Chapter 11- Captive Women
"No...." Celes moaned, and sunk to her knees. What had just happened? Terra had disappeared...without a trace...!
"Celes..." Locke said softly as he sat up, rubbing his back from where Celes had landed on him. "It will be ok. Lets just go and find Terra quickly. Let me light our latern again..." Locke pulled out another match, and lit the latern once again. When he held it up, he could see tear streaks going down Celes' face. He couldn't help but be taken back by surprise a little, but he tried his best not to look any different. Celes rubbed her eyes and stood up.
"Come on." Was all she said, and began to walk ahead. Locke quickly stood up also, and followed her.
"What do you think it was?!" Locke asked. "Did you hear those footsteps before too?"
"Yes, they were very light and swift." Celes reasoned. "It didn't sound like anything strong enough to just sweep Terra away like that. I think....something else was with it."
"Hmmm..." Locke thought. "Perhaps it was something that was being chased, and whatever grabbed Terra might have thought that she was the thing it was looking for!"
"Maybe." Celes said, and narrowed her eyes. "But whatever it was, it's gonna get it's ass beaten by me..."
The team spent the next 10 minutes creeping down the long, seemingly empty corridor of the cave. Celes could not understand how something could get away from them so fast. Maybe this was the rumored beast Edgar had mentioned!?
Suddenly, Locke grabbed her shoulder.
"Celes, look!"
Celes looked up from the floor and saw that the corridor took a sharp curve to the left, and that she had nearly smacked inot the wall. But, not only that, she also noticed a small glimmer of red on the ground. She bent down, and recovered Terra's beautiful ruby pendant that had been given to her by Maudin, her father...
Locke took the pendant from Celes' shaky hand and stuffed it in his pocket.
"Ok, so we know she must be this way!" He said, in the most cheerful way possible, as if this were a game of hide and seek, and Terra had just slipped them a clue to her clever hideout. Celes nodded, and continued on. But what she saw next not only surprised her, but made her stumble back a few steps. She bumped into Locke, who caught a hold of her immediately...
The corridor had led into a rather large area that looked like it had been recently chipped away at by miner's tools. Jewels and many other relics were tossed around and littered the floor. In one corner of the area was Terra, apparently blacked out due to her lack of a reaction from Locke and Celes. Her body was slumped against a wall, with her hair dangling over her shoulders. Blood was dripping down from her cheeks onto her chest, as well as on her arms and legs. Celes took a step forward, and saw that Terra was really in her own pool of blood!
"Uhhh..." Celes moaned, and covered her mouth.
In the other corner, was something small and shuddering. It stood up, and Celes diverted her attention to it.
"It" turned out to be a small child, of about 7 years. She was very skinny, and her short, bouncy blonde hair was clumped together with dried blood. Her dress, which was once a bright blue it seemed, was now worn, blood streaked, and ripped in shreds. It seemed to be just barely hanging onto her skinny frame.
"Who....are...you?" The girl said in a strained voice.
Celes couldn't find her own voice. Her eyes simply widened as she tried to speak, no sound emerging.
"I'm Locke Cole, and this is Celes." Locke said, and squeezed Celes'shoulder softly. "Who are you? And how did she..." He nodded to Terra "....get here?"
"I'm Eliza." The girl replied. "But my full name is Elizabeth Adams...."
"Elizabeth!?" Celes finally managed to cry. "As in, the missing child?"
"I believe so..." Locke answered. Elizabeth sniffled.
"That girl was just dragged in here by the monster..." She mumbled. "The girl was trying to escape, but she got clawed up real bad. I dont know how the monster found her. I had been trying to escape myself, and I was almost at the entrance, when he found me and started chasing me..."
"So, that's what we heard..." Celes murmured.
"The monster grabbed me, and I was so shocked, I passed out..." Elizabeth continued. "But when I came to, she was with me...hasn't moved or anything...I was afraid to touch her..."
Celes broke away from Locke and kneeled down to Terra. She gently took her wrist, and felt for a pulse. Luckily, she felt the lifeforce beating against her fingers lightly. She let out a sigh of relief, and gently tapped Terra's cheek.
"Terra, wake up, Terra!" Celes cried. "We have to get out of here."
"The monster will come back..." Elizabeth stated. "It will appear...like a ghost...just when you think you are safe..."
"Come on." Locke said hastily, and scooped Elizabeth in his arms. She widened her eyes in surprise, but suddenly burried her head in his shoulders.
"I wanna go home..." She mumbled into his shirt. Celes looked up to Locke.
