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year 5, quarter 3
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Post by Celes Chere on Sept 27, 2017 8:17:25 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@war
I've thrown Celes into a weird number of burning buildings...
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes didn’t think as she breathed the damp scent of evening dew and air pollution. She wasn’t alone, but the public space had cleared a little with the coming night. Street lamps buzzed to life above her. Far away, a lonely cricket chirped its solitude. If Celes closed her eyes, she thought of metal walkways and the distant grinding of experimental mechs.
Vector had never seemed to close and yet so very far away.
Zack wouldn’t understand. There was darkness inside of him, certainly. Some kind of secret that he’d never share and she’d never press, but he wasn’t like her. He was the kind of spring ahead without a thought in the world, eyes set on the future and living in the now. He didn’t wake up in the night wondering where he was and how any of it could even be real. He didn’t strike out without a word just so he wouldn’t feel the eyes of those who would never understand. He didn’t long for the worst times in his life just so he could be certain of something.
Vector had been a nightmare. An efficient, rigidly regimented nightmare of engine exhaust and sheet metal, but at least she’d known where she stood. Celes slowed her step, eyes trailing up until they dulled on a flurry of insects buzzing about a street light. What did she still have to do here? There was Zack, certainly, but what was even the point…?
The explosion came without warning. One moment, the street was almost silent but for the shuffling of feet. The next, there was fire. Celes froze at the wave of sound that met her. She saw it down the street – raging orange light and the bitter smell of ash. Her stomach churned. Her heart stopped. And then, from amidst the collapsing wood and crack of broken glass, there came a call.
”Fire! Fire!”
A voice. A woman. In the flames.
Celes feet were moving before the thought hit. Her boots pounded against slick asphalt as she hurtled herself towards the fire. People were gathering in a frightened semi-circle around the site. Celes pushed her way through, shoving so hard that she heard bodies hit the ground but she didn’t stop to look at them. The front of the shop was still standing, though the windows had shattered. Celes cursed her own incompetence. Why had she gone anywhere in civilian clothes? Why had she left her sword behind? Celes reached for the door – too hot – before thrusting her hands together and spurring the magic in her blood. A few muttered spells and the walls were coated in frost. Celes threw open the door and ducked inside, hand raised against the flames that were far, far too close.
Post by Celes Chere on Aug 18, 2017 12:47:23 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
Oh god. You've unlocked Celes' SUPER PISSED OFF RAGE
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The man laughed at her. Even as her gaze sharpened. Even as she barked her orders like the general she was, he laughed.
”My dear,” he said, gesturing at a point behind him. ”I wandered upon this cabin and nearly died from frost.” The words didn’t land immediately. She was still too shaken from the avalanche, too thrown by his nakedness, too enraged by his patronizing laughter to fully understand what he meant at first. ’Well that makes two of us,’ she wanted to snarl, but stopped herself before she could make the situation any worse. Instead she watched him as he explained his situation with all the smug pretension of a college professor arguing the color of the sky. He didn’t want to “catch his death from hypothermia.” He couldn’t wear anything until they’d dried. All of that was fine and well, but he acted as though she were the irrational one for not wanting to share a cabin alone with a naked stranger. If her teeth weren’t chattering, the words would have burned off her tongue. If she wasn’t still shaken, she would have scolded him a hundred times over for his sheer, infuriating cockiness, but she didn’t get the chance. Not until he’d affixed her with an almost forceful look and made the worst possible suggestion imaginable: ”I suggest you do the same unless you have a spare set of clothing.”
”What?!”
Her cheeks were on fire. She took a step back in recoil. Her tongue fell heavy as she stared at him, those words echoing hollowly through her head. Was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting?
”And don’t worry. You’ll find that I’m-…” He hesitated, struggling for the right words. ”Not stirred easily by the flesh.” He smirked at her as Celes felt her jaw fall slack.
”Excuse me?”
He continued on. Adding another log to the fire and talking about how they should “become better acquainted” and how they were trapped. ”I say this because, as you said, you have trapped us,” he pointed out, and Celes’ hand darted once again to her sword. She had so many words for him then. Even with her cheeks flaring so hot that they could have melted snow. Even with her complete shock. Even with his off-putting nudity, she wanted nothing more than to let her tongue strike sharp as her sword – safety be damned.
She wanted to slap that smarmy pretense off his lips. She wanted to teach him that there were consequences to his words that she wasn’t one to be trifled with. She wanted to belittle this man. This overconfident, unbelievable man who had the gall to suggest she cozy up to him naked.
This man who had told her not to worry because she wouldn’t interest him anyway.
Her fists clenched.
”As such, you may call me Mateus,” the man concluded. ”Hopefully it will be a pleasure to have met your acquaintance.”
Celes waited. She waited to see if there was any more. She waited for her own thoughts to catch up to her. She waited until all sound from his speech had faded and the cabin was completely silent but for the crackling of firewood. For a long, dreadful moment she waited.
Then she took a breath.
Counted to five.
And looked at him.
”I’m sorry that I didn’t die in an avalanche outside,” she started. ”And so sorry that I wasn’t expecting to find a naked man in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. You know. How silly of me! To be shocked by that!” Celes turned on her heel and started towards the other side of the cabin. She found a cabinet in the corner and knelt by it, opening the doors and rummaging through the supplies. ”The more I think about it, I shouldn’t have expected anything else! It must be karma. I’ve done something terrible and so I was caught in a blizzard with the most repulsive company imaginable!” She pulled out a box of candles, a handful of packaged beef jerky, and a lighter before standing and moving on.
”So no, I doubt it will be a pleasure. I don’t care much for weak men with their heads up their own asses.” She forced open a closet with her good arm and grimaced as her shoulder jerked from the effort. She hissed in pain, grabbing at her elbow to stabilize it. She needed to get it back in socket, but not until she’d deal with more important matters.
