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year 5, quarter 3
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Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Caius had a lot to say on the subject and a memory that Celes envied though she supposed Caius had been the one to buy it all. She marked the ledgers appropriately to make sure they balanced. They did as far as she could tell, and she sighed, setting her pen in the grass. She was certainly no stranger to the more banal side of running any operation, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Life had been far more satisfying as a rebel living by her own sword rather than the government’s. Or by the wills of economics, it seemed.
”A base. Now that would be something.” Celes leaned her head back against the tree, sighing. ”There’s that haunted house, but I’m never setting foot in there again if I can help it. And anywhere big enough around here would be completely out of the question.” She glanced at Caius and then Vordun. Her lips twitched in a smirk. ”Somehow I don’t think we’ll get many takers on renting to a dragon tamer.”
Vordun looked to Caius eagerly for another round of play. Though Celes still thought the whole idea was ill-conceived, she couldn’t deny that the dragon made Caius happy. And had perhaps endeared itself to her. Maybe. A little. She looked from the dragon’s gleaming eyes to the sun to her pen before thrusting her papers aside. ”Oh, this is useless! I can’t concentrate!”
She groaned and let herself fall until her back hit solid ground and she was swallowed in the grass. The dew was oddly refreshing paired with the warm touch of the sun at her cheeks, and she sighed its wet, earthy must. This was a world alive -- almost idyllic in its own way. It still felt foreign to her.
”Do you ever think about what’s happened back home?” She opened her eyes and watched the sun until her eyes ached. Its pattern burned a ghostly pattern even as she closed them again. ”It's funny. I thought I had friends worth fighting for, but maybe I just didn’t know better. Even Locke…” Her throat tightened. ”Well. I guess that doesn’t matter much now.”
She took another long breath before pushing herself up on one hand. She looked off across the field to the trees beyond it. It was a peaceful afternoon, quiet but for the distant calls of songbirds. Her heart swelled with something almost painful.
”This feels wrong,” she said. ”Somehow. Like it’s not meant for me.” Only then did she glance at Caius. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she offered him an unsteady smile. ”Sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes paused with her pen at the edge of its line. Her papers rustled in a light breeze that smelled heavily of sea salt. Celes sighed, spinning her pen in a circle before setting it down entirely. She couldn’t concentrate.
It had been Caius’ idea to leave the city for an afternoon -- or rather, it had been his idea to spend the afternoon training his dragon. Celes had been the one to suggest she come along. Who else would make certain they didn’t burn down the town while they were at it? So she’d gathered her ledgers and taken them on the road. It was a nice day, after all. Why not experience it?
Caius made a motion, and Vordun pranced about him, eyes bright with reptilian glee. After a moment, the dragon stopped, snorting fire. It sniffled. It wrinkled its eyes. And finally, once the pressure had build up too far, it tilted its head up and spewed fire into the sky. Celes cursed and curled over her papers to protect them from the shower of falling embers that drifted on the wind. ”Careful!” She shot Vordun and indignant look before finally unfolding herself and checking the papers for damage. A few singes on the corners. A black smear across the top.
She sighed. It could have been worse. At least the grass was still too damp to catch fire.
It had been a hazy kind of morning thick with drizzling rain, but it hadn’t taken long to pass. Now the sun beamed down in orange shafts that rippled through the leaves. Celes breathed deeply and leaned her head back against the tree behind her. How long had it been since she’d simply...existed? Since she’d closed her eyes and listened to the cawing of coastal birds and breathed in the heavy after-smell of rain? It would have been impossible back in that ruined world scorched by magic. Back in the empire with its metal grating and strict regimens. Yet here she was, breathing, feeling, existing.
It was like a shadow of a dream yet here she was. She sank her nails into the damp earth and shifted it between her fingers. If this wasn’t real then she didn’t know what was.
