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year 5, quarter 3
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And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
He sat impatiently waiting for Celes to get on the couch. He nodded uninterested every time she mumbled out a few insignificant words in his direction. He tried to fake a smile as she talked about whatever it was that he had cooked being better than nothing. If he had known had bad they were, he would have chose nothing. Still, he flippantly waved in agreement as to say he agreed in some way or another. He wrapped his fingers across his knuckles as she continued on her meal. If he knew it'd take her so long, he wouldn't have offered at all.
When she mentioned the yeti she faced, Mateus gave a hmpf. "There's no reason to trifle with beasts. Any adversary should be slain unless a benefit can be found from their, let's say, recruitment." Mateus twitched his fingers as though he could still feel the reins of a particular powerful Behemoth in his hands. He focused his attention back to her as she stood throwing his cooked beans to the side. To think she threw his gift to the side like it wasn't a generous offer that he stave his own survival to keep her strength. He bit his tongue as she threw herself onto the couch but his face showed clear signs of unhappiness. Finally, he could show his utter benevolence and perhaps gain a singular favor from the magically inclined general. A chance to gain the power she possessed.
Once she was finally stiff and lain on the couch, Mateus rose so he could best position himself to help. He scoffed at her notion that he knew not what he was doing, "When one leads an army," he started searching for a gag to help her fight through the pain but thought better of it, he would let her suffer a little bit, "you find you learn how the body ticks, and moves, and most importantly, is broken. If you're ready?" He showed both sides of his palm to let her know he was about to begin. Deftly but firmly he grabbed both her palm and elbow and moved them to a ninty degree angle and began firmly yet gently as he cared to, pull away from her torso. He ignored any sounds of pain and defiance until finally a large grinding sound signified that realignment of the shoulder.
Mateus immediately let go of her and stood up wiping at his hands as though he had touched something vile. He gave her a few moments to collect herself through the pain and physical trauma the event might have brought on. However, he only gave her a minute or two, he himself facing the opposite way pacing to and fro before he began to speak to her once more, "Now then. I'd say I've done you quite a number of favors thus far."
He stopped placing a hand on his hip and letting the other run through his iridescent blonde hair. The few rats nests that had tangled themselves fell away as he brushed through them still letting the groans of pain subside behind him. The blanket was beginning to grow hot and bothersome against his waist, but he didn't dare risk another outrage by the oh so prude general he had found in his clutches. The temporary discomfort would be diminished in light of the answers he hoped he could gather.
"If you've come to your senses, I but have one question to bother you with, now that we've come to help each other so." Mateus glanced back over his shoulder at the couch where Celes lay before beginning to pack back and forth across the cabin. "If what you say is true, your prowess in magic to be exact, were you forced to recommit to your training of it upon entering this land?" Mateus stopped to poke at the dwindling fire, its ember just barely a glow against the darkness threatening to envelope them, "Or, does your power derive from your own innate talent?" He hoped that latter weren't the truth. If he had expended his energies on one who could not help him, he'd have to find another use for her. A favor from The Emperor was one not come by easily or at all even.
As he pondered the possibility, he stumbled as his foot sunk deep into one of the floorboards causing him to spill spectacularly onto the floor. He hoped the crimson attacking his cheeks would be stifled by the lack of light and Celes' own pain as he brought himself upright. He turned to look at the indention he had left and noticed the adjoining floorboard had begun to sink with it. "Oh what have we here?" He poked at the boards with his foot. "Maybe a better storage of rations, so we might dine like our ranks should not have to deign too." He began to pry at the board but chipped a nail and stopped immediately. "Perhaps when your strength has returned, you'll help find the answers lying in our mysterious hollow?" He busied himself with the fire once more waiting for his new potential ally to pick up the slack after he had done all he could her.
Post by Celes Chere on Feb 5, 2018 20:16:14 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
Make your choice, Mateus.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
’How desperate am I?’ The thought struck her as she laid vulnerable in the hands of a man she could most generously call “seething with conceited ill-will.” Was she really going to trust him with her well-being, even if only for a moment? Celes opened her mouth to object -- to tell her she’d changed her mind and that she’d manage on her own, when he knelt beside her.
”When one leads an army, you find you learn how the body ticks, and moves, and most importantly, is broken. If you're ready?"
”What?” Celes’ eyes darted to him, eyebrows furrowed. ”’Leads an army?’” But this wasn’t the time for that, was it? She’d sort out exactly who he was when she could move her arm again. ”Oh, fine. Do it.”
She braced herself for what she knew was about to happen, teeth grit, jaw set. The man -- what was his name again? Matt? -- showed her his hands and then grabbed at her elbow. She let out a long breath and watched the ceiling, suddenly far too aware of her heartbeats, of the churning of her stomach, of the thick silence between them. She slammed her eyes closed, waiting, dreading.
And then he pulled.
It wasn’t the worst pain she’d ever felt, but at that moment, it was hard to remember that. It shot through her shoulder in bullets as he twisted her arm like a cinch. She didn’t cry out -- she didn’t -- but only because her jaw was too clenched to let any sound go unmuffled. Her other hand tightened with the pressure, and she fought the urge to punch him and stop the pain, but just as quickly as it started, she heard a sudden crack and the worst of it was over. Celes let out a groan of relief and let her neck fall slack. The pain still came over her in waves, but it was better. So much better than it had been before. She hardly noticed the man straighten himself and move away from her as she breathed slowly, savoring every second.
"Now then. I'd say I've done you quite a number of favors thus far."
