Chapter Twenty- Cid, Head Scientist of the Empire

"Please!!!! Why are you doing this to us!?!"

"We have done nothing wrong!"

"HEE HEE HEE! I do declare, you are stubborn little buggers, aren't you?? Submit to me! Submit your powers to KEFKA! MWA HA HA HA HA!!"

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!"

"Shiva!!!"

**********

"Did you just hear something?!?!" Edgar suddenly cried, looking around frantically.

"Yeah...I heard it alright..." Locke trailed off.

"Even over the whirl of the machinery, you can still hear someone scream in here..." Celes shook her head as they marched over the steel floors of the facility. "It doesn't amaze me what-so-ever."

"How big is this place?" Cyan questioned. "Do you know any shortcuts, Celes?"

"The facility is several stories high." Celes replied. "But the only shortcut I can think of is riding the conveyer belts from each section of the facility to another until we find the corridor that will bring us upstairs."

"There is only one!?" Locke cried, and Celes nodded.

"It's for security purposes...I know how to get to the corridor, but it would be quicker taking the shortcut." Celes pleaded. "You guys have just got to trust me on this." Cyan raised an eyebrow.

"As long as it isn't dangerous." He said, and Celes nodded. She looked away from the Returners and took a deep breath, scanning the familiar surroundings. Although she had tried to block the Empire and anything that had to do with it out of her head since the day she was captured by them, she found that all of the secrets they had shared with her were seeping back into her mind, bringing back painful memories, but also giving them the key to finding the Espers... Celes felt her face turn a shade paler as she envisioned a younger version of herself walking down the halls with an escort of two Imperial Soldiers, remembering how the same pair would always be ordered to guard her when she would have to go into the facility for observations by the scientists there that had infused her body with the magic she possessed today. She remembered how she could practically hear the soldiers' shaking knees...she had known they were afraid of her...After all, she could eliminate them in seconds if they did anything to make her angry. And at the time, that was exactly what she would do if she were provoked...

"Celes!" Locke said, and Celes blinked, snapping out of it. She let out a soft sigh and brought a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment to remind herself that she was no longer here under Imperial orders. She was here as a Returner.

"I'm sorry." Celes said quickly. "Let my memories get the best of me..." She raised her head and pointed ahead of them toward the center of the room they were in, to a large piece of pulsating machinery below the catwalk they were on. Steam rose out of it along with the sounds of grinding metal, and a conveyer belt rode into it empty, only to come out on the other side with various parts of Magitek Armor that had been freshly deposited on it from the machine. The conveyer belt then rode on under a cluster of metal beams and more machinery, disappearing from sight.

"We'll want to get on that." Celes said. "We'll ride until the end of the track, and proceed from there."

"Are we gonna jump?" Edgar questioned worriedly.

"No need to." Celes said, and walked to the edge of the catwalk. She leaned over the railing and pressed a small button. When she did so, a fairly large crane began to slowly descend down from above them, and Celes pushed the button again when it reached the railing of the catwalk, stopping it.

"Alright!" Locke exclaimed, and climbed onto the crane first. "Ready when you are!"

"Hold on." Celes replied, and pushed the button a third time. With that, Locke slowly made his way all the way down the catwalk to the conveyer belt, the crane stopping just above it. He gently hopped down and immediately sat down on his rear as the conveyer belt began to take him away.

"Yahooooo!" Locke exclaimed, before disappearing from everyone's sight.

"Who's next?" Celes questioned, and Cyan prepared to take his turn as she brought the crane back up to the catwalk. She could tell he was a little nervous, but she did nothing to soothe his nerves. It was his problem. Cyan climbed on and did exactly as Locke had, and soon disappeared as well. Edgar went next without a word or comment, and finally, Celes climbed on herself, straining her arm as she tried to reach the catwalk from the crane to make her go down. She sighed and leaned her head against the cold steel rope of the crane as she descended.

This is too easy...why hasn't anyone come yet?

