Chapter 27 – Look Closely, and I'll be there
As you can see… sometimes the title and the contents don't match at all… that's cos no matter what, I will not leave a chapter title-less…
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He floated around aimlessly, not knowing where his wings were taking him, and not knowing what he was seeking.
The last few words that Tanya had uttered before trailing off to eternal silence kept echoing in his mind… refusing to leave even if he tried to make them.
"Find C…elest…ine… and the Great Lord…"
Celestine, for sure I will search for her, as I have already planned to do… But the Lord too? This isn't making any sense at all! I truly doubt that the scene this Redrumiel had shown me was merely an enacted one… and yet…
Perhaps… there's more to it than meets the eye……
He frowned a little, trying to think of a possible answer to the most puzzling situation.
It was then that he heard it.
Damien… Damien Silvergrace…. Follow my voice, and you shall find me…
There was no mistake about the owner of this voice – that of his mentor, guiding him towards a path to his whereabouts.
But… what about that attack on him? He looked dead to me, unless my eyes were deceiving me?
He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to sort it out himself.
"Where are you, My Lord?" He called aloud, hoping for some kind of response… for the voice that was in his mind earlier was becoming fainter and fainter.
The Floating Archipelago… be quick… for you may not find it if you delay your search…
The Floating Archipelago – as its name suggests, this was a place that dangles in mid-air, and drifts around in an irregular pattern. It was said that if one did not have the luck, it would be rather hard to find it.
The exact position could not be pinpointed, but Damien knew that it was situated between the SEI and ZOK dimensions… that is, the thin stretch of space between the Sky where Angels float and the Land where Mortals dwelled.
An hour later, Damien was still circulating the said area, having been unsuccessful in locating the evasive place. However, he was not about to give up, now that it was certain that at least, the Lord was well enough to be able to project his voice into Damien's mind.
Look closely.
He scrutinized the area, looking for anything that resembled the Floating Archipelago described in those geography texts he had studied.
Before his eyes, the faint shape of a small island appeared, with steps of a cloud-like texture leading up to it.
With wide-eyed amazement, he stepped gingerly on them, and set foot onto the place, while looking around in awe.
"Well, I'll be damned!" He said, and then covered his mouth with a hand as he realized his inappropriate language.
"It appears to me that you have been picking up the wrong things while staying in the mortal world, Damien. Make sure that you keep it under control, or I might have to rethink your request to prolong your stay there."
"My Lord! You're alive!" Damien exclaimed. "But how is this possible? That attack from Celestine… or rather… the one possessing Celestine… I thought you were gone for sure!"
"Watch your mouth, young Angel! How can I be so easily gotten rid of? All those decades, centuries of spiritual training… will all be washed down the drain." Lord Shin admonished him with a stern tone.
"I… I'm terribly sorry, my Lord. It's just that… I saw through Redrumiel's screen how you were attacked by her… and I thought…"
"And you thought I was dead? I cannot die so easily, even if I want to. I still have a whole lot of years left in me! Even though sometimes I really wish to shed this burden of mine… but to answer your question… all I did was indulge in a little bit of acting… and they fell for it, hook, line and sinker."
"Acting?" Damien peered at the Lord curiously, unable to picture the strict father figure of Angel Land doing that.
However, the twinkle in the Lord's eye told an entirely different story.
"I wanted to observe what Furhler … or rather, Redrumiel was up to. Well, I could have guessed anyway… what else could he want except take over the three dimensions? But I wanted to confirm my suspicions."
"Furhler? Wasn't that the legendary first-line Angel who was exiled to an abandoned island?"
"Clever. That abandoned island would also be known as Strider's Islands…"
"So… you're saying… that Redrumiel is Furhler?" Damien stared at the Lord in shock, for as far as his knowledge was concerned, the name was one that only appeared in the history texts when he was young. He could not have expected that he would come face to face with a historical figure!
"I must say, your deduction abilities are quite outstanding." The Lord gave him an appreciative smile.
"But why does he insist on choosing Celestine as his puppet? It appears to me that all along, he has been aiming at her from the very beginning!"
"I do not know the reason either… only Furhler himself knows. But we have to act quickly, and pull Celestine out from his control, or else…" His face was grave as he spoke; for the picture that presented itself upon his mind should the worst happen was harrowing indeed.
"Or we might lose her forever…"
The Lord nodded.
"More importantly… Furhler's power will increase immensely, for Celestine's abilities are greater than you can imagine. That might be a reason for you to contemplate."
"Celestine's abilities?" This was the first time Damien had heard anything about the extent of her abilities. Granted, she had really effective attacks, which was why he had attempted to combine his own Ouiji with her Lunar Beam attack for the little bit more oomph…
"Do you know what the blue shade of her hair represents?" The Lord threw a seemingly unrelated question into Damien's face.