"Locke, take this girl home, now." She demanded. "I'm staying with Terra."
"What?" Locke cried. "Don't be ridiculous. You have to come with us."
"I have to watch Terra." Celes protested. "She's too heavy for me to carry, so I'll watch her until you come back, ok?"
"Celes, we're partners, we need to go together." Locke argued.
"Locke, Terra is also my friend, and she could get hurt more if we leave her." Celes said firmly. "I'm going to stay, and that's final. If you say one more word to me about it...." Celes got an ice cold look in her eyes that could have frozen over Hell.
"Alright." Locke said after much hesitation. "I'm coming right back...as soon as I take Elizabeth to the palace." Before he could say anymore, he turned on his heal and took off running. Celes listened until his footsteps faded away, and the looked back to Terra.
Slipping her cloak off and removing her sword, Celes began to slash at the snow-white material, making strips of cloth, and wrapping them tightly around the gashes on Terra's arms and legs. However, she found that the strips quickly turned a deep scarlet, and tied more strips over those. She then took what she had left and used it to clean Terra's face and chest the best she could. Seeing Terra's injuries made Celes' own wound from the other night ache all over again. When she was done, Celes' cape was mangled to no return, but Terra's bleeding seemed to have ceased a great deal.
Celes took another look around the room. There was no sign of other life at all. No wood for fires, no food scraps, nothing. Celes gulped, and decided that no, she could not wait for Locke anymore. She had to get out of here with Terra now.
Celes brought Terra into her arms, cradling her so that her weight was evenly distributed over her arms as much as possible. While she greatly struggled, Celes ignored her body's straining pain and ventured forward and out of the cave, as fast as her feet could travel. She kept her mind focused on getting back to Figaro, where she could watch Terra get treated by esteemed doctors and get well quickly. Celes was concentrating so deeply, she didn't notice how warm the corridor had suddenly gotten...She didn't see the hideous form that was materializing right behind her...
"Gotta keep at it." Celes said softly, and shifted Terra up a bit. Continuing on, Celes could see she was nearly at the entrance.
"Oh, thank God." Celes said, pushed herself as hard as she would go. But, suddenly, almost silently, an immense claw was brought across Celes' back, leaving in its path blood pouring out of her suit. Celes at first, had no reaction. She stopped, stiffened up slightly, and still tightly clung to Terra. But, the numbing shock quickly wore off, and the pain raged through her body. Celes' eyes filled with tears that spilled over onto her dirty cheeks and into her hanging mouth. The salty taste awakened the rest of her senses, and she let out an ear-splitting cry of pain, nearly dropping Terra.
But, Celes' legs then gave away, and she hit the floor, landing on Terra to break her fall. She moaned and tried to push herself up, only to be slashed at again from behind and rolled over onto her back, away from Terra. Celes lost her breath and clenched her eyes shut, feeling the blood sink through her suit and stick to her skin. Her nose detected the wretched smell of bloodspill now, making everything around her seem like nothing more then a home to death.
Celes slowly opened her eyes, and saw a shadow looming over her body. Her vision was badly blurred, but she knew that this large, shadowly demon was her enemy, the cause of all this pain. Pain that she had not felt in so long...
With all her strength, Celes rolled on her back and slammed her legs into the monster, causing it to stumble back in surprise. Celes' back injuries seemed to roar at her in pain and protest, but she ignored it and hopped to her feet, drawing her sword. With one mighty swing, Celes slashed across the front of the monster, making the fatal blow. It let out a shrill whine, and disappeared into an almost beautiful light. Celes stumbled backwards a little, and dropped her sword. Her back hit the rocky wall, and she clenched her teeth together, feeling as if a thousand needles had pierced her skin.
Her job still wasn't over yet. She still had to get Terra out. Celes forced her legs to take her over to Terra, and struggled to lift her once again. But this time around, Terra felt a million times heavier then before. Celes managed to get out of the cave, and had to narrow her eyes a great deal from the sudden burst of sunlight. Celes didn't even know what she was doing now. All she could do was command her legs to carry her forward, away from the cave, far away...
And as she was moving on, she thought she heard Locke's voice calling her from a distance away, but the pain overtook her senses completely, causing her to assume it was the wind. And Celes thought that she saw Locke running up to her, but her body passed it off as an illusion...
When she thought she felt Locke take her into his arms, she simply closed her eyes and shut down all resistance, letting her body have it's way. She couldn't tell if the warmth she felt radiating by her body was the blood or something else, but it was soothing...
