Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
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Caius knew he hadn’t exactly made the best impression on Celes, the next time she came to mind. Apparently some massive beast was making a village it’s stomping grounds, and had been coming back over and over again and had pretty much reduced the village to nothing at this point. The remainder were just wanting to be able to safely rebuild, as there wasn’t ample farming soil or water for who knows how many miles from there, for them to just move. So a hit had been sent out for this monster, and Caius had answered the call. But with how it was described… Well… Celes came to mind partly because he remembered that she seemed fairly eager to go out and do her own thing, and well, it didn’t hurt to be safe rather than sorry. How he had managed to track her down and send her a letter indicating a meeting time and place for a job if she were interested… He had no clue, but he managed to pull it off.
Caius could be found in the local inn’s main room, sitting in a chair in the corner with a book in hand. Seeing as he had some spare time before he set out, time he was also using to set as the meeting time should Celes show, the practical minded Caius would decide to tackle what had become an issue. Social customs. While Caius knew some things, isolation and environment had made others fall by the wayside. As it had now apparently become a hindrance he had decided to try and amend it. As he didn’t know who to ask and pride dictated he did not until he had no choice, Caius had sought the solace of books. He’d sought knowledge of many subjects on his spare time. This time? Romance. Unfortunately he couldn’t find many factuals on romance and had to resort to a romance novel. He didn’t understand half of what the hell was going on, or why everyone was doing what they were doing but they were doing it. Perhaps he’d understand eventually?
Putting the book away, Caius would stretch out and take a long swig from his tankard. He was ready to go, then, and took one last look around to see if Celes had arrived.
Final Fantasy VI
22
YEARS
Female
Complicated
Heterosexual
429 POSTS
Fin
Use your own eyes and see for yourself whose side I'm on!
you can technically have as many notes here as you want. go crazy.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
It felt good to be in armor again, even if Celes didn’t much like her reason for using it.
She hadn’t honestly been expecting for Caius to follow up on his offer. To the contrary, she’d thought the man would have never wanted to set eyes on her again, but she’d misjudged him again, it seemed. One day after returning to the airship (such a gaudy disaster it was!), the front man pulled her aside and told her that someone had come in looking for her. A blonde man in a dark coat with a job offer.
Well, she had promised him her help, hadn’t she?
Her heels clicked on cobblestone streets as she approached their meeting place. Today, she was fully armed in her pauldrons, leotard, bracers, and cape. Her sword hung a comfortable weight at her hip, and her hair was tied back in its familiar bandanna. There were people staring at her of course, but in her proper attire, she could almost manage it without shrinking away. She was strong, she was confident, and she couldn’t wait to leave polite society behind her with a swing of her blade.
But first, she had to meet him. Part of her had hoped that he wouldn’t be waiting there for her, but of course he was -- leaning in a chair on the far side of one of the more popular inns. The air smelled of beer and humidity, and Celes resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose as she pushed her way towards him. It was a safe neutral ground, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have preferred somewhere a little more open and a little greener.
”Caius.” She pulled out a chair as she approached and set delicately across from him with her legs crossed and her back straight. ”I got your message. You said there was a monster causing trouble?” For the first time, she really looked him over from his long blonde hair to the scruffy edges of his fading coat. Her eyes landed on something in his hand. A book.”Oh. What are you reading?” She pushed her hair back over her pauldron and then placed her hand back on her lap. Her fingers twisted together under the table. ”I wouldn’t have thought you the type.”
Celes walked in and Caius noticed immediately that she was now armored. Looking her up and down when she called his name, he nodded his head. “It suits you” Caius spoke up calmly, referring to her being armored and the armor in general. Celes was definitely a warrior. How experienced of a warrior, he didn’t know. But by the magic she casted before, she definitely had at least some experience under her belt. He’d have to ask sometime. Maybe she had some stories to tell of her own? He’d grown to love hearing a story or too, and telling a few tales of his own. Perhaps he’d tell one or two himself on the way. It couldn’t hurt, right?
“Aye. There is a monster that has been laying waste to a village a ways from here, repeated attacks too. Large, horned, beast-like. The villagers have had no luck in sending it back and casualties pile up even when they go in numbers.”
He could still probably take it alone; this was the kind of work Caius was used to, escaping encounters with giant beasties that far outclassed him by the skin of his teeth and still taking the monster’s head. He’d made a career out of it back in his world, even if it didn’t yield him much cash, there was not much money to be made in most jobs during and after the 10 Years if you weren’t royalty. He lived out of a car and lived on food far worse than what he ate now in what was basically the damn middle ages. He actually lived better now than he did then, for work that usually put him far less at risk than it used to. Not that he didn’t encounter challenges though that put some of the old ones to shame… The egg strapped to his back said that.
