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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.
Celes laughed a little at his proposition. Maybe it was the abruptness of it all or maybe it was from the blood loss, but she just couldn’t help it. ”With me?” she repeated before considering it again. ”Maybe…” Honestly, that wouldn’t be such a terrible idea. Wasn’t she always complaining about the dull jobs Setzer had put her on? And wasn’t she always longing to return to the ways of the sword like she’d done before?
”Maybe. As long as I come back here every once in a while.” She glanced at him almost cautiously. Was she really doing this again? ”I mean. I’m far more useful with a sword than I am with money. The friend I’m staying with. His grand idea is to fix up an airship using all the profits from this casino he set up.” She rolled her eyes. ”It’s absurd, but it’s very like him. It’s just not very like me.”
Celes took a long breath before gritting her teeth and forcing herself to her feet. She swayed a little in the heels of her boots, stumbling once as her vision went black again before everything stopped spinning and she regained her balance. ”I should have used a stronger spell,” she hissed before shaking her head and turning to look at him. ”Well. Thanks for the help. Even if you were the one in trouble in the first place. I should have kept my guard up, but you know. Magic. It has a way of leaving you more vulnerable than you’d like.”
She paused before brushing some loose hair behind her ear. ”And if you’re serious about working together sometime…” She felt heat rise to her cheeks. ”Well. I wouldn’t mind. Maybe I could show you some spells. I don’t know if you could use them with that ‘king magic’ of yours, but it’s worth a try.” Why was her heart pounding so fast? Stupid. She hated talking like this, and asking to work together? What kind of impression would that give?
”If you want, I mean.” Her fingers twisted together as she looked away to eye a nearby bed of flowers. ”It seems you can handle yourself.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Magic was, in a word, confusing. Caius said that he knew what it was, but he’d never seen a curative spell before. He seemed to have at least a passing familiarity with it, but he wondered if she could teach him. The thought almost made her laugh. Why were all of these world so different from her own?
”That depends. Do you have any magicite?” she said and then paused, shaking her head. ”Sorry. I guess my tongue’s a little sharp when I’m light-headed. No, I can’t teach you. Magic was infused into my blood when I was a girl. Like I said before, it’s not exactly a common power back where I’m from.” No, there was only Terra, herself, and Kefka. The three most active agents in ruining the world.
It’s not something for us to have, Celes thought for nowhere near the first time. Power only led to war and destruction. No one had the right to meddle with it.
Caius told her the story she’d asked for without much hesitation. In fact, he was quite good at stories if she was feeling honest. There was a certain edge to his voice that caught her attention as though she herself were in his shoes -- negotiating prices, escorting men through the forest, slaying monsters. It was all a very familiar story for her, at least until the twist.
Caius had inadvertently helped a group of bandits to their target. At first, Celes felt her blood rise -- Why hadn’t he turned against them? Why had he merely gone on his way? Didn’t he care? -- before he revealed that he’d told the town guard as soon as he was able. The bandits had been ambushed, their numbers decimated. Celes bit her tongue considering his words.
No, he’d been right. It was obvious that Caius knew his way around a sword, but almost no one could stand up to an army and live. If he’d attacked straight-on, he would have been quickly overwhelmed. Celes knew that all too well. Standing alone between violent madmen and their atrocities only got you a solitary cell and a morning execution. Caius had been right in the end, and Celes herself would have just died.
”Oh,” was all she could say for a moment. She still didn’t know what to make of the story or of Caius himself, so she nudged their conversation in a different direction. ”I do the same kind of work myself. Not the part where you helped bandits, obviously, but monster slaying. Escort missions. That sort of thing.”
Celes shifted her weight and paused as her vision darkened, buzzed, and then returned. How much blood had she lost? ”I found a friend in the city. He’s…eccentric but he’s had me staying with him for weeks now. To be honest, I rather miss camping on the sides of mountains, fighting wolves and what not, but I’d be longing for a familiar face in days if I left again. That’s how it always was before.”
Celes paused, stopping herself. She felt her cheeks warm as she looked down to eye the dried grass beneath her fingers. Why was she telling him so much?
