Chapter Twenty-Six- Daryl, Mistress of the Skies

"So do you think the Espers are really all the way at Crescent Island?" Edgar asked as he sipped at a cup of warm tea a maid had provided for him and the others that were all gathered in his chambers that the Empire had provided him for the evening, or as they put it "However long until Lady Terra's return." The others had decided to stay together in his until they absolutely had to be separated into their own for the night, simply because it was the best looking and the most comfortable. Ah, the perks of being King. Arvis and Banon had been fetched from town as well so that they could rest with the Returners and learn about everything that the Empire had planned.

"I'm sure that Gestahl is not lying, although it does make me curious as to why they would go there." Banon said.

"But can we really trust the Empire!?" Sabin cried. "I'm still a little dumbfounded by it all!" Edgar began to snicker, and Sabin made a face at him. "Dumbfounded is a REAL word Edgar, and no, it does not mean I am calling myself dumb." Edgar's smile faded and he cleared his throat as he took another sip of tea.

"Oh...of course...erm, that was not what I was laughing at."

"Well, either way, what the Empire is saying makes sense." Arvis interrupted. "We just can't forget about the Espers. A lot of lives are at stake here."

"Kupo!" Mog agreed.

"Hmmph...well, either way, I shall not forgive Kefka, no matter what." Cyan snapped.

"Hmm..." Gau trailed off as he wandered about the room, sniffing at the different things within it, especially at the beautiful bouquet of flowers resting on a nightstand.

"What's up, Gau?" Cyan asked, and Gau turned around, shrugging.

"Smells like parent's house here...why so familiar?"

**********

"Hmm...the sunset is beautiful down here!" Terra exclaimed as she stared at the golden-pinkish sky in wonder. Locke nodded and smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.

"This whole continent used to be one heck of a place." Locke said. "Do you..."

"Remember? .....Yeah...." Terra nodded. "I sort of do. I moved around a lot, but I remember the friendly people around here and the beautiful flowers that grew in the towns..."

"Me too." Locke said. "I always ordered Rachel's flowers from Maranda..."

"...Rachel?" Terra blinked, and Locke sighed as he looked to her.

"My ex-fiancée...it's a long story..." Locke shook his head and suddenly smiled a little. "But look, there's the Blackjack!" He pointed ahead. "I'll just go grab my tonic, and you can go say good-bye to Setzer. I'm sure he is in the engine room."

"Alright..." Terra trailed off, and with that, Locke took off running for the ship. Terra followed with slower steps and eventually got there, slipping around the back to the engine room, where she could hear Setzer cursing, and another familiar voice shouting back excitedly.

"Wow, what a ship!"

"Damn...that landing really messed up the engine...It'll take a while to fix..."

"But I'll help! No machine can stump me!" Terra slipped in the engine room and saw Setzer scrambling from engine part to engine part, while the second voice, belonging to Cid, was looking around in awe.

"Don't touch anything!" Setzer shrieked, and Cid put his hands on his hips.

"Go kill time in the casino! I can speed this crate up!"

"....You little...!" Setzer growled and swung his arms. "Get outta my sight!"

"But I could really make this thing hum...!" Cid whistled as he walked out, brushing past Terra. Setzer looked up and Terra laughed a little as she stepped further inside and gave a little wave.

"You love this ship more than anything, huh?" She smiled, and Setzer laughed a little as he shook his head.

"Actually, when I was young...there was something else I was quite...mad about..." Setzer trailed off and turned away from Terra to dig for a wrench.

"...Huh?" Terra asked, and Setzer stood up to work on a part above his head.

"In my youth I dreamed of having the world's fastest airship." Setzer smiled. "And...At that time there was a young girl, who piloted the Falcon, the fastest vessel ever made. Sometimes, we were the worst of rivals, but other times we were the best of friends. We always egged each other on to go faster and higher....But when she disappeared with her ship... I felt like I had lost my spirit..." Terra widened her eyes and bit her lip as Setzer sighed a little and set the wrench down, looking to Terra.

"Poor Daryl...such a lovely, lively woman..."

"I'm sorry." Terra said sincerely. Between Locke and Rachel and now Setzer and Daryl, she was beginning to feel as if perhaps the love she still longed to feel with a person was even worth the pain of it all.

"Don't be sorry...Sometimes, Fate just rolls us a bad turn..."

"Terra! I've got it!"

"Ok, coming Locke!" Terra turned and looked back at Setzer. "We'll see you soon."

"Alright! I'll have this baby up and running before you reach Crescent Island!"