But while he also wanted a bit of insurance, especially seeing as he didn't have a vehicle to get him back to where he could heal if he was injured. He had to be more careful now. That was one downside to this world, for sure. And he just... For whatever reason, when he heard of her plight before, he wanted to help her somehow. She seemed the type that didn't enjoy being cooped up. He just wanted to help relieve her, in a way. Make her happy. He knew he'd appreciate it had he been in her position. He couldn't stand the idea of being idle either.
Celes asked about the book nearby. “I’ve just been doing some reading on social customs that I seem to be missing” Caius spoke honestly as he slid the book to her. Caius had no shame, if she judged him, that was her problem. “Information on this topic though, is difficult to come by. I’ve needed to improvise. I feel like I understand, yet I do not at the same time. It appears to be something that can only be experienced. Reliant on one’s innermost instincts and feelings” Caius added, likely referring to the novel he had slid her way.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Either way, I’m ready to ship off when you are.”
Final Fantasy VI
22
YEARS
Female
Complicated
Heterosexual
429 POSTS
Fin
Use your own eyes and see for yourself whose side I'm on!
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
There was a monster rampaging through the countryside. Wasn’t there always? A “large, horned beast” that was racking up casualties faster than the villagers could keep up with them. Celes nodded her understanding, already a little more comfortable now that they were talking business. Her own slippery tongue couldn’t ruin a monster hunt, after all, and she felt far more comfortable wielding a sword than sitting through conversation.
“I’ve just been doing some reading on social customs that I seem to be missing,” he said, and Celes blinked in surprise. So he really was as clueless as he’d seemed last they’d met. The whole situation made her feel even worse about snapping at him, but a basic understanding of social norms wasn’t generally too much to ask. Her fingers tangled around themselves under the table as she wondered if he’d made any progress. ”It appears to be something that can only be experienced. Reliant on one’s innermost instincts and feelings.” Caius shrugged and set the book aside. ”Either way, I’m ready to ship off when you are.”
It was all so casual that Celes felt almost comfortable nodding a long, pushing her chair back and standing though she’d only just sat down. The less time spent here trying at small talk the less likely she was to make another mistake. ”Well, I’m ready,” she said and then cast him a sheepish smile. ”I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt better fighting off monsters than I have sitting around and talking. That must be why Setzer’s been driving me insane.” She gave a little half-laugh like she was trying to seem friendly, but she doubted it came out right. Nothing ever did.
Celes pushed in her chair behind her and started towards the door before pausing, glancing back at him without making eye contact. ”I think it’s nice. That you’re trying to understand. By the way,” she said before shaking her head and quickening her pace. She held open the door for him when he got there, waiting without quite making eye contact.
”Well, lead the way.” The wind was brisk against her bared upper arms and she suppressed a shiver. ”I don’t exactly know where to find the thing, after all.”
A large, horned beast indeed. It could be anything, really, but Caius had ideas. Of course since coming to this world, Caius had learned that there were a great many different and new beasties he was going to have to contend with. Back in his world, the most dangerous thing he had to contend with was a Behemoth and they were so rare that it was generally very unlikely. In this world? He had fought everything from massive spiders, to dragons. Seriously, dragons? Freaking dragons? He didn't know how in the world he had survived that one. He had been seriously underpaid for that one, and they totally knew it was a dragon too...
Well, that would be a road story to tell Celes, wouldn't it? They'd be together awhile. Might as well try and entertain the both of them on the way. Either way, Celes would rise to her feet, indicating she was ready. Caius would put the book away and rise to his feet as well, giving her a gentle smile. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep a lady waiting" Caius would joke in turn. Was that a new line? Was that one he'd learned from the book, or just something he'd kept in reserve? Honestly, he'd spent so long on the book now, he had no clue. "Have you ever told Setzer that you'd like to get out here and there? If you guys are friends, I'm sure he'd understand. I couldn't see myself keeping my friends cooped up and stuck in one place if they're not comfortable with it. Then again, I haven't held bonds tight enough and for long enough to where my mind might change on that, so... Maybe I just don't know his perspective" He would admit with a shrug.
"Mmm?" He murmured when Celes would stop him on the way to the door to note her impressions of his attempts to understand. After a moment, he nodded his head. "Thank you. I feel like it needed to be done though" Caius responded. "I've been in this world for far too long to have skipped on it's social customs like I have. In my world, it was acceptable, people have been very work oriented since I was young. There wasn't much time for much else. You either worked hard and fought to survive and did little else... Or you didn't survive period. Here, I don't have that excuse and that's on me for not seeing that earlier."