”I mean. I understand where you’re coming from. That’s what I meant.” She bit her tongue. ”If I’d've been in your shoes, I probably would have come off worse than you did.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The woman was...off-putting. She wasn’t hurt at least, and she didn’t seem hostile, but there was a definite chill to her mannerisms and an unfriendliness that set even Celes on edge. ’Ice Queen. The word resurfaced from the hundreds of times that it had been used to slander Celes herself, but she couldn’t think of a better time to use it than now. Despite the bloodshed and the lives lost and the unexpected twists of the day, this swordswoman didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed. Celes wondered what she’d been through, how old she was, and whether it was all a mask.
”I’m not from here, no,” Celes answered, but she didn’t care as much about what was being said as the body language between them. The swordswoman might as well have plastered a sign across her forehead reading: I don’t care what you do, just don’t get in my way.
”I’ll...just be over here then. Let me know if you find someone in need of magic. I suppose.” So formal. Pragmatic. It felt almost odd to be the less professional of the two in any conversation. As Celes glanced at the woman and hesitantly started off in search of survivors, she couldn’t help but wonder at how much she’d changed since her more militant days. Not so long ago, she would have relished the silence and the efficiency of pure action. Now she felt just the slightest bit put off at this woman’s purely practical demeanor.
’Not so much as a thank you,’ she thought bitterly as she slipped inside one of the disheveled cottages and glanced through the ransacked crates and clothing and coin purses. ’Hello, it’s a pleasure to fight alongside you. Might I ask your name? I’m quite alright, and you?’ Celes felt her lips purse at the thought.
Had she really gone so soft as to expect niceties on a battlefield?
From somewhere in the shadows, she heard whimpering. Celes froze and looked towards it. ”Hello?” she started and then added, ”I’m not here to hurt you. I can help.” When she received no answer, she started towards it herself only to find...nothing. Just an empty stretch of cottage and walls and slatted wooden floors. She frowned. ”Is someone there?” she tried again, but no. Nothing.
”Hm.” Her instincts weren’t usually wrong, but she supposed she didn’t have time to waste. She gave the room one last sweep before shaking her head and turning to leave.
Her boot caught on debris. She let out a muffled shout as her ankle rolled and she staggered in her heels to keep balance. Celes cursed, gripped the edge of a broken table and looked down. Under the torn cloth and wood dust, something metallic bulged from the floor. A latch.
Celes grabbed her ankle, checked it for fractures (nothing, thankfully), and limped towards the obtrusive thing. It was nearly buried there beneath all of the ruin, but it was unmistakable. Celes took a breath, gripped it, and heaved. The wood bulged, creaked, and then swung open with a painful groan.
There were shouts below her. Gasps. Shuffling. Celes squinted into the darkness and blinked at the shadows there. People, huddled and terrified. ”It’s okay!” she tried maybe a little too quickly. ”I can help! I’m here to help! I came from the city! Do you...Do you want to come out?”
There was a long silence as they stayed there, staring at her. Celes let out a slow breath. She’d lost her sense of authority, it seemed. She was too frazzled. Too uncertain. She needed to find her resolve.
”You’ll come with me.” She spoke slower now. Colder. There was still a general inside of her yet. ”I’ll heal anyone who needs it and we’ll go to the city. Do you understand?”
Silence again. She shot the huddled masses a sharp look. ”Do you understand?”
There were murmurs. More shifting. It would have to do.
”Good.” Celes slowly rose to her feet, taking care to not put more weight than was needed on her ankle. ”Then follow me.”
***
The victims were scared. Quiet. Ragged. They didn’t trust her, Celes knew that, but they didn’t have to. She’d seen it all too many times before. War orphans. Refugees. The people of the wastelands. Maybe they’d recover in time or maybe they wouldn’t, but Celes had to keep a level head to lead them forward. It was all she could do now. The only thing she could do.