Celes made a pained noise. One. He’d one her one favor, but she wasn’t in the mood to correct him. Not when her breaths still came so labored and she still winced every time she moved. Celes braced herself before pushing herself upright, frowning as her hand met resistance. She looked down to see that it had frozen to the couch, immobile and still oozing with magic. Celes pursed her lips and tried to pull it away, but it wouldn’t budge. Had she done it in her haze to keep herself from hitting the man or was it simply a case of rogue magic? Either way, it was inconvenient at best.
"If you've come to your senses, I but have one question to bother you with, now that we've come to help each other so."
Celes eyed him carefully as she sat up straighter, trying to melt her fingers with a fire spell without catching his attention. She’d managed to thaw half her hand with only a slight scorch across the couch’s surface to show for it.
"If what you say is true, your prowess in magic to be exact, were you forced to recommit to your training of it upon entering this land? Or, does your power derive from your own innate talent?" The man stood with his back to her, watching the fire. Celes considered her options before shaking her head.
”Neither, really,” she started as the man turned and started pacing to the window. ”I wasn’t born with it, but I’ve-”
CRACK.
The man let out a cry as he was suddenly sent toppling forward, face-planting into the floor and skidding spectacularly with the momentum. Celes stared at him, mouth open, still halfway through a word as she processed the man, tangled up in a heap with his hair splayed out over him like water. ”Oh.” It was all she could get out as she watched the man hurriedly try to collect himself. It was just about the least dignified thing she’d ever seen.
And he’d deserved every second of it.
His face was a blazing red as he straightened. Embarrassed. Celes had wondered if he was capable of it, but that seemed to do the trick. He turned away from her quickly and studied the point where he’d fallen. ”Oh what have we here?" he mused with the same lofty air as before. "Maybe a better storage of rations, so we might dine like our ranks should not have to deign too." Celes paused. She didn’t know what to make of that from his tone (had he already forgotten completely wiping out half-naked in front of her?) to whatever he thought “their ranks” should deign to do. Instead, she chose to correct him as simply as she could.
”Ex-ranks, actually. I’m not exactly a general anymore and I doubt you’re...Well. You’re here now, aren’t you?” That was the most delicately she could possibly phrase it, and she wondered if it was enough even then. Maybe not, but then, she didn’t need to make friends so long as they both made it through the night without killing each other.
The man touched at the floor before something must have changed his mind because he pulled back just as quickly. ”Perhaps when your strength has returned, you'll help find the answers lying in our mysterious hollow?" The words came rushed off his tongue as he quickly pulled away and settled himself in front of the fire again. Celes just stared at him before slowly raising an eyebrow.
”Did you touch a spider or something?” she asked, careful not to tell him what exactly she’d think of a man who couldn’t deal with that himself, but all too aware that her tone dripped with the implication. She let out a long breath through her teeth to steady herself before finally standing from the couch. Thankfully, her magic had already melted away.
”Alright. Let me look.” She approached the point he’d been expecting and kneeled down heavily beside it. It was just a normal slab of wood except that his foot had cracked it down one side. It sat there off-kilter, a little uneven. She gave it a skeptical look before prying at its loose side.
It budged almost immediately. It was a little difficult with only her one good arm, but with a few repositions of her grip and some extra effort, she managed to get it up before long. She didn’t even know why she was bothering -- what did she really expect to find? -- but she thought she might as well prove a point. Even injured she could manage what he’d shied away from. With the board up, she set it aside and looked at him pointedly. ”Were you looking for anything in particular or just trying to dismantle the house?” She looked into the hole, but it was too dark to really make anything out. With a sigh, she muttered a spell and brought a small flame to her fingers. It cast a ghostly shadow on the crawl-space beneath. It was exactly as pleasant as she’d imagined it would be.
”Well, if you didn’t see a bug before then you will now.” Celes spied the scurrying shadows beneath her distastefully. The blizzard had come on rapidly enough that they must have scuttled underneath the cabin for warmth. As much as she hated them, she could at least relate to that. ”There’s nothing but pests and cobwebs under here. It’s filthy.” Celes glanced at the man by the fire and smirked at the thought of him getting anywhere near this kind of dirt. She was about to pull away from it when something glinted off of her firelight, just a little beyond her vision. Celes paused, leaning into the hole she’d made to peer at it. She couldn’t tell what it was, but another pulse of fire lit up the entire crawlspace. It was horrible with all of its dust and debris and the rotting remains of whatever all had died under it. On all three sides there was nothing but wooden foundation, but then on the fourth...darkness. Celes blinked and then frowned. ”It goes somewhere.”
She pulled herself out and looked at the other man. Her cheeks were already chilly from her time away from the fire. ”There’s something there,” she said. ”A tunnel I think. Into the mountain.” She paused, glancing at the door for a moment before taking a breath. ”It’s something. Maybe it doesn’t go anywhere, but if I try to melt that snow tomorrow, it could very well collapse again. We’re at a loss either way.” Celes glanced into the hole again before squaring off to face him, arms crossed.
”Well? What’ll it be? A freezing tunnel covered in spiders and cobwebs or who knows how long trapped in here with me?”
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
So this woman hadn't been born with her own innate magical ability after all. This knowledge fanned the flicker of hope that he had on picking up the arcane wonders of this world. And what made the pot sweeter was now he would not be indebted to some insidious Lord of Hell when he did seize control of such power. To be free to reign without some immortal chains to attest to in the unlikely event of his death. The thought of it was almost enough to cause him enough mirth to almost cause a bout of laughs, but he didn't want to explain himself to the present company so stifled the reaction.
