Chapter Nine- Imperial Weapon Tunnel Armor
"Locke..."
Locke jumped a bit at his name suddenly being called, as there had been an intense silence for the past few moments as he tried to get the rusty key he stole from the soldier to properly fit into the door lock he and Celes wanted to pass through. Locke stopped trying for a moment and looked up at Celes, his new companion, who was staring intently at him with those chilly blue eyes, making a shiver run down his spine. Locke was about to open his mouth to reply, when Celes just cut straight to the point.
"Why are you helping me?" She demanded, her tone full of curiosity that was easily hidden by the ice that lined it. Locke felt his cheeks slightly redden. He hadn't been expecting her to ask him something like that. Therefore, he did not have too much time to make up a semi-logical reply. He certainly couldn't understand at the moment the reason why he had helped her himself. He said the first thing on his mind.
"You remind me of someone..." He trailed off and bit his lower lip, wondering how she would react. He wasn't too surprised when the look on her face didn't change a bit, so he quickly added "But what does it matter anyway? I just want to, ok?!" At that point, he jammed the key into the keyhole again and gave a hard twist, causing a loud 'click' to echo off into the room. As if on cue, the door suddenly swung open, and Locke and Celes were faced with an even darker and damper hallway then the one they had previously been in. Celes stepped ahead of Locke, going by her natural military instinct, but he tugged on her hand and pulled her back.
"Let me lead." Locke said.
"Very well." Celes replied, obviously not in the mood to argue. "But I remember this place. They dragged me through here when they caught me and..." Suddenly, a shiver ran through Celes' body, and she hugged herself tightly. Locke reached out, alarmed that she may collapse, but Celes turned away quickly, knowing that she didn't need any help. Even this...supposedly fearless rouge and Returner couldn't save her from her memories...
"I was just going to say my sword is in here somewhere." Celes said softly. "I dropped it when..."
"Ok, you can tell me where to go." Locke offered. Celes nodded and fell into step with Locke as he began to walk, still keeping her arms around herself.
The cellar passageways were miserable and dripping from all corners...it was obvious that it was not used often. However, despite the lack of light, it was still easy to maneuver around, as there was only one path and all Locke and Celes had to do was keep their hands against the walls. Locke looked over at Celes once or twice to make sure she was still beside him, as she stepped and breathed so quietly. Her pale hand seemed to almost glow against the gray walls with a soft blue light... But Locke couldn't tell if he was just seeing things or what. Suddenly, they heard another set of footsteps, pounding from ahead of them at an alarming rate.
"There she is! I see her, General Celes!"
"Get her! She is a prisoner of the Empire!"
"Celes!" Locke cried, and held out his arm to block her from going any further when the pair of Imperial Guards that they had heard made their debut. However, Celes had other ideas. She quickly lifted her hand that was against the wall, which was now glowing a brighter blue. Locke knew this wasn't his imagination. Celes closed her eyes and softly whispered:
"Ice."
At once, her hand flashed once brightly before returning to it's normal skin tone, and a shining laser of blue shot out of the ground and shot through each guard, zigzagging for a few rounds before shooting out through their heads and disappearing into the ceiling. Celes said nothing as she heard the two guards suddenly slump to the floor, each of their face's the same blue color as the laser. They had been instantly frozen to death, from the inside out...
Locke blinked and looked over at Celes. She calmly opened her eyes and returned Locke's gaze, lowering her hand to her side.
"I knew they would be coming." She said, as if to explain the glow of her hand before. "I was ready. Are you alright?"
".....Yeah..." Locke trailed off and shook his head. This was the second time he had seen magic in a time frame of less then a week.... And all this time, magic was supposed to be a mere fairy tale... So why could Celes use it too?
"Hmm, you don't look too damaged." Celes commented, and carefully stepped over the two soldiers. "Shall we continue?"
They continued their silent journey as if nothing had ever happened, until Locke and Celes turned a corner and spotted something shimmering on the floor. It was a sword...
"Is this yours?" Locke asked and stooped down to pick it up. The sword had intricate runes carved into the handle and into the blade, which appeared to be made of glass...
"Hmm-hmm." Celes replied, and took it from him, instantly sliding it into her sheath. "This means we are almost out..."
And she was right. Only a few moments later, they had reached a stairway, which led up to a trap door of some sort. Locke went on ahead and pushed open the door, letting sunlight from the world above pour down into the cellar and over Celes. She narrowed her eyes slightly and rested her hand on her forehead as she gazed up at Locke.
"Ready?" Locke smiled, trying to keep in mind that soon he would be back in Narshe with his friends, and they would be able to have Terra talk to the esper and fix everything...