As she reached the entrance to the village, she searched almost instinctively for the swordswoman with the cool demeanor. Even if Celes didn’t like her much, she was the only help there was this far out, and they needed to work together. ”Hello?” she called again, head tilted as she turned in place to look for her. ”Are you still here? Do you...need help?”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes was used to scenes of bloodshed. Part of her wondered what it meant that she didn’t recoil at the sight of glazed eyes, purple lips, and torn throats, but another part of her was grateful for it. It meant that she could keep her eyes ahead of her, focused on the task at hand.
Ahead of her, the sound of movement. Voices. There was the woman she’d heard, and then a man -- gruff and on the edge of panic. There was a thud of flesh hitting pavement, a scuffle, the soft schlick of a blade through flesh, and then another heavy thump. Celes paused where she lurked behind a cracked wall, shoulder pressed against the sharp edges of peeled paint as she listened. The woman’s voice continued: ”Lousy brigands. That should never have had to happen. You could have lived a long and prosperous life.”
Celes let out a breath. If there was anything she could have heard to gain her trust, it was that. She gathered her resolve and stepped from behind her cover.
The scene before her was as tragic as it was predictable. Four men, slain and strewed across the ground in pools of blood. Their clothes were ragged -- their skin scarred from years of battle. And standing before them was a single figure: the woman. She had an almost stoic look to her with her short-cut hair and her squared stance. Just from the first glance, Celes knew that she was no stranger to battle. Her armor gleamed in the sunlight beneath a long and frayed cloak.
”Are you hurt?” Celes said and then froze, realizing she might have startled the poor woman. ”Ah, I mean. I’m not with them.” She raised her hands as though to prove it. ”I fought a band of them, actually. You’ll find them stiff as ice in the forest back there. I came when I heard...Well. What happened. I guess I wasn’t fast enough.” Her eyes wandered to the rising smoke in the distance and to what she knew she’d find in those houses. It made her stomach turn.
”Are you from here?” Her gaze snapped to the woman again. ”I know magic. I mean, if there’s any wounded. I can. Well. Help.” For some reason, she felt her cheeks flare hotter the longer she spoke. Where was her usual confidence? ”If they need it.”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
”Caius.” That was the man’s name. He almost managed to sound casual despite everything they’d just been through. Like they’d simply met on the street rather than in some kind of impromptu gang fight. Somehow it made the whole situation even more awkward than before. ”I'd like to be here to make sure you have the strength left to fix that wound, if that's alright with you.”
”Oh.” Celes felt her cheeks heat again. Just how bad did she look? She craned her neck to check on the wound again, but no. The angle wasn’t right. She could see blood and she winced as the movement stretched her wound, but she couldn’t see where the knife had been. ”Really. I can take care of myself. But...thanks.” The last word came almost a little begrudgingly. She hated needing anyone else to look after her, but then, she supposed if it hadn’t been for him…
Well, if it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in a street fight to begin with, but she’d let that slide for now.
Celes let out a low groan as she lowered herself onto the grass. There were still eyes on her coming from the road, from the alleyways, and from the storefronts that lined them, but she couldn’t go much farther without taking care of herself. It would have to do, even as the attention pressed in around her like demon walls.
”Cura.” The spell came almost whispered as she stretched to touch her own wound. The effect was immediate, if not complete. She felt a warm numbing sensation and then the odd pressure of skin melding back together. It wasn’t enough -- she could feel that even now -- but it would do for a time. As the pain died down, Celes let out a sigh of relief before pausing to glance almost sheepishly to Caius. ”Magic,” she explained. ”I don’t know how familiar you are with it. Back where I’m from, that little trick would have left you speechless.” She didn’t know why she was still talking. Maybe it was a nervous habit or maybe the spell had left her light-headed. Either way, her tongue felt a little looser now than it usually was. She rolled her shoulder, relishing in her own fluid movement even as the sore muscles left her grimacing.
”Too bad my jacket’s ruined. I guess I’ll have to wear my armor until I can get it fixed. Not that I much mind. If I’d had my pauldrons, this wouldn’t have happened.” Celes touched distastefully at the blood stains again before glancing at Caius. ”So do you want to explain what that was, or will I be left to make my own assumptions?”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
”Caius.” That was the man’s name. He almost managed to sound casual despite everything they’d just been through. Like they’d simply met on the street rather than in some kind of impromptu gang fight. Somehow it made the whole situation even more awkward than before. ”I'd like to be here to make sure you have the strength left to fix that wound, if that's alright with you.”