The dragon barreled clumsily past her, tail swishing behind it as it turned to face Caius excitedly. They must have been playing some kind of game. Celes ran a hand through her hair and looked back to her papers. They’d yet to induct anyone else else like them into the Dragonblades, but that was to be expected she supposed. Even as normal as the new arrivals had become, they weren’t exactly common. Instead, they’d garnered attention from the more local mercenaries, and she couldn’t say she was disappointed in the results. Banding together, they’d already made enough profit to consider renting a permanent headquarters which meant more stringent financial statements -- something that Caius had proved as clueless about as relationships.
Celes made another note to balance their ledger before looking up again. Caius looked so happy with his dragon that it almost made her envious. She could never have gone prancing about with a dragon, and even if she did, she wouldn’t enjoy it. She was too stiff, too careful, too guarded. Yet watching the two of them, her heart ached with something almost like loneliness. She scratched down another number and tried to ignore it.
”Caius? Do you remember how many swords we bought two weeks ago? For the new recruits? I’m counting three, but I don’t know if that’s right.” She tapped her paper thoughtfully, a frown touching at her lips. ”It’s not quite balancing.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
It was the emperor who once again spoke up with a good idea. He pointed out that the cave was oddly quiet and not a single villager was to be seen. In her awe of the cave as a whole, she was ashamed to say she hadn’t noticed -- at least not at first. Celes looked to him in begrudging interest. It seemed they both had experience laying siege to cities.
The man looked thoughtful for a moment before picking up the heaviest stone he could find and dropping it down the stairs. As soon as its pressure hit the top step, the wall in front of them opened and a spear jutted out in a deadly strike. Celes felt her mouth drop open. No matter what caution she’d taken, she wouldn’t have thought to check for traps.
”You...How did you know?” For once, she looked to him with something like respect. ”I’ve never seen anything like this, and I used to deal with capturing cities and rebels.” It wasn’t a proud part of her history, but it seemed the most relevant. ”That was smart.” She hesitated before adding, ”Thanks.”
How far would he gloat at a single instance of praise? Undoubtedly he’d think this proof that he was better than her. The idea made her bristle all over again.
Celes turned to consider the village. They didn’t want to be found -- that was obvious from the village’s location -- but she hadn’t realized the full extent of their hostility towards outsiders. Had the black-cloaked figure merely been leading them to their deaths? It was impossible to say.
She glanced to Caius. ”I don’t like it, but we might have to use force if necessary. We shouldn’t go in swords swinging, but if they make it a fight…” She bit her tongue. She was invading their space. It felt wrong, and yet that elixir was too valuable to leave behind. She’d do what had to be done.
”So we know what to look for,” she said. ”The next question is how to avoid it.” She scanned everything from the stairs to the landing to the quiet tents beyond. ”If they’re using pressure plates, I could cast float to avoid touching them. I also know how to make you invisible, though that carries its own problems.”
She smirked wryly. She’d learned Vanish not through magicite, but by the magic that chilled her blood. For some reason, the spell had never quite worked properly, but it at least did its job. It was at least worthwhile to consider if they hoped to avoid combat altogether.
She looked to them for agreement, and once achieving any sort of it, she clasped her hands together and muttered the incantations. As soon as the float hit her, she rose in a familiar hover over the ground. It was always hard to control her motion, but at least they wouldn’t trigger any similar traps this way.
Once they were all defying gravity and invisible, she turned to where she thought they were. ”We’ll meet here once we’re done. The magic shouldn’t last long, but I can dispel it if I need to. We should get the elixir and get out as fast as possible. We don’t need to turn this violent.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Shock lit his face like a strike of lightning. She should have expected it -- Celes’ story wasn’t exactly common -- but his reaction went beyond mere surprise. No, there was a life returned to his gaze that had been absent before. His once dull eyes brightened with interest and something like wonder. Had he ever met someone like himself before?
Her question gave him pause. He averted his eyes again, shifting nervously, fists clenched. Celes paused, readying herself to draw her weapon in case he lashed out again. Had she gone too far? Would the memories spurn him to more violence? But no. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke.
Nero was the product of a secret government project. He’d been infused with some kind of dark magic before his birth. These details Celes accepted even as uneasy as they were. But as he went on, she couldn’t help but stare at him in rising horror. He’d been confined, forced to fight others, forced to kill at a young age. He had longed for nothing but freedom, and had been repeatedly denied it.
