As we reach Jidoor, a man runs frantically to the northernmost house – mansion.
"Maybe he knows something?" Locke suggests. Because people who just came to the town ten seconds ago definitely know everything about how to get to the Southern Continent. I roll my eyes. "Well, if you have a better idea, let's hear it." This is not what I expected him to say.
I sigh. "Fine, but if he doesn't know anything, I'm blaming you for wasting our time."
"Fair enough." Locke walks toward that mansion, and we follow him, because there is no reason to stand here.
Almost as soon as we enter the house, the guy who ran in looks at me in surprise. "Maria?!"
I'm surprised at his sudden outburst. "...Are you talking to me?"
"I-" he begins to stammer. "Now I'm in real trouble… you look just like Maria..." He runs off suddenly, dropping a letter in his hurry.
Everyone looks at me and each other. "Celes looks like Maria..?"
I sigh and walk forward to the letter, but Locke, for some reason, grabs it first. Someone walks up behind us. "The Impresario's been in a tizzy ever since that letter arrived." He says nothing further than this.
Locke decides to read the letter aloud for some reason. "My dear Maria, I want to marry you, so I'm going to kidnap you. Signed, the Wandering Gambler." He looks confused. "Who is this 'Wandering Gambler'?"
The guy who mentioned the letter in the first place laughs. "'Who is this "Wandering Gambler"?' Do you live under a rock? He is only the most famous person ever, owner of the world's only airship, the Blackjack. Setzer."
Locke looks at the letter, blinking (what is it with men and blinking?), and hands it to the other guy. He then looks at me. "See, he did know something."
"More like someone else we happened to run into knew something." I glare at Locke.
"But… I suppose we have to meet this 'Setzer'..."
"...and you have a problem with that?" I smile slyly at him, knowing that he will eventually realize the best course of action and that this is probably going to be my last chance to taunt him for a while.
He looks at me and I can already practically see him thinking. "Why don't we go to the opera house and ask the Impresario more?"
I sigh. There was no avoiding it. "Fine."
We walk to the opera house, stabbing a few monsters, getting bloody hands, but not really caring. When we enter the doors with an overly attempt at being impressive, I notice the Impresario standing at the entrance to the main room.
"Oh. You again," he says, walking toward a set of stairs and then stopping for some reason. "Why are you here again?"
"You said," Locke begins, "that he's gonna kidnap Maria, right?"
"Yes, and right at the end of the first act too. He'd be a great actor, he has to be so dramatic all of the time. Anyways… your point is?
"So we'll just go onto the stage when he comes and get him to let us use his airship."
"What? No! You- you'd ruin the performance! I'd lose my job!" Such a melodramatic outburst from the Impresario.
Locke's eyes light up. Apparently he just realized. "We let him take her, then." '
The Impresario appears to be very confused by this. "Why?"
"We'll use a decoy," Locke tells him, in the dreadful moment I knew was coming. "You yourself said Celes looks like Maria, didn't you?"
"But if Maria is taken! We can't let her-"
Locke interrupts the Impresario, and they both end up running up the stairs, me reluctantly following. "That's why the decoy!" He practically shoves the Impresario into the wall. I close my eyes. Edgar and Sabin also come up the stairs, probably more interested in watching than caring what everyone's actually yelling about, and probably clueless.
"We'd put Maria somewhere safe," Locke explains, "and Celes would pose as her, and when Setzer kidnapped her, we'd get him to help us."
For some reason, when he actually says it, I have an entirely different reaction. "But-" I have to literally restrain myself from flying away. "I'm a former general, not an opera floozy-"
He snickers. "You'll be fine." Not that it matters – I had already resolved to do it anyway. I walk into the dressing room, slamming the door, and attempt to sing scales. And cough. And he laughs, not even trying to restrain himself. And so do the Figaro brothers. I look away and walk into the other half of the room, which is connected to the stage.
"Don't worry Celes, we'll turn you into an opera star!" Locke says, still laughing, as everyone enters the room.. and I groan.
A while later, everyone has left the room and the opera has almost started. I quickly change into the other clothes: a white dress and a blue ribbon in my hair. Not particularly fancy, but given that I didn't want to do this anyway, that's definitely a good thing. I stand there for a while, reading and rereading the script to memorize it. I walk to the entrance to the side of the stage to watch.
"The war between the East and the West was growing more violent by the day…" the Impresario announces, in front of closed curtains where I cannot see him. Draco, a soldier from the West, thinks of his love, Maria, back at home…"
I step away from the curtains and let Draco pass onto the stage from the dressing room connected to this one. He smiles sadly at me, and it seems as though he wants to say something, but can't. He slowly walks on the strangely realistic dirt road, and I push myself to the wall as three men on chocobos rush through and over him. Real chocobos. I can even smell them. Draco falls to the ground, seemingly injured, but stands up unfazed. He then begins to sing.