”Oh.” Celes felt her cheeks heat again. Just how bad did she look? She craned her neck to check on the wound again, but no. The angle wasn’t right. She could see blood and she winced as the movement stretched her wound, but she couldn’t see where the knife had been. ”Really. I can take care of myself. But...thanks.” The last word came almost begrudgingly. She hated needing anyone else to look after her, but then, she supposed if it hadn’t been for him…
Well, if it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in a street fight to begin with, but she’d let that slide for now.
Celes let out a low groan as she lowered herself onto the grass. There were still eyes on her coming from the road, from the alleyways, and from the storefronts that lined them, but she couldn’t go much farther without taking care of herself. It would have to do, even as the attention pressed in around her like demon walls.
”Cura.” The spell came almost whispered as she stretched to touch her own wound. The effect was immediate, if not complete. She felt a warm numbing sensation and then the odd pressure of skin melding back together. It wasn’t enough -- she could feel that even now -- but it would do for a time. As the pain died down, Celes let out a sigh of relief before pausing to glance almost sheepishly to Caius. ”Magic,” she explained. ”I don’t know how familiar you are with it. Back where I’m from, that little trick would have left you speechless.” She didn’t know why she was still talking. Maybe it was a nervous habit or maybe the spell had left her light-headed. Either way, her tongue felt a little looser now than it usually was. She rolled her shoulder, relishing in her own fluid movement even as the sore muscles left her grimacing.
”Too bad my jacket’s ruined. I guess I’ll have to wear my armor until I can get it fixed. Not that I much mind. If I’d had my pauldrons, this wouldn’t have happened.” Celes touched distastefully at the blood stains again before glancing at Caius. ”So do you want to explain what that was, or will I be left to make my own assumptions?”
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Another day, another battle.
Celes steadied her sword before her. Her stance shifted almost instinctively. Despite the adrenaline and the panic and the desperation in the air, this was where she felt most comfortable. On the battlefield. Watching her own back. Knowing that every move could end in tragedy. Celes let out a slow breath and willed her fingers to stop trembling. This was what she’d been raised for more or less. To make snap decisions that held hundreds of lives in her hands. To bury conflicts before they could truly arise. Even now, Celes was a soldier in her blood. Even now, she understood the tactics of battle better than the twists of conversation.
The bandits descended upon her exactly as she’d hoped they would -- overconfident, aggressive, and traveling in numbers. She caught at least eight of them emerging from the forest as one, and they hadn’t bothered with caution. In the seconds before she incurred their wrath, she started a low chant that roused the latent magic inside her. It bristled at the edges of her skin and chilled her breath as she exhaled slowly. The spell released without bombast. There were no thunder clouds, no strikes from the heavens, and no crash like the earth itself had caved. No, this time there was only a sharp crack as the heat drained from everything in front of her. Grasses stiffened and then frosted over. The wind carried with it a terrible, biting chill, and at least six of the offending bandits froze solid where they stood and toppled over like off-balance statues.
The rest fled -- or rather, limped -- into the safety of the trees. Celes tensed and side-stepped to get a better look behind her, but no. None of them had thought to circle around while she was vulnerable. Despite their bombast and bloodlust, they really had been just as weak and stupid as childhood bullies. Except, of course, for all the robbery and murder.
Celes sheathed her sword and started towards the town again. Her boots cracked on frozen earth as she crossed her own path of destruction. She’d made the right call, it seemed. Magic was the best way to dispatch them, but she never could have tried something like this when civilians were in danger. They still were, she assumed, back in the main stretch of town. But she’d dealt a heavy blow. Now, she’d need to clean up the rest with more pointed tactics.