"Yes." Celes said, and Locke exited, instantly stretching and basking in the warm sunshine that surrounded his body. Celes climbed out soon after, and sat on the ground for a moment to rest.
"We really should get out of here before we think about resting..." Locke suggested gently. Even if Celes didn't give a damn about him, he didn't want them both to get caught now. Celes didn't reply, she merely stood up and brushed off her cape.
Locke looked around and realized they were right at the back entrance of South Figaro. No soldiers around, and no citizens. It was too good to be true.
"Alright, lets go!" Locke exclaimed, and took off running, his heart feeling ten times lighter as he crossed the border that separated South Figaro from the lush green plains of the Figaro kingdom territory. Celes followed behind, and soon they were so far off, they couldn't even see the town when they looked back. They didn't stop running until they reached the ever-familiar Figaro cave. Locke finally had to rest and leaned back against the cave entrance, his chest rising and falling quickly with his short breath. Celes sighed some and kicked at the puffy white dandelions, watching the seeds from it catch in the breeze and fly past her in an instant, beginning their journey a bit prematurely due to Celes' foot. Locke frowned and stood up straighter, wondering if this was their good- bye.
"Where is it that you are heading?" Celes asked, turning to look at him.
"Narshe..." Locke began, shifting his full attentions on her. "I have to meet my friends up there...for um... a sort of Returner operation."
"That will not be easy." Celes interrupted. "Kefka is leading his army up there as well...he is looking to capture that esper they have..."
"I heard." Locke nodded, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "It isn't gonna be easy for Terra..."
"Terra?" Celes questioned, her eyes suddenly widening slightly. "Who is that?"
"One of the people I need to meet, a Returner." Locke explained. "Well, she used to be an officer of the Empire...but she had been brainwashed and..." Celes held up her hand to cut him off.
"Then I imagine Kefka is coming for her too." Celes said. "Will you be able to fight his army single-handedly?"
"I'll have my friends!" Locke exclaimed. "You'll help too, won't you?" Celes blinked.
"You want my help?" Celes asked. "You want me to fight the Empire with you?"
"I want you to become a Returner!" Locke cried. "We could really use your help, and..." But Locke didn't need to use the begging tactics he had used with Terra in her moments of hesitation. Instead, Celes nodded in his mid-sentence, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'll help...to pay you back." Celes said. "You have my complete devotion to the Returners in exchange for the protection you gave me back in South Figaro..."
"Oh, thank you Celes!" Locke smiled happily. "But don't think that I'm not going to keep fulfilling my side of the bargain. I told you I would protect you. I didn't say that I would stop after we escaped." Celes' cheeks flushed slightly, and Locke smiled even more.
"Lets save our thanks for after we get to Narshe, hmm?" Celes said, and brushed past Locke into the Figaro Cave. Locke followed her without reply, knowing that she would manage to have the last word anyway. They carried more idle conversation mostly revolving around Narshe's crisis until they reached the other end of the cave. Locke remembered before how he thought the walls here were odd, and how Edgar had laughed at him. He was reminded of this when he saw Celes look around suspiciously. Before he could ask her anything, a loud rumbling broke out through the cave, shaking the floor and the walls surrounding them violently.
"Huh?!" Locke cried, and covered his ears in alarm.
"Something is coming out of the wall!" Celes pushed Locke backwards quickly. She did so just in time, because the walls in front of them suddenly crumbled into dusty nothingness, revealing two large, metal robot- like devices with multiple wheels and bolts where each wall used to be. The parts hummed and roared at once as they both emitted large sparks of electricity and bonded to each other, creating a frightful, armored machine in under a minute that was now blocking the exit to the cave. With a deafening roar, it began to slowly roll towards Locke and Celes. Within a few feet, they would be backed up against the wall behind them and left at the machine's mercy.
"What is that?!" Locke cried.
"Tunnel Armor!" Celes answered, and suddenly drew her shining sword from it's sheath, holding it in front of her defiantly as if to threaten the mechanical nightmare. Locke widened his eyes, a million thoughts racing through his mind at once. Above all, his insides were screaming for him to stop her before she did something stupid and got hurt!
"Celes!" Locke cried, and grabbed her sides, pulling her back against him. "'What are you doing?! Are you crazy?" Celes looked back to him, not lowering her sword.
"Tunnel Armor's only fatal attacks are its magic!" Celes cried frantically. "I can draw its magic attack, and when the coast is clear, you can destroy it!"
"Come again?" Locke yelled over the continually rising noise.
"I can absorb its magic with my runic blade!" Celes cried, and suddenly jerked away from him, turning her back on the Tunnel Armor to face Locke.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Locke protested worriedly.
