THE unofficial adaptation of the FF6 video game!=) Celes finally resolves the mystery surrounding the Crimson Robbers. Though what happens to Sabin has repercussions for the future…
Forever & Always
Author: Furysetzer
Disclaimer: Steps to disclaim a copyrighted story: 1) "I don't own the Final Fantasy characters." 2) "I am making no money off this. It's just for fun." 3) Make stupid joke.
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. 8—"Gerad the King? --No Way!"
Lucile Hayworth was just finishing herself a game of solitary bridge. It was just a little something she invented to pass the time. She got so few visitors.
When she heard her door being knocked, she nearly jumped. Setting down the cards, the old woman slowly gets out of her chair. In all her years, she's learned that if it were important enough, someone would always wait. "Who is it?" she carefully calls through it.
"Mrs. Hayworth?!" calls a heavy voice.
"Who are you?" she calls.
"It's me, Sabin! I was once a student of your husband's martial arts school!"
Lucile thinks about it for a moment. Opening the door but a crack, she asks, "Yes?"
"I must talk to you," pleads Sabin.
Lucile saw that he was standing close to the door with a pretty, young lady. They looked sort of haggard, looking behind themselves to see if anyone was following them. Only because she remembered him, she let them in.
They quickly step in, & she cautiously steps back. They gently shut the door behind them.
The blond haired girl looked nervously out of place. She gazed toward Sabin, always keeping him close. Sabin asks, "What can you tell us about the Crimson Robbers?"
"I see…" Gesturing toward the table, she beckons, "Let's have a seat & discuss it."
Sitting down, Sabin sighs, "Man, South Figaro sure has changed in the last 10 years. I was only here for a couple hours last year during the night, but that was during the Imperial control."
Lucile sadly nods. "I know what you mean. Ever since they left, the streets have gotten worse. There is crime happening everywhere. I suppose in a funny way, having some kind of restrictions was beneficial. A lot of youngsters have turned to thieving."
Celes says, "Mrs. Hayworth, we came to Nikeah & found that King Edgar has somehow become the leader of the Crimson Robbers. They're looking for some buried treasure. Can you tell us anything about it?"
She thinks, "Well, I don't really know what's going on, but I can tell you about a couple things that've happened recently."
Celes nods. "Alright."
"Well, rumor is, Figaro Castle submerged in the desert for a trip to Kohlingen's desert. Though on the return trip, it never resurfaced."
Celes exclaims, "Gosh! Does anyone know what happened to its people?"
Lucile shakes her head. "No, & no one would've known anything was wrong unless the robbers hadn't bragged. They supposedly escaped from there & made a pact.
"That's quite a story," says Celes.
Turning her attention to Sabin, who was mulling in silence through this, Lucile says, "And what about you, young man? Last I heard, you were going to apprentice under my husband to become a martial artist."
Shakily, Sabin says, "Mrs. Hayworth, I don't know how to say this. The Master, he…"
She encourages, "Go on…"
"Perished. A little over a year ago. Vargas… slayed him. I had to kill him in self defense."
She takes his hand. "Don't feel bad. Duncan told me what happened."
Sabin blinks. "You've talked to him?"
Lucile replies, "Duncan mentioned you might think he was dead. But he isn't."
Sabin stands up, making the chair fall. "If the Master is alive, I have to find him. Where?"
Her composure undisturbed, she responds, "He's meditating in the Narsis Mountains, north of Narshe."
He walks to the other side of the table. He takes Lucile's hand. "Thank you so much for seeing us. Please excuse us, but we now have urgent things to do." Sabin then heads for the door.
Bewildered, Celes gets up as well. She quickly follows Sabin, unless he would leave her. Closing the door behind, she half-apologizes, "Nice meeting you, Mrs. Hayworth."
Standing up, Lucile gave her a sort of half-wave, for they were already gone. After a moment, she locked the door again & returned to her table.
Outside again, Sabin stood with his arms at his side, fists clenched. Celes comes up to the street corner & asks, "Sabin, what's wrong? You were a little rude to that poor old woman."
"Doesn't matter," whispered Sabin, looking toward the distance. "The master is alive."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Celes, I have to leave. I have to find him & finish my training."
"But, why?"
"I owe him a debt I can never repay. I left his battered body out of rage. I slew his son to save my brother, Terra & Locke.
I don't understand all of it, but if it's something you have to do…"
Sabin turns to her & squeezes her shoulders affectionately. "Don't worry, I'll try to come back as soon as I can. Find my brother, & knock some sense into him."
"Alright…" she says hesitantly.
Celes watched him walk down the street, disappearing out of sight . Celes couldn't tell how, but she had a feeling she wouldn't see Sabin again for a long time to come.