**********

Setzer pushed his hair back behind his ears and raised his cup, taking another sip of steaming tea. As much as he tried, he couldn't help but think of the Returners, those silly stowaways who were probably getting slaughtered inside of the Magitek Research Facility right at that very moment. Who had they been? Oh yes... The young King of Figaro, Edgar Figaro, some kid named Locke Cole, who appeared to be a rogue of some sort, the knight of Doma Cyan Garamonde, who seemed way too uptight to be doing this sort of work, and Celes Chere, who seemed just as uptight if not more than Cyan. Setzer had seen her before...she had definitely been part of the Empire at one time or another. He smiled amusingly as he took another sip of tea, emptying his cup.

"Can't imagine how this is going to turn out." He chuckled some, and set the cup down on the craps table in front of him. "Although...it would have been fun to take a gamble and go with them..."

**********

Locke moaned as he clutched at his stomach and closed his eyes. All the wavering and dipping movements of the conveyer belt had been beginning to get to him. He couldn't hear anyone behind him, and he was beginning to wonder just how long this would take. For the last 5 minutes, he had been enclosed in a dark tunnel, with not a speck of light to see by. Suddenly, as if his prayers had been answered, Locke was suddenly thrust into a burst of light and with a thump, fell from the conveyer belt to the cold floor below. He moaned, rubbing at his sore rear as he blinked and adjusted to the change in his surroundings. He had definitely made it to the end of the conveyer belt into a new room. Behind him he spotted a flight of stairs that led up to a new catwalk. Ahead of him was a stack of crates and boxes, blocking most of his view. However, Locke's train of thought was interrupted by the squeal of a warning coming from something on the conveyer belt. He gasped and stumbled out of the way just in time before Cyan emerged himself and also fell to the floor. He groaned and shook his head as he opened his eyes, facing Locke.

"You ok?" Locke questioned, and Cyan nodded.

"Yeah, I just didn't want to fall on you." Cyan replied, and slowly stood to his feet. "So where are we now!?"

"I'm not sure..." Locke trailed off. "Better wait for the others to come before we do anything else."

"Agreed." Cyan nodded.

So Locke and Cyan waited until both Edgar and Celes had emerged from the conveyer belt before moving on. Edgar also met the same fate as his comrades by getting a sore bottom when he fell, but Celes had been resting on her knees, and jumped to the ground right before falling herself. She couldn't help but laugh when she got three pairs of dirty looks from her friends, their hands still nursing their injured behinds.

"Everyone ok?" Celes asked, but before anyone could grumble a reply, a pair of heavy footsteps could be heard pounding towards them. Celes gasped and looked around for a place to hide, and Locke motioned that they could hide among the crates. With that, the team of Returners dived down, and Locke slowly pushed a crate aside to make a little place for him to see ahead of them. The footsteps got closer and closer until up and around the corner ahead of them emerged--

"Kefka!" Locke hissed, and Celes hit him on the arm to get him to shut up. Kefka gleefully set down the crate that was in his arms and tugged off the top, bending over to take out it's contents. He pulled out what appeared to be from a distance a blue skinned crippled body, and threw it on the floor. Celes gasped softly in shock, but couldn't bring herself to look away. The body was small and naked, in a crumpled heap upon the floor, it's light green hair sprayed everywhere. Kefka then reached down and pulled out another body, this one more muscular and almost resembling that of a cross between a human and a bull, throwing it to the floor on top of the girl by it's long horns.

"Espers...they must be Espers..." Locke murmured, and Edgar practically climbed on his back to see out the small viewing area too. Cyan remained pinned up against the crates, hardly daring to breathe. Kefka glared down at the mess in front of him and began to burst out into his usual maniacal laughter.

"I'm allllllllll powerful!" He exclaimed, shouting as if to announce it to the entire research facility. "HEE HEE HAW! I'm collecting Espers! I'm extracting magic! And....I'll restore...the STATUES! MWA HA HA HA!"

"Statues?" Locke whispered, and Celes blinked.