Her heart jumped as she caught sight of what she’d wanted most folded at the bottom of the closet. She grabbed it with her good hand and dragged it back to the fireplace. ”Here,” she said as she unfurled the quilted blanket and thrust it at him. ”At least spare me the sight.”
Her heart pounded with her own fury. She hadn’t talked like this since her days in Vector, and even then, only to the most impetuous of soldiers. She felt her cheeks flare with red even as her eyes narrowed. ”And don’t talk to me like that again. Telling me to…do the same..” Her mouth tightened in an uncertain line. ”I don’t care what you’re stirred by.”
Post by Celes Chere on Aug 15, 2017 14:05:05 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
Well this is going well.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes jumped, grabbing at her sword with her good hand as a laugh echoed from further in the cabin followed by a voice. ”So, does chaos become you or is this your idea of a grand entrance?” There was a shadow by the fireplace. Someone was trapped in here with her. A man. He rose to his feet, slowly unfurling himself to face her.
Celes felt the color drain from her cheeks. A fully naked man.
Time slowed. Her mind numbed. For a moment, there was only herself and the terrible sight in front of her as her eyes failed to grasp what had happened. Why? That was the first thought to return to her followed by What? and How? The Who? didn’t come until after the man had turned away from her and started towards a window. She stared after him in hollow terror.
She had seen naked men once or twice before while enlisted in the army. She’d walked in on Setzer changing once, and it wasn’t like the male form was a mystery to her, but those experiences had been short, mortifying ones that she’d quickly backed away from and avoided. There was no backing away now. She tried looking away, cheeks hot and breath shallow, but that wasn’t an option either. Not when he stood so confidently. So unabashedly as though demanding attention. Not when he could very well have been a threat..
So she stayed where she was, watching him in silent horror as he moved around the cabin, idly checking the windows and confirming that there was no escape. Celes flinched as he turned towards her again, her fingers tighter on her sword with every step he took closer. Then he just stopped. Looking at her. Why was he looking at her?
”Excuse my earlier rudeness.” He gave an almost formal bow, and for the first time, Celes noticed the elaborate jewels in his silky, waist-length hair. ”Being forced awake tends to sharpen my tongue unnecessarily.”
Celes stared at him. It was bizarre more than anything. His formal mannerisms. His complete confidence. His air of disregard all while being completely naked. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a kind of strained, uncertain hum. She closed it again as his tone softened to something almost compassionate.
”I’m no doctor, but we should probably attend to your arm,” he said, and Celes blinked.
”Oh! The word popped out without her thinking. She’d forgotten about her arm. It throbbed painfully against the nails embedded in her jacket. ”Ah, that’s alright, I’ll-“
”Come sit by the fire and let’s see what we can do.” His hand touched at the smooth skin of his hip as gesture elegantly towards the fireplace. Celes opened her mouth to object, but could manage nothing more than an uncertain ”Uh…?” The man was already moving without her, settling onto the cabin floor with his knees folded casually. Celes stared at him blankly, swallowed, and tried to find her voice again. When she managed, it had gone up nearly half an octave.
”No, no!” she squeaked. ”I’m fine! I’m-!” Celes closed her eyes and took a long, steadying breath. She was alone in a snowed in cabin in the middle of a blizzard. She was trapped inside with a mysterious and potentially helpful naked man. Those were the facts and she needed to approach them sensibly. When Celes opened her eyes again, they were as sharp as a viper’s glare. ”Will you put on some clothes already?!” The command cleared her head almost instantly. She struggled to her feet, wincing as the movement rattled her shoulder. She gripped it tighter, jaw tight.
”It’s a dislocated shoulder. I’ve dealt with it before, and I can do it again, but you’re not touching me until you’re clothed.” Celes let out a hissing breath between her teeth. There were still several feet between them, and while she longed for the heat of the fire against her numbed fingers, she refused to take a step closer. Hypothermia hadn’t claimed her yet, and she wouldn’t cozy up to a naked stranger for warmth until her life depended on it. And she wasn’t entirely certain about the idea even then.
”I’m sorry about the avalanche,” she added almost as an afterthought. ”We’ll have to wait out the blizzard before finding a way out of here.”
Post by Celes Chere on Jul 19, 2017 8:12:18 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@dust
So I did a thing...
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
The wind was a prison. The snow, her ball and chain. For days, Celes had followed the paths of Mount Hotan in search of a town she’d once done work for. She’d estimated it would take less than three days to reach it on foot, and she’d known the trails well enough that she hadn’t even bothered to stop for supplies on the way. Three days, she’d thought, she could make it on her own for three days.
And then the snow fell.
Celes was no stranger to snow. At first, she’d thought it no worse than Narshe, and she’d explored those caves with far worse dangers than this. But the snow was only the beginning. Then came the wind. The ice. Celes had always run cold-blooded (likely due to the power of Shiva coursing through her veins), but this was a kind of cold she’d never experienced before – not even through magic. She shivered with every step – teeth chattering, face stinging with unseen needles.
What had the people of Provo said to her? To expect extreme weather? She hadn’t really listened to them. She’d been too busy overturning every piece of flooded detritus, every rock, every last scrap of rubble, fearing with every passing hour that she’d find him – gray, mottled, and decaying in the water. She never found anything.
Zack was alive. He had to be, but he wasn’t in Provo, and she couldn’t stand the sight of the place any longer. There was the inn where they’d stayed together – washed out, flooded, and murky. There was the pub where they’d told each other of their damage – why hadn’t she ever told him more? Those streets, once filled with sunlight and his beaming smiles, were cloudy, damp, and decayed. No more of his ridiculous stories or his stupid jokes. His wild plans that she almost always shot down, even if she found them charming. Why had she taken it all for granted? Why had she kept herself so guarded? Why-?