"Maybe your rank was attached to your position," Mateus replied coolly trying to not show how upset he was that she would dare question his rank; she was still needed for now after all, "but royal blood runs royal no matter where I go." He waved his hand above his head as he proclaimed the bold statement. Maybe her tone and demeanor would change now that she knew the truth of his stature. How often did one of laymen get graced by the presence of royalty and in a such a candid manner.
Mateus gave Celes a sneer as her callousness poured forth. Had he not just fixed her shoulder with the utmost attention and care? Some people just could not be pleasant no matter the circumstance. He reluctantly moved out of the way as she came to pry on the floorboards he had just sunk into. It gave him a sense of satisfaction to see her struggle. It was so easy to manipulate others into doing undesired work. He fanned the flames as he watched her toil to get the floorboards up. When asked if he was just trying to destroy the place he gave her a nasty look but took a sharp inhale and placed a hand on his hand, "All I thought to do was try to find more rations. I pray you'll forgive such a grievous transgression."
Still, he was quite impressed at her ability to conjure the light from nothingness. Of course he wouldn't give her the benefit of his curiosity and awe, but still prowess was prowess. He met her glance with a steely one of his own blinking slowly as though her words didn't make his anger race. He ignored her comments on the condition of the crawlspace but his eyebrow did raise at the mention that there was more than what first met the eye. "Well then," Mateus chimed a smile spreading staring Celes down with a aura of superiority, "perhaps I've come across something after all." He stood and crossed to peer into the dark hole. It was as disgusting as she had described, but he had to descend into the dungeons of his castle before. A similar dampness and dankness had prevailed there, and more importantly he wouldn't allow for this woman to think down on him.
Mateus stood and crossed to where his belongings had been lying for the last few hours. He prodded at the crumpled clothes and felt that the intense wetness had gone to an uncomfortable dampness. He knew if he were to journey this corridor he'd need the warmth, but it didn't make him excited to put the damp clothes back on. "Before we depart," he stated making sure he was loud enough for Celes, "I'm going to change back into my robes. This is your warning to avert your eyes if the human form still bothers you so." With those words he untied the blanket letting it drop to the ground as he sorted and put his traveling clothes back on. After he had donned his clothing, Mateus went for the sack the old woman had given him what seemed days ago. There was still a little bit of flint and kindling that if the worst should happen they could probably have at least one fire. He grabbed his staff and went back to the hole.
Mateus peered into it once more and swallowed hard. He could feel the chill creeping up towards him. "Well, I say we go. You can stay but I believe this abode shall provide no more succor." He didn't want to go alone, but he refused to let Celes in on that information. He sighed before lowering himself down into the encroaching darkness. He used his staff as a stick to make his way to the tunnel heading out of the crawlspace. He tried to keep his stomach from turning as the putrid smell of decay assaulted his nose. He let his eyes slowly adjust in the darkness but the most he could really see was just as far as hands could reach. The idea that he was about to ask for help made his stomach churn worse than the smell, "Perhaps when you've made it down, a light might lessen the perils of our journey." He raised his hand to his mouth to keep the bile from spilling out as he waited for his travel companion.
Post by Celes Chere on Feb 9, 2018 12:30:33 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
INTO THE DARKNESS
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The man’s reaction was as immediate as it was nauseating. ”Well then.” He nearly beamed at her, straight-backed, eyes spilling over with a kind of smug pride ”Perhaps I've come across something after all.”
”You have? I was the one who-!” Celes started, but stopped as she reminded herself of their uneasy truce. He wasn’t worth it. The reminder blared like a siren through her head, but it was still almost physically painful to quiet herself under the pressure of that man’s self-satisfaction. Every instinct in her wanted to cut this man down to size and show him exactly how much he was worth, but she’d already tried that and it hadn’t exactly been effective.
This man had an ego the size of the mountain they stood on and three times as unpleasant.
The man looked into the hole she made, careful to almost keep a neutral expression before he stood and started gathering supplies from the other end of the cabin. He tested at the clothes he’d laid out for himself, and though his lips were tight in displeasure, he picked up something from the pile. ”Before we depart,” he started without turning to her. ”I'm going to change back into my robes. This is your warning to avert your eyes if the human form still bothers you so.”
”Oh good.” Celes said and then looked away because she certainly didn’t need to see that. It was good of him to warn him, she supposed. Or at least, it wasn’t bad of him. It was usual human behavior with a bit of common decency sprinkled on top, but she’d set the bar so low for this man that she counted that as a minor miracle. ”Let me know when you’re done.” The listened to the rustling sounds across the cabin, but didn’t care to see how he was coming along. Instead, she spent the time touching at her newly set shoulder and whispering curative spells into it until the pain had dulled. He didn’t announce himself when he’d finished, but came up beside her and peered in the hole again instead.
”Well, I say we go. You can stay but I believe this abode shall provide no more succor.”
”Hm?” Celes looked up at him and blinked. Properly dressed, he carried a dark elegance about him that he hadn’t before -- all down up in black silks, a violet cloak, and dark boots. He pulled an ornate staff from beside it, and he looked like some kind of dark wizard from a children’s story -- albeit a rather pretty one. ”Well, there’s no way of knowing. Maybe that way leads to a dead end or some monster or we’d freeze to death in there.” Celes glanced almost longingly at the fire. How nice would it be enjoy it and wait out the night without him? ”But there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
He seemed to agree with her for once as he’d already lowered himself into the crawlspace. She wasn’t sure if it was the cold or the filth, but he looked horrified at his own actions as he disappeared into the darkness. Either way, it didn’t bode well for whatever awaited her.
”Perhaps when you've made it down, a light might lessen the perils of our journey.” He said it almost weakly with an uncertain waver pitched with nerves. Celes gave the hole a skeptical look.
