Okay this chapter is what is happening to another character while Relm is out of the picture. This is the blonde soldier that witnessed the 'trial.' Needless to say this might not be the most interesting. I just needed to get the feeling for what was happening while Relm was busy. Have fun and remember to review.

Disclaimer: If you haven't figured this one out yet then you are stupider than you look. I'm not saying that you look stupid or anything but you know. . .Well I don't own it. Fine rub it in.

Chapter 5 Innocent Children

Dreams only have one owner at a time.
That's why dreamers are so lonely.
Erma Bombeck

She opened her eyes and saw gold. Quickly she sat up and looked around as her golden hair fell out of her eyes. Celes Chere was still in her quarters at the imperial capital of Vector. She stood up slowly and pulled back her long blonde hair. 'Can't take it anymore.' Celes had been having horrible nightmares lately. Ever since that little girl's trial. 'What did they do to her?'

Celes wore her usual snow white armor and her matching cape. She examined herself in the mirror, her long hair, delicate white skin, and deep sea blue eyes. 'I almost match my nickname. Hmm. . .' Ice Queen. It seemed to fit her quite well. She never let anyone past her 'wall of ice,' and she didn't have a problem with that. She never needed help or wanted company. But lately, she was wondering about that little girl.

'She couldn't have been more than 11 maybe 10. What would Kefka do to her? Wait, better question, what wouldn't he do to her?' The thought made her shudder. It had been almost a month since the trial, and nobody had seen the girl or Kefka. Celes was going to find out what happened.

She walked from her room straight to Emperor Gehstal's throne room. As usual he was sitting there, and as usual he was giving more orders than he had people to carry them out. "What do you mean? We have plenty of soldiers! If you need more go. . .We occupied the village of Miranda recently correct? Well, go draft men from that village."

Thinking of Miranda made Celes want to go back to bed. While occupying Miranda, Celes' troops met some resistance. One of her soldiers started to burn houses down. Now, she was known as the general that torched Miranda, and she got a special medal from the Emperor. 'Why give out medals to people who just can't keep their troops in line? Why give medals for burning down a few buildings?'

"General Celes!" Emperor Gehstal looked absolutely perky. "Feeling better? I was told that you had been ill lately."

Celes' eyes locked with the floor. How could she say this without the emperor questioning her loyalty. "I. . . believe I am having . . .concern about a prisoner." Celes slowly raised her eyes to me Gehstal's. He looked slightly confused.

"Is it how we treated a specific prisoner?"

"I was concerned for the girl from Thamasa. The one you put in Kefka's custody. Nobody has seen her or Kefka lately and. . .Well. She was just a child." Celes was quite done explaining herself. But it seemed that the emperor understood.

"She is being used for genetic experimentation. Much like you were." That froze her heart. 'She would be in Kefka's experiments. That poor girl.' Celes turned to leave. "Celes, you should know something. That girl is not what she seems. If Kefka is correct she could be the greatest weapon this empire has ever seen. Remember, never let your feelings get in the way of the empire's goals. I never thought I would have to tell you that, Celes."

"I know. I wish your forgiveness for this intrusion." Celes knew he would say that it was no problem. She left the room quickly. Celes' entire life was going down hill. She could remember the first day of her experimentation.

/ "Cid, I don't wanna." I was 4 at the first session. "Honey, this will make you stronger. You won't have to be sad and alone anymore." Cid had raised me like a father, but had no clue how to talk to children. "But, Cid I don't wanna be stronger. I just wanna go home." I started to cry. "I told you, Celes, call me dad." I had a dad and it wasn't Cid. "But, Cid. . ." Then he left me alone. I was sitting on an operating table, in a small room, by myself. I never wanted any of this. /

She was walking down the hallway when she bumped into General Leo. "General Celes, good to see you are back to duty." Had everyone known how she felt?

"Leo, can I talk to you alone?" When he agreed, she walked into the training center. It was loud enough that nobody could hear their conversation except them. "Leo, what do you know about Thamasa?"