Celes shivered violently. She should have stayed. She should have waited for him, but she hadn’t been thinking. Her feet had moved on their own. Surrounded by that grief and that loss and that destruction, that’s all she could think to do. Run, just like she always did. Run to the mountains where it was safe. Where she could live by herself. Where she couldn’t lose anyone. Where she could forget she’d ever lost at all.
And now she was lost in a blizzard.
Perhaps it was what she deserved.
Her boot slipped on ice. She took another weighted step forward. Ahead of her, there was nothing but white. Behind her – white. Before she’d left Provo, she’d had the foresight to buy a coat. Beyond that, she had her bag (with almost nothing left but a tent), and the civilian clothes she’d worn at the time of the flood. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough even as she stopped every few steps to warm herself with a fire spell. Her magic sparked in her blood, spurned by adrenaline and desperation alike. The cold had crept in like a poison. Numbing. Burning. The wind howled in her ears. Deafening.
One step. Then another. And another to she didn’t know where. Why had she left? Why couldn’t she stay to face him? Why-?
She didn’t hear the footsteps. Didn’t hear the swing. One second she was struggling to keep moving forward and the next something slammed into her from behind, knocking her five feet sideways into a sheer cliff face. Her skull cracked against stone. Her shoulder smashed into her bones – pain searing. She crumpled into the snow, grasping at her shoulder as she looked up to face the blackened silhouette above her – nearly ten feet tall. It looked like a man on two legs, towering, hulking, and covered in fur. Its face was ape-like and gray, canines bared in fury. She knew that face. Neither beast nor man and skulking about in snowy mountains.
It was a yeti.
“Stop! I’m not here to hurt you!” she cried, hand outstretched, but this yeti wasn’t Umaro. It hadn’t learned to speak, and instead gave a fierce-some roar. This time, she saw its arm swinging, saw the impending strike, and threw her hands together before it could land. A muttered word later and her blood burned with magic. Firaga. It unleashed from her with a roar all its own, like a sunburst of heat, light, and the licking tendrils of flame.
In that moment, four things happened: the yeti was thrown away from her, the snow around her dissipated, she caught sight of a cabin not thirty feet away, and there was a hideous cracking noise on the cliff above her. She threw herself to her feet, wincing at the movement in her shoulder, but stumbled as the ground beneath her trembled. Above her, another crack. Louder this time like the earth itself had broken. Celes stared in horror as the cliff’s icy sheets gave a terrible shudder.
An avalanche.
She was running before the thought had landed. Before she could catch her breath. Her boots slipped in the puddles of snow – quickly freezing. Every movement was agony in her shoulder, but she didn’t feel it. There was only the cabin. The cabin and that terrible crackling like the mountain itself would swallow her whole. She ran even as the wind whipped against her. Even as her vision darkened and her head spun. Celes didn’t bother with the handle as she reached the door – just rammed into it with her good shoulder and forced it open, throwing herself to the floor as the wood gave way. There was a great roar above her and the ground trembled again. Cursing, she grabbed for the door’s edge and threw it closed with her entire body, bracing herself against it as that roar grew louder. Louder. And then-
The cabin shuddered. Screamed. The whole world was shaking as the walls bowed and the snow howled. Celes nails dug into the wood, eyes closed, teeth tight as the air left her and her face heated.
Falling. Falling. The earth would swallow her. That roar – that terrible roar-!
As quickly as it had come, the cabin fell to silence again.
Celes’ breaths slowed. She forced her eyes open. There was a wooden floor beneath her. Wooden walls, and rustic furniture lit in firelight. Slowly, Celes let go of the door. Her fingers trembled as she grabbed at her wounded shoulder. The arm attached to it wouldn’t move right. Dislocated, likely. Celes let out a slow and shaking breath.
Not sure if this is any good, but it was a long time coming.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Zack fidgeted before leaning forward thoughtfully. Apparently, it hadn't been a terrible question because he answered it without resistance. “I don’t really have any plans, either. There’s a friend I need to find, but I’m willing to bet he’ll track me down long before I could do the same." For some reason, this made him laugh. Celes couldn't think of anything funny about searching for friends, but she smiled back at him regardless. Perhaps his friend was just the type to always know where he was going. Celes could think of a few people like that.
Zack's smile widened. “I think I’ll be taking a break from disasters, too," he said. "Maybe we can help each other avoid them.” Then for some reason, he blushed. Celes raised an eyebrow, but Zack had already turned his eyes to the sky as he leaned back casually. Had he said something embarrassing? Celes started to question him, but the waitress interrupted her before she could. After what Zack had said, Celes didn't like the way the woman stood there, eyeing him. Celes tried to shoot her a challenging look, but the woman hardly noticed her at all. Celes could feel her cheeks redden with every maddening moment. Would defending herself just make the situation seem all the more suspicious?
'I swear, he's just a friend. I hardly know him. Who would think that he and I were...?'
The moment passed, Zack paid the bill, made some joke, and stood. Celes watched the woman walk away before joining him. She'd never liked people who made judgments without speaking their minds. It reminded her of training in Vector.
'There goes the ice queen.' 'Who do you think she slept with to get that job?' 'Do you think I have a chance with her? I bet she's easy.'
Zack was watching her. “Do you want to, maybe...do something together? Take a walk, see the sights?”
"Hm?"
Zack was uncharacteristically nervous. He'd bowed in a way that was almost submissive, his fingers tapping on the table. It was so unusual for him that Celes nearly recoiled in surprise. Why was he uncomfortable? Was he worried about something?
Her stomach sank. Dear god, was this a date?
“Seems like a nice city with plenty to do,” he went on. “I’m sure we could find something that doesn’t involve burning buildings or fighting. I understand if you don’t, though.”
"I, uh..." She stared at him for a long time. Far longer than she should have. What was she supposed to say? Was this a date or just a walk between friends? How was she supposed to know what a date looked like when she'd never been on one?
