Chapter Forty-Four- Eternal Life: Locke Cole
Celes groaned as she felt The Falcon give another shutter, and felt her bed rock. Her oil lamp flickered, casting funny shadows on the letter she was reading in bed.
Of course, the letter was none other than the one from the former Emperor Gestahl, although who it was truly addressed to, no one knew. She had read it at least ten more times, over and over, trying to figure out just exactly what it meant. Where was the place where the mountains formed a star? Was it literal, or metaphorical? Did this place even exist anymore, since the world had become pretty much disfigured from its former self?
Despite not exactly having met up with Kefka since one year prior, Celes began to feel a fierce urging for the Returners to make their move. She had a sickening feeling in her stomach that he would not remain idle for much longer before doing something else drastic to get the world's attention on him once more. She didn't even have a clue as to whether or not he knew the Returners were alive yet.
Meanwhile...
The man before him looked like he had been living off of pocket lint for a week, and was parched to the very bone, but still, Kefka did not care. He smirked, his lips curling awkwardly just to the left side of his face as he took the sniveling figure in, just his bony ankles exposed underneath the huge pile of red and white robes he wore. Kefka knew slightly of this kind...they called themselves "The Fanatics", and apparently worshipped Kefka from afar in their very own tower not too far from his own. However, all he regarded them as were a bunch of derelicts, and paid them no mind. If they were even slightly amusing, that would be a different story, but...
...But this dedicated young man DID decide to make a trip all the way up Kefka's perilous tower JUST to see him, which was probably more than any of his cohorts could even grow the nads to do. So, Kefka decided to be merciful, and hear him out before he tried out some of his newest magic tricks.
"So, what brings you here?" Kefka asked casually, and the man gasped, falling to his knees and panting as he tried to bow his head.
"Oh Lord Kefka...sweet Kefka, something unusual happened that I thought you must know of right away..."
"Oh really?" Kefka laughed, bouncing up in his seat a little. "So you thought something extraordinary happened, and yet I did not already hear of it? What do you think I am, stupid?"
"Ah...NO!" The fanatic cried. "It is just that I witnessed this before my very own eyes, and I thought it critical that you should know, my lord."
"Oh.." Kefka giggled. "Very well then. What did you see that you say will absolutely fascinate me? Which, by the way, if it doesn't, I will use you to feed my precious Atma."
"Lord Kefka," the man gasped, climbing back up from his knees. "While at the tower of fanatics, we were invaded, and one of our members were stolen away…" Kefka raised one of his painted eyebrows. Who would want to invade such a dreary place? This certainly was interesting. Even Kefka wouldn't set foot there if he didn't have to.
"Is that so?" Kefka pushed his lips into a line so thin, they nearly disappeared from his face. "What am I supposed to do about it? I am not going to look for this lost member of yours…I have too much to do on my own. It seems that none of my creatures here is capable enough to locate the treasure I have had my eyes on as of late…"
"My lord, if you should request it, we would seek out any treasure you desire," the man replied, bowing again. "But we are not worried about the man who left us. We are worried about those who took him away. It was a band of females, three of them."
"Three?" Kefka narrowed his eyes. "…What were they like?"
The man paused for a moment, recollecting his memory so that he could give Kefka the best description possible without hesitation. He did not want to be accused of being a liar or a time-waster.
"Two of them were tall…" He began, closing his eyes, "The last short, a child. One of the tall women had long, corn silk-blonde hair, and eyes of blue. She was pale, wearing tattered leather pants and a violet top. The other…had long, flowing green hair, a rich color I have not seen since…" He paused and did not notice Kefka narrow his eyes further. "…She was wearing a faded red dress, mud-caked boots, and had a peculiar ruby pendant…but her eyes were frightening. They were filled with an aura that I suspect was not entirely human…" By this time, Kefka's lips began to curl into a slick smile. He suddenly let out a short giggle, causing the man to look up at him abruptly.
"My lord?"
"And the girl!?" Kefka shrieked in laughter. "What of the small girl!?"