Celes felt her eyes widen, felt the bile sour at the back of her throat. It wasn’t that his story was inconceivable to her, but rather, that it was all too real. What could have happened to her if the empire’s brightest minds had lacked all humanity? What would have happened if, instead of Cid, she’d been at the mercy of someone who saw her as nothing more than a tool for war?
She could imagine it as though it was a kind of memory in itself. The Geystahlian Empire had never much considered morality even among their own. Celes didn’t have to stretch her mind much to invision her alternative path. Terra had already lived it.
Nero paused as though deep in thought himself. His eyes drifted back to her and fixed there, gazing at her with nothing short of wonder. ”How are you...?” He struggled for the words. ”How are you so normal?”
”Normal?” Celes gaped at him in disbelief before she let loose a laugh despite herself. ”Well that’s a new one.” She hesitated before looking at him again. Somehow she couldn’t help but lower her guard. Perhaps it was his own vulnerability that he’d shared with her. Maybe it was their sudden sense of a shared past. Whatever the reason, she felt her best judgement fall away as she cautiously approached and perched on the rock beside him.
Here she was getting all soft again. Like some silly woman in a bad romance. Or maybe she just couldn’t help but give him a chance.
”I can’t say I had it that bad,” she said with a wry smirk. ”Call it luck of the draw, I guess. Another girl my age had her will taken away by some crown they made. She’s one of the kindest people I know, and they forced her to burn men alive. That could have just as easily been me. The doctor in charge of my case was a good man. It was lonely and I hated all the needles and the machines and being trapped in that metal basement, but sometimes he’d take me to see his rose garden. I always loved it there.”
She looked up at the sky. How long had it been since she’d really considered her time before the military? It was odd speaking of it outloud. Things she’d taken for granted sounded so much crueler than they did in her head. She pushed her hair back.
”I never saw any other children, but I couldn’t have been the only one. I’m starting to wonder if the process didn’t kill the others. War orphans most likely. I never thought it mattered much where I came from.” Celes glanced to him and smiled weakly. ”It sounds as though your brother was lucky to have you,” she said. ”Someone who he meant that much to, I mean.”
How much had she ever meant to anyone? Locke had forgotten about her after Kefka’s wrath, and all the rest had simply brushed her aside when she’d tried to bring them with her. It was funny, but Dr. Cid seemed like the only person to have ever really cared. Him, and...Caius, she supposed. Celes glanced at Nero again.
”It’s hard. Breaking away. Even if you hated it, it’s still what you knew. What else are you supposed to do? That kind of freedom. It’s...terrifying.” She laughed weakly to herself. ”You feel lost and alone. Or at least I did. But once you’ve built up something new…” Celes paused. Once you built something, what then? She’d hardly had a chance with the Returners before she’d gone right back to the Empire. And what was there to build in the world that came after? No, she hadn’t had a chance to build anything until…
”Maybe this freedom isn’t what your brother meant,” she said. ”But isn’t it still freedom? I don’t know him, but if he cared about you, I think he’d want you here instead of back there. And I think he’d want you to try to make the best life you can.” Celes gave him a weak smile. She still didn’t know much about people or love or whatever else, but she knew this much.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
"You are irreplaceable. And always will be."
”Eh?” She froze, rooted to the spot and staring at him. What did that mean? Surely nothing more than he’d said. And yet had she ever heard those words before? Certainly not. Not in her job, not in the resistance, not even from Locke who’d seemed more than happy to use her as the replacement. ’You are irreplaceable.’ She felt blood rush to her cheeks. Felt her eyes divert away from him.
Caius was…
He was…
”Let’s get going.” The words tripped over themselves faster than her boots did scurrying ahead. Her head spun with the thinning air. That must have been it. The altitude had left her thoughtless and silly. Stupid. She’d been stupid to say anything at all. Their goal was already in sight, and here she was babbling about something as foolish as who she felt comfortable around. She didn’t care to watch her footing as she sped forward.
What had he meant? ‘Irreplaceable?’