"Good-bye!" Terra called, and with that, turned to run and catch up with Locke, who was clutching his rather large tonic bottle tightly. Terra decided that she shouldn't say anything about Daryl for now--Just in case Setzer had wanted to keep it private.

When they finally arrived in Albrook, Locke and Terra went straight to the port since they were already a little late in getting there. There was a large ship waiting in the harbor, with General Leo standing on the upper deck with two sentries, talking with them excitedly. Locke and Terra were gestured onto the ship by a third sentry waiting near the ramp, and as soon as they came into view, Leo dismissed the two men he was speaking with and turned to Locke and Terra, smiling happily.

"There you are! I was getting a little worried."

"Sorry General Leo." Terra apologized.

"No need for formalities, just call me Leo." Leo said, and Terra nodded. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that another one of the Empire's generals and a man I hired in town will be traveling with us. They should be here any moment..."

"Another one of the Empire's generals?" Locke whispered to Terra. "I thought there were only 3?"

"Perhaps we were mistaken." Terra whispered back, and suddenly, Leo's face lit up as he peered behind Locke and Terra's shoulders.

"Ahhh! There you are! Miss Terra, Locke...let me introduce...General Celes, and Shadow."

Locke and Terra both felt their breath get caught in their throats at the same time as they both slowly turned around and stared at the two figures standing behind them. Sure enough, there was Shadow, dressed all in black, not a hair on his head having changed since the last time Locke saw him. Interceptor the dog was also with him, wagging his tail happily from between Shadow's legs. And beside him, staring straight through Locke with her frozen stare, was Celes. She looked a little different from the last time he had seen her--She was in a new change of clothing, having abandoned the green Imperial uniform she used to wear. She was now in a form-fitting deep violet (almost black) sleeveless top with a pale brown leather vest hanging over her shoulders and matching leather armguards running down the lengths of her arms. She also had on matching tight leather pants that laced up on the sides of her thighs, revealing some of her pale skin through the criss-crosses of the laces. Her bandana was also gone and replaced by two pearl hairclips set on each side of her head, pulling back the sides of her hair from her face.

Locke parted his lips to say something, but found that he just couldn't. Terra looked Celes up and down and tried to get Celes to make eye-contact with her, which only happened for a brief moment before Celes looked away from both Locke and Terra and stared down at the deck of the ship. Leo blinked and looked between the four silent people in front of him.

"Is something wrong?" Leo asked, and Locke blinked, looking up at Leo quickly.

"...No..." Locke replied softly.

"Well!" Leo smiled. "Our departure isn't till tomorrow. I've arranged some lodging for all of you, so please, get some rest! We have a long day tomorrow." At that moment, a sentry walked up to Leo and gave him a quick salute.

"Uh, General Leo, the captain of the ship would like to have a word with you." The sentry said, and with that, Leo left, leaving Locke, Terra, Celes, and Shadow behind. Shadow cleared his throat, not having a problem but actually rather enjoying the thick tension around them, and Terra looked over at Celes again, a small smile on her face.

"Celes..." Terra stepped closer to her and reached up to touch her shoulder. Celes looked up from the deck to Terra, and reached up to tuck some hair behind her ear. "I-I'm glad you're alright..." Terra went on, and dropped her hand from Celes nervously. "Everyone was so worried..."

"I'm sure not everyone was as concerned." Celes finally replied, her gaze flicking to Locke's. Locke blinked and took a step towards her, causing her to immediately take a step back.

"Celes...listen..." Locke began, and stuck his hands in his pockets embarrassedly. "I..."

Celes narrowed her eyes and suddenly turned, taking off running down the ramp of the ship and out of the harbor before Locke could open his mouth and say another word. Terra widened her eyes and pressed her lips together in concern.

Celes...she must be really mad at Locke...

Shadow snickered a little and Locke looked up at him sharply, not bothering to even tell Terra that he knew him.

"What's so funny?" Locke asked edgily, and Shadow just shook his head, laughing more.

"Imagine...I'm working for the Empire..." Shadow smirked. "But don't worry...I'm not going to garrote you!" With that, Shadow turned and walked away himself, Interceptor following behind.

"Well gee, we wouldn't want THAT!" Locke screamed after him, and made a face, crossing his arms over his chest like a little kid. Terra looked up at Locke and then quickly looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to their embarrassing scene.

"Locke, why don't we turn in for the night?" Terra suggested, and Locke nodded a little as he reached down to unscrew the top off his tonic.