"I've drained you of your powers!" Kefka barked to the pair of bodies under his feet. "You're worthless to me now!" With that, he picked up the blue girl, and with one heave, threw her onto the small conveyer belt beside him. The conveyer belt sloped down at a dangerous angle and dumped her into a small pit in the floor. Other waste that came on the conveyer belt soon followed, falling down the pit also. Kefka heaved the other Esper on his shoulders and laughed as he threw it down on the conveyer belt also, watching it inch closer to the pit.

"And you...take a hike!" He grinned and waved as the Esper motionlessly fell to it's doom. Locke cringed and looked away as Kefka began to laugh again, and with that, left from the direction that he came. When the coast was clear, Edgar shook his head and stood up. Celes stood up also and wrapped her arms around herself, looking away from the others.

"So this is what they have been doing..." Edgar trailed off. "This is where Celes' magic, and possibly Terra's came from..."

"But what do we do now?" Cyan questioned nervously. "We can't follow Kefka..."

"There is no where else we can go though." Celes sighed. "That is the way to the science lab, where all those Espers are probably being held."

Locke sighed and stood up as well, running his fingers through his hair. "What about down there?" He pointed to the hole, and Celes looked to him.

"I'm not sure what's down there, exactly..." She trailed off.

"Then lets go that way." Locke said. "I mean, is there really a chance of us running into Kefka down there?"

"No..." Celes sighed. "There is not. But let me go first."

So, the Returners crept out from behind the crates and with a cringe, Celes took a leap and fell through the hole. She landed with a thump in a small room with dull lights hanging from the walls, and two doorways. It smelled of death and rot in there...she wasn't sure she wanted to confirm it, but she was sure that her surroundings consisted of various Esper body parts and skeletons, along with filthy syringe needles and other abandoned medical supplies. The scent of it all literally made her eyes water. She felt a shiver run up her spine though, and right then, she knew she wasn't alone in there. There was the sound of struggled movement, and out of a corner of the room emerged the two Espers Kefka had just dumped, the blue girl and the bull-man. Celes widened her eyes, but her scream was caught in her throat as the bull-man raised his claw and roared:

"FIRA!"

"AHHH!" Celes cried, and ripped her Runic Blade from her sheath, focusing all her energy into absorbing the spell. The roar of the flames that were about to envelope her were suddenly sucked into the blade, causing it to grow hot in her hands, but she knew that she must not drop it if she wanted her life to be saved.

"Celes!!!" Locke cried from above, hearing her scream. "I'm coming down!"

"Locke!" Edgar warned, but before he could say anymore, Locke leapt down the hole, falling right to Celes' side as her hands gave in to the burning sensations, letting the Runic Blade clatter to the floor as she fell backwards. Locke caught Celes and looked up at her attackers, gasping when he saw it was the two Espers from before.

"Wait, please!" Locke cried. Edgar and Cyan joined his side right then, each drawing their own swords. The bull-man snorted and the blue girl leaped ahead, crossing her arms over her chest as she began to chant a spell of her own.

"Gem Dust!" She called, and a rain of icy shards began pouring down upon the party, slashing at their clothes and armor. The others recoiled in pain, lifting their arms to block their faces and heads from the attack. Locke groaned as he leaned over Celes, taking the force of the attack for both of them. The ice continued pouring down, as if it were to never stop...

"We can't...let it end here..." Locke moaned, and closed his eyes as blood dripped from the cuts on his forehead. Suddenly, the Magicite shard around his neck began to glow, and a boom of thunder rumbled within the room, causing the remaining ice shards to shatter into dust in midair, ending the attack. The blue girl gasped and looked at her partner, who looked equally shocked. Locke weakly felt around on his chest for the Magicite shard, and felt the glowing orb between his fingers. All of a sudden, he knew what to do.

"Thundara!" Locke cried, and felt a charge of lightning run through his finger tips, awaking his senses as if they had been dormant for eternity. Several bolts of lightning began to strike from the ceiling of the room, striking the two Espers. They hissed and screamed from the electricity, taking a few steps back away from the group. Edgar gasped and watched his friend in shock.

"Locke knows magic!?" He cried, and suddenly felt his own Magicite shard begin to warm up and glow considerably. The Esper that had created the Magicite, Kirin, began to speak gentle words within Edgar's confused mind. Edgar closed his eyes and concentrated deeply on what it was he wanted to do, and felt a cool rush of power overtaking his body as he raised his hand in the air.

