If Vincent had noticed the lackluster tea, he didn’t show it. He just accepted his mug with a calm ’thank you,’ and sipped it without any real interest or enthusiasm. Also without disinterest or disdain. In fact, he seemed entirely devoid of feelings at all on the matter, and perhaps entirely unfazeable in general. Celes slipped meekly into a chair of her own chair, finger tapping at her thigh.

Why wasn’t Caius here to take care of this?

”I came from a world called Gaia,” Vincent said. He’d been a traveling mercenary. Mostly dealing in monsters. Well that was useful, Celes thought, if not particularly interesting. He’d fit right in. If it wasn’t for the placid stare. Or the brooding demeanor. Or the way that words seemed to struggle to be pulled from his mouth.

Why did she insist on judging him so much? It really wasn’t fair at all.

”Like Sonora,” she repeated then lingered on the thought. ”It must be strange then, staying somewhere like this.” She’d been in both places, and hated one of the two. It wasn’t that she hadn’t understood Sonora though that was certainly part of it. She was used to a city of metal and militant soldiers standing at attention. It brought back memories that she preferred not to linger on. Memories that broke her out into a cold sweat in the oppressive tropical heat.

”I’m not from here,” Celes said. ”Any of it, I mean. Not just Torensten.” She brought the mug to her lips and relished the cold touch of its condensation. It sent a shiver down her back. ”It’s been about two years, I think. Not that I know for sure. The seasons are off here, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but this place does strange things to your head.” She smiled wryly. Even now, there was a persistent gray fog that hung over her mind whenever she thought too hard. It didn’t like her memories of the place she’d left behind.

Or maybe she didn’t want to remember.

”I don’t miss it,” she said. ”I know most people can’t wait to get back, but I’m fine where I am, I think. I like the Dragonblades. I like Caius and, well, everyone else.” Including Vincent? Maybe if he gave her enough time. No matter how he reminded her of Shadow, it was clear that he had a much kinder heart. Not that that was hard.

”There must be some reason this happened,” Celes went on. ”I know that plenty of people are out searching for it, but I couldn’t care less. There wasn’t much left for me to leave behind.”

Just a ruined world. A dark world. A world that maybe wasn’t worth fighting for after all.

”Er. Was that too much?” She glanced at Vincent, feeling suddenly sheepish. She brought the mug in front of her again as though to hide behind it, taking one over-large gulp that froze the back of her throat.

Like he really wanted to hear her life story.

ulla

Celes pulled her sword, turned on the bandits, and then the battle began.

She supposed it already had begun the moment she dodged a volley of arrows from her chocobo, but that wasn’t the point. As Rufus claimed the back line, Celes took a defensive stance, ready to keep the ground troops off of him. It was a familiar strategy yet one that she found she’d missed as she grounded herself, ready to react rather than letting them surround her.

With Caius, she was always the support. Always the mage. The only time she really had the chance to protect him was when an opposing spell called for her runic blade. It played to her skillset, but it still felt rather dismissive, really. As the mage, she needed an opening and someone to keep them off her long enough to cast.

With a sword in hand, she felt powerful. It was a nice change of pace. Not that she’d really wanted an ambush today. Hopefully, the marksman could carry his weight.

She didn’t have to worry long about that. He stayed beside her long enough for a devilish smirk. As Celes was about to meet the incoming horde, he made his shot -- choosing to scatter the dirt rather than send them scrambling. Celes blinked in surprise, coughing at the dust, but it didn’t stun her for long. She was too practiced and well-trained not to take it all in stride. The bandits, however, had no such experience.

For the moment, they were blinded, cursing and wiping the sand out of their eyes. Celes took that opportunity to fell one then turn on another. Their blades clashed -- one, two, three -- before she landed a heavy slash across the chest and then disabled the man’s shoulders. Three more were stirring out of their stupor and charged her while her back was turned.

Time to see what she was made of.

It was the kind of scene that would have left her recruits staring and, hopefully, taking notes. She practiced everything that she had taught them. Keep your stance grounded. One of the men tried to force her back with a hard hit with the hilt of his sword. It hit her hard in the collar bone, but she withstood it without stumbling. Watch for counter strikes. That left him open. She returned the blow with one of her own with the dull side of her blade. He stumbled, leaving his stomach vulnerable. She made it quick. Never lose sight of your peripheral vision. A man tried to take her from behind, but she jumped back, whirling around to face him. It was only then that she felt the sharp pain across her upper arm. Blood was welling there in a long slash. Adrenaline hardly left her feeling a thing.

