Chapter Thirty-Two- Sparkling Blue Hope: Sabin Rene Figaro

"Mmm...Is... This what it's like...to be dead?" "It's warm...I...I can still hear the ocean..."

A soft smile curled on Celes' lips as a gentle wave washed on shore and spilled over her feet. A white, but rather dirty bird, was fluttering about nearby, hopping back and forth between the small fish tidal pool that had formed days earlier and the white sandy beach in order to cool it's hot little feet. It let out an anxious caw as it looked back over at Celes, who began to stir. First, a soft moan emitted from her lips, followed by the opening of her eyes and a rather abrupt gasp. Seconds later, loud and bitter curses ensued.

"...What...what is THIS!?" Celes shrieked. When she tried to push herself up off her stomach, sharp pains shot through her limbs, warning her to back off. Celes moaned out in reluctant defeat and fell back onto the sand, letting the grains dig into her cheek as punishment for the failing of what was supposed to be her final mission. She felt as if she wanted to cry, but this time, no tears came. Her blood began to boil in anger as her memories came rushing back to her, the realization of her being alive stinging worse than any strike she had ever received back in South Figaro. It made Celes' mind spin that she, of all the people in the world, could fail at an attempt of suicide.

At that moment, the little bird hopped over to Celes, letting out a gentle "cooing" noise as it nuzzled its beak in her hair and picked out a strand of seaweed that had washed in it. Celes let out a scream and swung at the bird the best she can, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as she struggled to sit up on her rear. When the pain had subsided a bit, she turned to look down at the innocent bird, glaring into its beady eyes.

"YOU!" Celes cried. "Why did you nurse me back to health? Did I ever ask you to help me?!?!?!"

The bird cocked its head a bit, letting out a confused "coo". Celes sucked in her breath and prepared to scream again, when suddenly, her eyes fell on the bird's right wing. It was slightly crooked when compared to the left...as if it might have been broken at one point in time. However, that was not the only thing odd about it. Celes' eyes began to water as she reached down, softly, almost affectionately, brushing her fingers over the dirtied blue bandana that was tied around the wing and the bird's body...to keep the bones from setting improperly. Underneath the bandana was another band of cloth, which was a much paler color and tied tighter. The bird looked at Celes and gently nuzzled its head against her hand, turning its body so that Celes' fingers would run over the knot that kept the bandana on. Reluctantly, Celes untied the blue bandana, and let it fall off the bird into her fingers. She didn't have to use her imagination or make up ridiculous plots in her head. Celes knew exactly what this was....

"A...bandana?" Celes trailed off, feeling it between her fingers and biting down on her lip. "No... It can't be..." Holding it up a bit; Celes stretched it out between her two hands and looked it over.

Locke's bandana...

How often she would catch herself gazing in his direction, her eyes always managing to fall upon the tattered but proud ornament he would always wear...

"Hey you!" Celes suddenly barked at the bird, making it squeal and leap up a bit in surprise. "Where'd you get this? Is the person that healed you still alive? ANSWER ME!"

The bird suddenly raised its left wing, along with its right (but just hardly, with the restraint of the bandage around its wing being so tight), and rose into the air, flying away. Celes cried out in protest and climbed to her feet, clutching the bandana in her hand against her chest and waving her other hand towards the bird, outstretching it as if she planned to grab it. But the bird did not come back, and Celes once again found herself alone, on the beach, with the blood red sun beginning to set over the horizon.

Celes finally managed to turn her attentions away from the sky and back to the bandana, lifting it up slowly and letting out a soft, but happy sniffle as a smile formed on her lips.

"He's alive...Locke is...still alive!" She cried out happily, and felt warm tears roll down her cheeks. Never in her life had she ever felt this relieved and thrilled at the same time, had she cried and smiled in the same instant. Gazing back out into the sunset, Celes could feel her heart filling once again with hope and courage, drowning out all the despair and sadness she had harbored within her. He was still alive...still alive and searching for her! He hadn't forgotten their promise... Celes decided that she needed to find a way off this island right away, to go and search for him as well. She had to find him...