"Cura!!!" He shouted, and with that, sparking light began to pour upon the party, healing them completely of their wounds. Cyan closed his eyes and concentrated as well, learning what to do by observing the others. The spirit of his Magicite longed to escape it's bind...

"Stray, I summon thee!" Cyan cried, and in a burst of light, a large back and white cat emerged on the scene, letting out a happy meow. He bent down to polish his shiny red shoes before leaping into the air, wings making a brief appearance on the ends of his shoes. He began to dance about in the air, his spell entrancing the two Espers, causing them to stop both retreating further back and attacking. With a giggle and a wink, Stray disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Celes decided to take advantage of the stunned Espers by putting the icing on the cake. Reaching down, she grasped her Magicite and called out:

"Siren!"

Beautiful harp music and a haunting melody began to fill the room, filling it with hazy rainbow colors and dancing music notes. The sound of the ocean could be heard as Siren appeared, a tall beauty with long flowing blonde hair and piercing green eyes. She clutched at a golden harp and began to stroke it softly, closing her eyes as the notes and waves of rainbows in the air began to glow brighter, striking at the Espers. When her song was over, Siren looked to Celes with serious eyes, reaching her hand out to her. Celes took Siren's hand, as if entranced herself, and Siren disappeared, her harp clattering on the floor before disappearing also.

"....I feel her spirit within my body...!" Celes murmured. "It's like she has become apart of me..."

"I know all of Stray's spells as well!" Cyan cried, a little confused and delighted.

"I can heal, like Kirin!" Edgar stuttered, and Locke picked up his Magicite, clutching it within his fingers. He too, knew magic...It was as if Ramuh had given him a piece of his mind...

The two Espers, breaking from their confused state from Stray, prepared to cast another spell on the party, but when they opened their mouths, no sound came out, and no spell was cast. They looked at each other in shock and lowered their hands.

"Siren, one of our own...has cursed us so that we could no longer attack..." The girl trailed off. Her partner closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I sense a kindred spirit..." He stopped and the girl looked to the Returners, who stared right back at her.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"You have...Ramuh's power!?" The man added, and Locke nodded, not afraid to use it again if necessary. The girl saw the look of fright in his eyes and shook her head.

"Wait..." She sighed. "We're...Espers..."

"We figured as much." Celes replied coolly. "Why did you attack!?"

"Please forgive us." The girl said. "I am Shiva. This is Ifrit." Ifrit grunted in reply, still thinking. Shiva looked to him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"...Ramuh...he entrusted them with his power..." She trailed off and looked back to the Returners. "They drained us of our powers, and threw us away...now I am afraid we haven't long to live..."

"Gestahl has our friends and is trying to drain them of their powers as well." Ifrit suddenly said in his gruff voice. "I too, suffered my turn in one of the glass tubes... We will follow Ramuh's lead and entrust you with our own powers. Our friends are all gone...And we haven't much time left..."

"We'll save your friends!" Edgar cried. "I swear it!"

"We won't let this happen to anyone else..." Cyan added, and Ifrit nodded sadly.

"We have no choice...We must entrust you with our essences..."

Suddenly, in a flash of blinding and warm light, familiar to the light the Returners experienced in Zozo, Shiva and Ifrit disappeared, and in their place remained two floating green orbs. Locke slowly stood up and took them in his hands, pocketing them safely for now.

"Well...I suppose we are stuck now..." Cyan sighed, and Edgar looked around.

"Well, why don't we try one of these doors for an exit?" He questioned, and opened the one closest to him. However, it only appeared to be a closet of some sort, a dead end. Celes walked over to the other door and opened it, only to be faced with a long flight of stairs going up.

"Lets just go up here." She suggested, a slight tone of tiredness in her voice. Locke gave her a strange look, and with that, Celes began to proceed upward. Locke ran to catch up with her up the stairs, resting a hand on her shoulder when he reached her side. Edgar and Cyan trailed back a few feet behind, making sure that no one would try to follow them.