”I thought you said I could stay,” she said before shaking her head and climbing into the hole after him. It really was horrible underneath -- dark and damp and frigid and filthy. It was the kind of conditions that Celes would have refused not too long ago, but the end of the world had a way of hardening people, and she could definitively say she’d seen worse. She sighed without breathing through her nose and raised her hand again, muttering a fire spell to bring the flames to her fingertips. The light almost made the whole situation worse. It was dim and flickering, but enough to see exactly what kind of filth, dust, and cobwebs packed every square inch of this place. The shadows revealed horrible scurrying in the corners, in every crack, near her head. She scowled at the pests in disgust and brushed a spider away from her hair with the back of her unlit hand.
”I’ll go first,” she said though he doubted he would have had it any other way. ”Since you can’t see without me.”
She started forward at a crouch, almost duck-waddling her way to the tunnel she’d seen. As she reached it, she wondered how funny it would be if had turned out to be nothing but a natural indent on the wall -- but no. Whatever had placed it here had done so intentionally, and even kneeling at its edge, she still couldn’t see the end of it. Celes peered inside before shaking her head and starting forward. ”Well, let’s crawl into the darkness. Why not?”
Why not? There were a thousand reasons at least, but it wouldn’t do them any good to stay and she knew it. It was almost like a joke to herself. What, after all, could possibly go wrong?
The conditions were cramped to say the least. Her waddle quickly turned into a crawl as the ceiling lowered and the sides came in. She moved awkwardly with one hand determined to stay above the ground and light their way. More than once, she had to stop and shred the cobwebs from her hair. Twice, she came across some dessicated corpse or another (rats, they looked like, though it was hard to say) and worked hard to avoid them. Each time, there was only her noise of disgust to warn the man behind her of incoming trouble. If he couldn’t deal with the situation himself, then why on earth would she bother helping him?
”So where do you come from?” It was a clumsy attempt at conversation, but she needed something to distract from the chill in her fingers every time they touched the frigid stone. ”You said something about royal blood? There’s nothing like that around here.” She didn’t mention that the very sight of him made him look out of place, but she didn’t think she had to. ”Are you good with a sword? Or magic?” Celes’s hand sunk into something mysterious and wet, but she kept going with only a cringe to show for it. ”Or…anything useful?”
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
As he watched Celes begin her shimmy into the tunnel, he began to have second thoughts. What if the tunnel collapsed as they traveled and there was no other exit? What is she were correct and they found themselves in the den of a creature ready for its next meal? He should not, could not, die like this. Forgotten. Powerless. He involuntarily gulped as those ideas beat against his psyche like waves upon a shore, but before he got to lost in his dark musings, the light faded and Mateus hurried quickly as Celes' feet disappeared into the low stone opening.
If he thought the crawlspace was bad, Mateus found this dark dank tunnel even worse. First, he could hardly see save for the faint light that Celes had provided and her outline trudging slowly ahead of him. The foul odor of death wafted into his nose at a regular pace. If it weren't for the disgusted grunts, Mateus would have likely found himself crunching into every carcass and bone that he had to crawl over. And crawling for him was not easy. His arms and legs caught in his robes every couple of feet. The walls were so close that he was constantly poking himself with the tip of his spear as he held it too close to his torso. He could barely spare the elbows and hands to keep pushing forwards.
Mateus let out a disgusted groan as his hand fell into something extra cold and worse, wet, as they continued their trek. He really didn't want to know what it was and wanted to try and prevent a stain, so he flicked his wrist to try and remove as much of it off his sleeve and hand as he could, but ended up smacking the enclosed wall causing him to hiss in pain. He couldn't stop moving though so he sighed and continued to follow his only source of light.
When Celes spoke Mateus was taken aback. He thought this journey would be one of somber silence seeing as her conversational skills were so lacking in the lodgings above. Although her last question was just as curt and disrespectful as he had to come to expect from the woman, she wanted to know about him, a subject he was more than happy to discuss and delve into. Perhaps now she would finally understand the grandeur and rarity of whom she had encountered.
"The place I come from should have no other name than Palamecia." he proclaimed clutching at his staff as though in the dark shaft someone would dare to dissent. "Though those fools in the traitorous kingdoms,"he almost spat the word his disdain for even giving them such a title was so great, "such as Fynn would have you believe it called something else. No I hail as Emperor of Palamecia, a lineage proud and bold and as old as the earth itself. As for your other question," he let the word hang in the moist dank air letting her know full well he knew it was intended as an insult but that he would ignore the connotation, "As an Emperor, one must be able to defend one's self in case of traitorous motives, or if the worst should happen and you must sully your own hands on the battlefield. The blade never spoke to me, I much prefer the range and mobility of the staff." As he spoke he lost himself in his words and had almost crawled headfirst onto Celes' boots, but stopped himself before doing so. He knew she would berate him until journey's end for such an action
"Even then, and this lends credence to my theory we are in another world, if we were in my homeland you would have seen the might of my prowess in the arcane arts by now. Here though, I'm at a loss for how magic works. " He thought of all he had done with the magic that he had possessed. The Burning of Fynn. The Dreadnought, a feat of both his magic and ingenious mind. And probably his greatest achievement of all: The Cyclone. Oh how the world had trembled and fear lie in the heart's of men as his fortress had caused the destruction of so many of those insignificant troublesome little kingdoms. As he tried to remember just how much of the world had succumbed to the power of the Cyclone, he could not for the life of him recall the memory. The harder he tried the further it seemed to escape his mind's grasp to the point where a headache began to form. He abandoned the thought at that point
"Also, as far as anything 'useful' goes," he wished she could see the cold stare that he had boring into her back, "an emperor must be a tactician. He must know when to advance and when to retreat, when to sacrifice and when to reap. Oh how I know these things well. I took what my father left, an insignificant kingdom whose boundaries barely passed the stone walls of its castle, and grew it into my mighty Empire." With these words he remembered the girl had called herself a general. An Emperor could always use a General no matter how foul her manners might be. Those could be refined with time and discipline. An idea began to hatch in his mind. One he pushed to the side, for first they needed to survive the night and this tunnel.