Celes bit her tongue. Stupid. She was acting like a love-struck little girl. "Alright," she said, though she didn't think her voice sounded quite right. "Sure. Why not?"
She didn't know much about the city, she told herself. She needed to find potential resources and scout escape routes should the situation go inevitably wrong. There was no shame in taking Zack's offer. Or so she tried to convince herself.
They left together, though Celes stopped uncertainly once they'd reached the street. She knew the way back to the hotel, but nowhere else, and it seemed Zack would be leading. She touched awkwardly at her jacket sleeve. "So you've already scouted the city?" she started. "I should have. It's best to know where the enemy's most likely to attack." Then she paused. That wasn't the kind of conversation he'd wanted, was it?
"Sorry." She felt her cheeks redden again. "I haven't done this in a while." Or had she ever? She couldn't remember a time that she'd ever gone to a new city and explored it just for fun. Usually, it was a matter of conquering an enemy or fleeing one. And it wasn't as though she'd ever wandered Vector for the fun of it.
"You said you're looking for a friend?" she said instead, just to change the topic. "I've found one already, but...Well, it didn't work out." She cringed at the memory of Terra. Celes had pushed her away, and now she was likely lost forever. But then, Celes had never known how to handle people getting close to her. And Terra had brought up Kefka...
"I wonder who else is here. Or if anyone else is here. It's all so insane..." She pushed her hair behind her ear. It still smelled unnaturally of shampoo. "What do you think of this? All of this, I mean? Sometimes I wonder if it's even real."
Celes is officially my most oblivious character ever.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Zack laughed at that. It hadn't been a joke, but Celes smiled weakly at him nonetheless. Why was it that he made her so nervous? It wasn't his strength or his over-large sword or his unnatural, piercing eyes. If anything, all of those things only endeared him to her. She could respect strength. His sword was ridiculous, but it was practical, and those eyes...
Celes glanced at them. There was something almost captivating about those eyes. The way they glinted in the sunlight -- that strange and unnatural blue. It reminded her of magic and that he wasn't exactly normal either.
So why was it that her heart raced whenever she met his gaze? His grin ignited something hot in her throat.
“You don’t have to apologize. We’re damaged, remember?” His head tilted in that confident way of his, and then he leaned forward. Celes felt her breath catch as he reached out his hand, but it was only to hand her a napkin. She stared at it and then glanced uncertainly at him, but he said nothing more about it. “But, maybe we oughta change subjects for a little while," he said instead. "The past isn’t going anywhere, so we can talk about it later if we feel like torturing ourselves more.”
She snorted in laughter despite herself. If we feel like torturing ourselves. Well, that was certainly one way to put it. Celes wondered why she'd ever considered the topic a good idea in the first place. Of course, she hadn't, but the words had come of their own accord and she'd been powerless to stop them.
Before she could think of a response, the waitress had returned. She gave Celes an odd look as she placed their plates on the table, and Celes fought the urge to stare her down and demand why. Instead, she looked resolutely away until the woman had left -- If she had a problem, she could have at least said so -- before the smell of roasted meat dragged her attention forward.
Food. She swallowed hard against the captivating scent. How long had it been since she'd just sat down and ordered food like this? Real food, not something she'd caught and roasted over a bonfire. She touched it almost reverently, savoring the slick heat of grease on her fingers. For a moment, she had almost forgotten about Zack. That was, until he spoke.
“So, uh, do me a favor." He shot her a nervous smile then glanced over her shoulder. “After the waitress murders me for making you cry, leave my mutilated corpse in a dignified position if you can.”
"Hm?" Celes glanced up and then paused. For making her cry. She touched hurriedly at her eye -- still wet. Her jaw tensed as she bit back curses. What had the woman thought? That she was weak, most likely. Weak and irrational. Crying like some helpless, witless schoolgirl. Celes grabbed for the napkin he'd pressed in her hand and finally dabbed at her eyes and the wet tracks down her cheeks. "Well you didn't," she said. "Why would she assume you did?"
If he'd done something worth crying over, Zack would've had a lot more problems on his hands than her tears.
With her face mostly dry, Celes reached again for the sandwich. Its smell was a siren call, and as it touched her lips, she instantly forgot whatever she'd been arguing. Food. That smell was so strong it was almost nauseating. Her stomach gave a sharp twinge of longing. Painful, and yet so satisfying. Her hunger was something alive, like a feral beast inside her. She ate without thought, tearing into it with such intensity that surely nothing could have distracted her from-
“She thinks I broke up with you, y’know.”
Celes choked. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes shot to Zack in alarm, her throat closed, her mouth full of meat, and her cheeks burning. "Broke...?" she coughed before taking a deep breath through her nose and forcing herself to swallow. She thinks I broke up with you. The words ricocheted around her head, around and around until it was almost dizzying. She tried to compile a response, but by the time that her mouth was clear, she could choke out nothing but a strangled, "Why...?!"
Was there something that she'd missed? Did any of what they'd done somehow constitute a relationship? Was this secretly a date without her permission or consent? Her cheeks flared at the possibilities, each more horrifying than the next. But that couldn't be it. Surely, she would have noticed if someone had dragged her on a date.
Right?
"Don't be stupid," she said as she shot him a sharp look. She cleared her throat and straightened as though she still had some kind of dignity to protect. "No one would think that."
Would they? Her stomach churned. Not every opposite gendered pair needed some kind of romantic bond. Celes certainly didn't need it, anyway.
Her sandwich suddenly looked far less appealing. She returned to it anyway, however, even as her hunger dulled and she was suddenly conscious of his attention. She knew better than to waste what was in front of her.
With the ambiance and the smells and his grins and her burning cheeks, Celes could have almost been back in Jidoor or South Figaro. She glanced at Zack as she finished her meal. There was something about his cool and casual demeanor that reminded her a little of Locke. He had the strength of Sabin and the charm of Edgar. They'd always enjoyed teasing her too.
