Final Fantasy VI- The Novel, Part II

The World of Ruin

By: Celes Chere



Chapter Thirty-One- Seaside Suicide: Celes Chere

The small, white dove was weakly making it's way through the ruby- tainted sky, one of its crippled wings just barely functioning and forcing the bird to fly at a rather awkward angle. There were no more others of it's kind anywhere in sight- The dove flew alone, within the solitary confinement of her struggled breathing and aching muscles. She haphazardly dangled in the air for a few moments longer until a sudden and unexpected spasm of pain ravaged through her body, causing her to let out a small caw of agony and come cascading down in a whirlwind of dirtied feathers onto the tiny island below.

On that island, was a house.

It was small, pathetic, and almost shack-like. The salt-water stained wood was rotting on the sides and dried-out, cracked shingles on the roof were threatening to collapse in at any moment. Several of the hazed and residue streaked windows were cracked and broken. The land surrounding the house was nothing but a wasteland full of death. There were no flowers, no grass, no insects, no animals, no sign of anything alive or green. Everything was stained a monochrome brown color, like the dirtied sea that surrounded the island. The only thing even close to sanctuary on the sea-locked prison was the rather tall cliff that dangled off the edge of the island. It was high enough in the air to escape some of the low residing dirt and dust clouds that took over the island's immediate atmosphere. It also provided a jaded view of the sea surrounding the island...not much of a view, being that it was all stained water and the occasional floating fish carcass, but none the less...the sunset did drench the seascape in an eerie blood red color if you came up to watch it at just the right time.

But the only person in the entire world that knew that geographical 'gem' was one of the two residents on that seemingly lifeless island. He was a man who had aged years in a span of months, his once reddish-brown hair now streaked with gray. His soft blue eyes had become clouded with both deep depression and hints of cataracts that greatly hindered his once keen eyesight. He had to walk, at an agonizingly slow pace to wherever his destination might be, and a year of sleeping on an uneven, knotted hardwood floor had become a daily torture for his failing back and posture. His only pair of clothes had practically become tattered sacks on his thinning frame. No matter what he did, he was never able to maintain a healthy weight since he came upon the island.

His partner on the island, a young woman with shining blonde hair and a deathly pale complexion, spent her days and nights in a shabby bed that was set in the center of the one roomed house, never moving, with the exception of the near silent breaths she inhaled and exhaled, which caused a slight rising and falling of her chest, the only sign the man had that she was still alive. She had been asleep ever since she washed up on the shores of the tiny beach behind the house, but the man treated her with the most consideration and compassion the island's surroundings would allow of him-- It was she who slept in the bed, she who was always fed the best of the day's catches (All fish, although every once in a while, an edible monster would be spotted by the cliffs that could be slain. It was a miracle that the man could even safely feed the woman...), and she who would regularly get her hair and face washed with the help of the small metal tub the man had found on the beach and the homemade soaps he would create out of monster fat. Every blanket in the house covered her body, to prevent any chill that might try to invade her. The woman, compared to the man, had hardly undergone any physical changes at all despite her drastic environmental change. Her face had thinned a bit, and her lips were chapped from the sea air, but other than that, she looked as if she could wake up at anytime and resume whatever it was she had been doing before she had fallen asleep. Perhaps she might even celebrate her nineteenth birthday that had so quietly slipped past her that past spring.

It was an ordinary summer morning, sometime in June, if the man had been keeping count correctly, when he came in from the beach along with an empty bucket that usually contained fish for breakfast. His face was set in a frown. Had they finally run out of fish? Why couldn't he find any? Setting the bucket down by the wood burning stove, he sighed and rubbed the sweat beads that had formed on his forehead. His heart suddenly skipped in fright when he heard a choking sound come out of the woman's mouth, causing her whole body to shake underneath the covers. Her eyes clenched shut tightly, and her breathing became raspy.

"NO!" He suddenly cried, and dived towards the bed, his hands yanking down the covers to find the woman's hand to feel her pulse. She suddenly choked again, this time causing her to yank her hand away from the man's, and winced. Ever so slowly, her eyes opened, revealing an ice blue, confused gaze, and her fingers clenched in a bit. The man widened his eyes and suddenly broke into a huge grin, one that could rival the brightness of the sun itself.

"Celes...at last!"

Celes blinked and reached up, slowly rubbing her eyes as she looked around the room and back to the man, running her tongue over her dried lips and narrowing her gaze a bit to check if she was seeing things or not.

"....Cid...?"