"Now that you've heard my tale, perhaps, I could listen to yours." It wasn't a question. It was an allowance that she might speak of her own life. He had lost track of time and distance and had been transported out of this bleak desolate place as he spoke. As he stopped his monologue, the cold began mix with the sweat the crawling and labor of lumbering his attire had produced on his brow. It was as unpleasant a feeling as anything he could think. And did he catch something fresh, something else mingling with the scent of the rot and stone or was he just hoping? He wondered how much longer they would have to travel like this but kept quiet. He would not show her weakness willingly.
Post by Celes Chere on Feb 12, 2018 12:27:30 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
It's time for Celes to wipe out
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
It quickly became apparent that Celes had misjudged the man behind her. He wasn’t an egotistical nobleman too caught up in his own desires to consider anyone but himself. No, he was far worse.
He called his world by the name of his kingdom. He spat out the names of other nations like they were poison on his tongue. He called himself an emperor from “a lineage proud and bold and as old as the earth itself.” Celes had known his type before. She’d nearly been killed by his type before, and she’d watched imperial ambitions burn the world to dust. To say she found it distasteful was an understatement. Disgusting would have been a far more accurate word.
He went on about his experience defending himself from traitors, and Celes could only give a wry smirk into the darkness. ’Good luck with that.’ It certainly hadn’t done Geystahl any good -- not from her or Kefka. But she supposed this man had already shown more restraint than Geystahl ever had. Hadn’t Matt already questioned the sanity of a leader to give anyone the power of magic? And apparently he had once learned the power of magic for himself anyway.
Not that it did him much good here. From his answers, Celes could only conclude that he was exactly as she’d assumed him to be -- completely and utterly useless.
"Now that you've heard my tale,” Matt continued after finishing his diatribe on the finer points of leadership. ”Perhaps, I could listen to yours." He made it sound like a generous offer -- a rare and significant opportunity for her. Celes glanced back at him but couldn’t see much more than shadows and a touch of messy blonde hair.
”If you want to hear it,” she said and then winced as her hand scraped a particularly jagged slab of stone. She could already feel her thumb wet with blood. ”Like I said, I used to be a general. I was raised into it, actually, by the Geystahlian Empire.” She let the name burn from her tongue with all of the bitterness she felt for it. ”I used to believe everything they said about us. How we’d unite the world and bring our power to all of the lesser kingdoms, but then I spoke out against the slaughter of civilians and the Emperor tried to have me killed for it.” She laughed dryly, a single hmph that carried every inch of disdain she felt for the whole situation.
”So that was enough of that.”
Part of her wondered what the self-proclaimed emperor would think of that, but another part of her (a much larger part) didn’t care in the slightest. He’d make whatever he would of it, and if she’d somehow affronted him then all the better.
”I don’t have anything against royalty, you know.” She didn’t know why she kept talking after that. Maybe she just hated the silence in this miserable tunnel. Maybe he’d struck a chord with her. ”Back home, I had a…” She searched for the word. Ally? Accomplice?”...Friend who was the king of a place called Figaro. He was a strong-willed man who never let any of it get to his head. Or...Well, not as much as he could have. He cared about his people more than anything. Even when everything was lost, he would have done anything for them. He never made it about himself. It was just...a burden for him. Something he did for their sake.”
”But you’re not like that, are you?” She was talking more to herself now than anything. It was everything she wished she could have said then and more. Why had she let them talk her into their schemes?”I don’t know you, and I won’t pretend that you care what I think. But my world was driven to ruin because someone like you wanted everything, and then he died for all the good it did him. Power only breeds war. It’s something we’d all be better off without.”
It was like the words themselves carried a certain magic to them. One minute Celes was deep in conversation, and the moment she’d finished the last word, her hand slipped as the tunnel suddenly dropped out from under her, and she was sent toppling forward.
She muffled a cry of surprise as her arms scrabbled against rock and she landed in a heap about two feet from the tunnel’s exit. She took in a sharp breath to steady herself and then took stock of her condition -- some scrapes, some bruises, nothing broken, and completely in the dark. She cursed under her breath before carefully untangling herself from the rocky overhang.
”There’s a drop,” she told him in case he hadn’t inferred that by now. Then she raised her hand and brought fire to it again. They’d been brought to a small cavern deep in the mountains with a ceiling so vast that her light couldn’t reach it. Still, it was a narrow enough cavern with only a few points of interest in sight -- namely a rocky ledge with a trunk and several odd symbols painted on the wall. Celes stood and dusted off her clothing before turning to Matt. ”It looks safe enough,” she said. ”Just watch your landing.”
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Her words rolled over him and he would not let them affect him in the slightest. Those who were like her were trivial and easily dealt with back in Palamecia. Those who didn't know power could not understand those who did. A traitor was easy to read; their motives often clear as water. It was often those too close that one needed to watch. Those with hidden agendas were the true enemies. The throne always sat on shaky legs. Such was the reason he had disposed of everyone too close: the royal viziers executed so state secrets stayed secret, the castle staff sold off and new hired, and even his own mother had been banished from the kingdom.
"But you're not like that, are you?"