With that little bit of expose behind them, Caius would take the lead as he would lead them outside of town. Caius would stop at the stables, motioning toward a chocobo-towed cart that he had rented prior to meeting with Celes. "Decided since it's a bit of a trek, and there'll be two of us, it'd be better for us to take transportation. Allows us to better conserve our energy, especially if their descriptions of the beast are to be believed. Conservation in this instance appears to be well worth the cost."
Final Fantasy VI
22
YEARS
Female
Complicated
Heterosexual
429 POSTS
Fin
Use your own eyes and see for yourself whose side I'm on!
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes bit her tongue as Caius led them through the streets. She wasn’t certain exactly where he would take her, and with her mind already wandering, she didn’t pay much attention to their route. Caius’ words still hung around her, and she hadn’t known how to respond. He’d told her that he’d had to work to survive -- a harsh existence that did nothing for his social skills. Celes wondered as to that and to what kind of world he’d escaped. Part of her wanted to chime in, to tell her of her own damage and the destruction she’d seen, but that felt abrupt. Awkward. And far too real.
Instead, she considered his opinions on Setzer. Celes hadn’t painted the most flattering picture of him, had she? Then again, if she’d told Caius anything else, his opinion would only be lower. He wasn’t keeping her cooped up somewhere because she kept running off rather than stick with an old friend. Why was that? Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? Or was it something else all along?
Celes smelled the straw before she saw the stables. Chocobos. Of course that’s where he’d take her.
”Decided since it's a bit of a trek, and there'll be two of us, it'd be better for us to take transportation,” Caius explained and Celes nodded her agreement though she couldn’t help but ask, ”Do we have the money?” She glanced at the sign and the rustic smelling stables and shifted slightly. She didn’t know how much a bird cost here, and she hadn’t thought to rent one on this world before. Still, she doubted Caius would have brought them here if wasn’t prepared so Celes let it go for now.
”About what you said…” she started instead. Celes bit the inside of her cheek as she searched for the right words. ”You’re right about Setzer. He’s never exactly been my type. I guess that’s why I keep running off, but you take what you can get when you’re in need of a familiar face.” Celes glanced at Caius and then shoved her hair behind her shoulder and looked determinedly at the sign for the chocobo ranch. ”I doubt I’ll stay there much longer, actually,” she said without looking at him. ”Of course, it helps to know I can stop by if I’m feeling lost, but he’s always put me off. He’s one of those men. The kind I talked about before.” Her cheeks heated. Why was she reminding him of her outburst? ”Always trying to coddle me when he’s not sidling up to win my affection like it’s one of his games of chance. I’d never have met him in the first place if the situation hadn’t called for it, and I certainly wouldn’t have stuck by him.”
Celes paused, clearing her throat before adding, ”Anyway. I just wanted to...Well, I mean. Thank you. For thinking of me. This kind of work helps to clear my head.” She glanced at Caius and gave him a wry smile. ”I guess you can never really take the fight out of a soldier, can you?”
"Ordinarily, I walk" Caius would admit. "But after some planning, and thinking on the description of the beast and what it could possibly be, along with there being two of us... I concluded that the saves to our stamina are worth the cost should we encounter one of the higher threat level monsters that it could be. It betters our chances of survival, than had we walked and the advantages gained likely outweighs the cost."
Once Caius had established why they were here, he would stop to speak to the stablehands and reaffirm that he'd rented the chocobo drawn cart and would be taking it out now. He was given the dates for how long he could have it until the late fees came in, and he nodded his head in response. He would take a few minutes to inspect the chocobo cart to be sure that it was properly operable, while he listened to what Celes was saying about Setzer. After a bit, he turned to face her to listen to it while giving her the respect of showing that visually, once his inspection was complete.
He started to laugh a little once she finished talking about Setzer. “Now I see why you wanted to get away” He joked lightly. "It sounds like a lot of his mannerisms exemplify everything that you've shown to hold disdain for. But I understand the desire for a familiar face, too."
Though he was a bit taken off guard when she thanked him, and the mercenary would tilt his head a moment. Blinking a few times, it took him a few moments to realize what she meant. Then he nodded his head. "Don't worry about it. I understand wanting to get out there as much as you do. You don't need to wait for an invitation next time, you're free to ask me if there's anything I'm getting up to if you get the itch to get out and do something" Caius would offer.
”I guess you can never really take the fight out of a soldier, can you?” She spoke.