The sounds of gunfire snapped back into focus as she made her distance. Gunfire and arrows. Rufus had taken cover behind a formation of rocks. Hopefully he knew how to return fire.

There were only two men left now and no retreat. Time to sink or swim. Just as Rufus had said, she too liked swimming.

’I’m a general,’ she thought. This time, she took the offensive. ’I’m a Returner.’ She lost herself to the battle as she’d done so many times before. Ever since she’d been old enough to lift her blade. ’I’m a survivor.’ One down, one to go. He looked terrified, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. She might have had a heart, but she’d been trained to kill. There was already too much blood on her hands.

”And I’m too much for you.” She made the last strike then stood over the wreckage before her. It was all blood, twitching limbs, one of them was still left groaning on the ground with his arms disabled. Celes let out a long sigh and then winced, grabbing at her arm. Blood stickied her fingers. Her collar bone felt like something might have fractured. ”How are you doing?” she called back to Rufus and then gave a soft ”Eek!” as an arrow shot past her and landed quivering at her feet. She scrambled back behind some rocks of her own, crouching down as low as she could. They were hardly tall enough to cover her. She felt silly.

”Do you need help?”

ulla

Vincent was quiet. He seemed like a quiet man in general -- the kind to lurk in the shadows and listen rather than take part in something himself. In fact, shadow really was the right word for him. Or rather, Shadow with a capital ‘S.’ He reminded her of that cold-hearted mercenary who’d dressed in black and never bothered to offer them so much as a hello. She didn’t like the comparison.

”I can fight,” he assured her, gesturing vaguely at what she now recognized as a gun. ”I have some skill with magic as well, but nothing too impressive.”

”Well, that puts you ahead of Caius.” That wasn’t exactly true. Caius had learned far more magic than when they’d met. She put the blame on his constant stream of missions. It was almost enough to make her jealous. She wasn’t, but it was almost enough. ”He uses guns too. And swords. And magic. If you can fight, we don’t mind how you do it.”

She wrote that down. ’Guns. Magic - minor.’ It was good to keep track of even if she doubted she’d need to doubt him if he already had Caius’ approval. He was a good judge of character. There’s hardly been a time when she’d disagreed with his choices.

When it came to Dragonblade business that was.

”Sonora?” Celes looked up in mild surprise. People like them were hardly ever welcome in Sonora. She wondered what business Caius had taken there. She thought it must have been important. ”I wouldn’t recommend going back there anytime soon. It’s not safe.”

Celes had hardly set foot in that place, and she had no desire to ever do so again. They were as hostile as they were gloomy. And imperial. Really, it had brought up too many memories that she hoped to never think of again.

”I’d recommend finding somewhere to stay here in Torensten. It’s the most welcoming by far. Provo isn’t bad either if you’re not interested in a big city. We’re working on a new base there. Have you met Yuna?”

Celes tried to imagine this dark-clothed man holding a conversation with Yuna and couldn’t. Yuna was a ray of sunshine to everyone around her. She was a healer who couldn’t imagine a single wrongful thought. Then again, maybe she was judging Vincent a little too harshly when they’d hardly spoken a word to each other.

”Sorry,” she said again, sighing. She set her quill back in its ink pot. ”It really is hot today. And I’ve dealt with them all morning.” She gestured back towards the training yard. The clink of swords had slowed considerably. They all wanted the destination without putting in the work to get there.

”Do you want some water? I don’t have to be all business.” She felt suddenly awkward. What was she supposed to talk about if it wasn’t business? There was her homeworld but that wasn’t exactly something she liked to think about. Then there was Caius. She did not want to talk about Caius.

”We also have tea.”

ulla

”I can name a few of Caius’ reasons why you are special.”

”Huh?” Celes blinked. His reasons why she was special? Oh god, she didn’t need this right now. She didn’t need to hear how he was talking her up to strangers, and she didn’t need to hear whatever classic Caius over-explaining he’d done when it related to her. He’d never been good about curbing his tongue. Whatever ruined world he’s grown up in hadn’t had any need for a brain-to-mouth filter in his case.

Please let it just be about how she fought. Please, please, please. She didn’t need a reputation as the light of his life, a beautiful flower, some kind of warrior princess.

