THE definitive adaptation of the FF6 video game!=)  Celes has escaped the Solitary Island.  Although she finds out the world has become a very different place from what she remembers.

Forever & Always

Author: Furysetzer

Disclaimer: We all know the drill.  I don't own the final fantasy characters.  I'm not making money off this.  Blah, blah, blah…

Note:  I don't like how fanfiction.net loads their pages, especially stories with many chapters.  So what I'm going to do is post the newest chapters FIRST in the list, that way, all's you need is 1 click & then you're there!  I hope you enjoy my story.

Ch. 3—"To Confront Your Past"

FOLLOWING EXCERPT FROM THE DIARY OF CELES CHERE:

            This is the first time I have tried my hand at actual writing.  Frankly, I don't know why I'm doing this.

            Yes I do.  I'm writing in this little book so I can look back on it.  It isn't for the usual reasons.  Accomplishment, regret, I don't exactly consider myself normal.  I need to keep track of things.  If it all seems complex now, I'm going to be a mess trying to keep it in 1 place!

            I'm a stranger on my world now.  This was realized on my first encounter with civilization.  I saw the town near where I landed on shore.  After being trapped on the island for so long, I couldn't help it.  I ran as fast as I could, tripping a lot because of my sore legs.  You'd be, too, if you had to sit on a raft for 3 straight days!

            I was really excited… until I saw which city it was.  I stopped dead & wanted to turn back.  But by then it was too late.  Some people had already saw me, & stopped to stare.  A couple rough-looking men were about to move closer.

            I knew the guards would catch me if I tried to run, so I did something unexpected.  I made like nothing was wrong & marched right past the fast-growing crowd.

            I walked down the cobble streets with my head down.  I didn't want anybody to recognize me, to see my guilty face.  Some of them muttered things like "witch" & "general".  At first, I didn't know where I was headed.  Maybe toward the pier to board a ship?  A quick look south told me there was none.  The only thing left were a few poles sticking out of the water.

            The thing I remembered most about Albrook was their bridge.  It sure wasn't plain looking; this thing took over half the city!  The wooden structure was situated on the mouth of the river.  But now, it stood over land.  The river had dried up.

            I'd been here only 3 times before.  Twice with my friends… & the other…

            Maybe that's why the memory of it came back to me so vividly.  The higher ground is good enough to fend off ground attack, & the buildings provide good shielding.  Once, barricades had been extended from the bridge to the sea on the east & west sides.  Not since—but that's a part of my life dead in the past.  Trouble was, I thought at the time, maybe they hadn't forgotten.

            Okay, so I got sidetracked.  Here's what happened next.  Somehow I found myself walking up the stairs.  At first I didn't know why, until I remembered about Antonio.  He was a painter who lived with his brother, who used to own the Inn.  They were Setzer's friends who helped sneak us through the city & get us supplies during the Returner movement.  I didn't know if they were there or not, but I opened the door anyway.  I just needed to get off the streets.

            It felt strange going back in there.  It was like déjà vu, except I actually was here before.  I didn't know what to expect, so I went in slow.

            There was a large figure bending down behind the counter.  He heard the door & looked at me.  I recognized Eric right away, but he just blinked without recognition.  He asked, "Can I help you?" which I thought was strange.  I didn't think anyone would forget what I'd done here.

            Confused, I asked for a room.  He asked for me to put my name down on the register.  I obliged & paid with a few coins I had for a long time.  He reached under the counter for the keys, gave them to me, & called into the other room.  His behavior was very business-like, not at all what I remember from this friendly & open person.

Antonio walked in from the back room.  His attitude was just like Eric's, which made me uneasy.  He suggested I walk with him to my room.  Just before turning the corner to the hall, I glanced back at Eric.  He was staring across the room to a huge muscle-bound man I hadn't noticed before.

            I asked what the heck was going on, but Antonio shushed me with a finger to his mouth.  He opened the door at the end of the hall & locked it from the other side.  Then he announced, "Here's your room, Ms. Gail.  Just let us know if there're any problems."  After that, he loudly closed the door to the public restroom.

            Antonio quickly ushered me into 1 of the side bedrooms.  After we went in, he slammed the door shut before locking it.  The first thing he said was, "Celes, you should not've come here."