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"'Re ya craizy?!" bolsters Gerad. "Figaro Cave is a single mountain now. It doesn't lead anywhare!"
"Dat's what you think, boss.. We came from here!" Another of the robbers elaborate, "There we were, rotting in da jail. Dat's when it happened." A third finishes, "Giant Sandworms broke through the wall! A couple guys got ate, but we drove it off & followed the tunnels to the surface."
"That shore is a story," he snorts. "Well, lead tha way, since you're tha only ones 'oo know whare i-tis!"
The sickening orange, setting sun was almost to the horizon when the Crimson Robbers entered the cave. After a moment, the woman dressed in white followed from the shadows.
Impetuously leading the way, Gerad turns a corner & runs into a dead end. He turns around & gripes to his henchmen, "Now whare to?!"
One of them turns to the underwater spring. "Watch," he commands. There was a giant, freshwater turtle eyeing them from the corner of the pond. He takes out a piece of dried meat & coaxes it to come closer. Suspicious, the turtle only goes to the center of the pool. "Ta-da!" the robber exclaims.
Gerad credits with a last minute sniffle, "Impressive! I used to have a turtle—"
Each in turn, the robbers take a big hopscotch onto the turtle's back & over to the other side of the pond. They all disappear around a corner of another passage. After a moment, the person follows as well.
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Gerad wasn't too surprised when he entered past the broken wall into Figaro Castle. The robbers & he were back in the jail cell. On the plus side, the room was deserted. Only problem was, the door was still locked!
Ordering them all to watch over the entrance, he took his master key & popped it open.
The guard heard them & came rushing down the stairs. He recognizes Gerad right away. He exclaims, "Hey, it's—"
He marches right up to him. "The Crimson Robba's!"
He pulls out his card & holds it up to his face, forcing him to step back. "Naim's Gerad, at yer service. Now-kindly-step-aside-&-we-can-git-down-ta-business."
The rest of the robbers snicker, waltzing past them. "See ya, shorty!" "We got treasure ta nab!"
They all exit, leaving behind the bewildered guard without anyone to protest to. After a moment scratching his head, he sees a girl coming through! Wasn't she 1 of the travelers who were King Edgar's special guests a year ago?
She walks up to him & asks, "Hey, did you see where the robbers went?"
"What's going on?!" he blurts out finally.
She calmly explains, "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that King Edgar is the leader for some reason. Do you know where the treasure room is?"
He points, "Past the engine room, ma'am."
After thanking him, she takes off along the twisted hallways. After a couple minutes, Celes comes to the engines.
They were huge, twin machines situated on either end of the room. They rose out of the floor, replacing the tiling. Foreign objects, giant, yellow tentacles, were holed up in them, clogging the gears.
In the middle of the room was a precipice, where the gang was standing. Beyond was a door leading to the treasure room.
"This must've been what happened!" Gerad complains. "That's why muh castle broke down underground!"
The robbers worry, "Boss, what are we gonna do!? The monster is blockin' our escape!"
Celes looks behind her. Four of the tentacles had intertwined themselves across the doorway.
"You guys go on ahead! I'll keep this thing busy!"
Without protest, the 5 robbers go into the back room & slam shut the door. Gerad takes a big huff & starts to rummage around in his pack.
At last, Celes steps out from behind 1 of the engines. "You have to be King Edgar," she states. "Why else would you say, 'my castle'?"
Bent over, he looks up & brightly says, "Celes, glad you made it! Little to the left, please."
Seeing him whip out the Autocrossbow, Celes quickly steps out of the way. The arrows pierce through the air,
shooting past, toward the entrance. They all hit home, lodging into the monster's hide.
From below, something horrible screeches at them.
Celes shouts out a warning, "Look Out!!"
Another appendage lunges for Edgar. Caught in mid step, it hits him with such ferocity, he is slammed into the wall.
Celes starts to run over, but something grabs her around the waist. It had reached around from behind & now lifts her up into the air. She drops her sword.
Stunned, Edgar shakes his head clear. Seeing Celes, he takes his spear & runs with it. He sticks it deep into the appendage. As if overwhelmed, it drops her.
Suddenly, a rumbling comes from below. Something starts to push its way through the ground. The floor gives away as it emerges.
The monster's yellow head broke through, & looked bulbous. The beasts round form looks at them with large, hateful eyes. It was hungry, & they had spoiled its fun. Again, it reaches for them.
With 2 of its tentacles, it swipes at Edgar & Celes at the same time. She gets pushed down, & Edgar is pinned against the wall, unable to move.
Celes gets right back up. Holding her head, she mutters, "That's it." She had lost her weapon as it fell into the floor, & she couldn't use Edgar's Tools, so Celes decides upon a spell.