"Wasn't it due to blood ties with the royalty, or something to that effect?"
"That's what the folklore says. But in reality, it represents the concentration of spiritual power and enlightenment in that Angel. Throughout the glorious history of our race, only a handful had sported blue hair… the first-line Angel Lilacea, the Great Warrior Basturn Angelwing, her father, Basturn's grandson Nicholas Angelwing, and finally, herself."
"Whoa… meaning to say…"
"She kicks ass, if you want to say it the way those mortals do."
"I never imagined that….."
"That's only because she hasn't reached her full potential yet, and she controls her power very well. Now you know that you should try to avoid getting on her wrong side, for it does not bode well for your future."
"But my Lord… you too have greater powers than I can imagine, so why isn't your hair blue as well?"
"Damien… mine is a strength that comes from the accumulation of years, not from hereditary factors… have you not noticed that all except Lilacea share the same first name of Angelwing? In fact… all of them could overthrow me any time of the day… if not for their short life-spans… and unassuming nature, I would not have remained as the Ruler of Angels for long…"
"Short life spans?"
"I do not know if it's a curse or something else… but till this day, all with that particular trait were unable to enjoy life beyond a thousand years, which was probably why there were so few of them…. A sad truth, really…"
"So what do I have to do now?"
"For one thing… we shall need the aid and support of your human friends… for this war will be one that crosses the boundaries and involves all no matter Angel, Human, or Underground Creature. Only if we battle shoulder to shoulder, back to back, can we successfully defeat the enemy and send him back to where he belongs."
"How many of our Angels are still on the path of Hyne, my Lord?"
"Too few, and too weak, I'm afraid…" The Lord shook his head, but he did not blame those who strayed, for they were only children who had lost their way in his eyes.
"Leave it to me, my Lord. I shall bring the human leaders here… I am sure they will be eager to help, as we will be to help them."
"Very well, Damien. I shall try to get this island to lower and stabilize itself a little, so that it would not be too difficult for you to get to it."
"Thank you, my Lord. I will not fail you."
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"Hey, Damien! Wake up, we're back at the Garden!" Zell snapped his fingers loudly in front of Damien's face, causing him to jump out from his trip down his memory cells.
"What? Oh, right…" He got up at once, heading for the exit of the Ragnarok at a quickening pace.
"Hey, what's the hurry?" Zell tried to catch up with him, which was difficult as Damien was practically flying to his intended destination.
"Someone's back." He replied cryptically.
"Who?"
"Follow me! You will see for yourself. Just don't piss in your pants in the excitement!"
"Where are you going?"
"Infirmary."
"Infirmary??!!" Zell was getting all the more clueless by the minute.
One thing's for sure… he ain't talking about Dr. Kadowaki! He told himself.
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There they were, standing at the entrance of the Doctor's office.
Damien had stopped abruptly by the door, apparently not intending to enter the room.
"What are we standing here for? If it's the infirmary you want, just go in!"
"Shhhh~~~!" Damien placed a finger between his lips, and crouched next to the door, while beckoning Zell to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.
They could hear muffled sounds from within, then a giggle escaped from the room into the ears of a very puzzled Zell.
The puzzlement turned to astonishment within a second, as he recognized the owner as his dearly missed friend.
"Stop it, Seifer, not here! What if Doctor Kadowaki comes in right now?"
"Naw, she won't. It'll probably take at least ten minutes, and I say why not make use of the time?"
"And what if some other sick person was to come in?"
"The chances of that is one to a million, okay?"
"B..but but…"
"Shhhh…"
There were yet more muffled sounds, a multitude of giggles, and many other strange noises that the two could not decipher… well, at least Zell could not guess what it was, but Damien could imagine a little, which was the reason for his reluctance to enter the room.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I want to know how she's doing!"
Without heeding the restraining hands of a frantic Damien, Zell barged right into the room.
Damien could only slap his head at his denseness… and regretted bringing him to the infirmary.
I had erroneously thought he would be a little more settled by now… having displayed a far calmer side of him in the recent months… but woe upon me who underestimates his rashness!
He was about to go in and pick up the mess when the red-faced Zell dashed out of the room, blabbering a whole string of words about not seeing anything.
He gave Zell a look that seemed to say "You wouldn't listen to me."
Zell could only look down in remorse, mingled with a whole lot of embarrassment.
"Never mind, let's see what I can do about it."
Standing outside the open door with his back facing it, he called out to the couple inside.
"My Lady and Master, may I come in now, or would you rather I come by a little later?"
"Uh, sure, you can come in, Damien. And Zell too… we're ready now…"
"Thank you, My Lady."