"Uhhh…" The man began to shake slightly, afraid of what had come over Kefka. "She was shortest…fuzzy blonde hair, big blue eyes…"
"And a ridiculous hat?!" Suddenly Kefka jumped up from his seat, laughing manically and holding his stomach. The man stumbled backwards and blinked.
"Y…yes my lord."
"I KNEW IT!" Kefka howled, raising his arms into the air and shaking violently. Lightening erupted around them and crashed into the rock, dirt-splattered floor, causing small smoking craters to appear. The man squealed as lightening struck beside his leg. "AND THE REST OF THEM…WERE THE REST THERE AS WELL?"
"The rest…I only saw women…" The man stuttered, which just made Kefka laugh harder.
"I knew that they would be back…" Kefka calmed slightly, lowering his arms and causing the lightening to stop. He cackled softly, a smirk on his lips. "I knew not even the Earth could swallow up and destroy my sweet Terra…and my little ice princess…after all…they were built to withstand such…inconveniences…" He cackled again. "And even the little one came out all right…that annoying wretch. I'm sure the others are alive too…" His smirk suddenly transformed into a horrid smile, the glare of his shining white teeth intensified by his fire-engine red lips. "The bastard King and Prince of Figaro…the dirty little thief…even that spoony Moogle! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
The fanatic blinked, too scared to move or say anything. Kefka leaned down to face him and licked his lips with his pointed tongue.
"My faithful follower…I must give them a proper welcome to Le Monde de Kefka. In fact…I think we should have a party for them, right here, in my little tower."
"Uh…yes my lord." The fanatic blinked.
"But to do that, there is something I'll need," Kefka smiled, almost affectionately. "Something I have been searching long and hard for…do you know of the Gem Box?"
"No, but I pledge my life and body to seeking it out!" The fanatic cried, placing his hand over his heart. "Anything for you my lord!" Kefka grinned.
"Of course…let me tell you about this precious toy…and then you must run home to all your little friends and spread the good word, right?"
"Oh yes, I promise!" The fanatic smiled happily, clasping his hands together. "It will be my greatest honor! But what about the invaders?"
"Do not worry about them," Kefka hissed, licking his lips again and looking up at the darkened atmosphere above.
"I want all of the Returners to come to my party safe and sound…so that I may have the divine pleasure of entertaining them."
Terra looked up from her plate when she heard footsteps. She had been deep in her thoughts and deep in a sausage link breakfast when Celes collapsed in the chair beside her, dark circles under her eyes and the letter clutched tightly in her hand.
"Sausage?" Terra blinked, holding her fork with the last link on it towards Celes. Celes wordlessly took it and started to chew, closing her eyes and sighing.
"This letter is haunting me." Celes moaned with her mouth full. "It must be important if the Emperor had it."
"Well, the Emperor's portrait technically had it." Terra smiled, but then frowned when she saw Celes wasn't amused. "Uhhh…I mean…well…you are right, I think it would be of great importance also…"
"It might be something we could fight Kefka with!" Celes cried. "It's not that I don't have confidence in our team, but we are going to definitely need some sort of edge…" She trailed off with a loud yawn.
"Good morning ladies," Gogo said, walking in and covered in layers and layers of robes and clothing, as usual.
"Good morning…er…Gogo." Celes greeted, and promptly let her head hit the table.
"She's very tired." Terra said, soothingly stroking Celes' ratty hair.
"Hence, why she should sleep more." Gogo replied, coming over and sitting across from them. "What's this?" Gogo reached by Celes' hand and gently pried the letter out of her fingers.
"It's a letter." Celes mumbled from the surface of the table. "A bloody letter."
"The treasure is hidden where the mountains form a star." Gogo read, and paused. "How vague."
"I know…" Terra trailed off, but Gogo interrupted.
"The mountains the letter speaks of are north of Miranda." Gogo explained. "They're call the Phoenix Mountains. It's said that they supposedly form a star-shape, but that might not be so true anymore. The place has some pretty intense legends behind it." Celes lifted her head from the table.
