Disclaimer: Isn't mine, never was mine, never will be mine.

For your patience, I present you with TWO chapters! School has been keeping me busy, so I'm proud of myself for finally getting these done. And here's my shiny thanks for your shiny reviews!

This chapter is another one of those transition chapters, meaning not much is happening. I didn't want to do the whole explanation of everything leading up to the opera, but I think this gets the point across. I did have fun with the scenes in Jidoor, though...

Chapter Ten: Warrior, Diva

When they awoke the next morning, the guys noticed Celes was moodier than usual, even more withdrawn. There was a long awkward silence while the four ate breakfast. Somehow the guys always felt smothered by her apparent mood swings, and they knew the former general was not one that should be tested.

Even after started on their way again, Celes didn't seem to lighten up any. It wasn't until after they eliminated a pack of desperate Red Fangs that she finally came around, looking satisfied while cleaning the blood off her sword.

"Aggressions to work out, have we?" Locke braved.

She merely looked at him and gave a content grunt, making the thief smile a bit. Had they not been so relieved by the lift of her mood, the guys would have realized that Celes actually derived satisfaction from combat, perhaps even from the act of killing itself.

Sabin, being fidgety when not doing something constructive, took out a piece of magicite from Edgar's pack and stared into its fiery core while they walked. It was the spirit of Ramuh, and the rock seemed to spawn webs of electricity within.

"How the hell do these things work?" the bodybuilder finally whined in frustration. "Celes?"

The mage glanced over her shoulder at him before retuning her gaze to the path before her. "You think I know?"

"I just figured…"

"That because I can use magic, I automatically know how to use magicite?" she finished for him.

"Well…"

"You've got to at least have some idea," Edgar guessed. "Just try."

Celes stopped and took the magicite from Sabin and gazed into the core brimming with electricity. Her eyes seemed to close of their own accord as she drew a deep breath, letting it out in a whisper of an incantation while the guys exchanged glances.

Out of the cloudless sky, a bolt of lightning snaked its path to the ground near the group, startling the men. Celes opened her eyes as if coming out of a trance, looking almost confused.

"How did you do that?" Locke asked.

"I…really don't know," she replied hesitantly.

"You don't know?" Edgar wondered.

"…No."

"Then how—" Sabin started.

"It just sort of…happened," she explained.

"Just like that?" Locke persisted, snapping his fingers for effect.

"Yeah…"

"But you don't know how?" Edgar followed.

"Right…"

"Huh."

Celes opened her mouth as if to speak, and the others looked at her expectantly, but she quickly closed it. A very long silence prevailed as the mage tried to formulate an explanation, until Locke's voice finally cut through the stillness.

"How do you think you do it?"

Celes hesitated. "I think I…pictured the spell while I focused on the magicite…"

"Focus how?" Edgar interrupted.

"…If you quiet your mind, you can hear it speak to you."

The guys held back a snort; they knew better than to think that Celes was delusional.

"Ok, so you saw the lightning in your head…" Sabin prompted.

"And the incantation just came to me." The mage received blank stares. "Like I said, it spoke to me. I just…did what it told me."

"…Huh," Edgar grunted again.

"Here, let me try," Sabin offered.

Celes handed him the stone, and he gazed into it as they both had done before. Following Celes' instructions, he cleared his mind, going into a slight meditative state. He imagined the lightning striking the ground, and heard the words echo in his head. They were words in a language he had never spoken before, yet they rolled off his tongue as if it was his native dialect.

The thief and the king watched in awe as a second bolt struck the ground before them. If Celes was impressed at all, she hid it well, her neutral expression betraying nothing of her thoughts.

Locke and Edgar both took a turn with the magicite. Not having been trained to do so, it took them longer to quiet their mind, but both were successful in the end. Having learned how to use it, the guys figured the four stones should be divided up between the four party members. Celes, however, adamantly refused to take one, and they knew better than to press.

((ooo))

Even by the time they returned to the wealthy city of Jidoor, they still had no clue where to start. With the wellbeing of Terra hanging over their heads, and time being an unpredictable concern, the four agreed to split up and make inquiries with the locals about possible transportation to the Imperial Continent.

