THE definitive adaptation of the FF6 video game!=) Celes makes her way to Tzen, where she finds someone from her past waiting for her.
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. 4—"The Tower, The Town, & An Old Friend"
The crisp stillness of the morning made Celes Chere want to yawn. Worse, being up so early gave her a headache. Normally, she liked to watch the sunrise. It was soothing & somewhat Zen-like, but the day had started out bad.
She had lost her chocobo due to a fierce monster attack. Riding non-stop all night, Celes slumped in the saddle, drowsy enough to almost fall off. That's when she fell victim. It sprang up from the seemingly flat land. The thing was huge, ugly & seemingly mutated. It swiped at her with its large gnarled arm, & banged her in the head. She fell hard. In a beat, it had slaughtered the poor bird & started to advance. In its eyes was a desperate, twisted need beyond her comprehension. That's when it happened.
Caught unaware, the blood rushing to her head, she must have been babbling incoherently for it to happen. Though it did, & the next instant, sparkling dust appeared to fall from her fingertips. The tingling sensation turned into an itch, which coursed through her spine.
A bright white flash, then after, stillness. Celes looked, & saw the creature frozen. Simply frozen in a pillar of ice. She couldn't believe it. Somehow she must have worked an ice spell! Ever since then, she had decided to try experimenting.
Though for now, she staggers wearily into the small town. The sky was overcast, but the whitish-orange sun still shown through the clouds. It made everything it shown on look different than normal.
In the main square were a group of small children playing. Their appearances were disheveled in the way kids normally were. The other residents, mothers & the elderly, either sat in chairs outside their homes or looked occasionally out their windows to keep track of them.
A ball the kids were tossing around comes flying at Celes. It hits the ground, rolls, & stops as it touches her boot. One of them comes running up & points to it, questioning her.
Celes bends down & picks it up. "This is yours?" she asks gently.
The boy just nods as she offers it to him. He snatches it & backs up.
Celes just cracks a weak smile & almost chuckles. Obviously he was just shy. She decided on a different approach. "Hi. My name's Celes. …What's yours?"
He didn't respond. The boy just continued to eye her suspiciously.
"I'm a… uh, traveler. I'm kinda lost. Do you know what town this is?"
His silence was starting to disturb even her, as she was not good with kids. Even though she liked them.
Just then, Celes heard some sort of noise. It was unlike anything she had heard in this life, except for her previous 1. It was distant, but coming fast. She stands & looks back the way she came. The picture she saw made her stare.
Some sort of huge reddish beam slices through the sky. Traveling horizontally, it came straight for this town. Celes didn't think about it, she just knew. It must have come from the gigantic tower.
Several other people saw it, too, & gasped. Some 1 called out, "It's the Light of Judgment!" After that, everybody in the town seemed to panic. People ran from the streets. Mothers grabbed their children. Most fled into their houses.
It was about a mile from Celes, & she could feel it. Intense magic. Evil energy. At first, Celes expected to be vaporized in an instant. The meter's long laser flew into the town behind her. Celes could hear an explosion, then see the white light rushing outward. An instant after she could see again. Celes ran toward the destruction.
____________
Amazingly, all of the streets & buildings remained intact, Celes thought as she entered the main square. She looked to the left where it had crashed.
A few yards on the hill was a house. It was almost a mansion due to it being so large. A couple dozen people were in front. Some woman from the crowd kept shouting, "Someone please help! My boy! You've got to help—"
Needless to say, Celes ran over to them. She saw the person right away. She was the 1 haggardly trying to grab bystanders to get their attention. As soon as she spotted Celes, the woman grabbed her arms. With frantic eyes she begs, "You can help me, right?!"
Celes was just about to say something when the woman's eyes unlock from hers. Unwillingly, she was transfixed by the sewn patch on her vest. Incredulous, she backs up. "The badge," she breathes. "No! It's 1 of the Graedum!" Her outburst causes everyone to look in alarm. Everybody starts to back away.
The commotion must have caught the attention of another person in town coming their way. The man bolsters, "What's happening here?!"
Somewhere, somehow Celes recognized that voice. As she turns around, she unnoticeably whispers, "Oh my gosh, it's…"
"Celes!?!" Sabin exclaims.
Celes just stands there, unable to move. Was this actually 1 of her friends? The man might have resembled him, but he was physically different. His clothes appeared rough & worn. He looked about 50 lbs. heavier, all muscle. His skin tone was darker, almost bronzed from the elements. His dull-blond hair was spiked with a short ponytail in back. He looked 10 years older than she remembered.
The woman runs past Celes. With a rush of words, She tells him, "Mash, thank goodness, you've come to help!"
His concern for her made him ignore Celes for a moment. "Slow down, Tisha! What happened?"