"...Locke..." Celes closed her eyes, and ever so softly, brought the bandana to her lips, kissing it and taking in the soft scent that she immediately recognized as Locke's hair. She felt a faint blush crawl over her face when she realized what she had done, and hesitantly placed the bandana in her breast pocket on her vest.

"Errr..." She blinked, feeling as if she suddenly had an audience and had to explain herself. "Yeah...I have to find Locke...cause the Gods only know what he'll do without his stupid, dirty bandana..."

After a few hours of plotting and planning on the beach, Celes still found it difficult to actually come up with a solution that she believed would help her safely leave the island and find Locke. Surely, he couldn't be too far away, for an injured bird would never be able to fly such a great length, but right now, everything seemed to very far away when all Celes could see surrounding her was water, water, water.

Deciding that she should just head inside for the night, Celes crossed her arms over her chest and made her way back into her 'home'. She felt a slight chill run through her body when she remembered what was waiting for her inside, but she no longer felt as confused and afraid as she had before. She was filled with a solemn sense of duty, one that she regretted she had not respectfully fulfilled previously. Walking inside, Celes made her way to Cid's deathbed and gazed down at the body before her. He had a soft smile on his lips, and simply looked as if he were sleeping. Celes smiled a little herself, and reached down, gently touching Cid's vest.

"Granddad...I am sorry I did not put you to rest sooner." She whispered, and with that, scooped Cid's surprisingly light body into her arms, along with the sheets on the bed. It was time to prepare his burial at sea. As she was stepping out of the house, she did not notice the envelope that had fallen from Cid's pocket and fluttered to the floor.

**********

It was completely dark when Celes came back into the now empty house, rather fatigued and ready to put everything in her eventful day behind her. But, the darkness of the house quickly got to her, and Celes rushed to the small table against a wall of the house, and quickly cast a Fire spell on the wicks of the candles upon it for some light. With a slight sigh of relief, she started to sit down to collect her thoughts, but something new came to her eye along with the light.

An envelope was sitting on the floor, no more than a few feet in front of her, and on the front, in shaky but still elegant script was written:

Celes Chere

Blinking, Celes quickly bent down and took the envelope, tearing it open and taking out the small note that was stuffed inside.

Dearest Celes:

You should know that as I am writing this, a small part of me is already loathing the day you would find it. I fear two things will come of your reading this: If you have been awake and by my side as a companion on this wretched island for an extended period of time, you will probably find me to be a selfish traitor in our cause to grasp hold of and share happiness, and be displeased with me, which my soul would not be able to bear, even in death. And alas, my second fear for you is partially revealed within that prior phrase... The day you do receive this, I will no longer be with you. I suppose that you will find this to be my will, if I can even rightfully call it that. Now I can only pray that the time you come into possession of this is a proper one, if that is even at all possible.

You must leave this place, and start anew. You are too young to be trapped here; the tender age of nineteen holds so many possibilities for a remarkable woman such as yourself. Celes, you have always reminded me of a beautiful bird, trapped in a confining and filthy cage, longing to break free and sing your song all over the world outside your bars. Alas, you have broken free of the binds in which the Empire held you, but now I fear you have fallen into a new prison, one which not even your thief friend can pick the lock of.

Find the stairs next to the stove...down them lies your road to freedom. You must hurry, for the others are surely waiting for you. When you find them again, embrace every one of them as if you intend to never let go. These are the people who will shine light in the shadows that have been cast over our world.

Love, Cid

Celes widened her eyes and bit down on her lip, letting the paper flutter to the floor and crossing the room to take a peek behind the stove. Her heart was beating loudly against her chest, and her palms had suddenly become sweaty with nervousness. While she could never harbor any of the hatred for Cid that he had described in his letter, right now she couldn't help but suspect if there was really anything substantial behind his fears. Looking around closely, she spotted two, finger-sized holes in the floor beneath her feet, and kneeled down, sticking two fingers in them quickly and lifting to reveal what was a trap door and a narrow flight of stairs that obviously went underground. Taking a deep breath, Celes slipped down the stairs and reached the bottom of the cold cellar, letting out a soft gasp at what laid before her eyes.