"Nuh-uh, wait until tomorrow." Terra said gently, and screwed the lid back on for him. "You're going to need it A LOT more then..." Locke blinked and turned red.

"Just what did Edgar tell you?!?!"

"Uhhh...lets go check out that inn!" Terra exclaimed.

**********

That evening, Locke found that he just couldn't sleep. The inn was perfectly comfortable, and he and Terra even got their own private chambers, but there was just something in the air keeping him from closing his eyes. After lying there for what seemed for hours, Locke finally crawled out of bed and looked over at Terra to make sure she was fast asleep in her own bed. When she didn't stir, he quietly snuck out of their room and outside. He yawned and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again to take a quick look around. The entire city was stained in silver moonlight, giving everything a soft glow. Locke blinked when he peered out at the terrace just a few yards away from the inn, where a lone figure was standing and looking over the water below. Locke gulped and reached up, adjusting his bandana a little as he walked over to the terrace and leaned over the railing himself, staring at the silvery reflection of the person next to him. Her eyes narrowed and looked away from his reflection, her mouth set in a straight line.

"Celes..." Locke began, his eyes still on her reflection. She didn't reply, and he let out a frustrated groan, jerking his head up to stare at the back of her head as he reached over and grabbed hold of her hand. It felt very cold against his callused flesh.

"Come on...!" Locke cried, squeezing her hand a little. "Why won't you speak to me?!" Celes shook her head and looked down, some of her corn silk hair sliding over her shoulders and revealing her bare upper back to him since she seemed to of been missing her vest. Locke sighed and kept hold of her hand, trying his best not to let himself get frustrated.

"Even if it was only a little...I doubted you...But I'm still your friend...!" Celes suddenly whirled back around to face him, ripping her hand from his grip as she narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something. However, she thought better of it, and reached up to rub at her eyes before turning around and walking off down the street. Locke moaned and slammed his fist down against the railing of the terrace, lowering his head and clenching his eyes shut to fight back the oncoming tears.

"Celes..."





The next morning...

"Well, everyone here?" Leo asked. Locke nodded some as he cast his eyes down to the deck, mumbling yes as he brought his tonic to his mouth and took a huge swig of it down. Terra sighed a little and looked back at Shadow and Celes, who were sitting on two crates across from each other and having light catch-up conversation. She then looked back to Locke, and sighed again.

"Tell the captain to steer easy...I think Locke is lacking his sea legs today." Terra said, and Leo laughed a little.

"We should arrive by tomorrow morning, so if you get seasick easily Locke, you should probably just rest." Leo offered, and with that, gave a wave to Shadow and Celes. Celes nodded and stood up along with Shadow, retreating below deck with Leo following them. Locke groaned and took another swig of his tonic.

"I thought this stuff cured everything?!" He cried. "Worst 50 GP I've ever spent!"

"Maybe you should of went with some cider." Terra said thoughtfully. "Or maybe even an elixir..."

**********

That evening, Locke retired to bed as early as possible, exhausted from being sick and from being up all of the previous night. However, it was tonight that Terra could not bring herself to sleep, although she didn't have too terribly much on her mind. She sighed a little and looked up at the stars in the bright clear sky, thinking about how much they resembled the diamond rings that adorned King Edgar's fingers, and laughed a little to herself.

"I miss them..." She whispered. "I certainly hope that they are doing well...I wonder what we will do after we get back from negotiating with the Espers..." She rested her chin on her hands and smiled more. "The war will be over...and we won't have to fight anymore! And even better, Celes is back with us! I hope she and Locke have made up too..." Terra blinked and looked over as she heard footsteps approaching her on the deck, and saw that it was General Leo. He slipped by her side and propped his chin on his folded hands like Terra, and looked over at her.

"You alright?" He asked, and Terra smiled some. Leo smiled back. "Well, it certainly looks like you're feeling better."

"As opposed to...?" Terra trailed off.

"To the other night, at the banquet." Leo finished. "You didn't look so well."

"Well..." Terra shook her head a little and looked away. "It's sort of funny...I was used by the Empire...even had my thoughts ripped from me...But here I am, cooperating with the "enemy"...."

"People are people." Leo replied a little harshly. "Not all of us are like Kefka."

"What...what's with you...?" Terra asked, and Leo sighed.

"I knew you were being used as a kind of biological weapon... And because I didn't do anything about it, I'm no different than Kefka. I can understand why you don't trust people too easily. And I'm sorry for it. I'm apart of the problem." Terra widened her eyes and bit her lower lip, still turned away from Leo.