With him, it was easy to forget that her world had ended. Part of her wanted to pretend that it hadn't.
"So," she said just to break the silence before she suddenly realized that she had nothing of value to say. She tapped uncertainly at her thigh, thoughts racing for some topic of conversation. Were they supposed to leave now? "Where do you plan to go? After this? Do you have anything you need to do?" It seemed a sudden question, but she couldn't think of anything else to ask. Nothing relevant, anyway.
"I don't, really. Other than getting by and trying not to stumble into any more disasters." She glanced at him and shot him a dry smile. "Not that I'm any good at avoiding them."
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Zack told her not to apologize. Some part of her must have known he would because she wasn't surprised. Still, the reassurance twisted something deep in her stomach. It made her want to spit out something scathing and unfair: 'Why do you want to hear more about me? My life isn't interesting! It's-!'
But she didn't have the right word for it, not even in her head. Tragic? Painful? Confusing? More than anything, she didn't want the pity. She didn't want Zack to look at her and think that she had some strength that was worth admiration. He didn't know what she'd done. He didn't know what she'd let happen, and he didn't know what it had done to her. She wasn't strong -- not really -- and in the heat of the moment, she'd given up rather than face what the world had become. The world that she'd caused.
'Why did I stab him? Why did I attack Kefka? Why-?'
Zack leaned forward, that same easy grin plastered across his face. “It’s … kinda weird, but our stories share some similarities,” he said.
Celes ignored the tightening of her fists around the edge of her chair. She gave him a dry look with a doubtful raise of her eyebrow. "Really."
His shirt rustled as he moved, revealing shoulders that were thick, bulging, and scarred. The scars caught in the evening sun, glistening in their unnatural way. Celes tried to keep her eyes off them as he spoke, instead opting to meet his jarringly colored eyes. As odd as they were, they carried a certain warmth to them that didn't match their inhuman color. There was humanity there -- something familiar and yet altogether alien.
“I guess I should elaborate.”
He told her that he'd run off to the military at the age of fourteen. He'd been artificially enhanced in order to become a "hero" as he called it though she thought the idea was laughable. Celes knew that kind of environment all too well -- of child soldiers and delusional dreams -- but there hadn't been any helpful euphemisms in Vector. The soldiers there joined because they didn't have much of a choice. It was for the good of the empire, they'd said, and because everyone knew what happened to deserters. Celes crossed her arms and longed for the weight of her bracers as her hands met cloth sleeves. She felt exposed without them.
Zack straightened in his chair, rustling at the spikes of his hair before looking to the sky. When he spoke, his eyes had lost that strange hero's gleam. Instead, they spoke of something darker. More painful.
“It took years for me to realize what I had actually joined into,” he started, and Celes' eyebrows raised. “Turns out, my general was an experiment, raised within the company, to be the perfect soldier. It was the same for my mentor, and his best friend." Celes blinked. Experiment? Perfect soldiers? She didn't realize she'd leaned forward until her elbow caught the table. Her eyes beamed with interest. "They’d all been experimented on before they were even born, and had become..." Zack paused for a moment, eyes wary as he searched for the right word. "...Monsters."
Monsters.
Celes felt something drop in her stomach. She leaned back again, arms crossed, as Zack went on about having no choice but to kill his mentor. About how his general had gone mad and started razing towns. "Things weren’t uh … Well, they weren’t great," Zack said then laughed at his own obvious conclusion. Maybe he thought it all sounded ridiculous out loud. Maybe he was relieved to say it all.
Celes didn't laugh. She sat back in her chair with her fingers digging into her arms. Monsters. Well, she couldn't deny that really. She'd seen far worse come from Vector's labs than just a razed town. A razed castle, for instance. And a poisoned town and a race slaughtered for magic and the end of stable civilization. Would she have called Kefka a monster? Maybe, if someone caught her on a bad day. But she didn't like the connotation that she and him were the same. That they shared anything really other than the same job years ago. But she knew that wasn't true. She could just as easily have ended up like him if Cid's procedure had gone wrong, and she knew her own hands were hardly clean of blood.
How many towns had she subjugated? Had those people thought of her as a monster?
Did Zack?
“The company captured me and a friend, and experimented on us for four years before I was able to break us out of that hell."
The words were so unexpected that Celes' eyes snapped to Zack's, startled and uncertain. For the first time since he'd started talking, she was really listening. Captured. Experimented. Hell. Her stomach twisted with something cold. She wanted to say something helpful, but couldn't manage anything other than a dull, "Oh."
But Zack didn't seem bothered by it. If anything, he was almost casual as he continued. "My friend was in a coma, and after we’d managed to escape, the company sent the army after us. Seriously, who does that? I just wanted to go live my life.” And then he laughed. Just laughed as though there was some humor in all of this. Celes still couldn't quite meet his eye. She bit uncomfortably at the nail of her thumb.
She'd misjudged him. Maybe he was just as damaged as she was. Maybe he was just better at moving on.
“Sorry. That was a bit much," he said. He didn't seem bothered though. In fact, he was smiling. Even after everything he'd been through. Even after everything he'd said. “I’ve just, well, never really gotten to tell anyone about all of this before. Most people are nervous around someone like me -- for good reason, I suppose.” He reached for his water glass, casually grinning as though he hadn't said something terrible or even tragic.
'Most people are nervous around someone like me -- for good reason.'
Celes felt her throat tighten. She knew that feeling too well.
"Zack..." she tried, but the word was strangled on her lips. She took a slow breath, planning to add something else, but she couldn't think of anything better. Nothing could convey the mix of emotions that battled in her chest. Sympathy. Sadness. Frustration. Shame.
Why was she so weak?