"No...." Celes moaned, and sunk to her knees. What had just happened? Terra had disappeared...without a trace...!
"Celes..." Locke said softly as he sat up, rubbing his back from where Celes had landed on him. "It will be ok. Lets just go and find Terra quickly. Let me light our latern again..." Locke pulled out another match, and lit the latern once again. When he held it up, he could see tear streaks going down Celes' face. He couldn't help but be taken back by surprise a little, but he tried his best not to look any different. Celes rubbed her eyes and stood up.
"Come on." Was all she said, and began to walk ahead. Locke quickly stood up also, and followed her.
"What do you think it was?!" Locke asked. "Did you hear those footsteps before too?"
"Yes, they were very light and swift." Celes reasoned. "It didn't sound like anything strong enough to just sweep Terra away like that. I think....something else was with it."
"Hmmm..." Locke thought. "Perhaps it was something that was being chased, and whatever grabbed Terra might have thought that she was the thing it was looking for!"
"Maybe." Celes said, and narrowed her eyes. "But whatever it was, it's gonna get it's ass beaten by me..."
The team spent the next 10 minutes creeping down the long, seemingly empty corridor of the cave. Celes could not understand how something could get away from them so fast. Maybe this was the rumored beast Edgar had mentioned!?
Suddenly, Locke grabbed her shoulder.
"Celes, look!"
Celes looked up from the floor and saw that the corridor took a sharp curve to the left, and that she had nearly smacked inot the wall. But, not only that, she also noticed a small glimmer of red on the ground. She bent down, and recovered Terra's beautiful ruby pendant that had been given to her by Maudin, her father...
Locke took the pendant from Celes' shaky hand and stuffed it in his pocket.
"Ok, so we know she must be this way!" He said, in the most cheerful way possible, as if this were a game of hide and seek, and Terra had just slipped them a clue to her clever hideout. Celes nodded, and continued on. But what she saw next not only surprised her, but made her stumble back a few steps. She bumped into Locke, who caught a hold of her immediately...
The corridor had led into a rather large area that looked like it had been recently chipped away at by miner's tools. Jewels and many other relics were tossed around and littered the floor. In one corner of the area was Terra, apparently blacked out due to her lack of a reaction from Locke and Celes. Her body was slumped against a wall, with her hair dangling over her shoulders. Blood was dripping down from her cheeks onto her chest, as well as on her arms and legs. Celes took a step forward, and saw that Terra was really in her own pool of blood!
"Uhhh..." Celes moaned, and covered her mouth.
In the other corner, was something small and shuddering. It stood up, and Celes diverted her attention to it.
"It" turned out to be a small child, of about 7 years. She was very skinny, and her short, bouncy blonde hair was clumped together with dried blood. Her dress, which was once a bright blue it seemed, was now worn, blood streaked, and ripped in shreds. It seemed to be just barely hanging onto her skinny frame.
"Who....are...you?" The girl said in a strained voice.
Celes couldn't find her own voice. Her eyes simply widened as she tried to speak, no sound emerging.
"I'm Locke Cole, and this is Celes." Locke said, and squeezed Celes'shoulder softly. "Who are you? And how did she..." He nodded to Terra "....get here?"
"I'm Eliza." The girl replied. "But my full name is Elizabeth Adams...."
"Elizabeth!?" Celes finally managed to cry. "As in, the missing child?"
"I believe so..." Locke answered. Elizabeth sniffled.
"That girl was just dragged in here by the monster..." She mumbled. "The girl was trying to escape, but she got clawed up real bad. I dont know how the monster found her. I had been trying to escape myself, and I was almost at the entrance, when he found me and started chasing me..."
"So, that's what we heard..." Celes murmured.
"The monster grabbed me, and I was so shocked, I passed out..." Elizabeth continued. "But when I came to, she was with me...hasn't moved or anything...I was afraid to touch her..."
Celes broke away from Locke and kneeled down to Terra. She gently took her wrist, and felt for a pulse. Luckily, she felt the lifeforce beating against her fingers lightly. She let out a sigh of relief, and gently tapped Terra's cheek.
"Terra, wake up, Terra!" Celes cried. "We have to get out of here."
"The monster will come back..." Elizabeth stated. "It will appear...like a ghost...just when you think you are safe..."
"Come on." Locke said hastily, and scooped Elizabeth in his arms. She widened her eyes in surprise, but suddenly burried her head in his shoulders.
"I wanna go home..." She mumbled into his shirt. Celes looked up to Locke.