The wind chimes led to entrance of a mountain cave. The change of scenery shocked her out of her thoughts, and she stepped inside carefully. A cave meant many things -- a shelter from the wind, a promising path, and a den for wild beasts most prominently. ”Stay on guard,” she said. ”I’ve never seen a cave that isn’t packed to the brim with monsters.”
And yet it wasn’t a monster they found first, but a man. It was the emperor who noticed him, and she noticed his lack of footsteps. By the time she turned around, she only caught a vague human figure before it had disappeared around a bend. Celes frowned. Could it be a villager or something worse? Either way, the emperor was quick to take credit for his accomplishment.
Celes bit her tongue. His discovery was nothing more than natural when he was watching their back. Still, he had a point. ”Very perceptive,” she agreed. ”Make sure to keep an eye out so nothing else catches us from behind.”
And who said she couldn’t give credit when credit was due?
They marched forward in their usual formation, and though Celes kept herself at the ready, they weren’t bothered despite her expectations. The cave came silent, and the tapping of her boots on the stone floor unnerved her. It was too silent. Too peaceful, and her instincts blared against it. Despite the harsh conditions outside, no monster had taken root here. Or if they had, they hadn’t lasted long.
Even following the figure was simpler than expected. The path he’d taken had no forks and no divergences. Wind chimes continued to echo through the halls though she could feel no wind. It sent a prickle down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. Who were these people?
Just as Celes was about to suggest that they prepare themselves for a fight, the passage opened up, and Celes couldn’t help but stop, eyes widening in wonder. Before her was an atrium carved out of stone. The ceiling arched at least five stories high, and the width came far larger. To their right was a set of carved stone stairs leading to a thick collection of stone huts and tents made from furs and tanned monster skins. Smoke rose from fires all about that vented through a tall opening on the opposite side. Through the cave’s other mouth, the mountains spread out beneath them in a vast, white sea. There was no path on the other end. On that side, it dropped to a sheer cliff face.
”Oh.” Celes stared at it in wonder. Whatever she’d expected of the village, it hadn’t been this. ”It’s…”Beautiful, she wanted to say. Fascinating.”Here,” she landed on instead. She shook her head and looked to the other two.
”We don’t have much time,” she said. ”We should get the elixir and find a place to stay before nightfall. We’ll leave in the morning. That town needs us.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes more than half expected Nero to attack her right then and there -- or at least to flee. Instead, he simply told her his name and went to sit on a collection of flattened stone. Celes hesitated before following him. She watched him warily from a few feet away. What was he planning?
Silence thickened between him. Celes repressed the urge to shift and drop her eyes, but she knew she couldn’t afford that level of weakness. When he did speak, it came quietly -- hardly more than a whisper. ”I doubt you have the time or patience for my whole story. I’m an ex-military experimental soldier, stuck here rather than 'home'. That is the jist of it.”
”Oh.” It was all she could say at first. It made…sense. Yes, it made sense that the man skulking before her was a product of science and murder, raised in those dark places where humanity was more a nicety than a right. His wild swings in mood made sense too though the realization made her feel no better. She knew too well what magic could do to the mind.
This man was dark. Lanky. Quiet. And yet looking at him, her thoughts flashed with color and a brash voice that shrieked into silence. This man looked nothing like Kefka, but the comparison prickled down her neck like static. Their murderous impulses, their sadism, their drive for revenge against imagined slights -- those were shared. And that was far more important than aesthetics.
Nero suggested that she drop her combative stance, and for some reason, Celes hesitated. The comparison should have heightened her defenses, and yet, there was a certain vulnerability to his voice that stilled her hand. He sounded pained. Nervous. In that way, they were different. Kefka would never have been capable of something so human as fear.
And so her hand fell. Against all her better judgment, she relaxed her stance if only a little. If she had any intention of following through on her promise of second chances then she had little choice.
”You’re wrong,” she said, and took a long breath. ”I don’t have much else to do, and I want to hear the rest. It's not like I have much room to judge.” She smiled wryly, running a hand through her hair. Was she really about to share her life story with a maniac? So much for her strength. Just a hint of pain out of a would-be murderer and she softened like some silly girl in a love story.