"Zack," she tried again, and then said the only words that would come to her. "You're right." She laughed at them just a little -- a soft, sad laugh through a throat that wouldn't cooperate. She reached up to touch her lips. She was smiling, but only weakly. "That sounds familiar."
The thought hit her like a train. When had anyone's life sounded familiar to her? It was absurd. It was ridiculous. It was-
Why was her hand wet? She touched at her eye and stared at her glistening fingers. Tears. Her stomach twisted in horror even as the tears kept coming, slipping down her cheeks in streams. She cursed under her breath and wiped them furiously away. When had she become so emotional?
"Sorry," she said through her teeth. She took a few steadying breaths and ran a hand through her hair. The shampoo smell was nearly sickening. "I didn't mean..." Her throat rebelled against her and she cursed it. Another breath and she tried again. "I'm fine."
'Fine.' That wasn't something she'd been in a long time, and it certainly wasn't something she could call herself now. She scowled at the thought.
"I'm fine," she said again. "It's just what you said. It was...familiar." She glanced away. How many times had she embarrassed herself in front of Zack now? Was it every single time they'd met, or did it just feel that way?
She wiped at her eyes again. "That general. The one that went mad. He got power. A lot of it, and-" She paused. Why was she telling him this? She took another unsteady breath. "-And he used it to ruin the world."
Her fingers were twisting together. They felt cold where her nails dug into flesh. "A lot of people died," she said. "I was unconscious for about a year, and when I woke up-"
'No.'
Her heart lurched against it. The smell. Dried earth and plant decay. The sweet drip of poison over cracked ground. The wind -- harsh and stinging -- whipping through her hair as she stood on the edge of a cliff face, heart pounding, breath tight as water rushed to meet her and-
'That's enough.'
She put a hand over her mouth to steady her breath. The phantom smell made her sick, even when there was nothing around her but roasted coffee beans and meat. She closed her eyes and tried to slow the hammering of her heart. None of that mattered now. Not when she was here, sitting on a cold dining chair surrounded by deafening chatter and with Zack in front of her. Staring, probably. What was he thinking? She bit her tongue.
"Sorry," she said quietly. She touched at her eyes again. Dry. "But I think I understand what you meant." She ran a hand through her hair, glancing away to the cobblestone ground beneath them. "You don't make me nervous, Zack," she said, and then paused thoughtfully. "Well, not for what you are." Her cheeks heated quietly. What was wrong with her?
I did not expect this date to take such a good turn. xD
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Zack took a moment to respond. Far too long. Celes' fingers' chilled against her water glass. 'Say something. Please."
“I should be the one thanking you.” Zack laughed a little under his breath and replaced his own glass back on the table. Somehow, he was still as cool as ever -- friendly, casual, and laughing. “You saved my life during all that, remember?”
"Oh." To be honest, she'd almost forgotten. That time in the fire felt so long ago. "I guess I did," she said, though it didn't make her feel any better. It hadn't been her first time running into a burning building, and she hadn't exactly kept her dignity afterwards. Her cheeks heated as she remembered hot soot and the stream of her own tears. It was the smell that had done it. The smell of ash and seared human flesh. The catch of charred debris in her throat. The wailing...
Her stomach lurched. No. She wouldn't think about that. Not now.
“You’re not prying," Zack said, and Celes snapped her eyes up in attention. Something, anything, to distract her. "I don’t really mind talking about where I’m from. It’s not too terribly different from this place, if I’m being honest.”
"Oh," Celes said again, then shifted in her seat. He was lucky then, she thought. To not be quite so lost.
But he didn't look lucky as he spoke. If anything, he looked sad in a way that she'd never seen before. His voice carried a certain heaviness to it that didn't suit him. “I was a soldier in the military, so I think I saw the worst the planet had to offer. War, a constant onslaught of monsters, disasters, treason."
She nodded. She knew all of those things well.
Zack was quiet for a moment with that solemn, contemplative stare that she'd seen too many times on her own world, and not often enough here. It made her heart surge with something that she couldn't identify -- something warm and quiet that made her want to reach across the table and take his hand. Safety, she thought. Something familiar. Something she understood.
Zack straightened and plastered on a weak smile. 'He's hiding something.' Celes frowned. She wanted to know what kind of disasters and treason could have darkened his usual smile, but then, she was no better really. He didn't know anything about her, and she wasn't about to give him reason to ask.
If they both wanted their secrets, that was fine by her.
Zack's smile widened. “But, it sure was a beautiful place filled with good people," he said. "The sky here just isn’t as blue.”
Celes nearly balked at the line. "Zack-," she started, but he was already laughing.
“Sorry, I guess that isn’t very descriptive. It sure is hard to describe a whole world and keep it short and sweet.”
Had she been anywhere but here, Celes would have shot him a sharp look and told him to stop wasting her time. She didn't have time for idiocy like that, and she didn't have time for nonsense sugar-coating. Honestly, she was considering saying it even then, but the waitress appeared before she could decide on the words. The woman refilled their water glasses (when had they both emptied?) and asked them what she wanted. Celes froze. She hadn't even looked.
"Ah..." She glanced down uncertainly at the menu in her hand, but thankfully Zack went first. He must have been more perceptive than she was, or perhaps it simply hadn't been as long for him since he'd done something so normal. She hurriedly scanned through the columns until she felt the woman's eyes on her. Celes made an uncertain noise then blurted out the first thing her eyes landed on: a roast pork sandwich.
Honestly, after everything she'd been through, that didn't sound terrible.
By the time the woman left, Celes had forgotten what she'd wanted to say or even why she'd been mad. She could only remember that something had offended her, though she supposed that meant it had been unimportant in the first place. Perhaps the distraction was for the best. She didn't particularly want to argue with Zack -- not unless he did something to really deserve it.
“You’re interesting and strong too, y’know."