"I'm the product of a human and an Esper...will I ever be able to love someone?"

"Of course!" Leo cried, and reached up, gently brushing some of Terra's hair away from her face so that he could see her better. Terra sniffled a little and looked back to Leo, her eyes beginning to water.

"But...I haven't felt that way yet..."

"You're just young." Leo offered, and lowered his hand. "....But...I do understand what you mean. I only understand too well..." There was a sudden sound of new footsteps on the deck, and Leo looked away embarrassedly, giving Terra a slight pat on the shoulder before retreating back to his cabin below deck. Terra sighed and stared down at the dark ocean water, struggling to see her reflection, although it was impossible in the choppy waters.

But I want to know what love is now...! She thought to herself painfully, and nearly jumped as the footsteps came closer to her.

"Who is it?!" Terra demanded loudly.

"It's just me." Shadow said, and when Terra realized that his voice came from the opposite end of the ship as her, she turned around and peered at her shipmate. His back was turned to her, not that it really mattered, for even from behind and in the dark atmosphere, she could tell he was still wearing his mask.

"Thought I'd sleep under the stars tonight..." Shadow looked up at the sky, and Terra blushed a little.

"Did...you hear what we were talking about?" She asked nervously, and Shadow laughed a little.

"I didn't MEAN to overhear anything." Shadow offered, and Terra slapped her hand to her forehead.

"Umm..."

"I can't help you." Shadow interrupted. "You must look within for answers." Terra sighed and looked down, suddenly grateful that Shadow couldn't see her.

"Terra."

"What...?"

"In this world are many like me who've killed their emotions. Don't forget that." Terra nodded, even though she knew Shadow couldn't see her, and retreated back to her and Celes' cabin. She had had enough for the night. There was a lot to think about.

**********

"Urgh....Uoooh....Arg..."

"Ooh.....Oooooooooooh...."

"I think I'm gonna...AH!"

Shadow made a face as he looked beside him and saw a distraught Locke Cole heaving his full bottle of tonic and everything from the previous day's banquet back into the ocean. Locke groaned and pulled away from the edge of the deck, clutching at his stomach with one hand as he held himself up with the other. When he raised his eyes and spotted Shadow, he felt his pale face shoot right up to a scarlet shade and cleared his throat.

"Not a word of this to anyone else, o shrouded one..." Locke warned, and Shadow just stared at him in disbelief, thinking to himself: 'And just who am I going to tell?' Suddenly, Locke gasped and covered his mouth again, his eyes widening as he quickly whirled back around and shoved his head over the edge of the deck, cringing.

"I think I'm gonna...."

**********

"Terra?" Celes blinked as the door to their cabin opened, and Terra stepped inside, shutting it tightly behind her. Celes sat up more in her tiny bed as Terra walked over to her own and crawled back underneath the covers, raising her eyes to the general.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you." Terra said. "I just needed some fresh air."

"It's ok." Celes replied. "I was just hoping you weren't seasick."

"Nah..." Terra laughed a little. "Although I didn't see Locke up on deck either, so I suppose he is feeling better from this afternoon. The poor guy." Celes rolled her eyes and with that, turned over on her side and pulled her covers up higher around her body. Terra blinked and sighed a little as she clung onto her pillow.

"Locke....he's really sorry, you know. The whole time you were gone Celes, he was worried about you the most...out of all of us. He couldn't sleep...he couldn't go on any missions...he blamed himself for everything. He was so frightened that you were...well, you know...."

"Dead?" Celes laughed bitterly and shook her head. "I almost wish I was. I had never felt more horrible and betrayed in my life than that day in Vector. His eyes were so cold...and his voice was so stiff...so full of hatred. The thing I regret the most about that day was letting him see me cry."

"Celes..."

"After I had warped Kefka and I out of the factory and back into the Imperial Palace, I was weak from casting the spell, and received the beating of my life right then and there. I thought for sure he was going to kill me right on the spot, but apparently, he remembered there was something else he had to do, and he left me, a bloody, bruised mess, in the hallway. Luckily for me, Leo happened to come through and found me there, although his face is the last thing I remember seeing before waking up in a bed in the palace. Leo came back shortly after I awoke, with a change of clothes for me and a proposal from the Emperor, who had seen to it that I was kept alive... Apparently, a lot had happened in the days that I was asleep...The Espers were running rampant, and Kefka had been thrown into jail for war crimes..." Celes sighed and pushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "Leo told me that Gestahl had plans to send him up to Crescent Island to chase after the Espers, and that Gestahl wanted me to go with him. I agreed because I owed Leo my life and I didn't want to see anything happen to him...but I had no idea you and Locke would be here as well. Anyway...that's my story. I guess I'm done with my half of catch-up time..."