”I’m a product of science myself, actually. My empire discovered magic and just couldn’t resist injecting it directly into my blood. They did it before I could remember, and here I am. Their tool for war though they likely regretted it. The process turned the other candidate into a madman, and I joined the resistance before long. They’d have done better if they hadn’t bothered.”
She caught his eye in a challenging gaze. ”So whatever you have to say, I’d love to hear it. One ’ex-military experimental soldier’ to another?”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
’Bullshit!’
She wanted to spit it right in his smug face. The word nearly burst from her with the force of her will, but she muffled it despite every instinct screaming otherwise. Here he was, blaming her for not assuming he’d somehow learned magic between then and now! As though she could have intuitively read his mind!
’Bullshit!’ she wanted to yell. ’You smarmy, arrogant, son of a-!’
She took a long, deep breath. ”That changes. Nothing.” God, the words were hard. How was she supposed to stand here and act reasonable in the face of such a delusional ego? What would he do if they left him in the mountains right then? Then he’d realize just how clueless he really was. ”We’re working. Together. If something had changed, you should have told us. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked with someone before, but you can’t just shove people out of the way and try to make some statement. It was only wolves this time, but next time? You could get us all killed.”
She steadied herself. Where had she summoned that patience? He went on to ask about some girl -- some Seeress -- she’d never heard of, and she hummed a negative on the matter. He told her he was apparently a mage now. Excellent. That was all she needed to know.
”We’ll plan a formation then. Caius in front, you in back. Don’t go thrusting yourself into danger, but try to support us how you can. I’ll switch between.” Celes shoved a handful of hair behind her bandanna. The two of them would split her head with a migraine before too long.
’Breathe, Celes. Remember to breathe.’
With that said, she waited for Caius’ lead and started off only slightly behind him. At this altitude, the mountain was far more treacherous than it had been on her last hike through snow-laden paths, and secretly, she thanked everything she had that Caius had come along with her. The air was biting -- almost painful even for her. She kept casting fire spells on herself just to keep the chill at bay, holding it in her hands and in her blood like torchlight. The wind howled around them, tussling snow across the path in drifting banks. She kept her focus on the map. If they lost the path, they could very well die of exposure.
Still, the time alone gave her time to think. Not that that was necessarily a good thing. Left to herself, she ruminated on her last conversations in endless circles. After several hours of walking and fighting, she rubbed at her arms and glanced at Caius. ”I’m...sorry. If I was a little sharp before. My patience is spread a little thin, I guess.” She shot him a wry smirk. ”Not the best company.”
She glanced behind at her at where the emperor still struggled to keep up. He’d been muttering unpleasantly under his breath the whole time, and she’d wondered more than once if he’d simply keel over from the strain of their hike.
”I know he hasn’t done anything wrong exactly, but…” She bit her tongue. ”I guess his type tends to rub me the wrong way. I’m not really a fan of emperors no matter what shape they take, and someone like him…” She let out a short huff of air. ”Well. I can’t stand people who think they’re better than the rest of us.”
The air was starting to thin at this altitude. She felt it spin in her head though she doubted it was dangerous. Not yet anyway. They walked a narrow, unstable precipice with a cliff looming over then on one side and another dropping sharply to the other. In the distance, she could make out the shapes of other mountain peaks, and beyond that, snow-covered valleys twinkling in the waning sunlight. It was beautiful in its own way. She could have lost herself in it.
”Caius?” She looked off, thoughtful. ”It’s been a rough ride between us. I know that. But. I guess I’m glad that I’m here with you. I’m not usually comfortable around people, but…” What was she saying? Her head swam with the thinning air. Her ears hummed with a crackling of whine. Had she misjudged the effects? But no. She didn’t feel any less steady. Celes looked up into the mountains, frowning, and then she stopped, eyes wide in realization.
”Are those...wind chimes?”