"Celes, is something wrong?" Locke questioned. Celes continued staring straight ahead, turning the corner to go up some more stairs.

"No...I'm just...ready for this to be over with..." She sighed. She shrugged away from Locke's hand and looked down at the floor. Locke blinked, but decided that he should just leave her alone, even though her strange behavior was beginning to get to him.

After a tiring 6 flights of stairs, the Returners finally made it to a new doorway. Locke opened it, and they found themselves in a long hallway adorned with tall, empty glass tubes. None of them appeared to be in use at the moment, but Locke could tell by the unusual amount of warmth in the room that they had been used recently. Steam rose off from some of the cooling machinery around the tubes. At the end of that hall they reached a new door, which brought them into a small room that was totally empty with the exception of another doorway, and a tall person guarding it. Celes gasped, thinking they had been caught by an Imperial Soldier, but when peered closer, she realized it wasn't anyone in the Empire, for they had no uniform. The figure was pale and his black eyes stared straight ahead of him, right towards the Returners. His hands were behind his back as well.

"Um, excuse me..." Edgar trailed off, but the figure did not move. It appeared to be totally frozen. Edgar slowly reached up to touch his shoulder, but gasped as the figure suddenly ripped one of it's arms out from behind it's back, which was actually a large sword! With a howl it swung it's sword-arm at Edgar, who managed to dive away just in time. It pulled it's other arm out of hiding too, which was identical to the first, and began taking slow steps towards the Returners, swinging it's arms rapidly back and forth. It's gaze remained fixed on the Returners, never moving.

"Ack!" Celes cried as she backed up a little. "What can we do?!"

"This room is too small to fight!" Cyan added, and suddenly, two familiar voices made their battle debut. It was Shiva and Ifrit.

"Let us help for this!" They exclaimed in unison. "Summon us!" Locke dug the Magicites out of his pocket quickly and threw them up into the air, calling Shiva and Ifrit's names. The two Magicites burst into the forms of their newest friends, and Ifrit made the first charge at the creature attacking the party.

"Inferno!" He growled, and a wave of flamed washed over the creature, making it howl again and stop walking for a moment, although it's blades continued to swing and slash uncontrollably. After using his attack, Ifrit disappeared, and Shiva took her turn.

"Gem Dust!!!!" She exclaimed, and the familiar pouring ice shards began to fall upon the creature, cutting it in several places, causing pale red blood to pour out from it and all over it's clothes and the floor. It's body soon began to shake in sharp convulsions, and after the last strike of Shiva's spell, burst into a glittering purple light and disappeared. The Returners looked to Shiva, who looked back to them worriedly.

"He was a creation of the Empire...an Esper they tried to fuse with another monster for more power...He was named Number 024...beware, you may find more of his kind. Beyond this door are our friends...he may have thought you were trying to attack them..." With that, Shiva's voice faded, and she disappeared as well, her form turning back into the Magicite that clattered to the floor along with Ifrit's. Locke scooped them back up and turned to the others, frowning.

"This is it you guys...be prepared for anything."

"Right!" Edgar exclaimed. "We're gonna free us some Espers!!!"

"Then we can go back to Terra." Cyan smiled, and Celes smiled a little herself.

"Yes, I am sure Terra is waiting for us."

"I just hope we find the Esper that can help her..." Locke trailed off worriedly. "Lets hope Kefka hasn't finished him off..."

With that, Locke turned his back to the group and opened the door 024 had been blocking previously. After Celes, the last member of the group in line stepped in, the door eerily slammed shut behind them. However, no one seemed to notice, as they were all entranced in their surroundings...

There were 6 more long glass tubes that filled the room, 3 on each side of the aisle that went down the middle. Each glass tube was filled with some sort of a liquid and within it floated an Esper...each one was as different as it's neighbor. Some resembled humans, like Shiva, and others resembled animals, like Ifrit. However, all of their eyes were closed, and their faces were twisted into most painful expressions...as if they were being slowly suffocated...