"Just you watch!" Celes said, and smiled, her eyes suddenly softening when they met Locke's. Locke smiled back, and Celes turned back around, raising her blade into the air as the Tunnel Armor sputtered and suddenly shot out a large charge of electricity at the two Returners.
"Runic!" Celes screamed, and the glass blade began to shimmer even more, drawing the electricity into it as if it were some sort of magnet. When the attack had been completely nullified, the Tunnel Armor sputtered again and prepared to build another charge. Celes stepped back, a little woozy from the large amount of magic she had attempted to absorb. It was more then she thought could be emitted...
"Locke...now!" Celes cried, and leaned back against the wall. Locke drew his dagger and ran forward, taking a long leap in mid-step and plunging the dagger in the Tunnel Armor's electronic sensory core on it's back. Locke staggered back when he landed and fell against Celes as the Tunnel Armor suddenly emitted a loud, piercing noise, almost like a wail of defeat...Locke closed his eyes right as the Tunnel Armor exploded, shattering into hundreds of pieces of scrap metal that burst into small spheres of magical energy a few moments later, disappearing into thin air. The only thing that remained was Locke's dagger, lying on the ground, unharmed.
Locke opened his eyes and let out a happy sigh of relief to see that everything was ok again. He was surprised to feel Celes' hands resting on his shoulders, but when he realized he had been leaning against her, he quickly backed away.
"You did it!" Celes said, and rubbed some small sweat beads from her forehead. "Good job..."
"Thanks to you." Locke smiled. "You ok?"
"Yes." Celes replied. "I wonder when the Empire installed one of those..."
"Who knows?" Locke asked, shuddering. "At any rate...we're in the clear! Only a short distance until Narshe now..."
"Then we really should hurry." Celes said, and sighed. "I'm suddenly thinking the Tunnel Armor was activated to distract us..."
Celes walked past Locke to the exit of the cave, trying to get a slight view of the beautiful emerald plains the Northern kingdom of Figaro was famous for having, right along with its golden desert. But what she was searching for wasn't outside the cave... it wasn't anywhere, as far as she knew...
Celes' reasons for joining the Returners would remain even a mystery to herself for quite a while, it seemed... She looked back at Locke as he leaned down to retrieve his dagger from the cave floor, and shook her head slowly.
Some reasons were more vague than others...
"Locke..."
Locke jumped a bit at his name suddenly being called, as there had been an intense silence for the past few moments as he tried to get the rusty key he stole from the soldier to properly fit into the door lock he and Celes wanted to pass through. Locke stopped trying for a moment and looked up at Celes, his new companion, who was staring intently at him with those chilly blue eyes, making a shiver run down his spine. Locke was about to open his mouth to reply, when Celes just cut straight to the point.
"Why are you helping me?" She demanded, her tone full of curiosity that was easily hidden by the ice that lined it. Locke felt his cheeks slightly redden. He hadn't been expecting her to ask him something like that. Therefore, he did not have too much time to make up a semi-logical reply. He certainly couldn't understand at the moment the reason why he had helped her himself. He said the first thing on his mind.
"You remind me of someone..." He trailed off and bit his lower lip, wondering how she would react. He wasn't too surprised when the look on her face didn't change a bit, so he quickly added "But what does it matter anyway? I just want to, ok?!" At that point, he jammed the key into the keyhole again and gave a hard twist, causing a loud 'click' to echo off into the room. As if on cue, the door suddenly swung open, and Locke and Celes were faced with an even darker and damper hallway then the one they had previously been in. Celes stepped ahead of Locke, going by her natural military instinct, but he tugged on her hand and pulled her back.
"Let me lead." Locke said.
"Very well." Celes replied, obviously not in the mood to argue. "But I remember this place. They dragged me through here when they caught me and..." Suddenly, a shiver ran through Celes' body, and she hugged herself tightly. Locke reached out, alarmed that she may collapse, but Celes turned away quickly, knowing that she didn't need any help. Even this...supposedly fearless rouge and Returner couldn't save her from her memories...
"I was just going to say my sword is in here somewhere." Celes said softly. "I dropped it when..."
"Ok, you can tell me where to go." Locke offered. Celes nodded and fell into step with Locke as he began to walk, still keeping her arms around herself.
The cellar passageways were miserable and dripping from all corners...it was obvious that it was not used often. However, despite the lack of light, it was still easy to maneuver around, as there was only one path and all Locke and Celes had to do was keep their hands against the walls. Locke looked over at Celes once or twice to make sure she was still beside him, as she stepped and breathed so quietly. Her pale hand seemed to almost glow against the gray walls with a soft blue light... But Locke couldn't tell if he was just seeing things or what. Suddenly, they heard another set of footsteps, pounding from ahead of them at an alarming rate.
