallway, but Emperor Gestahl had requested Cid join him in a meeting immediately after he saw to the three children's bedtimes. He knew that Leo would make sure that everyone would go to bed. He was the oldest of the three, even if it was by a few months over Kefka, and he was the most responsible.
Cid reached down in his shirt pocket and pulled out a small notepad, and flipped it open. Inside were a few notes he had scrawled down for Gestahl, things that the Emperor had asked him to note the last time they were in a meeting, for some reason. They were just simple things, and yet, Cid almost felt guilty, as if he were betraying the three children he had practically raised his whole life. He couldn't immagine why he felt like this as he flipped through the pages.
June 13th
Today school let out for the local children in Vector. Leo and Kefka both graduated the Fourth Grade with honors, and Celes graduated Second Grade with honors grades as well. The three are always together...they came home laughing and covered in dirt from wrestling at the school yards...and also came home with behavior dermits from their teachers for the last day of school...
Cid let out a small chuckle and turned the page.
**********
Celes stuck her head out of her room and looked about her surroundings, making sure that no one was in sight. She then shuffled down the hall in her pink slippers and matching pink silk pajamas, pushing her hair that was now in two braids behind her shoulders. Carefully, she made her way to the rec room, and opened the door, softly and slowly so that it would not squeak. She then slipped in the room, shutting the door behind her, and made her way to the glass doors inside the rec room. Those doors led to the balcony that was outside...
"Celes, what took you so long?" Leo asked as she stepped out onto the balcony, sliding the glass doors behind her. Leo was in his blue pajama top and bottoms, along with his white slippers.
"Sorry, I had to put my hair in braids!" Celes said, and Leo playfully tugged on one.
"Stop!" Celes protested. "I don't want my hair to get in a mess tomorrow morning."
"Don't grow it so long!" Kefka smirked, leaning against the balcony railing. His red pajamas matched Leo's exactly, except in color, and his black slippers creeped out from under his pajama pants, which were a little too long.
"I want to." Celes said, and stuck out her tongue.
"You're such a girly-girl!" Kefka teased.
"So are you!" Celes giggled, and Kefka turned red while Leo burst out laughing. Suddenly, Leo turned to the sky and pointed up.
"Look you guys, this is what I heard would be happeing on the news tonight." Leo said, and everyone turned to follow his direction. The sky was dark, with the dazzling stars sparkling like diamonds set in the sky. However, the moon, which was full, was a deep orange color instead of the normal silvery white.
"Wow...." Celes smiled. "It's beautiful! Totally worth sneaking out."
"Kinda looks eerie." Kefka smirked, but leaned over the balcony beside Celes, admiring it as well.
"I heard at school that if you make a wish on a moon like this, it will come true." Celes said, looking to Leo. "Is it true?"
"I don't know, maybe it's based on some local lore." Leo said. "But hey, if it is, we should take advantage of it."
"Alright!" Celes grinned, and clasped her hands together. "This is easy. I wish that this summer won't be boring like last year!"
"Oh man, that's true." Kefka said. "Nothing good was going on last year. Vector was nothing but a hick town!"
"It still is." Leo corrected him. "But a lot has been going on too. Did you notice how many men have been visiting the palace lately...? It's kind of creepy."
"Yes, I noticed too." Celes said. "But I don't mind. They stay away from us. They just come to draft into Emperor Gestahl's army. Well...at least that is what Cid told us..."
"I wish Cid would let up on our curfews." Kefka said, cutting Celes off. "That's my wish to that weird-ass moon."
"Kefka!" Leo snapped.
"Sorry." Kefka laughed a little. "But it's true. He's too protective. Leo, you and me are gonna be in fifth grade next year. We're like, babies compared to the rest of our class!"
"Heh." Leo said, and suddenly let out a loud yawn. "....Actually, I'm getting kind of tired. We should just go to bed for the night."
"You're no fun Leo." Kefka said. "I have eggs in my pocket! Lets sneak outside and egg something!" Leo ignored him and looked at Celes.