"Oh, Maria…
"Oh, Maria…
"My beloved, do you hear
"My words whispered in your ear
"As if I were by your side?"
The curtains close, and I walk back to the room with the script, and the doorway, and everything. The music for the transition is filling my ears and sounding nice. I can't help but wonder whether I will fit the role well enough to do what I need to. I definitely don't want to, but it's too late to change my mind now.
I hear a knock on the door. "Celes? …can I come in?" Locke. Evidently he knows I would have said no or something if that was the answer, so he comes in despite my nonexistent response. I turn around 90° to face the wall and look sideways at him, who now looks shocked.
"Celes?! You look-... pretty…" Not needing a compliment, I change the subject and ask a question I already know the answer to.
"Locke, why did you save me?" I ask a simple question but the answer is probably not so simple, knowing what he told me a few days ago.
He runs his hand through his hair. "'Cause… you reminded me of… her…"
Suddenly I think of something different. "So somewhere inside you were saving her, weren't you?"
He quickly turns around. "The ribbon suits you. …you should probably check the score again." I roll my eyes, trying to look at his and figure out what the heck he's thinking, but the only thing I can see are his – blushing? – cheeks.
I sigh and turn around, not looking at the score that I've already memorized. I walk over to the edge of the stage, and when I reach it, I notice the Impresario standing on the stage. Walks over, tells me that my part will start momentarily, and walks away to the other side.
"The western armies were defeated, and Maria's castle fell into the hands of the East," the Impresario announces. "Forced to wed the Eastern Prince Ralse, Maria still thinks only of Draco as she gazes at the stars each night…"
I take a deep breath and walk onto the stage and begin to sing, as well as I can.
"Oh, my hero, my beloved,
"Shall we still be made to part,
"Though promises of perennial love
"Yet sing here still in my heart?"
I walk toward the edge of the impressively realistic set of a castle.
"I'm the darkness, you're the starlight
"Shining brightly from afar.
"Through hours of despair
"I offer this prayer
"To you, my evening star."
I wonder where Locke is? I don't see him in the box area with the Impresario, Edgar, and Sabin.
"Must my final vows exchanged
"Be with him and not with you?
"Were you only here
"To quiet my fear…
"Oh speak! Guide me anew."
As I walk up the stairs to the second level of the castle, I feel a pang in my heart, because I miss General Leo, for some reason more strongly than before.
Draco appears somehow, from some really good SFX, I assume.
"Come, Maria! Dance with me…"
I follow him silently as he glides in circles across the floor. He begins to glow and fade from sight, loudly laughing, "Ha, ha, ha…" He then becomes flowers – very real flowers. I pick them up and walk up the next flight of stairs to the top part of the castle.
And flowers in hand, I must sing again.
"I am thankful, my beloved,"
I walk to a balcony.
"For your tenderness and grace,"
I throw the red bouquet of flowers, which slowly fly up and pause for a moment.
"I see in your eyes,"
The flowers begin to fall.
"So gentle and wise,"
I look up at the fake sky with a very realistic moon, which almost seems to be glowing…
"All doubts and fears erased!
"Though the hours take no notice
"Of what fate might have in store,
"Our love, come what may,
"Will never age a day.
"I'll wait forevermore!"
I stand there for a few moments, looking at the fake starry sky, waiting for footsteps. They come, and I turn toward the actor of the Chancellor.
"Prince Ralse is looking for his dance partner," he says. "Please, leave the past behind! Our kingdom is part of the East now…" I look down at the ground for a second, then follow him down the stairs and into the ballroom.
The curtains close, and I walk the rest of the way down the stairs to the floor of the stage – I would have jumped, but it would have made a thud, and everything was silent, and I was wearing a dress, so oh well. Ralse is waiting for me when I reach the bottom, but he can't complain – it's hard to run in a dress, even more so when you risk getting a concussion and a black eye from falling down the stairs. The lights turn on, shrouding the place in a golden glow, and making the wooden floor beautiful. He quickly walks up to the slightly raised part of the room, almost a mini stage, and I follow. He lightly grabs my hand, and I realize I was kind of tense, and relax my hand. I almost say "Let's get this over with" but it seems inappropriate. The curtains start to reopen and we immediately begin to dance, and I notice that everyone else is doing the opposite – the men are on the side I'm on, they spin when I spin – but Ralse would have noticed and corrected this, I assume, so I go along with it. It reminds me of that one time…
"The Western survivors attack!" A soldier comes running into the room, interrupting my thoughts.