It was a raft.

**********

Early the next morning, Celes awoke, hardly able to sleep from the previous night's discoveries, and immediately found herself running back down the cellar stairs to make sure the raft was still there, and that it was not some delirious dream. Sure enough, Cid's handiwork was still there, and Celes determined right then and there that it would make its maiden voyage within the next few hours. It was time.

While she had a difficult time dragging the raft up the narrow stairs, Celes found that everything after that went rather smoothly. Turning back to the house one last time before she pushed off into the sea, Celes raised a hand slightly, imagining Cid standing in the doorway and waving back to her excitedly.

"Go, go!" He was shouting, a smile beaming across his face.

"Good-bye, Cid!" Celes cried. Checking one last time to make sure she had Locke's bandana, Celes pushed the raft into the sea with one mighty shove, and quickly splashed through the water to slip onto it. The water, once seeming so angry to her back on the cliff, now seemed to be on her side, the waves gently lapping her further and further away from the island with each passing moment. Soon, Celes found the island completely out of her sight, replaced by miles and miles of calm, brown water. While she had no clue where she was heading, she decided there was not much use worrying over it. For once, she would willingly let fate lend a hand. Instead of fretting, the tired soldier curled up into a ball, and before she could count to ten, fell asleep in the breaking of the new dawn.

Hours upon hours later, Celes awoke to the unusual screeching of aerial monsters that she had never heard before. Opening her eyes quickly and looking about, she saw that she was no longer surrounded by the familiar ocean, but rather by both familiar ocean and...LAND. Letting out a slight cry of delight, Celes scrambled off of the raft and onto the rocky shore, quickly looking around for some sort of hint to where she could be. Her prayers were answered, for while the land around her was hardly recognizable, the town gates she had stumbled upon that were less than a mile away were.

"Good lord, I'm in ALBROOK!" Celes cried, and with that, took off running before she had any encounters with the beasts she could hear soaring above her. When she reached the town gates, she felt as if she might collapse, and surely looked it too. An elderly man, who was standing over an outdoor fire and burning trash (something not normally permitted in town, but Celes would later find out on her own that much had come to pass over the cities of the world that made them no longer care about such petty rules...), came running over to her side, reaching out and taking her arm.

"There there missy, you look a fright!" He cried, and Celes gasped out for breath.

"I...I came running...all the way from the shore..."

"The shore?" The man asked, blinking. "And you didn't have any weapons on ya, eh? So you had to run from the monsters...understandable!"

"Right..." Celes gasped out, nodding to let him go on with her own explanation. The man smiled a little and patted her back.

"Well, dun worry a bit, Albrook doesn't have much to offer you...but what she can, she will!"

"Thank you." Celes said, smiling. "Actually, I was looking for someone; perhaps you've seen them?"

"Who might that be?" The man asked, blinking. "Although chances are I'll know 'em if I've seen 'em...ya meet a lot of people now an' days if you live in a port town...everyone's tryin' to get away from where they live and start anew...of course, no one ever decides to settle here...look at what a mess this place has become." Celes looked behind the old man and felt as if she had truly walked into another world. The once bustling port town was indeed practically deserted now...people were few and far between, and everything that had been polished, or new, or well cared for within the town had gone to hell. Buildings were cracked, some even dangerously tilted. Railings along the upper part of town were severed and broken, and stone stairways either had large chunks ripped out of them or large chunks of something lodged into them. Celes could even see that the docks that led out to the port were broken, some with so many planks missing that they were barred off.

