Prologue
-Shadow Realm-
Each drawn breath rattled in her lungs, a searing agonizing pain that tore through her once-strong body. With the new world came new problems; the illness that had taken hold of her was mysterious and powerful, no healer they had sought out seemed to know what was wrong with Celes.
The once proud General was a pale, dim image of her former self, stubbornly clinging onto life and suffering more than anyone thought was humane. Her wispy blonde hair clung damply to her brow and she was a wraith against the mattress of the bed in Locke's house.
Somewhere, a clock ticked ceaselessly, each second counted was one more drawing nearer the hour, and there was no near end to this agony in sight.
'How far the mighty have fallen' she thought, staring at the moonlight filtering through her bedroom window here in Figaro. Celes had always imagined she would die in battle, not sick in her bed like a helpless child. When the illness had first started to deteriorate her strength and health; she had gone through a whole cycle of denial, and then believing she had done something to deserve it.
Locke had found her, and he had taken care of her just like he had promised. This General did not feel sorry for herself, or mourn for the things she had not done and would not get the chance to do, no, she mourned for the pain she was putting Locke through. He had stayed awake by her side day and night when she had worsened, though he was not here now.
The woman smiled faintly to herself, laughing softly before the small expression of humor dissolved into coughs that racked her fragile form and left her trembling violently. What a nightmare this was.
Locke had bought her a puppy when they had arrived in South Figaro. It was a sled dog, which were not common to this area, and unspeakably adorable. The puppy was also unspeakably evil. She was fat with no fur on her stomach yet, light red in color with a pronounced white 'mask' over her pudgy face and piercing blue eyes that seemed to be filled with nothing but hunger and the desire to chew on things. Celes had named her 'Kodachi' though the name got shortened to 'Kodi' soon afterward.
It had been nearly a month since she and her roguish love had journeyed to the Thyzalian islands on a whim in search of treasure, meeting with Terra, Shadow and Interceptor on the way. In that time, Celes had begun to fade away at an alarming rate.
Sensing eyes on her, the pale woman turned her face towards the door to see that it was opened and there was a man standing in the threshold, silhouetted by the lamplight in the hallway. Licking her dry, cracked lips, she tried to make him out. "Locke…?"
"No."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Shadow?"
Nodding slowly, the assassin stepped quietly over the threshold and entered the dark room, a glass of water in one hand. He set it on the night table, frowning softly down at Celes, pulling off one glove to reach down and press the back of his hand lightly to her forehead, almost wincing at the burning fever he felt there.
"I was coming to give Locke his share of the money from the Djinn Pool… remember? We spoke about an hour ago…" Celes was delirious in her fever; he admired the lucidity she managed to hold onto at all.
"An… hour?" The water was ignored, and she lay back against the mattress, trying and failing to remember that conversation. Shadow was dressed as she remembered him; in black, with a katana sheathed over his shoulder. How much time had passed since she last saw him? It felt like years. "Where is Locke?"
The man looked over his shoulder to the shape of Interceptor in the doorway behind him. The dog-fae was silent, offering a faint whine and a wag of his tail in comfort before he turned and left them alone… something about that bothered Shadow a whole lot. "He took Kodachi for a walk. He came to tell you… he sat down on the couch in the living room and fell asleep. Do you want me to get him for you?"
"No." Her voice was a hoarse whisper as she shook her head in the negative; her blue eyes were as intense now as they had ever been. "Have you come… to kill me?"
Clyde snapped his attention back to Celes, unsure if he had heard her correctly. Any feelings he might have had were kept off his face with practiced ease. 'She's delirious…the fever is really doing a job on her mind.' Finally he spoke; his voice was no more than a quiet whisper. "No, of course not. I am going to get Locke."
"Please?" The strong woman's face crumpled as she begged, her voice small and childlike as she reached out a hand towards the apparition of death before her, who had turned his back on her in preparation to leave. "Please… don't make me suffer anymore… it hurts… I am… I am not strong enough."
Where was Interceptor? Clyde felt cold with something that was not fear. He was unaware he had clenched his fists until he forced his hands to relax, flexing his fingers and glancing over his shoulder. "You don't know what you're asking."
Celes lowered her hand, a crystalline tear slipping down her hollow cheek. "I do. I do not want to die like this, please Shadow… Clyde, I beg of you… every day that passes kills Locke more and more, I just want it to end…"
She sounded lucid enough, and he tried to ignore the way her breaths sounded ragged and pained as she struggled to speak. He could only imagine how difficult it was to lose someone bit-by-bit, helpless to stop it. Clyde did not want to imagine it. This was madness, why hadn't he left the room yet? "Locke would never forgive me… even if it was the right thing to do, you know that."
Celes licked her lips again, a pain in itself. Her voice was trembling and desperate now, a whisper that was barely audible now. "He doesn't have to know."
