THE unofficial adaptation of the FF6 video game!=) Sabin & Celes travel to the town of Mobliz, where they find more devastation. Though they find something there that is more shocking…
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. 9—"Inconsolable Man's Redemption"
Celes arrived in Kohlingen as planned. The small town was located around the same place as before, near the sea on the plains past the desert. It was almost as if its people weren't going to let a small thing like an apocalypse ruin life for them. She kind of admired that.
Celes stepped into the town & remarked at how unchanged it was. The wooden houses were the same, even where a few of them were scorched from the "pink, flying being". There were people walking the streets, going nowhere in particular. A few she recognized.
She walks over to the aging man & stops him. He looks at her & nearly jumps. "—It's you!"
A couple close by notices them & looks. They turn their attention elsewhere, not wanting to be rude.
"Mr… Stillwater, is it?" Celes asks. "Do you… remember me? I was with Locke the others.
He snatches his arm back. "What are you doing here," he demands gruffly.
"I'm, uh, looking for them."
With hard eyes, he looks her up & down. "Well he wouldn't be here. We had a deal, remember?"
Celes goes on, "I understand, but I thought… at least Locke might've come back… for Rachel…"
Perturbed that this stranger would know about his daughter, he pulls her aside. He intensely says, "You have NO BUSINESS, girl. Still, Mr. Cole did come by, but that was a half-year ago."
Celes sees the strangeness in his eyes. She could tell he was not an easy person. She presses on. "How was he? What'd he say?!"
Tight-lipped, he says, "I didn't talk to him. But… come with me. Can't have you gallivanting all around town…"
Celes follows him into the woods.
____________
The door to the darkened room opens. Bright sunlight shines into the tavern, arousing those in drunken stupors. Almost as 1, they barely raise their heads & grumble harsh words. The bartender gripes, "Close the door, lady!"
The woman with long, blonde hair walks over to the counter. "I'm looking for someone," she tells him.
He leans over the counter, close enough to see a couple of her exquisite features. "What's the askin' price, cupcake?" the burlesque, heavyset man growls.
She leans back from his noxious odor. Closing her eyes & turning her head to the side, she starts to say, "I'm not willing to…" Her voice trails off. She runs off. "Thanks anyway—BYE!"
She makes her way through the other tables filled with unconscious people to a table in the corner. The occupant of the seat was hunched over, snoring loudly. He had long, white hair, & his garb was also the telltale sign. She gently slaps his face. "Setzer, wake up!"
He jumps as if hearing an explosion. He looks & exclaims in a slur, "Maria! Or… Celez, whichever you are." He drunkenly attempts to embrace her, but she makes him miss, & he hits the table again.
Setzer turns his nose away from the spilled wine. "I'm zo happy to zee you—" he blubbers.
Adamant, Celes slings his arm over her neck. Pulling him up, she starts to drag her willing accomplice out of there. He goes, "Wait, my drink." She ignores Setzer for his own good.
The bartender blocks their way. He spits, "That bum owes a lot of money. He's not getting out."
Setzer, totally incapacitated, couldn't say anything for himself. Celes tells him, "I'll take care of it."
He takes a step forward. "I really believe ya."
Celes holds her palm out, & a tiny fireball flashes into existence. It crackles & burns. "Outta the way," she commands.
Needless to say, he let her past. No protest.
____________
Coming out of consciousness, Setzer Gabbiani moaned through his thick delirium. He had this really weird dream where he was in command of a dragon shaped airship, flying through a sky of bubbly liquor. He & his comrades were on a journey light-years away. Swimming through the blackness, they saw the green & blue & white ball getting closer & closer. They were almost to it, when the giant sphere turned into an enormous head. Kefka sneered at them, then took a deep breath. He blew forth a terrible wind, in which the ship came apart. Big chunks flew off, until there was nothing left but a falling Setzer, plunging through the bottomless pit, colliding into the arms of the flying demon which ate the souls of broken men…
His head pounded as he tried to use his arms to push up from the bed. He had to have something to numb the pain. "Need a drink…" he thickly bellows.
From the stool, Celes pushes him down on his back. She props him up on the pillows. "Drink this," she says, shoving it in his hands.
He sniffs it dubiously, "What'z thiz?"
She pours it down Setzer's throat. "Water," she responds.
Setzer sputters up what little didn't get down. "It'z vile!" he complains.
Celes shoves him back down. "It'll clear your head."
He flips over & bangs his head on the mattress. "Ugh!Ugh!Ugh! Go away," he moans in a muffled voice.
"Not until you explain something for me," she says, setting the glass down on the nightstand. "Who is Darryl? You kept calling for him in your sleep."
Setzer sighs very deeply through the sheet. This had to be Celes. No one else could be this infuriating. "I am not dizcuzzing thiz," he says loudly. "GO! NOW!"
Since she wasn't getting the message, he roughly hits her with the pillow. "OUT!"
She gets up & backs away. "But—"
He throws it at her. Celes ducks & opens the door to the room, getting behind it. "Why are you being like this?" she crossly asks.
The door slams as he throws the glass. Setzer leans back, & starts to sob.
____________
The door to the room opens, & Setzer stumbles out. He had slept a little more, & upon waking up, felt like a bag of scum. His teeth were grimy & face greasy, & it seemed like every bone in his body ached. Not to mention he had a severe thirst, & his brain felt like jelly.
Sitting in a chair in the hallway, Celes sets down the local newsletter, & watches him for a moment. His head bobbed down, his long, white hair a mess. After barely noticing her, he starts to swagger away.
She asks him, "Where are you headed?"
He mumbles 1 word. "Out."