No. He wasn't. He would never have allowed himself to be friends with someone beneath him. He couldn't afford the vexing world of relationships to get in the way of his goals and ambitions. Even just talking to Celes, his own self-reflection was working in an unusual and uninvited way. She was right though. He didn't care what she thought. He didn't care for what anyone thought. Mateus was to be the master of his own fate, his hunger for power would not be satiated by the sob story of some sad young girl. He would have continued down the hole if in front of him Celes hadn't fallen out of a literal hole.
With her tumble the darkness consumed them once more snapping him back to the current situation. Mateus almost made the same mistake but had stopped when the light went out and he could no longer see her boots in his face. He began to wonder if she was injured yet again and if her were to be stuck here in the cold dark alone and without light when Celes called out there was drop. That much was obvious as her magic lit the cavern once more. Noticing there was no way but headfirst for him to exit, Mateus sighed as he threw his staff out of the hole and began slithering out. He got part way to the ground before he lost his center of balance and his legs came barreling out as his elbows hit hard on the floor.
Mateus got quickly to his feet hoping that Celes hadn't seen that spectacle. He was quite finished showing his lack of grace to her at this point. Refusing to look in her direction, Mateus picked up his staff and surveyed the quarters they found themselves in. He was immediately attracted to the trunk that stood under some markings across the room. "Well then, what have we here?" Mateus made his way to the box. The markings on the wall were written in something that had once been wet but didn't look like dried blood. He ran his fingers over them letting the cold of the wall seep into his hand. They made no sense to him and didn't look like any language he had come across. "What do you make of these?" He thought it better to keep her engaged than left to her own devices. He hoped it would lessen the chance she ran on her own and left him alone to die in this cold desolate place.
As he waited for an answer, he began examining the trunk underneath them. It was of a good size but not too big that it couldn't be traveled with. Giving it a slight push, it was heavier than he had expected. He tried to open it but it was locked. Why would someone need to lock a chest in such a desolate deserted untraveled place? It was no huge problem to him; he took his staff and careful to not damage what was inside struck the lock mechanism and heard it pop. He let out a laugh of satisfaction as he prised the lid off to find
Papers.
The whole box was filled with papers. Nothing but papers. Mateus felt a mix of excitement and disappointment. On the one hand, for something so hidden he had expected something grander, but on the other he remembered that the rumors had said the magic on these mountains were contained in tomes. Maybe among this scrap there was an answer, or even a clue. Anything was better than nothing after the ordeal he had been through thus far. Using the most of his strength, Mateus lifted the trunk, brought it to the middle of the room and spilled its contents onto the cavern floor.
Hundreds of loose parchment fell to the floor along with a large leather book that had been buried underneath. "Maybe we'll find some answers in here, or better yet, a map of these caverns. Someone has been here, and the lack of their remains suggests they have left as well. It's most likely our greatest chance of surviving. Don't you agree?" He was talking more to himself than to Celes at this point, but with her help sifting through the piles it would cause the task to go quicker. He sat on the floor piling his robes under him to keep the cold from soaking too much into his legs, he pulled the bound book to him and began flipping through it. It seemed to be a journal of some sort. Who would leave a diary in such a place? Flipping the front cover, the first sentence read, "Day One of Exile......."
Post by Celes Chere on Feb 14, 2018 7:41:38 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
Not the most interesting, but the focus of this is Mateus' journal so...
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Matt shimmied out of the whole like a snake before plummeting straight down, but it wasn’t like he could have done any better. She certainly hadn’t. So she let him collect himself, eyeing the room for other tunnels and exits while he took an interest in the worn down chest across from them. There were three ways to go from here not counting the tunnel they’d entered from. There was a forked path on one side and one on the other sloping upwards into the darkness. She heard a kind of shifting when she raised her hand higher and caught a glimmer of lights up close by the ceiling. Bats probably. Celes shivered and willed the heat of her flame closer.
The mountain protected them from the snow and wind, but did little else. It was almost as cold in here as it had been outside.
”What do you make of these?” Matt called to her from the trunk, and Celes sighed before wandering over to give him light. The sigils on the wall were just as unfamiliar to her as before and just as unnerving.
”I don’t know,” she answered without much enthusiasm. ”Looks like the kind of thing you’d find in a mountain cave though. Maybe there’s a potion inside.”
Matt tried to open it (locked) before taking his staff and merely bashing it against the thing. Celes frowned. ”You know that won’t-” she started before the trunk’s lid popped open from the force.
”Huh,” she said instead. ”Guess it was just stuck.”
Matt struggled with the trunk, hefting it off the ledge and onto the floor with an obvious effort. Celes watched him -- half because none of it really interested her and half because he’d need light if he was about to try anything. When he opened the trunk again, she caught a glimpse of papers justled and tossed together like someone had shaken the thing. She raised an eyebrow as Matt began sifting through them and pulled out a heavy book from the bottom.
"Maybe we'll find some answers in here, or better yet, a map of these caverns. Someone has been here, and the lack of their remains suggests they have left as well. It's most likely our greatest chance of surviving. Don't you agree?"
’Not really,’ she wanted to say. Their best chance of surviving was to keep moving, never let down their guard, and not stop to place all their faith in a mysterious cave chest. But he was already flipping through the book and after that horrible tunnel, she supposed there was nothing wrong with a short break if it meant learning something new. So she sat cross-legged across from him and started idly sifting through the papers he’d loosed on the floor -- flame hand high enough to give him something to read by.
They weren’t particularly exciting.