He started dragging the reluctant Zell into the room.
He could hardly stifle the laughter that was hidden in his stomach, for he could see now what Zell had witnessed.
No wonder he had bolted like a rat from a sinking ship! He chortled inwardly, and feared that he was going to suffer from internal injuries from all that cooped up laughter.
"Ummm…." Zell finally looked at Quistis, but turned his head away immediately to look at Seifer instead. "How are you feeling, Quisty?"
"Oh, I'm quite fine, actually, Zell." Quistis tried to reassure him, but found it hard to be convincing when he wouldn't even look at her in the face.
"Chicken-wuss… why in the world are you looking at me when you're talking to her?"
Zell could not, or rather did not know how to tell him… that Quisty had a few buttons of her blouse undone. He could only stare mutely at Seifer, while making a funny expression with his face.
Seifer turned towards Quistis, for he had a feeling that Zell's weird behavior had something to do with her appearance…
And his eyes fell upon the wide open blouse too.
In a frenzied manner, he gestured towards Quistis, who had not realized the gaffe even with the clues glaring at her in the face.
She looked downwards to where Seifer had pointed. And promptly gave an eardrum-bursting scream.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! ALL THREE OF YOU!"
There was nothing they could do except leave, for they feared the wrath of a hysterical woman more than anything.
"CHICKEN-WUSS!! You have landed me in hot soup! You will PAY for this, I swear upon my Hyperion! You two had better leave right now, or she might blow up even worse. Go! Get outta my sight!!"
Zell mumbled an apology, and started skulking off towards nowhere in particular.
"What are you still doing here? Don't worry, I'll handle her. She has the pride of a lioness, but I will eventually find a way to calm her down." He waved Damien off, intending to end the conversation at that.
"My Master… we will be holding a serious discussion in the basement conference room… please bring my Lady with you when you are ready."
"It's about the impending war, isn't it?"
"You knew?" Damien was surprised at his Master's ability to sense the threat of war, even when he had not been as much involved as the other SeeDs, having been preoccupied with his Lady's well-being.
"I wasn't a complete hermit, if that's what you're thinking… alright… I will get there as soon as I can. "
"Another thing, Master."
"What?"
"When have you started wearing lipstick already?"
"What are you talking about?"
Damien whipped out a small pocket mirror from out of nowhere, and held it up for Seifer to see his colourful face.
On his forehead, and all over the lower part of his face, particularly the lips were several lipstick marks imprinted with the shapely mouth of a certain someone.
Seifer stared in horrified silence at his reflection, then started cussing and swearing that neither he nor Quistis had been alert enough to spot such obvious traces of their intimate actions in the infirmary.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone hehehehe…."
Seifer rolled his eyes at Damien, for he was sure that the Angel would be telling Celestine, at the very least… he was the gossipy kind, Seifer could tell.
He had no prior knowledge that Celestine had not been in contact with Damien for many months now, assuming that the two Angels had constantly kept up with some kind of telepathic communication.
Just then, Quistis had stalked out of the infirmary in infuriated silence, heading for the common corridor without a single glance at Seifer.
He knew that he was in for some cold and cruel punishment…
Like the last time he left a love mark on her at the beach… as he recalled the experience, he could not help but shudder at the unpleasant memory……
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Two hours later……
Seifer knocked on the door of the conference room at the basement level. Standing beside him was Quistis, who had finally calmed down after a relentless tirade against him.
Squall nodded, and gestured for them to enter.
As Quistis went in, she came face to face with the astounded expressions on her friends' faces, followed by a few loud cheers from Selphie. All of them went up to hug her, and tell her how much she had been missed by them. All except Zell, that is, who was still suffering from a hangover of his previous blunder.
"Welcome back, Quisty… glad that you're alright…" That was all he managed to say, while looking at the ground the whole time, as if it fascinated him to no end.
Quistis shook her head and turned to stare daggers at Seifer, who only shrugged his shoulders to shirk his responsibility in creating the uneasy atmosphere.
"Alright, now that our old gang is back together once again, I would like to focus on our current discussion of the situation." Squall was enthusiastic, maybe even ecstatic about Quistis' return, but he could not let them stray from the serious stuff for too long, as time was a thing they did not have in abundance.
"Currently, the virus has stopped spreading in Esthar, and the serum has proved to be most effective, with no known side-effects except for occasional depressive emotions, which does not constitute much of a problem. President Loire has agreed to support the Balamb and Trabia Gardens in their battle against the Deling Empire.
On the other hand, Caraway has called this morning to 'warn' us about the attack from Galbadian forces in twenty four hour's time, starting from this Garden, and Balamb town……" He shot an awkward glance at Rinoa, imploring her to continue from there.