Cid leapt up in the air, his body temporarily filling with youth and vitality again as he looked over the darling young woman he thought he had lost.

"I can't believe it! You're FINALLY awake!" Celes nodded a little, clearing her throat and sitting up as she reached out to take Cid's hand into her own.

"I...I feel as if I have been sleeping forever..."

"For one year, actually." Cid corrected, causing Celes to gasp out. "I thought you were gone for good." She clutched onto the dried, callused hand within her own, her mind spinning with just the few revelations she had made since her awakening.

She was in an abandoned house.

Cid was with her, looking as if he were a hundred years old.

She had slept for a year, in a coma.

And so quickly, everything was coming back to her...

"A whole year?" Celes finally managed to question, sounding as if she didn't believe it herself. "And you watched over me the whole time?"

"Oh yes." Cid admitted, and put on a weak smile. "And I'm about out of energy!!!" The look on Celes' face told him that he should continue to explain their situation, and with that, he let out a heavy sigh.

"We're on a tiny, deserted island. After the world...crumbled, I awoke to find us here with...a few strangers."

"The...the world..." Celes moaned out and turned, gazing out the window and experiencing the shock of her young life. This was what the once green and vibrant world she had known became after Kefka's wrath on the Floating Continent? It was enough to make her blood run cold and cause her body to shudder. "So...it wasn't a dream..." Suddenly, she straightened up more, and turned back to Cid with an urgent gleam in her eyes. "Oh my Gods...where are my friends???" She bit down on her lip, feeling her heart skip a beat and a deep ache form in her chest.

"...Where's...Locke?"

Cid looked away for a moment, causing Celes' heart to nearly stop.

Oh...surely he is with us! Celes' thoughts reasoned. He held my hand...he held my hand when we fell from the airship! He told me that he wouldn't let anything happen to me! We couldn't of gotten separated, I wouldn't of let him go...

"I don't know where anyone is."

"But...."

"I only know that we're here." Cid continued, and looked back up at her. "Maybe we're the..."

"No!" Celes suddenly cried. "Don't say it..."

"...The only people left alive."

Celes bit down on her lip and ran her fingers through her hair. This was too much, far too much to take in all at once...

"Since that day, the world has continued its slide into ruin. Animals and plants are dying off...the people who were on the island with us passed away from boredom and despair."

"My...my friends..." Celes trailed off, feeling as if she were about to cry. The tears she struggled to hold back began to burn behind her eyelids. "They're probably all gone." Cid reached out, taking Celes' other hand in his and squeezing gently, as if she were made of glass.

"Celes...you are the closest thing to family I have. We...could just live out our lives here...peacefully..."

Celes didn't know what to say. What could she possibly do? They were trapped on a decaying island, lost in a dying world that could expire at any given time. Perhaps the time of cessation was near. Perhaps...this was fate, a fate Celes and the other Returners were foolish enough to attempt to fight. Because of that, they had all lost their lives, and here was the remainder of their once glorious team, wasting away towards her own expiration. In a way...she too, had already died.

But Cid had taken such loving care of me for the past year... Celes thought sadly. He probably put my own health before his. And he is right...we are all the family we have left from our former world. We...we were the ONLY family we had, ever. It is only...appropriate that we should live out our last days together as one...

Celes put on a weak smile, and gazed happily into Cid's clouded eyes.

"I suppose so, Cid...or perhaps I should say, Granddad? May I call you that??" Cid laughed so hard that he nearly began to choke, but he quickly calmed himself so that Celes would not see just how badly his lungs had become.

"Gramps, eh? I'm overwhelmed! All of a sudden, I have a granddaughter! And a beautiful one at that..." He suddenly broke out into a fit of deep coughs that caused Celes to practically leap out of bed and shove Cid into it in her place.

"My long-lost Granddad!" Celes exclaimed, laughing a little as she pulled the covers up over Cid. "Looks like it's my time to take care of you!" Cid did not stop smiling as Celes settled a bit and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"I...actually haven't eaten in three days or so." Cid confessed, and Celes turned white. "I haven't had much of an appetite ever since I became ill."

"We can fix that." Celes said self-assuredly. "What would you like? I can cook quite well, you know."

"Well, unless I ask for fish, I won't get anything!" Cid chuckled a little. "I'm afraid that's all there practically is here, my dear. Although I fear that the catches have been sparse lately."