Ralse pushes away from me. "Impossible!"
Well, soon I have to sing again. Oh well. I step to the side, away from where Draco… I think he's supposed to break through the wall?
"Attack!" Three men wearing purple clothing run in, and three soldiers also run in, and they fight.
"Wait!" Draco's voice. And sure enough, he literally breaks through the wall on a chocobo, which knocks out the Eastern soldiers, and I can just see someone patching the wall, out of sight from the audience, so out of mind.
And here we go again. On with the singing!
"Maria!"
Lucky him. He only has to say, like, two things.
"Oh, Draco!"
I will never sing again after this.
"I knew you would
"Come for me, my love!"
And now it's Ralse's turn.
"Insolent rogue!
"Knave of the Western horde!
"You would address my queen to be, Maria?"
And now it's Draco's turn again.
"Never shall you have Maria's hand!
"I would die before that day comes!"
Here it comes: the best part.
"Then we duel!" A quote from Ralse.
They begin to… fistfight? I try not to look confused – the least they could do is use fake swords. Everything else is mega-realistic. Why not this? I begin to watch them fight, but then I notice a distant clanking noise. I look up, only slightly, but oddly notice nothing but the distant clanking sound. And a slightly louder grinding noise, almost as though two pieces of metal are being rubbed against each other. I try to watch the two men fight, but then the clanking grows louder and I hear tiny shrieks that sound like dying mice. I look up and see Locke, Edgar, and Sabin fighting large rats on the rafters above me. I want to scream at them, "What the heck do you think you're doing," but then someone would definitely notice. Locke's eyes meet mine, and I immediately look back to the duel in front of me, afraid someone in the audience will notice me staring at the rafters rather than the life-changing duel.
After about three minutes – it's amazing nobody realized that a duel would get boring after five minutes – I hear talking… directly above me? Then the party of three – and a large purple octopus with sharp yellow teeth? – falls to the floor of the stage. Everyone in the middle, other than me, is knocked out for some reason.
The Impresario comes running onto the stage. "Oh no, this'll never do! With those two flattened, there's no one to win the girl! How can the story possibly continue!?"
Locke stands up, facing the audience for some reason. I look at him, mildly confused but not showing it. Edgar and Sabin stand as well. Locke seems to notice what's going on and decides to say something. "Neither Draco nor Ralse will win Celes's hand! It is I, Locke, the world's premier adventurer, who shall take her as my wife!"
I try not to roll my eyes and realize I also have to try not to blush.
"Oh dear…" the Impresario looks miserable. "What dreadful acting!"
The purple octopus slithers forward. "Silent, knave! You stand in the presence of octopus royalty! A lowborn thief like you could never defeat me! I challenge you to a duel!"
"Hmm…" The Impresario seems to be thinking. "Might as well make the most of this. MUSIC!"
The boys start to fight the octopus. Suddenly, Locke yells at it, "I'm gonna rip your lungs out for calling me a thief!"
"I don't even have lungs!" the octopus yells back.
It runs away after sustaining minimal damage and I move to the center of the stage.
Locke begins to laugh.
"Hold it right there!" a mysterious voice calls from behind me. Locke turns around, evidently trying to locate the voice. "My compliments on a most impressive performance!"
Some guy jumps down with a thud and grabs me.
"Setzer!" Well, duh, Locke, it's not like an Imperial trooper was going to jump down onto a stage and kidnap Maria.
"I'm a man of my word, Impresario," the voice, which apparently belongs to Setzer, says. "I'm taking Maria!" He then jumps out of the room (which, I have to admit, is kind of impressive), taking me with him and shoving me onto his airship. He closes the door, saying he'll be back shortly, and I attempt to open the door, only to find that it's locked.
I walk over to a small chamber with gears, probably the engine, and wait for the boys. Edgar and Sabin jump up into the airship and stand next to me, looking down, presumably waiting for Locke. He appears out of nowhere, and I step back, giving him room to jump into the space I just was moments before. Setzer apparently decided this was the best time to come back.
"Wait a minute- you're not Maria. Who are you?" Setzer glares at me. "Stealing my fiance-"
I interrupt him. "You know very well she was not your fiance. Usually people don't abduct their fiances to marry them."
"That's not why we're here anyways," Locke growls at him, and they seemingly decide to have a glaring fun day.
"Were you going to tell him… why we're here, or just stand there glaring at him until we die and our corpses rot and the wood rots and the airship is buried by natural forces and you glare each other to hell?"
Setzer smirked. "Why don't we go to my poker table and discuss things there," he says in a sly voice which somehow sounds slimy. I already know I'm not going to like this guy. I wonder what he's planning as I walk through the engine room into the room with the poker table.