”At the bar, he seemed to completely cheer up at the thought of you. His mood literally went from night to day.”

”Oh.”

”He stated you were a wonderful woman and his sole reason for being the way he is today. That you refused to let him deal with his past and present alone.”

”Well that’s...nice.”

Was that true? Had she really? She’d never really thought about it. She knew that Caius had changed her life, but it wasn’t something she liked to dwell on. He was a friend. A lifeline. Not some kind of rock on which everything else was built.

Cissnei pressed her knuckle to her lips, tapping one finger in thought. ”You helped him move on and helped give him a purpose again through the creation of the Dragonblades. In the end, that made him whole.” She smiled. ”I don’t know. That sounds pretty special to me.”

”Oh no.”

So that was what he was telling them. Strangers. Across the world. If she’d told him over a drink, she had no doubts that every recruit had heard the same. She’d made him whole. She groaned.

”It really wasn’t anything like that,” she said. ”We work together. He’s my friend. That’s all.” But deep down, didn’t she know the truth? Friends didn’t speak of friends that way. For the first time in her life, she longed for Locke, Edgar, anyone to take the heat off and step in on her behalf.

’You’re making the lady uncomfortable. I know she’s beautiful, but you have to keep your head.’

Maybe some kind of manly pissing contest would keep them at bay.

”What taste do you like? Maybe I could help something for you to try next time.”

”Huh?” Celes blinked. Oh right. The drinks. ”I’m not really sure. I haven’t gone out for drinks much before.” Well that was unhelpful. She thought harder. ”Cherry maybe? Or strawberry. Something sweet.” From what she’d seen anyway. She hadn’t exactly had time to sit back and relax in a Vector cafe.

The vendor came back, handing them both their drinks with a knowing smile. It was cold in her hands, and she looked down to see a mess of foam, syrup, and soda fizz. It wasn’t unappealing exactly, but in the burning sun, she wasn’t sure she wanted something so thick. She took her own sampling of silverware, pressing them into her palm for balance. The condensation soaked the napkins straight through.

Cissnei dropped her spoon in the green fizz. ”I stay in Sonora,” she said before switching the topic off of her entirely. ”Seems rough. Some people prefer a fight over thinking. It takes work to realize you need both. But Caius shouldn’t have all the fun. Tell him to switch with you sometimes.”

”Well I don’t always stay behind.” Celes sipped the rim of her plastic cup to keep it from overflowing. She got nothing but a mouth full of thick foam. ”And I don’t mind it, really. It’s a lot of work, but it’s far closer to what I did before. Like I said, I was a general. We didn’t usually fight in the front lines.”

Training, strategy. She’d spent nearly all of her life with a sword in her hand and magic at her fingertips. She’d been disappointed at all the time trapped in tents and war rooms, she’d known the truth well enough. She was the last line of defense should their enemy get the upper hand. She couldn’t waste her life on casual skirmishes.

”An investigator?” She tilted her head in interest. If Cissnei was friends with Caius, she’d expected something a little more brash. Still, she supposed that would have made a good team. The brains and the brawn. She knew that match-up a little too well.

”It’s not for everyone,” she said. Cissnei honestly seemed a little too stoic for the Dragonblades anyway. It was a rough and tumble crowd. Honestly, she couldn’t see Cissnei really fitting in.

Cissnei looked at her drink thoughtfully. ”During the tonberry mission, he had certain books in his bag,” she said. ”Romance novels, I think. Stated something that you told him he didn’t know anything about romance. Seemed to inspire him to do some research.”

”What?”

She stared at her, gaping. Romance novels? Research? ”I didn’t-! I have no idea what-!” Her mind was reeling. When had she told him that? Had she ever told him that? She played back her life on fast forward, scouring every meeting they’d ever had.

Then she landed on the answer. She blanched. ”Maybe I did, but it wasn’t like that!” Lame. Even to her. She shook her head. ”Really, I didn’t mean it like that! He was so clueless that he didn’t even know what he was saying half the time! It would sound like he was flirting and then he’d just look at me like a confused kitten! It was unreal!”

Her head spun. ”But I didn’t tell him to read romance novels! That doesn’t sound like him at all!”

Was that why he was acting so strangely now? Was he trying to emulate them? She groaned. ”I really don’t want to talk about him,” she said. ”Whatever he says, I’m not interested. And isn’t he a little too old for me?”

ulla