He did turn to face her then, to see her eyes, just how serious she was. Was that the fever talking? No. The poor girl… she really didn't know what she was asking of him. There were times when he wondered, given the chance, if he would do things in his past differently. "You're sure?"
There was a firm, single nod before she began coughing again, shuddering hard and trying to sit up. Celes let out a soft wail of despair, finding herself too weak to even sit up. She was aware of the weight of Clyde sitting on the edge of the bed beside her, strong hands on her shoulders helping her to sit up.
"Thank you…" Celes felt the man flinch when she slipped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes close as she just embraced him. She really was grateful for the favor, of being released from this pain, and releasing Locke from the agony of watching her die. She did not ask Shadow how he wanted to end her life. She trusted him to take it from her; he was a professional.
"Are you afraid?" As soon as the words left his lips against her ear, he had to wonder why the hell he was even asking. What did it matter? Were people afraid when they died? He was fairly certain most of his victims never knew what hit them until they were face to face with their deity. Celes felt so small as he held her, he was startled that he had not noticed how bad she was before he had left her in Mobliz the last time.
"More curious than afraid…" She admitted with a faint smile, though he could not see it. "You feel so cold…"
'You feel so cold'. She was burning with fever, he probably felt like an ice cube in comparison. Celes had not meant anything more by those words he was certain, but they would stay with him for a long time.
"You're so nice to me…" The murmuring against his shoulder was contented and she was clinging to the assassin as if she were a child.
"What are you talking about? I was never nice to you."
"Sure you were… Shadow? Clyde? I know… I am asking a lot of you… but will you look after Locke?"
Something told him to explain to her that Locke did not need to be looked after, and how the hell would he do that, anyway? He wasn't the one that protected everybody, he was the one that killed people, remember? From his belt he withdrew a dart, thinking it a little ironic that this was how he was going to kill her. The second time he had used a poisoned dart on her, wasn't it? "I promise."
Celes nodded slowly, her hands sliding over his shoulders and she let her eyes close again. "I think… that Terra will take care of you, Clyde." Drawing a deep breath, she suppressed a cough, managing to breathe out the words. "I am ready."
"Just relax…" He kissed her, just below her ear and reached up to stroke her hair with one hand, a goodbye of sorts, and the tip of the dart pierced her skin accurately and with his trademark precision, delivering the deadly dose of venom with no pain.
He heard her sigh softly. It was a quiet and quick way to pass from this world to the next. Her form began to relax against his until he was holding her up with one arm, the life slipping away as if it was grateful to be released. Pulling the needle tip of the dart from her skin, he rubbed his thumb over it to ensure that there was no mark Locke would find. Leaning forward, Clyde gently lowered Celes to the bed and swept his fingertips over her eyes with a final glimpse at sky-blue.
He had never seen anyone look as peaceful in death as she did, and heart-achingly beautiful. This man knew and understood that life just wasn't fair, but he was almost angry enough to say something about it. Carefully and with a kind of reverence and respect he had never shown her in life, he placed one hand over her heart and drew up the blanket around her.
Shadow stood from the bed and smoothed the covers where he had sat. It looked as if the woman had died peacefully in her sleep, without a sound. He said nothing, because there was nothing to say, and that was fortunate because his throat felt uncharacteristically tight. What had he done?
"You did the right thing, Clyde. She was suffering much more than she let on… I know how difficult that was for you."
Interceptor's voice in his mind almost broke him, but he managed to turn his back on Celes and slip from the bedroom as silently as he and entered, the glass of water he had brought was left untouched on the nightstand. "This is what I do."
"No, mercy-killing is not what you do. You don't have to pretend for me, you never did. It hurts, I know. It is not fair that she asked you to do it, it is never fair when a loved one asks you to end their life."
Locke was asleep on the couch in the living room, with Kodi curled up against his side and sleeping just as soundly. Sliding the sheathed sword from his shoulder, he rested it against the side of a chair and dropped into it, leaning back and sighing heavily, eyes closing in a sudden weariness.
Interceptor rested his head on Clyde's knee in an offer of comfort and to assure his partner that he did not disapprove of his actions. "You're a good friend, Clyde."
"We'll see how good a friend I am when Locke discovers the love of his life cold in her bed. I promised her I would take care of him, and I didn't mean it. How am I going to do that, Pup? How…? I can't, I have other obligations…"
"You'll do the right thing."
"I'll try, Pup." He never should have gotten involved. He should have left Locke and Celes to their suffering. What had possessed him to stay? He had offered Locke no consolation.
Somewhere in the house, a clock ticked ceaselessly.
(Author's note: Yes. I killed Celes. Sorry, no one is going to cast Life2 and bring her back; death does not work that way in my fictions. Also, I never seem to put disclaimers. So this is it: I don't own these characters, I don't make money off of this.)