Celes’ grip tightened on her sword as she ducked behind the thick trunk of a mango tree. She knelt there in the rotten leaves and listened for the sounds of danger that she knew to be just around the corner. She heard something not too far away. The clink of a sword? And a woman’s voice? Celes took the distraction in stride and charged forward, still half-crouching, into the town itself. The sounds of combat were getting closer.
Whoever was holding off the remaining bandits, she’d find them soon enough.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes had never been one to keep to her own business. She should’ve been back in the city helping Setzer earn their keep. She should have stuck to small errands and keeping the peace and giving Setzer some kind of easy peace of mind. But Celes had always been a woman of greater ambitions. She was the type most comfortable in the midst of changing history, and she was hardly the type to follow instead of lead. And so, when she’d heard that there was trouble in one of the villages outside of official protection, she’d left for it without a second thought.
She’d razed enough towns in her life that she couldn’t afford to ignore one in danger. It was all a matter of principle.
Unfortunately, it seemed she was one of the few that shared those principles. She had to duck behind a thicket of trees the moment she came close enough to see them. Bandits. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of them -- hazy in the distance. She could tell who they were by the way they moved -- straight backed, lumbering, projecting the kind of strength only ever put on for show. There were shouts behind that. Scuffles. Celes didn’t know if anyone else had come or where they might be, but she knew a bad situation when she saw one. If the bandits had holed up in this town, then there wasn’t anything she could do that wouldn’t put innocent lives in danger.
Celes felt her jaw clench. It had been far easier when she’d been the invading force.
There was a scream not far away. A child’s scream. There wasn’t time to strategize. Celes bit her tongue and thought hard. What would the others have done? Locke would have disguised himself and tried to slip inside unnoticed, but she didn’t have a chance of managing that. Sabin would have charged in, fists swinging. Edgar would have lingered at the edges, taking them out one by one with his gadgets and tools. But Celes wasn’t charismatic, stupid, or patient enough for any of that. What she needed was a way to draw them out. A distraction. Something flashy…
Celes straightened, clasped her hands together, and ran. Not towards the village, but in the other direction out into the thick foliage. The underbrush caught at her boots as she went, but she kept moving, muttering under her breath as she went. Her magic burned hot in her veins. It simmered on her tongue, and she released it with a sharp cry of ”Thundaga!”
Nearly half a mile from the village’s center, a thick bolt of violet struck down from the sky. It scorched through the air, sizzling like a flame before striking the earth in a violent crash of thunder. Celes winced at the sound, at the heat, and the blinding light that followed. The sky was clear and so was her message. ’Here I am. Come and get me.’ It was bold and more than a little reckless, but she’d rather put her life in danger than anyone else’s. Whatever came at her, she could take it. Maybe she’d even deserve it. But the people in there…
Celes’ grip tightened on her sword as she turned to face whatever might come.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes had a way of making herself known. All eyes were on her as she spoke. Maybe it was her commanding tone. More likely it was the magic that still glinted from her fingertips in sparks of blue. The glacier between them shimmered in the sun, letting off dry smoke before shattering into pieces. For a moment, the air was heavy with shocked silence.
Then one of them -- a blonde man wearing a heavy black coat -- turned to give her an exasperated look. ”Hey, don't lump me in with them! It's a one-sided fight here, I'm just defending myself!”
”What?” she spat back at him, but if nothing else, it certainly appeared to be true. She saw it in the way the rest of the thugs turned to face her almost in unison. She saw it in the sparkling hostility in their expressions and that oh-so-familiar flash of indignation that came from being talked down to by a woman. Celes’ lips pursed her disapproval. Of course they were about to attack her. Of course they were. That’s how she knew who to take sides with, after all.
Still, she couldn’t help but chastise them with a disbelieving, ”Really?” as the first swords swung in her direction. She blocked the first with the blade of her own and then dodged back, hands already clasped together for another spell. ”After that?” But of course they didn’t listen to her. They just kept swinging away and advancing with a few vulgar shouts that she’d heard too many times before. She didn’t really want to hurt them. Not when everything felt so very one-sided, but she’d promised to end the fight and she intended to follow through on that promise. So she rolled her eyes, dodged back, and shot a sharp glance to the blonde man who’d claimed to be a victim.