Caius smiled. "No. No you can't" He agreed. He knew that too. Caius would climb up into the seats on the cart and hold out a hand to help Celes up with him. Caius was not a man that as of yet understood that this sort of thing would constitute what she would take it as. He was a practical man, which she likely understood at this point. For speed, for less risk of injury... Or even just common decency.
Once the two were seated and the chocobos would begin to move, Caius would take a deep breath as he rested his head back against the surface, while still holding the reigns. His instincts told him when he would need to turn.
"You've never told me where you come from. I only know you and Terra come from another world" Caius spoke up. "Is that something you're comfortable with sharing?"
Final Fantasy VI
22
YEARS
Female
Complicated
Heterosexual
429 POSTS
Fin
Use your own eyes and see for yourself whose side I'm on!
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Caius smiled at her. ”No. No you can’t,” he said and climbed into the chocobo cart. He steadied himself before offering a hand which she took with only a second’s hesitation. The touch made her bite back a grimace, but it was only fair when her armor might have thrown off her balance. With the small step cleared, Celes quickly withdrew her hand and settled beside him, crossing her arms as she looked out at the city.
”I’ll be honest, I thought you were just renting the chocobos. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden them like this before.” She glanced at him before looking away again. ”I guess it might get a little uncomfortable on them if you plan to go far.” The ride on a chocobo had never bothered her much no matter the distance, but she’d heard enough complaining from her friends that she didn’t need to guess the motivation.
The chocobos started forward and the cart jerked into motion. Celes grit her teeth against the unstable motions. She’d have far preferred to ride one directly.
”You've never told me where you come from,” Caius said without looking up from the reigns. ”I only know you and Terra come from another world. Is that something you're comfortable with sharing?"
”Well…” Comfortable was a strong word. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to know, but rather… ”It’s not something I like to talk about.”
Celes recrossed her arms, shifting in her seat as the cart left the city and started off into drizzled forests. She pushed back a lock of loose hair that had come loose from her bandanna. ”Magic is rare where I come from. In fact, only a handful of Magi still live, and the rest of the world...Well, magic is more a legend than a fact. I was given an injection of it when I was a girl. And then I worked my way up to become a general in the Geystahlian Empire.”
That was the easiest part to talk about. Not the fire and the ruin at the hands of a mad god, but the world before that. Even as her stomach twisted with a vague sense of shame.
”The Empire. Well, I never questioned it much. I worked so hard to reach my rank that I never stopped to ask if what we were doing was cruel. The rest of the world lived in fear of us as we worked our way from kingdom to kingdom. It wasn’t until I found myself on the wrong end of its sword that I turned against them. I would have gladly accepted my death then -- I thought it was undignified to resist -- but someone found me locked away in a dungeon in South Figaro and he wouldn’t hear any of it. He was one of the rebels, a Returner they called themselves, and I worked with them after that.”
For a while. Her throat closed on the words she couldn’t say. For a while. Until the Emperor approached her with his deepest apologies and his most comforting words. Until he’d agreed to lock Kefka away and move for world peace. She hadn’t known it was a lie, but that only an excuse. She’d wanted to go back. After everything they’d done. That was all there was to it.
”What about you?” She eyed the tangled knots of trees they passed. There bark twisted in all the wrong ways as it reached towards the sky in a suffocating canopy. ”You haven’t said much about yourself either.”
"Technically we're renting both the chocobos and the cart" Caius would correct with a small smile that indicated he was speaking with humour. "I've rode them before, they're tough creatures. Better than they look. They'll be able to get us across without any trouble. There's a lot of strain involved in riding them though, as quick as it is. This allows us to conserve... And the cart serves another use" He would explain. "Most clients I have that wish for me to dispatch of a monster generally want proof. They don't just want my claims, after all. If this monster is as large as they say... We'll possibly need the aid of the cart to get it to the rendevous point. That was another reason I decided to go for this. Zephon is a hell of a lot bigger than the places in my world I used to roam. And the monsters are, for the most part, fairly bigger too. If we're lucky, it'll be a monster we can take a smaller souvenir from. Granted, I also like to try and see if I can get any materials from my kills as well. Skins, teeth, anything that'd go for a good price. It helps ensure I have something to eat when there isn't a heavy supply of work. Or if for whatever reason I don't get paid. Ensuring I have an emergency gil supply is always a smart move.
Either way, between the advantages preparing for the possibility of a larger beast with a larger souviner, and being able to lug a bit more back for selling... I think it's more than worth the cost. And like I said, don't worry any about the chocobos. We're not going crazy far, and odds are we'll be stopping for camp if we take longer than planned. We should be there by the end of the day, but if not than we'll stop and let the chocobos rest."