"The switch is up here!" Celes exclaimed, and with that, pushed past the others to run up the center aisle. At the end of it was a small brown machine with various gauges and levers on it. Celes pulled down one, and the Returners watched, a small aura of victory sparking from them as the waters in each tube drained away, and the Espers within were gently brought to the bottom of their tanks. The machine that Celes had switched off stopped humming, and at once, a chorus of voices began to speak from the glass tubes. It was the Espers!

"You want to help us... But we haven't got long to live... Just as Ifrit and the others before us, we shall give you our powers..."

With that, there was a flash of light, and the sound of shattering glass everywhere could be heard ringing throughout the room. When the light faded away, all of the glass tubes were broken, and in their remains floated 6 sparkling Magicite shards. They all began to float towards Locke, who's Ramuh Magicite began to glow softly from his chest. Once they were all gathered in his hands, the light faded completely, and the room returned back to normal with the exception of the broken glass tubes. Locke gasped, the feeling of warm, pulsating life in his hands almost too unbelievable to comprehend. Celes, Edgar, and Cyan all turned to him and smiled in approval. However, the peaceful moment was shattered when there was a sudden sound of pounding footsteps, and a short man appeared in the room from the left side, nearly fainting at the sight before him. He was wearing a yellow slicker with a hood on over his head, however, it did not hide his spectacled eyes nor his reddish mustache. He ran about the room, looking at all the broken tubes, ignoring the Returners for now. After inspecting the machine in the front of the room, he finally turned to the party, his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing here?!" He cried. "What's...all this!?" But before anyone could reply, his gaze darted from the Returners in general to the Magicite in Locke's hands, which had begun to fade a little.

"So...Esper magical power can only truly be transferred when one of them passes away..." He muttered to himself, and brought a hand to his chin in thought.

"...Professor Cid." Celes suddenly said, and he looked up to her, blinking as if he had just noticed she was there.

"General Celes!" Cid cried, and ran down towards her. "And who might these dubious characters be? Your troops???" Celes could not tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, but decided not to battle with it in her mind for much longer. She needed to explain to Cid what had happened to her...how the Empire had tried to execute her...It had been so long...

"No!" Celes cried hurriedly. "You see..." However, Cid cut her off, giving her a suspicious peer when he saw how quickly she had answered his previous question.

"Can it be true that you came here as a spy, seeking to cause an uprising?!" Cid suddenly questioned, and Celes gasped, bringing a hand to her chest and shaking her head frantically. However, Locke, Edgar, and Cyan all turned to each other, Locke's face being the palest among them. For a moment, he felt as if his heart had stopped right in his chest. No...as if time had stopped as well. He slowly turned away from his shocked friends and looked to Celes, who had whirled around to face him, her eyes wide. Locke took in slow breath and looked Celes right in the eye.

"....Celes?!" He finally managed to choke out. "You--" Celes was about to open her mouth to reply, when in a flourish of color and laughter, Kefka suddenly appeared from the door in which the Returners had came in, marching right up to Celes and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, jerking her closer to him. She gasped and yanked away, taking a step back from everyone. Kefka merely laughed and then turned to Cid, glaring.

"So that's it! Cid, you miserable blockhead!" He snickered and looked back to Celes, who was pressing herself up against one of the glass tubes. "Now, General Celes, the game is OVER! Bring me those Magicite shards! Mwa ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!" Celes shook her head and looked to Locke, who stared at her confusedly.

"Celes!" Locke cried, his voice wavering. "...You...deceived me...?" Celes narrowed her eyes as the pang of hurt from Locke's accusation stabbed at her heart strings.

"Of course not!" She cried. "Locke, have a little faith!" She looked back to Kefka as he began to laugh even louder.

"G'hee hee hee!" He squealed. "She has tricked you all! Celes....that's so..." He thought for a moment and grinned wickedly. "...YOU!" Locke gasped in horror, feeling the reality of the situation sink in. Edgar and Cyan looked down, too shocked to say anything, and too ashamed for falling into another one of the Empire's traps.