A considerable amount of tattered clothed, probably homeless people were out along the streets, little tents set up by their fires inside the now wilted and dead gardens Albrook once had. Stray dogs were howling for food, and children were crying as their mothers dragged them away from shop windows, lecturing: "You KNOW your father doesn't make as much money anymore..." and other phrases similar to that. Not so far away from her, Celes could hear two men grumbling about how hard their businesses had been hit lately.

"How ya supposed to make a Gil in this world anymore?"

"I don't know...no one comes to stay at my Inn anymore...and it used to be so famous! The highest recommended on our continent!"

Celes bit down on her lip and wrapped her arms underneath her chest. While she knew that the disaster known as Kefka and the Statues would surely have a negative effect on the world, she had no idea things would get this terrible. Surely, there was more to Albrook's downfall than just the reshaping of the world's surface. Something else was definitely at work...Celes' heart practically froze at the next idea that entered her mind.

Maybe Kefka hadn't of perished in the accident with the Statues...

Worse yet, maybe the Statues had not destroyed each other in the chain reaction...

However, the old man was still waiting for Celes to ask about who she was looking for, and she realized that now was not the time to ponder upon these things.

"His name is Locke Cole. He's fairly tall, oh, and rather thin, and has light brown hair with some blonde in it. He..." Celes trailed off, finding it difficult to remember much that was distinguishing about the thief, causing her to go into a slight panic. Of course, she would normally say he wore a blue bandana, but...

"I'm sorry, I've never seen anyone like that." The man admitted, causing Celes to let out a moan of defeat and look down.

"But!" The man continued, and Celes blinked.

"But?"

"I'll tell you...you are the spittin' image of a man who came here recently. He was the first person I thought of when I saw you!"

"What?" Celes cried. "What do you mean? Who was he?"

"I'm afraid he never gave me his name...but the sparkle in both your guys' blue eyes...It's uncanny. He said he was looking for his friends." Celes smiled excitedly and clasped her hands together. Perhaps it was one of the Returners!

"Is he still here?"

"No, 'fraid not. When he didn't find anything, he left here and headed North to Tzen."

"Then I must go to Tzen!" Celes declared, and the man tried to hold back laughter.

"That's mighty courageous of you missy, but I'm afraid you won't be able to run from the monsters that entire distance."

"Uhh...that's a good point..." Celes moaned and rested her hand on her forehead. "I haven't got any Gil on me...so I can't even buy a suitable sword..."

"Well, I haven't got a sword, but I do have a chocobo, if that will do for now." Celes blinked and widened her eyes.

"Really? You'll let me borrow him?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid only for the journey to Tzen. He'll run back home the moment he is dismounted up there. It's apart of his training, you know, in case he was ever stolen."

"Oh, but that will be plenty for me." Celes smiled, not believing how generous this man was being, especially in a world that looked so bleak and destitute, where no one could seemingly spare anything to another.

"All right then! My son owns the Relic Shop just up there." The man pointed towards a sagging building down the road. "Go up there and tell him that I gave you the ok to use the bird. Her name is Millenia, and if he asks you for a password...it's the same thing as the name."

"Thank you!" Celes cried happily, and with that, took off down the street to the shop. When she burst inside, she saw a scholarly man standing at the counter of the shop, pointing to something in a book in which the man behind the counter, young with a short brown ponytail, was taking a keen interest.

"According to this text, it says: "Eight dragons seal away this awesome beast. Its name is Crusader... Defeat these dragons, and its power will be released!""

"Wow...I wonder if it's the same eight dragons that came about when the world came unzipped? Along with Doom Gaze and Phunbaba...Horrible creatures..."

"E-excuse me." Celes suddenly broke in. The shopkeeper looked up and smiled, and the scholar took the book back to a shelf and began shifting through more.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, and Celes leaned over the counter a bit.

"Your father told me that I could use your chocobo, Millenia, to ride to Tzen."

"Really?" The man smiled, and let out a laugh. "I have no doubt about it, either."

"What do you mean?" Celes asked curiously, narrowing her eyes.