They were, or at least she thought so. The sound reached them in light notes carried on the wind. Celes looked to Caius intently. ”That’s them! It has to be. We’re almost there!” Celes felt herself brighten into a smile. ”Well? Lead the way!”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
To her eternal relief, he raised his hands for her and didn’t put up a fight. She did exactly as she said, in fact, though that didn’t make her feel any better. There was something about that look in his eye, the odd satisfaction he still carried with him. It reminded her of the rebels she’d dealt with during her time with the empire -- the ones too far-gone to ever concede. The man’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous fanaticism. His voice was even worse.
”So. What is it you plan to do with me, away from the crowds, I wonder?” The words slithered like something in the dark. She was suddenly relieved that his view of her was obscured. She didn’t want him to see her shoulders tensing. ”You had your near-justified chance to end me. Or, is it that you don’t want to make a scene?”
Her lips pursed. He was right in a way. If she’d wanted violence, she would have taken her chance while she had the reason. Now that he was at her mercy, exerting her power much further would be nothing short of cold-blooded. While Celes was no stranger to the insult, she knew fully well she wasn’t capable of murder.
While this man almost certainly was. She wasn’t ignorant of her significant disadvantage.
”It’s as I said. You need to leave.” It wasn’t as strong of an answer as she’d have liked, but she couldn’t think of any more forceful when they both knew she wouldn’t act unprovoked. ”I’m keeping the peace. And I’m not budging until whatever came over you passes. I’m not about to let someone die in front of me if I can help it.”
She knew her stance had softened, knew her words no longer carried the same weight they had before, but there wasn’t anything she could do. She didn’t have some grand plan in mind. She didn’t actually hold any authority. All that she had was magic and a sword -- a far cry from her days as a general.
Still, her resolution didn’t waver and neither did her grip. She led him forward until the path merged into country road. The air was quieter here beneath a half-lit moon. It calmed her just a little to be away from the bustle and the muttering. With any luck, he’d feel the same.
She released him, touching at her sword immediately afterwards in case he decided to attack her. She kept her eyes careful, her stance ready. Still, away from anyone he might hurt, she couldn’t help but to try to reason with him.
”We don’t need any more trouble,” she said before she stopped, biting her tongue. ”I’m Celes. And I guess I like giving people more credit than they deserve.” She smirked faintly. ”I haven’t always been the most peaceful person myself, so I have to believe in second chances. Even if it's a terrible idea.” She shifted just enough to tilt her head at him.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Caius reacted exactly as Celes feared he would. He’d brightened at the sight of her, introduced himself to Relm with a welcoming fervor, and then paused as he realized what it meant. His smile flickered and then died. If anything, Celes had underestimated his disgust.
”You wish to put a child in harm's way.” His voice was even, his eyes cool. Celes couldn’t help but wince at his tone. ”Is that what you're telling me?"
”Well…” He might have been blunt, but he wasn’t wrong. That was exactly what she was doing, wasn’t it? If it had been anyone else, she would have relented, but when it came to Relm… ”I know how it sounds,” she said. ”I tried to keep her from it, but she insisted, and I honestly couldn’t argue. At the of it all, she was one of our world’s strongest fighters -- man, woman, or child. Certainly stronger than, say, Locke or Setzer. I started at her age so who am I to stop her?”
Relm was more than happy to demonstrate. She pulled out her sketchpad and brought her brush to it excitedly, flicking it about almost faster than Celes could follow. In less than a minute, her sketch was completed, and Celes blinked slowly as her own face reflected from its pages.
Sick realization struck her the moment before it happened. Relm had drawn her. She was about to leap from her sketchpad.
”Relm, don’t-!” She started, but the spell had already been cast. In a flash of light, another figure stood beside her -- herself. Celes stared at her own reflection. It seemed for all the world as thought a full-length mirror had thrust itself before her except the image came clear and unaltered. She felt her stomach twist at the sight of it, felt her cheeks warm in a kind of idle nausea. ”Oh.” It was the only noise she could manage. Did she really look so…harsh?