Every once in a while, she’d catch an illustration of some monster or another, but she almost always already knew it by sight if not by the written name. She caught references to some ancient magic, to isolated mountain tribes, and to something rather ominous that had taken place at least a hundred years prior -- but none of it was relevant enough to help them. She glanced over to the collection in Matt’s hands and spotted the telltale page alignment of some kind of journal. ”Having any luck?” she asked because she certainly wasn’t. ”None of this looks very useful to me.”
”It looks like there might be some monsters around here, but that’s all I got out of it.” She prepared herself to stand, flame hand still awkwardly held in the air. ”I think we’d better take our chances and see where it leads us,” she said. ”Are you almost done?”
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
"Day One of Exile... It has happened. The village elders allowed me what the law of our tribe would give to any they turned out: my staff and one weeks food. I walked tall and proud as the disapproving faces of the Elders, Mother and Father, and the other villager leered at me. I will walk this path firm and stand tall knowing that what I did I tried to do for the good of me people.
Day Three of Exile... Even in the summer this mountain provides no warmth. I use the wisdom of my people to keep me warm but the conjuration leaves me weak and spent. I must learn to conserve for I have used my rations too liberally. What was meant to last two days, I've ate in half. I've not come across another inhabited village. They stand empty and ruined. I fear to approach. I am no match for soldiers or demons. My stomach growls again.
Day Seven of Exile... Today I approached one of those weary forgotten places. I had been chased from the cave I took refuge in by wolves and now I know I can't return. I'm lucky I retain my life. The charred frames of the homes held little but I did find a half burnt letter that the city below the mountain was taking refugees. Perhaps I'll go down the mount."
Not seeing anything of any importance, Mateus flicked quickly through the next few pages as Celes rummaged through the pages on the ground. He stopped when one page held just a single sentence.
I couldn't keep him from dying.
He looked and there was no mention of a man on the previous page.There was just a boring description of she had found a fully intact shelter. Intrigued he began to read again. The next page continued without date:
Had the elders been right? If I couldn't keep the traveler as he arrived both at my door and death's , what was the point of studying white magic? Am I doomed to only wrought death and destruction with the black mage. I had thought to keep my village safe. To protect and cure. I don't want to fight to main, to destroy as we were taught.
I must resolve to become more proficient.
I've discovered a tunnel under my abode. A disgusting dirty place. But the wounded creatures that make there way through are great practice to heal. I must repeat the mantra I learned. Must write it out until it becomes a part of me.
There appeared sigyls with a translation written beneath.
Quod lux alba sanat omnia. Quod lux alba sanat omnia Quod lux alba sanat omnia Quod lux alba sanat omnia.
"Quod lux alba sanat omnia." Mateus hadn't realized that he had been reading aloud at the words as he read along, but as the words left his tongue he felt a tingling in his palm. The cut he had sustained while traversing the tunnel earlier tingled with a pleasant sensations and began closing slowly. Mateus sat in shocked silence as the wound fully healed in front of him. Magic. He had just preformed magic!
The excitement mounted inside him. Perhaps the writer of this had written more in this journal. Mateus leafed through the pages feverishly. Whoever wrote the journal just went on describing how they ventured their healing practices further. Mateus didn't care about that, he was looking to see if they had written any of the knowledge from their village down in there. Mateus was disappointed as the writing changed to how they began studying the creatures of the mountain. Another passage very close to the end of the small book caught his eye.
I've followed the tunnel as one of my patients escaped hurriedly back in and found a cavern. I'll bring my research here and continue my insight. I will find the way to the ultimate white magic. I will rise the dead back.
A few pages continued to ramble until the last page read:
There will be no more disease, no more sickness when I find that elusive light. War will lose its effect. I will be the White Queen of this dark land. I depart leaving my things here. Let those who follow be blinded by the light.
Mateus had almost forgotten where he was until Celes began talking to him again. Disoriented he just blinked at her for a few moments before clearing his throat. "Someone was here as previously mentioned. I think the solitude and constant death drove her mad. A fool. Thinking that only white magic would save her and others. She lacked strength and thus couldn't even save herself." Ripping the one page that held the healing incantation out, he flicked the book into the pile of papers; an invitation for Celes to pursue it if she wished. Even though this was restorative magic, it made him feel more in his skin than he had been for a while. It was a stepping stone. One he hadn't really wanted ,but it was allowing him to learn how this land mixed with the arcane.
"I am finished. I don't believe these ramblings will produce any more information." He answered giving Celes a rare smile at his own discovery rather than her question. "If there are creatures we encounter, I can beat them away, but my physical melee leaves much to be desired in these circumstances." He hated to admit a weakness but if it made her a better more vigilant fighter for him to avoid combat, he'd allow it. He looked at the exits to the cavern and turned to her. "I follow your lead, but I suggest we head upwards. Who knows what lies in the heart of this mountain? I don't care to find out, do you?" he questioned giving a questioning look towards the fork and then to the upwards ascent. It was obvious he was at her mercy and discretion and he couldn't wait to be free from it.
Post by Celes Chere on Feb 15, 2018 10:46:48 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
Not the most interesting thing I've ever written, but you should be set up for a lot
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Matt told her about the contents of some madwoman’s journal before ripping a page out and standing. She’d been right then. This entire pitstop had been a complete waste of time.
But he was done at least, and she’d indulged his delusions long enough. She eyed the tunnels again, trying to figure out which ones would lead them out of here and which ones would only lead them in circles. It was impossible to guess, but she’d choose the one without the fork if she had to. Countless months of experience with these kinds of places told her it might lead to an entrance.
Matt offered to beat monsters with his staff, but Celes just smirked and shook her head. ”Leave that to me,” she said. ”Though I appreciate the offer.” It was something, she supposed. Just the will to act rather than be entirely taken care of. The longer she was forced to stay beside him the more she disliked him immensely, but there were a few qualities here and there that she could appreciate. She tried to focus on those to avoid snapping at him.