"What did you say? The mountains are by Miranda?"
"Yep."
"…." Celes blinked. "Are you SURE?"
"I'm pretty sure." Gogo said. "I mean, it's been a while, but…I'm still sure."
"Well do you know what the treasure is?!" Terra gasped happily.
"No, of course not!" Gogo laughed. "I don't know everything."
"Who cares?!" Celes cried, jumping up from the table. "We have to go! We're not doing anything else, right?"
"Setzer is almost done with all the repairs." Terra said excitedly. "Lets hurry up and get ready! I'll tell the others!"
"I don't think this is a good idea." Gogo said drolly. "There IS a reason why treasure is hidden there and people don't find it." But by the time the last words left Gogo's mouth, the girls had rushed from the room. Gogo sighed and leaned back in the chair, whistling. Phoenix Mountain wasn't exactly a picnic. At least, that was not what Gogo remembered.
"Phoenix Mountain, Phoenix Mountain!" Mog and Gau sang together as The Falcon sailed through the sky. It was drab and gray out, and the clouds looked as if they were about to burst with rain. All of the Returners were on deck, with Celes, Edgar, and Sabin keeping a close eye on their impending destination. It was difficult because of all the clouds and fog, and required all six of their eyes. The others were gathered in different groups and talking about what the treasure could possibly be that the letter spoke of. Well, those of them that could talk.
"Drrrr?" Umaro growled, and Relm petted him lovingly.
"I want to paint you SO bad!" She exclaimed. "Terra, are we almost there yet?"
"Almost!" Terra smiled, and leaned her head on Setzer's shoulder as he piloted. "Isn't this exciting?"
"This is hardly exciting to drive through." Setzer grumbled, although his pink did slightly redden at the scent of Terra's hair. "You picked up quite the sense of adventure while you were away, Terra."
"I missed you guys," Terra replied simply, smiling. "I've been telling myself we all have to start being more positive about all of this. We have to take each day in stride and make the best we can of it."
"Terra…" Setzer trailed off, looking away. Just by reading her eyes, he could see the true sentiments behind her words.
We have to make the best we can of each day…because we know all of us might not survive the final battle.
"Listen," Gogo suddenly said, adjusting a scarf and looking at all the others. "There's something you need to know. There is only one known entrance within the Phoenix Mountains. It's called Phoenix Cave, but it's not exactly just a cave."
"How do you figure?" Shadow grunted.
"The tribe that lived in Phoenix Cave were known for being rich beyond belief," Gogo explained. "And they wanted to keep it that way by keeping their treasures away from the world. They made one entrance to their dwelling, and made getting through it a literal puzzle. It's going to take teamwork to disable all the traps they have lying around. But besides having to deal with that, they also supposedly had a guardian beast."
"All of this lore sounds familiar," Strago commented. "I barely remember learning about the Phoenix tribes while I was researching magic years back. They were wiped out when an underground volcano beneath the cave erupted and flooded everything. The guardian beast might of died too."
"I wonder if the guardian beast was an Esper…" Celes trailed off, her hair whipping back from her face in the wind.
"Perhaps so," Gogo replied. "But the puzzle is a three-way, so therefore at least three people must go to disable the traps for each other."
"It's going to be too dangerous for only three people," Terra said firmly. "We have thirteen people…"
"…But one is going to need to stay behind to guard The Falcon," Setzer said. "I don't want to know what might crawl out of the mountains and attack it after all the repairs I did."
"So we'll have three groups of four," Terra concluded. "I'll lead a team."
"So will I," Setzer said.
"And I shall as well," Gogo nodded.
As they decided who would join which group, Celes, Edgar, and Sabin still kept a lookout from different points of the ship.
"Fly lower Setzer…I think I see something," Celes ordered, and The Falcon gradually lowered through the thin, misty clouds. Just below the airship was a good-sized ledge wedged between tall, looming peaks, and a large, gaping black entryway inside one of them.
"This is it!" Sabin exclaimed. "If you could just get a little lower…"
"I can't!" Setzer protested. "I'll crash this ship instantly."