"Well..." Terra sighed herself and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry about everything that you had to go through--"

"Don't apologize."

"....Alright...Um....but anyway...I found out...that I am half- Esper...and..."

With that, Terra told Celes everything that had happened since she had awoken in Zozo, the truth about her past, how Setzer had joined the Returners, Mog's rescue, and the journey to the Sealed Gate, where the Esper fiasco had ensued. She also went on about the banquet, and about how Gestahl had also asked her to go to Crescent Island, and how Locke had volunteered to accompany her.

"And that's really about it..." Terra trailed off and then remembered something. "Celes...are you apart of the Empire again...? I mean, Leo had called you 'General', and..."

"No." Celes answered firmly. "Never again shall I submit any of my services to the Empire, even if they have supposedly gone good. I am only doing this for Leo, and that's it. I will never forget being betrayed by them. I'm just like you Terra...you are only here for a greater good, right? It's not to 'help' the Empire."

"You're right." Terra agreed. "But after all of this, what will you do? Are you still a...Returner?"

"I don't know." Celes looked down at her mattress. "Does it truly matter...? Shadow isn't a Returner either..."

"But you're still one of us!" Terra cried. "I've become to think of all of you guys as my family...and I thought that after we found you, you would surely stay with us again..." Celes didn't say anything, and Terra pressed on. "I know it won't be easy to forgive Locke and the others who were with you that day...but he is very sorry...I should KNOW, Celes, I've been with him this whole time..."

"It's...not that simple." Celes sighed. "It's not as simple as forgiving and forgetting. Not for me, anyway." Terra blinked and shifted over in her bed so that she could face Celes' backside. She had no idea what Celes could of meant by that.

"Will you at least...talk to him tomorrow? Just to say good luck or something before we go off to search for the Espers...it will really cheer him up, I think..." Celes groaned.

"Oh, alright, if you promise to go to bed and let me get some sleep! Terra...you sure learned how to talk a lot since we were last together..."

"Sorry." Terra laughed a little and closed her eyes.

"Don't be sorry...I was only kidding. But I will say...something, ok? Good night."

"Good night, Celes."

**********

The next morning, everyone met on the deck of the ship, which was already bathed in warm and energetic sunshine from the bright blue skies above. Seagulls chattered and called to each other as they flew over the ship, gathering about the sentries who were tossing scraps of bread into the water to feed them. Leo finished down a small bottle of water and looked to Locke, Terra, Celes, and Shadow, who were awaiting his orders patiently. Terra looked between Celes and Locke to see if she could tell if anything had been said yet that morning, but it was obvious that nothing had. Celes was staring at Leo with her arms crossed over her chest, and Locke was now nursing on a new bottle of tonic.

"We're almost at Crescent Island!" Leo declared. "When we disembark, we'll split into two groups. Celes and I will form one group. Terra, you can go with Locke and Shadow. If you spot Espers, report at once!"

"Alright!" Terra smiled, and Leo leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"We'll continue last night's discussion later...if you'd like."

"Very much so..." Terra replied softly, and pulled away. She couldn't help but blush a bit as Leo smiled at her warmly and walked off to go check on the captain. So Leo really did care about what she had to say! It felt...very nice.

"Hmm, we need to talk strategy here." Locke said, and looked to Shadow, who was kneeling down and playing with Interceptor. "We'll go downstairs in one of the cabins and talk about what we should do when we get to Crescent Island. Lets go, Shadow!" Shadow gave Interceptor a silent pat on the head and stood up, immediately abandoning the group to go below deck. Terra followed him but stayed close to the top of the stairway, wanting to see if Celes would do as she promised. Now alone, Celes looked up at Locke and put on a small smile, raising a hand and resting it on his shoulder, causing him to look back at her and lower his tonic bottle. However, he didn't smile back.

"Hey Locke..." Celes bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Um...I..." Locke blinked and then narrowed his eyes, shrugging Celes' hand off of his shoulder and depositing his empty glass tonic bottle on the deck right next to her feet, the drop causing it to shatter into several large shards. Celes widened her eyes and stepped back a little as Locke turned his back to her and began walking towards Terra and the entrance to the lower deck.

"Come on." He said coolly to Terra, and with that, retreated down to the lower deck.