”If I can trust you, then cover me!” she told him before lowering her head and starting her incantations. The magic shot through her blood in bolts she could barely contain. Her eyes shot open as her chanting ended and she saw them again. Men. Simple men with foul intentions, maybe, but people all the same. Celes grit her teeth and restrained her power at the last second. She didn’t need to kill them. Just to stun. Just to punish.
”Thundara!”
The square was alight in violet lashes of electricity. It crashed in successive cracks like a bullwhip, striking them once, twice, three times, and more…
It didn’t kill anyone. At least not that she could tell. The ones that missed the blast back-pedaled, shouting something she couldn’t hear over the thunderclaps as they scrambled away. The ones that were hit doubled over, convulsing with the shockwaves that thrashed within their blood. When the last strike faded, the air still popped with static like fairy lights in the morning shadows. Celes heard groans. She saw movement. But she’d finished them just like she’d said.
Celes let out a sharp breath before turning to look at the blonde man beside her. There was a rush of air, a growled curse, and she started a side-step just in time for hot pain to pierce the back of her shoulder.
The blade wrenched from her flesh with a sickening squelch that nearly blinded her. She’d missed one. Maybe he’d escaped through an alleyway to take her from behind. Maybe she just hadn’t noticed him before in the chaos. But here she was, inches away from the breath of a man bent on revenge at the edge of a dripping knife. She grasped at her shoulder and the blood oozing beneath her fingertips, gritting her teeth as she reached to pull up her sword, but her arm wouldn’t cooperate and he was close. Too close.
Celes stumbled back as the man raised his knife to strike.
Should've warned you. Celes gets kind of sharp when she's mad.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes was right. Nothing would come to hurt her in the marketplace that morning. In fact, everything would have been completely peaceful if she’d just ignored the first gunshot.
The sound of it ripped through the peace of the morning marketplace like a magitech fire beam. One moment there was nothing but lethargy and seeping impatience and the next, every pair of eyes had frozen on the scene in front of them. A crowd was gathered on the outer limits of the square, all armed, and as the gunshot rang out, one of them grabbed his shoulder, doubled over, and howled as blood seeped through. With that howl, the spell was broken. People were running. Vendors were ducking behind their stalls. And Celes grabbed for her sword.
She didn’t know what was going on, and it was impossible to tell motives in the chaos. All she knew was that something had invoked violence in this place, and that if it wasn’t stopped, more people would be hurt. So she rushed forward where others ran away, pulling her sword as she went running into the chaos.
There were men emerging from the alleyways. Men swinging knives. Men clutching at bloody wounds, and one in a dark, duster jacket twirling around with his blades and firing bullets. Celes blinked at them all and dodged a few misplaced attacks coming her way before her eyebrows furrowed. The words snapped from her tongue like sharpened steel. ”Excuse me!”
Nothing. Of course not. They were all too hyped up on blood lust and rage to think. So she tried it again. ”Stop this! All of you!” She got a swipe of a knife for her effort. Stumbling back as she blocked it with the edge of her sword, she felt her blood chill with raw energy. ”Oh, for the love of-!” She shot the man a cool look before thrusting her hands together, muttering a few words, and letting the magic erupt from her in waves. ”Blizzaga!”
A chill wind seized the air, and between the two factions, a glacier cracked from the dusty street, growing in size and width exponentially until it stood a good five feet tall and three feet wide. The light alone from it would have been enough to steal the attention of frenzied lions and the temperature shift was enough to bring a shiver from anyone but her. Celes stood there with her stance squared and her shoulders back as shocked and treacherous eyes turned her way. She turned her chin up at them.
”Look at where you are!” Her voice was raised. Not a yell, but a scolding that carried with it the strength of a general reigning in unruly troops. ”Swinging knives! Shooting at each other! Stop this, all of you, before someone gets hurt!” She gestured at the surrounding storefronts and apartment buildings, at the stalls still with cowering shopkeepers beneath them, and at the cautious crowd gathered on the fringes of the square. ”Take this somewhere else or I’ll end it for you!”