"It's ok," Terra said. "I'll cast Float on all of us and we can fly the rest of the way down ourselves." Relm patted Umaro on the back and led him over to Setzer.
"Setzer, Umaro wants to stay and guard the ship," Relm explained. "He'll probably pass out from the heat if the volcanoes under the cave are still active since he is built for the cold. Besides that, he's surely the strongest and can take on anything that might attack."
"I trust you Umaro!" Setzer smiled, and Umaro gave a huge, sharp-toothed grin, growling and banging his chest and stomping the planks beneath his feet.
"Be good, ok kupo?" Mog said. "Pretend that Mog the Boss is watching you!"
"Uwaaarrrr!"
After stabilizing the ship and locking it in place, Setzer joined the others, and Terra effortlessly cast a group Float spell. See-through, sparkling wings appeared over everyone's' backs, and with a graceful leap, Terra dove first from the airship, her ponytail flying back behind her as she laughed and soared towards the cave. The others followed shortly after, and soon everyone was on the ledge, safe and sound. Their magic wings disappeared simultaneously with a burst of glitter and mist.
"Alright…let's go!" Terra said, and they filed inside, a line of designated team members behind each leader.
The heat inside the cave entryway was sweltering, to say the least, and everything was deadly silent minus the footsteps of the adventurers. The cave walls were lined with rocks in deep hues of red, orange, brown, and some were charred black. The floor was hard and stony, with sharp jabs of rocks and even some glittering crystals poking through some of the Returners' shoes.
Luckily, the radios miraculously worked well within the cave, and they facilitated the disabling of all the traps. The first roadblock in the entryway merely made for each team stepping on certain pressure points at the same time so that locked doors would open. However, once through those doors, the teams encountered many walkways blocked with tall, sharp, glittering spikes emerging from the ground. Getting through them required lots of running back and forth and hitting mechanical switches hidden on the walls. As Terra was radioed that yet another switch needed to be activated, Celes ran off to search for it, tripping and nearly impaling herself face-first on a set of waiting spikes. As she screamed out, Sabin lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back against his chest.
"Damn…" Celes panted, closing her eyes. "Thanks Sabin…"
"Be more careful," Sabin lectured.
"I'm trying…" Celes opened her eyes and wrapped Locke's bandana tighter around her forehead to keep the sweat out of her eyes and her mangy hair. "It's the heat…it's starting to get to me a little…"
"I fear the deeper we end up going, the worse it will get…" Edgar said, walking up to them after clearing a switch.
Within the next level, Setzer's team encountered scalding-hot springs of water that had to be drained in order to reveal further switches that would open new doors. He, Shadow, Cyan, and Mog were also starting to feel the heat, especially poor little Mog and his fur coat. A grueling and sweaty hour later, Terra, Celes, Edgar, and Sabin came to a dead end, and radioed Setzer for help. However, Setzer and his team were also stuck, and had been, thinking Terra or Gogo were working on making them a new entryway.
"Hey," Gogo's radio crackled, and Gogo picked it up from one of many pockets.
"Yes?"
"Everyone else is stuck," Setzer explained. "What does it look like for you guys?"
"Mmm…" Gogo hummed and tapped a foot. "We're in a bit of a predicament."
"Well our switch is blocked," Gogo replied matter-of-factly.
"Um…how?" Setzer asked, running a little short of patience. He held the radio in the crook of his shoulder and pressed it against his cheek as he swept his sticky, silver hair into a ponytail. He could feel the sweat dripping down his now exposed neck.
"Hear this?" Gogo asked, and raised the radio. In the background, Setzer could barely hear a queer combination of growling and whistling of wind.
"What the hell is that?" Setzer demanded. "Are you guys like on a cliff or something? Do I hear the wind?"
"I think it's the guardian beast," Gogo replied calmly. "It's a big, red, scaly dragon sleeping on a platform above some stairs where a switch is. I think it has congestion, because that wind sound you hear is coming from it's nose whenever it breathes. And we might be trapped in this room, because the doors behind us closed a while back while you guys were pressing switches and all that jazz."