"I follow your lead, but I suggest we head upwards. Who knows what lies in the heart of this mountain? I don't care to find out, do you?"
”Not really.” It felt odd to agree with him. They’d both even decided on the same path. ”I’ve gone through tunnels like this before -- and in the middle of an icy mountain range no less. Stay behind me and try not to get in the way if we’re attacked. If you get hurt, I can heal you, but I’d rather conserve my magic for fighting if I can.” And for giving them light. And warmth. Really, exhausting her magic would mean death for both of them. ”Try to keep up.”
Her back straightened as she started forward and her voice carried with it a stern edge. Now that there was a battle to be one and a sword in her hand, there wasn’t any room left in her for self-doubt. She slipped into her old general’s confidence with an almost alarming ease. This was where she felt the most comfortable, not with conversations or arguments, but trekking through a dangerous mountain pass on guard for hideous monsters. Her hand never left the hilt of her sword.
And it didn’t have to. Past that opening cave, the place was crawling with all kinds of snarling beasts. She struck down bat-like creatures with single, protruding eyes, skeletal beasts which looked almost human, and strange reptilian creatures with sharpened horns. More than any of that, however, were the wolves. They came primarily in white with glassy eyes and tails that bristled wildly, but they were at least twice the size of any she’d seen before with bulging muscles criss-crossed in broken scar tissue. None of them were particularly dangerous to her, but their persistence was like a gauntlet for her magic, stamina, and patience. She found herself wondering where they’d all come from and if they’d managed to coexist peacefully before she’d stumbled into their lair.
It became a regular pattern. Strike down a few monsters, take ten steps of peace, and then be assaulted by another group so suddenly that it came like the shrill of a musician’s strings. Celes was more than used to it.
The journey didn’t offer much of interest. The tunnels were of the same general make, all gray, damp, and dreary. Sometimes the path would fork into two, but the second fork never lasted long and almost always ended in another carefully placed trunk with gil or a potion inside -- exactly what she’d expect to find in a remote mountain cave system. It was so mundane that her mind started to wander as she struck down her fifteenth deformed bat of the day. She felt as though her limbs were on auto-pilot -- attack, attack, use a potion, attack -- until everything in front of her was dead. For the longest time, she simply moved forward without much thought, tactics, or care.
At least, not until she heard the roar.
It came like thunder through the open chasms, reverberating off of empty stone walls. Celes stiffened and waited for it, eyes searching the darkness. She didn’t notice the hole in the ceiling until there was a whistling sound above her and she dodged back, grabbing at the back of Matt’s robe just in time to drag them out from under its shadow. The cave trembled as the thing before them landed -- a twisted mass of muscles and thick white fur. Celes raised her sword and pushed the man back as it straightened itself to its full height.
It was a yeti. Seven feet tall. At least four times her weight. An angry red burn twisted the left side of its face. The same one from before. Had it followed her here?
”Stay back.” She didn’t bother to look at Matt, but trusted that he’d at least try to stay out of the way. She sidestepped until she stood between them, sword raised and magic ready.
When she’d fought Umaro, it had been four of them against him. Even then, he’d looked smaller than the yeti before her now and at least ten times less angry. Could she do this by herself?
It didn’t matter. She’d either manage it or die.
The yeti spread its arms out and roared its fury. And then it charged.
The battle was tense and unrelenting. The yeti attacked with every ounce of its rage, all screaming, pummelling fury. Celes could barely lift her sword against him, too concerned with dodging and blocking to strike it often and when she did, her sword barely seemed to bother it. Even as the blood stained its fur in red, it still refused to recoil and give her space to breathe. Spells were beyond her when they needed at least a few seconds to recite. There was only her, the yeti, and her sword and if that creature struck her head-on…
The first time had been enough to dislocate her shoulder. What could it do now that the beast was enraged?
She played defensively, nearly dancing around the beast to try to catch an opening that would never come. Perhaps that was her downfall in retrospect . She’d been too safe -- took too long. She’d failed in some fundamental way to keep the beast’s interest, and so as she slipped to the side once again to avoid the yeti’s grasp, its eyes caught instead on the man behind her. It lunged.
Celes moved before the thought had fully landed, throwing herself forward and thrusting her sword down through the beast’s outstretched arm until she saw metal glint through the other side. The yeti screamed, but she just clung tighter to its fur, pulling the sword from its fleshy sheathe and bringing fire to her hands. It flared into the beast’s yowling face and burned so hot that its fur was quickly overtaken. It swung at her again and this time it didn’t miss. The blow was like a freight train. She flew nearly three feet back until the stone wall connected hard with her back and she felt her legs collapse beneath her.
The ground was sharp against her cheek. Celes thrust herself onto her elbows and brought her hands together, muttering words of power under her breath like a mantra. She beast was too distracted to notice her and too far away to stop her if it had. In seconds, there was a crack like an airship ignition and then flames engulfed the yeti like an inferno. She launched another firaga spell for good measure until their tunnel was ripe with the stench of burning fur and she heard the creature’s scrambling footsteps -- its howl growing fainter by the moment.
Eventually, the sounds were nothing but echoes in a far-off cave. Celes let out a breath and felt her arms give out beneath her. The ground was like ice against her battered body.
”I need…” she started but the words wouldn’t come out right, and what was it she needed again? Her head was swimming. ”Locke…” Yes, he’d know what to do to bring her back to her feet. Something...Something...Anyone would have helped her if she hadn’t been fighting alone. ”Someone…”