"My father will do anything for a pretty woman." The man laughed again, and Celes turned red. "Meet me at the gate in a few moments...I'll have her all ready for you." With that, the man turned and left through a door behind the counter.

"Hmmph..." Celes snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "And I thought he was being generous...!"

The ride to Tzen was long distance wise, but time was definitely saved by riding the chocobo. Millenia was young, and fast, and healthy, and gave Celes an unbelievably smooth ride over the rocky and dusty plains that had replaced the rolling green hills of the Southern Continent. Well, that is...if it even WAS in the South anymore...

After getting off of Millenia, she let out a gentle "Kya!", and ran away, leaving a small cloud of dust from her swift feet. Celes gave a wave and turned towards the gates of Tzen. She could already tell the going here was as bad as it was in Albrook, perhaps even worse...

However, as soon as Celes climbed the steps to the upper level of town, (they were situated right at the entrance) there rang out a chorus of screams and a bright flash of white light. The ground began to shake so violently that Celes collapsed, crying out with everyone else as she instinctively reached up and covered her head with her hands. Was it an earthquake?!

In a few moments, the flashing light and the shaking subsided, but there were still loud cries and screams coming from the heart of the town. Celes took a deep breath and scrambled down another flight of stairs, gasping out at what was ahead of her.

In a midst of panicking people and screaming children, was a house that was clearly ready to collapse over on itself. There were countless holes in its roof and sides, and one side of it was already sinking into the ground.

"What happened?!" Celes cried, and a woman turned to her, panic in her eyes.

"It was the Light of Judgment!"

"What?"

"Someone must have really pissed Kefka off this time!" Another voice cried, and Celes felt her blood go cold.

Kefka...

"My child is still in that house!!!" Another woman cried, and rubbed her eyes. "Please, won't somebody go in and save him?" Celes felt her heart stop, and before she could stop herself, raised her hand a bit in the air.

"I will!" She suddenly cried, and marched towards the house, when another citizen grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"What the hell are you, nuts?! There are monsters in there that can turn you into stone with one glare! And you haven't got a weapon to even fend them off!" Celes bit down on her lip and yanked her arm away from the man.

"I've got my own powers!" Celes cried. "Please, let me go! That child will DIE if you don't let me!" At the sound of that, the mother suddenly burst into louder sobs, and Celes ran back over to her.

"Don't worry, I'll get him out!" Celes assured her, when suddenly, there came a high whistle from the house. The woman continued sobbing as Celes turned away from her and looked over at the house, not believing her eyes at what she saw.

At the left end of the house, holding it up with his bare hands to keep it from sinking into the ground, was none other than Sabin! His gaze locked on hers and he slightly nodded his head, gesturing for her to come over to him. Letting out a happy cry, Celes ran over to her comrade and practically threw her arms around him, despite their barely knowing each other back when they did fight together.

"Oh, Sabin!"

"Celes!!!" Sabin exclaimed just as joyfully, obviously not able to hug back. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you come into town, but I knew it was you when I heard you totally telling off that guy!" Celes turned red but couldn't help laughing a bit, pulling away and pointing towards the house.

"Hurry, let's head in!" Celes cried, but Sabin shook his head.

"I can't!" Sabin explained hurriedly. "If I move, this house will collapse, and there will be no way to get the child out. I can't hold this up forever, either...uhhh..."

"All right, I'll go as fast as I am able!" Celes assured, and Sabin shook his head again.

"Wait Celes...take this...in my place!" Celes blinked as Sabin made a slight nod towards a necklace around his neck. It was a simple silver chain, but slipped onto it was a beautiful aquamarine and silver ring. Celes reached up and undid the necklace, fastening it around her own neck and blinking.

"That ring will protect you from any attacks the monsters will attempt to use to turn you into stone." Sabin explained, and Celes nodded, finally understanding.

"Thank you, Sabin! I promise I'll be right back, with the child!"

"Just please, hurry!" He pleaded, and with that, Celes turned and fled from Sabin, throwing open the door of the house and rushing inside.