"Locke, take this girl home, now." She demanded. "I'm staying with Terra."
"What?" Locke cried. "Don't be ridiculous. You have to come with us."
"I have to watch Terra." Celes protested. "She's too heavy for me to carry, so I'll watch her until you come back, ok?"
"Celes, we're partners, we need to go together." Locke argued.
"Locke, Terra is also my friend, and she could get hurt more if we leave her." Celes said firmly. "I'm going to stay, and that's final. If you say one more word to me about it...." Celes got an ice cold look in her eyes that could have frozen over Hell.
"Alright." Locke said after much hesitation. "I'm coming right back...as soon as I take Elizabeth to the palace." Before he could say anymore, he turned on his heal and took off running. Celes listened until his footsteps faded away, and the looked back to Terra.
Slipping her cloak off and removing her sword, Celes began to slash at the snow-white material, making strips of cloth, and wrapping them tightly around the gashes on Terra's arms and legs. However, she found that the strips quickly turned a deep scarlet, and tied more strips over those. She then took what she had left and used it to clean Terra's face and chest the best she could. Seeing Terra's injuries made Celes' own wound from the other night ache all over again. When she was done, Celes' cape was mangled to no return, but Terra's bleeding seemed to have ceased a great deal.
Celes took another look around the room. There was no sign of other life at all. No wood for fires, no food scraps, nothing. Celes gulped, and decided that no, she could not wait for Locke anymore. She had to get out of here with Terra now.
Celes brought Terra into her arms, cradling her so that her weight was evenly distributed over her arms as much as possible. While she greatly struggled, Celes ignored her body's straining pain and ventured forward and out of the cave, as fast as her feet could travel. She kept her mind focused on getting back to Figaro, where she could watch Terra get treated by esteemed doctors and get well quickly. Celes was concentrating so deeply, she didn't notice how warm the corridor had suddenly gotten...She didn't see the hideous form that was materializing right behind her...
"Gotta keep at it." Celes said softly, and shifted Terra up a bit. Continuing on, Celes could see she was nearly at the entrance.
"Oh, thank God." Celes said, pushed herself as hard as she would go. But, suddenly, almost silently, an immense claw was brought across Celes' back, leaving in its path blood pouring out of her suit. Celes at first, had no reaction. She stopped, stiffened up slightly, and still tightly clung to Terra. But, the numbing shock quickly wore off, and the pain raged through her body. Celes' eyes filled with tears that spilled over onto her dirty cheeks and into her hanging mouth. The salty taste awakened the rest of her senses, and she let out an ear-splitting cry of pain, nearly dropping Terra.
But, Celes' legs then gave away, and she hit the floor, landing on Terra to break her fall. She moaned and tried to push herself up, only to be slashed at again from behind and rolled over onto her back, away from Terra. Celes lost her breath and clenched her eyes shut, feeling the blood sink through her suit and stick to her skin. Her nose detected the wretched smell of bloodspill now, making everything around her seem like nothing more then a home to death.
Celes slowly opened her eyes, and saw a shadow looming over her body. Her vision was badly blurred, but she knew that this large, shadowly demon was her enemy, the cause of all this pain. Pain that she had not felt in so long...
With all her strength, Celes rolled on her back and slammed her legs into the monster, causing it to stumble back in surprise. Celes' back injuries seemed to roar at her in pain and protest, but she ignored it and hopped to her feet, drawing her sword. With one mighty swing, Celes slashed across the front of the monster, making the fatal blow. It let out a shrill whine, and disappeared into an almost beautiful light. Celes stumbled backwards a little, and dropped her sword. Her back hit the rocky wall, and she clenched her teeth together, feeling as if a thousand needles had pierced her skin.
Her job still wasn't over yet. She still had to get Terra out. Celes forced her legs to take her over to Terra, and struggled to lift her once again. But this time around, Terra felt a million times heavier then before. Celes managed to get out of the cave, and had to narrow her eyes a great deal from the sudden burst of sunlight. Celes didn't even know what she was doing now. All she could do was command her legs to carry her forward, away from the cave, far away...
And as she was moving on, she thought she heard Locke's voice calling her from a distance away, but the pain overtook her senses completely, causing her to assume it was the wind. And Celes thought that she saw Locke running up to her, but her body passed it off as an illusion...
When she thought she felt Locke take her into his arms, she simply closed her eyes and shut down all resistance, letting her body have it's way. She couldn't tell if the warmth she felt radiating by her body was the blood or something else, but it was soothing...