Celes gets up & stops him. "In your socks? No way. You don't need any more liquor."
Surprisingly, he let her lead him back into the room. "You enjoy giving pain," he groans.
She replies, "And you smell bad. Let's run you a bath."
They walk in, going past, into the washroom. Setzer sits down heavily on a stool, looking blankly. Celes had an attendant fill the tub earlier. The warm water looked clean & inviting. She walks out & tells him to strip out of his underwear & get in. It took him a full 10 minutes to crawl into it.
When Celes came back with a towel, Setzer almost jumped. He closed the curtain. She sat on the stool, waiting for him. "So tell me, Setzer," she starts. "What happened to you after the cataclysm?"
He almost told her to get out. It wasn't any of her business. Then again, she was the 1 it all centered around. She was the 1 who dragged him into all this. Setzer didn't have the heart, so he bit his tongue. "Nothing much to tell," he says plainly.
"Kefka's alive," she says suddenly. "Like a spoiled child, he's destroying our world. We've got to stop him."
That pushed his button. He didn't want to hear anything about this! Setzer flings open the curtain, his face hard. "Don't get me involved again."
Celes was taken aback. "I--I know it's been hard, but—"
"You don't know anything," he retorts.
She gets up & takes a step back. "But… It's our responsibility…"
"Wrong!" he shouts. "You dragged me into thiz!" The composure in his face was breaking up. "I lost everything. My wealth, my airzhip, even Tillate…"
"What happened?" she dares.
He leans back, defeated. "He… died. Monzters…"
Tillate… Setzer's second in command. She was told he saved her friends several times. Celes could imagine. Traveling the mainland, unarmed. It would be easy to fall prey. "I lost Cid, too…" she shares.
"Juzt go away," he pleads. "I can't deal with thiz right now."
Celes sets the towel down. She reluctantly leaves the room.
____________
The door to the café slams open, spilling the bright sunlight into the room. Those in the room protest, but shut up upon seeing the white clothed woman march in. She walks through to the counter, & says, "What're you doing here."
He swivels his stool from her. "Having a drink."
Celes leans in closer. "Setzer, it isn't good for you to booze around like this."
He swallows the rest in 1 gulp & slams it onto the counter. "I'm a grown man, Celez!" he bitterly says. "I don't need you hanging around—"
Before anything else could happen, the skinny bartender tells them, "Take it outside, you 2. we don't need this in here." He then says, "I mean it. I'm kicking ya out! Scadaddle!"
Setzer gives a scathing look, & balefully turns away. Celes follows him out, paying no attention.
They were outside again. Dark clouds had rolled in. Luckily, it might rain.
Setzer starts to walk away again. Celes starts to follow, & he stops, his fists clenched at his sides.
She was just standing there, & it irritated him. He twirls around. "What do you want from me!" Setzer says, exasperated.
Celes just looks calmly at him. Frustrated, Setzer says, "Why are you looking at me like that—"
Finally, she quietly says, "The Setzer I knew wouldn't cower like this. He wouldn't turn his back to the world."
He knew what she meant. He had turned to drinking to numb the pain. That understanding filled him with loathing. He turns from her. "I was… a different person then."
Celes walks around, face to face. She gently rests her slender hands under his jaw. He tried to turn his head, but she wouldn't let him. She whispers, "Setzer, you're messed up. So was I… for a little bit. It hurts… a lot. But you've got to get past that."
He starts, "Yeah, but…"
She lets go & changes the subject. "Do you remember before, when we all were on your airship?"
Confused, he asks, "When?"
"Before, when we were trying to stop Kefka & Gestahl. Remember when we were fighting in the air. You fought so ferociously… I admired you, a lot. You saved us more than a coupla times."
Setzer's face was red. He had no idea it had been like that. He agonizes, "But what about now? Everything was different, then…"
All worked up, she returns, "It was. But we're still alive, the world is, too. If we don't give up, then our world can't die. It… will live on."
Something Edgar had once said came back to mind. He echoes, "It can't be zaid, we won't try…"
Celes stresses, "We can change the world back to the way it was. Do you really want to live like this?"
A moment passes in which Setzer stares dully at Celes, her hands on her hips. Suddenly, Setzer starts to chuckle. Somewhere along this line, it actually felt better. If it's broken, you fix it. If it's wrong, you make it good. He was starting to feel like his old self again!
He takes her hands. Happiness pouring from him, Setzer starts to move about her. An unexpected, radiant smile comes to her. Both of them with wide smiles, they do a happy dance, eventually falling down in the grass.
A girl with her mother giggles at them. Embarrassed, a couple bystanders walk off in another direction.
This causes Setzer to double over, exploding in laughter. Celes laughs too, just for the craziness of it.
Laughter subsiding, wiping away a tear, Setzer says, "You are too much."
She replies, chuckling, "Well at least we've gotten some spirit back, huh?"
He sits up, arms over his knees. "Do you really think we have a chance?" he asks.
"I've already found some of the others," she says. "Terra… Edgar… Sabin… I'm going to find them all…"
He nods. "Then, as we uzed to zay in the gambling businezz, I think it'z time for me to play my trump card…"
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Note 2: AHEM! We interrupt this story to bring you this important message. Setzer's speech is NOT screwed up! If you know anything about Setzer, he is an albino. If you look, you can even see his eyes are violet in the game's graphics. I interpreted him thus: something akin to a French-roguish type of person. All of his S's sound like Z's. Although you can make the argument he doesn't talk like that in the game, I come to the conclusion that different interpretations are instrumental in contributing to all the different aspects of fanfictiondom. Yes, that is a word. I now return you to the story. That is all.
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