"Alright, I'll peek into the hall and make sure no one is coming." Celes said, and sauntered off back into the rec room. This was her duty every time they snuck out of their rooms like this, because if someone saw her, she could easily claim she was up to get water or that she had a nightmare, since she was younger then Kefka and Leo and basically more believable. When she popped her head out the door, she checked both ways to make sure the halls were empty, and gestured for Leo and Kefka to come to her. She was about to open the rec room door wide enough for them to slip through, when suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs down the hall.
"Oh no, back off!" Celes cried, and gave whoever was behind her a shove so she could step back and close the door. However, that person behind her was Kefka, and Celes' violent push caused him to thump into the wall. All at once, a sickening cracking noise was heard as Celes shut the door quickly.
"What was that?!" Leo asked in a hushed whisper. Kefka looked at the others and gulped.
"Those were my eggs." Kefka replied, and Celes nearly burst out laughing when she saw the mess that was already seeping through the pockets of Kefka's pajamas. Leo tried not to laugh himself as the footsteps passed by the rec room. A few moments later, the same footsteps passed by them again and thumped down the stairs heavily.
"Must have been a guard." Celes said, knowing that they were all over the palace at night.
"Ok, check again." Leo said, and Celes poked her head out the door.
"Cost clear!" She exclaimed, and with that, took off running for her bedroom. Throwing open her door, she ran in the room, and dove onto her soft, fluffy, white canopy bed.
"Hmm...warm." She said to herself as she snuggled under her white comforter with little pink bows. Her room had been relatively chilly because she had left the window open all day, and now the cool nighttime air was blowing in, so she felt very comfortable under her thick blankets. It took her a few minutes before her heart stopped racing from her little sneaking out adventure, and soon, her whole body was beginning to relax.
Celes turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes half-open. Even though her day had not been busy, she was worn out. Her day was the same as all the others she had had since school let out... Usually either Leo or Kefka would wake her up and demand her to get dressed so they could play together out in the courtyard or in town if Cid allowed them. Eventually, they would waunder home for a full lunch of their favorites, and usually spend the afternoon mulling around in Vector Castle together playing video games or acting out the stories Cid read them together. Then would come dinner, a story from Cid, and bedtime... Celes couldn't immagine a better paradise for a kid her age. She was practically free to do whatever she wanted. Everyone in Vector Palace treated her like a princess.
But she knew that she was different from other kids. There were no other children like her in Vector except for Leo and Kefka, her best friends. She also found it hard to get along with the other kids at her school as well, even though she did have some friends. They would always ask her strange questions over and over again though, which Celes found weird, and found herself thinking about that night.
"Celes, why don't your parents come to family day?"
"Why do you live with those two boys when you arn't family?"
"How come you live in Vector Castle when you arn't related to the Emperor?"
"How come we can never come to your house to play...?"
Celes let out a soft sigh and slowly murmured the answers that the Emperor and Cid himself had told her to say.
"My parents died when I was born, and Cid adopted me because he was a family friend. Leo and Kefka were also adopted within the Empire, and that's why we grew up together. Cid is a chief engineer and gets to live in the palace that he help build...and Emperor Gestahl would rather I play at my friend's houses instead."
From what Celes knew, that was all true. Cid told her that when her mother was pregant, she was too weak and didn't make it through child birth. A few months later, her father, who was in an early draft of the Empire army, was killed in a battle. Cid became her guardian, and took her with him to Vector Castle when it was built. That was when she met Kefka and Leo, even though of course, she was far too young to remember any of it. She also did not remember her parents at all. She still loved them dearly, and prayed for them every night, but she did not miss them. Life was filled with school, friends, and the trials of childhood that everyone had to go through to feel accepted and to find their niche, and Celes' life was no exception from any of it. She didn't have time to miss them...
Besides, her two best friends, Kefka and Leo, did not mention their parents either, and she felt that she should follow in their footsteps, being that they were the only people she felt she could truly relate to in her little eight-year-old heart. They had been best friends ever since she could remember, and they had all been through a lot together...they too, had lost their parents, and were adopted by someone of the Empire...
"....Just what is the Empire?" Celes found herself asking in bed. Whenever Cid had tried to explain it to her, he always got complicated and she found herself walking off in the middle of one of his sentences. All she knew was that many, many people were in the Empire, and that Emperor Gestahl owned it, along with Vector Castle.