"Very well, I'll go catch some." Celes smiled, and with that, turned to walk out of the house. She felt a bit shaky on her legs, after all, she hadn't of walked for a year, but there was a refreshing surge of strength that now flowed through her body since she had resolved with herself to start her life anew with Cid and make the best out of their terrible situation. It would take some getting used to...but Celes decided, that now, more than ever, she needed to be a soldier, a pillar of strength and hope for the both herself and her Granddad. She hastily placed any disturbing thoughts of her lost friends and of Locke in the back of her mind, and locked them up tightly among the other dark shadows that had graced her life.

Stepping outside and seeing her new environment did not shock Celes as much as it had when she initially glanced at it outside her window. Taking a deep breath and holding her head high in an almost regal air, she ignored her surroundings and made straight for the tiny beach she could spot just a few feet away from the house. The morning tide had formed a tiny pool that was washed over again by fresh waves every few moments, and within that pool was a rather abundant supply of fish. Celes smiled a little and kneeled down, preparing herself for her own little ambush.

"Maybe Cid didn't notice this pool." Celes said out loud to herself, even though she thought that was a rather stupid conclusion to draw. With a quick splash, she suddenly dove forward and snatched up a long, shining, silver fish in her hands, laughing happily as she watched it squirm about in her hands. She was even more excited to notice that this was a breed of fish that did not need cooked before eating, (she remembered from some of her training a long time ago) which would definitely save Cid some hunger pains. However, she did realize that she had not brought a bucket out with her, so she would have to go back in and get one before catching more fish.

Celes ran back in, the fish having given up "the fight", and smiled as she approached Cid's bed. He smiled back and sat up a bit as she presented the fish to him.

"Here you go, Granddad!" Celes exclaimed, genuinely proud of her achievement. She almost felt as if she were a little girl, showing off a drawing or a block tower. "Although, if you'd like, I can cook it."

"Oh, no, don't go through any trouble for me." Cid smiled. "This will be just fine. Why don't you get yourself something, though?"

"Nope, not until you're full!" Celes said. "I know that won't fill you, so I'll be right back with more, ok?"

"All right!" Cid laughed, and fell into another coughing fit, but only after Celes had already ran from the house, bucket in hand for more fishing.

"Ohh...yum..." Cid smiled a bit, chewing some of his fish and swallowing. He coughed out again, and winced, his body suddenly going weak and resulting in his accidently dropping the fish on the floor. His vision went spotted and white for a few moments, causing him to moan out and fall back against the pillows.

"I can't bear...much more of this..."

"Ooops, looks like you dropped this." Celes' voice suddenly rang out, causing Cid to sit up in surprise. Had he fallen asleep?!

"Oh, uh, yes, sorry Celes!" Cid stammered, trying to gain his senses as Celes presented him with a new fish from her bucket.

"It's ok, I'll just throw this out." Celes said, and set the bucket down, turning to go back out the door. As she tossed the dirtied fish out into the sea (it wasn't a far toss), she heard Cid coughing and wheezing again heavily, and realized he was trying to speak with her.

"Heh...seems like...I may not be long for this new, cruel world..." Celes blinked and froze in her spot, getting that sinking ice feeling in her blood again. All of a sudden, it seemed like, Cid's cracking voice was catching up with his aged appearance. It sounded so quiet and fragile...

"Cid?" Celes asked weakly, turning around slowly and resting her hand on the doorframe, mostly to keep herself from collapsing on her own legs. An overpowering sense of weakness had ravaged through her body, driven on by Cid's chilling words.

"Oh Celes...don't look at me like that." Cid smiled weakly, his eyes half-closed, as if it were a burden to keep them open. Celes opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She cautiously gripped onto the doorframe harder, feeling her brittle nails break against the wood. Suddenly, she felt as if something snapped inside of her.

"My worst nightmare is to think of you alone on this wretched island..." More hacking and wheezing ensued. "But...those others who were here... when they were feeling down, they'd take a leap of faith from the cliffs up north...perked 'em right up! I suppose that is...the only good part about this place though..." He smiled a little. "You might get bored of that quickly..."

Celes felt as if she were about to be sick.

"Granddad." She smiled a little, and feeling as if she were caught up in a daze, walked back over to his bedside and kneeled down to get another fish. He had dropped his new one on the floor once again, the nerves in his fingers seemingly paralyzed. He felt as if he couldn't move a bone in his body, as if every joint were held down with a ten ton weight. As Celes moved, she felt as if her feet were not even touching the ground.

"While I can still talk, I...want to thank you..." Cid choked softly this time, closing his eyes and tilting his head back a bit more on the pillows, the aching weight inside his body suddenly melting away into a soothing, warm sensation.