"There she is! I see her, General Celes!"
"Get her! She is a prisoner of the Empire!"
"Celes!" Locke cried, and held out his arm to block her from going any further when the pair of Imperial Guards that they had heard made their debut. However, Celes had other ideas. She quickly lifted her hand that was against the wall, which was now glowing a brighter blue. Locke knew this wasn't his imagination. Celes closed her eyes and softly whispered:
"Ice."
At once, her hand flashed once brightly before returning to it's normal skin tone, and a shining laser of blue shot out of the ground and shot through each guard, zigzagging for a few rounds before shooting out through their heads and disappearing into the ceiling. Celes said nothing as she heard the two guards suddenly slump to the floor, each of their face's the same blue color as the laser. They had been instantly frozen to death, from the inside out...
Locke blinked and looked over at Celes. She calmly opened her eyes and returned Locke's gaze, lowering her hand to her side.
"I knew they would be coming." She said, as if to explain the glow of her hand before. "I was ready. Are you alright?"
".....Yeah..." Locke trailed off and shook his head. This was the second time he had seen magic in a time frame of less then a week.... And all this time, magic was supposed to be a mere fairy tale... So why could Celes use it too?
"Hmm, you don't look too damaged." Celes commented, and carefully stepped over the two soldiers. "Shall we continue?"
They continued their silent journey as if nothing had ever happened, until Locke and Celes turned a corner and spotted something shimmering on the floor. It was a sword...
"Is this yours?" Locke asked and stooped down to pick it up. The sword had intricate runes carved into the handle and into the blade, which appeared to be made of glass...
"Hmm-hmm." Celes replied, and took it from him, instantly sliding it into her sheath. "This means we are almost out..."
And she was right. Only a few moments later, they had reached a stairway, which led up to a trap door of some sort. Locke went on ahead and pushed open the door, letting sunlight from the world above pour down into the cellar and over Celes. She narrowed her eyes slightly and rested her hand on her forehead as she gazed up at Locke.
"Ready?" Locke smiled, trying to keep in mind that soon he would be back in Narshe with his friends, and they would be able to have Terra talk to the esper and fix everything...
"Yes." Celes said, and Locke exited, instantly stretching and basking in the warm sunshine that surrounded his body. Celes climbed out soon after, and sat on the ground for a moment to rest.
"We really should get out of here before we think about resting..." Locke suggested gently. Even if Celes didn't give a damn about him, he didn't want them both to get caught now. Celes didn't reply, she merely stood up and brushed off her cape.
Locke looked around and realized they were right at the back entrance of South Figaro. No soldiers around, and no citizens. It was too good to be true.
"Alright, lets go!" Locke exclaimed, and took off running, his heart feeling ten times lighter as he crossed the border that separated South Figaro from the lush green plains of the Figaro kingdom territory. Celes followed behind, and soon they were so far off, they couldn't even see the town when they looked back. They didn't stop running until they reached the ever-familiar Figaro cave. Locke finally had to rest and leaned back against the cave entrance, his chest rising and falling quickly with his short breath. Celes sighed some and kicked at the puffy white dandelions, watching the seeds from it catch in the breeze and fly past her in an instant, beginning their journey a bit prematurely due to Celes' foot. Locke frowned and stood up straighter, wondering if this was their good- bye.
"Where is it that you are heading?" Celes asked, turning to look at him.
"Narshe..." Locke began, shifting his full attentions on her. "I have to meet my friends up there...for um... a sort of Returner operation."
"That will not be easy." Celes interrupted. "Kefka is leading his army up there as well...he is looking to capture that esper they have..."
"I heard." Locke nodded, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "It isn't gonna be easy for Terra..."
"Terra?" Celes questioned, her eyes suddenly widening slightly. "Who is that?"
"One of the people I need to meet, a Returner." Locke explained. "Well, she used to be an officer of the Empire...but she had been brainwashed and..." Celes held up her hand to cut him off.
"Then I imagine Kefka is coming for her too." Celes said. "Will you be able to fight his army single-handedly?"
"I'll have my friends!" Locke exclaimed. "You'll help too, won't you?" Celes blinked.
"You want my help?" Celes asked. "You want me to fight the Empire with you?"
"I want you to become a Returner!" Locke cried. "We could really use your help, and..." But Locke didn't need to use the begging tactics he had used with Terra in her moments of hesitation. Instead, Celes nodded in his mid-sentence, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'll help...to pay you back." Celes said. "You have my complete devotion to the Returners in exchange for the protection you gave me back in South Figaro..."