            He sat on the bed next to me & explained about the situation here.  Apparently, the town's economy was facing a crisis.  Their shipping industry was dead, & worse, they constantly had to bribe the Graedum to even do business.  The Graedum was a gang organized by a group of ex-Imperial soldiers left here after the war.  That man with Eric was 1 of them.

            We spoke for over an hour.  I filled in the gaps ever since I had last left, & we swapped information about the World of Ruin.  For 1 thing, the continents have moved & changed shape, which wasn't too much of a surprise.  The southern continent alone had lost more than half its landmass.  The town of Tzen survived, but they were having problems of their own.  Maranda also survived, but it had been wrenched from the mainland by a shifting land mass.  And there's the tower…

            After the collapse, debris from all over the world floated to the center of the continent.  What was once the Triangle Mountains was now rocky dead land.  What was once Vector was now some sort of huge tower.  I asked Antonio if he knew anything else about it, but he had nothing to offer.

            About the last thing we talked about was Setzer & the others.  I desperately needed to know if anyone else had lived.

            He had definitely not seen any of them, of which he had made a mental note to try & find out on his own.  During the past year, he had asked subtle questions to customers & acquaintances about us.  He hadn't had any luck until about a month ago.  Apparently, this build athletic man wandered in & stayed at a room.  Rumor was that he kept asking things he shouldn't have.  Before it got any more tense, he left.  Worse, Antonio nor Eric got a chance to talk to him.  He did get the person's name in the register.

            The name "Mash Rene" did not ring a bell.

            Before he left, we hugged each other very tightly.  Like his brother, he was also a large man.  It happened unexpectedly, but I think we both needed it.  In a few seconds, we reluctantly let go & he left.

So there I was, lying on the bed, my mind reeling with the things we shared.  Hands behind my head, I stared up at the aged ceiling.  The tower, my friends… it all seemed part of something larger that I couldn't even imagine at the time.  I didn't know how, but deep inside, it felt like this journey was just now starting.

Earlier, while taking a much-needed bath, I held onto Palidor's magicite tightly.  Again, I tried to mentally connect with it while meditating.

            It occurred to me that if I could just figure out how to work magic again, I'd discover just what my mission was, & perhaps even how to do it.  I tried so hard… & still, nothing.  All other magicite emitted a warm aura, even in the cold.  This 1 truly felt unalive as I held it.  I guessed that its psychic impression was gone, probably expended from helping me.  I was severely depressed.

            Finally, unable to come to a reasonable conclusion, I fell asleep.

____________

            I woke up in the middle of the night.  Whipping off the covers, I started for the bathroom.  I was about to open the door when I heard a loud bang.  Heavy footsteps passed my door. 

            Distinctly, I heard Eric's voice from the lounge.  "Hey, what the heck are you guys doing barging in here like that!?"

            "Zip it!" said a deep voice.  "Where's that girl you took in today?"

            "What're you talking about, Torber?!"

            I couldn't believe he said, "We want that General Celes!"

            I looked around the room in a panic.  Since I slept in my clothes, I only had to grab my cape & my bag.  I pulled open the window & looked down.  Two stories up don't seem long, but it looked like a mile.

            I was surprised to see Antonio coming around from the front.  He stood on the grass next to the riverbed right under me, & half-shouted, "Celes, jump down & I'll catch you--!"

            Suffice to say, in a few moments he had led me to the outskirts of town.  Somehow, he had prepared a chocobo for me, which was tied to a tree.  Fearing for him, I asked, "What about you—"

            The last thing he told me as he helped me up was, "This is my home.  Like it or not, I can't abandon it."  He then hit the restless bird hard in the backside.  It shot forward, me with it (barely).  I tried looking back, to see him 1 last time & burn it in my mind.  I didn't like what I saw at all.  A crowd carrying torches & weapons was advancing toward Antonio.  It looked like everyone in the city was there.  They looked mad & were probably hurling curses at me.

I couldn't blame them.  After all, I was the Imperial captain that conquered their city.  Nothing can change that.  Still, that can't make me feel any less miserable.  I'll always regret that.  You know, our past shapes our present.  Any number of repercussions can occur.  Looking back on it, it amazes me that I couldn't tell the difference between good & bad situations.  Or maybe still, could I live with myself knowing that I chose to ignore it?