Sabin

Sabin wandered somewhat aimlessly around the art gallery. He honestly didn't know what he was doing there of all places, but figured he had better be thorough. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see the attractive brunette curator waiting behind him.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something in particular?" she asked.

"Um..."

The busty woman eyed him with notable interest, and the martial artist found himself flustered.

She batted her eyelashes at him. "See anything you like?"

"Um, well, I'm-I'm not really, uh, looking," he replied nervously. "But I was wondering if you know anyone with a boat, or something like that?"

"A boat?" The question threw her off, but she recovered quickly. "All the private yachts have been impounded by the Empire, but that sounds so romantic."

"Uh...sure. Thanks anyway."

Sabin turned to leave, but she held his arm.

"Wait! I was thinking, if you don't like anything here, maybe you'd be more interested in seeing my...private collection," she offered flirtatiously.

His eyes went wide. "Uh, no, that-that's more my brother's area."

"Oh, you have a brother...?"

Edgar

The barmaid giggled. "I think you've had enough to drink."

"No, I really am a king," Edgar insisted. "I live in a castle and have loyal subjects. But none are as beautiful as you, milady."

The redhead giggled shyly again, and Edgar flashed her one of his winning smiles.

Edgar, you devil you, he thought to himself. Well, I time to get down to business.

"So, Tina, do you like sand...?"

Celes

Everywhere she went in Jidoor, people stared at her. The first few she noted happened to be younger men, and she just assumed it to be a normal guy-staring-at-girl thing. But soon she started to notice women looking at her funny, as well, and then almost everyone she saw would gawk at her and whisper to each other. Another explanation came to mind.

"I was never even assigned to Jidoor, how can they recognize me?" she muttered, cursing her reputation.

The situation grew slightly disconcerting when one young man in particular began following her. Celes tried to carry on like she didn't care, but she eventually grew tired of her stalker and turned abruptly to confront him.

"Is there something you need?"

The man donned the look of a chocobo caught in the searchlights of an M-Tek Armor.

"Oh m-my g-g-gods. It r-really is you."

Celes was already impatient, and his stutter wasn't helping. "Sure. Now get lost."

"W-Wait!" he pleaded. "C-Could I ask just o-one s-s-small autog-graph?"

"What? No."

"Please? M-My wife would just die!"

"Oh, well in that case, no!" she reiterated.

Celes virtually stormed away, cursing her repute once again. Unconsciously avoiding every person in sight after that, Celes, too, didn't have any luck finding anything out.

Locke

Locke slithered between the assorted clusters of people in the market, eavesdropping on their conversation, listening for anything helpful. Even in the more or less serious situation, the thief still couldn't help his sticky fingers, and walked away from each group of people with gold watches and cufflinks, coin purses, the occasional necklace here and there, and even one gentleman's eyeglasses.

The thief spotted a diamond bracelet on the wrist of a fairly large woman, and moseyed his way closer. After waiting for the right opportunity, he reached for the piece of jewelry, but the woman shifted her stance without warning, and his hand landed directly on her rear end. He didn't even see the purse coming until it whacked him on the head. Retreating quickly back into the crowd, he slipped away from the extremely ticked off woman, rubbing his now throbbing head.

Disgruntled and distracted by a growing headache, Locke walked on, staring intently at the ground, and he barely managed to avoid crashing into a familiar blonde.

"Oh, hey, Celes. Sorry, I—whoa..."

Locke did a double take, noticing the refined skirt-and-blouse combination, makeup, and ornate jewelry the blonde was wearing. She was giving him an odd look, and he quickly apologized.

"Uh, I mean, you said you were going to get some things. I didn't know you meant..." he gestured at her apparel and then cleared his throat awkwardly. "New look?"

The woman just blinked and started to brush past him. Confused, Locke grabbed her arm before she walked away.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked irritably.

Her normal Vectoran accent was replaced by a more refined Jidooran intonation. The thief tilted his head to one side as he looked into her blue eyes.

"Are you all right?"

"Well, of course not! The Wandering Gambler wants me for his wife, and he's going to ruin one of the biggest performances of my career!"