"Oh my Gods, don't even joke about that!!!!" Setzer screamed over the radio. "You guys could be in serious danger!"
Suddenly, the dragon let out a low, growling moan, sliding open one of two huge orange eyes the size of light bulbs, and focusing it right on Gogo.
"Oops, I better go," Gogo said. "Sleeping beauty has awoken."
There was a click, and then static.
"Gods!" Setzer cried, slamming the radio against his leg.
"What!?" Shadow demanded.
"Gogo and the others ran into…literally…what they think might be the guardian beast of this place."
"Oh no…" Cyan trailed off, his face going pale.
"He said it was a huge, red dragon," Setzer gasped. "And it woke up right when he turned off the radio."
"A dragon?!" Cyan asked. "Could the guardian beast be…one of those eight LEGENDARY dragons?" There was silence, and the team realized he was probably right. It only made sense that a dragon like that would want to reside in a place like The Phoenix Mountains.
"Kupo…" Mog whimpered. "And we don't even know where they are to get to them…"
"G…Gogo!" Relm cried. "What do we doooooo?!" She screamed as the dragon roared and took another hard swipe with his tail, striking at the walls and making rock and debris fall all around them. He extended one long, muscle-thick claw and started to make the effort of lifting his girth down the stairway. In a panic, Relm stumbled backwards and dropped her Shiva Magicite, which skidded across the ground and fell into a scalding hot spring.
"Water Rake!" Strago chanted, blasting out a whirlwind of bubbles and water at the dragon, which caused it to howl and bash its tail harder against the wall behind it. The water splashed against the shining scales and erupted into a cloud of steam.
"An excellent Blue Magic spell!" Gogo exclaimed, and projected the same stance as Strago. "Water Rake!!" The same exact spell struck for a second time, right in the dragon's eyes, causing a louder howl that by itself caused more rock to crumble around them.
"How did you do that?!" Strago cried, as Gau took advantage of the dragon's rendered blindness and dove on top of it, pounding and kicking for all his worth.
"I'm a mime, remember?" Gogo smirked. "I can do anything you can do."
"Well…in that case, keep it up!" Strago exclaimed. "We'll cast in succession!" With that, Strago cast another spell, and Gogo immediately followed, hitting the dragon from two different sides. Relm joined Gau by striking the dragon with Blizzara spells. Victory seemed to be in their grasp, when suddenly the dragon pushed up on its hind legs, throwing Gau off his back and crashing back into the wall, knocking him out easily. The dragon opened its mouth, a huge spray of fire bursting forth and instantly vaporizing the spells Strago and Gogo were casting. While the brunt of the attack was neutralized by their magic, a hot, searing burst of energy still hit them and blew them backwards into walls as well.
Relm tumbled down the stairs, landing on her back by the spring and moaning out. The dragon fell back some, drained, but even half-knocked out, Relm could clearly see it was going to finish them off with a final fiery blow any second. Looking behind her, she could see that the others were out of commission. She couldn't even find Gau. She took a deep breath, her head turning slightly to face the spring.
Relm lifted her body and crawled over to the spring on her hands and knees. Holding her breath, closing her eyes, she quickly thrust her hand in the scalding water to retrieve her Magicite. She let out ear-piercing screams as she could feel the water boiling through her skin and the insides of her fingers, barely grasping the Magicite and lifting it into the air.
"SHIVA!" She summoned with a gasping breath. The room suddenly dropped several degrees in temperature, and snow and ice shards began to gently blow around her. The goddess of ice appeared, her perfectly-sculpted ice body bare save a cloak of pure white wrapped around her neck. She thrust out her hands, large crystals of ice and frozen snow blasting out towards the dragon. The crystals cut him all over, causing large streams of blood to drip over its pierced scales, a final crystal striking right in its heart. The dragon roared and slumped to the ground, barely twitching before disappearing in a flash of purple light. Shiva turned towards Relm, her glassy eyes falling on Relm's scalded, pink, shriveled flesh. She removed her cloak silently, wrapping it around Relm's hand and disappearing with a burst of snowflakes. Relm felt the pain instantly lessen, and when she dared look under the cloak, she saw that her hand had been completely healed.