"Locke..." Celes moaned weakly, when she realized he did not believe her. She ran over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders as he had so often done to her, and peered into his eyes. "Please...you have to believe me..." Her eyes began to sting as he gazed at her for a moment and then turned his head.

"I...." Locke tried to say something, but he found that he just couldn't. He couldn't even look her in the eye anymore. The girl...the girl whose life he had saved in South Figaro...the girl who he had watched sing at the opera...the girl whose eyes he would so often find himself trying to analyze while speaking to her...the girl who had awakened lost feelings within him, feelings that had died with Rachel... She was fake. She wasn't real. She was a traitor. She was indeed as dead as Rachel herself.

She betrayed us...

She betrayed... me...

Why Celes...?

Locke jerked away from Celes' hands and turned his back to her completely. Celes choked and looked to Edgar and Cyan for help. Cyan merely glared at her, sending daggers through his eyes, and Edgar just shook his head at her, disappointed. Kefka rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips.

"I grow tired of waiting!" He snapped. "NOW! Exterminate all of them!!!!" Suddenly, a small group of Magitek pilots burst into the room from several different angles, shooting various beams of energy at the Returners in a surprise attack. Locke, Edgar, and Cyan all cried out in pain and agony as a fire beam ripped past them, striking them each and knocking them to the floor. Celes had managed to dodge out of the way behind Kefka, but looked onto the Returners worriedly as the Magitek Pilots prepared to unload another assault that would most definitely finish them off. Kefka snickered and turned to Celes, who glared at him hatefully.

"You lied!" She screamed at him. "You're a lying bastard! I never agreed to be your spy! You tried to KILL me before! Tell them the TRUTH!"

"Oh Celes, quit trying to put on a show!" Kefka whined in a high- pitch voice, giving her a slow wink as he grabbed her arm and thrust her into the firing range along with Locke and the others. Celes stumbled backwards and nearly fell on top of Locke, who was moaning and rubbing his spinning head, his eyes closed. The stinging in Celes' eyes increased as she kneeled down beside him, reaching out to slowly run her fingers through his hair. Her voice cracked as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Locke...Let me protect you for once..." She sighed, and stood up shakily. "Maybe now...you'll believe me..." She reached down and removed her Magicite, slipping it around his neck before turning around to walk to Kefka's side. Locke groaned and opened his eyes, barely comprehending the words he had just heard her speak. His vision blurred with tears of hurt and pain as he tried to lift his head to see where she was going. He tried to call her name, but no sound came except for a struggled choke. The room began to shake violently from the revving of the Magitek Armors as they got ready to shoot out the finishing attack. Celes suddenly grabbed Kefka roughly by the arm and kneeled him in the stomach to stun him, buying the time she needed.

"ACK!" Kefka cried frantically. "CELES! What are you doing?! STOP IT!" Celes narrowed her eyes and suddenly began to chant in a harsh whisper, the tears in her eyes beginning to fade away. There was a sudden explosion of light, and Locke thought he was done for. He cringed and closed his eyes, praying that he wouldn't feel any pain, praying that at least his comrades would survive...

However, minutes past, and nothing happened. There was no burning flames, freezing ice beams, or shocks of lightning like he had expected. Slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his eyes, and immediately gasped at what he saw...

...which was nothing.

There were no Magitek Pilots, no Magitek Armor, no Kefka, and no Celes. Everything had disappeared except for himself, Edgar, Cyan, and Cid, who was on the floor, shaking for dear life as if he were still anticipating the attack as well. Locke slowly stood up, realizing that all of his injuries were gone, and that there were now two Magicites around his neck. He looked back to Edgar and Cyan, who were making their recoveries as well. They both stood up and brushed off their clothes, looking around them.

"What the..." Edgar trailed off, and Cid suddenly jumped up, dashing about nervously.

"Oooh, Oooh, what happened?!" Cid cried. "Celes! Kefka!"

"Celes..." Locke whispered as he looked at the second piece of Magicite. ".....Oh Gods..." He moaned and closed his eyes, gripping the Magicite painfully. He wasn't sure of what had just happened, but he did know one thing.

Celes was gone.

He had forced her away.