She was a little weakened, but if this worked, she wouldn't have to worry about it. Starting to run toward the creature, she let her raw emotions start to rise up. She dodged its defenses, letting the anger build. Feeling the magic brimming over her entire being, Celes yells, "It's time you tasted Pearl POWER!!"
She takes a dramatic leap, aiming for the center. It opened its ugly mouth, intent on swallowing her whole. Arms crossed, protecting her face, Celes disappears headfirst into it.
She reappears an instant later, bursting through the back of its head. Edgar could see a holy, white aura surrounding her. The monsters face was shocked, as it forfeited its life.
In the way magical monsters usually die, this 1 slowly dissolves. Its physical matter breaks apart, on an atomic scale. Larger chunks of matter become smaller & smaller, like grains of sand. Eventually becoming dust, it starts to fall to the ground.
After it was over, Edgar walks over to Celes. She was on her hands & knees, breathing heavy. He exclaims, "That was awesome! --But I thought there was no magic left."
She looks at him & abruptly smiles. "Terra… showed me how…" she says, just before she passes out.
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Celes wakes up in a bed. On the nightstand, the lamp barely shone its meager light. The room was darkened, & she senses it was nighttime. Thinking back, it all suddenly came back to her. She & Sabin found Nikeah, followed Edgar to Figaro, &…
Where was she, anyway? In the castle? After defeating the tentacle monster, she passed out. Understandable after being up all that day & having her energy exhausted.
Getting up, she goes to the door, slowly opening it. the door opens up into a library. The lighting in here was dim, too. At the long, rectangular table, Edgar was talking to the Chancellor & Chief Engineer. Celes still recognized both of them.
They hear her & give attention. Edgar says, "Morning, sunshine!"
Celes says with mild surprise, "So it is you."
The Chancellor gets up & goes over. He gives her a gentle hug. "Miss Chere, on behalf of the people of Figaro, we thank you. Your courage has given us the chance to get out of this mess."
"Come & sit with us," adds Edgar. "You definitely deserve to hear this discussion."
His formality somewhat complete, the Chancellor guides her gracefully by the hand. They both sit down.
First off, Celes asks, "King Edgar, why the farce? Why did you treat us like strangers?"
He explains. "Well, when I found out about Figaro's accident, I didn't know how to help. Then I heard about the robbers. I pretended to be this big time mercenary." He chuckles, "Wait'll they find out tat treasure is worthless. But enough of that, how are you?"
Celes responds, "Pretty good, actually. I've gotten my strength back, & I'm kinda anxious to get out."
Edgar nods. "Good. Er… by the way, what happened to my brother?"
She shrugs. "After talking with Mrs. Hayworth, he found out his teacher was still alive. He wouldn't tell me exactly why he left."
He looks down in response. "I understand."
The Chancellor prompts, "Sire, the situation at hand?"
He blows his nose. "Sure. Mr. Smith, explain it for her."
At first, distracted, he goes, "Huh?" But remembering his manners, the old man says, "Right! The, uh, engine room is being repaired right now. The monster didn't do too much permanent damage on it. We should be able to resurface in a day or 2."
The Chancellor adds, "And not a moment too soon! The generators were just about gone. We're also having to go into town & procure some goods."
King Edgar stands up, palms on the table. "That's really good, everyone. Let's keep it all on schedule, & we'll have Figaro Castle up & running in a few hours!"
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EXCERPT FROM THE DIARY OF CELES CHERE:
I stayed in Figaro Castle for a couple of days. During that time, I helped Edgar with a lot of work. After the castle resurfaced, we helped those people still trapped inside the other rooms. Then the Chancellor & I went into town. He's actually very kind. Kind of attractive, too. HA! I'd probably go chase him, if I wasn't already committed to someone!
It wasn't easy, but we got most of the emergencies taken care of in the first day. You shoulda seen everybody when we came back with all that food! That was 1 of the most fulfilling things for me.
King Edgar & I got to talking… & we kind of had to face up to some things. I thought it was in the past, but I guess he was still kind of hung up about it. He actually apologized to me. It turns out that he felt guilty about thinking I was a spy. I guess he didn't exactly have time to say it while we were running for our lives on the Floating Continent.
That was fine by me. After all, I believe in forgive & forget. More of the second 1, like Cid used to say. I guess I'll always regret not being close friends with him. I think he's a good person, but there just isn't that comradism between us.
I asked him to come with me & carry on the fight with Kefka. He said he couldn't leave Figaro just yet. He had to make sure that they were going to be okay without him before then. But he did ask for me to come back & get him then.
Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Kohlingen.