Leo had obviously not been expecting that. "Well, uhh. . .until recently nobody even knew it existed. The village is completely made of descendants from the warriors during the War of the Magi. They used espers to gain magical powers, although nobody knows how they did it without using high tech machines like we have today. Everyone in the village can use magic. And let me guess, this has something to do with Relm."

"Who?" Celes had never heard that name before.

"Well, that was the girl who we took from Thamasa. She is under Kefka's charge now."

'At least now I know her name.' "Well, kinda. I was just worried for some reason. She was only a child and who knows what Kefka is capable of."

General Leo gave his usual answer. "You don't have to trust him. You just have to trust that Emperor Gehstal knows what he is doing."

"Okay." With that, she left. She couldn't take anymore, so she went back out on the roof. There she saw Kefka. He was back to his usual mad rantings and was jumping around like a lunatic. "Kefka." Celes said loudly, trying hard to hide the hatred she was feeling towards him.

"Ohhh, general." A wicked smiled was curving its way onto his lips. "Perfect timing. I would like to show you my newest creation." He turned his back to her and yelled towards the staircase. "Come here now!"

Celes was afraid of what he had done to the little girl, Relm. She was surprised when a girl about her own age walked down the steps. 'At least Relm wasn't involved in the experiments yet.' The woman, of about 18, had long blonde curls that bounced when she walked. The girl walked down the steps with perfect grace; seemed to be flawless. The long red dress she was wearing was tight until it reached her hips and then flared out at the end. There was a

see-through material on her arms that showed off how long and slender they were. By any mans standards, she was gorgeous.

Celes wondered something out loud, "Where did you find this girl?"

Maniacal laughter. "Well, in Thamasa."

Celes was angry. "You told the emperor that you only took one prisoner."

"Oh, right you were never formally introduced. Celes meet Relm." The girl in the red dress nodded her head. And Celes looked positively shocked. She walked over to the girl and examined her face. The girl was about 5'5 and actually looked quite a bit like Celes. The once bright emerald eyes were now dull, but there was no doubt about it. This young woman was the 10 year old girl she had met only a month earlier.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Celes was infuriated now. He had stolen this innocent child's life. She lost about 8 years that she would never be able to get back.

"I have managed to isolate a growth hormone that, when activated, will age the patient until stopped by a mechanical means."

Slowly Celes said, "How old is she now?"

"Let us see. . .She is 19 years old." Kefka looked evilly from Relm to Celes. "And tomorrow she has her first mission. She is going to Narshe to recover an esper." He laughed again.

That was it. Celes snapped. Before Kefka knew what was happening Celes' fist made contact with his face. He was on the ground screaming at her. "Bl. . .Blo. . .Blood! YOU MADE ME BLEED!" He was screaming at the top of his lungs. No sooner had he finished yelling, there were 5 guards running up to the roof.

"Sir Kefka, what is the matter?"

"This little traitor," He screamed, "hit me. She hit me." The guards were either impressed, confused, angry, or a mixture of those three.

Slowly one of the guards said, "Umm, General Celes. . .ma'am. I am going to have to place you under arrest."

"Yeah, I was expecting that." She walked off surrounded by the guards. She looked back only once to glare at Kefka. Then she walked down the stairs.

"And she had such promise. . ." Kefka slowly shook his head and then smiled. "Oh, well. I now have a weapon far stronger than Celes. And tomorrow," he stood right in front of Relm, "You will prove that you were worth all of this effort." Kefka leaned forward and kissed Relm on the cheek. "You should be careful on your journey tomorrow. I wouldn't want you to bruise that pretty face of yours."

Kefka returned to his room and left Relm to return to her own. She could only remember simple orders. . .but there was a little bit of her left. And what little there was left of her made her lift up her arm and wipe off the spot where Kefka's lips had touched her skin.

Finally! This is the part where the game actually comes into play. Well, I thought maybe it would be good to set up a background for Celes in the Empire. I don't know what to do about Terra though. Any ideas?