She hardly noticed Caius relenting -- for a trial run at least. She hardly noticed his attention turn to her, his reservations, his warnings. Because her doppleganger stood there with an oddly dead look to its eyes. It was perfect in every way, but it didn’t move right -- or rather, it didn’t move enough. This magical projection didn’t need air the way she did, didn’t fidget or sway in idle movements that came naturally to everything truly alive. Celes couldn’t shake the subconscious warnings that the thing might attack, that it might replace her in some ghoulish act of rebellion. But of course this was Relm. She’d do nothing of the sort, and Celes had seen her portraits disappear countless times for herself. But still…
The feeling couldn’t be reasoned with. Celes refused to take her eyes off the thing.
”A test…” It came as an echo almost beyond her control. ”Yes, I don’t think she’d...mind.” Celes tore her attention away for half a second, shooting Relm a sharp glance. ”Could you get rid of this thing? It’s distracting.”
With that said, she took breath and tried to steady herself. What had Caius said? Relm wouldn’t be ready to travel and fight dangerous monsters? That they ought to test her to make certain they wouldn’t need to protect her in battle? All reasonable objections, she supposed, and ones that Relm would be more than happy to prove wrong. She hummed to herself.
”Well, she’s fought worse than behemoths before.” A sad statement now that she said it out loud and away from catastrophe, but there it was. ”And she’d just be alone in the city if she couldn’t follow us, and isn’t that more neglectful than letting her fight?” In truth, that wasn’t much of a concern for Celes, but she supposed Relm might get lonely eventually. Or maybe she wouldn’t. What did Celes know about children?
”Back then, we usually fought in groups of four or less so the battlefield wasn’t too crowded. She’ll prove herself flawlessly, and you’ll see for yourself that she’s a valuable asset. If we’re to grow our numbers, she’s an obvious place to start. She’s already living with me, after all.”
Celes crossed her arms. She couldn’t help but imagine the doppleganger doing the same, and the thought chilled her. Was that really what she looked like? So cold and uncompromising? She unfolded them slowly. ”Well, Relm? Do you think you’re up to the challenge?”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The man was slow on the uptake, not surprising with all the volts he’d taken to the head. He blinked slowly, blankly, as the wheels turned behind his fiery eyes. The moment was quiet, but that was nothing more than an illusion. Celes could tell he hadn’t wilted. The will had not left his eyes. Instead, a spiteful mask spread thin across his eyes and he grinned up at her like wild thing she’d find in the shadows.
”Of course, General,” he spat, and Celes recoiled.
”How did you-?” she started before quickly cutting herself off and forcing her gaze hard again. No, she wouldn’t lose focus. No matter what he’d heard or knew or intuited, that didn’t matter now. She would keep her focus. She couldn’t afford to lose it.
He said that he knew when to stop, but his sneer told her otherwise. No, he was only waiting. Only biding his time. Part of her knew that lives would be saved if she only ended him now, but that would be nothing more than murder. She’d pinned the man helplessly beneath her, and so she had no choice but to spare him. At least until he inevitably turned.
She sparked the magic in her hand and glanced back towards his hand. His gun had fallen out of his grasp but still waited almost within reach. She used one boot to kick it several feet away -- not enough he couldn’t lunge, but enough that she’d have time if he tried. She kept her eyes on the man even as she felt the gaze of others on them both. ”Everyone, move! He’s still dangerous!” She watched him as she heard feet scuffling, heard hushed muttering, heard words that weren’t as kind to her as she’d have hoped. All the while, her heart pounded harder in her chest.
Why weren’t they moving faster? Every second she held them at this stalemate was a second he had to think. Even as she pinned the man beneath her, she was vulnerable.
Only once the footsteps had faded did she move again. ”You're going to stand,” she said. ”But my spell is charged, and you don’t want to be on the wrong end of it. Leave with me and no one gets hurt.” She grabbed the front of his strange clothes and heaved him towards her, spell hand still at the ready. Only then did she lift herself off him. She moved carefully, not rolling off sideways, but rising to her feet and dragging him with her. Standing, he had a good four inches on her, but she kept her eyes glowering, her stance powerful.
He may have had height, but she had power.
She spun him around forcibly, one hand clutching his back and the other ready between his shoulder blades. ”Walk.”