She gasps out, "The Light of Judgment—"
"—I know—I saw it—"
"—Crashed in my house! Derek & I got separated—"
Celes turns. It looked almost ready to collapse. "He's still in there?!" Unthinkingly, she starts to open the door.
Sabin was quick as a bolt, appearing next to her, grasping her wrist. "Celes, don't! There'll be monsters inside."
"What makes you think—" Celes says agitatedly.
"The beam of energy—you saw it? she nods. "When it hit, it created them."
Celes takes a step back. "What, how do you know?"
"I'll explain later, just STAY HERE." After saying that, he uses his boot to kick open the door. The heavy wood crashes down, crushing dozens of lethal insects.
Celes could only watch as the bottom part of the house crumbles from the weight of the roof. The whole building appeared to be sliding down. The doorway falls on Sabin's shoulders as he enters. Everyone shouts in surprise.
Unbelievably, Sabin is still standing. Sweaty-faced, he holds up the foundation with his bare hands!
"Mash!" Tisha exclaims.
Heart hammering from the sudden shock, Celes offers to help by saying, "Hang on. I'll get you out by—"
"NO!" Sabin sputters. "You do that—the whole place will crash. It's—up to you now. Get on the… hunnghh… hrrrrmmm…"
Celes didn't wait a second longer. She dashes into the blackness.
Horrifically, hundreds of insects of every variety ordained the walls. They crawled along the vertical surfaces as if they were glue. Celes didn't stand there looking at them. She ran past the entrance hall.
She made her way down the main hall, not even bothering to check any of the side rooms. Celes had a feeling the boy wouldn't be in any of them.
When she saw the stairs, she automatically took them down. Celes didn't have time to think about why, but she was drawn in this direction.
Down in the foyer, she saw him. He was standing on the fireplace brandishing a poker. Several dozen scorpions trying to close in surrounded the 8 year old. Screaming madly, he swatted at them.
Celes was about to rush over there when something materialized in front of her. Four shadowy shapes blocked the path. She couldn't believe it; they were ghosts!
Hovering there, the faceless apparitions moaned, "may not pass… master… FORBIDDEN!!"
One of them shoots a ray of white light in her direction. Celes barely has enough time to dodge as the ice spell hits the wall.
Celes was scared out of her mind. She had a phobia of ghosts. She wished she had a sword. If she did, she would be able to block the spells by focusing her energy into it. Though since she couldn't use her Runic ability, Celes fumbled in her hip pouch. She snatched a spherical object out & glanced at it. Without a hesitation, Celes threw it.
The smoke bomb exploded on the ground. Smoke rushes out, enveloping the whole room in grayness. In their confusion, Celes darts toward the fireplace.
In the moment she was doing that, Celes suddenly recalls where she got it. Shadow had once given some to her while they strolled the streets of Albrook. But that was a lifetime ago, & it was something she couldn't afford to dwell on right now.
Celes took a mighty jump over where she thought the scorpions would be. She emerges through the slowly expanding cloud, landing, barely avoiding having her head slammed into the brick. The boy, Derek, nearly hits her in the head with his poker anyway.
Celes throws up her arms in defense. "Whoa—Hey!!"
"What's happening?!" he cries above the rumbling.
She extends her arms. "I'm getting you out of here—"
Derek throws down the metal prong & leaps in them. "I'm scared…"
Celes carried him, murmuring reassurances. She ran for the stairs, taking them 2 at a time, reaching the first floor. Celes saw the light shining through, & she ran for that.
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Outside, the residents of Tzen waited anxiously in front of the house. The man holding the building up was red in the face, growling in defiance to the sweat pouring down around him.
It had been about 5 minutes since the young woman ran in there to save Derek. The people hadn't heard much since except for the rumble of the foundation trying to give way.
Suddenly, Celes & the boy fall out of the doorway. Sabin's growl turns into a snarl as he attempts the maneuver. Like a giant box, he heaves the doorway up & to the front of him, at the same time using his legs to spring himself backward. Sabin hits the ground on his butt; the house implodes inward as it crashes down. The bystanders scatter far out of the way.
Debris & dust fling into the air. Some of it falls harmlessly onto Celes who is hunched over, protecting Derek. A moment later, the crowd is around them. Wearily, Sabin goes over as well.
Celes looks up. She releases Derek, who is instantly mauled by his mother standing right there. Sabin looks her straight in the eyes, his hand on her shoulder. Kneeling there, he softly says, "You did great."
Breathing hard, she chuffs, "You weren't too bad either…"
Noticing the wound on her lower leg, he exclaims, "You're hurt!"
She looks. It was a large-sized puncture wound near her ankle. Already it was getting swollen & red. "Guess I am…" Must've got it from 1 of the scorpions, thought Celes, just before she passes out.