Albrook Report 01

The Three Generals: Kefka Palazzo

Kefka. The man, the myth, the monster. The less said about the erstwhile God of Magic, the better. Everyone knows the monster he became, but what of the man he was? I was one of the few people to have known him before his ascent to power...and madness. It was I who created him after all. What I did to Kefka is perhaps the greatest of my sins, so I wish to talk now about who he really was aside from the Clown Prince of Destruction.

Born in the year 964 PW or thereabouts, the precocious Kefka needed little help getting into trouble, even in his youth. He was a bright, eager boy of ten when I discovered him in the back alleyways of Vector, scrounging for food amongst the vermin. Who were the parents of the most hated man in history? Truly, no one alive knows, not even myself. The only hint to his birth were a pair of grubby dolls he had carefully tucked away in a pouch. A male and a female, tattered from overuse and, believe it or not, well loved by the boy. I believe these were the only keepsakes from his parents he owned, and he would carry this affectation for dolls well into adulthood.

Before his madness, Kefka was more or less a normal youth. A bit of a troublemaker, and prone to flamboyant theatrics, but a human being all the same. His abandonment certainly had an effect on his mental development, and he retained many childlike behaviors long after others his age grew out of them. The dolls were one such oddity, but he also enjoyed dressing up and admiring himself in mirrors. I believe this is because of his time alone in the streets with nothing but rags to wear. I remember fondly the first time I showed him his own reflection in a mirror shortly after rescuing him. He cackled with joy at the sight of himself, and danced in front of it with glee. Ever after, he had a penchant for mirrors and kept several large ones in his rooms wherever he was stationed. There was always a soldier stationed with him for the sole purpose of carrying his mirrors and chest of clothes, an honor most held as equal to washing the latrines. Yes, he was a bit of a narcissist even then, but it was an innocent quirk that was more amusing than threatening at the time.

Was he loved or hated by his fellow soldiers before his madness? He could never have attained the heights he did in the Imperial army if there wasn't some charm to his personality. It was an extremely strong personality though, and caused an equally strong first impression in most who met him. He had no social grace, but was the most authentic person I ever knew. He was himself and walked his own path, and no one else's. Try as I might, I could never fully guide him down the proper paths I hoped he would follow in life. At best, I could only nudge him on key points as I apologized for the rudeness and brutal honesty he sometimes displayed. But the sheer force of his will could not be denied, and his star rose despite the grumblings of certain factions who saw him as a loose cannon. Truly, I never met a person who didn't either worship Kefka or loathe him. There was no in between for this man of extremes.

Sadly, I was one of those who worshipped him. I saw a fierce intelligence and bright future for Kefka as I raised him in the capital, and poured myself into his upbringing alongside Celes Chere and Leo Christophe. All three showed an aptitude for not only the martial arts, but magic as well. These three were specifically chosen out of the multitude of candidates because of unique innate talents each one possessed. At the time I had no idea their gifts were magical in nature, of course. "Magic" was just a fairy tale back then, and I ascribed their abilities to simple genetic quirks of this often mysterious world of ours, nothing more. Celes possessed a strange talent for drawing in energies to herself to replenish her spirit. Leo, interestingly, had the exact opposite gift - he could use his own internal energies to fuel powerful blasts that withered the lifeforce of those around him, even without a magitek infusion. I always thought it strange how similar their two abilities appeared, as rare as they were. Like they were two sides of the same coin…

And what of Kefka? No, he was not a God of Magic from the beginning, but he did show an astounding aptitude for manipulating energy currents, which was why I chose him to be the first Magitek Knight. I had no idea just how deep his gift went, or I would never have went along with the experiment as soon as I did. It was as if he were a lightning rod for magical energies, and the depths of his reserves seemed bottomless. Looking at what happened afterwards, I suspect this gift was augmented like Celes's Runic gift after the transfusion, and this is what allowed him to absorb magic, magicite, and even the Warring Triad themselves into his being. His tragic tale was a perfect storm of impulsive decisions, insatiable desire, and meddling with forces none of us truly understood.

If only I had known of magicite back then! I went to such pains to keep the captured Espers alive, that I never once saw one perish. I took pride in this, as sick as it sounds now. They were my charges, and while I could not set them free, I could at least keep them alive while Gestahl demanded ever more of their energies be siphoned off to fuel his war machine. Shiva, the Esper of Ice, had a particular affinity towards Kefka for reasons I still do not understand, and I chose her to be the test subject for my infusions. Kefka took to the process with startling ease, and before I could turn off the transference machine, he had glutted himself on her powers and nearly killed her. It was too much for both of them, and Shiva was almost completely drained to death. This was the closest I ever came to killing an Esper, and if it wasn't for the creatures' incredible vitality, the discovery of magicite might have happened much sooner.

And Kefka? His unique reservoirs of magic were filled to overflowing, and he drowned in his own magical energies. Awash in the frigid essence of Shiva, his mind snapped and the eccentric but strangely endearing Kefka Palazzo I had known was gone. In his place was a cold-hearted man who felt nothing but hatred and naked desire, and had no inhibitions about showing it. His morbid sense of humor remained, but twisted into something cruel and terrible, instead of silly and harmless. Many of his deeper affectations remained, such as his love of dolls and mirrors, his flamboyant dress, and his forceful personality. All were twisted, all perverted into something...inhuman. And undeniably insane.

Did this new Kefka still have a soul? Most alive today would never say the monster that destroyed the world had any humanity left in him. I cannot answer that question, either. He distanced himself from me, and everyone else except Gestahl, the day he went through the failed infusion process. I had never feared him before that day, but afterwards I felt the same aversion many others had felt when he was near - like a monster was lurking just behind that maniacal grin. I truly felt he would have killed me if such a whim would have ever struck him and Gestahl was not around to reign him in. It saddens me to tears to remember how ostracized Kefka became to everyone, even me. Did it bother him even in the slightest? I hate to say it, but from everything I observed, I doubt it. No human worries ever got through that armor of insanity, and the only thing that concerned Kefka, was Kefka.

Only Gestahl truly embraced this other, frightful Kefka. The great power Kefka possessed now could not be denied, and even though I deemed the experiment a failure, Gestahl was thrilled with the results and demanded I immediately put Celes and Leo through the same process. I was appalled, but using the data I had collected from Kefka's infusion, I managed to use the dregs of the greatly diminished Shiva's power to safely grant her the gift of magic. Leo adamantly refused to go through the infusion, stating it was a matter of honor to fight with his own power, not the stolen power of another. Any other man would have been court martialed, but Leo was too popular for Gestahl to get rid of easily. Leo's potent swordsmanship was deemed sufficient, and he alone remained untainted by the allure of Magitek.

And what did that get the beloved and consummate General Leo? He died at the hands of Kefka like so many others before and after. The fact that I alone survived this storm of death fills me with guilt at what could have been had I just raised Kefka to be a normal boy. But the Emperor demanded he be exploited to the fullest extent of his abilities, and being the curious scientist I was, I went along with Gestahl's ambitions far longer than I should have. The only reward I received was both Kefka's and Gestahl's demise, the destruction of my homeland, and untold devastation to the natural order of the world. And yet, here I sit, peacefully writing my memoirs. To say it gives me trepidation at what awaits me when I join my fellow compatriots in the next life is an understatement. All I can do is hope.

- Cid del Norte Marguez

Albrook, 12 AF