Panting, Relm stood up and raised her hands, casting a Life spell to wake everyone up. As the dust settled, Gogo, Strago, and Gau approached her, a little battle-worn, but otherwise safe.
"Relm…did you save us?" Strago asked, and she blushed, for once in her life, humbled. "I'm so proud of my granddaughter!" He burst out, grasping her in a tight hug and kissing her all over. Gogo smiled some and Gau took her previously hurt hand, squeezing it tight and laughing as he kissed Relm too. Blushing fiercely, Relm laughed and gave him a playful kiss back on the cheek.
"We still could not have survived without each other!" She offered, feeling a little overwhelmed. Gau, who was jumping up and down and ecstatic by now, was given the honors of running up the stairs and pulling the switch. Gogo radioed Setzer, who was nearly babbling with relief on the other side of the line. As Gau pulled the switch, his finely attuned ears could pick up the sound of water rushing and a loud sizzling noise as it hit something else. A door appeared before him, and he peeked inside, gasping out.
"Uwaaao!!!!"
"They survived? Thank the Gods," Terra sighed, and jumped up a bit as a doorway opened before her. "Ok Setzer, we're going in." She gestured for the others to follow, and they stepped through the doorway, Edgar grumbling.
"Every chest I have opened in here has been empty, you know. Some treasure."
"It is a little discouraging," Sabin pouted.
"Oh my Gods…look at this place!" Celes suddenly cried, causing the brothers to look up. Terra was a little dumbfounded herself.
They were in the deepest level of the cave, where there was very little walkway, but rather a huge lake of boiling lava, which was steaming immensely, as if water had just been dumped all over it. Crossing over the lava were a few broken plank bridges, but there were mostly stepping stones that could support one person at a time, at the most. However, the most surprising part was seeing directly across the lake from them were Gau, Relm, Gogo, and Strago. To their right, across the lake, were Setzer, Cyan, Mog, and Shadow.
"Are you guys all ok!?" Terra called, and everyone called back a resounding "YES!" Her radio started to crackle, and she picked it up.
"This is Setzer. From my viewpoint here, it appears as if my team is in the middle of this little…uh…ocean. And directly across from me, I can see an entryway."
"Right, but how do we get across?" Terra radioed back.
"The bridges and some of the stepping stones have switches in them that are activated by weight," Gogo radioed in with an interruption. "I am sure of it."
"Ok, we'll each send out one person," Terra said, and turned back to the others. "Did you hear that?"
Sabin and Edgar looked at each other, each a little horrified at the idea of hopping across lava. Celes put her hands on her hips.
"I'll do it."
"Celes, no, you nearly sliced yourself up before," Edgar protested. "I'll go."
"No, no," Celes countered. "I…I'm feeling a little better now. I'm afraid I haven't been too helpful on this little trip. Let me do my part. Your armor is too heavy anyway. You'll fall in."
"Celes…" Terra trailed off, but Celes pushed by her, and before anyone could say anything else, she had climbed onto the plank bridge and was making her way towards the stepping stones in the middle. As she stepped, she triggered something that made more stones appear out of the lake closer to the elusive entryway. As soon as Celes stepped out over the lava, she began to regret her prideful rashness. The smell of burning…whatever was burning under there, was starting to make her feel even sicker. Her bandana was completely dripping with perspiration.
Setzer was taking his team's part of the puzzle, and the wily Gau was already to the end of his stepping stones, jumping up and down anxiously awaiting for his path to further open up. Celes began to jump from stone to stone, more being revealed to her as Setzer and Gau further progressed on theirs, which she in turn opened up for them. Soon, they had all managed to arrive safely at the new entryway, where another switch was resting. Activating it, the group was amazed to see planks appear where there were none, and a bridge rising where the stones were.
"Hurry up!" Celes called, as the others began to cross the lava on the planks to join them.