And Emperor Gestahl was a powerful man...despite what relations Celes had to him by living in his home...she did not see him often, nor did she care to. He was scary.
**********
"Welcome, Cid." Gestahl said as he walked into his 'throne room', the heavy metal doors being slammed behind him by two red-uniformed guards who followed him up to his seat that was set near a small table in the back of the room. Cid had already been seated and was waiting pateintly for the Emperor to arrive. Gestahl looked him up and down and suddenly smirked.
"You look exhausted, Cid." He said, his eyes still managing to pierce their gaze underneath his bushy eyebrows that matched his beard and hair. Cid nodded a little.
"The kids get rowdy when it's summer." Cid said. "And I had to explain to Celes a plot of a fairy tale in such a descriptive manner so that she would accept it and move on. She just doesn't take "Because I said so." Not that I mind of course...hee hee, she's just a bright girl."
"Hmm, yes, Miss Chere is rather bright, eh?" Gestahl commented in a sick tone that made Cid want to shiver. "Speaking of which, how did they do in school?"
"All three of them passed with flying colors." Cid said. "They are doing well in fencing class too. Celes and Kefka have a competition coming up next month. You should go and see them, Gestahl."
"Perhaps I may...I need to see their progression hands-on anyway." Gestahl mused as Cid handed him the little notebook with his notes about the children. "Data and such is just not enough for a delicate operation such as this." Cid raised his eyebrows and wondered if Gestahl was finally going to enlighten him about this 'operation' he had been going on about for the past 2 years or so. But, before he could ask, Gestahl beat him to it.
"Cid...as you know, there is a reason that we aquired custody of these three." Gestahl said, and Cid could only nod. "But I know I have yet to tell you. Never fear though, you are my right-hand man and top-notch engineer here in the Empire. Let me assure you that when the time comes, you will be the first to know everything. In fact, I am going to need your help greatly when the time arises." Cid blinked and pushed up his glasses a bit on the bridge of his nose.
"Tomorrow Cid, I will be expecting a visitor." Gestahl said. "Unfortunately, I will not be in, for I have business in Figaro. That is the main reason why I called you down here. I need you to make sure she arrives safely tomorrow and is made as comfortable as possible until I can arrive to greet her myself."
"....A lady friend, Gestahl?" Cid asked casually, already not surprised. The emperor had many twisted affairs on the side of his normal twisted business that he conducted within the Empire.
"No, a girl." Gestahl replied, and Cid blinked.
"A...girl?" He repeated.
"Yes...the model...for my operation." Gestahl smirked, and burst out laughing. Cid let out a small breath he didn't realize he was holding in, but spoke to get Gestahl to pay attention to him and to stop laughing.
"Who is she?" Cid asked.
".....Branford...Terra Branford." Gestahl said, in deep thought. "I myself have not seen her in...I suppose this makes it six years, since she is now eight."
"You know her from somewhere else?" Cid asked, now even more surprised then before.
"Yes...she is that half-esper/half-human child I managed to get from that wretched girl at the Esper's Sealed Gate, six years ago." Gestahl explained, and Cid now remembered who Terra was. After Terra had been found along with loads of Espers, the espers had been taken back to Vector, but the girl had not. Cid couldn't immagine what had become of her.
"She has been practicing her magic and training in a desolate part of the world so no one could disturb her, ever." Gestahl said. "Her escorts are to bring her back here tomorrow...so I can see how well she is doing...if her power is anywhere near where I estimate it to be, then I shall continue on with that plans I have in mind....plans that will change our Empire...and the world...forever!!!" He smiled, and Cid could only put on a weak smile in reply. He didn't want to tell Gestahl that he seemed crazy.
"I don't see how bringing Terra here will...well, effect anything." Cid said. "Can you explain why she is so important...?" Gestal smiled evily and stood up, beginning to pace about the room.
"You have heard of this girl's power, right?" Gestahl asked, and Cid nodded. "Magic...it comes to her as naturally as breathing comes to you and I. Magic is a powerful force that simply cannot be matched in this world except by those espers that have since long parished."