Celes said nothing as she got another fish out of the bucket and stood up, pushing the newly dropped one aside with her foot for the moment and blowing her untrimmed bangs away from her face. Her mind was still hazed, clouded, confused. Why was he saying stuff like this? It was lunchtime, for heaven's sake.

"Here you go." Celes smiled naively, holding the fish out for Cid. "Don't drop it this time, this one looks really good!"

Cid took a deep, shaking breath, a soft smile set on his lips as he fell deeper back into the pillows.

"Good bye..."

Celes blinked. The feeling suddenly returned to her numb, airy body, and the fish felt cold and slick in her pale hand. She stared down at Cid's still form, shaking her head in confusion.

"Granddad. You have to eat, or else..." She paused. "What's the matter?"

Silence was her reply. Celes blinked again, and this time, the tears that had threatened her before finally spilled over without warning.

"NO! CID! Don't leave me! You...promised you'd STAY HERE WITH ME!"



Celes felt her breathing quicken drastically, and her face flush over in a mixture of anger and shock. Clenching her fist together, she took a deep breath and stomped her foot on the floor.

"Granddad, ANSWER ME! ...Tell me you're just joking..."

Of course, she knew the truth. Closing her eyes and refusing to look upon the scene of Cid's death any longer, Celes turned and fled from the house, amazingly not striking into anything with her eyes tightly shut. While she had no absolute idea of where she was going, her legs seemed to have other ideas. As Celes struggled to open and rub at her tear-drenched eyes, she found herself climbing up the northern cliff at the point of the island. The path below her feet was well worn and dusty, any plants that had attempted to grow crushed and matted in the rocky dirt. Before she knew it, Celes was at the top of the cliff, shivering a bit as she looked at the scenery below. One side of the cliff led back to the land, which due to an unusual shift in elevation, made for a short but still thrilling drop from the cliff. Celes could easily picture someone leaping off the side onto a blanket-trampoline held by a few others below.

The other side of the cliff, however, held for a far more dangerous game. The sea was tossing and churning below, smashing up against the rocky side of the cliff that was covered in barnacles and some green algae. Celes bit down on her lip and stepped back a moment, nearly letting out a scream as her foot stepped over something and made a sickening little "crunch" noise. Looking down, pale and horrified, she saw that she had crushed the outstretched wing of a seemingly dead dove. However, the small, pathetic cries it made from Celes' assault gave her the sign that it was indeed, still alive, and suffering greatly. Feeling tears fill her eyes again, this time angry ones, Celes haphazardly cast a Curagra spell on the bird and turned her back to it, shivering and choking on her own sobs. While it was the most she could possibly do, she suddenly felt as if she were some sort of monster.

"Probably paralyzed it..." Celes muttered to herself, her voice low and bitter and barely recognizable. "A bird that cannot fly...what good is it if it hasn't got any wings?" A chilling sea breeze rose and blew against her tattered clothes and hair, and while it was not unbearably cold, Celes suddenly felt as if her body had gone numb all over. Strange thoughts began to roll into her mind, like the dark clouds before a large storm.

"If only I had wings...than I could fly off of this wretched, empty hellhole..." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze focusing back out on the sea. "Everyone's gone...Even Locke, who promised to watch over me..." She smiled a little and held onto herself tighter. "Locke...my very own pair of wings..." Her smile curled further on her lips and she let out a soft laugh. "....Gone...along with this world...so slowly ebbing away..."

Another soft whistle of wind blew through, and in it, Celes swore that she could hear someone calling her name. It started off softly, at first, but the more she concentrated, the better she could make it out.

"Celes..."

"Mmm...Locke...?"

Silence.

Celes closed her eyes and choked on another sob, taking a few steps forward and moaning out as more tears hit her flushed cheeks. Before she could utter another word or change her mind, Celes took a flying leap off the cliff, and began plunging downwards head first towards the raging sea below, her vision blinded in a blur of tears.

She was so tired...so sick and tired...

With a loud 'splash', Celes' idle body crashed into the sea. At that same moment, a slight flutter came from the top of the cliff.

In moments, both sounds ceased.



Well everyone, that's it for this chapter! Sorry it took me so long to write, but you know, if I told y'all the reasons why I HAVEN'T been posting, we'd be here forever and you'd practically have another chapter on your hands...one that has nothing to do with FF6. Anyway, thanks for all the people who have left me reviews, its really encouraging and great ^^. It kinda made me warm and squishy inside. Kinda like when I think about Locke and Sora...