"Maybe this is the end, since we're all together again," Setzer offered.
"Gau hope so," Gau muttered. "Gau is kind of sleepy."
"Celes is sleepy too," Celes moaned, reaching up to rub her forehead. When she saw that the others were getting closer, her curiosity and her craving for cooler air could contain her no longer, and she crossed through the entryway.
She found herself in a much surprisingly cooler room, and could hear the wind blowing above her. She started to climb a tall, carved-out flight of stairs and looked above her, where she could see patches of the outside sky. She didn't know for how long exactly they had been in the cave, but things had cleared up and it looked sunny again. She could hear some of the others behind her, but she continued forward. Save for the patches of sunlight pouring through the ceiling, it was fairly dark. She stumbled a little when she finally reached the top step and could hear a faint buzzing in her ears. She knew she was over exhausted and weak. She could hear Terra saying for her to wait up behind her. But in the velvet darkness, she felt something calling her forward, and it was stronger and louder than Terra's voice. The Magicite pendant resting above her breasts began glowing softly.
Blinking, Celes turned a corner and was greeted with brighter light. In the ceiling, bigger holes were made, and sunlight was pouring down from them upon a tall altar with a Magicite crystal resting upon it. The most notable thing about it, besides its greatly larger size than normal crystals, was the deep crack in the side that slithered down towards its center. Celes let out a slight gasp, amazed and wondering if she was going delusional from the steam. However, she was snapped out of her trance when she heard shuffling, and bit down on her lip. Something else was in there with her. Whatever it was bumped into the altar, causing it to shake a little. The Magicite tilted a bit, and a bent form stood up from behind the altar, stepping forth from the shadows.
Celes felt as if her heart beat had become a thundering drum. All she could hear in her ears besides the faint buzzing was the pound of her own pulse. The form was wiry and thin, dusted with dirt and tall. Their hair was streaked with light blonde and the skin was tanned, both from the unforgiving sun. Hands with strong, but calloused fingers were half covered in leather gloves and grasping the Magicite. But the strongest feature were the eyes…brown eyes that had a sparkle in them Celes had never seen. It was something that made her both happy and sad at the same time.
"Locke…" She trailed off, suddenly becoming too aware of her dry, cracked, painful lips. "…Is that you?"
Locke widened his eyes and stepped forward, releasing the Magicite and pushing his hair back. It had grown a little longer, and he could push it behind his ears now. He parted his lips, and they formed her name, she was sure of it, but Terra's voice was what burst out.
"Celes!" Terra cried, running up from behind and holding onto her arms. Celes didn't even feel her knees buckling until Terra had reached down and pulled her back up against her. Terra looked at Celes and looked forward, crying out.
"Locke!"
Oh Gods. Celes felt her head getting light again. He's not an illusion.
The others ran up behind Terra and Celes, and Locke laughed happily, giving the whole group, and their new members, a wave.
"LOCKE!" They all exclaimed, minus Terra, Celes, and Gogo, who wasn't really sure who this guy was.
"You're all safe!" Locke smiled, and reached over, taking the Magicite and cradling it in his arms. "Behold! A legendary relic that can restore life…"
"That looks like…Magicite…" Terra blinked.
"Correct, as usual, my little scholar," Locke joked, and smiled. "Legend has it that ages ago the Phoenix was turned to stone…And many legends are based on facts. In this case, it just turns out that the Phoenix was an Esper, and it somehow sealed its own power." He frowned and looked it over. "This has some major cracks in it though…I fear it may have lost some of its power over time…"
Celes slowly curled her fingers into a fist hidden at her side, any traces of feeling being washed away by a tide of numbness drowning her body. She and Locke exchanged glances, and she summoned the strength to ask the question she knew everyone else was asking in their minds. Edgar looked down, trying to hide his face from Celes. She didn't notice. She cleared her throat, the bandana on her forehead suddenly feeling heavy and hot.
"Locke…The Phoenix…it's for Rachel, isn't it…?"
He didn't say anything, but his averted gaze clearly answered for him.