The words came like a sniper's bullets. Sharp and unexpected. "Huh?" She sat up, suddenly alert. Her blush must have faded sometime in the preceding conversation because her cheeks burned hotter now. "Ah...Oh." It was nothing. Just the same words she'd used on him. Was he making fun of her? "Thanks."
Did he really find her interesting? And after the episodes she'd had, why on earth would he think she was strong?
“I don’t want to pry either. I’m sure we’ve both been through a lot, both where we’re from, and here.” Zack leaned back in his chair, watching her with that casual charm. “But it’s lead me here with you, so I can’t complain.”
Celes stiffened. "Ah..."
Their eyes met. Hers taken aback, his increasingly horrified.
What had he just said?
Zack's cheeks surged with color. "I mean -- I’m just glad that we met!" he cried, the words almost running over each other in his panic. “And -- And that we can just enjoy a conversation now. As friends! Instead of just -- y’know, there’s nothing crazy happening right now --.”
He froze. Celes stared at him. It was that same spotlight feeling all over again. Frozen, with a thousand eyes watching her. She swallowed her own quickened heartbeat. Was he flirting with her?
“Sorry." The word sounded tired. Zack wilted in his chair. "That came out weird. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to just talk to someone, I guess."
Celes nodded slowly and let out a quiet breath. Then she looked at him, slumped there with his eyes lowered like a wounded puppy, and suddenly she was laughing.
She laughed like she hadn't in a long time. Real laughter, not from hysterics or irony or disbelief. She laughed so hard that she doubled over, arms wrapping around her stomach as her shoulders shook and her face went red. She couldn't have stopped if she'd wanted to.
This was all just so ridiculous.
"What is wrong with us?" She could barely get the words out for laughter. She shook her head, and for the first time since coming to this world, she was smiling. A half-deranged, lunatic's smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Are we really this damaged?"
Perhaps the thought shouldn't have been as funny to her as it was, sitting there casually in this restaurant filled with average civilians without a single clue what either of them had been through. Maybe it shouldn't have been funny that she couldn't get through a single nonthreatening conversation anymore, and yet it was. Hilarious, even. Celes was a woman that could stand toe-to-toe with every twisted beast a mad god could conceive of, and yet she couldn't even handle a simple lunch date.
A lunch date? Was that what this was? The thought made her laugh harder.
"Sorry," Celes said as her laughter finally quieted. She covered her mouth with her hand so that he wouldn't see her grin. "I guess I was a little tense."
As though that wasn't obvious. She'd probably be sore for days with how rigid she'd been. She took a long, slow breath and tried to steady herself. For some reason, she felt far more comfortable after that. Perhaps she really had lost her mind.
"Since you shared a little about yourself, I guess that I should too." Celes straightened and folded her fingers in her lap. She tried to keep her breaths even. "I was a general in the Geystalian Empire, not that you'd know it. I was raised as a child to fight in their military, and eventually rose to a position of leadership. Mostly, I think, because of my magic." She glanced away, smirking faintly. "I know it's not a big deal here, but where I'm from, magic is almost unheard of. I can only manage because of a procedure when I was a child. It drove the last man mad."
It felt odd, talking to Zack like this. Anyone else would have demonized her or at least watched her with a sense of caution. Admitting to a background in the Empire was like admitting to murder in her world, and that judgment wasn't entirely wrong. It was the Empire that had subjugated countless kingdoms for the sake of world conquest. It was the Empire that had given rise to Kefka.
It was Celes that had done that.
"Eventually, the Empire decided to kill me. I wasn't a fan of their policies for murder, and that's how it goes when you argue with an emperor. So I joined the rebels. One of them saved me, so there wasn't much else I could do at that point." She paused. She hadn't expected to be able to talk about it so casually. She supposed it didn't really matter to her anymore -- not after what Kefka had done. None of it really mattered, but still...
She must have looked like a psychopath, talking about her own execution like it was a rainy day on the beach. She probably should have felt something at the thought of it, but she couldn't muster up anything more than mild disappointment.
"Sorry. I doubt you wanted my life story," she said, though her story was by no means done. She picked up the water glass and drank slowly, savoring the chill of the ice. She'd found that it was the simple luxuries she'd missed the most -- ice water, soft sheets, the smell of her own clean hair. Even casual conversation, if she was being honest with herself.
And if she was being even more honest, sitting here with Zack left her feeling far better than she had in a long time.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
“Don’t worry, I get it."
Celes froze, uncertain what she'd heard. For some reason, the words only made her cheeks burn hotter. “It’s tough trying to readjust. Nothing is trying to kill us, the city isn’t on fire. It’s … weird. Right?”
"Weird." Celes said the word aloud, but even to her, it sounded ridiculous. Was it weird not running for her life or worrying about giant monsters or bandits or death rays from the sky? Celes could barely finish the thought before she was laughing. 'Yes.' For a short answer, yes.
"Something like that," she said before daring to raise her eyes to meet Zack's. Somehow he was just as cool as always, leaning back on his heels with his thumbs looped into his jean pockets. He certainly didn't seem choked for words, and he wasn't looking over his shoulder like she wanted to. No, as far as she could tell, he was the pinnacle of calm and casual, no matter what he said about it. But still...
'It's weird, right?'
No one had ever said that to her before. She didn't think that he fully understood -- how could he, when he'd never lived under Kefka's Light of Judgment? -- but it was good to hear. Validating in a way that she wasn't used to. She should have been more comfortable here in this peaceful town than she'd been anywhere in her life, and yet she felt like a fish gasping air. It didn't make sense, but she couldn't stop her anxiety any more than she could stop breathing. 'This isn't right,' it told her. 'You shouldn't be here.'
'Something's about to go terribly wrong.'
If Zack had the same concerns then he was an excellent liar. He was just standing there, watching her and smiling. For some reason, she found herself shifting uncomfortably under that look. It felt like a spotlight.