"Both Squall and I think that he was behaving rather strangely. For one thing, he does not like to battle unnecessarily, even with his military background. Besides, I really cannot see a motive for an attack at this point in time, when the surrounding air has already become so tensed up with the threat of contracting a virus or being attacked by an Underground creature continually plaguing the people! There have even been reports of those Creatures ambushing innocent passer-bys around the East Academy Train Station area!"
"BALAMB TOWN? Why Balamb Town, of all the places? It's only a quiet fishing town! Why would anyone want to take over this kind of place? My Ma, and Pa… my whole family is there!" Zell shouted in an agitated manner, for the mere thought of his family in danger was enough to send him into frenzy.
"Don't worry, Zell… I'm sure the Garden would be most willing to take care of them if they really need another place to stay… 'cos don't forget, we're your other family as well!" Quistis reassured him with a pat on the shoulder and a warm smile.
He looked up at her with a grin, mumbling his thanks gratefully.
"Yeah, Chicken-wuss. You needn't worry about such things. Just concentrate on the battle, and finding your Celestine."
At the sound of the Angel's name, the entire room immediately fell into a gloomy silence as the SeeDs recalled the abnormal behavior the then-possessed Celestine had displayed the last time they saw her… at Galbadia Garden.
Seifer and Quistis were bewildered by the sudden heaviness in the air, for they had been spared from the unfortunate witnessing of that particular scene.
"What's wrong? Why do you look as if I've mentioned someone dead?" Seifer glanced around the gang with a baffled expression, but none of them wanted to answer him.
Finally, it was Zell who spoke up, even if he was the one most hurt by the revelation.
"Celestine… is no longer the Celestine we know…. She has been replaced by a subordinate of an evil mastermind of some sort… and it is not certain if she would ever come back……" He choked on his words, while shutting his eyes tightly, letting a lonely tear run down his left cheek without wiping it away.
"Chicken-wuss… What in the Hell are you talking about? Just yesterday she had helped Quisty out of her coma… if that isn't her, I don't know who it was I had seen… her ghost?" Seifer was even more confused by now… for what Zell had said directly contradicted with what he had seen with his own eyes. Well… maybe that couldn't be counted as seeing her, since she was invisible except for a faint outline… but he was damn sure that it was her voice he had heard. He did not think that he was dreaming back then… for wasn't Quisty up and awake now – the most glaring evidence there could ever be?
"She did? Why hadn't I known about it?"
"Duh… you were in a coma, remember Darling???" Seifer reminded her with a tone that invoked a rather displeased look from Quistis. "But that's impossible! She… she seemed to have been possessed by something that's clearly non-human… and tried to attack us… that was yesterday evening…."
"Yeah… and Zell was almost killed by a monster! Celestine regained her control for a split second to take the attack for him, or else you might not be talking to him right now!" Selphie added, ignoring the warning looks Irvine had been shooting her way, trying to shut her up.
"I think, none of us would fully understand what really happened… I suggest we do not waste our time making wild guesses, and instead use it to plan our defenses for tomorrow's battle." All this while, Damien had been a silent observer of the proceedings, unwilling to interrupt them… but as precious time trickled by right under their noses, the lead-time Caraway had given them by way of his special warning would have been all but gone… something they could not afford to waste.
"And what would you say if you did not have to make any wild guesses, and heard it straight from the horse's mouth?"
All eight of them turned towards the source of that voice, unable to believe their ears at first.
"Celestine! You're back!" Someone shouted… none of them were sure who it was, or perhaps it was the collective voices of their minds as they registered her appearance in them.
With a blinding, dazzling grin, she replied….
"Yes… I'm back. And I have never felt so darn good in my life……"
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Well, that's all folks, for the chapter. It's getting late (or early), almost four a.m., and I am fighting a losing battle against my eyelids. Might not be fantastic… but I tried my best. I think next the two or three chapters would probably be the climatic ones…. At least that's what I'm hoping to achieve… so… hang on, while I try to get a hold on my muse, who seems to be pulling the disappearing act on me for the last few chapters…. Eaaaagh… how frustrating!
Thanks to all the reviewers!
Quistis88 – Hah… I'm so glad you don't think any less of me because of the cliff-hangies!! What a relief!
CelesteSpring – Hai… thanks for your compliment! I am looking forward to your "Blood and Lilacs" as well! I wished that I could write metaphors as well as you do… *envious*
Punkygal – Glad you liked waterlilies… me too!
Jengab057 – Thanks for your reviews!
I think I will update the next one within the same day… since it is officially tomorrow as I speak… hah… what am I saying? I need my rest… gotta go… *yawn* see you guys later….zzzzzzzzzzzzz gimme a goodnite kiss Zell…. Oh I'm dreaming already…………..