"The espers we had been draining power from in the labs." Cid added, and it was Gestahl's turn to nod.
"From the conclusions you have drawn from your very own magic research Cid, I believe that the younger one is with this magic power, the more powerful they become as they grow older and allow their magic power to evolve. Terra is going to make a powerful weapn for us when she becomes a young woman, due to her training now. But why stop there...when we could have others like her too?"
Cid gasped.
"But sir...we have no other half-esper/half-human varieties." Cid protested. "Terra is very unique, in that sense. She is quite possibly a miracle of our time. A work of the Goddesses above..." Cid was cut off.
"But we are powerful enough to make miracles too." Gestahl argued. "We are the Empire, strong enough to even bend the Goddess' rule, which soon, we will be doing."
"Huh?" Cid asked. He began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Cid...thanks to your research, we have found a way to infuse the magical energy we get from espers into a human body, therefore, giving them the abilities of that esper." Gestahl explained gingerly. "But that isn't all. As the human witht he esper power grows and develops, their magic will too--quite possibly beyond the powers that the esper itself had. If our experiments go well, we will be able to have an army full of magic users...just think, no one would ever be able to get in our way!"
"Sir!" Cid cried, and jumped from his seat. "Something like that...would take years to achieve the desired results! And, I'm afraid it may be dangerous!"
"Time will not be an issue." Gestahl said. "That is why I summoned Terra here, to see how well she developed in so little time. If she has done well, we will begin out first magic-infusions on the subjects you have so lovingly cared for all these years. At last...your work will pay off!" Cid felt the blood in his veins run cold.
"You mean..."
"Yes. Our first test subjects shall be none other then Kefka, Leo, and Celes....Hee-hee...immagine the power those three will be able to weild...esepcially Celes...since she has already been in our labs for treatment before...Hee-hee."
Cid shook his head and looked down. What Gestahl had been referring to was when Celes was born, in a test-tube of a lab. Her mother, a mere victim of an Empire assault, had been taken captive because she was pregnant and forced to hand over the very embryo that was being developed inside of her to the Empire for experimental purposes, since an embryo was what they needed for the job. Of course, she was killed in the transfering process, and Celes spent the rest of her 6 months growing in a lab monitored by the scientists of the Empire, being injected with all sorts of vitamins and medicines that would enhance her strength, wit, and potential magic-abilities when she was 'born'.
Cid could just not bear to even begin telling Celes about the true origins of herself or her parents, so he fed her a story on how her parents had simply died young in battle and in child birth...
"But...what of Leo and Kefka?" Cid asked nervously. "Why are they candidates for this?"
"Leo has incredible strength, as he was the son of a great swordswoman and a monk." Gestahl said. "When he was found in that villiage the army destroyed, I knew he would be perfect for this. Kefka was found in a simular fashion, only, he has remarkable brain power and a IQ just nearing phenomenal for such a young man..."
"So you have been planning all of this out ever since...you found the Sealed Gate." Cid said, trying to explain it all to himself. You found potential candidates, Kefka and Leo. And two years later, after your discovery, you returned to the Sealed Gate and found Terra. That's...that's when you began having me do your research...that was also when Celes was...conceived, so to speak."
"Brilliant!" Gestahl exclaimed, and patted Cid on the shoulder. "I know why you are the smartest bumbling idiot around here now." Ghestal suddenly let out a loud yawn, and walked to his large metal doors that served as the exit of the room, his two guards following.
"Remember, welcome Miss Branford tomorrow, at Albrook Harbor." Gestahl ordered. He stopped for a moment, and then nodded to himself. "Oh yes...and please refrain her from getting too close to any of the kids...would you? Introduce them, but keep them seperated at all times possible. I don't need Terra distracted...Uwee-hee-hee. I shall return in a few days. You are dismissed, Cid."
With that, Gestahl made his exit, and Cid found himself collapsing back in his chair, sweat adorning his brow. What Gestahl had told him was unreal. It was like...like he was trying to play God! But that wasn't the worst of it...there was also still Leo, Kefka, and Celes to think about.
What would become of them after this was all over?
To be continued in Part 2- Trials of the Heart