Several seconds passed before Zack broke the silence. “I saw a little place right up the road,” he said. "It looked nice! Outside seating, so we won’t be cramped. Let’s go.” And then he was gone, surging ahead without another word. Celes blinked and tried to follow, quickening her step just to keep pace with him. There had been something about his voice that had seemed off to her. It was a sudden suggestion, certainly, and then to just run off? It didn't seem like him and neither had the tension when he spoke, like he was uncertain whether or not to laugh.
Was Zack nervous? But why?
He didn't say anything else for the rest of their trip, and Celes followed suit. She didn't know what she would say, really, and she hadn't the slightest idea where they were going. She walked in silence, eyeing the passing storefronts and trying not to remember the last time she'd come to town. After a few minutes, her neck prickled and she glanced over to see Zack watching her again. He looked ahead as soon as their eyes met, and for some reason his cheeks had flushed. For some reason, hers had too.
Zack led her to an unassuming little pub a little off the main road. It reminded her of the terracotta plazas in South Figaro if she'd ever bothered to mingle there. From the street, Celes caught the wafting scent of coffee and roasted meat, and her stomach twisted in longing. How long had it been since she'd eaten?
Zack approached the door and then stopped to wave her inside. Celes gave him a sharp look and nearly said something scathing, but bit her tongue and accepted the pointless gesture of chivalry. There was no point in making a scene, not when her dignity was already in tatters.
She'd stared down dragons and behemoths without batting an eye. Surely she could be expected to handle her own doors.
Zack fell into an open chair on the patio, and she perched carefully in the one across from him. His eyes followed her movement until she'd settled, and then he just sat there. Watching her. Celes met his strange blue eyes then quickly glanced away. Heat crept up her neck like tendrils of fire. 'Say something,' her thoughts demanded, but her throat refused to cooperate. 'Something. A greeting. A compliment. Yell at him. Anything!'
Celes jumped as something knocked into her chair. The waitress. She said something about their orders and left waters on the table before disappearing back inside. Celes snatched her glass and drank as though she'd gone thirsty for days.
When was the last time she'd had water? That morning maybe? She couldn't say.
“Can’t remember the last time I had a real meal,” Zack said. Celes' stomach clenched as he tussled the irregular locks of his hair. “Way better than guessing if some berries on the side of the road will kill me or not.”
Celes laughed. It came out weaker than she'd wanted, but it was something. "You have no idea," she said, and then paused because he certainly had some idea. They were stuck here together, after all. "I mean. Well, where I'm from, berries are a little hard to find." She stopped. Her fingers had gone cold. 'Don't think about that.'
"Ah." She replaced the water cup on the table and folded her hands in her lap. Her fingers tapped at the top of her thigh. "So. Where are you from? You're certainly not from around here." She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. 'Stupid.' Her question was pointless -- ridiculous even when none of that mattered here. She'd met enough people like him to know that she wouldn't understand a word he said. And she wasn't exactly eager to answer the question herself.
"Sorry." The word escaped before she could stop herself. Once it was, she froze, took a slow breath, and tried again. "I didn't mean to pry," she said. "I just...Well, you're interesting."
Her cheeks burned. That was not what she'd meant to say.
"Strong, I mean. You have a way with disasters." Was that supposed to be a compliment? Even she wasn't sure.
"Thanks for that. You...helped. A lot." Celes glanced at him, bit her tongue, and decided to cut her losses. She grabbed the water glass and drank before she could say anything else. Her heart raced in her throat.
Use your own eyes, and see for yourself which side I'm on.
Celes was right to trust Vincent to the rest of them. His gear (was it an auto-crossbow or something else?) tore through one of the last remaining monsters in seconds. Celes shot him an appreciative look, still panting from where the spell had nearly toppled her. Her magic throbbed dully behind her temples.
Perhaps she'd overexerted herself.
There was a snarl and Celes stiffened to see the last remaining monster in a mad dash towards the fallen boy. Her eyes widened. "Vincent!" she warned, but there wasn't anything the gunner could do. He fired once, twice, but the shots wouldn't land and then the beast had pounced.
'Stupid!' Celes thought as she lurched forward, hand pulling weakly for her sword. 'Why did you lower your guard? Why didn't you watch that boy?' She knew the answer, but she didn't like it. She'd ignored him simply because he'd annoyed her. With all the arrogance in his voice, she'd wanted to see him prove himself. 'Stupid!'
The tiger raised his claws, mouth open and snarling in time with Celes' desperate cry. "No!"
Something changed.
It was like the crack of a whip -- the sudden, terrible aura. It recoiled against her like something solid, and she froze as dread gripped her heart. There was a wretch of flesh and bone, and Celes' stomach revolted. "No." The word came softly with the flash of teeth and deadly claws. "No. I-..."
'I wasn't paying attention. Why did I leave him alone? If I'd just-.'
The monster screamed as flesh was flayed from flesh. There was a hiss, the sharp crack of fire, and the beast fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Celes' eyes darted from its bloodied fur to its charred limbs and finally to the shadow behind it.
Where the boy had once been, a monster had taken its place.
Celes' eyes widened. Her feet had frozen in place. She caught flashes of deadly grin and wicked claws before the thing had thrown itself at the tiger with all the ferocity of a behemoth. Its claws ripped apart skin and sinew and rib until Celes felt bile in her throat. Her mind shuttered like a broken projector. There was white fur, bloodied haunches, and a tail whipping in sadistic delight. As the tiger stilled, the beast turned its head. Their eyes met. Yellow.
Celes grit her teeth and steeled herself against the thing before her. 'An esper,' her mind wanted to provide, but no esper had ever flayed a beast with its claws. She raised her sword against it. "Vincent, cover me." Her heart pounded wildly in her throat. "I'll keep it busy."