Locke's mouth hung open in bewilderment. "...what?"

The woman made a rude noise and turned to walk away, right into a nearly identical blonde.

"Oh, excuse..." Celes trailed off as she took in the sight.

The woman stared at her with wide eyes, and the general narrowed her own eyes.

"So one of us isn't crazy..." Locke breathed in relief. "But wait... If you're Celes, then who are you?"

The woman held her fingertips to her chest saying, "Why, I'm Maria," as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But of course you are," Locke said distractedly, turning to Celes. "Do you have a twin?"

"Not that I'm aware of," the general answered, eyeing Maria suspiciously.

"Ugh, if that'll be all," Maria said impatiently.

The look-alike tried to leave, but was once again held back by Locke.

"Hold on, Who's this wandering what's-his-face?"

Maria laughed before realizing Locke was serious. "Oh, you really haven't heard of him?"

"No."

"Oh... Setzer Gabbiani, notorious gambler and owner of the world's only airship. And a bloody scoundrel, if I ever saw one."

A thought struck Celes. "Wait... Airship?"

"Yes."

Celes and Locke exchanged looks.

((ooo))

"Guys, it's the perfect plan!" Locke persisted.

"Uh, except for the me not doing it!" Celes countered stubbornly.

"Celes, I think our favorite kleptomaniac here has a point," Edgar said, ignoring Locke's glare. "You may be our best chance at this, and you said it yourself: unless we want to swim, we need that airship."

"All you have to do is pose as Maria, sing a little song, let yourself be abducted by this Setzer character, and we'll be right behind you. You'll be perfectly safe!"

Celes waved her hand around. "Oh, I have no problem with the abduction part. It's the rest of it I have issues with. I just don't see why we can't follow Setzer and Maria to the airship."

"Because then we'd have a civilian to worry about," Locke reasoned. "We don't know what this guy is like or what he'll do, and I think we'd all feel a lot better knowing you would be able to take care of yourself."

"Locke, you're not seeing the big picture here! I wear a uniform and bark out orders to trained legions of men, not a frilly dress while singing!"

"But—"

"I'm a general, alright? I commanded the largest army in the world and elicited fear from every political leader around the globe!"

"And now?" Locke challenged quietly.

The former Imperial had no response.

"Miss Chere, I want nothing more than to perform," Maria assured. "But I simply cannot be taken by that...that rogue! And if you let me work with you, I'm sure we could make this work."

Despite the subtly doubtful undertone of Maria's plea, the men could see Celes' normally icy resolve turning to slush.

"It's not going to work," she nearly whined. They looked at her pleadingly, and Celes groaned. "...You owe me," she finally relented begrudgingly.

"Big time," Locke agreed. "Just don't worry about it. You'll be fine!"

Once Maria practically dragged Celes into dressing room, Sabin whispered to Locke, "Do you think she can pull it off?"

The thief breathed in and held it before answering. "Not a chance."

((ooo))

When the door finally opened hours later, the men unconsciously held their breaths in anticipation. The woman that stepped into view was dressed in an elaborate ball gown, the bodice fitted tightly around her slender waist, and the skirt rustling about her in a wide ring. The intricate embroidery, fine lace, and gentle tints of blushing beige and soothing smoky-blue was truly stunning. With a hint of color brushed across her pale features and her flaxen hair done up in a classic fashion, she held herself with an air of elegance and class that not even the noblest of the Imperial court could match; a true Jidooran aristocrat.

Locke sighed in disappointment. "Maria… Celes wouldn't go through with it, would she?"

An expression that could be construed as confusion passed over the soprano's face before quickly being replaced by a sad smile.

"Unconvincing."

Locke let out a long breath. "I'm sorry you have to be put in this position, Maria."

"The last thing we want is for you to be in danger," Edgar added.

"It is necessary," Maria said quietly.

"And Celes?" Locke wondered.

"She said she would remain backstage."

Sabin pounded his fist into his palm. "All right, let's do this!"

"Sabin, we have to sit through the opera, first," Edgar reminded.

The martial artist's face fell.