Caius listened as Celes would give detail of the world she was from. He nodded along as he drove the cart, seeing as he loved to hear and tell stories, he would give her his undivided attention, or well, anything not focused on driving. It seemed she'd had a hard life, and he could see why she had a difficult time trusting. Afterwords, she would ask about him. He expected it, and nodded his head. He got the feeling she was leaving out details, and wasn't ready to tell in bulk... Which was fine. Neither was he. But he'd give her about what he got.
"My world was a fair bit more technologically advanced than what you're used to around here" Caius would admit. "Not that I ever got to enjoy most of the benefits of it and this part of the world is honestly more familiar to me in a way, but that's a story for another day. Where I was from, we were governed by the Lucian Royal Family. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, learning to ply trade. When I got a little older, I ended up setting out to be a hunter. Was only 13, it... Took some convincing to get them to think I was 18 so I could be afforded my hunting license" Caius would admit with a laugh. He had left out much, about the Darkness, about his family... About why he had left. He didn't think it necessary right now. It was too heavy to spring on someone he just met, he felt.
"I spent much of my life hunting things bigger than me, stronger than me and tougher than me, generally by myself. When I was in my early 20s, I met the King Of Lucis, King Noctis. He gave a speech that day, and the way he spoke it, the confidence he gave... It pulled me in. It made me believe in him. It made me really, truly believe in something for what was possibly the first time in my life. So I found myself serving under him, as a member of his Kingsglaive. I served him until the day I found myself here, and have been here for about a year and a half since."
Caius looked toward Celes with a curious eye.
"If you could go back to your world right now, would you?"
Final Fantasy VI
22
YEARS
Female
Complicated
Heterosexual
429 POSTS
Fin
Use your own eyes and see for yourself whose side I'm on!
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Caius spoke of kings and monster hunting and having something to believe in. It was something that Celes could understand, or at least halfway understand. She’d never met someone that could rally her with inspiration using only words and the only monarch she’d served had been a power-hungry maniac in the end. Still, there was something familiar about his story at the root of it all. They’d both been forced to grow up far too fast.
The cart shook violently as the wheels snagged on the uneven country road. Celes braced herself against it, biting her tongue as Caius turned to look at her. ”If you could go back to your world right now, would you?"
Perhaps it was the rattling of the cart that sharpened her tongue as she snapped, ”That’s a little personal, isn’t it?” After a moment, the wheels settled and she took a breath, thinking. If she could go back, what would she do? She’d been set on finding the others, rallying them from their hopeless states, and...then what?
Charging into a twisted tower constructed by a mad god? Facing him down like they stood a chance? It was a suicide mission, she’d always known that, but there had been nothing else to do. She and the others were the only ones with magicite. They were the only ones that knew Kefka’s true nature. But had she really expected them to make a difference?
No. Just like Celes had been determined to die with dignity in that dungeon under South Figaro, she’d been just as determined not to languish in that ruined world without a say in the matter. She’d rather have died than admitted humiliating defeat and that was all there was to it.
”Maybe,” Celes relented after a moment, looking off into the hardened tree branches. There had been nothing like this left of her world. No trees. No birds chirping in the canopy above them. When she’d awoken here, she thought it must have all been a dream. None of this was possible. And yet…
She'd been here longer than she could say, and the dream had never ended. Even if this was all an illusion, would she honestly have preferred the hell she’d left?
”Or maybe not. I don’t know.” Celes’ eyebrows furrowed under the weight of her own decision. Her answer didn’t matter and really, Caius wasn’t entitled to one at all, yet Celes wanted to decide. Some part of her had been asking that same question for a long time.
”I...guess I wouldn't.” She sun glistened like fairy lights through the leafy canopies, and she admired them sadly. ”None of this would be possible where I left. It was...well. Hopeless if I’m being honest. And then I came here. For the longest time I thought I must have gone crazy or maybe this was all just a sick illusion. But either way, I don’t think I’d give it up anymore. Going back to that now...I couldn’t even imagine.”
Celes bit her tongue. Just the thought of it stirred something dark within her. If she were to wake up and find herself back. If all of this truly had been a hopeful dream then she didn’t know if she would be able to survive that loss. Not again.
”But you probably think I’m being ridiculous! I haven’t met another person here who isn’t desperate to go back! Even I miss it sometimes, though only for the people. And if I keep finding them here then eventually I’ll have nothing left to miss.” Celes gave a short, half forced laugh through her own tension. She didn’t need to darken her mood anymore than was necessary. ”I think I’d have a lot more I could make of things here. That’s all.”