"Oh, thank you Celes!" Locke smiled happily. "But don't think that I'm not going to keep fulfilling my side of the bargain. I told you I would protect you. I didn't say that I would stop after we escaped." Celes' cheeks flushed slightly, and Locke smiled even more.
"Lets save our thanks for after we get to Narshe, hmm?" Celes said, and brushed past Locke into the Figaro Cave. Locke followed her without reply, knowing that she would manage to have the last word anyway. They carried more idle conversation mostly revolving around Narshe's crisis until they reached the other end of the cave. Locke remembered before how he thought the walls here were odd, and how Edgar had laughed at him. He was reminded of this when he saw Celes look around suspiciously. Before he could ask her anything, a loud rumbling broke out through the cave, shaking the floor and the walls surrounding them violently.
"Huh?!" Locke cried, and covered his ears in alarm.
"Something is coming out of the wall!" Celes pushed Locke backwards quickly. She did so just in time, because the walls in front of them suddenly crumbled into dusty nothingness, revealing two large, metal robot- like devices with multiple wheels and bolts where each wall used to be. The parts hummed and roared at once as they both emitted large sparks of electricity and bonded to each other, creating a frightful, armored machine in under a minute that was now blocking the exit to the cave. With a deafening roar, it began to slowly roll towards Locke and Celes. Within a few feet, they would be backed up against the wall behind them and left at the machine's mercy.
"What is that?!" Locke cried.
"Tunnel Armor!" Celes answered, and suddenly drew her shining sword from it's sheath, holding it in front of her defiantly as if to threaten the mechanical nightmare. Locke widened his eyes, a million thoughts racing through his mind at once. Above all, his insides were screaming for him to stop her before she did something stupid and got hurt!
"Celes!" Locke cried, and grabbed her sides, pulling her back against him. "'What are you doing?! Are you crazy?" Celes looked back to him, not lowering her sword.
"Tunnel Armor's only fatal attacks are its magic!" Celes cried frantically. "I can draw its magic attack, and when the coast is clear, you can destroy it!"
"Come again?" Locke yelled over the continually rising noise.
"I can absorb its magic with my runic blade!" Celes cried, and suddenly jerked away from him, turning her back on the Tunnel Armor to face Locke.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Locke protested worriedly.
"Just you watch!" Celes said, and smiled, her eyes suddenly softening when they met Locke's. Locke smiled back, and Celes turned back around, raising her blade into the air as the Tunnel Armor sputtered and suddenly shot out a large charge of electricity at the two Returners.
"Runic!" Celes screamed, and the glass blade began to shimmer even more, drawing the electricity into it as if it were some sort of magnet. When the attack had been completely nullified, the Tunnel Armor sputtered again and prepared to build another charge. Celes stepped back, a little woozy from the large amount of magic she had attempted to absorb. It was more then she thought could be emitted...
"Locke...now!" Celes cried, and leaned back against the wall. Locke drew his dagger and ran forward, taking a long leap in mid-step and plunging the dagger in the Tunnel Armor's electronic sensory core on it's back. Locke staggered back when he landed and fell against Celes as the Tunnel Armor suddenly emitted a loud, piercing noise, almost like a wail of defeat...Locke closed his eyes right as the Tunnel Armor exploded, shattering into hundreds of pieces of scrap metal that burst into small spheres of magical energy a few moments later, disappearing into thin air. The only thing that remained was Locke's dagger, lying on the ground, unharmed.
Locke opened his eyes and let out a happy sigh of relief to see that everything was ok again. He was surprised to feel Celes' hands resting on his shoulders, but when he realized he had been leaning against her, he quickly backed away.
"You did it!" Celes said, and rubbed some small sweat beads from her forehead. "Good job..."
"Thanks to you." Locke smiled. "You ok?"
"Yes." Celes replied. "I wonder when the Empire installed one of those..."
"Who knows?" Locke asked, shuddering. "At any rate...we're in the clear! Only a short distance until Narshe now..."
"Then we really should hurry." Celes said, and sighed. "I'm suddenly thinking the Tunnel Armor was activated to distract us..."
Celes walked past Locke to the exit of the cave, trying to get a slight view of the beautiful emerald plains the Northern kingdom of Figaro was famous for having, right along with its golden desert. But what she was searching for wasn't outside the cave... it wasn't anywhere, as far as she knew...
Celes' reasons for joining the Returners would remain even a mystery to herself for quite a while, it seemed... She looked back at Locke as he leaned down to retrieve his dagger from the cave floor, and shook her head slowly.
Some reasons were more vague than others...
